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What is a real fight? Is it for defense? Is it to kill? Is it against a MMA practitioner? Someone knowledgeable and experienced or someone not? Who wants to kill? Do I know if he or she wants to kill? What is the situation? Are they many or is it just me? Is it being healthy a real fight? Is it being happy a real fight? What is a real fight? Do I fight biting the neck? Or scratching the eyes? Do I fight with rules? Why would I fight with rules? Am I conditioned to use rules? Where does a real fight start? Does it start with the psyche and words? With the behavioral language and my own emotions? What is a real fight? Must it be a physical confrontation? Do I need physical confrontation? Does a real winner ever let that happen? If it does happen have I lost? If it does happen how do I act? Not fight, but act. What is a real fight, if not everything I do in my life? But I prefer not to say what is a real fight. Instead, I ask the questions and act upon the mystery. A real fight is a real act.

Hi XingLik here. It's great to join Dao Bums. I've looked through the forums from time to time over the last few years and certainly found information and discussions that interest me. About me: I've been fascinated by the potential of human energy from an early age. I started martial arts at 8 and have been studying Shaolin (internal) and Daoist arts since late 1993. I have successfully been using Daoist healing techniques and teaching DaoYin TaijiQuan and QiGong since 2003. I am most interested in developing my understanding the practical wisdom of the sages, cultivating qi energy, improving my TaiJiQuan and becoming a helpful, balanced human being.

Good day folks! I tried to look into common history of qigong and yogic asanas (the physical bit of yoga), and so far has had no luck with google. I have just two pieces of information. -- Qigong seems to have been fairly evolved by 2nd century BC. That's the dating of the silk scrolls depicting qigong practice. -- Around the same time period, there is the earliest written mention of asanas, albeit without specific examples. That's all I've been able to find. The google search of a common history keeps leading me to yoga and qigong comparisons, but I'm not interested in that. I want to learn about their common history, if there is one. Perhaps they have a common ancestor? Perhaps they originated completely separately? Perhaps we know nothing? Best wishes, Anton

I had the privilege of meeting a great teacher in 1974 that was largely unknown. His name was Dave Harris out of Seattle, Washington. I was very young. Because of extensive boxing, wrestling, submission wrestling, Aikido, Karate (starting when I was 11 years old) I found many of the so called blackbelts in town to be mediocre. This made me a little full of myself. Then I met Dave Harris. His art was Tai Chi but, he liked to call it chop suey. My first sparring session at his home on 67th st. was a real eye opener as to what a true combat Tai Chi fighter at a very high level can do. I was totally helpless with this guy. Yet, he did it with amazing control, gentleness, kindness and openness. His wife, Gerry, came home during this and told us not to mess the place up. I told her not to worry, Dave had everything under control. He charged very little, he was more interested in your character and dedication. He did not self promote. He had studied under some of the great masters: Tchoung, Tohei, Raymond Chung, Pang, Woodcock, and Zhang Jie. Dave was very humble. All he wanted to do was teach anyone who was truly interested. (He also was a highly dedicated art teacher at North Seattle C.C.). Jesse Glover (of Bruce Lee fame) met Dave Harris when Jesse Glover was well known for his unique style of Sticking Hands. Afterwards, Jesse called Sifu Harris The Greatest Master no one has heard of. That is kind of the way Dave wanted it. The point I am getting to is: With all of these big name advertised masters all around, I would like to read about the tremendous teachers that have influenced your lives (in any discipline, martial or non-martial) and yet are largely unknown. A memorial of sorts. I am waxing nostalgic, please humor me:)

What is Jing (essence) from a Taijiquan perspective? If Chi (energy) is "internal movement", then what is Jing (essence)? How can Jing (essence) be cultivated from a Taijiquan perspective and by using the Taijiquan principles? This thread is about Jing (essence), not about Jin (power).

Hello, I've been practicing Tai Chi, etc. for many years, I just discovered this forum. I teach Tai Chi as a self defense discipline, with the focus on leading with the dantien and proper breathing. Nobody seems to teach this traditional method any more, just "go like this and look pretty in the park".

