GrandmasterP

Absolutely. Every product that hopes to sell needs a USP ( Unique Selling Point).

That 72 'virgins' in the Koran can just as easily be translated as 72 'raisins' (fact). 'Be careful of what you wish for' is always wise advice where there is doubt.

On another forum I visit there's an Indonesian poster called dsbasuki who is a Silat player. Here's a sample post of his... http://sahabatsilat.com/forum/pencak-silat-general-forum/tong-kosong-nyaring-bunyinya/

It is and that was a teatime typo.

Those 72 Levels in MoPai. Might it not be 4 Levels with 18 stages in each Level? There's an historical precedent.

Now that IS service. TTB staff do go that 'extra mile' and no mistake.

How strange. My Amazon UK password allows me to log on to Amazon.com USA and order stuff. They even convert GBP to US Dollars ( at a price) if I order on the USA site. Some stuff though they won't let you order from UK. Clares Dickies mens' wide - Amish style- suspenders for one ( who knew?). My buddy in New Orleans had to order and then send those on to me.

Sage as 'idiot' is fine but maybe 'fool' is a less contentious word. As in " Holy Fool".... Be a fool in the Taoist sense, in the Zen sense. Don't try to create a wall of knowledge around you. Whatsoever experience comes to you, let it happen, and then go on dropping it. Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe. (Osho). More about Holy Fools here ( they are pretty 'clever').... http://cometogetherarticles.yolasite.com/holy-fools.php

I'll do my best, as always. So as not to derail this excellent, and so far incredibly polite; thread chat about specifics of MoPai praxes though... Any Qs for Jim to me via PM and I'll pass those on and see what comes back. I'm not the Post Office though ( no medium is) so please be patient.

And you know this how?No disrespect buddy but anyone can pop up on TTB claiming inside knowledge of MoPai. That's been half the problem. BS masquerading as 'fact'. In order to debate what MoPai we have ( on SoTG's site) we need to discuss what we can see not some possibly illusory 'knowledge' alleged to live inside a poster's head. SoTG has published Jim's teachings, if you have MoPai teachings that contradict Jim's then- with respect- either 'put up or shut up'.

"That" is reportage.Being unable to engage in spirit communication oneself does not negate the act and the fact of spirit communication Leo. Jim knows that now and so will everyone else who is reading this, eventually. Your good self included. Don't seek to bury a teacher who is not 'dead'. Jim's teachings continue via SoTG's useful website. No one is compelled to study those teachings but those who wish study Jim's work to may do so. I sense that some who wished to set up as 'gatekeepers' to Jim's legacy are somewhat miffed via thwarted ambition. The cat is out of the bag now and we can all admire it's purr, teeth and claws. At very least, if we don't choose to admire the cat then we can, all of us who wish to do so; discuss it sensibly because we are now permitted equal access to view the cat. "Level playing field" buddy. Don't be sad. It's all good.

What some call 'spirit guides' other paths call 'angels' or maybe Boddhisatvas or whatever other label their path uses. Thing is that some folks who go to spirit ( everyone does eventually) decide to stick around over there and help out friends, students and loved ones who are still on this side of life. Jim obviously ( he told me) approves of Sonofthe Gods carrying on his work and that's all good. SonoftheGods can lay claim to Jim's lineage ( from 'spirit'). When Jim was on his side of life, his Christian path and upbringing caused him to shy away from spiritualistic aspects of the MoPai. That hindered rather than helped what Jim communicated about the MoPai path because Jim 'wrote off' spirit communication as suspect. It's fair to say that Jim knows better now. What's also a bit puzzling is that some of our MoPai boosters on here don't seem to have grasped the centrality of spirit communication in and for successful cultivation. It's far more than physical exercise and self- improvement guys. At core, cultivation is more about lineage involving 'ancestors' of the path in spirit guiding cultivators on a path on this side of life. Anything less than that is less than 'full-potential cultivation'.

Odd how one comes across useless but interesting factoids. This afternoon at bowling, two guys chatting, one was Chinese. English guy is going on about ballroom dancing and how it is so popular that when him and the Mrs were on a holiday in China a few years back they saw people practicing ballroom dancing in parks in the mornings. Chinese guy says... "Yes, that was because the government banned TaiChi." Must have been around the time the Chinese were cracking down on the Falun Gong. I chipped in that they do QiGong and TaiChi in the parks again now but it made me wonder if there are still ballroom dancing classes of a morning in some Chinese parks or if everybody has gone back to doing TaiChi/QiGong. Anyone know?

