Bubbles

Hey Stigweard, I am not Chen xin (too bad )!. So you are free to use it

Hi Stigweard, Taijiquan is Taijiquan be it Chen or Yang. In The illustrated canon of Chen Family Taijiquan by Chen Xin, one can read p 215 that "Hence to practice Taiji boxing successfully, you need to move all parts of the body simultaneously to gain an advantageous position in accord with your pulse and breath, using opening and closing" The video of Chen Zhenglei you show in your article says it all. Chen Xiaowang talks about the principles of movements (Yundong Guilu) as follow: * Dantian is at the heart of body movement * Once a part moves, the whole body moves * Joint by joint energy threads through * Thus the force transmits unimpeded in one action The so called Chen stylists you refer to who advocate the contrary should go back to the basics.

+1 I know someone who had received some numerous testimonies from monks. He says the very same things as you. Unless one is a very balanced person and do it out of a true inner calling, rushing into monasteries is just as delusional as everything else. One is just bringing into the monastery his own mental problems. There is no external escape from what plagues our self.

Hi Everything, This is my 2cts worth as a quick note in the middle of my busy days. I was caught in the same bad trip as you seem to be and found no relief at all in all the self-help and self-empowering mental methods. But as soon as I began qigong, I was filled with more and more energy to a point where all this mental turmoil vanished. My energetic system was more balanced, my organs well nourished with fresh energy. Consequence: I had again some will power(zhi), clearer thinking to get things done properly. My conclusion is: cultivate qi without too much thinking and see for yourself. Everything (no pun intended but find it good ) is qi-based. Be well

Those are copyrighted books. TTB doesn't allow file sharing of copyrighted works. You can't offer what is not yours: you own a copy of each book but not the right to share it freely while still owning the physical copy.

Yes, but the explanatory drawings have been removed in the smaller book. I also just realize that I made mistakes, sorry for the confusion : W.Liao's method is also different from Dr Yang's. Dr Yang advise to breath (inhale/exhale) through the palms/soles where as W. Liao advise to inhale through the nose and exhale through the palms/soles. The six gates breathing is a synthesis made by a student of W.Liao (Jake Frakin,OMD) based on what Liao taught him and on what he learned with other masters. Best qi

Hi, You can read Chuang-tzu (text found here :My link) 1.Section 3: Lord Wen hui is meeting the cook Ting and is admiring of his technique and mastery in cutting an ox. Here it is about how our body is far beyond our common thinking when it comes to intelligence and efficiency in getting things done properly. 2. Some quotes about the different levels in our functioning. To be at our best, we should follow a specific way of functioning that breaks off with intentionality, will power (inferior way) because it is a faulty way. We should enter the superior way (Heaven's way) by oblivion of our intentional driven self: From section 18: "When a drunken man falls from a carriage, though the carriage may be going very fast, he won't be killed. He has bones and joints the same as other men, and yet he is not injured as they would be, because his spirit is whole. He didn't know he was riding, and he doesn't know he has fallen out. Life and death, alarm and terror do not enter his breast, and so he can bang against things without fear of injury. If he can keep himself whole like this by means of wine, how much more can he keep himself whole by means of Heaven! The sage hides himself in Heaven - hence there is nothing that can do him harm. From section 17, but one can ponder over the whole section !:"Hence it is said: the Heavenly is on the inside, the human is on the outside. Virtue resides in the Heavenly. Understand the actions of Heaven and man, base yourself upon Heaven, take vour stand in virtue , and then, although you hasten or hold back, bend or stretch, you may return to the essential and speak of the ultimate." "What do you mean by the Heavenly and the human?" Jo of the North Sea said, "Horses and oxen have four feet - this is what I mean by the Heavenly. Putting a halter on the horse's head, piercing the ox's nose - this is what I mean by the human. So I say: do not let what is human wipe out what is Heavenly; do not let what is purposeful wipe out what is fated; do not let [the desire for] gain lead you after fame. Be cautious, guard it, and do not lose it - this is what I mean by returning to the True." The whole Tchuang-tzu is worth reading. It sheds a different light on your question which is about focusing etc.. but don't be fooled by the names. If it is disturbing, some buddhist texts might help more. The whole idea is to do nothing and not to let things undone. Hope it helps a bit though

Hi anamatva, You can find explanations about it in Dr Yang publications, especially Understanding Qigong DVD6- Martial arts Qigong Breathing and in some various books by him. But also in W.Liao T'ai Chi classics. The difference is that he adds 2 'gates' : huiyin and bahui points. So it is not four gates breathing but six.

Hi anamatva, You can find some instructions about bone breathing ('condensing breathing' in the book) in Waysun Liao T'ai Chi classics pp 21-27. Shambhala Publ.1990 (an extract of this book as been published under the name 'the essence of t'ai chi', cheaper and with the practice I mention inside) He doesn't go into all the details you can find in M.Chia's nei kung but my teacher recommends this practice, he learned it from a disciple of W.Liao. There may be layers and levels in it, but until now I didn't had access to them. Hope it helps

IMHO power is not a problem. It is most natural to seek power, because power is of Life, Heaven and Earth. Problems arise when power is misused. It begins with believing that power is really yours while it is Heaven and Earth's manifestation when you strike the right cords. Said in another way, being powerful is not a problem, it is healthy.Not being your own master when your are powerful is a problem. While you are seeking power, beginning to obtain it, and still being honest with yourself; you may find that the more you have it the less you are really needing it for yourself; you may find yourself exchanging with, giving your energy to your environment. You may find yourself shifting from the view that power was something you needed for yourself to the fact that power is for service. So go for it and stay honest with yourself. Be well

What a beautiful Natalie Jean! Congrats to you Scott and to your wife. Looks like your Neikung practice has supercharged your jing. Be well!

