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  1. yup, that's me - as trusting as they come and proud of it. that's what makes american products most loved the world over (8 of top ten global brands are american) that's what makes americans most admired the world over (all kids - including the haters - drink coke, eat at macdonald's, wear jeans, and chase the american dream) that's what make america strong by the way, that was a good movie clip.
  2. ...

    What if you have no teachers and your kundalini energy experience is very sudden? Here, I think, you must have faith in yourself and to have faith that you would and could do good. Once the energy completes its circuit, your mind becomes very open. You would see gods and spirit beings. Hopefully, due to your merit of your past lives, you would receive guidance from benevolent beings. For examples, in my immediate past life, I was a soldier and I even witnessed myself being killed by a sniper bullet. Here, in one my nightly dream/vision episodes, I had a version of a young man radiated with golden light. He looks like me or I look like him, except the hair and eye colors. He appeared by my bedside as if he was there. He was passing on wisdom to me by allowing me to confront various life conditions. I woke up and freaked out and expected this young man was next to me!!! That was how real it was. I never dream or have visions of myself killing anyone though. There was some hint that I took a life because I saw my hands with blood at one time, in my dream. But the desire to kill and to hurt were never there at all.
  3. Just so everybody knows...

    i just copied his life story. thank god he told us before he removed it. let him go. he's like that avatar of yours:some kind of wild eagle? (you don't like that bird on a stump.) tao bum will clip his wings and chain him to a post if he stays. and no eagle is going to take that. having been in jail, he knows the territory. he knows the way of prison guards and there is no point tangling with them when they close in. pity though. he is a good story. i was hoping for more. he is thinking of a book about cultivating and i am thinking of a screenplay about him. "american buddha" born in the world of hard knocks and reaching for liberation. this is my kind of american dream. i need to get the dialogue right and the authenticity of someone who was there. drat, no way i can fudge that.
  4. From the Wiki: One of the most discussed themes in Buddhism is that of the emptiness (sunyata) of form (matter), an important corollary of the transient and conditioned nature of phenomena. Reality is seen, ultimately, in Buddhism as a form of 'projection', resulting from the fruition (vipaka) of karmic seeds (sankharas). The precise nature of this 'illusion' that is the phenomenal universe is debated among different schools. For example; Some consider that the concept of the unreality of "reality" is confusing. They posit that, in Buddhism, the perceived reality is considered illusory not in the sense that reality is a fantasy or unreal, but that our perceptions and preconditions mislead us to believe that we are separate from the elements that we are made of. Reality, in Buddhist thought, would be described as the manifestation of karma[citation needed]. Other schools of thought in Buddhism (e.g., Dzogchen), consider perceived reality literally unreal. As a prominent contemporary teacher puts it: "In a real sense, all the visions that we see in our lifetime are like a big dream [...]".[1] In this context, the term 'visions' denotes not only visual perceptions, but appearances perceived through all senses, including sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations, and operations on received mental objects. Both conceptions of reality as unreal default to apathy b/c confusion and belief keep you from acting.
  5. Hi

    Your voice has been missed here. Dream true, friend.
  6. Just so everybody knows...

    Now now now, lets not get all bent out of shape, dissagreements and conflicts crop up all the time. I know from personal experience that our seeming enemies can hold the most crucial things to hear. I've learned far more from perzons that I dissagreed with than I ever learned from folks I was already in ageement with ( admittedly it wasn't always what my enemy was proposing ) Please take it from a person surrounded by conflict , continue to engage. It is all an illusion a dream , a vortex .. its all good or can be seen as such. Wow Ss that's more personal stuff than ha been posted by everyone altogether! I hope youu put it in the book , (but I don't know how it would be received)
  7. Happiness and Low Salary