Hi guys, Im new to this forum so dont know what to expect. A little backstory on me: have been searching for truths in life for a long time, have a nagging urge to delve into spiritual and philisophical circles like this. Have read about Christianity, Hinduism, several yoga practices, Taoism, and various practices within it. I feel that chi kung could give me the most immediate help in opening the doors to further searching. But I cannot sense my chi. I have only begun practicing, and I understand that it may take time and definitly will take practice. I am regularly practicing, but I have heard stories of people who have not felt their chi for several years. Some may say that it will come to each at their own time, but I believe that this is an excuse for unawarness of effective methods. So my request is for anyone to give me insight on how to fasttrack my awareness of chi, may it be through books, opinions, or experience. Thanks so much!

Nearly four years ago, my best friend came across a Daoist master while backpacking across South America. He demonstrated his power by throwing him to the ground without even touching him and even saw a glowing green and blue energy substance emanating from his fingers during evening Tai Chi practice. His stories of this man ignited a flame that has consumed my entire life. After vigorous training and continuous research of the origins, roots and different sects of qigong I finally managed to fly out and train with the legend if a man that ignited my passion in the first place. My life is now completely entwined with the path of the Tao and training to achieve the highest level of power I can achieve in this lifetime. Humans were meant to be so much more than we are today, I hope to rediscover what we once were and be an example of what we can actually become if we dedicate the effort in training and meditation.

At the end of my Sodarshan Chakra Kriya I started my Standing Meditation with the Microcosmic orbit. I immediately went into a state of Bliss that was many times more enjoyable than anything I have ever experienced before. It made all other sensations of sex, recreation, etc pale in comparison. I completed 14 minutes of standing and one 6 minute set of Tai Chi. A total of 20 minutes but, it seemed like 2. My Tai Chi was effortless. At the end of the Tai Chi set it just went away. I have noticed my meditations are better since then (three months ago) but, I have not experienced that state again Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? What are anyone's thoughts on this?

Hi, I would like to aks if someone here has experience with both the prostrations as they are done in tibetan buddhism and qigong. I am quite interested in how you view the benefits of prostrations on the body and etc They seem like a quite good exercise and probably encourages flow of chi through the body, can anybody here support it from experience or from the teaching? Also if you have done prostration what did you notice that happened with your body? What about muscles that are used in prostrations, can doing them help me against my slowly growing beer belly? Any kind of opinion is welcomed.

This thread was inspired by seeing that more and more people are claiming to teach nei kung systems and they only offer a few techniques. If someone takes a few exercises out of a nei kung system then it really should be called chi kung and not nei kung. What I have read about real systems of nei kung is that they contain thousands of techniques, and my own experience has verified this. When you take one or a small group of techniques out of a vast system then technically it should be called chi kung, not nei kung, because the name nei kung should be reserved for the few wholistic systems that address all aspects of cultivating health and power. if someone focus on one type of technique that may lead to some power it can cause a serious imbalance in a person in the long run. As an example of this, the kind of yoga done by the immortal mahavatar, Babaji, is said to contain thousands of techniques also, and I was told by another chi kung master that the methods are actually quite similar to the methods of a real nei kung system like mine, which also has the goal of leading one on the path of immortal. Here is a video that explains it well:

I had surgery on my left knee almost 8 years ago (I'm 24 now) from having a big tear in my meniscus so they just took out more than half of my meniscus so that I could recover faster as I had a very stressful high demand collegiate basketball career at the time & I felt I couldn't afford to sit out for too long . I'm new to Tao & I'm wandering if Nei Kung & Qi Gong can aid in restoring my meniscus cartilage . Also is using Mantak Chia books & DVD's a good option to go to ? Or should I wait until I can afford a teacher ? Thoughts & opinions would be much appreciated . Wholeness & Balance Vibrations yall

