zen-bear
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Posts posted by zen-bear
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Hello to All,
As a custom, I don't normally post video clips of other masters demonstrating other styles of Qigong except for the ones that I am involved in, such as FP Qigong and Taoist Elixir Method, or any of FP Qigong's sister arts underneath the Ehrmei Mtn. Bok Fu Pai "umbrella" such as Sunn-Yi Gung and other arts taught by my Sihing/classmate, Sifu Garry Hearfield, in Austrailia. But I'm making an exception here by posting this video that was recently shown to me by a friend and Tai Chi teacher (of a different style) who had taken classes with Master Hong Yang out west. Master Yang is in the direct lineage of the third generation master grandmaster, Yang Cheng-Fu (1883–1936).º
I don't know what style of Qigong Master/Madame Yang is doing here, and the Youtube page doesn't disclose it. But she is quite masterful and her level is very advanced as seen in this video. The quality of her movements in this form are such that I know she can unbalance someone with barely a touch or perhaps even without a touch.Although our FP breath-control sequences all work to envelope you in the deep and relaxed parasympathetic "tone", study this video to intuit how to further refine your movements and deepen your calmness to attain "At-Onement."
Enjoy.
Sifu Terry
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Footnote º –– Over the past 43 years, I have studied 24 years (and counting) under 3 senior students of Prof. Cheng Man-Ching from Taiwan (the late masters Abraham Liu and Benjamin Lo, and currently with GM William C.C. Chen). Prof. Cheng was Yang Cheng Fu's last student in China who attained high mastery.
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On 2/5/2023 at 11:55 AM, BluePhoenix133 said:Hello, been a while... i am going to try and hold flying phoenix classes in my local village, i remember earl grey saying that is ok as long as i don't charge. I was thinking of buying a camera to film my practice and perhaps upload it to YouTube so forum members could watch if they so wished.
If needed i can make it only available with a password, either way i wont be teaching the breath percentage or explaining what i am doing just going through the motions so to speak.
I spoke to a local tai chi practitioner who said of course it would be preferable if i ... well i will just show you the email i recieved, he pointed out that i bastardized the word chi kung with qi gong to make chi gong. I was wondering exactly what the difference is between the words, i would prefer to say qigong personally.
I don't recall regulating the mind being mentioned for practicing flying phoenix... apart from doing it somewhere quiet where you cannot be disturbed.Hi Richard,
Sorry to take this long to get to your question about your friend the Tai Chi practitioner's advice.
Overall, your friend's advice is good and correct for learning Tai Chi Chuan...and reflects that he has good level in the art. But some of his statements do not apply to Flying Phoenix Qigong this art is not Tai Chi. Two big differences: FP regulates the breath and the mind using a yogic methodology that is totally unrelated to Tai Chi--e.g., (A) regulating the breathe using each FP meditation's unique breath-control formula involving a series of "percentage exhalations", and
(B) regulating the mind by doing the meditations with eyes closed at a speed 3x slower than typical Tai Chi form speed. How much more different than Tai Chi can you get with respect to regulating the breathe and regulating the mind?!!!
What FP Qigong does have in common with Tai Chi Chuan is the essential Monk Gazing At Moon posture, which is a Wuji (Wu Chi) posture (that's also identical to one of the 9 Sum-I or I-Chuan postures, btw), the Monk Holding the Pearl posture (that's also a Wuji posture), and in the seated preparatory meditation on Vol.2 with breath control sequence (5% 60 80 40 30), which very effectively "flexes" the upper body Wuji posture.
As a striking example of how different Flying Phoenix Qigong is compared to Tai Chi, one can simply view my recent Youtube video in which I demonstrate 12 of the 24 seated Monk Serves Wine Meditations of the FP Qigong system. To video has a quick overview of FP Standing meditations "Monk Holding the Peach" and "Bending the Bows" starting at ( 26:00). Then (at 30:00) you get to see a very powerful meditation the from a Bok Fu Pai sister art called "10,000 Buddhas Ascend To Heaven" (Wan Fuo Shang Tien), which consists a total of 54 meditations organized into 3 sets of 18:My responses to your friend's statements about Tai Chi:
If you want to teach you must make sure you know the subject well. starting with the spelling of the subject it is either Qigong or Chi Kung - it is semantic but you won’t be impressing potential students by getting it wrong.Chinese sounds are transcribed into a Latin alphabet using systems of romanizations. Pre-communist China, the romanization system was Wade-Giles, which spelled it "Chi Kung" and gongfu as "Kung Fu", which, of course, is still in use today. Since 1958, China officially adopted the pinyin romanization, which spells Chi Kung "Qigong" or "qi gong". Both are correct, although pinyin is form is more commonly used today. So you did mangle the two romanizations to get chi gong.In order to be called qigong the art must involve 3 basic ingredients: it must aim to Regulate the Posture (why I mentioned this earlier. It is not enough to assume you know the posture. It takes many years of being corrected and most serious students will have a mentor making adjustments for decades) Regulate the breath & Regulate the mind.Correct in that all authentic qigong arts have 3 functional aspects that "regulated": "Xing" = Shape/form of the body or what your friend calls "posture"; Yi or I = mind, mental activity, or mental focus; "Qi" or "Chi" = Breathing method that effects the energy of the body.Every authentic and legitimate Qigong art has a unique way of regulating each of these 3 aspects: the shape/form of the body, the breathe, and the mind. FP Qigong, of course, regulates the body starting with "Monk Gazing At Moon" posture, which is fundamental to the entire system.If you've practiced FP Qigong to my DVD series, then you already know that FP Qigong regulates with its powerful and ingenious breath-control formulas involving 3 up to 5 percentage exhalations alternating with full breathes. (More Advanced FP Qigong Meditations and Exercises in other Bok Fu Pa internal arts have up to 8 percentage exhalations.)
*** However, FP's powerful breath-control formulas induce such deep mind-body integration that once you hold the essential Wuji-equivalent posture of "Monk Gazing At Moon", just holding this posture for 10 minutes or longer on a regular basis will enable you to correct your own posture subconsciously--i.e., your body will simply instinctively over time assume the optimal MGM form. This is an aspect of why FP Qigong that makes the system so effective and fast-acting: it "auto-corrects" . That's why I put out the DVD series in 2004--because I knew that this Qigong can be quickly and effectively learned and practiced without a master like myself standing next to you making adjustments.• This rare "auto-correct" quality of FP Qigong does NOT exist in the other Taoist monastic Qigong system I teach, Taoist Elixir Method. Every level of TEM requires in-person instruction and correction.• This "auto-correct" feature also does NOT exist in Tai Chi Chuan, until one has mastered all of Tai Chi's form principles, which takes a very long time--at least 15 years of intensive training under superior instruction.Regulating the Mind: Again, FP Qigong regulates the mind through its moving meditations done with eyes closed AND at a speed 3x slower than typical Tai Chi form speed, as I demonstrate here in this video of "Moonbeam Splashes on the Water" (especially at 3:30):
**PLUS: FP Qigong is absolutely unique and extraordinary amongst all Qigong arts because once you are in a particular FP Qigong exercise's posture and have performed the corresponding breath control formula, you can engage in any type of mentation--you can think about anything that you can imagine. That is, your mind can be anywhere doing anything; NO VISUALIZATION OF ANY SORT IS REQUIRED IN FP QIGONG. And yet you will derive the same health benefits as anybody else who has performed the posture and breath control formula correctly.One could also add Regulate the Qi and Regulate the Shen (spirit)Each FP exercise and the system as a whole regulates the Qi and cultivates it to a profound and super-normal level, building a tangible "reserve" of the FP Healing Qi.Each FP meditation and the system as a whole very effectively regulates the Shen (the purely speculative aspect of action)--especially through the ALL of its moving meditations done with the eyes closed.Cultivation of the Shen (defined as "spirit")--so that upon death one's spirit rises as a Shen instead of sinking as a "Kwei" to become earthbound or bound to lower realms, depends on one's self-purification and karmic attainments as mapped out in Taoism, Buddhism and the world's other Gnostic religions--including the ancient and sadly eradicated Catharism, btw.Spiritual development is a function of the one's actions in this lifetime --i.e., your doings and the either good or bad karma that your "doings" create...and is not exclusively dependent upon a "transmission" from a master of this yoga or that spiritual tradition. I have seen renegade priests of eastern and western orders, including a very famous Indian "holy man" whose name I won't mention here, plus one most highly cultivated Tai Chi Chuan master--with all their received "transmissions"--go straight to hell for their actions that I witnessed.As I mentioned previously one needs direct transmission to understand posture correctly- one cannot do this from dvds/online forums. If you don’t address this most important issue you will forever be faking it.That is generally true of Tai Chi Chuan postures. If one has mastery of Tai Chi Chuan, then one can advance in FP Qigong most readily and easily--because the two arts have similar fundamental "Xing" -- the shape form of the body. FP's "Monk Gazing At Moon" posture (without the breathing formula) is a Wuji posture that directly translates to Tai Chi. But that is all that is similar between FP Qigong and Tai Chi. The breathe regulation and mind regulation of these two respective arts are world's apart.The meditational and breath work, guiding and leading Qi etc are easier to pass on. Just requires perseverance.This statement can apply to FP Qigong. FP's "breathe work" amounts to practicing each of the unique breath-control formulas ascribed by the ancients to each meditation. In the first level of FP Qigong, 37 different breathe-control formulas for 37 different meditations (24 seated "Monk Serves wine" meds.; 3 seated preparatory meds.; 10 standing meds.).**All that said, if one wants to teach FP Qigong beyond sharing the DVD programs, one must be certified and initiated into the lineage. For certification, one must demonstrate:(1) proficiency in the entire basic system that is taught in the 6-part DVD series, and then(2) demonstrate proficiency in the Advanced Standing FP Meditations (there are 9) that can only be learned from yours truly. (The Advanced FP Standing Meditations have not been published and never will because they are too dangerous should they fall into the hands of the profane and spiritually unfit).(3) Most importantly, one must learn how the Bok Fu Pai / Flying Phoenix manner of energy healing that includes practical knowledge of:(a) Tui-Na Acupressure and(b) our BFP system of herbology--which is a vast pharmacopoeia.--that would enable one to heal most martial arts injuries on the spot, as well as develop sound hygienic regimes and holistic health counseling to address specific chronic diseases as they present themselves.Learning how to heal others using the FP Healing Qi (which is its sole purpose and functionality once one has fully healed and empowered oneself with it) depends on:(1) one's quality of FP Qigong practice;(2) one's perseverance in the art to learn the advanced levels, the Tui-Na acupressure, and the Bok Fu Pai herbology;(3) one's natural predilection to do healing;(4) one's experience in this life with holistic healing prior to starting FP Qigong;(5) one's karma with respect to all of #1-#4 above--that would ultimately enable one to tap into the macrocosmic Flying Phoenix Energy channel, or "Trunk" --as Grandmaster Doo Wai called it.• Proficiency in Flying Phoenix energy healing would also include healing a person of severe energy sickness caused by an internal energy blow or by a more sophisticated form of martial Qigong.My requirements of certifying one able to teach FP Qigong are high and stringent because one has to be able to deal with the energy sickness brought on by a beginner or a dufus who does the breath-control formula incorrectly and doesn't stop immediately but continues-- or mixes and mismatches one FP Meditation's unique breath-control formula to another Exercise. As I warned earlier years of this thread, messing up the breathing formulas will do the opposite of "regulate the breathe" and cause damage to the internal energy system of the body that will manifest disease symptoms that western medicine may not be able to remedy--or find an etiology.Without naming a name, I can attest to witnessing someone who had done certain advanced Bok Fu Pai Qigong exercises quite improperly in the early 1990's and wound up developing brain lesions--bleeding of the brain severe enough to cause constant loss of equilibrium and black outs. But when the neurosurgeons opened his skullcap and to try to stop the bleeding that showed up on the MRI scans multiple times, they didn't find anything, even though the person was still regularly blacking out and fainting.Thus, I will end this summary about how FP Qigong regulates posture ("xing"), breathing ("Qi"), and mind ("Yi" or "I") and the requirements for an FP Qigong Instructor's Certification with this fair warning--and repeated strong admonition--that one must be VERY CAREFUL, PRECISE and ACCURATE in doing breathe control formulas for each and every FP Qigong meditation.Sifu Terence DunnZoom classes: terencedunn.substack.com-
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7 hours ago, Pak_Satrio said:Hi Sifu Terry,
Hope you are well! I’m currently suffering from a bad cold which has cause me to lose my sense of smell. I can only smell some really really strong odours at the moment, however I am physically fine and functional with everything else, probably thanks to FP. Is there anything FP related (or others) that might help me regain my sense of smell quickly?