    Hahaha. Everything to its measure. Indeed. Constantly stressing about material success is enfeebling and depreciating at best. There is something to be said about money, it only makes us more of who we already are. Whether we have a little or a lot, it magnifies who we truly are. The fact that there are many souls willing to focus on spiritual pursuits is note worthy. The wisdom and virtue garnered in this life WILL hold it's relevance in the next, compared to the material riches we possess in this life. I refrain from using the word 'value' as if wisdom and virtue could be bought or sold. We are all on the same path, but many are willfully ignorant at times and are driving themselves insane with expectations that they must fulfill. Furthermore, the fear of death compels one to take risk and live life in a haphazard manor. It is good to learn and stay motivated. To pray, meditate, and be mindful. But most importantly, it is good to find that one can depend on themselves and others, even the higher beings, concerning life. "We all need each other", is what a woman told me in a dream once. I ponder the relevance of this message for some time and realized that this notion was true and that it was also the reason why there is so much grief and stress in the world. Many are living lives in a selfish manor, constantly focusing on themselves and their riches, feeling as if they are all alone. Man has settled for a broken economy where greed is paramount and seems to infect everyone who seeks these 'riches'. hahaha. This system will eventually kill itself and die off, or kill man in the process and then die off. Man needs to learn how to share and this will be a ever-bearing lesson in the coming years. I have chosen to constantly learn new subjects and to keep my mind invigorated. Whether or not I assume a mass of debt concerning school, I care not. It is a challenge and something that I enjoy. Man should know that money is pointless without man himself. I know I possess enough ingenuity to live life if I desire to do so, with or without money. Learning to die is hard. Living is easy. We seek money for convenience, but convenience has never been a great teacher it seems.
  8. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    There are 18 levels with 36 meds in each. Anyhow I don't think anybody here going to do all of them. May be when first 2 are mastered then practice the rest during dream time, I dunno. The name of the DVD series is Chikung for Health. And people really can benefit from it. That's probably was the idea to release first level which is good and safe for all people. Better than nothing.
  9. What to do when the Dark Night of the Soul hits

