humbleone

Thank you all for your replies. right on snowmonki. So the question remains, how do we skin this cat, use 'IT' to achieve a goal? Are goals different than a healing? The example I used earlier: to get a perfect score in college admissions test. Bill Gates(Microsoft) had a perfect score, but only on the math portion , ofcourse then he enrolled in Harvard and the rest as they say is history. TTB Marbleheads point about elbow grease, that one still needs to study for the test is not lost. So 'IT' has to accomplish a LOT. A LOT of inner and perhaps universal alignment has to take place. The student would live and breathe this goal, study for endless hours, the universe perhaps then moves to assist him/her. Maybe he meets another student and they study together or find a gifted tutor etc. Someone here mentioned the factor of non-caring, just 'do it', taking all emotion out of studying, this goal. Not caring about the results, so elements of wu wei. A goal ofcourse can be anything, if you are a healer, to double your TCM practice in one year etc...How does one go about using Taoist principles of 'IT' to accmplish it? All the best

I thought it was a can of worms! but you are right, complex issue. I mean look at male pattern baldness, there is no evading it. If you have the gene inherited from your mothers side you will get it. other genetic dispositions they say are effected by stress, that stress plays a big role as a triggering mechanism. sadly genetics has been used in the west quite a bit to make a case for the master race.

yeah I hear you about proper alignment. In the workshop master Chu told us that it is OK for all other body parts to hurt after a practice session, but never the knees. If the knees hurt than you are not doing the postures correctly. I am quite a bit out of shape and found the routine extermely damanding. The next day my thighs, lower back, tendions below the calf hurt like hell, but NOT the knees. They were totally pain free! Very impressive, master Chu knows what he is doing to say the least. In the workshop, master Chu and three of his assistants spent endless amount of time correcting our posture. I am of the opinion that neigong postures are best learned 'in person' by a qualified teacher and then frequent class session with corrections are a must. imo very hard to learn from books and dvd, but I could be wrong...

Could someone please verify if this is Chunyi Lin's Small Universe Meditation? Thanks <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dAa7S2YVCc8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I actually took C K Chu's introductory workshop couple of weeks ago in New York. TTB member Encephalon is the one who recommended the workshop. He trained in Los Angeles with C K Chu's certified student. The big emphasis in the workshop was on proper alingment, I would suggest to get the DVD. The DVD covers his workshop, master Chu gets into a good introduction of neigong principles, plus shows all 10 postures. PS. I don't have the book or the DVD.

Sadly in the last 10 years, we have seen the greatest transfer of wealth from the US treasury to the rich 1% Banks made $13 Billion from below market rates bail out money. Bloomberg News was blocked for two years by one lawsuit after another by Banks to keep it secert. Bloomberg finally won its freedom of information lawsuit. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/28/BUGK1M523B.DTL&ao=all

YaMu(Michael Lomax) talks about INTENT vs INTENTION in his book. His focus in on healing, but I wonder if it can be applied to goals. imo Qigong gives us the tools to put INTENT into practice, but I just don't know the mechanics of it. how to go about linking INTENT to a goal? INTENT: Non-linear, quantum-level event with no limitations. The mind is not involved. Requires energy to have manifestation. Instantaneous. High Level Qi projection with manifested healing is an example. INTENTION: Initiated by and monitored by mind. Linear, time involved with a finite limitation. Requires concentration to have manifestation. Visualization is an example. Lomax, Michael (2010-01-01). A Light Warrior's Guide to High Level Energy Healing (Medical Qigong & A Shaman's Healing Vision) (Kindle Locations 1334-1337). Spirit Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Thank you for your replies. so Taoist INTENT vs non-Taoist INTENTION Over the years I have looked quite a bit at non-taoist INTENTION. From what I read and practiced, INTENTION was all about visualization. So one visulizes the end result, fully engaging the emotions. Actually the emotions play a vital role in INTENTION. For example a goal, a INTENTION of achieving a perfect score on college admissions test. So one would visualize the end result, fully engaging all the modalities. Seeing yourself in your minds eye, opening the letter from scholastic testing, feeling the envelope, seeing your name etc etc. Then reading the letter that you have scored a perfect score. overcoming with joy!(you get the picture ) Taoist INTENT, I believe is a very different animal. No emotion, and you actually don't care about the outcome.

The lastest dumb thing to come out of the republicans is the bashing of Clint Eastwood superbowl ad. Half time in America I thought was an excellent ad. However the repblicans, led by Karl Rove said that he was 'offended' by the ad. Yes, anytime there are signs of growth and prosperity in America, the republicans get 'offended'. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/clint-eastwood-on-chrysler-super-bowl-commercial-not-affiliated-obama_n_1258701.html

I would urge you to watch the Bill Moyers interview link posted by OP. There were regulations in place, a firewall in place by glass-segal. The problem is big money, big banks in fact forced the regulators to change the rules. Travelars and Citibank were given the green light 'before' the merger. The issue is not so much lack of regulations, but enforcement of regulations. Hedge funds/banks have been beating up on CFTC(commodity Futures trading commission) and SEC for years, getting the lawmakers to cut their budgets. I once read that in case of AIG, there were over 280 regulations in place that should have prevented AIG from what they did, but the big money and their lobbyist made the regulators look the other way. In the Bill Moyers interview, he said banks are now spending large sums of money to rollback Frank-dodd...

great interview. Thank you for posting it. Bill Moyers is right, this is a 'crime story'. Why is it that four years later none of these bankers have been sent to prision. sadly the link between big money and politicians is stronger than ever, GOP primary is turning into a battle of super packs, all run by competing billionairs...

good thread, this has really helped me sort out my confusion. One thing that troubles me about pursuing the singular spiritualist path, is being cut off from the rest of society. Internal alchemy, self-realization calls for prolonged periods of isolated practice. I have this image of monks carrying the beggars bowl and not contributing to the general society. In my mind, there is something selfish about being a spiritualist. Religion despite its obvious problems is totally integrated within a society. Take any natural disaster. Hurricane Katrina for example in the United States. Within hours of the hurricane, Catholic charities were the first to arrive. Salvation army shortly after wards. I have read stories of the Amish from Pennsylvania, are still there years later, quietly re-building houses. I never hear of buddhist monks or doaist racing to help out others. presumbly they are too busy sitting in zendo with their shaven heads, trying to save themselves...

