dao zhen

For students who are just starting out, in our system, we sit for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 min or so - 3 sessions a day at morning / afternoon / evening - This time period is slowly lengthened. The student will spend half of the sitting session holding the hand postures to open the meridians, and building a balanced Qi (stillness quality / medium quality / active quality - combined - ) , then the last half is sitting in stillness, and letting this Qi naturally run its course. *** This is a tried and true method that opens the energy channels quickly - and if the method is followed correctly, the student can experience sitting for one hour or longer in the begining with not a lot of pain. Pain is caused by closed meridians, and lack of circulation of Qi. Personally, I try now and sit through a good period of the night - 2 - 3 hours in a session - rest, or lie down, then sit up again. This is interspersed with periods of practice lying on the back at times. If I have been busy, I of course sleep as needed. By my observation, a true method is something that is passed down from the experience of many generations or adepts. They have a very exact - step by step - method of practice. As such, they will generally have charted the time it takes to accomplish stages of the practice, sensations one should experience along the way, etc. It is not guesswork.......

I think the big problem by my observation is people have bits and pieces of information, and are trying to put them together. Like feeling around in a dark room, trying to find something.......... There is not a "complete view" of practice. Another big problem in the area of Taoist Alchemy Practice in the West is that people view visualization as a part of the practice, when in reality, it is a false one. Using the Mind Will to direct the Qi in the Ren and Du channel has often been termed the "False Water Wheel", by the few Taoist Adepts I met in China. You want to circulate the "External Medicine" in the Water Wheel, so first you have to begin cultivation and "Harvest of Yang Qi." Yet, without having practiced something we may term, "True Practice", people are happy to keep using visualization, or other methods that gain no real resulats, thinking they are walking along the road. I think practices like Vipasana can be a good foundation for learning Alchemy Meditation later on, though it is not needed. As people may learn to still the mind will, or thought of in another light, to bring the mind will back to a unified force, rather than a scattered force. In the very end, we should be practical. Do you get results right away from the practice? By my observation in 90% of people, when engaged in a True Practice, results should be gained in a matter of 4 - 12 days. If you do a method for months and months, and nothing is really happening (such as VERY strong Qi flow, transformation of Jing, and the above lead or pull one to a deep state of stillness) - then it is time to take an honest look at what you practice.

What do you practice? I think in an authentic method, there is a usually a very systematic practice to follow. In the system that was passed on to me, the practice is outlined as follows: 1. How to Still the Mind - Resting the Mind Will in the Lower Dantian 2. Hand Posture and Hand Mudra Forms to Open the Meridian System 3. Transformation of Jing to Qi 4. Harvest of Yang Qi 5. Small Water Wheel 6. Etc... Pain is usually present in the legs and lower back, knees, tendons and other spots in the first stages mainly due to the closed meridian system. You have to work through this stage. I experienced HUGE pain in my first 25 day training retreat, but I did not have a lot of experience in sitting. While passing through the pain phase, I found regulation of the breath to help a lot - while we also had to hold "extended" hand postures, and this helped to "push" through the pain so to speak.... In this system, the meridian system can generally be opened in around 7 days - doing full time practice of sitting with hand posture forms - 3 sessions a day - Once the opening of the meridians begins to take place generally around day 4 to day 7, the body takes on a feeling of being very light, soft and open - then you begin to feel you can sit for a longer and longer time with no discomfort. Pain is less and less, and then as you keep practicing, feelings of more lightness of body, and pleasurable states come on the scene.... YET, as mostly we live in society, and can have emotional reactions, the meridian system can get blocked and closed again - so generally we must practice the hand postures and mudras for some time before we just sit in total stillness with no hand posture forms. We were taught NOT to just sit in a stillness posture till the meridian system is opened, and there is a strong and natural flow of Qi through the entire system. Just sitting in a stillness posture without laying a proper foundation may result in one not moving in the proper direction of growth in practice. Yet everyone is unique, and we can not say anything in an absolute manner.

