New 100-Day Challenge!

[dogson]

UPDATE: I have prematurely awarded the prize to the1gza. I am leaving the country to do intensive training in Taiwan, and as I may be M.I.A for a while, it's important that I keep my word. Thank you to the few people who participated in this challenge. Overall, I was disappointed that this practice-oriented thread generated so little interest, but this is the internet, after all, and in a way the lack of love helped to kick me off the internet entirely and into real practice, which is pretty much the ideal outcome.

 

----------

 

Okay! Ladies and Gentlemen! I hereby declare a new 100-day challenge/contest of practice. I really enjoyed the last one started by BKA, but alas, I was very late to the party, and I did not win. So this time, I'll be offering two grand prizes for two special winners.

 

THE CONTEST:

 

SATURDAY, MARCH 7th -> SUNDAY, JUNE 14

POST YO' PRACTICE (IDEALLY 100 DAYS STRAIGHT)

 

THE RULES

 

This contest is limited to the following practices:

-chigong / nei gong

-energy work of any kind (like shen gong, reiki, whatever your energy practice is)

-yoga

-trampolines count

 

Post as much as you want: what you did and for how long.

Keep a record of how much you're doing. This is on the honor system.

 

GREAT PRIZES FROM DOGSON

 

At the conclusion of the practice period, I will be offering the following prizes:

 

GRAND PRIZE - MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF TRAINING

 

Whoever has the longest streak of training, measured in days, will win the Bruce Frantzis Tai Chi Mastery DVDs. This is quite a lot of material. About 12 DVDs I think, including fighting applications. It is specifically the Wu Style short form.

 

FIRST PRIZE - MOST INSPIRING POSTS

 

I am going to offer another prize for whoever posts the most "inspiring" stuff about their practice during the 100 days. This is totally vague and subject to my whimsy. This is because I'm a libra and also left handed.

 

Seriously though: I feel that inspiration is really valuable, and I think that a great reason to train is in order to enjoy a long beautiful, healthy, creative life.

 

THE PRIZE FOR MOST INSPIRING POSTS WILL BE THE BRUCE FRANTZIS XING YI DVDs - I believe an 8-DVD set, including a separate I-Chuan standing program.

 

PLEASE NOTE: "INSPIRING" DOES NOT INVITE SPAM AND CLICKBAIT. You are not going to win by constant posting clips from the matrix or crouching tiger! Post real stuff about your real practice/life experiences.

 

Yoga note: I'm including yoga because yoga is dope.

 

EDIT: NEW TRAMPOLINE CLAUSE

 

Trampolines are now considered as chi training after my awesome experience with my new rebounder. Admittedly, after I do a 20 minute bounce, I always do some tai chi... but it really opens stuff up. Feel free to post with your trampoline nei gong experiences, trampoline nei gong is totally welcome in this contest, and furthermore, everyone should get a trampoline.  *drops mic*

 

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Edited April 20, 2015 by dogson

[dogson]

Okay! Day 1. I did two sets of chi gong and yoga, one at dawn, one at dusk. About 30 minutes each.

[Source]

Zhan Zhuang ,and Wuji (I believe its called Wuji) Standing, and Song breathing. Practice has been hard the last week, going through some sort of healing crisis.

edit:

Standing about 20 minutes, Song breathing 5 minutes.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Source

[dogson]

2 sessions again, dawn and dusk. 30 minutes each.

I added a trampoline clause, ladies and gentlemen. This is not a very serious contest. If you would like suggestions for music while training on your trampolines, I give you Big Freedia of New Orleans bounce.

 

 

release your wiggle, y'all.

chi gong obviously does nothing to chill me out

[Leif]

no aspirations but this comes timely, also have just found my 100-day pre-printed template from 2011, with just first day filled in LOL

 

1:15 in total, shaking, Flying Phoenix, Ten essential and opening channels, teacups and Dragon rolls over, Six character standing

Edited March 9, 2015 by Leif

[dogson]

20 minutes of yoga and chi gong this morning, another hour of tai chi this evening. My creativity spikes dramatically when I practice diligently, I wonder if this is true for other people? I have this feeling of momentum, where if I cultivate my chi, especially in the morning, I'm able to parlay that energy into the next tasks that I do, and it's possible to have that spiral into a huge vortex of creativity. This is the whole point of practice for me, to be as vital and alive as possible.

