Confused

[Mal]

So I don't know if this still means I lack proper motivation, and if you think I do or if you belive I am doing something wrong let me know. I don't really know any other ways to go about this without a person to guide or teach me.

 

FWIW I think you are starting off very well. Many here have spent large portions of their lives on this path. There is no need to rush trying to "catch up" just enjoy the journey, as confusing as it may be

[3bob]

"Hinduism": it has many beliefs via its various sects and sub-sects that more or less range from A-Z. India before and during Hinduism (per-se) has vast periods of history and major events that more or less range from A-Z for over 5000+ years. India has different types of sub-cultures that more or less range from A-Z. It has male and female spiritual teachers that more or less range from A-Z in practices and merit. India has climates that more or less range from A-Z. It has different gods and goddess that more or less range from A-Z. It has impersonal and personal aspects in relating to the ultimate. (see the Upanishads) It has many true teachers, saints, and good people and it also has untrue teachers, rascals, con-men, etc.. It has age old studies and wisdom related to information on natural health and diet, and many other sciences. It has those that have abused power and those that have nutured the well being of the people...

 

In other words it to has the whole spectrum of life and death struggle going on!! I respect her, and could never put her into a little box.

Edited February 22, 2010 by 3bob

[jinjujitsu]

"Hinduism": it has many beliefs via its various sects and sub-sects that more or less range from A-Z. India before and during Hinduism (per-se) has vast periods of history and major events that more or less range from A-Z for over 5000+ years. India has different types of sub-cultures that more or less range from A-Z. It has male and female spiritual teachers that more or less range from A-Z in practices and merit. India has climates that more or less range from A-Z. It has different gods and goddess that more or less range from A-Z. It has impersonal and personal aspects in relating to the ultimate. (see the Upanishads) It has many true teachers, saints, and good people and it also has untrue teachers, rascals, con-men, etc.. It has age old studies and wisdom related to information on natural health and diet, and many other sciences. It has those that have abused power and those that have nutured the well being of the people...

 

In other words it to has the whole spectrum of life and death struggle going on!! I respect her, and could never put her into a little box.

 

Kudos! Couldn't have said better. Those who want to see the black spots alone will miss the big white background and the immense wisdom underlying therein.

 

As a side note, Yoga Sutras were never meant to be practice manuals. They simply elaborate Samkhya and Yoga theory. Sutras are by nature cryptic and require a firm background in Veda, Purana and Grammar before attempting to understand them. For those who travel that extra mile, the rewards are plenty. There are various practical manual such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika and various Yoga Tantras dealing with practical aspects and hence serving as commentaries to the Yoga Sutra. One cannot accuse all the Hindus of being incapable of expression based on one's own lack of understanding of one particular book! Moreover, Yoga Sutra hardly represents the entire gamut of Hinduism. It does not even represent a major school of Hinduism as practiced today. Unlike most assume, it is dualistic (Patanjali's version) and hence acceptable only as an auxiliary philosophy to many other non-dualisitc schools within Hinduism.

 

Then there are castes and those who believe in them. There have also been "outcastes" such as Aghoris, Ati Margins and Avadhutas who have existed side by side and earned their own status in a society accused frequently by the West of orthodoxy. There are people of all kinds and it is not the mistake of Hinduism if West has a picture of her as a perfect lady. But her external imperfections hardly mar her inner beauty. And is that not true with any worthy religion? How are bad Brahmins or bad Gurus sole representatives of Hinduism? How are bad commentaries available today on the Yoga Sutra indications of uselessness of Hinduism? Such generalizations hardly make sense unless the intention is blame game arising out of some frustration possibly owing to a bad experience with a Guru figure or someone similar. The argument here is similar to those who constantly accuse H H The Dalai Lama of autocracy and what not and forget the implications of what would be without him today. There is nothing ideal or perfect and no amount of whining or cussing will make it so. But those who only do that, will just do that and see no light. The wise will look beyond these imperfections and find light. And that's what Manu said with his "religion" as well, the same one that gets called Hinduism today.

Edited February 22, 2010 by jinjujitsu

[3bob]

Kudos! Couldn't have said better. Those who want to see the black spots alone will miss the big white background and the immense wisdom underlying therein.

