Prince...

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I like closing my eyes as well.

So when you guys say internal phenomena you mean, sensations, posture, emotions and such?

Also sirius I know I see BK closing his eyes during zhang zhuang, I would also say it is mediation at some level. And if eyes are not closed what do they do in your opinion?

Also can ALL postures like the tiger and dragon and archer from the way of power be done eyes closed or should they be open?

Even if eyes are open, the focus should still all be internal on aformentioned list above?

We don't practice those postures in Way of Power, also our hand positions are slightly different. My Yiquan comes from a different student of Mr. Wang. One of Yao Chengguang's students posted an article about eye training during zhan zhuang where he says to notice the things around you, try to follow falling leaves, birds, etc. There are visualizations that many schools do--some of them can be done with the eyes closed. My teacher says not to close the eyes until we reach a certain point.

The internal phenomena that I've been told about is a feeling of fullness. I have not reached this point yet. Generally I hear it takes about 3 years. Of course this is all from the Yiquan community, and the only people I know doing this are concerned with developing peng jin for fighting ability.

Must be a different translation as I usually see this logogram

While I quite like Glee, I've never really got into practicing while doing something else. Don't watch much TV and I tend to start gyrating and forget to stand still when I listen to music

 

re: Eyes position. Yes, try out some options and see how they feel to you. Personally I feel a big difference between eyes open and eyes closed.

You should try it sometime, Mal. I was serious...I often watch movies while standing.

I slacked off when it got cold, and I've had to move back to Nashville to assist aging family members. When it was warm, I practiced 30 minutes of standing just before sunrise before going off to do my Taiji & kettle bell workout. In the evening I would spend about an hour on Yiquan and watch a Shaw Brother's movie.

When I was outside, I was not focusing on the dantien or what was going on inside. I was watching the squirrels play and making adjustments to my structure.

I did this everyday from mid-July until early October when it started getting colder in Kentucky. I don't have any chakras spinning or active chi sensations. What I can do is stand a lot longer than I could last year this time, and my pushhands partners have been telling me that I'm holding back way too much (meaning I'm a lot stronger at pushhands now).

Sorry if this doesn't help you with your original question. I've given up on the cultivation/chi mastery stuff. I just do zhan zhuang because I like my teacher's gongfu and Yiquan is the foundation of our Taiji, Hsing-Yi, and Bagua.

Eyes forward watching last week's episode of Glee on Hulu.

Prince, think about it for a minute. Some of the heroes of the Hebrew bible were men that attacked cities of non Jews, and after winning the battle they put to death every Man, Woman, Child, and animal in the city. This happened many times with several of the biblical heroes. Now go back and read the sermon on the mount. Can you really imagine that the Jesus that gave that sermon would approve of the kind of raw, bloodthirsty barbarity that is contained in the old testament. I certainly can't. Do you know that the final decision to include the old testament in the Bible was not made until about 400 AD. There is a split starting to happen due to the barbarity of the old testament. For example, the President of Ukrain, after being elected, refused to take the oath of office on the entire Bible and only took it on the new testament.

 

Good luck becoming a minister. I hope that you take the softer route that seems to be available in the Christian tradition. Try St. John of the Cross and Meister Ekhart. I consider Bernadette Roberts to be an enlightened Christian, and she is still alive. Her books are available too. Maybe you can be the guy that makes Christian mysticism main stream.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you with a response. In response the "bloodthirsty" stories and "wrathful" God depicted in the Hebrew Bible, many of these stories are not true or did not happen as written. What you have is a writer telling their version of some event based on their understanding. People are human and present things from their point of view which may or may not be unbiased. Some of the prophets along with Jesus of Nazareth actually voiced concerns over the written Torah.

As for making Christian mysticism the main stream, someone else will have to take up that mantle. Lots of things can happen in a year's time. Although I have not learned to read the Bible in Greek, I have learned enough to know that I cannot serve the Church without telling a lie.

And that's all I have to say about that...

edit: I also need to comment on the decision not to include the Hebrew Bible until 400 CE: where did you read this? Up until the canonization of the New Testament, the only "Bible" was the Septuagint, the "Old Testament" scriptures still in use by the Catholic Church. There were groups that rejected the Hebrew Bible at that time, but they were viewed as heretics.

See a doctor. Don't disclose any energy related practices unless you want to go talk to a shrink shortly after seeing your general practitioner. Don't jump to any conclusions that it is energy related because it would suck to find out that what you thought was "blocked energy" was really early stages of Parkinson's or Essential Tremor.

