Chi Kung Overview
Chi Kung is a very broad topic and encompasses many practices though most people would agree that it is the study of subtle energy, Chi.
One of the key components is the breath.
There are three main sources of Chi Kung.
- Medical Chi Kung is based in traditional Chinese Medicine and is an extension of acupuncture.
- Chi Kung for meditation has two areas, Taoist methods
are concerned with creating an immortal body, but also include things like using the energy to form celestial nymphs, or attain to high knowledge states.
Buddhist Chi Kung is used in meditation and transformation of emotions and awakening the chakra system.
Martial Chi Kung has two directions, External Chi Kung related to Shao Lin, and Internal Chi Kung related to Internal styles such as Tai Chi. The External Methods which are many and diverse, might be simplified into the idea that energy stays in tense muscles. Using tension one can charge those muscles or can be concentrated in a vital area. Internal could be simplified into energy moves or flows through relaxed muscles.
The energy works at different levels of being. The physical level, the emotional level, the mental, and spiritual. Between the levels are more layers, for instance we can ask, "Is a craving a physical sensation or an emotion?" Chi Kung's exercises/practices enter on one of these levels and form a tool for development.
We begin physically and move into the emotions. The ideas and explanations are descriptions that help anchor the experiences. If you do not have the referent then the ideas won't make sense. But the ideas can guide you to the experience.
Everything is made up of chi, energy, acting according to principle, Li. The entire manifestation of the universe is nothing, but energy, and energy is always in a pattern, Li. The Grand Ultimate Pattern of the Universe is Tai Chi, the yin and yang, or play of opposites that are at the same time complementary and oppositional.
When you look at the sum of all patterns in manifestation you get the Tao, (I call the universal) when you look at the void from which they emerge you get Wu Chi, the primordial.
Above this is the transcendent.
An object then is simply a pattern, a form, and this form has a nature that makes it what it is. When something is acting according to its nature it is harmony with the Tao and has persistence according to it's nature, when it begins to lose harmony with its nature then the nature will change and it will be destroyed. The nature of all things is good, and when that goodness is lost then the disharmony will lead to destruction and change.
Through the practice of Chi Kung you harmonize with your nature through the refining of the energy, the accumulation of more energy, or the perfection of patterns of energy.
The energy can be directed towards different goals.
The question is what do you want to do?
For instance the energy can be refined for Martial Arts so that you can hit more effectively, disrupt the energy of others, and condition the body to withstand impacts even if it is your hand against the brick!
Or you can use the energy in order to heal yourself or others. Some of this is taught in class, many already have some system for using energy in this way, and Chi Kung provides a way to become more aware of the energy and better at sensing and directing the energy.
You can also use the energy for becoming more conscious, raising the level of awareness, and expanding your existence.
Two Practices
There are two practices, one is awareness, and the second is the development of the energy. In awareness we are working, not only on awareness of the energy, but of its uses and expression. Generally we start with the physical body, the different parts, and sensations. It is not just a mental awareness of muscle groups, but the inner feeling of space and what goes inside. Energy expresses itself in many forms, one of the most important is the emotions, so we also become aware of our emotional movements and how these are interconnected, with body and mind, and how there are interdependent and interactive with them. This is studying the Hsin, which is emotional imagination. We also are becoming aware of the energy both internally and externally and the different forms it takes. We start with a feeling at the hands, and then begin to feel internal flows, and externally the aura. This feeling grows so that we can distinguish emotions as energy. Then we move into the Yi, the will force, the intention, and we also include thought, the act of thinking, in this realm. Thought is treated like speech and it acts upon things. We begin to become aware of the interaction between the energies, as thought and emotions are linked, and these in turn express themselves through the body. As awareness grows we enter the Hsin's organization of personalities and we begin to develop these consciously.
With the two practices we can distinguish two natures, one is the lower nature based on conditions, earth, and the second is the higher nature based on cultivation, the heavens. Just like the garden we start from our conditions, but we rely on the sun. In the I-Ching, it says that it, "It furthers one to have somewhere to go." So our goal is to become more aware and cultivate the energy in order to become more of what we are. We aim to establish a better way of being, that has greater peace, abundant energy, widening harmony, deeper strength, and penetrating insight, and that can be expressed by greater benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom, and sincerity.
For the body the first tool of development is the relaxation, becoming more relaxed we can become more aware and at the same time free up the energy to move and be active.
For the emotions the first tool is the breath, for regulating the breath will bring the mind and emotions to a state of calmness. We start by being aware of how we feel, then we cultivate and transform feelings.
For the energy the first tool is shape, alignments that allow us to circulate and store the energy.
For the mind the first tool is the quietness, in the quiet mind we become aware.
