onelove

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  1. Take spiritual energy practice (YiGong) and add (al)chemist shit to it (Red Phoenix) and you have Kunlun BTW I don't mean to say RP is shit, or that Kunlun is shit, I'm just flowing with the analogy here to make the point that the analogy isn't entirely appropos
  2. Consciousness

    In my cultivation I have come to look at consciousness and awareness as 2 different things - consciousness being the many layers of the mind, our perception, the subconscious, while awareness is simply the state of being that exists beyond consciousness. My teacher asks her students to explore this awareness beyond consciousness, primarily through meditation and sleep/dream yoga. This has been a most fruitful practice for me and I think I have had tastes of the experience you describe Aaron. Of course in trying to describe my own experience in awareness I need to recruit my conscious mind, and the experience is immediately lost or at least altered my my own filters and lenses and limitations of language. And once expressed it is again altered by the lenses and filters of those receiving my words. Perhaps this is part of why the Dao that can be spoken is not the true Dao. This concept was well articulated by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in the book "I Am That" - that book provided the missing link for me in my development, and helped me put so many of the classics texts of Buddhism and Daoism in to perspective, as well as the often seemingly contradictory teachings/methods of the masters I have had the fortune of studying with.
  3. Can't sit in lotus

    Good advice. I'd also add that once you choose which of these excellent energy practices suits you you also seek out a practice to ground the mind in the body and get to the root why you have trouble sitting comfortably. Standing meditation (under the guidance of a skilled teacher), along with good diet and sleep will work wonders to this effect. Max and Jenny have both spoken very highly of the benefits of a standing practice to aid in the energy practices. And really standing meditation/wuji qigong is a pretty powerful energy practice in and of itself if done correctly.
  4. Quick Kunlun question

    It's taught both ways by Max and Kan (as recently as a year ago). Jenny generally teaches right over left but has encouraged students to try either way as well, she says it doesn't matter. Good posture, relaxation, and awareness matter much more in her system. When she teaches she often adds the following refinement to the foot position, which I found helpful when I do the spontaneous practice: Start with shins/thighs at 90 deg angles, raise to the very tippy-top of toes, pull toes in two inches closer to chair, then lower feet tot he balls of the feet. For me this helps flatten the lower back/tilt pelvis back slightly, fill back of dan tian, and open up spine as same in wuji qigong/standing meditation.
  5. Quick Kunlun question

    You can practice with left over right as well...but if you are feeling discomfort I think you need to check in with your posture and then relax and let go of your thinking mind.
  6. How Do Taoists Cure Addiction?

    Thank You for the incredibly honest and insightful post
  7. Prince makes a good point here about tension. However my teachers (who are pretty old school, if you will) advocate for longer standing practice, with constant active focus of the mind on the body, scanning for tension, checking for posture, feeling for energy flow (without trying to direct energy flow, at least at the early stages of development). Personally I have found this route to be very rewarding, training the mind and very quickly moving though tension and blockages. But if your mind is not strong enough to maintain this constant focus, back off, or you will mindlessly lock tension into your body, as Prince suggested. Sifu Gregory Fong has a great article on ZZ practice, with a unique take that helped me immensely - he stays out of the realm of energy speak and even warns against focusing too much on relaxation - his approach is to train the mind to actively connect with and engage the correct muscles for standing, and using the mind to actively work and train these muscles. This in turn helps the other muscles in the body relax. The implication is that tension in the body comes from the body using the wrong muscles to stand/move, which in turn comes form the mind not being actively and correctly engaged in the body in the moment to provide the support the body needs to function at its best. Here's a link: http://i-chuan.net/download/ZhanZhuangFromAnIChuanPerspective.pdf
  8. Qigong & Love

    Your point on self-love is also very important, this really sums up my qigong practice for me, this type of self love is the key to removing all of the blockages in the physical, mental, and emotional, and energetic bodies. It's a tough love, not always pretty, but so worth it! I am reminded of my favorite Rumi quote: "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."
  9. Qigong & Love

