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Hi SodaChanh, Yes, any combination of practice FP meds.--and especially the FP Long Form--can put you right OUT OF TIME--i.e., reveals to you that TIME IS A CONSTRUCT. Anyone who masters a complete Qigong, Yoga, or meditation system will realize that all planes of existence intersect in the current NOW-MOMENT. The attainment of or returning to this pristine state of Cosmic Consciousness sometimes begins with very vivid "flashbacks" to where your energy has been--which is usually a very comfortable and pleasant situation or a very painful and unpleasant one (that hasn't been fully felt). ...as if seeing life as a movie being winded back and I was there in a big space. Your state of consciousness after you finished your third round sounds sublime and divine. Continue to enjoy your practice, SC! Sifu Terry https://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html terencedunn.substack.com

Hello, it's nice to join a new forum website and talk with new communities. A small introduction for myself: I'm 23 years old, I practice Kriya Yoga practices mentioned by Lahiri Mahasaya, which I've been doing off and on since 17. Although I mainly know yogic terminology and theory, I appreciate the daoist approach and hope to learn more about it from you all.

Hi BigSkyDaimond, Sorry to take so long to chime in. I'm glad that you've shared with the FP community that you found "Bending the Bows" generates the most energy "flow." Although it may be hard to find because this thread is now in its 16th year, I posted in the first year--seconding someone else's comment that he had gotten enougn consisten high energy cultivation from BTBows that he called it a "cornerstone" or fundament of the FP moving meditations. I explained back then--and I'll repeat it here--that almost as soon as I did about 5 rounds of BTBows the first time that I tried it (I remember it was in La Cienega Park in L.A. at night), I was astonished (and then afterwards delighted) to feel that my Tai Chi had just spontaneously and dramatically been improved-transformed and empowered. In terms of my Tai Chi body mechanics becoming much more effortless and spontaneous. Deep energy connections were made. My head was full of alert energy and my energy was uniform throughout my body. This was 1991, the year that I started training with GM Doo Wai. I had been doing Tai Chi a solid 11 years (as I had started with Master Abraham Liu, a senior student of Prof. Cheng Man-ching, in 1980). So I was totally surprised and jazz'd when I felt BTBows enhanced the Tai Chi that was in me at the time. So all that is to say that you have joined a good number of other FP practitioners who posted the same findings in the earlier years of this thread...that Bending the Bows is a "supercharger" meditation. It's fine to take it easy and pull back the frequency of practice and how many rounds you do in a practice session. But I wanto to remind you and all other practitioners that the standard orthodox practice is one set of 18 rounds. Once a day or even once every other day is fine and good for health, immunity and strength. But try to work you way up--if you haven't already--to 18 repetitions in a set. If you get to the point again where you feel that the internal power generated is "too much", then stop. And you might try "rounding" and "grounding" things like excessive cultivation by doing any one or more of the first 3 stationary standing Meds. on Vol.1--Monk Holding Pearl, Monk Holding Peach, Monk Gazing At The Moon--for a couple of minutes. Also, an excellent way top hit the "RESET" button when you feel too much intensity, excess, or imbalance of energy is to do Monk Holding the Pearl (50 40 30 20 10) lying supine (with hands on the lower tan tien). Over the many years, I've found this to be a nice "RESET" method that only soothes and evens out almost any type of imbalance in the Qi flow. So thanks for sharing your findings about Bending the Bows. Play with it more along the general guidelines I've restated here...so you can enjoy it more and derive more benefits over the long run. Happy Holidays. Sifu Terry https://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html terencedunn.substack.com

Welcome to the forum. I thought you were a (“klein” is Dutch for ‘small’) small beer; but then I googled your username, turns out you are in another world!

Generally goes from life to life is the subtle mind part of the mind (i.e. the storehouse consciousness or alaya vijnana or bhavanga citta or other terms depending on the school), but it is not a permanent, unitary, independent self. Rather, it is an afflicted consciousness. As the Dalai Lama XIV puts it: A: ...If one understands the term "soul" as a continuum of individuality from moment to moment, from lifetime to lifetime, then one can say that Buddhism also accepts a concept of soul; there is a kind of continuum of consciousness. From that point of view, the debate on whether or not there is a soul becomes strictly semantic. However, in the Buddhist doctrine of selflessness, or "no soul" theory, the understanding is that there is no eternal, unchanging, abiding, permanent self called "soul." That is what is being denied in Buddhism. from Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Yes, geography is in the eye of the beholder. The most famous classical Chinese novel, Journey to the West, is about a trip to India. That journey was undertaken by a monk and his travel companions commissioned by the boddhisatva-turned-taoist-goddess, Quan Yin, for the specific purpose of bringing Western influences to China -- to wit, Buddhist sutras, toward a wide dissemination of Buddhism. (An immigrant who wanted to introduce to her new country of allegiance certain values from her native culture... makes sense to me. I've taught many Americans to make real borscht out of a similar sentiment.) The novel was published in the 16th century and depicted the events of the 7th, with a fantastic twist or two. Until modernity Buddhism was the single biggest Western influence on Chinese civilization. I have been less successful so far with real borscht and American cuisine.

