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I´ve also found the Bums a mostly kind-hearted group. It sounds like you have Good Forum Karma! I hope you continue to find this a welcoming, accepting place for many years to come.

This is a koala's paw. As you can see, it has not one but two opposable thumbs. Perhaps our problem, as a species, is not that we built our lifestyle around the fact of having the opposable thumb that allowed us to mess with things. Perhaps the problem is we don't have two of them. If we did, it would make climbing trees so easy and enjoyable that maybe we wouldn't ever get down and start messing with things on the ground.

That’s an interesting way of working with it. I’m not personally opposed to ideas like past‑life or group trauma, but for me, honestly, dealing with this life already feels like plenty 😄 In my own experience, whatever the ultimate cause, I tend to approach recurring pain and discomfort through the lens of tissue history, nervous system patterning, and lived experience in this body. That alone turns out to be a deep enough rabbit hole, and it’s given me more than enough material to work with in practice. Different frameworks clearly resonate with different people, though, and if a model or technique helps someone resolve suffering and move better, that's all that matters.

Yes other practices are sometimes necessary. I needed Chiropractic treatment to get my body better aligned, as I was somewhat twisted and therefore couldn't practice Tai Chi due to knee problems. I also did specific breath and emotional Integration work to integrate some of my early life traumas, and the fascial work of Tai Chi has been continuing that journey at a deeper and more refined level

I completely agree. Thinking you’ve “got it” is, in my experience, one of the most dangerous pitfalls in Tai Chi. When that happens, practice stalls into choreography, and the refinement of interoception stops progressing. This is, I think, one of the biggest cause of plateaus: the body and nervous system stop being challenged, and nothing new is discovered internally. Genuine progress comes from continually testing, sensing, and integrating, even when the movements look “correct” on the outside. We need to stay curious and with a beginners' mind through the whole journey.

Yes absolutely, and that's why teaching Tai Chi well is so difficult and such an art I really like what you said about engaging with others to test progress, I agree completely. For me, one of the most valuable aspects of Tui Shou is that it provides real, external feedback on what's actually been developed. It’s easy to get caught up in sensation or “perceptual fantasy” when practicing solo, thinking you’re aligned or relaxed, when the body might tell a very different story under pressure. Tui Shou keeps you honest, highlights weaknesses, and shows where the internal work is actually translating, or where it’s not yet. In that sense, it’s not just a method for transitioning towards combat; it’s also a mirror for the body-mind integration that solo practice cultivates.

@thelerner @liminal_luke the golden mean? No but reallly, I agree with you. These things isn’t something I’d share with every and anyone. Reason I did it here on daobums, is I consider you kind hearted people and in many ways… friends. 🎉

How do you sit in silence or quiet when there are demons and voices? Are these outside forces? Or is it the mind fighting to not let go? For me, I have not experienced demons or voices other than my own which presents memories of the past which make me want to jump out of my seat. But, remaining with the alertness and sitting quietly, eventually the mind quiets and less and less thoughts arise. IDK. I hear of some people who have experiences of lights and colors while sitting in meditation. Personally have not had that experience. Don't know if I am doing this wrong or not. Or maybe just too early??? Not looking forward to demons and voices.

Yes I have asked for Divine help. I have also asked for many people to pray for me.

Your experience resonates strongly with my own. For me, neijia, neigong, and neidan are journeys of self discovery. A teacher can give pointers and direction, as well as exercises to engage with, but we must engage and discover for ourselves the true meaning, proper technique, and results. Externally, the teacher can adjust the posture but internally, the inner details of posture must be discovered. This is the only way we can learn to self-correct and make meaningful progress in our practice. Once we have developed adequate skill and confidence, engaging with others allow us to test our progress and discover our weaknesses and errors, such as in tui shou, san da, and so on. This is why it is said in taijiquan that we must 'invest in loss.'

Loved the series, including the finale! Not sure what everyone else is talking about…. 🙃

There are various accounts of such intelligences: - Recording Angel - Lipika Lords - Lords of Karma. My observation is that the Lords of Karma are hierarchical: - Planetary Lords of Karma - Solar systemic - Galactic - Universal - Trans-universal - ... The issue seems to be that the Spirit that uses the planet/system/galaxy/universe as its body of incarnation is discomforted by actions that are contrary to its intended development. A common expression: our god is a god of love. If that is so, our god may be discomforted by actions that are not based on love. What would that god do about the situation. As far as I can tell, the Spirit that incarnates as this solar system has previously learned right energy, is now learning right relationship, and will later learn right intent. I am told that at later stages of enlightenment it is possible to petition the Lords of Karma to relocate group karma. It seems that karmic energy follows lines of least resistance and often there are several such lines