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good morning world ! you are SO beautiful today! outside my window soft sweet snow cushions and covers your cold hard still body but you are not really cold nor terribly hard nor is your motion frozen your heart is filled with swirling fire and our father sun will awaken that thin crisp life you show us where our mortal eyes touch you well, both you and we are simply gross physical manifestations of something both deeper and higher, aren't we" tho few of US know it and the few of us who do, usually forget it i'll wager you are always aware good morning world you are so beautiful every day

Hey Every One, It has been ages since I stuck my head into the Dao Bums realm. I don't even remember my old email and password it has been so long. I hope you are all doing well, and perhaps I can rejoin the main discussions. Peace and Blessings, Lin

I heard that the goddess Tiramisu is giving Siva his just desserts. But then its a mere trifle after all.

Bingo! yes. (and I , being human, still get off talking about it, or talking down to it) go figure. life is grand.

One could say this about everything. It's all just jerking off until it's not. But if that's so then why bother talking at all?

There’s an old Jewish story of God going to bless a child. The angels come to God and say, “Why are you going to bless this child? We have seen through time, to what he will do in the future. He’s going to persecute and slaughter your children. He will do awful things.” God replies to the angels, “That’s not who he is today. Today he is a child, today he will be blessed. Do not judge him for things he has not yet done.”

Glad to finally have you here ! Welcome !!

Hello, Beverly, and welcome. Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. We look forward to accompanying you on some of the way that you still have to go. Please take the time to read the post pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum Terms and Rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, Fa Xin and the TDB team Welcome Beverly, Should be good to go on our end. I hope you can join us soon! A very warm welcome, and enjoy! 😊 You are welcome to jump right in to the ongoing discussions, revive an older thread, start a new thread of your own, or start a discussion in the "Newcomer Corner" sub-forum to expand on your introduction or ask general questions to help you get started. May you enjoy your time here. Fa Xin

I recall dark blood implies stagnant blood. So a good thing to move it out.

Nope . he said it was a true story .

This is a two part interview with Livia Kohn. One was focused more on her life vs her works. I have moved around the discussion to be more linear as we did recorded calls and we tended to wander in discussion quite a bit despite my attempts to have an outline. I take full responsibility if I have changed her meaning or words as I have shortened our very long talk into readable print. I will apologize in advance if she or someone finds something I write is not correct. I would encourage everyone to look at her publications on Daoism and realize she was a moving force the west needed to understand asian history. I know there are a few others we could say that about, but for now, let's thank her for being open to discuss her life and works. She is the most fascinating person I have ever talked to and I could talk to her for years on end about such topics. She is a maverick in Daoist studies and it was much greater than even I expected. I hope you will see her profound influence on the scholarly Daoist community and more particularly to those who follow such things.

This modern interpretation kinda grew on me, and I am wondering how it is perceived by various people who have read different versions of the DDJ. Also wondering how known this one actually is by now, since it is many years old. Tao Te Ching - a modern interpretation (by Ron Hogan, 2002, 2004) http://www.beatrice.com/TAO-pamphlet.pdf Apart from this one I only read the German Richard Wilhelm version, but that was long ago and I never really compared the two.

Everybody has a different path to Enlightenment. We can study from various masters various traditions, we can ditch our fortunes and our families to be ordained as monks or nuns, we can be lay people who practice while working in various occupations. But in the end we all have different individual paths to Enlightenment. If the Buddha or Jesus Christ is reborn again, will they still choose the same path as their previous life-times? Will the Buddha still choose to abandon his wife, his children, his wealth, his empire in search of Enlightenment? The Buddha can always choose Enlightenment and Material Desires at the same time, can't he? Will Jesus Christ still stupidly choose to turn the other cheek when facing the demons of the roman catholic church? Jesus had a lot of siddhis available to him so I have always wondered why can't he use his siddhis to escape his captors.