Take the time to rule out all of the negatives.

 

The course fee for levels 1, 2 and 3A are respectively 100, 200 and 250 US bucks. This system was founded by Irmansyah Effendi but the current attunements are given by one Rama, a student of the founder. While most people seem to give a positive feedback, I did not come across anyone who reported an actual awakening of Kundalini. Most of the reports I read were about energy sensations, which hint towards pranic activity and not kundalini.

 

I met Rama back in the spring. He is a really nice man. He used to practice Silat and loves to talk about energy, martial arts, and healing. I think some guy got pissed off and left the Reiki Tummo seminar after asking Rama some questions about kundalini energy when Rama's answers did not agree with his research. Either way, Rama laughed it off, wished him well, and continued.

Most of the participants in the Reiki Tummo seminar that I attended were nurses and healthcare workers interested in adding more tricks to their bag. I left feeling refreshed, calm, and focused. I was not all that interested in Reiki or their system, but I attended to check out something different. If you're into healing and devotional practices, this might be worth checking out-- I prefer stuff related to martial arts.

I did look up "Dr." Susan Carlson's website, she seems pretty o.k., except she should drop the "Dr." bullshit. It's basically a mail order 'Doctor of Divinity' degree from a church and seminary in Sedona. That's pathetic, it actually severely detracts from her actual attainments IMHO.

So what you're saying is that if I choose to pick up a D.Min at my school, I should not go around calling myself Dr. because it's bullshit, right? I mean it's not like I will not have spent 10+ years studying Christian theology, learning Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

I mean it's not like Susan can't hold her own in a theological discussion or something. I mean it's not like I go to her for help after sitting in class with people from Ph.D's from Yale, Princeton, and Vanderbilt.

Also, her church and seminary is HER church-- so you're basically calling her appointed position within her church AND her church bullshit. Nice going...and what have you done that makes you an authority?

You know...I don't know shit about Max Christensen. I did not try Kunlun even though I have the book. People liked it and everytime I looked up someone was talking shit about Kunlun or Max.

The minute Santi said he trained under Doc, people started talking shit about KAP and Santi.

I don't know shit about David Verdesi, but alot of posters here talk shit about him.

I'm starting to realize now why a friend of mine had me remove my posts when I mentioned his teacher, because he did not want some of you butt hurt bitches talking shit about him.

Some of you need to get off your zafus, stop eating so much damn tofu, and quit worrying about what other people do.

Oh yeah, "That Guy," if you've attained so much, why are you asking for a demonstration? You could've sent Santi a PM asking for a good time to check him out down in Miami or some other venture. I guess you felt the need to make it public, though...yeah...you seem like "that guy" who is into circlejerking. Go sit in full lotus next to your homeboy Drew and figure that one out, pussy.

I'm done with this place for awhile. Happy Holidays.

wow...my respect for this forum just diminished greatly. Some of you are really world-class losers.

This is a good conversation, but let's get down to business. Does this guy have the goods? I do yang taiji. My teacher is good, but he cannot teach me this stuff. I get what y'all are saying about a good person will relax and may not fall for the same thing twice--my rebuttal to this is that how likely is it that the average ass clown on the street wanting to knock your head off will be able to completely relax?

I know the thing to say is "well, I hope I never have to use this in real life." If you're good to a point where you can actually harm someone, then I hope so. In my case, I am not very large and come into contact with shady people on a consistent basis.

Last year a girl rear-ended my car due to her road rage. I was not hurt, but I thought I would teach her a lesson by calling the cops. Within 10 minutes her dad and her uncle showed up on the scene wanting to fight me. The cops showed up pretty quick, but had they not, I could have gotten jumped by those two guys.

Right now I'm working on my foundation with my teacher. When I graduate, I'm looking for someone with the goods to study with...and if they can't or won't deliver, then I'll find someone who will.

I find this quite intriguing, Prince..

 

Isn't there a more 'Christian' term that could be applied to these spontaneous experiences?

 

I mean, its not a 'new' thing, right? If i am not mistaken, the Christian mystics of old would have had such awakenings - so what was the term they had used to describe it, i wonder?

In Phillip St. Romain's book, there is a section relating the experiences of Christian mystics to Kundalini. To respond to a previous post, and yours, I am going to have to say that St. Romain found his experiences to be somewhat consistent with those of Gopi Krishna.