 

As a side note, Yoga Sutras were never meant to be practice manuals. They simply elaborate Samkhya and Yoga theory. Sutras are by nature cryptic and require a firm background in Veda, Purana and Grammar before attempting to understand them. For those who travel that extra mile, the rewards are plenty. There are various practical manual such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika and various Yoga Tantras dealing with practical aspects and hence serving as commentaries to the Yoga Sutra. One cannot accuse all the Hindus of being incapable of expression based on one's own lack of understanding of one particular book! Moreover, Yoga Sutra hardly represents the entire gamut of Hinduism. It does not even represent a major school of Hinduism as practiced today. Unlike most assume, it is dualistic (Patanjali's version) and hence acceptable only as an auxiliary philosophy to many other non-dualisitc schools within Hinduism.

 

Then there are castes and those who believe in them. There have also been "outcastes" such as Aghoris, Ati Margins and Avadhutas who have existed side by side and earned their own status in a society accused frequently by the West of orthodoxy. There are people of all kinds and it is not the mistake of Hinduism if West has a picture of her as a perfect lady. But her external imperfections hardly mar her inner beauty. And is that not true with any worthy religion? How are bad Brahmins or bad Gurus sole representatives of Hinduism? How are bad commentaries available today on the Yoga Sutra indications of uselessness of Hinduism? Such generalizations hardly make sense unless the intention is blame game arising out of some frustration possibly owing to a bad experience with a Guru figure or someone similar. The argument here is similar to those who constantly accuse H H The Dalai Lama of autocracy and what not and forget the implications of what would be without him today. There is nothing ideal or perfect and no amount of whining or cussing will make it so. But those who only do that, will just do that and see no light. The wise will look beyond these imperfections and find light. And that's what Manu said with his "religion" as well, the same one that gets called Hinduism today.

 

Well said Jinjujitsu!, Thanks for filling in on part of the A-Z, and other related comments.

 

 

Om Shanti

[hajimesaito]

Clearly you have a bias against the Hindus and one very clearly propagated by British in the late 18th century. Caste and its evils were simply a distortion of a social system blown out of proportion by European scholars. There were pros and cons and those who wanted to attack, chose this as their main reason. Buddhists did that and later the colonizing Europeans, to their own advantage. That's quite irrelevant here IMO. The cultural and philosophical exchanges between Hindus and Buddhists has been too much to distinguish one from the other and it is easy to see that Buddhists borrowed much from Hindus than the other way round. If you read critique of Tibetan Buddhism by several Theravada teachers in 70s and 80s, this exactly was their problem with the Tibetan Buddhists and their morphed Hindu Tantra with Bon elements and a Buddhistic interpretation. Prof Alexis Sanderson has done serious and dedicated study in this area and you will benefit from studying him. I would suggest you seriously need to re-consider the crap you have been reading lol!

 

You need to do some serious study before you make some such half-assed comments based on of all the people G Samuel. Lol

 

 

I am actually born to Hindu parents and lived around Hindus all my life. The term "Hindu" by itself is pretty ambiguous. It was used first by the invading Persians to refer to the people beyond the "Sindh valley". There are various things that might be considered "Hindu" today. For example, a man-eating Aghori is a Hindu just like how a pure vegetarian Brahmin is. Thats what happens when geographical boundaries are used to define religions.

 

Hinduism is basically nothing but polytheism with the existence of various gods and cults surrounding each of them. Most of the other good things like Yoga and tantra wouldn't be exactly called a part of Hinduism. For example, these tantrics who roam around in the Eastern India (Bengal, for example) would be persecuted in the western India (which is dominantly Vaishnavite). If people find an Aghori eating human flesh in the crematoriums of places like Gujarat, Rajasthan etc (which come under the Vaishnavite western India), then he will be killed brutally by the people.

 

Most of Hinduism is complete bullshit like cult hero-worship of different gods, caste system, mindless rituals etc etc. Some good things exist, which, as I said earlier, due to the definition of the term "Hinduism", ended up becoming part of it despite having nothing in common with the mainstream polytheistic Hinduism.