    When I encountered the long dark, I fought it with everything I had, struggling against the current with a monstrous vanity. Stubbornly forcing myself to emptily perform my previous rituals until all inertia was absolutely spent and I finally just ran out of desire, utterly exhausted in body, mind and spirit. With no more ability to care I just dropped everything and completely surrendered. Came close to suicide twice. The process lasted a couple years in all. When I reached inertial bottom and settled into stillness, I gave in to it, I had no choice, no inertia, no love, no care, no truth. Just empty motions and lack of desire. Nothing had meaning, nothing could possibly matter. The slightest breeze could change my direction in these days. The tiniest suggestion of a friend or stranger could alter my course, yet no matter the course, the ship was empty and lifeless. Although it felt like complete surrender and I told myself it was, it was not, for I still had pride and despair. The despair of 'what is wrong with me? where did my love go? who am I? what am I?' And a pride that I could endure such despair and keep on functioning. Thankfully the long dark was more relentless than my pride or despair. On and on I plodded until finally in true exhaustion even the will to despair fell away. Where before there was despair at the loss of desires and connection to life, within this release, there was no longer even the energy to attach to despair. This was the fulcrum and pivot. The Yang within Yin. When I finally lost the inertia to spend on fear or despair, I encountered silence. Silence of mind, silence of emotions, emptiness of motion, no motivations, just empty actions and words. The silence I experienced was so complete. Silent body, empty mind. In the core of this silence I experienced something new. An underlying sound, like rushing water became apparent very far away and deep, within the silence... and it shook me awake. It was so profound and deep and utterly new, so foundational, beneath and beyond anything I had experienced in the realms of desire and identity. Once I became aware of this sound, this presence, it at once began to grow and fill my awareness. It grew into a roaring thunder that had it been an audible sound would have deafened me. It shook the walls of my awareness until there were no walls and when I looked out of my windowless self, the world I saw was not the world I had known. Trees I had walked by every day for a decade were seen as if for the first time. People, veritably glowing with energy in the simplest of exchanges and even the dirtiest situation had the shining aspect of brilliant connected life to it. The sense of it was like waking from a long dream. I am not enlightened. I am not awake. My long dark was exactly what I had been asking for and seeking. I've been blessedly shaken by the silent thunder and I'm so fucking grateful it's beyond words to describe it. The silent thunder awakened me to the connection. The deep underlying connection of all of it. Now I'm going to go have a piss and make some more tea... Much Love... edit: and of course... the above is all experiential and thus, illusion. But wow, what a ride! gratitude is a great companion
  10. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Yes im an avid resercher. I actually spoke to a practitioner of emei shan qigong who has been to emeishan a few times. Ive been researching emeishan for the past year I came across this Bai Yun Emei, the '"Lofty Eyebrow Peak,” is the highest and holiest of China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains, and the Golden Summit Monastery is at its highest point. In 1227 A.D., a Daoist monk who lived on the mountain made a pilgrimage to the summit. Here, he meditated and fasted while spiritual masters guided his path toward wisdom and enlightenment. When he broke his fast, he took the name “Bai Yun,” or “White Cloud.” The enlightened monk combined the more than 3,600 schools of thought, philosophies, and techniques that had been taught to him by his teachers and created a comprehensive system of health called the Emei Linji School of Qigong—or Emei Qigong for short. The Linji school is the largest Chan Buddhist sect in China. Emei Qigong includes Buddhism, Karma, Kanyu, acupuncture, herbal medicine, Daoist and Buddhist Qigong, Taiji, extra sensory perception (ESP) diagnosis and treatment, iron body, martial arts, and more. This system is devoted to maintaining excellent health and treating diseases while attaining the highest levels of spiritual development. In a pure vision, the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, the great spirit of Emei Mountain, told Grandmaster Bai Yun to take the teachings and pass them down, lineage holder to lineage holder, master to master, in order to help future generations. Grandmaster Bai Yun chronicled the sacred knowledge in a book called “The Emei Treasured Lotus Canon” lest it be forgotten or misinterpreted. This book is currently held in a Beijing museum. Zhou Qian Chuan The years surrounding the Second World War were a time of great political and social turmoil in China, and people's lives were very difficult. During this time, when Grandmaster Yong Yan was traveling from mountain to mountain, he met an army major general, Zhou Qian Chuan, who was a Western medical doctor. Major General Zhou had serious internal cracking in his liver caused by the violent vibrations of a bomb that had exploded very close to him. He had tried all the famous Western medical doctors and no one could heal him. Grandmaster Yong Yan befriended the major general, treated and cured his ailments with Emei Qigong healing techniques. Overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, the major general wanted to leave all his responsibilities to become a monk and to serve this great man who had restored his health. Grandmaster Yong Yan refused his request to become a monk but allowed him to come to Emei Mountain to study under him. Zhou Qian Chuan studied with and served Grandmaster Yong Yan for 13 years, and the Grandmaster ordained him as the first layman to receive the title Lineage Holder. So it was that Zhou Qian Chuan became the 12th Lineage Holder of Emei Qigong. With the introduction of a lay lineage holder, Grandmaster Yong Yan altered the tradition of passing the lineage only from monk to monk. The lay lineage holder was to have two major responsibilities. One was to spread the teachings of Emei Qigong to the public so that more people may benefit from the powerful knowledge held within the Emei Tradition. The second responsibility was to pass the complete teachings to a monk lineage holder so that the teachings may be kept intact, pure and accurate. With Grandmaster Zhou, as the first lay Lineage holder, to help take over, Grandmaster Yong Yan then left Emei Mountain and went to Southwest China. And as he had foreseen, monks were imprisoned or killed and many of the monasteries on the mountain were destroyed, including the Golden Summit Monastery. The newly ordained Grandmaster Zhou stayed on Emei Mountain but often came down and traveled to the Kangding area to help people suffering the ravages of war. Ju Zan When World War II ended, Grandmaster Zhou went to Beijing to seek the Supreme Buddhist Abbot Ju Zan, the monk to whom he would pass the Emei Qigong traditions and teachings. Abbot Ju Zan’s whose religious status and title is similar to that of the Tibetan Dalai Lama. Abbot Ju Zan knew of the great Emei Qigong system through visions and was prepared for Grandmaster Zhou’s arrival. After a number of years of studying (1950 – 1958), Grandmaster Zhou ordained Abbot Ju Zan to also be the 12th Lineage Holder. Grandmaster Zhou taught the monk everything that Grandmaster Yong Yan had taught him and they shared the lineage together, according to Grandmaster Yong Yan’s vision. In the 1960s, China’s Cultural Revolution began and Grandmaster Ju Zan was wrongfully imprisoned for eight years. In prison, he meditated and saw the future of Emei Qigong. He was released in the early 1970s. Grandmaster Fu Wei Zhong The future envisioned by Grandmaster Ju Zan centered on a young man named Fu Wei Zhong who began his training on the day he was born in 1949. Driven by an exceptional interest in old texts, he studied traditional Chinese medicine and read ancient Chinese philosophies when he was only six years old. By the age of 12, Fu Wei Zhong was treating and healing people with techniques he had learned from his readings and the instruction from his grandfather, a traditional Chinese medical doctor. He began his martial arts training in Shaolin Gongfu at the age of seven. He became a student of Luo Xing Wu, an eminent Chinese martial arts grandmaster, from whom he learned many martial arts disciplines, including Xingyi and Bagua Gongfu. Like many other young people during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Fu Wei Zhong was sent to northeast China's Heilongjiang province. Because of his training, he worked as a veterinarian. He was 18 years old when he arrived and opened a medical clinic. For eight years, he used traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and treatment techniques, including acupuncture and Chinese massage, to treat multitudes of sick people and animals with great success. Fu Wei Zhong returned to Beijing in 1976 and taught martial arts at the Beijing Dongcheng District Martial Arts School for a year. He planned to take a master’s degree in religion and was looking for a renowned teacher to guide him in his studies. A friend took him to meet Abbot Ju Zan, the Supreme Abbot of Chinese Buddhism and 12th Lineage Holder of Emei Qigong. Since childhood, Fu Wei Zhong had had a recurring dream of a monk. He did not recognize the monk nor knew why the images kept coming to him. When he saw the Abbot, he recognized him as the monk from his dreams. At their meeting, they looked at each other and the Abbot said, “Oh, you’ve finally arrived, it’s time for you to train!” as if they already knew each other. Fu Wei Zhong underwent training to be the 13th layman Lineage Holder of Emei Qigong. He received instruction in Buddhism, Daoism, traditional Chinese medicine, Taijiquan, Qigong, Feng Shui, future prediction, and other Dharma methods exclusively transmitted from one Lineage Holder to another within the Emei Qigong system. Fu Wei Zhong was usually in seclusion—studying, cultivating, and integrating the system’s ancient texts into practical forms and easy-to-read language that could be effectively taught to the public. In 1984, the title of the 13th Lineage Holder was bestowed on him. He received the Emei Qigong sacred book “The Emei Treasured Lotus Canon” and officially assumed the title of Grandmaster as well as the responsibilities of being the Lineage Holder. Grandmaster Ju Zan directed him to begin teaching publicly, so that “ the pain and suffering of the world could end and to allow Emei Qigong to bring humanity to shine like the sun.” In the spring of 1985, Fu Wei Zhong began teaching Emei Qigong healing techniques throughout China, initiating a national revitalization of the role of Qigong in Chinese medicine's theory and practice. In 1989, he went into seclusion again to meditate for three more years. During this period of extended meditation, he achieved the Qigong state necessary to decode and decipher the obscure and complex Emei Qigong teachings and techniques and adapt them into a form that could be more easily taught to the public in our fast-paced modern society. Grandmaster Fu now teaches some of these skills in his lectures, seminars and writings. He believes that only by training thousands of skilled Emei Qigong practitioners will it be possible to restore and preserve the health of millions. He has personally treated, healed and helped thousands of people—the rich and famous as well as orphans and patients considered incurable. China’s late president Deng Xiao Ping was among those helped by Grandmaster Fu. Using the methods of Emei Qigong cultivation, medical qigong and traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Grandmaster Fu has successfully cured tens of thousands of people who have come to him for healing. At age 36, he was recognized as one of the most prominent grandmasters of Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Chinese have dubbed him “Emei Wizard” and “China’s Medical Buddha," as well as deeming him “The Father of Modern Medical Qigong.” In addition, Fu Wei Zhong has been made lifetime president of two Qigong institutions: The International Medical Qigong Academy and The Emei Linji International Qigong Medical Research Institute, and he holds honorary positions and titles in more than 50 hospitals, medical colleges, Qigong clinics and Qigong associations in China. Fu Wei Zhong is a learned scholar. Having read thousands of books, both Chinese and foreign, he is well versed in the medical, philosophical and theological theories of different schools, both Eastern and Western. While studying, he took careful notes and wrote down his reflections, which number over three million words. To date, he has published six books and over twenty treatises in China. Fu Wei Zhong immigrated to the United States in 1995. His goal was to disseminate Emei Qigong’s therapeutic techniques so that its methods could be fused with contemporary western medical techniques. His goal is to alleviate much of the suffering in today’s world. He was determined to transmit the knowledge and skills of Emei Qigong to the American public. Since his arrival in the United States, Grandmaster Fu has given lectures and workshops in over 30 American cities. He was invited to the University of San Francisco and the University of California at San Diego to lecture on Qigong and was a visiting professor at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco, where he taught curriculum-required courses on the Emei methodology of Qi (energy) emission for diagnosis and treatment. In 1996, he participated in an experiment at the Atlantic Tumor Hospital in California that involved the emission of Qi into cancer cells. The initial positive results enabled the experiment to be taken to a bigger scale. In 2001, these encouraging results were published in the magazine, Spirituality and Health. Fu Wei Zhong also participated in an experiment conducted by the California Pacific Medical Center of Complementary Medicine Research Institute to test Qigong and other holistic modalities in the treatment of brain tumors from a distance. The Discovery Channel filmed Grandmaster Fu at the Medical Center and aired the documentary in Canada on a show called “Daily Planet.” Today, there are many thousands of Emei Qigong students in the United States and 2 million followers of Emei Qigong worldwide. What the world needs now,more than ever, is a heart-centered system like Emei Qigong to bring health, vitality and true kindness to people. Fu Wei Zhong had made two majorpromises to his Master, the Venerable Abbot Ju Zan. He was to pass on the complete teachings of the Emei Linji Qigong tradition to the next monk lineage holder so that the wisdom of Emei Qigong be rigorously preserved andavailable to be passed onto the future . Secondly, he was going to spread the teachings of Emei Qigong in the world so that many may benefit from it. He has identified and is in the process of teaching the next monk lineage holder. To spread the teachings of Emei Qigong to the world, he has developed a system of courses to be completed by dedicated students. These students would become teachers of Emei Qigong so that they may continue his work to spread and share the benefits embodied in Emei Qigong. In the fall of 2006, Grandmaster Fu taught the Level IV seminar, the Emei Qigong Level I Teacher’s Training, for the first time. This month-long session was held at Emei Mountain in China, and selected students lived and studied at the base of the mountain during this time. The training was successful; students emerged from this intensive training with a much deeper and comprehensive understanding of Emei Qigong, and many will continue their training to become Level I teachers. A second group of prospective Level I teachers took the Level IV training in 2007. For the next few years, Grandmaster Fu will concentrate on training the monk who will become the next lineage holder in China and the students who will become Emei Qigong Level I , Level II and Level III teachers. This was quoted from here http://www.emeiqigong-zenhealing.com/history.html I also came across this book. The Emei Linji Qigong book Description of the book Translated when Grandmaster Fu originally arrived in the United States in 1995. This book includes macro and micro training for healing specific diseases and maintaining the health of specific organs, unique Emei Food Therapy recipes from the treasures of Emei Lineage, frequently asked questions and selective case histories of curative effects of Qigong Therapy. 135 pages.Also includes moving and still Qigong and 18 Methods of Medical Qigong.Translated when Grandmaster Fu originally arrived in the United States in 1995. This book includes macro and micro training for healing specific diseases and maintaining the health of specific organs, unique Emei Food Therapy recipes from the treasures of Emei Lineage, frequently asked questions and selective case histories of curative effects of Qigong Therapy. 135 pages. Also includes moving and still Qigong and 18 Methods of Medical Qigong.Translated when Grandmaster Fu originally arrived in the United States in 1995. This book includes macro and micro training for healing specific diseases and maintaining the health of specific organs, unique Emei Food Therapy recipes from the treasures of Emei Lineage, frequently asked questions and selective case histories of curative effects of Qigong Therapy. 135 pages. Also includes moving and still Qigong and 18 Methods of Medical Qigong.
  11. Black/Grey Orbs

