Echo

Any insights. Is it worth the money?

So summarizing the things you all said, there is a part of Qigong that isn't "transferable" to other movement practices. 
Do you think that "simple" practices like Zhan Zhuang would be enough to supplement that part?

Hey, 

I have a very practical question and am hoping that I can get a few helpful answers.

I  am a fan of western movement practices (calisthenics, animal moves, etc.) but also really interested in Qigong and other eastern style energy cultivation methods. I read a few books and tried a few things but nothing serious. I am meditating daily though.

Due to time constraints I am wondering: Do you think it is necessary to do the same movements for the benefits of Qigong to manifest?

In my opinion there are underlying principles (mindfulness, breathing) which could more or less easily be incoprorated in other forms of movement.

Do you think that this will result in some/all of the benefits of Qigong practice or do you think that there is something inherent in the Qigong forms that will be lost and it therefore won't work?

I'm really curious about your opinions. 

Are there any news on the possibility to get access to the videos over the internet (i.e via streaming)? 

Some additional thoughts from my side: 

If replenishing jing/ming gong would actually lead to reversal of aging / physical immortality and it's a foundational practice logically there would be no need for lineages in the sects that have the correct methods, since no member would die of age related causes. Except for the members that die from accidents or leave earth for other reasons of course.

In every other tradition I'm vaguely familiar with (Yoga/Tantra, (Tibetian)/Buddhism) immortality (in all forms) is considered an achievement of extremely advanced spiritual practice and not a foundation.

I'm not very surprised that teachings that could potenitally prolong your life on this earth for an infinite amount of time are not wildly known  

I think I recall one instance of a TDB-Member claiming to have "real" ming-gong in their scholl, which should be what we are looking for here if I'm not mistaken. 

(Edit: I think it was from  Wiu-Liu Pai)

9 hours ago, Wells said:

[...] Those who know this Way look after their Spirit and guard their corporeal form. They nourish the corporeal form to refine the Essence, accumulate the Essence to transmute it into Breath, refine the Breath to merge it with Spirit, and refine the Spirit to revert to Emptiness. Then the Golden Elixir is achieved." [...]

Does "nourishing their corporal form" refer to eating, drinking, etc. (i.e. nourishing our body)?

And is there any material regarding ming gong in the classical daoist literature?

P.S: I really like the way you presented the material by the way! 

On 21.6.2017 at 11:17 PM, phil48 said:

Edit: Could there be a chance that the DVDs (i am missing Vol.7.. so especially this DVD ;-) )will be uploaded on a streaming service or be sold as a download at some time in the future?Even though the DVD would be very well worth the money, but as I am from Europe  and just a poor student this could save me some delivery charges I guess 

I'm in the same situation as phil, so it'd be great for me as well.
I searched the thread and Sifu Terry said that he is working on getting the DVDs uploaded on vimeo.
Is this still the case and it's just a matter of time? 

Wishes you the best

Echo

Just stopping by to add that I'm also really interested in liminal_lukes question about how Flying Phoenix Chi Kung and Bok Fu Pai as a whole relate to immortality. 

Haha, I take that as a comliment  

Johnsons approach to spiritual cultivation is very "technical" in my opinion, the book gives a huge number of different cultivation techniques for every stage of the path. And thats what I liked about it.

But lately I gravitate more and more to "simple" teachings myself, even if they could be less effective. Part of that is also my recognition that I have some problems with analysis paralysis (and 600+ pages of advice is alot to analyse ). I see myself better of with a more "basic" practice like cessation-contemplation / emptiness meditation that I hope can carry me very far in itself rather than trying to figure out the best technique for every step.

I think the book is a treasure for anyone who knows his stuff much better than I do at the moment and therefore has a better framework to integrate all that information and use it effectively . 

That should be the gist of it. You should really read the book though so you can understand me better

Hi Guys,

after some thought I decided to sell my copy of Jerry Alan Johnson's "Daoist Internal Alchemy: Neigung & Weigong Training" 

As you can read in the designated threads on the Bums, it's a neverending tome of daoist cultivation advice and techniques. 

I want to sell it, because I'm changing my viewpoints and approaches to cultivation and I think it doesn't serve me anymore and might be better off in someone else's hands instead of collecting dust on my shelf. 

Price is 100€/$ (original price is 200$) not including postal charges. 

The Book has only very slight signs of wear and tear. 

To save on post service it'd be good if you are from Europe, ideally Germany. 

For further questions just ask here or send me a Pm. 

Glad to have you back here! Big congratulations for becoming a dad! Hope your doing well and the cultivation helps with all the late hours     
And thanks for bringing the new Bodri books to my attention! Very interested in the gems you promised, since the other authors are pretty well known around here, I guess. Still curious about your opinion on their material though 

Joeblast, 

thanks for your clarifications. It's still kind of difficult for me to get some practical takeaways for how to retrain the breath to be that "calm" (for lack of a better term). Any specific resources you can point to?

Thanks again!

Hey guys,

I'm Freddy, 20 years old, from Germany. I recently discovered my thirst and curiosity for spiritual teachings. I'm kind of lost within the vast realms of information regarding the topic and looking for a good place to learn, share and discuss and hope that the Dao Bums can scratch that itch.

I'm currently reading about Daoism, different forms of Yoga and also some New Thought stuff.

My biggest difficulty to date is actually differentiating between different forms of cultivation/ spiritual practice, because all the terms are new and unfamiliar. So excuse possible errors in that regard  

I hope you guys have some patience for a young, eager and curious fellow like me. 
As for myself, I'm excited to get started