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Sri Matre Namaha and Namo Amitabha Buddhaya, Hello everyone, Just passing through. I was informed of a few deaths and saw that I was mentioned a number of times since my departure for a couple years. I was reminded of my mortality many times in my pilgrimage the last year, and immediately after while repairing relationships since then after some shifts. Here I am sharing a few insights I wanted to share that re-contextualizes past conflicts here and has vastly improved my life. 1. I was diagnosed last year shortly after turning 41 that I have Autism and ADHD--otherwise known as AuDHD. This means I am tone deaf and sound a lot angrier or more argumentative than I need to be without realizing how it would be perceived by others. My info dumping is a feature of neurodivergence, and this can be seen as being disingenuous by others, even if I and many people like me believe that clarity will help free people from wrongful assumptions and mischaracterizing my intentions. My hyperreactivity also comes from rejection sensitivity dysphoria, or RSD, a feature of ADHD. Many times I would perceive some remarks from people as a personal attack and overreact. It is better to assume good intentions and take the loss before getting into an argument since nobody wins. 2. Cultivation absolutely affects my condition for better or for worse. The right cultivation with qi, diet, and spiritual balance (separate from energy work) can moderate the physiological and neurological differences in my body. The wrong cultivation can make them worse, especially when bringing excess energy to my head. It is not my business if people want to do practices that can harm them, as they are not my students and I am not an expert, I am just a specialist at best. I don't get paid to argue and I don't teach for free. 3. Anyone and everyone can eventually be better when we yield that responsibility back to them and God/Dao/the Universe I lost many friends, including TDB member Nature Beeing or Beeing Nature, also known as Natursein on YouTube, who passed several months ago of Liver Cirrhosis around April or May as his partner informed me via WhatsApp. Some of those relationships were healed just before these people died, and some never got that resolution. As I can't wait for others to come around, it is on me to work on myself and be better instead of waiting for them to come around as a prerequisite to improving myself or reconciling. 4. Neurodivergence does make me more sensitive to energy and spirits Before my diagnosis, I noticed things in nature that I didn’t realize others couldn’t perceive. After my diagnosis, my therapist told me it’s common for us to see things and because I see better when relaxed and peaceful while when stressed I don’t perceive anything easily, I realized neurodivergence is a unique operating system, As such, I read oracles better, can notice energy quickly, and as there are several levels of third eye opening, I can sense the other side a bit better, but still need more refinement since it could be a lot more given the new responsibilities given to me by new teachers whom I have met. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I will stay around for a week or so to answer any questions if people had any related to my practices or me. Otherwise, you can visit my new site at innerexpeditions.squarespace.com. Thank you everyone. Sri Matre Namaha and Namo Amitabha Buddhaya.

Life is Alchemy. (seems to be to my local awareness/experience) Life is the ever shifting of one into another. Awareness (the experience of being) itself is Alchemy. My Son's body formed within my Wife's body. Forming within the womb tzujan, of itself, by transmuting food, air and water that she consumed while pregnant. My Son's body now alchemizes food/air/water into bones, organs, muscles, nerves, etc and sustains awareness of this for a time, before further decomposing (alchemizing) into ought else.. Sunlight stimulates seeds in soil that, which alchemize with water, minerals and light to grow into trees, bushes, wheat, moss etc... these forms further alchemize, transforming into new soil. Transmutation. Alchemy. Reality=Alchemy of Awareness. As awareness is always shifting and morphing, accomodating new sensation, interpreting, adapting, rejecting, believing, seeking etc... Indeed, is there any aspect of phenominological awareness that is not an alchemy of transitioning from one observed form/structure/makeup, into another? Is there ought which is not Alchemy?

Saw this, and it felt a bit like gatekeeping. It's the most powerful form of qigong out there, and is not locked behind an academy paywall and a guru-like teacher. I switched now to just standing and nothing else on energetics. 40mins in ball holding pose, as recommended in Marc Cohen's book Inside Zhan Zhuang. My body becomes more supple, looser as the time progresses, not harder or stiffer. An important part of that is body scanning and allowing knots of tension to release. There are experiences when tension and hardness suddenly dissolve, after which the body feels light and soft. I would advise trying it for yourself. If you feel stiffer and more stuck, as Damo intimates, then switch to wuji or moving forms. But don't take his word as gospel, without trying for yourself.

