Rishi Das

For all those bums on the west coast, we should get a pretty clear shot of the Full Lunar Eclipse at about 6:00am 12/10/11. The partial Eclipse is expected to start around 4:00am for all you early birds.

This will be the last Full Lunar Eclipse till 2014. I don't know how many of you bums have an interest in this kind of thing, I myself am pretty excited to check it out. Just thought i'd spread the word in case anyone was interested and hadn't herd about it.

The moment right before you are about to let go of reality, that is where you hit rock bottom, it is so scary. It is like you are on a cliff of 3 kilometers high and barely balancing on one leg. Once you decide you will just hide under your ilusionary blanket that is reality, you feel like skinning yourself in order to distract your mind from the truth that the blanket is fake. Nothing is scary anymore but that alone. Call it God, I call it my biggest nightmare. If thats God, then I have learned today to truely be God-fearing. The fear of pain just dissapears and adrenaline pumps troughout all of your body. Even if your glimps of it was so tiny, it is extremely intense. I know that people are able to do it though. So there must be some thing I can learn from this. There must be a way to overcome this.

I really appreciate the honesty, and can say that I too have felt this way many times. I do not agree with your suicide comments, but will say that I can definitely relate to the statement I quoted above. Personally I have yet to achieve this state of consciousness, unable/not allowing myself anywhere near it without the aid of psychedelic plants or a deprivation tank. While I don't use anymore, there was a time when good ol' Terrance McKenna was a big part of my life and a quarter of mushrooms on a Friday night alone in the dark was not unheard of; to say the least I always ended up in complete terror not knowing if I would ever come back to Earth or the physical reality I know and love so much. While sitting in a deprivation tank was not as intense as using psychedelics it definitely has led to some of the same experiences that have left me shaken to the core.

To be completely honest myself, I have been very blessed with a loving family and for some reason that connection always seems to be the point where things get very shaky; the material aspect of life never seems to be my hang up, it is when I get to the connections I have made with others that things become unstable. I can let go, and have let go of many things, but for some reason when I get to the "breaking point" the people I know and love always come to mind and then things take a turn for the worst.

All these experiences have led me to a place where I acknowledge that a set practice and someone who is more experienced in these matters will truly be of benefit; finding TTB has been very helpful for me indeed. Qigong is something that I truly believe will allow me to place one foot in front of the other and make this journey slowly and steadily. As bad as I think I want "enlightenment" or whatever you want to call it, I am finally beginning to understand that, "A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step" ~Lao Tzu.

Thanks for the post Everything, it is always nice hearing others experiences and being able to relate. I wish you well in your journey and indeed look forward to reading many more posts. I also appreciate all the replies; some really good stuff has been said.

I have no right to speak from a teacher's point of view, but will say that as a student I feel it is necessary to pay respect to the teacher. That being said, respect can show up in many different forms: money, true passion for the teachings, cooking, cleaning, helping out in the garden, running errands. When it's all said and done, the teacher will ultimately decide which compensation is most appropriate. What I am coming to understand is that when you are ready, a true teacher will present him/herself to you; searching far and wide may end up in disaster, as many have stated their are a lot of people claiming something that cannot be offered.

What did you think of it?

Great series so far! Definitely long so I haven't had the time to finish yet; will most likely get to "Legacy" tonight. Very interesting stuff, I really enjoy the way he lays it all out for you. "Navigating the Afterlife" was by far the best in my opinion, gives the viewer a lot to ponder. Thanks again for sharing!

Thanks for sharing, I burned the series to a couple dvd's; excited to watch!

And the other important tip is vocal expression. This is the other way of shaking ones stuff... Every feeling/blockage/energy has a sound, so make that sound as it comes up..

In a group people are sometimes embarrassed, so I get them to express embarrassment as a noise. In long sessions, one may have periods when one feels like nothing is happening and is getting bored, so express the board noises, or the frustrated sounds at wanting something more interesting to happen, if there is a feeling, express it.

If it doesn't sound like a scene from the exorcist at least occasionally and you are not fully enlightened, lol, then you are practising in a defensive manner, protecting your 'stuff' so to speak. Get uninhibited... make a commitment to express physically and vocally, everything you feel in any given moment.

I have been engaging in the Shaking Practice for about 2 weeks now (Thank you Hundun for the much needed guidance). I have been setting aside an hour to an hour and a half each morning after some early morning prostrations to let loose and let natural qi flow take hold. Being new to the practice and Qigong in general I was really embarrassed to just let go, needless to say that I do this practice alone! It took me a couple session, but eventually it just happened; I finally just stopped trying so hard and really surrendered to myself, and wow was I surprised!