Hi Pak_Satrio,
I'm sorry you caught a cold and lost your sense of smell. Do make sure it's related to just a cold and is not a Covid symptom. As a chef, I understand how critical it is to get you sense of smell back in working order.I thought about FP meditations that would restore sense of smell. But one has always to know that FP Qigong induces allostasis of the entire human body. Therefore the nose would be cleared optimally--and sometimes wonderfully --by doing the most powerful meditation of the FP system, which is the Long From Standing Med.( Vol.4).Try doing the LF moving meditation 2x in a row. If you haven't memorized it yet, work with the DVD, learn the choreography, and be able to do it with eyes closed. If you don't have it yet memorized, the next best thing is to do the breath control formula (90 60 5 50 40), and then do the movements following one of my Youtube video demo's of the form --with your eyelids more than half-lowered. Calmly squint and follow the form 2x with breathing.As I had mentioned on the FPCK thread about 4-5 years ago, it was my first or 2nd winter in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. I was just getting out of my car on a cold and snowy afternoon in Pittsfield, MA and about to go into a department store in a suburban mall when I suddenly felt a cold or flu coming on. My whole head was congested, my nose was stuffy and running, I could even feel pressure behind my eyes, and I said, "Aw shit." So I go into this TJ Maxx store and went to the far back left corner of the store where the candles were and after looking left and right and still feeling self-conscious, I discreetly did the breath-control formula for the Long Form and then slowly (and boldly) did the first 15 moves of that meditation slowly, opening my eyes occasionally . And by the time my arms lowered on that 15th movement, my head was completely clear. I had no more stuffy nose, my eyes were no longer wet, everything was dry, and I was arm all over. You want to talk about "mindfulness" and mental concentration? I was focussed on nothing but getting rid of the cold every second from the moment I first felt the symptoms as I got out of my car--even though I no idea if FP Qigong would do the trick. But I did have faith in what GM Doo Wai had told us all FP Qigong could do. Fortunately, it worked. Now how much was due to my roughly 27 years of FP practice (1991 to 2018) and the tangible reserve of the FP Qi I knew I had in my system, and how much was due solely to doing that much of the Long Form Med. once I was inside the store--I can't tell you. And also how much was due to the fact that I caught the cold or flu--just as it was coming on--i.e., nipped it in the bud--I also can't say. Catching it that early might have been a key success factor.That was 5 winters ago All I can do is give you my advice based on my experience with the FP Qigong art. Thus my best recommendation to get over your cold symptoms and recover your normal sense of smell is to do the Long Form standing med. 2x or 3x, if possible. If you don't have the LF memorized, then I would suggest doing FP Qigong standing meds. in Volume 1 and 3 for at least a solid hour. 90 minutes or 2 hrs. is even better.Let me know how it goes. I hope that you--as well as other cold sufferers out there--will share your results should you try to cure your toxemia with FP Qigong. [ "All colds are toxemia," taught my favorite teacher of Taoist arts, the late ven. John Davidson, who was my da-sihing in the 1970's and early 80's in Tao Tan Pai ("Taoist Elixir Method") Kung Fu tradition and the senior student of Taoist priest Share K. Lew at the Los Angeles Taoist Sanctuary.]Happy Ramadan observance (if that's how you say it),Sifu TerryZoom classes: terencedunn.substack.com-
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On 1/26/2023 at 3:24 PM, a5a5a9 said:Is there a downloadable version of the FP DVD? I do not live in the U.S .
Hello a5a5a9,
In what country do you reside? My company has been shipping all the programs in my catalog (see www.taichimania.com) since 1985 in VHS cassettes --before internet when I used to advertise in Yoga Journal, Inside Kung Fu Magazine- and Karate Kung Fu Illustrated. I didn't go to DVDs until about 2001. Today we can ship to practically any country in the world, except we couldn't get product delivered to China, ironically enough.
As I explained earlier on this thread: after consulting with media consultants, top executives in the entertainment industry, lawyers, and a lot of other friends in the media business, I decided in the early part of last year that the risk of piracy and counterfeiting in this digital age was just too great to have do digital downloads of mp4 copies of my programs. The cost to ship my CKFH DVDs to any part of the world is not prohibitive--given the immeasurable if not comparable health benefits that FP Qigong practice provides. And a new DVD player with USB input costs $19 to $30 on Amazon.
I plan to produce and distribute more advanced levels of FP Qigong on DVD format. These future DVD programs that teach more advanced and dangerous levels will only teach the movements and choreography. For the all-essential breath-control formulas in advanced meditations can only be taught safely once the student has demonstrated proficiency in the forms--PLUS has demonstrated an aptitude in using the FP Qi for healing others. That's how the Bok Fu Pai tradition works --as well as other complete Chinese systems of hygienics.
Sifu Terry Dunn
Zoom classes: terencedunn.substack.com-
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On 1/13/2023 at 3:26 AM, Pak_Satrio said:Hi Sifu Terry,
I had an interesting experience today during Wind Above the Clouds. At the end when my arms are raised forward in front of me and I push them down I heard the wall mounted tv in front of me make a sound as if gently hit by something, like a small breeze or burst of energy. Is this an intended side effect? I will try again tomorrow to see if it happens again.
Regards,
Jonathon
Hi Jonathan,
Congratulations. With this side effect, you've discovered how powerful a meditation "Wind Above the Clouds" is and that it lives up to its name! All kinds of unexpected energy phenomena can manifest outside of your body when you're practicing FP Qigong moving meditations, especially when you've established the cultivation and a reserve of the FP Healing Qi is starting to build...or in other words, when deep healing is taking place. As within, so outside. In your case, you've already established the practice of the Monk Gazing At Moon, Monk Holding Peach, and Monk Holding Pearl stationary meditations.At the end when my arms are raised forward in front of me and I push them down I heard the wall mounted tv in front of me make a sound as if gently hit by something, like a small breeze or burst of energy. Is this an intended side effect?• Only you know for certain. If you've never heard any sound like that come from your tv (I assume it was turned off), then it was real. But first, on the final movement after you extend the arms forward to shoulder height, you should let the arms float downward very, very slowly and passively--and not "press" them down with any intention. If you "pressed" your extended arms downward, as you described, that extra focus and intentionality--that is not normally applied on that last movement--could have caused the small breeze that hit the tv.If you had clear visualization with your eyes closed of that slow arms-extending-to-shoulder level movement (from square horse stance holding the ball [left forearm above the heart, right hand at the tan tien]), if you were adequately relaxed, that total-body movement alone will normally cause the energy around you to "shift." As within, so outside.Let us know if your FP practice brings on more sounds and vision.Best.Sifu Terry-
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On 1/1/2023 at 2:11 PM, Lo2022 said:Hi Sifu Terry,
Thanks so much for your detailed and encouraging response! I know I will go back and reread it a couple times to absorb all the info. I am just starting out on my Qigong journey and was looking at your site with the DVD set. Should I practice and get acquainted with the DVD's before I start out with zoom classes or can I start the beginner zoom classes with no prior experience? I admit I'm interested in both the Tao Tan Pai and FP Qigong combination. Also I am in the Los Angeles area--do you ever do person classes there or are you mostly on zoom for now?
When you say Advanced Flying Phoenix--do you mean the DVD's that have advanced exercises? I think one advanced DVD is also still in process of coming out based on what I saw on the site.
Also a little random question but if one wants to do psychedelics like ayahuasca how much break should one take before doing qigong? For example let's say I have been doing qigong for awhile but I want to do an aya ceremony--should I take a break before and after and how long should I do that for? I ask because I've heard that psychedelics can mess with energy a little bit and I want to avoid potential qi deviations.
Similar question for breathwork--if I do a daily 10-15 minute breathwork practice should I leave a few hours between that and qigong practice?
Thank you! And also Happy New Year~!
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
Sorry for the delay in this reply.
I'm glad you found my answers to your questions of Dec. 23 were helpful.
Here are my answers to your questions above:Should I practice and get acquainted with the DVD's before I start out with zoom classes or can I start the beginner zoom classes with no prior experience?
