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I believe that ‘Judge not’ warns against ego-based condemnation that feeds separation and karmic entanglement. But there’s a world of difference between reactive judgment and the clear seeing that arises from compassion and alignment with truth. IMO Jesus wasn’t condemning out of wounded pride, he was cutting through hypocrisy to protect and awaken. So we might say real spiritual maturity knows when silence is love, and when fierce clarity is love. It’s not about never discerning, but about where it’s coming from within us.

To all American Bums. 🇬🇧💂💂🇬🇧

Yes, let us celebrate as only the mystery schools of Alexandria knew how. Cucumber sandwiches cut into Gnostic triangles and served on the best china. With a pot of tea shared between us. Perhaps a few biscuits or scones with cream and jam. While we speak in Pythagorean verse and draw signs in the air with our forefingers. And curse the demiurge and the fallen star of Lucifer. Then summon a sweeter muse that arrives on a gentle breeze and shakes the hibiscus bloom.

Some of you may decide otherwise, but we are in fact STILL the same people who used to have more time to chat with you before we took on this thankless and unpaid job out of love for the board and your company. We were, and are, STILL your friends.

Be still and know that I AM God. ---Tehillim 46:11 The Hebrew word רָפָה "rapha" [the Psalms were written in Hebrew] can mean "be still" and it can also mean "cease striving" Other meanings are "be relaxed" and "heal" As in the archangel Raphael

A short thread... about emptiness/Source/Self/Dao/whatever.... on DaoBums.... Yeah, right

Have you read “Harry Potter and the Old3bob of Doom”?

Hi Vajra Fist, Important points of clarification: There is no inference or implication that "if the FP Qigong 'doesn't work' for someone, then that someone is 'evil'." First of all, I had never stated nor written that "Flying Phoenix Qigong doesn't work for evil people"---nor has any other instructor in Bok Fu Pai arts nor any of my in-person students. What I quoted Grandmaster Doo Wai as having said is this: "Evil people will not practice Flying Phoenix Qigong." • And I will elaborate upon this statement to explain exactly what GM Doo Wai meant based on my being in the room with him when he said it, and based on my direct experience in teaching FP Qigong since 1992: "Evil people will not continue to practice FP Qigong once they have tried it and felt its effects--because evil people DO NOT like the way FP Qigong transforms their body-mind to pristine health." The implication is that FP Qigong works on everyone--to some varying extent. The fact is that evil and corrupted people who are intent to continue doing evil, will not practice FP Qigong because they don't want to stop their ways--i.e., they don't want their nervous system reprogrammed to not do evil. Evil people who have tried FP Qigong cannot in all honesty deny that FP Qigong has some positive effect on the body-mind. Thus they will spurn its practice. • The implication ( and yogic fact) being that FP Qigong is so steadily transformative of the body-mind to a pristine (and at times blissful) state of health (homeostasis) that any person who is so bent on doing evil (and is thus so mentally bent by evil) will not allow any thing or influence come near that might unbend him/her. • The further implication being that there is no such thing as "original sin." That's the reality that's experientially proven by Feng Do Duk's Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Qigong. That's the experience shared by GM Doo Wai when he said, "Evil people will not practice Flying Phoenix Qigong." Relatedly, the physically healing and spiritually purifying effects of FP Qigong are so extremely powerful that after years of practice, one becomes thoroughly and deeply calibrated to discern and recognize evil energy instantly (on a neurological level)--and even distinguish between different "grades" of evil. In November 2024, I wrote this substack article about sighting in a public place and almost confronting a prolific serial killer, Lonnie Franklin Jr., in L.A in August 1995. (This article was in follow-up to my Oct. 10, 2024 article about attracting and crossing paths with another serial killer 9 years earlier in 1986 [named Michael Player, aka. "The Skid Row Killer"] in the Miracle Mile district of L.A., and explaining how that earlier incident was my harshest lesson in anger management, resulting in me getting shot in the back with a .38 pistol and the shooter dying the same night.) https://open.substack.com/pub/terencedunn/p/seeing-the-grim-sleeper-in-my-very?r=5i7g9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false In this substack article, I explained how I was able to instantly recognize this person (who later turned out to be Lonnie Franklin Jr., aka the "Grim Sleeper") the instant I laid eyes on him as I was checking out of a Ralphs supermarket in LA and he was 4 check stands away to my right. When I wrote the article, I attributed my ability to instantly recognize him as a dangerous killer --AND knew that he had just killed someone (i.e., he was "fresh from a kill")--to my practice of the Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung system for 21 years up to the time of the sighting. But I am stating here and now that I believe that my "ability to instantly recognize strong evil" was also attributable--to a much lesser extent--to having practiced FP Qigong for 4 years, as of August 1995. After 34 years of practicing FP Qigong, I now firmly believe that long-term practice of FP Qigong enables the practitioner to access (turn on at will) the self-healing state of allostasis (self-healing) and slip into FP Qigong's uniquely sublime higher state of consciousness that enables one to readily perceive and recognize any type of animal consciousness (mental energy. intentionality, and yes, even spiritual energy) that is opposite in nature to the Flying Phoenix healing mode to an extreme. That is, as a side effect of FP Qigong practice, one is conditioned to perceive and instantly recognize negative energy, destructive energy, destructive intent, evil karma, and ultimately "demonic energy." Remember that FP Qigong is the health cornerstone of the vast Ehrmei Mountain Bok Fu Pai ("White Tiger")Kung Fu system, an authentic Taoist monastic tradition founded by Feng Do Duk (Feng Dao Deh) in 1644 that systematically trains warrior-healer-priest-exorcists. I hope this clarifies. Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. This is the link my earlier written article in October 2024 about my violent encounter with "The Skid Row Killer" on October 8, 1986: https://open.substack.com/pub/terencedunn/p/sifu-terry-dunns-tai-chi-for-health-ac0?r=5i7g9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