The problem with the literature, according to St. Romain, is that Christian mystics just say what they experience. They don't call it Kundalini, Holy Spirit, or anything. In whatever language of the time of the writing they describe an experience. I remember reading some of those works back in college (before knowing the little I do know about kundalini) and thinking "what the hell are these people talking about?" There is not really anything in Christian literature about kundalini, as far as saying flat out "this is kundalini."

I even have material from a Christian mystic who passed away in the early 90's and he is very cryptic when it comes to Kundalini saying it is only for the advanced students.

I have heard Kundalini expressed as Holy Spirit. I don't like this description because Kundalini is from one tradition, Holy Spirit is from another. I agree with fiveelementtao in that I do not like crossing traditions. I do see a HUGE resemblance between Pentacostalism and Siddha yoga (not sure if this is the proper term... whatever form of yoga is all based on recieving shaktipats from a Guru). At the same time, I don't see all practices or all religions as being the same. There are some shared aspects that I believe help one to experience that which transcends the God (or Gods) of Religion, but that doesn't make them the same. Gonna let this go because I'm starting to sound too academic and I come here to NOT be an academic...

Prince -- this is a fascinating read. I personally experience everything that Phillip St. Romain is describing -- the only difference is that he doesn't seem to understand where the lower body energy comes from. That there's an open circuit on the lower half of the body as well. That's o.k. though since he's not fasting -- at least he made no mention that I noticed.

 

http://www.innerexplorations.com/ewtext/moreon.htm

no real response for you, Drew. I can't speak for Phillip St. Romain. He has a forum up if you'd like to ask him for yourself. I will add that most of the people there are Christians and do not care for a scientific explanation about the nuts and bolts of kundalini. Most of them are afraid because they have spontaneously aroused kundalini and want someone to assure them that they won't go to hell because of it. Also, I don't think they are interested in learning Spring Forest Qigong either. (sorry, I had to get you)

Hm, I usually agree with you, but disagree in this case.

Gonna have to go along with Scotty on this one. There is a message board for Christians who have aroused kundalini-- the majority of them having no idea what kundalini was until much later. The owner of the board is Phillip St. Romain, author of Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality. He had a complete awakening over the course of 3 years (well 17 years if you start with him recieving the gift of speaking in tongues). He did not study under a yogi or do any K-specific practices-- just centering prayer every morning for an hour before work.

We really do need a remake of the parting of the red sea. Egypt could pay santi to make a sort of biblical remake tour doing all the miracles of Moses where they were actaully performed

It would be awesome if Santi could do this, since Moses did not actually part the Red Sea. What the scripture actually says is they crossed the Sea of Reeds.

"How does one prove that anyway? I know far back when someone doubted Santi he sent a chi ball the size of mount Vesuvio up the guys spine although he had only read his posts and did not know who he was and where he were and the guy endorsed Santiago after that and confirmed the time of the Chi ball."

That happened to Hundun in a topic about "Path Notes". I tried searching for it, but I have not been able to find it.

It is Amazing how many ways, that has stood the trials of time, as material from 1,000 + years ago can be twisted for cash.

I guess the 100k that was sunk into my bachelor's degree in Religion; the 50k+ it will cost me to complete my Master's of Divinity degree and get ordained; and what I've spent learning taiji and meditation should all just be thrown away so that I can teach for free, right? When the utilities companies are turning off the lights and water to my home AND the utilities to the church, I can say "hey bro, I teach for free, it's cool." When the mortgage company wants their money on my home AND the church property, I can say "hey it's cool, bro, I teach for free."

I know a real Taoist priest who was raised in a temple. He travels the country teaching the Qigong from his temple. Guess what? He charges! I guess he should teach for free, right? Maybe he should get a dayjob? Cool, but tell me how many places are going to hire a 90 year old chinese guy that doesn't speak much english.

~jK~, or whatever it is you call yourself, you are full of shit, and I mean that.

Just two quotes I would like to share:

"When I was young," John began,"I really did not pay attention to the different things that my teacher, Liao Sifu, had told me about metaphysics. I was not really interested, you see; I wanted simply to learn to fight and to have power. But many things came back to me later."

JC, Magus of Java

I had stayed away from the religious aspects as I was quite content being a failed Methodist and still feel that way except for the occasional excursions into goddess worship. My concerns were purely technical and my expectations were to gain control over my body's electrical system.

Not everyone who meditates/cultivates/etc is seeking enlightenment. I'm not. For me, that's up to God.

Usually, the websites with big glaring "REGISTER NOW!" links that want you to pay money are complete garbage. This looks like a waste of time.

Yes...it's a total waste of time.

If there's nothing special about it - did you develop any Fajin yet ?

