Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[Klinsly]

Had a very interesting sensation after practicing earlier today.  I've been doing the volume one standing set for a few months now. And for my birthday a week ago I got the Volume 2 dvd. I Usually do roughly 3 at a time. Since the recommendation is 5 minutes minimum I set a meditation timer to chime 3 times every 6:30 to give time for the breath control just as a rough estimate. One thing I like about the MSW sets is the  lack of a need of a timer and just to keep track of how many I've done which is what i'm more used to with my Western practices.

 

Anyways I was in a lightly rainy nature trail in-between 2 lakes. I was the only one out there and walked out to a little peninsula, It's far enough back to escape the traffic sounds, and usually a lot of birds such as Blue and White Herons. Off Topic but I actually saw 3 of the large red headed woodpeckers  together which is mind boggling.  I did MGAM, BTB,MH Pearl, then Wind above the clouds... or is it tree tops? Was a good 27 mins or so with the timers I set. Then walked a bit further to try and find a dry patch of ground, found something good enough up on a wooden deck and sat for MSW1 and MSW3 just the typical 7 sets with breathe control. When I came out of it the sensation was very tangible.

 

I felt energetic vibrations all over my body. Once I started doing  the  seated practices I  started to feel a lot of energy in the face usually and under the  chin when doing the practices. But What I could compare  the energetic sensation after finishing to is when I was trying to learn to Astral Travel 4 or 5 years ago and could get to the vibration stage pre exit. Never quite achieved the exit except waking up lifting out of the bed once and just kept going right through the walls and roof haha. But regardless it was a really cool experience.  I've also started to have even stronger sensation in my hands which all I had to do before was just focus on them to feel Qi circulating or emitting from the palms , but now its even stronger  especially when the 2 are facing and they  will start shaking sometimes.

 

Since people were mentioning electronics. I use bluetooth noise canceling headphones sometimes with like peaceful zen or flute music out of necessity due to living in very noisy place, and I don't know if it has a negative effect, but it helps me stay focused and actually complete the practices which I see as a positive. I prefer to go without, but occasionally have no choice.

[senseless virtue]

Due to cannabis being an active topic on The Dao Bums right now, here are Sifu Terry's thoughts about recreational drugs together with the meditative arts he teaches:

 

On 4/6/2015 at 4:43 AM, zen-bear said:

In contrast to your background, I had plenty of experience with drugs throughout my adolescence and college years--being one of the baby-boomer generation. Fortunately, my experience (starting in college) with simple meditation and with authentic Qigong systems such as Flying Phoenix Qigong and Tao Tai Pai Neikung naturally imparted states of BLISS and transcendental states of consciousness that no drug-induced experience from my past can ever hold a candle to in terms of enjoyment, physical well-being, At-Onement, and All-knowing, what some yogins starting in the 1960's called Cosmic Consciousness. (In fact, during the 80's when cocaine was everywhere in this country, my practice back then of Tao Tan Pai Nei-kung was so cleansing bio-chemically (and so polishing spiritually) that indulging in cocaine whenever it was offered, did absolutely nothing for me. Absolutely nothing. So after about 5-6 totally bland and unremarkable experiences, I declined it every time it was offered. And I happened to have been given the highest quality stuff by my musician friends.)

 

 

On 3/13/2011 at 7:29 AM, zen-bear said:

Use of ginger daily for long periods up to 108 days (no limit, actually) is a very basic hygienic practice to cleanse the blood and to stimulate the effects of the FP Qigong.

 

Similar to what Sifu Garry has disclosed about YKM's use of tui ni, acupuncture and moxi for healing: in my years of training with GM Doo Wai, I was taught use of herbs, diet, Qigong, and his Tui Na (no moxi).

 

Outside of kitchen herbs like ginger for basic and gradual cleansing and healing: are much, much more powerful meditation aids: we use alcohol-based herbal tinctures in conjunction with FP Qigong and with other of GMDW's Qigong methods. For 3 of us training in the 8 Sections Combined system (BDG), the GM had us prepare herbal formulas that were rolled up into balls using honey (they actually looked like rabbit pellets )--and they really did their trick. The most basic meditative aid contained 5 herbs (4 roots and 1 fruit ground into a green powder), which is very, very powerful in its meditative effects. But this herbal formula cannot be disclosed on a public forum because preparation of it and use of it must be closely supervised for the sake of safety. I might have mentioned earlier in this thread that one student in our circle in the 90's very, very unwisely combined his use of this meditation tincture with his recreational use of controlled substances. This led to him having severe black-outs and fainting spells that were attributed by doctors to brain lesions (that showed up in MRI scans) and that required opened-skull exploratory surgery. But when they opened the skull of this student and did the exploration, they couldn't find anything. At first no one knew what could have caused the lesions and then caused them to disappear. I instantly knew exactly what happened and how it happened because I knew that he had combined drugs with the tincture and I knew (and know) how the tincture "wore off". I disclose this episode to explain why this and all herbal formulas in the FP Qigong and BFP tradition cannot be disclosed on a public forum. Even in the private oral tradition, not every one of my students in FPQ will learn how to use tinctures. It's just not for every student.