That's alright, just practicing cultivation of speech

America is a vast patchwork of different cultures. We´re obscenely rich and heartbreakingly poor; rural gun-toting Texans and progressive rainbow flag-waving denizens of West Hollywood; black and brown and white like hulled rice. I can´t help but think, despite all the problems and fighting, that there´s something beautiful about the messy mix of it all. Happy 4th!

/\ We have a whole series of jokes based on interpreting what one hears in a "lik lik" known language. Goes both ways, by the way -- e.g. we use "bread of sieve cable" to mean "bred sivoy kobyly" -- an idiom meaning "delirious bullshit," literally "the ravings of a grey mare." The latest example from my just-concluded trip to Greece. Me and my friends were sipping espressos in a cafe in Corfu Town, and at the next table some young Greek guys were having a very lively conversation. In the course of which one of them jumped to his feet and exclaimed, with great feeling and energy, what sounded like "Shabliaka ty moliaka!" to my ear. Now I don't know about other people's ears but to mine it was simply delightful. In Russian it could have been a yet unknown curse, but also words of endearment, or a nickname for a friend, or a dire warning -- watch out, I'm about to kick your ass! Could be anything but due to the manner of delivery I was convinced it wasn't something boring. So later I tried to pick AI's brain to decipher it. What Greek expression, in a context I described to it, could it have been, and what could it mean? After a brainstorming session we zeroed in on "Ti blaxia, ti malakia" -- which is the Greek for "what nonsense, what stupidity!" Perfect. I still haven't decided which version I like better, the real one or the misheard one, but I'm tempted to start using one of them, or maybe both.

Whatever practice you are doing, cherishing, holding out as THE way in... isn't. What you are looking isn't the words, or the movements, the visualizations, the breath... any "thing". What you are looking for is what is in between all of those "things". What you are seeking requires no "work" or "doing". I requires learning to stop doing.

It can be a lot of work to try to do nothing! And when we finally see what @stirling so expertly and consistently points towards, we see how much wasted effort we've expended. It's comical in retrospect but frustrating and very serious when we're in the thick of it. I like how Peter Fenner once put it, 'if we didn't do what we didn't need to do, we wouldn't know we didn't need to do it.' But if we can truly trust in opening and letting everything be just as it is for a moment, we can shortcut the process considerably. How unfamiliar it can be to spend much time just feeling stillness, hearing silence, embracing openness, doing nothing at all, just leaving everything as it is. What a waste of time, it seems, in such a materialistic and productivity based culture. It's very simple but not very easy because we are so familiar with, even addicted to, the movement, the sound, the content and activity of the mind. We are so primed for transactional relationship that anything else seems like a failure. It seems so foreign to think the ultimate method is.... doing nothing at all. But that nothing embraces everything, far more than our limited intellect can readily access or appreciate. I was once talking with a friend at a campfire about these things and he was going on and on, waxing philosophical about the nature of this and that. Something possessed me to break this loop of logic and I spontaneously let out a loud shriek. He looked at me shocked, as was I, and I simply held his gaze. Within a second or two, in the silence that followed the interruption, I could see the dawning of recognition on his face and we both broke into laughter, then just sat together in silence. It was pretty cool. Never did that before or since. Sometimes that stuff just comes out at the right time.

