Top 5 2011/2012

[Cameron]

Well, I made a post along these lines years ago and thought maybe it would be cool to do again to sense what teachers we all admire and would like to study with in the flesh.

 

So my top 5 teachers(living)on planet Earth.

 

1. Adyashanti- still an amazing teacher. I love how he expounds on Dharma. He has given so much in his years of teaching and remains one of the most down to Earth and humble teachers. His teachings are so alive.

 

2. Master Wang Liping- Even though I am very happy with my current practice, I can't help but feel that he is simply the man of Taoism. As if I got nothing but to be in this man's presence, it would be a powerful blessing on the path of Tao.

 

3. Sifu Max Christensen- Biased for sure. But he remains to me the "mad scientist" of Taoist Alchemy. And certainly has had a great influence.

 

4. Sifu Jenny Lamb- Amazing wisdom combined with relentless pointing to awareness and awakening in her teaching. Very different emphasis to Max and resembles more of my experiences with Adyashanti.

 

5. Master John Chang- Forget that I was basically told to check out Indonesia if I was interested in another practice(not going to happen) but the sheer volume of interest in this man and his practice is enough to make me want to check him out if he ever taught publically agaain. Not because I actually would do the Mo Pai practice but just to be in the presence of such a magnaminous figure of The Tao Bums world.

 

Who is your top 5?

Edited November 18, 2011 by Cameron

[Aetherous]

1. Max...
2. Daniel Odier...although haven't met him personally. I like what his website says.
3. Ya Mu...his healing methods interest me.
4. A friend named HR...not human resources.
5.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Aetherous

[konchog uma]

top 5, cool idea Cameron

 

i don't know enough about all the teachers out there, so i will just list the 5 people i learned the most from this year. In no particular order, of course.

 

 

Dr Yang Jwing Ming - http://ymaa.com/publishing/authors/dr.yang_jwing-ming - i have been reading his books on qigong, which i started to study in earnest this year. His videos are also awesome, and he is one of my teacher's teachers, so I feel connected to his teachings.

 

Terry Dunn - http://taichimania.com/tdbio.html - i have also begun practicing Flying Phoenix qigong, which is profound. Its a daoist qigong that generates some really amazing energy. Sifu posts here, and there is a long thread about Flying Phoenix that i have found really helpful to sort out those dvds. I suggest anyone looking to practice qigong, but can't find a teacher, look it up.

 

Sadhguru - http://www.ishafoundation.org/ - Every time i watch him he opens my eyes to the miracle of life and helps me to let go of something i didn't need. Thank you sadhguru!

 

Jenny Lamb - http://www.easterninternalarts.org/ - Listening to her interviews and practicing her qigongs and exercises has helped me a lot. She has a great attitude about spirituality which is approachable and kind but completely uncompromising at the same time.

 

Ken Cohen - http://www.kennethcohen.com/ - I think he is awesome. I like his broader take on shamanism and indigenous spirituality, it actually helps me to grasp his approach to qigong.

 

i also thank my qigong and taiji teacher, Dr David Clippinger - http://www.stillmountaintaichi.com - he is definitely the person i have learned the most from this year, and my meditation teacher, who doesn't have a website or any kind of public face. Bless you both and thank you!

Edited November 18, 2011 by anamatva

[hagar]

[Cameron]

No one else wants tom make a Top 5 list? lol

 

I want to make a couple changes to my list.

 

2. Kan Sasaki- Max's top student. Though seeing Wang Liping would be amazing I am already well along the Kunlun path. So seeing Master Wang would be more a novelty then something to help me along my path. Whereby I am sure taking classes with Kan San would offer very effective and helpful tools to my alchemy process.

 

5. BK Frantzis- Seeing John Chang also would be incredible but more a novelty. BK Frantzis was one of the original teachers of authentic Taoist arts in the West when I first became interested in this stuff. And I would like to get the chance to take a class with him at some point.