 

I hope this additional context gives you some perspective on the depth of the FP Qigong system.

 

 

On 1/6/2023 at 10:27 PM, zen-bear said:

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.

 

 

I hope this helps everyone train responsibly and with dedication as far as Bok Fu Pai and Tao Tan Pai systems are concerned.

 

My personal opinion is that no one should ever "play" with psychoactive substances and do any meditation in the same week without first consulting their physician and meditation teacher that it's absolutely alright.

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

Nice experience @Klinsly! I find that every few months I have a similar experience with FP. A lot of the time I don’t feel much, then it will build up and I feel more energy and eventually have a long lasting experience of bliss after a session, then I won’t feel much again and the cycle repeats. I think it’s the body getting used to the energy then it grows until you get used to it again. 

[Klinsly]

Thank you @senseless virtue

Very good post the ginger part is fascinating to me because before I saw it I was really feeling this intuitive pull to ginger and even got these ginger drinks from trader joes for Christmas from my brother that are basically a tbsp or two of ginger powder you mix with water. It feels so energizing and refreshing. The blood cleansing aspect intrigued me.

[Klinsly]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:36 PM, zen-bear said:

"I BOUGHT INTO THE DEEPER CONNECTION." --KOBE BRYANT

 

This is a spontaneous  testimonial given by the late great Laker star Kobe Bryant about his personal practice of Tai Chi and  Flying Phoenix Qigong--and specifically, "Monk Gazing At Moon" that took place 22 years ago when I trained the L.A. Lakers  during their 2000-2001 NBA season.  For all non-basketball fans:  Kobe Bryant was the No.4 highest scorer in NBA history and holder of 8 other unparalleled records.  He died 3 years ago in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA along with his daughter and seven other friends.

 

The following is copied from my recent Facebook posting and pasted here to confirm for all reading this thread that back in 2000-2001, I trained the L.A. Lakers in Tai Chi, Flying Phoenix Qigong, and basketball-related exercises that I designed for them:

 

22 years after I trained the L.A. Lakers in--Tai Chi and Qigong as their warmup regimen--during their 2nd World Championship season under Phil Jackson, this tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement by the late Kobe Bryant surfaced and found its way to me:

 

 

My friend and Qigong student Marcus de Mello just sent this link to me yesterday. It's of the late Kobe Bryant reminiscing about the Tai Chi and Qigong training that I provided the L.A. Lakers throughout their 2000-2001 season. No doubt that the phenomenal success of my Tai Chi For Health instructional videos (on VHS starting in 1991 and still top-selling in the genre today on DVD) made it easier for Phil Jackson to bring me as a specialized trainer (after his predecessor Del Harris's secretary, Chris Luken, showed him my proposal and videos that I had originally sent to Harris). Plus a lot was being written at the time in the college coaching journals about Tai Chi as an effective recovery regimen for basketball players. So for that Sept. 2000 to April 2001 season, the first 50 minutes of every home practice at the Health South center was spent with me teaching the players, coaching staff and trainers Tai Chi and restorative Qigong. As the season progressed, I necessarily added a lot more kung fu conditioning exercises (to burn off the intoxicants in their systems that they came in with every morning). I also created several ball-control and ball-takeaway exercises using simple Tai Chi body mechanics and martial arts footwork that Kobe's teammate, my man Shaq, especially liked.

 

*NOTE OF CORRECTION: Contrary to what Kobe quips in this interview, I NEVER had the players take off their shoes and go barefoot. As a matter of fact, I've never required that students in any of my classes take off their shoes--since I started teaching in 1983(!) LOL. The late Kobe just made that stuff up on the fly in this interview...to add atmosphere, I guess, to his story. But Kobe's overall recollection is correct: I did do all my morning trainings of the team at center court at Health South. And after the first few sessions, he did get into it. The whole team got with the program and Shaq, Mark Madsen, Greg Foster, Devean George, Mike Penberthy, and elder statesman Ron Harper (who came from the Bulls and was 36 yrs old at the time) really loved it.

Although this interview show didn't get a photo of me, but just grabbed stock footage of some guy in a robe (who, btw, doesn't do anything close to what I teach), Kobe does identify me as the Laker's Tai Chi trainer when he mentions by name the "Monk Gazing At Moon" exercise and does its hand posture somewhat correctly on camera. "Monk Gazing At the Moon" is one of 32 exercises in Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Qigong (Fei Feng San Gung), an extremely rare an esoteric system of Taoist monastic Qigong and hygienics--of which I am the sole living 7th generation preserver. Except Kobe got an important detail of this particular exercise all wrong in this interview: "Monk Gazing At Moon" is done with the eyes wide OPEN--not closed! For it says so in its name--LOL!! (It's not called, "Monk Gazing At the Moon Through Closed Eyelids"!!)

