Magus Of Java John Chang MoPai (from CourtYard)

[Papayapple]

Remember life has a limit, the body has a limit. We are millions of years of evolution and our DNA dictates that we are healthy with only a certain amount of energy. It is almost impossible to pass a certain level of energy that the body can hold, even if we were to cultivate energy from when we were very young till we died. Keeping ourselves healthy should be our aim, anything else dwells in the realm of 'out of balance'. Beware of those who perform tricks and those who follow them who perform them. They are not seekers of the Dao, but the seekers of adulation and disillusionment. Find yourself a good teacher in qi gong or Tai ji and enjoy your life.

 

Note from staff: for strictly organisational purposes, this post has been moved here from the welcome forum

I hear that a lot here on this forum. Does this mean gaining extraordinary abilities is inherently harmful? Even if it is just tricks, what's wrong with that? Not to mention being able to light a candle without a lighter could be damn useful at times!

And what's wrong with disillusionment?

[Zhongyongdaoist]

I hear that a lot here on this forum. Does this mean gaining extraordinary abilities is inherently harmful? Even if it is just tricks, what's wrong with that? Not to mention being able to light a candle without a lighter could be damn useful at times!

And what's wrong with disillusionment?

Think about it in terms of becoming independently wealthy.  If you spend your money on this, that or the other thing, you will never be able to achieve enough wealth to be independent.  One of the Rothchilds described real wealth as having enough money that one could live on the interest from ones interest, in other words that one had so much of monetary principle that it was never tapped at all, but continued to accrue interest and feed the principle, but that the interest generated by ones interest was what one would have available to spend freely and live a life befitting a Rothchild.  When your jing, qi and shen are so developed the that your core energy is not tapped by playing magical tricks for people, you can do them without harming yourself.

 

There are other ways to approach the matter, but this summarizes the situation from the perspective of "body" based cultivation, but basically the key in any case is, to put a cliche in the right order, one should strive to be Wise, Healthy and Wealthy, because a wise man, will preserve his health while he accrues his wealth, whether spiritual or temporal.

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: Added quote and final phrase "whether spiritual or temporal"

Edited July 12, 2016 by Zhongyongdaoist

[Golden Dragon Shining]

You just gave the "History of Modern Kung Fu" that my Sifu gave me, and I now give my students.

 

Since I teach Tai Chi Quan, I also add how Tai Chi Quan got distorted coming over here. Basically, how the flower 

children over here got a watered down version of TCQ in the late 60s, and the initial slow movements, and health

benefits got emphasized, above any remaining martial aspects, which got further diluted in the 70s.

 

So now people think that TCQ isn't a martial art, and is done slowly, which couldn't be further from the truth. I'm doing my part to change that.

 

Nice job JinlianPai! 

 

Cheers!

Also the cause of the Ip man movies, to further promote Wushu?

Edited July 13, 2016 by Sionnach

[Lao Sun Tao]

Well, I don't know about the history of kung fu and all, but I've read about 70% of The Magus of Java and I don't think I will keep on reading. The book feels too swallow and insubstantial to me, like a mellowed-down version of a Castaneda book, which I find disheartening because I had high hopes for this one after all the fuzz and the youtube videos and all.

But, unfortunately, the book is less than 10% concrete information (or at least, a good direction for further study). The narrator seems off a lot of times (he believes his sifu talks to God and to spirits, but he doesn't believe he can move a pack of cigarettes from distance? Come on!)

And every chapter is just another story of an old acquaintance of incredible power, doing extraordinary feats that no one has ever heard of or spoken about before (not even in old legends). I mean if 2 dudes level 50+ of Chi power had been fighting for three days and three nights, destroying flora and fauna and everything else around them, then, well, I expect at least a tiny, little, tinny piece of story about them, even after so many years, even if they were at a remote place. I don't think this was something that couldn't have traveled throughout China and survived as a folk tale.

But maybe it has and I'm wrong, who knows. Anyway, I'm not discrediting mo-pai or nei gung in general, but in my humble opinion the book isn't a great source if you're into those things. And I'm not buying into all that white-place-good-spirits-black-place-bad-spirits thing, either. Nor am I buying into the concept of hell/heaven the aforementioned structure represents. This and some other grimace-reading moments make me question the validity and credibility of the things narrated as a source of learning.

For me, the book was an attempt to promote the knowledge of chi by using the established and marketable recipe of Castaneda narration (the cute relationship of superhuman teacher and naive student). Fair enough on that front, but as I said earlier, there is nothing more into the story, and yes the author can prove he has met John Chang through photographs and whatnot but this doesn't actually mean anything, does it?

Edited July 26, 2016 by Lao Sun Tao

[Aeran]

I wouldn't draw a particularly strong comparison with Castenada, personally. Stylistically they're fairly different, and more to the point there's considerable evidence that Castenada's books were the product of imagination, whereas, unless you're one of those people who refused to believe in any kind of spiritual subject, it seems pretty obvious that there's at least a strong current of truth running through the story of John Chang (that is to say that there was a man living on Indonesia, who studied martial arts and nei gong throughout his life, developed at least some degree of energetic power as a result, used this power to work as a healer, and took on several students, including a handful of Westerners).