    Cool topic! Once I was emotionally disturbed and have fallen asleep in that state and I had a dream I'm in my room surrounded by all kind of orbs, the red ones were the once not hesitating to bump into me, their energy seemed piercingly clear and it felt like a pierce on my energy body. I did protection techniques in the dream and they didn't come near me anymore. What I like about seeing inorganic forces like orbs is that the mind doesn't interpret them as demonic/evil, instead they are just energy orbs which can be treated just as energetic impulses. Of course that can be a bit deceiving because we only see a tiny glimpse of whats really behind these projections. Usually they are preying on our energy, so a good way to clean the space out of them is to ask them "do you believe in Allah/God?", this will make the parasites flee away. Not that all "orbs" are dangerous, some are friendly inorganic beings and I usually see those as whitish transparent orbs (silverish). If you let those orbs come into your aura then you can have a "conversation" with them, I immediately hear a friendly voice talking to me so this is always a good chance to ask about all sort of things about dreaming events that are happening to me. My point is if you want to have a more clear conversation with an inorganic being the distance between you is of importance.
  12. He should pray muslim prayers out loud or trough chakras of his body, also he can sprinkle the water he previously prayed upon in the corners of his room/house. Those prayers are highly effective against demons. Arabian magic (black) is one of the oldest and strongest there is so if example you work with it and do hermetic ways of protecting yourself against ancient evil forces and banishing them - this won't work at all. This is just an example what can happen. The only way to "banish" those forces is to use muslim prayers and they have a specific purpose and intent behind them and that is to get protected from demons/jinn by God. The prayers that should pray (on arabian not english) are Al Fatiha, Ayat al Kursi at least 3 times or 7 times. You can learn some others as well like Al Falaq and An Nas. I can personally vouch for those prayers because I have prayed in dreams and in my astral/etheric projections when I was attacked by a demon many times. Ayat al Kursi is very powerful and I even had an angel visited me in my dreams while doing it. It dispells all the negativity and parasitic awareness. Also what I learned is when you pray them/to God what happens is that it creates a Eye Of God in space and this Eye is a channel, demons just can't stand to be near it. This one time I was dreaming some regular dream and suddenly I have read on a paper a name of some demon and I remembered it is "him", the moment I remembered the he arrived and grabbed me by my kidneys and started sucking energy out of me and this hurted so much I started praying al fatiha and ayat al kursi. It took awhile for the big boy to let me go. I also have to say he just had a dark pressence, even a presence of a "nothing" but while praying and coping with him I had sensed other things about it with the corner of my eyes. Example how old he is and how big he is. A lot of things can be seen with the corner of the eyes in dreams. Those demons live in another dimension/world and we can't see their full form. There is one other thing that can help and that is another type of a warrior attitude. You can talk to it while sensing it and say go away this is my space I don't fear you and I don't give a dime about you, go away. And the third thing and probably most effective on long terms is cultivating total complete inner silence at all times. That way when entity comes into your aura he gets repulsed by it because it cannot penetrate your mental layer and affect you in any way except some strange and weird sensation/impulses you might get, so being in silence doesn't allow these things to continue any longer. The last thing you can do and this is probably best for "only society people" is a psychological approach, I think Freud wanted to do this, helping and protecting the individual in contact with the unknown using pure reason. Unfortunately majority of society isn't turned toward reason either but instead towards self-hypnosis (and others as well). In dreaming/astral projection you clearly see your own weakness and what it is that it makes you vulnerable to such forces in the first place if you come in contact with them, but you can spot them as well as in waking. Fear is overcome with a clear head, knowing what you want and do in life.
  13. Detachment

