markern

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Posts posted by markern

  1. Posted

    On 3.5.2025 at 4:08 PM, nssliaon said:

    I was sort of an agnostic atheist until about 3 years ago, also an alcoholic. Then, through a mushroom trip, I sort of came to the conclusion that there was something bigger, that the materialistic view wasn’t enough. Then I researched a lot of traditions and stuff for about 2 years, and the last one was Taoism, which was the one I was like, 'Yeah, that’s more like my vibe.' Alongside this spiritual stuff, I ended up with somatic work and that sort of thing. Since about 7 months ago, I started to practice TRE, which in my view is totally related to qi. Also practiced a bit of Zhang Zhuan, tried to keep my energy on the lower dantian, and open some internal channels with TRE.

    Those are amongst my favorite practices:)

  6. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Cobie said:

    Based only on what I read on TDB, I disliked Damo; this while never having seen any of his videos.  Then one day a couple of years back, I finally did watch one video; in it he talks on his own at length.  He seemed to me to spend the whole of the video with avoiding saying what he wanted to say; then finally, only right at the last minute he does say 'it'.  And then I knew he had his heart in the right place and I understand why he stopped posting videos. (I forgot the title of the video. I never saw a video of Adam, or of Damo with Adam; sometimes two people bring out the worst in each other.)

     

     


    I don't understand what you say here about the video. Could you explain it in a different way?

    I agree his heart is generally in the right place. 

    • Like 1

  8. Posted · Edited by markern

    12 hours ago, Sanity Check said:

     

     

     

    Damo has 30,000 subscribers on youtube.

     

    Which could be worth $1,000 - $2,000 extra income per month.

     

    Youtube is a great platform for free advertising, building a brand and connecting with people.

     

    Every video uploaded puts someone further ahead giving them more opportunities to get their ideas and perspective out there.

     

    Why would someone voluntarily walk away from that?

     

    There is no reason to quit and every reason to continue uploading.

     

    So, yes. Some type of explanation is needed.

     

    And, no. Some generic "I being of sound mind and clear conscience decided to quit on my own" doesn't cover it.

     


    People walk away from that on a daily basis. Lots of the channels I have followed stopped because the person running it got tired of it and wanted to spend their time in other ways.

    There isn't a single example of YouTube using threats and blackmail to make someone stop using their channel. They can easily just shut it down. There is no presumption that unless another good reason for quitting is found the most likely cause is YouTube making covert threats to make them stop posting instead of YouTube simply closing the channel. 

    If Youtube wanted to protect atheists from critique they could just shut his channel down. They don't even need to give an explanation.

    If YouTube really wanted to protect atheists there are thousands of other channels it would be more useful to shut down. There are endless amounts of religious channels that harshly criticize and mock atheists on YouTube. Shutting Damo down helps nothing. 

    If you do want an explanation you should watch the video where he explains why he quit. He also said five or so years ago that he was going to withdraw from a public teaching role in what he thought was around 5 years time. So him starting to withdraw follows what has been his announced plan all along. 

    This is the last thing I will write in this discussion.

     

  10. Posted

    On 24.5.2025 at 12:39 PM, liminal_luke said:

    Some people run hot.  Let´s say there´s a debate that runs on for more than ten pages.  Frustrations start to flare a bit, things get a tad antagonistic, somebody alerts the mods.  A cool down warning is issued.  Spectators in the know gather their popcorn because things have reached a critical state and what happens next will determine everything.  Daniel is obviously a very intelligent guy, amazingly knowledgable about a few subjects, but cooling down is not in his repetoire -- and so he got the boot.  This is my take on what happened.

     

    Do I miss him?  I do.  Ditto for Shadow_Self, another wonderful Bum prone to overheating.  I can´t say -- won´t say --- that the mods made the wrong decision in either of these cases; I think they debated in good faith, followed their guidelines, took the actions they felt best served the board.  But I had good relationships with both of these Bums and know that they´re good-hearted people who had something to contribute to conversation here.  Alas, when the moment came to let go they couldn´t do it.  


    Isn't the best way to handle such a situation to give a time out punishment. Ban him for three months or something. Long enough to have a preventative and a reforming effect but not permanent so a valuable poster ins't lost forever. 

    • Like 2

  11. Posted

    I think Jesse Lee Parker could be a good alternative for those who considered Damo but have been put off for some reason. He has an online academy now, teaches alchemy, comes off extremely well as a person IMO, teaches very well and an amazing poster on this forum for some years. He used to post here under the name Dao Zhen. You can check his archive, his posts are great. He has learnt a lot since then but a lot of what he teaches seem to be the same stuff he learnt from the teacher he had back then. 

