Gerard
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Posts posted by Gerard
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Official start and finish dates:
Jan. 20, 2023 to Feb. 9, 2024.
Rabbit's friends: Goat/Sheep & Pig.
Secret friend: Dog
Foe: Rooster
My image contribution:
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Exercises to strengthen the Spleen if you possibly can't find a Ba Gua or Xingyi teacher (my preferred Internal Arts:
1. Asian Squat (use weights like dumbbells first as an aid). Practice for up to 30 min/day (or more if you like/can).
Followed by:
2. Stand in the Wuji stance with arms up (Holding the Tree) aka Zhan Zhuang. Alternatively the Santi Shi which is the mother posture of Xingyi Quan:
(Video)
http://www.ycgf.org/Articles/XY_SanTiShi/XY_SanTiShi.html
(A more detailed description)
Practice between 10am to 2pm (Earth & Fire Qi peak times).
Build your standing time slowly and progressively up to 1h (or more if you like/can).
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The manifesting issue is weak Spleen/Earth-Lung/Metal relationship.
Spleen extracts Food Qi and sends it up to the Lungs where it combines with air to form Zong Qi.
Spleen relies on Lung descending function to assist in the transformation and transportation of food (diaphragm movement helps Middle burner - "pumping" action).
Lung descending function also assists Spleen in the transformation of Body Fluids. Lung Qi weak, descending function impaired, Spleen cannot transform and transport the fluids, causing edema.
All the allergic reactions are caused by a weak Spleen/Earth.
A sensitive Earth Rabbit will notice this more remarkably knowing that the second most important sign is Earth (which is kind of the equivalent of ascendent/rising sign in Western Astrology).
Breakfast should consist on more warming and Yang food especially people with a weak Earth. By strengthening the Earth we will also strengthen the child Force (Metal/Lung) according to the generating phase in the Five Elements Theory of medical Taoism.
Examples of a richer breakfast that will benefit Earth:
1. Congee rice(1) + toppings of choice like roasted peanuts skin removed, grated daikon, pork floss(2), sauce (1 teaspoon brown sugar + 1 teaspoon tamari sauce + 1 teaspoon sesame oil)
2. Soup
3. Stew
4. Japanese curry(3) served with steamed rice (the brown type is preferred)
Avoid meals eaten when the Spleen is the weakest. Basically anytime after 3pm, especially larger ones which are hard to digest. Too much burden on the digestive system and your Wood/Liver won't be happy either.
Notes:
1. Sample recipes:
https://www.foodandwine.com/soup/porridge/9-recipes-congee-cozy-porridge-you-can-eat-any-time-day
2. https://www.seriouseats.com/my-latest-obsession-pork-floss-chinese-rousong-pork-sung-pork-fu
3. The author states dinner but I have it for breakfast!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/simple-chicken-curry/
Hope this is all helpful.
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Check the diagrams of what this teacher is showing in his website:
https://brisbanechentaichi.weebly.com/
Then you'll realise how important is live instruction especially with something is detailed and complex like Tai Chi.
I know that teacher and trained with his group for a short while and he is very, very precise and analytical. Zero room for error. I gave up because there was conflict with my main art: Ba Gua Quan.
Good luck!
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Hello
Can you describe the following so I can exactly determine what is the underlying issue?
1. What do you do during the day? Step by step
2. What do you eat?
Also your date of birth.
That's all I need.
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The Rabbit is pure spring wood element. It is described as a leaf or flower so it is not able to generate much fire like the Tiger wood, as such the year 2023 is pure water and wood and there is total absence of fire element like the previous years 2020 and 2021. As fire is symbol of happiness and positive energy in Chinese 5 element system, fire element is necessary to stimulate economic activities. When fire is totally absent, there will be less confidence and less drive for investment activities. These may lead to pessimism in the economy and set back in the stock market. The economic recovery which we experienced in 2022 may slow down. Such absence of fire will continue into 2024. As real fire element will not return before 2025 year of Snake, it will not be surprising that a more significant setback in stock market may appear in the autumn and winter season of 2023. The real economic recovery can only arrive by 2025 year of wood snake.
