Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[zen-bear]

On 2/2/2024 at 4:28 PM, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

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

 

 

Hi Jonathon,

 

Sorry for the slow response.  'been preparing for the FP qigong workshop going on this weekend. 

 

What you reported is a very good sign of progress and yogic development:   that you experienced the cessation of all sounds during your practice of Moonbeam.  That may be a sign of "stopping the world" or it might be the case of the FP Healing Qi clearing your auditory channel/apparatus.

 

Important questions:   
A.  what was your sense of time when the sound stopped?   Was it normal?  
B.  Did your vision change or shift in any way?

 

C.  Also:  where on the thread did you hear about:   "many practitioners 'stopping the world' during Moonbeam"?

It could be that my memory is failing me badly, but I don't recall seeing any postings by practitioners saying that they experienced "stopping the world" while doing Moonbeam.  Thanks for advising.

 

Sifu Terry

Edited February 11 by zen-bear

[Cobie]

On 02/02/2024 at 10:28 PM, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

… stopping the world … 

I think that’s from Castaneda. 

 

 

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

2 hours ago, Cobie said:

I think that’s from Castaneda. 

 

 

Yes. In this thread there are many references to Castaneda and stopping the world.

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

14 hours ago, zen-bear said:

Hi Jonathon,

 

Sorry for the slow response.  'been preparing for the FP qigong workshop going on this weekend. 

 

What you reported is a very good sign of progress and yogic development:   that you experienced the cessation of all sounds during your practice of Moonbeam.  That may be a sign of "stopping the world" or it might be the case of the FP Healing Qi clearing your auditory channel/apparatus.

 

Important questions:   
A.  what was your sense of time when the sound stopped?   Was it normal?  
B.  Did your vision change or shift in any way?

 

C.  Also:  where on the thread did you hear about:   "many practitioners 'stopping the world' during Moonbeam"?

It could be that my memory is failing me badly, but I don't recall seeing any postings by practitioners saying that they experienced "stopping the world" while doing Moonbeam.  Thanks for advising.

 

Sifu Terry

Hi Sifu Terry,

 

A. During the “stopping the world”, it felt like everything stopped for a second, not longer. Time didn’t feel warped or slow motion, just a brief stop in everything.

 

B. No, my vision didn’t change at all

 

C. I saw some references to it in the thread, I think a decade back from 2015. I will post some screenshots of them. 
 

April 6, 2015:

Edited February 11 by -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-

[Cobie]

20 minutes ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Yes. In this thread there are many references to Castaneda and stopping the world.

 

Sorry, didn’t know, I don’t have time to read all the posts. I tend to read only the short posts. 
 

 

Edited February 11 by Cobie

[Klinsly]

I have a question regarding Monk Gazing at the moon. I'm wondering if it's meant to double as a one pointed focus concentration building meditation because it seems perfect for it. As in You're Gazing at an object or point in space through your fingers and are holding your focus on it as well as you can unbroken to build extended concentration. I imagine if the moon was there that's what would be intended? Or kinda zone out and focus more on the energetic sensation?

 

If the moon is out should you try and time it near a moonrise or moonset so its straight ahead if you have no elevation near you, or lie on your back? Bending the neck back to look up seems like it  could cause health issues with the neck.

[EFreethought]

On 2/11/2024 at 1:39 PM, Cobie said:

 

Sorry, didn’t know, I don’t have time to read all the posts. I tend to read only the short posts. 

It's great that Sifu Terry answers questions here. Even though I have only tried FP a couple of times, I still find what he has to say interesting.

 

That said, sometimes I think a FP sub-forum would be better and more approachable than a monster thread.

 

And is it "Sifu Terry", or "Sifu Dunn"?

 

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

15 hours ago, EFreethought said:

That said, sometimes I think a FP sub-forum would be better and more approachable than a monster thread.

Not a bad idea, why don’t you request it from mods?

[EFreethought]

4 hours ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Not a bad idea, why don’t you request it from mods?

 

Let's wait until The Boss weighs in on that idea.

[StyxNStone]

Hi Sifu Terry, I’m doing Damo Mitchell’s course and he stated in his qigong videos that you should rise when you bring your hands up bringing your centre of gravity up and sink when you bring your hands down and doing the opposite would send the wrong instructions to the Qi and confuses the body. He stated that not only does Lao Gong direct the Qi but so does your centre of gravity. If your centre of gravity is high the Qi will gather at the chest area and if you sink it will gather at the lower Dan Tian. He say’s that when you do it the other way around “like in Flying Phoenix” and many other qigong systems where your hands rise as you sink you’re essentially giving two opposite instructions to the Qi and fighting yourself so your efficiency is greatly reduced. So I was wondering if it would be better to change it around so that my centre of gravity matches my hand movements. Would doing so mess anything up?

Edited February 19 by StyxNStone

[EntobX]

@zen-bear Dear Sifu Dunn, I was wondering whether your FPQK instructionals are available as digital files? I do not own a DVD player. It would also be neat to save shipping costs. Warm regards

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

18 hours ago, StyxNStone said:

Hi Sifu Terry, I’m doing Damo Mitchell’s course and he stated in his qigong videos that you should rise when you bring your hands up bringing your centre of gravity up and sink when you bring your hands down and doing the opposite would send the wrong instructions to the Qi and confuses the body. He stated that not only does Lao Gong direct the Qi but so does your centre of gravity. If your centre of gravity is high the Qi will gather at the chest area and if you sink it will gather at the lower Dan Tian. He say’s that when you do it the other way around “like in Flying Phoenix” and many other qigong systems where your hands rise as you sink you’re essentially giving two opposite instructions to the Qi and fighting yourself so your efficiency is greatly reduced. So I was wondering if it would be better to change it around so that my centre of gravity matches my hand movements. Would doing so mess anything up?

Follow Sifu Terry’s instructions when doing Flying Phoenix. What Damo Mitchell says or does is not important.

[StyxNStone]

6 hours ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Follow Sifu Terry’s instructions when doing Flying Phoenix. What Damo Mitchell says or does is not important.

Yep i’m just worried that the Qigong or Neigong systems with Damo might contradict the FP system. But I suppose it’ll be alright as long as i separate the practices by at least 6 hours. 

