Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[zen-bear]

Hello Sifu Terry,

Those are impressive reported experiences from your qigong class. I compare your class to the qigong class I have been taking thru an adult education class from a local community college. There is a world of difference. Your warmups are probably advanced compared to the super simple basics we are being taught and never advancing beyond that level.

My question is, what are the Qing Dynasty Imperial Exercises?

Hi Steve,

The Qing Dynasty Imperial Exercises are a body of kung fu conditioning exercises that I learned over a number of years from workshops in San Diego at the Taoist Sanctuary with Master George Xu (who Bill Helm brought down from San Francisco) and also from taking a couple of classes with him up in S.F. in the 80's through an old friend who had studied with him. (Master Xu teaches Chen Tai Chi, Bagua, Hsing-I, and Lan Shou, and of course each of these arts' weaponry.) They are the (northern) exercises that the imperial palace guards (protecting the emperor) practiced. I just naturally took to them because, as my high school friend and present head of the chemistry dept. at Reed College (Oregon) said, they are "everything you need to prepare you to do Tai Chi." I would say that the Q.D.I.E. are everything that you need to warmup and be ready to learn internal martial arts. They stretch the whole body elegantly, perfect basic stances, especially the cat- or sit-stance, they develop natural "linkage" (body mechanics) that accelerates "getting the Tai Chi," and, of course, almost every exercise has hidden and not so hidden martial applications. A couple of them are so holistic that if you do them at super-slow speed, they have the benefits and therefore technically qualify (by my traditional and exacting standards) as Qigong exercises. There are very, very few calisthenics, as you know, that can rate as Qigong.

 

I haven't seen him in years, but I heard that Master Xu has a couple of senior students teaching around the country. Anyone who has studied with him knows the Qing Dynasty Exercises. For they are his staple system of warmups.

 

Here's some of the arts that Master Xu preserves:

 

• Chen Tai Chi (he was all-China champion in Chen style competition in 1984, I believe)

 

• 8 Immortals Sword

 

there used to be a great video of him doing Dragon Shape Bagua. Unfortunately the owner took it down.

 

Here is 1987 video of his applications. I was there at a number of these videotaped demo's when the Taoist Sanctuary went up to visit and he and his class demo'd for us.

 

Northern kung fu is hard to apply practically to the streets. Master Xu teaches very effective applications.

 

At any rate, Steve, that's what Qing Dynasty Imperial Exercises are. In my Tai Chi and kung fu classes, they comprise about 60% of the warmups I use.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

Edited April 13, 2016 by zen-bear

[Bruce Qi]

First I am really saddened to hear of the GM's health problems, it must be really hard for him living such a physical life then to end up in a situation like this but it has really got my mind thinking.

In the flat downstairs to me is an auld fella , he is 83 , he is lively as you can get , out evey day with his dog who is 13 ! haha, , driving out and about in his car not to mention all the shouting he seems to enjoy first thing in the morning !

He looks like he has enjoyed a drink in his lifetime and doesnt seem to follow any healthy diets yet he is doing great for his age ?

Makes me think does qi gong really help or is it down to genetics and general "luck" maybe with a bit of karma in ?

Hmm, my mind is a ponder

Edited April 12, 2016 by Bruce Qi

[tao stillness]

Hi Bruce,

I have asked myself that same question about health and longevity related to qigong and I have been on both sides of the street when it comes to how I answer myself. My mother will be 91 years old next month and has never exercised once she graduated from high school and then smoked for about half of her life. She never ate organic nor did she watch what she ate. She lives alone the past few years after my dad died and health is fine except for arthritis effecting her back the last few years and now a hernia.

When I read the passing of a martial artist or tai chi master they seem to die off in their 80's these days which does not seem that old, it seems average. My aunt died last year after being about a 3 pack a day cigarette smoker most of her life and compulsive coffee drinker. She was 93 years old and also able to live alone.

The other side of it is that a few years ago I was very sick with a virus that I could not shake and at the time I recently learned Pan Gu Mystical Qigong. I was told to do that qigong for several hours and then I would be well the next day. So I did that very simple but boring method for 3.5 hours and did not feel any better. However, I woke up the next morning feeling 95% better and was outside after a snow storm chopping ice to try to get my car out to return to work, I had that much energy and felt so much better. So I am convinced by that experience that qigong benefits health. Also, my medical clairvoyant always sees which organs of the body are currently being helped by qigong. I also think our health is to a large extent governed by ancestor karma which for me also can mean our genetic inheritance/DNA. Astrological configurations are also a factor, but that too falls under the category of karma. I think Sifu Terry is more qualified to address this question. I know that he has personally healed his own colds doing a lot of qigong.

Speaking of Master George Xu, I have learned his Dragon Gate Qigong but stopped it because I soon discovered Flying Phoenix Chi Kung at that time. A few years ago I tried Master Xu's Wu Wei Qigong which tested as more powerful and easier to do than it's almost identical system, Falun Dafa. I have been in touch in the recent past with one of Master Xu's senior students, Susan Matthews. George Xu is part of the China's Living Treasures dvd series. I saw an interview of George Xu recently where he discusses his greatest regret in martial arts as being that he can find no one who can point out his faults. He said it is not good to not have a teacher, he wishes he had one. He also has a sense of humor. I was glad to hear that Grandmaster Doo Wai is still alive since I had assumed he was deceased by now considering the strokes I had heard about a few years ago.

