Gerard

To the author of this thread:

Please refrain from Kundalini practice. It's safer circulating chi, hence focus in the lower dantien.

We have already excess chi in our heads due to our modern way of living, so send the excess down to earth and focus in the area I just mentioned.

You need heaps of grounding work.

Btw, Vipassana meditation is far better and safer than Kundalini.

You could check this link if you wish:

http://www.buddhanet.net/insight.htm

All the best in your quest.

NABuddha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM

Probably a pianist in her previous life.

OK my two cents. I have been holding up for a long time but I am going to show you the real deal (nothing new btw):

I like many of you have lived many lives. I recall quite a few but two of them are the most significant in terms of spiritual development:

1. Taoist Baguazhang master and bodyguard of the Chinese Emperor.

2. Lama (my previous life).

Hence I am a Sotapanna (stream-enterer), that is none that is guaranteed enlightenment after no more than seven successive rebirths, and possibly in fewer. The stream-enterer can also be sure that he or she will not be reborn in any of the unhappy states or rebirths (that is, as an animal, a preta, or a being in hell). He can only be reborn as a human being, or in a heaven.

The stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi or sammādiṭṭhi, "right view"), has complete confidence or Saddha in the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and has good moral behaviour (Sila). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_enlightenment).

Sorry if I sound as a show-off. No please, don't misunderstand me. I did it because I feel that making money out of the spiritual path is wrong, and I feel sorry for those who seek siddhis instead of a good moral behaviour and success in the spiritual path in terms of enriching their spirits.

I work and I will work until I pay my debts, once I accomplish this I will become a renunciate in order to finish what I couldn't in my previous life because I was killed but the Chinese during the invasion of Tibet.

Remember that the Buddhist spiritual path is pure and free of charge:

http://www.buddhanet.net/

Vipassana meditation is the best meditation technique of all:

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1...abbata.html#N50

Free of charge in Buddhanet.

When combined with Zhan Zhuang (also practiced by Gautama Buddha) and moving Qigong (Xingyi, Taiji, Bagua, I Liq Chuan, Ziranmen, etc.) then you'll speed up the process.

Taoist practices are awesome to strengthen our spirits, body's and chi but they won't open a door out of Samsara. Buddhism does.

But hey, I am not trying to confront these two at all, far from that as I practice both

Good luck, persevere in your practice and remember that many lives are required to reach Nirvana.

This is the real Islam:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism

1. That is how speech does,

overflowing from silence (Rumi)

2. A Star Without a Name

When a baby is taken from the wet nurse,

it easily forgets her

and starts eating solid food.

Seeds feed awhile on ground,

then lift up into the sun.

So you should taste the filtered light

and work your way toward wisdom

with no personal covering.

That's how you came here, like a star

without a name. Move across the night sky

with those anonymous lights.

(Rumi)

3. Who is man?

The reflection of the Eternal Light.

What is the world?

A wave on the Everlasting Sea.

How could the reflection be cut off from the Light?

How could the wave be separate from the Sea?

Know that this reflection and this wave are that very Light and Sea. (Jami)

****************************

I don't see in any of those words anything related to violence or second-class citizens.

Radical Muslims use religion as a vehicle to feed their egos.

Healthy liver=healthy eyes.

I was wondering if absorbing water through the nose is done the same way as if performing a Jala Neti. Here:

http://www.yogaholidays.net/magazine/jalaneti.htm

Thanks in advance.

Enlightenment is one of the early steps along the path.

Sorry but I disagree.

It is the goal.

Just enjoy and persevere in your spiritual path and eventually you'll finish.

Awesome, you have just activated your second brain.

Keep going, this is just the beginning

Hmm...Strangely this story sounds me quite familiar. I wonder if that Qigong master linked to David Verdesi in mainland China who also kills bulls is fake too. Maybe is just a coincidence.