Ya Mu actually talks about INTENT as seperate from INTENTION. having read his book, I am still not sure what exactly INTENT is. He says INTENT+ENERGY=healing INTENT: Non-linear, quantum-level event with no limitations. The mind is not involved. Requires energy to have manifestation. Instantaneous. High Level Qi projection with manifested healing is an example. INTENTION: Initiated by and monitored by mind. Linear, time involved with a finite limitation. Requires concentration to have manifestation. Visualization is an example. Lomax, Michael (2010-01-01). A Light Warrior's Guide to High Level Energy Healing (Medical Qigong & A Shaman's Healing Vision) (Kindle Locations 1334-1337). Spirit Way Publishing. Kindle Edition.

oh, thats too bad. Just curious if medical insurance companines pay for medical qigong treatment? or what will it take for them to start paying. I mean going back to late the 1990's, most insurance companines recognised the value of 'alternative' medicine. I had about a dozen accupunture sessions, all paid for by my insurance, oxford heatlh plans. I just had to pay the regular $20 co-pay. I believe a bottleneck for medical qigong, is this need to 're-charge' the Qi on part of the qigong healer. I remember reading your comment that most medical qigong healers should practice three(3) hours a day if they wish to treat patients.

hi, so yes, I try to bring spirituality into other areas of my life, my life is more robust, but I think this is just it. I mean after doing qigong for about a year, my health has steadily improved, my mental focus and concentration is better than it has ever been. but I feel it is more of a singular path, I mean some of our neighbours go to church or synagogue on the weekends. there is a sense of community, social order. I mean united states in one nation under god. in qigoing we are told to do communion with trees, to sap their energy frankly I am starting to believe that qigong is nothing more than a discovery of a natural law the ancient chinese. a natural law like law of gravity, law of areodynamices, you get the picture. so it allows us to regain our health, and allows john chang to light newspapers! more I practice the closer I feel I am getting to god, but I feel something is missing. this god is a god of organised religion. muslims, hindus etc all believe in one god, spirituality is I believe is something I do to enhance myself, not so much to pay homage to that one god...

just to share my confusion, sure one can meet their spiritual needs without a religion. but it will be a lonely existence. somehow disconnected from the rest of the society. my thinking, religion is much much more on a macro level. spiritualism is all about the individual, religion is all about organization, the social, the cultural aspect. it comes complete with a set of moral ethical codes. so I am a spiritulist, my wife is a agnostic. I have no clue what to teach our children. frankly at times I miss religion, and the comfort it brings...

good post, I like that "we are voting about shades of the same grey" We had the same thing in the United States, after the stock market crash of 1929 and the great depression, FDR and the new deal. FDR brought about and people voted for major reforms. Sadly it takes a big catastrophic event like a economic Depression or a World War to cause a big paradigm shift in people. US every 10 years has a major financial crisis, but in the US we are getting really good at financial re-engineering and seem to come out OK, or at least the rich 1% come out OK US economy appears to be coming back, 20 solid months of job gains, even god(warren Buffet) said last week that large annual budget deficits, 2% of GDP are sustainable.. so just to add, don't look for any meaningful change anytime soon, foolhardiness of American Presidential Elections is safe for now!

not so sure about that... I mean we have heard this before, I remember in 1980's the the Japanese became mighty, when they purchased the Rockerfeller center in NYC, everyone said, oh goodness, America will soon by owned by Japan. ofcourse they collapsed. then we heard about the mighty 7 tigers(singapore, malasyia etc) taking over the world in the early 1990's, they turned out to be the 7 dwarfs. hope you live a long life.

In the flight instruction pdf manual it says, important to stay cool under pressure http://www.phoenix-fly.com/products/product_overview

I know its not too healthy, but I seem to prefer fried dumplings vs steamed or in soup kind. There are some amazing dumpling places in New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens) Chinatowns. pork and chives or vegetables ones are my favorite!

Republicans, between Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Herman 999 Cain and this nut Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee have lost all credibility with the American people. and then there is the former speaker and the republican front runner Newt Gingrich who said minority and african american high school kids should work as janitors. a great way to build a kids self esteem mr speaker...

I sure will. I went there couple of weeks ago to check out his studio in Times Square and to write a check for the workshop. On that Saturday, the place was packed, must be about 40 students. master Chu looked radient, not bad for a man who is 75 years old! The lady in the office, looking at my disposition, said maybe I should first start with eternal spring or a tai chi class . speaking of precision, they just added a saturday refinement neigong class, so just 'one' posture per class. apparently master chu is big on getting the precison right.

yes sad to see the disneyfication of a shaolin monestary. The third episode of peter owen is perhaps the best. his three weeks in a egyptian desert cave. he nearly went mad! youtube chops it up, but segments Los Coptos 3/6, 4/6, 5/6 and 6/6 are just amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE4V_lyAV3o&feature=related

very cool, thank you for the links. I found this 58 min documentary of Peter Owen Jones, aka indiana jones of the clergy . This episode shows his visit to China. He also visited India and Eygypt. would love to see all three episodes http://rushleigh-pursuit-of-wisdom-chronicle.blogspot.com/2011/03/peter-owen-jones-extreme-pilgrim-and.html