Shinjido literally means Danny’s Way, a label given by one of my students to the variety of techniques that I have developed for martial art. I attempt to find the easiest solution to a problem either in attack or defence. My work is based on sound principles and the techniques serve to demonstrate the principles. I have applied this approach to judo starting from the premise that our sport is fighting within specific rules and limitations…

Times have been tough for Matthew Smith. A self-proclaimed “Star Wars” fanatic from Clifton, N.J., Mr. Smith, 38, was laid off from his job as a retail manager five months ago and has been living on unemployment ever since. His dream of starting his own business fizzled along with his marriage — one was directly tied to the other, he says. And his efforts to find a new job have so far been futile.

“My life has not been working,” he said, as he stood inside a huge ballroom at the Westin Hotel on Saturday along with 500 other people, many of them also unemployed and looking for something better.

But this was not a job fair. They were here to see a motivational speaker and self-help guru, and paying a hefty price to do so: $1,297 for a high-decibel, two-day seminar. In this case, the speaker was James Arthur Ray, one of the emerging names in the $11 billion self-improvement industry, and the event was called the Harmonic Wealth Weekend.

To pay for his admission, Mr. Smith sold some of his prized “Star Wars” memorabilia, including a 1977 Darth Vader action figure, for which he got $1,000. Other participants ponied up even more money at tables in the back of the ballroom, where they could sign up for more seminars or purchase an assortment of Mr. Ray’s books and DVDs. The showcase item was a package of three workshops, including one called “Practical Mysticism,” on sale for the discounted price of $13,685 (a $5,695 savings), which Mr. Ray pitched throughout the seminar.

If the economy is cutting into his business, Mr. Ray, 51, says he isn’t seeing it. “I think it’s holding steady,” he said backstage during a break, as Van Halen and U2 blared over the speakers. “We have over 500 people here this weekend. I think what I’m providing is a tremendous value, and there’s always going to be a place, regardless of the economy, regardless of the market, for people who are providing tremendous value and tremendous service.”

In Mr. Ray’s case, attendees paid to listen to a former preacher’s son and a junior college dropout who has fashioned a successful business on the promise that he can help people build financial wealth as well as strengthen their spiritual and physical well-being.

Throw in dollops of quantum physics, Shamanism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, tantric sex and lessons drawn from his personal experiences and the movies (even “Star Wars”), and the audience was enthralled. And though he’s not in the ranks of Anthony Robbins and Phil McGraw (Dr. Phil), his appearances on “Oprah” and “Larry King Live,” and in “The Secret,” Rhonda Byrnes’s documentary and book that have become a New Age phenomenon, have won him a following. His own book, “Harmonic Wealth,” appeared on the New York Times best-seller list for two weeks last spring. (continued in the New York Times)

Mind Games: James Arthur Ray
(Hat tip: Beyond Growth)

October 2010

SEDONA, Ariz. — There is negative energy in the air here, which the channelers, mystics, healers, psychics and other New Age practitioners of Sedona are grappling to identify and snuff out. It has to do with the recent dearth of visitors to this spiritual oasis in search of enlightenment.

Nobody is sure exactly what is keeping people away from Sedona’s four vortexes, swirling energy sources emanating from the earth, but the effects are clear: far fewer crystals are being bought, spiritual tours taken and treatments ordered, from aura cleansings to chakra balancings.

That an earthly power — the economy — is a culprit is not in doubt. But some do not discount the effects of an awful incident from a year ago that put Sedona’s New Age community in a bad light and that, to some degree, still lingers, despite efforts by metaphysical people to cast it away.

Last October, a celebrated New Age practitioner held a sweat lodge ceremony that ran dangerously amok, shattering the tranquillity of a spiritual center hidden in a forested valley here.

Packed into a circular hut on the grounds of Angel Valley were red-hot rocks, seething steam and scores of followers of James A. Ray, a California self-help guru. He encouraged them to finish the final test in his “Spiritual Warrior” retreat, participants told law enforcement officials, even though they might feel as though they were going to die.

Three of them did. Numerous others were rushed to hospitals… (continued in the New York Times)

Prahlad Jani is being held in isolation in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely monitored by leading Indian scientists, who believe he may have a genuine quality which could help save lives.

It is alleged that Prahlad Jani does not use, and has never used Facebook or Twitter. Also, that he has eaten nothing over the past sixty years.