 

• Anyway, thank you, Kobe, for mentioning my Tai Chi and Qigong training during this interview--however loosely! And thank you, Marcus, for forwarding to me this bit of acknowledgment 22 years after the fact.

 

My training the Lakers in 2000-1 also started a trend in pro basketball. I was the first Tai Chi trainer in NBA history. My very good friend, Steve Saltman, was close friends since childhood with Ki Ki Vandeweghe, as their fathers played together for the Knicks. (Steve's father. "Shelly" Saltman, was president of the Lakers during the Jack Kent Cook days in the 60's. So when Steve told Ki Ki that I was training the Lakers in Tai Chi for warm-ups and for recovery from the sport's wear-and-tear , Ki Ki at that time had just become general manager of the Denver Nuggets after a 21-year career as a player and coach, and Ki Ki immediately went out and hired a Tai Chi master in the Denver area for his team.

 

Enjoy the read.  I hope it inspires you to practice more Monk Gazing At Moon and more FP Qigong because, well...

...it worked for the late great Kobe Bryant's game.

 

Sifu Terry

 

http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Zoom classes:   terencedunn.substack.com

 

Hello Sifu Terry.  This isn't a very serious question but it made me wonder and laugh. Based on this video and how you said Shaq was very into it. It made me wonder...do you think the 1994 video game I remember as a kid called Shaq fu on the Sega genesis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaq_Fu

Was possibly directly or indirectly inspired by you and your lessons?

Related

 

Edited January 7 by Klinsly

[EternalStudent]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:36 PM, zen-bear said:

"I BOUGHT INTO THE DEEPER CONNECTION." --KOBE BRYANT

 

This is a spontaneous  testimonial given by the late great Laker star Kobe Bryant about his personal practice of Tai Chi and  Flying Phoenix Qigong--and specifically, "Monk Gazing At Moon" that took place 22 years ago when I trained the L.A. Lakers  during their 2000-2001 NBA season.  For all non-basketball fans:  Kobe Bryant was the No.4 highest scorer in NBA history and holder of 8 other unparalleled records.  He died 3 years ago in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA along with his daughter and seven other friends.

 

The following is copied from my recent Facebook posting and pasted here to confirm for all reading this thread that back in 2000-2001, I trained the L.A. Lakers in Tai Chi, Flying Phoenix Qigong, and basketball-related exercises that I designed for them:

 

22 years after I trained the L.A. Lakers in--Tai Chi and Qigong as their warmup regimen--during their 2nd World Championship season under Phil Jackson, this tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement by the late Kobe Bryant surfaced and found its way to me:

 

 

My friend and Qigong student Marcus de Mello just sent this link to me yesterday. It's of the late Kobe Bryant reminiscing about the Tai Chi and Qigong training that I provided the L.A. Lakers throughout their 2000-2001 season. No doubt that the phenomenal success of my Tai Chi For Health instructional videos (on VHS starting in 1991 and still top-selling in the genre today on DVD) made it easier for Phil Jackson to bring me as a specialized trainer (after his predecessor Del Harris's secretary, Chris Luken, showed him my proposal and videos that I had originally sent to Harris). Plus a lot was being written at the time in the college coaching journals about Tai Chi as an effective recovery regimen for basketball players. So for that Sept. 2000 to April 2001 season, the first 50 minutes of every home practice at the Health South center was spent with me teaching the players, coaching staff and trainers Tai Chi and restorative Qigong. As the season progressed, I necessarily added a lot more kung fu conditioning exercises (to burn off the intoxicants in their systems that they came in with every morning). I also created several ball-control and ball-takeaway exercises using simple Tai Chi body mechanics and martial arts footwork that Kobe's teammate, my man Shaq, especially liked.

 

*NOTE OF CORRECTION: Contrary to what Kobe quips in this interview, I NEVER had the players take off their shoes and go barefoot. As a matter of fact, I've never required that students in any of my classes take off their shoes--since I started teaching in 1983(!) LOL. The late Kobe just made that stuff up on the fly in this interview...to add atmosphere, I guess, to his story. But Kobe's overall recollection is correct: I did do all my morning trainings of the team at center court at Health South. And after the first few sessions, he did get into it. The whole team got with the program and Shaq, Mark Madsen, Greg Foster, Devean George, Mike Penberthy, and elder statesman Ron Harper (who came from the Bulls and was 36 yrs old at the time) really loved it.

Although this interview show didn't get a photo of me, but just grabbed stock footage of some guy in a robe (who, btw, doesn't do anything close to what I teach), Kobe does identify me as the Laker's Tai Chi trainer when he mentions by name the "Monk Gazing At Moon" exercise and does its hand posture somewhat correctly on camera. "Monk Gazing At the Moon" is one of 32 exercises in Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Qigong (Fei Feng San Gung), an extremely rare an esoteric system of Taoist monastic Qigong and hygienics--of which I am the sole living 7th generation preserver. Except Kobe got an important detail of this particular exercise all wrong in this interview: "Monk Gazing At Moon" is done with the eyes wide OPEN--not closed! For it says so in its name--LOL!! (It's not called, "Monk Gazing At the Moon Through Closed Eyelids"!!)