Yin Water symbolize humble, moderate drop of water. It is also representing intelligence, flexibility, accommodating, and considerate thinking. As such, it is associate with clever compromising solution to difference and innovative, creative ideas. A typical yin water person is Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms born in 181 AD. He is considered to be the most intelligent war strategist who won the battle of the Red Cliff with very innovative plots.
Source:
http://raymond-lo.com/p/14533/nr/100055/2023-the-year-of-the-rabbit-forecast
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Xingyi Quan
Ba Gua Quan
https://rumsoakedfist.org/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=5f127cac17e2a2d9d4a3dcd6cfaa2c96
End of story.
Work heaps on your grounding. More than what you possibly think.
Asian squat, walking, walking and more walking.
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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
A wonderful and very meaningful Irish film by Martin McDonagh about lost friendship and the ensuing war, which in this case is a small reflection of larger scale war and one that is taking place in Ireland; the inability to change and let go. The film has a splendid cast of supporting characters all of them somewhat involved in the feud between the two friends.
Cinematography and acting is exceptional, at times it feels like a stage play set in a fictitious island off the coast of Ireland.
A highly recommended watch.
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On 31/12/2022 at 6:40 PM, ChiDragon said:
Right now, the CCP have no time to screw around with internal politics, they are too busy making China a better country for the people. Their motto is "為人民服務(serving the people.)"
I am just telling it like it is. Please don't prejudge me. Thank you very much!
Sure. I still respect deeply China but the legacy left by rye ancient world which is a true legacy to the whole of humanity not only the Chinese. BUT I have my reservations based on:
1. My teacher's experience of living and studying in China (period 1998-2002). He wasn't impressed. He also came across fake monks paid by the Gov. in order to make money out of the temples they were in charge of.
2. A Westerner who lives the ancient Way and has got a great deal of knowledge about the country. He is well known here and elsewhere online and he's also an author. He is not Bruce Kumar Frantzis btw.
He told me you'll find better teachers in countries like Taiwan and the West than in the mainland. Excessive commercialism and lack of depth is what is commonly found in mainland China especially in known mountains like Wudang.
3. After watching the film Ascension (2021), I realised that the Chinese dream of becoming an economic superpower will forever undermine the growth of spirit. This will be felt in generations to come.
"Keep America Great" is a motto seen throughout the film but applied to the Chinese experience. Greatness at the cost of everything else? Is this path worth it?
BALANCE IS THE KEY, CHINA. Remember this before you turn into the next super 'civilised' and highly technological and materialistic giant with NO SOUL.
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On 29/12/2022 at 7:15 PM, Master Logray said:From 1 March, 2022, 5 China departments (
Religious Affairs Bureau, Internet Information Office, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of National Security)
China’s ruling Communist Party warned party members to stick to Marx and Lenin and not believe in “ghosts and spirits” or practice “liberalism”, in the latest effort to root out superstitious practices and further tighten party control.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-politics-idUSKCN1QG1FY
AMEN Chinamen.
Work and obey until you die.
It's the new religion in China.
It's pure Capitalism disguised as Marxism.
A must watch film for everyone:
Ascension (2021)
https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/ascension-review-1235215930/
The sex dolls scene was frightening!
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20 hours ago, Geof Nanto said:may also help @Gerard to understand what I meant by “a structure that was totally and seamlessly religious”.
"...the role of religion in traditional Chinese society was very different from today, something we are only beginning to appreciate. Until the past few decades, scholars thought Chinese religions were somewhat analogous to the Abrahamic faiths. Instead of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, China had Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. That was wrong. Instead, as the historian C. K. Yang put it, religion was “diffused” in Chinese society. It wasn’t one pillar next to secular society and could not be defined as one particular thing you did once or twice a week, at a certain place, under the guidance of a certain holy book—the way many world religions are organized. Instead, Chinese religion had little theology, almost no clergy, and few fixed places of worship. But this didn’t mean Chinese religion was weak. Instead, it was spread over every aspect of life like a fine membrane that held society together.
