ChiDragon

I like your opened mind about the last statement. If we look at Chi microscopically, with the help of modern science, I would say Chi is the biochemical energy produced by the mitochondria in the body cell called adenosine triphosphate(ATP). For those who practice Chi Kung should know something about physiology based on this statement: "positive health effects of deep conscious breathing."

How about "do no thing to cause harm" as oppose to "do nothing to cause harm" ...???

Wu Wei is not "do nothing" rather "do nothing to cause harm" When a wise scholar hears the Tao, He practices it diligently. When a mediocre scholar hears the Tao, He wavers between belief and unbelief. When a worthless scholar hears the Tao, He laughs boisterously at it. Question: Is there such thing as a worthless scholar. If a scholar is worthless, is he a scholar...???

Non... I am totally agree with robmix. "And seriously, how many posts do we need to see with people injuring themselves after learning these practices from a book. This is one of the reasons they were secret for so long." What you are doing is jumping the gun. What you are now is just an ordinary person without and practice of Chi Kung. Do you know that you must practice many years of Chi Kung to build up your libido and perform sex without hurting yourself...??? Reading something from a book and start practicing some unknown method which you are not ready for and unfamiliar with is very dangerous to your health.

Thank you very much for your honest answer telling the truth about yourself. 1. You have phantom side pains in your lower abdomen, how does it bother you...??? How often do you feel this pain...??? Are you taking any medication for it or does it help...??? 2. In your mediation, were you thinking about something all the time...??? Or, you don't think of anything at all...??? Do you do any special breathing while meditate...??? 3. Yes, please can you elaborate more on item #3. 4. This seems to be yourself worse weakness. I think you can overcome that by follow the principles of Tao. Tao is natural. Natural has an implication of being neutral. What I can see is that your issue was immanent. If you can meditate in a neutral state, that will help you to put your mind at ease. Why don't you answer questions #2 and #3, then we go from there...

"Yes I am an angry person." 1. Can you tell us your health condition...??? 2. What did you do in your meditation...??? 3. Can you tell something more about your anger...??? 4. What triggered your anger the most in the past..???

It seems like you have reached the ultimate goal of Chi Kung. Just make it your normal breathing habit then you got it made.

Those who did natural breathing or chest breathing, in Chi Kung practice, but not abdominal breathing: Did your health improve and how did it improve resulted from your practice...???

FYI.... Chest breathing is not a complete form of Chi Kung. It is because, chest breathing is still under the control of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. If you are lack of oxygen, the heart will pump faster and breathe faster. Only abdominal breathing was mind controlled. Due to abdominal breathing, ample of oxygen provided to circulate in the blood, the heart do not have to do extra work by beating faster than normal.

That is correct...... How did you know....???

FD... The reason I posted thread was because I had noticed that some of the people were doing the abdominal breathing incorrectly. My intent here is not to criticize someone's breathing method but to corrected it as I see fit. I had practice Taiji for more the thirty years. Then I switched to Chi Kung for simplicity. By your description of doing your abdominal breathing was not quiet correct, that was why it was extremely hard for you to even do ten abdominal breaths. You were totaly exhausted when reaching 20. The problem you are having was because you were fighting your breathing in a very unnatural way. May I recommend you do the following. 1. Do not count how many times of breathing because that will make you loose concentration. 2. You just close your eyes and look down toward the tip of your nose. You just relax and breathe as slow as you can and deep as you can. Don't even think about that you are doing abdominal breathing. Just let the breath stop where ever it can until you are very comfort without any dizziness. You just have to let your breath go down slowly, until one day, reaches your abdomen. Another word, in the meantime, do not force your breath down to your abdomen. Remember, your breath must go down from your nose, throat, chest then abdomen. Do not skip or force your breath from throat to abdominal, literally speaking. Your breath only goes into your lungs but the abdomen. Abdominal breathing was only a description that your lungs were full of air at the highest capacity.

Let me tell my own breathing problem history. I had a breathing problem when I was a teenager. My breaths were so shallow. I cannot even finish a sentence with one breath. Therefore, I took TaiJi lessons, the Yang style 108 movements. I was told not to concentrate on my breathing as a beginner, but just do the movements and let them guide my breathing.

Let me start with my own breathing history. I had a breathing problem when I was a teenager. My breaths were so shallow. I cannot even finish a sentence with one breath. Therefore, I took Tai Chi lessons, the Yang style 108 movements. I was told not to concentrate on my breathing as a beginner, but just do the movements and let them guide my breath. After years of practice, my breaths get deeper progressively down to my abdomen. Abdominal breathing is the highest goal that a Chi Kung practitioner wants to achieve. Then it will become a natural habit in ordinary breathing. Just breathe like a baby. The goal of abdominal breathing has been reached. Now, I can complete one sentence with one breath and with extra breaths left. Now, I can sing like a tenor with a full vocal range. My body has a tremendous strength to do my daily chores. My reflexes are swift and fast. I can catch a falling object from the table before it reaches the floor. It was just a normal reaction without thinking which might cause hesitation. Also, I can shop up a chicken, in five minutes, in an orderly serving fashion on a plate. My reaction are much quicker then an ordinary person.