[zen-bear]

On 2/11/2024 at 2:39 PM, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Hi Sifu Terry,

 

A. During the “stopping the world”, it felt like everything stopped for a second, not longer. Time didn’t feel warped or slow motion, just a brief stop in everything.

 

B. No, my vision didn’t change at all

 

C. I saw some references to it in the thread, I think a decade back from 2015. I will post some screenshots of them. 
 

April 6, 2015:

Hi Pak Satrio,

 

Thank you for citing my  congratulatory reply to ZiRan 9 years ago in which I described the samadhic state that Carlos Castaneda described as  "stopping the world", which I, quite honestly, had forgotten about because it was that long ago.  In terms of my personal experience, "Stopping the world"  is a state of oneness where one's consciousness is totally absorbed in whatever one is "seeing" or concentrating on--which includes an activity in which one is highly trained.  In other words, "Stopping the world" is also the state where wu-wei occurs, which is the state that ZiRan described as "it was like the meditation was doing me."

 

But in terms of FP Qigong practice, as one's body relaxes, as somatic tensions are resolved and released, and as mind and body become reintegrated and restored to a pristine state of harmony (homeostasis) as one masters "Moonbeam" and the capstone Long Form, one's structural sensitivity is transformed and one realizes for fleeting moments at first that one is the whole works.

 

A. During the “stopping the world”, it felt like everything stopped for a second, not longer. Time didn’t feel warped or slow motion, just a brief stop in everything.

Continue practicing and see if you experience the stoppage of time again--and for a "longer" period in hindsight after you come out of the state. "Stopping the world" as used by Castaneda--and the way I use it to describe my samadhic experiences and how my students over the years have described their experiences, is a state of At-Onement where time slows down or time stops altogether and one has no sense of time whatsoever and one's skillful task in the present is done spontaneously, automatically--without thought of nor the slightest lust for result. 

 

Tao Te Ching Ch. 37:    The Tao does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone

 

The skill or a task that does itself.  Wu-wei: where one doesn't know or feel like one has done "it" or that the "it" did you...because through deep concentration and focussed action, one has shed the dross of ego, and acted perfectly (Zen).  

 

B. No, my vision didn’t change at all.   

"Stopping the world" sometimes/often times comes with "seeing" in the Castanedan sense.  When your vision "shifts" or alters and you see way beyond the everyday "consensus reality":--and can literally see with your eyes another person's intentions, his/her psychology, the inhabiting spirit/daemon (if he/she is possessed), the spirit behind him/her (if they have one), and the spirits around them (if they attract them or are accompanied by them).

 

NOTE:  "Seeing" and "stopping the world" are natural states of sensory awareness.   In one of his lectures, Alan Watts makes the distinction between "spotlight" awareness conditioned by consensus reality and the "floodlight" consciousness that all humans are born with--but depending on culture, education, language, and parental upbringing (the consensus reality)--is used or functions in a very limited and superficial way.   "Seeing" means seeing through and beyond the consensus reality, and both FP Qigong ad Tao Tan Pai have specific exercises and Tao Tan Pai has an entyire yogic subsystem called the "Shen Exercises" that promote "seeing" and "stopping the world."  This more deeply absorbing  "floodlight" consciousness is systematically restored, developed, cultivated, and refined by all authentic and complete systems of Qigong, Meditation, and high Yogas. (e.g., Ehrmei Mountain FP Qigong, 10,000 Buddhas Meditations,  the Tao Tan Pai Qigong tradition, 8 Sections of Energy Combined Kung Fu, and Yang style Tai Chi Chuan--which are the only systems that I can speak about from direct experience). 

 

For me, "stopping the world" has always been a sublime, humbling, creative, and gassy-enjoyable state of consciousness that I would slip into when I was doing great in sports as a kid and trekking in the California High Sierras as a Boy Scout.  Later, I experienced more of these natural highs where time stopped when I was competing in gymnastics in high school and in college.  Many artists, musicians, scientists, athletes, astronauts, surgeons, and craftsmen have experienced "stopping the world" when they achieved a fine result, describing the experience as "being in the zone."   And one favorite example that I've quoted earlier in this thread is basketball legend Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics describing "being in the zone" during a game where time slowed down and all the other players appeared to him as moving in slow motion, yet he was moving as fast and agile as he willed in order to score and block shots, and all the while he could see and feel a mental picture in super-clear closeup detail of the nodules of the textured surface of the basketball when it was in hand.

 

My experiences of "being in the zone/stopping the world" were situations where either time had stopped (being "out of time") or time had slowed down for everyone and everything in my environment was moving in slow motion.   In both types of being "out of time" and "doing the time-warp"  (also sung in the Rocky Horror Picture Show!), I lost my sense of hearing--or to be more precise, a soft, near-silent hum was heard.

 

 In high-level kung fu and Tai Chi, it's when you respond instantaneously and perfectly out of pure instinct that's in harmony with the Tao--and the opponent or adversary is pacified to the perfect necessary extent.  The high martial skill and proficiency described in the Tai Chi Classics as, "although the opponent attacks first, I arrive before he does" is an application of "stopping the world."  

 

In applying one's kung fu (assuming you've developed it correctly--i.e., through a fine diligent effort, day in and day out, over many years, but without strain or obsession, knowing the background timing of your opponent by touch or by sight alone is another way of describing "stopping the world."  And that is why an old master will never be undone by the younger master because he (the older) knows the background timing better and more instantly than the younger master or adept.

 

"Stopping the world"  is a pre-condition or commitant of  "wu wei", I wrote something to this extent this 7-page article about Tai Chi Chuan (my first), called "The Practice and Spirit of Tai Chi Chuan", which was published way, way back in the June 1986 issue of Yoga Journal (and which, btw, was lauded by advanced adepts and Tai Chi masters as "one of the best articles on Tai Chi of that length"):

________________________________________

"More than any other art developed in the East, the martial arts take the practitioner to the Tao by directly and immediately confronting the problem of death. Many Eastern religions teach that, to attain spiritual awakening, one must overcome the fear of death and thus eliminate overattachment to life. Through the course of voluntary training, the martial artist is "tricked" into letting go of fear and other unnecessary defenses as he repeatedly experiences their uselessness in achieving the performance goals set by the teacher and the art. By persistently focusing his entire being on dealing with a worthy opponent in visceral training, he gradually realizes that he need fear only actual threats to life and limb, which he has now become effective in recognizing and addressing.