    Songtsan, it's hard to "give in" to a being/intelligence that ultimately feels like its possessing you, but at some point I think I did just that, I didn;t realize how different my life had become and my thoughts about it- now I don't feel like "fixing" it again or experiencing anything else, I just don't want it anymore. Today was really odd, the cook at my job essentially told me what I was thinking, which doesn't happen often because theyre kind of "heavy" as of late? anyway. I guess he decided he would get to know be a bit better today, so at one point he said "What!, no kids, no wife, no money, no car, no girlfriend?.. You're dead." And I just looked at him for a minute and laughed nervously a little, I thought I was the only one who though that. I've no desire to "live the dream" ,or any other for that matter, anymore. I don't care about what most people consider life and it has literally nothing more to offer me. I'm so sick of it, one day I might end it but I've thought that for a while so I don't know. I didn't think it would be such a hard thing to do. I'm bored with life and I'm sick of the neverending pain. Why should I be okay with entertaining this illusory reality- this ignorance for any longer? Why work to accept something I don't care about? I'd just rather be somewhere where it didn't exist altogether.
  14. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    No, man. That's the point. Some people only saying their believes. Somebody who is learning FPCK under GMDW said that he was said by GMDW that there are 18 levels with 18 meds in each. So it is only 1/18 has been published. Another point that levels 1 and 2 might be enough for everything good in life like walking on the sky and flying far galaxies in no dream that's another case!
  15. longevity - good or bad?

