On the path

[ChiChi]

Hello fellow Taoists,

 

While I realize everyone needs to find their own way on the Tao path I am hoping some wise Taoists

will share what teachings/videos/books helped them cultivate. I am a long time yogini who has experienced kundalini rising and siddhis. I discovered the Tao through Mantak Chia's books, the first time doing the inner smile has given me a transmission of energy connected to the life force which has lasted. However Mantak seems to be very commercialized I am seeking more authentic teachings.I realize that mountain hermits are

the true masters yet I am hoping I can learn qigong, neigong as well as medical qigong from a master who is humble and not on a "guru trip".

 

I am a female living in California yet I am willing to travel to China or elsewhere to receive transmission and willing to practice everyday.

 

Blessings to all on their way!

Edited January 12, 2011 by ChiChi

[TheJourney]

Do you believe that in order to be a master one must be a mountain hermit?

[ChiChi]

Hello fellow Taoists,

 

While I realize everyone needs to find their own way on the Tao path I am hoping some wise Taoists

will share what teachings/videos/books helped them cultivate. I am a long time yogini who has experienced kundalini rising and siddhis. I discovered the Tao through Mantak Chia's books, the first time doing the inner smile has given me a transmission of energy connected to the life force which has lasted. However Mantak seems to be very commercialized I am seeking more authentic teachings.I realize that mountain hermits are

the true masters yet I am hoping I can learn qigong, neigong as well as medical qigong from a master who is humble and not on a "guru trip".

 

I am a female living in California yet I am willing to travel to China or elsewhere to receive transmission and willing to practice everyday.

 

Blessings to all on their way!

[zerostao]

Do you believe that in order to be a master one must be a mountain hermit?

i am sure it does help

[ChiChi]

Do you believe that in order to be a master one must be a mountain hermit?

No, I do not think one has to be a hermit. However Taoist practices have been passed down verbally and have been kept secret for so many years. To truly cultivate one must spend time meditating and daily "modern" life can distract people from their spiritual practices. Many "masters" of any path get deluded by fortune, fame and desires that they forget that genuine compassion, loving kindness and pure virtues are the biggest spiritual acheivements one can attain. We are all our own master just helping one another towards

realization of our true self. I have deep respect for people who have aquired knowledge and I want to support those teachers who are humble and see that I want to cultivate life force energy so I can be of service to others.

Edited January 15, 2011 by ChiChi

[TheJourney]

"Normal" life can be a distraction. However, only if you let it be. What I really want people to see is that they are free. Right now. It's not that if you keep working you can be free. You are free. To be is to be free. Yet we can't accept this. We can't believe it. So we create our own illusory imprisonment.

[Birch]

Hello fellow Taoists,

 

While I realize everyone needs to find their own way on the Tao path I am hoping some wise Taoists

will share what teachings/videos/books helped them cultivate. I am a long time yogini who has experienced kundalini rising and siddhis. I discovered the Tao through Mantak Chia's books, the first time doing the inner smile has given me a transmission of energy connected to the life force which has lasted. However Mantak seems to be very commercialized I am seeking more authentic teachings.I realize that mountain hermits are

the true masters yet I am hoping I can learn qigong, neigong as well as medical qigong from a master who is humble and not on a "guru trip".

 

I am a female living in California yet I am willing to travel to China or elsewhere to receive transmission and willing to practice everyday.

 

Blessings to all on their way!

 

Nyuk nyuk nyuk, you've had the stuff that lots of posters on TTB's have and you want other stuff That's cool! Maybe we could just all swap our respective transmissions and knowings and watchamacallits

 

Edit: I just had a very fun/stupid idea for "Kate's quick-ee siddhi exchange mart". You can ask for whatever ability you want but you have to give something you value up in order to get it.

 

For example: I want the ability to control my snarkism at will

In exchange I will give up my anger

 

I'm thinking my quick-ee mart wouldn't get very far

Edited January 13, 2011 by Kate

[mYTHmAKER]

No, I do not think one has to be a hermit. However Taoist practices have been passed down verbally and have been kept secret for so many years. To truly cultivate one must spend time meditating and daily "modern" life can distract people from their spiritual practices. Many "masters" of any path get deluded by fortune, fame and desires that they forget that genuine compassion, loving kindness and pure virtues are the biggest spiritual acheivements one can attain. We are all our own master just helping one another towards

realization of our true self. I have deep respect for people who have aquired knowledge and I want to support those teachers who are humble and see that I want to cultivate life force enegy so I can be of service to others.

 

Just start being of service - right now.

