QiDr

Yes, I like that!

Okay-ness? Please... four thousand years of literate human history and the best language she can conjure up is okay-ness?

When I was a kid my father told me to "sit down and shut up". Turned out to be some ot the best advice he ever gave me. For several years I used running as a form of meditation, I could run for miles and not even be aware of where I was, just the breath and the beat and the ache. That was all there was. Now, I prefer gentle, moving meditation over seated. I have been doing a lineage meditation called the Spiral Dragon for the last several years and it is very helpful. In the morning I sweep the sidewalk in front of the clinic and that really sets the tone for the day.

"I was expecting to hear that these things have some kind of internal signifigance... turns out these things are more external than I expected" The key to this alchemy stuff is that the internal and the external are not separate entities. We are holistic beings and what we do to the body we simultainioulsy do to the mind and spirit. In ancient times, cinnabar and lead were given more meaning than they deserved, because they transformed from solid to liquid when relativly little heat was applied. That kind of transformation was exemplary of what the Taoists and others were seeking, so they emphasized (wrongly), the use of those substances. In modern TCM (Taoist Cultivation Medicine), we look at what the individual needs to promote the whole self, tonics, elixers, practices, meditation and diet are all part of the game plan. Don't give up on Eva Wong, she has a lot of very usefull information.

In point of fact amber (Hu po), is not gold, it is Succinum. Hu po is non toxic and is used in Chinese medicine to calm the spirit and invigorate the blood. Myrrh (Mo yao) and Frankincense (Ru xiang) also invigorate the blood and promote the movement of qi. They are likewise non toxic. Cinnabar (Zhu shu) is used in small doses to calm the spirit and clear heat and unless it is over heated and/or used in large quantities for long periods of time is reasonably safe. None of these herbs are really used by themselves and in the case of cinnabar, I can get it but wouldn't use it, there are other herbs that do the same thing and are not as controversial. The concept of bio-physical alchemy is best expressed in the term "fu shih pi lien" absorb for nourishment, enclose and recast. The foundation of bio-physical alchemy is: 1. Calm the heart and mind 2. Eradicate the four obsitcles to health (alcohol, riches, sexual desire and ill temper) 3. Observe proper diet 4. Take herbal medicines/elixers 5. Practice meditation (see #1) the three treasures (jing, qi and shen) are cultivated, nurtured and recombined to generate ever stronger and more substantial energies. This is not a "spiritual" transformation, the body mind and spirit cannot be separated. Biophysical alchemy is a transformative process that leads to longer life and eventually, enlightenment.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the mind is all, and all else is an illusion, even the mind. This is one of the big reasons Taoist Master Ni Hua Ching used to call Buddhists MONKeys. For the Buddhist, to live is to suffer. For the Taosit, to live is to live.

The Hung Di Nei Jing Su Wen has 120 as the average life span before mankind began being immoderate in diet and personal practicies. The rest of the development of TCM is a response to that lack of moderation.

Wow, Owl, you must be a great diagnostician. I would need to know the health history, the current signs and symptoms, observe the tounge, feel the pulses and and observe the general demeanor of a person before I could give a diagnosis.

Shou Wu is more of a blood tonic so if there is a liver blood deficiency with blurred vision, poor memory, thinning or greying hair, thin nails etc. it would probably be benificial.

Cat, if you are having difficult breathing it is best to discontinue dairy, raw or not. Soy beverages have more more of what you are after nutritionally and do not produce phlegm which all dairy does. Get to a licensed TCM practitioner, we can help/eleminate allergies and ashtma very easily.

Anger is one of the emotions that injures the Liver. Liver conditions in TCM have many signs and symptoms. The most common are: pain in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, fatigue, depression, frequent sighing, irritability. In most Americans and Northern Eurpoeans the Liver is "depressed" and it's Qi is depleted. Things that can help are a diet free of fat, grease, oil, sugar and alchohol. Also prescription drugs generally agravate the Liver. There are many Liver cleansing Qi Gongs but avoid so called Liver "cleanses" as they tend to further deplete the Liver Qi. Best bet is to see a TCM doctor.

No, I have known dozens of couples over the years who have adopted Asian, Croatian, African and Central American babies, they all report that their children are "hard wired" for certain behavioral tendencies and they all have said that nature seems much stronger than nurture. Adoption from other countries usually precludes knowledge of family lineage and I do not know any couples who have done DNA testing on their children. Blending? It would be interesting to follow these children, to see if their offspring are still hard wired for those behavioral tendancies.

No Chinese mind? Talk to some people who have adopted Asian babies and get back to me.

If the condition has not cleared up within a couple of weeks doing acupressure, go to a Licensed Acupuncturist, one to two treatments is all you should need.

Hou Ma Ren is as good as or better than flax seed oil but can cause loose stools or diarrhea if used too long or too much.