 

• Anyway, thank you, Kobe, for mentioning my Tai Chi and Qigong training during this interview--however loosely! And thank you, Marcus, for forwarding to me this bit of acknowledgment 22 years after the fact.

 

My training the Lakers in 2000-1 also started a trend in pro basketball. I was the first Tai Chi trainer in NBA history. My very good friend, Steve Saltman, was close friends since childhood with Ki Ki Vandeweghe, as their fathers played together for the Knicks. (Steve's father. "Shelly" Saltman, was president of the Lakers during the Jack Kent Cook days in the 60's. So when Steve told Ki Ki that I was training the Lakers in Tai Chi for warm-ups and for recovery from the sport's wear-and-tear , Ki Ki at that time had just become general manager of the Denver Nuggets after a 21-year career as a player and coach, and Ki Ki immediately went out and hired a Tai Chi master in the Denver area for his team.

 

Enjoy the read.  I hope it inspires you to practice more Monk Gazing At Moon and more FP Qigong because, well...

...it worked for the late great Kobe Bryant's game.

 

Sifu Terry

 

http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Zoom classes:   terencedunn.substack.com

 

That’s amazing! 
 

Thanks for sharing this great piece of FP history with a new generation of students, Sifu 🙏
 

 

[Eduardo]

I have been practicing volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Flying Phoenix Chi Kung since 2020.

 

Lately it has happened to me that I meditate without any intention and the chi leaves my body to help a family member who is recovering from cancer, who receives energy in various parts of the body.

 

I can attest that cultivated chi appears to have a compassionate intelligence and acts when someone is experiencing illness as Master Terry Dunn has pointed out in this thread.

[EFreethought]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:51 PM, Eduardo said:

I have been practicing volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Flying Phoenix Chi Kung since 2020.

 

Lately it has happened to me that I meditate without any intention and the chi leaves my body to help a family member who is recovering from cancer, who receives energy in various parts of the body.

 

I can attest that cultivated chi appears to have a compassionate intelligence and acts when someone is experiencing illness as Master Terry Dunn has pointed out in this thread.

What do you mean by "meditate without any intention"?

 

[Eduardo]

42 minutes ago, EFreethought said:

What do you mean by "meditate without any intention"?

 

 

Sitting down to meditate without having any purpose, not even a hidden objective or a minimal intention to send energy or seek to heal or achieve something, just sit and forget.

[zen-bear]

On 1/6/2024 at 9:39 PM, Klinsly said:

Hello Sifu Terry.  This isn't a very serious question but it made me wonder and laugh. Based on this video and how you said Shaq was very into it. It made me wonder...do you think the 1994 video game I remember as a kid called Shaq fu on the Sega genesis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaq_Fu

Was possibly directly or indirectly inspired by you and your lessons?

Related

 

Hi Klinsly,

 

Thanks for reposting my account of my fun times training the Lakers.

 

To answer your question:  No, I had no influence whatsoever on Shaq starring in the the 1994 video game, "Shaq Fu"--for that was published 6 years before did my training for the Lakers.

I had sent a cold written proposal (with my Tai Chi For Health DVDs) to Laker coach Del Harris in 1999, and as I had explained, it was kept by Harris's secretary, Kristin Luken, and she showed it to Phil Jackson. Then Jackson called me in mid-summer of 2000 for an interview and he hired me on the spot to train the Lakers starting in the pre-season in L.A. the late summer after the team got back from a 2-week training in Hawaii (I think it was).

So the answer is a "No" cuz Shaq Fu came out  6 years before I met Shaq and the team.

But that also shows you how famous Shaq was even before he and the Lakers won 5 NBA Championships under Jackson starting in 1999.

 

But the important fact to retain is that Tai Chi is an excellent warm-up and recovery regimen for potentially joint-ruining and lower back-hurting  sports like basketball and football.

 

Happy New Year to All;  The Year of the Dragon starts in exactly one month!

 

Sifu Terry

 

http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Zoom classes:   terencedunn.substack.com

Edited March 5 by zen-bear

[Klinsly]

Thanks for the reply. I clearly just got the date entirely wrong haha but it explains that he was already really into it, maybe he grew up on David Carradine and old Kung Fu movies. For some reason I thought it was early 90s shows how little I know about basketball history.  And yes it's the joys of clicking on a random page due to an entirely unrelated search on this thread and finding absolute gold! That whole page was great with all the Kuan Yin stuff as well. page 223

[zen-bear]

The January 13 4-hour workshop was a great success on short notice (scheduled 3 days in advance and announced here on 3-hours before it began--I know, ridiculous.   But  I had twelve new students from the upstate NY region attending in person and 3 on Zoom.  

