johndoe2012

Ha ha, I like the way he explains the name especially since Sifu Terry Dunn has named it Monk Gazing at Moon in his Flying Phoenix series. But good explanation. It could be fun to view the moon while doing the meditation.

Sifu Garry, Will you make this system available for purchase? It sounds intriguing. Chris

How is this style compared to Classical Tai Chi?

Yes, I think you are correct. Zhan Zhuang is with attention on internal phenomenon not only on the lower dantien (this is stated multiple places, Way Of Energy, Yi Quan manuals etc.) and of course attention on your posture.

You guys / gals studying from DVDs and books: do you spar with a real-life partner or how you make sure that you can use the techniques in real life?

I agree that this program is too expensive. His 23-page introduction from the program is interesting but not so much that I would pay 1000 USD for a years worth. There are cheap Bagua dvds on plumpub but I don't know whether they are worth it. I did some circle walking before starting Tai Chi and I really liked it. Bagua definitely has aspects I like: more yang, more martially oriented than the current crop of Tai Chi. Maybe BKF will do a cheaper book after this mastery program has run for a while.

IMHO you find the answer to your question on youtube. Just look at some bagua videos.

You could try Flying Phoenix qigong, search for it on this forum. You feel the qi from day one, in my experience.

Very good articles, please read. Integration of quantum physics, Buddhist no-self, wu-wei (law of least action) and other Taoist concepts. The emergence of the physical world from information processing Simulating Space and Time The Light of Existence Brian Whitworth also has upcoming paper on details on no-self "The "I" illusion".

Sifu Garry, Very nice video, your moves look very powerful. Is there any internal movement done in this set as in fast Tai Chi? I can see you have mentioned "bridging and compressing" energy. I just wondered whether the mechanics were similar.

I know you said books, but maybe you should also take a look at Classical Tai Chi DVD I: Internal Discipline Stephen Hwa's explanation of Tai Chi is very good IMO. If you like his approach there is also more DVDs with complete forms. joeblast: I have Embryonic Breathing. Although I do not practise it I can see the link between that kind of breathing and tai chi - I only understood it when I saw the above DVD.

For those who want to learn Bagua remote distance there is another option which is probably better IMHO Gaobagua.net and Emptyflower you videotape yourself and send it to the teacher. Also meetings with the teacher and other students are possible. Regarding learning Tai Chi from a DVD, Stephen Hwa of Classical Tai Chi thinks it is possible, so why not Bagua? I would say it is be better to learn from a DVD done by a good teacher than learning it live from a bad one.

What's the definition of enlightenment used here? Since there are many to choose from.

Could someone could me a link to practical methods of Bashar? How do these compare to eg. Vipassana in terms of efficiency and number of enlightened individuals?

Maybe a moderator could move this thread to the main discussion forum?

I know it's not a qigong workout but Intuflow is very nice and free on youtube . I do it between Flying Phoenix and Tai Chi. Much better than the 8 Brocades, I would say.

Wondering whether any bums have experience in dream yoga or sleeping qigong? I did dream yoga a couple of weeks as per "Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep". I managed to remember almost all of my dreams and when I think back now I can see my nighttime activities somehow made everything feel more connected. However I couldn't manage to get into a lucid dream, probably because my awareness without the monkey mind chatting is still too weak. Also, I didn't get enough sleep which was tiring overall. What are your experiences? Also, have you tried to fall asleep in a qigong state and maybe getting to a lucid dream? This thread was originally started in the Training Goals thread.

Aliens are so common now you would invite them to the dinner if they landed in your garden...

he he Maybe you are becoming an immortal? Anyway, I started a new thread with the topic of dream yoga / sleeping qigong.

yes, the meditation is lying down before sleep. The meditation is accompanied by a high pitch sound in the ears (probably blood flow), a slight buzz in the head, a slight current in the front of the body (like a half MCO) and sometimes a stiffening of body parts. The stiffening part is the healing I think - according to Sifu Dunn. I don't think I can disregard the close down now; when the energy reserve is higher I think it will be more spontaneous like your practise. When I did dream yoga, I suggested to myself to remember my dreams and also recognizing when I was dreaming so I could have a lucid dream. However I didn't manage to have a lucid dream. I think it would work better to increase your mindfulness in the "waking" state and use it for dream yoga if you want.

Ok, I tried this with a Flying Phoenix lower dan tian meditation, I got to the buzz stage but I have to end the meditation with three breaths so I couldn't fall asleep while in the state. Do you feel like you are in the qigong state in your dreams or is it only while falling to sleep? I had a very good sleep by the way

Hi Rainbow , Yes it would be really nice to be in qigong state 24/7, it's actually one of my goals to cultivate 24 hours a day. I tried to do dream yoga but I didn't get my rest so it became too tough. I wonder how you do sleeping qigong. Is there any specific method or is it a spontaneous effect of stillness-movement?

Regarding choosing practises: I normally ask I Ching whether I should proceed with something I think is interesting. The answers are sometimes cryptic but mostly helpful and clear.

I forgot to mention that at the 2 month mark for my FP practise I started noticing the wrinkles in my face had smoothened out - so I now I look younger So this is definitely a validation of this qigong.

I initially started Qigong to find peace of mind but I think the underlying motivation was also to get strength to deal with both my parents and other people in general. I am now starting to view this in a different perspective: maybe my efforts are not for my gain solely but maybe they are meant as a healing process for all the people I interact with. It seems my relationships have a certain characteristic - or it could be a projection of my attitude - : these people need a nudge in the right direction. Of course you cannot help everyone, some people are best left as they are. Regarding my interest in martial arts: I have not uncovered why I started Tai Chi yet, this is something I still need to figure out. If your inner self / spirit is really as powerful as I've heard then it is easily understood: your inner self gets you going in the right direction and eventually you understand this with the conscious mind. But yes, my goal is constantly changing as I learn more and get rid of cruft.