Changing your Qigong

[bamboo]

Hey all,

 

I'm considering whether to change my qigong practice from the current exercises over to Sifu Jenny Lamb's yigong system. I've had a couple of false starts, switching then switching back. It's always very disruptive changing your system of regulating your chi. Bodri says conciousness rides on the chi [at low levels], so when i change up my chi exerciese i feel totally homeless, not myself at all

 

So i figured i would ask the taobum elders, as to the best and safest ways to go about changing ones chi regulating exercises. Any advice?

Edited February 18, 2011 by bamboo

[leopoldson]

Hello Bamboo,

 

I don't have real answer to your question, but I clearly resonate with your experience.

 

I have felt quite the same when I wanted to change my practice. I thought at the time that it was like an "energetic betrayal" (so to speak), as if some part of my identity was bonded with the practice.

 

So at some point my question was: how can people gather several practices from different lineages? Is it just that they have some "energetic flexibility or suppleness" or because the exercises have no lineage whatsoever so no bond is created?

 

Thank you for your question, I am hoping that someone will give some light on this.

 

Leopoldson

Edited February 18, 2011 by leopoldson

[Astral_Anima]

Hey all,

 

I'm considering whether to change my qigong practice from the current exercises over to Sifu Jenny Lamb's yigong system. I've had a couple of false starts, switching then switching back. It's always very disruptive changing your system of regulating your chi. Bodri says conciousness rides on the chi [at low levels], so when i change up my chi exerciese i feel totally homeless, not myself at all

 

So i figured i would ask the taobum elders, as to the best and safest ways to go about changing ones chi regulating exercises. Any advice?

 

I would ask yourself first if you have a goal in your practice. Certain practice are meant for certain things. For example Spring Forest Qigong is something developed for healing; certain arts are developed for certain reasons. I would actually ask Sifu Jenny why someone would practice Yi-Gong or what it's original purpose was or is, that may give you a better idea of whether or not the practice is meant for you or not.

 

I know what it's like to wonder what practice to follow, it can be maddening because so little is known and so few teachers are willing to say what it's really about or what's really involved. Again I think it's based on your intent OR if you really trust a particular teacher that would help alot.

 

From Sifu Jenny's site (under Q&A):

It is your goal that shapes your path, not the lineage. To know your goal and persistently make an effort to achieve your goal is crucial. The essence of Yigong is to develop awareness. Awareness leads to awakening. It is contained in every part of the Yigong system, whether physical or spiritual.

 

-Astral

 

PS anyone know about the "spiritual side" of Yi-Gong? Does she teach it at seminars?

[Jetsun]

 

PS anyone know about the "spiritual side" of Yi-Gong? Does she teach it at seminars?

 

I heard the spiritual side isn't taught publicly, although she says the physical side is enough for self awakening, but if anyone has received the spiritual teachings I would be very interested in hearing about them

[Astral_Anima]

[joeblast]

As long as you ask and pursue, it is for you in some way shape or form. If you ask a question and get an unsatisfying answer, then most likely it is for your own good, e.g. you have something to learn, something you need to reveal to yourself, in order for you to make the gains toward understanding. If somebody shows you a tough puzzle but then explains the entire thing to you and shows you how to do it before you even get a chance to take a crack at it and figure it out for yourself, then that person has actually done you a disservice in a way because a very big component is learning and coming to these understanding for yourself. If you're simply shown things and you havent had to develop the core attributes yourself, then the next puzzle you come face to face with, you may not be able to solve on your own not having developed the skill.

 

With regard to changing: If stopping, stop. If changing, then change. Measure thrice, cut once.

[bamboo]

I would ask yourself first if you have a goal in your practice.

The purpose of my using energy exercises is basically summed up by Bodri:

 

'When you want to cultivate, you want to reach samadhi. You cannot reach samadhi unless your chi mai all open. So, many methods have the purpose of helping you clear your chi channels so that you can enter into samadhi.'

 

So i need exercises that work on all the channels of the body. I was under the impression that jenny lamb's yigong system caused the chi to mobilize and clear the channels, that's why i was looking to switch to that one.