 

Also I am looking for one of these experts that can Fajin his neck out of a real choke not one of these "loving hands" type of approach where the "master" has to explain for half an hour how are you supposed to hold your hands before he can demonstrate his secret skill.....

Never seen that myself, but Phillips has his assistant touch his back and he releases from his back. My teacher told me something similar with his teacher.

Believe that class in Tucson is for Ray's students. You may want to try messaging Ray on the youtube channel where the video was posted.

 

I believe Michael Phillips also has a inner door disciple, Kelly Graham, that will be conducting a seminar for foundational training for internal art disciples.

 

Details below.

 

http://ucbprogram.com/intensive-intro-internal-kung-fu

 

Enjoy your practice,

mouse

Ray's school is in El Paso. Michael Phillips says in another video that he teaches in Tucson. Kelly Graham also has a Tucson phone number listed at the bottom of the link you provided. The video I saw was from 2008, so if you know that Phillips is teaching somewhere else, let me know. I seriously plan to drop by and pay him a visit when I have a chance.

For those of you saying "this stuff is simple, anyone can learn it." My teacher has not yet showed me anything like this and his teacher is Yang Jun-- the head of Yang Family Taiji. My teacher's taiji is very good. He can show and demonstrate combat applications with any posture, but he says up front that he cannot do stuff like Mr. Phillips is demonstrating. Yang Jun on the other hand, well, I have heard some interesting stories about his skills-- and I do not know if he teaches everything.

Edit: Just found his website :http://michael-phillips.net

Michael Phillips, who began his training in New York City in 1971, has been teaching T'ai Chi Chuan since 1977. He currently resides in San Diego, California and is available for workshops In Tai Chi and Qigong for corporate and private groups throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Please email Mr. Phillips for further information.

even better, I'm hoping to move back to San Diego after school

Michael Phillips from the first video has got good clean Jin and is the real deal.

 

You can see him isolate the Jin (the bomb) from the compression of the structure in the Demo where there is the barest contact on him.

 

I would say go look him up and try if you live close. You will be hard pressed to find a teacher that are 1) open in teaching the why and how of doing Taiji and 2) that have got it.

 

Enjoy your practice!

 

mouse

Saw the "Check him out if you live close" part and was like uhh...okay where is he? Seminar was hosted in El Paso, Mr. Phillips is in Tucson. I have family in Phoenix, so I'm hoping he's still teaching when I get a chance to get out to AZ. He will also be hosting a seminar at that same school in El Paso on 19 DEC, I believe.

I like Zhao Cong. She's a pipa player. I recently ordered her CD, but I cannot find the CD she did with a guitar player. I also think she's HOT, but women with musical talents seem to do it for me.

Zhao Cong, Ambushed from All Sides

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHLTmnYSDoQ

Zhao Cong, Moonlight on Spring River

Zhao Cong, Dance Tune of the Yi Tribe

I also like to listen to Mercan Dede's newest CD, Mercanistan. It's like turkish hip hop (sort of). Santiago turned me on to them during a full moon shaktipat back in September.

Mercan Dede- Mercanistan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncQ9bHiv0ls

Go out and get some credentials. Knowing stuff is good, but having something to show that you "know stuff" gets you paid. I hope to one day teach taiji. I have studied before and have lots of DVDs to keep me busy with Taiji and Wingchun stuff for years. I went out and joined the Yang Family Taiji Association. What did they do? Have me buy the Yang Family's instruction DVDs and tell me to show up to class so the teacher can make corrections.

So I'm still learning from a DVD-- BUT I have a teacher to correct me, AND I will eventually have certificates signed by the Yang Family saying that they approve of me teaching their taiji.

My friend back home was contacted by the Nissan plant and the Dell plant to teach Taiji at their respective campuses. If I were being interviewed for some similar position with some other people who have studied Yang style Taiji for X number of years and I can show my ties to the Yang Family, who do you think sounds like they offer the best product? So having credentials, even if they don't actually mean much, can be lucrative in our society.

I actually did not mean to go into Taiji-- I was going to say that I have a similar goal. I am writing a paper for my Faith Seeking & Understanding class on this topic (sort of). We are dealing with how Christianity deals with other Religions. Anyway, I am interested in teaching meditation/qigong/taiji/etc. I have realized that meditation does not belong to Buddhists or Taoists (even though some ignorant people at my Seminary seem to think it does), Qigong and/or Neigong are not religious practices. I want to teach these things. I don't intend to sugar coat anything with Christian terms because that does this stuff injustice. If someone wants to know the philosophy behind a movement or a form, I will hand them a reading list and directions to the nearest library. The average Christian does not read the Bible, so I know they will not read any obscure writings dealing with cultivation.