Practically everyone who takes the Zoom classes started learning from the DVDs either beforehand or at the same time. The DVDs teach each of the FP meditations very methodically, slowly and in great detail...and It's much easier to learn and memorize the moving meditations of the FP Qigong system using the DVDs rather than through a group Zoom class. In Zoom classes, I lead students through the breath control formulas of each FP meditation and then we do 8-10 minutes of practice of each, and we flow through the moving meditations 2 to 3 times. Unless one has photographic memory or just superb physical suggestibility (what great dancers have), one might find it tough to follow the zoom practice of the more complex moving meditations such as "Wind Above the Clouds", "Wind through Treetops", "Moonbeam Splashes on Water" (Vol.3) , and the Long Form Capstone Meditation (Vol.4). Thus it's more efficient to use the DVDs to some extent and get familiar with the choreography before doing the Zoom classes--especially because the practice involves doing all the FP meditations with the eyes closed--except for "Monk Gazing At Moon."
But in terms of getting a good bang for the buck, one gets a great energy workout from the solid first hour of Tao Tan Pai 31 practice. And then the following hour of FP Qigong is paced for beginners so that you the tangible restorative effects of the system within 40-60 minutes or sooner. Also the sense of yogic and spiritual community from seeing other practitioners from all parts of the world is a pleasant and motivating quality of the class.
I admit I'm interested in both the Tao Tan Pai and FP Qigong combination.If one is particularly good at learning and memorizing forms and choreographies, one can start the Sunday combination class because it's for beginners.
Also I am in the Los Angeles area--do you ever do person classes there or are you mostly on zoom for now?
Unfortunately, I'm no longer living in L.A. I've been living in New England since Sept. 2017, when I moved to Lenox, MA to be the master-in-residence at a holistic health resort. But I do come back to LA for occasional short visits and when I do, i teach Tai Chi and Qigong classes at the same spot in Palisades Park in Sa Monica that i used from 1992 to 2017.
When you say Advanced Flying Phoenix--do you mean the DVD's that have advanced exercises? I think one advanced DVD is also still in process of coming out based on what I saw on the site.
No. I'm referring to entire levels of more advanced FP Qigong arts that have not been published and that are different in the "flavors" of Qi that each advanced level cultivates. Beyond the first level of FP qigong that is sufficient to empower one to become a very potent and effective energy healer--i.e., that comes when one has mastered the capstone Meditation taught on Vol. 4), there are several other levels. The next level is 9 standing moving meditations that "crosses the line" from healing art into martial art--in that they cultivate a "second tier energy" of general vitality that empowers athletics and martial arts. Beyond the 9 Advanced FP Meditations, another advanced FP system is called Red Lotus Flying Phoenix, which are all seated meditations. As my classmate Sifu Garry Hearfield had explained in the first months of this thread, FP Qigong is a vast system.
Also a little random question but if one wants to do psychedelics like ayahuasca how much break should one take before doing qigong?
I can only speak in reference to the Qigong arts that I teach: Ehrmei Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu's energy arts (that includes Flying Phoenix) and the Taoist Elixir Method system, both of which are vast. I strongly advise that one learn the FP Qigong system (meaning, become proficient in all the material taught in Volumes 1 through 4) completely free and clear of all drugs--from pot, to opiates, to psychedelics and to any type of psychotropics. For safety and best results, take a break from your normal usage of any substance that affects your nervous system and alters perception, mood, consciousness, cognitive function, or behavior.) FP Qigong is a pure and powerful healing art that restores pristine health and cultivates a structural sensitivity to the mundane and supramundane. You want don't want anything physical or chemical in your body to distort the initial experience of how FP Qigong yogic methodology works.
For example let's say I have been doing qigong for awhile but I want to do an aya ceremony--should I take a break before and after and how long should I do that for? I ask because I've heard that psychedelics can mess with energy a little bit and I want to avoid potential qi deviations.
Once one has learned the FP Qigong system and has become intimately familiar and become "saturated" with the effects of each one of the meditations (standing and seated), and can feel the tangible reserve of FP Healing Qi in their body, one doesn't have to break from FP Qigong before you do ayahuasca. But I would say come down from all the effects of the aya, or the peyote, or acid, or whatever you've ingested before giving yourself a FP Qigong healing. Think of every practice session of FP Qigong as going into a Lakota sweat lodge ceremony (Within Amerindian healing methods, I only have experience with the Lakota tradition): It's a place and time of healing and prayer.
Similar question for breathwork--if I do a daily 10-15 minute breathwork practice should I leave a few hours between that and qigong practice?
It depends on the type of breathwork. I would need you to explain what the breathwork that you're practicing entails.
The Tao Tan Pai Basic 31 Meditations, all the TTP Animal Kung Fu forms, and all the advanced Yogas of TTP (5 levels above the TTP-31) are all integrated with breathwork. So if you were to gain proficiency in the Basic TTP-31, then you wouldn't have to wait one second before you followed that practice with FP Qigong practice--because the two arts are complementary and TTP enhances and prolongs the effects of the FP Qigong, as I've stated many times.
Thanks for your good questions.
Happy New Year!
Sifu Terry Dunn
P.S. I return to SoCal a couple of times each year for short visits. So I will post notices here of any classes scheduled during these visits.
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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On 1/2/2023 at 9:45 AM, hierundjetzt said:Which FPCK meditation(s) is most suited for unblocking a blocked root chakra?
Hello Here and Now:
The first thought that came to me in answer to your question is: do Monk Holding Pearl (50 40 30 20 10) in the supine position.
Depending on the severity of the blockage of the root chakra and the physical symptoms, and one's understanding of the etiology, curing the blockage might call for anything from good chiropractic work to good psychotherapy to direct energy healing from a high- level master.
Sifu Terry Dunn
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On 12/23/2022 at 2:12 PM, Lo2022 said:Hi tao thanks for your response. I can see how it would be a more individual experience than anything. I’m curious—since you’ve tried so many other qigong methods, do you know if flying Phoenix helps increase one’s level of consciousness, intuition so one can make better choices in life, etc? That’s part of why I want to start a qigong practice—the emotional and spiritual benefits. If one wants to experience those side benefits should they take a workshop with terry or do a combination of exercises during practice? Thank you
Hello Lo2022,
FP Qigong does indeed increase one's level of consciousness in that it makes on more aware of the subtle energy flows of the body that maintain health through homeostasis by making them tangible--and with some practitioners even visible--and if the human organism is stressed--i.e., injured--restores homeostasis by the process of through allostasis." FP Qigong naturally improves intuition because it so effectively integrates mind and body. Like any effective system of meditation, FP Qigong clears the mind of inappropriate semantic responses--i.e., lies and delusions that we tell ourselves to uphold our version of reality in order to survive comfortably and avoid feeling time-bound past pain .
FP Qigong practice as a matter of course increases self-awareness and improves intuition about the health and normal functioning of one's body.
"Flying Phoenix Qigong activates the body's powerful self-healing faculties by bringing all the organ systems of the body under the regulation of the subconscious mind." -- Grandmaster Doo Wai
However, when it comes making better decisions in life, what some call "executive function", the first level of FP Qigong only helps you make better decisions to first maintain and then, with diligent practice, master one's health. Then, when one has strong vibrant health, peak immunity and higher energy levels, one is so comfortable and feeling great in simply being alive that one naturally has a more self-confidence and a positive attitude towards life. One thus attracts better things into one's life--i.e., more success, more prosperity, and more personal happiness. But as far as Yogas and Qigong arts go that further develop and enhance executive function, decision-making, mental focus and acuity, and responsibility--defined as ability to respond--one would need to practice the Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong levels (the next level being 9 moving meditations) and/or the Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu system with its numerous martial qigong systems--or any complete Chinese martial art system--Tai Chi, Bagua, Xing-I, LHBF, Shaolin, etc.-- under a bona fide master instructor, of course.Another Taoist system of Kung Fu and Nei Kung that I teach, Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method), is completely different yogic methodology than FP Qigong that is heavily shen-driven, where every exercise coordinates eyes, mind, movement and breathe cycle. The TTP Qigong with its ultra-strong visualization methods just happens to be a rather perfect complement to FP Qigong to enable one to "claim the totality of oneself"--i.e., develop one's fullest potential as a human being. In fact, Tao Tan Pai although complete and powerful in and of itself, just happens to work a foundational catalyst for FP Qigong that increases and intensifies its health benefits.
But again, there are other Qigong and martial arts within the vast Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu umbrella that would profoundly increase executive function, mental focus and acuity, athletic ability, and personal power.
To make better life decisions, of course, also depends on one's genetics and IQ, one's family upbringing, education, social milieu, cultural influences, the role models that one chooses or is given, and also one's karma in the broadest sense of the word. These are all factors that determine a person's self-awareness, self-control, self-discipline and ecological awareness, as well as one's ability to learn from life in the present and also to learn from history. Contemporaneous with one's Qigong or yogic practice, there also lies one's intelligence and intuition and ability to use oracles such as the I Ching, Tarot, astrology, or numerology to extend one's understanding of cause and effect (karma) far beyond the ordinary in order adapt to the natural forces at one's disposal in order to attain one's goals.
What is the I Ching?
Here's a good primer and introduction:
https://www.thecollector.com/i-ching-hexagrams/Each of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching are represents the natural forces at work in a specific situation in human affairs on earth. Think of flipping a coin, only the coin has 64 sides. and as one of the 64 sides of the coin lands face up, each of six lines on that hexagram changes to its opposite (turns Yang (solid) to Yin (broken) or vice versa)--if that line is uniquely constructed in terms of statistics and probability. That is how I Ching is used to tap into “the living stream of deep human wisdom” --by taking a snapshot of one's own mind to get the answer to a question that one clearly poses that one's higher self, or genius, already knows.
Information about my ongoing Zoom classes in FP Qigong, Tao Tan Pai Basic 31 Meditations (the first of 6 levels of the TTP Nei Kung), and Yang Tai Chi Chuan are found in my free weekly Newsletter: terencedunn,substack.com
The 2023 schedule of workshops has not yet been made yet. But will be posted in January.
Enjoy your practice, Lo2022
Sifu Terry Dunn
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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On 9/19/2022 at 3:02 PM, EFreethought said:I have a question for Sifu Dunn:
Where/when do you teach Tao Tan Pai? I do not see any reference to it on your site.
Hello EFreethought,
Although Earl Grey answered your question about learning the Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu system in general--and its first level of Nei Kung called the TTP 31 Basic Meditations, I wanted to let you know that one can learn Tao Tan Pai by taking my weekly Sunday class called "Qigong For Health For First Responders" that consists of one hour of Tao Tan Pai 31 Meditations practice and one hour of FP Qigong practice. I began this weekly class in Jan. 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic lockdown to offer to the public the proven synergistic benefits that occur when FP Qigong practice is preceded by TTP-31 practice. The course became very popular on Zoom.
