Hello, I'm new and I have a question, too

[XiaoYaoYou]

Hi Tao Bums Community ~

 

I’m new here so I thought I would stop in and say hello, and also see if anyone can recommend a qigong/neigong system or teacher with a deep understanding and instruction regarding the extraordinary meridians, preferably something different than is found in the typical TCM system.

 

I've been an acupuncturist for 10 years, and been into qigong and yoga for quite a long time. I’ve recently become interested in internal alchemy. I’m not looking for any particular “powers” other than to have control of my own energy circuits, and also anything that contributes to vibrant health and longevity (for myself and my patients). Mostly I just really resonate with Taoist cosmology and Chinese medicine, and I really enjoy learning about and working in the energetic realms.

 

The last few years, I’ve been a student of one of Jerry Alan Johnson’s senior teachers and enjoy that system greatly. I planned to continue with it, but I recently find myself without a teacher and wondering which direction I should go with my qigong practice. I find JAJ’s system to be particularly powerful (for me, anyway) in terms of clearing stagnant energies and healing in general, and I appreciate how open he is with his knowledge. I plan to continue my daily practice with that system, but now that my teacher is gone, I’m wondering what else is out there.

 

In the past year, I’ve been doing a lot of postural daoyin training (JAJ’s wuji posture and the 1-10 meditation) and experiencing the Qi that comes up from the earth, in particular discovering how proper posture activates the flow of the extraordinary meridians, including branches off the main pathways that I don’t find in the textbooks. What I’ve been experiencing doesn’t seem to be part of JAJ’s system, although perhaps it’s in there and I didn’t get to that point yet. However I’m not finding references to what I’m experiencing in his books and my teacher didn’t remark on my experiences when I told him about them.

 

I recently read the Chase/Shima translation of Li Shi Zhen’s book on the extraordinary meridians, and found a lot of correspondences between what I’m experiencing and what he says about the 8 extras, particularly regarding pathways and focal points. Li Shi Zhen doesn’t appear to use the standard (TCM) confluent points of the 8 extras, but he references the knowledge of Zhang Bo Duan, and implies that a doctor should cultivate the 8 extras through internal alchemy to really understand how to use them.

 

So I’m looking for a teacher or system that discusses this. Does anyone know a system or teacher out there, pointing to the same things Li Shi Zhen was pointing to, regarding the 8 extras? I’ve poked through the forums and I’ve seen references to this book, but not to systems that really discuss this. The information must be out there somewhere though, and I’m hoping someone here might know.

 

Thanks so much, everyone, and I look forward to getting to know people here! And as soon as I can figure out how to flesh out my profile, I'll do that too.

[voidisyinyang]

The 8 extra are usually grouped as the "macrocosmic orbit" in Taoist alchemy training - you can find details in the book "Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality" - it's a free download from mediafire....

 

So the "small universe" or microcosmic orbit is the foundation practice and then as the energy builds up it goes into the eight extra channels and then you start immortal breathing - with the chi energy creatings more shen spirit energy to open up the third eye more.

 

That's an advanced level so you can do the small universe meditation - you can get the practice meditation c.d. from http://www.learningstrategies.com/Qigong/SmallUniverse.asp

[cheya]

Welcome, XiaoYaoYou!

I wanna know/do/grok all that stuff too!

 

I read what I could understand of the Chase/Shima book, and especially liked that chapter on the spiritual use. It was way too short! Have you tried contacting the authors?

 

You're way ahead of me in practice, but I'll be interested in what resources your query pulls in. Here are a couple:

 

David Twicken has a book on the Eight Extras coming out in July.

http://www.amazon.com/Eight-Extraordinary-Channels-Qi-Jing-Mai/dp/1848191480/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369871391&sr=1-4&keywords=David+Twicken

David is an acupuncturist and has a Eight Extra training program for CEUs and also teaches qigong, so he may have some leads for you. Here's Amazon's blurb on the new book:

"The Eight Extraordinary channels are amongst the most fascinating, ambiguous and clinically important aspects of Chinese medicine and Qigong. This book introduces the theory behind the channels, explains their clinical applications, and explores their psycho-emotional and spiritual qualities. The author also describes how to cultivate the channels through Nei Gong. As a practitioner of Chinese medicine or acupuncturist, the key to creating effective individual treatment plans is having a wide understanding of the channel pathways and the points on the channels. David Twicken provides treatment strategies, methods and case studies, offering a variety of approaches so as to give the reader a solid foundation from which to confidently create good treatment plans. Offering a historical perspective as well as modern insights, this book will be essential reading for novice as well as experienced practitioners."

 

Another resource: James MacRitchie describes practices to deveop each of the eight extras, and it's all free! He's at http://globalqiproject.com/

 

Now that you've done your intro post, how about starting this topic in the general discussion? More people will see it there than here in the lobby.

 

Great quest!

Edited May 30, 2013 by cheya

[Maddie]

Hey nice to see you here. I'm an acupuncture student currently.

[XiaoYaoYou]

This is great, thank you so much for the recommendations!

 

Pythagoreanfulllotus: I found the Taoist Yoga text and downloaded it. From the table of contents, it looks a lot like Foundations of Internal Alchemy by Wang Mu. Perhaps it's different ~ I'll find out! The practice meditation CD looks interesting too. I've heard of Chunyi Lin, but I don't know anything about him, so thank you for the recommendation. I'll check it out!