Thanks for posting about Taiwanese court dramas and this particular case of fake Qigong/Kung Fu/Taoist masters. I lived for a period of time in Taiwan and know well what is going on on the emerald-shaped island.

Regards.

OK, more:

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold

And she's buying the stairway to heaven.

When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed

With a word she can get what she came for.

Ooh, ooh, and she's buying the stairway to heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure

'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.

In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,

Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.

Ooh, it makes me wonder,

Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,

And my spirit is crying for leaving.

In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,

And the voices of those who stand looking.

Ooh, it makes me wonder,

Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune

Then the piper will lead us to reason.

And a new day will dawn for those who stand long

And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,

It's just a spring clean for the May queen.

Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run

There's still time to change the road you're on.

And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,

The piper's calling you to join him,

Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know

Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road

Our shadows taller than our soul.

There walks a lady we all know

Who shines white light and wants to show

How everything still turns to gold.

And if you listen very hard

The tune will come to you at last.

When all are one and one is all

To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying the stairway to heaven.

Stairway To Heaven

I saw this film a long time ago, it's on my list of documentaries I've enjoyed on the internet.

 

The Enemies of Reason

Root of All Evil?

Why We Fight

War Made Easy

Loose Change

Zeitgeist

Guns Germs and Steel

Fahrenheit 911

Bowling for Columbine

Michael Moore Hates America

Walmart, High Cost of Low Prices

Lifting the Veil of Polygamy

Bible vs Book of Mormon

DNA vs Book of Mormon

Dangerous Knowledge

America: Freedom to Fascism

20/20 America the Stupid

Then you'll enjoy this a lot as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corporation

Here's part 1:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3969792790081230711

One pill makes you larger

And one pill makes you small

And the ones that mother gives you

Don't do anything at all

Go ask Alice

When she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits

And you know you're going to fall

Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar

Has given you the call

Recall Alice

When she was just small

When men on the chessboard

Get up and tell you where to go

And you've just had some kind of mushroom

And your mind is moving low

Go ask Alice

I think she'll know

When logic and proportion

Have fallen sloppy dead

And the White Knight is talking backwards

And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"

Remember what the door knob said:

"FEED YOUR HEAD

White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quhj6PEboCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xhYk9PEmXA

Regardless of what that link says, Taoism in fact is vanishing slowly from China. Examples:

http://www.chinaforjesus.com/

http://www.mind-energy.net/archives/248-Is...t-in-China.html

I recall a woman originally from Beijing who just migrated to Australia when she asked me (after I told her about my interest and practice of Qigong) the following:

But do you really believe in chi?

LOL!

China is all for this and this:

Little interest there is when you have to feed your stomach.

1.3 billion people ready to rock the planet.

Example of a Westerner who reached enlightenment in 1936:

http://www.om-guru.com/html/saints/wolff.html

I believe enlightenment can be attained at different levels. It's just a matter of escaping the gravitational pull of Samsara.

You can downloaded here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?egdkrbdbjbw

Authored by Mantak Chia.

Enjoy.

The goal of achieving full lotus is not a must, please don't get obsessed with this issue. Meditate in a way that is comfortable for you and try to be relaxed during meditation. Use Vipassana as your main meditative technique.

In addition, living in a contemplative environment and getting involved in frequent spiritual retreats are the keys to spiritual growth (not mentioning here Buddhist teachings).

I have achieved high Jhana as well and don't meditate full lotus either:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhana

All the best.

Let me say something about this issue:

1. Full lotus is not a mandatory requirement to achieve Buddhahood or any other spiritual goal you are involved.

2. Semilotus is as good or even better for anyone with physical shortcoming for full lotus.

3. Sitting cross-legged is as good or even better than semilotus especially if someone wants to meditate for prolonged periods of time without the nuisance of pins and needles in the legs.

4. Siddharta Gautama meditated most of the time lying down. And he recommended sitting, standing, walking and lying down meditations. You can read this in the Discourses of the Buddha. Also here for free:

http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

Standing is Zhan Zhuang, interesting hey?