Yeah... really "heavy handed censorship"? Do you even realize how many chances we Mods here have given you because we all kinda enjoy your crusty grumpiness? The way that you repay us is to keep pushing the edge and creating more unnecessary work for us. You are out of chances. Next time it's points and a time out as far as I am concerned. There is nothing in the board rules that supports violating them because your "truth" is more important than they are. This is not a platform for free speech.

‘heavy handed’? Really?

Some of the posts on this thread are pretty thinly veiled references. If it continues we'll be locking this thread. Deep thanks to those of you who are refraining. - Mods

Actions that bring us closer to the light... gardening looking at the ocean walking (extra points if done in nature) socializing with friends hugs good books, good art, good music home cooking finally cleaning out the garage pizza (OK, maybe not but this is my bias) Actions that might or might not bring us closer to the light... posting on Daobums

there wouldn’t be much traffic on the forum otherwise.

Urrrgha .... Ummm , no, you misunderstood yourself . You said : " the spirit/magical realm vs. the material, " I suggest removing the vs from that ^ not this new arrangement of 'physical vs mental ' . vs means 'against, opposed to , or in contrast to '. Spirit our magic should not work or be against the material . it should not oppose it but give depth meaning and insight into the material and although it can seem in contrast to it , for many it isn't ; for example a traditional Aboriginal believe ( before invasion of the nasty people ) was 'this IS heaven ' . No separation between spiritual and material , they interweave and flow into each other .

if you are asking the questions, since you are asking the questions, then there is a part of you that is ready

For most humans the emotions are more refined and aligned than the mental processes. Accordingly feeling uneasy about some action/relationship/direction is usually a sign that things need to be reassessed. That is complicated when the human has interfering entities and significant karma. Fortunately the higher subplanes of the heart are cosmic so that working with the light of the heart is usually reliable Most humans do not have enough control of their thoughts to rely upon mental analysis

The human has functions beyond its species - as demonstrated by the geometric Tree of Life fitting on the human and on various continents. Since our god is a god of right relationship the human is expected to carry out that function as a direct impulse from that Logos. If a human loves itself from the heart then it is doing well. Humans that do not love themselves are facing away from the Logos

The each human format contains perhaps a trillion intelligences that more or less cooperate to produce an entity that functions in the local cosmos. A universe contains a vastly greater number of intelligences that need to be coordinated, refined, aligned and integrated so that Logos has a coherent body that it can use in relating to other universes and their Logoi The human is a microcosm so that a coherent/enlightened human naturally propagates that coherence into the local aspects of the universe If the human is incoherent the universe will instinctively protect itself from that contagion

" If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." From The Hobbit

Amount of likes on daobums, naturally. But on the real, vibes, basically. At times i meet people who clearly function at a much higher level on conciousness than I. What traits do they tend to have... presence, kindness, humility, a tremendious ability to know what to say and what not to say. A spark in the eye. Also, I get a strong sense that they are able to read my mind... They never judge. Seem to have strong life force/vitality. Yeah, something along these lines, I think. So Cobies response is quite good, I think: they "smile". Are gentle and kind. What more can you ask for, really. Would anyone like to attempt to define the term?

I had a crazy experience yesterday. After taking Sifu Terry's Saturday class, I went to eat some lentil soup. Mid-sip, around 30min after doing the qigong, I suddenly felt a rush of energy to my head. I could see a blue aura in everything, along with a depth that is hard to put into words. It was like I could perceive a large amount of space in between things. It was especially pronounced when I looked down at my arm, and outside at the trees. Time seemed to slow down too -- it was like I could perceive the space between things, as well as the space between moments. The peak lasted around 30 min, and the afterglow lasted the rest of the day. Everything was heightened, I was happy the whole day, and music especially sounded good. Now I recall a thought I had before: "Flying Phoenix eliminates the need to do drugs". The time dilation and altered state of consciousness were similar to being high on weed, but without any detriment to my health or my intelligence (the opposite, in fact). I'd felt similar experiences last year, but I don't remember them being anywhere this strong, and it'd been a long time since I felt anything like this. I think I'd gotten used to the energy, and also stressed out from work. Either way, this was probably my most "wow" experience so far on Flying Phoenix. And a good reminder to relax and slow down sometimes (and to keep practicing).