 

Maybe it's not humble to share all this. Whatever. I wish I had this attitude when I was 13, when I first read the tao te ching, it would've helped me create so much more in my life, and maybe transmute a lot of the bullshit of being a teenager.

[Bendowa]

Today's practice:

 

5 minutes of tai chi breathing, lesson 5 of BKF breathing CD 1 (companion to Relaxing into Your Being)

5 minutes of sinking my chi.

10 minutes of guitar. Tuned guitar to itself, practiced Key of A chords A and E7 (I just started lessons last week, complete noob).

10 minutes of djembe. Practiced following pacing of metronome with various hand patterns. I have a few years of West African drumming experience but just starting to pick it back up again after a taking few years break.

5 minutes of standing chi kung. 

5 minutes of tai chi stepping practice.

 

That is all for today :-) My music practice may be somewhat irrelevant, but thought I'd throw it in here since I'm trying hard to cultivate a daily practice.

[the1gza]

Day 1:

 

All of the below exercises are from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises.

 

General Maintenance Exercises - 1:30:00

Deer Exercise: 3x/day - (15:00) 

Turtle Exercises: 3x/day - (15:00)

Crane Exercise: 3x/day - (30:00)

Deer/Crane/Turtle combined form: 3x/day - (15:00)

Solar Plexus Exercise: 6x/day - (30:00)

 

Looks like that's about 3 hours today... didn't even really think it was that much, but it looks like it wound up being that much completely on accident.

[dogson]

2 sets today - yoga, tai chi, xingyi 30 mins each. inspired partly by gza to do more... feels awesome. i feel like my superpowers click on at a higher level when i do more than an hour at a time, i walk around sizzling. woke up with a ton of synchronicities happening after making music all yesterday... feel free to keep posting about creative stuff you do, i think there's definitely a connection... it's all energy / intent anyway!

[the1gza]

Day 2:

 

All of the below exercises are from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises.

 

General Maintenance Exercises - 1:15:00

Deer Exercise: 3x/day - (15:00) 

Turtle Exercises: 3x/day - (15:00)

Crane Exercise: 3x/day - (30:00)

Deer/Crane/Turtle combined form: 3x/day - (15:00)

Solar Plexus Exercise: 4x/day - (20:00)

 

Semen Retention: 2 days

 

I decided to lay off on some of the facial exercises, primarily because I am working on a new, self-made exploration/cultivation that is currently in the conception stages. Since it is also not in the categories of things here, I'm not posting it... well I haven't starting hands-on practice with it anyway so it wouldn't make sense to post anyway!

[dogson]

What's the solar plexus exercise? I'm intrigued by all this stuff you're doing.

 

Also I rarely drop links but if you're retaining I highly suggest the reddit nofap (reddit.com/r/nofap) group, for a different perspective. reading the reports of some of the guys doing 90, 120, 180, 300+ days is really inspiring. it's broscience, for sure, but I think it's important to cross-reference very different demographics of people who are into this stuff to keep your horizons broad. it reminds me that there's no one correct way to train... that every individual is a unique fusion and a unique culture unto themselves, so if something occurs to you, try it.... all this stuff was invented (spontaneously made up) by somebody at some point. people tend to forget that when it gets draped up in ceremony and tradition.

[the1gza]

What's the solar plexus exercise? I'm intrigued by all this stuff you're doing.

 

Also I rarely drop links but if you're retaining I highly suggest the reddit nofap (reddit.com/r/nofap) group, for a different perspective. reading the reports of some of the guys doing 90, 120, 180, 300+ days is really inspiring. it's broscience, for sure, but I think it's important to cross-reference very different demographics of people who are into this stuff to keep your horizons broad. it reminds me that there's no one correct way to train... that every individual is a unique fusion and a unique culture unto themselves, so if something occurs to you, try it.... all this stuff was invented (spontaneously made up) by somebody at some point. people tend to forget that when it gets draped up in ceremony and tradition.