    can’t complain, actually. women stare at me and it can be embarrassing. being male, you would understand those stares from teenage girls when you were 17. it never stopped and i’m 35. i like sean connery (82). he ages well. i like leslie stahl (71). when they are at home; on a Sunday; at 8 in the morning with a cup of coffee and reading the new york times. old age beauty is great health and good grooming. i think both are fairly well-matched, by my reckoning. which 30 something has my dream for a better word: ridding the world of old age misery? this was also a dream of the buddha.
  16. Hello, Well where do I start!? I flew over to China at the end of Feb this year having watched the videos on youtube of Jiang Shifu and seeing Grady's advertisement for the seminar online. I've practiced Chinese martial arts on and off since my early teens (more offs than ons!) having done most of my training in Taiji forms. I've also done a tiny bit of breathing and meditation during that time but as I've gotten older my interest and personal understanding in energy has become a big influence on my way of life and thinking. Many people thought I was a nutter going to central China to meet someone I'd met on a forum online to pay a few thousand dollars to start learning something I'd seen in a video on youtube. Who knows if they are for real? What might happen to me? Well, an inspiring, life-affirming, thought-changing, true friend-making, health changing, "electric-like" () experience is what I brought home with me. I got what I went for and a hell of a lot more. The displays of "Fa Gong" were incredible. I can't add much more to what has already been said but it's not everyday you see/ feel this kind of power. The experiences I did not expect were the empowerment and a demonstration given by Jiang Shifu. These left me speechless to say the least. Another huge highlight of this trip was the medicine. Watching the diagnosis and the treatment of so many patients was unreal. The medicine I took seemed to have an incredible effect on my body. If you ever attend these seminars, I cannot stress how important it is that you take the medicine recommended if you need it. Expensive? Maybe, depending on your view. Personally I think nothing on this trip was expensive relative to what it is. It was such an honour to attend the opening of the hospital. I felt that I was witnessing the start of something truly special in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Along with my friends representing America and Canada. Jiang Shifu has got to be one of the most inspiring, incredible people in the world. Immense power driven by nothing but compassion. What a dream for him and this family to realize. I thank him for his kindness, his patience, and humility. A truly awe-inspiring master. I wish him all the best in the running of the hospital and hope to meet him and the family in the Yellow Mountains again soon. Of course, none of this was possible without the wonderful Grady. Reliable, straight forward, kind. Grady is an excellent teacher. The "risk" I took in going over to China is nothing compared to the sacrifice he has made to pursue this knowledge in a land so far from his home. In my opinion, you will not get this knowledge anywhere else in the English language, in a western format, for such a reasonable amount of money. You just won't. Thank you Grady for everything you have done and are continuing to do. I didn't think I would make such good friends during the trip and have so much banter. Grady and the boys have known each other for years but took me in and treated me like a younger brother. From Mangoes to medicine. I will never forget ten of the most amazing days of my life. And I hope to return again soon. I hope this helps with some insight into the China seminars. Much Love x
  17. Unbalance Between Career & Spirituality?

