Shagrath

Oh!!! Thank you. So basically it is impossible to make definitive distinction between those two approaches because they influenced one another a lot in a long period of time. And basically the concepts of micro cosmic orbit, macro cosmic orbit, muscle/tendon changing, brain/marrow washing, etc cannot be divided into groups like taoist practice or authentic buddhist/shaolin, all of them practice all those practices it's just a matter of individual priority (e.g. some shaolin individuals focus more on inner energies, some taoists focus on external hard qigong).

Yes, sadly I am aware of that. There is not one constructive post made that is concerning topic. Since I cannot delete other post, nor I can delete entire topic it was easier to make a new one with PS about not going into off topic subject. In last topic from all the post you can see on few places that I reasked the question about my concerns, and non of the other topic relate in anyhow to my questions. I don't care about higher cultivation and spirituality. That I have covered. I am interested in energy cultivation differences and nothing else. And especially between Taoist and Shaolin Buddhist not Tibetan, Vajrayana etc I really don't know how to get straight answers without topic going into pointless argument.

So... In many books on Shaolin practice (they are Buddhists) I have found that they are talking just about Ba Duan Jin, Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui JIng. That they focus on clearing energy blockages from body and packaging energy to tendons, ligaments and bone marrow and lower dan tien so they become better "conductors" of energy. While in Taoist practices there are much more detailed "energetic anatomy". They focus on strengthening all 3 dan tiens, central channel, 8 extraordinary channels, nourish heaven (stars, sun, moon), earth (soil, water, wind), man (jing, qi, shen), fire-water, whole Mantak Chia program, etc. Are these correct information? Do you have something to add to this? Is there anything else that I should consider for understanding better these practices?

I would not fully agree with you on that. Buddhism tries to free you from illusion through reaching the state of Emptiness while in Taoism you tend to become one with the Tao. Same thing different words. But like I said in first post I am more interested in energy cultivation differences rather in spiritual.

Thanks! But what about in Shaolin they do muscle/tendon changing and marrow/brain washing next to intensive meditations. Those are practices for physical body and they are considered to have alchemical properties.

Why did you deleted your post?

Both From experience working with cancer patients I think that it is best to do both things. You have to do the energetic exercises and meditations to start healing process and eliminate the main source of cancer (which is individual for every person) and plus you have to have fun, spend time with family etc. Becoming enlightened is not easy thing and it takes years, it is much better to focus on self healing and developing emotional stability.

Entire attraction is based on your personal development. More developed you are the more developed girls will like you, find you attractive and want to be around/with you. The solution you are asking for is just a quick fix. That is no different then seduction. It is manipulative, and you are using mind/energetic trick to camouflage your own immaturity, undeveloped emotional intelligence childish mindset. Not saying that you have those traits, just saying that majority of people who want tricks and quick fixes are like. If you want just pure inner development into becoming the person that just by entering some room other gender is just magnetically drawn to you the I suggest deep and vast inner work. As I suggested ON BEING A MAN and BECOME MR RIGHT from David Deangelo and everything from Alex Allman as a foundation and lots of hours of meditation to clear the inner sexuality blockages and to mature your male principle. PS: if you are interested in quick fixes and tricks then look into material of Mystery, Mehow, everybody else in that industry...

