knowledgeseeker

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  1. Zhineng/Wisdom Healing Qi Gong

    I was planning on getting into qi gong for the first time and was looking at Zhineng specifically to start. I will check out the Udemy course mentioned above, but are there any other good video tutorials online? What is the most "definitive" or "official" version/source of Zhineng qi gong?
  2. Where can I find more information about the "Four Greats"?

    Good point, although in western systems the "biological life" element/phase/force is usually considered the ether/etheric/vital force, which in those western systems lies somewhere in between the physical plane and the elementals. So it's not really missing (at least in some traditions), it just isn't considered one of those four primary elements (or 5 if you cound akasha/void). But after doing some more reading on the subject, I actually think it's the Taiji and the greater/lesser yang and greater/lesser yin that fulfill the same role in the daoist cosmology as the 4/5 western elements do in the western/Indo-European systems. It just seems like the taoists went into more fine detail with categorizing more specific combinations and sub-types of these 4 forces, hence the 8 of the Bagua, and ending up in 64. Whereas the western systems seem to be content working with the "more broad and less specific" 4. As I mentioned in response to Taomeow, I think this is essentially the correct answer. And your post makes quite clear the similarities between this and hermetics (especially Bardon's system). With the Akasha being the T'ai Chi, yin and yang being the "electric" and "magnetic" fluid (precursor to fire and water), and air and earth coming forth from the interaction of fire and water, the two "true" elements. I agree, as a result of what I've learned about the Taiji, I now realize the five wu xing are not what corresponds to the 4 western elements, despite the naming convention (although I also now realize the word "elements" isn't even really a good translation of wu xing in the first place).
  3. Where can I find more information about the "Four Greats"?

    This seems to be exactly what I was looking for. It also makes sense that some writings would refer to them as "four realms" since they are kind of "realms" in the western system as well from the perspective of having out of body experiences within the elements themselves. You mentioned that many Daoist writings use the term "four great" to refer to the four mahabhuta. Do you happen to know which writings/sources that might be (or some of them)? I know there may not a be an English translation for some of these but I'm still interested in knowing of them. Interesting, then it definitely seems like the 5 wu xing themselves are more comparable to how the western system describes the "forces" which those 5 physical planets represent in astrology. Also, you may be on to something with the Taiji and the four emblems (is that the same thing as the "four symbols"? I could find anything related to the Taiji specifically worded as "four emblems" when I searched for it). But that could certainly fit the description of something analogous to the 4 western elements, especially because in many occult texts the 4 elements are represented by four beings/spirits and four directions. There is a lot I will need to learn more about, thanks for that info! Also it's interesting that you mention some systems reducing them down to just two, because in some hermetic systems the four elements can also be reduced down to two real forces, the "electric fluid" and "magnetic fluid" (the names being metaphorical of course), which are the precursors to fire and water respectively, the only two "true" elements (air being simply the balance/polarity between fire and water, and earth being result of the interaction between fire, water and air. So it seems there is a lot of correlation after all.
  4. Where can I find more information about the "Four Greats"?

    Thanks, I'll check that book out. I'm just starting to dive into taoism but could the "compass directions" or "patterns of qi" be thought of as different types of "material" energy in the same sense that the hermetic elements are? I guess my question SHOULD be: since the 5 Chinese/taoist elements aren't equivalent to the 4/5 hermetic elements, does any branch of any taoist system have something that IS equivalent? As in, something that represents those 4 "precursor of matter" energies/elements? Does this mean that the 5 Wu Xing could actually be thought of as somewhat related to the planetary energies/forces of those 5 plants in western occult/hermetic systems? In other words, since the hermetic systems typically have the 4 elements (plus akasha), 12 zodiacs, and 7 classical planets, all of which are thought of as energies/forces, are taoists essentially using 5 of the planetary energies under the analogy of their 5 elements? Or am I reaching here with this comparison? Also, those "4 Greats" are actually the only 4 Greats I found when searching for it, but they didn't seem to make much sense in the context of ChiDragon's post that mentioned the term, so I was thinking there was maybe a different 4 Greats that have something to do with similarities with western elements.
  5. Hello

    Rawn Clark's books have definitely helped me out a lot as well, especially because Bardon's theory section is a bit thin on details (I guess he wanted to student to learn more themselves through experience). But IMO, Bardon's practical steps are the most straightforward and well-thought-out system for anyone who wants to get into this stuff by themselves. I haven't gotten in to Mistelle's stuff yet although I am aware of him. It seems like most of commentary deals with the higher-level steps and evocation, whereas I'm still in the beginning stages myself.
  6. I've been interesting in studying Daoism (and eastern esoteric practices in general), and in the daoist system we have five elements. I am coming from a western/hermetic/Tibetan perspective where there are four elements (fire, air, water, earth) plus a fifth, akasha. Now I've already studied enough to realize that the "five elements" in daoism aren't really equivalent to the four elements of hermetics, as the five are a representation of phases/transitions, whereas the four are more like a subtle astral "material" from which the material universe is generated. But what I'm interested in, is learning more about whether daoism DOES have an actual equivalent to what hermetics calls the four elements. The only thing that I could find, was a comment made on this forum in 2013, where user ChiDragon explains that daoists DO in fact have them, and they are known as the Four Greats as opposed to the Five Categories (wuxing elements) that they also have. This is the post I am referring to: So my question is: where can I find more information about the Four Greats? I have not been able to find anything online about this. Are there any books, texts, lectures, or any sources at all where I can learn more about the Four Greats in the daoist context? I don't speak any dialect of Chinese, so I don't know if searching via the Chinese characters in ChiDragon's post would have yielded obvious results in my search on this topic.
  7. Hello

    Thanks for the welcome. It's definitely a life-long journey, but having the steps and goals laid out in plain language helps a lot with motivation.
  8. Hello

    I'm interested in Daoism and this seems to be the place to discuss it! I have questions regarding Daoism and it's philosophies that I plan to ask about in the appropriate subforums. In my personal practice I follow Franz Bardon's system of hermetics but I also enjoy learning about and comparing other systems, just for the sake of expanding my viewpoints and allowing me to understand my own practices better.