GrandmasterP

Bring on that big lottery win. So far the chanting hasn't worked but one perseveres. Oriental World in Manchester have an online sale on in their Feng Shui dept at the mo. Just ordered a resin Kuan Yin for eight quid plus p&p. Maybe she'll do the trick. Working is a complete ball-ache, I've been doing it this 40-years past and never got to like it. But it do pay the bills.

We don't so much go along with society in the sense of fitting in or buying into it. A western Taoist in western society is a bit like that chap who jumped into the river... in with the twirl out with the swirl. Society has its uses things like shops, schools and hospitals,money can be good fun too; if there's lots of it. So we can be in society but not of it. Cultivation isn't all that introvert maybe more a sort of enlightened self interest. We are the focus of our own cultivation, that's the only way. Teacher can point at a way but ultimately YOYO... You Are on Your Own getting there. Or there's the hermit path but even they come down from the mountain now and again to purchase goods and services. Monasticism in the parasitic Xtian or Buddhist sense is not an option for self respecting Taoists.

"A cultivator without a teacher has a fool for a student". [Grandmaster Chang] There's a tried and tested model for this sort of thing and discipleship is its first step. Web sites, DVDs and the YouTube can neither advise nor correct at the point where those are needed,i.e. 'hen'. Seeking advice ater the event from someone who was not with you during events is less than satisfactory. Many cannot get to a teacher so one does what one can but at best that can only ever be second best to the traditional path.

Zen Cards to my mind are better than Tarot for easy reading. The Osho Zen set is especially good with Tao n Zen imagery. Coin for I Ching pull in more sitters than stalks. Palm reading is simple and no kit required. Whichever method you use the underpinning is the same. Each sitter brings the reading with them and by tuning into them plus being very observant along with studying how to ask questions that sound like statements then with practice most cultibators can tell fortunes pretty well. It' what most Taoists go to templ for and a useful fortune telling priest will never be short of clients. Add on mediumship with entity communication and your temple or centre will be very popular. Ours is.

I asked an undergraduate, they tend to know about such things. Apparently it could be a euphemism for marijuana. Apologies if that is incorrect. Hence the following.... My old grandmother (born 1899, left her body 1986) was very wise and wont to say... "As long as it don't harm you or others you should aim to try everything what's going, apart from incest and morris dancing; before you're thirty. That way you'll know what it's like and you'll not have missed much". So alcohol, recreational pharmaceuticals, herbal concoctions to charm te brain; have a go at everything and good luck. Then, once you've got it all out of your system and the need for such fripperies has left, then, and only then; you can begin to cultivate seriously. Anything experienced whilst under the influence of booze or drugs or too much sugar (very common is hypergycaemis in the young) or caffeine has to be an admixture of the affecting chemical plus (maybe) the cultivation. Usually it's just the affecting chemicals you are sensing. That whole sex thing simply goes away in time. Make the most of it whilst it is fun and matters cos if you continue on this path you'll find that sex and all the sticky nonsense ensuing from it recedes pretty much to nothing as you progress. That will sound like an alien language right now to your nineteen year old ears but trust an old Grandmaster, before you ever know it, it'll make sense to you too. All success to your cultivation. Enjoy.

Q: How can you tell if a politician is lying? A: Her lips are moving. Q: What do you call a coach-load of politicians slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start.

The world is perfectly harmonious it's just some people in it who are dissonant. You got that in one about London folk being a miserable crew Sinan. Was doing a festival over summer near Glasto. Lots of London n Brighton types attending. What a stressed out and unhappy bunch many of them were. Cities are hard work at the best of times but the stress and pressure some of those young folk from London were under just to live and work. No wonder they are less than cheerful.

No idea. If I knew who she was then maybe I could tell you. Is this a code name for something one should know about?

I can't open PM on Kindle here at home. Will try later today from a proper PC. Who is MaryJane?

Who or what is MaryJane?

Yep I know. Off Topic. Sorry. Will try to create a thread in the basement once I can work ot how. Maybe call it 'Two old geezers chatting over a virtual garden fence' ;-)

Tony Parsons is pretty good and along similar lines. I've posted a TP clip elsewhere.

