A few personalities

[Kojiro]

I want to quote a text from MD John Tilden that I found interesting and related to many things discussed in this forum. He talks about success in life, whatever it means for anyone:

 

""WHY do some people win and others lose in every game in life? With very few exceptions the winners are those who study, understand and then play the game. Losers are those who trust to luck, or depend on watching the winners and taking advice from them. Those so inclined should know and remember that every individual success is a law unto itself. An imitated success always lacks the personality of the successful. There is as much difference between the successful and their imitators as there is between the animate and the inanimate puppet. Therefore those who would win in making a personal application of the knowledge to be attained in a study of this book, must study it and then apply it."

 

It is good to remember this lesson, because I see that in this forum some people blindly believe and follow this or that guru, whom they invest with some super knowledge, forgetting that a guru or a teacher is only a guide, a little help, and that true success and true knowledge can only come from within, after studying, understanding and practicing for oneself, developing a unique style according to each one.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Kojiro

[Gerard]

It’s much more than that.

 

Luck, destiny, karma…? Whatever you want to call it. Look at this post of mine written back in 2004 in another forum:

 

Hi guys I am trying to get involved in this martial art as Taiji is not part of my karma. I never liked it. It wasn't meant for me. Personally I find bagua more in touch with yin & yang interaction and harmony.

I'd like to know which of the bagua styles are better for a beginner like me.

Second question: are there any good videos where I can get started? (I know videos are no good, but gee better a video than nothing).

Thanks, Gerard.

 

Source:

 

https://www.martialartsplanet.com/threads/pre-natal-or-post-natal-bagua.11597/

 

Note: I didn’t start training Ba Gua Quan until August 2008, So I had to ‘wait’ for another 4 years.

 

Until then it was all about reading countless written material which lead me to little results but having a lot of academic knowledge. Is this good? Hell no! A profound inner transformation, self-realisation is what matters in the end.

 

So two things:

 

1. Find the method not any method that works for you.

2. Find a good teacher who focuses on practice and doesn’t sell encyclopaedias and a whole bunch of videos showing how good he is. 

 

Thanks for opening this thread, Kojiro,

 

Best of luck to everyone in this regard.

[Kojiro]

wow, yes, inner transformation is very very difficult IMHO, you have to work hard on yourself, and then maybe, and only maybe, this will happen. Methods to do it are many, but you probably need to find one that suits you, or even create one yourself! Self improvement has been one of my biggest passions for years, and difficult as it is, it is also a beatiful attitude, a great path. Some years ago it was through qi gong, now it is with intermittent fasting, who knows what will be in the future, I am still learning and progressing.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Kojiro

[zerostao]

to burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life

Edited August 3, 2022 by zerostao

[zerostao]

3 hours ago, Kojiro said:

I am still learning and progressing.

 

we all are

[Kojiro]

1 hour ago, zerostao said:

 

we all are

I am not sure, many people deceive themselves about their practice and progressions. In my case, my years of qi gong training didn't really make me grow a lot. Intermittent fasting, the starvation cure, has benefited me much much more, but again, there are many paths for self-development, each of us must choose which is our's.

 

Self-deception is one of the main hindrances in the journey to self-development. I myself fell into this trap at some point while doing qi gong in the past, imagining I was going to be able soon to use and control the energy of the universe or at least to improve myself and my health. None of this happened, maybe because I wasn't good enough or maybe because qi gong is not for that, I don't know. But after seeing many people I can say that self-honesty, avoiding any kind of self-deception, is difficult but necessary to progress.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Kojiro

[zerostao]

57 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

Self-deception is one of the main hindrances in the journey to self-development.

 

At best, deception of any find is a waste of time. As far as self deception, who would one be trying to fool?

Delusion, is a different thing.

57 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

maybe because I wasn't good enough

 

 

in case no one has told you today,

You Are Good Enough

 

57 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

 

or maybe because qi gong is not for that, 

 

there are countless qi gongs, I suggest starting with simple medical/health qi gong

 

57 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

 I can say that self-honesty, 

it’s the only way forward

[Kojiro]

3 hours ago, zerostao said:

 

At best, deception of any find is a waste of time. As far as self deception, who would one be trying to fool?

Delusion, is a different thing.

 

in case no one has told you today,

You Are Good Enough

 

there are countless qi gongs, I suggest starting with simple medical/health qi gong

 

it’s the only way forward

thanks for your kind words. I come from a different environment probably, so these nice words are not often heard, a different style I guess. We prefer the hard ones

 

As for a simple medical/health qi gong, which one do you recommend? In fact, I am looking for some kind of simple qi gong to mix with my intermittent fasting routine.