Healing of bones is a technique common to several medical qigong traditions. Most in the west find this difficult to believe until they have it done personally. My clinical results over a 35 year period demonstrated a very high result in acceleration of the bones knitting back together and always immediately gave pain relief to the client. The acceleration of healing was difficult for the orthopedic doctors to wrap their head around. They just shook their heads in amazement. But for practitioners familiar with the techniques utilized in the hospitals of China, we find this to be just another day at the clinic. Discuss

Well, I'm gonna buy stock in Brussel sprouts. (-:

Talking, thinking, practicing - are all forms of doing without doing. It's not the real deal, anymore than reading Playboy is sex, but that's not important. It's not supposed to be real. It's supposed to open the mental/emotional/physical channels in preparation for what will be real. It's supposed to clear out that slight hesitation that means the difference between survival and death.

Shoot him. But if that means creating a war that in 1 year will kill billions then it's a hard one but maybe we, as people who abide in the now as good ole meditators , should be immediatist and never think about the future? What matters is saving everyone's asses right now and not later " Fak the future and fak the past" - buddha

I'm just glad I don't have to make a choice like that. But my answer would have to happen in the moment. I could not say whether I would or would not, until the very moment that it happens. I think there's a third way out ... a helicopter maybe

wading into the surging surf is always a challenge (especially in the frigid new england sea) but once past the tide & lifted off ones toes by the thrilling buoyancy of the salty brine... its such a joy to splash and swim and float about ! aha i am here! splashing !. i look forward to becoming part of your community and thank you all for your help getting my thru the gates ... hmmm... i wonder if the pearly ones will be this difficult to enter? haha !!! i wrote the above thank you note and when i hit 'submit reply', my lamp went out ! signalling my city's power outage !! yes yes, new england icy snowy time right now, and my Elm City was struck and we were a gentle quiet quaint white wonderland for hours and hours... and yes.. it occurred JUST after i added my sort of smiley face... does this mean the powers-that-be don't want me on da Bums? TUFF !!! You guys do! and you've helped me climb on-board, sooo..... LET THE GAMES BEGIN !!!!!!!!!

That's pretty much my sentiments, but let me pose a variant on this hypothetical situation. Imagine there is a child on a field. Surrounding the field there is a fence. If the child touches the fence then a bomb will blow up. Just for drama let's make it a very big bomb - a nuclear bomb. Everyone is telling the child to stay where he is, but the child is scared. He does not understand so he runs towards the fence. The choice is clear: the life of one child or the lives of millions. Do you shoot the child now?

@Fa Xin Thanks for the welcome, I am enjoying the forum already (so much to read!) @Jeff I appreciate your confidence in my energy level. Myself, I am not quite ready to assume I am energetically "beyond" Chia or his ideas. If your concern is inaccuracy on his part, know that greater clarity is what prompted me to get YJM's books. I say cross-reference because, being in a position of ignorance, it is still useful to me to compare two different perspectives on something. I appreciate your suggestion on polarity. It is actually Yin which I've naturally gravitated toward this past year, to a point where my personality is very different from just two years ago. My present self-perception is one of a much stronger integration of the feminine, but with no less of the masculine. I understand this is all relative, however; what feels like an integration now will grow into much higher levels. What I need more work on is discernment of the polarities, in my own energy and all levels of reality. I have a lot to learn in this area. I will pay attention to it.

TO DRIVE YOU CRAZY

Just seeing this now. Welcome back. I hope you'll be active and share your wisdom and considerable experience here. How are you and what have you been doing lately? As a long time practitioner how does ones practice evolve? Thanks Michael

Welcome, @Beverly

This is the bigger picture

I have developed a revolutionary concept that might be helpful. 1) Pick a system, any system where the main instructors have developed the qualities you are striving for. 2) Learn from an instructor, and continue to practice that system only so your bodymind get shaped by that system. 3) Learn more about that system, and practice the hell out of it. 4) Continue for a decade or three. I call this the Mudfoot approach, and to be able to use it dial 1-800-GIMMEYOURMONEY and I will licence you.

