konchog uma

I imagine that its slightly different for everyone, and that we each have the blessing and burden of figuring out how our energies "work" and what they need in order to progress. In qigong, the crown point is where heavenly qi naturally enters the body, which is yang and subtle like spirit (shen). As opposed to earth qi which is a little denser and yin, and associated more with essence (jing). Not to patronize, just trying offer something helpful . What you describe makes perfect sense according to qigong theory, if that matters

Its impossible to do everything at once, so I always feel like I should just do what I am drawn to do naturally. When you say "stuck with" do you mean that you are without other forms of meditation? If so maybe you could do a 30 day mentorship and learn some new meditations. Or read a book I love emptiness meditation but i wouldn't want it to be my only meditation...

DOH said i was done with this thread hahahahaah

looks great but i can't read chinese, sorry. what is it in english? thanks

how cute. maybe some of them did. look, when you say there are no open qigong masters, you insult my master. When you say there is no meditation in the true dao, you insult my practice. I am not actually insulted, largely because i know better. But it is not rewarding at all talking to you or reading the things you write. Its a bore actually, so like bubbles, i am done with this thread, and i hope, with talking to you at all until you realize that your way is only good for one person. you. So if you don't know any immortals to study under, don't meditate. Don't push your dogma on others is a wise suggestion. I benefit greatly from meditation, so i know you're wrong by experience. I study under a master who has demonstrated his qigong proficiency, so again I know you are wrong by my own experience. Simple.

i'm not sure you're aware that half the people on your list were internal alchemists, ie meditators and how are martial arts dao if meditation isn't? didn't chen tuan invent water boxing?

neither is dao dao isn't anything that can be talked about simply like you are trying to do and my body is a microcosm of the earth, the galaxy, all the way up the chain to the infinite all, so why shouldn't i put my focus on it. Its holy.

my body is a manifestation of dao. beware anyone who speaks about what dao is.

thanks! I almost didn't post that for fear of "cracking the alchemical crucible" but my meditations went really good this morning! I can't be sure but i think they went a little bit better. It almost seems that just knowing about the alchemy is the catalyst for it to happen in the stillness of sitting. Or, if intent need be applied, it seems that a gentle nudge goes further than a wild push or some overwrought attempt to manipulate energies.

Right! My sentiments exactly. It seems that there are ideas (cinnabar fields and dragaons and tigers etc) that help the process along in the right direction, but what i am realizing very recently that i had never gleaned from the texts before is that stillness is the main practice, and without it, all the forcing of lead and mercury up and down ones channels into and out of crucibles etc hahaha will not do anything. But if one has true stillness, actual quietude of mind and calm of heart and lets the body stabilize in stillness, then the energies will transmute and refine almost automatically. So learning to be still is planting the bulb, and staying still is watering the bulb, and sunlight, and you can sing special songs to the bulb, and it will respond, but without the planting, the water, and the sunlight, there is no hope of growing a tree. I feel like i kind of had this AHA moment of realizing what is meant by the adage which is generally phrased "as one grows in ones practices they become more and more simplified". It totally makes me excited that all that stillness meditation was worth a lot, when i was constantly thinking "uh can i get to the cinnabar and the lead and the mercury yet?" hahahahah youth!

I'm not near Seattle, but welcome to tao bums! My brother lives on an island near there and he says there's all kinds of asian culture. I hope you can find a daoist master, or at least a good apothecary

Thanks! Steve that really helped me put it together. Its so weird how when the mind creates a division of two concepts, it can have a hard time bridging the gap (that it created) but the way you explained it made me go "a-ha!" thanks everyone who responded, it was all helpful in fact.

it reminds me of the heart sutra "There is no ignorance, and no end to ignorance. There is no old age and death, and no end to old age and death. There is no suffering, no cause of suffering, no end to suffering, no path to follow. There is no attainment of wisdom, and no wisdom to attain." but thats probably because i was chanting gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi swaha earlier today

sure, but during study or sales, you can be aware of the breath, and return to the deep balanced breath when it becomes shallow or agitated. So in a way you can apply meditation to those activities.

sounds scammy, new drivers should be free. if you're going to pay for software, or look for a torrent for a driver update program, i suggest driver genius. it doesn't ask you to pay for new drivers tho, the downloads themselves are free. good luck

I ordered my copy of Fabrizio's translation of the CanTongQi last night, can't wait for it to arrive! Thank you for bringing it to our attention. Thanks and Blessings!

that sounds like a good reason to be here. I found it hard to really conserve my sexual energy until i just stopped watching television and most movies and participating in western media in general. good luck to you!

I have a question about wu wei.. My qigong teacher is often saying that wu wei embodies the concept of "always reacting in an appropriate way to the situation". He acknowledges that it is a doing without doing or an action without awareness of an actor.. but i don't get the link between that and appropriate reaction. His senior student said it is a martial understanding of wu wei, while the other is a philosophical understanding. Can anyone comment on that?

then there is no neurosis and no delusion. There is probably no rudeness either, or i would be compelled to ask why you are so rude. Good thing i don't care.

Hi recovering idiot, Good to hear that you are exploring daoism. As far as getting replies to your thread, posting in general forum is likely to be more fruitful. Not everyone reads the lobby posts (i think) Daoism has several branches and schools, but doesn't tend to emphasize the concept of sin as much as the church. Alchemical daoists (internal energy cultivators) consider it bad to waste energy, and philosophical daoists tend to find it bad to act in a way that isn't in accord with ones true nature. Daoism in its pure form isn't as concerned with morality or ethics as are buddhism and the christian orthodoxy. It almost seems to me as if the only sin of daoism is acting in a contrived way, or a way that isn't true to ones nature. I have personally found that the moral and ethical structure of buddhism is a perfect balance to the free-form critical thinking of daoism. And i have also found that many people read the doctrine that good and equal have the same root and are inseperable, and then use their half-understanding of it to justify all kinds of morally ambiguous behavior, thinking "there is no good or evil seperate from each other, so i'm going to do just what i want to do"... unfortunately those people usually have to learn the hard way about action and consequence. One of the important concepts throughout daoism is integrity, and the idea that when a person has integrity, they won't need morality and ethics to guide their conduct; they will instead be naturally virtuous. This natural virtue is considered "superior" to moral virtue in that it arises naturally and doesn't need to be forced or contrived. So instead of dealing with a list of sins or a litany of behaviors, daoism just encourages us to seek the root of natural whole virtue within ourselves and act accordingly.

truly. I'm embarrased to get caught up in these wastes of time. I could have been meditating or practicing qigong!! hahahaha

qigong is not based on dao. to practice qigong, one need not know anything about dao, or theory of dao. They only need theory of qigong. They are seperate. Taoism is similar but does not equal buddhism. You have your own ideas about "true dao" that aren't the ideas of anyone else, it seems. and on that note, i will try my very very bestest to leave this thread alone.

for the love of god, i would love to let these wretched threads die but every time i try, something in my chest grabs my fingers and makes them type! aaaaa!!! a qigong master is someone who has attained a high degree of proficiency in qigong. It doesn't have to do with dao. Some are buddhist. Some don't care about theory, or theory of dao. It has to do with qi. Being able to cultivate, manipulate, circulate, heal with, etc QI. Thats all.

thanks! awesome post ryanO. Thanks for the inspiration!

and thats why i'm not interested in talking to you about it. You obviously think everyone who claims mastery of qigong is a cheater. Its an absurd point of view if you ask me. hahahah there are masters in the world, if you had studied widely you would know. Your mind is hardened, and it makes your posts annoying to read.