 

OK

Edited November 19, 2011 by Cameron

[Cameron]

Well, might as well make a top not living list too

 

1. Jesus- The real one. Not the made up one. If he really existed how incredible would it have been to met this man?

 

2- Buddha- Well, duh.

 

3- Lao Tzu- Duh.

 

4- Confucius- Double duh.

 

5- Rumi

[lifeforce]

Great topic.

 

1. Shifu Yan Lei. - Awesome Shaolin master based in London. No fancy wushu here. Solid, hard, old skool Shaolin gongfu and qigong.

2. Dr Yang Jwing Ming. - His YMAA organization oozes quality and his encyclopedic knowledge of the arts is astounding.

3. Master Lam Kam Chuen. - THE pioneer of zhan zhuang in the western world. His books and series of free youtube videos are simple to follow.

4. Tim Cartmell. - I would love to learn from this guy. The co-authour of my favourite internal arts book. A man who has tremendous respect from martial artists across the globe.

5. Alex Kozma. - My first introduction to the power of internal martial arts. A humble, down to earth man who has trained extensively in Asia from the masters, and passed on his knowledge and teachings to many.

[JohnC]

• Wang li ping - dragonsgate sect
  
• Jenny Lamb - yi gong
  
• Michael lomax - stillness movement - student of Wang Juemin - taught by Hu Yaozhen
  
• Grand Master Feng Zhiqiang - who was taught by Hu Yaozhen - who created Jingdong gong (stillness movement)
  
• Grandmaster Doo Wai - Bok Fu Pai (Ehrmei White Tiger) Kung Fu - who taught flying phoenix to Terry dunn, which is an amazing practice.
  
• And of course all the classics (lao tzu, rumi, Buddha)
  

[spiraltao]

In no particular order because that would be impossible for me.

 

 

 

 

 

Sifu Christopher Lee Matsuo

 

 

 

Mike Lomax

 

 

Lam Kam Chuen

 

 

 

the late Erle Montaigue(i missed the part about living, so I must change this to Eli Montaigue)

 

 

my grandmaster Rick Picken's intrepetation of John Wing Lok Ng's teachings for both combat and health.

 

 

 

Each of these persons has made a personal impact on me either thru direct contact or indirect via a book, email, or both.(also DVD)

 

 

 

 

I gotta list five more, sorry

 

 

 

Yang Jwing Ming

 

Bow Sim Mark

 

Jerry Johnson

 

Kent Howard

 

Liang Shou Yu

 

 

 

 

 

IMO one COULD NOT GO WRONG with material from any of the published media from any of the above!

Edited November 22, 2011 by jaysahnztao

[Cameron]

ooops almost forgot a big one for me in the "not living" teachers category.

 

1. Bodhidharma

Edited November 23, 2011 by Cameron

[Cameron]

Also, a question if anyone is interested.

 

I am of the opinion that if any of these Masters met in person they would get along very well.

 

What do you think?

[Cameron]

Have to add a couple,

 

 

Ramana Maharshi- Regarded as one of the few completely awakened teachers. He would absolutely have to be on there.

 

Nisargardatta Maharaj- Another modern Indian Master. Not to mention when I met her Sifu Jenny mentioned that "I Am That" is her favorite book.

[humbleone]

From a layperson who is still finding his way, here is my list.

(great idea cameron)

 

Ram Dass - I credit him for opening the world of spirituality to me, back in the 1980's.

harvard professor turned indian mystic.

 

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi - Zen mind, Beginners mind

 

sufi Aziz sahib - a sufi in stealth. Will never show his great spiritual power/entities in public

 

falun gong, Li Hongzhi- powerful complete system. I shared an office for 5 years with one of his disciples. My first initiation into the Daoist world

 

Sifu Jenny Lamb - this woman can turn a chair into a cat. A powerful no nonsense teacher

 

Max Christensen - my next project! eternally grateful to him for making kunlun public

 

Tao Bums website - frankly all of you have done much to further my journey, thanks! All the best.

Edited November 23, 2011 by humbleone

[spiraltao]

I didn't mention Kenneth Cohen, he has to be mentioned.