[tao stillness]

I would be remiss not to mention a health enhancer that I discovered for some of you who are concerned that qigong is not enough for your health concerns. Royal Rife was a scientist who created a sound wave vibrational healing machine that he used to heal many illnesses including at least 30 cases of stage 4 cancer successfully until the A.M.A. shut him down. There have been modern versions of his machine but they can be expensive and have some limitations in terms of technical functioning. However, I just discovered a model of Rife type machine that you just download to your computer as software and it is not expensive and does not have the technical problems that other Rife machines have and it is super easy to operate. I ordered it days ago after my medical clairvoyant found it to test well and he saw that it should work. It is called the Rife Pro X2. I had successful results after just one session for a lingering condition that I have been trying to deal with by ayurvedic herbs for the past several years. Just passing this on because I know there are many who read this blog who turn to qigong to improve your health.

[zen-bear]

I just wanted to corroborate the "next-day re-activation effect" experienced by Blue Phoenix as reported in his top-of-this page post (#3617) with my own experience today that occurred also on a bicycle.  But it's not exactly "next day".  Rather it's same day, about 6 hours after practice.   This phenomena, btw, regardless if one is on foot or on wheels, occurs with lots of Qigong practices or other energizing Yogas--as it is explained in TCM by the "law of noonday-midnight," which all acupuncturists and traditional Chinese physicians know (or should know) and be fully experienced with.

 

I love bicycles...'been riding road bikes since high school.  But for the past 6 months, I have been without a bike because:

(1)  About one year ago, my most-often used hybrid touring bike, a Telivega 15 speed that I purchased in 1991, finally died of terminal fatigue and probably rust....where the frame lip holding the derailleur bent upwards 180 degrees--for the second and final time--when I stood on the pedals going up a steep hill and tried to change gears.  The first time that happened, I was able to have a bike shop bend the lip back into its downward position.  2nd time was its death knell.  

(2)  So I resorted to riding my thin-tired, newer but still vintage Specialized carbon fiber road bike for city use.  But that nice bike got smashed when a pick up truck backed into me in a parking lot while said beloved bike was on my bike rack affixed to my trunk.  I had just gotten it the car.  Drat.  The collision broke one side the rear bracket completely...and the top carbon fiber frame repair shop in town told me "$1,500 to repair."  Insurance covered some but nothing close to that amount.  So that was the end of my trusty road bike.  And I've been almost 7 mos. without a bicycle.  

 

I know this info doesn't seem to have anything to do with Qigong or FP Qigong--yet.  But now I finally get to it:

 

So today I gave an official inaugural 1-hour ride to a new flat-handle road bike that I  recently bought new for a great deal  (a Marin).  About 15 min. into the ride--right when I stopped thinking about work and teaching and just got fully absorbed in biking, my entire spine lit up and a smooth bolt of soft lightening rushed all the way to the top of the skull then spread sideways.  Then came the bliss of the parietal lobes and the frontal lobes lighting up set on.

 

Everyday I practice one, two or three of the most advanced Tao Tan Pai yogas and:  

the FPCK Standing Long Form (Vol.4),

the Long 22-movement Monk Serves Wine meditation (not on DVD) that I teach privately,  

one of the Red Lotus FP meditations (also not published).  

 

Also, quite often I practice Wind Above Clouds, Wind Thru Treetops, and Moonbeam, and 4 or 5 of the Advanced FP Qigong (standing moving meditations not on DVD)--as warmup prelude to my Yang Tai Chi practice.  

I also practice 2 or 3 times a week a series of 4-5 meditations from the ultra-rare and advanced system, 10,000 Buddhas Meditations (54 in total).  

Then I practice the 8 Sections of Energy Combined (Bot Dim Gum) Kung Fu almost every day so that each week, I cover all the 8 Sections several times.  (each "Section" is a very sophisticated internal KF Form that cultivates 1/8 of the total martial energy cultivated by this system.

Then I also practice one of my favorite arts:  a version of Liu He Ba Fa that I learned from Master Chan Ching Kai in NYC starting back in 1996.

 

So the majority of my Qigong/Neikung practice consists of high-level Bok Fu Pai Family meditations.  So I would attribute my same-day reactivation to my practice of the basic and advanced FP Qigong.  The tangible energy activated is definitely the Flying Phoenix strain.

 

**NOTE:  I was not listening to any music at the time, so I did not encounter any wildlife (--as per Blue Phoenix).   I just enjoyed a swift ride with perfect sunny weather through the little town of Playa Del Rey and its beach on the bike path up through Marina Del Rey and back.  (My friend Chris told me the today's weather was perfect all over town as he attended Vince Scully Day at Dodger Stadium, honoring the golden voice of the Dodgers for the past 60+ years, and watched the Dodgers loses to Arizona Diamond backs under perfectly mild summer-like weather.)