I personally think the term Qigong is one we should move away from.... In my study with authentic Taoist Adepts in China, none of them used the tem "Qigong"... I have mostly heard the term - YangSheng - used in reference to arts we may term - Qigong - By my understanding the term - YangSheng - can be translated as - The Art of Nourishing Life - Kind of says it all......... If we wish to classify the term - Qigong - I would say it is an art that deals with opening the channels in the body and balancing the Qi in the organ spheres - from the superficial level to a deeper level - Where as - Neigong - works from a deeper level from the first, and thereby will affect the superficial level naturally. By my understanding, the art most would term - Nei Dan Gong - or Internal Alchemy Meditation - actually uses the practice we look at as - Qigong - in the first stage - but later it moves beyond such a practice naturally - Qigong - the art of mastery of internal energy - Perhaps........ Really I dislike the term - Qigong - I think it has been a term in vogue for the past 50 years or so by one account.... YangSheng - the art of nourishing life...........

It is interesting to me to see these things forming in the west - generally from people who have had no contact with the Taoist Tradition as it is passed on in China. In China, there is no real distinction of Tao practice, and often times in temples or with lay people, many have a different expression of what they "practice" to "express" Tao. There is no concept of a Religious Tao and something seperate that is a Philosophical Tao...... There are generally thought to be different human activity we can take part in to get closer to Tao or to express Tao. Music, calligraphy, chanting, ritual, meditation, etc...... Such activity can help us to contact with Tao and also to express Tao.... By my research, it seems the most ancient activity that took place - before there was an organized movement called Dao Jiao or Taoism - was the practice of meditation in a hermit tradition in the mountains of China.... Perhaps this is something people who wish to understand Tao should explore.........

I think for the most part, this subject is misunderstood - due to lack of education - I have been taught that the first stages of cultivation has to be done in society. As in the first stages, we have to temper our heart. How to learn to transform anger, negative patterns, desire and all the rest, unless we are confronted with it on a daily basis? I was taught that while living in society, one can generally pass through the stages of: 1. Cleanse the Heart of all Desire and Passion 2. Settle Mind Will in Lower Dantian 3. Transform Jing to Qi 4. Small Water Wheel 5. Harvest of Yang Qi Etc......... The Stage of "Incubation" MUST be done in an isolated nature area, where there is no real contact with other humans... There are many reasons for this..... I think to go off into the mountains without first dealing with people, situations and society is a big mistake. But also, it is a big mistake to fool oneself into thinking they can stay in society, be around people and complete the whole course of evolution in Alchemy Practice. Just depends on what your goals are. I think there is amazing growth to be had in relationships and family life. Going to the higher levels of Alchemy practice is something for the few and not the many..........

~ now ~ being completely in the present moment with absolute mindfullness........

WONDERFUL! Congratulations Brother. Good luck in raising your child, and I am sure it will be a wonderful journey of self awakening and greater understanding about life....... Much love.......

When jing becomes full - it will flow out - it is a nature like water in this regard - This is a first door we must open - What to do when the Jing becomes full? What to do when the Qi becomes full? What to do when the Shen becomes full? Without a proper method, it really is a hard road to travel........

I at times wish more people talked here on practice, practice methods they have learned, and experiences of practice. Like in the old days in China - and starting to happen again now - The schools of Wudang, Huashan, Ermei, and Shaolin would come together - a few mem bers from each group - and have talks on theory, share some forms, methods, and seek to grow, share and expand their arts...... We could do more of that here, and maybe something new could come out, or maybe we could get some needed insights, etc. It seems to me there is a lot of arguing here at times, and name calling, and slander.... These things really serve no good........ On posts....... I think this is a place of freedom - but there should be some basic manner - but I also think, we should not react to such things..... Nothing is forever, this shall all change eventually.......

I am happy to help with 10 - 20 usd. Please let me know the details. I will be in travel now, and may not respond to posts and email right away. Much love.....

I am sorry to ask. I really get confused by the Cantonese language. Asume this is "FA" in Mandarian. As in the master gave me a "Gong Fa"... Is this term FA in Mandarian? Thank you for your lessons..... I also think this is also termed Yang Qi or Primeval Qi....... It is the closest Energy to Tao........ The first thing to come from Tao...... Far away from Earth Qi or Sky Qi....... Correct? Thank you very much for your lessons........