 

That said, one thing a lot of people don't realize is that Magus of Java is clearly and knowingly structured after an earlier book, The Magus of Strovolos by anthropologist Kyriacos Markides, which was published a decade before TMOJ and recounts his experiences socializing with and later training under a mystic and healer from Cyprus named Stylianos Atteshlis (aka. Daskalos). Even the title of Danaos' book is a clear reference to Markides', and it's fairly closely structured after it as well, which I would guess was also intentional on Danaos' behalf.

 

The similarities between the chains of events which both Markides and Danaos went through are actually quite uncanny - both men (both Greek men, at that) learned of a spiritual healer who lived on an island, was well known within the local community for his abilities to perform preterhuman feats and heal afflictions Western medicine could not influence and was surrounded by a circle of students, both men sought this man out, socialized with him and managed to join his circle of students, spent a period of time training under him, wrote a series of books stemming from the experience, then underwent some form of dispute with the teacher, who cut ties with them.

 

It's enough that, if there weren't so much independent evidence of the existence and capabilities of Chang, you'd be forced to accuse Danaos' of plagiarism. As it is, you have to wonder how much his account of his experiences with Chang was influenced, consciously or otherwise, by his reading of a book which he obviously admired.

[Lao Sun Tao]

I was in fact looking to buy The Magus of Strovolos but now that you've mentioned the similar structure, I don't know. First, about Castaneda, I don't actually care if his books stemmed from fiction or from experience as long as they had something to offer, and they had in their totality offered quite a lot. Just the warrior's way of living method, which is more down to earth than its name suggests, was worth every second and every penny for those books. In my humble opinion it is something every father should teach his child when his child hits puberty.

But, anyway, other from promoting chi to the west I don't really see the point of The Magus of Java. Just consider, the person who's going to buy a book like this doesn't need to be convinced that there is more to human nature than we dare to admit. Me, being such a person, I buy this type of book to either be inspired, get a feel on what's possible, or, in the best case scenario, find something which I can weave into my way of life, either that being cultural, spiritual, or just a simple way of looking at things. The book offers nothing of the above to me. China's Super Psychics--to mention another book--offered a lot more, even though I read it with more than a grain of salt.

To conclude, it's not that I agree or disagree with your post. It's just that you got hung up from my loose comparison. Forget about that. Question: do you think the contents of the book justify all the fuzz going on about mo-pai?
 

Edited July 27, 2016 by Lao Sun Tao

[JohnC]

The MCO is frowned upon, as mopai seeks to 'encapsulate' the LDT

 

This is a misnomer because the etheric body has safety overflow and pressure relief mechanisms

 

 

It is interesting to me that you say this.... this may be part of why Mopai is powerful, and why the vast majority of previous students leave with injuries.

 

That they attempt to forgo safety to increase pressure and power? So any student that doesn't have a naturally strong foundation will have energetic or physical injuries while practicing.

 

John

[Aeran]

I was in fact looking to buy The Magus of Strovolos but now that you've mentioned the similar structure, I don't know. First, about Castaneda, I don't actually care if his books stemmed from fiction or from experience as long as they had something to offer, and they had in their totality offered quite a lot. Just the warrior's way of living method, which is more down to earth than its name suggests, was worth every second and every penny for those books. In my humble opinion it is something every father should teach his child when his child hits puberty.

 

 

The structure is similar, but the content is different. I wouldn't be put off of Strovolos just because you didn't like Java.

 

 

 

But, anyway, other from promoting chi to the west I don't really see the point of The Magus of Java. Just consider, the person who's going to buy a book like this doesn't need to be convinced that there is more to human nature than we dare to admit. Me, being such a person, I buy this type of book to either be inspired, get a feel on what's possible, or, in the best case scenario, find something which I can weave into my way of life, either that being cultural, spiritual, or just a simple way of looking at things. The book offers nothing of the above to me. China's Super Psychics--to mention another book--offered a lot more, even though I read it with more than a grain of salt.

 

As I remember it, that was the purpose of TMOJ. The problem was, it was supposed to be part of a wider project to bring the concept of Qi into the fold of Western science, including a website (which I think existed for a time), further video documentation and proper scientific testing and publication. However the project was nixed when Chang pulled out early in the process after allegedly being instructed to do so by his master's spirit in a dream, at which point he cut off the Western students and withdrew from further public exposure.

Question: do you think the contents of the book justify all the fuzz going on about mo-pai?

 

Personally? Not really. I found them an interesting read and they inspired me to get my own practice off the ground when I was first studying meditation and qigong, and I know they've done the same for others, but I think the people who take a dogmatic approach to the content of the books are allowing their insecurities to overpower their inquisitive nature and in doing so entirely missing the whole point of what Danaos' was trying to convey.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by Aeran