 

 

As for the antagonism between Hindus/Brahmanists and Buddhists, you should read what is written about Buddhists in many Hindu scriptures. The Hindu epic Ramayana, which is about the famous Hindu god Rama, says that Buddha was a thief. Vishnu purana, a scripture of the Vaishnavites claim that though Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu, his doctrine was heretic and false because he had deliberately taken this avatar to deceive the "demons" (Buddhists). Sankara, Kumaril Bhatta etc are all extremely famous for persecuting the Buddhists. Many Hindu scriptures (usually the puranas and smritis) ask the Brahmins to undergo extreme purification (by bathing with cow's urine!) after a Buddhist comes in his sight! Don't you find it odd that a region completely dominated by Buddhism some two millennia ago has today just the abandoned caves in the jungles and nothing else to show the trace of that glorious past? By the time the British had started invading, many people (the common people) of India did not even know who Buddha is or what Buddhism is about - the religion that had once influenced their ancestors greatly in the past.

 

 

I agree with tyler Zambori on this issue.

 

Hinduism is led by Brahmins and Brahmins, like always, have claimed the Vedas to be of utmost authority. Now if you study Vedas carefully, you will conclude that the religion is almost similar to the Zoroastrianism of the Iranians (because the Indo-Aryans too once migrated from there to India and formed the first "Brahmins") with only the gods that are propitiated being different (usually inimical to each other). In other words, if you really take the word of the supreme leader of Hinduism - the Brahmins - as what exactly Hinduism is, then you will realize that Hinduism is nothing but paganism (polytheism) very similar to what existed in middle east (Persia and Arabia) before the emergence of Islam.

Edited February 22, 2010 by hajimesaito

[3bob]

I am actually born to Hindu parents and lived around Hindus all my life. The term "Hindu" by itself is pretty ambiguous. It was used first by the invading Persians to refer to the people beyond the "Sindh valley". There are various things that might be considered "Hindu" today. For example, a man-eating Aghori is a Hindu just like how a pure vegetarian Brahmin is. Thats what happens when geographical boundaries are used to define religions.

 

Hinduism is basically nothing but polytheism with the existence of various gods and cults surrounding each of them. Most of the other good things like Yoga and tantra wouldn't be exactly called a part of Hinduism. For example, these tantrics who roam around in the Eastern India (Bengal, for example) would be persecuted in the western India (which is dominantly Vaishnavite). If people find an Aghori eating human flesh in the crematoriums of places like Gujarat, Rajasthan etc (which come under the Vaishnavite western India), then he will be killed brutally by the people.

 

Most of Hinduism is complete bullshit like cult hero-worship of different gods, caste system, mindless rituals etc etc. Some good things exist, which, as I said earlier, due to the definition of the term "Hinduism", ended up becoming part of it despite having nothing in common with the mainstream polytheistic Hinduism.

 

 

As for the antagonism between Hindus/Brahmanists and Buddhists, you should read what is written about Buddhists in many Hindu scriptures. The Hindu epic Ramayana, which is about the famous Hindu god Rama, says that Buddha was a thief. Vishnu purana, a scripture of the Vaishnavites claim that though Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu, his doctrine was heretic and false because he had deliberately taken this avatar to deceive the "demons" (Buddhists). Sankara, Kumaril Bhatta etc are all extremely famous for persecuting the Buddhists. Many Hindu scriptures (usually the puranas and smritis) ask the Brahmins to undergo extreme purification (by bathing with cow's urine!) after a Buddhist comes in his sight! Don't you find it odd that a region completely dominated by Buddhism some two millennia ago has today just the abandoned caves in the jungles and nothing else to show the trace of that glorious past? By the time the British had started invading, many people (the common people) of India did not even know who Buddha is or what Buddhism is about - the religion that had once influenced their ancestors greatly in the past.

 

 

I agree with tyler Zambori on this issue.

 

Hinduism is led by Brahmins and Brahmins, like always, have claimed the Vedas to be of utmost authority. Now if you study Vedas carefully, you will conclude that the religion is almost similar to the Zoroastrianism of the Iranians (because the Indo-Aryans too once migrated from there to India and formed the first "Brahmins") with only the gods that are propitiated being different (usually inimical to each other). In other words, if you really take the word of the supreme leader of Hinduism - the Brahmins - as what exactly Hinduism is, then you will realize that Hinduism is nothing but paganism (polytheism) very similar to what existed in middle east (Persia and Arabia) before the emergence of Islam.