    I've been here and I'm just on my way back out. Make of it what you will, but from what I've learnt, there is no time-frame for achieving Enlightenment and we all still have a duty on this planet! You can use medatative practice in everyday life...you can easliy follow your dream if it is for you and still work towards enlightenment. If you lose yourself, you will withdraw. Withdrawing from community is a misinterpretation of the non-self...it will lead to emptiness (the bad kind) ... lonliness. No one likes that
  18. Detachment

    also try smiling from the heart too, you will feel less depression There many ways to "meditate" and work with what feels right for you, writing can be a great way to connect and see thoughts. Also in India I tried to look at creating some technique with shaking medicine so I would start dancing, and connect to feelings of desire/joy then move on to appreciation and love, then more "Who am I" "everything is a dream" or "emptiness" even playfulness or kindness, once the heart opens the other stuff is way more powerful, kind of like the tibetan buddhists who emphasise working with compassion, generating love, or in native cultures where they would emphasise working with the heart and soul, laughing, dancing, art, being in nature, sillyness, playfulness. Serious meditator syndrome is often ignored lol
  19. What would a non-offensive World look like?

    Just remember, if one feels offended the first thing they should do is ask why they feel offended. So what would a non-offensive world look like? A dream. Because it ignores reality. If we do not consider reality we are just telling ourself lies. Much better, I think to understand reality than to ignore it. Ignoring the truth will bring many disappointments.
  20. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Last night Sifu Terry Dunn was in one of my dreams, don't remember well what appened in the dream.. this morning I've seen in my mail an invite, at 00:34, from Terry Dunn to connect via Linkedin :D Anyway, practice is going well, the muscle fatigue, from keeping arms up and fixed, in shoulder and back seems to very slowly diminish.. Next week I'll add #3 standing (I think is monk holding peach), and #3 sitting.. In days with more free time I plan to do entire DVD 1 and 2 probably in two separated sessions Good healing to everyone
  21. Unbalance Between Career & Spirituality?

    Hi Fox, Abandoning self is not an independent action, one cannot abandon self if one cannot see the self. Likewise, there's nothing wrong with writing but what you said is your attachment and earthly. Is it to do with more of what you see as the consequence of being a good renown writer? If you are not attach to that, then it is not earthly at all. It's not easy for one can find ones' dream an yet follow it. Writing can be a good meditative tools, a window into the inner world. Meditation is not a form; as long as one is mindful and absorbed in seeing and knowing one-selves anything could be a meditation. May you find your answers, and may you path be fill happiness and peace. XJ
  22. Unbalance Between Career & Spirituality?