All these teachers wanting you to become healthier, more powerful, or magical; what sage of the Dao has ever taught that? If you enjoy Tai chi, that is fine, but it is no different than playing the flute or washing the dishes in regard to the Dao. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Hi,I'm not entirely sure this is where I am supposed to post as a newcomer, but here goes. One of my old Students (Windwalker) sent me here. So, a quick biography: I was perhaps one of a handful of writers in the early 1970s writing about gongfu. I was a contributing editor for Inside Kung-Fu magazine, Karate Illustrated, Official Karate, and maybe another 5 magazines as well as Chinese Entries Editor for one of the first Encyclopedia's of Martial Arts, and the first Dictionary of Martial arts. My book "White Crane Gung-Fu" introduced that style to the west for the first time, as did my book "Hop-Gar Kung-Fu," and "Tibetan Kung-Fu." I wrote the first magazine articles on the Beijing Wushu Team, introducing them and a very young Li Lianjia (Jet Li) to the west, and wrote the first book introducing the Chang Chuan compulsorty routine used throughout the PRC for wushu competitions. I wrote maybe another hundred or so magazine articles about kung-fu, karate, judo... and so on. But above all, I was a gongfu practitioner... first in karate, then in White Crane, then in Hop Gar. I just finished another book entitled "Focusing Emptiness: A Mytho-Poetic Journey to the Lost Child." I thought I was writing a book about psychology. About half way through, I realized it was really a book about gongfu...but you have to look to see that. When I have time, I'm happy to correspond with anyone if I have anything to contribute. My email address is [email protected]. My website is www.focusingemptiness.com. If you buy my book (Amazon...if you look it up under my name, you have to type in Michael P. Staples), please leave a review. Every little bit helps. Michael

Hi all I'm from Ireland, i'm an acupuncturist and work with tuina tai chi and qigong. been deep diving the i ching in relation to a style of acupuncture recently and would like to know a bit more. not even sure which questions to ask yet! This seem to be the place to big wave from Ireland

Hello Everyone, I am Sifu Eric Randolph I'm so overjoyed to be here. I am a Master of TaijiQuan, I've studied over 33 years the mystic and practical traditions of qigong, martial arts and meditation. I've studied Yangstyle Taijiquan for combat over 27yrs now. My specialty is helping others to obtain the practical high level proficiency needed to use taijiqian in any way shape or form they need it to manifest within their lifestyles. Being an avid and very strict practitioner of one style of internal martial arts has given me a very eclectic and versatile way of looking at every technique within my given style and I really hope to share everything Ive learned with everyone. love and peace Sifu

