mjjbecker

Less thinking, more 'listening'. Live the experience in all its glory. Revel in the spontaneity and allow your attachments and expectations to come and to go. 'Animalistic thoughts'...and, so what's wrong with that? If 'The Way' is about following nature, being horny is certainly part of it. Nothing wrong with that. Again, its being attached to something rather than letting it come (pun intended) and go. Oh, and for ****s sake, dude, get down on your knees and thank the Dao, Heaven, God, Fate and everything you can for the blessing you have received. Spare some thoughts for this lovely lady, and think about what you can GIVE HER, not just what YOU can get.

Then save up the money until you can. Maybe then you will appreciate it, as well as his efforts. Your 'I thought he was an enlightened man' jibe is really quite out of order. Santiago is a very generous person. I've had many interesting conversations with him in the past, he has helped me and he has helped friends of mine. Not once did he ask for money. How he spends his time and effort is entirely his affair, and no one has any right to expect anything from him.

The 'hello' and 'excuse me' are more likely to be iron bars in that neck of the woods. I know someone who had that happen to them around there once. He was walking though and got set-upon for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mind you, a friend of mine was quite politely car-jacked in Dalston. Well, I say car-jacked, but they really only had him drive around for a few hours then buggered-off. Funnily enough I had asked him several times before he went (to the off-license if I remember correctly) if he wanted me to go with him but he'd insisted there was no need... And that being the case, using good judgement in giving is important not just for the giver and receiver, but also society at large.

It happens. Most importantly, don't feel bad about yourself for helping someone else. That they are a ***t is their problem, not yours. Lots of that here. Not just directed at the foreigners. They are equal opportunity thieves and will happily rip-off anyone, Chinese or foreign. It is quite common here for friends to ask other friends for loans of quite large sums of money.Not surprisingly it doesn't always get paid back. One of my old students tried that with me, and another asked me to guarantee a cell phone contract for them in the UK. God loves optimists, and so do I, but I expect we both respond in the same manner to such requests... 99% of the time I walk down a well-known shopping street I get 'Hello, how are you?', 'Excuse me', etc. It is an old scam where locals pretend to be friendly and then take the unsuspecting visitor off to some place they've gotten an agreement with to get a payment in return for bringing in business. I've learned to ignore it and just keep walking, as any response just offers encouragement. Some ass hole made a grab for my arm today while doing so, which is really overstepping the line, rewarding him with a 'f**k off' and thoughts of doing unto him as Beowulf did unto Grendel (excepting I'd have nailed the arm to his forehead. Bad timing on his part as I'd had an unfruitful time trying to find some things among the hoards out shopping. I hate crowds of shoppers...) I've also met some friendly, helpful and considerate people when I wouldn't have expected it. Bottom line: People are what they are. Be pissed when they annoy you, enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling inside when they make you happy. Then get over it either way. Years ago on Marylebone High Street in London some alcoholics outside a store asked me for some money for food. I didn't give them the money but I did buy them some food. Oh, and make sure you file a police report on the fraudsters. Aside from conning you, they shouldn't be left to continue on their merry way conning others.

The books are well regarded and the advice so far is good: don't overdo things and you should be OK. At some point correction from an actual teacher would be very useful. Everyone benefits from the little pointers and corrections a real teacher can offer. If the Tai Chi guy allows you to observe a class and maybe try one for free then why not? See if it feels right for you. How well you connect with the teacher is as important as what is being taught.

FWIW... Give MPG and Dorian their sub-forum to discuss Neigong as they, and some others, want to discuss it. Let MPG moderate it. Move any and all new 'Mo Pai' threads to this forum. I also agree with MPG to make it visible only to those who are logged-on, and not to random internet searches. The existing moderator staff would have no more work to do on the matter, other than move any errant threads to their 'proper' place. I suggest that ALL the old threads are locked (no need to search them out, just wait for any corpse to rise to the surface and do it then). Leave them where they are-there is no need to move them, and anyone wanting to find that information can use the search function. Anyone wanting to discuss old material could open a new thread on the new forum. Spurious threads could be locked. Or, 'thelearner's suggestion of using a personal practice forum, with MPG owning it, and any new related threads being moved there could also be done. It would not require the creation of a new forum or sub-forum as such. The only other alternative, if as many people are sick of the subject as is being claimed, is to ban the subject from discussion at all on the forum.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/spellcheck/british/?q=unobvious I can see you can't spell, though to be fair on the whole your English is pretty good. I won't ask why you are seeing a psychologist but I hope it is helping. 'Paranoia' and 'hubris'. Look them up if you don't understand. While you're at it, look up the limitations of IQ tests. Here's a start for you: http://www.unc.edu/~rooney/iq.htm Don't bank on world domination just yet. BTW, are you visiting Chicago or is GJC in Germany at the moment? When you've finished looking up the other words, try looking up 'fact' as well.

