flowing hands

Taoism and Buddhism are two completely different things, although nowadays they have become clouded because of Chinese imperial favor passing from one to the other and so many things have been adopted and mixed together. Their roots stem from completely different backgrounds; Taoism started from ancient shamanistic cultures pre-dating Buddhism by up to 10,000 years. Taoism never set out to save individuals on mass from suffering, there has never been this aim. Taoist believe that it is natural for things to suffer and to enjoy the flow of the ups and downs of life. The core of Taoism is about personal growth and how to influence others without acting or doing very little to upset the natural order.

The 'self' is the most important theme of the DDJ, it is what limits us in our understanding of the world around us and a huge obstacle to the awakening of realization. Li Erh talks about the self very often and it is referred to multiple times by default. It is the underlying understanding that runs all the way through and it has nothing to do with Buddhism, it has everything to do with realization based on a shamanistic culture of understanding of the world around us. Connecting.

What you say I would agree with. Before the invention of religious Taoism, Shamanism was the culture and belief of Taoism. Cultivation of 'Star' power was common practice and belief in the Gods of the constellations were paramount in ancient times. Even today we cultivate various star powers and worship the Gods that reside there. These are different to the Immortals in the Heavenly void. Star Gods live among the constellations, although there are some star Gods that live in human spirit form like the Star of long life, in the Heavenly void. There are many Gods that exist that people have never heard of, many live among the stars and are not from human or Earth born entities.

Hello RyanO It is not a definite that if you have a statue of a God that remains un-blessed you will be bothered by spiritual entities that are harmful. But it is a risk. Also having a blessed statue doesn't mean you have to bow and scrape to it every day, even though the Immortal can 'see' through the statue. I have called upon Kuan Yin many times over the years, but I've got to say that the way the Immortals work is Wu wei. IE they don't interfere with the world unless it is absolutely necessary. What you have heard or read is not necessary the reality. The path of a God is not to interfere. Although a true heart will shine and attract the attention of the Immortals. But there again, like the Dao, Immortals treat all things equally.

"All of us are born in sins except this Holy Trinity ." This is typical religious nonsense

CHAPTER 14 Look, it can never be seen, for it has no form. Listen, it can never be heard, it is beyond sound. Grasp, it can never be held, it is intangible. Although it can never be seen, heard or held, its spirit is always there. For it is formed from nothing and so returns to nothing. It is beyond description, But it is the Mother of the Ten Thousand Things. It has no beginning and no end, but it is great. Stay with this (in your heart) the ancient Dao, but move with the present. Knowing the Dao is the ancient beginning of all things. An expansion of chapter four a bit more explanation of 'emptiness' and 'fullness' which are one.

Let me give some really concrete advice here. DO NOT keep statues of Immortals or Gods in your home or anywhere else! They are usually only kept in Temples where someone like me will invite the said Immortal to enter them in to complete trance and then the Immortal will bless the statue. It then is what is termed as 'open eye'. If you look on my vid on the inside of my Temple I have used images. Above each image is a blessing written by the Immortal Master's. Once written, the image is 'open eye'. Statues that are not blessed can attract the presence of evil, which sometimes enter into the statue and live there enjoying the admiration of the human keepers while all the time using its influence to do harm on those humans or other animals that may be present. If you want to keep a statue then obtain a 'amulet against evil', drawn by a shaman, not one that is written by an ordinary person. A shaman will beg their Immortal Master to draw it and invest power into it. Place this above your door to your house and then it should be ok. If you can obtain the old brushes ( I do have some from nearly thirty years of drawing) from a shaman, which have been used to draw amulets. These can be placed above a door and will act in the same way.

The way of virtue is right, it is not the 'three pure ones'. General Guan Yu is usually depicted and placed with his two 'bond brothers' and carries a scimitar.

CHAPTER 4 The Dao is forever like an unfathomable empty space. If used, it can never be used up. It is the source of the Ten Thousand Things. Look with your heart, see its form in the glare, be at one with the dust of the Earth, simplify your nature. For it is ever present, hidden in the depths of the myriad things. I don't know from whence it came, but it is great. Of course I'm biased, but I think this makes so much more sense than the other translations! It is telling us about Li Erh's understanding of the nature of the universe, the way to find its secrets and real understanding through self realization and cultivation of the Dao.

