In "Ling Bao Bi Fa" cultivation practice, one needs to know its various breathing methods. There is an underlying principle of how to breath during the practice. I believe that by practicing the breathing methods involved separately will be beneficial to the overall practice and hence I suggested this to Master Wang. He said, "That's fine, just do what you think will work." So during the seminar, I used my own version of daoyin to guide the participants to practice breathing. In the beginning, some old students who notice that my daoyin words were different from Master Wang's and so they objected. Master Wang explained to them, "Xiao Shen has his own ideas on the practice, try follow along and maybe you can understand it eventually." And no objected anymore. Practicing breathing methods separately can help the participants to improve quickly and getting a higher quality practice session. Breathing is the foundation of foundation. The ancient says that, "Teach the methods but not the Fire." The fire here means the combinations of intention and breathings.
Later on, I assembled all the breathing methods that Master Wang has taught and wrote an article entitled, "Breathing methods During Meditation" and published it on a magazine. In 2001, I refined the instructions on the breathing methods again to help other to understand and do it better. In 2005, I merged all the breathing methods together and wrote another article called "Systematic Method of Breathing" and presented it in an international conference. The presentation was received very well. In 2007, being influenced by my new understanding of "Ling Bao Bi Fa" and Master Wang's instructions, I re-edited "Systematic Method of Breathing" and renamed it "Opening and Closing, Rising and Falling---Principle of breathing." I converted this into slides in help me present it to a wider audience.
In general, beginners usually neglect the importance of breathing, they thought it's very easy and so don't usually take it seriously. This can has adverse effects on their practice since beginning dandao utilize "youwei" methods and breathing is the most important aspect of it. Without a good foundation in breathing, it's hard to get to advanced level.
One needs to understand the different aspects of breathing practice, one should know and be able to follow the method correctly and understand the reasons and effect of each method. Without a teacher to explain and daoyin, it's really difficult to master the methods. In summary, breathing is an important topic in dandao that needs to be carefully addressed by every serious practitioner.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Teaching Experience (1) - Being the teaching assistant for the first time.
It was by chance that I began cultivation, it was by chance that I met Master Wang and it was by chance that I became his assistant...
In 1991, I participated Master Wang's seminar as his teaching assistant for the first time, my main responsibilities were daoyin, daigong and answering students' queries.
Daoyin refers to the verbal instruction given by the teacher, the students follows the daoyin to do their practice. The one who gives daoyin is equivalent to a commander, his thought and ability directly influence the quality and levels of the practice.
Daigong means that the teacher use his own energy (qi) to calibrate and control the entire classroom, the teacher's gongfu and technique can directly affect the result of the practice.
Around that time, I had already followed Master Wang for 3 or 4 years, I had received the Master's daoyin and daigong multiple times, Therefore i just imitated Master Wang's way of daoyin and daigong. On the surface, this didn't appear to be that difficult but in reality to achieve a high quality of daoyin and daigong is extremely difficult.
During that first time, I was just imitating Master Wang's style in order to gain experience. My main problem though was my personalities : I was a rather modest and shy at that time, I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of suddenly became the instructor of several hundreds people. To be honest, my confident was a bit lacking at that time. Fortunately Master Wang was always encouraging, he said, "When you daoyin, you are the leader, we will listen to whatever you say." It was difficult at first but eventually I became more accustomed to the role.
The seminar in 1991 was divided into 2 sessions, 10 days each for a total of 20 days. There were 1000 participants in total. I was the only official teaching assistant. There were 2 daoyin per day, each lasted for about 90 minutes and sometimes it could go on for 120 minutes. My main feeling was tired, extremely tired. I was so tired once that I was still napping after the afternoon class began, the students had to wake me up by throwing small stones onto my body through the windows.
Why was I so tired? This is the difference between practice and teaching. To put it simply, practice is the mean to accumulate internal strength and qi, the teacher who daigong helps you to accumulate the qi, the process is very slow. Teaching and daigong on the other hand is to release the internal strength and qi to help others, especially in a large class, in order to really calibrate the entire qi field, the consumption of the internal strength is enormous. As an analogy, it is like you spent more than everything you have saved in your bank account over the years, not only did you lose everything, you also over-drafted. Another reason is that in a large class, when you are standing between several hundreds students, everyone of them was thinking about you and they all want your help and hence they are all draining on your strength, it's not possible to not give up some qi. The way daigong drains on the body cannot be recouped by simply eating some nice food, it needs sleep and it needs more practice. It's hard to accumulate some internal strength, not to say to recoup the loss. No one can really comprehend this type of experience unless they actually try to teach and diagong.