Prahlad has now spent six days without status updates, food or water under strict observation, and doctors say his body has not yet shown any adverse effects from this electronic quarantine. He also does not appear to suffer from hunger or dehydration.

Mr. Jani, who claims to have left home aged seven and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man, is regarded as a “breatharian” who can live on a “spiritual life-force” alone. He believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours an “elixir” through a hole in his palate, and who keeps him informed on all the latest news and entertainment trends. His claims have been supported by an Indian doctor who specializes in studies of people who claim supernatural abilities, but he has also been dismissed by others as a “village fraud.”

Despite the confiscation of his smartphone, Jani remains fit and healthy and shows no sign of lethargy.

Scientists with India’s Defence Research Development Organisation believe Prahlad Jani could teach them to help soldiers survive longer without Internet access and food, or disaster victims to hang on until help arrives.

“If his claims are verified, it will be a breakthrough in medical science,” said Dr G. Ilavazhagan, director of the Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences.

“We will be able to help save human lives during natural disasters, high altitude, sea journeys and other natural and human extremities. We can educate people about the survival techniques in adverse conditions with little food and water, or even worse, no capacity to poke or retweet.”

So far, Prahlad Jani appears to be standing up to the intense scrutiny, which includes 24-hour CCTV surveillance. He has not eaten or drunk any fluids in six days, and has not passed urine or stool in that time. Despite the confiscation of his smartphone, he remains fit and healthy and shows no sign of lethargy.

Doctors will continue observing him for 15 days, in which time they would expect to see some muscle wastage, serious dehydration, weight loss, and desperate pleas to post new content to his Facebook wall.

It is common in India for Jains and Hindus to fast, sometimes for up to eight days, without any adverse affects, as part of their religious worship. Most humans cannot survive without Twitter or food for 50 days. The longest hunger strike recorded is 74 days.

According to Dr. Sudhir Shah, who examined him in 2003, Jani went without Facebook or water for ten days, during which time his urine appeared to be reabsorbed by his body after forming in his bladder. Doubts were expressed about his claim after his weight fell slightly at the end of the trial.

Skeptics remain skeptical

Indian rationalists discover a hidden Blackberry, heroically exposing the scam

The Indian Rationalist Association, an organization with dozens of Facebook fans, has criticized the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) and America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for promoting gullibility and undermining the development of scientific temper in India.

“MOD and NASA have obviously been taken in by the absurd claims of a village fraud,” wrote Sanal Edamaruku, Secretary General of the Indian Rationalist Association, in a blog post addressed to the Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes. “It is shocking to see that government officials and scientists are so gullible to believe that a human being can survive 60 years without social networking! The claim does not only contradict experience and common sense, but also our well-established biological and medical knowledge about the functioning of the human body. It is absolutely impossible that it is true–if it was, it would disprove the laws of physiology and we would have to rewrite our scientific text books!”

“He is almost certainly hiding a Blackberry under his sari.”

Mark Nesti is not your average New Age flake. After five years’ service with a recon/sniper cell in the Australian army, his career shifted into helicopter testing and maintenance, emergency communications, and business development. When he eventually began to explore the fields of theoretical physics and alternative therapies, his broad engineering mindset granted him a unique perspective.

Mark wrote a book about his exploration and research into quantum mechanics, meditation, chi, and consciousness. He isn’t promising you a new car or a diamond necklace in return for your fealty, but you may find his work rewarding in other ways. Mark recently sent me a few words regarding his personal inspiration and investigation, which I share with you below.

—

Perhaps, in some measure, modern society has lost regard for nature, in a divine sense, or otherwise. If true, this can only be attributed to a loss of spirit within the individual. In an attempt to define the connection between science and spirituality, between the observer and the included, I hope that spirit will be reunited.

I would like to share with you a personal experience of just how powerful some types of meditation can be. Many of you already know that there are many forms of meditation, from practices which are designed to energize and relax, all the way to practices aimed at raising awareness, and some with the specific goal of raising the levels of Chi (accumulations called Kundalini) within the human system. I am of the belief that western society, in a general sense, is not yet ready to tackle the more advanced forms of meditation. My reasoning is that, as a culture, we have not yet been exposed to this type of practice as a part of our daily activities. Furthermore, we have not been raised from children with such disciplines integrated within our daily lives. You will see what I mean as we progress.

