flyinghigh

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Regarding Bikram yoga- one has to realize that at least in the beginning stages they don't teach any inverted poses like shoulder or head stand. Also Bikram is a franchise sytem. Re Prasara yoga I think Sonnon invented it, i.e. mixed a bit of hatha yoga with his tacfit exercises.

Yes, it would be good to hear that he's doing fine.

Would that be the same lineage as that of Master Wang?

Recep Ivedik can probably tell us more, but the Luo Shifu from Bangkok was teaching a Miao Tong Qi Gong and used these characters: 妙通. Google translate will provide this: "Wonderful pass". What's interesting is that if I recall correctly the Korea based Shifu-ji was supposed to be the master of Miao Tong. So that leads to the questions whether Luo Shifu has some connection to this Shifuji. Yang Shen dao is probably the yang spirit as in Dragon gate.

Interesting, all these connections and terms. As far as I know Miao Tong (DaFa) is the term that the Bangkok based Shifu Luo Kangqi has used for his school. Is there a connection between him and ShifuJi (interesting mix of a Chinese word with Indian endearing form such as in Guruji)? Is Shifuji perhaps also a master of satsang?

You misunderstand my meaning. You said that you had seen this external alchemy-produced mercury dan that David has. He also wrote that his Miao Tong Master in Korea has a Chakra wheel in his posession that the Dalai Lama has been clamoring to get back or so. I was wondering if you in your contact with David have seen this. Perhaps you have seen a video or so.

Did you also get to see the chakra that the Dalai Lama so desperately wanted back?

Another perspective here for a change for us obsessed ones: Conversation with Annamalai Swami Q.: What is the easiest way to be free of the 'little self'? Annamalai Swami: Stop identifying with it. If you can convince yourself, 'This little self is not really me,' it will disappear. Q.: But how to do that? AS.: The little self is something that only appears to be real. If you understand that it has no real existence it will disappear, leaving behind it the experience of the real and only Self. Understand that it has no real existence and it will stop troubling you. Consciousness is universal. There is no limitation or 'little self' in it. It is only when we identify with and limit ourselves to the body and the mind that this false sense of self is born. If, through enquiry, you go to the source of the 'little self', you find that it dissolves into nothingness. Q.: But I am very accustomed to feel 'I am this 'little self' '. I cannot break this habit merely by thinking 'I am not this 'little self''. AS.: This 'little self' will only give way to the real Self if you meditate constantly. You cannot wish it away with a few stray thoughts. Try to remember the analogy of the rope which looks like a snake in twilight. If you see the rope as snake the real nature of the rope is hidden from you. If you only see the rope the snake is not there. Not only that - you know that there never was a snake there. (Then) the question of how to kill the snake disappears... If you can understand that this 'little self' never at any time had any existence outside your imagination, you will not be concerned about ways and means of getting rid of it. Q.: It is all very clear but I feel I need some help. I am not sure that i can generate this conviction by myself. AS.: The desire for assistance is part of your problem. Don't make the mistake of imagining that there is a goal to be reached or attained. If you think like this you will start looking for methods to practice and people to help you. This just perpetuates the problem you are trying to end. Instead, cultivate the strong awareness, 'I am the Self. I am That. I am Brahman. I am everything.'.. The best way to (stop believing the wrong ideas about yourself) is to replace them with ideas which more accurately reflect the real state of affairs. ... The Self is always attained, it is always realized; it is not something that you have to seek, reach or discover. Your vasanas and all the wrong ideas you have about yourself are blocking and hiding the experience of the real Self. If you don't identify with these wrong ideas, your Self-nature will not be hidden from you. - from: 'Living By The Words Of Bhagavan' by David Godman

Great, we seem to have a mopai member here who can perhaps clear things up. What is the objective of mopai? What kind of pai would you say it is? Martial arts/healing sect? Way to enlightenment (I know that's what it says in Kosta's book, but it seems to be only partly reliable.)? If so, how do you define enlightenment?

Where does it say that Bodhidharma was member of mopai?

In that documentary the spirit master not only reminded John not to show off in public, but also never to harm anyone. I can't reconcile that apparently iron-clad rule of the pai with what you're writing what the spirits might do in retaliation.