Mod action: thread locked as it was heading into political territory.

Oh how I would of loved to have quiet intellectual conversations in kitchens while enjoying tea with homemade preserves! I was born in the wrong place and time. Instead, I´m sitting here by myself while people half a world away threaten to out me (inaccurately) as "liking Trump."

I may be bad at economy so it's a bit hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that to celebrate winning a war over 2% tax on tea, we pay a 7.75% sales tax on anything we might want to use for the celebration. Not to mention the rest of taxes on... um... on being alive -- also on being dead, since the 7.75% sales tax applies to coffins too.

If I disagreed with you, would I be allowed to say so? In the US I am not permitted to loot your businesses, graffiti your garden walls or spit on your security guards, no matter how strong my feelings, but I can still say my piece. In this respect, the constitution still stands. But this post of mine, like yours before me, is current event talk, and the rules of this forum are stricter than the rules of the street. I am willing to stop. Are you?

Nope - we just sit and think about the rest of the world which we conquered. 😂😂😂

my highlighting Ah to be young and to still think everyone else is to blame and not know as yet that’s a complete dead end. Happy days.

Returning to the OP:

Hello BigSkyDiamond, That statement applies only to the first level of Flying Phoenix, which consists of the12 standing meditations taught on Volumes 1 through 5, and 7 of my Chi Kung For Health DVD series, plus 12 more "Monk Serves Wine" seated mediations that have not been published. The second level of Flying Phoenix qigong, which consists of 9 standing meditations that has some postures and body mechanics most similar to Tai Chi Chuan, "crosses over" the border from purely healing energy cultivation to cultivation of a versatile energy applicable to martial arts and any type of work or "kung." I hope this clarifies a bit. Sifu Terry https://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html terencedunn.substack.com

Too much Qi lingering in the head Too much thinking Liver Yang rising Heat Dampness/imbalance If you have (like most people do) any of the above or all of them (very common) anything you mentioned is going to cause you what is called kundalini syndrome, seeing ghosts, communicating with spirits and bizarre stuff which fall under the umbrella of the "ungrounded syndrome." To prevent that, do the following: 1. Leg work. Foundation exercises like low basin walking, kung fu leg conditioning work (five stances), Asian squat, closed legs squat. 2. Walking meditation with bare feet for many hours a day when seated meditation practice is heavily emphasised. 3. Hiking for many hours in the natural environment. If the practitioner suffers from being very ungrounded stop any seated meditation and work heavily on the above until the problem is corrected. This could mean months or even years depending on the length of the ungrounded state; eg. University student, academic, white-collar professional, etc. People born in Fire years or under a Fire sign like the Horse are particularly most at risk.

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Sifu Terry has said FP is NOT a martial art energy. He said FP could not be used for martial arts. The Doo Wai forms that Garry Hearfield teaches in Australia are for kung fu. It's a different energy. FP is an energy for health.

of course i had to google "semi-sesquicentennial definition" Semisesquicentennial can be broken down to understand its meaning: "semi" - half of + "sesqui" - in the ratio of 3:2 + "centennial" - 100 years. Broken out mathematically, 1/2 * 3/2 * 100 = 75 Hooray for Mark !

daily crocheting clouds knit together, above dark waters, below

One practical aspect/application of the relationship between emptiness and compassion is found in helping others. When you to want to offer help, it's very important to notice what is behind that impulse. So often we try to offer what WE think someone else needs. Of course there are situations where it is obvious, a drowning person needs their head above the water, but very often what they actually need is different from what we think they need and they are not always able to tell us. Sometimes we may even disagree with what they need but who should make that decision? It is easy to make them feel worse or make a situation worse because we are trying to impose something coming from our own pain, conditioning, or ignorance. So when that urge to help comes up there is nothing more important than emptying out our own reactivity, our own assessment and conclusions, and to be very open, inwardly quiet, and really listen and feel what that other person needs. If unsure, best to simply show up with presence, inner stillness and quiet, and simply be there until it is clear what is needed in the situation. No words are more supportive than holding a hand or a warm hug. I was once called to help someone at a retreat who was very ill. I did not speak their language but figured out they needed emergency medical care. Unfortunately we were over an hour from any hospital and had to wait for the ambulance for a long time. I felt so helpless sitting there not being able to do anything so I just sat next to her, holding her hand, gently rubbing her back. We would occasionally smile at each other between spasms of pain. It was one of the most meaningful hours of my life, no exaggeration. Unable to do anything but be open and present for someone else during their intense suffering. The experience completely changed my relationship to how I approach my work and the people I work with. We've felt and stayed connected over a long distance ever since. My teacher is currently leading a retreat on longevity practices from the Bön tradition and one of the things that is being emphasized over and over is the value and importance of human connection for health and longevity. That connection needs no words or agenda. Just catching someone's eyes and offering a genuine smile creates instant connection, provided we are open. The openness is the key and that can only occur when we are quiet and still inside, in other words... empty.

