Meridian_Man

All, Something has been bothering me lately. I work in a technical field where my daily life is very formulaic. And I account for my time to the hour. It seems like this is not in the spirit of spontanaity and actionless action. It seems like if I were a novelist or photographer or another professional with more freedom I would not have this conflict. I'm curious if anyone else struggles with this. All help is appreciated.

When I was a kid I started having feelings and opinions that didn't jive with my family. It culminated in my teenage years when I started practicing meditation. My religious faith was heavily taxed between the ages of 14 and 20. My mother had multiple sclerosis and as a consequence I was the witness of much suffering. My ministers explained to me how my mothers suffering was all for the glory of God and in fact she had it coming because none are innocent. Yup, sometimes God just makes a clay pot so that he can smash it in an exhibition of his glory. Still doesn't seem to sound right. I'm still coming to terms with my inability to believe any of that. If I'm to believe that I am made in God's image I certainly don't see any of that in myself. Nope. Always seemed to me that God was something bigger than any of that. A vast and precious machine artfully weaving through the cosmos ever expanding. All of us cells in the great body. Always in flux ebbing and flowing like the ocean. Pulling us back home and reforming us again neither out of joy nor sorrow, anger nor hate. But because it is. Plain and simple. Because it has always been and I along with it. Then one of my teachers gave me a copy of the Tao of Pooh. Turns out I am not alone in the world after all.

@Mokona: I work in a class of about eight other students. I really count myself fortunate to have the instructor that I do. I think that is what makes the real difference. I'm realizing now how rare this is in the states. I had an opportunity to leave my job and follow a friend out of state. After consulting the book of changes I relocated my family 250 miles away. Now that I'm here I found a qigong instructor who trained for three years under a Chinese master in a hermitage. He told me that he knows 25 forms of qigong. I hope that I can learn several of those before I have to relocate again. I doubt I could get the same knowledge from a book or video.

@Dawei: I like to think I'm a taoist. I'm trying very hard to grow but I will forever be unable to gauge where I am along the way. We will say that I'm on the taoist path. I have had some re-education along the way. The bulk sum of my knowledge is from three sources; The Tao of Pooh, The Tao Te Ching, and the book of Chuang Tzu. I got the Tao of Pooh when I was a teenager and that sent me on my way. Recently I've really ramped up my spiritual growth. Unfortunately I have neglected this aspect of my life for some time. Oh yeah. I also use the book of changes. I use that quite a bit actually.

All, I would rather be direct and simply say that ChiDragon and his opinion of me are of no consequence. This isn't the first time someone told me what is and is not possible. I do find it a little ironic that it is happening on a taoist board. If a person expects all others experiences, and truth for that matter, to mirror their own then there is nothing left to say to that person. That's a battle they fight alone. Please just let it fall to the ground. I would rather people answer the original question that I put forth. I would like to hear of others experiences after starting qigong. It's an anonymous forum. There's nothing to gain from lies or deception. No thrill in gaining the admiration of avatars. I view this as a place to speak freely. Again, there is nothing to fear in the ridicule of some faceless avatar. We should speak freely so that all experiences are known. There is no real cost in this. Let's not allow our egos to detract from this conversation. If a person tells me that they flew on a broom yesterday I will be in no position to refute them. I will stand dumb and ask questions like an idiot. This is my position. Apparently my experience was similar to others. Apparently some after only their first lesson. I have given my account of the method I follow. I believe there are other experiences. I want to hear them.

Light as a feather. I like that. Good way of putting it. Thank you for your input.

Thank you for this thorough response. You make a good point about getting the lead out so to speak.

@ChiDragon: I breath down into my abdomen. That is a habit that I picked up while playing trumpet. Every morning I do fire dragon qigong. First is a warm up (shaking the tree, swinging arms). Then the fire dragon method follows. It involves tapping down the inside and outside of each arm and then guiding your hands over those same areas. The back and legs are treated likewise. I think anyone familiar with fire dragon will know what I'm talking about. I've researched the internet and this form is fairly common. I am in excellent health. I also do not follow your idea that people talk about qigong and they don't know what they are talking about. I would prefer to give someone the benefit of the doubt. I am not following some youtube video or a tutorial that I linked to off of a wiki page. I signed up for a class. I hired an instructor. Anyway it looks like others have provided a real answer. I am not the only one to experience this. Good luck in your journey.

