steve

I'm an expert at the following - Evil Bay is a very good place to get ripped off! I once got burned on a Japanese tsuba. I don't know anything about Chinese collectables but I know a bit about Japanese swords and sword fittings and Ebay is not for people who value their cash when it comes to collectibles. The vast majority of products are rip offs. Buyer beware! Good luck.

Generally, you use a very small pot and put in just enough tea to cover the bottom. It's not that much. You then add boiling (or nearly) water and steep for a short time, depending on the tea. My shifu usually does no more than 4 or 5 rounds (infusions) as the taste usually becomes a bit flat by then. The first steep is usually ~ 30 seconds, then 45, then 60, then 90, etc... A small amount goes a long way but it's something to savor, not rush through. You can minimize the expense by having a small pot (~ $20), a serving vessel (~$12), and a cup. That's enough for starters. Oh, and some tea... Beyond that you can get quite elaborate, if you choose.

That should be seen one more time.... well said!

I don't know too much. Gung fu (ie kung fu) simply means skillfully done or practiced diligently over time (more or less). It's the process of brewing a variety of teas from China (well, nowadays mostly from Taiwan). Like most Chinese traditions, it was mostly purged after the cultural revolution and very little high quality tea is currently produced in China, although I'm told some people are working to change that. There are lots of good sights on the web like: http://chineseteas101.com/ http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuis...k/tea/index.htm http://www.shanshuiteas.com http://chinese-tea.net/

What are we if not human? The "only" maybe should read "miraculously"! What does it mean to "live it"? Travel around and sermonize like J Krishnamurti and Anthony deMello? Sit at home and whine and be depressed like UG Krishnamurti? Speak as if one is the universe like Nisargadatta Maharaj? Dedicate one's life to the poor like Mother Theresa? Enlighten people, exploit them sexually and have them buy you Rolls Royces and Rolexes like Osho? I say that how one "lives it" depends on their conditioning. One may be fully realized yet not fit a specific definition of what it means to "live it." The only danger of following a guru is that one can never be fully realized as long as one is following someone else. The reason is that there is truly no one following and no one being followed. The guru tries to help you find that truth but sooner or later you must realize that there is no one to follow or be followed. Following a guru and following a fraud are less different than one might think. I think that the main difference is how long the guru allows himself to be followed and how much he charges for the privilege...

Welcome! If you hang out here a bit and read the posts, you'll at least discover how Daoism fits into the lives of those of us that contribute to this board. There are lots of resources on the web to look at it from a broader perspective. Good luck with your search.

Beautiful poem! I just had a day of drinking the yellow moon!

I think that music has a unique relationship to the nature of life/reality. Music is active. It is alive. It only exists as a process that is fully present NOW, in the moment. It is something that can never be grasped and held in a static sense yet it is right there, starring you in the face, as it were. In that sense, the experience of music is very much to me like the experience of life. It seems to have something to do with the wave nature of music. A sustained note is just that, it's the pauses that make it music... Music is not stuff, it's a process, like life and us... Kongurei - Tuvan traditional Bob Marley - Stir it Up (and many others) Queens of the Stone Age - In the Fade and others Mahavishnu Orchestra - Between Nothingness and Eternity (I like this one better than Birds of Fire - probably due to childhood nostalgia - this was my first Mahavishnu record and I saw them perform soon after it came out - it was amazing!) Bach - many pieces, esp cello and violin sonatas, some cantatas Delibes - Flower Song Catalani - Ebben, ne andro lontana? Faure - Requiem Stravinsky - Firebird and Rite of Spring Black Eyed Peas - yup, not embarassed to admit it - Where is the Love? and others Genesis - Supper's Ready and Lamb Lies Down on Broadway The list goes on and on - nothing much like a musical orgasm... PS - this experience can be enhanced by cannabis intoxication.