 

Thanks for reading this long-winded corroboration of Blue Phoenix's next-day re-activation of the FP Healing Energy.

 

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

P.S.  Note to Tao Stillness and Bruce Qi:  I will join your conversation soon.  Soon as I recover from the blissful bike ride I took 6 hours ago.  The Qi activation is still on.

 

www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Edited April 13, 2016 by zen-bear

[ridingtheox]

great bike stories ...  i rode a bike to and from  grad school and work  for 23 years starting about 1972  I did not start TCC until 77.   I had numerous great rides that produced profound 'spiritual' sensations.  Many of them early on while living at 7000 ft alt. near Flagstaff AZ and attending NAU,  living 10 mi south of campus.  I  really loved my Swiss built Super Mondia?   When we moved to Cascabel on a 20 mile dirt road i stopped riding there is just no good way to ride on wash board dirt roads.  I still hold dear the years of commuting and fun rides of 20 or more miles.

 

Bike on!!

[cihan]

I came across this:

The fruit of yoga is found not in what happens during the practices themselves, but in how they affect the quality of our life.

Edited April 24, 2016 by cihan

[tao stillness]

I disagree with the above about feeling no results from sumyama. When the siddhis are done with the missing correct instructions, they work and the kundalini rises to the brain and you experience unlimited bliss. People have been accepting lack of experiences from their practice because their teachers have not been taught how to correctly do samyama. The missing part of the correct practice is not contained in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras book unless you know how to decipher it. Only one saint that I know of in this modern era was able to teach the siddhis in their correct method, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. No need to settle for less, find a teacher who can give you the expected experiences during the practice itself. Don't be satisfied with alpha brain waves when you can reach theta and delta.

[cihan]

I did not post it intending to discuss samyama, but to adress expectations like manifesting blue light in FPCK. :-)

[blue eyed snake]

I did not post it intending to discuss samyama, but to adress expectations like manifesting blue light in FPCK. :-)

 

I wonder, did you post something like that you asked your teacher why those things don't happen to you and he advised you to put your question here on TDB?

 

sometimes i read and think I'll reply the next time, but now i'm confused.

 

and what does FPCK stand for?

[cihan]

I wonder, did you post something like that you asked your teacher why those things don't happen to you and he advised you to put your question here on TDB?

 

sometimes i read and think I'll reply the next time, but now i'm confused.

 

and what does FPCK stand for?

FPCK stands for the name of this topic. Maybe I should edit my post to make it less confusing. There, I did... Edited April 24, 2016 by cihan

[blue eyed snake]

FPCK stands for the name of this topic. Maybe I should edit my post to make it less confusing. There, I did...

 

ah, yeah, I could have seen that for myself.

 

I remember more or less your post from yesterday and will write what popped up in my head.

 

At the end of a session in the dojo, everybody doing standing posture one of the guys ( in his forties) remarked that the variety of postures and movements was very small, that he knew that other branches of qigong give more variety. He was clearly implying that he found it boring.

 

teacher looked at him and said: The things I teach here are enough for what this group needs, but for you it may be too much, you should do even less of them.

 

We have one movement that everybody starts groaning when teacher says us to do that. Nobody does this one at home, I know, people are honest about it. This posture helps for shoulderproblems, and I had an irreparable frozen shoulder So I did do it at home, for about three quarters of a year I did it almost daily. My shoulder is loads better now. But also, i've become aware of what this posture does for me, and that is much more than just fixing my shoulder. I know now that as soon as i've energy enough that I will gladly start this strenuous practice again.

 

I think, postures and movements, the oftener you do them the better you get to really feel them, that is a growing process. i get much more out of it now then when I started, and I am but a beginner. When you have choice of more variety it will take much longer to get this feel, because you will then tend to mix and match them and not spend enough time with each of them to get that deeper sensation.

 

--

 

also I know an elderly woman who's been doing his senior classes for six years, she's 'complaining' that she didn't get anything like seeing aura's and such, mind you, she's very intuitive. I know I will listen to her when she has one of these remarks, she then taps directly into wisdom and knowing. 

 

I think it is the wanting, the attachment to the idea of having 'higher  abilities' or some such that blocks them from coming.

 

for myself, i started doing chigung for my health, I wasn't in the least interested in these kind of abilities, didn't even realize that they might arise, and they've come right from the start. Sometimes it's nice, but it is not something I want, still not want. Even though it's gone now, I remember a period that i could see faint light around people, and blackness, where their illnesses/blockages were. Being in the waitingroom from my familydoctor became a burden to me. So I'm happy it's gone for the time being, but it'll probably come back now that i'll start up training again.

Seems to me, just as in the ' normal' daily life, nice things are counterbalanced with shit. Regarding this ' seeing' i think it's the same, only more so. but as i do want my health back i'll take it into the package, reluctantly,

[tao stillness]

I don't think that wanting to see the blue light from doing Flying Phoenix Chi Kung would prevent it from happening. I think these abilities happen due to the energy opening up energy centers, especially in the brain. So wanting or not, they will happen on their own. No one can deny their true desires.