Before I became the teaching assistant, I could feel that I had some internal strength. Once, I was able to break up another person's kidney stones from 1 meter away using my neigong. In 1990, I was able to get into full lotus without hands (my internal qi was full and my joints were flexible). When I got back home after the 1991 seminar, I couldn't feel any qi at all in my body, it felt like my body was a hollow shell. All i wanted to do was sleep. I was like that for almost a year. After I recovered, I felt that my internal strength was much stronger than before, I believe this was because of the huge out flux and influx of qi associated with teaching neigong.
In 1991, I participated Master Wang's seminar as his teaching assistant for the first time, my main responsibilities were daoyin, daigong and answering students' queries.
Daoyin refers to the verbal instruction given by the teacher, the students follows the daoyin to do their practice. The one who gives daoyin is equivalent to a commander, his thought and ability directly influence the quality and levels of the practice.
Daigong means that the teacher use his own energy (qi) to calibrate and control the entire classroom, the teacher's gongfu and technique can directly affect the result of the practice.
Around that time, I had already followed Master Wang for 3 or 4 years, I had received the Master's daoyin and daigong multiple times, Therefore i just imitated Master Wang's way of daoyin and daigong. On the surface, this didn't appear to be that difficult but in reality to achieve a high quality of daoyin and daigong is extremely difficult.
During that first time, I was just imitating Master Wang's style in order to gain experience. My main problem though was my personalities : I was a rather modest and shy at that time, I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of suddenly became the instructor of several hundreds people. To be honest, my confident was a bit lacking at that time. Fortunately Master Wang was always encouraging, he said, "When you daoyin, you are the leader, we will listen to whatever you say." It was difficult at first but eventually I became more accustomed to the role.
The seminar in 1991 was divided into 2 sessions, 10 days each for a total of 20 days. There were 1000 participants in total. I was the only official teaching assistant. There were 2 daoyin per day, each lasted for about 90 minutes and sometimes it could go on for 120 minutes. My main feeling was tired, extremely tired. I was so tired once that I was still napping after the afternoon class began, the students had to wake me up by throwing small stones onto my body through the windows.
Why was I so tired? This is the difference between practice and teaching. To put it simply, practice is the mean to accumulate internal strength and qi, the teacher who daigong helps you to accumulate the qi, the process is very slow. Teaching and daigong on the other hand is to release the internal strength and qi to help others, especially in a large class, in order to really calibrate the entire qi field, the consumption of the internal strength is enormous. As an analogy, it is like you spent more than everything you have saved in your bank account over the years, not only did you lose everything, you also over-drafted. Another reason is that in a large class, when you are standing between several hundreds students, everyone of them was thinking about you and they all want your help and hence they are all draining on your strength, it's not possible to not give up some qi. The way daigong drains on the body cannot be recouped by simply eating some nice food, it needs sleep and it needs more practice. It's hard to accumulate some internal strength, not to say to recoup the loss. No one can really comprehend this type of experience unless they actually try to teach and diagong.
Before I became the teaching assistant, I could feel that I had some internal strength. Once, I was able to break up another person's kidney stones from 1 meter away using my neigong. In 1990, I was able to get into full lotus without hands (my internal qi was full and my joints were flexible). When I got back home after the 1991 seminar, I couldn't feel any qi at all in my body, it felt like my body was a hollow shell. All i wanted to do was sleep. I was like that for almost a year. After I recovered, I felt that my internal strength was much stronger than before, I believe this was because of the huge out flux and influx of qi associated with teaching neigong.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Brief introduction to Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu
There are many different branches of Daoist neigong systems, the one being transmitted by Master Wang Liping of the Quanzhen Longmen Pai was one of the main branch passed down from the Five Northern Patriarchs which specializes in "Ling Bao Bi Fa", the Complete Method of the Spiritual Jewels. The full name of the system is known as "Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu", the meaning of the terms are:
"Ling Bao Tong", it means the system is based on the theory of Ling Bao Bi Fa.
"Zhineng", it refers to the Zhineng Fa, one of the nine daoist magic techniques within Longmen pai.
"Neigong", it means the internal cultivation process which begins from the whole body to several surfaces, then from several surfaces to several lines and finally from a line to a point; then beginning from a point to a line, to surfaces and to the whole body again. Utilizing internal qi to carve out corresponding channels between the human body and the universe. When neigong get to higher levels, it becomes "Shu", technique. (i.e. applications of qi)
"Shu", it means the arts and techniques that are based on the principles of Yijing. There are five main Daoist Arts: Ming Shu (the art of life), Bu Shu (the art of divination), Xiang Shu (the art of fortune telling), Yi Shu (the art of healing) and Shan Shu (the art of the mountain). Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu can be divided into Three practices and nine methods.