@ChiDragon: I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny. I honestly do not know if this qualifies as a dramatic effect. Am I to understand that this is not a normal reaction? I do not believe in mastery. Looking at your conversations on here you seem to be a very knowledgeable individual. Especially about qigong. And as such you would recognize how preposterous your statement about mastery in a month is. I did not ask the question for ridicule. And whether or not you believe me is inconsequential. And I would still like the question answered. Perhaps you know the answer. If so please share. I do not know much about qigong. I am learning. I've read many accounts about the feelings people get during exercise. Some say they feel burning or warming in the body. Others say they feel a pulse. But I have not found an account of what people experience afterwards. To clarify further. I am experiencing moments where my limbs sort of lose weight and resistance. It is not a continuous effect. Have you ever walked in the direction of a strong wind? This feeling is similar. Also, there are no other influences. I'm a level headed guy, no drugs and no alcohol. I'm beginning to regret asking the question.

@Colorado: It's interesting the comment you make on letting go of what others think. Apparently I've done so for such a long time that I don't even know that I'm doing it anymore. I had a friend tell me last year that I obviously quit caring what others think a long long time ago. I hadn't even thought about it. I suppose since this is an anonymous forum this can't be taken as boasting. I do not mean for it to come over as such so please don't take it the wrong way I'm just trying to give some perspective. I'm 33 and pull down 85 grand a year as a software engineer so I keep my family fairly comfortable. But I also used to work a second job. I entertained children by twisting balloons and performing magic. The only reason that I don't do it right now is that I'm trying to spend more time with my family and self development. Anyhoo. The point is that I would often have people make sideways comments about me. One time I even had a guy post on twitter that I made his life seem less pathetic. Why? Because I made kids happy by twisting balloons in a steakhouse? Sure the money wasn't bad. I averaged 20 to 30 an hour doing balloons and made as much as 100 per hour on private and corporate events. But I didn't have to have the money. I was already doing fine in industry. Really, I learned a lot working with kids and I enjoyed being childish. Thanks for your insight!

I began qigong a week ago. I diligently perform my exercises every morning. Today as I was walking my colleague was having a difficult time keeping up with me. Indeed, throughout the day I began to get a feeling as though I was moving effortlessly. Almost as though I were a leaf carried on the wind. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this a side effect of the particular method I am working or is this typical of all qigong methods?

@Rainbow: Thanks! You are quite eloquent and I look forward to knowing you.

@October: That is an excellent point that I had not considered! Even when you are looking at books on Taoism and Zen on Amazon people are normally quick to call out Western misinterpretations in the comments section. It assures some level of quality control doesn't it? That is quite fortunate indeed. Thank you for your insight.

Hello All. I've considered joining a Taoist community for some time. It seems that in the United States there aren't many like minded individuals walking around that you can bounce ideas off of. Finding this message board is very encouraging for me. I'll give you a quick run down on how I came to Taoism. Like most other Americans I was raised in the Christian church. Unfortunately, I always seemed at odds. I won't go into details because I'm pretty sure most of you know what I'm talking about here. But it is as Alan Watts said in the way of Zen. [paraphrasing here] When social dogma is interwoven with religion something terrible happens when a man finds himself at odds with the dogma. He can either deny his nature or question the root of his existence. As if teenage years weren't hard enough. Well, I'm in my 30's now and I can honestly say that I'm still not really past it. Somewhere along the line a man that I studied art under took mercy on me. I was given a copy of 'The Tao of Pooh' when I was a teenager. I suppose it planted a seed. For the first time I found something that made sense. Something that nobody had to convince me of. I do not talk to my family about it much. I've largely been ostracized. My sister actively shielded me from her children for 20 years. I do not even know my nieces and nephews. And my wife is also extremely frustrated. Again, I do not talk to her much about it. She knows that I use the book of changes and occasionally asks me about it. She knows that I make life decisions based on my beliefs. Long have I tried to consolidate my faith with my upbringing but it seems no use. I thought here, perhaps, I could find some encouragement. Maybe others struggle with the same thing. I honestly don't know. I feel like I've made some inroads recently. I am admitting to myself more and more what I am and slowly casting off fear. That's not easy because I was raised of a healthy diet of three square meals of fear every day. Now I'm in Qigong classes and I'm very optimistic. My master studied for 3 years in a hermitage in the mountains of China. I'm very pleased to have found someone with such a breadth of knowledge. If you actually read all of that I respect you highly.