    You can find his online academy here:

    https://www.immortalarts.org

  12. Posted

    3 hours ago, Krenx said:

    I have been to his workshops before. I can verify he uses more subtle frequencies of Qi to help attendees run energy a little stronger during workshops. But it is intentionally at the more subtle levels for workshops. 

     

    There are people I trust who knows him personally, and have witnessed his skills. Like emitting qi in the quality similar to electricity, like the some other masters many of you have probably seen online. I hear he has improved a lot. 

     

    He does not demonstrate these things publicly for obvious reasons. And I don't believe he ever will. So one will need to seek him out personally to find out in person. The answer to questions around his skill will end up "go find out yourself". It is by design, and will not really change anytime soon. People who know first hand will not share it in great detail, or any detail at all. 

     

    But there is a clear pattern I think most people are starting to realize, that not many great students actually come out of the other end of the school/ system. If they did, we would be all interacting with them, attending their workshops. But instead it all keeps pointing back to Damo, which is odd after all these years. You see this odd pattern in a few schools. 

     

    Which does not make sense. Because his knowledge is authentic. His training methods I have experienced is legitimate and effective. There is a missing piece to the puzzle; but have put it aside and will let things reveal itself on its own. 

     

    But for good knowledge and insights, framework of internal work, and methods of training, damo and his books are valuable and answers many questions correctly 👍. Anyone who would like to learn fundamental theory of daoist arts, I will direct them to Damo's books. 


    Then I would think the answer is that those who end up as his inner door students aren't students with great potential. I suspect that people with a mind of their own may struggle to tolerate him over time and if they do I suspect he may not invite them into his inner circle so they eventually go elsewhere. Based on how he handled disagreements in the FB group for the academy I would suspect that is the answer. He handled it very poorly, occasionally acted like a child and banned people left and right for no good reason at all while disrespecting them. Including me for saying things that definitely shouldn't get anyone banned anywhere. 

    I have huge respect for his skill and his ability to teach in a technical way. I also believe he has a lot of wisdom and genuinely very good personal qualities. But I think he also has some severe immaturities and issues he hasn't dealt with and it made me conclude I didn't want him as a teacher and wouldn't even be able to stand being around him much. 

    I hope he figures out the remaining stuff he needs to work through. He is potentially a great teacher but seems to mess it up somehow. 

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

  13. Posted

    9 hours ago, Sanity Check said:

     

     

    If you truly believe I'm incorrect on this.

     

    What would you be willing to bet on it.

     

    I'm simply saying water is wet.

     

    While you grasp at straws trying to prove that water is not in fact wet.

     

     


    A million dollars

    You are not saying water is wet. You are doing the opposite and saying that instead of the obvious being true an elaborate and needlessly conspiracy is the truth. When a channel isn't closed down but is still fully operational, and the man who ran the channel had said long in advance that he would stop posting on the channel and made a final goodbye video, then the obvious is that he stopped useing the channel like he said he would, not that Youtube closed him down. When YouTube closes a channel they just shut it down instantly and make it impossible to post more videos or even delete all previous videos. This isn't what happened since the channel is still there. What you are instead claiming is that instead of going the easy route of simply closing the channel, which YouTube can do and does everyday, YouTube went to great lengths to somehow threaten Damo to quit posting while also keeping quite about it. And you are claiming that that needlessly complicated conspiracy is somehow obvious. 



     

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    "You were deeply offended when I said the truth would eventually be known and everyone would know it.

     

    Maybe you can think about why that is."

    I am pretty certain he was annoyed that you said the truth would eventually be known as a response to people pointing out that Damo wasn't shut down he just stopped posting and explained why himself. That you are still claiming he was shut down, when he so clearly wasn't, is what people find annoying. It certainly is what I find annoying. To claim others can't deal with the truth, science, rationality etc. when you yourself can't admit being wrong about a simple verifiable truth everyone else understands is rich.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  15. Posted

    1 hour ago, Sanity Check said:

     

     

    There are those who seek science & truth.

     

    And those who spend their entire lives running & hiding from truth & science.

     

    In the bible, satan is called father of  lies, while Jesus is the Truth and the Life.

     

    In that way those who turn their backs on Truth and Science also turn the backs on God.

     

    People are catching on to this, more and more, as time passes.

     

    They're catching on to the fact that certain demographics are always wrong about everything everytime they open their mouths.

     

    Pretending speaking truth and speaking lies are 100% exactly the same thing, simply will not work out for some of you.


    Damo stopped posting and made a long video explaining why. He was not shut down and no truth will come out eventually that he was shut down. You are just making stuff up. Then you go into weird and rude rants about unrelated topics to deflect from the fact that you were wrong. 

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    On 15.8.2018 at 10:29 AM, ShivaShakti said:


    Certainly not man. i am against ausar. pls read my posts from the start. im sure you wont be confused.