Three practices: Moving Practice, Sitting Practice and Supplementary Practice.
Moving Practice: The main moving practice is "Ping Heng Gong" which includes practices between human and trees, human and humans, humans and the universe. And practices for opening the meridians and vessels. Using different moving practices and zhan zhuang to refine the connections between human and the universe, these are methods to cultivate the abilities to take in external qi for internal use, and internal qi for external use such as healing.
Sitting practice: The main sitting practice are Yin Xian Fa (Methods to Elicit Immortal), The Three Immortals Method and Nu Dan Gong (Female Practice) for women.
Yin Xian Fa: the methods to repair leakage, build the foundation and return to the source. The prerequisite for the Three Immortal Methods and Female Practice.
Three Immortal Methods: the actual cultivation methods in Ling Bao Bi Fa, also known as the Grand Method of Golden Elixir, this the true method to cultivate the Dao.
Female Practice: this is the female version of the Ling Bao Bi Fa.
Supplementary Methods: this include Sleeping Practice, the method to exchange qi naturally, the method of stealing essence from the Sun and Moon etc.
Sleeping practice: practices that one can do while sleeping, which include healing methods, practice to control dreams and transmitting and spiritual signals.
Method to exchange qi naturally: walking practice for healing, transmitting qi etc.
Method of stealing essence from the Sun and Moon: the method to connect to the human body to the universe, through the principle of the Heaven and man become one i to recharge the yuan qi lost from the body, to cultivate the Sun and Moon of our own body.
Nine Methods: the nine Daoist magic techniques. These are the applications of the internal cultivation, also known as supernatural abilities.
Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu is based on the interactions and fusions between neigong, daoist arts and Yijing. It needs nine years facing the wall, ten years to complete and two years for bath to cultivate Ling Bao Bi Fa .... this is the ultimate method of the Daoist Golden Elixir. From a macroscopic point of view, it is a complete system that include the best elements from Daoism; from a microscopic point of view, the methods combine movement and stillness, xing and ming cultivations and the heaven and man become one; from the point of view of the practice itself, it involves the refinement of different levels of qi, moving spirits, converting essence and harmonizing the Hun and Po, it reveal the multi-facet and multi-level nature of life itself and it is the ultimate way to explore the mysteries of the human body and the universe.
In conclusion, Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu is a high quality heritage of the Chinese civilization. It can push the boundary of our knowledge of the world and it provide the possibilities for us to unlock the mystery of life itself.
Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu can be divided into 5 different stages:
Refine the body to accumulate qi (entering the door), conversion of essence to qi (foundation), conversion of qi to shen (condensation of the cinnabar (dan)), refinement of shen to void (completion of cinnabar) and refinement of void to Dao (application of the cinnabar).
"Ling Bao Tong", it means the system is based on the theory of Ling Bao Bi Fa.
"Zhineng", it refers to the Zhineng Fa, one of the nine daoist magic techniques within Longmen pai.
"Neigong", it means the internal cultivation process which begins from the whole body to several surfaces, then from several surfaces to several lines and finally from a line to a point; then beginning from a point to a line, to surfaces and to the whole body again. Utilizing internal qi to carve out corresponding channels between the human body and the universe. When neigong get to higher levels, it becomes "Shu", technique. (i.e. applications of qi)
"Shu", it means the arts and techniques that are based on the principles of Yijing. There are five main Daoist Arts: Ming Shu (the art of life), Bu Shu (the art of divination), Xiang Shu (the art of fortune telling), Yi Shu (the art of healing) and Shan Shu (the art of the mountain). Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu can be divided into Three practices and nine methods.
Three practices: Moving Practice, Sitting Practice and Supplementary Practice.
Moving Practice: The main moving practice is "Ping Heng Gong" which includes practices between human and trees, human and humans, humans and the universe. And practices for opening the meridians and vessels. Using different moving practices and zhan zhuang to refine the connections between human and the universe, these are methods to cultivate the abilities to take in external qi for internal use, and internal qi for external use such as healing.
Sitting practice: The main sitting practice are Yin Xian Fa (Methods to Elicit Immortal), The Three Immortals Method and Nu Dan Gong (Female Practice) for women.
Yin Xian Fa: the methods to repair leakage, build the foundation and return to the source. The prerequisite for the Three Immortal Methods and Female Practice.