Work, for example, was sacred. Almost every profession venerated a god: carpenters worshipped Lu Ban, a historical figure who invented many woodworking and building techniques; martial artists worshipped the general Lord Guan or the monkey king Sun Wukong; medical professionals honored Hua Tuo, a doctor from the third century who pioneered brain surgery; sailors worshipped the goddess Mazu. The list is inexhaustible: dyers, vintners, tailors, makers of musical instruments, musicians and actors, cooks, barbers, and even professional storytellers; in a survey of twenty-eight craft guilds in Beijing in the 1920s, only four did not worship a patron god. In Chinese cities, almost every street corner had a temple or shrine. In her survey of religious life in Beijing, the historian Susan Naquin estimates that the city had roughly one thousand temples in 1911. The rest of China was similar: every village had a temple or two; many had half a dozen.
Many people might wonder, what religion are we talking about? Are these Buddhist or Daoist practices? In most cases, the answer would be neither. Thanks to the predominance of the Abrahamic faiths in the West, we think in exclusive terms: this person is Catholic, that person is Jewish, another is Muslim. These faiths have clearly defined stories about their beliefs, as well as set places of worship, a holy book, and, quite often, a clergy. Most important is that belief in these faiths is absolute and exclusive; it’s one or the other. One doesn’t celebrate Passover, fast during Lent, and go on the hajj. New Agers notwithstanding, dabbling is heretical.
Traditional Chinese religion is different. This is why pollsters have a hard time figuring out if Chinese people are religious. Asking “what faith do you believe in?” seems like a simple question for people who define religion according to monotheistic norms. They expect a clear-cut answer, like “I am a Buddhist” or “I am a Daoist.” But for most of Chinese history, this sort of question would have been strange. Religion was part of belonging to your community. A village had its temples, its gods, and they were honored on certain holy days. Choice was not really a factor. China did have three separate teachings, or jiao—Confucianism (rujiao), Buddhism (fojiao), and Daoism (daojiao)—but they did not function as separate institutions with their own followers. Primarily, they provided services: a community might invite a priest or monk to perform rituals at temples, for example, and each of the three offered its own special techniques—Buddhist Chan meditation or devotional Pure Land spiritual exercises, Daoist meditative exercises, or Confucian moral self-cultivation. But they were not considered separate. For most of Chinese history, people believed in an amalgam of these faiths that is best described as “Chinese Religion.”
In fact, the concept of thinking of oneself as part of a discrete and clearly definable religious system was so foreign to Chinese that when modernizers wanted to reorganize society using Western norms one hundred years ago, they had to import the vocabulary from the West. Turning to Japan, which had started a similar discussion a generation earlier, they imported words like zongjiao (religion) and mixin (superstition). Before that, there was little idea of religion being separate from society or government. It was all one and the same. It was how you lived. It was what you did. This is reflected in theology’s small role. In religions like Christianity, theologians argue passionately over issues like the Trinity or original sin, using tools provided by Greek logic and metaphysics. The same goes for Judaism or Islam, where scholars argue over doctrines or ways of behaving, engaging in epic debates. China has a long history, so it is possible to find exceptions—such as a famous debate in the court of a sixth-century emperor between proponents of Buddhism and Daoism (the Daoists lost, and the Buddhists wrote a book called Xiaodaolun, or “Laughing at the Daoists”). By and large, however, these kinds of discussions were rare. Most people saw them as pointless.
What did interest Chinese were rituals—in other words, the pragmatic but profound issue of how to behave. As the historian David Johnson puts it in his book Spectacle and Sacrifice,
Chinese culture was a performance culture … Chinese philosophers were concerned more with how people should act, and what counted as good actions, than with using logic to prove propositions. Ritual was the highest form of action or performances; every significant life event, social, political, or religious, was embedded in and expressed through ritual.