The topic of the previous masters who come in spirit form is an interesting one as they still seem to exert some influence on the current day school. People from the school (Indonesian-Chinese) say that the ancestors limit teachings to Chinese people as they're from a time when China was treated badly by Western countries/people. So, because they're still stuck with those memories and experiences it's only understandable that they think like this. I guess, it's referred to the infamous Opium wars here (1839-1842 and 1856-1860), truly horrible deeds. So that spirit must have lived in those years. But what about the spirits of the other masters from before? They shouldn't have had these experiences? Where are their voices? It seems that some spirit master like John's immediate teacher at one point leave the spirit world and move on. I wonder to where? Reincarnation again? I thought they were immortals? It's also been said that staying in the spirit world was a kind of punishment for bad deeds. It would be interesting to hear more on this in case anybody has some knowledge. Regarding Bodhidharrma, I only remember reading that John said that Bodhidharma is one of two people who reached level 72. He only said of the other, Chang San feng, that he was in the mopai lineage. If there is more info this let us know.

I've got no problem with a teacher charging to make a living. The issue here is that it's a totally black box that is being offered. As had been said, some might just have taken the info from Jim, added a bit of knowledge from some other sources, package it up nicely and put it on offer. But then it could all be the real deal. However, to be convinced of that some more transparency wouldn't hurt. Up to you if you want to gamble.

That means charging 300$? What about making a dvd? Giving a seminar? What's so respectable about making a little booklet with just general stuff and then in it egging one on to communicate on via email and paying 300$? Hmm, let's say a 1,000* people get intererested enough. A nice sum. And we don't even know if this Sifu Lin exists or even if he does but whether the content is truly by him and whether it's correct. All the astroturfing of 5star reviews on amazon doesn't look too convincing either. (*probably not too difficult to get to a 1,000 buyers if you look at the yt view numbers and I'd guess that Kostas' unit sales go into the tens of thousands)

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Not my cup of tea. Looks like mainstream hollywood stuff. Already the repeated "How far are you willing to go?" puts me off. Makes it sound like a tv ad. Even if the underlining story has some interesting elements it seems that it will be drowned by CGI action. Reminds me of Inception that everyone was raving about, but was hard for me to endure watching. But that is just me. Just not into these kinds of movies.

Great stuff. I think I read about it in "Breaking Open the Head" if I remember correctly. Some rather practical questions first? How did you locate the Shaman? How many days will it take? What is the agenda, plan? Are you going with a friend or on your own?

Has anyone got any experience in Iron Crotch Qigong? According to this post Mantak Chia took his teachings from the little nine heaven school: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/6671-james-mcneil/page__p__76908entry76908 I couldn't find any info whether the school of Sifu McNeill and of Master Tu are related but they look similar and they both come from Taiwan. Master Tu has his school now in California. His son, Jack, was selected by Jackie Chan as a personal student. Here he introduces his system: Master Tu appears to be quite an accomplished painter, too: check around minute 7 and staning on eggs Here he demonstrates some hard qigong: His brother runs a school in Taiwan: http://www.99.org.tw So there seems to be something to this practice, as weird and dangerous as it looks. Master Tu has been teaching this for many years and lots of students have reported improvements in health and elsewhere. Sifu McNeill's students don't seem to have had problems either.

Some say that the reason Master Wang's rates are rather high is, that he found out how much Verdesi actually charged the people he brought to Wang. That sounds interesting. It's mentioned here, too: "Secondly, part of the preparations for my initiation required me to be stark naked in front of my sifu (master) and his assistants (all male) for my qi to be charged and balanced." "I was required to lie naked, face up, while Sifu and three assistants analysed the state of my qi. They transferred their qi to me while manipulating and balancing its distribution and flow. Since qi is also sexual energy, they evaluated the adequacy of my qi by checking the strength of my erection! In fact, prior to the session, I had to ask my wife to be ready at home because after being charged with qi to the brim, it must be discharged. And the best way to do so is by having sex." "Qigong masters can have multiple orgasms without having any refractory period in between." - I wonder whether here he means orgasm with or without ejaculation. Text here: http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2012/1/29/health/10553625&sec=health

This is related: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-mWaJ3AgZs&feature=related Can someone please explain again how to embed a youtube video? I followed some instruction I found after searching but that didn't work. (That was youtube in brackets with just the video code/URL). edit: Video link