Three Immortal Methods: the actual cultivation methods in Ling Bao Bi Fa, also known as the Grand Method of Golden Elixir, this the true method to cultivate the Dao.
Female Practice: this is the female version of the Ling Bao Bi Fa.
Supplementary Methods: this include Sleeping Practice, the method to exchange qi naturally, the method of stealing essence from the Sun and Moon etc.
Sleeping practice: practices that one can do while sleeping, which include healing methods, practice to control dreams and transmitting and spiritual signals.
Method to exchange qi naturally: walking practice for healing, transmitting qi etc.
Method of stealing essence from the Sun and Moon: the method to connect to the human body to the universe, through the principle of the Heaven and man become one i to recharge the yuan qi lost from the body, to cultivate the Sun and Moon of our own body.
Nine Methods: the nine Daoist magic techniques. These are the applications of the internal cultivation, also known as supernatural abilities.
Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu is based on the interactions and fusions between neigong, daoist arts and Yijing. It needs nine years facing the wall, ten years to complete and two years for bath to cultivate Ling Bao Bi Fa .... this is the ultimate method of the Daoist Golden Elixir. From a macroscopic point of view, it is a complete system that include the best elements from Daoism; from a microscopic point of view, the methods combine movement and stillness, xing and ming cultivations and the heaven and man become one; from the point of view of the practice itself, it involves the refinement of different levels of qi, moving spirits, converting essence and harmonizing the Hun and Po, it reveal the multi-facet and multi-level nature of life itself and it is the ultimate way to explore the mysteries of the human body and the universe.
In conclusion, Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu is a high quality heritage of the Chinese civilization. It can push the boundary of our knowledge of the world and it provide the possibilities for us to unlock the mystery of life itself.
Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu can be divided into 5 different stages:
Refine the body to accumulate qi (entering the door), conversion of essence to qi (foundation), conversion of qi to shen (condensation of the cinnabar (dan)), refinement of shen to void (completion of cinnabar) and refinement of void to Dao (application of the cinnabar).
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Brief Introduction to the Secret of the Golden Flower
The Daoist classic Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi (known as the "Secret of the Golden Flower" (SOGF) in the west) was initially based on the lyrics of "Xiao Yao Jue" (Ode to True Freedom) and "Quan Shi Ge" (Song of Persuasion) by Lu Dongbin, it began to be circulated in the late Song Dynasty. Later disciples who obtained the manuscript had edited the content over time and it was being transmitted in hand-copied manuscript format. During the Kang Xi period of the Qing Dynasty, it was disclosed and published for the first time by Jingming Pai and Longmen Pai separately. While it was passed down from generation to generation, new contents were added, these contents include fantastical materials obtained from divination and references from Confucius and Buddhist ideas to reflect the influences of these sects in the Chinese society. All these materials had no doubt put the SOGF under a veil of heavy mysticism.
The spiritual world of human being can be divided into three levels: Shi Shen (Conscious Spirit), Yuan Shen (Original Spirit) and Ling Xing (Soul Spirit). Ling Xing came from the Heaven and Earth, Yuan Shen came from your parent, Shi Shen came from the post-heaven world. The relationship between these three levels of spirits is that: Ling Xing is surrounded by Yuan Shen which in turn is surrounded by Shi Shen. Under normal circumstances, when one is awake, Shi Shen is active and Yuan Shen is dormant. When one is asleep, Shi Shen is dormant and Yuan Shen is active. Shi Shen and Yuan Shen does not communicate with each other directly. Ling Xing is the root of life, it's only active at the moment the human life is created or at the moment when the life is ended.
After Lu Dongbin had completed the cultivation as outlined in Ling Bao Bi Fa, he had understood the nature of Shi Shen, Yuan Shen and Ling Xing. Looking from such a high level plane of existence, Ancestor Lu described several specialized topics dealing with Ling Xing and its usages in Ling Bao Bi Fa, the result was SOGF. That is why SOGF is a part of Ling Bao Bi Fa, it described the portions of Ling Bao Bi Fa that dealt with "Tai Yi" (Ultimate Unity). So what is ultimate unity? What can it do? What can it accomplished?
What is "Ultimate Unity" ? Ultimate Unity is also known as the "Ultimate One", i.e. the "one" as in "Dao gave birth to one" in Daodejing. Before there was human being, there was the "one", after human being has disappeared, the "one" will still be aound. To human being, "one" is absolute, eternal and immutable. When a human life is created, "one" enters the body, it's called Ling Xing. Ordinary people do not know about it, whereas the immortal uses it, it's also called the Wondrous Gate, the Ancestral Chamber and the Heaven Heart, it has many names but they are actually all "one". When a human dies, "one" will leave the body.