These rituals helped organize Chinese society. In traditional China, the imperial bureaucracy was tiny by today’s standard, and most officials sent out by Beijing only made it to the county seat, which meant one person oversaw hundreds of villages and tens of thousands of people. More important was the role of prominent local people, often called the gentry or literati because most of them had an education in the Chinese classics. Temples and religious practice united these people and formed a structure for them to rule. A key committee in every village was one that ran the local temples. These often doubled as bodies that united a community for other purposes as well, such as building irrigation systems or raising militias to fight off bandits. Temples also provided a physical space for government rule. Local elders might meet, read proclamations, or carry out punishments there. A local temple could be like the cathedral and city hall of a medieval European town rolled into one. In the words of the historian Prasenjit Duara, religion was society’s “nexus of power.”
But religion was more than a method for running China; it was the political system’s lifeblood. The emperor was the “Son of Heaven,” who presided over elaborate rituals that underscored his semidivine nature. These included praying at temples to ensure good harvests, making sure that ancestors were honored, and worshipping the holy mountains that held up the four corners of the universe. Officials duplicated many of these rites at the local level, especially by praying at temples to the local City God. From the fourteenth century onward, the government mandated that every district of the empire have its own City God temple. Officials had to worship there on certain days, and it was often a center of local life and politics. The City God was an official of the spiritual world, which was organized on hierarchies similar to the traditional political world. The realm of spirits was an extension of this world, co-opting each other for legitimacy. With all this in mind, it becomes easier to understand why reformers and revolutionaries took on religion. They wanted to create a new political system, and to do that, they had to grab power from where it lay—in the political-religious system that ran China.
This is not as unusual as it might sound. In other countries, religion also played a key role in governing societies. For much of European history, politics and religion were inseparable. The rise of the nation-state in the seventeenth century changed this, diminishing and compartmentalizing religion. The bureaucratic state took over schools and hospitals and destroyed legal privileges enjoyed by the church. The rise of Protestantism played an important role too, with the binary terms of authentic “religion” and taboo “superstitions” used to discredit Catholic practices. This fed into Christianity’s long-standing appeal to logic: true religion could be defended by reason; everything else was superstition and should be destroyed."
I'm lazy to write so let me quote one of the many sources available online:
"Taoism, like shamanism, is a way of living in harmony with nature, rather than an adherence to a religious doctrine. By practicing these ways of being, we awaken our soul calling and our connection to nature. They provide a myriad of responses to the spiritual quest of self-discovery. They are ways that embed us in the living web of life, yielding greater awareness and perspective. These practices are easily integrated into contemporary life and provide a means of navigating the turbulent times in which we live."
https://shamanicdrumming.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-shamanic-roots-of-taoism.html?m=1
The average Chinese folk turned Taoism into a religion and the intellectuals into an academic pursuit; true Taoists aren't religious let alone armchair experts.
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1 hour ago, Geof Nanto said:I’d so no, the causal factors run much deeper. Ian Johnson’s The Souls of China gives plenty of historical insight into why China needed to destroy its traditional structure; a structure that was totally and seamlessly religious.
1. WRONG
2. The roots of ancient China are first shamanic and then it became Taoism, which is a highly sophisticated scientific method.
3. Taoism has evolved in China due to social changes in its history. It eventually became less shamanic, more religious and finally started to rely excessively in academicism to finally merge with the Western scientific method as a result of Communist China.
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It's Samatha + Vipassana meditation:
https://www.paaukforestmonastery.org/
Review:
https://www.meditationmag.com/blog/pa-auk-tawya-forest-monastery-myanmar/
"There would be five meditation sessions a day, each for 90 minutes, the first starting at 4:00am and the last finishing at 7:30pm. In between the two afternoon sessions was scheduled an hour of walking meditation. That meant an afternoon of four straight hours of meditation, and a total of eight and a half hours per day. Already I was starting to worry about this seemingly onerous schedule – and I hadn’t even tried the meditation yet"
But if you want to go deep and remove everything then practice should become 24/7 and walk and sit in equal amounts of time.
When I attended Vipassana retreat in Thailand (3 weeks), the last 3 days were a non-stop meditation practice.