Edit: just for clarification, this is an extract from Inside Zhan Zhuang by Mark Cohen. Apologies to the author, but he's probably able to better express the point than me. On a personal level, I'm also opposed to black and white, absolutist positions on this subject. Maybe zhan zhuang is inappropriate for some beginners, and less so for others. Maybe wuji is better for some beginners, maybe less so for others. The importance is listening to your own body and responding appropriately. And always exercise critical thinking when it comes to Internet authorities.

Well, ergot fungus is not part of rye, it's an infection that can contaminate rye more readily but it can also spread to wheat, barley, oats etc.. So simply preventing this infection takes care of LSD. A better question is, what about gluten and cereal grain lectins stimulating the opioidergic system in the gut and the brain to produce endogenous opioids -- similar to morphine, codeine, opium etc.? Which explains why it has seduced our civilization into an ages-long drug addiction (which consuming those grains really is...) And why does our body release endogenous painkillers (for both the body and the psyche) in response to being presented with gluten and cereal lectins? Because that's what it does in response to being hurt, damaged. So the cycle goes on -- you eat that stuff, you hurt and damage your body, the body releases feel-good chemicals... and a grain "civilization" is born.

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. I feel your love and support and value your friendship.

This question is quite unanswerable. Whether 2 systems are compatible can only be answered by the teachers of the 2 systems. But seldom does a teacher happen to know another system in depth. In the old days when the very original system has been taught, undiluted and unadulterated for centuries. Then another teacher may have sufficient knowledge on that system. But these days many system are recent inventions, or significantly altered, then outsiders would have no idea on what is going on.

Thread locked. I'm sorry but we no longer allow political subjects to be discussed here.

I feel like we don't have the same energy anymore, old people left, the ones who stayed don't post that much. Yes I know there are new people carrying the forum on it's back, if it weren't for them to post we would have like only a few posts per week. Cheers to those new members I also used to hype this forum when I started, good times back in 2019, and that wasn't even the peak, I came too late to this forum, envy for those who participated in those times Seems like in the past 3 years we went downhill bro I'm also out of ideas to post so I can't contribute, I tried to annoy people the other day but it wasn't a good idea Recently I started to look for Tantra practices, and I had to PM 2 members here to get answers because no one commented on my post Then I found Reddit, and reddit forum about Tanta, Hinduism and Buddhism are full of people, for vajrayana I found a whole forum dedicated to it, just like this one But the qigong reddit is poor, very poor... And there is no other place like The Dao Bums So the best place for qigong/daoist related topics is still The Dao Bums, but unfortunately for some reason we couldn't incorporate well other traditions, it would be nice to have more people here and everything in one place, but I have no idea how to make this happen, buddhism is quite relevant here too but as I said, in COMPARISON to other places this is not the best unfortunately Oh well I coundn't use all of the emojis Anyways, I feel sad to have to use other forums for other traditions related questions. If I'm wrong please correct me

Interesting conversation (I'm sure we've all discussed this many times on this board). FWIW, we should never do just standing. Standing should be complemented by moving. So in the context of Taijiquan, if we stand (beginners should not stand for more than 5-10 minutes and slowly build up standing time) - it builds power, we should also practice a moving form to circulate the power. If people only stand, they can end up damaging their kidneys or other health problems. Another thing about standing, imho, is that the mental state is very important - one must be "sung" in the mind as well as the body.

As far as I understand, to get into Master Wang's retreat now, the process is as follows: You need to attend one of the basic seminars with one of his students, Nathan is one of them, and learn the basic skills there, mastering sitting for three hours. After that, they'll tell you where Master Wang's next retreat is. Master Wang no longer holds retreats for beginners, so there's no real public information. You need to keep in touch with someone who knows Master Wang personally, and then you can find out the next date. And most likely, there won't be any more public beginner retreats. Another option is to go to Dalian, where Master Wang lives, stay there for a while, and then you can attend a retreat; he regularly holds retreats there for advanced students.

I am still here arguing with some old timers. Arguing with the same old things. I hope I'll never win. If I do, then, there is nothing to do here anymore.

Recently, something shifted within me. I’ve begun to live with the following belief: my life flows through the Dao, the Source. My existence belongs therefore to this infinite presence. I trust the wisdom of the Dao more than what my eyes can perceive, for the Dao sees farther than I ever could. Everything that unfolds is part of a greater plan, one beyond my understanding. The Dao, the Source, is my teacher. The purpose of my life is to stay connected to this presence. Even pain and suffering can serve as gateways to it. From this sacred space, miracles and possibilities emerge—things my mind alone could never imagine. Since leaning into this trust, I’ve been surprised by a new kind of quietness. It’s so calm inside that I can feel my heartbeat clearly, even when I’m not meditating in a formal way. Before, I could only sense it when I was sitting very still in formal practice. It also feels like the noise of the outside world doesn’t shake me as much as before. I wonder: Has anyone else felt this kind of natural quietness just from trust or surrender? Could this be something like what Daoists mean by aligning with the Dao, or “wu wei”? I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences.

