Damo Mitchell – Any Verifiable Demonstration of Skill or Qi Emission?

[Nungali]

4 hours ago, Cobie said:

Googled, found this video ‘Mastering Stillness: Initiation into Hermetics with Sifu Mark Rasmus - Online Course Preview’.  Oh look,  it has the word ‘Hermetics’, my cue to tag @Nungali  

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, it has 'the word' but not much more .  Teachers or students of Hermetics do not use the term  'Sifu '  .   Hermetics is a western path  and understanding , whereas Sifu is  a term used by Chinese teachers .    

 

 

I turned off after half his video .... its just  simple 'self reflection '  meditation . 

 

But then again, why should I expect anything different ... its one of those  'give me your cash 'on line guys   .

 

How about you send me some cash and I will explain to you how to do self reflective meditation ?  ( Even so , if I became such a scammer , I would still find it hard to tag it with 'hermetics' .    Maybe now online hermetic courses pay off more than being an on line  'Sifu' ? 

 

 

.

Edited Sunday at 11:35 PM by Nungali

[Nungali]

23 hours ago, Sanity Check said:

 

 

There are those who seek science & truth.

 

And those who spend their entire lives running & hiding from truth & science.

 

In the bible, satan is called father of  lies, while Jesus is the Truth and the Life.

 

In that way those who turn their backs on Truth and Science also turn the backs on God.

 

People are catching on to this, more and more, as time passes.

 

They're catching on to the fact that certain demographics are always wrong about everything everytime they open their mouths.

 

Pretending speaking truth and speaking lies are 100% exactly the same thing, simply will not work out for some of you.

 

There are some that answer questions and some that evade them .

here is a good idea , let's cite the Bible all of a sudden .  And somehow think that it had anything to do with what you were asked .

And with some juggling , by asking you a question, and not getting an answer - they are now against God ... or might be , you don't seem committed enough to declare it pout right ... just make an innuendo . 

 

as time goes on, people are waking up and realizing you are right .   ...  and other things you cant agree with are ALWAYS wrong about EVERYTHING . 

 

and it simply will not work out ....... for  OTHERS  !  ??? 

 

Wow dude  .... just .... wow . 

[Nungali]

23 hours ago, ChunMaya said:

Ah, and here it is — the inevitable derail into religious fluff.
 

We were talking about a YouTube channel. A guy stopped uploading. Somehow that turned into Bible verses, Satan, and vague doomsday prophecies about “truth” and “science” — as if quoting scripture automatically elevates your opinion into objective reality.
 

Let’s be real: conflating Jesus with “science and truth” is laughable. Science doesn’t require belief. It’s falsifiable, testable, and self-correcting. Religion is none of those things. So trying to frame it as if turning away from your particular belief system is turning away from “truth” is intellectually dishonest.
 

This kind of post always reeks of projection. It’s never about truth. It’s about feeling superior — wrapping emotional bias in spiritual language and hoping no one calls it out.

 

I been calling him out for yonks !  

 

he actually  made a reasonable post or two , but then came 'over here '  

 

and here he goes again !  

 

 

 

23 hours ago, ChunMaya said:

 

Newsflash: people can disagree with your worldview and not be “of Satan.” Not everyone who's tired of fairy tales is “running from truth.” Some of us just grew up.

 

Reminds me of a 'relationship joke ' : 

 

Girlfriend :  " You are very religious , yet I am an atheist ."

 

Boyfriend;  " Thats right ."

 

GF :  "  But  doesn't that worry you ?" 

 

BF :  " No . "

 

GF :  "  Why ? " 

 

BF :  " Well, it won't be me that is going to hell . "

 

 

 

 

23 hours ago, ChunMaya said:

 

 

Let’s stay on topic. Damo didn’t get silenced. He just stopped uploading. No grand conspiracy. No cosmic battle between light and dark. Just a dude not posting videos.

 

 

Hmmmm .... I'm not posting videos ...... I hope I am not in trouble ?  

[EFreethought]

2 hours ago, dwai said:

Having no "horse in this race", I would say, I find Damo's online persona a bit off-putting. I think he and his mate Adam do posture a bit to provoke reactions

 

As others have said: 

If you spend a great deal of your time pretending to be an asshole to get a reaction from people...you aren't pretending. You are an asshole.