Everything I am doing, aside from my special project (which I have not activated yet) comes from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises. The Solar Plexus exercise is just a simple movement which involves concentrated breathing while pushing in on the solar plexus. You inhale facing forward, hands on the solar plexus. As you exhale, you turn the upper body to one side, all the while pushing in on the solar plexus. You also twist the waist in the opposite direction, which may be hard to picture without a picture hahaha. As you inhale, you return to the facing forward position, and repeat the motion on the other side as you exhale. That's pretty much the best way I can explain it.

 

I feel the same way you do about the "traditions" of things, in the fact that this stuff was all made up at some point by someone. I think it helps people feel more secure if they are doing something with "history" behind it, but at a point I feel it has led to stagnation of these practices that doesn't allow for the depth of exploration that can come from the CORE teachings. Rather, the methodologies that ancients used to explore these core teachings becomes prioritized as the teaching itself, which can lend way to dogma (i.e. purity complexes, doing long, drawn out practices, continuing dependence of "universal" laws). It reminds of something EA Koetting said (a guy i think is personally a money-hungry clown, but sometimes says valid things). He pretty much pointed out that while nearly every other human discipline has evolved and changed over time - math, literature, medicine, etc., - the spiritual sciences have remained stuck in regurgitating the same ways of doing and think for thousands of years... at least those that have become publicly known.

 

In this modern age, I think it is tantamount that people start learning to make shit up. Many things in relation to ancient practices were written, despite what the ancients may claim, in context of that time period. I'm not saying that one should not practice these ancient techniques, but rather that a person may be kicking themselves in the foot if they commit to a practice that was truthfully meant for people whose sole purpose, during the time of their practice, was to cultivate through those practices. If you got a job, a family of your own, and other supposed "distractions", you could very well be asking for a result that is far less than what the potential of these practices can offer. I am only 27, no girlfriend, and am living with my mother. I got time to do nothing else right now,  but that's something unique to me. If/when I do establish these things, I will be doing it with my cultivation as the base, and can at least create a life where these things add to the cultivation, not detract.

 

However, I am also not hinging my cultivation on being relegated to some pre-established practice if I find something through my own inner investigations. I love the work I do now, but I will be honest in saying that based on the success of my special project, I will have no problem dropping the General Maintenance without blinking. I really do like the Deer, Crane, Turtle, and Solar Plexus, and they fit well into what this project is all about. The project is based on the idea of transforming mundane activities like eating, body washing, or even television watching into activities that cultivate as well, if not far better, than the sometimes ritualistic practices of old. I feel this can offer something that is a lot more conducive to doing things like having a career (perhaps on that is pretty normal), a wife, children, or other things of that nature. I'm really looking towards this because it resonates with the idea that what we seek with cultivation is something that is inherently as natural as blinking. To me, setting cultivation up as something that is "special" or systematic does not vibe with that idea in my mind. 

 

Hopefully I was able to give you a decent enough description of Solar Plexus exercise, and overall Chang's work is something that came through for me when an obsession, and ultimately a stagnation, with Yoga failed. Thanks for chiming in a setting up the challenge!

[the1gza]

Day 3:

 

All of the below exercises are from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises.

 

General Maintenance Exercises - 1:15:00

Deer Exercise: 3x/day - (15:00) 

Turtle Exercises: 3x/day - (15:00)

Crane Exercise: 3x/day - (30:00)

Deer/Crane/Turtle combined form: 3x/day - (15:00)

Solar Plexus Exercise: 4x/day - (20:00)

Abdominal Strengthening: 4x/day -(10:00)

 

Semen Retention: 3 days

Edited March 13, 2015 by the1gza

[dogson]

My trampoline game is tight today. No other training.

[the1gza]

Can I ask what the purpose of trampolining is? I know you mentioned it being chi training, and I know some people who really talk about it like it's crack. Me... I really thought it was pretty fadlike, but can I ask how this is chi training over something like, let's say, Charles Atlas' dynamic tension workouts? Not tryna be sharp or anything, I'm just asking how this might be considered chi training, because this opens up a decent deal of calisthenics and isometric programs that I have been exposed to over the years.

