The first time I read Ling Bao Bi Fa was in 1987, then I read the Taoist Teachings of Chong and Lu, these two books complement each other. When I wrote Walk on the Great Path, I had read the relevant classics I had found. Beginning in 1995 when I was concentrating on researching Channel SHO, I started a detailed study of these two classics. In my specialized seminars, I also tried to use the two classics to explain the methods and the applications. After I had completed "Channel SHO study from 100 persons", I began to study these two books exclusively and I attempted at my own annotation of them.
It was a most awe-inspiring endeavor, when you really tried to understand the explanations of Ancestor Lu with your heart, you will find that each word has great meaning, each sentence is brilliant. To interpret the books from the point of view of the great Dao, they were written as tools to help you tackle "Dao De Jing". From the point of view of Yijing, the two books are demonstrating the world as described by Yijing. From the point of view of the theory of qi, they are talking about the Xiantian qi. Combining them with "Huang Di Nei Jing", they underpinned the traditional Chinese medicine theory. From the point of view of the theoretical aspects of practical methods, the two classic bridge the mortals to heaven, as long as there is an authentic teacher to lead you...
The two classics were full of wonders, I always exclaimed in admiration whenever I read the particularly brilliant sections. The wisdom of the great ancestors far exceeds the capability of our imaginations, it showed you the amazing level of achievement of our civilization. Tears fill my eyes whenever I am reminded of the compassion of the great ancestors, they have left us with great treasures, always hopping that we will be led to transform our lives into higher level.
I sent my annotations to Master Wang, he was very pleased with it. He told me more about Ling Bao Bi Fa on the phone and suggested that I also annotate "Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi" (*). I updated my manuscripts with Master Wang's suggestions. Later I annotated Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi and I sent the complete manuscript of the three annotations to Master Wang. After he was satisfied with it, the book was ready for publication. (**)
Translator's notes:
(*) An important longmen pai classic, translated in the west as "The Secret of the Golden Flowers"
(**) The book was published in Aug. 2008. (Only available in Chinese)
Showing posts with label translator's note. Show all posts
Showing posts with label translator's note. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
1998 - Report from Shangri-La
16th March - 30th March 1998, the flowers blossomed in the southern part of China. At Shangri-la, the 35th daoist cave heaven, the first Channel SHO study group was hosted by Shen laoshi(*). The practice ground was in an abandoned factory room located near a quiet town on the mountain.
(A) Basic Information
(1) Composition of the students
There were 26 students in total, 19 males and 7 females, from all over the Taoyuan county. There was an retired government official. There were "face down to the yellow ground and back to the sky" life-long farmers. There were middle and high school teachers. There were corporation management-level employees. There were middle school students. The oldest was 78 and the youngest was 14, average age was 52. 11 persons over 60, 11 persons between 40-59 and only 4 persons were below 40. The highest education level was university graduates, the lowest was primary school grads. 14 of them had below middle school level education. 3 above tertiary education level. 5 persons had good health. The rest were all inflicted with different degree of illness, 6 were seriously ill. All of them had learned Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu before, the longest had been 10 years, the shortest was 1 year long.
(2) Teaching goal
The goal for this specialized study group was clear, to open up the Channel SHO and refined the body from houtian stage to xiantian stage. Therefore all the lectures, daigong and complementary exercises were all constructed around that goal in mind.
(2) Duties of the student
Around sunset and sunrise, work on Ping Peng Gong for 3 hours outdoor. The main purpose was to emit internal qi out and absorbed external qi inside the body in order to increase the strength of the internal qi's movement.
Two hours of meditation both in the morning and in the afternoon, we concentrated on Zhineng Fa, Yin Xian Fa and the Human Immortal Methods of the Three Immortals Method.
Star Formation practice for 1-2 hours at night, in order to borrow the cosmic power to stimulate latent abilities.
Long distance daigong from Shen laoshi during sleeping practice. The total length of actual practice is 10 hours per day.
(3) Structure of the classes
All the lectures, daigong, group practice was carried out by Shen laoshi. The students were required to keep a diary of their practice to record everything related to the practice. When the seminar was finished, they were required to turn a copy of their diary to Shen laoshi. The dairy must be a detailed recording of all the phenomenons, feelings that happened during the seminar, they should be written in an objective and factual way.
