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This. If all one sees is evil, then the world is evil. Turning off the news and not doom scrolling all the time helps to see things as they are. Good and evil are always present. Originally though, good and evil are empty. Now, where do thoughts come from? That's the question that liberates. _/|\_

Bit of a weird one. Wondered if anyone has encountered anything similar. Throughout my life, I've had moments that feel like an intersection, where I come into contact with the mindstream of a future or past self. These are very strange, half-waking dream moments where I feel like I'm able to ask questions of a future self, or else send reassurance and answers to a past self. They don't last long. I like to think I'm a fairly down-to-earth person. I'm a middle aged Brit and a dad, I work an ordinary job. I meditate, but not for altered states of consciousness, but rather to bring myself closer to tangible reality. But I did do a lot of acid in my teenage years. Which has either opened me up to paranormal stuff like this, or else has given me latent schizophrenia. I normally dont think too much about this, it's just a weird little quirk of my personality that I've never felt the need to tell anyone about. But recently what I feel like is a future self said that 2026 will be a particularly challenging year for my health. It has suggested I practice a specific type of qigong, and stop taking some supplements and peptides I've been dabbling with. It's a bit of a worry because I'm 42 in April, which I've since learned is my yakudoshi year (basically ill fortune year in shinto belief). I also saw recently that it's also not looking great for my health in Chinese astrology (wood rat). So while I'd normally brush it off as my weird little mind, I'm not sure if I should perhaps take the suggestions of this internal voice seriously. Or whether that way lies madness. Has anyone else heard of this sort of communication across time with future/past selves? I've not been able to find anything mentioned anywhere similar.

In many Asian languages, the number 4 sounds like the word for death. And the number 2 sounds like the word for easy. So 42 is a number to be weary of as it is easy to die. Superstition as far as I am concerned. But, if you feel that there is something to seeing or hearing things from the past or future then do what you must. For me, it is about being here, now. It is about being concerned for the things in my control here and in this present moment. For me the problem with getting information from the past or future is that one never knows the value of that information. What if the information from the future was false. Then all your present actions are based upon those false information. Which then leads you down the wrong path. But, keeping the mind in the present then one's actions are based on present information or what is really based on what is known to be true. Worrying about stuff that you believe to be from the past or future only seems to be adding to the issues you are having. It isn't simplifying the your life. It isn't making you happier. Yes, make notes. But don't let it rule your life. Well, that is how I feel about this. My opinion.

One time, I asked my teacher: "when will evil end?" He replied: "when you stop doing good". KInd of a zenny answer, but also very deep. Some years ago, a rather eccentric friend of my mine once remarked that evil was necessary to balance good. Kind of a yin/yang thing. That's always been interesting to me. Every time humans try to create a utopia, it's a disaster. It seems we can't function with just the light. I still like ruminate on this one, because it runs against the grain for me. But as OldBob mentioned above, some deep ideas to think about. _/|\_

What is that?

Hi everyone I have very little exposure to Rudi or authentic nei gong (as I have different teachers) but I noticed that Rudi published a book on amazon. It’s called Training with a mysterious master - journeys beyond the known. I think the book was a brilliant read and tbh I haven’t had chills like this since the magus of java and I frankly couldn’t put it down. It would be insane if the experiences Rudi described actually happened. Has anyone read it? Apparently it has some practice stuff as well as secret methods coded in the book and I was wondering if anyone found anything about it.. Thanks

Here are some things I have wondered: 1. Does the Daozang have any 'council of Nicaea' type conspiracy theories? For example, many people speculate why the Christian canon was compiled the way it was, with some books selected and many books burned in the fire, perhaps because they were too revealing or truthful. Likewise, did the books selected for the Daozang also have controversies why they were included in the canon, or why some books weren't selected? 2. Does the Zhengyi school really come from the Way of the Celestial Masters sect? 3. Any interesting, fringe theories about Lü Dongbin, Wang Chongyang (founders of the Quanzhen school)? I say ancient Daoism, because I don't really care about the petty drama and scandals between rival Daoist schools and lineages after the Yuan dynasty.

Sinologist Robert Henricks thinks the division has little relevance, likely not part of the original but added later (in a commentary).

