Master Logray

It is not about harder. When the hand positions are fixed, they serve a specific purpose. Whether the hands should work independently from the body depends very much on the objective of that particular movement in that particular Chi Kung. After watching some videos, I would suggest you don't try to learn Tai Chi online from Gray. It is very difficult to do it right without real teacher. As to his Tien Shan Chi Kung which is suppose to be what you are doing, is a bit rare. I don't know Tien Shan CK is good or not, but rare Chi Kung has a problem. Students cannot get materials to cross reference or seeing the style from another angle, played by another teacher, or ask other people on the web. In China's search engine, there is only a single entry of Tien Shan in video, but 2440 entries of Big Swan in Google itself. Even if we got a real life teacher, we frequently still need to refer to the web. The popular Chi Kungs may not be the most suitable for you. But you should consider this point.

https://jikipedia.com/definition/237908636 Actually a statue is not necessary. A wooden board is commonly accepted.

This is a good idea. Quite portable, has USB lighting. https://www.facebook.com/godtoysofficial/photos

I happen to skim through a book, in English, about Taoism and Neidan. It has some interesting comments that I would like to share. I can't remember the name. I expand a little. Neidan is about Freedom. free from death. free from sickness. free from economic pressure. free from the predetermined destiny, free from fate imposed by heaven. free from dynasty and its corruptions and oppression. Immortal can talk to the emperor as an equal. free from the restrictive and suffocating Confucian social order, free from social norm, bias, discrimination. Some of these may not be as important these days. Yet the yearning to have breakthrough in one's life is not merely about some Siddhis or easy travel when there was no plane. It has deeper meanings.

You can build something similar. http://www.superiorfurnituredesign.com/page60.html?product_id=1906#.Y4srKn1BxPY

The knowledge of Chi could be thousands of years old. The quest and technique for immortality is also very long. But Neidan is a "recent" development. The word "Neidan" first appeared in text about 1700 years ago. The Neidan system came into being in the Tang dynasty which is around AD6-900. The universe was not created by an immortal - according to Taoist. Immortal or Xian, unfortunately, is the lowest form of celestial beings. There are many levels above it, let say Shen, gods.... They are mostly born to be what they are. While Xian is a stepping stone for humanity turning into celestial being. Neidan is the most widely used system to turn a person into a super-human and crossing the threshold to become another. But it is not the only way. Therefore it is why @freeform says it is a technology. But I think its aim is not solely spiritual.

Indeed. So 444 and in the cloud echos exactly what he writes about.

I cannot see the content page. So what else can I judge? its book cover? You know well that Damo is long winded. Another western writer probably can cut it by 1/3. If it is in Chinese, may be 1/2. So total pages is a good guide to how much things are in there.

This is the best description on the purpose of Taoist alchemy. People are using it for many purposes.

Only his Neigong book. The alchemy book seems to be not worth. His Neigong is 600 pages, while his alchemy book is half the size, higher price.

I also mix up @Immortal4life and @cloud444, because the number 4 is rather easy to remember. It is never useful in terms for forecasting for me. But they are very entertaining and exciting. All thinkings, include positive thinkings, from medicinal and cultivation perspectives. Even science says the brain is using up a lot of energies, more than any other organs. Pretend you are dead already.

I say distinguish them (for anyone confused by all these). Not what they are or what they are for. Taoist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim clergies all wear different clothing, right?

Chinese Medicine says, reduce desires saves Jing, reduce talking saves Chi, reduce thinking save Shen. If you sleep, you stop all processes. Just like your PC, you turn on the sleep function, the background processes that giving you problems would be forced to stop, or time out, or at least use fewer resources. Oversleeping is obviously no good. But it may be useful for your condition since you have no other solution on hand.

For those who are confused by all these foreign terms Neixxxx. Actually they can be distinguished outwardly. External Martial Arts (Wai Gong) - those kicking, punching, jumping, flipping back and forth quickly Internal Martial Art - slow movement speed training process, looks soft, fight fast Nei Gong ( complement the external martial arts) - standing, squatting, stances, slow and repetitive strenuous exercises Nei Dan (alchemy) - sitting or lying down i.e. from Kung Fu Panda to hibernating bear.