Details for this class are on my free monthly Newsletter: terencedunn.substack.com
I just finished teaching a make-up Sunday class this afternoon from 3-5pm EST because I had canceled yesterday's class in advance because it fell on Christmas Day. In today's class, I taught the prerequisite TTP Cane Form for a solid hour, did the TTP Short Form Power Yoga (a powerful 5-exercise distillation of the TTP-31) for 20 minutes. Then spent the remaining 40 minutes doing the following FP Qigong exercises: Monk Gazing At Moon, Monk Holding Peach, Bending the Bows (9 rounds), and then a full set of 7 repetitions of the second MSW Meditation on Volume 2 (50 40 30 10 and approx. 10 movements).
You and all FP Qigong practitioners interested in learning this powerful combination of two ultra-rare Qigong systems are welcome to join the Sunday class via Zoom.
Sifu Terry Dunn
terencedunn.substack.com
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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I had an unusually stressful week and kept my body strong, mind sharp-but-at-ease, and soul happy with this practice sequence this morning:
a. FPHHCM - Long Form Meditation 2x back to back
b. Wind Above the Clouds 1x
c. Wind Through Treetops 1x
d. Monk Holding Peach for 8 minutes.
e. A third round of FPHHCM - Long Form Meditation
** I strongly recommend making the time to practice the Long Form Med. 2 or 3 times in a row. You will find --as I'm sure all who've done this will agree--with each successive round of the Form, you will be doing it much more smoothly, more relaxedly, more comfortably, and more slowly--as you steadily attain towards moving at the speed of a shifting sand dune. Doing consecutive rounds of the Long From will enable you to experience the cumulative nature of the energizing and rejuvenating effects of each round of FP Long Form practice.
Get down to it!
Sifu Terry
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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To Flying Phoenix Qigong practitioners and followers of this thread:
On November 16, 17, and 18, I will be conducting a 14-hour immersive workshop in Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Celestial Healing Qigong that's very suitable for beginners but will be focussed on the intermediate practices of our art. This will be my first FPCK workshop of this year and fifth workshop at the beautiful "Tao Retreat" (Han Chinese Culture Assoc.) at 33 Tao Road in Catskill, NY. The seven 2-hour sessions of this workshop are Zoom-able.
There's qigong and there's qigong. Then there's Flying Phoenix Qigong that differs from all other Yogic arts created in China or India or anywhere else in the world in the way that it so remarkably fulfills the 5 essential functional criteria of any authentic Qigong system--as defined by the late great Master R.K. Shih (elaborations by me are in italics):
(1) prevents disease by elevating immune levels; \
(2) cures disease and disease symptoms by inducing allostasis without adding stress to the system;
(3) strengthens the body--by, in the words of GM Doo Wai, "bringing all the organ functions under the regulation of the subconscious mind";
(4) improves intelligence and thereby increases longevity (for starters, by developing the mental function of visualization like no other Qigong art); and
(5) develops latent powers (e.g., clairvoyance, clairaudience, remote viewing, remote healing, psychokinesis, kung fu, seeing all forms of energy that go unseen by the consensus reality, etc.) --i.e. If a so-called "qigong" does not develop latent powers, then it is NOT qigong!!!)
Astonishing and revelatory for most beginners is the common Flying Phoenix Qi phenomenon where the tangibly energizing and rejuvenating effects experienced during a practice session set on again several hours later in an unexpected total-body Qi-envelopment of the most pleasant and sublimely healing nature, thus further corroborating this professional medical assessment:
"Flying Phoenix Qigong practice significantly elevates parasympathetic tone. 90 minutes of practice of this Qigong is restorative in real time and over time afterwards." - Yetsa A. Tuakli-Wosornu, M.D., M.P.H., IOC Dip. Sp. Med. Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale School of Public Health Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology. June, 2020
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
The 3-day immersive workshop, November 16 through 18, consists of 7 two-hour sessions with 2 sessions on Wednesday, 3 on Thursday, and 2 on Friday at these times (EST):
Wednesday: 3pm - 5pm; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST
Thursday: 10am - noon; 2:30pm - 4:30pm; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST
Friday: 10am - noon; 2:00pm - 4:00pm ESTWORKSHOP AGENDA
The goal of this workshop is to help beginning and intermediate FP practitioners reach proficiency in the Long Form Standing Meditation and to introduce them to some of the Advanced Flying Phoenix Meditations—a set of 9 standing moving meditations…as well as to some of 16 advanced seated “Monk Serves Wine” meditations that I have not yet published.
A. Thus each session will review of the Flying Phoenix Qigong meditations presented in the Chi Kung For Health DVD series, with special focus on perfecting the "Moonbeam Splashes On Water" in Volume 3 and the Capstone Long Form Standing Meditation (Vol.4), mastering the five powerful 90-second meditations on Volume 5, and all memorizing the 5 advanced seated meditations on Volume 7 of the DVD series.
• All participants are encouraged to practice to the Volumes 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the DVD series prior to the workshop.
B. In addition to reviewing the basic level of the FP Qigong system, I will also teach:
1. Excerpts from Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong Meditations2. Excerpts from Advanced Long Form Seated (Monk Serves Wine) Meditation — consisting of 22 postures.
3. Selections from the 10,000 Buddhas Ascend To Heaven Meditations System — an esoteric system of martial and healing Qigong consisting of 54 meditations organized into 3 sets of 18.
4. Advanced “Monk Serves Wine” seated Meditations not taught in the DVD series, such as this self-applied acupressure facial massage, repeated 7 times:
https://www.facebook.com/1584272222/videos/a.10217921381417870/10217924324531446
C. A 15-minute warm-up module at the start of every class will include: The Silkweaver’s Exercise (valuable for all-levels) and excerpts from Qing Dynasty Imperial Guard Exercises and Taoist Elixir Method Basic 31 Meditations--the latter of which has catalyzing and accelerating effects on Flying Phoenix Qigong cultivation.
TUITION
$350 early registration
$385 day of workshop
$55 for each of the seven 2-hour sessionsZOOM PARTICIPATION:
$40 per 2-hour session or $250 / all 7 sessions [Zoom log-on links will be emailed to registrants the day before the workshop begins]
•• Please send payment via Paypal (to [email protected]) or via Zelle (to [email protected] ••
ROOMS & MEAL PLAN:
See postscript below or my Newsletter: terencedunn.substack.com
If you have any questions about the workshop, please post here or write to me at: [email protected]
** Also see recent reviews of my last workshop (Sept. 30) posted on this thread by David Lloyd Hastings on October 8 and by Tao Now on October 16. **
I hope to see many of you at this Pre-Thanksgiving trim-down Flying Phoenix Workshop, which will, as a nice benefit on the side, also teach you how to use FP Qigong to literally vibrate off the lbs. of excess adipose tissue that you might layer on over Thanksgiving!
mitakuye oyasin,
Sifu Terry Dunn
P.S.: ROOMS AT TAO RETREATA. There are 3 rentable rooms at the main event hall at Tao Retreat: One room with bathroom: $350 / day* Two rooms with a shared bathroom: $248 / day*
B. Ten floor beds in the main tea house / event hall: $60 / night*
C. 4 new comfortable trailer rooms with sofa-beds for up to 4 people: $250/night*; $50 for additional person.*
*Room or floor bed rent includes each day’s meals.
MEALS:
2 excellent meals each day (authentic Xichuan cuisine for lunch and dinner) plus one smoothie or light soup before sleep. • Meals are included with room or floor bed rentals • Meal plan for non-residents: $50 per day.
TO MAKE ROOM AND/OR MEAL PLAN RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CONTACT Yurong 豫容 Julia Li 李 at: [email protected] or [email protected] Tel: (917) 828-0731
PLEASE NOTE: The town of Catskill is convenient 14 minutes away by car (8.5 miles) has plenty of comfortable bed & breakfast inns, motels and resorts in and around the nearby town of Catskill such as Wolff's Maple Breeze Resort: https://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/.../wolffs-maple... https://wolffs-maple-breeze-resort.new-york-state.net/en/
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On 9/7/2022 at 3:57 AM, -_sometimes said:As beginners, can we practice any of the meditations on Volume 1 by themselves? Ideally do all 5 in sequential order, but if limited on time, and there is only 20 minutes, is it okay to do just one or two? I imagine it's best not to mix and match to start with, so only in sequential order if starting from MGM. If not, say we were to practice Bending the Bows, just to do that one and not progress to MHPearl after, would that be appropriate?
Hi -_sometimes,
If you don't have time to practice the 5 standing FP Meditations in sequence, then just do what time affords. While I have presented the exercises in the order in which GM Doo Wai taught all of us in the group I formed in L.A in the early 1990's, the key is to practice each exercise thoroughly (10-15 minutes each; longer to do 18 rounds of Bending the Bows). Once you've practiced Vol.1 meditations in order for a month or two, and feel that you've become "saturated" with the effects of each exercise, then you change the order in which you practice them. As long as you do each one correctly, no harm will come if you change the order.
But, as an annual reminder: DO NOT EVER switch the breath-control sequences from meditation to another!!!!!
Enjoy your practice.
Sifu Terry Dunn
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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14-HOUR IMMERSIVE FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG
WORKSHOP, NOVEMBER 16-18, >> ZOOMABLE <<
To Flying Phoenix Qigong practitioners and followers of this thread:
On November 16, 17, and 18, I will be conducting a 14-hour intensive workshop in Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Celestial Healing Qigong that's very suitable for beginners but will be focussed on the intermediate practices of our art. This will be my first FPCK workshop of this year and fifth workshop at the beautiful "Tao Retreat" (Han Chinese Culture Assoc.) at 33 Tao Road in Catskill, NY. The seven 2-hour sessions of this workshop are Zoom-able. [The information below is also available on my free monthly Newsletter: terencedunn.substack.com]
There's qigong and there's qigong. Then there's Flying Phoenix Qigong that differs from all other Yogic arts created in China or India or anywhere else in the world in the way that it so remarkably fulfills the 5 essential functional criteria of any authentic Qigong system--as defined by the late great Master R.K. Shih (italic elaborations are by me):
(1) prevents disease by elevating immune levels; \
(2) cures disease and disease symptoms by inducing allostasis without adding stress to the system;
(3) strengthens the body--by, in the words of GM Doo Wai, "bringing all the organ functions under the regulation of the subconscious mind";
(4) improves intelligence and thereby increases longevity (for starters, by developing the mental function of visualization like no other Qigong art); and
(5) develops latent powers (e.g., clairvoyance, clairaudience, remote viewing, distance healing, psychokinesis, kung fu, perception of all forms of energy that are invisible to the consensus reality, etc.) --i.e. If a so-called "qigong" does not develop latent powers, then it is NOT qigong. Period.)