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That can be a common experience with blood letting treatments.

well....... you might, but both you and me, and everyone else right now, would not be here. What if the titanic did not sink? once again, you, me, your mom, dad, grandpa. grandma would have never been born. consider how you got to be here, everything had to be just right, mom and dad, had to be in the perfect time, at the exact moment, in the exact place to fuck in the old dodge ram and have you. your dog or cat would not be here. so shoot Hitler, and maybe someone else would have been in Germany in the 1930's to lead the world in another path, we cannot imagine. I for one, love seeing lessons in my life. Seeing the interconnection to everything, and stop whining about what could be.

I think not, mainly because the world is not what it once was so neither are those who live in it. That said, how does one translate a life from two thousand years ago to today? Would Buddha write books? Would Jesus found a megachurch? Who knows?!?

No argument from me on any of the above... For me there is a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, I feel that I cannot know the depth or clarity of experience of another, that is - it is not my role to validate or invalidate their experience; yet there is a clarity and genuineness of presence when meeting someone directly, sometimes even digitally, that generally allows recognition. Other clear and pure voices that have spoken to and guided me - Anthony Demello, Peter Fenner, John O'Donohue, Sailor Bob Adamson (and his teacher, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, of course), Steven Harrison, Alan Watts, Jiddu Krishnamurti, many Bönpo lamas, monks, and advanced practitioners I encounter... One thing that tickles and appeals to me is the unique flavor each brings to their experience and expression of the essence. It's really beautiful and reflective of human qualities and frailties.

I talked to Shiva... he said it is all under control. No need to worry about it

There's some seriously weird topics popping up lately. I think a few have been over indulging over the recent holidays.

Do we have one of those yet? It's not a bad idea.

Perhaps you've gained the gift of prophesy?

I wouldn’t bother trying to understand it (although it’s tempting to try). Any mental concept would most likely get in the way, rather than help. Just let it be.

Hi! mmmhhhh we have to be careful with words here......and i do not want a discussion. that the physical and energetic bodies go through further unfoldment there is no doubt about that..... however what i quoted does speak about the further unfolding of consciousness/awareness itself....quote: 'States of Consciousness' does not mean states of individual consciousness. It means states of Consciousness itself. Consciousness itself is an unbounded field of pure Awareness. you call that Self awake presence.....to me that sounds like that.....however there is unfolding beyond this awake presence...it actually feels like loosing it or falling out of it......to some that is deeply shocking.....but as it stabalizes a new perspective comes online and it is seen that even pure awareness is still a veil over true reality. David joked about a guy who thought he was finished for the 3 times now :-) Ahh you have seen Davids batgap interviews! great! he is not the greatest speaker but the only one who (as far as i know) speaks from what is called pure divinity which is sometimes called "source of the source" because from there it is seen that it is the source of the Self aware presence. To me there are 2 types of unity...one before the awakening to pure aware being and the other (the one that is described in the text from Lorne and Lucia) is when awake presence/being reconizes itself fully in the creation...so that happens after an initial abiding awakening. With the loosing of personhood....i would say the identification is lost ..not the personhood. to me it seems like there is much more to these "lets call them states" than we currently know. There is just too much variance and i shy away from this is the true unfolding and this is not. From a lineage perspective to me an authentic Tamil siddha lineage (through Pal Pandian) is the most complete system/teaching i am aware of. best

I also think there is a lot of ego/media driven "grade inflation". Very common for someone to have some energetic opening, read a book, and then declare it as awakening/realization/done. Like a spiritual ego trap where you get stuck.

While I am not a fan of guru bashing, as I believe there are true gurus (light) in the world, I am always saddened when people start to believe their own marketing hype.