Well it is a theory that fighting the evil forces is better than sitting in the view of no view. Since there is no separation, releasing all aggression results in changes for humanity that can be felt tangibly. Imagine tomorrow 5 billion people held no aggression anymore, what difference that would make?

Sam Bercholz, the founder of Shambhala publications, had an NDE where he went to hell. In one location, there was a terrible and cruel tyrant who, during his life, has killed and tortured countless people under his reign. He was reborn in the shape of a mountain who was undergoing tremendous suffering due to the fires and discomforts of hell. Part of this was that his body was writhing and alive, composed of his followers who participated in the terrors. In addition, his body was ALSO composed of all the people who hated him, fusing together with him in their human life and the next life. In other words, hatred fuses us to the object of our hatred as much as devoted glee. Not saying this should be taken literally, but feeding negativity for negativity's sake seems pointless. If anything, the faults of samsara should fuel renunciation from its promises, compassion for those in ignorance, and a stark determination to seek enlightenment so one can truly benefit sentient beings. The knowledge of the suffering of samsara is presented as the first step of the spiritual path, not the last.

Yes, so many of my wife's family were among the people who defeated ISIS. Just imagine the strength and fighting spirit of Kurdish TEENAGE men and women in flip flops with no training defeated ISIS which was largely trained and equipped by CIA and America before they rose to prominence and was deemed an enemy of the West. Imagine you sitting at home, watching television of brigades of heavily armed ISIS fighters taking over huge modern cities in mile long convoys of pick ups with heavy machineguns, decapitating thousands live on twitter, you're a 15 year old girl, and your reaction is to grab your flipflops and your AK and go to fight them. That's a very special kind of inner strength and courage. It's truly tragic, as the kurds are some of the "most normal" in the Middle East, simply meaning reasonably European and sensible in many ways, compared to many of the more fanatical regimes. If a united Kurdistan was created, it could potentially be a kind of beacon of light, humaneness, sensibility and just "normal living" to help stabilise the whole region. An oasis in a sea of fanaticism. What they lack is a strong leader with this powerful vision of unity, as unfortunately due to millenia of wars, the mentality of "caring for yourself first" is extremely strong. Nationalism is also there, but it's a largely unguided force, intercepting militarily when things are grave and you need to defend (e.g. ISIS), but not with a vision of unity for all the kurds. And realistically every major power is against them in the region, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey. They would lose land, power, ressources and influence if Kurdistan became a unified country. Actually Israel is one of the only powerful countries in the Middle East that tries to help Kurdistan - e.g. buy a lot of their oil, covertly sell them weapons, provide secret agents to help defeat fanatics that are trying to rise to power and so on. The Isreali story of being a persecuted nation without a homeland, with all major powers against them is so similar in spirit to the Kurdish story of being a persecuted people without your own country, and all major powers using you and your land as a plaything in their own games. That's why they help each other since modern Isreal was founded, even though ofc many modern Kurdish brainwashed by islamic fanatics are not aware of it, but the older generation remember when secret isreali agents brought them food, water, ressources, clothes etc in times of war and crisis, also weapons for self defense, and still financially today they support by buying oil in massive quantities at a fair price. Yes, Africa could almost be declared the black magic capital of the world, the magic there is very powerful

