Chang

Julian Blanc comes across as being someone whom you would not wish to spend a lot of time with. My own view view is that he would need a long line of women as none of them would wish to be with him for very long. Its all a bit sad and pathetic and the saddest thing of all is that there are men out there who think he has something worthwhile to teach them.

Hello Jiulong and welcome to the forums! Glad to have you aboard and may you continue to find the forum interesting. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Chang and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

Start here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky

Pity Clinton can't come back for a third term. He could beat all the others "pants down."

Does this mean he did not get your vote?

My own view is that it really matters not who comes to power in America or for that matter the U.K. The one thing that you may be sure of is that they will have their own agenda and that will probably be very different from the hopes of the people they represent.

Hello additionnixon and welcome to the forums! Glad to have you aboard. Your introduction was not too long and is most interesting. You will find both information and advice on this forum covering all matters relating to meditation, Taoism, Taoist cultivation, the Tao Te Ching and numerous other works from the taoist canon. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Chang and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

Hello Herow and welcome to the forums! Glad to have you aboard. You will find much advice here on meditation, chi and many other things, including the best books to read. In the end however the choices you make must be your own. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Chang and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

Hello Arda and welcome to the forums! Glad to have you aboard I am sure that you will find plenty to interest you here, esoteric and otherwise. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Chang and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

You will probably find that liberation of yourself is quite enough to be going on with without worrying about everyone else.

I am sure that some of you have come across this before but should you not have done so then it is well worth a read. http://www.taoism.net/theway/sage.htm

Intelligence is very different from wisdom. Cleverness is something else again. Then we have common sense. As we go through life we often meet people with brains the size of a small planet and they only become a problem when their head is of similar dimensions.

For those interested in Tree Qigong this link may be of interest:- http://aoda.org/Articles/Tree_Qi_Gong.html

My own thoughts on this matter for what they are worth. Your friend is still a neophyte as regards the art of drumming. She has learned the technique of the art but has still some way to go towards mastery. Time and practice are really all that is required along, of course, with patience. This is true of any art or skill to which aspire.

Hello MAlanLewis and welcome to the forum. I am sure that you will have much to offer the forum and look forward to hearing your contributions. We are glad to have you aboard :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Chang and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

Hello Eshgham, and welcome to the forums! Glad to have you aboard :-) Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Chang and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

so serene, so grand is our inner self, the witness who watches in silence.

To observe your thoughts means just that. By being the Observer or Witness of that which you are thinking you have seperated yourself from it. This leads you to the knowledge that you are not your thoughts. It is a great step forwards when you can acknowledge this fact as most people never manage to get this far. Observation of your thoughts is a simple matter. Do not for one moment imagine that there is more to it than the simple act of observation for there is not.

And yet it sounds so good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIEEhzwaGKM

It has been known for me to arrive at the class I am teaching only to find that I am all on my onesome. I look upon it as an opportunity for practice.

The Tao Bums is not an elitist forum but I do believe that the Mod Team attempt to make it a place where good debate and good manners are valued. Those possessed of cleverness masquerading as wisdom should examine themselves and their motives very closely before making suggestions regarding supposed improvements. Any improvements to the forum should be aimed at making it a place where seekers can comfortably exchange ideas, opinions and information. It will hopefully never prove a refuge for the elitist and the fanatic.

This has recently been set up by Damo Mitchell and the Lotus Neigong Gang. May prove of interest to many on the forum. http://www.scholarsage.com/

Before setting your fingers to the keyboard once more it may be useful to remember that you also are simply offering your opinion. You may well consider it authoritative but others have the right to disagree. Again this is your offered opinion and others may well consider a "powerful and coherent personality" can best be described as arrogant. You may also do well to give thought to the suggestion that having a "high mental capacity" is best left to the consideration and judgement of others rather than oneself.

I am afraid that when it comes to stance and posture the use of words can prove very misleading. Hence the disagreements in this thread. My own view is that photographs, diagrams and video are not much better. It can well be that two persons practising the same thing in the same way may disagree when discussing the particular exercise as words can be confusing and misleading. My own training in the Taoist Arts and my work as an Instructor have proved to me beyond all doubt that improvement in stance and posture is a slow and gradual process as muscle memory sets in and correct use of the body becomes habitual. A correct stance and posture in these arts, energetic or martial, is of paramount importance and anyone who thinks differently is most sadly deluded.