Jainarayan

I would not be looking to branch out into neidan, I have a different spiritual path which will take me (I hope!) to the Tao/Brahman. For now I'm more interested in the strength, stamina and discipline for the standing meditation; regulating qi; calming my mind and having control over myself. That's the angle I'm coming from. So if it's not a bother, please keep hitting me with opinions and advice.

That's pretty much what I thought it is... working up to doing one position at a time properly for 20 minutes, which I read can take a few weeks at least. Then moving on to the next one, rinse repeat until the positions can each be held for 20 minutes, then each one done in sequence for about 5 minutes each for a total of about 30 minutes of practice. I found that what people said about not learning tai chi from a book, and needing a teacher is true... he corrected our form before we developed bad habits.

Yikes! and I thought Z.Z as shown in Master Lam's videos was primarily the physical aspect... getting fit by standing still, standing like a tree as it's billed, with a lot of cognizance of your body while it's doing the exercises. Perhaps I haven't looked closely enough at it.

OK, this is great to know, thanks.

I did a search here, but nothing came up. I thought that was odd. Anywayzz... This bounces off the thread about the spontaneous horse stance. I see a lot of references all over the interwebz about the third eye, opening it, and kundalini. I know what the third eye is, and I understand the concept behind it. But I haven't come across anything describing how one goes about opening it, other than references to meditating on it. Is it that simple? Now, kundalini... I understand it to be the energy that is coiled around the base of the spine like a serpent. Is there anything in this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini that has anything to do with kundalini as talked about on Tao Bums? Am I playing with fire with any of this?

I hear you guys, this is something that has run through my mind and why I've been asking and haven't just jumped in. I wish I could find a teacher. I was "lucky" to find a wu tai chi teacher at a fitness center who does an hour on Sunday mornings. Yoga is just as bad. I've searched every directory I could think of and asked everyone who is remotely connected with this. If I were in north Jersey, I'd be up to my armpits in teachers. I started looking at the directory on the SFQ site, most of it seems to be in MN. The search goes on. And maybe the time isn't right.

Which is what I don't want to do. It seems that the SFQ Fundamentals Course http://www.springfor...amentals-course is really basic beginner's that is one-stop-shopping. And I am really a novice, not even a novice... almost totally ignorant. I want to learn the meditation as well as the exercises. Hence my questions. I should also mention that I am on medication for bipolar 2/ hypomania. I'm mostly depressive. I take Welbutrin, Lamictal (mood stabilizer) and Valium. I want to wean off the meds., or at least decrease them but not unless I know that I can control things through my own mind and energy.

Thanks. I thought he sounded kind of alarmist, but you guys are way more experienced and know all this.

I've been reading here and there about Z.Z, putting pieces together. So far what I know is from a few of Master Lam Kam-Chuen's videos on standing like a tree. I didn't get very far into it. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, be disappointed and/or practice wrong, and then throw it all away. And unfortunately in my area we sorely lack any sort of training centers. I'll look up open energy gate also. Thanks.

I'm sorry... what is Z.Z? Did I miss that in one of the links... I do tend to miss things. Edit... nevermind... Zhan zhuang. I'm dense. So am I correct in leaving Master Lam's alone and going with SFQ Fundamentals Course?

Is there any validity to what this guy is saying? Or is he pushing his own views? http://flowingzen.com/1461/the-small-universe/ This sounds nice:

I've had the feeling of cold run up my spine, and what could be described as a hot flash, for no apparent reason. I have had these, but not a negative feeling. It's actually a nice feeling. In fact I had one this afternoon. I was walking back to my cubicle at work and had a clarity that this is not real. this has happened before. I've had these, except for the spontaneous orgasms (dammit, I never have any fun!).

Oh so that's what it's called... anapana sati. A lot of people try to combine that with mantra japa. It doesn't always work... "you cannot serve two masters", to coin a phrase.

So my goal is śamatha, to clear the mind, then everything will fall into place. Occasionally this happens. For a fleeting moment things seem clear and "understandable". Then it evaporates. I suppose it takes work, which will come from meditation. I practice bhakti yoga; I am trying to find a good hatha yoga class.

Outstanding, thanks again. One of the things I'm learning is that I'm learning and slowly lifting the veil of unknowledge.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. I've read that the third eye is equated with the pineal gland. Btw, the 30 minute or 60 minute cd?