 

Cheya: thank you so much for the link to David Twicken's upcoming book. I hadn't heard about that, and I'll definitely want to read that. Re: contacting Charles Chace and Miki Shima, I hadn't even thought about that! That's a really good idea. Thank you also for the link to globalqiproject. Another page I had never heard of! Looks like a lot of information. I really appreciate it!

 

dmattwads: Thank you for the "hello"! I also went to acupuncture school in Austin. Great city!

 

Thanks so much for the replies, everyone!

[Maddie]

Oh yea?! cool. Which school? lol

[XiaoYaoYou]

AOMA. How about you?

[Maddie]

TCTCM

[cheya]

Twicken's book is looking better and better:

Here are 3 reviews from Singing Dragon's website! (Contents below reviews)

 

'In the Daoist tradition, cultivation practices centered around the Eight Extraordinary Meridians provide one of the pathways toward enlightenment or immortality. The ancestral founder master of QuanZhenNanZong (the Southern Complete Reality School), Zhang Ziyang, stated that those who are able to open the eight extraordinary meridians will obtain the Dao. I recommend David Twicken's Eight Extraordinary Channels to Chinese medicine and Qigong practitioners interested in working with the physical and spiritual layers through these extraordinary meridians.'

- Master Zhongxian Wu, lifelong Daoist practitioner and author of 11 books on Chinese wisdom traditions

 

'Twicken illuminates the missing link between Chinese medicine and Taoist spiritual practice, making it essential reading for both healers and adepts. His book is far superior to existing Eight Extra Vessel literature with its wealth of historical detail and rare clinical protocols that penetrate deep ancestral and constitutional issues. In my 35 years' experience, any healer who opens their Eight Extra Channels will quickly improve their clinical success rate. More important, they will open wide the Eight Big Rivers of pre-natal Jing that are key to whole body enlightenment and long life.'

- Michael Winn, founder www.HealingTaoUSA

 

'Eight Extraordinary Channels is an insightful and eminently practical presentation of the core meridians in the human body that hold most of life's potential. It covers the eight channels in theory, clinical application, and Daoist self-cultivation. Clear and systematic, the book is a potent resource for anyone involved in Chinese medicine.'

- Livia Kohn, PhD

 

Contents

 

The Classics of the Eight Extraordinary Channels. Chinese Dynasties. Introduction. 1. The Acupuncture Channel System. 2. Three Layer Theory. 3. Three Ancestries. 4. Introduction to the Eight Extraordinary Channels. 5. The Cong Channel. 6. The Ren Channel. 7. Du Channel. 8. Wei Channels. 9. Yang Wei Channel. 10. Yin Wei Channel. 11. Qiao Channels. 12. Yang Qiao Channel. 13. Yin Qiao Channel. 14. Dai Channel. 15. Clinical Applications. 16. Treatment Methods. 17. Needling Methods. 18. Case Studies. 19. Tables. 20. Nei Jing Tu. 21. The Heavenly Orbit. 22. The Wei and Qiao Channels. 23. The Belt Channel. 24. The Chong Channel. 25. The Macrocosmic Orbit. 26. The Nei Jing Tu. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

[XiaoYaoYou]

dmattwads, that's great, it's so nice to meet you!

 

Cheya ~ WOW my eyes are popping out reading those reviews, especially when it mentions the quote by Zhang Ziyang (a.k.a. Zhang Bo Duan, who Li Shi Zhen referenced in his 8 extras book)... The reviewers are also accomplished qigong practitioners/masters. It looks like it will be a really good book. I *really* hope it goes beyond Master-Couple points... I think I'll have to go ahead and pre-order it. Come on July!

[voidisyinyang]

This is great, thank you so much for the recommendations!

 

Pythagoreanfulllotus: I found the Taoist Yoga text and downloaded it. From the table of contents, it looks a lot like Foundations of Internal Alchemy by Wang Mu. Perhaps it's different ~ I'll find out! The practice meditation CD looks interesting too. I've heard of Chunyi Lin, but I don't know anything about him, so thank you for the recommendation. I'll check it out!

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/99535352/Foundations-of-Internal-Alchemy-%E2%80%94-A-Slideshow

 

Cool slideshow overview of Wang Mu's book -- thanks! Yeah the "small universe" aka microcosmic orbit opens the two main channels of the eight extraordinary channels - so when those two open up then the other six also open up and then you go into immortal breathing....

[XiaoYaoYou]

That slideshow is really helpful. I have that book on my Kindle, and the Kindle books are a little bit more difficult for me to wrap my head around, for some reason. I like to see how far I'm in the book, and randomly flip through pages for context, and it's not easy to do that with the Kindle. So the slideshow is great. Thank you!

[RiverSnake]

Here is a good list of systems in this thread: http://thetaobums.com/topic/27757-what-is-the-best-qigong-lineage-to-start-out-with/

 

My 2 cents, Peace

[brentcochran]

I like seeing threads like these - full of good communication and recommendations - Awesome!

[cheya]

Hi XiaoYaoYou

 

Have you had a chance to check out Twicken's book yet?

 

The section on Nei Dan inner meditation is very simple, yet has been very helpful to my practice, and I'm interested in other folks' experience with his methods.

 

Obviously the paths are the same as in other methods, Taoist Yoga (which I've heard called "Ten Breaths, Eight Mai") and MacRitchie's. Twicken uses more, ah, breath dredging?, combined with spiraling and some focus/attention practices that remind me of Robert Bruce's methods. Simple but effective.

 

Like to hear your take on it when you get around to it!