[forestofclarity]

* Off topic posts regarding Youtube channel split to new topic *

[idquest]

11 hours ago, markern said:

I think Jesse Lee Parker could be a good alternative for those who considered Damo but have been put off for some reason. He has an online academy now, teaches alchemy, comes off extremely well as a person IMO, teaches very well and an amazing poster on this forum for some years. He used to post here under the name Dao Zhen. You can check his archive, his posts are great. He has learnt a lot since then but a lot of what he teaches seem to be the same stuff he learnt from the teacher he had back then. 

You can find his online academy here:

https://www.immortalarts.org

 

I agree. Jesse Lee Parker has a good curriculum even though it is not very flashy. Jesse has his own question marks, but overall my experience has been good. 

[idquest]

8 hours ago, Krenx said:

@Sahaja

Mark Rasmus method. Many great students are teaching and doing good work across the world. They are encouraged to use his methods to support their own paths, discover deeper in their own paths. And leaves the credit of skills on his students and their own hard work. Never imposes any need to mention him ever, which is very rare. 

 

And spiritually, students truly own their achieved skills because of this free and healthy dynamic for passing on skills.

 

You did not mentioned it and I'm not sure to what extent you are aware, but Damo Mitchell studied with Mark Rasmus for several years, and I believe Damo's real core abilities come from Mark.

 

Often, people get entangled in language of the system and miss substance. Mark does not use daoist vocabulary much, but what he can do and what he teaches eclipses what most 'daoist' teachers teach.

[Krenx]

1 hour ago, idquest said:

 

You did not mentioned it and I'm not sure to what extent you are aware, but Damo Mitchell studied with Mark Rasmus for several years, and I believe Damo's real core abilities come from Mark.

 

Often, people get entangled in language of the system and miss substance. Mark does not use daoist vocabulary much, but what he can do and what he teaches eclipses what most 'daoist' teachers teach.

 

Yes I am aware. And I also know other notable teachers who trained with him.

 

Virtue is important for him, and the method, and any spiritual system really. He is sad that small number of his early  students neglected virtue on their path. But he understands it is not his place to decide how others want to live their lives. 

 

I trained with Mark, and also train yang taiji. The terms he uses in his system does mirror closely to the eastern arts. For example the quality of Vital>Astral>mental >akasha, are close to the qualities of jing>qi>shen>kong. Not 100%, but the overlaps are huge, and can be used to support, and better even, "understand" neigong practice better. 

Edited Monday at 04:20 AM by Krenx

[markern]

4 hours ago, idquest said:

 

I agree. Jesse Lee Parker has a good curriculum even though it is not very flashy. Jesse has his own question marks, but overall my experience has been good. 

Would you care to say what the question marks are? And could you say more about your experience?

[idquest]

4 hours ago, markern said:

Would you care to say what the question marks are? And could you say more about your experience?

 

No not really - re his question marks. But they are minor.

Jesse teaches several sets. I like his 'Washing' qigong set the most. Jesse has a good level of details explaining the movements and general daoist concepts. Whether this works for you - this will depend on what your goals are. 

[markern]

2 minutes ago, idquest said:

 

No not really - re his question marks. But they are minor.

Jesse teaches several sets. I like his 'Washing' qigong set the most. Jesse has a good level of details explaining the movements and general daoist concepts. Whether this works for you - this will depend on what your goals are. 

Thanks

[Cobie]

Based only on what I read on TDB, I disliked Damo; this while never having seen any of his videos.  Then one day a couple of years back, I finally did watch one video; in it he talks on his own at length.  He seemed to me to spend the whole of the video with avoiding saying what he wanted to say; then finally, only right at the last minute he does say 'it'.  And then I knew he had his heart in the right place and I understand why he stopped posting videos. (I forgot the title of the video. I never saw a video of Adam, or of Damo with Adam; sometimes two people bring out the worst in each other.)

