Zhuo Ming-Dao

The easiest way to start is to just vigorously rub your hands together. For a few moments after you will feel a slight buzz under your skin. Hold onto this sensation for as long as you can. It may take a little practice, but you will very soon be able to hold the buzzing sensation for as long as you want and summon it on command. Next, move the sensation using your will alone. If you have trouble doing this imagine that your other hand is actually tracing a line on your hand or up your arm. The sensation will follow your imaginary finger. Keep in mind though, this is not about visualizing, this is about feeling. If you keep this up you will get to the point where the sensation, the chi, will go wherever you place your awareness (or your imaginary finger). With practice you will be able to direct it anywhere inside or outside of your body. And by spiraling the awareness, you will cause the sensations to intensify. This simple exercise works with just about everyone, no matter how much or how little previous experience they have had. As you get more experienced with opening up the meridians and become more balanced the sensations will become progressively more gentle and subtle, but since your awareness is stronger you will be able to feel it flowing freely throughout your body much more easily. Eventually it will take no mental effort and you will be able to move into the sensation of full body awareness (including your insides), which in turn stills the mind and brings peace to everything you do. I disagree strongly with those who say that you will eventually feel nothing. If you feel hear or see nothing within your body, then you must be sealing your senses and turning your attention away from the body... which is not a very Daoist approach. The sensations will no longer be prickly or harsh, but they will be there in a much deeper, softer, and ever present way.

Sorry, the system lagged and my post repeated.

11:33, You said earlier that you often see enlightened masters who do not do qigong, but Taoists do lot of qigong. In response to that, I think that you should consider Zen Master Hakuin (one of Japan's most famous Buddhist monks), and other Buddhists (particularly of the zen/chan sect) that suffer from zen sicknesses. Hakuin pushed his mind so hard for so long that he became greatly unbalanced, which lead to significant mental illness. Hakuin was only cured after her went into the mountains and sought help from a Taoist hermit (sennin) who taught him a series of simple energy practices after balancing and unblocking his energy. When Hakuin returned home he was able to finally go from scattered glimpses of satori to full blown enlightenment. Even today Zen sickness is fairly common, especially when the disciple does not use the hara as one of his primary points of focus. Examples such as these show that while energy practices are not necessary for enlightenment to occur, they are very useful for maintaining the inner balance that IS necessary, least you lose your sanity in the process. On another point: You continually say that you want to escape the cycle of death and rebirth. Be careful what you wish and strive for, because this is setting up a dangerously dualistic worldview that will ultimately prevent you from achieving enlightenment. Enlightenment is more than Nirvana, it is more than just escape from rebirth. Nirvana is Samsara! Nirvana and the cycle of rebirth are not in fact separate. This is one of the most difficult but important truths of Buddhism, because it is this truth that transforms the doctrine of shunyata (emptiness) from nihilism to a wonderful, compassionate affirmation of all existence. Just Nirvana + sunyata = nihilism = suffering and despair But, when you can straddle both Nirvana and Samsara, when you can hold to and become the Middle Way, then you can become truly enlightened and truly free. For more on this, I recommend reading some madyhamaka (middle way) texts. While anything by Nagarjuna is great, he takes a lot of devotion to deeply penetrate. Personally, my favorite book in this vain is the Vimalakirti Sutra. Robert Thurman has an excellent translation that is well worth your time. The allegories and metaphors in this text helped me immensely to grasp this difficult concept. Also, for a more modern teacher, Thich Nhat Han has some great things to say about Sunyata and the middle way.

I have been actively wandering on the Way for the last 7 years or so, learning Daoist and Buddhist philosophy, studying the Japanese and Chinese languages, and practicing various forms of meditation and energy work. Eventually I plan on pursuing a PhD in religious studies, with a focus on Buddhist and Daoist syncratism. In the mean time I am teaching classical western literature and Latin to pay off some of my mountain of school debt. It is very nice to find a group of like minded people. -Ming Dao