 

The controlled crises of t'ai chi and other martial arts training are created by the teacher to awaken the consciousness of the student. In such crises, one must live totally in the moment and act with a straight-forward, resolute mind. In t'ai chi ch'uan, this  focussed behavior is sparked when practitioners join in the dual practice of push-hands, and then developed through realistic, full-contact fighting.

 

At some point in the training, the student manages to suspend the fear, prejudices, rationalizations, emotional abreactions, and mental abstractions that prevent effective response to the opponent's actions. By penetrating the moment through intense concentration, one attains internal harmony-the integration of the body and mind-out of which appropriate action flows directly and spontaneously. As the saying goes, "At the point of a sword, there is no time for philosophy."

 

At this moment of total concentration, there occurs a perfect identification between subject and object, in which one experiences the unity of the self and all life. This enlightened state of awareness is called satori by Zen Buddhists, and the spontaneous, intuitive, and naturally correct action that stems from it is called wu-wei ("not-doing") by the Taoists.

 

Sometimes students of eastern philosophy who do not also practice a yogic discipline are confused by the words "not-doing" and struggle to figure out how to "do" it. In t'ai chi, the rigorous discipline of diligently "doing" the practice leads over time to the spontaneous manifestation of "not-doing." First cultivation and attainment, and then abandonment to a perfected second nature-- rather than mere speculation about philosophical concepts--leads to success in t'ai chi ch'uan.

 

By developing greater proficiency in the martial arts, one learns to overcome fear and come closer to the spiritual dimension of t'ai chi (which actually means the "Grand Terminus"--or ridgepole of the universe), where individual existence is experienced as a conscious energy process continuous with all life. This deep experience of continuity and unity is at the heart of Chinese philosophy and culture. When translated into ethical terms, it becomes the principle of sincerity and compassion.

The preservers of China's spiritual truths are traditionally of the warrior class--more so than the priestly class--for true warriors are first to attain the knowledge that:

 

                  The weapons of war are not carnal.      (sound familiar, my fellow Christians?)

 

In contrast to the violent macho image of the martial arts hero popularized by B-movies, the truly accomplished martial artist--epitomized by the t'ai chi master--possesses humanity and compassion along with physical prowess. The Taoist sage Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, the oldest extant book of military strategy, wrote that true martial excellence lies in winning without fighting--that is, in defeating an opponent's strategy before violence occurs. The purpose of learning t'ai chi as a complete martial art is to develop one's skills to the point where one becomes unattackable. When one cannot be harmed, no one else need be harmed, and ultimately even one's aggressors are rendered harmless. Thus, t'ai chi ch'uan, an "art of war" handed down through the ages, is essentially an art of peace as well as a path to health and spiritual mastery."
________________________________________

My complete article is found on my website:   http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_article.html

(I have scans of the pages of the original Yoga Journal article that are nicer to read as they have photos and illustrations...but I haven't posted them anywhere yet. [I've been told that I'm the world's worst self-promoter.])

 

I shall stop here and say that if you practice Tai Chi, Bagua, Xing-I, LHBF, or other internal martial arts and develop your kung fu, then you will sooner rather than later know naturally what "seeing" and "stopping the world" is.

 

I have had dozens of experiences in my 69 years where I snapped into "seeing" or the experienced the stoppage of time and the world "stopping".  But I will reserve those accounts for my forthcoming book on my life-long journey on the path of Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Qigong towards the Tao because they were tests of my martial arts skills and survival instincts--and not of my Bok Fu Pai healing arts skill, which is the topic of this thread.

 

But I will let those of you who are interested read these two articles about my encounter with a serial killer named Michael Player (nicknamed the "Skid Row Slayer") in Los Angeles the night of October 8, 1986.  who had murdered 10 people in the previous 31 days.  By paying special attention to the timeline of events one may be able to read between the lines--about of how I was able to "stop the world"  in order to survive the shooting attack from behind that left me with  a .38 caliber bullet wound clear through the liver from one end--and that resulted in the assailant  taking his own life by putting a .38 bullet from the same gun through his own head approximately two hours later at 1a.m. October 9:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Player

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-06-me-889-story.html

 

Thanks again, Jonathon,  for posting the reference to "stopping the world"  that you found in Ziran's post and my reply from 9 years ago.  For it evoked this lengthy and detailed reply to your questions and comments.

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry

 

 

^{www.taichimania.com}

^{terencedunn.substack.com}

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20 by zen-bear

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

3 hours ago, zen-bear said:

Hi Pak Satrio,

 

Thank you for citing my  congratulatory reply to ZiRan 9 years ago in which I described the samadhic state that Carlos Castaneda described as  "stopping the world", which I, quite honestly, had forgotten about because it was that long ago.  In terms of my personal experience, "Stopping the world"  is a state of oneness where one's consciousness is totally absorbed in whatever one is "seeing" or concentrating on--which includes an activity in which one is highly trained.  In other words, "Stopping the world" is also the state where wu-wei occurs, which is the state that ZiRan described as "it was like the meditation was doing me."

 

But in terms of FP Qigong practice, as one's body relaxes, as somatic tensions are resolved and released, and as mind and body become reintegrated and restored to a pristine state of harmony (homeostasis) as one masters "Moonbeam" and the capstone Long Form, one's structural sensitivity is transformed and one realizes for fleeting moments at first that one is the whole works.

 

A. During the “stopping the world”, it felt like everything stopped for a second, not longer. Time didn’t feel warped or slow motion, just a brief stop in everything.

Continue practicing and see if you experience the stoppage of time again--and for a "longer" period in hindsight after you come out of the state. "Stopping the world" as used by Castaneda--and the way I use it to describe my samadhic experiences and how my students over the years have described their experiences, is a state of At-Onement where time slows down or time stops altogether and one has no sense of time whatsoever and one's skillful task in the present is done spontaneously, automatically--without thought of nor the slightest lust for result. 

