松永道

Good. Book knowledge can provide form, but body wisdom is the substance. Like water and a cup. The cup is an empty edifice without water but water needs a cup to contain it, bring it place to place. As for the misconceptions on Ren Mai, the front channel, many TCM people get it confused. It is numbered up from the Huiyin point to the head, so some people think it flows bottom to top. Don't be confused though, the Ren Mai no more flows bottom to top than nourishment flows from seedling down the root. Roots grow down, but bring nourishment up. The Ren Mai grows up, but brings nourishment down. Like all vessels it emerges from the lower dantian, like shoots from a seed, some stems some roots, some flow away like Du Mai to the brain, some flow back, like Ren Mai to the gut. But don't get too concerned about the flow and orbit. Things really flow because of abundance, not mind stuff. No need to trick yourself. Water the seed and it will grow. Develop the dantian and MCO will flow.

For cooking herbs, it's best to use a clay pot. Some herbal agents will even react with stainless steel - though I forget which ones off hand. I'm pretty sure baizhu, huangqi, and danggui aren't anyhow. These are pretty safe herbs, but just as a reminder - tonic herb don't just mean herbs that can be taken whenever for anyone. Yin/Blood tonic herbs will cause dampness in a system with inadequate digestion, or even in a healthy body if taken in large enough doses or for a long enough time. Yang/Qi tonics misused will cause pathological heat that can burn up the body's Yin reserves. We see plenty of Yin deficient middle-aged men in the clinic who drink, smoke, and then - to be more of a man, hah! - take yang tonics on top of that. When Yin is deficient, it fails to hold Yang, so bodies can seem Yang deficient that are actually Yin deficient. Prescribing Yang tonics in this situation just pushes them one step closer to the grave. A healthy body can tolerate and adjust for misapplication, just not forever. There's a saying in Chinese "Chi yao san fen du" - eating herbs is three parts poison. In general, it's best to take a note from one of China's most important herbalists Sun Simiao. He said use food to treat illness, use herbs only when foods won't suffice. If you're young, relatively healthy, and poor - try herbs for fun, for an experiment, for curiosity - but make food your medicine.

Qi is everything. Qi is matter, energy, and consciousness. That's the broadest definition. However, it doesn't always refer to everything. The first division is Yin and Yang, it determines relationship quality. The second division is Three Treasures, Jing, Qi, and Shen. These describe a spectrum, gross to subtle. Jing gross, heavy, material and physical. Shen is subtle, light and immaterial. Qi fills the gray area in between. The third division is Five Movements. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. Four of these are dynamic states. Wood is emerging, sprouting, rising, Spring. Fire is floating, expanding, Summer. Metal is sinking, collecting, Fall. Water is storing, concealing, containing, Winter. Earth is the pivot of transformation. It is the environment upon which the seasons act, and it's also the transformation agent. The division carries on and on. It's all Qi. Perhaps with the exception of Dao, Qi is the broadest concept in ancient Chinese thought.

Thanks. In terms of TCM/Daoist Qi anatomy the left and back are yang, the right and front are yin. Yang rises and carries blood/nutritive Qi with it. Yin descends and carries Qi/Defensive Qi. Qi rising or rebelling upwards is an abbreviated term for Qi stagnating or rising up the Yin areas - front and right. Incidentally, one of the common reasons for Qi failing to descend is deficient Kidney/Lower field/Lower Dantian function. Another common cause is emotional stagnation in the Liver network. Very interesting to observe these two systems correspond in important ways.

Scotty, I'm not familiar with the anatomy of Yoga energetics. Could you please elaborate a bit on the sun and moon channels? Thanks.

Unless you're a tummo adept, don't try that one at home. Good way to mess up your knees among other things.

I agree, this book is excellent. I found it rather like a cookbook. Heavy on practices, light on theory. A very good cook book nonetheless. Sections on Medical, Daoist, Buddhist and Martial qigong. The Root of Chinese Qigong by Yang Jwing-Ming is a good book for fundamental theories in qigong. For familiarization with Chinese medicine, The Web that has No Weaver is a great introduction. Holographic Universe is about the holographic theory which basically states that every part of the universe is a unique reflection of the whole. Same patterns manifesting at different levels. Very Daoist. And if you're looking to clean up your diet, Healing with Whole Foods is a pretty excellent book on dietary therapy that integrates concepts from western nutrition, TCM, and Ayurveda. Any specific interests?

You are assuming I want to 'debate' on this forum with these two bit experts, it would be best if you didn't assume such things my friend. You're assuming that was only for you. The comment, like any incoming energy, can strike, can be blocked, can be avoided, or can be transformed.

Could you please elaborate on this? I've never heard of this exercise.

Taijiquan, as a martial art, is a philosophical system of martial application. Just how deeply someone has cultivated is not only evident in his/her push hands or free sparring but is also demonstrated in other outlets, like debating on this forum.