(4) Weather
The 2nd half of March was humid and warm but there was one unexpected cold front which rendered the seminar to be held in a cold environment. It rained 8 days out of the 15, temperature range was 1 - 4 degrees Celsius. Because of the rain, the students did not have much chance to do Ping Peng Gong. This decreased the chance to strengthen their body. Since the cold front was unexpected, many students did not bring enough warm clothing. Some of their internal strength was used to resist the cold, this had a negative impact on opening up the Channel SHO.
(5) Result
After 15 days of intensive training and Shen Laoshi's daigong. 14 students achieved Channel SHO. The abilities that were development was exactly as described in Neijintu.
(B) Some Important Observations
(1) Beside Master Wang, there was no one else who publicly taught Channel SHO. In this seminar, 14 out of 26 students succeeded, 53.8 % success rate. This proved that Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu had many advantages for Channel SHO.
(2) Even elderly people can attain SHO
Age was an important factor in determining the success rate of Channel SHO. Elderly people tends to lose Xiantian yuen qi, they don't have as much yuen qi as younger people. But it is not hopeless. The oldest person was 78 and the youngest was 14, they both attained Channel SHO. It proved that as long as the method is right and the student works hard, people of all ages can attain Channel SHO.
(3) People with bad health can also attain Channel SHO
The wellness of the body also affect the success rate but it's not determining factor. Everyone has Xiantian qi, as long as one practice to stimulate it, the Ren and Du channels can be reconnected again and open up the Channel SHO. The classic case were Mr. Huang, who had four invasive operation done; Mr. Li, who had part of the stomach and gall bladder removed, whose 4th thoracic was broken; Miss Wang, who had stomach illness and serious joint pain; Miss Huang, bad health since childhood who was pretty much "raised with medicine", when she was 20 years, both of her hands were seriously burnt in an industrial accident. She has one kid after marriage and because contraceptive didn't not work on her, she had 10 abortions. She was tired both in body and the mind; Mr. Zhou, who had cognitive disorders; Miss Wan, B-type liver disease. All these people, after some hard work, they all attained the Channel SHO.
(4) After attaining Channel SHO, health can be improved dramatically
When people who had serious illness attained SHO, their health generally improved immediately, the speed of their recovery was amazing. For example, after SHO, Mr. Li found that all his body Pain disappeared ; Miss Wang's stomach illness was healed and her joints pain was also alleviated ; Miss Wang's meridian and bone still hurt, but the pain was not as severe; Miss Wan's liver pain also disappeared.
(5) Opening Channel SHO is un affected by period
Generally speaking, a woman's period cycle affect her psychology and physiology greatly. Miss Wang attained SHO while she was in her ovary cycle and Miss Li attained her while she was in her period cycle.
(6) Occupations and Education level does not affect the Channel SHO
People of all education level and of all kind of jobs can open up their Channel SHO.
(7) To attain Channel SHO, women are easier than men, youngsters are are easier than the elderly.
7 students were female, 6 of them were successful. The last one only joined the group in the last 5 days. 19 students were men, only 8 succeeded. The average age of those who were successful was 47, lower than the average group age by 5 years.
(8) The process were the same for everyone who was successful.
When the houtian qi was full in the body, the xiantian qi began to be created, the yuen qi initiate from the lower tien, pass through Hui Yin then Wei Lu, Jia Ji and up to Yu Zhen. Then it came down from Tian Men, Tian Mu. The qi then went down to lower tien along the Ren channel. The cycle continues automatically.
(9) After Channel SHO, internal qi move automatically.
After the Channel SHO, the internal qi will be guided by Xiantian qi and automatically move around the organs, meridians and channels. Being initially restricted by the wellness of the practitioner, the automatic movement of internal qi began in part of the body where there was illness only, after the illness is cured. The internal qi can move in other parts. When the body is healed completely, the internal qi will automatically move around in all the organs, meridians and channels.
(10) Attaining Channel SHO also develop other latent abilities.
After the SHO was opened, the successful students develop different levels and kinds of abilities. Miss Wang saw a tree when she closed her eyes and meditate. Later she found the exact tree in the Taiyuan park, she had never been there before; Mr. He developed see-through power and ; Miss Ye could see her own bones, meridians and points; Mr. Zhou could see his own bones too; Miss Liu developed automatic daoyin and Nu Dan movements.
(11) The emotions fluctuate greatly during the seminar.