    Love is so over-rated...just kidding, though you could probably tell that just form my log-in name. Anyway I agree with Ya Mu - while I have come across many qigong teachers and books in my day that are devoid of Love, mostly just focusing of 'Chinese exercise', I have had the good fortune to learn from two traditional Daoist teachers, both lineage holders of traditions that date back to the last millenium, both of whom teach the importance of love and heart centered living. Their teachings of the classic Daoist text reveal these concepts to be well embedded in the traditional Daoist cannon as well, although many translations into English really miss the mark. I have notice that the word love is generally avoided though, I'm not sure if this is intentional. Perhaps too many connotations with the western connotation of romanticized love, I'm not sure. But certainly the idea that we call love, loving kindness, compassion, and the related principals of service, virtue, healing/helping/sharing, these are all central to the teachings I have received.
  10. Celibacy in Spontaneous Adjustment?

    Ok, a brief attempt to answer your question: Being mindful in any practice that you are doing. The practice matters less than how you do the practice. Regulate the posture, breath, and mind. Look within, listen within, feel within. Maintain the role of observer, maintain awareness, and do not attach to any phenomena or goal. Keeping this advice in mind, practices that are conducive to mind training: Standing Post Qigong - try one posture for an hour; Vipassana meditation - simply sitting and maintaining awareness, watch physical tensions, thought forms, and emotions come and go without attachment; Spontaneous adjustment Qigong - keeping the same principles of Vipassana in mind, Sleep and dream practices - too much to get into here but one of my book suggestions below gets into this topic very well - as do Sifu Jenny's teachings; internal martial arts, practiced with the development of Yi as the focus, not the development of power or skill (though those will likely follow the development of Yi). And really any practice will do, just practice with the idea of developing your mind and exploring the nature of mind and the nature of all perceived reality. Turning every moment of your life into your practice helps tremendously. Direct oral transmission of wisdom teachings really helps - again I recommend Sifu Jenny - her talks cut through me like daggers and helped me cut through the veils of illusion quickly. If you are the reading type, I also would recommend the following four books, they aid the cognitive mind in getting out of its own way: Recommended by Sifu Jenny: "I Am That" Sri Maharaj Nisargadatta Also: "Tibetan Yogas of Sleep and Dream" Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche "Revealing the Tao Te Ching, translation and commentaries" Hu Xuezhi "Secret of the Golden Flower" Thomas Cleary translation Finally I'll copy some of a post to another thread I made recently that may benefit: "Lastly I would like to add to the discussion that these two gems connect very well in practice: Training to free the mind from judgment and the limits of cognitive thought and emotional response, while maintaining awareness, allows for the pre-natal shen to flow, relaxing tension, easing rigidity, releasing blocks, and allowing for the natural, free flow of energy to nourish body, mind, and spirit. This "mind training" for me is the heart of spontaneous qigong. And the practice of forms, particularly for me taiji, helps develop the greater Yi necessary for more effective spontaneous practice, while at the same time helping to open the channels and the physical body to ensure that spontaneous movements and expressions of energy are expressed in a free flowing, graceful, and gentle manner." The whole post can be found in its original context at the bottom of the page here: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/4395-kunlun-and-spontaneous-movement-qigong/page__st__64 I hope this now not so brief attempt gets at your request for practical info. My best to you and everyone in their cultivation. -onelove
  11. Celibacy in Spontaneous Adjustment?