Because I see no real difference between the chapters of the two sections. The versions of the Daodejing I'm aware of begins the 德经 at chapter 38, yet virtue is discussed before this chapter and 道 is still discussed after chapter 38. I'm not understanding the reasoning.

Oxygen is not a form of qi. It is a manifestation of qi. It is not qi. You have to discern laters of phenomena this way. The daoist sciences discerns the causal chain of the dao to wuji, to yin yang permutations, into the elements, into physical existence. Everytime you mention phenomena, you have to respect this framework and causal chain. If you don't, and just casually say oxygen is Qi, you depart from the entire daoist science.

One must never “manipulate” qi.

If there was such a wind travelling 10000km/s everyone would be long dead. Qi can travel 10000km in an instant. Every single physical object you can think of or interact with has atoms and is built with electrons inside, which have an electromagnetic charge and carry energy. So, everything contains energy. However, this kind of thinking is getting you further away from understanding what Qi really is. If electrons did not repel each other, and you didn’t have a body made of the same atoms and electrons, you would phase through objects without being able to grasp them. This is why phasing through objects is possible when using the astral and mental bodies. Think of Qi as a form of energy that a human can cultivate, share, transmit, consume, and transform. It is not some generic substance like oxygen that everyone has access to. Despite holding the great name of ChiDragon, you have not yet found anyone to teach you the basic ability to sense and manipulate Qi. It is not a rare ability; it is the most common and widespread ability that exists on the planet. Once you obtain it, your journey in cultivation may begin. Before you can sense Qi, all this talk about Dao, Chi, and other concepts is purely a rhetorical imaginary exercise without any practical value. It is one thing to talk about Dao, it is another thing to experience it directly, which is more like a boundless force washing over your entire being, rather than a metaphorical, elusive or philosophical concept.

Because this section is more interesting.

I would disagree with this. The aquired mind is the basis for most peoples experiences. Reality is always there, experiencing the world through it is quite uncommon without quite a bit of practice.

who knows the exact measure of a cosmic cycle of time although there are some well reasoned estimates, (like the very long but still limited lifetime of Lord Brahma the creator) but they still have beginnings, endings and re-beginnings. The historic Buddha sounded like he alluded to this when he mentioned to Ananda that he could stay until the end of the cycle (in whatever form?) but Ananda missed that didn't he?

How wonderful that your future self is taking such an active interest in your present! Very cool. I would take the suggestions under advisement, evaluating them as you might any other advice. When I go to the doctor, I see myself as getting an expert opinion which I then research and make a decision about. I don´t automatically do what anybody tells me but rather figure out what makes sense to me. So the question is: do the suggestions your future self is making make sense to your present self? If so, I´d take them. If not, you can still tuck them away in the back of your mind and see how things develop. my two cents, LL

I recently saw a podcast from Nathan Brine, where he basically stated that there are many practices out there that are called neidan. They leads to very different results, and could as well be called qigong, neigong, or meditation. The past 30 years, I have tried a handful of different systems, and at the time they were probably useful. At least they got me to where I am now. These days, I practice a pre heaven method. So, no ldt, no microcosmic orbit, no experiences of light. It's all about zooming in on pre heaven reality. What I do is what is described in the WuZhenPian (the 16 regulated verses), which differs from the methods described in for example the zhong-lu chuandao ji and the lingbao bifa.

I agree with Tommy, you can honor Intuitions by being aware and watchful, using them for motivation but not letting them control your life.

There is another thread about this Rudi here on this forum https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/55319-rudi-authentic-neigong/

I believe that good and evil is mostly subjective depending upon which side of the fence one is sitting on. For instance, people of the French revolution thought of Marie Antoinette as evil. She was the daughter of royalty forced into a marriage of convenience. Ignored by her husband and others in a foreign land, she did what she knew best. To have parties and enjoy the life of a royal. The French looked upon her actions as evil because it was a mockery of the poor French. And so they tortured her (kept her locked away from her son and daughter) and ending her life by beheading her. Was she really evil? Or was the French who killed her evil? What you say about good and evil is a very simplistic view. That evil is obvious and good is obvious and the two are easily distinguished. Sometimes it isn't that easy. But, hindsight always tells us that it is.