Having a particular point of view about the nature of reality does not exempt one from the physical and psychological aberrations of being human. As I explore the points of view of "gurus" and "spiritual entertainers" alike, I find that their individual human conditioning and cultural/ethnic background colors their interpretation of their experience of enlightenment, irrespective of how profound their understanding/awareness/connection is. It no longer bothers me to realize that once awake, one remains fully human. I don't think anyone truly sheds their human skin entirely until death. After all, that is what we are. That is our natural state. Understanding this simply makes those that claim supernatural powers and achievements look all the more ludicrous and disingenuous (or misguided).... I simply look at what people have to say, try it on for size, and do with it what I will. I personally find Watts' work to be priceless. He was a true pioneer and few have been able to capture profound truths in words as articulately and effortlessly as he. I'm currently working my way through his marvelous set of lectures called "Out of Your Mind." Highly recommended!

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/wa...by_boomers.html

As you progress in meditation, the thoughts settle and deeper, buried, hidden stuff comes to the surface. This is completely normal and can include frightening memories or images, visual and auditory hallucinations, long forgotten memories - sometimes traumatic, and, certainly, unexpected feelings like sexual desire or violent impulses that might be harbored somewhere in the depths. This is why it is so valuable (critical!) to have a competent teacher/guide. My teacher nearly always tells me to observe these thoughts/images and recognize that they are not "me", not who "I" am, but rather thoughts created by everything that has gone to make up this organism's psychological characteristics. The more stuff that comes up, the more you come to understand that "you" are none of these things. "You" simply experience (notice) these thoughts and images. "You", in fact, underlie all beings and similarly, "you" and "I" (which are the same) experience(s) the thoughts of us all but only one at a time... Meditation absolutely seems to result in an increased experience of feelings like love and compassion unrelated to sexuality. As the underlying unity of awareness begins to take hold, how can you not feel more loving and compassionate feeling towards eachother. At the fundamental level, gender and sexuality is irrelevant. It's certainly possible that latent homosexuality, bisexuality, or simply normal homosexual fantasies in a heterosexual individual might be uncovered as well. I believe that every human has thoughts and impulses at some level relating to heterosexuality, homosexuality, violence, etc... Each of us express them to different degrees based on an infinite complexity of factors. Who of us is to say what is normal? Normal simply means average. To be normal is to be similar to the majority. It does not mean to be correct or OK or even optimal. That is only for each individual to determine through self realization. Perhaps there may come a time when you choose to develop a closer relationship than ever before with someone of the same gender, perhaps not. Disengage from any anxiety about it as anxiety is simply projecting your past thoughts about this into the future. Rather, just be here, now. If you have a teacher, talk to them. If you don't, you might consider getting one. Try not to attach to these thoughts too much. Recognize that "you" are not your thoughts. "You" are not homosexual. "You" are not heterosexual. "You" are much beyond anything that can be put into words. Words are simply convenient labels for behavior. We can never define what a person (or anything else for that matter) is. It is beyond words and beyond our capacity for thought. We can only describe behavior and characteristics. Be with your thoughts without fear for they are not who you are nor can they harm the true you. Go into them deeply and experience them fully. Generally they will then lose power over you and drift off like all the rest. If significant anxiety, depression, fear, discomfort, etc.. develop as a consequence of awakening new feelings during meditation, don't hesitate to seek out the help of a competent instructor, guide, therapist, or the like. It can be very serious stuff when you become quiet enough and it can be difficult to sift through it alone. Good luck! Quick edit to say that I have a slightly different perspective from some of the comments above. I think that absolutely everything is a part of the self in the grand sense and that you can't block anything out or exclude anything. Eventually, every bit of it has to be dealt with, sooner or later. I think (for me at least) that you need to be open to it all and get help as needed to work through it until you transcend it all... I think I'm saying the same thing as joeblast in a slightly different way.