[Cameron]

I have met Ken. He's a good guy. Lozen who used to post here actually interviewed him years ago.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I have only, at most, read books by these teachers, but here's my top five

 

1) Master Wang Liping

2) Lao Shi Ken Cohen (especially for his knowledge of Aboriginal healing, although I don't think he actually teaches that.)

3) Sifu Chris Matsuo

4) Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

5) Master Helen Wu (granddaughter of Wang Zi Ping who was maybe mythologized in "Chronicles of the Tao." She actually teaches at my alma mater though I didn't know about her at that time .)

 

Nonetheless, really my number one to learn from is the master who appears out of the mist and wind with just the right teaching for me at the time.. I guess they are always there even if we don't know it

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

I cannot attribute the teachings to the teacher, for the truth preceeds it's bearer, however, i can provide my top 5 practices and let you attribute a teacher silently or otherwise

 

 

1. top o' da list be Mindful Breath Awareness; meditation and/or activity.

 

2. Yoga/Taijiquan/Qi Gong/Tantra i lump these together for a reason that could warrant a thread all it's own.

 

3. Martial arts from fighting to cleaning the house up and everything in between, including but not limited to: Painting, Cooking, Video Games, Debate, Conversation, & Philosophical wonderings.

 

4. Walking/jogging/running/sprinting.

 

5. Sleep. believe it or not.

[Aetherous]

I like how you learn from Life, Hot Nirvana Judo Trend.

[Sahaj Nath]

nice thread!

 

really hard to boil down to only 5. it's kind of a dog fight at the the very top. plus, a couple don't have any kind of public presence like anamatva mentioned.

 

Top 5 who are still incarnate:

(in no particular order)

 

Jerry Alan Johnson (exquisite form and body mechanics. second to NONE in this area)

 

Roger Jahnke (Healing Promise of Qi is the closest thing to the PERFECT qigong book that i have ever found. everything that matters most is right there)

 

Mark Griffin (as wise as Master Yoda, and as powerful as Master Windu )

 

Howard Lee (choy le fut master, and the REAL teacher of Carlos Casteneda)

 

Yang Jwing-Ming/Wong Kiew Kit (i just can't choose between the two. both have been a tremendous influence on my overall development)

 

 

i'm leaving out nearly a dozen really great teachers, but these have been the MOST influential, as far as public figures go.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Nice. Thanks for the Howard Lee tip!

 

Love this!

 

"I used to say to my students that you may once or twice in your lifetime get into an altercation in which you may have to use something to defend yourself, but day to day on an ongoing basis, it is about defending against your own self, self-abuse and neglect, and self-destructive tendencies, emotional or physical. Ultimately, it is about self-discipline."

 

http://www.thelightoflife.com/eng/interviews_eng/dimitri.php

[Sahaj Nath]

Nice. Thanks for the Howard Lee tip!

 

Love this!

 

"I used to say to my students that you may once or twice in your lifetime get into an altercation in which you may have to use something to defend yourself, but day to day on an ongoing basis, it is about defending against your own self, self-abuse and neglect, and self-destructive tendencies, emotional or physical. Ultimately, it is about self-discipline."

 

http://www.thelightoflife.com/eng/interviews_eng/dimitri.php

 

Thanx for that qoute and website. Mr. Lee's teacher training system sounds interesting.

 

Perhaps if my favorite teacher, Michael Lomax, were to get a shave and a good copywriter, he'd be as well received - and as financially successful - as Mr. Lee.

 

um.... yeah....

 

i can IN NO WAY vouch for the new agey direction he went with his "Light of Life" system. it looks a little terrible if you ask me. he may as well have gone with Casteneda's idea of calling his teaching "qigong sorcery" or something equally ridiculous.

 

pretty sure i've shared this story in the past, but i don't think i ever came out and said who it was.