Can I ask a question, so I am pretty happy and dont see "evil" running amuck in my own life, but when I think about some of the bad things that have happened in the past 200 years, it seems like there are sometimes these anti-karmic or dark-karma effects in the world. People undertaking "bad" actions many times (but not always) are the ones who accumulate more power, which only extends their ability to do undertake similarly "bad" actions. Most social systems do not reward morality. it seems like they mostly reward risk and aggression, and there is a feed back loop where when someone gains power they are more protected from consequences and and can better shape the rules in their favor. This amoral feedback loop is i guess is slightly different than karma. And, maybe these people do "get theirs" in the end and maybe they are deeply suffering individuals, but I don't think that's always true. Having worked at a large corporation, amorality seemed to be the rule for promotion, not the exception. So is there any validity to this kind of concept? Also, is evil the same as immorality?

…sooooo close my friend…

real good/Spirit is always present but relative good and evil come and go

I have not read the book , but I think I want to now , you seem to give it an interesting review , in that I agree with this approach Yes, both . I am not sure what you mean by systems of pairs , but I have certainly noticed an underlying 'magical theory ' 'across the board' with them . Even in new areas where it is looked at in psychiatry * and psychology + I see they have discovered or realize some basic magical theory at work . * https://www.theisticpsychology.org/books/w.vandusen/presence_spirits.htm + https://psychology.org.au/for-members/publications/inpsych/2022/winter-2022/internal-family-systems-therapy although they miss some important aspects and issues . if all three could get together ( the third being an educated magical evocational perspective ) a lot can be worked out . I won't go into it now , you can search my posts on these issues and get a lot of info from me and the other posters that responded there . Big question ! A whole library of them and in a lot of different subject matter as well. Also the practical side , one cant understand a lot holistically from the armchair . Also I was a member of an active working group for many years and we developed many tools for this , including visual schemata ( like a mandala or 'tracing board' - a symbolic mnemonic that encapsulates teachings and 'maps of inner landscapes ' and or practices .. one in particular shows the 6 paths of Magick and Yoga all leading to one white center of 'wholeness' and moving outward, through the imbalance of each path towards a black background , all around , labelled 'ignorance ' use google search function BUT stipulate this sites address first and then the subject matter you want to read about here . I can answer more specific questions here . Yes . Its interesting that the 'non magical' world is discovering and affirming many of these principles .

It is common to distinguish between brain consciousness and the awareness that extends far beyond the physicality of the human. Awareness can include relationships within the local Cosmos and beyond. The sense of spiritual identity continues to expand.

That seems to be a wonderful state. Once when I first started to do meditation more seriously, I had an experience where thoughts stopped. It felt so weird at the time. Never expected something like this. So, I forced myself to return to thinking state because it felt more like me. Now, years after, I have found that,... that quiet has a draw. When with thoughts, I find there is a sense of me. When there is quiet, the sense of me expands to an alert awareness. Motivation to act comes from my thoughts. But the sense of awareness comes from the quiet. Probably doesn't make much sense. But, that is how I have experienced it.

I suggest wide reading, agree or disagree on the contents, but at least one can know there are so many things outside.

Seems to me that Steve´s view of seeing the qualities attributed to Gods and Goddesses as human is useful in a practice context. Such an understanding helps to avoid the error of projecting out our negative (and positive) qualities. By keeping the focus on a human level, we´re able to work with the qualities as they show up in our lives -- everything is within our "locus of control." A great advantage of TRW´s teaching, in my limited experience, is that the practices are always brought to bear on particular lived contexts. So practical! And yet I´ll admit...the ghostbuster in me likes to imagine a world inhabited by a plethora of not-entirely-human spirits, some benevolent, others not so much. Is this actually the case? Sadly, my limited powers of perception prevent me from saying for sure. But the idea of such beings adds an aura of numinous mystery that appeals. Ultimately, of course, the point is to collapse the illusory sense of separation between world and self. It´s often said that the "separate self" does not exist, and I suppose this goes for the self of Gods and Goddesses too. If Gods and Goddesses do exist then, at least on some level: they are us and we, them. All this is above my paygrade, but you know how it is with Bums like me -- we love to talk.