 

I asked jenny lamb if her yigong system was compatable with my Buddhist practices, she said it was. I'm pretty sure she's a buddhist herself.

Edited February 18, 2011 by bamboo

[Astral_Anima]

As long as you ask and pursue, it is for you in some way shape or form. If you ask a question and get an unsatisfying answer, then most likely it is for your own good, e.g. you have something to learn, something you need to reveal to yourself, in order for you to make the gains toward understanding. If somebody shows you a tough puzzle but then explains the entire thing to you and shows you how to do it before you even get a chance to take a crack at it and figure it out for yourself, then that person has actually done you a disservice in a way because a very big component is learning and coming to these understanding for yourself. If you're simply shown things and you havent had to develop the core attributes yourself, then the next puzzle you come face to face with, you may not be able to solve on your own not having developed the skill.

 

With regard to changing: If stopping, stop. If changing, then change. Measure thrice, cut once.

 

Sorry but no. If i'm asking and pursuing it means it sounds interesting but I have to know more before I decide. Comparing a spiritual path to a puzzle sounds poetic but simply is not practical. A puzzle is separate from the individual, it doesn't effect them directly like a spiritual practice. Spiritual practice usually brings about much change in the individual, subjects them to many things, changes them in certain ways. It is my belief that one must be educated in what changes to expect and how they will be impacted by these changes. For example if you're fat and you're trying to loose weight, you have many methods, you don't know what they do. Imagine someone telling you they'll make you slim all the have to do is some slight surgery...of course you inquire "what will be done in this surgery?" "How will this surgery affect me", they just say "it'll make you slim". So you decide not to question further and they staple your stomach. Later you loose weight but then you realize what was done and you were horrified at what they did. If you had known what that method was about you surely wouldn't have chosen it for there are certainly other ways to loose weight. Of course you want the best method for yourself so you trusted these people who said they'd help you loose weight fast, and you did but the means by which it happened you feel wasn't worth the result. Some people wouldn't mind, but you do and you wish they'd just be open and honest with you upfront instead of immaturely using "mysteriousness" and "curiosity" as marketing tools.

 

That is why you inquire. What if someone gave you a meditation to cure disease but they didn't tell you it would cause the death of someone in your family. It's these "monkey paw" things you have to be aware of because everything comes at a price and you have to know what price your going to pay before you buy or else you may end up dissatisfied.

 

-Astral

[joeblast]

Like most analogies, putting them into a rigid concrete structure makes the analogy fail

 

Ask and pursue. That is what you do. If you discover its not for you, you stop asking, stop pursuing. If it is for you, you keep asking, keep pursuing. It is just that simple, no need to conjure myriad hypothetical monkey paws. That is the process of investigation, very plainly and simply stated. Sure your ego may feel monkey pawed in the process, but that is certainly not like trading the life of a loved one for spiritual or monetary gain.

 

Spiritual practice is quite like a puzzle - that one is immersed in it doesnt mean it the analogy is necessarily flattened cardboard! Have you never seen a "puzzle" that changed the way you think?

 

The fat analogy doesnt work in the least - there is no spiritual welfare, no spiritual magic bullet that rockets you do level 56 before you're ready for it or something silly like that like fat & liposuction. Progress is practiced, integrated, fed back, and actively furthered almost constantly. Mindfully. Pursuing, and asking...of yourself, at the very least. Pigeonhole an analogy like that and you miss the point!

[Mr. T]

hey dudes and dudettes,

 

you guys both make salient points. anima, i have to go with jb in that if it's right for you it will happen. trust me, i am not one of the "it will just happen if you wish it to" kinda people, but if you are supposed to learn something you will learn it naturally. the tao manifests as it does...that is something that i have always found to be wonderous about the tao. if i am on the right path then things happen naturally. as far as a practice, the others are right about that, too...ask. practice. or, don't ask, don't practice...

 

haha, that's my two cents today. have a good weekend!

Edited February 18, 2011 by Mr. T