松永道

Prior to arriving in China, my primary practice was spontaneous natural movement qigong. This was before I'd ever heard of Kunlun. Rather I learned it from a friend and it ranged from intuitive stretching and yoga postures to shaking, spiraling and twisting. Overall I really enjoyed it and opened up in new ways psychologically and emotionally. Then I learned Vipassana meditation. I began to contain energetic currents that before I would have allowed to push and pull my physical body. I understood the dichotomy: interior stillness, exterior motion; exterior stillness, interior motion. I watched the ten thousand things rise, fall, and return to the origin. When I arrived I was very curious about spontaneous movement qigong and asked many cultivators. Some simply said it's a side effect of energy cultivation best not to indulge in. Others said, as a tool, it's useful for resolving "xieqi" or pathogenic qi. However, everyone advised against it as a long term practice. So if spontaneous qigong is so fast, so powerful - why don't you find it in the spiritual systems of India or China? After further research, particularly of African religions, I discovered there where cultures that practiced spontaneous movement systems. But their main objective is different - it's possession. In Africa and other shamanic cultures, dancing, shaking, spontaneous practices exist to invite the spirit or gods into your body. PS. On cathartic experiences, every system will produce them. But they aren't discussed as such in the classics. The old sages tended to be rather stoic - at least on the bamboo slats, scrolls, and stones. However, eating bitter (suffering difficulty) is mentioned a great deal, and any study of Daodejing should reveal the life of a sage was far from easy. PPS. Quieting the mind and the mysterious pass are different stages. For example at quiet mind, the ears still hear, but the mind doesn't rouse; at genuine stillness, the ears do not hear.

He'll figure it out. Or we'll have another book based in ideas rather than achievements. No offense findley, swift travels through the big-head phase. Po does that.

Results can vary quite a bit depending on the practitioner. Experience often plays a much greater role as well. As a rule, you'll get a better effect from a more experienced doctor. Personally, I think the idea of a community clinic is great for a young, inexperienced practitioner. They're cheap, can see a larger volume of patients, and can still get results. For acupuncture to really be effective, most disease patterns require treatment at least 2 if not 3 times a week. In a inexpensive, community setting, more people can do that.

For the most part, I agree, Chinese medicine must work alongside western medicine. However, I certainly wouldn't say western medicine is absolutely necessary for treating cancer. Chinese medicine can, has, and continues to bring cancer cases into remission and even completely cure. However, the doctors who have done this tend to be the Lao Zhongyi (the old doctors) and I haven't heard of a single one who has treated cancer without at least some use of herbs. Nevertheless, Western medicine is the Law in the US - work with it, or don't work. And certainly western medicine is better for certain, especially fast acting and dramatic, treatments. It's funny, in America, most people think of acupuncture first when they think of CM. But in Chinese practice, herbs are used for the bulk of internal problems (though acupuncture may be used in concert for even better effect).

If you're smart and glowing the right people will know. The bigger problem is for you to out who's on the level. Being overly eager or overly skeptical could get you into trouble. Be yourself, your best one, and trust your instincts. Then what will be will be. Studying Chinese isn't expensive. If you can afford it, I say if you find a city you like, give it a semester. In that time you can get a foothold in the language and get to know who's who in the city. The Chinese, almost as a rule, keep outsiders out and insiders close. Once you get into a social network, it's clear sailing. And as a westerner you'll be afforded leeway for inevitable faux pas. As for connections, teachers of your TCM masters program would be a good place to start. I owe the bulk of my good fortune to my stateside Qigong master. Get an introduction from one of your teachers and you'll be on easy street. If you don't have the connections going over, best put your faith in Yuanfen. If you have a good practice and a good heart, things will work out. Good luck, SYD

Three beautiful cities. Honestly the type of doctor you're looking for could be found anywhere, though everywhere you go, they'll be hard to find. Speaking Chinese definitely helps. Having connections helps even more. How much time are you willing to invest?

Thanks for posting this. The collection grows..