 

Tao Te Ching Ch. 37:    The Tao does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone

 

The skill or a task that does itself.  Wu-wei: where one doesn't know or feel like one has done "it" or that the "it" did you...because through deep concentration and focussed action, one has shed the dross of ego, and acted perfectly (Zen).  

 

B. No, my vision didn’t change at all.   

"Stopping the world" sometimes/often times comes with "seeing" in the Castanedan sense.  When your vision "shifts" or alters and you see way beyond the everyday "consensus reality":--and can literally see with your eyes another person's intentions, his/her psychology, the inhabiting spirit/daemon (if he/she is possessed), the spirit behind him/her (if they have one), and the spirits around them (if they attract them or are accompanied by them).

 

NOTE:  "Seeing" and "stopping the world" are natural states of sensory awareness.   In one of his lectures, Alan Watts makes the distinction between "spotlight" awareness conditioned by consensus reality and the "floodlight" consciousness that all humans are born with--but depending on culture, education, language, and parental upbringing (the consensus reality)--is used or functions in a very limited and superficial way.   "Seeing" means seeing through and beyond the consensus reality, and both FP Qigong ad Tao Tan Pai have specific exercises and Tao Tan Pai has an entyire yogic subsystem called the "Shen Exercises" that promote "seeing" and "stopping the world."  This more deeply absorbing  "floodlight" consciousness is systematically restored, developed, cultivated, and refined by all authentic and complete systems of Qigong, Meditation, and high Yogas. (e.g., Ehrmei Mountain FP Qigong, 10,000 Buddhas Meditations,  the Tao Tan Pai Qigong tradition, 8 Sections of Energy Combined Kung Fu, and Yang style Tai Chi Chuan--which are the only systems that I can speak about from direct experience). 

 

For me, "stopping the world" has always been a sublime, humbling, creative, and gassy-enjoyable state of consciousness that I would slip into when I was doing great in sports as a kid and trekking in the California High Sierras as a Boy Scout.  Later, I experienced more of these natural highs where time stopped when I was competing in gymnastics in high school and in college.  Many artists, musicians, scientists, athletes, astronauts, surgeons, and craftsmen have experienced "stopping the world" when they achieved a fine result, describing the experience as "being in the zone."   And one favorite example that I've quoted earlier in this thread is basketball legend Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics describing "being in the zone" during a game where time slowed down and all the other players appeared to him as moving in slow motion, yet he was moving as fast and agile as he willed in order to score and block shots, and all the while he could see and feel a mental picture in super-clear closeup detail of the nodules of the textured surface of the basketball that was in play.

 

My experiences of "being in the zone/stopping the world" were situations where either time had stopped (being "out of time") or time had slowed down for everyone and everything in my environment was moving in slow motion.   In both types of being "out of time" and "doing the time-warp"  (also sung in the Rocky Horror Picture Show!), I lost my sense of hearing--or to be more precise, a soft, near-silent hum was heard.

 

 In high-level kung fu and Tai Chi, it's when you respond instantaneously and perfectly out of pure instinct that's in harmony with the Tao--and the opponent or adversary is pacified to the perfect necessary extent.  The high martial skill and proficiency described in the Tai Chi Classics as, "although the opponent attacks first, I arrive before he does" is an application of "stopping the world."  

 

In applying one's kung fu (assuming you've developed it correctly--i.e., through a fine diligent effort, day in and day out, over many years, but without strain or obsession, knowing the background timing of your opponent by touch or by sight alone is another way of describing "stopping the world."  And that is why an old master will never be undone by the younger master because he (the older) know the background timing better and more instantly than the younger master or adept.

 

"Stopping the world"  is a pre-condition or commitant of  "wu wei", I wrote something to this extent this 7-page article about Tai Chi Chuan (my first), called "The Practice and Spirit of Tai Chi Chuan", which was published way, way back in the June 1986 issue of Yoga Journal (and which, btw, was lauded by advanced adepts and Tai Chi masters as "one of the best articles on Tai Chi of that length"):

 

"More than any other art developed in the East, the martial arts take the practitioner to the Tao by directly and immediately confronting the problem of death. Many Eastern religions teach that, to attain spiritual awakening, one must overcome the fear of death and thus eliminate overattachment to life. Through the course of voluntary training, the martial artist is "tricked" into letting go of fear and other unnecessary defenses as he repeatedly experiences their uselessness in achieving the performance goals set by the teacher and the art. By persistently focusing his entire being on dealing with a worthy opponent in training, he gradually realizes that he need fear only actual threaten to life and limb, which he has now become effective in recognizing and addressing.

 

The controlled crises of t'ai chi and other martial arts training are created by the teacher to awaken the consciousness of the student. In such crises, one must live totally in the moment and act with a straight-forward, resolute mind. In t'ai chi ch'uan, this  focussed behavior is sparked when practitioners join in the dual practice of push-hands, and then developed through realistic, full-contact fighting.

 

At some point in the training, the student manages to suspend the fear, prejudices, rationalizations, emotional abreactions, and mental abstractions that prevent effective response to the opponent's actions. By penetrating the moment through intense concentration, one attains internal harmony-the integration of the body and mind-out of which appropriate action flows directly and spontaneously. As the saying goes, "At the point of a sword, there is no time for philosophy."

 

At this moment of total concentration, there occurs a perfect identification between subject and object, in which one experiences the unity of the self and all life. This enlightened state of awareness is called satori by Zen Buddhists, and the spontaneous, intuitive, and naturally correct action that stems from it is called wu-wei ("not-doing") by the Taoists.

 

Sometimes students of eastern philosophy who do not also practice a yogic discipline are confused by the words "not-doing" and struggle to figure out how to "do" it. In t'ai chi, the rigorous discipline of diligently "doing" the practice leads over time to the spontaneous manifestation of "not-doing." First cultivation and attainment, and then abandonment to a perfected second nature-- rather than mere speculation about philosophical concepts--leads to success in t'ai chi ch'uan.