Hello Annnon, GM Doo Wai explained that for FP Qigong to be optimally effective, one needs to have regular restful sleep--i.e., for FP Qigong to work well, one cannot be sleep-deprived. He gave this answer in reply to my question if FP Qigong can replace lost sleep--citing the fact that the Tao Tan Pai ("Taoist Elixir Method"), which I learned from Taoist priest Share K. Lew (1975 to 1992), has high Yogas called "The Nine Flowers" and "The Five Dragons" that can replace lost sleep and thus enable one to function at full strength and high mental acuity without have regular restful sleep. GM Doo Wai and Taoist Priest/GM Share K. Lew were friends and peers since the moment they met in America, what GM Doo Wai described as "fellow kung fu men." Each was the senior lineage holder of a complete and intact Taoist monastic tradition of kung fu, nei kung, medicine, and spiritualism. Back to your question: "...why good quality sleep is needed or quote the original post?" Answer: It's just how the FP Qigong yogic methodology (utilizing the percentage breathing formulas) works . Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung, in contrast, works on a different yogic methodology that 's rooted in the cultivation of human sexual energy, what some Hindu Yogas and other Tantric systems call "the kundalini" energy ("coiled snake"). FP Qigong, in contrast, does not focus on the kundalini energy or on any other type or "flavor" of energy--for no visualization of any kind is required in the practice of FP Qigong. This great dissimilarity in yogic mechanism between FP Qigong and Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung is reflected/manifested in the fact that strict celibacy must be observed when learning the Advanced Tao Tan Pai Yogas, while no celibacy is required at all when learning and practicing any levels of Flying Phoenix Qigong--or any other Yogas under the Bok Fu Pai umbrella, for that matter. Thus, as I had posted in one of the early years of this thread: when I asked GM Doo Wai (with classmates present) whether we needed to observe any duration of celibacy when learning FP Qigong or any of the advanced Bok Fu Pai meditations (as I had to do when I was learning the advanced Tao Tan Pai Yogas), he answered, "Nah, you can knock yourselves out." However, to explain in any detail why and how FP Qigong requires regular restful sleep in order to work well would require rigorous testing and study by neuroscience, for starters. Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. This is a photo of GM at the grand opening of Sifu Dougla Wong's second kung fu school in Parthenia, Ca in 1981: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10227420095559787&set=a.10227420037518336

I have come to see the psyche not merely as a mind in the psychological sense, but as a layered energetic system populated by subtle forces. At the heart of this view are the subconscious emotional and mental currents, and deeper still, two complementary unconscious currents that I’ve come to think of as the Shiva aspects and the Shakti aspects. The emotional and mental currents we’re all familiar with, but the Shiva and Shakti currents are less obvious, so I will go into some detail about them. They can be recognized through many vivid symbolic pairs: Wildfire / Fireplace The dynamic blaze that consumes and transforms. The hearth that holds the fire safely, giving it purpose and warmth. Fish / Fishbowl The darting, elusive vitality moving through hidden depths. The clear bowl that contains, supports, shapes, and protects its motions. Cat / Dog The graceful, sensitive, easily startled nature that seeks comfort. The loyal guardian that stays close, watching over and calming. Fearful / Protector The trembling instinct that recoils from perceived danger. The steady presence that stands firm, offering safety. These pairs are not idle poetry. They illustrate how the unconscious houses instinctual forces that must evolve together. The Shakti aspect represents a dynamic, vital current — the drive toward life, transformation, emotional vitality, subtle creativity. The Shiva aspect provide containment, the instinctive intelligence that knows how to protect, restrain, channel, and nurture what would otherwise be chaotic. In each pairing: The dynamic life-force is untamed, vital, transformative. The caring containment is protective, shaping, enabling that energy to flourish without harm. They are co-arising: the wild needs the safe space to exist meaningfully; the container finds purpose in cradling the life within. If one seeks only to awaken the dynamic energy (as in a blind kundalini pursuit), without fostering the complementary instinct to contain and guide it, imbalance is inevitable. The system can flare into anxiety, delusion, or emotional overwhelm. This is why so many teachings stress that cultivation is not merely about amplifying energy, but purifying and preparing the mental and emotional channels first, so the deeper forces can safely develop. To purify the emotional and mental currents tangled by personal history, they must be witnessed and brought into greater flow. They are the first terrain of inner work, and through methods such as shadow work, dream exploration, deep feeling and understanding etc, their dysfunctions can be gradually resolved. Only then can the deeper unconscious forces, the Shiva and Shakti layers, find their ground. Importantly, it is the Shiva aspect that must awaken the Shakti aspect, otherwise containment will not occur, and the Shiva aspect in its turn has to first be activated by the flowing current of the emotional and mental currents. Recently, my dreams have begun to show me that when these two deep unconscious instinctual layers find each other and start to mature in their interaction, something new emerges. In symbolic terms, this is represented as a smaller, independent vehicle that will one day travel on its own. This resonates with images from Daoist Neidan (inner alchemy) where an alchemical child is born - an autonomous subtle body that eventually can separate from the main system. This smaller independent vehicle or child is the fruit of a long interplay between mature containment (Shiva) and vitality (Shakti). But the picture does not end here. Overseeing all of this is the witness self, the faculty of clear seeing that stands apart from the energies it observes. This witness is the part that learns to trust that the humble, instinctual containment field is capable of guiding the system more wisely than the anxious grasping of the conscious mind. It slowly informs the conscious mind, which may then serve as the executive agent, ruling not by force but by insight. In the end, I see the conscious mind, gently taught by the witness, becoming the wise steward of the system - allowing these deeper layers to do their work, neither interfering unnecessarily nor abandoning responsibility. Thus the entire architecture of psyche - subconscious, unconscious, witness, and conscious mind - becomes integrated. Each layer performs its unique role, culminating in a new life, an independent vitality born of the interplay between our deepest instinctual forces. A compact visual map (Divine / Mother/ Highest Source) ↓ Witness Self (objective seeing, clear awareness) ↓ Conscious Mind (steward) (makes decisions based on witness insight) ↓ ----------------------------------------------- | | Emotional Stream Mental Stream (Subconscious patterns & biases) ↓ ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | Dynamic Vital Force Containment Field (Shakti aspects) (Shiva aspects) - wildfire, fish, cat, fear - fireplace, fishbowl, dog, protector ↓ Interplay gives rise to: Smaller independent vehicle (new independent ‘entity’ directed by the conscious mind)