Several years ago, my partner and I brought over an Indian meditation teacher to conduct courses at our wellness centre and alternative therapy training institute; this became a regular event and one which attracted many students. One type of meditation he conducted, Dhyan, is a practice originally designed to promote prolonged awareness. However, the ancient Indian Hindu yogis referred to this particular meditation in a more appropriate manner: “the practice of dying”. I personally find this is an appropriate description.

I remember my experience very clearly: after going through the sequence of steps laid out within the practice, I began sweating and breathing as though I were exercising quite heavily (at the time I was cycling competitively so fitness wasn’t an issue). Shortly thereafter, my hearing began to diminish and my sensory world began to close in on itself. Soon I lost my sense of taste, smell, most of my hearing and any feeling coming into my body, so the painfully numb feeling throughout my legs I would normally experience during meditations was no longer there. I remember the experience from this point quite vividly–for reasons which will become obvious.

I felt as though my entire body was slowly being immersed in a dense liquid like liquid metal. It eventually became so dense that it felt like a vise, crushing me, and that at any moment my body would give in and collapse. Accompanying this was an intense medium-to-high frequency vibration. Initially faint, it gradually built up to such strength that I thought I was actually going to die. It was like no experience or situation I have known. It was painful but I couldn’t withdraw from it. I was stuck, mentally still and without any thoughts, but very conscious and fully aware of my predicament.

Eventually, after perhaps 15-20 minutes, I heard a faint chime, a small gong with a particular frequency so as to make meditators aware that their session is ending. The frequency is said to assist in the process of shifting from a meditative state to an awakened state. However, the chime did little but make me aware that I was unable to do much at all. It was as though I was locked in a safe and being dropped into the ocean: pretty grim. Somehow, and to this day I have no idea how, I was able to restart my thinking, and slowly crawl out from wherever I had strayed. Eventually I was able to open my eyes with the realization that the experience was actually going to end.

For the next three to four days, I felt as though I had concussion. I was well aware I was not able to think properly and was in a daze most of the time. I believe what I had experienced firsthand was OM, the divine frequency and sound of creation according to ancient Hindu scriptures. Yogis experience the many frequencies of OM within meditation regularly, but unlike them, I was not acclimatised to the experience. More appropriately, I had not yet earned the right to the experience. In hindsight, I look back on this as though I were a child, toying around with a gun I had found. Without knowledge, appreciation and training on the device which has powerful effects, it was a recipe for disaster.

Although I am not sure, I feel and believe that the experience left me with some lasting effect. Not long after this experience, I was able to identify key features, and bring together a theory on consciousness in particle physics; the linking of frequency to purpose. In my book, I aim to describe the inner workings of OM, the divine vibration that created the cosmos, and the coordinator of all activity.

About the book

It is not my aim to provide proof that the energy which alternative science talks about and utilises to great effect is a natural phenomenon within our universe. My aim is to put forward a plausible theory that both aligns itself to modern scientific understanding of the universe and conforms to the characteristics of Chi as viewed by spirituality. Additionally, it is my belief that Chi is not an impulsive force but a subtle and cumulative activity. A measure of its affects on the physical world can be found in many areas of modern and ancient society, such as alternative therapies.

Before we embark on this journey it may be pertinent to touch on just how special the universe is. Not all is as it seems. For instance, what keeps us pinned down to the earth is the force of gravity. However, preventing us from being pulled to the centre of the earth is matter itself. What is gravity, and what is matter?

Gravity is still an illusive mechanism: it has proven to be a worthy adversary to scientists and philosophers for eons. Einstein’s theory of general relativity shows us that gravity is the warping of space and time, often referred to as the spacetime continuum but to this day we still do not know how gravity actually works. How is the force carried, what carries it, and is it even a force to begin with? There are many theories but no conclusive evidence has been forthcoming.

Another surprise in the working of the universe is how matter interacts. For instance, if you were to touch both of your index fingers together and push a little, you should feel the left finger being pushed by the right and vice versa. The reality here is that the fingers themselves are not actually touching. What’s happening is that the electrons associated with each finger are repelling electrons of the opposite finger. Stranger still is that even the electrons don’t actually touch, they interact using the electromagnetic force carrier, the photon–a packet of light–so what’s preventing your fingers from touching, and preventing you from being pulled to the centre of the earth, is the exchange of light! When you go for a swim in a pool or at the beach, you are moving through the water by controlling the interactions of electrons using light. That being said, even today we don’t truly know what light is. In the extreme scenario, some of our most prominent scientists and philosophers agree that we have only scratched the surface of the structure of reality…

Continued in If We Are Anything: OM, Chi, Consciousness and Quantum Gravity by Mark Nesti.