The reason I quote this piece of your post Seth is because expressing the sound was what finally did it for me. The things that come out sometimes sound a bit demonic; too tell you all the truth I feel as if sometimes I am speaking in tongues, but holy hell does it feel good! In just a matter of a couple weeks I have come to truly love this practice. It is something that really sets the standard for my day, and is something that is beginning to allow me to understand the importance of letting things happen the way they need to happen in all aspects of life. I am so grateful to have had this presented to me and will continue to just let go.

For those of you who are going to give it a try, I will piggy back off what Seth said...

Have Fun!

Yes.

Thank you.

So he was sort of like this?

 

http://youtu.be/1pm4fQRl72k

I've started trying to fast one day a week. I thought I would be ravenously hungry but I'm not. It's a wee bit uncomfortable just because I'm not used to it but nothing I haven't been able to deal with. I was finally convinced to give it a shot after reading several sources.

 

One that was really influential was this one:

 

Top Ten Fasting Myths Debunked.

 

I cracked up at the photo included.

 

Gotta luv that Broscience.

The Longevity Diet

Great thread! I myself have been venturing down this path for awhile now. Very funny you mention Lean Gains SereneBlue as it is what got me started with the fasting approach. For the past couple months now I have been eating only one meal a day and absolutely love it. I appreciate all the contributions to the thread, I am definitely going to take the time to look into CRON, sounds very interesting and something I might really enjoy!

Thank you for your response Anamatva; I really appreciate you taking the time for me.

This really made a lot of sense, and I really enjoyed the nice lay out of the model based on on the wu xing.

sure don vedo, i will do my best

another way to look at it is simply your measure of calm. Calm abiding is like a skill that we practice in meditation and throughout the day. It speaks for itself so i don't need to go on at great length. Just abide in calmness instead of leaping to react, mentally speaking[...]

 

element----------energy-------------emotion------------virtue

____________________________________________________________________

 

fire.............expanding..........joy/exitation......contentment

earth............dividing...........worry..............love/empathy

metal............contracting........sadness/grief......courage/conviction

water............sinking............fear/paranoia......clarity/insight

wood.............shooting...........anger..............patience

I will definitely take to heart your suggestion on my practice of sitting meditation as well; I resonate strongly in the intuition aspect of it and believe that by going about it in that way, things will fall into place for me as they should.

Thank you Rainbow_Vein for piggy backing off Marblehead, I appreciate the emphasis on what he had to say.

I believe that there actually is an unlearning phase and then learning phase we must go through before we can really live our life 'naturally'.

I really enjoy the way you put that. Such a simple concept until it is actually put into practice.

Since they build off each other, one should not regulate their qi before they have regulated their mind to the point that it is regulated automatically and constantly, so in other words, meditation is a necessary prerequisite (or at least a concordant practice) with qigong.

If you don't mind, could you give an example of what an automatically and constantly regulated mind might look like? Maybe in a situation such as driving a car or washing the dishes? Is the intent to focus upon what one is doing, or for clarity in all situations? For me sitting meditations are definitely not as easy as they seem; some people talk of being seated in meditation for hours at a time, I find it challenging to sit for an hour. I also understand that I have not been in practice for long, each day my mind seems to get a little more quite and a little less agitated as I acknowledge and let go of all the thoughts that arise.

However, yes, I would say that there is great value in these three instructions if one is attempting to achieve a goal.

When I first started learning about the Taoist Arts, I for some reason believed there was a goal to be achieved. After some reading and real practice I seem to have lost the thought of "goal" and come to the idea of life and all that it offers. I hope my original post did not come across as being "goal oriented;" I more or less was trying to imply that these three practices have brought about a change within myself that seems to have encouraged letting go and merely flowing with.

The Three Intentful Corrections:

- Adjust and regulate the body posture or movement

- Adjust and regulate the breath

- Adjust and regulate consciousness

In his book, The Healing Promise of Qi, Roger Jahnke presents the reader with these three intentful corrections, laid before him by his masters, their masters and so on till possibly the beginning of Qigong. While these three corrections may seem like no brainers to those of you who have indulged in the practice of Qigong, Taiji, or any other martial art for that matter, I seem to find them quite intriguing and very important no matter where you may be in your practice.

My reasoning for writing this post is to ask all of you a couple questions.

1) Are you familiar with these three intentful corrections?

2) How have these three corrections changed your practice?

3) In what way were these three corrections presented to you?

Answering my first question, I was quite surprised to find these "Three Intentful Corrections" laid out so beautifully in this book. While I have never seen them presented in this manner, I believe that by acknowledging and becoming aware of these three corrections within myself I was able to find my way to the practice of Qigong; so yes I seem to be familiar with these concepts.

