Camille Posted August 15 Hello everybody, I discovered The Dao Bums years ago and have always enjoyed reading its contents. Some members' posts have had a huge influence on me and my understanding of spirituality and the internal arts. Although I've always been drawn to what one could call spirituality, I am a total beginner. Following the advice given here to eager beginners, I recently started studying Damo Mitchell's materials and enrolled in his Internal Arts Academy. I am looking forward to interacting with you all. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dwai Posted August 15 Hello Camille, Welcome to TDB. We are looking forward to your contributions on the board. best, Dwai 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shadow_self Posted August 15 3 hours ago, Camille said: Hello everybody, I discovered The Dao Bums years ago and have always enjoyed reading its contents. Some members' posts have had a huge influence on me and my understanding of spirituality and the internal arts. Although I've always been drawn to what one could call spirituality, I am a total beginner. Following the advice given here to eager beginners, I recently started studying Damo Mitchell's materials and enrolled in his Internal Arts Academy. I am looking forward to interacting with you all. Welcome @Camille Damo's IAA is a great resource. You'll really enjoy it 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Camille Posted August 16 Thank you both for welcoming me. About the IAA, I'm impressed and a bit overwhelmed by the wealth of information and instructions for practice. I feel lucky to have access to such resources. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gerard Posted August 17 (edited) Hi Camille, Just one word of advice: Don't get lured by people who are good at promoting themselves and focus on written and now online content, which is easier and quickerk to market than books. More about this person: This is a path of self-discovery not learning from someone else an entire and unnecessary curriculum. Please check this great Dhamma talk by Ajahn Chah, namely the Q: Is it advisable to read a lot or study the scriptures as a part of practice? http://www.buddhanet.net/bodhiny2.htm I also remember nagging my own Ba Gua teacher about when are you going to teach the next form: Gerard, you don't learn real gongfu from knowing many forms. I stopped asking and for the 2 following years I focused entirely on the basics. A year after that I left my teacher to focus on my own path. I fully agree with those wise words, so well learnt lesson! A bad teacher would have taught me many forms and charged me a pretty penny. Good luck! Edited August 17 by Gerard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Camille Posted August 19 Hello Gerard, Thank you for your advice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neirong Posted August 24 On 17.08.2024 at 4:39 AM, Gerard said: Don't get lured by people who are good at promoting themselves and focus on written and now online content, which is easier and quickerk to market than books. More about this person: It is a good idea to develop some sort of ESP, perception, and third-eye ability in the first five years of cultivation practice. Then you won't have to wander around blindly looking for medical doctors and documented evidence to find legit practices and teachers. You also won't end up being brainwashed into a narcissistic cult, where the teacher only knows how to blah blah endlessly but cannot even meditate or keep away from cigars/whiskey. The first rule of thumb is that people who exude too much confidence are usually the inhabitants of Mt. Stupid. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
