thaddeus

This is a good inquiry. The obvious answer is 'no', of course not. BUT, taichi does have alot of taoist and TCM influence. Problem is nobody who has any real demonstrable skill in taichi is teaching it. What you find for the most part is ALOT of misunderstanding, confusion and misinformation regarding the physical skills let alone what is supposed to be happening internally. There is no universal agreement on simple things like dantian rotation, weight shifting, and propery body structure so how could there be any on the esoteric levels. My gut feeling is that if people are talking about it it's probably self delusion. Of course there is nothing special about taichi over and above any other movement discipline. And, just look at all the great taichi masters--none of them are noted for any cultivation effects. Even Feng, who learned from arguably the greatest taichi master (chen fake) still learned some serious chi gung from another (name escapes me right now) and teaches both. So I think what you might find are some people who have cultivation knowledge and *happen* to know and practice taichi and decided to start incorporating those ideas into the practice. My yardstick for good taichi is whether or not reverse breathing is taught in the form. If not, then it's not even scratching the surface. In reverse breathing you not only get the micro and macro cosmic orbits flowing better, but the martial aspects can really be exploited correctly. T

Not to wax too philosophically, but your physical body is not necessarily your life. And your breath comes and goes, has nothing to do with scarcity of anything. This has more to do with local politics and other factors rather than scarcity. Farmers in this country are paid NOT to grow food. T

Multitasking still is just one thing at a time, just time slices. So you need to be aware fully of what is happening at that moment. So maybe it's like driving a car, your awareness is present but there's a lot going on..? T

That one is just root powder, I have to find the one that had extract in it. But do a google on shou wu pian, seems like there are lots of reports of liver toxicity with some of these products that have other ingredients including the popular shen min product. http://www.itmonline.org/arts/hsw_alert.htm

you're on..let us know when you have the shou wu.

IIRC, this one was made from extract: http://www.cgcmall.com/Shou_Wu_Pian_p/hr00sw12.htm I think i'm going to visit chinatown in a few minutes, so i"ll check. Ian, maybe Yoda myself and whoever else wants to chime in will visualize you holding a bottle of sho wu chih...what do you think? T

Seems like this one is just 600mg of the root and I doubt it's the processed version. So it's not really that much active ingredient. For comparison, you can buy a pound of the processed root in chinatown for 5 bucks, give or take. T

So I take it you don't live near a chinatown? Second, using Yoda's tips, try to manifest a bottle of it as an experiment. T

spot on!

Spyrelx, it seems to me that you found the guidance and answers you need by yourself already. Trust your instinct and keep following it. We will all find light eventually, making transgressions and paying for them eventually becomes tiresome and, as you've learned, counter productive. But it needs to happen so we can learn and move forward. T

Yes, it's one of my favorite tonics! Regarding the comment on getting the raw herb, I find that many of the herb shops in chinatown are quite unscrupulous as well. In nyc's chinatown, you'll find that in the tourist spots, the owners don't really know much about the herbs. They might have a resident 'herbalist'--usually a decrepit old man in the back (hardly a poster boy for TCM), but for the most part, once you walk in, it's a hard sales pitch. I started to trust one and then later found them to be ripping me off. I could go on and on..but I'll spare everyone... Someone told me the chinatown in toronto was the place to go to get quality herbs and no BS. T

I mean if you look at the ingredients,sometimes it says 'extract' and sometimes it says 'powder'. The he sho wu pills I got in chinatown is 'extract'. Extracts are more concentrated and powerful. They boil or soak the herb in different mediums to 'extract' the beneficial stuff and then make a powder or whatever out of that. So 500 mg of an extract is way more than 500 mg of ground up herb. That's what I meant.. T

agreed...you might enjoy reading up on kabbalah if you haven't already. a big part of it is about receiving in order to share, not for the self alone. pretty enlightening.. T

I remember reading about this..might be zen shiatsu, but don't quote me. If you look at the popular meridian system, certain organs have points in the hands and others the feet but not both. One of those shiatsu guys said that they are in both and came up with meridians that reflect all the organs in the arms and the legs. T

How do you know that about wild animals? T

Couple notes here..and Lozen, i know you this already..it's important to distinguish 'extract' from ground up powder. Sometimes these herbal caps grind up the herb and it's not very potent. I think with he shou wu, there is a difference between the prepared (boiled in black beans IIRC) and the raw herb. Many of us here reported negative effects from taking extracts of the raw herb. T

I think the lying and sneaking around to obtain the extra partners does the damage energetically and spiritually rather than union with more than person. T

ahh, ok, you're looking at it from a technique perspective. I dunno, I don't think that technique works very well. You can concentrate all you want, and nothing is going to happen, but what you expect to happen what you fear and what you *feel* you deserve (as Yoda is alluding to) is usually what ends up happening imo from observing what's going on around me. I think people usually start with the technique you mention and then when it doesn't work, dig deeper to learn the real art of manifesting. I personally feel it's like the ocean, you may feel like you're navigating it, but its also controlling you at the same time. I think that is a fair analogy. T

I don't think manifesting via the law of attraction requires special powers of concentration. It's whatever you usually think about or naturally believe about reality that comes to you. It's something that's going on now. I think fulfilling desire can be one way of eventually getting bored with it and moving on to other experiences. T

He talks about it in the later books and if I recall correctly it had something to do with it being just a technique to nudge him into Don Juan's world. My take is that Carlos was a great writer who had his finger on the pulse of the new age movement throughout it's evolution. It started with the drug culture of the 60s and that's what castaneda initially wrote about. When that stopped being cool in the 70s, he started to write about the power of the feminine and buddhist ideas. You'll see with each decade, his focus changed to what was currently in vogue. His later works talked about dreaming and other more abstract concepts. That's all, imho. T

Yes and No.

thanks amy T

Hi Amy, what are these guides talking to you about? Do they sometimes mislead you? And, can you give some tips on how to contact them? Do you actually see/hear them or is it an intuitive sense? Thanks! T

i can't remember if wong did a tao teh ching translation, but she has loads of other things published. good luck and remember to report back in on what you decided to try out! T

Taoism is about daily decrease..not being a ball buster..but you can't 'add' taoism. Just be natural. But I get what you're asking..Start with the Tao Teh Ching. I found that eva wong's books are more accessible than thomas cleary. Deng Ming Dao's Scholar Warrior gives alot of practical information on the physical practices. Just jump in. T