[BluePhoenix133]

I went to my local crystal shop today, spoke to the lady working there not sure how we got on the topic but she said i had a good aura so i asked if she could see aura colours  and guess mine. First thing she said is a have allot of blue, guess all that meditation is paying off. I think she said i have some green i cant remember but also pink or kind of pink which suprised me.

Also said i need to ground my self because im way up there haha sounds about right.

Did the monk gazing at moon standing meditation on DVD 1 today and it made me sweat, seems to do that to me sometimes, i get a couple of tears of sweat drip down from under my arms....just thought i would share that haha

[zen-bear]

Hello everyone, I got back a few days ago from teaching a 5-hour  "Flying Phoenix Qigong for Stress Management" workshop at the annual convention in Missoula, MT called "Prevent Child  Abuse and Neglect" put on the by the Montana Dept. of Public Health  & Human Services that was attended by nearly 600 people involved in the highest burn-out niche in all of social work:  child protective services.  It was mostly social workers, first-responders, lawyers, adoption agencies, adoptive families...

 

The seminar was a hit and the heads of the DPHHS said that they want me to continue teaching the rank-and-file social workers and develop a program for the senior administrators.  I had a great time doing what I do best, helping service workers who needed it badly.

 

Also had a terrific 4 days following the convention getting a tour of splendit Glacier National Park from a friend of mine in Kalispell.  Here are some of the stills of my practice on the shores of glacial Lake McDonald, where everyday is a different form of beautiful due to the change in weather, cloud formations, etc.  I'll post links to the videos shot there of FPCK and other arts that are going up in a few days on Youtube.  For now, my Facebook product page has a few of the still shots of the majestic scenery and my practice that it inspired:

https://www.facebook.com/Terry-Dunns-Tai-Chi-For-Health-236579434951/?fref=ts

 

Will be getting back to answering questions and commenting on you postings shortly.

 

All Best,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

[zen-bear]

I don't think that wanting to see the blue light from doing Flying Phoenix Chi Kung would prevent it from happening. I think these abilities happen due to the energy opening up energy centers, especially in the brain. So wanting or not, they will happen on their own. No one can deny their true desires.

 

Very well put, Steve. The reported experiences of seeing blue light, blue aura, a field of vision constantly cloaked in "gold dust" are natural by-products of correct FP Qigong practice that just occurs sooner or later.

 

It doesn't matter how one regards the reported phenomenon. Whether one believes the reports, disbelieves them, or embraces and looks forward to the experience, or even if one is obsessively seeking the blue light or blanket of gold dust. As long as one practices the FP Qigong system correctly, all the stated benefits will come. They just come. And they come more readily if one has made that special commitment to study FP Qigong seriously and master the capstone meditation, the Long Form standing meditation taught on Vol.4. that bears the name of the entire Qigong system, "FLying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation." Not only does regular practice of of FPHHCM bolster immune levels to a super-normal level, but the activation of brain and other bodily nerve centers by the FP Healing Chi is what brings on the visible blue aura, the shift in vision (seeing), and steady, gradual enlightenment with the steady expansion of consciousness.

 

As one very astute practitioner and video reviewer on amazon beautifully put it in his second paragraph back in 2007:

 

CHI KUNG FOR HEALTH, VOL. 4: FLYING PHOENIX LONG FORM STANDING MEDITATION

*****Just Do It, May 11, 2007      Reviewer: Four Tusk Njoku "Njoku" (Philadelphia, USA) -

I could have given it 4 stars for still being in DVD. First, this is a superlatively beautiful form to watch and to perform. Secondly, this is an advanced practice. It would take most people at least 6 months of regular practice going through the first three phases of this practice to develop the skills to take on Volume 4. It takes a special commitment and perhaps that is not you and it is definitely not most people, so I have found. I give out Part One of Chi Kung For Health ( Qi Gong ) - Five Standing Meditations of this practice to everyone I know, and about 20% of them take it up and they are most grateful.

 

This is a great practice for body, mind and spirit. It is holy; it is healthful; it is scientific. Yet, there are no words. Just do the movements, memorize the movements, do the breathing exercises before. Do not argue, do not think. Just do, and you will see results. How did the ancient Chinese discover this?

 

•••••••••••••••

Obsession of any type usually never leads, in the long run, to fruitful results in health endeavors; the internal tensions generated by obsessive compulsive behavior may slow down a person's progress in FP Qigong. But as long as one practices consistently and correctly, the FP Qigong will steadily impart its benefits. As Sifu Garry Hearfield puts it, "slow and steady is the Way."

Flying Phoenix Qigong ART itself is a very benign and forgiving teacher and is so self-regulating that IT can transform the overly zealous ambition to "get something" and to "get it fast" into calm, stillness, and equanimity.

