ChiDragon

Well, that was after birth for animals. I would not consider that is the same as abortion comparable to the principle of humans. It would be considered to be murder if a fetus has been full developed and born. Anyway, what ever animals do is by the way of Nature and I don't think humans should be considered the same way. PS.... This is only my way of thinking by following the Taoist principles.

Aaron..... I wish you didn't eliminate the sub-forum for each individual study of the documents. Even though you did mention the reasons for your justification, but it is very disorganized. IMMHO. It was really a waste of time and cumbersome to scroll the unnecessary extra page after page to find the right document. PS... I'm sorry to inform you that was not very Wu Wei because of the interference with the course of Nature.

To the best of my knowledge, the development of Chi Kung was derived from the breathing method of Yoga. From what had been said, here, to answer your question. Yes, Chi Kung can gather and guide the chi to circulate in the body. I believe that was the main purpose of Chi Kung.

The difference that I see between Qigong and Yoga is: 1. Yoga seems to have lots of stressful movements of the body parts. It is more Yang(hard) than Yin(soft). 2. Qigong is much more refine and Yin(soft) exercise. It involves breathing and graceful movements of the arms and legs in the Dynamic Qigong. In the sitting position, know as "Static Qigong", is very quiet, peaceful, and relaxation in the state of serenity.

Yes, humans has the intellectual option for abortion but animals do not. Another words, humans have a choice for abortion and animals have not.

There only benefit I see is to make the feet more stronger and stable, in correlation to the stance itself, for balancing the body. .....and more specifically, what is the proper usage of each bodily arrangement; be it placement of the feet, arc of the back, or peak of the head... All of the above, if your body is balanced in a comfortable position. In the specifics of Horse Stance itself: what good comes of standing on the balls of the feet as opposed to the heels; You are talking about two levels of practice. As a beginner, one should stand flat on the ground with the feet. Until the feet become strengthened, then, one can stand on the balls of the feet. Standing on the balls of the feet, second level, will give you more bouncing power but easy to be off balance, unless, one is really good at it and with stronger ankle joints. It is because all the bouncing power depends upon how strong the ankles are. what good comes of distributing weight evenly across the feet, as opposed to standing on the balls of the feet? All the body weights are going straight down toward the center of the legs and distributing across the feet evenly. If you standing on the balls of the feet, the balls of the feet will take all the weights. It is because the points of contact, to the ground, are the balls of the feet only.

1. "Horse stance" is just a name given for the standing position of Zhan Zhuang. Most of the time, it was referred to the standing position with the legs bent to be a complete horse stance. Actually, at that position, you are considered to be doing Zhan Zhuang at the time. 2. People are putting to much emphasis on the feet instead of the leg muscles. The feet are only the rooting for the whole body to balance yourself on the ground. 3. That is the proper state of the mind and a good approach. Go for it.....

Yes, if you want to look at it in a non-Taoist way. The fetus was meant to be born be Nature. It is the mother's nature to interfere with Nature. Hence, the final result is still interfering with the course of Nature. However, it is not advisable to compare humans with animals.

Let me put it this way...!!! The balls of the feet only help you to make contact with the ground. By Nature, the ankles are transfer all the body weight to the balls of the feet. The ankles are the weakest point in the body. They are designed to hold the upper body in place by Nature. How can it be detrimental....??? The ankle joints only can be damaged by over stress. What you want to do is to strengthen them to withstand greater stress to prevent from damage. To strengthen them is by practicing the horse stance. That is why all martial artists do that all the time. Besides strengthen the ankles, it also strengthen the legs muscles as well. Horse stance also know as Zhan Zhuang.

Yes, you know the basic concept about Tai Ji. That is what I have been saying all along. BTW For those who do not wish to practice Tai Ji, horse stance is the best way to go.

I believe that the OP is about Tao not about others.

No, not really.....!!! This is only your thinking and understanding. Wu Wei is very restrict about let Nature taken its course.

Just keep trying and practice until you can do it. The purpose for horse stance is to correct this problem. However, if you can do it right away, then you do not need to practice the horse stance. I have been saying, all your body weights are taken by your ankles. It is the practice that will strengthen the ankles for you. I don't care what others had said. Wait until your ankles are able to withstand the pressure of your body weight, then, you have accomplished the purpose of horse stance. Your ankles may be able to relax by then.

If we follow the concept of Wu Wei, let Nature take its course without interference, then, Tao does care about the abortion. It is because abortion is interfering with the course of Nature which is the natural development of the fetus.

Yes, there are three ways to do this. 1 .Feet in parallel, 2. Feet pointed outwards, 3. Feet pointed toward the center which the goat stance, good for resisting a pulling force. BTW That is what a goat does to resist a pull. It is known as the Wing Chun style.

Doesn't any of your books tell you. All the masters had written books on the subject, and how come nobody knew anything about it or how to practice it. Is there anybody know what is the MCO at all. It seems to me everybody talks about it and sounds they are familiarized it. However, it seems like an irony if no body can explain it.

Solipsism doesn't apply to neither Taoism nor Buddhism.

It was not the skin of the color. It is the main difference in thinking. Here is the way I see it. Most westerners have to tendency to tell their teachers what they knew already. Therefore, the teacher has to tell them what they want to hear. Otherwise, the teachers are all wrong.

Did you mean 勝從險中求.....??? Perhaps: 險中求勝

Partial knowledge, does it mean not fully investigated into the whole story.....???

Stosh..... I have to say it again. You are an open-minded gentleman and a scholar......

How can these concepts in the TTC are beyond intellectual, rational and discriminating mind....??? These concepts came from an intellectual mind, wasn't it.....??? The latter is only one's opinion. The author did not want to point out how limited human mind is nor provokes the reader to use a different mode of mind to follow and understand. It was only in the mind of the reader. Lao Tze did expect the reader to understand exactly what he wrote but not to interpret it differently. Those who interpret it differently, only and only if, they did not understand perfectly.

I think the Chi Kung practitioners called the "Chi sensation". Your body is going through a transition. It will scan your body for illnesses, then it will repair it. However, you must continue with the practice. If the scanning didn't find anything wrong with you internally, it will enhance and fine tune the functions of the internal organs. If the tingling sensation had stopped, it means it had done its job and enhancing will continue as long as you continue with the practice.

In the earliest codex of the Tao Te Ching as mentioned above, the character 恒(heng) was changed to 常(chang) due the to taboo of using the name of a ruler in any document during the Han Dynasty(漢朝). There are six(6) characters of 常(chang) were originally used in four(4) chapters of the Tao Te Ching. The Chapters are 16, 51, 52, and 55. It seems that 常(chang) was, only, used as an adverb as a time element, in Line 8 in Chapter 51. All the rest of the Chapters, 16, 52, and 55, were used as a noun. Based on that, the character 恒(heng) was used in the same manner as 常(chang) for the closest replacement. Chapter 51, 常(chang) as an adverb.... 常(chang): always, forever, Example: 6. 道之尊， 7. 德之貴， 8. 夫莫之命而常自然。 6. Tao was dignified, 7. And Te was honored, 8. Because they do not interfere but always being natural.

I was using the Received Version. FYI I had indicated that, at the beginning of the OP, only Chapters 16, 51, 52, and 55 were originally used the "chang" character. Now I have a better understanding of these characters. "Heng" is like something that will last forever. And "chang" is like an event will repeatedly occur forever. However, if I want finalize Chapter One, I would use both characters in Chapter One in this manner. I would use "heng(恒)" for Lines 1 and 2; and "chang(常)" for Lines 5 and 6. Lines 5 and 6 do have an indication that Tao has two changing phases; at one time Tao is invisible and the other is visible.