Of course! Ddecomposition is a leading source of the direction of Primal Alchemy! Have you not recognized the Alchemy of decomposition all around you? The rotting food in your colon and small intestine is the source of all your energy and sustaining of your bodily form. Every thing you consume is dead, or dying as it enters your body. Decomposition is the source of the Vigor and Vitality of Livingness in your bodily experience. The Awareness of Being. In your response, you seem to be looking at my finger... not what the finger indicates.

I've deleted my comments about Damo. I realised I was still pretty upset about a disagreement I had with him years ago and that may have coloured a lot of what I wrote about him. Damo is obviously a human being too, and I bet it can't be too nice as a public figure reading anonymous people writing horrible things about you online. I think this has been fairly cathartic for me though, to get it off my chest after keeping it quiet for so long. So perhaps time to move on, forgive and forget. Apologies for airing dirty laundry, fellow bums

'' ... So then the wife said ; 'What are you going to do today ?' I said ; 'Nothing.' She said ; ' You did that yesterday .' I said ; ' I ain't finished yet .' ''

A Bastet case, I have become reading sonnets, having fun The port is good, so they declare in Portugal, some cat is there who sweeps a tail across the rug and makes a toy of some poor bug photo Jon Bodsworth

Cool cats rarely follow rules, or get good grades in public schools. They cultivate an air of mystery, not for them the one two three. So Apech´s drinking wine in Portugal, and not concerned with us at all. Let alone the great cat Bastet, who surely deserves her own sonnet. meow

He's done a lot of Egyptian study yet never talks of Bastet, buddy. What kind of cool white cat is that?

Not my brother, a friend. And in reality he´s a sweet guy and I don´t wish him any harm. Just someone who got caught up, as so many of us do, in a particular mind loop. For brother Apech He´s a cool white cat, who knows where it´s at. He´s done lots of Egyptian study, I´m lucky he´s my buddy.

Your experience does not contradict my statement. The thing is, there's no such generic thing as "scientists." I also have a master's (so what) and am a descendant of four generations of Ph.D.s, two of which achieved truly great things in (of all things) agricultural sciences whose positive impact lasts till today. (No, not pesticides or genetic modifications, nothing of the sort. Real agricultural science as it used to exist before all that jazz.) You may want to re-read what I wrote with this idea in mind: "scientists" and "science" is a profoundly ephemeral concept. Smoke and mirrors that may hide anyone and anything. That's the generic everyday use (or rather glaringly wrongful misuse) of the term "science," which (as @zerostao pointed out in the statement I was expounding on) is absolutely equal to a belief system. We are trained to believe statements we are told originate from "Science." "Trust the Science" absolutely equals "In God We Trust" -- it's a statement of belief plus a commandment. Real science has nothing to do with statements of belief and commandments. And real scientists... the system is set up to produce very few of those -- and disown, discredit, persecute them if they fail to toe the indoctrinators' line. But enough tangent.