This is not true, it means they did not use the lungs in its full capacity. The Taoist found a breathing method to use the lungs more efficient to its full capacity. The breathing method is called 吐納(Tu Na). I don't know have you ever heard of. Nowadays, it is called 氣功(Qigong).

First of all, people 1000, 2000, 3000 years ago fully used their lungs. They were mostly farmer, or laborers. The official and intellectuals were a very small minority. There were no vehicle, machines... These people could overuse their lung more than under use. If these ancients still used 50% of their capacity, there would be important biological and evolutionary factors that maintain this proportion. Secondly ancient Taoist did not want a slow, long, deep breathing. They wanted a small, fine, long, silk, consistent, deep breathing - at first. In the advance stage, the breathing is supposed to be stopped or to be so fine that one cannot hear or discern. Then it becomes spore breathing when the lung is not really used. Then modern science says there is something called oxidative stress. When you have more than enough oxygen, you die earlier with numerous symptoms. It is why there are so many supplements to lessen it. Oxygen can be lethal. A few more percentage of oxygen in our atmosphere, we all die. The theory of oxygen does not stand.

Ah... phew! Thank goodness I'm not doing any of that.

By Deng Ming-Dao SEGMENTATION AND TRANSLATION See this block of text? It’s the arrangement of the first chapter of the Dàodéjīng before the last hundred years. If you open an old Chinese version of the Dàodéjīng, each chapter will be a block of text. No punctuation, word spacing, capital letters, or paragraphs. Distinguishing between single words and compound terms remains as much of a problem today as it was in ancient times. Imagine reading chapter 1 without the punctuation added in the early twentieth century. Reading the Dàodéjīng in its old form thus began with a practice called segmentation. You can find red dots, hóngdiǎn, 紅點, in the margins of used books, indicating where past readers began dividing, deciding, and decoding. This practice was called “sentence division,” jùdòu, 句讀, and is still done today when reading the received classics—and with only partial consensus: “Many researchers have tested Chinese native speakers’ word segmentation; a common finding is that participants can only reach about 75% agreement, and have difficulties replicating their own previous segmentation.” (Zhang, 2024) Even after the segmentation process, the text continues to challenge modern readers. The Dàodéjīng lacks plurality; past, present, or future tense; pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions; gendered nouns; or punctuation, word spacing, or paragraph indents. Sentences might not have a subject. Verbs lack conjugation. Moreover, Chinese ideograms are sometimes used singly and sometimes combined to make compound terms. Lǎozì may employ a compound term in one case and then use those constituent words separately in other cases. For example, line 71.1 uses the word for “know,” zhī, 知, four times: 知不知上不知知病. This translates to: “know don’t know superior; don’t know, know sick.” Bùzhī, 不知, means “not know.” Otherwise, zhī, 知, should be read as a single word. If you combine the issues of segmentation with the multiple-meanings of words, you can see that no single, absolutely “right” version is possible. Reading the Dàodéjīng in Chinese is like getting a box of ideograms on tiles, and then trying to assemble them as if it was a Scrabble game. This makes translation an interpretive as much as a critical process. Of course, everybody today will use the punctuated versions, but it’s worth remembering that segmentation is arbitrary and once had to be provided by each reader. Nevertheless, gaining the wisdom of the Dàodéjīng is well worth the effort! That's why it's survived for 2,600 years and has spread around the world.

Bob, Would it hurt you to be a little more kind in your responses? There might be some things you don't completely understand. What is smug about understanding the teachings, or having insight into them? The Realms of Existence, the pure-lands and heavenly realms - even nirvana and enlightenment - aren't cosmology, aren't somewhere else, they are right here. All the time. Not in the past or future. Literally RIGHT in front of you, right now. Always have been. (Bonus answer: The Tao and Brahman also suffuse everything in this moment and are RIGHT HERE. They are all the same thing.) They are a series of metaphors intended to show you where people get stuck on the path to complete understanding, and can be seen once you know what you are looking for with little difficulty. What you are able to see depends on the clarity of your ability to see. The Buddha illustrates this in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra: People cycling through the realms become attached to specific ideas about what might make them happy, or what is possible. You might find this nice practical application of the teachings from a realized teacher interesting: https://www.lionsroar.com/everyday-life-is-the-practice/