The Mysterious Pass is the great secret in Alchemy Practice. If you do not know how to open this door, and reside in this place, you can really not gain any high level. The Mysterious Pass is the "Doorway" in betwen the "Existence" region and the "Non-Existence" region.... non-existence realm >- O -< existence realm Many ask where is the Mysterious Pass... In some texts is is talked about in relation to the Yin Tang point.... In fact it lies nowhere in relation to the corporeal body....... and no where in relation to outside the body.... It lies in the place where the Great Unification takes residence.... The Mysterious Pass is always suspended over the vast expance of the heart.... Lying in the very center of heaven and earth..... It is the doorway between the existence region and the non-existence region.... After a long time of practice, the Primeval Qi will combine with the Primeval Shen........ This shall give rise to the Qi of the Great Unification........ This shall cause some situation to appear where light is flashing - where - inside / outside... you can not be sure.... Most will feel this is "in front of" the Yin Tang area - but also perhaps at Tai Yang area - but at this time, the "corporeal body" is not in contact - the cultivation takes place in the "Dharma Body" in another realm already..... Perhaps very far from the physical body and existence realm...... Inside and outside may loose any meaning.... There is not so much of a "you" at this stage..... It may seem like a "Full Moon" is coming and then going - it seems something is unstable - vast array of Purple Clouds appear, and seem to cover it up, then it shall flicker and appear again.... Maybe move up and then down..... Then move far away and suddenly up close again..... You keep the practice in this vast black space, and pay no attention at all to the happenings...... Remaining empty, and not allow the mind-will to move and attach to anything or any sights.... When there are Light Rays that seem to be coming from the Mysterious Pass, you naturally gather these Light Rays - it seems to come in through Yin Tang, but there is no body, and "you" are in a vast black space, with no knowledge of where the corporeal body is - and it seems as if the Light Rays become stored in the Lower Dantian....... At this time, there can also be quite a lot of sweet taste that seems to come in the mouth, etc...... Later at a higher stage, it seems you "enter" this sphere, and the cultivation takes place within this place, for you do not know how long.......... You are a small heaven....... There is a large heaven...... When the small heaven and the large heaven merge and gain a harmony - the middle place is the appearance of the Mysterious Pass........ It is a deep and profound secret....... Perhaps almost no one these days have any experience of it, and can not explain anything about it - nor have they gazed apon its mystical beauty and light........... Like a magical Full Moon in another realm.... Purple Clouds floating here and there..... Immortals riding on transparent dragons.......... There is another world and realm really......... But most can not believe in such tales.........

There is no need to leave. It takes a brave heart to say you are sorry...... I understand your view, and it is fine..... Please stay and be a part of this family, and we can all learn together. We have some free materials and articles we have posted online, and maybe it can give you some idea. ~ Taoist Resourses ~ Good luck in your path and journey.......

