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Yea, it’s too bad. I had been thinking recently if there was any way to revive it. This was a valuable resource – once upon a time. There are probably a number of reasons, but I think the main problem is that we lost our moderator.

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Morality is an ambiguous term and is sometimes understood to mean merely external rules of behavior without reference to the inner or spiritual essence. In Daoism there is a kind of moral or ethical view that is based on the understanding of the relationship between the development of certain inner qualities and the overall energetic and spiritual development of the individual. Here are some quotes from Mantak Chia’s Awaken Healing Light of the Tao.

“In the early stages of the Universal Tao system, students begin absorbing and transforming energy for the development of the physical, energy, and soul bodies. Cultivating the virtues and compassion is the other half of the practice, which refines the relationship among these bodies. The more virtuous energy you develop, the more easily you will be able to clear your channels of any blockages to your energy flow as you transform and refine your energy by circulating it in the Microcosmic orbit.”

“Taoists revere compassion as the highest form of virtue because its basis is empathy, not sympathy, and it elevates the consciousness beyond human weakness.”

“The difference between empathy and compassion … is that compassion is not an emotion or feeling, but a higher state of consciousness that naturally radiates the best human qualities. Taoists regard compassion as the finest form of chi.”

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Thanks Victor. Good to hear from you. Yes, some of the HRM material does not entirely make sense, and some of the benefits seemed likely unattainable for some people. So, it seems most people will end up improvising with the basic principles, as you’ve done, rather than strictly following the HRM protocol. One variant on the basic practice that I’ve encountered on the web and which makes sense to me involves drawing the energy down to distribute it throughout the body, or alternately, to recirculate it from the heart back to the sun. Though I’m only some days into the practice I can feel how there might be a tendency for the energy to accumulate in the head.

The breatharian phenomenon is something that’s known to traditional Daoist practice and I believe Michael has some articles on it on this site. Whether it can be accomplished through sungazing is another question. Some of the sungazing testimonies I was able to find on the web mention diminished appetite.

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I’m not an expert on Inner Smile, but my understanding is that the essence of it is that it holds its object in a loving and neutral presence. This allows any blocked chi to break up and move according to its own internal dynamics. It is analogous to the “chinese finger trap” toy. When you apply pressure it locks. When you relax things are free to move. I sometimes conceptualize the inner smile as the representing the perspective of a fully enlightened master. He sees only the perfection and sacredness of every moment of the universe. He sees no need to change anything and his gaze spontaneously envelopes its object in clarity and acceptance. This liberates the energies to express their own nature. It is pure allowing, with nothing imposed from the outside – no directing of energy at anything.

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Hi Zoose,

I’m not familiar with Steven’s remark on this, so I can’t comment on that. My own practice of Inner Smile has tended to change a bit over time as I experiment with different approaches and move closer to either the MC presentation or the MW presentation. There are a lot of potential nuances there and, as often happens, the MC version is more complicated. Also, each session tends to be rather free form as I smile at different things depending on what I’m working on, and go back and forth between the yin and yang methods without any particular structure.

How do you doing the inner smile? What is happening, or not happening, that makes you think you need to change it? What is RSI?

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Ask it and they will come

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I second that, and thanks to you Viktor for the enthusiasm, sharing, and inspiration you’ve brought to the forum. And of course special mention for Steven whose sharing has been a mass of knowledge and insight for as long as I’ve been coming to this forum. (I did think the forum would be gone by now. Have I missed something?)

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Thanks Victor. Interesting, and very timely. I’ve just started looking into the ketogenic diet. I’ve had some good results with moderate carb restriction but I understand the ketogenic approach takes it to another level. A few questions: what is bulletproof coffee? Any resources you would recommend? Is the diet complicated to follow?
thanks,
elephant

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Thanks Steven. Unfortunately that all makes a lot of sense. It’s a core issue, perhaps THE core issue of this lifetime, which I might express as being a sense that the worldly destiny is not being realized, is blocked somehow. And like with the practitioners of the 12 steps, I feel that I have reached a limit of what my ego-self can do in this regard.

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My only physical addiction is caffeine. Primarily I believe it’s in the nature of a psychological tendency, though it does manifest in my relationship to substances, primarily alcohol. Just to be clear, this is at a level that I think most observers would deem to be fairly moderate. But from my standpoint it’s a significant obstacle to getting to the next level in my health and practice.

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Interesting. I find your analysis of wood->fire themes to be absolutely spot on. And the major stress is also present. I had been meaning to formulate some kind of query on addictive tendencies for this forum since I’m in the throes of a confrontation with that long-standing issue right now.

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I’ve thought about this – not parkour necessarily but finding something movement oriented that would really engage the body, in “richer ways” as you say. I haven’t really arrived at anything. The time commitment always seems prohibitive, and other excuses are made.

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No, I don’t know tai chi 1. Primordial is the only tai chi I do, if that counts. I have Karin Sorvik’s Tao Yin DVD but I haven’t got into it yet.
That’s kind of interesting about the wood-to-fire connection, because when I do fusion 1 I always have some kind of difficulty getting the flow established from the liver pearl to the heart pearl.

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Thanks Steven. I think I understood enough of that to move forward. The WOOD nurturing approach most appeals to me at the moment. Also, I’ve recently been aware of a sort of “liver congestion”, which is perhaps related. Regarding tendon exercises/stretches – does QF4 include tendon exercises/stretches? Would traditional hatha yoga asana be considered tendon exercise?
thanks,
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