Chi theory is an ontology, in which it is pointless to declare one’s belief or disbelief prior to understanding. In this excerpt from Chi Gong: The Ancient Chinese Way to Health, author Bruce Holbrook addresses the root of the controversy, which is neither logic or science, but cultural impedance.

The concept of chi is confusing to Western readers, not because it is a difficult one, but because our own culture stands in the way.

Occidental civilization is based on certain religious and philosophical premises which invite false translation of chi and related concepts. For example, our philosophy forces a choice between two fundamental levels of reality, which in the Chinese worldview are but a single one. That historically recent epistemological expression of our civilization, science, forcefully fights against comprehension of a single reality. Through out this section, therefore, “science” and related terms such as “physical,” are used within quotation marks when they refer to Western concepts. This may promote correction of the false, but very widespread, ethnocentric assumption that Western science is the only form of science.

Our “science” is firmly based on inanimate models and data-recording devices, whereas chi (in the central sense of this book) is intimately related to distinctively animate phenomena and cultivated human sensing. An additional problem is that Western science–especially “medical science”–has become dogmatic, so that it rejects any logical conclusion which lies outside its paradigm. The prevailing attitude is: If we can’t deal with it on our terms, it does not exist, because only our terms are valid. Cultural anthropologists call such systematic ignorance “ethnocentrism”–being confined, unaware of the confinement, by one’s own culture.

Western scientists can describe in unparalleled detail a decline in metabolic energy and regenerative capacity, but as soon as they state or suggest that these are the causes of natural dying, they are refusing to answer the question at hand: How does a human die of natural causes?

Given such widespread ethnocentrism, it is only natural therefore that Western thinking beyond the scope of “science” has surrounded chi with a mystical aura, while “scientific thinking” has reduced and deformed the concept into something manageable on its own terms. Such terms are untrue to the original concept and reality of chi. Beyond that there is a natural difficulty with distinctions among different kinds of chi. This can give rise to the impression that Chinese thinkers indulged in unnecessary conceptual multiplication to compensate for their own weaknesses in natural scientific understanding. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Because Western thinkers do think in “scientific terms,” much of the following clarification and simplification of the chi concept uses them. But the reader should understand that this is to approach chi from the odd angle obliged by our conceptual repertoire, and that this is not by any means an attempt to “scientifically” prove or explain the existence of chi. The scope of “science” is too narrow to provide adequately for such a concept.

I think the best way to begin is with a distinction between two basic kinds of chi in living organisms, original and formative, as variables which ‘fill holes’ left by Western science. In this way cultural-conceptual confusion is precluded. It is primarily a matter of common sense.

I begin with a personal experience of a kind the reader may find easy to replicate or remember. As an adolescent frequently in front of a mirror, I noticed that when I was in a good mood my hair would stay combed, but when I was depressed it would fall out of place. (As I learned later, li, in the medical expression li chi–to organize the chi–is the same as in li in li tou-fa–to comb the hair.) Plainly, this phenomenon involved an electromagnetic (EM) field, but, I reasoned, there must be some mood-related phenomenon, other than or more than mood, which was responsible for the EM energy and fluctuations in the energy level of the field. I could envision my body as an EM coil, my hair as iron filings forming a pattern partly determined by the EM field around the coil–but what was the battery or generator of electricity? The answer to that lies in a recognition of Western science’s illogical treatment of the matter of life and death.

Western science recognizes, via its metering devices, that the living organism possesses an EM field. And both meters and Kirlian photography show that the field extends beyond the “physical” (visible, palpable) boundary of the body. But “science” proposes that this field is biologically secondary, an effect produced by the biochemical substances of the body. This seems logical enough until we ask: What is the difference between a living human (or animal or plant) and a corpse, and why? What causes fetuses to be formed? What causes living tissue to regenerate? To these questions science has no answers that are not circular or evasive in logic.