 

 

Edited Monday at 02:37 PM by Cobie

[markern]

11 minutes ago, Cobie said:

Based only on what I read on TDB, I disliked Damo; this while never having seen any of his videos.  Then one day a couple of years back, I finally did watch one video; in it he talks on his own at length.  He seemed to me to spend the whole of the video with avoiding saying what he wanted to say; then finally, only right at the last minute he does say 'it'.  And then I knew he had his heart in the right place and I understand why he stopped posting videos. (I forgot the title of the video. I never saw a video of Adam, or of Damo with Adam; sometimes two people bring out the worst in each other.)

 

 

I don't understand what you say here about the video. Could you explain it in a different way?

I agree his heart is generally in the right place. 

[Cobie]

8 minutes ago, markern said:

I don't understand what you say here about the video. Could you explain it in a different way?

I agree his heart is generally in the right place. 

 

It's a reasonable question I expecteded it. However, I wrote it cryiptic for the same reason imo Damo stopped posting. I will not comment further.

 

 

Edited Monday at 02:48 PM by Cobie

[markern]

Just now, Cobie said:

 

It's a reasonable question I expected. However, I wrote it cryiptic for the same reason Damo stopped posting. I will not cmment further.

Fair enough

[Sahaja]

12 hours ago, idquest said:

 

You did not mentioned it and I'm not sure to what extent you are aware, but Damo Mitchell studied with Mark Rasmus for several years, and I believe Damo's real core abilities come from Mark.

 

Often, people get entangled in language of the system and miss substance. Mark does not use daoist vocabulary much, but what he can do and what he teaches eclipses what most 'daoist' teachers teach.

 

 

franz Bardon/hermetics and qi is the physical breath in relation to qi gong/focus on the qi between your hands  - Rasmus 

vs

liu Yiming/Huang Yuanji/neidan and qi  is not the physical breath in relation to qi gong - inside is what is important, qi feeling on/between the hands is meaningless - Mitchell

 

seems there are some significant fundamental differences between them in both underlying philosophy and the foundation of their approaches. 

 

These writers on Neidan  (Yiming and Yuanji) and Damo are pretty conservative - no side doors, no sexual practices, no ayahuasca, as little use of the acquired mind as possible (wei wu wei with the first wei almost silent) including no visualizations, no imagination,  no shamanic magic, internal means only internal etc. I  can see how this conservative approach turns some people off. Particularly those using these methods. 

 

as far as Damo’s seniors - I am not sure whether you guys are referring to these folks on this list or why you don’t think highly of them. Damo has developed a large network of teachers so I don’t understand the comments on this. 

https://lotusneigong.com/branches-2/

 

People should choose who they want but I think one needs to go beyond just the gossip and innuendo. 

[markern]

13 minutes ago, Sahaja said:

 

 

 (wei wu wei with the first wei almost silent)

What does this mean?

[Krenx]

2 hours ago, Sahaja said:

People should choose who they want but I think one needs to go beyond just the gossip and innuendo. 

 

So I have attended his workshops. I have observed the attendees, people who have been training his system for a long time. Some are instructors. I will lay out some observations. 

 

There were a lot of spontaneous movements that happened to attendees. I think to about 5-6 of them. It was not your average type of zi fa gong. It is hitting the ground, screaming, blissful mumbling. And it seems to be a norm for some long time practitioners. Zi fa gong I know  is a normal phenomenon. But to have it to this extreme, not be able to manage it at least in a public workshop setting, it raises questions.

 

I will give damo credit in this. Because he recognizes that it was going on a little too much after the 2nd/3rd day and stepped in to help get some of them to calm down, which did not help much. 

 

Damo is actually a very nice guy to talk to, and very cheerful, polite, respectful, open, curious, sincere. I actually have no issues with him personally. But there is something about what comes out the other end of the system. It feels off, and I have seen it with my own eyes. 

 

It might not even have anything to do with him particularly. There are other forces that can get involved in these arts as the identity and ego of a school grows to this size. We can also see Damo has had difficulties managing his tendencies to interact on the web with his inner thoughts; when he should be wise enough with all his training to realize the blowback from the public. His personal goals and path seems muddy in recent years. 