Been having a looksee and found this from January 2014. In a Beijing park.

Apologies. MBSR Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. MBCT Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. MBSR Coaches/Mentors take an accredited Level 4 ( Equivalent to the first undergraduate year at University) training course. MBCT Therapists undertake a Level 7 ( Masters Programme) 2-or-3 Year course ( depending on how many hours per year they put in). Both MBSR and MBCT accredited routes are recognised by and therefore available via the UK 'National Health Service' which means that a Doctor can refer a patient. There are unaccredited teachers out there who advertise ' Mindfulness' programmes but only accredited teachers are officially recognised as such by our NHS.

SonofTheGods is carrying on Jim's work in Jim's kind spirit. Free, gratis and for nothing. Anyone who wishes to practice what Jim taught can now have a go, assured that it is Jim's work and words they are following rather than the posturings of some self promoting, angry; plank claiming to speak on Jim's behalf. Can anyone imagine that the sheer anger, foul abuse and vitriol evidenced on another forum is in any way honouring to the spirit of those teachings?

Original here..... Noel Coward.

Jim is delighted that his work is finally finding a suitable audience. Also, Jim wants everyone to know that he was wrong about spirit communication.

Top chap yourself SonoftheGods. Now those MoPai resources are 'out there' and available to all to see and read surely that should put an end to all that argument as to what is and isn't MoPai.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/the-dark-knight-of-the-souls/372766/ Interesting article. If someone with a mental health issue begins cultivating it could be that they become worse hence those medical disclaimers at the front of 'how to cultivate' books. Accredited Mindfulness trainers here in the UK have something similar they give out and record as having given in the client's notes. That way ones erse is covered if the client does go Tonto, blames the cultivation and calls up one of those "where there's blame there's a claim" lawyers and tries to sue the teacher. IMO anyone who starts out from a reasonably stable place north of their neck aint gonna be any worse by cultivating. What do you think?

" The vast majority of the group ( they researched) were Christian." No Taoists participated. We're as sane as sane can be. ( comparatively)

A straw man, also known in the UK as an Aunt Sally is a common type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on the misrepresentation of an opponent's argument. To be successful, a straw man argument requires that the audience be ignorant or uninformed of the original argument.

That is an excellent point and well made CT. 'Original' Mindfulness a la Kabat-Zin pathologizes meditation. Kabat-Zin was based in and worked for a pain relief clinic at a large General Hospital. Interestingly his exercises were yoga based and demanded a lot physically of participants. The meditation was , of necessity; 'self-centred' with cultivators focusing on an end result generally pain relief and personal improvement. Those of us working in Mindfulness from the 'Tao of Mindfulness' paradigm take a somewhat different approach. The physical aspects are Baduanjin drawing on and from classical QiGong theory and praxis. The meditative aspect takes a Soto-Zen approach of cultivating 'for its own sake' with intention , if intention there is; towards the well being of others. An argument can, and has been; made that if a 'Tao of Mindfulness' cultivator is cultivating with intention that 'all sentient beings may become Mindful' then that is still an ego-centric praxis. Maybe it is or might be, I don't know nor do I know how anyone could accurately diagnose that as being the case; but it could be. Not to say that Kabat- Zin's ' Full catastrophe living' Mindfulness approach lacks compassion. It has compassion but a directed perhaps 'therapeutic' compassion - from the Mindfulness teacher and towards the Mindfulness 'patient'. The 'Tao of Mindfulness' approach is dynamically different insofar that the focus is 'from' the individual cultivator and 'towards' the Mindfulness of all sentient beings. We cultivate for the sake of cultivation, hopefully; without self-seeking and 'ambitiously' that the ripple effect of cultivation might benefit others. That's the 'best fit' scenario and, of course; there are those who cultivate 'Tao of Mindfulness' for their own benefit. As a teacher one does notice that as students progress and develop in Tao of Mindfulness then any original 'selfishness' in approach tends to dissolve in and from the student. The 'selfish' ones who don't change tend to be those who find the practice wanting and move on. In all cases, people with mobility issues simply cannot cultivate Kabat-Zin's yoga-based method whereas even the bed bound can cultivate the 'Tao of Mindfulness' QiGong approach.

I have a tea mug from where we used to go on holiday that says... " Normal for Norfolk" Anectdotally that's a region- specific psychiatric diagnosis.