Taijiquan, from the very outset, was developed for three reasons: Health Cultivation Martial Cultivation Dao Cultivation Whether or not it was created by the alchemist Zhang Sanfeng, it was almost certainly created by Daoists versed in neidan/neigong cultivation and the martial arts. Health cultivation nourishes life. Martial cultivation protects life. Dao cultivation is the meaning of life. But can Taijiquan fulfill these goals? A complete system that includes gonfu conditioning, form work, techniques, push hands and free application can fulfill the first two goals. As for Dao cultivation, Taijiquan has it's limitations but serves as an avenue into neigong/dandao work. As for Taijiquan and Yoga similarities, the basic goals of Yoga are similar. Of course, Yoga is not a martial art. However, both systems have mechanical similarities. Both systems emphasize the extreme importance of Huiyin/root lock/Mula Bondha for instance. Both emphasize a relaxed neck and lowered shoulders. The breathing is different, but breathing differs between different Yoga styles as well. To my understanding, Yogic breathing focuses on the middle dan, hearth and lungs. Taiji breathing centers on the lower dan. In Chinese medicine, it's said the Heart is the only organ which must be emptied to be full. Taiji empties the Heart by sinking the qi. Yoga clears the heart with breathing. I cannot comment on the upper levels of cultivation work. But at lower levels, I find the practices to be similar, if not complementary. Though I primarily practice Taijiquan now, I have practiced Yoga a good deal in the past and still enjoy certain Yoga asanas, downward dog, snake, twists, etc. However, as Taijiquan can be practiced in any condition, wearing any shoes/cloths, and is a system based in upright movement, I find it more practical and transferable to normal everyday activities.

There were two Zhang Sanfeng. One from the Jin/Yuan period and the other Ming period. Some claim these two were the same person, and that man lived for about 200 years. However, the Jin/Yuan Zhang Sanfeng practiced dual-cultivation, the Ming Zhang Sanfeng practiced solo cultivation learned from Huolong Zhenren. Zhang Sanfeng was as real as anyone in history can be real. However, just how much he had to do with the creating of Taijiquan or Neijiaquan is a matter of debate. Whoever did create Taijiquan had both knowledge and accomplishment in neidan cultivation and in martial arts. The custom of many Daoist monks was a philosophy of "leave no trace", you could say, so many teachers of the art asked students not to cast them on the pages of history. However, out of piety for the ancestors, they upheld that the tradition was created by Zhang Sanfeng. The Li family history reveals Chen Wangting learned Taiji in a temple, maintaining the Daoist transmission theory. However, as Chen Wangting was also a minor general who was accomplished in Hongquan, Chen-style Taiji displays obvious Hongquan influences, with cannon-fist, stomping, raised elbows, etc. Neighboring Zhaobao village, concurrently transmitted a Taiji style that has very similar movements to Chen-style but minus the Hongquan influence. Often Zhaobao, Wu, and Sun (Wu and Sun branched from Zhaobao) claim Jiang Fa brought Taijiquan to the area and taught both Chen Wangting and Xin Xihuai (the Zhaobao 2nd generation lineage holder). Whereas Chen Stylists claim either Jiang Fa learned the art from Chen Wangting or Chen Qingping (a 7th generation lineage holder claimed by both Zhaobao and Chen) moved to Zhaobao and started the Zhaobao tradition. Even the history of Chen Qingping (1795-1868) is pretty messy. Chen claim he studied Chen style because his name is Chen, although there were plenty of Chens outside Chen village. Zhaobao claims he studied Zhaobao style because he lived in Zhaobao and none of his students learned Chen style, though they did go on to create four different Zhaobao styles (Dailijia, Tengnuojia, Huleijia, Linglajia) and also Wu style. After this, things clear up and the lineages are pretty traceable. Chinese history is pretty good for chronicling names and places. But when it comes down to who these people were and exactly what they did, things can break down. It doesn't help matters that Chinese look to the past for legitimacy, the older, the better. There are plenty of qigong and even some Taiji teachers who claim their lineage goes back to Laozi or Huangdi which is really just silly. In the end, a real taiji system has three goals Health cultivation Martial cultivation Dao cultivation How it accomplishes these goals is described in the Taiji classics attributed to Zhang Sanfeng and Wang Zongyue. Wu Yuxiang, Chen Qingping's student who created the Wu lineage, also wrote a good treatise.

This picture is part of a movement, it is not a static posture.