So yeah-- that's how I am seeking a spiritual job. I am going into the ministry. I am a Christian and this is what works for me. It helps that I already have a bachelor's in Religion and am a veteran attending Seminary on the GI Bill-- which means I basically go for free. I'm also taking KAP with Santi and studying Taiji. Hopefully in 3 years, I will have a little bit of "juice" and understanding of KAP that Santi may allow me to teach a watered down version-- if they want the goods, I'll send them to Santi; a decent ranking in the Yang Family Association; and a Master's in Divinity degree along with ordination in sacrament and word from my church.

Whatever you want to do is going to take some work-- but having some sort of credentials will be well worth the time you take to get them.

Meh, as expected.

Cant you at least say what one would attract, and what could happen to one? at the very least this you can say right?!

 

I m not saying you shouldnt heal help etc, keep doing those, great! but whats a little demo on the side, i mean really, share these scary consequences with me please.

 

Well, I just know you cant prove anything, if its because you reaally cant or because you re not allowed to I dont know, i ll just take a guess on that.

 

"P.S. Vaj... Good response. I was hoping you would take the high road..."

 

Oh please, whats so high about that?! I m not asking him to fight, I m not asking him to do anything dangerous ( well maybe I am, but I m just way too clueless to know), I m just asking him to walk the walk and not just talk the talk thats all.

Why hate on the idea of asking for proof? Since you re just willing to take things at face value like this I got this great email from some rich guy is africa i can forwad sometime, he needs your name and bank details so he can transfer a large inheritance he got but has nowhere he can deposit.

Oh come on Jesus....just turn the stones into bread. I mean how is that gonna hurt anything, you do want to feed the hungry, right? C'mon Jesus, just turn the stones into bread and prove your God is real.

Sometimes-depends what I'm sticking the tongue into

yea some of that stuff is bad for knees & shoulders.

this type of training + Chikung or Tenaga Dalam and you will be more than strong + Juice.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavcqaFc3LI

also work on walking with weights and doing circle walking and also linear walking as you hold weights.

 

KEY IS MOVE SLOW BREATH DEEP focus on Lower DT

hahahaha...Pavel!

I know an RKC certified guy back home...I guess he's a Senior RKC guy. I guess he's "tubby" and strong as an ox. Last I checked, he was 260, he does Jook Lum Mantis and trust me, you don't want to feel his hands. I made the mistake of telling him that I don't know what Tiger Claw is. You really don't want a guy demonstrating that to you that can rip a stack of cards in half with his bare hands.

GV0mj1plfwo

Darin, I'd like to know if some of the stuff you say in this video about Reverse Breathing and chi cultivation has changed after having studied with Santiago?

8KrJKwNvT8s

I'd like to know more specifically how you integrated KAP into your Taiji practice. You can respond to me in a PM or we can talk about it on skype sometime if you want. Too bad I am not ready for my rank test, I would have been in Detroit last weekend at our taiji school up there!

For most of the women out there, you'll get more mileage from a big diamond than a big dick.

I'm a broke black guy guess I'd better start a megachurch!

Also, just because a man can give me an orgasm from a distance or some sort of electromagnetic whatever doesn't mean I don't also like an old fashioned pronging. One type of orgasm doesn't replace another kind, anymore than a vaginal orgasm replaces a clitoral orgasm.

*giggles*

I think this thread has turned into do any kids stare at bums!

Aha! First customer! That'll be 10 bux please... just kidding!!

 

hi Prince...

 

Have you weight issues or just a chinese food 'addict' looking to do it the cheap way? I need to know for obvious reasons. Are there any other considerations besides budget? Do you do any Qi practice? Some info would be helpful... for example, eating habits, lifestyle, drinking habits etc. See if we can get you started somewhere eh?

 

I don't drink that often. I did have a beer last night with some friends, but I couldn't finish all of it. I actually despise the taste of beer. I'm a seminary student right now (hence being on a budget) study Taiji...I'm missing class tonight because I feel like I'm coming down with something and have a Hebrew quiz in the morning. I graduated KAP1 and am taking KAP2, so I do the Qigong from KAP and a Taiji qigong set I learned which is actually in The Dao of Taijiquan by Jou Tsung Hwa.

I'm about 5-7, 190 lbs right now, but I look like I'm 160. I'd like to actually weigh 160 but look like I do right now... hahaha.