 

SESSION A:   

In the first 2 hour session, I taught Chen style Tai Chi warmup, Silkweaver's Exercise, and them Tao Tan Pai Basic Meditations 1 through 12.  (No they are not published anywhere on any medium.).  After 1 hr. 45 min. of this practice, we shifted to FP Qigong and I led the class in practicing:

Bending the Bows for 10 minutes.

Monk Gazing At Moon for 10 minutes.

 

SESSION B:

In the second session (3pm to 5pm EST), we did the following:

1.  Warm-up with toe-circling walk in cat stance (a Chen style Tai Chi exercise.)

2.  Silkweaver's Exercise - 25 in.

3.  3 Fundamental Tai Chi warmup, postural, and conditioning exercises by Gen. Abraham Liu, as seen in first 40 min. of my Tai Chi For Health videos (1989):   

      A.  Wave Hands Like Clouds --

      B.  Alternating "Lifting Hands" and "Play Guitar" exercise.   

      C.  Alternating (L & Rt.)  "Snake Creeps Down" exercise

4.  Flying Phoenix Qigong standing Meditations (starting at one hour mark):

      A.   Monk Gazing At Moon – 8 minutes

      B .  Monk Holding Peach – 12 min.

      C.   Bending the Bows – 16 min.

      D.   Wind Above the Clouds – 10 min. (4 rounds)

      E.   Monk Holding Pearl in supine position –11 min.

 

NOTE:  I will soon make available online access to viewing the Zoom recordings of the above described workshop sessions--and future Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan workshop sessions-- via subscription to my streaming platform that will for now be my Vimeo Page.

 

NOTE 2:  By this spring (April), I will also be announcing a rigorous Flying Phoenix Qigong Instructor's Certification Program.

 

So stay tuned to this thread and the Alchemical Garden Forum for news of further developments in the FPQICP !

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Zoom classes:   terencedunn.substack.com

 

Edited January 18 by zen-bear

[ronko]

On 1/13/2024 at 1:09 PM, zen-bear said:

 

 

SESSION A:   

In the first 2 hour session, I taught Chen style Tai Chi warmup, Silkweaver's Exercise, and them Tao Tan Pai Basic Meditations 1 through 12.  (No they are not published anywhere on any medium.).

 

TAO TAN PAI 31 MEDITATIONS DVD

They are iavailable on dvd

For anyone interested in the 31 tao tan pai meditations, they are available here

https://billhelmtuinaqigong.square.site/product/qi-gong-31-exercises/28?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=2

 

Edited January 19 by ronko

[zen-bear]

On 1/19/2024 at 8:50 AM, ronko said:

 

TAO TAN PAI 31 MEDITATIONS DVD

They are iavailable on dvd

For anyone interested in the 31 tao tan pai meditations, they are available here

https://billhelmtuinaqigong.square.site/product/qi-gong-31-exercises/28?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=2

 

I stand corrected.  I knew that Bill had made a video of the TTP-31 in the 80's or 90's on VHS, but I didn't know if it had been reissued on DVD.  Now I know that it has.  I believe that the DVD has the same material that was on the earlier VHS program.

 

Bill Helm and I go way, way back; we have known each other since 1976.   He was a senior school brother of mine at the Taoist Sanctuary in L.A. under GM Share K. Lew and when Master Lew moved to San Diego around 1979, he moved down there to run and administer the new Taoist Sanctuary of S.D., and he's been its director ever since.  However, thee senior disciple and most brilliant preserver of Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu and Nei Kung was late and ven. John Davidson, the most advanced disciple of Master Lew. 

 

Bill Helm was also for many years the senior student of the late Tai Chi master, Gen. Abraham Liu, with whom I studied from 1980 to 1992.  Master Liu was my present teacher William C.C.Chen's friend and classmate under Prof. Cheng Man-Ching in Taiwan before they all immigrated at to the U.S. at different times during the 1960's.

 

I will be coming out with a book and DVD of the TTP-31 in about a year--in early 2025.

 

Thanks for the correction.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

http://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Zoom classes:   terencedunn.substack.com

Edited January 26 by zen-bear

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

41 minutes ago, zen-bear said:

I will coming out with a book and DVD of the TTP-31 in about a year--in early 2025.

Amazing! I can’t wait to read it!

 

P.S. it’s Pak_Satrio (Jonathon). I just changed my username

[tao stillness]

Yes, Sifu Terry, the TTP 31 DVD is reissue of the old VHS version. I have had the DVD for several years. 

I think I saw one or two year sago that Bill was rather ill. I hope he recovered. 

Your plan to issue book and DVD for the Tao Tan Pan - 31 is the most exciting news I have heard so far in the New Year. 

2025 is shaping up to be the most exciting year during this current Kali Yuga because it has been proclaimed that the foundation for the Golden Age of mass enlightenment will be laid in 2025. So TTP-31 in book and DVD format seems appropriate for the start of the Golden Age of humanity. Great timing. 