 

By developing greater proficiency in the martial arts, one learns to overcome fear and come closer to the spiritual dimension of t'ai chi (which actually means the "Grand Terminus"--or ridgepole of the universe), where individual existence is experienced as a conscious energy process continuous with all life. This deep experience of continuity and unity is at the heart of Chinese philosophy and culture. When translated into ethical terms, it becomes the principle of sincerity and compassion.

The preservers of China's spiritual truths are traditionally of the warrior class--more so than the priestly class--for true warriors are first to attain the knowledge that:

                  The weapons of war are not carnal.      (sound familiar, my fellow Christians?)

 

In contrast to the violent macho image of the martial arts hero popularized by B-movies, the truly accomplished martial artist--epitomized by the t'ai chi master--possesses humanity and compassion along with physical prowess. The Taoist sage Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, the oldest extant book of military strategy, wrote that true martial excellence lies in winning without fighting--that is, in defeating an opponent's strategy before violence occurs. The purpose of learning t'ai chi as a complete martial art is to develop one's skills to the point where one becomes unattackable. When one cannot be harmed, no one else need be harmed, and ultimately even one's aggressors are rendered harmless. Thus, t'ai chi ch'uan, an "art of war" handed down through the ages, is essentially an art of peace as well as a path to health and spiritual mastery.

My complete article is found on my website:   http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_article.html

(I have scans of the pages of the original Yoga Journal article that nicer to read as they have photos and illustrations...but I haven't posted them anywhere yet.)

 

I shall stop here and say that if you practice Tai Chi, Bagua, or other internal martial arts and develop your kung fu, then you will sooner rather than later know naturally what "seeing" and "stopping the world" is.

 

I have had dozens of experiences in my 69 years where I snapped into "seeing" or the experienced the stoppage of time and the world "stopping".  But I will reserve those accounts for my forthcoming book on my life-long journey on the path of Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Qigong towards Knowledge because they were tests of my martial arts skills and not of my Bok Fu Pai healing arts skill, which is the topic of this thread.

 

But I will let those of you who are interested read these two articles about my encounter with  a serial killer named Michael Player in Los Angeles on  the night of October 8, 1986. who had murdered 10 people in the previous 31 days--and  let you read between the lines--about of how I was able to "stop the world"  in order to survive a shooting attack from behind that left me with  a .38 caliber bullet wound clear through the liver from one end--and that resultedin the assailant (nicknamed the "Skid Row Slayer") taking his own life by putting a .38 bullet from the same gun through his own head approximately two hours later at 1a.m. October 9:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Player

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-06-me-889-story.html

 

Thanks again, Jonathon,  for posting the reference to "stopping the world"  that you found in Ziran's post and my reply from 9 years ago.  For it evoked this lengthy and detailed reply to your questions and comments.

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry

 

 

^{www.taichimania.com}

^{terencedunn.substack.com}

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the amazingly detailed answer!

[zen-bear]

On 2/12/2024 at 2:26 PM, Klinsly said:

I have a question regarding Monk Gazing at the moon. I'm wondering if it's meant to double as a one pointed focus concentration building meditation because it seems perfect for it. As in You're Gazing at an object or point in space through your fingers and are holding your focus on it as well as you can unbroken to build extended concentration. I imagine if the moon was there that's what would be intended? Or kinda zone out and focus more on the energetic sensation?

 

If the moon is out should you try and time it near a moonrise or moonset so its straight ahead if you have no elevation near you, or lie on your back? Bending the neck back to look up seems like it  could cause health issues with the neck.

Hello Klinsly,

 

Yes, good deduction. Monk Gazing At Moon, being the one and only meditation in the entire FP Qigong system that is done with eyes open, can serve as a one-pointed focus concentration building exercise.  One of the advanced oral teachings in Monk Gazing A Moon (and also for some of the Shen Exercises of Tao Tan Pai, btw, is to visually focus on a point floating between your fingers for long, extended periods of time.  

 

If the moon is out should you try and time it near a moonrise or moonset so its straight ahead if you have no elevation near you, or lie on your back?   Bending the neck back to look up seems like it  could cause health issues with the neck.

 

If you want to do Monk Gazing At Moon in the ol' classical manner of actually gazing at the moon, it's best to do it when the moon is very low on the horizon (near moonrise or moonset) so that you do NOT tilt your head back past the vertical line of your spine. 

If the moon his higher in the sky, say up to about 10 o'clock (12 o'clock being straight above you), what you can do is tilt back the whole torso, keeping a straight line from the tailbone to the crown of the head while shifting the knees forward--and turning the feet inward in a slightly pigeon-toed position-- to efficiently support the weight of the tilted upper body and channel/root the body's energy into the ground--instead of counter-balancing the tilted back by putting load (and tension) into the thighs.  Use essentially the same posture that's used in the first the Wing Chun Kung Fu form, Sil Lum Tao (Small Idea Set)--
https://wingchunjourney.co.uk/wing-chun-knowledge/understanding-wing-chun-structure/
--EXCEPT that instead of holding the head level and eyes looking horizontally, the head is in line with the backward-tilted spine and thus looking at a slightly upward angle.  
*1.)  I would not recommend tilting backward in this Wing Chun-type stance past 30º from vertical.  Up to a 30º backward tilt, you can have a comfortable view of the moon  through your fingertips when it's higher up in the sky (up to a  30º angle relative to the plane of the earth (remember your high school geometry?)....and even a bit higher if you keep the neck unbent with all the cervical vertebrae in line with angle of the spine below it...and point your eyeballs to look further upward above your fingertips.  But I don't recommend doing this either.  The MGM meditation was designed to be done with spine vertical and eyes gazing horizontally through the fingertips.  So if you do any tilting backward with a compensating stance, keep gazing through your fingertips at a 90º relative to the angle of your spine.  Because "energy goes where the eyes go" (as the late Tai Chi master Benjamin Lo used to say to us all the time during his workshops) there's no telling what might happen if you don't gaze at an angle perpendicular to your angle of the spine and torso.