Personally, I think scientific method is one of the great, defining philosophies of the modern age. But, it also has it's limitations. More particularly, we have our limitations in how we can apply it. You say, "Feeling qi doesn't mean that every aspect of Chinese Medicine is accurate!" I agree. And the same can be applied to the relationship between scientific method and western medicine. Feeling Qi is actually the greatest foundation one can have going into the study of Chinese medicine. Personal cultivation, transforming your own body into an instrument and laboratory is the essence of Chinese medicine. This, combined with clinical empirical evidence, is how Chinese medicine developed over the past 5,000 years. In actuality, they have used and continue to use the scientific method. Starting with theory, a hypothesis, Doctors conducted experiments (clinical trials), analyzed the results, and modified theories. The main difference is just how experiments were conducted. In the case of Chinese medicine, they treat individual people, not diseases. It can also be prohibitively slow. And finally, the medicine places a huge emphasis on prevention, potentially decades before a disease significantly manifests - which owing to the aforementioned individuality of the patient, is nearly impossible to test. Do I think every aspect of Chinese medicine is accurate? Of course not. But it can provide a terrific foundation and vocabulary for the Qi experience (indeed, TCM theory is the foundation of higher neigong theories). It is a tool that can structure and communicate your experience and be used to help others in the process. It also opens the doors to a 5,000 year old learning community (especially if you learn to read the classics in Chinese) for further contemplation and personal improvement. Keep you skepticism. Seriously. Blind faith is dangerous zealotry no matter the philosophy. Just trust personal experience - it is your first and only laboratory. And any philosophy is empty without it. SYD

Chinese Buddhism has a pair of terms, Shi Yan and Shi Ren. Shi Ren literally means loose the person. Shi Yan means loose the words. To "loose the person" means miss an opportunity to share helpful words. To "loose the words" means to speak upon unwilling, unable or otherwise closed ears. ... If you're genuinely interested, go prove it for yourself. Otherwise don't bother. The medical path, traditional and modern both, requires a great deal of commitment. And they share another commonality - occasionally, they just don't work.

TCM doesn't fit well into the western model of laboratory testing, nor the western medical business model for that matter (you can't patent plants or techniques). That said there are quite a few interesting studies out there. Look for some of the ones on animal testing. Regardless the ethical issues, acupuncture success with rats, etc certainly rules out the placebo effect (though the placebo is anything to be scoffed at either). Most of the best journals are Chinese or Japanese, though some of the articles get translated over. As for what I've seen, in my teacher's clinic over here, he's helped patients cure diabetes, high-blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, and infertility to name a few. I had another professor back in the states who became a CM doctor because of his experience curing testicular cancer through herbs, acupuncture, and qigong. Another problem introducing TCM to America is people (edit: ie patients) lack the attention span, commitment, and ability to endure hardship for healing (ie pain from needles, bitter medicines, boiling medicines, etc). Real cure requires real commitment. The gongfu mantra applies equally to medicine, "xian ku, hou tian" - first bitter, then sweet. SYD

Read on.. 无名天地之始，有名万物之母 wu ming tian di zhi shi, you ming wan wu zhi mu nameless, the genesis of heaven and earth; named, the mother of ten thousand things 此两者，同出而异名，同为之玄 ci liang zhe, tong chu er yi ming, tong wei zhi xuan The two [named and unnamed], concurrently arise but have differed names, both are called profound It is ironic and it isn't. Paradox is at the heart of Dao. To talk or not talk. To be confused or to understand. These are both Dao. There is nothing un-Dao about Taobums, nor is there anything Dao about it. Buddhists often deride Daoists for their binary philosophy of Yin and Yang, though originally, they share the same foundation. You are correct, the Dao that can be described isn't the eternal Dao.. BUT the Dao that can be described is ALSO the eternal Dao.

I hear Hangzhou is beautiful, still haven't made my way down. I study Chinese medicine, Taijiquan, neigong etc in Xi'an. If you're studying Longmenpai cultivation, then we are using the same vocabulary - though I've studied significantly less than 14 years! Anyhow, if you need another set of eyes to offer comments on your articles, PM me. Good luck, SYD

I've met a few British priests who have trained in China (can't recall their names sorry), but it's a small island right? Small in terms of Dao anyway. Maybe you should try to contact them. Or maybe, if you're feeling adventurous, you should come to China and learn to become a priest yourself. Also, your Master seems to be developing a nice relationship with the Spanish community, why draw him away to England? There are plenty of masters in China who would probably jump at the opportunity. Why not bring more priests to Europe?

