Sudhamma

Dear SecretGrotto, Zhanzhuang is a great qigong practice but from all your posts about your pain and practice there is no mention about the breathing method. Perhaps you should talk to your instructor about the proper breathing method in your particular zhangzhuan practice. With cold hands and a lower back pain are good indications of a yang kidney deficiency and with too much yin. If you love your drinks, you may have to stop it to improve. As for your zhanzhuang, you should relax your leg muscles and focus on the yungchuan point at the base of your feet during the exhale, but only when you 'know' how to breathe. Meanshile, don't tense the leg muscles even when on a 'horse' stance. I hope this helps.

To The Seeker of Healing, I'm not putting words into the Buddha's mouth. His mission was to find the release from suffering and samsaric existence. He had accomplished that and through his 40 years of missionary preached just that. Even though he did elaborate how superhuman powers can arise through practise of his system of jhanic meditations he warned his disciples not to be obsessed with this superhuman achievements as it is not the object of his Teaching. Sutras (Sanskrit), or Suttas (Pali) are specific teachings that relates to his core Teachings, like the Diamond Sutra for example, that has a message for Mankind that when phenomena exist with conditions, then it will not last and subject to decay and destruction, the principle of Emptiness or Annatta, the principle of Impermanence. There are many misconceptions about what the Buddha taught and I'm sharing what I do know.

1. Pan Gu was a mystical giant figure that 'formed' the earth or rather 'hammered' the earth into shape after the pre-creation Universe experienced the Big Bang. Yes, there was this Big Bang in this Chinese story of Genesis. And, he was not like Adam. And having done his job of getting the earth into shape, he laid down to rest (and died), and his body and fluids formed the various features of the earth, oceans, lakes, mountains, trees, wind, stars, the sun and the moon, etc. 2. The magic number '26'. Most Daoist qigong systems have a number system, some when executing the movement, some in the timing the length of the breath. In the Taiji Longevity Ruler qigong, the number of rotations is 36 with anti-clockwise on the left, and clockwise on the right. Its a different number for Baqua Roushenggong, 8 being the minimum number of stepping during the 8-Mother palm routine. I believe that the number of rotations has an influence on the length of time needed to cultivate the qi-energy within the body. 3. Some qigong systems require the 'initiation qi' from the master, some requiring the qi-master to 'open' the meridians, and yet, many others do not require any of these initiations but only require the student to listen carefully of what the master says in the oral transmission of instructions. 4. Shen Gong: Some Daoist shen gong requires the student to swallow a paper talisman (hu) to begin initiation. Some systems require recantations. The common name for this type of practise is Shen Da when the student is feeling the force within that moves his/her limbs and body...something like 'spontaneous' qigong. The student, however is not in a trance-like state, unlike temple mediums. Some other qigong systems call their practice 'shen gong' to emphasize the super-human abilities of their qigong but nothing to do with any spiritual/religious initiations.

Thanks Munky, that's why I find this forum capitvating especially about the xiaoyao pai, the pre-creation dao (xiantien dao), the hufa shen, yuan shen, and things which I had thought were products of a rich imagination especially that of Jinrong's.

Dear Munky, The emphasis in Buddhism as taught by the Buddha is never the development of the elixir as the approach to Enlightenment. You are right to say that my knowledge in Buddhism is little and even shallow, but that much as the core teaching beginning from the 4 Noble Truths, and the 8-Fold Path as the solution to the cessation of Suffering (Dukka) and hence the ending of the cycle of rebirths (Samsara) are comprehended (by me). As challenged by the Buddha, one can 'test' his Teachings (Dhamma) in the 'come and see' for oneself, Ehipassiko. Dear Mudfoot, 5 centuries after the Parinibbanna, the passing of the Buddha, there was a schism in Buddhism and the world had Mahayana branch of the religion. Though there are various sects within the two branches, Theravaden and Mahayana, the core Teachings remain unchanged. The sectarian differences are the varying emphasis and practices. One major difference between Theravaden and Mahayana is the taking of only 1 lunch-meal before noon by Theravadin monks/nuns, and taking both vegetarian lunch and dinner by Mahayana monks/nuns. There are foreign influences that are adopted within the Mahayana sects, tantric practices and the Tibetan Bon practices are evident in the Esoteric and Tibetan Buddhism. So does these foreign influences automatically disqualify these sects as non-'real' Buddhist? Far from it as the core teaching of the Buddha remains. There is the employment of 'expedient means' to reach out and to enlighten the population, as each individual is different and (spiritual) understanding and knowledge differs from each other. Will the real Buddhism please stand out? Even the Theravaden branch, said to represent the Buddha-Dhamma in its purity (and documented by The Pali Society) has undergone changes.