In the early part of the seminar, the students had different goals and many questions. They were all reassured after Shen laoshi's clear explanations and powerful daigong. Half-way through the seminar, because of the cold weather and the difficult 2 hours session of meditation, the students were generally depressed and bored. On the 8th and 9th day, following the first and second success, all other students were inspired and they all worked hard so that they could be the next one. Towards the end, when the 78 years old student and the one who had his gall bladder and part of the stomach removed also attained Channel SHO, everyone was excited since they should be the ones who had the most difficulty to open it.
(12) Opening the Channel SHO require dedication and hard work.
Every student agreed that, opening the Channel SHO required confidence, endurance, sweats, pain and patience. Everyone is equal in front of it, it doesn't depend on external factors. There is only one way to do it, students must have strong faith and confidence, careful study the theory and follow the instructor's direction precisely.
(C) Deficiency
Since it was Shen laoshi's first Channel SHO class, there were places that can be improved :
(1) Weather
The weather was terrible which affect to certain degree the success rate. The location should be chosen carefully.
(2) Lack of movement exercises.
Due to the bad weather, the student did not have enough outdoor practice.
(3) Not enough mental preparation.
The students had different goal in this class, some of them just wanted to improve their health, some of them just wanted to learn the gongs and some were only curious. Therefore some student didn't work hard and just did their own things, when they finally understood what was offered to them the seminar was almost finished, they all regretted it a lot.
(4) Not enough understanding.
Some students like to learn many different gongs from different schools, hence they lack practice in Ling Bao Tong or they misunderstood the theory and practice. Therefore they won't have good result. Some students didn't follow the Shen laoshi's instructions carefully and hence they couldn't possibly succeed.
(*) laoshi : means teacher in Chinese
(A) Basic Information
(1) Composition of the students
There were 26 students in total, 19 males and 7 females, from all over the Taoyuan county. There was an retired government official. There were "face down to the yellow ground and back to the sky" life-long farmers. There were middle and high school teachers. There were corporation management-level employees. There were middle school students. The oldest was 78 and the youngest was 14, average age was 52. 11 persons over 60, 11 persons between 40-59 and only 4 persons were below 40. The highest education level was university graduates, the lowest was primary school grads. 14 of them had below middle school level education. 3 above tertiary education level. 5 persons had good health. The rest were all inflicted with different degree of illness, 6 were seriously ill. All of them had learned Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu before, the longest had been 10 years, the shortest was 1 year long.
(2) Teaching goal
The goal for this specialized study group was clear, to open up the Channel SHO and refined the body from houtian stage to xiantian stage. Therefore all the lectures, daigong and complementary exercises were all constructed around that goal in mind.
(2) Duties of the student
Around sunset and sunrise, work on Ping Peng Gong for 3 hours outdoor. The main purpose was to emit internal qi out and absorbed external qi inside the body in order to increase the strength of the internal qi's movement.
Two hours of meditation both in the morning and in the afternoon, we concentrated on Zhineng Fa, Yin Xian Fa and the Human Immortal Methods of the Three Immortals Method.
Star Formation practice for 1-2 hours at night, in order to borrow the cosmic power to stimulate latent abilities.
Long distance daigong from Shen laoshi during sleeping practice. The total length of actual practice is 10 hours per day.
(3) Structure of the classes
All the lectures, daigong, group practice was carried out by Shen laoshi. The students were required to keep a diary of their practice to record everything related to the practice. When the seminar was finished, they were required to turn a copy of their diary to Shen laoshi. The dairy must be a detailed recording of all the phenomenons, feelings that happened during the seminar, they should be written in an objective and factual way.
(4) Weather
The 2nd half of March was humid and warm but there was one unexpected cold front which rendered the seminar to be held in a cold environment. It rained 8 days out of the 15, temperature range was 1 - 4 degrees Celsius. Because of the rain, the students did not have much chance to do Ping Peng Gong. This decreased the chance to strengthen their body. Since the cold front was unexpected, many students did not bring enough warm clothing. Some of their internal strength was used to resist the cold, this had a negative impact on opening up the Channel SHO.
(5) Result
After 15 days of intensive training and Shen Laoshi's daigong. 14 students achieved Channel SHO. The abilities that were development was exactly as described in Neijintu.
(B) Some Important Observations
(1) Beside Master Wang, there was no one else who publicly taught Channel SHO. In this seminar, 14 out of 26 students succeeded, 53.8 % success rate. This proved that Ling Bao Tong Zhineng Neigong Shu had many advantages for Channel SHO.