Astonishing and revelatory for most beginners is the common Flying Phoenix Qi phenomenon where the tangibly energizing and rejuvenating effects experienced during a practice session set on again several hours later in an unexpected total-body Qi-envelopment of the most pleasant and sublimely healing nature, thus further corroborating this professional medical assessment:
"Flying Phoenix Qigong practice significantly elevates parasympathetic tone. 90 minutes of practice of this Qigong is restorative in real time and over time afterwards." - Yetsa A. Tuakli-Wosornu, M.D., M.P.H., IOC Dip. Sp. Med. Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale School of Public Health Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology. June, 2020
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
The 3-day immersive workshop, November 16 through 18, consists of 7 two-hour sessions with 2 sessions on Wednesday, 3 on Thursday, and 2 on Friday at these times (EST):
Wednesday: 3pm - 5pm; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST
Thursday: 10am - noon; 2:30pm - 4:30pm; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST
Friday: 10am - noon; 2:00pm - 4:00pm ESTWORKSHOP AGENDA
The goal of this workshop is to help beginning and intermediate FP practitioners reach proficiency in the Long Form Standing Meditation and to introduce them to some of the Advanced Flying Phoenix Meditations—a set of 9 standing moving meditations…as well as to some of 16 advanced seated “Monk Serves Wine” meditations that I have not yet published.
A. Thus each session will review of the Flying Phoenix Qigong meditations presented in the Chi Kung For Health DVD series, with special focus on perfecting the "Moonbeam Splashes On Water" in Volume 3 and the Capstone Long Form Standing Meditation (Vol.4), mastering the five powerful 90-second meditations on Volume 5, and all memorizing the 5 advanced seated meditations on Volume 7 of the DVD series.
• All participants are encouraged to practice to the Volumes 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the DVD series prior to the workshop.
B. In addition to reviewing the basic level of the FP Qigong system, I will also teach:
1. Excerpts from Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong Meditations2. Excerpts from Advanced Long Form Seated (Monk Serves Wine) Meditation — consisting of 22 postures.
3. Selections from the 10,000 Buddhas Ascend To Heaven Meditations System — an esoteric system of martial and healing Qigong consisting of 54 meditations organized into 3 sets of 18.
4. Advanced “Monk Serves Wine” seated Meditations not taught in the DVD series, such as this self-applied acupressure facial massage, repeated 7 times:
https://www.facebook.com/1584272222/videos/a.10217921381417870/10217924324531446
C. A 15-minute warm-up module at the start of every class will include: The Silkweaver’s Exercise (valuable for all-levels) and excerpts from Qing Dynasty Imperial Guard Exercises and Taoist Elixir Method Basic 31 Meditations--the latter of which has catalyzing and accelerating effects on Flying Phoenix Qigong cultivation.
TUITION
$350 early registration
$385 day of workshop
$55 for each of the seven 2-hour sessionsZOOM PARTICIPATION:
$40 per 2-hour session or $250 for all 7 sessions [Zoom log-on links will be emailed to registrants the day before the workshop begins]
•• Please send payment via Paypal (to [email protected]) or via Zelle (to [email protected] ••
ROOMS & MEAL PLAN:
See postscript below or my Newsletter: terencedunn.substack.com
If you have any questions about the workshop, please post here or write to me at: [email protected]
** Also see recent reviews of my last workshop (Sept. 30) posted on this thread by David Lloyd Hastings on October 8 and by Tao Now on October 16. **
I hope to see many of you at this Pre-Thanksgiving trim-down Flying Phoenix Workshop, which will, as a nice benefit on the side, also teach you how to use FP Qigong to literally vibrate off the lbs. of excess adipose tissue that you might layer on over Thanksgiving!
mitakuye oyasin,
Sifu Terry Dunn
"The vitalities of heaven and earth, sun and moon,
Are fundamentally inherent in our bodies.
If reality and consciousness do not stray from each other, Creation is always in the palm of your hand." — Chang Po-Tuan, 11th Century
P.S.: ROOMS AT TAO RETREATA. There are 3 rentable rooms at the main event hall at Tao Retreat: One room with bathroom: $350 / day* Two rooms with a shared bathroom: $248 / day*
B. Ten floor beds in the main tea house / event hall: $60 / night*
C. 4 new comfortable trailer rooms with sofa-beds for up to 4 people: $250/night*; $50 for additional person.*
*Room or floor bed rent includes each day’s meals.
MEALS:
2 excellent meals each day (authentic Xichuan cuisine for lunch and dinner) plus one smoothie or light soup before sleep. • Meals are included with room or floor bed rentals • Meal plan for non-residents: $50 per day.
TO MAKE ROOM AND/OR MEAL PLAN RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CONTACT Yurong 豫容 Julia Li 李 at: [email protected] or [email protected] Tel: (917) 828-0731
PLEASE NOTE: The town of Catskill is convenient 14 minutes away by car (8.5 miles) has plenty of comfortable bed & breakfast inns, motels and resorts in and around the nearby town of Catskill such as Wolff's Maple Breeze Resort: https://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/.../wolffs-maple... https://wolffs-maple-breeze-resort.new-york-state.net/en/
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On 9/24/2022 at 4:01 AM, EFreethought said:Thanks for the response.
I have a few more questions:
Why is there no volume 6 for Flying Phoenix?
Also: I saw on the newsletter (https://terencedunn.substack.com) that Sifu Dunn offers "QIGONG FOR HEALTH FOR 1st RESPONDERS: FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG ON SUNDAYS". Is this only for first responders, or can anyone join? And if anyone can join, are there any recommended prerequisites, like going through the first Flying Phoenix DVD?
Hi EfreeThought,
Answers to your question:
1. As Earl Grey pointed out, one does not need to be a first responder to take the weekly Sunday class. I named the class "CKFH for First Responders" because each class combines one hour Taoist Elixir Method Qigong with a second hour of FP Qigong, which creates extraordinary catalysis of the FP Qigong cultivation, enhancing and prolonging its healing effects. The Zoom links are published on the monthly Newsletter: terencedunn.substack.com (October issue is late in coming and will be out on Monday announcing a 3-day (zoomable) workshop in November)
2. There is no Volume 6 of the CKFH series because when it was on VHS in the late 90's, Volume 6 contained 5 very powerful standing Bok Fui Pai Kung Fu moving meditations that were/are not FP Qigong meditations. They cultivate both general vitality and power for kung fu. I was inspired to demonstrate them during a trip to Stonehenge in the U.K. when I had my good friend and renowned director Michael Wadleigh film me do various Bat Dim Gum forms and Bok fu Pai meditations. A few weeks after I released the Vol. 6 program consisting of 5 Bok Fu Pai meditations, I realized that the material was too advanced and powerful to make available without any sort of prerequisite basic Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu training. So I pulled the video (VHS) off the market. To keep the program on the market would have been dangerous for the consumer and negligent/unethical on my part. But there was no FP Qigong material on Volume 6. In order to avoid similar confusion, wondering, and the same question being asked by others in the future, I should renumber and retitle the current Volume 7 DVD program (5 Advanced Monk Serves Wine Meditations) as Volume 6.
I hope that this clarifies.
Sifu Terry Dunn
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Happy Autumn Solstice minus 3 days, everyone!
I recently received this email containing questions about practicing Flying Phoenix Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan and Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method) Qigong...and I thought it and my reply is wroth posting here as I gave answers to questions that have never been raised before on this thread (to the best of my memory):
Austin
Sep 16, 2022, 5:37 PM (3 days ago)
Greetings Sifu Terry,
How are you doing? Wonderful, I hope!
I am reaching out because I have a few questions related to the retreat starting on September 30th. I want to attend and will have to do so virtually. I am not a first responder but am very interested in the healing arts and qigong. I have been doing FPCK for a couple months now and stopped doing all other qigong practices since it's been so powerful and tangible in the benefits. I have been wanting to learn TTP after reading the thread on Dao Bums. I trust it is ok but wanted to confirm with you that it is alright to join although I am not a first responder?
Second question is whether the sessions will be recorded and sent to attendees? This would be a welcome bonus to be able to reference these zoom meetings but definitely not a deal breaker.
Thirdly, will the zoom attendees be able to ask questions and do you give posture correction cues if you notice them through the screen? Again, this is not a deal breaker as I know it can be difficult through a screen and that there will be people physically with you so the focus will be primarily be there but was curious about this.
Is Tao Tan Pai a martial qigong? I don't recall from the thread. I have some training in Tai Chi (~1 year) when I started on the Taoist internal arts path 6 years ago in San Diego from master Henry Cheng in the Claremont area (maybe you heard of him). I no longer live in SD but If I would have known about the Taoist Sanctuary and your work when I was living there I probably would started there. Master Henry was great for introducing me to the Tai Chi and the arts and is a highly compassionate teacher that I enjoyed learning from so its all good.
I recently got your Tai Chi for Health DVD because I want to learn a martial style along with the FPCK as you mentioned they work synergistically together so my thought was to train and learn Tai Chi while also mastering FP but I sense doing the TTP and mastering Flying Phoenix before learning the Tai Chi will be most beneficial. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks for your time and for sharing these amazing arts! I plan to train with you in person in the future when the timing is right when I have more experience under my belt.
I look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks you dearly Sifu!
In Gratitude,
Austin••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Hi Austin,I'm glad to hear that FPCK is providing you with tangible health and wellness benefits--with so much more to come. There's nothing more gratifying for me than to what from a beginning FP practitioner who's enjoying the profound and sublime healing effects of this most remarkable art.Answers to your questions:1.) No, you do NOT have to be a 1st Responder to take the workshop! I gave the workshop and my Sunday class in Lenox that name because great public health value embodied in that regimen, as I explained in the email.2.) Second question is whether the sessions will be recorded and sent to attendees? This would be a welcome bonus to be able to reference these zoom meetings but definitely not a deal breaker.Yes, the Zoom recordings of the workshop will be viewable to workshop attendees on my Vimeo platform but not downloadable in digital file format. The environment is just too treacherous to have my teachings floating around and copyable. That is why, after careful consideration over 4-5 months, I finally decided not to sell the CKFH DVD programs in mp4 format.
