Qigong & Love

[Ulises]

Great interview with scholar and teacher Ken Cohen: inusual words in qigong discussions (at least for me)

 

"Maybe we are in a position now to take qigong to a higher level (...)

my question is: why are there so few references to love,while in other healing traditions - including native american - there's a recognition that love is a spiritual power, a force that can be developed in oneself, that can be invoked for healing another person, that it is one of the qualities that makes us a whole human being, that we need love just as we need sunlight, just as we need to live with courage and humility, with humor, with dignity and honor, with strength and purpose...

so, love is kind of more on the surface and mentioned more directly in other ancient healing traditions...

I'm thinking also about the wonderful study that Richard Katz did - at that time he was teacher at Harvard -. He went to live among the San - the so-called Bushmen of South Africa -, and he and a team of other researchers went looking at what distinguished the 85% healers in San society from the aproximately 15% of the culture that did not practice healing.

Here you are in a culture where 85% of the population practiced fully the various healing rituals, the ways of absorbing and projecting the lifeforce. One of the things that the researchers found - and I think of this in terms of ouer conversation about love - is that the non healers were less imaginative and less emotional..in other words, imagination and emotion - I would even say love - are part of a driving force behind the spiritual power...but, for that very reason, let me say that it becomes all more important in dealing with such an extraordinary power, to have the rsponsibility to use it wisely..because we all know thatlove can be misinterpreted, misused, that people can use what appears to be love to gain influence or control over others..that the stronger the power, the more soul-searching we have to use to make sure that we are aplying this power correctly and ethically...I'm not talking about rules and regulations, but deep loking and listening within..."

Ken Cohen

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/qigongmasters/2009/03/17/interview-with-jim-macritchie-the-founder-of-the-n

[Maddie]

I've also wondered a lot why in qigong there is not really that much said about love and such things??

[bindo]

Chunyi Lin is all about love energy.

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello my dear friends! Every day is a wonderful day to share your love.

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello dear friends! When you share your love and put it into action you enjoy your life better. You enjoy the world.

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello my friends! Each step you do in love helps everyone around you. You create credits in the universal bank of love. When you need something it will come back to you more than you can imagine with interest added...better than any bank in the world! :-)

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello my dear friends! The most powerful way to give love is to practice forgiveness to yourself and to others.

 

These are from his Facebook page.

[johndoe2012]

Chunyi Lin is all about love energy.

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello my dear friends! Every day is a wonderful day to share your love.

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello dear friends! When you share your love and put it into action you enjoy your life better. You enjoy the world.

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello my friends! Each step you do in love helps everyone around you. You create credits in the universal bank of love. When you need something it will come back to you more than you can imagine with interest added...better than any bank in the world! :-)

 

Chunyi Lin - Hello my dear friends! The most powerful way to give love is to practice forgiveness to yourself and to others.

 

These are from his Facebook page.

 

 

he he, I like the vibe coming from him.

 

Pure loooove

[manitou]

Ulises, thanks for this topic. I don't think there's enough mention of love or compassion within healing either.

 

I think we all use various ways of running energy. I've come to the conclusion that the end of the road for everybody is to find their very own little methods; our very own little ways of 'feeling' the energy within. When I'm trying to do some energetic sharing with someone who may be ill or afflicted, I just have to find a way to feel love for them.

 

I've experimented over the couple years I've been doing this. First I tried it with some sort of loving visualization, following someone else's suggestions that I would read in someone's book.

 

Then I would try saying over and over in my mind (silently) "I love you, _______" (whatever the name was). I would repeat this over and over in my mind and try to see them with loving eyes. This worked for me a little better than the first method.

 

What I'm doing now, however, is physically being a little more hands on, realizing that the energy we're dealing with is kundalini energy and does have a sexual component. What I do now is maybe take someone's arm or hand and massage it, until I feel the energy rising; there is a slightly sexual component to it, and I often 'warn' people of this first, so they don't obsessively worry about standing at attention if they happen to experience a wave of sexuality.

 

The way I can tell if the love has connected or not, is that I feel it down where my ovaries used to be, lol. apparently my ovary stumps still have sensation or something. It's very weird, but when I do feel this, I know the energy is running just about as well as I can get it to do. I've read that men feel it in their stomachs, women more in their reproductive area.

 

But I've come to realize that it's a very individual thing for everybody. It involves nuanced feelings in the body, a certain mindset, total relaxation, a feeling of Oneness, the mind void of thought (and hopefully the recipient is relaxed and as void of thought as they can be at the moment.) How to actually throw the energy? Intent. And imagination.

