konchog uma

chaos had closed his orifices which is reference to sealing the mind from the senses. hope it makes more sense now

from Victor Mair's "Wandering on the Way: Taoist Tales and Parables" To use a finger as a metaphor for the nonfingerness of a finger is not as good as using nonfingerness as a metaphor for the nonfingerness of a finger. To use a horse as a metaphor for the nonhorseness of a horse is not as good as using nonhorseness as a metaphor for the nonhorseness of a horse. Heaven and earth are the same as a finger; the myriad things are the same as a horse. Affirmation lies in our affirming; denial lies in our denying. A way comes into being through our walking upon it; a thing is so because people say that it is. Why are things so? They are so because we declare them to be so. Why are things not so? They are not so because we declare them to be not so. All things are possessed of that which we may say is so; all things are possessed of that which we may affirm. There is no thing that is not so; there is no thing that is not affirmable. Thus, whether it be a tiny blade of grass or a mighty pillar, a hideous leper or beauteous Hsi Shih, no matter how peculiar or fantastic, through the Way they all become one. To split some- thing up is to create something else; to create something is to destroy something else. But for things in general, there is neither creation nor destruction, for they all revert to join in Unity. Only the perceptive understand that all things join in Unity. For this reason they do not use things themselves but lodge in commonality. It is all a result of their understanding the mutual dependence of "this" and "that." To have achieved this understanding but not be conscious of why it is so is called "The Way." To weary the spiritual intelligence by trying to unify things without knowing that they are already identical is called "three in the morning." Why is this called " three in the morning"? Once upon a time, there was a monkey keeper who was feeding little chestnuts to his charges. "I'll give you three in the morning and four in the evening," he told them. All the monkeys were angry. 'All right, then," said the keeper, "I'll give you four in the morning and three in the evening . " All the monkeys were happy with this arrangement. Without adversely affecting either the name or the reality of the amount that he fed them, the keeper acted in accordance with the feelings of the monkeys . He too recognized the mutual dependence of "this" and "that." Conse- quently, the sage harmonizes the right and wrong of things and rests at the center of the celestial potter's wheel . This is called "dual procession."

I have been working with bones and bone marrow for a while, since my meditation teacher encouraged me to breathe the extra light that my chakra meditations were generating into my bones. His advice was awesome to start me off, but it had me really curious about Bone Marrow Nei Kung. I studied shaolin kungfu and taijichuan 15 years ago when i was just learning internalism and I remember really clearly seeing books on bone marrow practice and just tingling with "i-need-to-learn-that!". So 2 days ago I picked up Mantak Chia's book on Bone Marrow Nei Kung, and while I discarded most of it (it was on hitting, testicles massage, weight lifting, etc) the first 2 chapters on theory and bone breathing Really blasted my practice open. In short, he advises not to breathe with the skeleton as a whole (which is hard to sustain the focus on as one btw! ) but to just breathe in with the fingers and toes, up the arms and legs, stopping at the scapulae and hipbones (kind of a mirror of each other, the arms and legs with the shoulderblades and hips) then outbreath, then breathing from the hips up the spine and merging the two breaths at the c7 vertebrae and going up to the skull. He then advises apply the sacral pump (PC and lower abs) and the cranial pump (tongue pressing roof of mouth) to drive energy into the ribs in back and around the sides toward the sternum. This is the whole circuit in a nutshell (small nutshell) I found this method to be awesomely effective, and once i had reached the sternum, I was able to sort of tie the bone breath in with my lung breaths and just focus on the whole circuit in a general way, inhaling awesome light and qi into my fingers and toes, and exhaling stagnant energy out of them. I went walking in the woods yesterday, and the body bliss that i felt when i opened all that up was indescribable! Totally intense, I felt like I was happy like i was when i was a child again, like a forgotten happiness that i didnt even know i wasn't feeling! Amazing! Then this morning, doing my kujiin meditation, I got to the top and invoked the bright white light and just bathed in a sea of amazing light and divine qi until i felt like a little piece of bread in a bowl of milk, just soaking it all up through my fingers and toes. Same bliss (not as intense as when i had first opened the channels, but thats to be expected) and same awesome feelings like i was a kid again. So I have only worked with this technique for a month, and only with Mantak Chia's method of bone breath for 2 days, but I am wondering, are there other books on Bone Marrow Nei Kung that anyone would recommend? I want to take the practice further, or at least learn more about it. My goals are to regrow vital deep red marrow throughout my whole bones again (like a child's) and get rid of fatty yellow "grownup" marrow. Another goal is to internalize the bone breathing until I am constantly respirating with my bones. I don't really want to practice iron shirt because the work that goes into it is more than i feel i want to devote to that practice, and besides, i am not very martial these days, preferring the art of avoiding conflict entirely by virtue of spiritual accomplishment to being able to beat ass. I see that the direction Mantak Chia goes with his bone marrow cultivation is towards martial accomplishment and iron shirt training. So can any of you recommend a line of study that is more in line with longevity practice and spiritual cultivation? Thank you so much! Bless