 

And as I wrote sometime in Year One of this thread, FP Qigong is very foolproof; you really have to have talent to screw up the practice of FP Qigong in away that causes oneself harm(!!!) Again, because Flying Phoenix Qigong's cultivated energy is a purely healing energy, I have the luxury as a teacher to open the floodgates in teaching it to whomever is ready for "the next step" and more advanced knowledge.

 

And if seeing the blue light internally, seeing one's aura turn blue during practice in front of a mirror, spontaneous "jumping-off" of the FP Healing Energy are experienced at whatever time, that's just an indication or benchmark that one's mind-body integration, FP internal energy cultivation, and development of meditative concentration is progressing nicely. A valuable roadmap to understand the stages of concentration-absorption on the path to Nirvana or enlightenment was laid out by the Buddha and recorded by one of his disciples in the Vissuddhimagga ("Path of Purification"). There are numerous Taoist texts about the same processes in meditation, alchemic yogas. and the development of meditative states of consciousness, but Daniel Goleman's translation of the Buddha's map of higher consciousness in the Vissudhimagga, in my opinion, offers us the most accessible, detailed, and useful map (that's not a puzzle) for the purpose of knowing where we are as FP Qigong yogically develops our consciousness and psychical abilities along with the body's totality.

 

In Goleman's translation/treatment of the Vissuddhimagga, he describes in detail the four jhanic states known as the "material jhanas" or stages of concentration and the higher next four jhanas, which are the immaterial or formless jhanas, which are accessed by concentration not on any material object or focal point(s)...but on infinite space, then infinite consciousness, then the absolute absence of infinite consciousness, and then something beyond this focus on no-thing-ness. I have been writing a lot for my forthcoming book about the higher jhanic states mediated by FP Qigong and by specific FP Meditations and can share this much here: With only moderate commitment to practice, FP Qigong serves as an incredible meditative catalyst and yogic "accelerant" that provides instant access to concentration, and then enables the practitioner to enter and traverse the first and second jhanas, handily disposes of the impediment of "rapture" (i.e., any ado made about the vibrating, shaking, and tossings caused by the FP energy), sometimes third jhanas if rapture is disposed of--right up to the threshold of fourth jhanic state, where there is only one-pointedness and equanimity, where even bliss subsides as there is no thought forms or sensations whatsoever, as characteristic of all the formless jhanas as well.

 

I cite the above excerpt and paraphasing from a meaty chapter of my FP Qigong Book in order to once again remind practitioners of the standard benchmark in Taoist Yoga and all meditative traditions worth their salt: And that is attaining mental quiescence and the wisdom that flows through that state:

 

Hexagram 52:

 

KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still

So that he no longer feels his body.   <<------that's the fourth jhana, folks.

He goes into his courtyard

And does not see his people.

No blame.

 

The crux of my guidance on this thread is the same as what this able and astute practitioner, "Four Tusk Njoku" from Philly, wrote about Volume 3 of CKFH in 2007.  I still don't know who he or she is to this day.  I hope to meet him sometime and give him some tips on FP practice...or perhaps he can give me a few tips and teach me a thing or two...

 

This particular DVD is the third in the series. They are standing exercises. Part I consists of basic standing exercises and Part 2 of basic seating exercises. This one, Part 3 assumes that you have mastered Parts 1 and 2. The energy builds upon ground covered by Parts 1 and 2. The choreography in these two exercises are a lot more complex. Once you have mastered the movements, you are supposed to perform them with eyes closed, after some breathing sequences.

 

If you perform them regularly, at some point the subconscious mind appears to take over as your consciousness enters into a brown study, and you can actually feel the surging rivers of healing and thrilling chi in the body. You do not do the exercises necessarily looking to feel the chi. Just pay attention to doing them correctly. That will come. Undoubtedly it will come.

 

 

So carry on--no matter what you believe about the blue light,  the gold dust blanket, or my reports of the FP Healing Energy jumping spontaneously off of one to heal others in proximity, etc.

 

BUT CARRY ON.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

Edited May 4, 2016 by zen-bear

[tao stillness]

I want to underline the above points by Sifu Terry from my own experience with meditation. Many of us who learned Transcendental Meditation for various personal reasons eventually continued with it not for the release of stress to have a more normally functioning nervous system, but to achieve the purpose of all human life, enlightenment. So in the first several years of meditating twice a day many of us would start the meditation that day wondering if this was the day that we would pop into the first stage of enlightenment called in TM terms, Cosmic Consciousness. We were focused on the goal. Eventually I let that go and stopped wondering when the goal would be reached and instead just enjoyed the daily benefits that come from sustained practice.

We will get there when we get there. It is recorded in the ancient Vedas of India that every soul's exact date of Awakening is already known. There is a movement in India that actually has access to these dates. And I know of a very gifted lady who also has access to these "records" and she has the ability to find out this same information but the risk is that knowing that special date could result in a seeker getting off the path by stopping doing what he/she needs to be doing to get to that destined date. In other words, a person could just stop carrying on. And with more maturity some of my long term TM meditator friends and I have realized that TM is not the quickest path to enlightenment and we have added something else to get us to our destination. One of the things that I have added for my journey is chi kung. The other major method that I have added for the past 10 years works great for others but has done nothing for me, yet I keep carrying on with it because it makes sense to do so. I will get there when I get there. I think there is no greater purpose in life than carrying on. All the rest has been enjoyable but seems superficial in comparison to walking the pathless Path. I remember being on various dates when the woman would just want to spend time together watching a TV program and I would be wishing that I was home alone so that I could be doing more qigong. There is a difference between an obsession and a passion. As Sifu Terry pointed out, the obsession has the element of pain.