Walking & sitting was done 50/50. You start with 15 min each, progress slowly until you are able to meditate 1h walking + 1 h sitting. Then it ends up a 12h walking + 12h sitting practice.
It was very challenging especially when you start as a beginner.
Highly recommended system for anyone practising seriously.
Retreat centre:
https://www.watchomtong.com/meditationcoures
Good luck!
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17 hours ago, Shugyo said:I have a couple questions/thoughts.
First, do you all think it's possible to learn effective Neigong or Qigong from 'online courses'? I feel like everything I've ever heard indicates that in-person practice is the only way for the nuances to be conveyed, and for mistakes to be accurately corrected. Thoughts?
1. FORGET ABOUT IT
2. If you do you'll have to relearn the whole thing and repair your body from any inflicted damages because you'll mess up your system bad if you intend to do so over a period of time.
For example:
1. A bunch of monkeys pretending they know and are actually practicing Ba Gua Quan:
2. Real practitioners (the last one is the teacher that taught me the art in REAL LIFE). I have also learnt a lot from He Jinghan's online material in his YT channel but only while I was learning from my teacher.
Complex neigong/IMA cannot be learnt alone let alone from videos.
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14 hours ago, cherrydao said:Anything really where I'm learning in depth qigong.
Qi: life force
Gong: work
It's an umbrella term that encompasses many methods.
I'd strongly suggest you should look into the Internal Martial Arts camp.
You can find teachers here:
https://rumsoakedfist.org/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=73e30e39fdeef1c2baf6eff263ae3449
Real life though. Online is a waste of time, money and effort.
Good luck!
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read texts
Definitively not.I strongly advice not doing it if you want to go deep and clear blockages and open up to the greater picture which lies within you.
Practice a system of energy work and meditation that involves a lot of work; eg. Xingyi, Ba Gua Quan, Vipassana (meditation aspect)...but for this you'd need a real life teacher.
All the best.
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20 hours ago, Earl Grey said:
Right, we’re the problem, not animal abusers, pedophiles, warmongers, and so on.Frantzis is problematic and it’s “our” fault according to you.
If you are in peace with your inner reality, you won't see animal abusers, pedophiles, warmongers...
I don't see a problem with BK Frantzis. He is just a teacher!
师傅领进门，修行在个人
Shīfù lǐng jìnmén, xiūxíng zài gèrénThe master teaches the trade, but the perfection of the apprentice’s skill depends on his own efforts.
I didn't like very much my real life teacher either but everything I have attained is the result of my OWN EFFORT.
Never lose sight of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path:
Right Understanding
Right Thought
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
You don't like BKF? Be better than him.-
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It's YOU the problem not BK Frantzis.
If you don't like something or hate/dislike something or someone then examine yourself in order to introduce a change so that aspect of your material reality will eventually vanish in its own accord.
The external is purely an expression of your inner reality.
Reincarnational Relationships - "Seth Speaks," by Jane Roberts
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Here is my personal 'elixir of life:' a healthy balanced cooked meal by me this morning:
Japanese fried rice (yakimeshi)
Use a URL translator to change it to the language of your liking.
Finished HAPPY, SMILING & GRATEFUL to one of the gastronomy heavyweights of our planet.
Tomorrow it will be a different 'elixir of life.' So many out there!
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Hello,
Where do exactly live that you can't find a real life teacher?
There are various systems of energy work and meditation which don't have the title of Qigong and surpass Qigong in excess.
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On 7/9/2022 at 8:03 AM, EFreethought said:I would be interested to know what your recommendations are.
Straight to the point without having go to write the Bible of how to stop masturbating or having shared sex.
1. Ba Gua (IMA). It brings balance to a heavily imbalanced system. Welcome to planet Earth young grasshopper.
2. Diet. No eating after midday. It takes time to build your system to reach tíos level.
3. Open the entire pelvic area. Grounding work like Asian squat.
4. Still meditation work during the Urinary Bladder meridian times (3-6pm) to help cooling off the Heart (root of all desire).