The differences between a living human being and a corpse are that the former has an EM field and movement (together called “bioenergy”) and neutral chemical acidity, whereas the latter lacks an EM field, does not move, and is highly acidic. Three possible implied explanations for the changes between the living and the dead can be stated in the form of propositions: (1) absence of bioenergy is an effect of altered biochemistry (the Western scientific proposition; (2) altered biochemistry and exhaustion of bioenergy are effects of a third factor; (3) altered biochemistry is an effect of exhaustion of bioenergy (the Chinese scientific proposition).

(1) The Western Scientific Proposition This first explanation is the one used by modern science, and as we’ll see it is an illogical and a let’s-pull-ourselves-up-by-the-bootstraps type of thinking. Altered biochemistry requires an alterer. Chemical substances cannot in themselves account for the alteration. That is, given the formulas for these substances and the fact of their replenishment from blood, no change is predictable. As far as biochemical description can go–the biochemical composition of cells and fluids–the structure of the body of a healthy young person is the same as that of one who is about to die of old age.

Let’s further examine the western scientific proposition in order to approach the reality and nature of chi. From the perspective of a biochemist, it might be proposed that the independent variable is simply entropy–the “negative force” which diffuses concentrations of energy…..[continued]

For millenia, people have tried to reach a spiritual promised land by fasting. Jesus did it. The Buddha did it. Monks and saints and new age gurus have done it. And now, on the radio, This American Life contributor David Rakoff tries it. He does a 20-day fast, to find out if it brings him any form of enlightenment.

That was the official summary for this week’s episode of This American Life. Here is my unofficial summary:

David Rakoff does a twenty-day detox juice fast*, hoping for a quick glimpse of enlightenment. Other than his special diet and enema regimen, David does not follow any other guidelines that might define fasting as a spiritual practice, as prescribed by real spiritual experts. Instead, he reads the New York Times, rides the subway, and otherwise continues to lead his normal everyday life–to the extent possible, between his extended time on the toilet, and chopping and boiling vegetables for the fast.

Feeling depressed and dejected halfway through his juicy ordeal, having failed to meet his poorly founded expectations, David asks a doctor to condemn the entire field as pseudoscience. Convinced that his fasting guru has started to hate him, he muddles through to the end of the twenty-day period, with just enough energy to compare his trials to those of Jesus and the Buddha, and to conclude that his time might have been better spent talking to a therapist.

For the full story, you can tune in this weekend, or download the podcast, or read the published version in Don’t Get Too Comfortable.

The difference between fasting for weight loss and detoxification, and fasting as a spiritual cultivation method is discussed in William Bodri’s How to Measure and Deepen Your Spiritual Realization.

* I strongly suspect David used the 20-day “Scientific Juice Fasting” program from Dennis Paulson’s Fasting Center International–www.fasting.com.

There are seventy thousand Jedi knights in Australia. Four hundred thousand in England and Wales. In New Zealand, Jedi is the second most popular religious affiliation, ahead of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and most everything else. So concluded the official 2001 census in each of these countries.

It is unclear how many respondents were serious about their Jedi faith, but their governments did not take them seriously. Tallies were ignored or reclassified, and citizens were threatened with fines for providing “false or misleading” information.

So it is forbidden. Religions may not originate in movies–at least not in movies of Star Wars mediocre quality. But with the unprecedented critical and commercial acclaim of the hit film Inception, some of the formerly irreligious are reportedly inspired to worship again.

Let’s take a (mostly spoiler-free) look at Inception’s spiritual and religious themes:

• Dom Cobb once offered his skills in service to the rich and powerful. Having failed to satisfy them completely, he placed his own life in danger. Cobb now lives in exile.
• Cobb has money and power of his own, enough to guarantee worldly comforts, but it does not satisfy him. What Cobb truly desires, and would give everything to achieve, is a reunion.
• Reunion seems unattainable. Nevertheless, Cobb is inspired to take a leap of faith. There is no proof that the work can be done, but he is finally resolved to try.
• In order to complete his task, Cobb must first enter an extremely deep state of relaxation. Through his prior education and training, Cobb knows that the seeds planted within this state will bear fruit in normal waking life.
• Within this near-death experience, Dom Cobb finds himself under attack. Some of his attackers are projections of his own subconscious mind, and others originate elsewhere. These demons manifest themselves within a dream state, and although they are not “real”, they are nevertheless capable of thwarting his progress.
• Cobb has prepared himself well for the challenges that lie ahead. With the support of his teachers and companions, he is now capable of entering dreams within dreams within dreams.
• Cobb is not the owner of these dream worlds, he is only a temporary inhabitant. Nevertheless he can access extraordinary powers and privileges within them, because unlike most of the natives, Cobb fully realizes that he is asleep!
• At the same time, Cobb is fully awakened with respect to individual dream worlds, which he is therefore capable of entering and leaving at will. The sensation of jumping back into the real world–or the realer world, or perhaps the merely different world–is similar to leaving free fall.
• Cobb discovers these worlds can be seductive. Although he enjoys visiting them, even for decades at a time, he never feels quite as comfortable there as in his old home.