(2) Even elderly people can attain SHO
Age was an important factor in determining the success rate of Channel SHO. Elderly people tends to lose Xiantian yuen qi, they don't have as much yuen qi as younger people. But it is not hopeless. The oldest person was 78 and the youngest was 14, they both attained Channel SHO. It proved that as long as the method is right and the student works hard, people of all ages can attain Channel SHO.
(3) People with bad health can also attain Channel SHO
The wellness of the body also affect the success rate but it's not determining factor. Everyone has Xiantian qi, as long as one practice to stimulate it, the Ren and Du channels can be reconnected again and open up the Channel SHO. The classic case were Mr. Huang, who had four invasive operation done; Mr. Li, who had part of the stomach and gall bladder removed, whose 4th thoracic was broken; Miss Wang, who had stomach illness and serious joint pain; Miss Huang, bad health since childhood who was pretty much "raised with medicine", when she was 20 years, both of her hands were seriously burnt in an industrial accident. She has one kid after marriage and because contraceptive didn't not work on her, she had 10 abortions. She was tired both in body and the mind; Mr. Zhou, who had cognitive disorders; Miss Wan, B-type liver disease. All these people, after some hard work, they all attained the Channel SHO.
(4) After attaining Channel SHO, health can be improved dramatically
When people who had serious illness attained SHO, their health generally improved immediately, the speed of their recovery was amazing. For example, after SHO, Mr. Li found that all his body Pain disappeared ; Miss Wang's stomach illness was healed and her joints pain was also alleviated ; Miss Wang's meridian and bone still hurt, but the pain was not as severe; Miss Wan's liver pain also disappeared.
(5) Opening Channel SHO is un affected by period
Generally speaking, a woman's period cycle affect her psychology and physiology greatly. Miss Wang attained SHO while she was in her ovary cycle and Miss Li attained her while she was in her period cycle.
(6) Occupations and Education level does not affect the Channel SHO
People of all education level and of all kind of jobs can open up their Channel SHO.
(7) To attain Channel SHO, women are easier than men, youngsters are are easier than the elderly.
7 students were female, 6 of them were successful. The last one only joined the group in the last 5 days. 19 students were men, only 8 succeeded. The average age of those who were successful was 47, lower than the average group age by 5 years.
(8) The process were the same for everyone who was successful.
When the houtian qi was full in the body, the xiantian qi began to be created, the yuen qi initiate from the lower tien, pass through Hui Yin then Wei Lu, Jia Ji and up to Yu Zhen. Then it came down from Tian Men, Tian Mu. The qi then went down to lower tien along the Ren channel. The cycle continues automatically.
(9) After Channel SHO, internal qi move automatically.
After the Channel SHO, the internal qi will be guided by Xiantian qi and automatically move around the organs, meridians and channels. Being initially restricted by the wellness of the practitioner, the automatic movement of internal qi began in part of the body where there was illness only, after the illness is cured. The internal qi can move in other parts. When the body is healed completely, the internal qi will automatically move around in all the organs, meridians and channels.
(10) Attaining Channel SHO also develop other latent abilities.
After the SHO was opened, the successful students develop different levels and kinds of abilities. Miss Wang saw a tree when she closed her eyes and meditate. Later she found the exact tree in the Taiyuan park, she had never been there before; Mr. He developed see-through power and ; Miss Ye could see her own bones, meridians and points; Mr. Zhou could see his own bones too; Miss Liu developed automatic daoyin and Nu Dan movements.
(11) The emotions fluctuate greatly during the seminar.
In the early part of the seminar, the students had different goals and many questions. They were all reassured after Shen laoshi's clear explanations and powerful daigong. Half-way through the seminar, because of the cold weather and the difficult 2 hours session of meditation, the students were generally depressed and bored. On the 8th and 9th day, following the first and second success, all other students were inspired and they all worked hard so that they could be the next one. Towards the end, when the 78 years old student and the one who had his gall bladder and part of the stomach removed also attained Channel SHO, everyone was excited since they should be the ones who had the most difficulty to open it.
(12) Opening the Channel SHO require dedication and hard work.
Every student agreed that, opening the Channel SHO required confidence, endurance, sweats, pain and patience. Everyone is equal in front of it, it doesn't depend on external factors. There is only one way to do it, students must have strong faith and confidence, careful study the theory and follow the instructor's direction precisely.
(C) Deficiency
Since it was Shen laoshi's first Channel SHO class, there were places that can be improved :
(1) Weather
The weather was terrible which affect to certain degree the success rate. The location should be chosen carefully.
(2) Lack of movement exercises.
Due to the bad weather, the student did not have enough outdoor practice.
