Constantine

Just a note to say thank you Nuralshamal for your insights here. I had been seriously considering enrolling in study with Jason Read, as I have found his books to be very interesting as an introduction to Maoshan magic. I found the magic is accessible, and I have had success with using his translations, including in establishing contact with Hu Xian. I wish he had included tones on his pinyin though, I don't speak Chinese so I rely on these for correct pronunciation. I have found google translate useful in resolving this. Your experiences in studying with him was really helpful and helped me dodge a bullet (or a bite) it seems. I had found a couple of you tube video interviews with him and he really does look sick and drawn compared to the strong vital shots I found of him in his younger years. The vampiric techniques you say he is inflicting on his students while looking so sick himself does smack of a negative attachment doesn't it. I'll take the opportunity to thank you also for your feedback on Master Wu, I picked up his book on Microcosmic orbit qigong last month, and after trying it a few times, I decided to put it down for now, as the energy coming from it was really strong, I got a sense that my body wasn't fully ready to hold the energy it was generating if I kept going. I'll be building a stronger foundation with Tai Chi and FPCK first, but I am very excited to deeply study his forms in the future, there seems to be a really raw and powerful energy behind his form combined with the visualisations. I appreciate you have studied with him in person, but do you perchance have any of his dvds? How did you find them if so?

Thanks stirling. I don't have all the answers. I am open to different ways of thinking and being, seeing what I can incorporate, what is relevant and helpful to me, but acknowledging and respecting that this may be different for someone else. And that's ok. We all approach things from the totality of experience of our individual universe, and this absolutely will be different depending on where you grew up, what religion you were brought up in, whether you grew up fighting for food and water etc.. I believe in macrocosm and microcosm. I consider we and all things are expressions of the universe, and as such we are all connected. So in this sense, I think we live in a multiverse, insofar as each of us has our own experiences. My universe will be different to your universe, but we are all ultimately manifestations, expressions of 'The Universe'. This interconnectedness, part of the whole, is the ‘matrix’ that magicians use to influence and shape their and other people’s realities. If religions were to teach oneness before teaching their particular doctrine, the world would be a better place. It also provides the foundations for mindfulness and respect. Suspend your disbelief. Suspending disbelief makes you open to engaging with new ideas. Engage with new ideas and ways of being, play with it, see what works and what doesn’t for you. If it works, incorporate it into your universe. If it doesn’t, then be ruthless, cut it out and discard it before it causes issues. Read between the lines and think deeply. I am forever grateful to the person who told me this in my early 20’s. Names have power. Defining something, naming it, provides a reference for it in the universe, it is no longer something in the universe, it is a rock. Cool, so what sort of rock is it? It opens the way to further defining it’s sense of its features, capabilities, what it is and what it isn’t. This is fundamental for magic. This is how correspondences work in magic of many systems. We live in a dynamic, not polar universe. Light and dark are not always ‘good and bad’ respectively. How many people have been killed in the name of gods of heavens than in the name of the devils? I try to stay mutable at all times and not defer to absolutes as a default position. I try and be grateful for everything you have and experience, even the worst experiences provide opportunities for change and growth. I realise this is a mix of world view and how I engage with the world, but my engagement is shaped by my evolution of world view, so perhaps gives some insights into me in the context of the world. As to magic specifically, we could go down many rabbit holes in terms of systems of magic, deities, spellwork, crafting, shamanism etc. For me, magic is real. Spirits are real. Energies are real. Deities are real. I have so many experiences that, in my universe, these are my truths. The systems of magic have more underlying similarities than differences, but the forces they engage with can be incredibly powerful and unique. How you approach and engage with these is critical to how they will interact with you. What’s your world view stirling?

Hi everyone, Long time lurker, first time poster By way of introduction, I am a lifetime student of magic, studying and practising a range of western and eastern systems, from shamanic through to Goetia, Enochian, Egyptian, Sumerian, thai occultism, Tibetan Buddhism… I practiced some martial arts in my youth - Taekwondo, Pai Lum - White Dragon kung fu, kickboxing, and Wing Chun and weight lifting. Then work became all encompassing for many years, with the benefit of this enabling me to modestly retire a couple of years ago and focus on my interests rather than giving everything to the job. I love hiking in the nearby hills with my wife and pups, gardening, crafting, and the culinary arts. I have been slowly learning I Ching and studying and practising what I can of the available translated Maoshan magic, which led me to the very helpful thread here on Jason Read's Maoshan magic system (bullet dodged, thanks for that!). I have been learning 8 Standing Brocades and Shibashi via YouTube and this got me hooked quickly. I came across Sifu Terry Dunn's Flying Phoenix Qigong sub forum here, and am excited to get underway with it. I have just ordered his DVDs, including his Tai Chi system, and am working my way through the sub-forum to build a supplementary guide for me to refer to as I commence the practice (there are over 200 pages of posts to get through!). I look forward to getting to know you all and participating in the forum where I can.