The essence of this story is one of destiny. I was being called to The Art and I had the courage to listen and act even though the people closest to me thought I was crazy. The gift I received for my courage and willingness is beyond all compare. I would love to hear your stories of coming to this ancient art that calls out to so few. Thank you in advance for listening. I have a wonderful story to share about how I came to apprentice with a Grand Master. For anyone who is interested, grab a cup of tea! As my sifu was fond of saying, but never really doing, "to make a long story short..." I had been living and working as a healing therapist in Rhode Island (US), for 19 years when I became overwhelmed with a sense of impending dread. I am not one to be fearful, but I was beginning to feel like maybe a huge tsunami was coming. The first glimmer of understanding came at a spiritual workshop I attended in the southwest, when a complete stranger, Cindy, kept following me around and introducing me to people as though I lived there. I turned to her and said, "I don't know what you know, but I live in RI and don't see myself moving here any time soon." She looked right at me and said, "Maybe not, but you are moving." Hmmmm. I returned home from that workshop with a new bug in my ear. Mind you at this time I had been a dedicated practitioner of meditation for years and believed that the answer lies within the silent spaces of our minds and heart, but I was overwhelmingly baffled! Unable to ascertain for myself through meditation or prayer why this foreboding feeling would not go away, I consulted a friend, Neri, who is a gifted intuitive and professional dowser. After an hour of the blind leading the blind, she received the message that all information was blocked because I first needed to commit to moving. My friend gave me advice on steps to take to mentally free myself for a move and then she invited me to the Northeast Dowsers Association annual Conference. Taking her advice I began telling people, " I'm moving; not sure where, just letting you know." You can imagine how that went over with family and friends. Still I was beginning to feel energy return and excitement at the prospect. Step 2: I drive to the dowser’s conference in providence, RI where I meet a famous dowser, John Wayne Blassingame. My friend, Neri, asked him to dowse a map for me because I felt too embarrassed to ask him myself. John let his pendulum twirl all over the map while he drew my energy out by asking me what I was looking for in a move. To be honest I didn't feel like I knew what I was looking for as much as I was surrendering to something beyond myself. I didn't feel like much help, but nevertheless his pendulum hovered over Arkansas. He relayed a few interesting facts about Arkansas and we left it at that. Inside I felt nothing for Arkansas and let it go for the time being. Later that night after an evening of dining and singing with my friend and many of the dowsers at the conference, I was saying my goodbyes when John Blassingame said, "Give Arkansas some thought." Damn, confused again. Remember the woman from the Southwest, Cindy, who divined that I was moving? She emails me extolling the gifts of a friend of hers who is an astrologer that helps people with relocation. I am aware that it must sound to the reader that I am putting important decisions about my future into the hands of strangers. Yet somehow it felt more like surrendering to a higher power that was working through these people. After looking at the particulars of my birth location, she charted the most beneficial or affirming places for me to live in the world. Melbourne, Australia was top of the list. I quickly informed her I was not prepared to leave the US as I have children and a limited budget. Really no budget. Taking my limitations into consideration, that left Texas, Arkansas, and southern California. Sorry, but Texas was out and southern California seemed so far away. OMG; that was 2 strikes for Arkansas. Soon after that the woman from the southwest, Cindy, who knows nothing of my investigation into a move so far, sends me an email. She is so excited to inform me that she is moving to stay with a friend of hers. Here is where we insert a drum roll. Yes she is moving to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. When I read her email the walls came tumbling down and I was filled with wave of realization. Three strikes for Arkansas. Arkansas was it, that was where I was going to move and now I had a place and a person whom I knew there. If I sound nuts to you then you are in the company of just about everyone I know, whom I told, I am moving to Arkansas. Let me redeem myself by saying I first flew out to meet my southwest quazi-friend in Hot Springs Village to check out the area. Hot Springs Village is nestled in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. I arrived at dusk and woke in the morning to the beautiful sounds of nature. I went outside and took a short walk to get a feel for the land. My whole body felt so at ease energetically. OK, long story short, I had no real idea of what this place was, but it felt right and so during that stay I found a place to rent and put down a deposit for the following month and flew home to Rhode Island. This next part I really want to skip because everyone I knew thought I was insane, including my parents who would have preferred I said I was moving to the moon than Arkansas. There is a lot of prejudice out there for Arkansas! My children hated me and truthfully I could not provide any substantial reason for the move accept that I was being called. As for being called, from the moment I decided to move to Arkansas a wave of Grace descended that lasted throughout the entire move and well into our arrival one month later. Amidst much disapproval and disharmony, I packed our belongings into a 16' U-Haul and with the help of a friend who needed to clear her mind, drove with my children to our new home in Arkansas. Grace was with us and within a week I found a salon where I could practice massage therapy and my kids joined a youth group that they loved. A month had gone by and one of my clients at the salon invited me to go a local Karaoke Bar with her and a friend. Life up until then had been pretty uneventful because as it turns out I moved to a predominantly retired community. Yahoo, a night out! Later that night I met my new friends at the Karaoke Bar and enjoyed a glass of wine. An elderly man came up to us and began talking about himself and the restaurant he used to own in the village and everyone he knew. We had a couple of dances, and before parting I handed him a few business cards and asked if he might help me network since he obviously knew everyone. That is the last I saw of that man, whose name is Robert. I am going to leave the story there and skip to just shy of one year later when I get a phone call from Robert, who after asking if I remember him, invited me over to his house to meet a friend of his visiting from Chicago. He said his friend was John Tsai, a Grand Master of Kung Fu. That call came right about the time I was seriously questioning why a single, young, woman such as me had moved to a retirement village. I had to accept based on the grounds that it was the most interesting offer I had had in over a year. Well my patient listeners, if any of you made it thus far, that introduction and meeting with Grand Master Tsai was to be the ending of one life and the beginning of another. John Tsai is a 17th Generation Shaolin Kung Fu and Mei Hua Qigong Grand Master. He is a legend in Kung Fu in Chicago and the coach of many champions, including Arlene Limas, a gold medalist in the Seoul Olympics. GM Tsai asked me many questions about what I thought energy was that first day. He was friendly and unassuming, an easy person to talk to. Three hours passed quickly by and I left feeling curious and excited to have had a small adventure. Three days later I was invited back to Robert’s house to spend more time with GM Tsai if I was interested. He didn't have to ask twice; somehow being in the company of GM Tsai was stimulating and lively even though he was a man of 64 years. This time another woman was there as well and GM Tsai had both of us lie down on the floor and practice a breathing meditation he called Dantian Tu Na. After an hour or more of Dantian Tu Na he had us stand up. He called me over to stand near him and he placed his hand on my Dantian. Next thing I know my spine is moving in slow wave like motion. I was scared because I couldn't understand why my body wanted to move like that. Sensing my apprehension, GMT had me sit down and explained to me that what I felt was my own energy moving through me. I'd love to say that cleared everything up, but I was clueless although less afraid. He repeated the same technique on me and this time because I was less inhibited my spine moved in rhythmic waves that sent a lovely energy to my head. GMT seemed pleased and I felt great. Long story short; I somehow fell into a pattern of arriving at Roberts’s house nearly 7 days a week at 6:00 am to train with Grand Master Tsai for four hours. After greeting me with warm green tea he would ask me to sit down and take dictation while he spoke about Qi and the practice he was teaching me. I didn't understand what I was writing, but I wrote it down anyway. GMT would show me a new technique and then walk away for 45 minutes, leaving me to practice. Something was happening to me, I was changing from the inside out. I was experiencing a quality of energy and connection to life around me that was heightened in a new way. I began to feel ten years younger and had a new desire to challenge my physical abilities. Namely that resulted in climbing trees and wrestling with my teenage sons, What I was unaware of at the time was GMT's plan. He was grooming and training me to be his chief instructor for a Qigong school he was going to open in Arkansas. That is exactly what transpired. After giving a workshop we had a group of people interested in training and on the first meeting date GMT handed me a uniform and I became an instructor. I am a humble person and so at one point I questioned a promotion that GMT gave me saying I have only been practicing for a short while. He seemed somewhat offended and said, "you are training with a Grand Master. What I am teaching you takes some people a lifetime to learn on their own." That is why I call myself a master instructor. I do not have the years that many practitioners have, but I have a masters level of knowledge. I don't practice what I know, I know what I practice. And so it went on for 5 years until Grand Master Tsai moved on to teach others. I took over teaching at our school until I moved back to Rhode Island so that my children could have an easier relationship with their father. I continue to teach the techniques for building a Qi body that I learned from GMT and I continue to learn from the Daoist Classics and other Teachers of Nei gong. Thank you for your time, Leah