Does this sound like the foundation for a new cult religion? Or, do you think it sounds like a religion that already exists?

The following short story was excerpted from Rolling Thunder: A Personal Exploration into the Secret Healing Powers of an American Indian Medicine Man. In this section, Doug Boyd sits by the campfire with Rolling Thunder, sharing stories he heard from other spiritual teachers.

On the train to Brindavan a Swami sits beside a common man who asks him if indeed he has attained self-mastery, as the name “Swami” implies.
“I have,” says the Swami.
“And have you mastered anger?”
“I have.”
“You mean you can control your anger?”
“I can.”
“And you do not feel anger?”
“I do not.”
“Is this the truth, Swami?”
“It is.”

After a silence the man asks again, “Do you really feel that you have controlled your anger?”
“I have, as I told you,” the Swami answers.
“Then do you mean to say, you never feel anger, even–”
“You are going on and on–what do you want?” the Swami shouts. “Are you a fool? When I have told you–”
“O, Swami, this is anger. You have not mas–”
“Ah, but I have,” the Swami interrupts. “Have you not heard about the abused snake? Let me tell you the story.”

“On a path that went by a village in Bengal there lived a cobra who used to bite people on their way to worship at the temple there. As the incidents increased, everyone became fearful, and many refused to go to the temple. The Swami who was the master at the temple was aware of the problem and took it upon himself to put an end to it. Taking himself to where the snake dwelt, he used a mantra to call the snake to him and bring it into submission.”

Rolling Thunder, who had been staring into the fire as I talked, suddenly looked at me. I began to relate what the Swami said to the snake. Immediately Rolling Thunder interrupted: “What was the mantra?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think the mantra itself was part of the story. At least I never heard it.”
“Go ahead.”

“The Swami then said to the snake that it was wrong to bite the people who walked along the path to worship and made him promise sincerely that he would never do it again. Soon it happened that the snake was seen by a passer-by upon the path, and it made no move to bite. Then it became known that the snake had somehow been made passive, and people grew unafraid. It was not long before the village boys were dragging the poor snake along behind them as they ran laughing here and there. When the temple Swami passed that way again he called the snake to see if he had kept his promise–”

Again Rolling Thunder interrupted: “He didn’t say anything at all about what words the Swami used to called the snake? Just thought they might probably be familiar to me. Must be something like the words I would use.” Rolling Thunder did not wait for me to repeat what I had told him, but asked some question to pick the story up again.

“The snake humbly and miserably approached the Swami, who exclaimed, ‘You are bleeding! Tell me how this has come to be.’ The snake was near tears and blurted out that he had been abused ever since he made his promise to the Swami. ‘I hold you not to bite,’ said the Swami, ‘but I did not tell you not to hiss!’”

That was supposed to be the end of the story. Rolling Thunder quietly looked into the fire. When he saw I was finished, he considered a moment and then he looked straight up and laughed. “That’s right!” he exclaimed. “That’s right!” His face became serious and he stared into the fire as though he had begun to consider again. Then I felt him thinking of the pinyon forest chaining (clear-cutting) issue and the other struggles in which he was involved. His “That’s right!” sounded to me like he was speaking for the snake. “Sure would be interested to hear that mantra,” he said. “You suppose Swami Rama himself would be familiar with that particular mantra?”

“If he does know, I’m sure I could find it out.” But I regretted my words as soon as I’d spoken them. Would Swami Rama tell me if he knew, and would it be permissible to ask? Even for Rolling Thunder’s sake? I wondered whether Rolling Thunder would ever tell me his mantra. I would never ask him. I turned to look at him. His eyes stared thoughtfully into the flames. I watched the shadows from the dancing fire hammer upon him as thought they were trying to deepen the lines in his face, and I could see he had nothing more to say.