3. Thirdly, will the zoom attendees be able to ask questions and do you give posture correction cues if you notice them through the screen? Yes, in past workshops, I can and did take questions from the Zoom audience. You are just as welcome to ask questions and receive the same attention and quality of reply as my in-person students during the upcoming and all future workshops that are simulcasted on Zoom.4. Is Tao Tan Pai a martial qigong?The energy cultivated by the TTP Nei Kung is not a purely martial energy (in contrast to the ultra-rare Bat Din Gum / 8 Sections of Energy Combined art that I also preserve. There are very few Qigong arts that are strictly, 100% martial in nature. Those that exist--such as those that can authentically qualify as dim muk or dian xue are all top secret esoteric components most jealously guarded within a martial art.TTP energy is a general vital energy that empowers work of any kind: martial, healing, yogic, spiritual. But in general, the Tao Tan Pai Qi supports any type of physical work, athletic activity, or Chinese martial arts. It develops structural sensitivity to all encompassing Nature...makine one aware of what Alfred J. Korzybsky called the "structural differential" by energizing and fine-tuning the human process.5. I have some training in Tai Chi (~1 year) when I started on the Taoist internal arts path 6 years ago in San Diego from master Henry Cheng in the Claremont area (maybe you heard of him). I no longer live in SD but If I would have known about the Taoist Sanctuary and your work when I was living there I probably would started there. Master Henry was great for introducing me to the Tai Chi and the arts and is a highly compassionate teacher that I enjoyed learning from so its all good.Any amount of Tai Chi background (or in any of the major Chinese internal arts) will make learning FP Qigong more easy. The more experience, the more easily the FP is learned. As you may have read in the first year or two of FPCK thread on www.thedaobums.com, a very experienced Tai Chi practitioner and teacher, "ridingtheox" in Arizona, was able to skip volumes 1,2, and 3 and effectively learn the Vol.4 Long Form capstone meditation and enjoy excellent results.I have not heard of Master Henry Cheng in Claremont. I'm glad you found him to be a great teacher. I only knew the masters who were affiliated with the Taoist Sanctuary of L.A. and of San Diego--and their peers.6. I recently got your Tai Chi for Health DVD because I want to learn a martial style along with the FPCK as you mentioned they work synergistically together so my thought was to train and learn Tai Chi while also mastering FP but I sense doing the TTP and mastering Flying Phoenix before learning the Tai Chi will be most beneficial. Any thoughts on this?a. Tai Chi Chuan and FP Qigong are very different arts but are quite compatible. Once you have correctly learned the standing FP moving meditations--"Bending the Bows," " Wind Through Treetops," "Wind Above the Clouds," "Moonbeam Splashes on Water" (Vol.3) and the capstone exercise, "Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditations" (Vol.4)--and put in the time to master them (which is the meaning of kung fu), your Tai Chi form--i.e., internal body mechanics--will greatly improved. As I mentioned in past post, after I first learned "Bending the Bows" in 1991, my Tai Chi Chuan completely changed in terms of form and martial function...plus a deeper command of my intrinsic energy. (When that happened, I had been studying Tai Chi Chuan for 11 years with Master Abraham Liu.)b. Tao Tan Pai is a kung fu system and its 6 levels of nei kung are completely different from both Tai Chi Chuan and FP Qigong in terms of yogic methodology and mechanism. While it is best to learn the 2 systems separately, the regimen I have created exploits the catalyzing effect that TTP-31 has on FP Qigong--and produces profound and remarkable health benefits.My general rules of thumb for practicing Tai Chi, TTP and FPCK are as follows:A. Practice Tai Chi Chuan and the TTP Qigong and Kung Fu forms (or any other kung fu system you do) on different days.B. FP Qigong and be practiced on the same day that one practices Tai Chi Chuan. It does not really matter if one practices Tai Chi first and then Qigong or vice versa. Although doing Tai Chi first would thoroughly warm one up to be able to do FP Qigong more comfortably and relaxedly.C. Practicing Tai Chi soon after practicing FP Qigong might possibly shorten the duration of "lingering" or residual or recurring healing effects of the FP Qigong. Even though Tai Chi has body mechanics similar in many ways to FP Qigong, it is first and foremost a martial art and, as I have stated regularly on the FPCK thread over the years, the FP Healing Qi cultivated by FP Qigong does not--and cannot be used to--empower any martial art nor can it be directed (to flow) with any martial intent.I hope this helps. These are good questions to ask ahead of the Sept. 30 workshop.See you then on Zoom.Enjoy your practice,Sifu Terry Dunn-
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Hello to all FP Qigong practitioners:
Those of you who follow the news no doubt have seen or heard the news today that Britain's Queen Elizabeth's doctors are concerned about her health. She is 96 years old and has sat on the England throne or almost 70 years. The way the news is being presented, "are concerned about the Queen's health" may be the English understated manner of saying that her health is failing and that she may soon pass away.
Thus I want to take a moment to share with you all this one milestone event in Grandmaster Doo Wai's life that brought him to meet and treat Queen Elizabeth--that I might have shared on this thread long ago: within the first 3 months of commencing training with GM Doo Wai in Los Angeles in 1991, after I had organized the learning circle/class comprised of friends and colleagues in martial arts who were all instructor level), GM Doo Wai showed me his personal scrapbook. On 2 facing pages, pages were 6 Thank You notes to him from the Ladies in Waiting in Queen Elizabeth's court. Then GM told me that after he had made his harrowing escape from Guangdong to Hong Kong (during which he escaped being murdered by the Red Guards in his home village), he had set up shop in Hong Kong as an herbalist and energy healer, and that his powerful healing work was so effective and profound that he quickly became renowned. So renowned that he came to the attention of the English cognoscenti in the Hong Kong government, who then reported GM Doo Wai's reputation to Buckingham Palace. That resulted in English officials seeking out GM Doo Wai and inviting him to London and Buckingham Palace to minister to Queen Elizabeth's health. (This engagement of GM's services, btw, also reflects the fact that there are [or were then] alchemists in the English court who could discern and recognize who's who and who can do what in the alternative medicine and traditional systems of hygienics of the indigenous cultures throughout the English colonies.)
As it was just at the start of my training with GM Doo Wai when he showed me his scrapbook, I didn't ask him what type of treatments or methods he had rendered for the Queen. But you can be absolutely certain that Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditations ("Fei Feng San Gung" = "Flying Phoenix Spiritual Power") was the currency or cultivated Healing Life Force--that has its own Intelligence-- that he administered to Queen Elizabeth and presume others in her court. I also don't recall in what year this engagement took place, but I believe it was in the late 1960's. But I do attest that I saw the six Thank You notes addressed to him from the Queen's ladies in waiting.
"HEALING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING."
--Grandmaster Doo Wai, 1991
Enjoy--and redouble--your constant efforts to become a channel for the Flying Phoenix Healing Qi.
Sifu Terry Dunn
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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On 8/21/2022 at 6:11 PM, Pak_Satrio said:Do at least 10 minutes but of course as long as possible is always better.
Don’t worry about the jerking movements, keep as still as you can and eventually it will go away.
Thanks, Pak_Satrio, for providing good guidance in answering Karlos' s question.
Here is further refinement in answer to Karlos's question:
Beginners should aim towards holding the basic standing meditations in Volume 1 for 5 minutes as a first goal. (We're talking about Monk Gazing At the Moon, Monk Holding Peach, and Monk Holding the Pearl.) Then work up to 10 minutes. Then incrementally increase the duration of practice for each one up to 15 and then 20 minutes. Plan your practice so that you cover all 3 of these stationary standing meditations in one practice.
*For optimal health benefits, practice the FP meditations in the order that they're presented in Volume 1:
1. Monk Gazing At Moon
2. Bending the Bows
3. Monk Holding the Peach
4. Monk Holding the Pearl
5. Wind Above the Clouds.
Once you've practiced all 5 of the above FP meditations regularly for 2 to 3 months and feel the smooth energization brought on by each., and have experienced the cumulative effect of doing all 5 meditations in one session, you can "experiment "and vary your practice in these ways without any ill effects:
A. Practice the Volume 1 exercises in reverse order--i.e., go Meds #5, 4, 3, 2, 1: from #5 Wind Above the Clouds to #1 Monk Gazing At Moon.
B. Do all 5 Meditations where you do the 3 stationary meditations together in this order: MGM, Monk Holding Peach, Monk Holding Pear. That means you're doing the 2 moving meditations (Bending the Bows, Wind Above the Clouds) one following the other. You can practice the 2 moving meditations first and then do the 3 stationary meditations or you can practice to the 3 stationary meditations and then follow with the 2 moving meditations. (When you do the 2 moving meditations back to back, it doesn't matter if you do Bending the Bows first or Wind Above the Clouds first.)
C. Bending the Bows is all important and essential: But for best results no matter what order you do the 5 standing FP meditations of Volume 1, you MUST work yourselves up to doing Bending the Bows in a set of 18 repetitions.
And as you slow down your practice of each round of Bending the Bows to approach the optimal speed of "moving like a shifting sand dune", your practice of 18 rounds of BTB will increase from 8 minutes to 16 minutes to 32 minutes... and even much longer. Budget your time accordingly. But start with a time allotment equal to the time it takes for you to practice Volume One from start to finish. Then increase your practice time as you do each of the 3 stationery exercises for up to 10, 15, and 20 minutes, and as you increase the duration that you do the 18 rounds of Bending the Bows.
D. If you're just starting Flying Phoenix Qigong and have not done other Qigong, Tai Chi or Chinese martial arts before, make sure that you do the Warm-up Exercises that I present at the beginning. They come from different traditions but are valuable and worth doing. The point is to not strain or to make your self too sore.
E. Involuntary vibratory states induced by FP Qigong. As Pak Satrio, advised, don't worry about the involuntary vibratory states ("the jerking") that may be induced by any of the FP meditations. The vibrations in all their forms in all directions--shaking, buckling, swaying, twisting at waist, light bouncing up and down through the soles of the feet, even tossings--are all part of the relaxation response that vary from person to person. As I've described throughout this discussion since it started in 2009, the vibrations--if they come-- will always subside as you practice longer. In general, as your entire human process relaxes more with the greater circulation of the FP Healing Chi, the vibratory states will become subtle.
Enjoy our exploration of the FP Qigong standing meds., Karlos.
Sifu Terry Dunn
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On 5/2/2022 at 10:36 AM, growant said:Hi Sifu Terry, for the basic seated unmoving FP meditation with breathing sequence 50-10-50, can the hands rest on the thighs/knees if an elderly person is practicing who doesn't have the strength to hold the hands mid-air for a long period of time?
Hello Growant,
Nice to hear from you again after so long. Sorry for the long delay in this response...but I just today saw your post and question.