Hello fellow daobums, I was hoping for some taijiquan advice. I have the opportunity to study the 37-form taijiquan of Cheng Man Ching with an instructor in the Milwaukee area. I have no previous taijiquan experience, so my main question is, would this be a good intro form to learn? There are a few other advantages to this instructor, namely that I can study 3 times a week; the school is affiliated with Adam Mizner, and there is the opportunity to learn push hands. Any thoughts? thanks

I've done some research but I've started to understand how this energy works. It has came to me mostly thru qigong, sexual kung fu and sexual yoga practices, the latter of which I've done with my current partner. I also should mention that I practice retention and cultivation and I have my own observations thru this, namely, when you don't emit semen often all of the energies seem reflected back into your body and everything gets more intense. I ejaculate once in awhile, i'm still young and my partner sometimes enjoys it, but when I'm older I plan to limit it even more; I've discussed this with her and she understands how we will ultimately move toward Karezza. Basically i believe that puberty / time naturally make a male more Yang and a woman more Yin, but because balance is quintessential in all things it's important to keep in touch with the other side. For some reason when I think of yang I think "upper" and yin I think "lower." Losing jing often seems to make the body more yang, and vice versa seems to help balance and dissipate. That's another thing, yin seems to disperse and yang to gather. Yin would be going for a walk or run, yang would be lifting weights. My experience has also been that one extreme causes a tendency toward the other in myself, I seem to have an internal sense when I am out of balance for my own health which is really what this is all about. Shooting in the dark a bit here, but any thoughts? Thanks