[dogson]

I originally got the rebounder because I moved to LA last fall, and typically I feel horrible when I wake up. The city is really polluted compared to where I was living in Colorado. I needed a way to open up my entire body really fast and shake all the stagnant chi loose.

 

So, I got the rebounder and realized that after about 20 minutes, when I stepped off, my chi vibrates like crazy. It makes sense if you think about it - chi is closely bound to blood flow, and rebounding moves everything through your body in a very low-impact way. That's why I consider it chi training.

[the1gza]

Alright, sounds like it makes perfect sense. I was just asking because what you experience exists in a lot of things... it's very funny because what we were just talking about is reflected here. I don't know if you are familiar with Charles Atlas' Dynamic Tension program, but the effects of those exercises were very similar to what you describe here. I stopped doing them honestly because I got hit by a car, and then just fell into laziness (the injury was pretty minor and my younger brother and I healed it up with some Tiger Balm and so made-up energy healing). However, I found that a great deal of things in terms of isometrics and concentrated, conscious calisthenics did much of the same thing has what was going on with certain traditional forms of physical cultivation. 

 

So yea, I can see how that works out because the trampoline is liable to shake loose a lot of subtle and gross anatomy. Reichian Therapy is based on certain principles like that, but as I've already stated, the elements of hitting the subtle anatomy are prevalent in isometrics and dynamic tension as well. I honestly haven't even been able to read a book on isometrics, dynamic tension, or conscious calisthenics (this is the type of calisthenics where people start being able to perform feats of strength that are considered "astounding") that doesn't have at least one chapter devoted to "Chi" or any of it's several different names. Thanks for giving me the rundown on that, you seem to have avoided the fad-ness of it all.

[the1gza]

Day 4:

 

All of the below exercises are from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises.

 

General Maintenance Exercises - 1:15:00

Deer Exercise: 3x/day - (15:00) 

Turtle Exercises: 3x/day - (15:00)

Crane Exercise: 3x/day - (30:00)

Deer/Crane/Turtle combined form: 3x/day - (15:00)

Solar Plexus Exercise: 4x/day - (20:00)

Abdominal Strengthening: 4x/day -(10:00)

 

Semen Retention: 4 days

[dogson]

Impressed at how consistent you're keeping with all these different exercises, even for a few minutes, I just picked up the book for a penny on amazon.

 

Fadness, yeah, that stuff just passes through me. If a fad continues long enough I check it out like I would a famous restaurant nearby...if for no other reason, having tried it allows me to pass a style along to someone else whose life might really be changed by it.

 

Rebounding appeals to me because it's just really fun and playful, whereas lots of other things are just dreadfully serious. And it's easy to multitask - sometimes I just bounce on it and channel a hip hop track completely in my head for an hour... I hear the hook, how I want the kick and the snares to be hitting, the reverb, the samples, the verses... it's much easier for me to just "hear" this stuff when I'm very relaxed. If I'm staring at a screen it's almost impossible. So rebounding is sacred to me insofar as it keeps me very loose and playful, which to me is the quintessence of spirituality.

[the1gza]

Hahaha, "serious". It really does get me how modalities that are supposed to be the quintessence of liberation can become dreadfully dogmatic and harrowing. I personally found it quite odd that systems that were based on relieving and destroying traumatic blocks could, in this day-and-age invoke traumas themselves. I mean when i was heavy on yoga, I had so much trouble being able to find a way to make it work, and I was equally conflicted with feelings of inadequacy because I was not practicing all the time I was researching for ways that could apply for me, and yet take me to the potential heights that the system proposed. I'm like, "I'm not supposed to care about attaining siddhis, and yet siddhis are supposed to be natural parts of human beings. SO should I not care about walking, since that, too, is a natural human skill?" As hard as it was for me to give up yoga, it was even more so easy due to the fact that these internal exercises, within 8 minutes of practice, worked in helping solve issues that I spent hours trying to resolve with Yoga.