I cannot cook for sure. Porridge is about my limit of culinary expertise. Dream of being just four pounds overweight. According to doc at five foot ten I should be thirteen and a half stone [one stone is 14 pounds] but apart from having malaria and dropping nearly two stone for nine months in hell I have been fourteen stone ten since I was thirty. Are you a veggie M?

PS Our cat was a Dragon Gate sect priest last time around. She much prefers 'cat'. They did have a mission in England for a few years but the [English convert] priests fell out and then the magazine folded. One old boy still soldiering on bravely with it but it never really caught on.

Thanks for that info on strike through. DVDs to me are a bit of a mixed blessing. A teacher who is actually there can correct there and then whereas a DVD can't but some folk can't get to classes. But all this 'super power secret cultivation' nonsense just seems like so much marketing to shift product to me. Thing is with QiGong a simple set stuck-to will do as much if not more than pick 'n mix amongst myriad DVDs plus it's a lot cheaper. Some folk change cultivation like changing socks and that's not good. Sifu is coming to mean 'merchandise peddler' in some quarters. On topic... Dhammapada is a good read. DLs Kalachakra Initiation is tough but fabulous mandala pics all in colour. Mate of mine went to the American one that the DL did, said he got a lot out of that cultivation-wise.

Oh dear. You got a round tutt. That's not the act of a devotee. Sorry to hear about Mrs. M. There was a first Mrs GrandmasterP. She possessed everything a man desires [moustache, tattoos, big muscles] Ten years of married bliss we enjoyed together. Trouble was we were married for twenty-five. This second one is much easier on the eye plus she cultivates and can cook.

That's not to say he's not worth it. Not my cuppa tea [too Yang-y] but I have the greatest respect for his work and that ex Gurkha officer chap who runs the London franchise is both a gentleman and scholar. Just that outside of the affluent areas folk simply won't pay above a certain price for a one-hour long class.

Not really. I think five pounds a lesson is about par for the course in England. The Tai Chi Union lady who teaches round the villages by us charges that. Say she gets 20 per class and teaches five sessions a week round various village halls that's not a bad income even after deducting hall rental expense. Insurance to teach QiGong or TaiChi is very reasonable too. Less than seventy pounds a year. It's only really the big names who sell DVDs etc who charge silly money for classes and they tend to be located in London or similar prosperous areas where customers have more money than sense. Grandmaster Mantak Chia's centre is expensive for sure. He's coming to London next month and every session is top dollar.

We devotees view procrastination as a rank. Depending on how many months you put off doing something there's a belt. From First Not-Duan white belt [Doing it next month maybe] to Ninth Not-Duan black belt [Never doing it and not feeling in the least guilty]. Apropos Godesses/Bodhisatvas I have always thought Guan Shi Yin [Kuan Yin] rather nice. If folk must have a deity then one for benevolence and good luck along with prosperity seems much more palatable than the rather dour Xtian version. All the Chinese take aways in town have a little statue of her facing the door.

.......................................................... That is nice work Trunk, I especially like the inner life image.

[Deep Bow] Hail and farewell chums. My work here on this particular thread of the silk brocade; is done.

I once commissioned a staue of Procrastinatia [The Boddhisatva of Manyana] from a fellow devotee who works as a wood carver. I'm still waiting for it.

Well you certainly jumped in at the deep end as far as cultivation is concerned hydrogen. Good luck and best wishes for all success as you progress. When you are ready a teacher will appear. We can all only travel so far without a teacher.

That's for room rental only. I think it is £20 now. Our own classes are £5-00 per person per class, £3-00 for members, half day workshops are £10-00 including refreshments. It's a not for profit centre but we need to make enough to pay the overheads. All the teachers are volunteers on expenses only.

Those Lao-Chuang chaps knew how to have a good time for sure. Not something I know much about but one had the impression that Ch'an was Lao-Chuang but without the laughs. Bit like the old puritans in the west. Not much fun. Anything worth reading on Lao-Chuang school in English might you recommend Shanlung?