Kitty is looking for some scientific explanation of a linkage between doing qigongs and having strange dreams the following night. The OP is specifically interested when some random "people of the past" show up and some weird show is going on. Any thoughts or experiences? 1. What exactly is being triggered? 2. Why those "streams of consciousness" are interacting. 3. Is there any applied wisdom to this dimension? Meow...

Dedication and persistence pays off ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-39073334

Hello all, As a beginning martial arts practitioner (Northern long fist) who has been training for around a year and far less experienced in internal work, I have been trying to look for a proper teacher who'll be able to guide me in internal cultivation for martial arts - mainly for internal power development/control. From the numerous posts I've seen on these forums, there seems to be a lot of people who are very experienced in internal work and skill, whether it is for martial arts or spiritual cultivation (or both). However, I also feel like people with genuine, high level internal cultivation are extremely rare, so I come for your advice. I have an opportunity to learn Sheng Zhen Gong with one of Master Li Junfeng's direct students. From the information online, it seems that it is more of a spiritual-focused one, rather than a martial-focused one. However, some teachers in my area (Austin, TX) highly recommended me to learn from his system, as they informed me that Master Li is also very experienced in martial arts as well. Any thoughts?

Hello eveyone, I have recently heard that Fujian White Crane is a very practical and effective internal martial art that also has some external aspects within it. I did some research into it and found out that Fujian White Crane is a progenitor art of Wing Chun . It was a video I saw of a FWC lineage holder talking about the history of the art. He mentioned that Wing Chun is only basically half of Fujian White Crane. Does anybody know about the accuracy of these claims? Also how effective is it truly?

Hello my fellow brothers and sisters, My name is Tim, and I am very excited to be apart of this wonderful community. I am from San Francisco, CA and I am practicing qigong under the Heavenly Essence Qigong System or also known as Zhang Gong as developed by Grandmaster Zhang Hong Bao. I am in search of other practitioners like myself and hope to build a community in which we could grow, develop our practice together, share our insights, and perhaps meet and collaborate with various ventures may it be in business, in workshops, or in practice! I am also curious if any others our there are practicing under the same lineage as myself? I wonder if anybody know my Grandmaster personally or could point me into a direction in which I could learn more as to what kind of person he was? There seems to be some texts, like Qigong Fever by David A. Palmer, but everything else seems to be biased or in Chinese... Looking forward to hearing from you! Much love and blessing, Tim