What can "Ultimate unity" do? "Dao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth three and three gave birth to the ten thousand things". Human being is part of the ten thousand things, if human can understand "one", then "two", "three" and "ten thousand things" can all be easily understood. In Ling Bao Bi Fa, "Ultimate Unity" first appeared in the first segment "Tai Yi Han Zhen Qi" (The ultimate one containing the true qi) of the second method "Collection and Dispersion of Water and Fire". "Jin Hua" (Golden Flower) means the golden cinnabar, i.e. the third segment "The Golden Purple Cinnabar" in the eight method "Return to the Origin to Refine Qi". Therefore SOGF is the principles behind the methods from "Tai Yi Han Zhen Qi" to "The Golden Purple Cinnabar", the ultimate unity can also be added to the various methods between these two levels. In other words, one must at least attain the "Ultimate Unity" in the second method "Dispersion and Collection of Water and Fire", and then utilize it to connect the various levels and segments in Ling Bao Bi Fa in order to finally attain the Golden Cinnabar.
One can imagine that qi is energy, it can't be seen not touched. By using the conscious mind, how much can one condense the qi? "Tai Yi Han Zhen Qi" means that using the "Ultimate Unity" to condense qi, only by this method can one continuously condense qi to higher and higher level of density, from "gaseous" state to "liquid" state and finally to "solid" state of the cinnabar. These states correspond to the levels "Human Immortal Method", "Terrestrial Immortal Method" and "Celestial Immortal Method" in Ling Bao Bi Fa.
What can "ultimate unity" accomplish? To put it simply, the verifications in DanDao are all "seen" using the ultimate unity. Looking it from another way, the ancient Chinese Civilization is based on the objective reality from what is "seen" using the ultimate unity: for examples, the "Yellow Emperor Classic" is the classifications based on what has been "seen", the "Zhou Yi" (I Ching version in Zhou dynasty) is the generalization of what has been "seen". Daodejing is the refinement of the conclusion from what has been "seen". SOGF is the method to practice how to be able to "see".
SOGF originated from Ling Bao Bi Fa, the two classics complements each other and fuse into one, using first level of qi to utilize the Shi Shen, the second level of qi to utilize the Yuan Shen and the third level of qi to utilize the Ling Xing. Through cultivation of Shi Shen one can then stimulate and control Yuan Shen and Ling Xing, which can then leads to the complete understanding of the spiritual world. Obviously, SOGF cannot reveal everything about the "Tai Yi", but if one can understand a little piece of it, one should know to be satisfied.
The spiritual world of human being can be divided into three levels: Shi Shen (Conscious Spirit), Yuan Shen (Original Spirit) and Ling Xing (Soul Spirit). Ling Xing came from the Heaven and Earth, Yuan Shen came from your parent, Shi Shen came from the post-heaven world. The relationship between these three levels of spirits is that: Ling Xing is surrounded by Yuan Shen which in turn is surrounded by Shi Shen. Under normal circumstances, when one is awake, Shi Shen is active and Yuan Shen is dormant. When one is asleep, Shi Shen is dormant and Yuan Shen is active. Shi Shen and Yuan Shen does not communicate with each other directly. Ling Xing is the root of life, it's only active at the moment the human life is created or at the moment when the life is ended.
After Lu Dongbin had completed the cultivation as outlined in Ling Bao Bi Fa, he had understood the nature of Shi Shen, Yuan Shen and Ling Xing. Looking from such a high level plane of existence, Ancestor Lu described several specialized topics dealing with Ling Xing and its usages in Ling Bao Bi Fa, the result was SOGF. That is why SOGF is a part of Ling Bao Bi Fa, it described the portions of Ling Bao Bi Fa that dealt with "Tai Yi" (Ultimate Unity). So what is ultimate unity? What can it do? What can it accomplished?
What is "Ultimate Unity" ? Ultimate Unity is also known as the "Ultimate One", i.e. the "one" as in "Dao gave birth to one" in Daodejing. Before there was human being, there was the "one", after human being has disappeared, the "one" will still be aound. To human being, "one" is absolute, eternal and immutable. When a human life is created, "one" enters the body, it's called Ling Xing. Ordinary people do not know about it, whereas the immortal uses it, it's also called the Wondrous Gate, the Ancestral Chamber and the Heaven Heart, it has many names but they are actually all "one". When a human dies, "one" will leave the body.
