Is Damo's Neigong Program for Me?

[Bogge]

Hey,

So I am currently doing Zhan Zhuang and SPQ meditation.

I am after spiritual practice, the martial arts stuff doesnt really interest me.

I had to do a google search for the definition of Neigong. And mostly martial arts came up.

So my question is - is Damo's Neigong program spiritual?

Thanks alot.

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

I would not recommend Damian’s Internal Arts Academy because it is just a bunch of time locked prerecorded videos that you watch every week.

 

I would recommend Authentic Neigong by Rudi, you can check out reviews about it on this site, just search for the threads. Basically he will teach you how to develop the Lower Dantian until it becomes activated, and when you have enough qi stored up you can use it to go deeper into meditation and spirituality or for healing. There’s no martial element at all.
 

Unfortunately you just missed the latest seminar last weekend but the next one is in February. 
 

Check out the website here: https://authenticneigong.com/

[Creation]

3 hours ago, Bogge said:

Hey,

So I am currently doing Zhan Zhuang and SPQ meditation.

I am after spiritual practice, the martial arts stuff doesnt really interest me.

I had to do a google search for the definition of Neigong. And mostly martial arts came up.

So my question is - is Damo's Neigong program spiritual?

Thanks alot.

Hi Bogge, "spiritual" can mean different things to different people, but I can say that I also am primarily oriented to spirituality, and that the first year of Damo's program is very physical and mechanical, so coming from a primarily Buddhist background I didn't think it was very "spiritual".  For me, there was some amount of faith that the work would eventually help with and lead to something more spiritual, just like I had faithfully practiced hatha yoga for years in faith that it was a good physical foundation for more subtle work despite it being so body focused.  The second year starts getting into more subtle work, with qi, mind, and jing refinement.  Also, be advised that Damo is very irreverent and has no inclination whatsoever to devotional practices, so depending the type of spiritual practice you are inclined to, he might rub you the wrong way.

 

I have recommended to several people two give the first two months a try to get a sense for the system and format, if it's not for you, unsubscribe. 

[EFreethought]

4 hours ago, Pak_Satrio said:

I would not recommend Damian’s Internal Arts Academy because it is just a bunch of time locked prerecorded videos that you watch every week.

 

So is there no interaction with Damo or any instructors at all? No Zoom call, no Skype, nothing?

[MetaDao]

42 minutes ago, EFreethought said:

 

So is there no interaction with Damo or any instructors at all? No Zoom call, no Skype, nothing?

Occasionally there are some online zoom sessions where he gets to interact with students more closely.

 

The retreats are where the action happens. I got kicked out and placed onto a better, more streamlined path before I could attend one.

 

All in all, if you listen to his explanations, he is one of the best teachers of Neigong around. There is not much opportunity for one on one interaction unless you stick with the program for years, but it does work as intended.

 

I would say he is a great teacher with a few flaws, but I think if you actually get to know him and talk to him in person, he is great at what he does.

 

Also, in Daoism, martial arts are a part of the spirituality, so Neidan masters should have mastery of martial arts and Chinese medicine in addition to alchemy. Something that Damo’s various courses provide in great detail. 
 

I would recommend him for the majority of people. If you are dead set on the elixir, and the end goals of Neidan, I also believe there are smarter ways to go.
 

It is in good faith that I may say with no certainty whatsoever that Damo treated me in the way he did to somehow aggravate my psychology and push me onto a different path. Either that or it was fate. I do not know for sure and never will until I talk to him in person. That bloody asshole

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by MetaDao

[Miffymog]

5 hours ago, Creation said:

Hi Bogge, "spiritual" can mean different things to different people, but I can say that I also am primarily oriented to spirituality, and that the first year of Damo's program is very physical and mechanical, so coming from a primarily Buddhist background I didn't think it was very "spiritual".  For me, there was some amount of faith that the work would eventually help with and lead to something more spiritual, just like I had faithfully practiced hatha yoga for years in faith that it was a good physical foundation for more subtle work despite it being so body focused.  The second year starts getting into more subtle work, with qi, mind, and jing refinement.  Also, be advised that Damo is very irreverent and has no inclination whatsoever to devotional practices, so depending the type of spiritual practice you are inclined to, he might rub you the wrong way.

 

I have recommended to several people two give the first two months a try to get a sense for the system and format, if it's not for you, unsubscribe. 