 

Again, lovely guy in person actually. Not many who talk about him have met him. I have. But puzzle around his school, system, quality of practitioners from my own observations still remains. Granted it was only one workshop that I observed. So take as many grains of salt you wish to take from that. 🙏

 

Edited Monday at 06:24 PM by Krenx

[ChunMaya]

1 hour ago, Krenx said:

 

Damo is actually a very nice guy to talk to, and very cheerful, polite, respectful, open, curious, sincere. I actually have no issues with him personally. But there is something about what comes out the other end of the system. It feels off, and I have seen it with my own eyes. 

 

It might not even have anything to do with him particularly. There are other forces that can get involved in these arts as the identity and ego of a school grows to this size.

 

You raise a really important point. My impression of Damo from his online interviews is the same — he seems like a genuinely kind person with his heart in the right place. The stories about him banning students from forums over minor things strike me more as leftover behavior from past wounds or insecurities — which is fine. No one is perfect, and I don’t hold that against him. What matters more to me is whether the actual techniques work.

 

That said, increasing Qi and its circulation almost always stirs up unresolved issues and buried behavioral patterns. When blockages begin to clear, the symptoms that surface rarely look flattering — because they’re symptoms of dysfunction leaving the system. It’s easy to judge someone’s behavior at that stage and label them as flawed, but often it’s just Qi doing its work. Internal cultivation takes years — sometimes decades — and the process rarely finishes completely. Maybe a handful of people clear everything in a single lifetime, but that’s likely the exception, not the rule.

[idquest]

One of the biggest obstacles on the path (and life in general) is arrogance/pride/hubris. This is why it is important to train humility. Quite often, hubris masks itself as pretended humility - this is a tricky one.

 

Damo is genuinely humble. Call him and his school whatever, but he is deeply and genuinely humble, and there are few people like this who walk the path.

 

To clarify: this my opinion of him comes from several personal interactions I've had with him.

Edited Monday at 10:23 PM by idquest

[Nungali]

4 hours ago, Krenx said:

 

So I have attended his workshops. I have observed the attendees, people who have been training his system for a long time. Some are instructors. I will lay out some observations. 

 

There were a lot of spontaneous movements that happened to attendees. I think to about 5-6 of them. It was not your average type of zi fa gong. It is hitting the ground, screaming, blissful mumbling. And it seems to be a norm for some long time practitioners. Zi fa gong I know  is a normal phenomenon. But to have it to this extreme, not be able to manage it at least in a public workshop setting, it raises questions.

 

I will give damo credit in this. Because he recognizes that it was going on a little too much after the 2nd/3rd day and stepped in to help get some of them to calm down, which did not help much. 

 

Damo is actually a very nice guy to talk to, and very cheerful, polite, respectful, open, curious, sincere. I actually have no issues with him personally. But there is something about what comes out the other end of the system. It feels off, and I have seen it with my own eyes. 

 

It might not even have anything to do with him particularly. There are other forces that can get involved in these arts as the identity and ego of a school grows to this size. We can also see Damo has had difficulties managing his tendencies to interact on the web with his inner thoughts; when he should be wise enough with all his training to realize the blowback from the public. His personal goals and path seems muddy in recent years. 

 

Again, lovely guy in person actually. Not many who talk about him have met him. I have. But puzzle around his school, system, quality of practitioners from my own observations still remains. Granted it was only one workshop that I observed. So take as many grains of salt you wish to take from that. 🙏

 

 

 

First , I 'understand'  nothing about Chinese arts .  Still, I practiced various forms of MA for over 50 years  and magick and certain 'energy systems ' and I am going to say that after some time , no  I don't really do 'forms' , kata , etc  only for 'memory practice and to 'keep moving ' but what arose  after all those years , and what I now prefer , could be described as 'zi fa gong' .

 

This is entirely different from the 'other type ' of spontaneous movement ' .... that type is more like the convulsions that arise from 'unstable psychology and psyche ' that people like Rajneesh encouraged  his disciples  to do .

 

They are entirely different .

 

Its like 'intuition' .  Studies have shown that the most intuitive people   ( that are right ) are those with the most experience in their field ; the nurse , the engineer , etc .  They have spent a long time gaining experience and like a LOT of other knowledge it goes into the unconscious  and all sorts of interactions occur in there ,  a vast multitude of them at light speed ... to fast for consciousness . Then it spits the answer out into the conscious  and we might get an insight  or an answer or awareness  that seems to arise 'intuitively' of its own accord .   For me this is the first type of ' spontaneity  ' .  