 

Actually I'll have to disagree with your narrow summation, "Hinduism" is more panentheistic than polytheistic; see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism

 

Along with "Satchidananda" and or "Paramatman" being of exceedingly deep importance and teaching regardless of all the variations in paths! Btw, for those that don't know, all branches, sects, and almost all the countless sub-sects recognize Lord Ganesha as a common, close and important God in their religions but mostly not as their Supreme Mahadeva or God, and of course there are the teachings of "Brahman" (in various texts) that really points beyond all names and forms, yet within all names and forms, these imo could-should be called the leaders or lead concepts and Source of Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism -- Anyway, there is incredible diversity in Hindusim but it has no man-made or elected Pope, also imo any Brahmin that breaks the dharma (by trying to co-opt it for selfish purposes) will have to answer for doing so just as any so called ordinary person would or much more so karma wise if they break the trust! (which imo has happened in certain cases although I'm no authority on such, nor do I choose to spend the time being so since I more or less have mountains of karmic stuff of my own to work on.

 

Om

[3bob]

Hello Makyea, Sorry for the posts that may be distracting from the primary questions in your first post concerning Taoism...

 

When I start a thread I don't mind some tangents arising (which are expected) but such can get fairly wild and far a field, thus I'll leave out further posts on Hindusim in this thread, which like I said before and think could be further addressed in a different thread. (being that I presently believe it was not of your intention to wade through reams of pros and cons related to Hinduism in this particualr thread?)

 

Top of the morning to ya, Bob

[Pietro]

Chuang Tzu did not fear death because he was already "dead" to the world.

thank you for this

[Makyea]

Hello Makyea, Sorry for the posts that may be distracting from the primary questions in your first post concerning Taoism...

 

When I start a thread I don't mind some tangents arising (which are expected) but such can get fairly wild and far a field, thus I'll leave out further posts on Hindusim in this thread, which like I said before and think could be further addressed in a different thread. (being that I presently believe it was not of your intention to wade through reams of pros and cons related to Hinduism in this particualr thread?)

 

Top of the morning to ya, Bob

That is fine. I do not mind it is just more information on different persons view of things and because it is information it is not useless. I love conversations and they way they flow into and out of different topics. I find it interesting they way the mind works. I think the more I try and understand others points of view and the way their minds work I can find out how my own mind works. By doing that I believe it will help me decide what works best for me and my mind. That is a help in itself. So I thank you and everyone who posted anything here and hope it will continue. Anything you think it could help to know let me know. Though I would appreciate more answers. I do not look down on any information I am given.

[tyler zambori]

Kudos! Couldn't have said better. Those who want to see the black spots alone will miss the big white background and the immense wisdom underlying therein.

 

As a side note, Yoga Sutras were never meant to be practice manuals. They simply elaborate Samkhya and Yoga theory. Sutras are by nature cryptic and require a firm background in Veda, Purana and Grammar before attempting to understand them. For those who travel that extra mile, the rewards are plenty. There are various practical manual such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika and various Yoga Tantras dealing with practical aspects and hence serving as commentaries to the Yoga Sutra. One cannot accuse all the Hindus of being incapable of expression based on one's own lack of understanding of one particular book! Moreover, Yoga Sutra hardly represents the entire gamut of Hinduism. It does not even represent a major school of Hinduism as practiced today. Unlike most assume, it is dualistic (Patanjali's version) and hence acceptable only as an auxiliary philosophy to many other non-dualisitc schools within Hinduism.

 

Then there are castes and those who believe in them. There have also been "outcastes" such as Aghoris, Ati Margins and Avadhutas who have existed side by side and earned their own status in a society accused frequently by the West of orthodoxy. There are people of all kinds and it is not the mistake of Hinduism if West has a picture of her as a perfect lady. But her external imperfections hardly mar her inner beauty. And is that not true with any worthy religion? How are bad Brahmins or bad Gurus sole representatives of Hinduism? How are bad commentaries available today on the Yoga Sutra indications of uselessness of Hinduism? Such generalizations hardly make sense unless the intention is blame game arising out of some frustration possibly owing to a bad experience with a Guru figure or someone similar. The argument here is similar to those who constantly accuse H H The Dalai Lama of autocracy and what not and forget the implications of what would be without him today. There is nothing ideal or perfect and no amount of whining or cussing will make it so. But those who only do that, will just do that and see no light. The wise will look beyond these imperfections and find light. And that's what Manu said with his "religion" as well, the same one that gets called Hinduism today.