(3) Not enough mental preparation.
The students had different goal in this class, some of them just wanted to improve their health, some of them just wanted to learn the gongs and some were only curious. Therefore some student didn't work hard and just did their own things, when they finally understood what was offered to them the seminar was almost finished, they all regretted it a lot.
(4) Not enough understanding.
Some students like to learn many different gongs from different schools, hence they lack practice in Ling Bao Tong or they misunderstood the theory and practice. Therefore they won't have good result. Some students didn't follow the Shen laoshi's instructions carefully and hence they couldn't possibly succeed.
(*) laoshi : means teacher in Chinese
1995 - Channel Small Heavenly Orbit
"Small Heavenly Orbit (SHO)" (or microcosmic orbit) is a term that can be seen often in qigong literatures. Many different schools all aim to "open" it. You can even heard of "speed courses" which claim to open up the SHO in a few days. But if we look at all these so called SHO methods, one can see that they are actually talking about Intention SHO or meridian SHO. Intention SHO means that the practitioner uses variants of visualization or intention method to "open" SHO, this is nothing more than fantasy. It will cause more harm than good. Meridian SHO means using will power to concentrate on points of the Ren and Du channel and then using intention to guide the Houtian (*) Qi to move in the channel. Since usually the movement got mixed up in other channels in the front and in the back, it created the illusion that there is actual movement in the SHO. Again this causes more harm than good.
The term SHO originated from ancient neigong art, it has a very specific meaning in daoist cultivation. The old daoist ancestors discover through their power that the Ren and Du channel of a fetus inside the mother's womb are connected together. When the baby is born and the umbilical cord is severed, the two channels also get disconnected. Daoist practitioners believe that if one want to get from Houtian to Xiantian (**), to reverse the aging process, Ren and Du must be reconnected again and the internal qi must be reversed back into the fetus stage. The authentic SHO is the method to reconnect the Ren and Du channel. What it means it that when the Xiantian qi is full, the Xiantian yuen qi initiate from the lower tien, then through the Hui Yin point going up inside the spine, knocking down the three gates of Wei Lu, Jia Ji and Yu Zhen, and opening up Tian Men, Tian Mu and the three fields. The Ren and Du channels reconnect and the process is automatic. Once this stage is reached, the internal qi reverse back into fetus stage and a series of natural Xiantian abilities will also appear, Internal viewing, remote viewing and the automatic movement of the internal qi. Since the authentic daoist SHO means that Xiantian qi reconnect the Ren and Du channel, and these two channels are part of the body's Eight Wondrous Channels, therefore this is also known as Channel Small Heavenly Orbit. In the Three Immortal Methods, this is the fifth stage, the "The Golden Sphere Flying up from the side".
(*)Houtian : it roughly means "after birth". It represents things that belong to this material world, it also means polluted.
(**) Xiantian : it roughly translate to "before birth". It represents things that are natural and pure.
The term SHO originated from ancient neigong art, it has a very specific meaning in daoist cultivation. The old daoist ancestors discover through their power that the Ren and Du channel of a fetus inside the mother's womb are connected together. When the baby is born and the umbilical cord is severed, the two channels also get disconnected. Daoist practitioners believe that if one want to get from Houtian to Xiantian (**), to reverse the aging process, Ren and Du must be reconnected again and the internal qi must be reversed back into the fetus stage. The authentic SHO is the method to reconnect the Ren and Du channel. What it means it that when the Xiantian qi is full, the Xiantian yuen qi initiate from the lower tien, then through the Hui Yin point going up inside the spine, knocking down the three gates of Wei Lu, Jia Ji and Yu Zhen, and opening up Tian Men, Tian Mu and the three fields. The Ren and Du channels reconnect and the process is automatic. Once this stage is reached, the internal qi reverse back into fetus stage and a series of natural Xiantian abilities will also appear, Internal viewing, remote viewing and the automatic movement of the internal qi. Since the authentic daoist SHO means that Xiantian qi reconnect the Ren and Du channel, and these two channels are part of the body's Eight Wondrous Channels, therefore this is also known as Channel Small Heavenly Orbit. In the Three Immortal Methods, this is the fifth stage, the "The Golden Sphere Flying up from the side".
(*)Houtian : it roughly means "after birth". It represents things that belong to this material world, it also means polluted.
(**) Xiantian : it roughly translate to "before birth". It represents things that are natural and pure.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
1990 - Discussion of Dao at the Police University (4)
I asked Master Wang : whether the Three Immortals Methods really need 12 years to complete.