 

I signed up for a month and decided it wasn't for me. But I have to admit it, I feel it is worth paying the £50 just to see what it offers.

 

[Taoist Texts]

Quote

But I have to admit it, I feel it is worth paying the £50 just to see what it offers.

There are small but crucial differences between hoax, humbug, and out-and-out fraud, and Barnum tread dangerously close to transgressing at times. Still, Barnum was in the business of entertainment, and he always managed to deliver entertainment value to his customers. Even those who were tricked had to admit they had a good time in the process, and that it was worth the money they had paid. 

 

...crowd began to form, watching the man and wondering what he was doing. Many of the crowds followed him into the museum just to see what was going on

http://www.ptbarnum.org/humbugs.html

 

 

 

 

[-_sometimes]

Absolute newbie here. I followed his neigong program for a short while, although I didn't persist for various reasons, but I found his videos excellent, with a strong focus in the beginning on grounding and opening up the body. Very in-depth explanation of the wuji position, with clear reasons given for the exercises he teaches. From what I gathered the first part of the course is focused on developing the conditions to sink the qi, which to me is extremely important. I was very impressed tbh

[-_sometimes]

12 hours ago, Pak_Satrio said:

Basically he will teach you how to develop the Lower Dantian until it becomes activated, and when you have enough qi stored up you can use it to go deeper into meditation and spirituality

Isn't that the same thing Damo also teaches?

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

36 minutes ago, -_sometimes said:

Isn't that the same thing Damo also teaches?

As far as I’ve found out, there is zero meditation in the entire first year of Damian’s IAA, is that correct?

[Wilhelm]

40 minutes ago, Pak_Satrio said:

As far as I’ve found out, there is zero meditation in the entire first year of Damian’s IAA, is that correct?

Maybe 15-20%

[-_sometimes]

1 hour ago, Pak_Satrio said:

As far as I’ve found out, there is zero meditation in the entire first year of Damian’s IAA, is that correct?

One of the first things he teaches is certainly what I would call meditation. To sit down, meditate on the breath until the mind is somewhat calm, then to let go of choosing what to attend to and allow the awareness to rest someplace in the body, until that point sinks to the ldt area

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

39 minutes ago, Wilhelm said:

Maybe 15-20%

Ah ok, maybe I was wrong. I saw someone post on this site that there is no meditation practice at all in the first year.

 

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

15 minutes ago, -_sometimes said:

One of the first things he teaches is certainly what I would call meditation. To sit down, meditate on the breath until the mind is somewhat calm, then to let go of choosing what to attend to and allow the awareness to rest someplace in the body, until that point sinks to the ldt area

I see. So what he teaches in the first year is to activate the LDT? Is this the only practice he teaches in the first year? What sort of time frame does he give for it to roughly happen. 

[-_sometimes]

19 minutes ago, Pak_Satrio said:

So what he teaches in the first year is to activate the LDT?

I'm not currently subscribed, but I do remember, given 52 lessons for each 'year', locating the LDT began quite early on, around lesson 12 maybe? 

 

19 minutes ago, Pak_Satrio said:

What sort of time frame does he give for it to roughly happen. 

As long as it takes Often he gives estimates for reaching some skill at a given exercise, and the times he gave were more of a range than a specific timeframe, ranging from a few days if you're lucky to months - just the preparatory wuji, stretching, meditation and daoyin (which all unlock in ~5 weeks) could take many months by his admission. Imo (for me at least) much longer, to be able to sink the qi, which you probably want prior to building the LDT.

Edited November 23, 2022 by -_sometimes

[-_sometimes]

15 minutes ago, Pak_Satrio said:

Is this the only practice he teaches in the first y

Oh and the expectation as I understood it was to have arrived at abdominal breathing before even beginning to locate the LDT. Arriving at abdominal breathing naturally, without contrivance. By passing through the quiet to cotton-soft stages.. which to me, is an incredible accomplishment by itself.

Edited November 23, 2022 by -_sometimes

[MetaDao]

24 minutes ago, Pak_Satrio said:

I see. So what he teaches in the first year is to activate the LDT? Is this the only practice he teaches in the first year? What sort of time frame does he give for it to roughly happen. 

Took me like a month

[MetaDao]

The program works. You could train in his program for 3 years online with no in person instruction and get great results in terms of qigong and Neigong.