[zen-bear]

3-DAY IMMERSIVE FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG 

WORKSHOP,  FEBRUARY 9–11...to bring in the YEAR OF THE DRAGON!!    << Zoomable >>

 

TO THE FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG COMMUNITY:

 

On Chinese New Year's weekend 2024, February 9 to 11, I will be giving a 3-day, 14-hour immersive workshop on Flying Phoenix Qigong and its Ehrmei Mtn. Bok Fu Pai sister arts at the Dragon Nest Center in New Paltz, NY.  This workshop is Zoomable.
This training will be an excellent opportunity for practitioners at all levels to get corrections on their form and breathing technique and to further establish their FP Qigong practice...and for beginners to take a deeper dive in this remarkable Qigong system and experience its profound health and wellness and spiritual benefits.

"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 (December 2019)

 

Besides bringing in the Lunar New Year, this workshop will be a special reunion of many of my veteran students from my Lenox, MA workshops starting in 2017. Thus I will be teaching some advanced practices in the 5 latter sessions of the workshop--drawing from FPCK's powerful sister arts in the Ehrmei Bok Fu Pai tradition.  Arts such as:  10,000 Buddhas Ascend to Heaven Meditations, Feng Do Duk's 10 San Gung Meditations,  Level 2 Flying Phoenix, as well as this Preparatory Form for Bat Din Gum (8 Sections of energy Combined), seen here below:
 

 

 

Full workshop agenda is on this month's Newsletter at:  https://terencedunn.substack.com/p/flying-phoenix-qigong-workshops-schedule

--that includes this fee structure below. 

• For those in the New England region wanting to attend the workshop in person, please register early (immediately) and reserve your rooms because the Dragon Nest center has room accommodations for 13 to 16 lodgers and its main event hall has room for 20 people--haof of whicg are already filled.

 

TUITION       

 •  Live attendance:    $440 early registration till January 27 $495 on day of workshop                       •  ZOOM PARTICIPATION: $40 per 2-hour session or $250 for all 7 sessions

 • Please send tuition via Paypal (to [email protected]) or via Zelle (to [email protected] ) •

 

And for a clutch review by a student, friend, and highly credentialed Chinese medical professional who Zoomed the FP workshop in the fall of 2022, read David Lloyd Hastings post of October 22, 2022, see the postscript below.

 

HOPE TO SEE A WHOLE BUNCH OF YOU AT THIS NEW YEAR'S WORKSHOP--AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO BRING IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON THAN TO MEET IT IN FLIGHT WITH YOUR VERY OWN PHOENIX!!!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE DRAGON,

 

Sifu Terry

 

 

https://terencedunn.substack.com/p/flying-phoenix-qigong-workshops-schedule

Edited January 30 by zen-bear

[Summer]

Edited January 28 by Summer

[daokedao]

On 1/23/2024 at 7:08 PM, zen-bear said:

14-HOUR IMMERSIVE FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG 

WORKSHOP,  FEBRUARY 9–11,  to bring in the YEAR OF THE DRAGON!!    >> zoomable << 

 

 

Hi Sifu Terry, can beginners attend every single class? (I've been doing DVDs 1-2 for 7 months and I'm just starting DVD 3)

[zen-bear]

3 hours ago, daokedao said:

 

Hi Sifu Terry, can beginners attend every single class? (I've been doing DVDs 1-2 for 7 months and I'm just starting DVD 3)

 

Hi Daokedao,

 

The answer is Yes.  The whole workshop is suitable for beginners.  I did mention that some of my seasoned, long-term students will be attending this workshop because it's the Lunar New Year...and that I would be teaching some advanced levels of FP Qigong and sister arts in the Bok fu Pai system.  95% nof the  first 4 sessions a systematic review of all the FP Qigong material on Volumes 1 to 3 of my DVD series. 5% will be advanced material--if even at that proportion.  The first 8 hours of training will provide a very solid intro for beginners and a refinement for veterans that will enable all--even beginners --to safely try out the advanced Qigong arts that I mentioned in my flyers.  Starting with the Saturday night and continuing through the two Sunday sessions, I will be teaching a  basic FP Qigong and Advanced Practices at a ratio of about 60% basic to 40% advanced.  Even, then just as I do in a Tai Chi class where I have students at different levels work on material that they need to be working on, I can easily  teach two or even three subgroups of the class  different levels of Qigong material:  basic, intermediate or advanced practices.  So, again, the answer is:  Yes, suitable for beginners."

 

Thanks for asking.

 

Sifu Terry

[zen-bear]

On 1/25/2024 at 9:02 AM, Summer said:

Do you recommend or just say no to practicing FP barefoot outside @zen-bear? Your name suits your energy BTW but avatar is little exasperated maybe from answering so many questions!