Master Wang : "If we are only talking about the methods themselves. If the teacher can do good daigong, then 6 years is also possible. If the student has good foundation and the teacher daigong well, then 3 years is not impossible."
I asked: "Can anyone open up the channel small heavenly orbit? (*) "
Master Wang : "If the instruction was followed properly, anyone can do that."
This conversation had inspired me to think and explore ways to complete the Three Immortals Method quickly and properly.
(*) This is not the small heavenly orbit (or microcosmic orbit) that most people talk about. This is a major level of achievement in Longmen Pai. More on that later.
Master Wang : "If we are only talking about the methods themselves. If the teacher can do good daigong, then 6 years is also possible. If the student has good foundation and the teacher daigong well, then 3 years is not impossible."
I asked: "Can anyone open up the channel small heavenly orbit? (*) "
Master Wang : "If the instruction was followed properly, anyone can do that."
This conversation had inspired me to think and explore ways to complete the Three Immortals Method quickly and properly.
(*) This is not the small heavenly orbit (or microcosmic orbit) that most people talk about. This is a major level of achievement in Longmen Pai. More on that later.
Monday, May 19, 2008
1989 - Direct Transmission (2)
When the Monkey King in "Journey to the West" was a taoist magic apprentice, he cleverly got the hint from his master and so sneaked out of bed at midnight to learn kung fu directly, it showed that he was smart and has great capacity to learn. I thought why shouldn't I do the same? Therefore after Master Wang finished his lecture and after we began our group meditation with the teaching assistants, I sneaked out of class to look for Master Wang. He led me to a quiet area and use a tree branch as pen and the ground as paper to outline and explaine to me the "Theory of the Three Worlds" and the "Formula of The Universe's Creation". Each of this session lasted an hour for a total of seven times. When he knew it was about time, Master Wang would say, "Go back inside quickly, the class is about to finish." I quickly went back inside and pretend to meditate for a while. When everyone began the closing sequence, I followed and "close" as well. When the seminar was about to end, Master Wang began to lecture the "Theory of the Three Worlds" and the "Formula of The Universe's Creation" to the class. To other students, these were brand new contents and they were very curious about it although they couldn't accept it just then. To me it was the conclusion and the summary of my "extra-curricular" activities in the past week. When the class ended, Master Wang came to me and said, "I lectured this for you." , I nodded my head and quietly put this into my heart.
After Master Wang's teaching, my mind was stimulated, my brain was always in a state of excitement and wonder. My mind was very active and I seemed to be able to see the world in a whole new level. I was unable to sleep several nights because I was thinking all night long, new ideas would just sprung up in my mind constantly. I remained in this state for four years, I only calmed down after I finished "Walk on the Great Path". (*)
(*) Sequel to "Opening the Dragon Gate", written by Mr. Shen and published in 1994. Not available in English.
After Master Wang's teaching, my mind was stimulated, my brain was always in a state of excitement and wonder. My mind was very active and I seemed to be able to see the world in a whole new level. I was unable to sleep several nights because I was thinking all night long, new ideas would just sprung up in my mind constantly. I remained in this state for four years, I only calmed down after I finished "Walk on the Great Path". (*)
(*) Sequel to "Opening the Dragon Gate", written by Mr. Shen and published in 1994. Not available in English.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
1988 - Sealed my fate with Dao at Louguan (4)
All these wonderful experiences at Louguan were great but what impacted me the most, and I can even say what changed the course of life, was another incident. At the time, the living condition at Louguan was less than desirable. There was only one public restroom for everyone, so I decided to Bi Gu (*). In the afternoon one day, after the lunch break I wanted to use the restroom, when I walked there I saw an old lady leaning against the wall. I thought she must be waiting to use the restroom but suddenly she collapsed. I quickly went to help her but she was already unconscious. I asked a few people to come and help me to move her to a nearby room. Many people then came to help us, some tried to revive her with first aid and some went to look for medicine etc. Not long afterward, Master Wang walked in and solemnly said "Get her to the hospital." Someone managed to get hold of a car and a few of us carried her inside. After we arrived at the hospital, I carried her on my back to the ER. The doctor on duty did some diagnosis and said, "She is already dead, we won't accept her here.". With no other choice, we carried her to another hospital. We didn't mention that she is already dead and asked for first aid, after some diagnosis the doctor said, "The patient is already dead." We asked what should we do and the doctor said "How can we do anything? Just send her to the morgue". We did what we were told.