Reason: when I returned in late Feb. from 6-week working vacation in SoCal, I had to scramble to find a new abode in an extremely tight housing market here in the Berkshires of western MA after I decided to end my 4.5 year teaching-residency at a bucolic holistic health resort. But now I'm resettled after 2 weeks of moving like a sherpa and 3 weeks of unpacking and setting up new home and office.
Answer: YES. When you do the 50-10-50 meditation in Volume 2 (2nd exercise), you can rest your hands on the inside of your knees when you're in the half-lotus position or on top of the knees if you seated in a chair (with feet flat on floor and legs uncrossed).
Glad to know that you're sharing the FP Qigong art with the elderly.
**BTW, although I refer to the first 3 seated meditations on Volume 2 as "preparatory" exercises, because each has an esoteric breath control sequence integral to it, relative to the world of Qigong as it's evolved here in the U.S. since 1973 (when China opened up), they are just as powerful as the most effective Qigong methods that have made it to western shores. So thanks for your post.
Best,
Sifu Terry
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On 3/6/2022 at 5:49 AM, Chainikas said:Hi all,
I am learning Moonbeam Splashes on Water and need some clarification.
1. How many times extended arms in front of body goes down and up (in DVD with voice it says 2.5 cycle: down up, down up, down, and in demonstration www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWJsEElHygQ at 1:30 its 1.5 cycle).
2. After presses and pushes. When swinging arms left and then right: does head need to follow right hand till the end like in youtube video at 4:03, or stop just facing forward at left hand like in DVD with voice.
Thank you.
Hi Chainikas,
1. You float the arms up to shoulder level and then lower to the thighs two times. (This is the movement that's similar to the opening movement in all Tai Chi forms but is done in the wide horse-riding stance [ma bu]).
* I said "2.5" times on the DVD because I counted the preceding movement of the arms lowering movement from shoulder level as the first ".5". And in the Death Valley intro footage on that Youtube video, I abbreviated to one round so the montage wouldn't seem monotonous. But do 2 rounds as per the DVD instruction.
2. You can face the right hand at the end of that posture that I call a prototype of "Fan Through the the Back" in Tai Chi (just before the tilt towards the left rear corner) or you can look straight ahead as in the DVD (as per Earl Grey's correct advice). But either way, you want to have your mind (closed eyes visualization) on the right palm when the arm extended down the right normal at shoulder level.
• Here is another video reference for you to use, in which I do the two "Moonbeam" at an optimally slow speed. 'Shot this in Feb. 2019, which is 15+ years after I produced the CKFH DVD series:
Enjoy your practice of "Moonbeam Splashes On Water."
Sifu Terry Dunn
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On 12/30/2021 at 10:49 AM, centertime said:Hi,
Could you have a morning session as well? For me, being in Europe, the current times of the session are the worst.
I tried to go..but I was too tired...to follow.
Hi Centertime,
I'm sorry to take so long--2 months--to reply to your post; I was in Los Angeles for 6 weeks of business unrelated to FPCK and Chinese arts.
I am still forming my teaching schedule for 2022 and will try to work in a morning Zoom classes so you and other Europeans can take them.
Thanks for your interest.
Happy New Year of the Tiger.
Sifu Terry Dunn
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On 12/30/2021 at 5:14 PM, searcher7977 said:Sifu Terry,
Thank you very much for the gift of FPCK, I hope these holidays have found you well! I have two questions I'm hoping you will be able to answer!
Quick background: I am currently somewhat bedridden, suffering from chronic fatigue that has plagued me for a decade, and completely disabled me for the last 2 years. This is likely due to both enormous amounts of stress and improper/unguided buddhist meditation throughout the last decade. I was diagnosed with "zen sickness" at one point by a legitimate rinzai zen monk. I have decided to give up seated "stillness" meditations for the time being and instead try to heal myself with more yang, moving, physical practices. I used to be a very active athlete, and cumulatively have about a year of experience with various qigong practices and (Wu-style) Tai Chi before I got to this almost bedridden state.
My questions are:
Would it be okay to use the circling blocks warm-up in DVD Vol. 3 as a beginner (to FPCK)? I ask because it incorporates shifting weight back and forth, which seems to have a healing effect on me.
How can I approach Flying Phoenix Chi Kung when it is difficult and sometimes impossible to do the breathing sequences? I can do them some days, but other days my will-power and awareness completely disappears, and its impossible for me to control my breathing. On those days sometimes I can only do the warm-ups in Vol. 1 for a minute or two at a time before I have to lie down.
My plan was to just do the warm-ups or even the just the forms in DVD Vol. 1, one minute at a time for months if necessary, until I was healed and strong enough to be able to do the proper breathing sequences.
Thank you very much for your time!
-Aaron
Hello Aaron,
I'm very sorry to take so long--2 months--to reply to your post. But I had to go to my hometown of L.A. for 6 weeks to take care of long neglected work there that turned out to be extremely laborious. I didn't teach much during those 6 weeks either.
At any rate, thank you for you kind holiday wishes. I hope this new Year of the Tiger is going well for you.
Here are my answers to your questions (in bold colored italics):
Would it be okay to use the circling blocks warm-up in DVD Vol. 3 as a beginner (to FPCK)? I ask because it incorporates shifting weight back and forth, which seems to have a healing effect on me.
Answer: Yes, you can use those exercises on Vol.3 as a warm-up for a beginner to FPCK. One can use virtually any Tai Chi movement repeated as a warm-up to FPCK practice. Such as the 3 warm-up conditioning exercises taught in the first 40 min. of my (all-time best-selling Tai Chi For Health Short Form or TCFH Long Form DVDs.
How can I approach Flying Phoenix Chi Kung when it is difficult and sometimes impossible to do the breathing sequences? I can do them some days, but other days my will-power and awareness completely disappears, and its impossible for me to control my breathing. On those days sometimes I can only do the warm-ups in Vol. 1 for a minute or two at a time before I have to lie down.
Just do what you can when you can. To get the full benefits of FPCK, you must do the breath-control sequences correctly.
But if you experience a "lack will-power and awareness" on certain days, just let the FP practice go on those days until you get your mental focus back. The breath controls require mental concentration and thereby exercise your nervous system. And if you happen to be so agitated, depressed or just so distracted so that you cant do the breath controls, don't practice FPCK on those days.
*Instead, you might want to learn and practice Taoist Elixir Method (Tao Tan Pai) Basic 31 Meditations, the first-level practice of the Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu and Nei Kung traditiion, which is an even other Taoist monastic Qigong system is based on a totally different cosmology compared to Flying Phoenix and does not involve the unique "percentage breath controls" found in FPCK. Tao Tan Pai is almost as rare is Flying Phoenix and is much older. I am one of about a dozen instructors in TTP. You can learn it from me through my ongoing Sunday 2-hour Qigong class 4pm-6pm EST, which will resume next Sunday (after I took a 6 week business trip to west coast).
Good luck with your FPCK practice. And I hope it has gotten easier for you since you posted your questions.
Sifu Terry Dunn
http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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Greetings to all FP Qigong practitioners. And
HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE WATER TIGER!
I am extending this celebration I did on New Year's Day last Tuesday after I gave a private lesson I gave to my friend and student Dr. Roy Page at my usual teaching spot in Santa Monica (I'm back in SoCal for a working vacation):
This form is called the Bok Fu Pai Ten Hook Eagle Claw Attack Form. And it is a basic form in the Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu system that GM Doo Wai had all of us (in the 1991 to 1997 class that I formed around him). This is the first time that I ever committed this form to any visual medium. I was inspired to dust off my muscle memory's cobwebs and demonstrate this authentic White Tiger Kung Fu form because it's the Year of the Tiger...and there aren't any Tiger or Tiger-Crane kung fu practitioners these days. I'm sharing it here to provide all FP Qigong practitioners with the cultural context of the FP Qigong art. Although FP Qigong can stand on its on in comparison with any system of Chinese Qigong and any system of Yoga in the world, historically, It's not a stand alone system, but one of the health "safety nets" of the Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu system. Sun Yi Gung, which my Sihing Garry Hearfield preserves, is another health safety net (and more).
At any rate...
Best Wishes to All for Help and Health in the New Year.
and may your year be charged with all the primal attributes of the Tiger:
raw power, strength, determination, and uncommon courage.
mitakuye oyasin,
Sifu Terry Dunn
www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
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19 hours ago, Arkhion said:Sifu Terry,
I hope you are very well these days, I am very grateful for the details transmitted in the zoom classes, they have helped me a lot to improve the long form meditation.
And thank you very much for sharing these verses, especially the stories related to your teachers, these are always impressive and inspiring!
Have a Happy Holidays Sifu,
Jonathan Tapia
Hi Jonathan,
Thank you for your holiday greetings.
You are most welcome to the benefits from refining your FP Qigong practice in the Sunday afternoon classes and the Wed. night (EST) intermediate classes on Zoom. I'm glad to hear that after getting a few corrections through the Zoom lessons that your Long Form meditation practice has been improved--by your own diligent efforts. Starting January 2 of the new year, the combined Tao Tan Pai 31 + Flying Phoenix Qigong course continues on Sundays from 4pm to 6pm EST on Zoom, and the Wed. night Intermediate class continues at 6pm to 8pm EST.As a teacher, I'm always trying to make my experience and knowledge of Qigong relatable to people through all cultural and historical contexts...and the carol about the Good King Wenceslas is a good example. For its telling of warming Qi left in footprints in the snow is typical of the residual energy or aura of a saint or Boddhisatva, whose bed if one were to sleep in after he/she slept, would imbue one with a healing- enlightening energy. Thus I do not doubt that the authentic relics of saints preserved by their disciples and later religions established upon them are indeed holy and imbued with spiritual power-- "power objects", as dubbed by Carlos Castaneda. My story: in 1994, after I used the futon that my best friend and mentor (a non-Chinese spiritualist and master healer) had slept in while staying with me in L.A., I experienced five days of nothing but multiple lucid dreams every single night. (e.g., dreams in which I had "pre-programmed" to visit friends in different parts of the country, dreams in which I met a close friend in the dreamstate after agreeing to do so beforehand, dreams in which I chose to halt at a certain point and then re-enter my physical body with my dream body, a dream in which I saw the illustrated artwork that I had commissioned a close friend of mine in San Francisco to do for a book cover, etc.)
At any rate, in Buddhism, which heavily influenced the Tao Tan Pai tradition, heavy emphasis is placed on teaching others the Dharma, as reflected in the "vows of the Bodhisattva":
The second set of vows is original to Zhiyi's corpus:[6]
- Sentient beings, limitless in number, I vow to ferry over.