    I knew ausar was a conman, way back before anyone else have ever posted against him here on TDB. This is not a talk shit, but because ausar already screwed not less than 5 persons and they're all complaining

    Cheers!


    How did he screw them?

  17. Posted

    On 9.5.2025 at 3:40 AM, Gerard said:

    It's going to be difficult to impossible to learn an IMA online. There are way too many subtleties to the art that are easily missed. You won't go deep enough, I'm afraid.

     

    But by having said that, you can get by and get benefits by starting a beginner's form. 
     

    Zhu Tiancai, one of the four tigers of Chen TJQ, *New Frame 13 is a good start. YT and DVD:

     

     

     

    English subs and fully explained set.

     

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/396206069330
     

    Hope this helps. :)
     

     

    *Form breakdown:

     

    https://chen-taiji.com/13-postures/

     

     


    Sure, I am not expecting to get deep or good without a live teacher. But think I would enjoy it and benefit from it still. I will also be learning Yang style in a weekly in person class and expect that to help. lot. 

    • Like 2

  19. Posted

    14 hours ago, Gerard said:

    Well that's Chen as opposed to the more internally focused and slow paced Yang TJQ.

     

    Chen Xiaowang also created the 16 form for busy people or beginners to get their feet wet before embarking on longer and more demanding forms:

     

     

     

     


    Thanks. Very useful. I might want to learn that. Any ideas for online tutorials or courses for learning Chen style? I think there may only be Yang style available where I live. Will start a yang style class after the summer I think but want to experiment with Chen on my own. 

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    On 4.5.2025 at 3:50 PM, Taomeow said:

    Actually yes, it is a simplified form based on the classical Chen forms (Laojia Yilu and Erlu), but it's a recent addition to the Chen arsenal, developed by members of the Chen family in 1983.  Unlike the Yang style 24 form, which was commissioned by the Chinese Sports Committee in 1956 for mass exercise, the Chen 24 form was designed to introduce the basic "alphabet" of Chen taiji while maintaining its martial and health benefits.  You can think of it as "CliffsNotes" of sorts to the real deal.  


    Thanks. That is very useful to know:)

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    On 6.9.2023 at 11:12 AM, Ira said:

    Hi! I'm 36, female. I'm Buddhist practitioner, my main lineage is Chinese Mahayana, Pure Land. I also have experience in Vajrayana.  I'm interested in Buddhism, Dao, Tai-chi, qi gong, nei gong, nei dan and bagua zhan. I'm Russian living in Balkans for quite a long time. I can speak basic Chinese. I'm practicing every day for several hours. My usual nian fo, reading scriptures etc, as well as qi gong, nei gong etc. I'd be glad you recommend me online and offline courses for serious practice. I've tried one year in Damo Mitchell's academy and like it's structure. I'm looking for masters with good ethical conduct and good moral code. It's the basis we should start from I believe. Right now I'm looking for something that is similar to Damo's Lotus academy. I need tons of explanations because they fit my mental structure :) I'm interested in offline seminars as well.


    You could try Jesse Lee Parkers immortal arts online academy. I think it is really great. He just started it and hasn't uploaded all the material that will be there eventually but there is plenty of content for a long time already and he holds a live online workshop every two weeks or so as part of the academy. 

  23. Posted

    I have seen people say that this form isn't proper Chen style but a form made more just to look cool. Is that true or is it genuine Chen style? It sure looks good though. I want to learn it regardless. I just wanna move like that. But it would be interesting to know if it is a proper form or not.



     

     

    • Like 3

  24. Posted

    Perhaps a combination of meditations that aim to take you directly to the form of awareness where everything seems to be ok as they are, such as Loch Kellys Mahamudra glimpses or Shinzen Youngs Do Nothing meditation coupled with the inner smile. The inner smile provides self love and love for your body. The Mahamudra/Do nothing adresses the feeling of lack.

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    On 15.1.2025 at 3:30 PM, dwai said:

    Ah, Manonasha - what he means is that the mind doesn’t control the individual as it becomes clear as being a process that occurs using reflected consciousness. 

     

    Vasanas are mental impressions/patterns that arise periodically. There are some which are not considered detrimental - those may or may not be dissolved. For example, Sri Ramkrishna Paramhamsa retained his love for food. These are called “Lesha avidya “, some minimal patterns that allow for the system to function after realization. And there are differences of personality even after realization,  otherwise realization would lead to creating automatons. Dissolving mental patterns doesn’t mean all patterns are dissolved. The fact that personality is retained to a certain degree means some mental patterns remain. Not everything needs to be given up.
     

    For example, if someone has a penchant for tidiness, there is nothing inherently negative about it, so why would it need to be dissolved? 
     


    I am very interested in this topic. In what changes after awakening and what does not. Where can I read more about how these distinctions are though of in the yogic tradition/Vedanta?