Vitalii

Just for information. Translation made by Thomas Cleary contains many gaps and a part of the Chinese text seems to not have been translated. In translation made by Richard Wilhelm (and Walter Picca), we can find some very peculiar translations like "animus and anima", which distort the original meaning of characters that are used in the Chinese text. Both translators sometimes translated the character Qi (气) as "breathing". This is not correct in respect to alchemical texts, because for "breath" the character Xi (息) has to be used. Xing (性) is often translated as Essence. The phrase 性命不可见，寄之天光 - was translated by Cleary as "Essence and Life are invisible, so they are associated with sky and light". However, it'd be more correct to translate it like Xing (性) - Original Nature. Then the phrase 性命不可见，寄之天光 - should sound as "Original Nature [Xing] and life [Ming] cannot be seen. They are contained in the light of heaven". All these mistakes distort the understanding of the text, and even a minor mistake can lead to big errors in practice as you know.

I mean Xin gong (心功) / heart-mind work which plays very important role for practice. My point of view is following Etymologically speaking, the character Xing 性 consists of Xin 心 (“heart-mind”) and 生 (“to be born”); Xing or Original nature is the heart-mind with which one was born. Original Nature is original spirit (yuan shen 元神). Xin (心) - ordinary heart-mind is characterized by emotional and intellectual turmoil Xing (性) - Innate nature or original nature Xin and Xing are not the same. Xing is not ordinary heart-mind. Adepts need to cultivate their Original Nature (Xing) and to become free from emotional and intellectual turmoil and we can say that they no longer have a ordinary heart-mind (Xin). That is why in Daoism, the purified and awakened condition of the heart-mind is sometimes spoken of as being “without a heart-mind” (wuxin 無心) or as the “dead heart-mind” (sixin 死心), or as “aligned-correct heart-mind” (zhengxin 正心), “true heart-mind” (zhenxin 真心), or “stabilized heart-mind” (dingxin 定心). Ma Danyang said: "Thus ordinary people have no mind-heart of clarity and purity, while daoists have no mind-heart of dust and defilement.” In the Secret of the Golden Flower Xin and Xing are separated, and one cannot work with Xing if has not work with Xin before. The Secret of the golden flower says 宗旨只要纯心行去 - the doctrine just requires that one practices with a pure heart-mind. Master Zhang San Feng said:​ "But the contentiousness of the ordinary mind is firmly ingrained through long habit, and it is very difficult to stop the mind by these precepts. One may be unable to stop it, or one may still it temporarily and then lose that stillness. Battling with it, now failing, now succeeding, one pours with sweat. With continued practice over a long, long time, eventually it is possible to tame the mind. Do not give up this work, which has far-reaching consequences, just because you are temporarily unable to collect the mind."

yes, I wrote incorrect quote. that is why I say that one cannot pull out a few words from the text and consider what had been said before in the text and the previous chapters. You can find there that Xin[g] gong is practiced before Minggong.

定心必先之以养气者 Stabilization of the mind-heart must be preceded by cultivating energy At first - Xin gong, then - Minggong About it lots of information you can find in previous chapters.

it cannot be translated in the way you did it you pull out a few words from the text and do not consider what had been said before in the text and the previous chapters. Please, read all text from chapter 1

端倪 - clue [to]; inkling; main threads (of a complicated affair); outline 《庄子·大宗师》：“反覆终始，不知端倪。” "释义 端倪：头绪。不知头绪。" 头绪 名词解释 - 源头、根由， in this case 端倪 can be translated as: the starting point

If you consider that my translation is not complete than provide your complete translation. If you cannot do it your words make no sense.

really? Could you provide your own translation, please?

but they exist About strength training in Taijiquan: "David Gaffney (co-author of the excellent Chen Style Taijiquan) has an article on chen tai chi strength training (PDF) that mentions methods such as stone lifting, pole shaking, the taiji bang (short stick), taiji ball (akin to a medicine ball), and training with intentionally heavy weapons: "While it may come as a surprise to many, strength training is not a new phenomenon in Taijiquan. In the past, it represented one aspect of an all-encompassing training process. In Chenjiagou, within the garden where 14th Generation Chen clan member Chen Changxin is said to have taught Yang Luchan, founder of Yang style Taijiquan, can still be found an eighty kilogram stone weight that they are said to have regularly trained with. Traditional strength training methods such as pole shaking and practicing with heavy weapons continue to be used up until today. ... Lifting heavy stones is done as a means to training the waist and lower body. Chen Ziquiang explains "the strength training method is highly specialized. You are not training to develop 'stupid strength' (brute or localised strength). This is training strength in the waist. Your hand strength is like the hook you use when you are towing a car. You have to remember that your hand is the hook. Your strength is coming from the waist and how you push into the ground, combining the strength of the car and the rope. The hook is only the implement that connects the two. So when you lift the big rock, it is the strength of the legs and waist...".