I didn't think much about this incident at the time, I just felt that this was the right thing to do. After I got back to the seminar, i quickly immersed back into the practice again. However, some students had very strong reactions, someone said "Carried a dead person before marriage will get haunted by ghost all life!". The Taoist master at Louguan said after he heard this "This is a good child. The good child has great moral, no disaster will happen." He penned four words "Dao Fa Zhi Yeng" (Translator's note : roughly translate to The divine art of Dao) for me as a memento. The Shannxi Daoist Association buried the old lady as a daoist practitioner and they pray and perform rituals for her every year.
(*) Bi Gu : means literally to avoid grains. A daoist practice where the practitioner stopped eating for an extended period of time.
I didn't think much about this incident at the time, I just felt that this was the right thing to do. After I got back to the seminar, i quickly immersed back into the practice again. However, some students had very strong reactions, someone said "Carried a dead person before marriage will get haunted by ghost all life!". The Taoist master at Louguan said after he heard this "This is a good child. The good child has great moral, no disaster will happen." He penned four words "Dao Fa Zhi Yeng" (Translator's note : roughly translate to The divine art of Dao) for me as a memento. The Shannxi Daoist Association buried the old lady as a daoist practitioner and they pray and perform rituals for her every year.
(*) Bi Gu : means literally to avoid grains. A daoist practice where the practitioner stopped eating for an extended period of time.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
1987 - My fortunate destiny with Dao (2)
My first "Spiritual Jewels Zhineng Neigong" class with Master Wang was an unforgettable event. When Master Wang daoyin (*) daigong (**) for the first time, everyone experienced the most extreme pain, it felt like someone used a screwdriver to burrow directly into your bone marrow, It was unbearable. When Master Wang had finished, he said, "It has only been 37 minutes, look at all your faces, you are not qualified to let me daigong yet.", no one could really understand what Master Wang meant at that time. I only felt that my foundation was too weak, I was a bit ashamed to have disappointed Master Wang. After a dozen years of practice, I have finally started to appreciate the meaning of Master Wang's word that day. When we want to learn advanced dan fa (***), we need to ask ourselves : Am I well prepared? Am I qualified?
Master Wang had told us a lot of things in the class that you can't find in any textbooks. His daigong was very interesting, sometimes it was very comfortable, sometimes it hurt like hell, when he hypnotized you can hear snoring from every corner of the room, during the daoyin, the internal qi would lap around inside the body. Master Wang did not allow any sound recording, some students sneaked in sound recorders, but in the end, whoever tried to record in the class all had their recorders broken mysteriously and no one was able to record anything. They took the broken sound recorders to Master Wang, he picked them up and had a look and then said, "It works fine." He passed it to the student who then tried using it, it worked. This had happened multiple times. Only the sound recorder which belonged to the university association, who had gotten the permission from Master Wang to record the event, was able to record the class completely.
The seminar seemed to be so short. Master Wang has asked us not to see him off. I asked a friend of mine to go to the train station together ahead of time to wait for Master Wang, not too long afterward, Master Wang arrived. We chatted for a few minutes and took a few photos together before Master Wang got on the train. We stood there quietly to see the train moving away slowly. It was the first time that I understood the complex feelings one has when seeing off a love one, the sadness and the yearning. Suddenly a thought came to my mind to describe Master Wang : a true blessed saint.
The seminar was successful overall, however there were also some regrets. During the eight-day class, Master Wang had performed two experiments : one of them was to use mind power to fire up a frog's neurons pathway, the other was to use mind power to change of coefficient of superconductivity of materials. The two experiment were successful. The only regret was that the chair of the lab was away in a meeting and didn't participate in those experiments, he rejected the findings of the lab. A golden opportunity to study human body science was squandered this way. Another regret was that we took a full reel of photos, including the pictures we took with Master Wang at the train station, unfortunately they were all overexposed. We had heard rumors that unless Master Wang had agreed, he wouldn't allow his photos to be taken, otherwise, he just had to think slightly and the film would be ruined. We thought that maybe the film was damaged before the seminar, but anyhow it was regretful to lose all the photos.