    Thanks for the support, man. Perhaps I may be only dwelling in doubt, because the more I do one, the less I've been looking into the other one. Your questions came at a good moment, because answering them gave me some leads on what to do, and also see the value of both of the practices. What I realized was: 1) I like them both. Sure, I have longer contacts with the art of words, but I should not drop any of them, seeing that both cultivation and writing gives me benefits. Instead, I should look for balance, understanding that writing is writing, regardless of content, and cultivation is cultivation; 2) Cultivation haven't brought me that awareness because, in the core experience of both, happiness comes from inwards (the action itself,) not for the external motivations (i.e.: being praised, getting appreciation, etc). This is one big thing that always got me. We are searching for enlightement, but the "way of becoming a writer" is something I recognize as "earthly." I can't recall hearing that following a dream is a way to shape oneself better, while in comparison, it's not unusual to hear about people leaving everything to achieve (dreams included) to dedicate entirely to cultivation. Thing is, as mentioned, I don't feel like abandoning this dream, as mentioned before. Thanks, Silent Thunder. Perhaps, as cultivation flows, I may experience a change on how writing is done, and the purposes on it. But right now, I'm happy with it the way it is. I just got to find balance. About a journal... perhaps is too soon to start it? I am still focusing on the sole practice of one meditation I posted here in the forums, and I do not know how much it can be of benefit to others. Thanks for your words. Namaste
  23. The Magic Stairs

    I once had a lucid dream where I was trying to reconcile Escherian boxes and pillars incongruent with waking reality. Became so disoriented in my dream state, that I woke myself up and promptly vomited. lmao. Escher will get a big wet kiss from me for that one, when I meet him on the other side.
  24. Hi fellow bums, I'm turning to you, more experienced travellers on the Way to ask for help. I don't know who else to seek for support in this subject, because few people I've met have embraced taoism, and their answers doesn't seem to help either. I had a dream: to become a writer and live writing. It all started when I discovered this passion, when I was 16 years old, but I only had the guts to follow it four years later, after spending that time working on jobs I hated and following a career that made me unhappy. When realizing how unhappy I was, I decided to leave everything and follow this dream, as unreal as it seemed to me, because I had few people giving me support to chase it. I dropped off university, and slowly started to change my career from graphic design to writing-related activities. As one step further towards what I wanted, I decided to join a course that made me write a lot, so I applied myself to one of the hardest vestibulars (a brazilian special exam for admission in universities in Brazil) in Journalism. It took me a lot of commitement and dedication, but I made it. I think it's worth mentioning that I never felt so happy than when I was writing. It was an experience that made me explode in excitement. I don't write for admiration, ego-boosting or fame. I write because what I feel when writing, I haven't found out anywhere. But then, I decided to take a better look at the spiritual subject. It started with Aikido, and then Meditation, and then I got into the cultivation practices I first saw here on The Tao Bums. After reading so much of Taoism and Buddism, I start getting in touch with concepts of "abandoning the self", "dedication to enlightement" and other stuff that seem to imply so much on "abandon" this dream. Thing is, all this stuff started to make me question my dream, and slowly, I stopped writing. It's not anything related on writer's block, but more over on "not doing it because it's an attachment." And to be truly honest, in comparison to writing, I don't feel as blissful when meditating. I must admit that I do not write "enlightened," beautiful stuff with "conscious" messages. In fact, I'm a big fan of writing detective noir stories, and writing humanistic dramas (Henry Miller, Phillip Roth and Bukowski, for example) filled with sexploitation, violence and other nasty content of urban settings. But the more I hear on abandoning it, and the more I decide to give my writing career up, I feel unhappiness. I don't want to abandon my dream, as I don't want to stop seeking enlightement the spirit. Am I not ready to follow enlightement because of this? I feel confused, and I'd like to see some other bums opinion. Namaste,
  25. Link now included. I am forgetful Pytha, so please forgive me ! The evidence has been shown to those involved within this area, fellow experiencers and abductees and other investigators within this field. As for this forum, sorry Pytha, not a chance. As to remembering my experiences, their is not set guidebook which is followed. I have been fortunate to remember - or not. I may be watching a documentary or reading a book, or having a conversation and something triggers a memory. At other times they may surface during the dream state. Chicken or egg - none, I'm a veggie. Scully or Mulder - neither. The evidence has been seen by those who count and understand. I am tired of the ridicule Pytha, its tiresome and a waste of energy. My MILAB experiences are not exactly something one can share during casual conversation, and definitely not by any 'official' body - medical for example. They can't help. Its outside their remit. Never said that. Ask away. If you watch the video it will reveal why many don't come out into the open. We are 'easy' targets for those wanting a cheap laugh. Cults - nope don't belong to any. Be cynical, fine by me. Better than ridiculing people who share their story, even if an edited version. Doesn't matter what my take is on ancient aliens. Nothing to do with me. The CIA uses whatever it can to further its agendas. No. It'll go on my 'to do' list. Mind you my pending tray is chocker at the moment ! Namaste, gentlewind