What can "Ultimate unity" do? "Dao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth three and three gave birth to the ten thousand things". Human being is part of the ten thousand things, if human can understand "one", then "two", "three" and "ten thousand things" can all be easily understood. In Ling Bao Bi Fa, "Ultimate Unity" first appeared in the first segment "Tai Yi Han Zhen Qi" (The ultimate one containing the true qi) of the second method "Collection and Dispersion of Water and Fire". "Jin Hua" (Golden Flower) means the golden cinnabar, i.e. the third segment "The Golden Purple Cinnabar" in the eight method "Return to the Origin to Refine Qi". Therefore SOGF is the principles behind the methods from "Tai Yi Han Zhen Qi" to "The Golden Purple Cinnabar", the ultimate unity can also be added to the various methods between these two levels. In other words, one must at least attain the "Ultimate Unity" in the second method "Dispersion and Collection of Water and Fire", and then utilize it to connect the various levels and segments in Ling Bao Bi Fa in order to finally attain the Golden Cinnabar.
One can imagine that qi is energy, it can't be seen not touched. By using the conscious mind, how much can one condense the qi? "Tai Yi Han Zhen Qi" means that using the "Ultimate Unity" to condense qi, only by this method can one continuously condense qi to higher and higher level of density, from "gaseous" state to "liquid" state and finally to "solid" state of the cinnabar. These states correspond to the levels "Human Immortal Method", "Terrestrial Immortal Method" and "Celestial Immortal Method" in Ling Bao Bi Fa.
What can "ultimate unity" accomplish? To put it simply, the verifications in DanDao are all "seen" using the ultimate unity. Looking it from another way, the ancient Chinese Civilization is based on the objective reality from what is "seen" using the ultimate unity: for examples, the "Yellow Emperor Classic" is the classifications based on what has been "seen", the "Zhou Yi" (I Ching version in Zhou dynasty) is the generalization of what has been "seen". Daodejing is the refinement of the conclusion from what has been "seen". SOGF is the method to practice how to be able to "see".
SOGF originated from Ling Bao Bi Fa, the two classics complements each other and fuse into one, using first level of qi to utilize the Shi Shen, the second level of qi to utilize the Yuan Shen and the third level of qi to utilize the Ling Xing. Through cultivation of Shi Shen one can then stimulate and control Yuan Shen and Ling Xing, which can then leads to the complete understanding of the spiritual world. Obviously, SOGF cannot reveal everything about the "Tai Yi", but if one can understand a little piece of it, one should know to be satisfied.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
2006 - Cross the ocean to see my teacher.
I went to Beijing in July. A friend said, "Let's go to see Master Wang." A great idea, I had already planned to see Master Wang on this trip. The last time I saw him was in September 1998, it had been 8 years since I last saw him in person. Even though we talked on the phone regularly, that can't be compared to seeing him in person.
My friend suggested that we take the water route to get there so that we can enjoy the scenery along the way. We got on the boat at the nearby port to our destination. Master Wang was as compassionate and caring as before. In the following three days, I had many complex emotions since it had been 8 years since I last saw him in person. During that period of time, I have tried many things according to my own ideas. Some of those I did well and Master Wang was very supportive; some of those perhaps should have been done in a different way but Master Wang didn't explicitly mention it ; some people had slandered and caused great troubles to me and Master Wang and which he had dealt with for me. I sincerely apologized for the troubles I caused him and he was happy to accept it. He was also supportive of my idea of a Health and Wellness Center.
My friend suggested that we take the water route to get there so that we can enjoy the scenery along the way. We got on the boat at the nearby port to our destination. Master Wang was as compassionate and caring as before. In the following three days, I had many complex emotions since it had been 8 years since I last saw him in person. During that period of time, I have tried many things according to my own ideas. Some of those I did well and Master Wang was very supportive; some of those perhaps should have been done in a different way but Master Wang didn't explicitly mention it ; some people had slandered and caused great troubles to me and Master Wang and which he had dealt with for me. I sincerely apologized for the troubles I caused him and he was happy to accept it. He was also supportive of my idea of a Health and Wellness Center.
2005 - Meridian Taijiquan
In 1991 when I was hired as the assistant instructor to Master Wang for the first time, he taught a practice of people with people, in one case, when the two persons got into trance, they started spontaneous movement with their eyes closed, it looked as though they were sparring with other. Each movement was as precise as if their eyes were opened. I thought at that time: maybe that's how Taijiquan was invented.
From my own experience of helping other to archive Channel SHO, those who has practiced Taiji before usually have a much easier time of attaining it and once spontaneous movements appear, the movements are elegant and nice to look at. I thought: perhaps Taijiquan is the external part of dandao. Henceforth, I paid particular attention to the progress of students who practiced taijiquan after they had attained Channel SHO, three of them had revealed partial answers to this puzzle.