    @bamboo: I do not disagree with you or anything in your reply, particularly when you look at long term spiritual cultivation. I was answering the original poster's question as to how Sifu Jenny teaches, and my post is a fairly accurate representation of how I have heard her approach the topic in her seminars and retreats. She seemed to make it a point to point out the benefits of abstention as it relates to qigong and spiritual cultivation. She also makes it a point, in fact it is the heart of her teaching, to train the mind to remain in non-dual awareness, free from desire and attachment, at all times. She makes it a point not to lay down rigid rules and guidelines however, especially in the beginning of one's practice. My take on her teaching is that when a person sets a rule for themselves (such as celibacy) that they are not ready for, they set themselves up for failure, emotional scarring and abandonment of their path. A certain amount of mind training is necessary before a person is ready for such changes in lifestyle. Sifu Jenny stresses a slow, steady approach to training and warms against trying to rush or force progress. Her way is best summed up in a quote on her website, "Let what comes, come, let what goes go." (wow, very unintended pun in that quote!) In Sifu Jenny's system, as I have received and understand it, a sincere and dedicated student will discover all that is needed for self-realisation from within through the training of the mind. Appropriate behavior will develop naturally in due course. In the meantime her training focuses on cultivating awareness 24 hours a day, when eating, sleeping... every moment of the day is practice. A person becomes aware very quickly of just how much we leak energy all of the time, and in training the mind the person gradually works to 'plug the leaks.' She just doesn't tell you which 'leaks' to plug first, which are more important. She simply guides her students to develop awareness of all of their 'leaks' and make the choice for themselves whether they want to change their behavior or not.
  12. Celibacy in Spontaneous Adjustment?

    If you have a question along these lines, I would recommend e-mailing Sifu Jenny; she likes to receive questions about the practice and regularly updates the FAQ on her website with the questions she receives; I will share what I have heard from Sifu Jenny at her seminar and later her retreat: Do not engage in sexual activity 24 hours before or after your practice, as this is damaging/depleting. She has also shared stories of fellow practitioners who practice total abstention, to great result - the particular story that sticks in mind is the story of a push hands master who trains standing post/wuji qigong 3 hours a day, abstains, and has tremendous strength. She discusses the importance of training the mind to remain in non-dual awareness, and tracking the origins of all thought, desire, and emotion. She does not advocate rigid adherence to abstention however, and treats every individual case differently. If strength and power are your goal, abstention might be beneficial. Her teachings are quite straightforward - train your mind to remain in non-dual awareness and good qi flow and development will follow, health with follow, understanding and wisdom will follow, your own path will become clear to you. Applying rigid codes of behavior or specific alchemical processes to the practices she teaches does not work. That is not to say that these processes and behaviors are invalid, they are simply not a part of her system as she teaches it. Finally she advocates finding a system that resonates with you and sticking with it with all of your heart, and not mixing systems/processes/energy practices from different teachers/lineages. This is what I can quickly remember and paraphrase from my time with Sifu Jenny - please check in with her for a more complete or accurate answer. Happy cultivating to all, and to all a goodnight!
  13. Kunlun and spontaneous movement qigong

    Amidst all of the back and forth of this thread two real gems of wisdom have been brought to the surface. Thank you to Red Phoenix for your point on discernment versus judgment - in my experience this understanding is key to progress in spiritual development, particularly mind based training methods, be it Yi Gong, Tibetan Bon Po or Nyingma,or Daoist Golden Light or similar alchemical methods. Also thanks to Hundun for your point on Spontaneous or Natural Flow methods of qigong - I have experienced these methods to be quite valid and effective in my practice. I also consider Spontaneous/Natural Flow methods to be quite gentle and nourishing. Lastly I would like to add to the discussion that these two gems connect very well in practice: Training to free the mind from judgment and the limits of cognitive thought and emotional response, while maintaining awareness, allows for the pre-natal shen to flow, relaxing tension, easing rigidity, releasing blocks, and allowing for the natural, free flow of energy to nourish body, mind, and spirit. This "mind training" for me is the heart of spontaneous qigong. And the practice of forms, particularly for me taiji, helps develop the greater Yi necessary for more effective spontaneous practice, while at the same time helping to open the channels and the physical body to ensure that spontaneous movements and expressions of energy are expressed in a free flowing, graceful, and gentle manner. I wish you all well in your practice, whatever it may be.