Ultimately I agree with Gold.. well aside from his self-appointment as the wisest guy here... But the distinction between teaching skills verses wisdom is a good one. Obviously wisdom can't be taught, it's esoteric. And were it even possible to capture true wisdom in a doctrine, it would be like hanging a picture of your bedroom window over the window itself. There's no life in the picture, no light, no change. And so follows the Daoist saying - Laozi was the wisest man because his teacher never taught him anything. Now, on Wang Liping, it should be obvious that he's teaching skills at these seminars. But does that disqualify him from being a "wisdom master"? The two are no more mutually exclusive than wisdom and any other profession. There are wise businessmen, bartenders, farmers and house-painters. And any interaction, especially with genuinely wise people, can incite your own wisdom. SYD

I'm simultaneously heartened and ashamed to be included here. Especially among folks like Santiago, Dao Zhen, and Lin Ai Wei who are such amazing contributors with evident knowledge and experience in their words. And a dude like drew hempel, mad-scientist of inner alchemy. For me, I've only entered the door, and have so little to give that my name here can only be a testament to hours spent evading practice. My heart goes out to this community. I really think it's a good thing. So many people come here looking. And some find just a little bit, enough to click and get started. I guess people like these are my favorite Taobums. People like Pranaman who came here searching and found confidence in a practice. And people like Mewtwo who came and are still looking.. There's a notion that students deserve their teachers (or lack thereof). And that somehow their Karma, De, virtue, whatever you might call it, is unfit or unable to distinguish oblique from upright. I had a lot of trouble coming to terms with this idea. But now I can see, the search is where cultivation begins. And over a long and genuine search all lesser motivations fall away. Only the upright last. Then it's just practice. Making the upright into reality. Best of luck everyone, especially the searching, SYD

The internet? Books? Who cares. The guy is a complete con-man. Don't waste a second thought wondering about him.

Oh, I almost forgot, The reason ancient Daoists chose to go through "Bigu" was to defeat the three Chong. Chong means worm or parasite. The Chinese simplified character is 虫, the traditional variant is three of the simplified put together 蟲. Why three? Because there are three Chong in the body which basically correspond to the three Dan Tian. The upper Chong feeds on excessive thinking. The lower Chong feeds on excessive sex. The middle Chong feeds on excessive eating. Bigu is an effort to kill these Chong.

We have pretty little information on ancient diet. "Bigu" literally translated as not eating grain generally meant a practice not a diet. If you ask a modern Daoist about Bigu they view it as a type of fasting where, for a period of time, you eat almost nothing, do specific practices, etc. Not just not eating grains. Another side meaning of Bigu had to do with removing oneself from society. Grain, especially polished white rice, was the food of ancient Chinese society. It was processed, stored, and otherwise a symbol of man's way as opposed to the way of nature. In this sense, Bigu was a way of cutting your community ties. Now personally, I find the modern "no carb" diet a compelling revival of the Bigu concept. I personally tried it for two months, eating plenty of complex carbs in form of vegetables and beans and also plenty of meat. After a rough first two weeks, my body adjusted to the slow burn and I felt lighter, stronger, and more energetic than ever. It's also effective for estranging you from society! So many social interactions revolve around eating. At the time I wasn't ready to cook every meal alone, too young, too soon. Following said diet heavily combats a disease pattern Chinese medicine calls dampness. Dampness, interpreted through a western lens often means a bacterial or fungal overgrowth in the digestive track - the most famous is candida. "Sweet flavor enters the Spleen Network" The Spleen network covers many digestive functions, most notably pancreatic function. Too much sweet flavor harms the Spleen network. Diabetes is one pathological development of too much sweet flavor, another is Candida. In the case of Candida and other dampness related problems, too much sweet flavor harms the Spleen, the Spleen looses it's ability to properly transform incoming food into Blood and Qi. The untransformed food accumulates in the Intestines and transforms into Dampness. Accumulating Dampness further hinders proper transformation of food into Blood and Qi and so further Dampness accumulates... Now in terms of western medicine, Candida thrives on the anaerobic metabolism of sugar. It even releases a signal molecules into our bodies that make us crave sugar. TCM recognizes that people with compromised Spleen function crave Sweet flavors. We keep eating sweets, Candida thrives, and the process continues. Candida hacks into our cravings to continue its proliferation! Dampness, is associated with grogginess, heaviness, and otherwise unclear feelings. It can accumulate in the lungs and sinuses causing asthma, coughing and/or sinus pressure. Over time it can get cooked into phlegm and further compromise the mind and sensory orifices. Indeed, Dampness can been seen as a direct competitor against enlightenment. It makes you heavy, not light; dull and dirty, not clear and clean. Following a diet that eliminates Dampness, like not eating simple carbs and starches, may be one of the best things we can do to complement a serious spiritual practice.

Good! Trade your screen for the trees. Trade these words for whistling birds. Wash your eyes with green hills and blue skies. Oh Portland summer.. please say hello for me.

Awesome. The world needs more ministers practicing qigong and meditation. Would clear up a whole lot of cross-cultural misunderstandings.