Both variations I do not have weight training video. Weight training is a part of traditional Taiji and Xingyi in my school.

Xing yi and Taiji quan training: 1) weight - 12 kg 2) weight - 4 kg 1) 2)

that Xing is Original Nature, it is not only my opinion, Thomas Cleary is human and as I know he doesn't have initiation in Daoism, so he can make a mistakes in translations. Everyone can make a mistakes.

The Secret Of The Golden Flower is very deep and amazing text. in my opinion, translation of Thomas Clearly in some parts of this text is not really good. This is normal, because it is anciens text and everyone can make a mistakes. For example: Xing (性) - Essence 性命不可见，寄之天光 - Essence and Life are invisible, so they are associated with sky and light. I'd rather translate it like: Xing (性) - Original Nature 性命不可见，寄之天光 - Original Nature [Xing] and life [Ming] cannot be seen. They are contained in the light of heaven.

Please, reread charters 3, 4 and 7 in translation of Thomas Clearly and you could see that in the text says about meditation, breathing and energy work. sorry, maybe you did not understand some things. You need to know that there are special practices like sitting meditation and practices in daily life. If adepts forget about practices in daily life their practice is not correct. You need to separate false meditation (Da zuo) and true meditation. The Shiwulun attributed to Wang Chongyang contains a section entitled “Dazuo” 打坐 (Meditation). According to this text, 但有絲毫動靜思念，即不名靜坐。能如此者，雖身處於塵世，名已列於仙位 "As long as there is the slightest thought of motion and stillness, this is not what I call sitting in a motionless calm and silence (Jinzou). Those who can sitting in a motionless calm and silence, although their physical bodies resides in the world of dust / material world /, but their names are already in the ranks of the Immortals." and “Seated meditation” does not simply mean to sit with the body erect and the eyes closed. This is false sitting.To sit authentically, you must maintain a heart-mind like Mount Tai, remaining unmovable and unshakable throughout the entire day. [Maintain this practice] whether standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, whether in movement or stillness. " Also you need to know that: 静坐 (Jing zuo) = sitting meditation / sit quietly 气 (Qi) = energy 息 (Xi) = breathing Especially for you I will highlight these characters and you can see them in the text: The Secret Of The Golden Flower - http://www.xiulian.com/xmzhf/YLCSH/05jfzh.htm Charter 3: 一日不静坐，此光流转，何所底止！若一刻能静坐 If you do not practice meditation (Jing zuo 静坐) every day, this light flows out, who knows when it will stop? If you only sit quietly (Jing zuo 静坐) for a quarter of an hour... 惟谛观息静便成正觉，用逆法也。 "Only through observing clearly and making ones breathing quite, can one reach perfect enlightenment. This is application of the method of reversal." or "Just observe clearly, and when you breath grows quiet you then become accurately aware. This is application of the method of reversal." Charter 7: 静坐一、二时最妙。 if you can sit quietly (Jing zuo 静坐) for a few hours, that is best. Charter 4: 息之出入，不可使耳闻，听惟听其无声也。一有声，便粗浮而不入细，即耐心轻轻微微些，愈放愈微，愈微愈静， 久之，忽然微者速断，此则真息现前，而心体可识矣。盖心细则息细，心一则动气也，息细则心细，气一则动心也。定心必先之以养气者，亦以心无处入手，故缘气为之端倪，所谓纯气之守也。 You should not be able to hear your breathing; just listen to its soundlessess. Once it`s audible, the breathing is coarse and superficial, and do not enter the fine. Then be patient and breath lightly. The more you let go, the subtler it becomes. The subtler it is, the more quite it becomes. After a long time, all of a sudden the subtle breath will be interrupted and the true breathing will appear, and the mind-heart and body can be discerned/knowledge. If the mind is thin and soft, the breathing is subtle. When mind is unified, it moves energy (Qi). If breathing is subtle, the heart is light. When energy (Qi) is unified, it moves the mind-heart. Stabilization of the mind-heart must be preceded by cultivating energy because the mind-heart has no place to set to work on. Therefore energy (Qi) is used as a handle/a starting point, and this is what is called preservation of pure energy (Qi). And this is not all. After this how can you say that in The Secret Of The Golden Flower nothing is said about breathing, sitting meditation or energy work.

I rather trust own eyes and read text in original P.S. If you reread translation of Thomas Clearly you could see that you a wrong about meditation, breathing and energy work.

