Nuralshamal

Yes, I think it’s quite weird they’re sporting these dadbod types of builds. I also got more tendency to get a belly, but that’s just after passing 30, not my qigong it’s just basic calories in vs out and ofc physical training vs being sedentary Qigong is in no way, shape or form a ‘complete’ body exercise as seen from western science, normal fitness with strength, cardio and flexibility is definitely superior for general health and body composition. however qigong is great for addressing chronic health issues in a targeted way with specific qigong sets, mantras, mudras, herbs etc, and ofc mind body wellbeing due to the meditative and mindful qualities encouraged by qigong and Taichi But honestly it’s mostly (from western perspective) the mindfulness component giving wellbeing, not because qigong is physically more powerful than conventional exercise for health, it’s just more specific and targeted from the TCM worldview perspective. that’s just my own observations and experience ofc i think it’s just a poor excuse and kind of outdated view of qigong vs west, and living in denial of basic western science one is not superior, they’re complementary, and devaluing and denying one for the other is just old fashioned and black/white mindset use both and win 😁

Thanks for clarifying Yes, my feeling is that it’s too mechanistic. Eg I will say that my uncle is actually quite vital and energetic from daily practice, ofc also flexible and has some gymnastics like strength Yet it has also given him shoulder joint issues where he had to get an operation, and can’t really vouch for any real spiritual benefit from it to be honest. He actually got a light in his eyes when I spoke about getting Zhongxian Wu to come do a guest workshop in his studio, because I said I had been really impressed and personally impacted by his talisman qigong healing. So I feel Astanga is more or less a mechanistic physical system that through asana and pranayama give you a gymnastics style workout, but no real, tangible, powerful benefits for energy or spiritual development, say like SKY or Wu’s qigong, nor a ‘complete’ system like the Chinese including herbs, astrology, you name it, all as one indivisible, functional unit actually able to powerfully change your health, finances, spirituality, you name it It’s still great for strictly physical fitness, but would personally deem normal fitness training in the western style superior for health, and SKY or Wu’s qigong supplemented with TCM superior for healing for most

Super interesting! Can you link to where you read it? Would love to follow up Just to contribute I can say that Sharath Jois (son of the founder of Astangha Yoga) also died of a sdden heart attack last year though young, right in front of my uncle (who's a senior astanga teacher in my country). Also a great sufi from Iran specialised in heart prayer also has suffered major heart issues throughout his life, has a pacemaker etc, Dr. Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh It seems like a repeat offender in spiritual schools, were heart issues maybe become more likely? Ofc not to rule out that x amount of people are anyway predisposed to heart problems, and it could be seen as completely unrelated to their spiritual practice

@Lala Nila amen brother! Well said, words of wisdom

@Lala Nila thanks for your positive feedback! Glad you found it useful And thanks for also sharing your own experiences and observations of his books and interviews. I really wished he was the real deal, as it's almost impossible to penetrate these obscure spiritual arts. Kudos to him for his "academic" side of translation, studies and explanations for sure, bringing all this obscure stuff into the limelight for those interested. I do feel just like you said that he's not a powerful cultivator, which is a pretty big and important point. What's the use of knowledge, if you don't live and embody it? That's more or less the whole daoist philosophy, embodiment and the practice first, including health and vitality, then you get understanding through practicing, and not so much from intellectual studies. Because like you said, there are some super interesting things here and there, e.g. for me there were specially 1 or 2 mantras/talismans from the Black Magic section that shocked me, simply because they actually worked! NOTE, it wasn't black magic I did ofc, it was a kind of energy practice to help with some practical things in life, which ofc didn't include hurting myself or others, but to help myself and others. The vast majority of the rest I felt something, but it wasn't life changing. If I feel anything at all, I'm always positively surprised, as in my own personal experience 99% of what we can find out there is 100% fake, whereas the real is few and far between. So my appetite whetted from these black magic, I obviously wanted to go on, it would be so cool to be friends with him and having him personally coach you with all his knowledge and share the exact teachings you're interested in with you, but as I shared earlier, all personal interactions with him left me super drained and unhappy, pale in my face and dark under the eyes, also he's so flaky and slightly manipulative in his dealings, which led me to having to completely stop all interactions with him, unfortunately. But most of us are ofc one trick ponies, we can do one thing very well, then fail at everything else. E.g. some are pleasant people to hang around, but completely incompetent. Others are highly competent but complete assholes. In cultivation someone might have one chakra, dan tien, talisman or energy they're good at, but they suck as people and their personal life is a mess. I could go on. Seems he's good intellectually, he has studied and translated so much, he has a great overall knowledge of all these occult folk magic practices and how they work, how they fit into chinese history and daoism/confucianism/buddhism, differences and commonalities etc. So he's knowledgeable, but he's not a cultivator, nor a people person, nor a personal coach/guide/master for one-on-one. It would be cool to use him as a personal librarian, him being your tome-pusher, sliding you what you need but ofc he has his own interests. Feel he's mainly interested in just getting chinese folk magic out there, and then secondly carving a place for himself in the social hierarchy in the niche of the occult and getting some much needed recognition after a life behind the scenes socially most of the time So not interested in the people in his school, their personal life, personal cultivation, personal succeses and failures, he's just interested in getting things out there. No problem with that, but that's just my feeling, which ofc doesn't align well with my personal interest of a one-on-one tome-pusher helping me in my personal cultivation, personal life, overcoming life obstacles, getting health, wealth, success etc, as well as developing spiritually Anyway, peace to all! Rant over, mic drop, I'm out, God bless you