I guess I don't see it as a bad side effect or neglect of the physical body. The same man needed an operation (I don't know for what) and apparently the doctors remarked about the amazing shape his internal organs were in. An 80 year old with the guts of a 30 year old liver. In any case, he practiced his Taiji every day and never suffered any leg problems. Little1, Good work on sitting in full lotus for an hour and a half. Two hours (one traditional Chinese hour) is considered a complete cycle of yin and yang - you're almost there. 1. I think you should be able to do it with either leg, but I don't know the energetic differences associated with one leg on top or the other. 2. If you have a full body Qigong practice, legs shouldn't be a problem. It's definitely good to cross-train waigong and neigong, they support each other in more ways than one. 3. There are thousands of mudras. Hand positions differ according to what you want to accomplish. Generally, hands palm down on each knee is the foundation posture. 4. Reducing blood supply to the legs via lotus position and to the head via proper neck posture, causes more blood to flow in the organs. That's more flow to flush waste out, more flow to deliver oxygen. Overall it greatly tonifies organ Qi.

It's ok. My teacher's master in his 80s sat at least 4 hours in lotus every day. His legs were purple by the end. However, he could also jump, literally, out of the position. Who needs feeling if you have Qi? If you practice a moving qigong, taiji or the like, you may even find you can walk while your legs are still 'dead'. I won't give away the experience, but it gave me a new understanding of mind moving the Qi. To wake your legs up quickly, run your hands down the Yang meridians on the outside of the leg while breathing out, and up the Yin meridians on the inside of the leg breathing in. With practice, it will only require a few cycles of the breath.

Interesting about contraindicating full lotus for women. Do you know any reasons why they advise women don't full lotus? nomad, can you describe the pain more clearly? Is it persistent pain for hours or days after wards? Or is it an initial soreness or numbness that fades after you get up and get mobile? One of the reasons for sitting in full lotus is to impair circulation to the legs. Pinching the femoral arteries causes more blood to circulate in the trunk and also forces smaller arteries in the leg to develop. Consequently, numbness is a common sign and some masters say you don't even begin developing full-lotus gongfu until the legs are numb and in pain. The ability to sit longer periods without numbness and pain is a sign of development, but also a sign to push your practice further. My teacher suggests sitting for an hour after the numbness kicks in. On proper position, the ankles shouldn't be bent (a little is ok at the start), and the ankle should be up on top of the femoral artery. If you can't accomplish this with at least the bottom leg, you should spend more time in half lotus getting there. If your ankle is wrenched into a weird position that can damage the tendons and ligaments. Same goes for the knees. However, knee pain is common in the beginning stages of full lotus and should suffered through until it dissolves. Knee pain is generally due to tight hips, suffering through it allows the pain/heat to open up the hips - don't bail out early. Always quitting when the pain gets to a certain area will damage that area. Be brave, be equanimous, suffer through. It's strange that the ankle pain doesn't kick in during full-lotus though. How long do you sit?

Haha, I heard the same from Tibetan Monks. Tibetan Monks are allowed to eat meat, however, they still aren't allowed to kill it. That karmic debt falls on the poor butcher - bound to be a reincarnated as a worm for eons no doubt! Personally, I've never taken any doctrine as law without testing it myself, especially the association between vegetarianism, good karma, and spiritual elevation. Why is it OK to kill plants, but not OK to kill animals? What about insects? Karma aside though, I have noticed a tangible impact of veganism on my meditation and Taiji. From my experience, one of the greatest spiritual stimulants is a clean digestive tract - a feat much easier to accomplish without simple carbohydrates, meat, or both. But there have been times when I've been run down, and bowl of spiced lamb soup or a plate of raw beef tartar delivered better than any wonder drug. Also, there has research that claims the live enzymes of raw plants aren't even accessible through digestion. So.. who knows? So many of life's good things are good to a point, and past that point, just make things worse. Having the will to stick to a diet or practice while it's good, Yang; but holding on to the flexibility and insight to change if it goes wrong, Yin - here are two other virtues worth cultivating.

I like the idea of raw food vegan diets, but I would certainly hesitate to say they would suit anywhere close to 99% of the world population. For one, raw food diets are better suited for warm climates. By both TCM and Ayurvedic logic, raw diets are cooling and not suited for people with already compromised digestion (internal cold). Moreover, raw food is available locally in warm climates. It's ridiculous to ship Durian half way around the world, or even avocados half way across the continent just to get your fatty fruits. Talk about a hefty carbon footprint. Most of all, I think it's ridiculous to claim one type of diet suits everyone, day in and day out. Raw foods are great for hot summers, but terrible for cold winters. Meat is good for some and bad for others. Body type, location, and season should be our greatest teachers in deciding what to eat. What's best for our health can also be best for the environment.