People commonly have opinions on all sorts of things they have no business being certain about. Is it better for some random person on the street to be a vegetarian or eat meat? What´s really happening in a country I´ve never been to half way around the world? Should so-and-so still live with their parents, smoke less pot, have more or less sex? I know so much less than I think I do, a fact that I find counterintuitively reassuring. Contemplating my uncertainty brings me closer to "the light."

Turn off your computer and phone, go outside, and enjoy the sunshine.

Said the man from Mexico.

It’s nothing to worry about. But you must leave all spiritual practices behind for a while. For now, let daily living be enough in itself, learn to appreciate the mundane. Focus on grounding. Eat healthy. Go for walks in nature, do more exercising. No porn. Try doing voluntary work. Your mind is playing you tricks, do not feed the problem by giving it attention and the problem will disappear. Be well.

Human madness will not end. There will always be extremes and there will always be differences of opinion regarding what is madness and what is sanity. As Jiddu Krishnamurti famously said, it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to such a sick society. But that does not mean we can't improve our situation and that of others by beginning at grass roots levels. Human "civilization" is at least 5 - 6,000 years old, possibly older, and yet nothing meaningful has changed in our collective and individual psyches. We are evolving technologically and possibily intellectually but not psychologically or emotionally. In many ways we feel more sophisticated, more knowledgable, more capable, but if you look at our situation, inequality is worse than ever in history, our destructive potential is more formidable than ever before, the effects of our presence on Earth more destructive than ever before. When you look at our behavior and its effects, our species acts very much like a cancer - growing without any restraint or sensibility, choking out all competition, destroying our loving host, and putting our very survival at risk. It's nice to imagine that something or someone will come along and change all that but the evidence does not support such a dream. None of our religious, political, or intellectual leaders have made much of a difference overall. Certainly there are regions and groups that do better than others and this fluctuates over time but overall I see little evidence of collective psychological and emotional growth. While this may sound and feel very discouraging, there is a solution as described above. We must free ourselves from the shackles of ignorance and limitation imposed by millennia of conditioning and sabotage. We must discover and remember what it means to be fully human, both individually and collectively. That can only start by turning inward and looking at the truth of our own personal situation. For me, this is the core and purpose of spirituality.

Have a cup of tea with my daughter and chess board losing and winning

Was Sean's directive ever about eliminating politics from spirituality and not allowing its discussion on his site OR Was it about not allowing a specific touting of 'non - spiritual' , materialist based , anti environmental , right wing ,obviously negative ( and should be self-evident ) prejudicial, bull shit ? It seems a case of ; the Captain has retired to his cabin and won't come out , he already pointed the direction . Now a bunch of 'mods', which changes and recycles through the 'ordinary sailors ' ( but not the mutinous ones .... some got a go for a while but, Cap came out and invited them to go overboard , then went back in the cabin ) who together grasp the handle of that big sluggish rudder and try to do their best to hold the ship on course , through all sorts of different conditions and other sailors yelling advice and abuse .... and the storms and reefs that assail it .

i remember attending a writing retreat that was on a peninsula so there were tides and much opportunity to sit on the high bluffs and listen to the water and the waves. Talking to one of the guys from class on break he mentioned that he had lived for a time in Hawaii and so there was the constant sound of the ocean waves. I commented how wonderful that must have been to always have that sound present. He shrugged and said, "Not really. It actually sounds like traffic." He wrote wonderful poetry. His poems are still among my favorites.

I would caution that if we think we no longer have craving or aversion, and have perfect equanimity, we are probably not paying close enough attention... Extinguishing karma is certainly possible in theory and elusive in practice as there are layers and layers of ever more subtle grasping. Each moment of inner quiet and stillness that gives birth to presence, connection, and genuine caring for self and others is essentially reaching the goal. Little by little these moments become more familiar, easier to access, and more continuous.