 

Besides hatha yoga, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika only gives instructions on a few side practices:

pranayama and moola bandha. It does not go into *how to meditate.* Furthermore, it is presented

in the same tired old aphoristic format that Europe got over after the printing press came out.

 

It is in the Yoga sutra that we actually start to get some instruction about *how to meditate.*

To quote wikipedia: “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a foundational text of Yoga.”

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_sutra

 

And also: “In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali prescribes adherence to eight "limbs" or steps (the sum of which constitute "Ashtanga Yoga", the title of the second chapter) to quiet one's mind and achieve kaivalya. The Yoga Sutras form the theoretical and philosophical basis of Raja Yoga, and are considered to be the most organized and complete definition of that discipline. The division into the Eight Limbs (Sanskrit Ashtanga) of Yoga is reminiscent of Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path; inclusion of Brahmaviharas (Yoga Sutra 1:33) also shows Buddhism's influence on parts of the Sutras.[15] “

 

That's from the Philosophical roots and influences section. You are glossing in order to sound authoritative. Yes, it is based on Samkya philosophy, but again, yes it is meant to be a practical instruction book. At least originally. And they do a crappy job. It pretty much works if you

are living in a cave with a guru and washing his dishes, but that's about it.

 

As I have said before, elsewhere on this forum, they are always talking around something they

can't even describe. The Yoga Sutra is not a book on theory. You are trying to be an apologist. When the

great majority of attempts to write commentary on the yoga sutras end up with bad translations and

very awkwardly written commentaries, that is saying something, and it's not saying something about

the reader. Combine that with a religious attitude, and by that I mean: "accept this badly written

tripe because in ancient days somebody who was really trying to help people wrote the original, and

someday if you're good you might understand it," then you have a recipe for a lot of arrogant hogwash.

Which you do exhibit, I might add.

 

The reason they do not bother to write better, is frankly because of the inherent elitism in the culture.

“Hey, those who are truly worthy will study and suffer until they get it.” I've seen this attitude in more than just books, I've seen it in just how people behave. It's endemic in the culture. They really do think they are the ones, of all Eastern religions, who really have something to teach, and we all should listen to them. See...you have it yourself.

 

And also, the typical recommendation is to practice Karma and Bhakti yoga before even trying to read the Yoga Sutras, which I have my own problems with. It seems to me you are just trying to do the best you can to sound like you know it all, without much basis.

 

Her external imperfections hardly mar her inner beauty? You are basically just telling us to take a religious approach to it, so it looks to me like you fit right in over there. Why not go find a nice Hindu forum to hang out on?

 

And now you are insinuating that I only complain and am not serious about a spiritual path. I would ask you why you need to take it so personally, why you have such a strong need to belittle people who don't see it the way you do, on a forum that is not even about that particular practice? Why does it strike so at your insecurity? Sounds to me like you aren't very secure at all.

 

PS: please let's not get into the Buddhist influence on the yoga sutras, that is not why I quoted that bit.

Edited February 22, 2010 by tyler zambori

[tyler zambori]

Actually I'll have to disagree with your narrow summation, "Hinduism" is more panentheistic than polytheistic; see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism

 

Along with "Satchidananda" and or "Paramatman" being of exceedingly deep importance and teaching regardless of all the variations in paths! Btw, for those that don't know, all branches, sects, and almost all the countless sub-sects recognize Lord Ganesha as a common, close and important God in their religions but mostly not as their Supreme Mahadeva or God, and of course there are the teachings of "Brahman" (in various texts) that really points beyond all names and forms, yet within all names and forms, these imo could-should be called the leaders or lead concepts and Source of Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism -- Anyway, there is incredible diversity in Hindusim but it has no man-made or elected Pope, also imo any Brahmin that breaks the dharma (by trying to co-opt it for selfish purposes) will have to answer for doing so just as any so called ordinary person would or much more so karma wise if they break the trust! (which imo has happened in certain cases although I'm no authority on such, nor do I choose to spend the time being so since I more or less have mountains of karmic stuff of my own to work on.

 

Om

 

3dbob,

 

You are completely missing Hajimesaito's point. Can you effectively counter her argument while staying on point? I'm not seeing it.

 

Also there does not need to be any Hindu pope. The culture keeps its dysfunctionalities just fine

without one.