Even if an ant eats a bald eagle, it will never achieve the greatness of a street pigeon

It doesn't matter if someone believes or not; if there is functionality. No autopsy will find a mco in a cadaver. The cadaver is dead and no longer an active energy vessel. There are results from running mco. That, idk how many practitioners over the years, spanning generations, generally agree upon. Mco is not a physical structure it is a dynamic energy pathway. Once again, the "scientific" view is exposed by its limitations by disregarding the subjective and only relying on the objective. Edit/ I said it before and it remains true that science itself, is a belief systen

I don’t really have a belief in qi. I do have a daily physical interaction with it like I have an interaction with my coffee table in my living room. To say I have a belief in qi would be like saying I have a belief in my coffee table. Its physical existence is self evident through my direct experience making whether I have a belief in it irrelevant. .The difference is I work on my connection with qi whereas I take my coffee table for granted and don’t give it much attention. . Because I work on that experience with qi the experience deepens and changes. I don’t have much expectation for specific outcomes but I am pleasantly surprised when i see changes or the experience deepens. Regardless I find it a pleasant challenge to work with. I am told it can take you quite far in connecting with spirit or the divine or whatever you want to call it. Rather than believing in this I think it is healthier to just keep going and to continue to observe what arises and be grateful for the experience.

Substance literally means what stands under ... so for instance the substance of a table might be wood. So the wood is more 'basic' or underlying in the sense that if there were no wood there would be no table (provided it is a wooden one). In the case of internal alchemy the substance(s) are what lies behind appearance. The deeper you go the more 'real' you get ... in the sense of being without dependence on anything beneath. I think the question 'is the MCO real' is the wrong one. It would be better to ask 'does it work?' or 'what does it do?' or perhaps 'how do you make it work' but this question gives rise to the general question 'can you make it work or does it just happen'. Most if not all energy exercises/techniques or practices simply replicate intentionally things that happen naturally. So a certain breathing practice if done with conscious will simply replicates something that would arise naturally if the circumstances arise. For instance vase breathing, abdominal breathing, embryonic breathing and so on are all like this (in my experience). I would put the MCO in the same category. The danger in practicing without first achieving deep meditational states is that you replace the genuine cycling of energy with an imagined substitute which does not and cannot hit the spot so to speak. But equally you have to gain some familiarity with the subtle body and its workings in order to progress and so as you absorb intellectually the principles of the working of the subtle body this in itself stimulates it into action.

Once again, a big thanks to all of you. Met him today, and I do suspect that the well wishes of the wizard bums made a difference in him, truly.

When I first got into running, I read a great book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. One assertion the book made is that we are hairless due to natural selection. Our lack of hair and ability to sweat gives us a distinct advantage in hunting over hairy, four legged animals that are much faster. They can run faster but can only lower their temperature through panting so they are forced to periodically stop and rest or they overheat. Humans, on the other hand, can lower temperature through sweating so it is possible for us to keep running for hours, even days, without stopping. As long as we can keep the faster animal in our sight, we will eventually catch them. McDougall postulates this is one reason we have come to dominate other species. The book goes into some interesting territory, including the Raramuri people of Mexico who are amazing runners. One just won an ultra-marathon, in fact, running in traditional sandals and a long skirt with no formal training. Before running the ultra, she walked 14 hours just to get there. https://www.onlygoodnewsdaily.com/post/indigenous-runner-wins-canyon-ultramarathon

Have been reading some info on humans eating wheat and other grains. The info says most grains cause us problems, even serious health problems, with wheat (including whole grain) being about the worse and brown rice being about the best as far as not causing an array of health problems. Its kind of mind blowing considering that whole grains and greatly processed grains are in so many of our foods! A major point the book talks about is that humans did not evolve to digest grains as ruminants did (like cattle, etc..) but only resorted to grains ages ago during hard times to prevent starvation. Studies mentioned show that many native peoples who eat "modern" foods end up with many of the modern health problems but when returning to their much earlier types of food from foraging and or hunting that most regained much better health. Anyway something to consider the next time foods made with lots of grains are before us.

Ursinically speaking, it sounds like Portugal is a pretty barren country.

Thread locked. DaoBums does not support the use of race to analyze human nature or behavior. Please avoid this topic.

I think this, like most things taiji, is misunderstood both in terminology and in application by quite a few. My teacher had me fajin him vs. fajin a pillar supporting a beam in his practice room, by way of explaining the difference hands on. Yes, of course you can fajin without an opponent, who's to stop you if you have the know-how. And no, that pillar didn't give me anything to use against it, I could only rely on my very own resources. Whereas a live opponent is going to give you something you can appropriate and turn against him (if you have the know-how of course.) Don't use your own resources is the golden rule of good push-hands. The highly skilled practitioner won't give you anything though. Moreover, they will create a perfect sensory illusion of "nothing there" -- try using fajin against a cloud, a swath of fog, a tactile emptiness... Very educational. So that pillar does give you something after all -- its own hardness which it is unable to soften, let alone to the point of disappearing from all your senses except your eyesight. Are you familiar with the "bu fa" technique?