 

Howard Lee was the first qigong master i ever met, back in 1997. at the time, Light of Life was really more of a marketing ploy than anything else. he was doing presentations at all the serious internal martial arts schools in my area and offering to hold seminars on a cultivation form, which included energy transmission (probably not very different from the way Michael Lomax's workshops are set up). at the time i was still a student of my reiki master, and i had recently become a reiki master myself. Master Lee wasn't at all impressed and had no problem sharing the fact that he believed his system to be far superior. at the time i was actually offended that he didn't acknowledge my greatness for being a reiki master.

 

at the start of the workshop he began gathering energy and concentrating it within and around him. there were about 50 of us in the workshop and he was on platform stage, powering up, so to speak. meanwhile, i used a western technique of drawing a symbol above his head that acted as a vacuum, siphoning off as much energy as i could. and when he finally released that energy into the group, i took that wave in (and it literally felt like a slow tidal wave made out of magnetism), as well as dissolving that symbol into myself. ooh, how clever was i.

 

for the next week, i paid for it. i took in WAY more energy than my body could handle. my spinal cord was freezing cold, blowing out air, and a tiny thread in the center of my spinal cord felt white-hot. many of you know what it's like for your outer spine to feel tingly, right? well, imagine if each little tingle sensation felt like a needle or a knife instead. this is what it felt like for nearly a week. i couldn't get out of bed. i actually had to crawl to the bathroom. and i could barely even hold down liquids.

 

the reiki energy wasn't even in the same ball park as what that man transmitted. scared the SHIT out of me! literally took me YEARS to fully integrate that transmission. but it was totally worth it.

 

 

it's a shame he doesn't teach like he used to. he told me he doesn't do transmissions like that anymore, either. he's got this trademarked, new age thing going, which is both less profound and more lucrative. Plus, he's a bit of an ass. more concerned with his image than his teaching.

 

i don't really dig the direction he has taken, but i do have a lot of gratitude for my experience with him back in 1997. i swallowed that man whole, and he left me bursting at the seams!

[Harmonious Emptiness]

yeah, I was just referring to that one quote.. kind of dropped off when I clicked on another article..

[9th]

i swallowed that man whole, and he left me bursting at the seams!

 

[zerostao]

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.c...u/7/ZbtYsIRNNfA

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/ collectively , each in their own unique way

 

edit> it is hard to list a top 5. the ones i listed should resonnate with TTB crowd.

top teachers of all time for me personally. i would have to include paul davies, john d. barrow,

alan watts, terrence mckenna, dalai lama,

lao tzu, chuang tzu, the list could reach 500 easily

but if chris matsuo is looking? i did put him at the top!

dang, i hope he notices that

2nd edit> Da Liu and i almost must put him at the top of the list.

undoubtably a high level taoist master.

Edited December 8, 2011 by zerostao

[Pu-erh]

Cool thread! In no particular order, these have been the greatest influences on me this year (counting only public figures).

 

Sifu Jesse Tsao. My teacher. This year I became an Associate Instructor in his organization and he gave me a referral that led to my first class (I am now teaching Yang style to senior citizens!)

 

Ken Cohen. I just met him the other day; he gave a talk on the Yi Jing here in San Diego. His knowledge of all things Chinese is very impressive, and he is a good storyteller. I especially enjoyed his introduction to Plum Blossom Numerology and his stories about training with various indigenous and Taoist teachers.

 

Lama Lena Yeshe Kaytup. Long-time disciple and translator of Wangdor Rinpoche. I received pointing-out instructions from her this year. She is amazing and if she lived locally, I would take refuge in a heartbeat. Currently I have an open invitation to visit the caves at Tso Pema and I hope to make it there someday.

 

Adyashanti. I like his YouTube videos and I have his book/cd combo True Meditation. I have been sitting zazen every day, that's pretty much my main practice, but I have noticed more ease and peace since absorbing some of his teachings on meditation.

 

Leo Babauta. His work on habit change has actually been extremely helpful to me in establishing a consistent practice. If you have trouble creating or maintaining a regular practice schedule, I recommend checking out his blog, Zen Habits. However, the one thing I really disagree with him about is his stance on diet (he advocates veganism).