Be careful when you come down from the mountain and someone steps on your toe.

I work out of the 6th floor of a high rise.

Doesn't matter where you practice because you will always be there and that's what you have to deal with.

[zerostao]

chichi, there are qigong, neigong teachers on this site. you may look thru some of the threads and find one that resonnates with you. rainbow_vein is happy with the system she is involved with here and it seems she is making excellent progress. i would also point out jenny lamb in the denver co. area. depending on what exactly you are seeking. there are many good choices to be found here on this site. everything from the mundane to shaman and jedi. good luck and i will be curious to see which path you take : )

[Sloppy Zhang]

B.K. Frantzis is about as commercialized as it gets, but his book "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" is one of the best out there, in terms of introducing you to a solid practice which is fully in line with Taoist theory as you'd find in something like the Tao Te Ching. He's got a lot of experience learning directly from many high level masters, some famous, some not so much. The material is well worth the price.

[ChiChi]

Just start being of service - right now.

Be careful when you come down from the mountain and someone steps on your toe.

I work out of the 6th floor of a high rise.

Doesn't matter where you practice because you will always be there and that's what you have to deal with.

I am of service in the healing arts already however I am inspired to learn medical qigong from a humble compassionate teacher. I do believe that there are Chinese hermits who have knowledge about internal alchemy that has not been written in a book.I am not implying that commercialized teachers like Mantak do not have any knowledge only that I believe he did not learn all of One Clouds teachings. I am willing to spend years on the path unfolding I was just wondering what path others have taken.

[mYTHmAKER]

I am of service in the healing arts already however I am inspired to learn medical qigong from a humble compassionate teacher. I do believe that there are Chinese hermits who have knowledge about internal alchemy that has not been written in a book.I am not implying that commercialized teachers like Mantak do not have any knowledge only that I believe he did not learn all of One Clouds teachings. I am willing to spend years on the path unfolding I was just wondering what path others have taken.

 

Do you speak Chinese. You most likely will need it to learn from a hermit.

Medical qigong is not my path. I have, however, a humble compassionate teacher

where i live for Taijiquan.

I would'nt be at all surprised if you find someone in your area.

Check in with Taomeow.

[surfingbudda]

Hello fellow Taoists,

 

While I realize everyone needs to find their own way on the Tao path I am hoping some wise Taoists

will share what teachings/videos/books helped them cultivate. I am a long time yogini who has experienced kundalini rising and siddhis. I discovered the Tao through Mantak Chia's books, the first time doing the inner smile has given me a transmission of energy connected to the life force which has lasted. However Mantak seems to be very commercialized I am seeking more authentic teachings.I realize that mountain hermits are

the true masters yet I am hoping I can learn qigong, neigong as well as medical qigong from a master who is humble and not on a "guru trip".

 

I am a female living in California yet I am willing to travel to China or elsewhere to receive transmission and willing to practice everyday.

 

Blessings to all on their way!

 

Hi ChiChi,

I was just recently in the same place you are now. A burning desire and willingness to begin my spiritual path and create a daily practice, the only problem is which practice to choose as there are SO MANY different paths, one of them being qigong which has SO MANY varieties within it that the whole process of choosing just the right one becomes incredibly mind boggling . Like you, I wanted to find a less mainstream, more authentic hand me down true qigong which wouldn't feel like I'm wasting my time with. I went through several different interests, but none of them seemed quite for me, until it hit me, what I was searching for was right in front of my nose the whole time here on Taobums. I have rencently joined Taobums, which has been an amazing discovery for me because this site is filled with so many knowledgeable and friendly people, but particularly Ya Mu on this forum stuck out at me as incredibly knowledgeable and seemingly everything that he wrote, I agreed with which was neat. Then I discovered that Ya Mu was actually Michael Lomax, a semi off the chart qigong master. I had actually first discovered Michael Lomax about a year ago browsing amazon for qigong books, one of the books that really stood out at me as special and different from the rest I had been looking at was Michael Lomax's book A Light Warrior's Guide To High Level Energy Healing, also its great reviews showed that other people had really found it to be special also. Even though I really had that feeling inside of me that said I should buy it, I ended up not purchasing it. However this coincidence of refinding Michael Lomax really felt like the universe was pushing me in his direction, so without a second thought I purchased his book, so far his book has changed my perception on life more than any other book. Since then I now know almost without a doubt that his teachings are the path for me. If authentic teaching is what you want I think you'll have a hard time finding someone better qualified than Michael whose learned from some pretty amazing individuals, another way you know your getting truly authentic teachings is because his practice can only be learned via going to one of his workshops where he will he'll teach and give you the high level energy transmission that allows you to practice; a DVD can only get you so far, pretty much only with hands on training with someone who can transmit high level energy will you ever reach higher levels. So thats my story on how I found the perfect practice for me. Everyone is different so what resonates with me might not some other people, everyone is on different stages of the path. If your path is anyway like mine I may have just saved you a lot of time searching . In any event there are many rivers out there that lead to the same ocean, the only thing is finding which one gets you there the safest and most effectively. Good luck and may you find your chosen path, which ever feels the most true in your heart is the one you should pick.

