I am a 20 year old GA Tech student. I was born in Moscow, Russia; I am 100% Russian back many generations with some trace of royal blood. My family in Russia are well-renowned doctors and surgeons. I say this to deter you from thinking my family is a bunch of mystics; they're not. But what I experienced as a child from my uncle (who is a ear, nose, and throat specialist) changed the way I saw the world.
When I was very little my uncle introduced me to Taichi and used to demonstrate to me various kinetic and breathing exercises. One night, I sat out late with him in the country about a 5 hour drive away from the city. We had just had a cookout, and me and him were sitting out, watching the campfire glow and looking up at the stars. He was a great big, burly man with a distinctive spark in his eyes. His bushy beard and thick eyebrows made him look like a Russian mafia gangster - many confused him with one and were often scared to approach him - although his eyes were wise and seemed to peer through your soul. He was and is my hero for whom I have great respect. That night I asked him, "Uncle, did Jesus really walk on water?" And he told me, yes, he did. Anyone could. But why would you want to walk on water? Then he proceeded to tell me an anecdote about Buddha. In it, he told me how when Buddha was a boy, he met some men who devoted their entire lives to learning how to walk on water. Buddha asked, "How long did it take you to learn to walk on water?" he asked. The wise old man replied 40 years. Buddha then bowed and said goodbye to the wise man, and paid several cents to take a ferry across the lake. When my uncle told me this story we both laughed and I felt appeased. He then told me to look into the campfire, and that it was good for me. I did what he said. Several minutes into it, he told me that there are many things in this world that are fascinating, and he gave me some words I still remember to this day. Although I did not much understand it when I was a kid, he told me that I should stay as far as I can away from Western Magick, and that the truth lies only in the Eastern philosophies.
My biological father was in the Russian mafia and was in charge of many car companies in the region, so I moved around the old Soviet territories quite a bit. I lived in Uzbekistan for 2 years, and I stayed at a resort in Yalta by the Black Sea for many months. There I met a mystic gypsy woman who taught me many shamanistic rituals and techniques. My mother always said to stay away from the crazy witch lady, but I was so curious that every morning that I got up I ran to the herbal stand where she worked and talked to her for many hours. My upbringing as a child in Europe made me very inquisitive about the world around me.
I moved to Minneapolis, MN when I was 9... Just as my first father, my stepfather moves around the US a lot. He is currently one step below the COO (chief operations officer) of Intercontinental Hotels Group. Intercontinental Hotels is the biggest hotel chain in the world, and the IHG owns Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites, Holidan Inn, and many other hotel franchises. In early 2000, my family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, its headquarters, where I currently live and attend the Georgia Institute of Technology.
That brings me up to speed here. Now this is where you may frown down upon me. Last year I saw the John Dijang video on the internet and it renewed my interest that I had hoped to pursue as a child. After reading the Tao te Ching (which was very difficult for me to grasp - but I tried very hard), and The Shambhala Guide to Taoism, I ended up coming to this forum, which I have been browsing for several days now.
I wish to know more about the Lei Shan Dao path. My initial goal in registering was to be able to contact Sean D (seandenty) about some quotes in one of his posts regarding this subject:
QUOTE
Turns out I would have been better off not practicing those methods at all. Ironically, students with no training or qiging background are considered lucky; they don't have bad habits from years of wrong practice.
Hopefully I may be able to use this to my advantage.
QUOTE
My teacher has encouraged me to reach out to sincere people and help them find deeper practices and I’m happy to do that. If the response is good I will share more of my personal experiences. After having spent thousands of dollars and years of searching in vain, I can relate to people like myself who simply want to learn and study practices that lead to the achievements we all dream of like creating the Dan, developing demonstrative abilities, becoming immortal and achieving liberation; the intended goals of the original Daoists since time immemorial.
My goal is to take a semester off from school in the spring and travel the world looking for a master who can teach me the right way. If anyone can nudge me in the right direction or give any tips at all that you think I could use, any wise words whatsoever, it would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to meeting and getting to know as many of you as I can, so feel free to contact me any way you see fit! I would also like to add that if I can ever be of assistance to anyone, please feel free to ask! And now, to private message Sean D, the main reason I am here!
Best of the Energies,
Michael McCarty (mmccarty3@gatech.edu)
Taomeow and Smile are both of Russian descent on this forum, maybe pm them too? SeanD is a good guy. I hope you find what you are looking for. 