[Ya Mu]

...

"Maybe we are in a position now to take qigong to a higher level (...)

my question is: why are there so few references to love,...

Ken Cohen

 

 

I've also wondered a lot why in qigong there is not really that much said about love and such things??

 

Hi Ulises. Good, good question that Ken is asking, as I wonder this myself. In Buddhist tradition, you have the loving kindness meditations, and other specific heart exercises. But you can read through a qigong book or take a qigong class and not hear a peep about the importance of working specifically on the heart. <3

 

Actually, this would be a good opportunity for those in the know, to share taoist traditions of working on, and opening, the heart.

 

Yes, Ken is correct that the calisthenic exercises many call qigong have nothing much to do or say with Love.

 

The thing is, we have ALWAYS been in a position to take it to higher levels. But how many have chosen that?

 

On the other hand, true neigong systems like Stillness-Movement hold the embodiment of Love at the core. Pure unadulterated, non-conditional Love - not someone prattling on about what their belief of Love is, but the true Love expression of our inner core, our true-heart, our Higher Level selves.

[onelove]

Yes, Ken is correct that the calisthenic exercises many call qigong have nothing much to do or say with Love.

 

The thing is, we have ALWAYS been in a position to take it to higher levels. But how many have chosen that?

 

On the other hand, true neigong systems like Stillness-Movement hold the embodiment of Love at the core. Pure unadulterated, non-conditional Love - not someone prattling on about what their belief of Love is, but the true Love expression of our inner core, our true-heart, our Higher Level selves.

 

Love is so over-rated...just kidding, though you could probably tell that just form my log-in name.

 

Anyway I agree with Ya Mu - while I have come across many qigong teachers and books in my day that are devoid of Love, mostly just focusing of 'Chinese exercise', I have had the good fortune to learn from two traditional Daoist teachers, both lineage holders of traditions that date back to the last millenium, both of whom teach the importance of love and heart centered living. Their teachings of the classic Daoist text reveal these concepts to be well embedded in the traditional Daoist cannon as well, although many translations into English really miss the mark.

 

I have notice that the word love is generally avoided though, I'm not sure if this is intentional. Perhaps too many connotations with the western connotation of romanticized love, I'm not sure. But certainly the idea that we call love, loving kindness, compassion, and the related principals of service, virtue, healing/helping/sharing, these are all central to the teachings I have received.

[RiverSnake]

 

I have notice that the word love is generally avoided though, I'm not sure if this is intentional. Perhaps too many connotations with the western connotation of romanticized love, I'm not sure. But certainly the idea that we call love, loving kindness, compassion, and the related principals of service, virtue, healing/helping/sharing, these are all central to the teachings I have received.

 

Indeed, many people have never known self-less love and it is easy to confuse the two.

 

-Often people gotta learn too love number one first before they start on others.

[Friend]

Edited November 16, 2011 by Friend

[manitou]

Indeed, many people have never known self-less love and it is easy to confuse the two.

 

-Often people gotta learn too love number one first before they start on others.

 

 

I think these statements are important.

 

Learning to love one's self. This is easy to confuse too. Often those lacking in understanding will use this concept to self-indulge in any thing they want to do, thinking they are 'loving themselves'. My take on it is that it's more like parenting yourself; eating the right foods; developing a little inner discipline as to what our mindsets are; taking responsibility for each and every thing that happens in our life. Finding out what part we played in it. Emphasizing a cleanliness or purity in our thoughts, in our physical surroundings. Loving onesself is actually a bit of maturity, or growing up, that we may not have had within us before.

[onelove]

I think these statements are important.

 

Learning to love one's self. This is easy to confuse too. Often those lacking in understanding will use this concept to self-indulge in any thing they want to do, thinking they are 'loving themselves'. My take on it is that it's more like parenting yourself; eating the right foods; developing a little inner discipline as to what our mindsets are; taking responsibility for each and every thing that happens in our life. Finding out what part we played in it. Emphasizing a cleanliness or purity in our thoughts, in our physical surroundings. Loving onesself is actually a bit of maturity, or growing up, that we may not have had within us before.

 

Your point on self-love is also very important, this really sums up my qigong practice for me, this type of self love is the key to removing all of the blockages in the physical, mental, and emotional, and energetic bodies. It's a tough love, not always pretty, but so worth it!

 

I am reminded of my favorite Rumi quote:

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."

[Ulises]

Thank you for your responses,

A loving gassho ; )