 

 Hi Summer,

 

A.   Answer to your question:   I recommend practicing FP Qigong  outside and barefoot every chance you get--weather and wildlife permitting, of course.  When I lived in Los Angeles, I taught from 1980 to 2017 and held my Tai Chi classes Sat. and/or Sunday mornings at La Cienega Park, Rancho Park, and Palisades Park (Santa Monica).  Every class had 5% to 10% Qigong. When I taught Tao tan Pai + Flying Phoenix Qigong in one long 2-hour class on Wed. afternoons, that was in an amazing backyard  of a student's Bev. Hills mansion that also had a state of the art yurt with wooden floor.   in When I taugnt in Santa Monica''s Palisades Park from 1992 to 2017, sometimes I would make the class drive up the Paseo Miramar Trailhead and hike 1.5 miles uphill to Parker Mesa or sometimes have everyone start at Los Liones Park and from there hike up to the Paseo Miramar Trail and to Parker Mesa, which is about 4 miles--all uphill with cleanest air and great ocean views the last 1.5 mi.   Then I would teach the class on Parker Mesa with more than 180º view of the Pacific--seen here on this video at 4:35 to 4:53:

 

• However, I prefer to wear shoes when I practice, but students are free to go barefoot anytime--except when we spar in kung fu.

 

B.    Avatar  Umm. the slightly disgruntled and surly, "take no prisoners" look of my avatar--officially known as Zen-Bear v4.0--is not due to him answeringh too many FP Qigong questions here over the past 14 years.  Oh, no, no, no, no, no!  Not at all.  But before I explain his OG countenance and disposition like he's always ready to mete out some "correction",  I must ask you first:

How did you post your cute panda-in-meditation graphic here?  is that an image from a URL?   Cuz I haven't been able to post any graphics on Dbums ever since they cut back and allow only files 10kb in size.  How do you even reduce a file to that size???

Any one out there know what type of file os best to use for posting on DB?

Thanks, Summer.

 

So complete explanation of Avatar Zen- Bear v4.0's look is forthcoming.  Being able to post graphics here will further my explanation.

 

Cheers,

 

Sifu Terry

Edited March 30 by zen-bear

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

34 minutes ago, zen-bear said:

How did you post your cute panda-in-meditation graphic here?  is that an image from a URL?   Cuz I haven't been able to post any graphics on Dbums ever since they cut back and allow only files 10kb in size.  How do you even reduce a file to that size???

Any one out there know what type of file os best to use for posting on DB?

The best way is to convert a jpg to a smaller size so it will be less than 10kb. You can use an online photo editor like pixlr to resize it.

[zen-bear]

On 1/22/2024 at 5:23 PM, zen-bear said:

 

 

Edited January 27 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

On 1/9/2024 at 6:48 PM, Eduardo said:

 

Sitting down to meditate without having any purpose, not even a hidden objective or a minimal intention to send energy or seek to heal or achieve something, just sit and forget.

Respects and congratulations on your level of practice, Eduardo. 

I just sense that you are practicing at a  very deep level of meditative calm (or high level of absorption or effortless concentration, or  jhana),ªª  What Buddhist teachers refer to as,  "No Mind" and what Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) called "the uncarved block."     The expressions "No Mind" in Zen and "the uncarved block" in literary Taoism do not mean being empty headed, or "spaced out", but means TOTALLY PRESENT, and penetrating the eternal now moment without perfect effortlessness---or  with no intentionality.  There are many levels of absorption (jhanas)--8, actually as taught/mapped by the Buddha and recorded in the  Visshuddimagga which is the summary of the Buddha's teachings during the 5th century--and the meditation manual of Theravadan Buddhism originally based at the Mahavihara monastery in Ceylon .  The best English translation, btw, is by Daniel Goleman in his articles and book in the 1970's "The Buddha on Meditation and Higher States of Consciousness":   

 https://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh189_Goleman_Meditation-and-Higher-States-Of-Consciousness.pdf

 

ªªFootnote:  In my meditation lingo, 'higher' and 'deeper' mean the same thing, as we are talking about the extent or  degree of completion of the 5-dimensional process/phenomenon of enlightenment that Hui Neng (the founder of Ch'an Buddhism) inferred when he taught that:

 

Calmness (Meditation) and Wisdom (All-Knowledge) is like a lamp and its light.

 

At any rate, Eduardo, see what parts of the following descriptions  of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th jhanas (if any) describe your subtle state of mind (or of no mind) and body (or no body) when you practice FP Qigong:

NOTE:   the following is copied from Part One of Daniel Goleman's,  "The Buddha on Meditation and Higher States of Consciousness."

