kuji-in wikipedia page

[konchog uma]

just wanted to post a link to the kuji-in wikipedia page, which got a major boost to the introduction of its article, much of which deals with the daoist origins of kuji-in

 

i found it fascinating

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuji-in

[Trunk]

Kuji-in is the most accessable way to open the channels, ime. What was most helpful for me in learning them was the free pictures from the internet. The hand positions were so new that I just couldn't find them without printed pictures sitting right there with me. And then just doing them. Now I get into them easily, familiar. Really good for loosening up the fingers for guitar, too.

[konchog uma]

kuji-in is truely awesome

[Astral Monk]

The first step to ninja-hood!!!

 

Interesting article. It would be interesting to see some diagrams of how the channels line up through those mudras.

 

8)

[konchog uma]

I talked to my teacher today, and he says kujiin just passed through china from the himalayas and that its from india originally, but he didn't know what tradition or if any indian yogis or tantrists or other ascetics still use it there.

 

Did anyone ever notice that its on the cover of "Qigong Empowerment" by Shou Yu Liang and Wen Ching Wu??

 

look to the left

 

[Astral Monk]

Did anyone ever notice that its on the cover of "Qigong Empowerment" by Shou Yu Liang and Wen Ching Wu??

 

Indeed! There's a section that discusses the mudras and recommends a set of movements associated with them (pg.157-173).

 

Some of those are really difficult to do. I reckon a naturally long finger would be beneficial...

 

8)

[Trunk]

Some of those are really difficult to do. I reckon a naturally long finger would be beneficial...

I have rather square inflexible little German hands (for instance I have difficulty playing a full sized guitar and own one a bit smaller). I can get into the kuji-in, took a little getting used to and I was careful not to stretch 'em too much. #2 is still difficult but do-able. Knitting the fingers far up the fingers all the way up into the crotches is important for me to be able to do it. A friend of mine is a talented pianist, long fingers; it's a breeze for him.

 

In the beginning my biggest barrier was unfamiliarity. Took me like 5 minutes to get into either of the lions, "whaaa am I doing? go where?", then as soon as I unknit I was nearly totally confused as to what I had done and how to get into it again. Just so unusual. A friend, similarly. He couldn't find the position no matter how much I showed or explained. It's just that odd.

 

Now my fingers transition from one 'in' to the next w/ familiarity.

[adept]

I'm interested in learning kuji-in. What's the most accessible route for self-learning ?

Are there any decent books or websites geared to the absolute beginner ?

[konchog uma]

adept,

 

as far as books go, francois lepine writes some interesting books about it. its part of japanese vajrayana but there isnt much literature out there, its pretty closely guarded. theres some ninja lit but lepines is the best imo... he uses what i call a watered down set of hand seals. the traditional hand seals can be found on the wiki page and elsewhere, and can be used with the japanese or sanskrit mantras that lepine provides in his books.

 

his books tend to sell for hundreds of dollars and i dont know why. PM me.

 

i can also share my practice notes with you, they are a mix of distilled lepine info and my ninja teacher's guidance.. so send me your email address adept and i will send you some things.

[adept]

Thanks konchog uma. That's brilliant. PM sent.

[Alchemistgeorge]

I've seen these mentioned in various Japanese literature. I think they are part of Mikkyo, the "secret teachings" of Shingon and / or Tendai Buddhism (which of course, came to Japan from China, to China, from India.)

 

You will see pictures of the hand seals / 'te-no-uchi' / kujiin in Don Draeger's books - I believe he was taught this as part of his Katori Shinto Ryu training. They are also briefly mentioned in Kurikara by John Maki Evans, which is the most detailed book I've ever seen about Mikkyo as part of Japanese sword training - however that book is not the tiniest bit tutorial, you cannot practice from the book, but he does give an overview about some of the principles of standing under waterfalls, use of the kuji-in, etc.

 

I bought the first Lepine book: "Qi-Gong and Kuji-In: A Practical Guide to An Oriental Esoteric Experience". The practices seemed quite straightforward, but require a substantial investment of time.

[Aetherous]

My absolute favorite version is Dragon Gate Sanctuary's. Unfortunate that it costs so much to view. You can see a very tiny bit of how they do it here:

It's not strictly mikkyo...the wikipedia page probably has the best history of it, but who knows where it really originated.

[konchog uma]

yeah i can't afford DGS teachings. i like that clip tho