This is excerpt from text about karma that my teacher wrote (http://illumina.co.rs/EN/Elements_of_Karma.html). At first I resented this concept and for many years I had resistance in accepting it, and I tried to find some answers that are different in Hinduism, buddhism, taoism and other religions. After many many hours of meditation and few years spent with teacher in the end I had the same experience and I don't run anymore from this concept. Furthermore I found that every religion is talking about the same concept just using different terms and phrases that are symbolically representing the Truth, because the Truth is beyond concepts of mind and that makes it unspeakable and indescribable. If you are focusing on just words and not the essence of what the author is trying to say, you will be caught up in maze of words rather to be caught up in experiencing the Truth. "In simplistic terms, after the physical death the following processes take place: - Physical body decomposes - here it makes no difference whether it is being buried, cremated, or treated in any other way; so, essentially, the time it takes it to decompose is of no importance, nor can anything different be said for the location or the manner in which this takes place. - Light body, aura and Soul merge into a joint vibrational-energetic structure, most commonly in the form of an ellipsoid, which gradually looses form and decomposes as it returns to its source - the Higher Energetic Structures: the Energy of the Unique Universal Field, the Christ energy and the Energy of the Holy Spirit (to repeat, together we call them the Divine Energy). Measured in “earth years”, this process can take anything, from a few to several tens and even several hundreds of years. - Mind, together with the Light body, the aura and the Soul, also decomposes. With decomposition of the physical body the instruments for creating the mind in the first place are also being destroyed: the senses, including, of course, “the synthetical sense - the brain”. And yet, the feelings that have formed during life still “remain”, in a manner of speaking, although essentially they are not that any longer - the senses and the brain through which, and through which only, they used to come into being and have their existence and expression, are no longer there, and so their further survival and manifestation is no longer possible. What actually remains from them is “only” an information. Therefore, the deceased do not suffer, have no sorrow, nor anger, do not sympathise or celebrate...,because they no longer possess the instruments for such processes. All these decomposing structures are passive in relation to the living people. Even if any “communication” is established with them, this does not represent - “a conversation between the living and the deceased”, but rather - connecting of the Vibrations of the living with the remaining vibrational-energetic structures of the deceased. All else are merely projections of the mind! Such communications are, essentially, nothing but “conversations” with one’s own self, and through help of a “medium”, meaning - an instrument in a form of the remaining Vibrations of deceased. Experiments conducted in this field, i.e. the sessions (or the sèances) of “invoking ghosts of the dead”, or “communications” subconsciously initiated, can go as far as being able to “see” the deceased and “feel” their presence and so on, which again are only the reactions of the mind (of the living person) where all this has its beginning and its end. Sometimes such experiments can prove useful if, for instance, the information received is of such nature that it will aid the development of individual Consciousness, but on the other hand, they can also be quite harmful if they end up “feeding”, or “crippling” the mind. Sheer curiosity and mere experimenting are by no means good approaches and for this reason we simply do not advise their exploitation. There are much simpler and by far more effective methods for finding out what we need to know, and that is - directly, through addressing God with a prayer. - Individual Consciousness - no longer manifests through the physical body, but instead, for some time, it still does so through the joint vibrational-energetic structure that is, as we have already explained earlier, formed by merging of the Luminous body, the aura and the Soul as well as the remaining “emotions and thoughts”, which now exist only in the form of information. Processes of decomposition of Vibrations, when viewed through the mind, can last a long time, but from an aspect of the Higher Forms of Consciousness, or rather the Divine Consciousness, they appear but as a flash. Individual Consciousness continues with the “process within the process” in the realm of the Higher Forms of Consciousness, which is exactly where it had started. Only now it is enriched with an experience, which we can describe only as much as is based on its manifestation on the level of Vibration-Energy and matter, i.e. the life of an individual. Further “process within the process” is indescribable and impossible to follow with the mind, but it is possible to “have the