Flipped through my journal tonight and thought I'd share some notes I've taken over the years of various teachers from many diverse traditions. They're snippets. Some from books, some from videos. A lot of it is paraphrased but the gist of what was said I tried to make sure is accurate. This section of notes come from some (rather long if you have the time) Youtube vids of Shri Rohit Arya. (I've grown to like him as much as Master Nan Huai Chin and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) If even one person finds something of interest here I'm glad I came up from the depths of lurkdom. **************** On Money Shakti 1. Money shakti has a golden hue. The vibration enters through the Mooladhara and Svadhistara. Which is why if the 2 lower chakras are damaged you very rarely get money. But here is the extraordinary thing...if your heart chakra is closed or damaged or you've suffered a lot of emotional trauma the money shakti is blocked. - Shri Rohit Arya 2. Money is not the same as abundance. Abundance shakti is not the same shakti as money. Lakshmi is the energy of abundance. Kubera is the shakti of money specifically. Lakshmi is bounty - overall abundance. Bounty/Abundance is known as "shri" (pronounced "shree"). When everything is at its peak, everything is going very well, (examples: you hit the jackpot at the casino, your business won the government contract bid) - that is Shri. Lakshmi power brings shri. Said differently Lakshmi is the energy/power of success. However, if money is what you are wanting specifically then that is Kubera. - Shri Rohit Arya On Mooladhara and Prana / Chi (Moola "core", adhara "foundation') 1. When one first becomes aware of prana (chi) most people experience a swirling movement. Clockwise, anti-clockwise, like a funnel. We feel certain movement and the feeling of tremendous heat. That is because there is resistance in the body to the flow of the prana (chi) and the resistance causes friction. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you feel a cold flow of energy but usually people feel the swirling and/or the heat. As you advance from doing your practices you can feel the cold flow of prana / chi and that is actually a very good sign. - Shri Rohit Arya 2. Of all the chakras in the body the Mooladhara is the most important for life. Not for spiritual progress but for life and the processes of life and of being embodied it is. All the troubles that come in your life, all the troubles that are removed from your life - both come from the Mooladhara. The state of your Mooladhara determines 3 primary things in your life. a. it determines the state of your health b. it determines the state of your money (income, gross / net wealth) c. it determines how long you will live. - Shri Rohit Arya 3. Mooladhara needs to be a strong chakra since it is the Rupa (rupa "form") and prana / chi of life energy. Everyone wants to work on their higher chakras these days so many people have them developed. There's also the aspect that working on the lower chakras runs up against many Society taboos for the lower sections of the body. So most practitioners do all kinds of practices working on the higher ones. There's a lot of information on working with the upper ones these days freely available. But for most practitioners their 3 lowest chakras are usually still a mess. - Shri Rohit Arya 4. Very often you will see people have 1 or 2 of the 3 things primarily granted by the energy of the mooladhara but it is rare to find a person with all 3. It's because their mooladhara is not vibrating / functioning optimally. examples: the person has health but no money the person has long life but no health and no money the person has a lot of money but poor health There is a 4th aspect of the moodhara too. It also has an impact on the Mind. - Shri Rohit Arya On Karma Yoga 1. Nassim Taleb's book The Black Swan is one of the most astounding works on karma yoga ever written. He gets why you have "the right to the action but not the fruit" better than any Indian or spiritual person I've ever known. - Shri Rohit Arya 2. Gurdjieff's method (the 4th Way) was primarily based around karma yoga. Can you throw everything about your being into an action without clinging to a desired outcome. Only those who can let go of any outcome - positive, negative, desired, not-desired - only those who let outcomes in life become what they become from those actions and don't cling to either failure or success of those actions have the capability to grow. They do what needs to be done then move on. - Shri Rohit Arya On Focusing on the Breath 1. The underside part / divide between both nostril outlets has its own chakra. All the texts were actually talking about that chakra and getting you to become aware of it by focusing on the breath at that single point. Focusing on this chakra also is related to the root chakra Mooladhara. The texts were not telling you to go cross eyed focusing on the tip of your nose. They were trying to get you to become aware of the chakra that lies at the fleshy strip between both nostril openings. - Shri Rohit Arya On things forgotten about the Markandeya Mantra 1. Markandeya mantra is typically taught in books and videos as a healing mantra. This is incorrect. It's actually a karma-burning mantra and often the fastest way to burn karma is to go through a lot of suffering in a short amount of time. This suffering might be short to Shiva but not necessarily to you, the mantra chanter. Markandeya himself was a highly advanced being and this mantra was given to him by Shiva to burn the very last of his karma and he - that is, Markandeya, is now outside of space and time. This mantra got the reputation of being a healing mantra because in the old days village Indian tantric healers would use it as part of a series of actions done on behalf of a seriously sick person. However, there were many other things they did along with that mantra that are important and much of that knowledge has been forgotten and not passed on. But the thing the lay people remembered was the use of the Markandeya mantra and so it acquired a reputation as a healing mantra. That's what you see in all the books and videos. But anyone who is aware of the energy of that mantra's shakti knows it burns karma - and often times not in a way the chanter is prepared for (read: they slam headlong into a lot more suffering instead of being alleviated of suffering instead). - Shri Rohit Arya edit: typos