 

Then there is the other intuition , where people have a feeling  and an insistence that they must be right due to their 'intuition ', often in an area where it cant be tested  .  It is usually used as a 'front ' or 'excuse' or cover for   forces in an unresolved psyche . 

 

No wonder people are getting confused about this practice  and see the good and bad sides of it .  This second practice can get way out of control , as evidenced by some of the 'crazy gong' ,  'Orange people meditations ' and  Voodoo ceremonies I have seen  ( including a mass crazy  unrehearsed or choreographed machete  'dance'  - a 'melee'  actually . Something IS going on  -  as not a  single person got cut ! )  but this is accessing the primal forces  and a  Voodoo priest or priestess is going to understand  A LOT MORE what is going on there than a Youtube 'seminarist ' . 

 

This second type is reactive and not responsive  and it is convulsive  and often does not have 'flow' ... that should be an indication , or the flow is  chaotic . 

 

 

[forestofclarity]

19 hours ago, idquest said:

but Damo Mitchell studied with Mark Rasmus for several years, and I believe Damo's real core abilities come from Mark.

 

I think there's a lot of difference. Mark uses visualization, Damo is the opposite. 

 

His own admission on this forum is that his initial book was based on teachings from his uncle via Shen Hongxun's lineage.

 

Of course, that thread also devolved intro controversy. 

 

He also is now revealing his alchemy comes from Wang Haitao. 

 

https://lotusneigong.com/systems/

 

https://www.lotusneigongcardiff.com/copy-of-home-1

[Nungali]

2 hours ago, ChunMaya said:

 

You raise a really important point. My impression of Damo from his online interviews is the same — he seems like a genuinely kind person with his heart in the right place. The stories about him banning students from forums over minor things strike me more as leftover behavior from past wounds or insecurities — which is fine. No one is perfect, and I don’t hold that against him. What matters more to me is whether the actual techniques work.

 

That said, increasing Qi and its circulation almost always stirs up unresolved issues and buried behavioral patterns. When blockages begin to clear, the symptoms that surface rarely look flattering — because they’re symptoms of dysfunction leaving the system. It’s easy to judge someone’s behavior at that stage and label them as flawed, but often it’s just Qi doing its work. Internal cultivation takes years — sometimes decades — and the process rarely finishes completely. Maybe a handful of people clear everything in a single lifetime, but that’s likely the exception, not the rule.

 

Yes, this is the other side of it but this too has a problem and I have seen it in many fields ;

 

do the 'symptoms'  resolve through practice  ( meaning do the decrease and go away and the practice bring obvious benefit ) 

 

or do the 'symptoms' just keep manifesting, turn into some type of 'practice'  and there is no obvious resolving ?  )

 

I have seen some 'practice' acting out these symptoms for years actually , and they still had the problems they started off with in the beginning that the 'meditations and practices '  were supposedly a remedy for .   These practices can have their own type of 'addictive quality'. 

[Nungali]

6 minutes ago, forestofclarity said:

 

I think there's a lot of difference. Mark uses visualization, Damo is the opposite. 

 

His own admission on this forum is that his initial book was based on teachings from his uncle via Shen Hongxun's lineage. 

 

Of course, that thread also devolved intro controversy. 

 

 

 

 

Ahhhhhhh  ..... Thunder Gooch  !         

 

' Those were the days '    ! 

[forestofclarity]

Interesting that in his current site, he states: 

 

Quote

His foundation in internal energy work was laid through study with Shen Hongxun, a master known for powerful forms of medical Qi Gong and internal force training.

 

Whereas his uncle played a "supporting" role.

 

But he previously stated here, when confronted by a student of Shen's that: 

 

On 7/14/2009 at 1:03 PM, Damo said:

The lineage actually comes down through Phil (my Uncle),

 

and

 

On 6/2/2009 at 3:30 PM, Damo said:

My Uncle is a full Lineage holder under Shen Hongxun and he was my main Taiji instructor for a long time. I trained under him and Shen until a few years ago and so the lineage comes down through Phil.