ChiDragon

kaazuo..... Welcome back...........

Welcome! Why did you quit....???

Didn't I tell you once or twice already that you are a scholar and a gentleman.....

kaaazuo..... Dull the starkness, Diffuse the chaos, Cut the glare, Be like dust Deep within yet ever present. I don't know what gave rise to it. It precedes the Emperor. Sorry, I do not see that this translation is about life nor the emperor. If "it" precedes the Emperor, then Emperor is not the subject that we are really interested. What do you think that the "it" was"...???

It seems that you have a good understanding of Taoist's De. Taoists follow the path of Nature was considered to be having the De of Tao(道德). You are very correct about morality that is inclusive within the cultivation of Taoism practice.

The idea of 'Metal to water" was from when metal(solid phase), in high temperature, molten into the liquid phase. "Water" does not mean water but the liquid phase. BTW We must learn to have a flexible think when we are talking about the five elements. They are, sometimes, referred as classes, categories, phrases, or elements.

imb... I'm noticing a lot of wobbling in my legs during and after practice. By what you are saying, it seems to me you have not practiced too long. May I ask how long have you been practicing in months....??? Normally, practitioners have weak legs to begin with, especially, stress was applied to them. Also, strangely enough, I feel a bit unstable and dizzy when near sinks and while operating taps! This seems to have increased the more I practice. I was tangibly wobbling during today's session. It's not accompanied with any emotion or thought, so it seems to be a physical thing. Your unstable and dizziness maybe caused from your tinnitus. Most lightly, people with tinnitus have a sense of unbalance, especially, when some heavy breathing was done. BTW how was your breathing during and after your Tai Ji practice...??? Another thing, possibly unrelated, is that I notice is that I get an odd, mild shock sensation; it's particularly noticable when I'm trying to get to sleep. What do you mean by a mild shock sensation...??? I have a constant mild tinnitus too, and as I get one of these shocks it becomes louder during the split second of the shock. This seems to be unrelated to practice, I get these even during periods of non practice. Yes, I do agree that was unrelated to practice. Really I only do 30 minutes of tai chi a day and 10 minutes of zhan zhuang, in the neutral posture. I used to meditate back in the day, but don't any more. Most people have a different definition about zhan zhuang, what do you mean by the neutral posture.....??? Did you bend your knees while you were doing your stance....??? Any suggestions. Incorrect posture. Maybe my arm position is wrong, as I rest my thumbs on the outside of my legs. Some blockage manifesting itself? I feel there to be a big, inpenetrable one roughly behind my sternum. That seems like you have a breathing problem. Hmm, come to think of it, I can sort of feel it now as I'm sat in my chair, it almost seems to be coming from my chest, and I'm mildly wobbling in my chair. Almost as if something is trying to free itself. Any insight would be much appreciated, my tai chi teacher didn't have much of an idea.

That's great, but that was only the basic concept. Now, let's put it into applications. In TCM, these elements become categories. In terms of internal organs, they were categorized as such: 1. Meta(金)l: lung, large intestine 2. Water(水): kidney, bladder 3. Wood(木): liver, bile bladder 4. Fire(火): heart, small intestine 5. Earth(土): spleen, stomach Based on your understanding, 1. Metal supports Water vs lung supports kidney 2. Water weakens Fire vs kidney weakens heart What that is saying was if something goes wrong with the kidney, you don't go fix the kidney but the lung. In TCM, they think that the lung was weak which does not have enough support for the kidney. The heart was categorized as Fire. When the heart was too weak, in TCM, they'll say that the fire in the heart was too weak. This is the language that they spoke in the TCM world. We should not take that too serious literally. It is because the fire in the heart does not actually burn.

Mandarin was being taught by a westerner. [media] [/media]

I had posted my explanation here yesterday but it is gone today. Anyway, I will wait and try again. Maybe the system was not all the way ready yet. Does anybody know how to interpret this TCM chart and would like to give it a try....???

Thank you for the kind words. Please do show me your translation...!!! BTW I had edited my post, please read it again. Thanks...!!! PS.... Actually I am not as courageous as you thought that I was. The conclusion brought to my attention was based from the most knowledgeable native scholars.

Chapter 4 - The Fathomless Tao. 1. Tao is a vessel and its function seems inexhaustible. 2. Abyss, aha! It seems like the ancestry of all things. 3/7. Fathomless, aha! Unconscious or conscious. 4/8. I don't know whose son he is, 5/9. It seems like Tao was before the heavenly god. ***** lines 3 through 6 seem to be out of context. They were reappeared in Chapter 56***** 1. 道沖而用之或不盈。 2. 淵兮似萬物之宗。 3. 挫其銳 4. 解其紛， 5. 和其光， 6. 同其塵， 7. 湛兮似或存。 8. 吾不知誰之子， 9. 象帝之先。 Chapter 4 was describing the characteristic of Tao by Lao Tze. Lao Tze was an atheist, he does not believe in god. He doesn't believe that Tao is a god neither. He wanted to emphasis that Tao is just natural which does not govern by any god. However, Tao is the creator of all things with inexhaustible power. I think Chapter 4 was saying that. The reason that Lao Tze was using the vessel as an example for Tao because the vessel symbolized "encompass" and it is limitless. Tao is the creator of all things even before the existence of god.