Carl Jung called it synchronicity. I have this all the time. Works very well for me actually; usually gives me exactly what I need. I just am grateful for it and call it a mystery.

This one is from the perspective of Tibetan medicine and has a concise practice of dream yoga and dream analysis. The Tibetan Art of Dream Analysis

get as many chores done as possible before the snow flys: paint the outside of house if needed and calk windows where needed get firewood ready, check and or clean chimney pipe do whatever work your vehicles need, along with new all season or snow tires if needed trim trees and bushes soon and put down winter fertilizer for the lawns make sure your furnace is in good order (call a company to check it) and get spare air filters for it make sure that any water pipes will not freeze by being exposed and also drain and roll up water hoses mend fences and gates if needed take a break and have a good cup of coffee and listen to some good music waterproof your boots and organize winter clothing, including getting a new coat if needed attend your favorite college football games and cheer your head off while analyzing plays pray & give thanks for your next breathe and the power given to do all the things you love and for those you love last but not least check to see if Nungali finished his daring ocean voyage

Hello I can't help but answer this since the Pyramid Texts of Unas are something of a specialist subject for me (or were when I was studying Egypt). @Nungali has for some reason changed the quote - to give a slightly different meaning as indicated in the translations you quote. So his meaning is specific to him (no less valid though). I checked Sethe's original transcription for what is called Utterance 233 (lines 237/8) just to see what they were saying. Old Kingdom Egyptian is like a no frills version and so there is very little context or explanation in the text. But you can gain some context etc. by seeing where these texts were placed in the pyramid structure. In this case they are on the West gable of the sarcophagus chamber - and are part of a series of 'spells' against inimical beings. That is 'entities' or forces which act against the the process being undertaken in the pyramid (which is one of transformation and 'rebirth' as a spiritual being called an 'akh'.) The words are intended to be spoken to ward off these negative forces. These types of spells occur twice in the Pyramid once here on the West gable above the sarcophagus and once on the East wall of the akhet chamber (that is on the opposite end of the pyramid chambers so they reflect each other). So there are two instances in the process which takes place in the pyramid where negative forces have to be warded off. Translated without interpretation the text says: To be spoken: Falls down the serpent from the earth, Falls down the flame from the Nun (primeval waters), Fall down, slither away. We have to break this down a bit to see what they were saying. First as I said it is a spell to be spoken out loud and its purpose is to ward off a negative force. One of the ways the Egyptians denoted negative forces was by a state of inversion. So there is a right order for things (ma'at) and there is its invert which is negative/evil. So the first two lines describe a negative state which has arisen. That is the serpent has fallen and the flame has fallen. This describes a negative state. Why because serpents like the uraeus (Egypt. Iaret ) literally means 'risen up one' and obviously also flames rise, they don't fall. I think also that the word flame or fire which has the determinative of a torch is referring to light rather than heat. So it is referencing light = awareness which has fallen back into the primeval waters which are dark (kek). So if you imagine that the right (ma'at) state of things would be a risen serpent (like the cobra on the brow of the king) and light emerging from darkness. But because of the interference of inimical beings/forces the opposite has happened and this needs to be addressed. The way this is done is to turn back the negative force onto itself. Like saying 'you made these things fall, now you fall!'. This symmetry is very Egyptian. So the last part of the spell is saying to the negative being 'You fall! and slither away!' (or you fall slitherer) In fact the very last word 'sbn' (slither) gives us a clue to which category of beings is being addressed - it is that of the Sebau fiends ... or Slithering beings. This refers to forces of dissolution or perhaps wasteful energy loss. Like for instance lustful thoughts and the like which drain energy. So my rather free translation would be: "You who made the earth serpent fall, who made the flame from Nun fall; You fall and slither away!!!"