IMO, its best not to get caught up in concepts. In 'wayism' or 'pathism' there are many if not major contradictions. "the world is ruled by not interfering" But the world is brought back to balance by interfering. This is why Li Erh tells us not to hold onto a set concept of what 'wayism' is and is not. The way that I tread is not the way that someone else may tread and so taking 'no action' is not the taking of no action that someone else may not take. It is therefore futile for anyone with even a modicum of real understanding to try and define and pin down an exact definition of the suggested 'wu wei'. I think it is important to remember that Li Erh talked about the 'way' as his personal observation of the natural laws that cover both matter and spirit, of the cultivation of wisdom and spiritual perfection and within this, is cultural understandings. But the 'way' is certainly not limited by culture or race and is easily understood by simple observation without concepts that are tied up in culture.

The story of Hsi-yu Chi may be loosely based on a true story, but the Monkey God existed and was revered long before this.

There is no such thing as a Taoist!! It is beyond description or definition. To bracket someone as Taoist is to loose what really is. We are all Taoists, thats all life and all that exists, in our own way, the great beauty of Tao. Remember Tao is just a word, but its description is beyond words. Li Erh just spoke of what he understood and to give his description a name that we could use and try and understand; he called it Tao. To get hung up on the word is already loosing sight of what its all about IMO. The Tao existed before the DDJ and people and the universes lived and moved by the Tao. So they knew nothing of the DDJ but they were 'Taoists' so to speak. So to be a 'Taoist' you may never have come across the DDJ, but you are still a Taoist!!!!

DANCE!

It is not the quietening of the mind that is dangerous, it is when the mind is at one with all things, it is almost trance like state, the mind no longer knows it has a body as well! In this state, one has to be brought out and back to the body and back to consciousness by someone who really understands what they are doing. One can get stuck, one can damage the mind etc. When looking at objects or other life, one can see the life force vibrating in certain lights and conditions. One can sense the Dao and its source from the energy in the glare coming through say a misty pine forest. Being slightly out of focus we can begin to sense the presence of energy and the Dao. I compare this to whenever I beg the Immortal master to come, when I concentrate, whatever I am looking at begins to loose focus and starts to glare and change light. I sometimes see a golden light cast upon the Holy Table and a blue/white light emanate from the brush I am holding and from my hand. I am beginning to see the Dao's form in the glare of light. Glare I think meaning to use light to soften objects by a background light that alters the objects edges and helps us to feel and see the energy form.

When one is in a mental state that is at one with everything, one sees with the heart, not with the eyes. One feels the energy and oneness of the world and what connects all things. One cannot see the essence of the Dao but one can feel it through the passage of heart cultivation. The most important words of the DDJ are 'Dao Xin.' Getting to this state is part of the process of self cultivation. It is a very difficult path that really needs an Immortal to teach properly as it can be dangerous.

I would like him to repeat the same thing without paper and a thermometer placed under his hand with remote measuring device to see what happens. Many years ago I read of a man who could set fire to paper through his eyes. He had practiced to do this all his life. Ie he devoted his whole life's practice just to be able to do this. With the right practice I think it is possible to do many things, but there are many fakes out there. From what I remember and I'm sure someone will correct my phraseology and terminology, he is practicing more of the Yang fa itzutan. Whereas I practice more of the yin fa itzutan.

I would like to add an experience I had many years ago when I badly broke my own leg and was hospitalized. My leg was so badly broken that I was put in traction and told that I would remain in traction for at least 2-3 months. So I thought lets start some of my own healing, so every day I used my power and the many inches of my femur that were missing joined together and callused ready for me to come out of traction in less than six weeks. I told the doctor in the hospital that I was ready to come out of traction and she laughed and said "no, another month at least for you." That day the consultant asked for a x-ray of the leg to see how the healing was. And yes it was ready. The doctor couldn't believe it on two counts how I had manged to heal such a large amount of missing large bone in such a short time and how I was able to know that it was ready! The power of qi is a marvelous thing!!!!

Whoever one is we can all say "no". Don't get me wrong I'm not against him at all, but I am openly asking non emotive and where possible factual questions just like people have asked questions of me. He could have quite easily said no and refused to demonstrate. Such things will only cause great confusion of the heart. Everyone wants powers like John Chang, everyone is certainly not self resolved to handle such things wisely. The Dao is then forgotten and lost in such small talents compared to the Dao, but people are always fascinated and loose their way. When looking at these things peoples own needs to believe in such things tend to blind them to what is actually happening. As I have already stated, there are so many holes especially in the lighting fire demo and that very clever magicians can do exactly what he can do without qi, one has to look at this openly and in actual fact he almost commits to an 'act' when he starts tearing the paper and preparing it, like it was a show, I get a very strong and distinct feeling. I don't think one should just take it at face value.

