aridus

I can tell that he has a lot of aesthetic charisma, so to speak. This in itself can have a power. I don't know much else about him. My intuition tells me that it is not entirely a hoax, but I feel something 'wrong'. It seems polluted. With people's minds running wild, plus the way marketing works, and money, there are a lot of ways it could be corrupted.

Hmm. I think it depends on the person and what they are doing, their health etc, as well as mindset. I started experimenting with these things at a very young age. I don't know why, I guess I spontaneously somehow learned about internal energies and how doing different things effected them. This was before I knew about meditation or qi or anything. Then I got into Wu tai chi and started gaining some structure and 'formalizing' things here and there, learning about it. Anyway, to get to the point... I think, with internal energies taken seriously, that it is possible in some cases to inadvertently direct them the wrong way. I never did stop experimenting, and I've had it happen before. I've gotten lost, given myself temporary psychosis, given myself ailments... so I do understand the caution of some since I've experienced ill effects that can happen.

Yup. That pretty much concludes it for me I think. Thank you again.

It was Gods Playing in Clouds that I recommended. And yeah, I'm totally against unnecessary withholding of knowledge. I'm more for a structured approach like you describe. I think my perspective is a little different than most. If you let out too much at once, it isn't accessible, it is clouded by volume. Don't let out enough, it isn't accessible, it is clouded by mystery. I've seen it in person and heard it from other martial/internal artists, where people come in the dojo or wherever, half heartedly wriggle around, and leave with nothing. I don't mind them, I think it is inevitable. Some people want "kung fu powa" and are disappointed when they don't get it in a week. Some think it is a joke entirely. This is the kind of thing that I have to admit irritates me a little. I really don't know what else to think or say about it.

Design, material, placement, color, etc. all can come into play, yes. And yes, your environment contributes very strongly to your well being.

Tao justify? I don't think so. Humans justify. I don't think one with virtue needs justification. Things they do are in accord, or not done. IMO justification is for people who like to run around in the dark. And they are of course allowed to do this.

Nature of man is part of the balance. It isn't separate. It isn't "us" and "nature". Can't take a weight off balance scale and expect the other side not to tip down. Can't put a weight on and expect other side not to tip up. Nature yields to the balance. Men throw it around. Either way balance is thrown around. Conflict, war, are results of this. That too is part of the nature.

It happened before. Will probably happen again. Science doesn't discover what it already knows, that would be redundant haha. People are now jaded by discovery and technology. Think that scientists somehow "know things" without realizing the process of coming to know. There has been "good scientific work" for thousands of years. If it can't be overturned, it probably isn't science.

Nothing: does not distinguish. Everything: does not distinguish. Nothing has nothing to separate. Everything does not separate.

Very good question. I don't see this as very different though. Maybe some people run with their eyes closed. How do you get out of my house? How do you get to my house? There is a way for both, but I can't tell because it depends on where you are and where my house is. I think inside is the same. Depends on where you are and where inside is. Both require awareness.

Thank you for the replies. I'm humbled once again. It may seem like little but I needed it.

It is my belief, that had the man survived, he would have come full circle. I agree, what could he have taught at 80? I also think that a circle has its path. Some times things are secret. Some times they are strict. And some times, maybe even at the right time, someone comes along and changes it all, because they had motivation to do so. They left the nest, and flew like a bird. I think there are various ways to leave the nest. Some times you get sick of it and leave it - and some times that is right. Some times the master, parent bird, or whatever we might call it, kicks you out. Some times that is right too.

Interesting. I think all play a role at different times. Not because I find any style to be sacred, or anything like that. I think we have the dabblers, hobbyists, or people who want to make a few bucks. Then we have the serious dogmatic types. And then, we have the intelligent rogues. The ones who keep what works and throw out what doesn't. I think saving face does serve a function. It's kind of like PR. I'm not saying it's all good, but I don't think it is all bad either. I really believe that when things get too homogeneous, people become complacent. Even a bit lazy. What would there be to make you think, to discern and choose what you will do, if everything was a vague mishmash? Especially when you throw the dabblers and hobbyists in. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but even now, when we still have some strict adherents to different things, it can be hard for beginners to weed out what is right for them.