The first person had practiced Taijiquan for more than 40 years, he was 80 years old. I taught him the methods and things to watch out for when trying to open up the Channel SHO. He had a very good foundation. He could sit in full-lotus for three hours or more. The first day we went up to Taoyuan, he sat on his own in the morning and his abdomen vibrated strongly. He used the method taught by me to open his own SHO. Absolutely amazing for an 80-year-old man. I was amazed by his achievements and this showed me that Taijiquan is definitely one of dandao's foundational practice.
The seond person has practiced a different lineage of Taijiquan for more than 10 years. After he had attained Channel SHO, his progress was rapid, he had 36 mudras spontaneously appeared. Master Wang had said before that there are 36 mudras associated with Ling Bao Bi Fa and he had publicly taught only 4 of them! We analyzed and concluded that these mudras appears when the qi move in and connecting the 12 regular meridians.
The third person has also practiced various forms of Taiji for 10 years or more. After she had attained Channel SHO, she can clearly felt that qi was moving in her various meridians. We used one year to investigate and conclude that in Yang's Style Taiji, when doing each external form, there is a corresponding internal movement in the channel. We took it one step further and inverted the problem: for each of the 12 regular meridians, we extracted all the forms that stimulate that meridian and reorganize and modify them. We took out the 12 restructured and modified forms that stimulate and most accurately correspond to the 12 regular channels and created the "Twelve Forms of Meridian Taijiquan". We recorded it and sent the video to Master Wang for appraisal. After Master Wang had seen it he said, "There are many people who are currently researching on this topic but none of them had a result that's comparable to yours. Also in these form, you are missing *****. You should publish this as your own work." Actually we already knew that ***** is missing but we didn't have any way to overcome it at that time. This is another example of the amazing depth of knowledge that Master Wang possess. If one does not completely understand the structure of the 12 meridians, one can not know that which parts of our taijiquan are correct and which parts are missing. A Great Teacher! A true Master!
From my own experience of helping other to archive Channel SHO, those who has practiced Taiji before usually have a much easier time of attaining it and once spontaneous movements appear, the movements are elegant and nice to look at. I thought: perhaps Taijiquan is the external part of dandao. Henceforth, I paid particular attention to the progress of students who practiced taijiquan after they had attained Channel SHO, three of them had revealed partial answers to this puzzle.
The first person had practiced Taijiquan for more than 40 years, he was 80 years old. I taught him the methods and things to watch out for when trying to open up the Channel SHO. He had a very good foundation. He could sit in full-lotus for three hours or more. The first day we went up to Taoyuan, he sat on his own in the morning and his abdomen vibrated strongly. He used the method taught by me to open his own SHO. Absolutely amazing for an 80-year-old man. I was amazed by his achievements and this showed me that Taijiquan is definitely one of dandao's foundational practice.
The seond person has practiced a different lineage of Taijiquan for more than 10 years. After he had attained Channel SHO, his progress was rapid, he had 36 mudras spontaneously appeared. Master Wang had said before that there are 36 mudras associated with Ling Bao Bi Fa and he had publicly taught only 4 of them! We analyzed and concluded that these mudras appears when the qi move in and connecting the 12 regular meridians.
The third person has also practiced various forms of Taiji for 10 years or more. After she had attained Channel SHO, she can clearly felt that qi was moving in her various meridians. We used one year to investigate and conclude that in Yang's Style Taiji, when doing each external form, there is a corresponding internal movement in the channel. We took it one step further and inverted the problem: for each of the 12 regular meridians, we extracted all the forms that stimulate that meridian and reorganize and modify them. We took out the 12 restructured and modified forms that stimulate and most accurately correspond to the 12 regular channels and created the "Twelve Forms of Meridian Taijiquan". We recorded it and sent the video to Master Wang for appraisal. After Master Wang had seen it he said, "There are many people who are currently researching on this topic but none of them had a result that's comparable to yours. Also in these form, you are missing *****. You should publish this as your own work." Actually we already knew that ***** is missing but we didn't have any way to overcome it at that time. This is another example of the amazing depth of knowledge that Master Wang possess. If one does not completely understand the structure of the 12 meridians, one can not know that which parts of our taijiquan are correct and which parts are missing. A Great Teacher! A true Master!