Moving along to my second question, I found that by having a grasp of these concepts I was able to apply them; while I am just beginning my practice of Qigong, I feel that by acknowledging and keeping these three corrections in my awareness I was/am able to better get started in learning about what the practice really has to offer.

For myself these three corrections were all presented at completely different times, and what seems to be in chronological order; coincidence...I think not. I was first introduced to "adjust and regulate the body posture or movement" through a friend who had just started his journey in "body work." One day while over at his house, he walked up to me, gently placed one hand on my back, one hand on my hips, and then proceeded to assist me in getting into proper alignment. At that exact moment, I remember something inside me stirred; an intuition that told me that this was something that would change my life forever, something that I needed to pay attention to and keep close to heart. From that moment on, posture and movement became a passion that continues to live on today, something that has completely changed my body structure, something that has become a part of me. Being that body posture and movement became such a part of my life I knew I needed to find something that would help assist me in this process; what better then yoga right? Well it just so happened that right down the street from my house there was a little yoga studio that taught Bikram yoga, hence my introduction to "adjust and regulate the breath." For those of you unfamiliar with Bikram yoga, it is a splendid but very demanding practice that consists of 26 postures performed twice in a room heated to 105*F, the practice takes 90 minutes to complete; a major component, like all yoga, is the breath. Well my first time in that room I struggled and I struggled hard; the postures all require attention, but doing them in a room heated to that temperature is grueling and demands deep inhalations and exhalations through the nose, or panic is bound to set in...and panic is exactly what I did. During that first 90 minute class something again inside me stirred and I knew that like posture, awareness would need to be placed on my breath in all aspects of life; from that moment on attention to the breath has been a major focus for me. After many months of great change through these two corrections I was again presented with a moment of enlightenment that would change my life. Through a friend of a friend I was introduced to the mushroom; while having had some experience with this substance before I had never dosed in the higher range and always thought it was just "another drug" that could be enjoyed...boy was I wrong. The guy who gave me the mushrooms was very "new agey" and really impressed upon there ability to allow people to connect with the spiritual realms; being caught up in the "new age" hype myself I was inclined to try. Eating quite a large amount I was completely beside myself, having no control I was absolutely terrified and yet totally "blissed" out at the same time. Like my previous encounters with the two intentful corrections, something inside me stirred and I was again told to pay attention, consciousness was all that there was and it was something that I needed to be aware of, "adjust and regulate consciousness." While the experience changed my life for the better I am not an advocate of taking these substances, one time was enough for me. I have made a conscious decision to go about "adjust and regulate consciousness" from a totally abstinent and natural point of view but am always grateful for the opportunity that was presented to me.

Becoming aware of these three aspects was so fulfilling and continues to be something that I keep in awareness at all times. I have come to find that these three intentful corrections can be used in all aspects of life. Whether you are a newbie like myself, or someone who has been practicing for many years I believe it is always important to stop and become aware of these three simple things; if you have not become aware of these things it is my hope that this post may stir something within you so that you too may make these things a big part of who you are. I appreciate you taking the time to read this. Any comments or answers to my questions above are greatly appreciated.

Your Type is

INFJ

Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging

Strength of the preferences %

89 12 25 33

Seems about right to me, definitely introverted, definitely ok with that! Fun to see everyone's different results, thanks for posting this AC!

Edit: Took this again about 8 days later, results below:

Your Type is

INFJ

Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging

Strength of the preferences %

56 12 50 44

Great video Steve thanks a lot for posting that! I also really enjoyed the Koan Gerard, thanks for sharing!

I wanted to share something for all those people just starting out, or even for those people that have been traveling along the path for awhile now. I myself am just beginning my journey in learning the Internal Arts and was very happy to have found this, "Wonderful Zen parable" laid out by Garri Garripoli in his book Qigong: essence of the healing dance.

"A wonderful Zen parable talks of a new and ambitious student who just entered the monastery in Kyoto. After a few days of learning from the great Master of the temple, he went to the front of the other young monks and asked, "How long would it take me to become a Master as great as you?." The Master thought about it and replied, "Twenty years." The young monk, a bit frustrated, asked again, "If I study everyday for fifteen hours and without much sleep, how long then?" The Master pondered a little longer and said, "Thirty years." A bit angered, the young monk retorted, "What if I studied harder than all the other monks combined and sacrificed all my interests to show my devotion, how long then?"The great Master pondered a long time for an answer. After taking a sip of tea, he gently replied, "Forty years." With that the young monk stormed out of the temple and was never seen again. The other students were reminded how great their Master truly was."