Edited May 4, 2016 by tao stillness

[BluePhoenix133]

What do you mean by enlightenment? Do you mean like the rainbow body in dzogchen/tibbetan buddhism and freedom from suffering and samsara? Because that would be great lol

But seriously if it can help one be free from samsara then i will practice much much more diligently, i have honestly suffered enough. I was thinking about rainbow body allot on monday at work, probably because i have been ill and battling addiction i like the idea i can just be free...plus i work at an old peoples home and i really dont want to end up like they are.

Usually i cycle home straight away but a tv program at the home caught my attention so i stayed to watch then when i cycled home i saw one of if not the most beautfiul rainbows, i only wish i was not feeling so rubbish then i would have appreciated it more. I usually turn left off the main road to go down this country road and it was right in the middle of it so i got the full view of the whole arch as i cycled down this small road...of course i never got to cycle through that arch...always just out of reach.

Edited May 4, 2016 by BluePhoenix133

[tao stillness]

Enlightenment means different things in different spiritual lineages. In the Vedas, the oldest roadmap for enlightenment, enlightenment is when there is no more stress left in the nervous system and then we have the full potential of the brain and there are stages to this, Cosmic Consciousness, God Consciousness, Unity Consciousness, Brahman Consciousness, Krishna Consciousness. There was a small book written about this called The Seven Stages of Consciousness.

The Oneness simplifies all of this and just sees it as when the kundalini reaches the brain centers and stays up there, you are Awakened. Awakened is more like Cosmic Consciousness. And their concept of Enlightenment is more like God Consciousness. In those higher states suffering might just last seconds because there is no feeling stronger than bliss. Once again, you have to have had some even temporary experience of this to understand it.

Edited May 4, 2016 by tao stillness

[zen-bear]

What do you mean by enlightenment? Do you mean like the rainbow body in dzogchen/tibbetan buddhism and freedom from suffering and samsara? Because that would be great lol

 

But seriously if it can help one be free from samsara then i will practice much much more diligently, i have honestly suffered enough. I was thinking about rainbow body allot on monday at work, probably because i have been ill and battling addiction i like the idea i can just be free...plus i work at an old peoples home and i really dont want to end up like they are.

 

Usually i cycle home straight away but a tv program at the home caught my attention so i stayed to watch then when i cycled home i saw one of if not the most beautfiul rainbows, i only wish i was not feeling so rubbish then i would have appreciated it more. I usually turn left off the main road to go down this country road and it was right in the middle of it so i got the full view of the whole arch as i cycled down this small road...of course i never got to cycle through that arch...always just out of reach.

Blue Phoenix,

 

Tao stillness is right in saying here are many meanings that people hold for the term "enlightenment". Its meaning depends on culture, spiritual and religious beliefs, and one's karmic age. (Some people aren't ready for, don't have the slightest clue about, and don't give a damn about the potential of enlightenment.)

 

The only real truth is the experienced truth, and to discover one's unique truth of what enlightenment is, if one has not already attained it, but has a sense or hint of It , or has strong faith in it as being the salvation of the eternal soul, it helps to stick with a spiritual path that guides one to a holy life through doing Good Works and that also preferably has a complete and effective meditative/yogic vehicle that integrates mind and body thoroughly so that one develops the structural sensitivity to naturally experience Ultimate Reality, the Godhead, Brahma-Atman, the Christos, Buddha Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, At-Onement, the Infinite Event, whatever one chooses to call It.

 

Getting a glimpse or fleeting taste of enlightenment is not enough. One has to claim the totality of oneself and become "a man of Power"--to use Carlos Castaneda's teachers' term for enlightenment--and ACT with that Cosmic Consciousness throughout one's life so that all of one's karma in the present life and all past lives is burned, so that one becomes liberated from the cycle of deaths and rebirths, which the Buddhist call samsara, the "Round"--i.e., the "Sorry-go-round" as opposed to the "merry-go-round." This is a link to Daniel Goleman's commentary on the "Vissudhimagga" titled, "The Buddha and Meditative States of Consciousness". There are hundreds of Taoist texts written through history on spiritual evolution, but I find that Goleman's commentary and his translation of the Buddhist text is more accessible and of more practical use to westerners who aren't scholars of Taoism.