2004 - Third revision of Yin Xian Fa
After I had mastered the techniques for SHO, I had a deeper understanding of the part "Refining the body to accumulate qi" in Yin Xian Fa, it led me to examine that portion of the practice again. I reexamined the Yin Xian Fa technique for the third time and wrote three reports on it "Analysis of the Techniques in Yin Xian Fa", " Analysis on the verifications of Yin Xian Fa", "Analysis on the results of Yin Xian Fa". The objective of these reports is clear, to completely deconstruct every detail of Yin Xian Fa in order to define step by step the methods and the corresponding results. The goal might be difficult to archive, but from my experience, working through a difficult problem always bring unexpected results. The are two parts to this problems:
(1) When one has accumulated enough experience so that each method and the its result is clear, then one has developed a set of techniques. When we apply the same principles to dandao, what would happen? This is a question of technique refinement.
(2) Since "Yin Xian Fa" is so great, how can one popularize it? This is a question of mass transmissions.
(1) When one has accumulated enough experience so that each method and the its result is clear, then one has developed a set of techniques. When we apply the same principles to dandao, what would happen? This is a question of technique refinement.
(2) Since "Yin Xian Fa" is so great, how can one popularize it? This is a question of mass transmissions.
2004 - An emergency call for help.
In August, a group of us went up to Mt. Xing Long again. We did the Star Formation Practice one day. One person did this star practice for the first time and he didn't follow the rule exactly, he just stood up when the practice has not been properly ended, this is strictly prohibited. As an analogy, let say 4 persons are lifting a heavy object together and one of the person abruptly let go of his hand, what would happen to others?
Unsurprisingly, an older gentlemen told me that "It's broken, the balance is lost." He was working on the level "Refining the Form with Golden Liquid", we tried many different ways to "repair" to no avail. As the last resort, I called Master Wang for help. I told him what had happened and then he asked me, "How old?" "60" I said. Master Wang then said, "This is because of this and that, you should look up so and so book, there is so and so passage and that's the way to fix it." I was on the mountain and didn't bring that book, so I called a friend and luckily he has that particular book. I asked him to look up the particular passage and read to me. Once he was done, I immediately understood what's wrong. We tried it immediately and it worked!
Cultivation happens in your body, if you weren't careful problem will arise and you would need to face the condequences. Troubles don't usually occur under normal circumstances but there are always exceptional time. Therefore one must find an accomplished teacher otherwise when problem occurs, you won't be able to deal with it yourself. I was only an assistant instructor, I am more than capable to teach the foundational materials but to teach the more advanced stuff, it's a more difficult question to answer.
Unsurprisingly, an older gentlemen told me that "It's broken, the balance is lost." He was working on the level "Refining the Form with Golden Liquid", we tried many different ways to "repair" to no avail. As the last resort, I called Master Wang for help. I told him what had happened and then he asked me, "How old?" "60" I said. Master Wang then said, "This is because of this and that, you should look up so and so book, there is so and so passage and that's the way to fix it." I was on the mountain and didn't bring that book, so I called a friend and luckily he has that particular book. I asked him to look up the particular passage and read to me. Once he was done, I immediately understood what's wrong. We tried it immediately and it worked!
Cultivation happens in your body, if you weren't careful problem will arise and you would need to face the condequences. Troubles don't usually occur under normal circumstances but there are always exceptional time. Therefore one must find an accomplished teacher otherwise when problem occurs, you won't be able to deal with it yourself. I was only an assistant instructor, I am more than capable to teach the foundational materials but to teach the more advanced stuff, it's a more difficult question to answer.
2003 - A breakthrough
In August, I went on a retreat with a group of friends on Mount Xing Long. When I was practicing in front of a tree one day, I felt that my body was swaying. After some careful observation, I realized that my Channel Small Heavenly Orbit was circulating rapidly like a wheel and the feeling was great. It was spinning when I was sitting, it was even spinning when I was sleeping. This showed that I have completely recovered. I helped everyone present to open up their orbits, later on, a few other came up to mountain, they all have their orbits opened except one. When other students in Lanzhou got hold of this news, they all immediately came up, at that time I was very excited and happy, so I helped everyone with their SHO. Of course this has caused me problems later as mentioned in an earlier post.
From that time on, I had developed a complete program for SHO that is simple, convenient, safe and reliable. Those who have experienced it were amazed, those who hasn't can not believe it. One need to know that for all these, I had investigated and researched for eight whole years. A difficult but rewarding eight-year period.
From that time on, I had developed a complete program for SHO that is simple, convenient, safe and reliable. Those who have experienced it were amazed, those who hasn't can not believe it. One need to know that for all these, I had investigated and researched for eight whole years. A difficult but rewarding eight-year period.
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