Awareness” of it. Continuing its journey as a “process within the process” in the parameters of the Higher Forms of Consciousness, Individual Consciousness as such does not manifest again on the level of Vibration-Energy and mater, because it is no longer as it used to be. “Enriched” with an experience, it continues the process within the Higher Forms of Consciousness, respectively loosing its identity. Such individual Consciousnesses (all, save the ones that have fully matured) certainly have had a particular, authentic role and influence through their process of individualisation as a part of the self-recognition of Higher Forms of Consciousness, i.e. the Divine Consciousness. This is why each and every individual Consciousness that had ever manifested in a given space and time, or rather, as part of the human race, have had a meaningful influence by the virtue of the fact that it was a Divine creation. The mind generated criteria, particularly that, which refers to something being positive or negative, good or bad for someone, or for the development of humanity as a whole, for an awakened (realised) person carries no significance, because all the processes, which take place within Divine creation, are in the function of self-recognition of Divine Consciousness. Individual Consciousnesses that have not matured do not “return” to Earth to resume their maturing process, because they have merged into the Divine Consciousness and have lost their identity. The new manifestations of Infinite Consciousness (i.e. “new people”) through individual Consciousness (can) have the Knowledge about all previous manifestations of all previous individual Consciousnesses, the only question is in what measure will this be realised by the means of their mind - “during their life time”. Many understand reincarnation in some of the following ways: - By ascertaining thus: “In my past life I have been a physician”, “In one of my past lives I was an army general”, people who nourish such beliefs consider the term “I” to be synonymous to a person defined by the so called character traits, which are based on emotions and thoughts, or on the other hand they do not even think about this term. According to them, this “I” moves with them from one life to the next. - Others think that the Soul is something which makes up their essence, and that it travels through time changing bodies from one life to the next, looking to “gain experiences” through numerous reincarnations, and so “pay off the accumulated debts”..., and finally to complete this process and attain immortality. At the same time, such people care scarce little about what they do and how they behave in this life, finding their solace in the belief that, by the very definition of reincarnation, they will be granted other lives where, if needs must, they will make up for the mistakes made in the past and catch up with what had been overlooked and passed by. And so the picture of a separate Soul is formed (mostly identified with the term “I”) that had come to Earth to fulfil a task, which, however, those who belong to this belief system can not easily and clearly define. In this way - a consolation/illusion that, if God-realisation and a consequent end to otherwise endless chain of reincarnation does not happen in this life, there will be plenty of time for it in the next one, or the one after... And so the irreversible damage is done, which is also present in the materialistic attitude - an aimless wasting of life and missing the precious opportunity for taking the responsibility to discover its purpose “here and now”! Of course, it should not confuse things if one should hear that the Soul is indestructible. Then normally the terms used are “Universal Soul”, which we can take as a synonym for Infinite or Divine Consciousness, and the “individual Soul”, which in turn can be equated to an individual Consciousness. When we use the term “Soul”, we are referring to the manifestation of individual Consciousness in the form of Vibration-Energy, whose function is in being an instrument of “self-communication” as well as communication with others. So instead of saying that - individual Soul “moves”, it would be better to say that - individual Soul is in the process, because otherwise it would be easy to loose sight of the Infinite or - Divine Consciousness (universal Soul), and individual Consciousness (individual Soul) as, in truth, being - one and the same, and of the mind as the only responsible culprit for creating the illusion of separateness. Infinite Consciousness continually self-recognises through a multitude of processes; one of them is the process of individual Consciousness as the “process within the process”. Those processes that have not bore the fruits of maturity, like we said, merge into the Infinite Consciousness loosing their individuality, while certainly contributing to the continuation of the overall processes in their ever growing, ever increasing levels of complexity... Divine, or rather Infinite Consciousness, reincarnates through an individual process of incarnation of individual Consciousness, which we recognise as the life of an individual."