Why Damo and other teachers provide courses on Neigong, Qigong, Inner martial arts and theories, but not Neidan, nor go directly to Neidan? It has not nothing to do with pre-heaven something, dantian and so on. It is a money problem. If Damo offers a direct Neidan course, the technicalities can be covered in a few hours. Then the students can go meditating day and night, going back to him for questions in weeks or months. When they are ready, then they can have a deeper lesson. This process can take years or decades. The problem is how to charge? a big lump sum payment on day 1? a fee for the initial course? a small monthly subscription? Bearing in mind the teacher has nothing much to do in the whole process. I don't see how it is commercially viable. It may work in a temple or monastery or religious organization context when the teacher's survival don't depend on it. So we see the teachers are teaching mostly movements. Taichi and long Qigong like Big Swan are the most ideal choices.

I think your experiences point to the pragmatic side of the eastern teachers. People in the west tend to thinking of attachment, because they already have something. While older teachers usually live a life of insufficiency, especially during their early years. They know the harsh reality. The Neidan path further complicates the money relationship. Just like you, you need to detach from your lucrative career. Then you have to make do for many decades and don't forget, you will live longer than most people. In the later stages, you would not be able to work at all and need someone to take care of all the chores during the critical period. If you start off in 40s, you could need to prepare for another 60-80 years. How much money would that be? There are folklore about immortals posing as beggars. But I can't recall any story about beggar becoming immortals.

If a person's cultivation goes nowhere, it is alright, only time and money wasted. If this person has serious issues, yet he manages to get some results, when these hidden issues arise unexpectedly, that is the most dangerous in the cultivation process. You don't want to remember injustice done to you when your Chi is trying to pass through an important point.

You should. Some people don't receive it well. I have such experience. BTW @Shadow_self shared 2 links about wuxianpai and wuliupai. I searched the forum. Back in 2017, you were having a discussion with @A.A.Khokhlov over wuliupai. Are you related to their wuliupai or otherwise?

If you don't want selling immortality, then it is better to look for another religion/alchemy/spirituality. Taoism is not for you. Do you know the 4 essentials in Neidan cultivation - 法財侶地 (the method, money, companion and place). Money is the 2nd important requirement after the methodology. There are already places offering free teaching over the ages and still exists now. Did @Taoist Texts actually say he is at golden embryo level? He always talks about his knowledge on the classics, but not his Kung Fu level. If you want to establish or destroy something, you have to know what this something is. I suggest you read Damo's book - Neigong. It is certainly one of the best in terms of background knowledge and how the ecosystem is like. Of course not everything is correct. But it is an excellent starting point.

I read a book called Extreme Spiritualism. It mentioned burying seekers into human?/animal excretions.

@cloud444, @freeform's advice is to return to being a normal person first, stay away from all these stuff. Then I wonder if you ever have a "normal" life or it is too long away that you cannot remember. So it takes quite some time before you can figure out how to do it. So I propose let your body "kill" itself as in your title, by a simple method. You just sleep more, more and more. There would be no music, no meditation, no attention to breathing, no sleeping cultivation. Just simple sleeping. If you can't fall into sleep, never mind. Just carry on. It is the most painless way to quiet down all running wide processes, replenish your Jing. Many people suffered from big problems find relief by this method. Good luck.

Who say they are immortals? Do they admit they are immortals? I don't know their levels of attainment. But what they teach are qigong, neigong. All are elementary stuff. Because their clients only want elementary stuff. If Damo purely teaches Neidan, he would be cleaning dishes there. So why a normal teacher cannot have good returns? And your message says only the one with Elixir can teach Neidan, or something like that. When I studied in primary school, I didn't expect Einstein and Picasso to teach me arithmetic and painting. I do think you have some in-depth knowledge on many things. But some of the basic ideas are quite weird.

I don't see the point regarding money. Taoists charge money, from donations, ceremonies, spirit services. Why teaching Neidan cannot collect money? USD500,000 p.a. - after deduct expenses and tax is not much. And it depends on where you are. In my city it can buy a few parking lots only. These teachers are merely immortals. They have no abilities to escape from the tax net. If they fall sick, the medical fee could be huge - all these latest medicines and therapies.

Taoist deals with sex from different angles. In the previous posts, it is more about sexual health - how to do it better, more effective (more pleasure), more efficient (less damage to the body). It is for most people include qigong practitioners. For alchemical cultivators, it is better to minimize sexual activities and thoughts at all. There is also a faction, using sexual activities to cultivate Neidan (as you say they are pragmatic lot that find uses for all sorts of stuff). It is not about pleasure at all. Finally there are many who makes money out of such, providing advice, teaching, medicines or other means - often involve cheating and regarded as swindlers. It is not easy to tell which is which.

How about mosquitos?