It is my impression too. Thank you for this post and your testimonial about the Dalai Lama.

Well, at some point gut instinct and common sense chime in as good safeguards.This is not being silly. When needed, you know what to do to return to your self and this is not by having "super high energy magic power granting practices".

Hi Sloppy Zhang, For how long have been practicing with B.K.Frantzis's material and what are the benefits you get from it- given that it is said to be low energy range material? Thanks

Same as you. After being in Buddhism for some time I quit to Daoism but now I find Chinese pragmatism very skillful in taking the best of both in Ch'an. _/\_

Do you have any information about why she passed away so early in life? Sounds like a lot of HT senior instructors are passing away despite of all the practices. Any imbalances in HT curriculum or a curse thrown on them?

I know that... I will spell out my point again for the sake of clarity and to the best of my ability: 1.Xian Tian bagua represents the pre-celestial state of the universe. In this precelestial state, yin and yang are perfectly balanced: you can see that each trigram in the circular arrangement is balanced by its opposite. You have for each pair exactly, 3 yang lines and 3 yin lines. No dynamism, nothing that denotes coming or going, SO no directions. 2. Hou Tian Bagua represents a post-celestial state. It is our world. Hence you have all the down to earth features you want. You have seasons, you have terrestial magnetism etc,SO it makes total sense to have directions. This is the general and basic principles of my understanding and this is the basis of my humble practice of some the arts that unfold from there. I know you don't take it. So just leave it. I was just pointing out something that I find important to remember, but after all, I should say: let it be!

When you account for linking South to Qian (Heaven) by using Sun's position, you do that... Look at the cause consequence link you put in your sentence.. (I have put it in bold).. no? I mean you use Sun's position as a medium to link South to Qian, so it implies that you make an association between Sun and Qian because they are both yang. Am I correct?

Sun is yang, Heaven is yang but Sun is not necessarily Heaven. This is exactly where I think things are mixed up between Xian Tian and Hou Tian. Sun (Li) stands for Heaven (Qian) in the postcelestial state (Hou Tian Bagua). It is true that Sun is the yang-est when in South, it is a physical reality. But when it comes to precelestial state (Xian Tian), attributing South to Qian is only a metaphorical association, not a geographical linked feature. Why? Because Xian Tian describes the cosmos in its original state. We find confirmation of this in a lot of internal alchemy texts (neidan). First one has to work with Li and Kan (postcelestial, Hou Tian) in order to extract from them True Yang and True Yin and find access to Qian and Kun (precelestial state, Xian Tian). The way you translate Xian Tian and Hou Tian ( which btw goes against the way numerous scholars from various fields from Classical medicine, Feng Shui to Alchemy, translate them) creates an intellectual obstacle. (Post you wrote, number 38 of this thread) Since you don’t accept the term “Heaven”, then you can’t access to the metaphysical and cosmological meanings. It is ok with me but when you talk about having an open mind (post you wrote, number 60 of this thread) it should first and foremost lead to broaden the meaning scope of your translations. Good bye, it is fun to have you as a sparring partner.

Dear al. Thank you for taking the time to provide an answer. My point is just to say that there is a difference between Xian Tian and Hou Tian beyond the trigram arrangement difference. I was taught that one of main characteristic of the former is that it is not directional. I won't prolong this discussion endlessly because it has already diverted people from the main topic introduced by our friend lienshan. If time permits I will try (this is not a promise) to write a last post on it giving a more in depth explanation without breaking the non disclosure agreement I entered with my teacher. _/\_

South, I thought you would know.

I am afraid the ultimate meaning of Taoist philosophy is well summarized by Wittgenstein words " What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence." 7th proposition of the Tractatus Logico-philosophicus. We could with a little mental effort make a difference between violence and the use of force. This was my point: because violence could be primarily defined by the intention to harm while the use of force could be just functional when the situation requires it and not when ego motives chime in.

There is no problem with innovation and evolution but Baguas are not just for our personal likes and dislikes. Everyone is entitled to project on them what he likes but they are supposed to have some metaphysical knowledge embedded within them that has some consistency. The fact that Baguas have several layers of meaning to be unveiled is a fact and openness is indeed required but not at the expense of some kind of logic. More importantly, Baguas are also tools one can use for sensitive and precise purposes. As an example, you can find them in Luo pans. In the West, Luo pans are mistakenly confused with their most obvious use: taking directions with a compass; but they were before that time measurement tools, and they are also much more than that. For all these use, one need to know what is what.

Dear ChiDragon, It is not so simple! Sometimes engaging exterior war is the Way, sometimes not. Being internally peaceful doesn't contradict with strong external actions. Perhaps you have already read this in your Chinese books. No? The Way is smarter than our petty mental labels and categories.

Yes, this is a brilliant post: cause and effect link is the best teacher one can have. Only complete understanding of the link will provide answers and way to dissolve jealousy.