I personally have been so caught up in trying to figure it all out at once; I want it all to happen now! Well what I am coming to realize is that it is always happening now and after decades of conditioning myself to living in the "illusion of form" I have blinded myself from myself. So for all those people out there just getting into something that you love to do, for all those people out there doing what you love to do: be sincere, pay attention, have fun, and trust yourself; don't worry about results, don't worry about how long it's going to take. Enjoy it while it's happening because it's always happening. For myself this is a very important lesson and something I will not forget, I will read this parable every morning when I wake up, so that I may be reminded of these simple truths.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Thanks for sharing, interesting and very exciting for the west!

This thread has been dead for a bit now but I just wanted to thank everyone for their contributions! A lot of great stuff that I am finding very helpful; big shout out to Seth for the meditation run through, much appreciated! Sorry I don't have much to add, I am hoping that just bumping this thread will help out a couple more newbies like myself! Thanks Again everyone.

Don't mean to hijack but what a wonderful thread full of some really great information. I appreciate all of you for sharing. Anyways I am just beginning on my path of exploring and there was a lot of good information here to help me get started. One thing I think really hit home for me was the concept of cleansing, and clearing before getting started at actual energy flow; that being said I guess that is a great starting place.

Anyway, get back to basics - healthy diet, moderate exercise, plenty of rest, and most of all, awareness.

Because the only thing "I" can develop is awareness.

The energy is always already there, more than we can imagine.

And the Qigong and Taijiquan are great like everyone else has already mentioned.

Good luck and welcome back!

I really like this blatant, to the point response Steve; while the concept seems to be a rather obvious one, it definitely needs to be applied. I have found through my personal experience that once I started to get these things in order in my life, other things were able to flow a lot better. For instance, with regular exercise patterns came a much much healthier diet, with a healthier diet, I found my sleep to be a lot more restful, with more restful sleep, I am able to not only support the latter two but also became much more aware of my surroundings, internally as well as externally. With the complete and daily practice of all of these things I was able to really understand that I needed something more, and now I have found it.

stretch

then stretch

then in case you forget, stretch

and I know you will forget so, stretch

write this down somewhere, stretch

and after you're done stretching

stretch

I was wondering if you or anyone else could possibly give a rundown of a stretch routine that someone could use to get started on the cleansing process? I completely understand there is more to this than just stretching but I am sure that I would benefit with a little guidance on stretching.

I was also wondering about fasting; I actually fast on a daily basis, never really eating a "normal breakfast." I eat about 2 meals a day which always come after physical exercise, not to mention I enjoy a healthy organic vegetarian lifestyle. I have found that I feel a lot better, a lot more in tune, and am able to really live in a state of awareness through fasting; it's weird but I feel for some reason that the consumption of food really blunts some things for me. Could this be due to the energy moving from the head to the stomach as a means of digestion?

Another interesting practice I have taken up is sun gazing. I have found this to be a very enjoyable as well as peaceful practice. Does anyone else have experience or opinions about this?

Great topic, thanks a lot for posting this. Recently in my life I have really realized this concept. Like you mentioned in your first post, the basic idea is pretty straight forward and easy to grasp although it seems that many people have completely forgotten about this portion of the life experience; including myself for a long time. At the moment in my life I realize it is time to start walking the walk instead of just talking the talk because quite frankly my walking is definitely not as efficient as my talking. I am really grateful to be finding TaoBums, and really appreciate the post.

Awareness in all that you do...Find peace within this moment...and this moment...and this moment.

Should have thought about the introduction before posting it. Changed my original post up.

Hey All!

My name is Matt Azevedo, I am 22 years old and live in Sacramento California. I found TaoBums in my search for a Qigong teacher in my area who could help start me on my path to understand and developing a skill in the Tao Arts. I am a definite newbie to Tao as well as the Tao Arts but look very forward to learning much more about it. I have been on what I would call a spiritual path for about a year and a half now; got into meditation, and a lot of altered state of consciousness stuff. I have tried a couple different types of yoga but have come to realize that while I have a passion for Asanas, I would much rather learn and apply the practice of Qigong in my life. To begin I believe it is important to find the right teacher so that I may begin to learn directly in person as well as learning a lineage. Overall I am just excited to be here, excited to have found my way to TaoBums, excited to learn this new practice. I am definitely motivated and very eager to get started; if anyone knows of a possible teacher in the Sacramento area I can get in touch with that would be much appreciated.

I look forward to begin reading the different discussions going on in the forum. From what I can see there is a lot of information to be learned here, and a lot of really good people supplying that information.

Thanks Again

Matt