 

And for the self-delusion thing, I think one golden rule for us internal cultivators is do NOT lie to yourself, be honest with yourself ALWAYS.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Kojiro

[silent thunder]

Assumption is the ground work of self deception and illusory living.

 

Utilize Doubt for benefit.

[Gerard]

On 3/8/2022 at 8:01 PM, Kojiro said:

wow, yes, inner transformation is very very difficult IMHO, you have to work hard on yourself, and then maybe, and only maybe, this will happen.

 

And why do you think this happens in the fist place? Why are you/we going thorough all this effort whereas the next door neighbour is completely clueless about the NATURE OF REALITY and what WE ALL REALLY ARE. In that regard there are no maybes or coincidences. 

 

Quote

Methods to do it are many, but you probably need to find one that suits you, or even create one yourself!

 

Some are definitively better than others. Some are blatantly fakes developed in order to finance the lifestyle of their creators + for egotistic purposes. 

 

Better trust methods created a long time ago, tested and religiously followed by generations of practitioners. Those which emphasise grounding above any other considerations are the genuine ones. Methods that quickly talk about or emphasise the need of ENLIGHTENMENT, stay away from them like the plague. 

 

Its very easy on this path to fall under the spell of mental creations/ various states of refined consciousness and the so-called ‘siddhis,’ which most are fairy tales. The Mind craves for its creation and anything else it can hold onto. This last aspect IMO is the toughest challenge of all; that is letting go of everything while still staying grounded and living material life as a necessary process. Mortifying and denying the body as some traditions include as a key aspect is WRONG. Guilt, sin and shame for who you are are no-nos. One needs to see beyond that. The body is an expression of the soul. WE ALL CHOSE TO BE HERE! 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Gerard

[mcoolio]

Past years, spent many hours a day practicing some qigongs and meditations stuff. A few days ago decided to do some simple wuji posture standing. After 40m it was quite uncomfortable. Had to give in at 1h20m. I had expected it to be much easier. So that was quite a reality check.

 

I like to think I practiced with sincerity during that period. And I believe the practices I did were as good as most things one can find on this subject. But can see a few of my mistakes a little bit better now. At one point, I hope to not make those mistakes anymore.

 

So can take a while to see through the delusion (or the deception), and then comes the next one ...

Edited August 5, 2022 by mcoolio

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

On 03/08/2022 at 7:24 PM, Kojiro said:

 

As for a simple medical/health qi gong, which one do you recommend? In fact, I am looking for some kind of simple qi gong to mix with my intermittent fasting routine.

I would recommend Flying Phoenix Chi Kung, it’s simple and easy to learn from the videos 

[Kojiro]

4 hours ago, Gerard said:

 

And why do you think this happens in the fist place? Why are you/we going thorough all this effort whereas the next door neighbour is completely clueless about the NATURE OF REALITY and what WE ALL REALLY ARE. In that regard there are no maybes or coincidences.

We are probably more conscious, we think about things that our neighbour don't even care about

[Kojiro]

Some day I will create a thread listing the things I have done in these last years that helped me to grow somehow, versus things I did that didn't help. For example, to quietly understand (without over-reacting emotionally) what has happened in these last 2 years and a half is something that has helped me to develop tremendously. Also to properly understand the human body and its hygiene through authors like John Tilden or Herbert Shelton. The several qi gongs I did I am not sure if they helped me or not, maybe not a lot in my case.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Kojiro

[Gerard]

Kojiro,

 

These two are the major forces that regulate the entire of you:

 

1. Yin

2. Yang

 

Mess up with them and you’ll live a short and painful life. End of story.

 

After them you have a range of forces each generated by the solid Yin organs, you won’t to mess up with them either. They generate the entire meridian network which must be opened and flowing nicely. This is a huge undertaking!

 

-Diet

-Lifestyle 

-Emotions

-Grounding (modern world’s disease)

-Sexual activity 

 

Also need to be regulated. 

 

See how you go with this GAME. 

 

Finally, the Mind (the ultimate YOU), which is like a new dawn. The final awakening process. From there are NO LIMITS. 
 

 

 

[Kojiro]

The majority of people just follow rules blindlessly. They follow a guru, a doctrine, a practice, a theory, customs or whatever. Only a very small minority create the rules deep inside them.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Kojiro

[freeform]

1 hour ago, Kojiro said:

The majority of people just follow rules blindlessly. They follow a guru, a doctrine, a practice, a theory, customs or whatever. Only a very small minority create the rules deep inside them.

Or they create them far too early in their development - thinking they’ve mastered something when they’re yet to get off the ground.

 

As always with these things there are issues with either extreme! 

[Kojiro]

True, but I was talking about life in general