BigSkyDiamond

Which way? Which way now? TAO now, brown cow. Where stones sing and your wild mind soars.

a low estimate matters not when dreamer wakes all wisps waft away

dharma blossoms now. The ten thousand things dissolve in sweet clear stillness.

What a great topic for thread! Two come to mind for me, which I have found to be consistently potent and effective. The first one i will list i found to be not only powerful but also unnerving and at the time disturbing. So be forewarned. I ran across it about 25 years ago and thought oh that sounds good and carelessly said it a few times. "I RELEASE THAT WHICH NO LONGER SERVES ME." The very next day i was "let go" from my job and told the position had been "downsized" and eliminated. It was totally out of the blue and unexpected. My boss was overseas on assignment and she was furious this happened in her absence. At any rate I was dumbfounded and astonished. On the one hand it was upsetting to suddently have my position eliminated and be unemployed. At the same time I remember being absolutely in awe that "holey moley this stuff really works." I still use that, but have a healthy regard for its potency and far-reaching effects, and since then always brace myself for what may come. The second one that comes to mind which i have found to also be effective, particularly where other methods have not worked, is "REMOVE MY DESIRE FOR THAT WHICH IS NOT GOOD FOR ME." I have used this for food cravings that i could just not give up or get rid of. It worked like a charm like flipping a switch. I decided at one point to stop eating pork and shellfish (I made a commitment to keeping kosher). Literally the next day when i thought about those foods or saw them in the market or remembered eating them (and I cooked wonderful Chinese dishes for many years with pork, or prawns, or lobster sauce, or oyster sauce, you get the idea) i did not feel deprived, there was no struggle. it was bizarre and no willpower or forcing myself was involved at all. Later I decided to also stop eating beef and chicken and used that invocation again and again it worked like flipping a switch. No craving at all, no feeling deprived, no desire to eat it at all, even the good stuff at the Rabbi's house when I went over there for supper. I remember having a bite and it just had no appeal whatsoever. About once every year or two, usually at a barbecue, i will try the meat dishes prepared by the chef, because i wonder if it is still in effect or will bbq beef start tasting yummy again, and every time i find nope, still flat. really strange. it has also come in handy with people or situations that are shall we say not good for me but i don't have the fortitude or development yet to stay away from, i.e. getting sucked into drama instead of having the skill or tools to stay away from it. Works great with co-workers and office drama and other sticky interpersonal circumstances or unhealthy attachments to people places things or situations. Breaks patterns that i am not able to stop otherwise.

I have started doing the first 5 standing from Flying Phoenix. After the DVD set which i ordered arrives (6 volumes total), then I will begin adding seated movements from Vol. 2). This long thread has been and is an excellent source of information. I have read sections which came up when I did Google searches on line, but now I am reading the entire 241 pages straight through from the beginning. It is a great resource and has answered many questions which have come up for me. I am at page 34 (out of 241 pages). Previously i did Zhang Zhuang for a few years but i would always end up with sore back and shoulders when i did it in 30-minute stretches, which resolved when i took a break from doing it. Shorter sessions were fine 15 or 20 minutes. And some positions were fine (Wu Ji and hands in front of lower abdomen). Wu ji for 30 minutes was no problem and it has always felt the best to me. What's interesting is that in the one week so far that I have been doing Flying Phoenix standing, and it contains some similar postures I recognize, I have been able to do it for an hour with ease and no soreness afterwards which is quite pleasing to notice. When i did it for 75 minutes (all 5 postures) it was too much but not in terms of soreness in back and shoulders. It just felt like too much in my system. So i scaled it back to 60 minutes for all 5 together in a row. And that feels really good. The one time i felt like it was "too much" was also when i did it first thing in the morning, so I am not doing that. I have moved it to a mid day slot for practice. And keeping Zhineng qi gong for my first thing in the morning practice (about 70-90 minutes). I also do Zhineng in the evening. For the standing postures in Flying Phoenix, one resource says do them one at a time and gradually add more each week or 2, but i also saw on this thread that Sifu Terry Dunn said do all 5 together in a single session and that really appeals to me and feels really good. So I am going to keep doing that. Even though I have not yet received the DVD yet for the first 5 standing, there is an interview with Sifu Terry Dunn where he explains the breathing; and the breathing sequences for the five standing are on line, plus there is a video from someone who trained with Sifu Terry Dunn detailing each of the first five standing; plus the wealth of information provided in this thread. So i feel safe and equipped to do those five standing for now. Plenty to work with there. In the past I also did BaDuanJin which felt more like physical exercise but not much else. I did not develop a feeling of ease with it. Nor did i see improvement in for instance being able to drop lower in the horse stance. And when i read on Dao Bums (i had done a search on line for "pain after doing qi gong") a brilliant post which for me was a light bulb moment of insight, the post said simply "maybe a different type of qi gong would be better for you, maybe try a different qi gong like _____" and then people chimed in with different types of qi gong. It felt so good to be able to put down what had become honestly a chore that felt like it wasn't getting me anywhere. So I am now quite happily practicing Zhineng and learning Flying Phoenix. Qigong is dear to me (literally got me out of a bedridden state in 2019 when nothing was working and there was much despair) and will always be part of my daily life. I am happy to wake up once again wanting to do the practice, and also seeing benefits and improvement.

I was wondering the same thing myself. Also, a being can choose NOT to come back. They can choose to remain as a non-physical being and not return to the physical plane

excellent insights here

Where the heart is home, fierce cactus blooms tall and strong. Gold turtle greets me.

Lie on the floor with legs propped up on the wall at a 90 degree angle. For 20 minutes. Or in bed with your legs propped on the wall. https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/legs-up-the-wall

I agree with what John C said here. I have also experienced powerful effects and find Zhineng to be a high quality practice.. For me, there is no arguing with 400,000 patients having a 95% success rate for medical conditions. (In Dr. Pang Ming's clinics in China, which included treatment, teaching, and research). Zhineng is immensely appealing to me also because it strengthens and aligns with the practice of cultivating "big sky" mind, "before thought" mind and through expanding my being in the Zhineng imagery to encompass the univese and beyond, recognizing that the universe is contained within me. For Zhineng it is essential to use the Eight Verses (i recite them in Chinese also because I am a firm believer that more strongly accesses the healing field) and also the visualizations (sky, horizon, universe and beyond). Reminder that after 2014 the first verse of the Eight Verses changed.