 

Given an option between an online Neigong program and Neidan training, I would choose Neidan. That 3 years is better spent on Neidan accomplishments. Why would I work on activating and developing Dantian when the Dantian automatically forms when my Yuan Jing is replenished?

 

Why would I work on increasing post-heaven Qi when I can increase pre-heaven?

 

Its just an inefficient path for Neidan if you compare the authentic alchemy teachings to Neigong. 
 

Why would I learn Taichi when martial arts are included in the alchemy practice and take you even deeper than the big 3 martial arts?

 

Sure, it has its benefits. But, there are superior systems and better teachers.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by MetaDao

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

10 minutes ago, MetaDao said:

Took me like a month

Interesting. Did you know of any others who also took a month?

[-_sometimes]

2 minutes ago, MetaDao said:

Why would I work on activating and developing Dantian when the Dantian automatically forms when my Yuan Jing is replenished?

What do you mean by this? 

 

11 minutes ago, MetaDao said:

Given an option between an online Neigong program and Neidan training, I would choose Neidan.

Isn't neigong the precursor to neidan? From my very limited understanding, neigong sets the foundation by building a neigong body that is capable of handling neidan. Neigong is involved on the jing and qi level, while neidan is on the shen/spirit level - given the oft-mentioned jing->qi->shen, you kind of need that base of jing->qi to ensure permanent transformation. 

 

How does your school approach this?

[MetaDao]

10 minutes ago, -_sometimes said:

What do you mean by this? 

 

Isn't neigong the precursor to neidan? From my very limited understanding, neigong sets the foundation by building a neigong body that is capable of handling neidan. Neigong is involved on the jing and qi level, while neidan is on the shen/spirit level - given the oft-mentioned jing->qi->shen, you kind of need that base of jing->qi to ensure permanent transformation. 

 

How does your school approach this?

That’s Damo’s view which is incorrect.

 

You do not need a Neigong foundation before moving into Neidan. If you do work with the pre-heaven, it has a direct affect on the post-heaven. If I open the pre-heaven Ren and Du, every other channel opens automatically.

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by MetaDao

[MetaDao]

11 minutes ago, Pak_Satrio said:

Interesting. Did you know of any others who also took a month?

Plenty of people. It’s not too difficult if you are motivated and practice 2-3 hours a day. The methods in that system are meant to build and activate Dantian very quickly. Doesn’t take much skill. Just practice 

[-_sometimes]

Just now, MetaDao said:

That’s Damo’s view which is incorrect 

Would you be open to sharing your view? It's always good to hear different perspectives on the matter

[MetaDao]

5 minutes ago, -_sometimes said:

Would you be open to sharing your view? It's always good to hear different perspectives on the matter

Sure. The view in the lineage I study under is  that the focus should be placed on pre-heaven. There is a main alchemical method that deals with pre-heaven substances. We replenish the Yuan Jing. When the Yuan Jing is completely replenished, the Yuan Jing melts, automatically forming the Dantian, and your Yuan Qi is automatically already at its ‘’max’. Your Dantian fills automatically.
 

All the things you work on in Neigong automatically happen. Basically the entire Neigong process is included within the alchemical methods, same with martial arts.

 

The post-heaven channels open. Pre-heaven channels are built. Circuits are established. Elements harmonize.

 

There’s no need for a great background  with post-heaven substances.

Edited November 23, 2022 by MetaDao

[Wilhelm]

13 minutes ago, MetaDao said:

Sure. The view in the lineage I study under is  that the focus should be placed on pre-heaven. There is a main alchemical method that deals with pre-heaven substances. We replenish the Yuan Jing. When the Yuan Jing is completely replenished, the Yuan Jing melts, automatically forming the Dantian, and your Yuan Qi is automatically already at its ‘’max’. Your Dantian fills automatically.
 

All the things you work on in Neigong automatically happen. Basically the entire Neigong process is included within the alchemical methods, same with martial arts.

 

The post-heaven channels open. Pre-heaven channels are built. Circuits are established. Elements harmonize.

 

There’s no need for a great background  with post-heaven substances.

From what little I know about your system, would it be fair to say the nature of the pre-heaven treasures are one of the main points of disagreement between your teacher and Damo?

 

I.e. while Damo requires stillness-based practices to work with the Yuan Jing your teacher prefers (correct me if I'm wrong) a moving method?