5. Ground sexual energy rising during GB & Liver meridian times (11pm to 7am). This is a challenge for most people.
6. Serious fasting periods. Try see what works for you best.
7. Move a lot once retention builds up nicely. Walking for many kms per day is s good method.
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How about stopping this habit for good?
Interested?
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I chopped off most of your post in order to reply to you specifically. I just took a random bit, that's it.
FOUR TIMES I should have been , but it didnt 'come off'
Well it's not you who is deciding when to stop anyway. I mean this Earth-based Nungali but the higher YOU. The other YOU.
From VF's post:
According to Buddhism, reincarnation doesn't exist, but rebirth does. This is something I find quite confusing.
This is because the self doesn't exist. So there's not an eternal soul which leaves one body and travels to the next at the point of death.
To answer that, from my experience.
1. Hindu view: soul/spirit moves from body to body after death (incorrect). This is reincarnation. Other traditions, including some Taoist branches believe/follow this model.
2. Buddhist view (very close to what really happens but it doesn't give you the full picture which is a lot broader and complex). Spirit/Mind remains but the karma continues (new body after death). This is rebirth.
3. Quantum Mechanics. It ticks all the boxes and it is a very accurate model but it doesn't talk about rebirth, new life/cycle after death and such. It misses the simplicity of the following model. Too complex, which makes sense as it is a major branch of Physics (Western science), so we won't be hearing any specific discussions about this subject. Out of the question. They do care about consciousness though but in their theoretical model.
4. Pre-Buddhist Taoist (Tao Teh Ching). Buried under a layer of metaphors and poetry it gives us a big picture of what is exactly going on even though rebirth isn't mentioned anywhere or how the process takes place; eg. Tao gives birth to One,
One gives birth to Two,
The Two gives birth to Three,
The Three gives birth to all universal things. Very good stuff and IMO the core of Taoism itself plus a simple and deep explanation of Reality. Still a very metaphoric explanation of what is really going on.
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On 26/8/2022 at 10:55 AM, Nungali said:One way of looking at it is
It's like the process behind physical death in each of the sequences of YOU that are generated ALL at ONCE.
I just read one of your posts in a different thread about the old lady in the hospital ward wanting to die which she was unable to. She wasn't aware of one fact:
You 'die' when you run out of gas whether you want it or not or like it or not. Not before then.
Allergies from a tcm/daoist approach?
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by Gerard
1. After 3pm zero food.
2. I have no idea how much dampness you have. Refrain from it if you are very damp (swollen limbs/edema, puffy face, tiredness, runny nose, puts on weight easily, catches colds all the time when the weather is cold).
3. Squatting strengthens the digestive system and also keeps the Qi down as well as preventing Liver Yang rising which further weakens the Spleen/Earth.
If you can squat easy then I believe your problem is strictly your diet plus your Earth is in conflict with the UK weather.
The requirements for Santi Shi are different than ZZ. Please read carefully what the links and the video describe in detail.
...........................................
So you live in the UK!? No wonder your Spleen is weak. That country is notoriously humid/damp and also cold.
Now that you mention it, look at how your ancestors ate (no damp-forming and cold foods for sure):
"It's often said that the backbone of both British and Irish food is the wealth of its stews and casseroles. There are so many traditional recipes that it would be almost impossible to mention all of them."
OHM!
10 Most Popular BRITISH STEWS
https://www.thespruceeats.com/winter-stews-and-casseroles-4157675
https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-stews-in-united-kingdom
Outside the UK:
Our 38 Top-Rated Recipes for Stews and Soups to Warm Your Belly
https://www.bhg.com/recipes/soup/soup/soup-and-stew-recipes/
The country where I spent my childhood:
Asturian Pork and Beans (Fabada Asturiana):
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/asturian-pork-and-beans
Cocido Madrileño. This dish comes from the Middle Ages, when the Jews still lived in Spain. It is time consuming preparing it but well worth the effort.
https://www.angsarap.net/2012/11/09/cocido-madrileno/
Alubias con Chorizo.
https://www.bitesofperfection.com/post/alubias-con-chorizo
These recipes will keep you busy and will make you a very strong and healthy person.