Chang

Welcome Photao.

An entheogen ("generating the divine within")[4] is a psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context.[5] Entheogens can supplement many diverse practices for transcendence, and revelation, including meditation, psychonautics, psychedelic and visionary art, psychedelic therapy, and magic. For those interested in the subject the link below will take you to a list of entheogenic substances. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_entheogenic/hallucinogenic_species

Hi wu_wei and welcome to the Tao Bums. The full lotus is considered by many to be best for meditation. It can however take some time to train the body to get into it. It can then take far longer to reach the point where you are comfortable sitting. If you are uncomfortable you are going to have some real problems in reaching a meditative state. There are many benefits to meditating in the open air but again it is not strictly necessary to do so to absorbe yin energy. As to your other questions the answers would depend on whom you ask and the best advise I could offer would be to find a teacher who could guide you on your first steps along the path. Take care, Chang

Thanks for the link Rainbowvein.

Hi Awen, Most of the organisations teaching our style use the "Lee" spelling whilst the Taoist Arts Organisation use "Li". When I was first introduced to Tai Chi it was the Yang style but when my old teacher passed away I took up Li style with the T.A.O. I do find it a far more compact and powerful style and yes, I am now an Instructor. As you point out in your edit there is a plethora of information on the website and if you go onto You Tube and enter Taoist Arts Organisation you will bring up some video's that may be of interest.

Quite so Basher. Most of the Tao Bums being comprised of non UK residents they will not have heard of our style.

Welcome Rezonator. My favourite translation is still the one I read first by Gia-Fu Feng http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tao-Te-Ching-Lao-Tsu/dp/0307949303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372270026&sr=8-1&keywords=jane+english

And what is good Phaedrus, and what is not good -- need we ask anyone to tell us these things?"

Who is John Galt?

Here is a You Tube offering on the benefits of drinking baking soda and water.

I promised to give a review of this work once I had a chance to peruse it and I will do my best. The fact is that the book is massive in scope covering a huge amount of information. As an example, regarding Neigong training it covers such training in martial arts, healing arts and magical arts. There is a good deal of crossover from Johnsons other books but this could hardly be avoided and I do not mention it as a criticism. So far as illustrations are concerned we have mostly line drawings and a few photographs but this fits in with the book being encyclopaedic in nature and very much a work of reference. I cannot stress too highly that there is a massive amount of information here. That being the case it is probably a work that would be confusing and overpowering for the novice and would be best approached by those with a good solid foundation and grounding in the arts concerned. It should also be mentioned that it is unlikely that any reader would practice all that is taught in the book, the scope is simply too vast. The books title might suggest that this was a manual covering Qigong and Meditation but it goes way beyond anything I expected. So we have training in the body’s structure – bones and muscles, tendons ligaments, internal fascia and internal organs. The rules of proper posture are covered in great detail followed by details of training in static and dynamic postures. Herbs and food are discussed at length as well as plant and mineral elixirs. We have respiratory techniques, meditation techniques, celibacy training, details of the deity of the various organs detailed explanation regarding the process and practice of Taoist cultivation and one thousand and one aspects of training that spin off in tangents in all directions. To sum up I would say that the work is mind boggling in scope and its author should be praised for gathering such a massive amount of information and publishing it in one book. I have heard the accusation of plagiarism levelled against Johnson in that he has taken and used the work of other Masters in his books. I tend to take this lightly as we are dealing with subjects of great antiquity and we are all standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. I am simply grateful that this information is out there for us as a couple of generations ago that would not have been the case. So to sum up let me answer a couple of questions. Is the book worth the price? Yes. Is the book worth adding to the library of the serious practitioner? Yes. Is there a lifetimes worth of training therein? Probably. Well done Jerry Alan Johnson.

Things can indeed become very difficult when you expect differing philosophies to come to the same conclusions. Best to stick with either the Taoist path or the Ayurvedic and not expect them to have matching concepts. We should also refrain from thinking that one path is right or better than another, it is simply that they are different. Both could lead you to the same destination.

Those of you who are interested in the fifth dimension may find the following site of interest. http://www.fifthdimensionalnetwork.com/

Jerry Alan Johnson gives many examples and uses in his latest work "Daoist Internal Alchemy: Neigong and Weigong Training - The Secret Teaching of Esoteric Daoist Magic"

Welcome LastLivingSoul. The Lobby is getting inundated with spam at present but don't let it put you off the site.

Whilst Master Lam is well known for teaching the standing practices of Yi Chuan I am not sure that he taught other aspects of the system. Might be worth contacting for info though.

Yes!

up and way now for my name is Clark Kent man of steel

Zenkahuna http://www.youtube.com/zenkahuna

Who is John Galt?

Have a look here http://yichuanusa.org/ The site isn't fully up and running yet as regards the page on class locations but you may find somewhere in the links section. Good luck.

“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.” But it will just have to do for the Tao Bums. Welcome.

Welcome Padlin. It is difficult to comment on what someone else is feeling but the things you mention "unsteadiness, fear of falling, lack of confidence and fear in general" can all be helped by the practice of Qigong. I wish you well.

Not quite but I may get there yet!!!!!!!!!!!!