My main diet are chicken, fish, green vegetables, and almond or other nuts for my snacks. Most importantly, breathe in lots of oxygen by abdominal breathing as my normal breathing habit. Eating alone does not give you energy, it must be the combination of eating and breathing.

Taoist philosophy with Wu Wei is the way to go for me.

To answer question #1 will answer all the rest of the questions except #8. I think you had said it all "body movements and breath will produce some noticeable energy movement". However, it needs to be rephrased: "body movements and breath will produce all the energy." All body movements were made up by someone or where else would they come from...??? They all cause muscle contraction which what is most effective in Chi Kung practice. It really doesn't matter what kind of movements that you do. It was the muscle contraction that was doing all the work to give you the health benefits. It goes the same to breathing, it doesn't matter how you breathe, the air goes into you lungs and collected by the read blood cells. To be more specific, actually, it was the platelets that was picking up the oxygen from the lungs and delivered to the body cells. If you are doing Chi Kung, you are doing internal arts already. If you would study the basics from physiology and how the body function you will know what I meant.

Sometime knowing the Truth hurts, what was the truth that had hurt you the most in your life time...???

Please keep in mind Qigong in Qigong. People would like you to think that theirs are different from others and come up with a fancy name. They claim they have special effects. But, hey, Qigong is breathing and body movements. What other popular Qigong do you see that doesn't do these two things.

1. I don't know. Very straight forward and honest answer. 2. Beyond that all my truths are small truths and constantly subject to change. If the small truths are constantly subject to change, then, the truth was uncertain all the time. Hence, the truth has not been found. 3. Only then can we hope to understand how to approach truth. This is seems like only a hope to understand how to approach truth but not to find the truth. 4. Being sincere, we can know the truth of who we are. Once this is disregarded, we can't know the difference between real and falseness in our own behaviour/actions and so are separated from who we truly are. This would also be the first step to being inaccessible to harmony with a more macrocosmic Truth. This seems to be very philosophical about the truth of who we are but not the truth itself. 5. "All truths are contingent upon context and consciousness" Ultimate truth is unsayable. This seems like only one's own truth but there is no real truth. 6. I am not sure about the Truth, as it is still a point of view no matter how deep. This seems like the Truth was only an opinion. My Truth is a thought that is most logical, supported by other known facts, indisputable within reason and beyond any unreasonable doubt.

Chapter 22 - Flexibility means survival 1. 曲則全， 2. 枉則直， 3. 窪則盈， 4. 敝則新, 5. 少則得， 6. 多則惑。 7. 是以聖人抱一， 8. 為天下式。 9. 不自見故明； 10.不自是故彰； 11.不自伐故有功； 12.不自矜故長； 13.夫唯不爭， 14.故天下莫能與之爭。 15.古之所謂： 16.「曲則全者」 17.豈虛言哉！ 18.誠全而歸之。 Translation in terse English: 1. Flexibility is a matter of survival, 2. Bent can be straightened, 3. Humble can be encompassed, 4. Dull can be varnished, 5. Lessen can be gained with more, 6. Greedy can become perturbed. 7. Only if a sage embrace One(Tao), 8. Becomes the model of all. 9. Not dogmatic then is more revealing; 10. Not smug then was distinguished; 11. Not vainglorious then was credited with honor; 12. Not restrained then will last long. 13. Hence, only not striving, 14.Then, there will be no one in the world to be challenged. 15. The ancient saying: 16. "If yielding is a matter of survival" , 17. How can it be just empty talk! 18. It was really can be accomplished.

zerostao.... Yes, LaoTze is very familiar with the Yi Jing. As a matter of fact, that was where he got the idea about Tao from. __ __ Yin _____ Yang Yin and Yang is Tao.

When you combine Taoist with Buddhism, then you are talking about the Taoist religion. In the religion aspect, a Taoist do teaches us to accept death as a natural phenomenon but does not teach suffering as part of life like a Buddhist. A Taoist want to preserve and prolong the life of the body and to live naturally without suffering in life. That is why a Taoist practice Chi Kung and develop medicine to cure the illness for others. I said for others is because a Taoist knows how to preserve his body and hardly get sick. However, they know people do get sick, thus they like to help to cure the people that are sick.

1. If I have a poison in me with no way out, then, the best thing I can do is to counteract it with something that is more potent. I am going to die anyway; what do I got to loose. 2. Exactly, "a tooth for a tooth" is thought of avenge, e.g. if your took my tooth, I'll do the same to you. If kill my father, I'll do the same. PS... Please note this is not what I'm advocating. It's only a matter of translation to bring the idea across. I think the forum is a good thing to have. This has an advantage for the native speakers to bring in the original characters for clarifying some of the mistranslations and interpretations which done by non-native speakers. Thank you, Sean...!!!

"道家学说" If there is such a word as "Taology" for the study of Taoism, then I would translate it as "The Taoist words from a Taologist."