 

BTW I live in California also, Los Angeles to be specific, and I am currently currently attempting to plan a Michael Lomax workshop which will hopefully occur this summer. So if you do resonate with his teachings then you probably won't have to travel quite as far as a remote mountain in China to get your training started.

[Gerard]

To truly cultivate one must spend time meditating and daily "modern" life can distract people from their spiritual practices.

 

Very true and I recommend you that firmly if you have the desire to follow the path of detachment and loneliness. This will make you a true spiritual warrior. You will go a long way.

 

Good luck whichever path your karma takes you to.

 

Blessings.

 

[King Kabalabhati]

I trust you mean solitude?

 

There is a difference now isn't there. Loneliness can occur with or without solitude.

[de_paradise]

I trust you mean solitude?

 

Chichi, its my understanding that in some schools, high level practioners have a tradition of solitary practise in the later stages to acheive the highest levels, and for this they have to avoid the filth of regular humans like us. So this is a reason for the hermits. Also, I understand that a certain kind of practioner that has attained a kind of unusual long life and avoided the decay of the body will also choose to avoid human contact, for much the same reason.

 

But for teachers of medical qigong, "teachers", and "medical" imply a high degree of social interaction, not to mention if we are looking for a teacher who would be known and unrestricted by sect rules to teach to a foreigner that has airfare and a desire to learn esoteric knowlege.

 

You say that you are doing healing already and have aquired siddhis, would you please explain these siddhis and say why you want to have more, or different from what you have, so that you want to find a new teacher to "support".

[adept]

avoid the filth of regular humans like us.

 

 

Speak for yourself.

[TheJourney]

If you think that "regular" humans are filth then you're certainly no sage.

[surfingbudda]

[9th]

[de_paradise]

How about "purity challenged"? Don't shoot the messenger guys. How much longer do you think you have carrying around your festering corpse to love it so much? As much as I would like someone to send over a shen body to my house to debate the issue, I dont think one of us has reached this level of purity, and until then "filthy" is quite an apt descrption.

 

And not to hijack this interesting thread with my little semantic sojourn, I would like to ask chichi to weigh in on this issue.

[King Kabalabhati]

Hi de_paradise. Do I sense aversion? Help me to understand where you are coming from.

 

If I were to ascribe "filth" to certain processes of my time bound "festering corpse," how can I progress in my cultivation efforts if I allow myself to be averse to the filth of me?

 

I think the filth is in the mind, if somewhere.

[de_paradise]

Hi de_paradise. Do I sense aversion? Help me to understand where you are coming from.

 

If I were to ascribe "filth" to certain processes of my time bound "festering corpse," how can I progress in my cultivation efforts if I allow myself to be averse to the filth of me?

 

I agree with King's purity or filth in the mind, if somewhere statement. Yet many paths start with purifying the jing, of the body, and then the chi, of the body. First the body and energetic, then the mind. Thats why the Taoists list them in that order. As humans, we are perfectly equipped to be outstanding and beautiful creatures of the earth; but as potential immortals or potential buddhas, or some type of heavenly being, we do require some kind of purification process, known as a spiritual path. So there should be no aversion to yourself as a human. But if you look at yourself as a hypothetical pre-buddha, then you can look at your human impure self with some kind of aversion, because that would serve as a reminder to cultivate.

Edited January 13, 2011 by de_paradise

[三江源]

It happens, when on the path, that you glimpse what you are, from a the light of perfection, and perceive yourself as deeply and profoundly crappy/flaw filled/impure/mistaken. It is a source of searing anguish,and an opportunity for cleansing.

 

It is part of the proccess.

 

The experience and knowledge of it matters.

 

Other angle, you see the perfection in everything, including the filth, etc. That's another part of the process.

[unmike]

Like you, I have an interest in nei gong and healing, but like Surfingbudda, I currently live in Los Angeles, and would like to support bringing Ya Mu to LA this summer for a workshop. He seems almost too good to be true. Please check his page and website out, and give his book and system a try if you resonate with him.