thank you very much for the recommendation i think i checked out clyman's stuff a little bit when i searched for condensed breathing the first time... he seems to advocate a technique similar to what my teacher taught me, moreso breathing with the bones in general (like all of them at once) and packing the qi into them with intention and muscular contraction. although that is an impression i got from some other illustrations on the web (stickman breathing) because i find his videos to be Really annoying. Just personal preference, but i don't particularly like him. He reminds me of a lot of people i know from Boston and NYC who talk too loud and think they're superawesome cause they talk too loud. No insult meant, just saying.. i like Mantak Chia's method of breathing with the hands and feet up through the bones to the sternum, because it is more methodical, and i get a better feeling from it. I think its good to know different approaches and angles to a practice, like joeblast pointed out, but for now i'm gonna keep working with what works for me. again, thanks for the tip tumoessence, i appreciate it!

used from 7.50 + shipping http://www.amazon.com/Magus-Java-Teachings-Authentic-Immortal/dp/0892818131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319586155&sr=8-1

ahhaha ew he said ejaculate HORSE STANCE SINFEST and try not to think dirty thoughts while youre down there ahahhahah

questions 1. does internal power such as can perform miraculous physical actions (chopsticks, knives, pyro, telekinesis, etc) have uses in realizing spiritual truth. In other words, can the robust qi of a practitioner be used to gain insight? 2. does it have usefulness for longevity, or does it cause excess wear on the body, and energy body, to start fires with ones qi and do similar things? thank you

cause John Chang is the magus of java

look him up, he wrote The Magus of Java

well neither book is all that expensive on amazon so i will get the "Classics" with pictures! i just ordered Red Pine's "Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma", Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I Am That", and Damo Mitchell's "Daoist Nei Gong" on top of that I am plodding through "Root of Chinese Qigong" by YJM and have his "Embryonic Breathing" on the back burner. So i will get to Waysun Liao in good time i suspect but I will definitely get to ordering that book

youre a hoot

for once, Mair divides the chapter up the same as Legge. that was one whole chapter (mair's chap 5) i like the concept of lucidity being defined by an ability to transcend duality, and i love the commentary about the chirping of birds... how many times have i reminded myself that peoples talking is only arbitrarily meaningful and no different in most cases than said chirping?? ahhh Chuang Tzu