If you use THIS definition, then yes: I'm a big fan of this description. It is clean, clear, and doesn't get lost in lists of specific behavior, or adopted ideas. Evil is typically a conceptual designation most people use for a lumped-together bunch of actions or philosophies that they fear or disagree with. I don't believe in evil as some entity that acts on people or has any particular personifications. I DO believe that there are people who will do anything to protect themselves from the ideas or things that they fear, or in a misguided attempt to make themselves feel happy or safe, often at the expense of others.

Scientific materialism is an invasive ideology which tempts you to reduce everything to the banal. Hence qi is oxygen becomes an attractive and unchallenging proposition. Your safe world view remains unchallenged but such safety is actually your prison.

I'm no Buddhist, isn't there a quote along the lines of "With our thoughts we make our world" ?

Please keep in mind. Get more oxygen doesn't mean breathe more than the lungs can hold. When people breathe, ideally is to have the lung to be filled with oxygen at its full capacity. However, some people may have breathing problems. Thus they only have the lung filled from 25% to 50% but not 100%. People with their lungs filled 100% every time during inhalation lives longer. It is because they have a better immune system. Somehow, the ancient Taoist discovered by breathing slow, long and deep had improved the health tremendously. The breathing method was known as Tu Na(吐納). The modern term now is called Qigong(氣功). let's assume that the initial lung capacity of the Qigong practitioner was 50%, by performing the Tu Na method will be increased to 100%. That is what it mean by getting more oxygen. The vital sources for the human body to function and survival are food and oxygen. The food we can eat as much as we would like. However, the way people breathe may not be the same for everyone. Therefore those who have a problem in breathing need to improve their breathing habit. Guess what they need to improve their breathing habits with? It is Qigong, Taiji or any form of exercise to improve the respiratory system. It's better yet to practice breathing that coordinates with some movements. Indeed, the best candidate is Taiji. Taiji was classified as a form of Qigong. PS Some people claimed that they are practicing Qigong without breathing in that extra 50% of oxygen, then, they aren't practicing Qigong at all. There is a lack of oxygen condition is called hypoxia. Hypoxia is what everyone want to avoid.

Qi is the mind substance that creates the fabric/matrix of existence. Similar to physical substances, qi has various states and frequencies. Why a master can have alot of Qi, but not blow up like a balloon, is because qi has a quality of density, and also a transformative aspect into the different frequencies, where the subtle frequencies are not bound by space and time. Jing- Qi - shen are an example of the different frequency categories. When training neigong, your task is to transform your vessel, into a very unique machine, that is incredibly free of obstacles, allowing abundance of Qi to flow through you passively, and a state of mind and body that does not leak energy unconsciously.

... or that by having a big pool of Qi it automatically attracts more ?

There’s quite a lot of historical crossover between Tibet and China. There are tankas with the trigrams on for instance. And the 10th Karmapa regularly met with sifus and they attended his funeral. So I don’t think we should think things are very rigidly separated.

that sounds like wanna be hip bullshit... there is not much to get other than dark rage, blaming God, Jesus or Spirit and not seeing our karma thus the singers lyrics and the tone of music is in a way glorifying hellish inner states of conflict and gnawing doubt or a false view about Spirit, thus not magical or spiritual, get it?

Yeah... he'll want to keep it in the tradition, I would imagine. No surprise there. This is often very much the case with all of the original Tibetan teachers that escaped China, or were trained by them. I can't tell from your post, and you may know this, but the eventual goal of Dream Practice is not lucid dream, but rather being awakened in all moments including sleep. This is something that, in my experience, sometimes naturally happens on (or just after) retreats. Lucid dreaming would be more of a siddhi than a desirable path milestone. Do you mind if I ask: Do you know experientially what is meant by Rigpa, or the "nature of mind"? This isn't intended as a "gotcha", it might not be something that arises in the traditions you have pursued.