 

Not knocking Yoga at all, but the thing it taught me was that these systems had a context that, despite the ancients' claims, were based on situational conditions that might not be applicable to people now. I don't find much of any intrinsic value in the modern, calisthenic approach to Yoga in the West, as I can think of at least 10 calisthenic programs that offer far more holistic benefits than Yoga. I spent several weeks with Surya Namaskar, and I didn't feel any stronger in my body than I began. I do a week of Charles Atlas, and I got flexibility and bodily control that I didn't even know was being created with the exercises. Hell, with these internal exercises, I was able to create attain the most comfortable and "deep" lotus posture I had ever encountered in about 1 week of piss-around practice, and I wasn't even trying.

 

So with your rebounding, I totally get where you are coming from. One thing I can say about Yoga, the thing that is always said rings true here: thousands of pages won't give you an iota of the knowledge that practice does.

Edited March 14, 2015 by the1gza

[dogson]

Patañjali and the old school Raja Yogis all viewed yoga as meditative absorption...period...and the best modern teachers all say that as well. I love the tidal wave yoga craze right now...I think it's amazing that practically overnight 20 million americans are doing yoga. Even as tourists and spiritual materialists, taking on the aesthetic of wearing mala and sitting in lotus posture, no matter how vapid that is, compare it to what we see turning on the TV - people mass-murdering each other and blowing stuff up. Hell on earth basically.

 

So the yoga industry has gone to $1 Billion in the US alone, that's epic... America's culture is commercialization and mass commodification, that's our culture and our religion. Again, on a macro scale, it's awesome. Look at it from an archetypal perspective - it's about taking something, and expanding it to its apotheosis and making it amass so much energy that it changes the whole planet. It's about taking our ego and making it godlike through money. And if you really look at the richest people, as soon as they amass wealth they realize the emptiness of material stuff and become spiritual. Every single millionaire and multi-millionaire knows intrinsically that wealth and creativity is about energy and that in order to be successful you clean up your own energy and your thoughts, because being energetically impeccable is required to maintain that level of success.

 

Wanting siddhis and superpowers is natural for sure. From the first gesture of tai chi I did, from the first page of the tao te ching I read at 13, I could feel chi and the reality that we're profound beings. Just like being a little kid and seeing all the powers adults have, it's natural to want to grow up fast. But just like entering the adult world, now we look back and think about how dope it was before we had to deal with bills, and insurance drama, and workplace politics and all the pointless nuances of keeping like, cleaning supplies stocked around the house and all this stuff... being a kid you could just explore wildly. The same is true of being a siddha in my experience... being psychic, being able to clear energy fields at will, being "grown up" in that way, there comes a tremendous responsibility that... almost no one in our society can do this, so it's up to me. I could be the only one in los angeles willing to clean the energy, for all I know. If I go to a movie theater or a concert, it's on me to clean the energy, to bring relentless positivity when I drive everywhere, to do everything in my power to create a better world. That's a high price for being a jedi It really works like that. Just like all the old texts say, if you start screwing around and trying to do selfish things with the siddhis, you lose them, because the very consciousness of being NOT a limited individual - dwelling in superconsciousness, or the field, or Krishna Consciousness, or the zero point energy, whatever you wanna call it... being nondual is what makes them work. Being selfish takes you out of that oneness, which is why these powers aren't seen anymore. It's the cult of the I ... which is the only thing people are actually suffering from. Any training I do is the same, bouncing on a rebounder or looking someone in the eye, it's just... "I love you." To the oneness.

Edited March 14, 2015 by dogson

[the1gza]

There's a lot of perspectives to it, and while some things can go one way, I can say that these things are not written in stone by any stretch of the means. I mean, when it comes to rich people, the ones I know rarely give two fucks about being spiritual hahaha, although to be honest I would consider them more "spiritual" than most just because they tend to be a lot more honest than normal people. I've started to hate the word spiritual, because there's so many ridiculous archetypes around it that it honestly gets in the way of what the experience of your primordial self can be. So while I don't see them being "spiritual", they might just be more advanced because there's a degree of self-awareness that doesn't happen with normal human interaction.