So, what is the basis of this "magical authority" that I keep talking about, and which is symbolized by the magican's wand? Cornelius Agrippa makes this clear in Chapter Three of the third book of his great compendium of magical theory and practice: Simply put, without this "dignification", one is not practicing Magic, in its "brand name" sense of Magic as it was conceived of and practiced from the Hellenistic period through the end of the Renaissance, and at least a little beyond. I usually call this form of magic Classical Magic and differentiate it from neo-Magic, the result of a revival magical practices that started around 1900. One can certainly produce "magic" like effects through "energized enthusiasm", working oneself into an emotional frenzy and sending it off to have an effect, but this is not Magic, it is sorcery, witchcraft, shamanism, whatever you want to call it, but it is not Magic, and if you have achieve sufficient dignification you don't need emotional frenzy either. Here is an interesting story about a very Magically dignified individual, or at least according to the story he would be: If you are curious, and if you are interested in how Magic is practiced then you should be, you can go here: Plotinus, Our Tutelary Spirit on Wiki Source I recommend this because ideas very similar to some that Plotinus puts forward in this work appear, albeit dressed up in Qabalistic guise, in the Adeptus Minor teachings of the Golden Dawn. I could make references to that, except that the material is too dense, technical and complex for anyone without a sufficient background to read with a satisfactory level of understanding. Of course if anyone with a sufficient background asks, I can refer them to the necessary sections. In modern magic the way that this dignification is trained and achieved is largely through what is called the Middle Pillar practice in either its ritual or meditative versions. It is possible using those teachings to obtain the necessary dignification, if you know what you are doing and practice it correctly, however even the original Golden Dawn teachings teachings leave out important aspects of Classical Magic, however when the Golden Dawn ritual system is used within the full context of the Occult Philosophy as expounded in Agrippa's work, the result is very satisfactory, but lacking this during the Twentieth Century the tradition was significantly degraded. I hope this gives at least some idea of what Magical Authority is, and basically to recap, it is the realization of the divine potential that inheres in every human being. This belief in the divine potential of human beings is common to Western Pagan and Abrahamic traditions, as well as both Daoist and Confucian traditions in China. The methods of realizing this potential are different, but the result is the same and is why in China and the West, the Magician's wand and its Chinese equivalent, are a symbol of authority, like a sovereign's scepter. ZYD

Anecdote support: I had a local 5 Ancestors master who goes by the surname Ho, i don’t know his first name but he’s known in town for his mediine skills. He help me out with a broken fibula some ten years back, i went to see him after getting screws put in to re-set the bone and he did three sessions of acupuncture as soon as the cast came off and the stitches were taken out. He treated me in his martial arts supplies store, i was on a chair and he sat on a kung fu bench. He drew dark blood out by hypodermic puncture and suction cup after, set needles in points that i had no idea what they were at the time nor can recall, more suction cups here and there, he did some healing through his hands (it unnerved me seriously since his hands were radiating intense heat during, it wasn’t just warm, his hands were like being in the proximity of a scolding hot kettle an then my leg responded with warmth) and wanted me to use a shaolin medicine paste that i couldnt afford so he sold me some excellent Dit Da Jiao that i massaged twice daily with for a week or so. On the bus home from the first sessioni started crying, i was in a lot of inner turmoil but it passed in an hour. God knows what he actually did but it worked. He demonstrated some projecting by making my beard tingle, said hair was like antennae for qi, cracked a few jokes about it. We talked a lot for the next two sessions, he did his thing and said if i still had a problem after the third time he’d treat me for free for as many sessions as needed because it should have worked already. When i went to rehabilitation training limping along with just ome crutch for support the physiotherapist was skeptical as fuck, asked twice for my name and looked at me funny. I asked whats wrong and she said that i was either joking or there must be some error in the dates written down in the file for when the fracture happened and when my cast had been opened. I told her i’d seen Ho sifu for acupuncture and she gave a knowing ”ahaa...” To her it seemed as though i’d been doing physiotherapy for at least a month already. She was very secretive about telling me she knew for a fact that even randomized acupuncture was giving off very fascinating results but since it’s still unaccepted officially she’d loose her job if her boss heard her talk positively about acupuncture. It took about a year to get back to decent mobility but i was doing basic kung fu again within six months of the cast coming off. Due to deaths in the family i had to quit physio so full recovery took me a few years total, i still can’t run without massive pain after but i’ve understood that without Ho Sifus help and my own careful qigong and kung fu approach to healing it would have been far more busted. Cheers!