I like that imagery - resonance - blending with, going with, yielding, collaborating. It resonates with me. It gives me a sense of the 'power' inherent in wu wei, in surrendering to the Self (in the Hindu sense of the word), rather than the 'force' wielded by the self (in the individual sense of the word). Nice post, Karen. Steve

Has anyone every seen qi dueling lamas? That would be sweet!

Thanks for that.... Right back at you!

My current feelings about dan tian and qi, FWIW: Qi is already there and everywhere. You can't increase or decrease it. You can simply tune into or out from it. You sensitize yourself to feel your essence more directly and more intensely. Your essence is a process, it is not stuff, that is why there is often a sensation of movement and that is why it cannot be measured. That awareness becomes useful for all sorts of martial and health applications. I know this is a minority opinion but, there you have it... And yes, of course, we do create the dan tian with our mind. It doesn't really exist. There is no qi bag or bucket in the abdomen, it's simply an area that corresponds with certain viscera and the intersection of meridians where the qi can be felt in a particularly concentrated fashion quite easily.

Forcing does not necessarily mean exerting excessive effort. Your last comment is illustrative... Good luck!

Mat's post put me in mind of Zhuangzi's parable of the empty boat. We are floating on a lake in a boat, quiet, peaceful, undisturbed. If another boat happens to bump into ours and it is empty, we continue to float along peacefully. If we happen to look up on impact and see another person in the boat we tend to get angry and react, as if attacked. It's our challenge to try and remain empty so that if we bump into another, they are not offended. Also, to see others as empty and not feel offended when they bump into us. Emptiness may not be the best word yet evokes the proper sensibility, I think.

Valuable observation and thread, VeeCee. I joined a few months ago, found the forum to be not at all what I expected. At times I felt annoyed, at times almost betrayed and disappointed - isn't that crazy? I hung around anyway and eventually my point of view shifted a bit away from the forum and more toward myself. You're absolutely right VeeCee, when I look at this as a reflection of me, and not "them," it's wonderful. It brings a new light to the whole thing and I find the forum to be very valuable. There are things I take, things I leave, and every now and then - a precious pearl.

Expressing the energy is a side effect of using the yi to guide the qi in all techniques. Furthermore, xingyiquan's primary intent is aggressive and can be seen in the eyes of the practicioner. Developing internal strength is done through standing meditation (santishi and other techniques I've been taught) and sitting meditation. These are just my experiences and observations - I didn't mean to sound so dogmatic...

Most people think of and refer to xingyiquan as being very linear. It's not. It's the subtle spiraling energies and movements, direction changes, footwork, body movements that are not linear that help to make it as effective as it is. No question that the direct, linear, destroy whatever's in the way nature of the techniques is important. Just as important IMO are the more subtle energies/movements that give your attacks/counterattacks the advantage, even against a physically stronger opponent. I began to feel these more subtle aspects when endlessly practicing the five elements. They became much more obvious when drilling the five elements with a sparring partner. These same energies are used in Taiji but in a slightly different application.

Thaddues said: There is no magic power, just hard intelligent consistent training. I certainly agree with that! I practice standing in santi, wuji, and hugging the tree. Santi and hugging the tree have helped my strength and the effectiveness of techniques considerably. Wuji has helped my root and ability to neutralize during push hands. I think that standing can be a valuable training aid for IMA's but I don't think it's magic.

Too late! You already live there...

Very nice demo. Some unique movement as well. The fajin is really interesting. Thanks for posting that!

Hmmm, aren't animals and vegetables equally of the earth? One is more mobile than the other. Respiratory function is different. Structure and physiology a bit different. The earth/ecosystem is the mother of all of her creatures. She designed the mobile creatures to eat one another as well as the immobile creatures. Again, if we are reflections of one reality, what is the difference which we eat? We're still all the same. I know there's a difference because I feel a difference but there shouldn't be if this is all illusion and we are one. I believe the difference is all based on conditioning, nothing more, nothing less. I'll define it - conditioning...

Asked and answered....