 

The reason I am not a fan of pop-"spirituality" is because it is something that is little better than masturbating in front of porn. Like, in comparing it to mass murder, on the surface the yoga craze seems like a better alternative. However, the very fact that people are spending their time doing insubstantial things like that, sitting around emulating their idea of a Yogi without even knowing what they are doing... this energy that they put into that allows for this mass-murder to go down. This is especially the case in the US, where the people doing this pop-yoga are residents and monetary supporters of the country doing a high percentage of the global mass murder. These same types are also likely to be "protestors", hating on companies like Monsanto. But instead of learning things that would make Monsanto powerless like growing one's own food, they're doing "Yoga"... for real??

 

Now I won't hate on the folks facilitating the yoga craze, these guys are genius!! But to me it reflects what has been the case for humans throughout history: individuals lacking the ability to explore and push things based on their own investigation. Anyone with half an ounce of personal trust in themselves would easily find that modernized yoga calisthenics is quite a bit empty in comparison to traditional practice. Yet, cats are following the craze, without giving a damn, because some cute female in tight pants is doing something that looks like ballet. Throw in some "spiritual" music, maybe a beach or a waterfall in the background, and for some added measure, throw in some accolades that sound important... boom. It's not that hard to do, and it's been going down for as long a humans have been alive.

 

So for me, the fact that people are doing such insubstantial things is directly related to the mass murder. Governments are doing it by themselves, they get their money, manpower, and consent from the people they govern. Hell, if folks really wanted to protest, just don't go to work for a week. Just do that, and the entire system would shut down. But that's just too easy, and the idea that we could solve all our problems that simply... it's too hard for folks to jar outta that. So they do "yoga", and they can say to themselves "I did something important", not even knowing what it is they even did. Someone else told them the yoga was important... I know so many pop-yogis who can do all these poses, and yet with all that practice, I can reach that level in a week. I mean... I can't get what that hahaha. That's goofy to me, and I would rather recommend gettin' drunk at the club than putting in all that work for nothing.

 

As for siddhis... again, it's really about perspective. In my mind, the idea of selflessness is a pipe-dream and equally reflects the separation paradigm that people live in. I point out that Yoga is a Hindu-based philosophy, though people can use the techniques for other things. Nevertheless, philosophies that we see from Indian Yoga are based on Hindu ideals, and as such, their is religious influence that is specific to those ideals. As such, there was this entire idea of not being "selfish", doing good will to others and never thinking of the self. But who dictates the good will, and why do these things for others? The reasons for these acts are completely selfish, and the ideology comes from things dictated by the self or prioritized by the ideals of the self. Erasing bad karma... slefish. Unifying with "The One"... selfish. Eradicating ego... selfish and UBER-egotistical. I mean I can't think of a more egotistical ideal than eradicating ego... "I will ascend so far beyond worldly constraints, that I will annihilate y own self-identity." How high on yourself do you gotta be to think something like that hahaha?!?!?!

 

I'm not knocking that, I think it's awesome. But as for it being "holy" "Noble" or more "enlightened" than hittin' a bong... can't say that it is. And it shouldn't have to be, we are talking about an essential nature that is limitless. Even the idea of responsibility... who are you being responsible for? Who says you have to clean up the energy around you, and who says that your idea of clean is actually what "clean" is? A lot of my friends used to always tell me that I should be a motivational speaker, a preacher, a teacher. They said this because they said I was smart and that I could express myself well vocally. So I felt that with that skill, I should be "helping" people out, because I had a way of speaking to people that no one else could.

 

However, I noticed that this "power", when I focused on others, somehow always created worse situations when I actually used it to try and "help" my friends. My critical nature, no matter how sweet it was delivered, got people pissed, angry, and hostile, all because I was trying to help them change. And they would ask me to do it... "Enoch, you like my best friend dawg. I can't even tell my fam'ly dis shit, na'mean? You like my mentor bro." Some people flat-out told me to help them in that way, and yet...