 

http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/Goleman1972.pdf

 

I thus have recently added 3. "The Buddha on Meditative States of Consciousness" by Daniel Goleman as the third piece of required reading for all my students, alongside:

 

1. Tibetan Yoga & Secret Doctrines by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (Oxford, 1935)

 

2. Secret of the Golden Flower by Richard Wilhelm with commentary by Carl Jung (Steven Mitchell translation also ok).

 

The Goleman article was first printed in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology in the 1970's. It was later published as a book. It is still an invaluable roadmap to know where one is on the path of purification of the spirit, The Buddha's teachings recorded in the "Visuddhimagga" ("Path of Purification") is one text worth studying, for it outlines eight (8) states of consciousness or jhana-absorption, which are valuable benchmarks and milestones to measure one's progress on any path to higher consciousness to know God, Brahma-Atman, Tao. Not only will you know where you are on your personal Path, you will also be able to figure out where on the scale of spiritual evolution various prophets, saints, sages, bodhisattvas, and demi-gods that one has regard for, if any, according to one's religion and spiritual upbringing.

 

If you're interested in eastern religious philosophies, then read up on any one of a number of Hindu, Tibetan, Chinese Buddhist, or Taoist texts to understand how these traditions describe enlightenment. Read books about Buddhist saints and Taoist "Immortals" (saints). Carefully read the New Testament, specifically the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles to understand enlightenment and spiritual power. Read the Gospel of Mary in the Gnostic Scriptures to understand what specific kinds of yogic instruction Jesus Christ gave to his disciples.

 

Personally, I like "Tibetan Yoga & Secret Doctrines" by Evans-Wentz because it has more precise, complete and elegant descriptions of Enlightenment --and how it is attained through yogic practice and/or Works---in its footnotes than I've seen in the main text of any western book I've come across over the past 50 years, which is how long I've been reading spiritual texts. But that's just my preference. To each their own source materials.

 

Or don't read a thing, and just live your life...and take on faith what some of our greatest minds have discovered:

 

"The total number of minds in the universe is one . In fact, consciousness is a singularity phasing through all human beings." --Erwin Shroedinger, quantum physicist

 

 

You wrote:

But seriously if it can help one be free from samsara then i will practice much much more diligently, i have honestly suffered enough.

 

The mere practice of any Yoga alone--be it Flying Phoenix Qigong or anything else--is NOT going to liberate one from the samsara and make one an Immortal. Unless that practice leads to mastery and that mastery is followed by service and sacrifice to help one's fellow man for a lifetime or longer, depending on one's karma.

 

I was thinking about rainbow body allot on monday at work, probably because i have been ill and battling addiction i like the idea i can just be free...plus i work at an old peoples home and i really dont want to end up like they are.

 

Overcoming any type of addiction and fully recovering from addiction-related illness must be completed first in order for one to gain control one's life and wellness and to assume total responsibility for it. When one becomes physically healthy, whole and functionally effective, then one can work towards attaining spiritually wholeness. The rainbow body phenomenon is a sublime yogic and spiritual attainment--a very high one that you can strive towards. Use it as inspiration, but don't think of it as a means of instant liberation from your illness, its symptoms, and your existence gripped by addiction. Do use the grim vision of the residents of the old peoples' home where you work to motivate yourself to heal yourself and direct your life in a way so that you never end up in that picture.

 

The "rainbow body" that you mentioned is a glorious manifestation of spiritual power that many a master of Yoga--especially the high Tibetan masters-- choose to manifest as their spirit leaves the earthplane or on other occasions--to heal, initiate and edify.

 

Many strong discorporated spirits--even without having completed a path of spiritual purification and attained complete karmic cleansing and liberation--are able to "cross over" and communicate in startling and seemingly miraculous fashion with humans on the earthplane-- enabled purely by their love for their kindred spirits, if they are earth-bound ghosts (kuei's in Chinese), out of malevolence. ("kindred spirits" btw, are not necessarily family members or blood relatives). e.g., I have experienced wonderful and truly magickal visitations from both of my parents after they passed (my mother exactly 35 days after she died visited for entire entire evening; my father on numerous occasions over a period of almost 3 years after he passed in Nov. 2000, letting me know that he was around and about (by playing charming practical jokes on me that bore his distinctive fun-loving signature); and from my favorite Da-Sihing (senior school brother), Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu Master John Davidson, who during his time on earth, taught me the most about Taoist healing, how to do the TTP Kung Fu forms, how to best do the Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung, and the most about living by martial Zen. John's visitation was just last fall, eight (8) years after he had passed away, so it was unexpected, delightful, and profound, for it came through the dreamstate. His spirit specifically taught me how to use a particular Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu Form as a spiritual ritual to vanquish my karmic enemies on this plane, while he clears my path of them from where he is.

 

Make what you will of this account of my former Da-Sihing's visitation. What I make of it is this: being able to cross over from the spiritual realm to help kindred spirits in this earthly hell (relatively speaking) is a sign of that spirit's enlightenment while on earth and its elevation to holiness.

 

Practice of Flying Phoenix Qigong creates a very holy channel of spiritual growth, for those who have not figured that out yet.

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

Edited May 8, 2016 by zen-bear

[tao stillness]

Sifu Terry's above comments are a spiritual treatise in itself and a roadmap that echoes the guidance of many masters who have reached the goal. I recall how simply my teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, used to condense the Vedic Science teaching in one statement: "Always do what you know is the right thing, and be regular in your practice of Transcendental Meditation."