Yin baqua uses 1 exhaling sound when executing a strike. But 8? Other system with specific vocal sounds during practice: Hung-jia's Steel Wire Fist.

There is much confusion about Buddhism and what it teaches in the earlier postings in this topic. To begin with, Buddhism in its core is about reaching nibanna, an extinction of cycle of rebirths, about the eradication of 'sufferings' and therefore, no creation of that 'dan' or elixir, the treasure sought by daoists. Given the sectarian (minor) differences within Buddhism itself, there is no mixture with Daoist beliefs, not even within the Ch'an (Zen) sect of Buddhism. Therefore, if a 'founder' of a Daoist school wants to research into this 'Dan' within Buddhism, all he needs to do is to read up the 40+ volumes of Buddhist texts (The Pali Society, UK) covering 40 years of missionary work by the (historical) Buddha plus commentaries, and he can never find any similar or parallel belief into this 'field of elixir'. Well, the most simple approach is to talk with a learned Buddhist monk and much time is saved.

Emotional Healing Qigong: "6-Sounds" Qigong, Liu-zi-jie., where each sound corresponds to one emotion relating to one internal organ.

Dear DSCB57, ".... but do you know how the practice should have progressed from the stage I described? A further question: does this type of practice provide everything which the Yijinjing and Xisuijing would bring, or would one need to also practice either those forms or something similar?" 1. I don't understand what you meant by 'stage 1'. For beginners in qigong, the first to master is the physical form of the movement be it seated, moving or lying prone. Structural perfection is demanded by the instructor or your sifu so that the meridians, the pathways of your qi are not restricted, that is according to (strict) Daoist approach. Given some time, the student is taught a system of breathing, later with mental focus. Final instruction is on how to be aware of the qi-flow and drive it within the body and how to emit qi. Nothing can be rushed. 2. Qigong providing everything. Some qigong systems are specific in their objectives though by and large, all systems want to improve the health of the practitioner but employing different approaches. My understanding of Yijinjing and Xisuijing is very, very shallow and I can't satisfy you with any indepth answer. Perhaps other members with better knowledge can help you. However, what I observe is that Yijinjing is akin to Yoga of the Hatha variety. As for Xisuijing, the Washing of Bone Marrow, it is said that this set of exercise has disappeared from Shaolin Temple and has never resurfaced on the faces of the earth. It is said and believed that by practising the micro-cosmic-orbit reverse abdominal breathing method, one will not be afflicted with 100 diseases, and proceed to be immortal. Personally I can attest that with this breathing method, I'm seldom and rarely sick, but don't quite know about the immortality bit. And by practising the macro-cosmic-orbit, it is believed that your qi will manifest in all parts of the body, clearing all qi-blockages and will have the ability to freely emit qi. Now, what is this everything that you meant? 3. I'm now into Daoist system of qigong and thus given up on Buddhist system. The reason is that both systems employ different breathing methods, so I chose to stay with the Daoist system. All qigong systems, about 2000+ of them, are good and proficient in improving one's health, and the difference is the quality of instruction and the commitment and tolerance of the student. Commitment: if one is to train once a week for 1 hour, progress will be slow. Qigong should be practised daily for a duration of 2 hours, and then again, the quality of instruction must be good and knowledge indepth. If the sifu said 'no sex, no beer or liquor after training, means no sex, no beers or liquor' and not be brushed aside. He has his reasons, and the student, be obedient, and time will show improvement. Tolerance: some students can't even stand a proper zhanzhuang, 'standing the post' for more than 10 minutes, complaining of crams and pain and begin to fridget. How then to improve? Choose a system that you are comfortable with and stay with it, and not go from system to system without giving time and commitment to it.

Dear Aetherous, You can find linear "walking" from the Yin Fu lineage. I practise the Yin-P'ai, Gong-M'en system of baquazhang. Yin p'ai means the school of Yin Fu, the first disciple of the founder Dong Hai Chuan and Gong-M'en means a sub-system created by Gong Bao Tien, a disciple of Yin Fu. My first set, the Black Dragon set, has linear walking. The most basic set is linear in Gong-M'en. The Baqua Roushenggong routine which I practised consist of 32 techniques of which the 8-mother palms (part of the routine) is walking the circle, 16 linear movements, and 8 stationery. One of the fighting principles in Baquazhang is when the opponent comes in straight, I will move in circle; when the opponent circles me, I will enter straight into his centre.