Go really deep into programs of David Deangelo. Especially "On Being a Man", "Cocky Comedy" and "Become Mr Right". If you implement few percent of those information in your life, you don't have to worry about that aspect of life the rest of your life And to complete that whole sex appeal you will need to work on your sexuality also. I would recommend all material from Alex Allman. Best wishes.

Thank you very much Sifu Terry for answering me in such a depth. I appreciate it a lot. The summary would be: 1. find a complete authentic system with good tradition 2. find a great source of intact knowledge 3. practice diligently 4. become the "channel" of powers/gifts that that traditions awakens Next to great Buddhist and Taoists healers there are also a Christianity healers too. So that would mean that e.g. healing powers do not manifest them self just from practicing some authentic system with correct teachings, rather through diligent practice, deep commitment to authentic system, "cleaned" karma and development of consciousness. Best wishes, Shagrath PS: Your new videos are awesome!

Paleo/Primal Blueprint. Never felt better, had more energy or been more vital then now.

Thank you ShivaShakti. It helps but it brings more questions. I have also read all the posts in this thread and that is why I asked that question. I don't want to conclude something about system that I don't know anything about, it is better to ask the expert if I got it right. That is what I am interested also in, the FP martial qigong that is much stronger. How and why? You have your physical anatomy, 3 dan tiens, central channel, 8 extraordinary vessels, 12 organ channels, mind, consciousness,... Is it stronger just because its exercises develop more quickly and strongly mentioned structures, circulate more energy in body than FP or everything is the same just it addresses sinews also so you will have stronger punch/kicks, withhold punches/kicks,... So is it just FP="soft" qigong and martial="soft+hard" qigong, or something else?

Dear Sifu Terry, I am really impressed with your dedication and patience to reply everyone on TB forum and for your vast knowledge of internal arts and martial arts. Kudos to you and your work. Inspired by you I have obtained your first DVD and practiced for a two weeks now and I am truly amazed. Really really fantastic system, production and your explanations. I have few questions regarding this system and internal art globally. 1. In one of your previous comments you said: "FP Qigong, as you will find out, is a different system of Qigong, with a different alchemic method (formula) for cultivating its uniquely tangible healing form of energy." I thought that energy is energy and there is one "energetic anatomy" and no matter how you strengthen it it will be strengthened, and that only difference is how much some system form energy in our body in given period of time? 2. I am sorry in advance if I didn't understand you right in your posts that Flying Phoenix is whole medical system but in not whole alchemic/nei gong system. So if people want to further in energy development they should go deeper in Doo Wai practice? What part is missing to be a complete inner system? Are your 7 DVD's the complete FP system? 3. Do you know perhaps what made Grandmaster Doo Wai, Wang Xiangzhai, etc that strong in manifesting and controlling energy and energetic processes? I know a lot of people that are training some forms of qigong every day for 1-3h for 30 years and nothing, and Master Wang just did Zhan Zhuang and he went really in depth of controlling energy. Every individual with those kind of supreme energy control did different style/approach to training and because of that I cannot see any overlap in what they did except meditation and devotion to energy arts Furthermore there are some monks who never did any specific cultivation except lots of praying and they had tremendous amounts of energy and healing abilities. Is there something special that person has to develop as ability or make strong some energy structure to start developing those kind of abilities or you just practice daily energy work and meditation and it will come if you have those kind of potentials inside you Best wishes.

You're right. Some of the names I listed are just descriptive concept that mostly atheist people use and some are just manifestations of consciousness. True synonyms are Tao, Self, God, Emptiness, Ishvara, Brahman, Reality,... Emptiness written with lower case (emptiness) represents the state without thought and emotion, on the other hand with upper case (Emptiness) is synonym for already listed words and it cannot be described. The thing is with self. Self refers to true identity while self is ego/mind.

Like there are 1000 things to pray to The is only one Truth and yet there are manu names for it God/Tao/Absolute/Universe/Creator/ Brahma/Ishvara/JHVH/True Identity/etc.

Pray to optimize your sleep.

I misunderstood you. I am sorry. If your skin is the only part of your body that is cold it can indicate some qi disbalance in lungs or large intestine, since the three of them (lungs, LI and skin) are the same element (metal). So it can indicate that energy is not balanced in all three organs equally rather in two (lungs and LI) or even one, or you can have some issues with your liver. Try inner smile or five healing sounds or something like that to balance energy of internal organs.

As far as I know those are the signs of strong dan tien and kidneys but so is inner heat. After doing exercises for kidneys and lower dan tien you should normally feel worm inside. When you meditate a longer period of time, then its normal to feel colder because of the dominance of parasympathetic nervous system, but not during energy work. Or maybe you didn't have any problems and somehow you are bringing in you cold with your practice. Maybe you worked out barefooted or with thin soles and your Yong Quan absorbed coldness into your kidneys. If you have some lumbar pain or discomfort in lumbar spine, It can be that your Ming Men is blocked. On the other hand maybe you have coldness in your kidneys, that you must treat first before you strengthen them. In my language there is a saying "Worm boots guard your head (life), hat just decorates it."