I missed this before. For the record, I was not addressing those comments to you. That should have been obvious, given I quoted the post I was responding to. That made the context of my post quite clear. If I had been talking to you I would have been quite direct about it. Perhaps you should work on being able to read and understand the actual lines, before veering off into erroneous speculation. So, direct experience of the method, the master, and being privy to private information that has never been publicly released doesn't give me 'superior understanding' to those who are quoting what they've read in a book, off the internet and seen on Youtube? Is that what you are saying? Horse feathers. Experience? Analysis? Research? You mean practicing Jim's own version (yes folks, Jim's version) of the Mo Pai teachings and quoting Jim's and Kostas' books? I don't question the intensity of his motivation, but no one on this forum has anything but a tiny understanding of the Mo Pai and its teachings. Outside of John Chang, and possibly masters in China if there are any, that applies to anyone currently with a pulse. Trolling how? By pointing out, as has been said numerous times, that the Mo Pai wish to be left alone? That the 'opinions' being expressed on this forum amount to little more than wild speculation most of the time? The saying 'In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king' applies. Meaning, quite simply, you and many others here have expressed an avalanche of bullshit in regards to something you know little to nothing about. In regards to that, what Kostas wrote recently definitely applies: http://pammachon.gr/index.php/en/blog "I had not foreseen the development of youtube or the extreme loss of overall IQ among the general populace when I wrote the book in 1999 - otherwise I would have never written it." To quote the late, great John Wayne, 'pardon me all the way to hell' for trying to help people by pointing out that their opinions and beliefs on certain points are wrong. As I observed before, no good deed goes unpunished. It is an unfortunate reality of human nature that telling 'the mob' what it doesn't want to hear leads to being attacked. So be it. Now for the direct personal comments. When you've spent the time, money and effort over the years, months and hours, then you will have earned the right to question my understanding. That means getting out from behind your computer, getting off your ass, going places and actually meeting real teachers in person. As it stands, nothing you've written about me goes beyond personal attack. Nothing refutes the points I've made. Why? Because you've got nothing to refute them with. No experience, just what you've read and seen on the internet. If an empty barrel makes the most noise, then its a wonder people don't get ear bleeds reading your 'opinions'. Let me put this in big letters so maybe you might grasp its meaning: You can't make logical reasoning about a subject if you don't have significant, important facts and some direct experience of the subject matter. I was verbally fileting internet trolls on forums while you were still playing on your first Fisher Price toy computer. You are not subtle, intelligent, witty or even mildly amusing. You are simply loud. There you go. Do you understand now? I don't troll. I pull the trigger and let loose with both barrels. Well, sometimes I am more subtle, but given it would clearly be lost on you, both barrels it is. By all means rave on all you wish about the Temple Tai Chi method (of which you've actually met and training with how many teachers?) but leave me out of your bullshit. Whatever fantasy world you choose to invent is your business.

http://thetaobums.com/topic/28136-mo-pai-nonsense/page-11 http://longmenpai.blogspot.com/2009/01/2005-meridian-taijiquan.html http://thetaobums.com/topic/31395-special-ttbers-only-promotion-stillness-movement-neigong-september-282930/ http://centrostudihu-qigong.weebly.com/hu-lijuan.html

Indeed, as according to Damo Mitchell's website, much of the qigong training in his school comes from the Hunyuan method: http://lotusneigong.com/content/?page_id=27

I was thinking the same thing...

When I grounded a patient in his house it felt like a strong electrical current was running through my arm, the effect being so strong that it burst a small blood vessel, leaving a small turquoise 'star burst'. I doubt that the qi causes muscular contractions for him. Why? Because he only uses a fraction of his power for healing. If he were using a large amount, and it caused a proportionately increased amount of involuntary muscular contractions, a master of this method would have a hell of a job functioning in combat... Contrary to popular wisdom, muscular tension is used by some schools to move and project qi and to expand the energy field. The idea that tension stops the flow of qi does not apply in these cases-quite the opposite.

Bullshit.

Read, read, and read again. Practice, contemplate, grow, come back and read again.

Oh yes. If you haven't tried that Chinese braised beef I can definitely recommend it. I've encountered it several times over the years here and always enjoyed it. Some of the local flat bread and vegetables of choice go very nicely with it. Thank you for the recipe-I shall give it a go! Yes, apologies to the op for any thread drift.