not from beyond or apart from, that's not what is meant. the mind's nature is open and clear, the mind refers to all of the contents, perceptions, formations, activities, etc... here's a brief excerpt from a Bön teaching that helps to distinguish - As for recognizing the mind and the nature of mind: Free of thoughts, Becoming the base-of-all, Neutral, Possessing the potential to arise as anything without ceasing - These four. The base-of-all is the nature of mind. Recollected and aware, Able to arise as anything whatsoever, Liberated when released, If allowed to settle, it mixes [with the base-of-all] - These four. The intellect is the mind. The method is that you hear this teaching, try to understand the meaning as best you can, then actualize this understanding in practice, traditionally in an extended and isolated retreat. Then the teacher checks your understanding and corrects or guides as needed. mind is not the ultimate self in these teachings probably, it's a tough subject to casually talk about, the vast majority of this process of "introduction to the nature of mind" is experiential practice, the metaphors, similes, examples, and descriptions are cognitive tools to help guide and correct when needed. yes agree, I'll stop here

Yes, my experience with God has shown me that God is terrifying, and powerful, and mysterious. God is a powerful word, and when you use it, you should expect to be heard, so don't use it lightly.

This is perhaps the most important discernment in dzogchen. What is the mind, what is its nature or essence, and how are the two distinguished and how do they relate to the self and ultimate reality? The ways of teaching this can be complicated because different people require different things to "get it." It's not a conceptual or intellectual definition because that is still the territory of the mind, which generally considers itself the only tool available for "understanding," not yet trusting anything outside of its realm, and yet not appreciating its own limitations when considering that which may be beyond its grasp. So there are several methods, often relying on simile and metaphor as well as meditative methods. This might be a topic for a different thread.

But ..... But ....

Australian desert dragon ; Thorny Devils ( ' Moloch horridus ' ) are really small but a wonderful lizard . You can put your hand under them , under the sand and scoop them up . They dont seem to mind and dont move while you do it, or maybe just a bit . On your hand they just sit there, maybe cock their head to look at you . It is illegeal to 'interfere' or touch them .... but I was with an indigenous elder and he instructed me to to do it as it was a desert sand 'roadway ' , so we moved them to safety . Curious little fellahs

Your image doesn't come through for me but there certainly is quite a bit of flamboyance in the Bön traditions. The sounds, smells, costumes, iconography, stupas - lots of beautiful stuff (if you're into that sort of thing). There are "nine ways" according to the old Bön tradition which I reference below. The first four are referred to as "causal vehicles" and are closely related to the shamanic roots of Bön and working with natural forces, elements, and energies and such. The 5th and 6th vehicles are related to the sutric paths (paths of renunciation, working with one's body, speech, and mind to reject samsara and strive towards liberation through prayer and mind training primarily). The 7th and 8th are the "tantric" vehicles. In this group we find many practices that I think are closest to what you are describing as "active meditation." Practices developing relationships with meditational deities (yidams) and elemental goddesses (dakinis) and becoming intimately familiar with all of their associations, visualizations, rituals, offerings, mudras, mantras, behaviors, etc... When I think of and refer to "active meditation," it is in the context of the 9th vehicle. These are not "active" practices per se but are an application of dzogchen practice to every activity imaginable. Life becomes the practice. The core practice, as I think you know, is to recognize the nature of the mind and eventually identify with this as one's ultimate "self." In this context, active meditation ultimately means that one remains fully connected with the mind's pure essence throughout every waking, active, sleeping, dreaming, and dying moment. The practice is to first establish stability and continuity in formal practice on a cushion in a quiet place, undisturbed. When stable enough, we try to find that connection, and eventually some stability and continuity, while engaged in "righteous" and "supportive" practices like reciting mantras, circumambulating sacred sites, reciting prayers, and so on. When that is successful, we move on to more mundane daily activities like eating, cleaning, sex, and so on. Finally, we challenge ourselves with activities that would typically take us far out of that space - emotional and painful situations, jobs that involve creating harm (like butchery), fighting, and so forth. These categories are not mutually exclusive. Most practitioners are engaging with practices from different vehicles at any given time in their life depending on what is needed and how they are progressing. Tantric practitioners also practice with the nature of mind but do not consider that enough in and of itself and engage in transformative practices with the assistance of meditational deities. The 9th vehicle focuses exclusively on the nature of mind and states that the results of all other vehicles are accessible when this practice is done properly. The Nine Ways of Bön according to the Southern Treasures: (quoted from https://ravencypresswood.com/2013/02/24/what-are-the-nine-ways-of-bon/) 1. The Way of the Shen of Prediction: This Way includes divination, astrology, various rituals, and medical diagnosis. 2. The Way of the Shen of the Phenomenal World: This Way includes rituals dealing with communication with external forces such as rituals of protection, invocation, ransom of the soul and life-force, and of repelling negative or harmful energies. 3. The Way of the Shen of Manifestation: This Way includes venerating a deity or master and then applying mantra and mudras in order to accomplish a goal such as requesting assistance from natural energies. 4. The Way of the Shen of Existence: This Way is primarily focused upon rituals for the dead and methods to promote longevity for the living. 5. The Way of the Virtuous Lay Practitioners: This Way specifies the proper conduct of lay person taking vows. 6. The Way of the Fully Ordained: This Way specifies the proper conduct for those who are fully ordained practitioners. 7. The Way of the White AH: This Way is primarily focused upon tantric practice using visualization. 8. The Way of the Primordial Shen: This Way is primarily focused upon higher tantric practice. 9. The Unsurpassed Way: This Way is primarily focused upon the practice of Dzogchen, or The Great Perfection. This Way does not rely upon antidotes of any kind, ritual or practice with a meditational deity. It is concerned with the realization of the true nature of one’s own mind.