Sorry to derail the thread, but I'm interested in this subject, especially the third eye. Is this a worthwhile description?: http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Tai-Chi's-Horse-Stance I'd like to learn more about and practice Zhan zhuang rather than wu tai chi the fitness center offers. I'm considering Master Lam Kam Chuen's book Chi Kung: The Way of Energy and YT videos.

I don't believe in accidents or in a divine will that causes what we think of as accidents. I think things occur because they need to for some purpose or benefit. The workings of the universe are intricate. We don't always see the reason or the lesson, so they look like accidents or "well, shit happens". It's like looking at a cross-section of something... we can't see all the inter-connected details. Of course, I said "I believe", because this is based on my own experience; I have not achieved enlightenment (I'd be sitting on a mountaintop wearing a diaper, with a long white beard giving advice to pilgrims ). I learned some things the very hard way, not because they happened directly to me, but I am deeply involved and affected. Suffice to say that if I had put my foot down, opened my eyes and drawn that proverbial line in the sand, maybe things wouldn't have happened the way they did, but I can't know that for sure. At the very least I learned something that has benefited me, and things I needed to learn.

Without a doubt: One day the different parts of the body were having an argument to see which should be in charge. The brain said “I do all the thinking so I’m the most important and I should be in charge.” The eyes said “I see everything and let the rest of you know where we are, so I’m the most important and I should be in charge.” The hands said “Without me we wouldn’t be able to pick anything up or move anything. So I’m the most important and I should be in charge.” The stomach said “I turn the food we eat into energy for the rest of you. Without me, we’d starve. So I’m the most important and I should be in charge.” The legs said “Without me we wouldn’t be able to move anywhere. So I’m the most important and I should be in charge.” Then the rectum said “I think I should be in charge.” All the rest of the parts said “YOU?!? You don’t do anything! You’re not important! You can’t be in charge.” So the rectum closed up. After a few days, the legs were all wobbly, the stomach was all queasy, the hands were all shaky, the eyes were all watery, and the brain was all cloudy. They all agreed that they couldn’t take any more of this and agreed to put the rectum in charge. The moral of the story? You don’t have to be the most important to be in charge, just be an asshole!

Maybe darker skin indicated manual labor outdoors.

Hmm... Since there are a number of people here who are familiar with Hinduism and Hindu mythology ('mythology' being used as 'lore' and stories without the pejorative connotation) I thought I'd bring this up. I was thinking about it just today. OK, so it's another brainfart (my brain has a lot of gas ). Rama was the epitome of one who does his duty without question, without resistance. Through the machinations of his stepmother he was denied being crown prince of his father's kingdom, and banished to the forest. And while he mounted a war to free his kidnapped wife Sita, I've come to realize that following the Tao does not mean lying down like roadkill and doing nothing. Sita, as Rama's shakti, did her duty also without question, even when she was asked to submit to a literal trial by fire to appease the kingdom's subjects. As husband and wife to our minds, because the gods don't really have gender, but they are yin and yang, they performed their complementary and supplementary duties. This is why Rama and Sita are held up in Hinduism, to be the ideal man and woman. This is why I hold the view that there really is only one truth, we just have to look for it, and that there is a lot of cross pollination all across south and east Asia. Am I off-base, or is this worth thinking about and seeing with new eyes?

I meant to follow up and ask how many times you repeat the mantra. I have one 27 bead and several 108 bead mālās. I stumbled across this SAN QING JIAO ZU WU LIANG TIAN ZUN (Three Pure Ones, Founders of Taoism, Limitless Honored in Heaven) as an answer to my question in post #2. Does one chant the mantra/prayer as many times as desired?

It would seem that Jesus was one of at least three reformers of the practices of his day, the other two being the Buddha and Martin Luther. The Buddha wasn't against the Vedas, but he was against what the brahmins were doing with them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas#In_Buddhism It was and is well-known that study of the Vedas was restricted to men of the learned class. The Vedas were not accessible to the common folk. The brahmins held this over the heads of the people, much as the Pharisees did with Jewish scriptures. Martin Luther railed against the excesses and what he considered the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church.

Yeah just gotta accept it. But you don't have to like it!

I hate it when that happens... you know something exists but can't find it anymore. There are a whole bunch of YT videos by Anuradha Paudwal but I don't know if any of them have what you are looking for.