 

When turned on myself, however, I realized so much that I changed a multitude of things. If I tried "helping others" with it, there was always a great deal of contention that often led to both the person and myself being worse off than before. But when I could turn my powers of expression, thought, criticism, and investigation on myself... my ability to help others became natural. I didn't even know i helped folks, but I did. Now this power is something that normal humans can attain, and yet most don't. However, more importantly, it's no lesser a power that flying, becoming invisible, or anything of that nature. So how is it that using these powers for yourself is "bad"? These are ideals based on observations that were realized by humans who, despite being capable, still had a ridiculous amount of faults. Should people use their abilities wisely? Yes, that is without question. But there is literally no difference between using the power of walking dumb and using the power of mind control dumb. It might be a bit easier to cause perceived mass problems with a siddhi, but walking can cause a mass problem itself. If you walk out onto a busy street in the middle of rush hour, you could cause a traffic accident of monumental proportions.

 

I know folks with certain siddhis, and I would describe them as selfish. However, they are peaceful people, they don't show off, they naturally are a gift to folks around them, and they often don't have the hang-ups that many of us have. This includes possessing a savior complex with their abilities, because, as I was told by one of these "advanced" people (she's 89), "If you accept your own divinity, and the choices it offers you, then you have to respect others as well. They have just as much a choice as you do and did when you started your path. It would be very disrespectful to throw your path into theirs if they do not willingly invite you, even if you think they need your ideas." Even ideas of oneness... this is an idea. We aren't one, because one is a concept. What we are a "part" of transcends any concept whatsoever, even though we are unified, we are all completely sovereign. This concept cannot be reconciled by a dualistic mind, so we describe unity as being "one" and anything that is done in a sovereign manner is "separate". Yet, if this was so important, how come none of ever see all these siddhi masters coming out to "save" the world? Perhaps there's more to it than we can read or conceptualize.

 

That last statement above also applies to me, so don't mind my ranting, I'm just talkin' my stuff. I just don't buy a lot of the archetypal ideals we come up with, because they are all part of the very "Matrix" code we are using these techniques to free ourselves from, I don't want to be a Jedi, they were extremely ineffective and we equally as war-mongering as the Sith. I want self-realization and liberation to be myself completely, and I see myself being intrinsically tied to the limitlessness. That's what I feel the point is, realizing the Complete Self, not destroying the Self. Humans just so harshly define themselves by their current consciousness, that any expansion beyond that ideal is considered "annihilation of the self". But the destruction of "self", or I should say dependence on it, gives way to living as the "Self", which is everything and nothing. It doesn't surprise me that even with my views on Yogic philosophy, that Yogis can still recognize their "Selves" with those techniques and ideas. Many others do without any of those techniques utilizing other philosophies that can sound just ad flowery and holy, or philosophies that can sound evil. At the root though... it's just some shit. No idea being more intrinsically real than another, no matter how "sound" it sounds. As the folks would say, "Just do you." 

[the1gza]

Day 5:

 

All of the below exercises are from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises.

 

General Maintenance Exercises - 1:15:00

Deer Exercise: 3x/day - (15:00) 

Turtle Exercises: 3x/day - (15:00)

Crane Exercise: 3x/day - (30:00)

Deer/Crane/Turtle combined form: 3x/day - (15:00)

Solar Plexus Exercise: 4x/day - (20:00)

Abdominal Strengthening: 4x/day -(10:00)

 

Semen Retention: 5 days

 

Tomorrow I will be dropping the General Maintenance exercises due to some revelations on the matter of those exercises, as well as using that time to insert activities geared toward mys special project. 

[the1gza]

Day 6:

 

All of the below exercises are from Stephen Chang's Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises.

 

General Maintenance Exercises - 45:00

Deer Exercise: 3x/day - (25:00) 

Turtle Exercises: 3x/day - (15:00)

Crane Exercise: 3x/day - (30:00)

Deer/Crane/Turtle combined form: 3x/day - (25:00)

Solar Plexus Exercise: 4x/day - (20:00)

Abdominal Strengthening: 4x/day -(10:00)

 

Semen Retention: 6 days

 

I have upped the amount of the Deer I do, which also means that it spilled over into the combined form as well.

[dogson]

Dope. Remember to do back raises/extensions if your ab strengthening stuff is like crunches/situps etc. If you make the front of your abs strong but not your back you get into postural issues down the road, I only mention this because you seem very consistent with your training

 

I didn't do shit today, but resting can be training, too.