Same as all spiritual traditions: morality.

From a Buddhist perspective:

http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/eightfoldpath.html

In other words, cultivate the three karmic causing agents: mind, body and speech.

Root (AFAIK) is to do with relaxation anf lowering your qi which happen naturally when you relax,practice standing in a relaxed manner wil help this develop

Cool, so you are saying that by lowering myself slowly while doing ZZ I will be able to go that low, right?

I noticed that when I do it I naturally tend to go down, so perhaps I should let qi sink gradually until I have my legs parallel to the ground.

Thanks.

2. doubt or uncertainty, especially about the teachings (vicikicchā)[6]

4. sensual desire (kāmacchando)[8]

5. ill will (vyāpādo or byāpādo)[9]

7. lust for immaterial existence (arūparāgo)

10. ignorance (avijjā)[13]

 

I'm still bound by the above, at least.

We are all down here learning and growing.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Trunk,

To attain the sort of level that I've observed in Max, it's generally considered ... extremely rigorous. Part of what makes a good student on the fast path is sheer survivability in terms of physical stamina (doesn't die) and psychological resilience (doesn't go insane). The people who make it through have been through a lot, there's a kind of a * whew! * and ... "what?, you want me to teach? .. Ok: if you make it happen, I'll show up."

Hmm...The Buddha almost died and got nowhere. Probably he strengthened himself but when in a more relaxed state (instead of torturing his body with extreme fasting episodes and meditating amongst cadavers), and deep in meditation under the Bodhi tree he reached spiritual enlightenment and one of the things he taught was the Middle Path; in other words, the practice of non-extremism. Maybe Kunlun is borderline the extreme path. Just a thought.

I have noticed in this video that teacher He Jing-Han keeps a very deep but also with legs sticking to each other:

When I saw it I said: Wow! Damn, how does he keeps his legs that close?

I recall Shaolin monks keeping that stance in their animal forms.

Question:

I'd love to develop that stance to have a strong root. Is there an specific way to train and achieve it?

Thanks again.

Ideally if the forum were full of qualified teachers there wouldn't be many arguements, but its mostly beginners looking for more information on taoism and taoist practice, so i guess thats where much of the hostility can come from. Its natural, you only need to put a person behind an internet connection or the wheel of a car to see raw human compulsion.

 

I would suggest looking at sources that we know to be genuine, for example the Tao Te Ching, compare sources like this and others which you know to be accurate and see which ones are most likely to be true. If you have access to a qualified teacher all the better.

You don't need to be a teacher to be qualified. I am not what you'd say a beginner but if I showed some interest in Kunlun in another thread is because I was curious about this method. Plain and simple curiosity and perhaps to bring something different into my repertoire of exercises.

There is no better system. I think you need to re-read my previous post. If you rush in this path you'll hit a wall.

How long have you been practicing for?

According to this list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_(Buddhism)

Where are you at?

Sorry if I sound rude but far from that if I ask you something so personal is because I am trying to figure out whether you are experiencing the dark night of the soul or not:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_night_of_the_soul

In addition this page gives valuable insight (nothing new btw ) about our positioning as humans whithin Samsara:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_enlightenment

Regards.

A Taoist I once met told me:

You know what is the problem with people who get engaged in the spiritual path?

They want results quickly and if they approach this path that way they never achieve anything. When they ask me: Master, how long will it take me to read people's minds? I tell them 20 years. They say: Wow! But master I can't wait that long. They ask me again: What if instead of practicing two hours per day I practice four. I tell them: You'll achieve that power after 30 years.

When he gave me this example I understood really well the wisdom contained within these words.

Guess what?

I was one of those guys

All methods are good, some take longer than others but it's not the method and goal what you should focus upon, it's the path.

In this business patience and persistence lead toward enlightenment. Remember that Siddharta Buddha almost DIED because of it.

Just enjoy what you are doing.

.

.