The main form in the school is Wuji Gong. For Qigong practice I mean. In the begining of the teaching we are learning Emei Qigong System has some specific rules. Such as in first 2 levels we mostly work on ourselves. Like %70 to self development %30 to help others. Coz Emei Qigong has two different disciplines. Taoism and Buddhism. Uses both traditions works. Yes you will find mostly explained and also clearly explained informations about the exercises and practices. Most of them not open to all. If you were a student of any Emei Qigong teacher, the knowledge will open to you. For all levels of Emei Qigong practices I can easly say that you/we have to practice too much. Like every other practices. Why I chose this path? I was a student of David Verdesi and some other else's. I realized that I don't like power based systems. I am looking for enlightment. I only need developing my wisdom, nourising myself, and realize my true being. The Emei Qigong is very simple. So simple but also deeper. After you practiced for a while you will understand many things about Qigong and cultivating the inner and outer parts or self. Not only cultivating Qi. If we were talking about cultivating Qi, what we will plen to do with it? Having some super powers like John Chang or Jiang Feng etc, or becoming a good person? If we weren't using the cultivated Qi to help others, will we want to become an immortal? I simply chose developing myself and helping others. This is my reason to choose Emei Qigong. Also Grandmaster Fu Weizhong, really so so kind teacher. I couldn't find any question that he couldn't answer. When my questions were silly, he alsways replied me in a polite way ans he said: "You don't need this information on your teachings or on your practices, if you'd like to become a disciple or a monk you will learn." Grandmaster Fu Weizhong's mission is teaching the Emei Qigong's treasure to the world. There are too many jewels like Emei Qigong I think. Most of you already found and you already started to practice. Each way has own jewels. They are waiitng us to find whee they are hidin.

Sounds like a great book. and I like what your spiritual mentor said.

There are no complete systems only complete people. The recipe maybe 1000 of years old but 1000 years of development is still not enough. Dead arts are complete, living arts are never completed there is a sky above the sky meaning that attainment does not end so can never be completed unless someone is satisfied with small accomplishments and walks away.

I offer my opinion and thought.