First reprint—1973; Second reprint—1980;  BPS Online Edition © (2008)

--that I first read in 1979 in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology.
•The entire article can be had in his book, "The Meditative Mind,"

or you can download the original article in PDF format from various websites like this one:

https://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-04-72-02-151.pdf

 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Third Jhāna
After mastery, on emerging from and reviewing the second jhāna, the meditator sees the
factor of rapture—a form of excitement—as gross compared to bliss and one-pointedness. The
11
third level of jhāna can be attained by again contemplating the primary object, abandoning
sequentially thoughts of the object, and then rapture. The third level of absorption is marked by
a feeling of equanimity and impartiality toward even the highest rapture, which manifests with
the fading away of rapture. This jhāna is extremely subtle, and mind would be pulled back to
rapture without this newly emergent equanimity. An exceedingly sweet bliss fills the meditator,
and on emerging from this state he is aware of bliss throughout his body. Because the bliss of
this level is accompanied by equanimity, mind is kept one-pointed in these subtle dimensions,
resisting the pull of rapture. Having mastered the third jhāna as before, and on reviewing it, the
mediator sees bliss as gross and disturbing compared to one-pointedness and equanimity.

 

[ ** I always like to interject right about here--as an additional description or guidepost about the 3rd Jhana--how

my favorite teacher at the Taoist Sanctuary in the 1970's, the ven. priest John Davidson, used to admonish us:

"Jiggly meditation will get you nowhere!" ]

Fourth Jhāna
Proceeding again through the jhānic sequence, with the abandonment of all forms of mental
pleasure, the meditator attains the fourth level. With the total cessation of bliss, the factors of
equanimity and one-pointedness achieve full strength and clarity.  All mental states that might
oppose these remaining two factors have been overcome. Feelings of bodily pleasure are fully
abandoned; feelings of pain ceased at the first jhāna. There is not a single sensation or thought.
Mind rests with one-pointedness in equanimity at this extremely subtle level. Just as mind has
become progressively more still at each level of absorption, breath has become more calm. At
this fourth level, breath, it is said, ceases altogether. Concentration here is imperturbable; the
meditator will emerge after a time limit set before entering this state.
Each jhāna rests on that below. In entering any jhāna; mind traverses successively each lower
level, eliminating its constituents one by one. With practice the traversal of jhānic levels
becomes almost instantaneous, the mind residing at each level on the way for but a few
moments of consciousness. As mental factors are eliminated, concentration is intensified.

 

The “Formless” Jhānas
The next step in development of concentration culminates in the four states called “formless.”
While the first four jhānas are attained by concentration on a material form or some concept
derived therefrom, the formless states are attained by passing beyond all perception of form.
While the first four jhānas are attained by removing mental factors, with the formless jhānas the
complete removal of one stage constitutes the next attainment. All the formless jhānas share the
factors of one-pointedness and equanimity, but at each level these factors are progressively
refined.
The first formless absorption—the fifth jhāna—is attained by first entering the fourth jhāna
through any of the kasiṇas. Mentally extending the limits of the kasiṇa to the largest extent
imaginable, the meditator turns his attention to the space touched by it. With this infinite space
as the object of contemplation, and with the full maturity of equanimity and one-pointedness,
mind now abides in a sphere where all perceptions of form have ceased. Mind is so firmly set in
this level of sublime consciousness that no external sensory input can perturb or disrupt it. Still,
the tendencies of the mechanisms associated with sensory perception exist in the fifth jhāna,
though they are not attended to: the absorption would be broken should attention turn to them.
The next level is attained (fifth jhāna having been mastered) by achieving the consciousness
of infinite space, and then turning attention to the element of infinite awareness. Thus the
thought of infinite space is abandoned, While objectless infinite consciousness remains. This
marks the sixth jhāna. Having mastered the sixth, the meditator attains the seventh jhāna by
first entering the sixth and then turning contemplation to the nonexistence of infinite
consciousness. The seventh jhāna is thus absorption with no-thing-ness, or the void, as its object.
That is consciousness has as its object the awareness of absence of any object. Mastering this
jhāna, the meditator then reviews it and finds any perception at all a disadvantage, its absence
being more sublime.
So motivated, the meditator can attain the eighth jhāna by first entering the seventh, and then
turning attention to the aspect of peacefulness, and away from perception of the void. The
delicacy of this operation is suggested by the stipulation that there must be no hint of desire to
attain this peacefulness, nor to avoid perception of no-thing-ness.

Enjoy your healing journey with FP.   And if the Buddha's map, the Vissuddhimagga, is useful, then take it with you.

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry

 

 

P.S.  REMINDER:   I am teaching 3-day, 14 hour FP WORKSHOP,  FEB. 9 TO 11 that is Zoomable:   

https://terencedunn.substack.com/p/flying-phoenix-qigong-workshops-schedule

 

Edited March 30 by zen-bear

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

Hi @zen-bear,

 

I had an interesting moment during Moonbeam today. After hearing about many practitioners “stopping the world” during Moonbeam I think it finally happened to me. It lasted for just a second or two, all sound stopped (including wind and any ringing in my head) and then suddenly came back. It happened during the stage where I move my arms from right to left towards the end of Moonbeam. Is this the “stopping the world” that you were talking about?

 

Regards,

 

Jonathon