- Passions (klesa) which are numberless, I vow to extinguish.
- The Dharma-gates without end (in number), I vow to know.
- The supreme Buddha Way, I vow to actualize.
The first translation I read decades ago goes like this:
No matter how innumerable the sentient beings, I vow to liberate them all.
No matter how innumerable, I vow to extinguish all obscuring passions.
I vow to find a thousand gates to the Law.
I vow to actualize supreme Buddhahood.
I look forward to working with you in the new year, so that you get closer mastering the Long Form Meditation and then start experiencing more of the FPCK's unique and wonderful healing Qi.
Have a happy and safe new year celebration in Chile!Cheers,
Sifu Terry
www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
terencedunn.substack.com (for schedule of weekly 2-hour Zoom classes)
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Happy fifth day of Christmas for those who celebrate the birth of the Great Syrian Sage.Here's a very beautiful performance of a favorite carol. Besides its inspirational message about charity and helping the poor, it's a favorite because the last verse gives an alchemic account of the latent power of healing Qi abiding in the saintly. I've had the great fortune and good karma of training with four high-level Chinese masters of internal energy arts over the past 49 years , each of whom could (without moving a hand) envelope-imbue a person at a short distance with a restorative and blissful healing Qi that elevates one's physiological function to an entirely higher level of wellness. [My friend, author and martial arts historian, the late Robert W. Smith, wrote in one of his fine books on Tai Chi Chuan of how, upon their first meeting, Prof. Cheng Man-Ching "lit up" Bob's wife Alice with a touch, infusing her with a rejuvenating Qi that made Alice's eyes widen in wonder and delight.] Similarly, King Wenceslas of old did this with his footprints in the snow. This isn't Christian myth. It's a reverent, Christmas-time celebration of real yogic and spiritual power.Sire, the night is darker now,
And the wind blows stronger.
Fails my heart, I know not how.
I can go no longer.
Ark my footsteps my good page,
Tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.
In his master's step he trod,
Where the snow lay dented.
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessingHappy Holidays.Sifu Terrywww.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html
terencedunn.substack.com (for schedule of weekly 2-hour Zoom classes)
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Flying Phoenix Chi Kung
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by zen-bear
Hi Pak_Satrio,
Know that you can be pro-active in envisioning and invoking Kuan Yin, which is what most of the Buddhist world and the non--religiously oppressed members of Chinese society does.
For everyone's general info: Kuan Yin (Guanyin in pinyin) is a the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara, a Buddhist diety seen in iconography as the attendant to the Budda to his right, who has 108 avatars. Kuan Yin is the goddess of mercy and compassion, a bodhisattva venerated not only in Chinese, Tibetan, Nepalese, and southeast Asian Buddhism, but also throughout Chinese culture, folklore. and other religions. Taoists and non-Taoists alike-- just all kinds of lay folk-- in Chinese communities around world worship Buddhist dieties, Taoist dieties (e.g., the Taoist Immortals), Confucius and his disciples. The general custom amongst many Chinese Buddhist cultures is for women to wear a likeness of or emblem of the Buddha and for men to wear likeness or talisman of Kuan Yin.
The sourcebook on Guanyin that I like and recommend is this more recent one by John Blofeld:
Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin (Shambhala Classics)
https://www.amazon.com/Bodhisattva-Compassion-Mystical-Tradition-Shambhala/dp/1590307356/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2AHX7X3VIVO1X&keywords=Kuan+Yin+goddess+of+great+compassion&qid=1680299565&s=books&sprefix=kuan+yin+goddess+of+great+compassion%2Cstripbooks%2C80&sr=1-5
I had my first spontaneous experience of Kuan Yin in 1977 after I had finished college while I was living in Los Feliz in LA and training intensively in Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung at the Taoist Sanctuary of Los Angeles. One night, I saw her in dreamstate, standing beautifully serene like her representation in the alabaster statues. All white/ivory in color. Then she took the stemmed flower out of a narrow vase she was holding and tossed it towards me. It tumbled through the ether a certain way (my secret) and then it landed in my open hands while i was lying supine, with my body and feet aligned towards her. I was not praying to Kuan Yin specifically nor doing any invocative rituals, for I didn't know how to do either at that time of my life.
Over the years and in perfect hindsight [--and thanks , Pak-Satrio for your post about Kuan Yin], I realize that this dream visitation by Kuan Yin was a great blessing and a prophecy:
Besides being blessed to be able to learn the FLying Phoenix Qigong from GM Doo Wai during a safe window of time that lasted from 1991 through 1997, I also learned from him the ultra-rare and shockingly powerful and "Eight Sections fo Energy Combined Kung fu ("Bat Din Gum") that cultivates a purely destructive martial energy that conducts through organic matter like cotton and wood. GM Doo Wai learned this ultra-rare martial art at the Kuan Yin Goddess of Mercy Buddhist Temple in Macau in the early 1960's when he traded the abbot of that temple some of his Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu for this art. The only known practitioners of this art besides yours truly are the monks at the Macau temple--assuming that the temple is still functioning. During a training session in 1995 recorded GM Doo Wai telling me that when he was learning the BDG, he had witnessed the monks (plural) at this temple cracking large boulders with a piece of silk. Thus GM Doo Wai seriously quipped that 8 Sections Combined Kung Fu was "more rare than the DoDo Bird." This is the 8th Section, the capstone form of the system, which contains elements from the previous 7 BDG kung fu forms:
https://www.facebook.com/100057842221650/videos/411458890390443
At any rate, Happy Channeling of Kuan Yin to all!
Sifu Terry
P.S. There are many different types of prayers to Kuan Yin. Early on in my life, right after I finished college, I found and instinctively starting using the "Dharani of Great Compassion" (below). I would recite it in Sanskrit and in Chinese. Even though I did know Sanskrit and had to read the English translation to know what I was saying. I soon found that reading/saying Sanskrit prayers out loud regulates the breathing a certain way as mantric Yoga.
Plus, the Dharani of Great Compassion is powerful--it's no wimpy, tea-and-sympathy window-dressing for screw-ups. Here is the English translation for a couple of the dharani's ending passages:
Awake. Awake.
Awakened. Awakened.
Merciful one. Blue Necked One!
Daring One. Joyous One! Amen!
Successful one. Salutations!
Great successful one. Salutations!
Masterful. Creator. Salutations!
Blue Necked One. Salutations!
Boar faced! Salutations!
Powerful Lion Headed. Salutations!
Weapon Holder. Salutations!
Wheel holder. Salutations!
Lotus Holder. Salutations!
Blue Necked. All Causing! Salutations!
Beneficient One. Salutations!
Hail to the Three Treasures!
Hail noble Avalokita. Salutations!
• Here is is the Dharani in Sanksrit for anyone's use at your discretion:
Namo Ratna Trayaya.
Namah Arya Avalokitesvaraya
Bodhisattvaya Mahasattvaya Mahakarunikaya
Sarva Bandhana Chedana Karaya .
Sarva Bhava Samudram Sosana Karana.
Sarva Vyadhi Prasamana Karaya.
Sarva Mrtyu Upa-Drava Viansana Karana .
Sarva Bhaye Su Trana Karaya.
Tasmat Namas – Krtva Idam
Arya Avalokitesvara Bhastinam Nilakantha
Pi Nama Hrdayam Avarta Isyami
Sarvartha-sadhanam Subham Ajeyam
Sarva Bhutanam Bhava Marga Visuddhakam
Tadyatha, Om Aloke Aloka-mati Lokati Krante.
He Hare Arya Avalokitesvara
Maha bodhisattva , He Boddhisattva , He
Maha bodhisattva , He Virya Bodhisattva
He Mahakarunika Smara Hradayam.
Hi Hi , Hare Arya Avalokitesvara Mahesvara Parama
Maitra-Citta Mahakarunika.
Kuru Kuru Karman
Sadhaya Sadhaya Vidyam.
Ni Hi , Ni Hi Varnam Kamam-Game .
Vitta-Kama Vigama.
Siddha Yogesvara .
Dhuru Dhuru Viryanti, Maha Viryanti .
Dhara Dhara Dharendresvara.
Cala Cala Vimala Amala Murte
Arya Avalokitesvara Jina Krsna Jata-Makuta
Valam Ma Pra-Lamba Maha Siddha
Vidya dhara.Vara Vara Maha Vara .
Bala Bala Maha Bala.
Cala Cala Maha Cala
Krsna-Varna Nigha Krsna – Paksa Nirghatana.
He Padma-Hasta Cara Cara Desa
Caresvara Krsna –Sarpa Krta Yajnopavita
Ehyehi Maha Varaha-Mukha,Tripura-Dahanesvara
Narayana Va Rupa Vara Marga Ari .
He Nilakantha , He Mahakara ,
Hala hala Visa Nir-jita Lokasya.
Raga Visa Vinasana.
Dvesa Visa Vinasana.
Moha Visa Vinasana
Huru Huru Mala, Huru Huru Hare, Maha Padmanabha
Sara Sara , Sri Sri , Suru Suru ,
Bhu ruc Bhu ruc
Buddhiya Buddhiya , Boddhaya Boddhaya
Maitri Nilakantha Ehyehi Vama
Shitha Simha-Mukha Hasa Hasa,
Munca Munca Mahattahasam Ehiyehi Pa
Maha Siddha Yogesvara
Bhana Bhana Vaco
Sadhaya Sadhaya Vidyam.
Smara Smaratam Bhagavantam Lokita
Vilokitam Lokesvaram Tathagatam Dadahi
Me Drasana Kamasya Darsanam
Pra-Hiadaya Mana Svaha.
Siddhaya Svaha.
Maha Siddhaya Svaha
Siddha Yogesvaraya Svaha
Nilakanthaya Svaha
Varaha-Mukhaya Svaha
Maha-dara Simha-Mukhaya Svaha
Siddha Vidyadharaya Svaha
Padma-Hastaya Svaha
Krsna-Sarpa Krta Yajnopavitaya Svaha
Maha Lakutadaharaya Svaha
Cakrayuddhaya Svaha
Sankha-Sabdani Bodhanaya Svaha
Vama Skandhadesa Shitha Krsnajinaya Svaha
Vyaghra-Carma Nivasanaya Svaha
Lokesvaraya Svaha
Sarva Siddhesvaraya Svaha
Namo Bhagavate Arya Avalokitesvaraya Bodhisattvaya
Maha Sattvaya Mahakarunikaya
Sidhyanthu Me Mantra-Padaya Svaha