Qi Gong is not a benign practice. I have seen a LOT of people who came to me for my professional services because they were learning Qi Gong from a book or DVD and genuinely harmed themselves. If you do not have access to a Master, a teacher may do. If you do not have access to a teacher a book or DVD may do, BUT, my professional advice to you is that you work closely with a TCM physician while you are doing your practices so that if something does go wrong you can be helped.

Geting paid for services rendered is a good thing but as soon as you are "making a living" at being a Qi Gong Guru you will be taken very seriously by the 33% who are newbies, viewed with some skepitcism by the 33% who have been around a while and seen as a charlatin by the 33% who know.

Jordan, If you want to begin Qi Gong practice, the begining is the Small Cosmic Orbit (also sometimes called the Minor Celestial Orbit). It is THE starting place of qi practices and I suggest you practice it daily for six months before you think about moving on.

One of my students has been raving about this site, so here I am

My teacher, Professor Hui Chen, told it like this; around 1954 Mao decided that traditional medicine wasn't as bad as all that and re-established Traditional Chinese Medicine within the Ministry of Medicine. At that time the "Hundred Old Doctors" were brought forth to standardize TCM so that it could be taught in medical schools. Part of that standardization was in the realm of Medical Qi Gong and Yu Long Qi Gong (Jade Dragon Qi Gong) was one of the styles that made the cut. Jade Dragon was taught in the Shanghai #2 Medical College until Mao decided to assert the Barefoot Doctor campaign and all professional curriculum were discontinued. Prof. Chen said that the Jade Dragon he taught me could be traced back to the Magwandai (sp), documents and was not the sanitized version taught in Shanghai and that the Shanghai version was only the first of three levels. He says that the second and third levels (he taught me all three, only level one is taught on DVD the others need to be taiught in person), he recieved as Sky Transmissions during meditations undertaken in the mountains of China. When pressed for more information on lineage he always said "Why you want know that? Those people dead." I learned the forms as well as Tai Chi from Prof. Chen in 1976 and he authorized me to begin teaching in 1980. Prof. Chen passed away in Vacouver in 1988.

Can you please tell us more details about the Jade Qigong? Jade Dragon Qi gong is a five agent Qi Gong that was originally developed to help TCM doctors prepare for outgoing qi manuvers. The original set is based on the "metabolic use cycle" of the five major organs. That is, the first metabolic use organ of the body is the lung, followed by the spleen, the heart, liver and finally the kidney. The kidney ultimately stores Jing which the second or advanced stage of the Qi Gong (Pulsing Dragon Exercises) uses to ascend and transform to Shen. The first section is available through our website (it is copyrighted), the second section I only teach in person because it is a bit more technical and requires physician supervision. You teach Tai Chi & Qi Gong at University of North Carolina? Is that extracurricular or as a professor? I am always interested in the merger of Eastern and Western Higher Education. I teach Tai chi & Qi Gong at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington as extracurricular or continuing education depending on the venue. I am a guest lecturer in the health and asian studies departments as well as throught the Teaching Asia program throughout the year. I enjoyed reading your website - I never knew that accupoint one spot is meant to activate the entire meridan. Theoretically, there are several acupoints that, if stimulated regularly, will through resonance unblock and activate the qi of the entire meridian network. Also, you might discuss the rift between TCM and CCM in America for us? Traditional Chinese Medicine is the traditional medicine that is endorsed and taught in the Peoples Republic of China. It was compiled after the Cultural Revolution in an effort to streamline and modernize the traditional medicine and make it more available to the people of China. Some of the hallmarks of this medicine are it's compatablity with contemporary Wedstern style medicine, it's basis in dialectical materialism and it's disdain for "superstitious medicine". Classical Chinese Medicine is medicine as it was taught and practiced prior to the PRC and has as some of it's hallmarks; a deep connection with what practitioner's beleive are the Taoist origins of traditional medicine, the use of talismans and incantation in the practice of medicine and internal or physiological alchemy as a goal in healing. I am frequently away from my computer for days at a time so forgive me if I do not respond promptly at all times.

Yes, most tonic formulas could be used to the same end. The practical way to go about this is to have a TCM physician determine what formula would be best for an individual based on an individual pattern discrimination. Then, based on what it is you want to acheive and where your body is at that time, you could be prescribed the best tonic formula for your journey. this would of course need to be modified over time. One can use acupuncture in the same way. Over the years I have had a number of patients wanting to enhance their spiritual progress with Chinese medicine. Also, psychadellic mushrooms are very debilitating because they convert so quickly and effeciently to Shen. Any organic conversion requires that the Qi of the organs involved be metabalized and in this case there is surely a net loss. But, the investment may well be worth it.

Applied Kinesiology is not a TCM concept and does is not mentioned (other than derogatoraly) in any modern or pre-modern TCM texts that I have read. Orgonite is not listed in the Chinese Materia Medica (Bencao), but the concept of Orgone as posited by Reich is very similar to the concept of Qi. Given that, the definition of orgaite is "various compounds held in an organic matrix that attract orgone" (Qi). That is the definition of a Chinese herbal tonic formula.