[3bob]

That is fine. I do not mind it is just more information on different persons view of things and because it is information it is not useless. I love conversations and they way they flow into and out of different topics. I find it interesting they way the mind works. I think the more I try and understand others points of view and the way their minds work I can find out how my own mind works. By doing that I believe it will help me decide what works best for me and my mind. That is a help in itself. So I thank you and everyone who posted anything here and hope it will continue. Anything you think it could help to know let me know. Though I would appreciate more answers. I do not look down on any information I am given.

 

That is an ideal way of looking at swimming in the mind so to speak, although if I may add (and I'm sure you are aware of it) that hungry sharks swim there and or here to.

 

Mr. Ya Mu seems to have a fine system related to Taoism, although I know very little about him I feel that he has given out good vibes and well shared thoughts. And like the other person said he may not be to far away from you? And again, I'd say that Alan Watts has some good introductry books on eastern ways that westerners can relate to, although he was from another generation compared to the many authors now in print and what is being published by them. Oh, I just remembered Shaktimama gave us a link at this site for a giant and excellent resource on Chinese arts at Qi magazine - who are sharing all their material in downloadable pdf file format!! I don't have the link at this moment and I don't know if their files are still out there for free but I'll check into it and get back with you.

 

Om

Edited February 22, 2010 by 3bob

[3bob]

3dbob,

 

You are completely missing Hajimesaito's point. Can you effectively counter her argument while staying on point? I'm not seeing it.

 

Also there does not need to be any Hindu pope. The culture keeps its dysfunctionalities just fine

without one.

 

Om Shanti... and get off it already or at least with me.

Edited February 22, 2010 by 3bob

[gendao]

I am very confused on the food thing. Could you or anyone explain this more? What do you mean metal-type? Sorry if these questions are stupid but I would love to know.

To keep things simple at first, just aim towards a more natural lifestyle in general.

 

Eat more whole, organic foods. Avoid synthetic chemicals & overprocessed, denatured foods.

 

Taoism is a scientific art of living. By living in accordance with our bodies' natural design intent and evolved functionality - we can optimize our performance and efficiency at life. A lot of this involves relearning and remastering the core basics properly - like simple movement, posture, breathing, energetics, etc.

 

Once you get serious about Taoism, you can then start an actual neidan practice. But first you will probably have to stabilize your life, release gross energetic blockages (emotionally detox your organs) and normalize your health, though. This all could easily take ~1.5 - 2 years or so (mileage will vary). So, I would focus on these at first to get the big hurdles out of the way.

 

Only when you are in fairly good shape and have a suitable block of spare time available everyday for practice, are you going to really be able to start one. Yes, this does take a lot of desire & discipline, so don't underestimate that. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Not just reading ABOUT, or dabbling...

 

Fact is, IF you want any real results in qigong, it's simply going to take a lot of real effort (mainly, time). Thing is, a lot of it may sound easy in theory, but actual extended practice day-in and day-out could be considered a form of torture for most ADD people today!

 

Simple is not always easy, yet often also the most powerful.

Edited February 22, 2010 by vortex

[bindo]

Makyea,

If you are interested in qigong, Master Chunyi Lin, creator of Spring Forest Qigong, is located in Eden Prairie, MN., and a lot of the classes are held at Normandale Community College in Bloomington.

Spring Forest Qigong

 

(thought I would add that since Drew hasn't been around in a while)

Edited February 22, 2010 by bindo

[3bob]

the link for free downloads (pdf format) of Qi magazine. A great resource!

 

http://www.qimagazine.com/qimagazine00.html

[Makyea]

To keep things simple at first, just aim towards a more natural lifestyle in general.

 

Eat more whole, organic foods. Avoid synthetic chemicals & overprocessed, denatured foods.

 

Taoism is a scientific art of living. By living in accordance with our bodies' natural design intent and evolved functionality - we can optimize our performance and efficiency at life. A lot of this involves relearning and remastering the core basics properly - like simple movement, posture, breathing, energetics, etc.

 

Once you get serious about Taoism, you can then start an actual neidan practice. But first you will probably have to stabilize your life, release gross energetic blockages (emotionally detox your organs) and normalize your health, though. This all could easily take ~1.5 - 2 years or so (mileage will vary). So, I would focus on these at first to get the big hurdles out of the way.