I would like to start by asking all of you to consider where you come from - perhaps most are from North America - How many traditional Taoists have you ever met? Not many perhaps...... Think on how long and for how many years a traditional Taoist trains and studies and practices to perfect their art.... Think that with most of the scripture, fortune telling methods, techniques, methods, Fu, and the lot - ALL ARE MEMORIZED - AND ON CALL FROM MEMORY - usually - Taoism has many ranks...... DaoRen - Just an ordained Taoist of no real rank, but someone following the way, knows some scripture, ceemony - maybe - some actual pracitce methods..... DaoShr - Maybe a bit higher on the scale than a DaoRen, but almost the same..... DaoZhang - This is like a master or high ranking Taoist. Much more knowledge, ability, and perhaps practice methods. TianShr - A Heavenly Master. Like a DaoZhang, but they have a unique connection to the Great Heavenly Master Zhang Dao Ling.... Mak TianSr is in the Heavenly Master category..... So try and put yourself in his shoes...... He must have a huge volume of various teachings, information, and methods that he has learned from his education......... He sees that this is a "TAO BUMS" forum...... Where there is an area termed "TAOIST DISCUSSION" ......... And he sees that no one has any real idea of the width of the Taoist school.... And he wishes to FREELY share his translations of FU, how to read the FIVE ELEMENTS on the palm for memorization, about YIN AND YANG cycles during the year, when to gather the PURE YANG qi in december, about how to deal with INSOMNIA with FU..... And lots of other stuff that I just thought....... WOW....... Here is a Lineage Holder - real one - from China, sharing his tradition for free...... What a good heart he has, and a real love for the Tradition of Tao..... I think most of you are a little bit foolish to not put your egos aside, and ask more questions..... He answers any questions that are asked........ SECOND POINT Do you know how someone of this rank is treated in Taoism circles, or in temples? Like respected royalty... WHY? Because they have given up their lives to hold the knowledge and pass it on to another generation...... Because they serve the sick, those in need, and in the Heavenly Masters tradition, they have techniques and skills to kill, supress, and bind demonic entity...... Would it not be sad if Fu and other lesser known Taoism Arts were not passed on........? Something to think on...... ANOTHER POINT I am sure that Mak TianSr can make a very nice living to supprt himself from the LARGE CHINESE community where he lives........ He does not need to waste his time to try and sell things to Tao Bums.... He is just offering his service... 90usd to join his lineage, and get lessons, teachings, help, support and such for life............. That is amazing........ I can tell one story of a famous Master in Wudang who took a foreign disciple for - 10,000usd - It may not be right....... But it happens......... 90 is usually an amount someone can work to get, and it shows respect and it is also a kind if energy exchange..... Another point to think about...... Lets say the Pope or Ecart Tole were to come on the Tao Bums and post stuff for free......... Maybe they would get respect from you guys??? Even if you do not agree with Mak TianShr, lets just have some respect..... Respect and Tolerance are the first virtues one should cultivate as a Taoist...... Lets show a bit more of this around here........ We are all here to learn and grow right??? I think given Mak TianShr is an ordained Taoist and Lineage holder wiling to share...... Lets give him his own little page or section, where he can post away and nothing gets lost...... Then people who wish to learn from his teachings have one place to visit...... Maybe the Personal Practice Section is one good idea for TianShr Mak to post his various teachings and put them in one thread......? http://www.thetaobums.com/Personal-Practic...ussion-f15.html Maybe someone could PM him and let him know how to set it up......... I think the more teachings and information available is better, and gives us new ideas.... I think that people with actual training, and lineage, wish to spend time here and share with members is an honor...... Just my ideas....... PS. Let us not forget ENGLISH is his SECOND language.... So sometimes what you read into his words, is not really the intention - it is just his second language - WOW... a TianShr who has learned English and is sharing with Westerners........ Lets show some good manner and respect here...... PPS. I think it was my Grandmother who taught me this: "If you do not have something nice to say... Just say nothing at all." Would it not make the world a much better place if more people did this..... Just smile and laugh..... No need to put negative words - energy - out there. We have enough of this already. I love all of you........