Abundant mental and physical health is sexy. Not only have I noticed cultivation gets me more attention from the opposite sex (thanks to a better body, clearer mind, more open heart, and that intangible qi appeal), but I've noticed the types of women I'm attracted to has changed as well. Before, I was always attracted to thin, pretty, but otherwise crazy women. They weren't healthy and they often had wild tempers - but they complemented my imbalances. These relationships, though they had a certain volatility and magnetism that was very appealing, weren't healthy or stable and balanced like a house of cards, two cards leaning against one another. However, as I became balanced within myself, my preferences changed. I became attracted to women who were balanced in themselves. Totally lost interest in the headcase model types. Now I'm with a healthy, happy, self-confident woman, going on 3 years, and it feels like a balanced relationship between two more-or-less complete people rather than some lean-to between two people who "complete one-another." Like attracts like. It's true opposites attract too - but they attract opposites of the same quality.

What is the color Yellow? I've never seen it. Assuming I've never had any contact with anyone who had seen Yellow before, how would I ever learn to recognize or distinguish the color? I could read about it in books. I could imagine what they might be like, in my mind's eye perhaps I can even paint what the color Yellow might be. But how can I ever know for sure? Now lets say I find someone who knows what these colors look like. Can she set me strait then? Yes, but not with more words. I still need the experience. So what we can do is, when we find something Yellow, she can point it out. Ah-ha, so that's Yellow! Now what's the point of learning the color Yellow? ... If you want to skip right to the end, then yes, Yellow has nothing to do with emptiness. I could become enlightened without knowledge of Yellow. In this regard, words mean nothing, learning means nothing, so why bother? Lets just wallow in the emptiness we began in and never leave the womb! As you've apparently never undergone the practice of separating reality from illusion, I can understand how from your point of view, it's all the same. But rest assured, imaginary phenomenon and real phenomenon are just as different as dreams are from the waking day. And yet, babies and young children have trouble distinguishing the difference. But they learn to distinguish. Why? Because it's useful. Now, yogis say there is no difference, reality is a dream. Are they right? If they are, does that make distinguishing between dreams and the waking day any less useful? ... Now Gold, if I make ask, what is your beef with teachers and learning from others?

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know your body weight training routine. In which ways do you find it inadequate / make you want to get back to weight lifting?

Longhu Shan right?

I think your plan is completely awesome. The world needs more pastors/priests like you.

Wow. You completely missed the point. Settle your ego for a minute and read it again. You got completely absorbed into two sentences without even reading the whole comment. So this time I'll cut out any metaphors or examples and just say it plainly. Every practice is composed of form and substance. The teacher teaches you the form. You, through practice of the form, provide the substance. You then describe your experience and the teacher tells you if you're on the right track or not. Were he/she to simply tell you, "with this form you should feel a tingling move up from your tailbone and curl around your dantian", that's the sensation you'd look for and only that. Moreover, you'd probably create the sensation with your mind and mistake it for the real sensation. Your entire foundation would be fake, you'd be pushing your imagination around and fall deeper and deeper into illusion. This is why separating reality from lies is so important. And in order to do it, you can't know the answer beforehand. Yes there are selfish reasons to keep secrets as well, especially historically in the martial traditions (after all, technique was their technology), but there are also unselfish reasons, particularly among the enlightenment traditions.

That's great how supportive everyone is, but, sometimes the best support is not enabling delusion. Would anyone here want to learn from a teacher who just "knows stuff about meditations"? Meditation, especially, is a practice that doesn't bear its sweetest fruits for years. What if one of your students ends up hallucinating? Becoming bi-polar? Or otherwise loosing his marbles? Do you have the experience to spot these signs ahead of time or know how to fix them once they've manifested? Yoga instructor and physical trainer are both good suggestions. They are body/mind professions. And while you're doing this for a decade, you can be laying down your meditation gongfu. Meditation needs rooting in a good body anyway.

Timing is right. But it's not just a matter of the student shutting out the teaching. When we study math as children, do our teachers give us a problem only to directly answer it for us? Of course not, learning to solve problems is, after all, the point of education. The actual answer is pointless. Secrets are answers. And if you're simply handed the answers right away then what have you done? In Quanzhen Daoist cultivation (and I'm sure other systems as well), it is important to learn the practice first, and through practice, discover the inner workings. This is called separating reality from lies. Communication with the teacher is important because he/she will know if you're on the right or wrong course and can give you further instruction. If you knew what results to expect, your mind may easily create these sensations in lieu of actually practicing them into reality.

大家好， I feel the need to share the single best tool in my day to day China life. It's a program called "plecodict". Basically, it's just a dictionary that runs on a smart phone or PDA (windows or palm). Not only does it allow you to look up words in pinyin as fast as you can type them, you can also look up characters by writing them on the screen (saving the huge hassle of tracking the damn thing down by radical). Plus you can create your own user dictionaries (I've used this function to input my TCM notes for extremely handy reference). My apologies that this is a bit of a plug, but I have no association with this software other than owning a copy. The company was started by a single college student and seems to still be going strong (and still with just a handful of employees). The creator is incredibly active on his support forums and he's just seems like a good guy. Knowing that there will be a bigger and bigger market for Chinese dictionary software in the future, I'd just really like to see the little guy get a win.