 

Only when you are in fairly good shape and have a suitable block of spare time available everyday for practice, are you going to really be able to start one. Yes, this does take a lot of desire & discipline, so don't underestimate that. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Not just reading ABOUT, or dabbling...

 

Fact is, IF you want any real results in qigong, it's simply going to take a lot of real effort (mainly, time). Thing is, a lot of it may sound easy in theory, but actual extended practice day-in and day-out could be considered a form of torture for most ADD people today!

 

Simple is not always easy, yet often also the most powerful.

Emotionally detox? I have been on a regular work out schedule (I was training to join the military and decided to just keep the work out). I already eat all organic food and I am starting to shift my diet slowly to what I have found. So I am pretty healthy.

Haha I don't mind I have time so it would not be torture for me.

[Makyea]

Makyea,

If you are interested in qigong, Master Chunyi Lin, creator of Spring Forest Qigong, is located in Eden Prairie, MN., and a lot of the classes are held at Normandale Community College in Bloomington.

Spring Forest Qigong

 

(thought I would add that since Drew hasn't been around in a while)

Oh wow that is great. Thank you so much!

[Makyea]

the link for free downloads (pdf format) of Qi magazine. A great resource!

 

http://www.qimagazine.com/qimagazine00.html

Thanks I am looking at it now.

[tyler zambori]

Om Shanti... and get off it already or at least with me.

 

Then I simply declare than you have in no way countered anything she said.

(shrug)

 

I have taken your suggestion, and posted a yoga sutra commentary comparison in my personal practice forum - to show what I'm talking about.

 

Sorry makyea.

Edited February 23, 2010 by tyler zambori

[3bob]

Then I simply declare than you have in no way countered anything she said.

(shrug)

 

I have taken your suggestion, and posted a yoga sutra commentary comparison in my personal practice forum - to show what I'm talking about.

 

Sorry makyea.

 

Tyler, I left a reply on your personal page. Bob

[gendao]

Emotionally detox? I have been on a regular work out schedule (I was training to join the military and decided to just keep the work out). I already eat all organic food and I am starting to shift my diet slowly to what I have found. So I am pretty healthy.

Haha I don't mind I have time so it would not be torture for me.

Sounds like you're ahead of the game then if you already have a healthy, stable lifestyle. You can probably start on the next step, then...

 

Your (12 zang fu) organs are emotional batteries that can store negative emotions from your own life, past lives, ancestors, etc. These negative charges can cause gross energetic blockages in your organs as well as compromise their physical functioning, leading to actual health problems. Since these are often your largest blockages, they are generally the ones people work on clearing out first.

 

There are many ways to do this, but I think "energetic psychology" works best for such big stuff. This is where you identify the psychological issue causing each energetic blockage and resolve it. Which then instantly removes the blockage. I am not talking about Western "left-brained" psychology here, btw - but "intuitive psychology."

 

Now, once you've cleared out the big energetic boulders, you will still be left with innumerable energetic "gravel" and "sand" clogging your channels. But it would be far too difficult and time-consuming to identify all the issues behind these, so a "mechanical" shotgun approach is more efficient here for sweeping all this finer debris out. This is where a LOT of qigong practice comes into play to incrementally flush your system clean over many, many hours of practice. You don't have to single out issues here, just focus on accumulating and clearing your energy. Think of it as reversing energetic atherosclerosis.

 

This is also the beginning stage of neidan, which then has some more specific goals & guidelines.

 

I agree that Spring Forest Qigong would probably be a good practice to start with since Chunyi Lin is in your same state and it seems to have garnered some good reviews. Drewhempel here may even be able to give you some personal instruction. You may notice that he's had some VERY interesting experiences from SFQ, although they're probably not typical, lol..

[markern]

/"]Drewhempel[/url] here may even be able to give you some personal instruction.

 

Personal instruction with Drew might um....feel very good

[Makyea]

Personal instruction with Drew might um....feel very good

Haha, how so?

[Mal]

it's so nice to have a "new" perspective.

 

We have a member here called DrewHemple and he has a special skill that he terms "orgasm at a distance" You can read various stuff about Drew all over the board and here All you wanted to know about Drew Hemple

 

Hopefully he will be back, unfortunately he got a bit overexcited and we had to give him a few days "time out" Since he can jump to conclusions perhaps he thinks he got banned