Qi or vital energy is formless, elusive, and without tangible qualities, yet it is the subtle breath of life which permeates and vivifies the entire universe. Qi gives birth to life; it is the generative force of the whole universe. Everything that exists in the universe is a manifestation or projection of this energy - in grosser or finer states - higer or lower - frequencies of vibration....... Ni Hua Ching In Taoism we have an important classification. ~ Ordinary Human ~ Wayfarer or DaoRen - (Taoist) Someone who is an Ordinary Human has not yet - Entered the Way - To - Enter the Way - can take place in many forms. One way is to join a lineage with a formal teacher. There are also many stories in the history of Tao where we can find divine or heavenly beijings come down and teach Ordinary Humans the Great Way - thus they Enter the Way through a unique means. One story we can find is of Wang ChangYang of Shanxi. He encountered two heavenly beings Zhongli Quan or (ZhengYang) and LuDong bin or (ChunYang). They transmitted the Secret Formula in Five Sections to Wang ChongYang, and he went off and lived in a pit in the ground, and practiced these ascetic methods for many years. Wang ChongYang went on to found the Complete Perfection Sect of Taoism, and created new guidelines for practice, and attracted 7 students who went on to found their own sects - the 7 Perfect Masters of the North - The most well known of these sects is the Dragon Gate Sect - Lung Men Pai - founded by Qiu Changchun - Perfect Man of Eternal Spring - Other sect founded include: Mount Sui, Nanwu, Mount Yu, Mount Hua, Mount Yu, Clarity and Stillness. The QuanZhen school or the Complete Perfection Way advocated and followed a religious way of life which centered on self cultivation, an ascetic lifestyle, and the practice of Internal Alchemy Meditation in particular. Some of the ascetic practices are: fasting of grains, vegetarian diet, fasting of foods, sleeping in a sitting position, extended meditation retreats in remote caves, the 100 day practice in an enclosure, and the 1,000 day practice in an enclosure - to be walled in a small room or natural enclosure continously to complete a given stage of the Internal Alchemy Practice..... We can find some hints on practice in the names of Wang ChongYang, and his two teachers Taoist names. ChongYang = Redoubled Yang ZhengYang = Aligned Yang ChunYang = Purified Yang Why all this talk of "Yang" and to redouble, align and purify.........? When Qi is of a high and subtle vibration it can be termed - Yang - this is usually something that is without matter / form or physicality.... Maybe we can think of the sun ray as something Yang, as you can feel it or encounter it, but you can not grasp it with your physical hand, nor can you capture it and store it in a bottle - buit it has its effects. We could think of a stone as something of great yin, it is at a very low vibration or frequency, and has become very solid matter. We can now understand that when the low frequency or Yin interates with the high frequency or Yang, we can have what we observe as life here in our realm. The art of Taoist Cultivation is an art to understand the pattern of these frequency and how this in turn expresses a Natural Universal Law........ We then have methods or practice technique to gain a harmony with this Natural Universal Law....... One practice in Taoism is to seek to cultivate the Golden Elixir.... During this course of practice, we cultivate Yang Qi. Yin and Yang can be used to classify different things in different situations, so there is no absolute - in one situation something may be Yin, in another comparision the same thing could be termed Yang. In this term of Yang Qi, we are looking at a very Primordial Qi, that is not a Human or an Earthly Qi. It is a Qi that surrounds the Heaven and the Earth..... Or more exactly it is the Qi that corresponds to the Emptiness that surrounds Heaven and Earth.... Perhaps it is something that can have a close relationship to Tao..... The Yang Qi is something that can renew the coporeal body, and also "spiritualize" one, causing transformation, change and if one follows the course to the end, liberation, enlightenment and Union with Tao. This is just a simple explanation, and not complete. To cultivate Yang Qi, there are many conditions that must be met in practice and also lifestyle. One condition is to not eat any meat products. This is outlined in many Taoism scripture and precepts. This is also an ascetic path, or a yogic tradition, and not something for an Ordinary Human. If you study the ancient I Ching, it shows in a symbolic way, the whole course of development from Yin to Pure Yang..... The path of Internal Alchemy..... It is clearly stated to not eat any meat products. Why? On one level, we can look at the frequency of foods....... Vegetables have the lowest cobination of elements. Most vegetables can be looked at as mostly consisting of a water element. Beef or other meats have a lower frequency, and more complex combination of elements. In the begining of practice it is very important to create a good condition and good internal environment, so the practice methods can take root. Diet is very important. In my experience, this was done slowly. When I first began to study with my teacher, he said if I felt I needed nutrition from food, it was fine to eat a little chicken or fish from time to time - beef, pork, dog and others were not allowed - He said as I continued the practice, naturally I would not wish to eat any meat. As the cultivation method took root, I naturally did not desire any meats, and in fact, ate very little foods, and during intensive practices, would eat very small meals of only one vegetable and drink hot water.... Yet such things were so wondeful, and the hot water began to taste like a sweet elixir.... My teacher was very kind, and said to let things change naturally through the practice. This is a way of a renunciant...... Proper Diet is a first step, as it was taught to me....... ~ history notes on QuanZhen were taken from Redoubled Yang's Fifteen Discourses ~ Translated by Louis Komjathy

Mak Tin Si Dao Zhang Thank you very much for your letter. Thank you very much for your sharing experience and advice. I will take your words, and apply them to my current situation. Thank you very much for your offer to share teachings with me from your lineage. It is an honor. Please let me think on this and give it consideration. It is a serious thing to me, and I should think on it three times..... With all my very best. Thank you for all your sharing efforts. Sincerely, Dao Zhen

There are masters of this level...... Yet they will usually only pass on their experience to one student... Such a master will live in a very remote place such as a cave, or a remote pit they have dug in the earth themselves.... You must have an order from Heaven to meet and learn from such a teacher. This means you must have very good karma, and much virtue..... Such a teacher no longer eats food, no longer sleeps, no longer breathes the air from the lungs.... They of course have no need for money..... It is destiny to meet and learn from such an accomplished one...... All other teachers in the human realm are not of such immortal nature...... They need food, shelter, clothes.......... It is just a common sincere act to give something back for their hard work in caring and grooming you and helping to open your eyes to Tao. In the old days a student had to be like a slave to the teacher to learn..... Clean the house of the master, wash the clothes, cook the food, chop wood.... Working sometimes for a few years before being taught anything...... I think things are much easier now, and we just have to work to earn some money for payment, and then practice..... Things are very open in these traditions and masters are sharing many secrets openly..... We should be thankful.....