I have been on several Taoist Forums, but my experience of them is anything but what I would call Taoist. Here is a list of ones that I have been on: The Tea House 2.0 The Dao is open Taoist forums.com The Tea house is an interesting one; I have been temporarily locked out of this for speaking my opinion on the admin I do believe, because no one has informed me from the site. The Admin appears to be a very controlling and dominating person who has insisted that I personally say and think what they want me to. Any questioning or insults are banned but the admin can make underhand ones themselves and that is ok, of course.... I strongly suspect that challenging opinions are not welcome on this site and ultimate control is being used...it reminded me of the story of George Orwell 1984! The Dao is open: is not.. to me anyway. I tried to join several times and failed and e-mailed the site owner and have never received a reply to any of my emails. I must be a very difficult person!? Taoist forum.com doesn't seem to have many members and every post one puts up is scrutinized by the owner, before it is allowed. So is the Dao open on Taoist discussion forums or is it really Big Brother who controls us all while we think we have freedom of speech? Or is it just another form of control where people actually can't express their opinions without being banished, whether those opinions are valid, truthful or not?

I have said already that I am not going to do tricks: a true Daoist Master leads people away from religion and back to simplicity, back to the very source of why we are all living. So firstly I hope my words bring some truth and understanding to some. Secondly, I have added an extra page to my site. There people can ask for help in many ways. Some people may never find relief from their suffering or answers to their questions and so I won't be successful for them; this is the way. Others, I hope, will find what I have done for them will be of great help. In this way, people will be able to realize for themselves the value and the power of the Immortals. I am a medium between the seldom seen world and the mortal world. I am putting the power of realization into your hands, for whatever I say or do will not convince everyone.

It is interesting! Reminds me a little of snake art. I prefer this to normal Tai Ji, here at least he is practicing his extension of internal power. Which is the right way, soft and hard together make the balance. Although there is no practice within the form of internal development that builds power inside the body, it is only fa jin type movement.

The Monkey God, as in Chi Tien Da Shen, was formally a Daoist Immortal, but now is a Buddha. He has been revered for many many years and formed part of the folk religion of ancient China. His Temples can be found in all sorts of places even in South Korea. He is normally found together with two other Immortals who are his bond brothers. Huang Lo Xian Shi and Li Erh Xian Shi (Lao Tzu). If you go to the post about my video and watch this you will see a short clip of me practicing one of the Monkey Gods cudgel forms that he taught me 26 years ago. The Monkey God is a good statue to put in a place for martial practice, he is one of the best martial artist there is.

Yes, spiritually advanced means teaching lessons to others and having understanding about them and oneself by various means which allows both to grow. So lifeforce needs a lesson in self understanding and I need not to keep putting up with his stupid comments. He needs to know what he is doing and how silly and puerile it is; he doesn't seem to be able to recognize or see it for himself, so I have to show him how stupid it is to keep calling anything I say BS without any facts other than his own limited subjective mindset. I could say the moon is full tonight and he would say BS. I could say black is a nice colour and he would say BS. I could say the weather is lovely and he would say BS. He only knows one response to anything I say. I bet you when he reads this he'll reply, you've guessed it.... BS. Sometimes a lesson is needed to allow that person to see how they are acting or being and you never know, they may grow. No loss of composure, just a lesson! But then... he'll probably just say......BS, because anything out of his focus is BS.

Hey I think I'm going to be a troll like you and follow you around the board negating anything and everything you ever say even if I did open my mind and find something interesting! So every time you put a post up I'm going to be like you and put "BS rubbish", don't you think that's really clever? Takes a lot of brains that!

You mistake what I am saying. I am not saying that one should demonstrate this on anyone! What I'm saying is that fa jin seems to be demonstrated by mostly tai chi and chi gong practitioners as being the ultimate test of their abilities by throwing some poorly positioned and floppy person against a wall or across the hall and this in some way demonstrates their great ability. I do not come from a solely tai chi back ground so I am completely out of what appears to be a way of thinking and seeing, which puts a great emphasis on this practice. You tube is littered with tai chi masters throwing people across the room. Its almost the thing to do if you're a tai chi teacher. Lets put it in a different light. Karate is northern Chinese martial arts of black crane. Karate used to mean the hand of Han or China hand. In its recent history it is now called 'empty hand'. As far I know from some of my friends who teach, there are no pushing like this in the style. The value of trying to push someone is of little use in real combat. Yes it serves to show a weak and floppy student that the sifu can throw them around, but so what? It does not serve to show a student the value of fa jin, because it is flawed to start off with in respect that the person who is receiving it is not in any position to ward it off, redirect it, absorb it, stand against it. So the sifu thinks he's real good and everyone else does, but he hasn't been tested in an appropriate way. That's why it is not impressive, there are literally hundreds out there who can do the same thing to floppy and weak students and they normally are. This is my point.