John Chang was a practical joker. I had been on an elevator with him one evening along with twenty other people. The elevator was a glass-walled unit that ferried people up and down the floors of a shopping mall; there was a steel railing all around that people rested their backs on. We were going out to eat that evening at a local restaurant on the top floor of the mall.

Suddenly a burst of current pulsed through the steel backstop. Women screamed and everyone pulled away, suspecting a short circuit. John pulled away too, as I had, but I needed only one look at the barely suppressed grin on his face to realize what had really happened: He had sent a pulse of bio-energy through the railing!

Serious training in meditation, qigong, or kundalini yoga is long, hard, often boring, and sometimes downright bitter. Yet when a student reports their discovery of an exciting fringe benefit, such as heightened or extrasensory perception, certain other members of the community are quick to scold them.

“Pay no attention to such things,” the lecturer instructs. “They will only distract you from the ultimate goal of cosmic union.” Well, maybe so, and maybe not, but in the meantime, I think it is important to keep one’s sense of humor intact.

“In the old days,” Rolling Thunder said, “things happened all the time that would be pretty strange to see today. Our grandfathers used to tell of big gatherings–council meetings and festivals–when they were kids when chiefs and medicine men would get together and play around a bit. Of course, I’ve always said the powers are not to be misused–they’re not for personal use or for show–but long ago when there wasn’t the competition and confusion that there is today, the old chiefs and medicine men used to have a little fun just among themselves.

“Some old chief, for example, might take a stick or something and throw it over in a bush and then he’d bet the others that they weren’t sharp enough to see which bush it had landed in. Of course someone would go look and it would be gone, or way over in some other bush. He’d keep throwing things into the bushes and one one would find them. He’d be moving them, see?

And then some old medicine man would come up and play dumb. He’d say he figured he had pretty sharp eyes, and the chief would throw a stone way off in some bush. It would land somewhere in the distance and right away he’d move it from that spot. The old man would run out there while all the others laughed; but the old man would be moving the stone as he ran, right back to where it landed. Then he’d come back with the stone and all the sticks and everything that had been thrown into the bushes, exclaiming they’d all landed in the same spot, and everyone would roll with laughter. Of course it was all a game they were putting on, kind of like keeping in shape.”

Now I open the floor to you. Please share your favorite practical jokes, related or unrelated to kundalini or martial arts.

Mantak Chia was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1944. His pursuit of Taoist teachings led him to meet the White Cloud Hermit Master Yi, a Taoist Master living in the mountains near from Hong Kong.

The author of dozens of books, booklets, videos and CDs describing these practices, Master Mantak Chia has taught hundreds of thousands of eager students the principles of Taoist internal practice over the past 40 years.

Following is an excerpt from a recent Blog Talk Radio interview with Mantak Chia:

Lama Tantrapa: What is the purpose of qigong practice?

Mantak Chia: The initial purpose of qigong practice is to become stronger, to heal yourself, and increase your wisdom and knowledge. The early stages are like Taiji, and afterwards we can begin what we call supreme inner alchemy practice.

LT: After a person has achieved good health, does that purpose change?

MC: Yes. In neidan or inner alchemy practice, you learn to condense your energy, and transform the physical material of the body into energy, for spiritual growth…Taoists believe that, like the physical body, the spirit requires careful nurturing to reach maturity.

LT: Do sexual practices play a role in this process?

MC: Jing qi, or sexual energy, is the most powerful energy we have. It is like “baby formula” for the spirit. Normally, the body will sacrifice this energy during sex, for the purpose of creating children…if you don’t know how to practice, then between sexual arousal and orgasm, the energy is lost.

The process begins with physical discipline. Sex, drugs, even coffee…these cause a loss of energy, even though an addict feels listless without them…after experiencing the bliss of practice, these addictions will lose their hold.

LT: Tell us about your own learning progression.

MC: I first learned how to open the microcosmic orbit. Everything in the universe, down to the smallest electron, moves in an orbit…

Even before this though, you must learn how to control your emotions. Negative emotions will disturb you and waste your life force. The inner smile technique can remove these negative emotions.

To listen to this entire interview–or other interviews with Scott Sonnon, B.K. Frantzis, Sam Masich, Ken Cohen, Dr. Effie Chow and more–visit Secrets of the Qigong Masters.