Hey WQ. Sounds good. I am going to Xian on 23, and then heading over to visit my Zen friends in Kamakura, Japan for New Years - and maybe do a bit of Zen retreat and temple exploration - and enjoy the hotsprings.... I should be back mid Jan / Feb..... Not sure of my exact plans....... Working out meeting this 14th G DGT - heavy guy and should be very interesting - he teaches some old school Wudang Internal arts also...... I think we for sure should meet up, and share stories....... Send me a text to my phone, so I can save your number........ Innate Nature........ Yes, we are on the same page........

The Ultra Supreme Elder Lord's Inner Daily-Use Wonderful Scripture.... Is it not a road way to Heaven..... Showing the Inner practice methods to gain Union with Tao and to develop ones immortal bones.... Do you not have eyes that see? Do you not have ears that hear? Wake up, wake up the morning birds sing.......... In the infinite emptiness...... Existence is complete and ready....... The short lifetime of man.... Is it not like a mayfly ignorant of what its destiny is.... What fortunes or calamities are waiting in ambush..... what transformations and changes are going to take place. ..... How infinite this cycle is.... The existence and the nonexistence.... The birth and the death..... The advance and the retreat..... The waning and the waxing..... The increase and the decrease.... Infinitely they take their destined steps to go, to advance, to transform, with no marks left to indicate their respective traces...... Passions and desires are like ruthless sharp knives constantly wounding the Innate Nature. So we must guard against their offensive as we would against a fierce tiger. It is always the case of you externally being tied down by power and influence, and inwardly disturbed by distresses and misgivings. Congenital Shen is taken captive by the False Heart, and the False Heart by Greediness. How could we even have a break to return to Stillness and Quiescence, when considerations of possession and deprivation unremittingly occur to our mind? When innumerable ideas constantly arise at one time and pass away at another, what is the use of chanting sacred scripture? How could sudden inspiration and divinity come on the scene when our Heart is not clear and clean? When there comes the Saint accomplished in Tao, there arrives the true knowledge which is at the extremity of ignorance, for something known means something unknown, and nothing known means nothing unknown. The thing that gives no sounds at all plays the grandest music. The thing that has no taste at all gives the prettiest flavor. All musical scales floating in the air come from nonexistence. Existence owes its birth to nonexistence. The pure region of the Lower Elixir Field, transparent and still, is always the mysterious land across which many saints ascended infinite emptiness. At the beginning of their long distant journey heading to omniscience, they purged away grossness resolutely from their obscured heart in this pure region which serves as a furnace---this making up a permanent approach employed by all practitioners who are engaged in pursuit of Tao, ever since man's first time of transcending all limitations Nature imposed upon existence. To reap the fulfilling fruits of long-term hardship, to transcend material limitations and release from transient life-time to eternity---as an eternal aspiration of humankind---you must at first temper your worldly heart to cleanse of all desires and passions, in this magic land - The Lower Elixir Feild. At the very instant of the Great Transformation, and before the myriad of things acquire respective shapes, man's Innate Nature is pure and virginal. Nothing exists to interfere with it and nothing to induce it to take diverging path. With no origin to explore, with no end to divine, man's Innate Nature exists primitively. After the annihilation of all things this survives, and before the existence of all things this first came into being. No great thinker could possibly guess where it is, because it exists beyond the range of man's thinking ability, and in what form it presents itself, for it lies beyond the range of time and space. Wearing away all thoughts you could not detect its existence, meanwhile driving all ideas to all quarters of the realm of reason, you could not catch sight of its shape. No circumference exists to mark it out.... No interior and exterior to form it.... Man's Innate Nature endures solitarily....

Thank you for your letter. Yes, after the training and transmissions, if you break the precepts you get sick. I experienced this a few times also. It becomes natural to follow the precepts, as your "inside" has changed. When you follow the precepts, something good begins to grow stronger and stronger inside. When you break the precepts, this power rebels and it can cause sickness and pain. I think perhaps you are correect. Before he left, he said he could not stay in the polluted world any longer. I many times "feel" my teachers presence in the room, or above me - especially when I practice. Sometimes strange things happen these days - like voice in the early morning - time to practice. The other day, I went to practice in my meditation room, and suddenly the light cord was pulled from the wall, leaving the room in total darkness - it seemed a message to practice also - For a western raised person, at times it is hard to accept this world and reality of magic and mystical happenings. Yet perhaps this is more real than the profane material world......... Could you please share some good advice on this subject to cultivate this connection with my teacher?