from Victor Mair's "Wandering On The Way: Taoist Tales and Parables" Speech is not merely the blowing of air. Speech is intended to say something, but what is spoken may not necessarily be valid. If it is not valid, has anything actually been spoken? Or has speech never actually occurred? We may consider speech to be distinct from the chirps of hatchlings, but is there really any difference between them? How has the Way become so obscured that there are true and false? How has speech become so obscured that there are right and wrong? Could it be that the Way has gone off and is no longer present? Could it be that speech is present but has lost its ability to validate? The Way is obscured by partial achievements speech is obscured by eloquent verbiage. Thus there are contro- versies between Confucians and Mohists over what's right and what's wrong. They invariably affirm what their opponents deny and deny what their opponents affirm . If one wishes to affirm what others deny and deny what others affirm, nothing is better than lucidity. Everything is "that" in relation to other things and "this" in relation to itself. We may not be able to see things from the standpoint of "that" but we can understand them from the standpoint of "this." Therefore, it may be said that "that" derives from "this" and that "this" is dependent upon "that. "Such is the notion of the cogenesis of "this" and "that." Nonetheless, from the moment of birth death begins simultaneously, and from the moment of death birth begins simultaneously. Every affirmation is a denial of something else, and every denial is an affirmation of something else . "This" and "that" are mutually dependent; right and wrong are also mutually dependent. For this reason, the sage does not subscribe to [the view of absolute opposites] but sees things in the light of nature, accepting "this" for what it is. "This" is also "that"; "that" is also "this." "This" implies a concept of right and wrong; "that" also implies a concept of right and wrong. But is there really a "this" and a "that"? Or is there really no "this" and no "that"? Where "this" and "that" cease to be opposites, there lies the pivot of the Way. Only when the pivot is located in the center of the circle of things can we respond to their infinite transformations . The transformations of "right" are infinite and so are the transformations of "wrong." Therefore, it is said that nothing is better for responding to them than lucidity!

oh thats cool, i just tried with my left pointer finger and got a nice tingle... i think i will work with that! I know nothing about stillness movement qigong, and i have been practicing Yang Jwing Ming's 4 seasons qigong and also Yi Jin Jing muscle/tendon changing qigong. But i have been working with internal orbits and qi in general for 10 years cultivating it slowly, and now I can take really easily to the qigong i am learning. Having a foundation makes all the difference! I wish you blessings on your practice

i'm in the middle of watching the YJM videos i think i'm on DVD 4 right now. I just finished 2 and watched 3 out of order (cause its on embryonic breathing and i've been ramping up to learn that) so anyway... yes i will get to DVD 6 in due time sir bubbles thank you for the helpful advice, and for another reason to seek out Waysun Liao's book. Is that breathing in "The Essence of T'ai Chi"?

well i will be able to get a copy of Mair's version up for each chapter til the end I love Chuang Tzu just that much! for me the Mair translation changed my life so its very meaningful, i'm really happy to be able to share

haha i think i will listen to Sifu Jenny mister Owlnage and then if i have any regrets i will tell you so you can say "i told you so!" or something similarly awesome

yes thats the one thank you for the recommendation!

christians certainly do believe in reincarnation. Except according to church doctrine they believe in only 2 options, heaven or hell. Just wanted to point out that its still reincarnation. hahaah i can't stop thinking of bagwan shree rajneesh and his rolls royce collection teeheehee not that he was a daoist or anything. Just that i can't stop thinking about him now

Does anyone else do spontaneous adjustment meditation? Mine was nice and spirally and gentle for the first time yesterday. That was nice, I am going to do that practice regularly, it is a really awesome mirror to see how your own energies move in! Also got "I Am That" in the mail from amazon, which Sifu Jenny recommends reading 100x on her site. She recommends it one hundred times she doesn't recommend reading it one hundred times nevermind

I have heard that the inner chapters are all that is reliably attributable to Chuang Tzu himself. The rest are from students and later scholars in his lineage of teaching. So the inner chapters are really what was called here "chapter 1". I point it out because i notice a distinct difference in the style of writing between chap 1 and chap 2 Can anyone comment?

yeah theres a big difference! like i said, i Really like Victor Mair. His Tao Te Ching is great too!

my qigong teacher wants to teach me embryonic breathing, and i have the book by yang jwing ming but i haven't finished it yet. I'm kind of working towards it, i found the mud pill point and i found my center of gravity, which was really neat, but thats about as far as i've gotten with that practice yongquan is bubbling well right? And laogong is the palm of the hands? I have never learned those breathings

can help feed the world or i can haz cheeseburger oh no cheeseburger!?