Green Tiger

There are some enlightened Christians who have said you should see Jesus in everyone you meet. He's the prisoner, the beggar, the servant, and everyone else.

Great review, Adrian. I didn't realize you and your Australian compatriot didn't know each other prior to coming here! What a nice surprise that must have been. I can definitely relate to that feeling when you get home and the energy isn't quite as palpable as it was in the seminar. It can be a bit discouraging, and it also makes the draw to attend seminars even stronger. Glad to hear you were able to find an energetically powerful place to practice! Hope to see you again some day.

The first two videos show the simplified 48 and 24 posture forms, respectively. If you would like more resources to help you learn them, I would recommend this book and this video. If you like traditional, 108 posture forms, cool. If you want to learn taiji-style movement in the most efficient way available, practice these two simplified forms. They are simplified, but they are not simple.

I-chuan Master Gergory Fong seems to have some pretty good fa jin, and zhan zhuang is his thang. Coincidence?

They say the plants told them.

I hadn't heard much about Chinese use of entheogens. It seems like most entheobotanists study South American culture or African culture for their rich and diverse shamanic use of plants. My impression has been that a Chinese shaman was more likely to use things like movement, chant, musical instrument, or some form of meditative self-hypnosis. While that may be true, there does appear to be some evidence that they used cannabis in a ceremonial context, although not how you might expect. So did they not smoke it? They just carved it into a snake rod used to beat on a patients bed? Does anyone know of any other entheogens the Chinese shaman might have used?

I've also been interested in traditional Chinese entheogens, but information is sadly lacking. I did find some information about a venomous toad whose venom contains DMT. The toad venom was apparently used as medicine and could have been used for enthegentic purposes, but no evidence for that has been found. I doubt it occurred to the Taoist shaman that perhaps it might be fun to smoke toad venom.

I was trying to 'look under the hood' with another standing posture, Stand in the Stream. It's interesting how different postures seem to access and activate different parts of the body. When I'm standing in this posture lately, it feels like my rooted leg is being sucked into the ground and there seems to be a tremendous amount of energy coming up through the leg, into my hips and spine. I'm sure there's some sort of meridian activation going on, but I don't know enough about the meridians to know which ones or why this particular posture might activate them.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon probably deserves a mention. Lots of good movies listed here. Going to have to add some of them to my list. Also, these two scenes from Enter the Dragon are classic.

Great post, Walker! My experiences have been similar; although my practice hasn't taken me out of the United States yet, it has definitely taken me places I never would have expected when I started out. I've also found that some of the words we use frequently on the forum like neigong, neidan, meditation, alchemy, ect., really are just vague symbols that represent different things to different people. Some teachers I've met weren't familiar with these terms but practiced them all the same. Some say they practice them but, upon further investigation their practice seems to be quite different from what someone might expect, knowing only the Tao Bums interpretation of those terms. Money is not wealth. The map is not the territory. Seven Stars Preying Mantis Kung Fu is not the practice. Only the practice is the practice. Can ya dig it?

I think a split may be in order, but I also think some discussion of barefoot lifestyle is necessary in a conversation about loss of arch. If we are talking about someone with foot pain, I really don't think running on a hard surface initially is a good idea. Walking barefoot on a hard surface or in the grass should probably be your first step. I personally found that walking and running barefoot on a hard surface was more painful, but it could be that it's also more therapeutic. I'm not one to spout a lot of "no pain no gain" talk, but in some cases a little muscle-fatigue-type pain can be an indication that you're working muscles that need to be worked. Stop if you feel sharp pains in the joint, for sure.

I agree with the barefoot running. You also might want to try rolling a golf ball or a lacrosse ball around under your foot, putting as much weight into it as is comfortable. You might find you have some plantar fasciitis going on. Rolling a solid ball can help break up some of the adhesion. Also, be careful where you choose to barefoot run. Barefoot running, for me, became an unintentional mindfulness meditation . . . stick . . . stick . . . rock . . . dog poop . . . nettles! The safest place I've found is on the soccer pitch. It's well maintained and pretty flat. Also, it's fun to kick the ball around a little while you're running.