Also you can find more information about breathing and Qi in Charter 4 "Turning Around the Light and Tuning the Breathing". for example: 息之出入，不可使耳闻，听惟听其无声也。一有声，便粗浮而不入细，即耐心轻轻微微些，愈放愈微，愈微愈静， 久之，忽然微者速断，此则真息现前，而心体可识矣。盖心细则息细，心一则动气也，息细则心细，气一则动心也。定心必先之以养气者，亦以心无处入手，故缘气为之端倪，所谓纯气之守也。 You should not be able to hear your breathing; just listen to its soundlessess. Once it`s audible, the breathing is coarse and superficial, and do not enter the fine. Then be patient and breath lightly. The more you let go, the subtler it becomes. The subtler it is, the more quite it becomes. After a long time, all of a sudden the subtle breath will be interrupted and the true breathing will appear, and the mind-heart and body can be discerned/knowledge. If the mind is thin and soft, the breathing is subtle. When mind is unified, it moves energy (Qi). If breathing is subtle, the heart is light. When energy (Qi) is unified, it moves the mind-heart. Stabilization of the mind-heart must be preceded by cultivating energy because the mind-heart has no place to set to work on. Therefore energy (Qi) is used as a handle/a starting point, and this is what is called preservation of pure energy (Qi).

sorry, but it is a big mistake. 静坐 ( (Jing zuo) = sitting meditation. The Secret Of The Golden Flower: Charter 3: 一日不静坐，此光流转，何所底止！若一刻能静坐 If you do not practice meditation (Jing zuo 静坐) every day, this light flows out, who knows when it will stop? If you only sit quietly (Jing zuo 静坐) for a quarter of an hour... 惟谛观息静便成正觉，用逆法也。 "Only through observing clearly and making ones breathing quite, can one reach perfect enlightenment. This is application of the method of reversal." or "Just observe clearly, and when you breath grows quiet you then become accurately aware. This is application of the method of reversal." Charter 7: 静坐一、二时最妙。 if you can sit quietly (Jing zuo 静坐) for a few hours, that is best.

London http://zhendaopai.com/

1. Way of Purity or "keep your heart-mind in the realm of clarity and purity and being free of deviant states of consciousness". Substantially, practice of this Way consists from the following: To live a just and sincere life according to moral principles (not to kill, not to deceive, not to steal, not to use foul language etc.). To develop in oneself such virtuous features as compassion, love, forgiveness, courage, peace, generosity and others. Not to do, not to say, and not to think about anything that could harm a human or the Nature in general. To help with ideas, words and actions to those who need it, whether they are humans, animals or plants. To hold in esteem and respect not only those whom you love and care about, but all living creatures. Of course, this Way is not limited by above mentioned practices. Only the simplest methods were named herein, in order just to help to understand what it is about. 2. Inner Alchemy meditation or "In purity and tranquility, gradually enter the True Dao". Meditative practices (打坐 – Dazuo) suggesting sitting in a motionless calm and silence (静坐 – Jinzuo) that helps to understand oneself and return to the roots, to touch original (“divine”) nature and direct own knowledge to understanding and connection with the truth (with Dao). 3. Art of External Moving (外动功). It can be different dynamic practices like Dao Yin or Taiji, etc. This is a good training for a physical body, energy system and consciousness. It is important to understand that, especially on the initial stages, disciples essentially need active bodywork, where dynamic practices of regulation of Jing, Qi and Shen are present, as it is one of the stages of “laying a foundation”. Ignoring this unit renders difficulties on the way of disciple’s self-improvement, as a weak physical body, unprepared energy system and weak consciousness simply would not allow reaching significant results. If a disciple neglects or, because of some reasons, does not practice dynamic forms, his progress in learning Inner Alchemy methods will slow down. In such a way, complex approach to a development of a human being is realized, and not a lop-sided training of either consciousness or body. P.S.And, of course, drink Chinese tea

Inner Alchemy methods allow you to work with original treasures Yuan Jing (Original Jing), Yuan Qi (Original Qi) and Yuan Shen (Original Spirit), and the True (Zhen) Qi of Heaven and Earth. Also you need to know that True (Zhen) Qi of Heaven and Earth and usual Qi of Heaven and Earth are not the same. I want to say that your Zhang Zhuang practice is not alchemy

Alchemy methods is work with the original Qi and original spirit. You asked "What quality of qi are we working on in Zhan Zhuang (yin qi, yang qi, other..)". It means that you do not know some very important aspects of Zhan Zhuang. If you can not feel different quality of ordinary qi It means that you can not feel original Qi. If you can not feel original Qi it is not alchemy. When you practice Zhang Zhuang you work with usual energy and ordinary consciousness. The fundamental difference between Neidan and Qigong is that the usual methods of Qigong can work with usual kinds of energy, heal the body, balance the circulation of energy and achieve control over your feelings and emotions, whereas Inner Alchemy methods allow you to work not only with usual energy and ordinary consciousness, but with the original energy and original spirit (the divine nature), which significantly improves the efficiency of all energy practices for the development of body and mind.

Could you tell me please why this style is named "Temple Style"? Is it a variation of Yang style?

Traditional form it is question not about amount forms, it is question about principles In sport and simplified versions of Taiji Quan and traditional Taiji Quan doing movements not the same.

Hi Michael, In my school we train different variations of Fajin one more interesting video

If you practice Zhan Zhuang, for how long do you stand?