Damo Mitchell - Need Advice

[forestofclarity]

2 hours ago, Forestgreen said:

Sounds like every school of qigong, meditation or martial arts I have ever trained in.

 

Many religions/spiritual paths also. 

 

The thing about Damo is that all the criticisms seem to swirl around his personae. I haven't come across any of his substantive teachings that have been contradicted by other trustworthy sources--- in fact, they generally tend to be confirmed. I think it is a power path, and power generates all parts of the mind. 

 

1 hour ago, steve said:

 

It’s an interesting phenomenon. While there are clearly some teachers/figureheads who actively create a cult following, there also seems to be a collective tendency for students/followers to create a cult atmosphere even in the absence of a predatory leader.

 

It does seem natural-- there's an interesting book on this called "Cultish" talking about the tendency for people to form cults. Even when teachers actively discourage it. 

 

Qigong and intensive meditation can generate powerful experiences, so it is ripe for cultish activity. I think this is one reason in Buddhist traditions there is so much initial emphasis on sila or right conduct. 

[liminal_luke]

On spiritual cults: Trying to merge with the Dao by cultivating an aura of specialness is like trying to lose weight by eating at McDonalds.

[Vajra Fist]

12 minutes ago, liminal_luke said:

On spiritual cults: Trying to merge with the Dao by cultivating an aura of specialness is like trying to lose weight by eating at McDonalds.

 

Or maybe not! I think my main concern with qigong based paths is that they tend to strengthen the ego. Which is why I said I doubt that Damo or his students have anything approaching the Buddhist idea of stream entry. Damo himself admits he's a narcissist. 

 

But maybe that's okay, and they have different goals. 

[Forestgreen]

47 minutes ago, Vajra Fist said:

 

Or maybe not! I think my main concern with qigong (energy) based paths is that they tend to strengthen the ego. 

I added in the quote. 

Yes, and it should set the practitioner for a very healthy way of transcending that later on. 

For those that aim in that direction,  and walk far enough. 

[Vajra Fist]

21 minutes ago, Forestgreen said:

I added in the quote. 

Yes, and it should set the practitioner for a very healthy way of transcending that later on. 

For those that aim in that direction,  and walk far enough. 

 

I personally doubt that a path that fosters wrong view can magically arrive at right view by the time you've walked it to the end. But such things are way beyond my experience, so I defer to your opinion.

Edited Sunday at 03:59 PM by Vajra Fist

[Master Logray]

Sounds like someone is going over to the dark side.   Is it destiny?

[Vajra Fist]

.

Edited Sunday at 05:21 PM by Vajra Fist

[Forestgreen]

1 hour ago, Vajra Fist said:

 

I personally doubt that a path that fosters wrong view can magically arrive at right view by the time you've walked it to the end. But such things are way beyond my experience, so I defer to your opinion.

Took me 28 years (of 30 years of practice) just to understand the process ( so it is not finished), and I never joined the siddhi hunter club nor the instructor club during those years. I also do a lot of emotional work.

I wish I could say that if people just practiced a correct method, it would not be s problem. But that would be a lie.  The energetic path have inherent problems. Other paths have other problems, often based on dissociating from the ego instead of developing non-ego. 

 

[Antares]

1 hour ago, Forestgreen said:

I wish I could say that if people just practiced a correct method, it would not be s problem. But that would be a lie.  The energetic path have inherent problems. Other paths have other problems, often based on dissociating from the ego instead of developing non-ego. 

 

That is why in every authentic "pai" there are "heart-mind" purification methods. Which of course must be done correctly. 

If it is not the case then you can see ego strengthening in a person. My first "teacher" was this sort of person. He taught external martial art -- aikido -- stating this is very internal style and also he taught yang style taiji beginning from iron shirt like exercises.

Now i understand there were not any heart mind purification methods. My ego was growing too. In this case energy feeds your "karmic seeds" instead of dissolving it. 

[Davey Calico]

4 hours ago, Vajra Fist said:

 

Or maybe not! I think my main concern with qigong based paths is that they tend to strengthen the ego. Which is why I said I doubt that Damo or his students have anything approaching the Buddhist idea of stream entry. Damo himself admits he's a narcissist. 

 

If this Damo is an admitted narcissist (which I believe is contrary to the traditional definition of narcissist), then he probably would love being talked about on this forum. Maybe he's simply not very likeable. In which case, we have to ask ourselves, what is it about him that triggers us?

 

Why do you feel that qigong based paths strengthen the ego?

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

14 hours ago, Davey Calico said:

In which case, we have to ask ourselves, what is it about him that triggers us?

Personally for me it is the lack of respect for the cultures in Asia that he is making a profit from. I believe if you are using someone else’s traditions and cultures, and especially making money from it, treat it with respect at the very least, not constantly make fun of or insult it.
 