After the seminar, we collected and compared notes with each other to improve our understanding. After a period of careful study and practice, I began to appreciate the breath and depth of "Spiritual Jewels Zhineng Neigong", whether it was the theory or the actual implementation, the system is complete and strong in every aspect. By comparing what we learned in the seminar to the actual "Spiritual Jewels Zhineng Neigong" (SPZN), we had only learned one method and one art and they weren't even complete. To compare SPZN with other system, it was clear that it is several levels higher than anything else. Armed with this knowledge, i stopped doing all other practices and instead concentrated on SPZN only. Surprisingly, after only two months of practice, I reached an important step of the practice.
(*) daoyin : to lead and to induce. When a master is practicing with the students, the verbal instructions on the ways to breath and other internal/external maneuvers are called daoyin.
(**) daigong : to lead a class with qi. An accomplished master can create a qi (energy) field in the surrounding to let his/her students to sit in. The qi can help squeezing and opening up the channels and points of the students.
(***) fa : method. I will use this word a lot.
Master Wang had told us a lot of things in the class that you can't find in any textbooks. His daigong was very interesting, sometimes it was very comfortable, sometimes it hurt like hell, when he hypnotized you can hear snoring from every corner of the room, during the daoyin, the internal qi would lap around inside the body. Master Wang did not allow any sound recording, some students sneaked in sound recorders, but in the end, whoever tried to record in the class all had their recorders broken mysteriously and no one was able to record anything. They took the broken sound recorders to Master Wang, he picked them up and had a look and then said, "It works fine." He passed it to the student who then tried using it, it worked. This had happened multiple times. Only the sound recorder which belonged to the university association, who had gotten the permission from Master Wang to record the event, was able to record the class completely.
The seminar seemed to be so short. Master Wang has asked us not to see him off. I asked a friend of mine to go to the train station together ahead of time to wait for Master Wang, not too long afterward, Master Wang arrived. We chatted for a few minutes and took a few photos together before Master Wang got on the train. We stood there quietly to see the train moving away slowly. It was the first time that I understood the complex feelings one has when seeing off a love one, the sadness and the yearning. Suddenly a thought came to my mind to describe Master Wang : a true blessed saint.
The seminar was successful overall, however there were also some regrets. During the eight-day class, Master Wang had performed two experiments : one of them was to use mind power to fire up a frog's neurons pathway, the other was to use mind power to change of coefficient of superconductivity of materials. The two experiment were successful. The only regret was that the chair of the lab was away in a meeting and didn't participate in those experiments, he rejected the findings of the lab. A golden opportunity to study human body science was squandered this way. Another regret was that we took a full reel of photos, including the pictures we took with Master Wang at the train station, unfortunately they were all overexposed. We had heard rumors that unless Master Wang had agreed, he wouldn't allow his photos to be taken, otherwise, he just had to think slightly and the film would be ruined. We thought that maybe the film was damaged before the seminar, but anyhow it was regretful to lose all the photos.
After the seminar, we collected and compared notes with each other to improve our understanding. After a period of careful study and practice, I began to appreciate the breath and depth of "Spiritual Jewels Zhineng Neigong", whether it was the theory or the actual implementation, the system is complete and strong in every aspect. By comparing what we learned in the seminar to the actual "Spiritual Jewels Zhineng Neigong" (SPZN), we had only learned one method and one art and they weren't even complete. To compare SPZN with other system, it was clear that it is several levels higher than anything else. Armed with this knowledge, i stopped doing all other practices and instead concentrated on SPZN only. Surprisingly, after only two months of practice, I reached an important step of the practice.
(*) daoyin : to lead and to induce. When a master is practicing with the students, the verbal instructions on the ways to breath and other internal/external maneuvers are called daoyin.
(**) daigong : to lead a class with qi. An accomplished master can create a qi (energy) field in the surrounding to let his/her students to sit in. The qi can help squeezing and opening up the channels and points of the students.
(***) fa : method. I will use this word a lot.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Translator's Introduction.
Thank you for visiting. In the coming months, I will start translating essays by Shen Laoshi who is a senior student of Master Wang Liping, the 18th generation transmitter of the Longmen Pai ( Dragon Gate Sect). Mr. Shen will share with you his experience in learning and teaching the Spiritual Jewels Exercises (SJE) , either as an assistant to Master Wang or on his own. Mr. Shen is the only one in the world certified by Master Wang as an "Advanced Instructor of Spiritual Jewels Exercises".
In the future, if there is no mention of "translator" in the title of the post, it means that it is a translation of an essay and hence the "I"s and "me"s will be refering to Mr. Shen.
In the future, if there is no mention of "translator" in the title of the post, it means that it is a translation of an essay and hence the "I"s and "me"s will be refering to Mr. Shen.
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