For me, they flow together. Qigong and seasonal living keeps me grounded in the cycles of body and nature. Buddhism, especially the Eightfold Path, gives me a practical, day-to-day focus so I'm not just circulating energy, I'm directing it toward ethical development. So I think Buddhism and qigong (and wider Taoist practice) are definitely compatible. They reinforce each other. The Buddhist side keeps me honest about intention and ethics, the Taoist side keeps me tuned to the body and the seasons. One emphasizes liberation, the other emphasizes harmony. In my practice right now, that looks like lung support, moistening foods, breath-focused practice, letting go qigong, and divination around endings and storage (Taoist side of things), as well as focusing on Right Mindfulness, witnessing grief and release, siting with what’s fading without clinging, and gentle awareness sharpening (Buddhist). I don't practice Zen or Vajrayana. While it's my basic understand that the systems have some similarity, like breath dissolving into stillness, body changing with the seasons, subtle shifts in how awareness feels in the spine or chest, etc, I believe overall they're different systems with different goals (thought they may complement one another). Daoist work is about cycles of refining essence, qi, and spirit. In Zen it’s more about peeling away illusions until only clarity is left. I'm least familiar with Vajrayana, so I can't say for sure how they align. They may be compatible and mutually reinforcing, but I wouldn’t say equate Daoist neidan with Zen or Vajrayana. Here's how progression may look between the three systems: Neidan (Daoist Internal Alchemy) Chan/Zen (Buddhism) Vajrayana (Tibetan) Foundation (zhuji): conduct, diet, breath, lifestyle; quieting xin Precepts/discipline: sila, posture, calming the mind Ngöndro/prelims: refuge, bodhicitta, purification, guru yoga; basic channel regulation Refining jing → qi: conserve essence; lower dantian; small heavenly circulation Samadhi building: zazen stabilizes body–mind; energy naturally conserved Generation stage: deity visualization, mantra; guide winds into channels Refining qi → shen: circulate qi; harmonize yin/yang; nourish spirit Insight: kenshō; seeing emptiness; stabilize awareness Completion stage: tsa-lung/tummo; winds dissolve into central channel Refining shen → emptiness: return spirit to source; “immortal embryo” Integration: body-mind dropped off; non-clinging clarity Union of winds/drops/mind: clear light; mahāmudrā/ dzogchen recognition Union with Dao: return to origin; harmony/“immortality” Buddha-nature manifest: liberation from samsara Buddhahood/rainbow body: complete realization

Time for a music break

I'm a Daoist for some years now. Decided to come say hi and maybe participate some. I've explored a bit of qigong and taichi(mostly Chen), currently into neigong as far as practice goes.

The hell with wu wei! I do what I want.

It's disgusting what happened to the Yazidi tribes. Melek Taus (The peacock god) is very interesting- embodying eternal light and considered the leader of the archangels, it's a very old religion with practices going back to ancient Mesopotamia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawûsî_Melek.

Hi @Kaspar, Some years back Kunlun / yigong was all the rage on the board, and many people shared their experiences -- both positive and negative -- with the practice. If you search back, you should be able to read many of those accounts. I think of spontaneous movement as a process of purification; it releases blockages that get in the way of stillness and silence. In a sense, the specifics of our blockages are not "profound," but the underlying calm that remains when the blockages are removed is profound. That´s the way I see it. Like you, I love to read about other people´s experiences with practices I´m interested in. These stories are often inspiring, motivating. But what is ultimately important is the experience you will have if you commit to the practice. I¨m confident that your story will be uniquely your own. I think it´s a worthy undertaking. You may not do it forever, but it´s worth spending some time with as an experiment, seeing where it will take you. Just my two cents.

Black Magic: Peculiar things do exist. For normal people, it is better to follow the Confucian attitude - respect the ghosts and gods but keep a long distance. A Taiwan mystic has encountered a statue fallen from an abandoned temple. She set it up again but found something try to attach to her. Then she was angry and kicked it down slope. So even with "proper" religious setting, one should be careful. Karmic Debts: While other problems can be solved by ZhengYi magicians, Karmic Debt cannot. It could be an excuse when the Taoist cannot do anything. The normal solution is cultivation, following a proper Taoist/Buddhist religion, good deeds, good diet etc. Burning joss papers said to help too if it is not so serious. Local spirit kings: In Chinese community, every home or grave used to have a Shen of the Door, which is a red wood plate which says the dragon kings of 5 directions, Lords of the location, God of fortune. We could offer incenses and wine once a year, or even daily. It is mainly to avoid evil spirits coming in. They mainly act as a protection service. Conceal Blessings: It used to be common in Chinese traditions. You downplay everything, down dress. Spirits follow home: Going to casinos would said to dampen your 3 fires of powers. Going to hospitals/funerals would also be a problem. It is better to go to some noisy places, have food with others, get some sunshine, before directly go home. In short, similar to spy stuff.

How about a nice walk in a forest?

This is how a beginner does. There is no such thing as not for beginners. Otherwise, where would a beginner start to do something.

I think about scrambled eggs. I imagine eating scrambled eggs. I decide to eat scrambled eggs for breakfast. All different. What the three processes have in common is that none of them actually are scrambled eggs, unfortunately.