There is an interesting Bönpo practice that is intended to actively exhaust the thinking mind so that it can release into stillness. You reflect on actions of the body, speech, and mind (each individually), taking enough time to really feel and pay attention to how much energy and effort have been expended over time, going as far back in memory as possible. Take as much time as necessary to get a sense of the shear magnitude of all of that expended effort and energy. When the experience reaches a peak and feels overwhelming, you simply let all of it go and rest in the stillness, silence, and spaciousness of the present moment, similar to the feeling of returning home from a long journey or exhausting day of work and settling into your favorite chair or bed and fully allowing body and mind to rest. It's a powerful technique.

I think the level analogy may be misleading, because it implies there is something to gain. I like the melting analogy (this is in classic Zen literature, such as Hakuin and Chinul) better because it captures the process a bit more precisely in my mind. A few points: 1. It is not either/or, it is a spectrum. Melting ice takes time, but there are certainly degrees. 2. It is about relaxing and letting go rather than picking something up. We have everything we already need, there is not something new to add. Rather, it is about opening and expanding more than anything. 3. The process is natural refines the more you do it. At first, it may be very gross, very conceptual, very effortful. These tend to reduce naturally on their own with practice. Ice is ice. A rough block sitting outside and a finely sculpted castle look very different, and function very differently, but their nature is the same.

My experience is that precisely the opposite is true. Realizing that "you" have never HAD control is the way forward. Mastering stillness from a Zen perspective is very much similar to the classic Tao model - you simply stop pushing against reality with your thinking mind. You stop feeding the cycle of thoughts and eventually the thinking mind tires and stillness arises naturally.

Thanks for the reminder. I have some pains in right arm due to computer work so that meditation is a good remedy for that. This time I could also sense an unblocking of the heart while doing the meditation.

Not too much out of the ordinary recently, but one tip I can give is if you have sore and achy arms, the third seated warm up meditation on Vol 2 is really helpful for that!

(From the link) More than 75 percent of people who are born with green eyes can be found in Ireland and Scotland.

Fresh out of twice doing the long form then I felt like moving through time. I was doing the form in my living room and I could sense my body lying on the sofa behind me. When resting I usually lie down on the sofa. I am not sure how to interpret this? 😁 So I did the form again, very slow and in the last move where the hands move down in front of you it was as if seeing life as a movie being winded back and I was there in a big space. How have you been experiencing FP lately?

Not a snob. I know exactly where you're coming from. I think I think (sic) mostly in 2, but for most of the rest of the languages I've been exposed to, my mind created a common file titled "Foreign languages," dumped everything there indiscriminately, and when stuff from that file interferes with the 2 legit ones, it's not pretty. Not with spelling (although shit happens of course) but with spoken words, especially proper names. The thing is, if an English word is a borrowing from one of those other languages for which I know their proprietary pronunciation rules but not necessarily the English rendition thereof, I tend to stress and enunciate it the way it is stressed and enunciated in the language it came from. Sometimes I really don't know that it's pronounced differently in English from its source language, and sometimes I just can't make myself mutilate it like that. It physically hurts me to have to say Mo-di-GLI-ani or REmy MARtin or DesDEmona, let alone NAbokov. And native speakers never tire of correcting me...

You would have to ask Lairg about that ... he can gauge the emotional sensitivity of piston rings