Dear practitioners, I am posting this as both another reminder and a possible opening for dialogue. First and foremost, Flying Phoenix qigong is for health, and not just physical health, but emotional, mental, and spiritual health. As I have experienced people with anxiety find peace and nagging thoughts dissipate with continued practice of both Flying Phoenix and quiet seated meditation, the results of continued practice grow with diligence and discipline. This is why we have this thread: to help each other know we are not crazy and to find overlap. Some of us may have more spiritual experiences such as me having more metaphysical encounters, but that should not dictate that it is inevitable for everyone, as some may never experience anything beyond a sensation of warmth or tingling, and may never even see the blue light that many report. To be caught up with sensations is one of the traps of many newcomers and seekers, which is what imprisons us in the realm of the senses. What I personally believe is that we practice this because 1) it is good for our health, 2) it is excellent for our evolutions as humans and our soul journeys. Let me quickly define something that I will write more about later in my own personal practice journal, on the nature of spirit work versus soul work. Spirit work involves playing with energies--anyone can do that and feel it, as we are naturally attuned to it for the most part unless our third eye is blocked and we have difficulty perceiving these sensations from any type of energy work, be it qigong, Reiki, pranayama, or western hermetic traditions. This is what takes you up and can be euphoric because you sense another dimension of existence. Soul work, on the other hand, can involve the use of energy work, but is not necessary, because it involves going deep into the Self (capital S) within, requires shadow work, confronting the parts of our ego complexes that are blinded by desire and anger to protect the lesser self. A complete atheist can do soul work through intensive therapy, art work (sketching, sculpting, painting), solitary reflections in their journals and walks in nature, and recognizing that they are imperfect, and not even use the term soul work, but still do the act itself. A sage of the Tao and any of the esoteric arts can use these terms and recognize the need to understand the concept of Oneness and the eternal Self that constantly reincarnates much like a man changes his clothes, for the Self is eternal, never having not existed and never ceasing to exist, and it is present in all of us whether we are aware or not. I am you, you are me, and recognizing the importance of each incarnation and the lessons with each individual ego perceiving reality all at once, this is the journey of the godhead, the Self to appreciate the gifts of suffering and separation as we naturally gravitate towards unity. This kind of statement has parallels that can be found in The Bhagavad-Gita, in the writings of Rudolf Steiner and Alice Bailey, Kabbalah, and even Sufi mysticism. Understand that what is great about this thread and system are as follows: 1) we have Sifu Terry and his decades of scholarly study and experience with several pedigreed lineages, 2) we have the complete system itself and more, 3) we have the community here to discuss with the diverse experiences of each student, all of these three are to expand our understanding of not just the Flying Phoenix system, but the subconscious work that can arise from practicing the system with the proper guidance of Sifu Terry and the insights shared with each other, directly and indirectly on this thread. The questions beginners may feel embarrassed about asking offer insight to experienced veterans, especially those like me who wish to become instructors of the system (and perhaps a Sifu in my own right one day), the esoteric experiences that people share may also help students who feel that they may have some issues to confront due to the unique individual encounters with qi and its manifestations. Some people may not respond directly or immediately, and it's not due to ostracism as one former student once bemoaned, but lack of familiarity and qualification to speak to the condition of the practitioner who claimed he neither felt many sensations or felt much progress due to his condition with aphantasia, and we should never take this as a sign of rejection, but that someone may need professional help and the Internet does not guarantee that its denizens have the authority to make an informed diagnosis. We are lucky that Sifu Terry is here to help with things like potential qi deviations which are usually derived from improper breath control sequence or not following the basic instructions in every DVD copy, which some people bafflingly still manage to ignore. As there are other threads with lack of disclaimer or guidance (such as the recent serious violation of ethics and tradition and possibly legality with the Spontaneous Five Animals thread where the entire form was posted), we run the risk of damage and it is the gift of both a community and Sifu Terry as both a professional and a master to offer this thread and his series to us, as well as his own private instruction in person or online. A form alone will not change you--but it can help you become aware of what you are working on, and that is why the character and level of understanding and development in a master is essential--whom you choose to make your master, even if you don't call them a master, is whom you choose to emulate. If I make Elon Musk my master, I don't have to meet the man, I only need to emulate what I enjoy about him and project onto him what I wish I were, the master I take is the idea of Elon Musk being a billionaire with a chip on his shoulder and complete disdain for ethics in a very Randian Objectivist manner. If I choose to take an idea of a Taoist sage, and I can see those characteristics in people around me, then I can recognize that neither Sifu Terry nor any of my teachers will ever force me to look deep and hard at my own character and transform into whom I need to be and who the universe deserves for our higher evolution, but it is only to my benefit to do so because it will allow me to access the higher realms of consciousness and reality that the doors of perception open with continued practice of the yogic arts of superior quality like the Flying Phoenix system. Flying Phoenix and any high level system is not a bandaid or placebo, but a tool that can be both a mirror of the soul in addition to an elixir for our own physical incarnations and wellness, so please do not use the Flying Phoenix system in lieu of seeking professional advice for your medical concerns or your mental health. I will close with this reflection: as the solstice ends and winter in the northern hemisphere is upon us, my material and financial state are not ideal, but I find the abundance even with just knowing the DVD forms and a few extras as taught by Sifu Terry himself in our private lessons for the past year to bring me great joy. From finding my dogs enjoying the qi when doing the meditations to being a healing presence everywhere I go, whether through the slums of Manila to the streets of San Francsico (where I am presently staying for the holidays), watching the plants in my own apartment and my mother's home grow with extreme fecundity after practicing in their vicinity for a few days, and the simple increase in awareness (especially self-awareness and worldly awareness), I have some of the most priceless gems in the universe. To have a body with no serious injuries that prevent me from breathing, ten fingers and ten toes without any restrictions on movement, eyes to see and ears to hear, a mind to appreciate and reflect, I am humbled by this flesh and blood incarnation to have stumbled upon this thread nearly four years ago and to begin the practice and now call myself one of Sifu Terry's students, and more importantly, abundantly joyful to call all of you fellow students my friends, brothers and sisters, and family. Happy holidays, Flying Phoenix friends and family.