Maybe somehow you are depleting the energy from lower dan tien and kidneys with regimen you are doing.

I agree with sati. I have tried versions of Cheng Bingsong, Michael Winn, Donald Rubbo and John Milton. Tried them separately for quite some time and found that John Milton version is way better then the rest of them. He explain it better, has better quality production, no BS and he learned it directly from Wudang Master Zhong Yun Long. Thumbs up for John Milton.

I would also add two things essential for energy work and becoming more aware of energy and being able to control the energy better. 1) maturing the Buddha nature inside you 2) becoming aware of Emptiness By control I mean the ability to consciously circulate energy, being able to constitute energy in various parts of your and other peoples body parts (healing and self-healing), to consciously strengthen your energetic structures. And of course for the greater benefit and faster developing next to the meditations you must practice regularly some energetic work/exercises.

1) it's not stupid. but still qigong is way more stronger in developing energy and making person aware of it then yoga. but eventually you train what you like more. I talked to few yoga masters and everyone of them told me that you cannot even compare the formation of energy in qigong and yoga. qigong is way stronger. but yoga is their way and it resonates with them, qigong doesn't. 2) yes it is possible. but qigong makes it faster, because your mind recognizes different processes and becomes aware of them. while in just plain meditation the process of being aware if energy processes is much slower, but possible. best solution is practice some energy work and meditate a lot. tibetan monks recommend that on every 1h of energy work you should have 4-8h meditation. I don't think that ratio is possible if you are not monk due to everyday obligations but it clearly displays that meditation is crucial piece, energy work only makes it go faster.

Can you be more specific about your practice? Qigong is very broad term

First of all MERRY CHRISTMAS FELLOW BUMS There are lot of different theories about breathing. I hope that you we can make them clearer and understand them better. Some authors say that inhale is yin and exhale is yang. On the other hand there are authors who claim opposite, that inhale is yang and exhale is yin. Both of them make perfect sense to me, it all depends on angle of looking at the same process. INHALE IS YIN EXHALE IS YANG - on inhale we draw energy in - on exhale energy is led out - exhale leads to energy dispersion - we are stronger when we exhale (punch, kick, lifting, pulling). we can perform better and stronger all yang activities with proper exhalation. - reverse breathing. creating physical yin/yang environment during inhale and exhale INHALE IS YANG, EXHALE IS YIN - birth is yang death is yin. when we are born we have our first inhale, when we die we have our last exhale - oxygen is yang, carbon-dioxide is yin. when we inhale we bring oxygen in - when we are sleepy (yin) we yawn because of lack of the oxygen in our brain. so we have unconscious reaction for deep inhales to oxygenate or body to become more yang - on inhalation lung and chest expands (yang), on exhalation everything compresses (yin) - dense is yin, hollow is yang. lung are yin organ but when we inhale they become more hollow (yin) - buddhists and yogis have most of their breathing exercises with longer exhalations. they say that the mind calms with exhalation, and becomes more restless with longer inhalation - full yogic breath has the theory as chinese reverse breathing. they consider inhale to be yang and exhale yin. so when you inhale you expand your abdomen, chest and clavicles making everything yang, and then you exhale and contract and compress everything making it yin The way I see it there is no definite way of categorizing the breathing processes. Like everything else in this world there is no definite yin or yang, just yin or yang compared to something. We could say that inhale is yang and exhale is yin when observing the physiological processes and in breath influence to mind. Furthermore we can also say the opposite (inhale is yin, exhale is yang) when looking the dynamics of energy in a body. Any more thoughts or constructive information on this topic? PS: please keep the posts constructive without arguing