 

Here is one example:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDaoOfDaoDeJing/s/W31g75fSfM

Edited Monday at 10:02 AM by -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

14 hours ago, Davey Calico said:

If this Damo is an admitted narcissist (which I believe is contrary to the traditional definition of narcissist), then he probably would love being talked about on this forum.

Funnily enough, he used to be on this forum until people started calling him out on his credentials. Some students of the master he claimed to be a lineage holder from came in and said he’s lying about being a lineage holder and never learned long term from their master. Even a friend of his uncle came in and said that he lied about training as a child with his uncle, and that his uncle never met him until he was 23 year old. To top it all off Damo’s mum also joined in to defend him from other posters. Such a bizarre thread:

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 09:57 AM by -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-

[Antares]

50 minutes ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Funnily enough, he used to be on this forum until people started calling him out on his credentials. Some students of the master he claimed to be a lineage holder from came in and said he’s lying about being a lineage holder and never learned long term from their master.

I wonder how he keeps connection with any lineage in China if he has not been there for 6+ years?

Also I wonder what gives him a right to call himself Damo?

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

9 minutes ago, Antares said:

I wonder how he keeps connection with any lineage in China if he has not been there for 6+ years?

Who knows

 

9 minutes ago, Antares said:

Also I wonder what gives him a right to call himself Damo?

Damo is actually a nickname for Damian in the UK, so can’t criticise him for that. But calling yourself Damo and then constantly badmouthing Buddhism is not a good look.

[Master Logray]

Energetic path is not pure energetic.  It comprises training that polishes one's ego.  But let say this part is omitted or ignored or not done properly, then the path boosts the ego and draws one into problems.   Strengthening the ego has a lot of civilized consequences but don't forget internal martial arts and Neigong are meant for hand to hand combat.   So if you are healthy and strong and skilled, would it be more likely to engage in fights?   Is it more likely to defend the weak?  or punish the bully?  The best founding fathers of Xinyi had mentioned, after a stage, they just wanted to hit everything.  It was a result of their training.   

[Antares]

3 hours ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Who knows

Very weird story to be honest. Last time I was in England 20 years ago but it does not mean I dont speak English NOW bcoze it was so long ago. Sounds like his Chinese never was good enough to learn from Chinese teacher.

 

3 hours ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

But calling yourself Damo and then constantly badmouthing Buddhism is not a good look.

Well, the Chan teaching was very similar to Daoist one at that time. Later it became almost like religion. 

If he had been living in China for 2 years and never been back there -- it sounds like he got quite advanced level during that period of time. I would say that it is unlikely because for a person from the Western world, the stage of purifying the heart takes about five years. I remember that, for example, the Russian head of the Daoist branch of WLP wrote that he spent five years mainly practicing Qigong, and only then did they start teaching Neidan. This was both a test and a purification of the heart at the same time. It's hard to forget Chinese in such a long period of study 

[Forestgreen]

Damo says that he found other teachers in other places in southeast asia, and that he keeps contact with those. My teachers teacher left China, and felt that he could teach more freely because of that.

 

I always interpreted the Asa vajrayana podcast and the whiskey and cigar antics as a part of a scheme to repulse students that wanted the cult-like aspects of training. A focus on the mechanics of neigong would be in line with that. 

 

 

[Master Logray]

4 hours ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Who knows

 

Damo is actually a nickname for Damian in the UK, so can’t criticise him for that. But calling yourself Damo and then constantly badmouthing Buddhism is not a good look.

 

The word Damo has any meaning somewhere?

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

1 minute ago, Master Logray said:

 

The word Damo has any meaning somewhere?

I thought Damo/Bodhidharma would be common knowledge here and not need an explanation 

[Forestgreen]

On 2025-08-31 at 9:27 PM, Antares said:

 

That is why in every authentic "pai" there are "heart-mind" purification methods. Which of course must be done correctly. 

Might work on emotions, but not really on the transformation from ego to non-ego, in the presence of ego-strengthening methods. 

[Antares]

8 hours ago, Forestgreen said:

Might work on emotions, but not really on the transformation from ego to non-ego, in the presence of ego-strengthening methods. 

Emotions are part of the ego. This is also related to what is called virtue - there are five positive and five negative qualities, there is Yin and Yang, depending on which predominates. But there are post-heaven and pre-heaven Yin and Yang, the question is how to transform one into the other and to produce One Yang

Edited 17 hours ago by Antares

[Forestgreen]

I would say that although I used the word transforming, that is a poor choice of words. 

 I use post heaven as stepping stones to access pre heaven.  One there, I can interpret situations differently and act differently. 

 

I would also translate De to something else than the concept of the five virtues in this context. 

DaoDe, not another group of wuxing correllates that chinese culture is so fond of.