 

*2.)   I strongly advise NOT to do Monk Gazing At Moon lying supine and gazing upward vertically.  Again, this meditation was divined/channeled by a yogic and spiritual genius to be done standing upright.  Who knows what effects that gravity would have on the body's energy and physiology if one did this meditation 90º off the normal angle.   If you tried it for a few seconds just as an experiment, I suppose that wouldn't cause any problems.  But if you tried this for any prolonged period of time or repeatedly, I hope you have good health and life insurance!

 

NOTE OF CONTEXT:   In the other Taoist monastic Nei Kung system that I teach, Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method), there is one Yoga that is done at night time that promotes restful sleep that involves doing 5 distinct patterns of movements in supine position.  Every other other meditation in the 6 levels of the TTP Nei Kung is done with torso vertical--either in a kung fu posture on in half-lotus position or legs extended seated position.

 

So that's my thesis about doing Monk Gazing At Moon by actually gazing at the moon--and advice as to how to do it when the moon isn't very low on the horizon.   In general, do MGM when the moon is low on the horizon.  And even though it's doable and safe, I wouldn't make a habit of doing the backward-tilted option that I've outlined.

 

Thanks for posting, Klinsly.

 

Sifu Terry

 

P.S.  btw,  from April 5 to 7, I am giving a 3-day, 14-hour Zoomable workshop on Tao Tan Pai 31 Basic Meditations (the first of the 6 levels of TTP Nei Kung).  Details forthcoming on my free substack Newsletter.   

 

www.taichimania.com

terencedunn.substack.com

 

 

 

Edited February 25 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

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

Nice, Summer!

Thanks for the smudging from afar!!   BLESSINGS to you and to All for the New Year of the Dragon!

[daokedao]

Hey Sifu Terry,

 

Is it alright to practice Flying Phoenix on airplanes if I know that nobody will bump into me? I have some long flights coming up and it’d be awesome if I can practice some FP meditations there (probably seated Monk Holds Pearl). 

Thanks,

Alex

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

21 hours ago, daokedao said:

Hey Sifu Terry,

 

Is it alright to practice Flying Phoenix on airplanes if I know that nobody will bump into me? I have some long flights coming up and it’d be awesome if I can practice some FP meditations there (probably seated Monk Holds Pearl). 

Thanks,

Alex

I do it all the time!

[zen-bear]

 

On 3/7/2024 at 11:48 AM, daokedao said:

Hey Sifu Terry,

 

Is it alright to practice Flying Phoenix on airplanes if I know that nobody will bump into me? I have some long flights coming up and it’d be awesome if I can practice some FP meditations there (probably seated Monk Holds Pearl). 

Thanks,

Alex

 

Hi Alex,

To further answer your question after Pak Satrio's good advice:  Yes, it's fine to practice FP Qigong anywhere where you have stable footing or a stable seat (with regards to the seated Monk Serves Wine meditatios), very sanitary conditions, and absolute certainty that you won't be interrupted physically or by any other form of distracting energy (noise, heat, cold, radiation, etc.).
Since I learned the FP Qigong system from 1991-96, I've practiced the art numerous times on airplanes, on ships, on trains here and in Europe, or a river raft once it reached a calm pool, and once while seated in the back of an Escalade.  As you practice for FPCK, you'll develop a finer and keener sense of where you should and should not practice.  But follow the basic safeguards and use common sense couched in your FP experience.

 

Because FP Qigong has a spiritual Source Progenitor (to use the words of Lu Tung Pin of the Tao Tan Pai tradition) you must be very careful and attuned to the spiritual ambience of the places you practice.  Do NOT practice near graveyards and cemeteries unless it's your family plot or mausoleum or unless you have a clear read of the spiritual conditions.  GM Doo Wai once admonished a beginning student who was brought in by another classmate of mine because he was practicing in a yard that had "really, really bad spiritual energiy"--to quote GM Doo Wai.  Over time, this student turned out to be a very, very wayward student and suffered severe consequences from his misuse of the Bok Fu Pai martial arts in 1997 that I won't detail here.

 

So all that is to say:   yes, you can practice on an airplane.  But where you do the standing meds. isn't in the restroom!!!

 

Sifu Terry

 

www.taichimania.com

terencedunn.substack.com

 

Edited March 30 by zen-bear

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

12 hours ago, zen-bear said:

As you practice for FPCK, you'll develop a finer and keener sense of where you should and should not practice.  But follow the basic safeguards and use common sense couched in your FP experience.

 

Because FP Qigong has a spiritual Source Progenitor (to use the words of Lu Tung Pin of the Tao Tan Pai tradition) you must be very careful and attuned to the spiritual ambience of the places you practice.  Do NOT practice near graveyards and cemeteries unless you it's your family plot or acreage or unless you have a clear read of the spiritual conditions.  GM Doo Wai once admonished a beginning student who was brought in by another classmate of mine because he was practicing in a yard that had "very, very bad spiritual energiy"--to quote GM Doo Wai.  This student turned out to be a very, very wayward student and suffered severe consequences from his misuse of the Bok Fu Pai martial arts in 1997 that I won't detail here.

 

Hi Sifu Terry,

Regarding the practice near cemeteries, I was actually searching for a place to practice on my lunch break near my new workplace! There is a park nearby but it is too open, and it’s not really the safest of areas, lots of shady characters around so I don’t want to be with my eyes closed for too long there. However next to the park is a cemetery with a fence around it which looked like a safer and more private place to practice. Yesterday I was thinking of practicing at the cemetery so walked there during my lunch break. As I was walking past the cemetery looking for a spot to practice I felt very uneasy, almost scared. I thought it was because I didn’t feel safe in case I would get robbed while practicing with eyes closed but it could be like you said that I’ve developed a sense of where to practice and could feel that something was wrong about doing it in or near a cemetery. Very interesting!

Edited March 16 by -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-

[zen-bear]

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Edited March 16 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

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Edited March 23 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

 

ATTENTION ALL FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG PRACTITIONERS AND DAOBUMS SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS THREAD:

On APRIL 5 to 7, I will be teaching a 3-Day, 14-hour  immersive residential workshop in Tao Tan Pai (“Taoist Elixir Method“) Basic 31 Meditations  at The Dragon Nest Center in New Paltz, NY that will be Zoomable.