Ok so I wanted to give a better explanation about the dream and about what it meant to me. I remember it involved a very long hallway in a school that went on for as far as I could tell. When I woke up I told my gf about the dream and she googled a dream interpretation website and it said that the hallway tends to symbolize transition and the school the ego. This seemed to fit exactly how the dream felt. I feel like a lot of the insights I gained from the dream and other insights I feel that have been flooding me lately after restarting the Zhunti mantra are beyond words to describe but I can give some general explanation and I hope I don't loose the essence of the insights while doing so. So like I said in my earlier post the hallway is transition and the school is the ego. I had started doing the Zhunti mantra several years ago in order to improve my karma and life in general. It was at this time that I also began to realize a lot of things about myself, and gain insight into my mind. A little while later I became acquainted on youtube and in my local area some western Theravada monks who had a very rationalist view of life and rejected anything deemed "superstitious" or "magic". This obviously included the powers of mantras. Being that they were monks and I saw them as the "experts" I gave up my mantra practice and most other practices deemed "superstitious" and took up the rationalist vipassana insight meditation approach. It didn't take long for me to notice that this practice did not make me feel very good, but I was told that was normal at the beginning and to keep at it and things would improve. The thing is, that things did not improve but this practice continued to make me feel bad. Although I can say it was effective for letting go, as a great many things were let go of, but it felt like crawling across broken glass in order to let go, effective but painful. Needless to say after doing this a few years and never getting past the "beginners hard part" I started to grow weary of this practice. I remembered back to when my primary practice was mantra and how well it had seemed to work in spite of what the western monks claimed about it. So I began to practice mantra again initially as an experiment to see if it was indeed as helpful as I had remembered it being in the past. I had only chanted the Zhunti mantra a few times (including in my head at bedtime) before I had this dream. The transition part seemed obvious enough as I was going back to a practice that I had given up a while back, but I was also giving things that could not be rationally explained another try as well. The school/ego part made sense to me as well, as the aspect of doing it myself and not relying on a mantra or Bodhisattva appealed to my ego, and the idea of having these things help me annoyed my ego. The odd thing is, is the western monks told me that the only way to gain insight was through rational meditation methods, but since restarting mantra as my practice I have been getting insight after insight which I must admit makes my ego feel awkward lol, but I am happy it's working nevertheless.

Qi is vibrational energy. Realize the arms and legs are shaped like tuning forks. The issue here may be that Qigong and Medical Qigong can be very far apart in understanding and practice. But Qi is vibrational energies as found in minerals, plants, animals, humans, and the Unity. Maybe Qi is not portrayed so much as a vibration in general Qigong practice but in Medical Qigong, you develop not just an awareness and development of this but can employ it at a deeper level. I only have a little experience in this. I am sure Ya Mu can comment much more as needed.

Yes. The bone-setter I meet emphasized this: the tendon and muscle are the focal point concerning moving bone. Yes, I think the problem is that both sides tend to ignore the other. In some situations they complement as the most powerful tool... but it is not common to find it. We're lucky that some like you will spend many years to learn an ancient technique, improve on it with modern understanding and teach others.

Bone healing and bone setting [movement] are two issues. Both are viable but western medicine seems to dismiss it. I found an advanced side of bone setting; the attempt to move bone back to it's position to re-connect. To be honest, this is not Qigong or energy. So this means there are really three aspects to 'bone complications', which I think the qigong practitioner should be aware of. 1. Bone needs repair and healing... it is in place. 2. Bone is re-connected and healing... it is in place and in need of healing. 3. Bone is dis-connected and cannot be replaced... We should probably define all three aspects more clearly and how Qigong can assist them.