That is how to deal with the karmic situation of finding ourselves on this challenging planet Earth. In other words, engage in the highest form of behavior and daily perform a spiritual practice that is going to raise the vibration of your mind/body/spirit by getting you regularly to the quantum physics state of least excitation of consciousness, the Vacuum state, the Absolute, Sat Chit Ananda,

Tao, Satori, Nirvana, the Rapture, etc. As I have written previously, my favorite term for my personal experiences of reaching this state temporarily is from Lao Tzu: "the Mother of 10,000 things." To have at least an intellectual understanding of what the quote symbolizes, just read the quantum physics description of the qualities of the vacuum state and you will realize why Lao Tzu chose those words and that in those words you can find the reason why the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali result in actual manifestation in consciousness when performed correctly. Movement in stillness/silence, Be still and know that I am God,

is another name for introducing a thought in that deepest state of stillness and then you have learned the mechanics of Creation. And to my way of thinking, the Taoist term, the formless form, stands for the same state of consciousness where the wave and the particle are One and the same. All things exist as a potential state in the Unmanifest state of consciousness, Stillness, Silence. Be still and know that I AM. All this is That.

In other words, all manifested objects have their original source in the silence or perfect stillness of the state of least excitation. Then excite that state of perfect rest with a bit of consciousness, or intention, and the stillness then moves and takes shape. Think Book of Genesis.

In other words, my experience is that we need meditation methods to reach that state of consciousness and Masters who live that state of consciousness. The blind shall not lead the blind.

To validate the reality of Sifu Terry being taught from the Spiritual realm, just search online for that article  attributed to statements from Grand Master Doo Wai describing how the Flying Phoenix Qigong methods were originally given to that monk on Ermei mountain. My own validation comes from my wife. Last year after I gave her the Oneness Blessing deeksha/energy for the fist time, she then had a deity appear to her mind's eye who demonstrated a series of movements to her. My wife at the time had no background or understanding of any of the energetic arts or spiritual knowledge.  She showed me the movements and it was obvious that they were chi kung. Later my medical clairvoyant saw that the deity that taught my wife chi kung was White Tara.

So Sifu Terry has reminded us that when we are on the path, we are taught from different sources at different levels of life.

What is that quote? There is more to life, Horatio, than meets the eyes?

Thank you Sifu Terry for sharing such a profound and personal spiritual experience.

And I apologize to this group of readers for rambling on. I tend to do that on Sundays even though I was never in a church so I was not exposed to any sermons but some of my sudden sharings sure sound like a sermon, LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'

Edited May 8, 2016 by tao stillness

[zen-bear]

Hello fellow FP Practitioners,

I just published on Youtube this first of several Qigong demonstrations I shot 10 days ago in Glacier National Park during my teaching trip to Montana. This is an impromptu demonstration at beautiful Lake MacDonald of the Long Form Standing Meditation called "Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation, the capstone of the FP Qigong system.

This first video was filmed on April 24 right after a rainstorm had cleared. I was sitting in a coffee house in Whitefish, MT, working on my computer as it had been raining all day. Suddenly around 4pm the rain stopped and the sun came out. So I jumped into the car and drove 40 minutes to a favorite spot alongside Lake MacDonald that my friend had shown me the day before and I got in several hours of good light and roiling lake.  And no grizzly bears.  I performed this moving meditation not at my usual practice speed (i.e., the speed of a shifting sand dune) but at the speed at which the dynamic energy of the environment inspired me to move. I also scored the video with an up-tempo piece of music that captures the powerful energy in the air, water and trees that day.  Enjoy.

Using my demonstration at the end of Volume 4 of the Chi Kung For Health DVD series as an interim benchmark, this demonstration from shows the fruits of 25 years of practice.

More video coming later.

Sifu Terry Dunn



_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

Edited May 10, 2016 by zen-bear

[9thousandthings]

This first video was filmed on April 24 right after a rainstorm had cleared. I was sitting in a coffee house in Whitefish, MT, working on my computer as it had been raining all day. Suddenly around 4pm the rain stopped and the sun came out. So I jumped into the car and drove 40 minutes to Lake MacDonald and got several hours of good light and roiling lake. I performed this moving meditation not at my usual practice speed (i.e., the speed of a shifting sand dune) but at the speed at which the dynamic energy of the environment inspired me to move. I also scored the video with an up-tempo piece of music that captures the powerful energy in the air, water and trees that day.

 

Thank you for sharing!  This is beautiful and moving.  Even without 228 (and growing) pages of this thread, just watching this video alone would make me want to take up this practice!

[growant]

I get an error message when trying to watch the Long Form video above?

[zen-bear]

I get an error message when trying to watch the Long Form video above?

Hi Gary,

I just checked out the link using both Safari and Firefox browsers (from a Mac) and it works fine.

You can also see it by entering this link using any web browser:

 

 

or search under  "Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation Terence Dunn".

 

A few more videos coming.

 

Best,

Sifu Terry