 

 

Dear Daobums friends and FPCK students,

 

From April 5 to 7, I will be teaching a 3-Day, 14-hour immersive residential workshop in Tao Tan Pai (“Taoist Elixir Method“) Basic 31 Meditations.

 

The Tao Tan Pai 31 Basic Meditations (henceforth, “TTP-31”) is an authentic and miraculously intact and complete ancient Taoist monastic system of Qigong--based on moving meditation and breath control that utilizes a yogic methodology completely different than that of Flying Phoenix Qigong, but that imparts a wide range of salient health benefits and heightened sustainable energy levels and advanced body mechanics that enables and empowers Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu, other forms of Kung fu, and the Tao Tan Pai healing arts.  Taoist Elixir Method 31 Meditations is a sophisticated Chinese holistic health practice—an alchemic formulation of “gymnastic medicine”—that opens the heart, clears and focuses the mind and profoundly strengthens the body.  Regular well-supervised practice of the TTP-31 series imparts a wide range of verifiable health benefits: improved circulation, respiratory power, metabolism, posture, bone strength, immunity, flexibility, agility, coordination, central and peripheral vision, sound-regular sleep, higher sustained energy levels, and increased resilience to stress and trauma.

 

The greater Taoist Elixir Method (“Tao Tan Pai”) tradition is a vast and sophisticated Taoist monastic school of hygienics, martial art and spiritual art that was created in the Tang Dynasty and is correctly attributed to Lu Tung Pin (Lü Dengbin, 796 CE – 1016 CE), the de facto leader of the 8 Taoist Immortals (saints) of Chinese religion and culture. This rare Taoist tradition was preserved for 23 generations—at the Ancient Temple of the Yellow Dragon ( 黃龍古殿 Huanglong Guguan ) near Mt. Luohu in China’s Guangdong province before Taoist priest Share Lew brought the art to America in 1948. I learned Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu and Nei Kung from Grandmaster Lew and his senior student, the ven. Master John Davidson, at the Taoist Sanctuary of Los Angeles from 1975 to 1983 (when I received black-sash certification), and then received occasional refinements from GM Lew in San Diego from 1984 to 1992. Along with Masters Hugh Morison, Todd Takeuchi, and Bill Helm of the Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego, I am one of the few certified 24th generation black-sashed instructors of Tao Tan Pai.

 

The six levels of Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung—of which the TTP-31 Meditations is the first — serves as the secret yogic engine that empowers the Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu and the TTP healing arts (herbology, acupressure, and energy healing) to supernormal levels of effectiveness. In the world of Chinese martial arts, Taoist Elixir Method Kung Fu practitioners are known for their forte of bringing martial energy instantly to the hands—because the art is so highly shen-driven.  In Chinese medicine, Tao Tan Pai is recognized for its energy healing—both “hands-on” and at a distance.

 

The TTP-31 regimen that you will learn at this workshop consists of 15 standing moving meditations and 16 seated meditations (all of which involve upper-body movements except for three).  Each exercise coordinates and focuses the functions of eyes, mind, movement, and breath in a Lu Tung Pin’s unique alchemic formula that cultivate a superabundance of vital energy (Chi) and the mental ability to precisely control it—that activates and empowers the Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu and healing arts.   This alchemic method of Chi-cultivation, in turn, supports peak performance in every kind of constructive human activity. As a first-tier, foundational Qigong system, the TTP-31 Meditations is nontheless equivalent to any school of Indian Yoga commercially taught in the west. You will also learn in this workshop the Tao Tan Pai Short Form Power Yoga, consisting of five of the 31 meditations—a classical distillation created by the ancients to attain expansive rejuvenation in less than an hour of practice.

 

Because TTP-31 Basic Meditations empowers Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu, it is the perfect complement and support for peak performance in any sports or athletic activity in addition to martial arts.  During this workshop, you learn the 15 standing and 16 seated meditations that comprise the Tao Tan Pai 31 System—that efficiently provides the verifiable health benefits mentioned above. As a first-tier, foundational Qigong system, the TTP-31 Meditations is equivalent to any school of Indian Yoga commercially taught in the west. You will also learn the Tao Tan Pai Short Form Power Yoga, consisting of five of the 31 meditations—a classical distillation created by the ancients to attain expansive rejuvenation in less than an hour of practice.

 

This Youtube video shows 8 key excerpts from the TTP-31 series that give you an idea of the natural body mechanics that come with Tao Tan Pai Qigong and Kung fu. Plus, at the end you will see the Tao Tan Pai Cane Form, which I teach as a foundational practice in all my Qigong workshops over the  years and in my acupuncture college courses. 

 

Note:  Most of the students seen in this  video composed of scenes from my workshops are first-time beginners.  As you can also tell from the nature of the exercises shown, the TTP-31 training in this workshop appropriate for absolute beginners without any experience in Asian yogic, meditative, or healing arts. 

 

The complete six-level Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung system of which the TTP-31 Meditations is the first level, develops in the practitioner a structural sensitivity to all-encompassing Nature and the Cosmos. That is, TTP-31 practice restores and strengthens the organism and then refines the nervous system and all its sensory apparati to pristine non-verbal clarity.

      ^{Nurturing energy, forget words and guard it}

     ^{Conquer your mind - do non-doing}

     ^{In activity and stillness}

     ^{Know the Source Progenitor (both a cosmic energy trunk and a yogic root energy)}

     ^{There is no thing}

     ^{Whom else do you seek?} 

             – Lu Tung-Pin, Taoist Immortal, founder of Tao Tan Pai (796 - 1016 CE)

 

Through its yogic methodology of perfecting the coordination of the constant focus of eyes, mind, movement and breath, the TTP-31 Basic Meditations series, the Tao Tan Pai 5 Animals Kung Fu Forms and Weapons forms (bench, hoe, daggers [chopsticks and others) systematically and gradually develops volitional/executive control over the subtle energy flows of the body (Ch’i), first enabling one to balance one’s own internal energy system for good health and longevity through Kung Fu practice, and then, after supervised training in the Tao Tan Pai healing arts and mastery of the other 5 more advanced levels of TTP Nei Kung--namely,

      The Shen Exercises

      The 5 Animals Kung Fu Forms – a complete level because "the TTP Yoga is in the Forms"

        (Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Crane, and Monkey [--differs from Shaolin as Monkey replaces Leopard])

      The Six Stars

      The Nine Flowers (or Nine Forms)

      The Five Dragons

 

--one then has the yogic and martial mastery to preserve one's own life and to extend the longevity of others.  And thus—and only thus—does one comes to know the “Source Progenitor” that Lu Tung-Pin speaks of since time immemorial.