I used to think this. Now I realize the world is perfect. Not us, the world. We see it as "messed up" as a consequence of its perfection. You do something, it has consequences every time. This is the perfection at work. It does not fail. When you boil an egg, the egg boils. It does not explode into rainbow confetti, that wouldn't be perfect. When the sun warms the earth, it warms it. It doesn't paint it pink with yellow polkadots. When it rains, things get wet. When people do, things are done.

"In time, those Unconscionable Maps no longer satisfied, and the Cartographers Guild drew a Map of the Empire whose size was that of the Empire, coinciding point for point with it. The following Generations, who were not so fond of the Study of Cartography saw the vast Map to be Useless and permitted it to decay and fray under the Sun and winters. In the Deserts of the West, still today, there are Tattered Ruins of the Map, inhabited by Animals and Beggars; and in all the Land there is no other Relic of the Disciplines of Geography." On Exactitude in Science - Jorge Luis Borges

I don't know about cure or treat, I'm not confident to say such things, but, I'd say 'Gods Playing In Clouds' qigong is safe enough for people with pre-existing health issues. Couldn't hurt but might even help.

Ah. I didn't mean to cloud the issue, sorry. Was just pointing out how people suddenly 'stop' with their reasoning, for some reason. I guess they are trained to do that by repetition, maybe. I know at least where I live, and probably in a lot of places, people think "you pick the fruit, it dies" or they don't even think that much. It doesn't stop with picking, you drop it on the ground, and it rots. It doesn't stop there, if left, and conditions are right, it sprouts. We tend to forget about the sprouting, or at least somehow disconnect 'life' from 'sprouting' because we typically don't get fruit to plant it, we eat it and throw the seeds (if they haven't been genetically altered to be seedless) into the garbage.

I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that the peach is still alive at least. I find that a lot of people don't think much about plants. Plants have hormones, and genes, they reproduce, many of them have a gender. To me fruits are analogous to plant babies.

Also, I think, empty yourself a bit. I don't mean make yourself devoid of all sense, no, there's too far for everything I believe. What I mean is, just as with being able to find 'wrong' in anything, one can also find 'truth' in anything, if they have too much agenda. People often secretly find ways to reaffirm what they already believe.

Way out my front door is not religion. It's how I get outside. No sarcasm. Really think it is that simple.

I'm not a vegetarian and I admit to having a burger now and then. But I also have to say that ground up, processed anything just seems... somehow wrong to me, intuitively. I'd rather eat bugs. I have eaten bugs. I know that grosses some people out, but grasshoppers etc. can be nice. Anyway, to get to the point: I think things being processed, and sitting around, and processed again, is not good. It changes it. I can tell. Meat is not my primary thing, I prefer it with vegetables and rice if I have it, but I also can do fine on no meat, when I do have meat I find personally it is better the less that is done to it. Just cut and cooked is fine. Over coals or wood is better, I think gas heat or electric heat causes problems also. I also find using iron or steel, or especially aluminum, has bad effects. Personally, if I had my way, I'd use only wet leaves, skewers, or stones.

I think life is the best book ever written. I'm sorry, I just felt prompted to say that so I rolled with it haha.

I've noticed some get confused about "wu wei" or "doing without doing" or "effortless doing" What isn't it? It isn't acting without will. It does not mean you act without force. You are not a wet noodle. It means the force you apply will be the correct amount. Not too strong, not too weak, the natural, right, amount. Some are confused by the "doing without doing". This is just because of semantics and what people think words mean. It means let things be. The universe knows how to run itself perfectly. That is where the 'power' lies: in the way the universe runs itself.

I don't know a whole lot about Aikido. Please forgive me for posting anyway. Just in dantian itself, I don't think he is trying to give you a deep meaning, I think he is just being analogous to try and give you a sense of how to accomplish what he does. There is actually more than one dantian in the body. He seems to be talking more about center of gravity and how to change it. Just my two cents. Take with some salt.

Look for wrong, you find it.