Exactly. And it is no good going on about the scientific method if one doesn't follow it. That means, in this instance, of actually going out and seeing and experiencing these things directly. Let me tell you something. There is nothing spontaneous about highly developed lineage methods if you are suggesting they are just random fits and babbling. Let me put it in a manner that you might understand. Consider the human body to be a computer and the lineage transmission to be software. Instead of having to manually press switches and pull levers, you have a system and programming that allows the computer to execute the most applicable and appropriate command and a particular given time. Whilst doing Stillness Movement I have personally experienced myself 'doing' numerous qigong and neigong exercises. Some of these exercises I have done by conscious effort in the past from other systems. Some I have seen in books and other media. Given that I can recognise these particular exercises, and given that I can feel the effects of them (rather than just 'striking a pose' in a 'hit and hope' attempt to get an effect), I can say, following a scientific approach, that something real is going on, and given my experience and previous understanding, this something is significant and effective. What's more, instead of being attached to one particular exercise and hammering away at it ad nauseum, (with the potential for harm and injury this can cause), the body is now programmed to move onto the next appropriate exercise. It might be worth considering that masters that had the ability to create such a method of learning might have created something that deserves a little more consideration and respect. Personally I have no end of respect for methods that have been powerful enough to allow past masters to communicate with current living practitioners (and current living practitioners to connect with 'deceased' masters from their own and other lineages). The Mo Pai isn't the only school that has this.

I've not. Thank you for mentioning it as I hadn't thought about them at all. Maybe something for the Xmas list. So many books, so little time. Thank the Lord for pictures!

Delightful! Being a touch lazy, unless cooking for guests, a simple roasting until the crackling is done to perfection and a dash of pepper for me. A friend's father-in-law, born and raised in Hong Kong, cooks roast belly pork to a standard that will guarantee him a place at any dining table in the heavens! He wasn't a chef by trade, but I have never encountered finer Chinese cuisine. I did make the local brazed beef and potatoes for the family over Christmas past, and it went down very well: http://www.food.com/recipe/chinese-braised-beef-and-potato-stew-446866 I must say though, the ginger and star anise are definitely NOT optional, despite what the poster of the recipe says!

Your opinion is based on what scientific basis? Something you read in a book supposedly said by someone who you've never met? Given also that even if these 10 "high level masters" do exist, you have no idea what their method of practice is, what you believe or not is based entirely on speculation. Any you've encountered how many in person? Spent how much time in Japan, China, or any other country notable for spiritual adepts? Or are all of your assumptions based on what you've read and seen on the internet and in books?

No surprise that traditional teachers like students to experience, rather than have them go looking for, phenomena. It is muscular tension.

Your path to follow at the end of the day. That little fact is all too often forgotten in TTB thread equivalents of the Holy Inquisition. We're all tromping along our own paths at our own paces. To those who insist on trespassing on my own merry jaunt, I say: 'Git orf moy laaaand!' Feel free to pass a friendly word over the fence in genial conversation, but try to extend your boundaries into mine, and Mr Greener (of Birmingham) will feel obliged to intercede. I once bought a book claiming to contain recipes from the Ming and Qing imperial archives. The inclusion of MSG in some recipes raised some suspicions, (the damn stuff is sold and used like table salt here), but there was no shortage of pork dishes, and that did not. Supermarket tomorrow and Friday to get stocked-up before the impending weekend rush, as the hoards get ready for the national holiday. Belly pork will be in the shopping bag.

Oolong cha, eggs and qigong walking this morning. Qigong walking is REALLY interesting once it kicks in. I realised while writing this post that I had in fact been following the actual route of a famous internal arts master (he used to walk this route daily). There is a certain poignancy to that thought. Some Bagua and Xing Yi masters were famous for their qigong running skills. Master Wang Juemin used to run 20km a day using this method, just like these old masters. Except Master Wang was in his 70's I believe, had had his legs shot-up by the Japanese invaders in the 1930's, and had been cured of gangrene by his teachers and personal practice. Deep doesn't begin to describe this practice of Stillness Movement.

Some qigong/Chinese medicine doctors believe eating meat is important for jing. I met one here in China who consumed red meat and beer and swore by it. He seemed to be quite successful in his practice of treating people. Can't speak for the spiritual! On the flip side, I understand Hu Yao Zhen was vegetarian. My own teachers did/do eat meat from my experience. I've been told not to eat the flesh of warm-blooded animals, so red meat would be out, but fish and poultry are OK.

Les Dawson. Wonderful. Welcome.

There is Michael's book, there are his numerous posts-especially in regards to medical qigong,-and there are Brion's posts as well. Lots of information posted over the last few years on this forum. As far as amazing results are concerned, I believe the practice has improved me as a person.