There are no mudras (mystical hand signs, tantric tradition) in Baqua traditional martial arts practices, walking the circle included. Baquazhang is not about exclusively walking the circle though it is the root practice, there are also linear "walking" in the system.

Hi Everyone, I came across this site while searching for answers to 'Yin Energy'. I've been a student practising a couple of qigong styles for the past 20 years or thereabout. Recently I came across 'Mo Pai' and Master David Chang and the book, The Macus of Java, in the internet and was intrigued by the emphasis of harnesting Yin engergy. As was said, most qigong systems centres on the Yang energy, by that I understood as that of the Universe, as Heavens is considered the greatest source of Yang, and the Earth, the greatest source of Yin. However, qigong practices of the traditional schools would use both extreme points of the body to gather energy, and with that, both yin and yang. Is there a system then that only harnest yin energy from the depths of the earth? If there is Mo Pai which was said to have originated from the Mt. Dragon and Tiger, Loong-Fu San, then there must be other systems that shared similar approach. To gather the yin energy one therefore must focus on both the Yung-quan and Hui-yin; and therefore, interested qigong practitioners must redirect their concentrations to these two points in their usual training. How far am I right?

What your Master Yao taught is similar to Taiji Longevity Ruler which is practised traditionally with a stick.

The tongue connects the Du with the Ren meridians to ensure the flow of qi from the back to the front and down to the dantein. The mental focus is not on the movement of the tougue but on the flow of the qi with the mental intent. As this is the objective, to be constantly aware of the movement of the tougue will divert the focus away from the Mental Intent. I've known that there are systems requiring the movement of the tougue in sync with the breath and they must have good reasons for it. When you begin with the da-jou tien system, the macro-cosmic orbit, a progression from Micro-Cosmic-Orbit, this tougue movement will present a serious problem. Have a talk with your teacher.

Qigong or any other breathing meditations are merely tools to rein in the Mind, diciplining it, re-focusing it to put aside negative emotions. That's about all it can do, qigong cannot get rid of the causal factors that give rise to anxiety or depression for that matter. The person suffering from anxiety or any forms of mental illnesses should and must consult professional psychiatric help.

Hi, Qigong in its totality is energy cultivation with mental cultivation. Qi moves with Mental Intent which requires mental focus and calming. In a sense, qigong practice is meditative with meditation as the base on which focus and intent can arise to direct your energy or qi in its circulation within the body. Therefore, negative thoughts and anxiety, even anxiousness are put aside. During qigong practice, all anxiety, problems are left outside the practice area, wear a smile to begin the training.

All traditional qigong system is self-healing, but there must be a store of qi first before healing can take place. When the practitioner is adapt and proficient in the qigong system, emission of qi must be learnt and practised in depth. It is only when one has mastered the qi-emission that healing of other people can proceed. Yes, all traditional qigong systems have it.

Hi, Hui-chun gong is Daoist in origin and was introduced as a system from Huashan-P'ai. Hui-chun gong was introduced into my country, Singapore about 20 years ago. There are books on this qigong but they are in Chinese. From my very limited knowledge on this system, the movements are gentle and soft to the point of being effeminate which turns me off.

Hi Everyone, I came across this site while searching for answers to 'Yin Energy'. I've been a student practising a couple of qigong styles for the past 20 years or thereabout. Recently I came across 'Mo Pai' and Master David Chang and the book, The Macus of Java, in the internet and was intrigued by the emphasis of harnesting Yin engergy. As was said, most qigong systems centres on the Yang energy, by that I understood as that of the Universe, as Heavens is considered the greatest source of Yang, and the Earth, the greatest source of Yin. However, qigong practices of the traditional schools would use both extreme points of the body to gather energy, and with that, both yin and yang. Is there a system then that only harnest yin energy from the depths of the earth? If there is Mo Pai which was said to have originated from the Mt. Dragon and Tiger, Loong-Fu San, then there must be other systems that shared similar approach. To gather the yin energy one therefore must focus on both the Yung-quan and Hui-yin; and therefore, interested qigong practitioners must redirect their concentrations to these two points in their usual training. How far am I right?