Walker... FYI... All these charts were derived from the Yi Jing. One will not understand them without having a thorough comprehension of the Yi Jing.

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The forbidden city was constructed base on the yin-yang concept of the Yi Jing. There is a Summer Palace built in the north of the forbidden city. It is because North was the coolest and coldest in any season. It was called the Summer Palace because it is the coolest spot in the summer for the emperor to live in. However, In the Winter, the emperor's living quarter will be in the warmest palace in the South. The cold is yin and the warm is yang. Living in the different quarter with respect to the seasons is the application of the yin-yang concept and in harmony with Nature.

The 5 Elements/phases are directional and seasonal according to the concept in the Yi Jing. 1. Wood: The plants are abundant in the East because the Sun rises from the east. The plants in the east get the sunlight at the beginning of each day before other parts of the world. Thus Wood was assigned to the East and designated the season as Spring. 2. Fire: The Sun is the highest and brightest, at high noon, in the South. Thus Fire was assigned to the South and designated the season as Summer. 3. Water: The Water was originated from the melting ice in the North pole. Thus Water was assigned to the North and designated the season as Winter. 4. Metal: The metal(copper) was the color of the Sunset in the West and the tree leafs turn yellow in the autumn. Thus Metal was assigned to the West and designated the season as Autumn. 5. Soil(earth): The Soil was assigned to the center of all directions signifying that all the seasons begin in the center. PS.... All feng shui master do their readings based in these directional assignment and designation.

Most Chinese said, if they eat banana with an empty stomach will have stomach problem such as stomach ache. It was OK to eat with something in the stomach. FYI Banana has rich in potassium to relax the muscles. Otherwise, one may have cramps due to the lack of potassium.

One apply mindfulness by entering the state of tranquility only during meditation. For a scholastic meditation, one was to get into a state of tranquility to cease all negative thoughts to refresh one's mind. After that, one will be in the state of inspiration and become well being again. To answer your question, basically you are no longer in a state of thoughtlessness when you are out of the meditation state.

Buddhism is to stay away from the bitter life of the competitive materialistic world to have a peace of mind. Taoism is to live naturally, stay in balance, and in harmony with Nature.

darx888..... If you cannot find the answer in the book, then you will never find the answer. Perhaps you go ask the author what they all meant by him....!!!

My thought of the day: The possession of knowledge is not to demonstrate how much one knows. It is a matter of digestion and application. Ignoring the facts blurs the foreseeing intellectual focus. One with an open mind can behold a panorama blindfolded. Finally, the denial of the unwanted truth is a move for the deprivation of learning.

You welcome... BTW This float chart is more comprehensible and updated with modern terminologies I've seen so far....

Beijing Form 24 step Tai Chi

Why is Tai Ji Quan is a form of QiGong....??? Let's determine what is QiGong...!!! What are the commonalities of both arts...??? Let's give it an observation from a point of view of someone without any martial arts knowledge. The movements are performed gracefully and slowly and the breathing is deep and slow. The final product of both arts was to develop the inner body strength by putting the emphasis on breathing. Therefore, let's ask a question. Is QiGong a method in cultivating energy or breathing....??? As I said before, the final product was to develop the inner body energy. In order to accomplish the development of the body energy. One must need to breathe properly. It is there was a famous saying for all martial arts： 氣沉丹田，chi sunk deep into the dan tien. Another words, breathe deep into the dan tian. How do I derive to this conclusion...??? It all depends how one interpret the character 氣(Qi). Is it "energy" or "breath"....??? If one would like to interpret the character Qi as "energy", then, QiGong is cultivating energy. If one assumed that QiGong is a method to develop energy through breathing, then, it implies that QiGong has no energetic effect without breathing. Hence, QiGong is the ultimate method of breathing in developing energy. The ultimate goal of breathing was to be breathing slowly and breathe as much air as possible into the lungs. In order to do so, one must breathe deeply to expand the abdomen to flatten the diaphragm which allow the lungs to increase in volume. Another thing to be considered was to allow ample of time for the oxygen to be collected by the red blood cells. It can be accomplished by breathing slowly. Indeed, all QiGong practitioners must take the ultimate method of breathing into consideration. Otherwise, it will not be considered that one was practicing QiGong.

Could you please translate the following: 間，昂首振羽間，昂首振羽 In between, in between raise the head and vibrate the wings, raise the head and vibrate the wings 將白鶴的振翅、撲翼、抖翎、晾羽、纏脖、鳴叫等動作，揉合在少林 Let the vibrating wings of the white crane, swing the wings, tremble the plume, hing dry the feather, wind the neck, and scream and etc., integrate these moves as Shaolin(少林). Figure 1: In the Chinese Tao religion "xing, chi, shen" are the three basic criteria as a whole in the observation of the human body structure. 練精化氣: refine jing into chi 練氣化神: refine chi into shen 形: form 氣: energy 神: the spirit or the soul of the human body 軀體結構: body structure 生命結構: vital structure 心理結構: psychological structure 物質: substance 能量: energy 信息: information; signal; intelligence.