 

***As I have stated many times over the 14 years of this forum, the TTP-31 Basic Meditations System, as well as the more advanced levels of Taoist Elixir Method Nei Kung system, serves as a superb foundational catalyst that enhances and prolongs the tangible, visible and verifiable health benefits of Flying Phoenix Qigong practice.  Both systems are complete and transcendently powerful Qigong traditions in and of themselves, but I happen to have the good karma to have inherited them both and to figure out/discover that TTP Nei Gong further activates and accelerates Flying Phoenix Qi cultivation.  I made this discovery when I began teaching Flying Phoenix Qigong and Tao Tan Pai 31 in NCCAOM-accredited courses at Emperors College in Santa Monica in 2013, which later was confirmed by the renowned yogin and medical clarivoyant Eric Isen of the Oneness Meditation Tradition of Sri Bhagavan. (See footnote in postscript)

 

                                                                                        

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

The 3-day immersive workshop, July 28 to 30, consists of 7 two-hour sessions with 2 sessions on Friday, 3 on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday at these times (EST):

Friday: 3pm - 5pm; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST
Saturday: 10am - noon; 2:30pm - 4:30pm; 7:30pm - 9:30pm EST
Sunday: 1 0am - noon; 2:30pm - 4:30pm EST

TUITION

$445 early registration
$495 day of workshop
$75 for each of the seven 2-hour sessions 

ZOOM PARTICIPATION

$50 per 2-hour session or $320 / all 7 sessions (Zoom log-on links will be emailed to registrants the day before the workshop begins)

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

 

• Again, complete details about this TTP-31 workshop is on my free monthly Newsletter:   terencedunn.substack.com

• If you have questions about the workshop or any special arrangements: please feel free to contact me at [email protected] •

 

See you in workshop!                                                                                                                           mitakuye oyasin,

(Lakota greeting and prayer that means “All are related,” “To all my relations,” and “Help and health to all my brothers and sisters.”)

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

P.S.  *NOTE:   From 2013 until 2022, I taught the Tao Tan Pai 31 Meditations as the NCCAOM-accredited OM351 Medical Qigong course at Emperors College in Santa Monica, CA, a required course for students to obtain their acupuncture degrees. (Emperors College is perennially the No.2-rated Chinese medical college in America—by vote of 66 peer colleges).  I am still a member of the senior faculty at Emperors College and now teach courses via Zoom from my office in New Paltz, NY.  (I am also in process of renewing my CEU accreditation for my workshops.)
 

 

www.taichimania.com

terencedunn.substack.com

 

Edited March 28 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

On 10/22/2023 at 2:53 AM, Learner said:

Hi, A question to experienced folks. Do you start to feel the energy less and less overtime? After your channels are opened?

Hello Learner,

Sorry I missed seeing your question   back in Oct. of last year when you posted it.  Egads!

Do you start to feel the energy less and less overtime? After your channels are opened?

 

I will first try to answer these two questions separately:

 

Do you start to feel the energy less and less overtime?

No.  Because I am constantly practicing Tai Chi Chuan, Liu He Ba Fa, and 3 complete Taoist monastic kung fu systems and their integral nei kung subsystems, and am in a meditative state of consciousness for a good number of hours every day, I feel "the energy" within my body and the energies of the Universe more tangibly and profoundly over time--and especially when I practice, depending on how I focus my mind, eyes, breath, and movement or stillness.  The whole purpose of training in authentic internal martial arts  and their secret Qigong engines is to cultivate super-normal power for self-defense, perfect structural sensitivity by integrating mind and body to pristine all-perceptive state (i.e., to polish the doors of perception, as Aldous Huxley had put it his writings).  And whenever one's karmic pursuit of knowledge on one's "Path with Heart" (as per Castaneda's usage) needs it for survival and growth, one just "slip" into the zone, where one's consciousness and kung fu all come into play as a flow or expression of the Tao.

 

After your channels are opened?

I can't really answer your question the way its worded.  You need to be more precise.  What do you mean by "channels"?

Do you mean internal energy channels such (e.g.,  meridians) or macrocosmic channels?

Based on my experiential frame of reference after 51 years of training (since 1973), I would have to answer that  if one feels less and less energy overtime after one's internal energy channels are opened, that would be mean that one's mind is purposefully not paying attention to one's energy.   And if one's integrated mind-body were naturally attuned to the energy of the cosmos, by definition, having one's macrocosmic channels "opened" would mean that one was in a state of Cosmic Consciousness, what the Buddhists call samadhi, and what Hindus call At-Onement.

 

But if I had to answer your question as it's worded, this would be it:

No, quite the opposite:   I feel the energy within my body much more deeply and I experience the energies of the environment and of all living creatures more and more and more--and at greater distances--as I continue to expand my practices and grow older chronologically because mind, if properly trained, can bend or fold the space-time continuum.  And this is true in context of any of the internal arts that I preserve and teach:   Yang style Tai Chi chuan, Liu He Ba Fa, Flying Phoenix Qigong, Advanced FP Qigong, Bok Fu Pai Qigong, 10,000 Buddhas Meditations, Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu, Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung (any of its 6 levels), the vast 8 Sections of Energy Combined Kung Fu system, and the Southern Sil Lum 5 Animals Kung Fu form.

Interesting question.  Please elaborate further by what you mean by "channels" if you want an answer to that question.

 

Sorry for missing your post from 5 months ago.  The reason was because I was house-hunting and moving from Connecticut to my present digs near New Paltz, NY.

 

Regards

Sifu Terry

 

https://terencedunn.substack.com/p/taoist-elixir-method-tao-tan-pai

 

www.taichimania.com

terencedunn.substack.com

 

 

 

Edited March 30 by zen-bear