Not bad for two guys with cellos and a drummer.

Some of you may be familiar with the posture Standing in the Stream from Master Lam Kam Chuen's book The Way of Energy. Please see the photo below: I opened this book yesterday for the first time in a while and I felt drawn to this posture. When I did find myself in it later during a qigong session--WOW! I'm just curious, does anyone know which energy centers/meridian pathways this posture activates or works with? I'm just curious, but may also be useful for diagnostic purposes and treatment references down the road. Thanks!

Class of 2000!!!

Chunyi Lin's "good, better, best" distinctions could be applied here. It is good to have sex with someone with whom you feel a connection. It is better to have sex with someone with whom you are in a relationship. It is best to have sex with someone with whom you are in a long-term, committed relationship. Also, my tai chi school must be odd. In the 6 years I've been attending, there have only ever been a few female students and only 1 of them has been there the entire time I have. There is another tai chi group in town that is primarily women, but they are also all 50+, so if you're a young guy, might not be the best place to meet ladies. If you want to meet young women who are into cultivation, I would recommend yoga classes.

That's awesome! I want one of those rings, although I'd definitely want to wear a helmet. Thanks for sharing!

Wow, you dusted off an oldie but a goodie. Not so much the content but the contributors. I didn't know wudangspirit was a member.

I think your question is over simplified. You could ask "Can western medicine heal the illnesses you mentioned?" and I think you'll find that it is never a simple yes/no answer. Can western (allopathic) medicine heal: -bad eyesight Lasik surgery can correct some vision problems but not all. Eyeglasses and contacts can correct vision, but you have to wear a device. -tinnitus No medicine will cure it but, in some cases depending on the cause, antidepressants have been found to be helpful. Sound therapy can be helpful, but the outcome is never certain. -mental difficulties due to bad medication (e.g the person is unable to take care of himself, he used to be able to do that) I'm not really sure what you mean here, exactly, but when you're talking about mental difficulties in general, western medicine can offer some degree of relief but no cure. Antidepressants are almost always prescribed alongside some sort of therapy and even that combination is not always effective. -ebola infection There are some promising experimental therapies, but the rate of death is still 68%. -aids Again, promising experimental therapies but no cure. So, as you can see, the answer to your question when we consider western medicine is complicated. The answer is almost certainly more complicated when you consider Stillness-Movement Clinical Qigong & Chinese Taoist Medicine, which operates at a much higher vibrational level. Centertime, are you in need of some healing, or was this just a random question to satisfy your curiosity?

It was a good one. I could definitely feel a difference in my practice this week. I've got some stuck areas opening up and feel a lot of shifting going on.

I tried the syrian rue/mimosa hostilis version of Ayahuasca. I don't recommend it. I may have overdone it with the rue, but I found it to be very unpleasant. That's really interesting that it's becoming acceptable for Muslims to take it. Certainly, it should be done in the context of religious ceremony, and the dietary restrictions cannot be emphasized enough. There is serious danger of hypertensive crisis if you eat the wrong things before or after you take it.

You hate newspapers and would love to be able to light them on fire with your bare hands?

So you haven't actually experienced any of the supposed results of Mo Pai level 1, but you are 100% convinced it not only works but is superior to every other form of Neigong available? Everything you've been saying in this thread is just a parrot of what MPG told you. None of it comes from your own personal experience. Why don't you go meditate until you've confirmed what he says and then come back and report that.

Can't believe I missed this until now! What a great review. Was wonderful seeing you again. I hope you got some sleep on your flight home.

Does anyone know what sort of dietary recommendations, if any, the Mo Pai system makes? I recently heard that one Neigong instructor strongly recommends his students not eat or drink any dairy products.