Quantity of Chi - Infinite or Limited ?

[Coaster]

Is there any limit to the quantity of Chi that is available to us ? If we increase our store of Chi, does that mean there is less for some other entity ? Or is it infinite ?

 

Please state the basis for your answer - a source or reference or ?

Edited October 20, 2013 by Coaster

[Protector]

There's 3 types of chi, Nei chi is the internal chi hence Nei gong

While Nei chi gathers inwards, Wei chi is the external chi that we send out and gather around us

We have a sort of Wei chi force field surrounding us

The third type of chi is shared by all living and nonliving things, it's called Shen chi and it's infinite

 

 

Word of mouth/common knowledge

[BaguaKicksAss]

Some particular areas can have very low qi, or at least very low healthy qi.

 

Source: what I've been taught by a few diff people, and it's pretty obvious in some places.

[Brian]

If an oyster makes a pearl, does that mean there is less sand for other oysters?

 

Does your answer change if oysters learn to draw upon sand from other worlds and other dimensions?

 

Does the answer really matter to the oysters?

 

Source: Conversations with a noisy oyster.

[ChiDragon]

Is there any limit to the quantity of Chi that is available to us ? If we increase our store of Chi, does that mean there is less for some other entity ? Or is it infinite ?

 

Please state the basis for your answer - a source or reference or ?

 

Chi comes in many forms. It can be a source of energy which is external; and it can be a form of energy which is internal. The human body utilize the external source of energy and converted to the internal form of energy within the body. Thus the form of energy is vital to all living things. Since all the forms of Chi are keeping us alive, just for convenience sake, I would call the combination of "the source of energy" and "the form of energy" as the Universal Chi. I think the Universal Chi is here for a long time to maintain the vitality of all the living things. Therefore, I think Chi is infinite.

 

BTW I don't believe that Chi can be stored inside the body. Rather, the body utilizes the source of energy, as long it was available, to generate the various forms of energy internally.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2013 by ChiDragon

[Coaster]

Okay, let's consider "human attention". Human attention is limited. In a given day, we each have 24 hours of attention that we can give to things. Since there are 7 billion people, there are 168 billion hours of human attention every day. That is a lot, but it is not infinite.

 

The fact that it is not infinite, means that if there are new subjects of attention, other things lose attention.

 

If there is a new Justin Bieber song, then there are less people paying attention to Lady Gaga and Rihanna. In the 1980s, almost everyone who paid attention to "news stories" was talking about El Salvador and Nicaragua. Nowadays, hardly anyone is aware those countries even exist (and instead people pay attention to the Arab Spring).

 

Another example - if this weekend, there is a very popular movie in the theaters, then people will be giving less attention to other movies.

 

So, something can have a very large quantity, and still be limited.

 

In regards to Chi, some people act as if it were limited. I've seen posts of people afraid that someone would take their Chi (even from posting in this Forum).

 

When something is unlimited, people tend to mostly ignore it...

Edited October 8, 2013 by Coaster

[ChiDragon]

Do you pay much attention to your breathing....??? Breathing and eating are absorbing the source of energy. No one will nor can take your Chi away.

Edited October 8, 2013 by ChiDragon

[thelerner]

Is there any limit to the quantity of Chi that is available to us ? <yes it stops at 42 chi units>

If we increase our store of Chi, does that mean there is less for some other entity ? <Yes, but they're anti-versions of us, so its a good thing>

Or is it infinite ? <no, only 42, no more>

 

Please state the basis for your answer - a source or reference or ? <The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy p. 42>

On a more serious note. I think there are limits, despite recent Mo Pai theories, you're not going to catch bullets or fly. You can become a healthier, higher amp person, but there are limits, you are human.

These questions tend to get 'how many angels on a pin' answers. Like Mu Pin in 879 said 'Greater then 9000', answers are meaningless.

[Coaster]

Just to clarify, by "limits", I mean limits on the total amount of Chi available to all (not limits on the amount of Chi you can personally use).

 

Here is another example on Human Attention - that might fall within some readers' experience:

 

You are at the yearly family thanksgiving meal, and this time, you think you have some interesting experiences and insights to share. But, one of the other family members is his usual personable, eloquent self, and by the end of the meal, you find that you weren't able to get in a word, amidst all his stories and everyone else's reactions.

 

So that's another example of how Human Attention is limited. If it is given to one thing, it is not available for anything else. In the example, one family member - by his greater skill in communications - monopolizes the available Attention.

 

Then my question is, phrased in a different way - Is it known that Chi is not limited in the same way as Attention ? And is that known by anything other than a vague conventional wisdom that it is available "from the universe" ?

Edited October 9, 2013 by Coaster

[Brian]

Be careful of the "zero-sum game" argument. Revisit my oyster conversation above?

[Coaster]

Be careful of the "zero-sum game" argument. Revisit my oyster conversation above?

The Human Attention examples show that attention IS a "zero-sum game". So, some things are zero-sum and some are not.

 

I do not know enough about Chi theory to say whether that applies to Chi or not - hence I am asking.

[Taomeow]

You (the generic you, not the OP) can't get an answer to this question if you misunderstand what qi is.

 

Is there a limit to the number of ways you can use words of the English language to form meaningful sentences?

Is there a limit to the number of ways you can rearrange items in your fridge?

 

The answer to both is no.

 

However, you run out of options very quickly if you are asked to form meaningful French sentences out of words of the English language. Ditto if you are told to rearrange items in your fridge just so that the distance between any two of them is no greater than one inch.

 

Qi is about patterns. "Energy" it is so often mistaken for arises from these but ain't it. The English words "Shoot to kill" have plenty of qi (sha' qi, to be specific -- killer qi) if they come from a military commander addressing them to his soldiers. The same words don't have any sha' qi if I address them to my cat while he's playing with a rubber band (his favorite pastime).

 

Qi arises from context and both gives meaning and energy to, and gets it from, spacial and temporal configurations, both forming their interactions and being formed by them.

 

Example: last week I wasn't feeling well and decided to make myself some ginseng decoction and drink it every day for a few days. It worked and I felt a lot more energized and stronger and overall better. Did the ginseng decoction have qi that it imparted? Yes and no. Yes -- in the sense it could interact with my own system to produce it. No -- if you administered it to someone who's dead, it wouldn't increase his qi.

 

Qi is the medium and message of meaningful change. This mantra is worth repeating daily, it unconfuses a lot of confusion.

[Brian]

The Human Attention examples show that attention IS a "zero-sum game". So, some things are zero-sum and some are not.

 

I do not know enough about Chi theory to say whether that applies to Chi or not - hence I am asking.

I like what TaoMeow says.

 

Here's another way to approach it:

 

Is(are) the universe(s) finite or infinite? If infinite, qi is also infinite. Problem solved.

 

If the universe is not infinite, it is incomprehensibly vast and the "amount of qi" is likewise vast. So vast that any quantity you can imagine is not even a rounding error in comparison.

 

But that's only part of the answer because qi is only one aspect of the Light. Multiply it by five or a billion, square it or raise it to the bazillionth power? Don't know but Irvin even more incomprehensible vast than the last amount you couldn't imagine so it didN't really matter. In fact, it is really a waste of time to try to imagine "how much."

 

But that's still not the end because the Light is not static, it is dynamic. Light has an infinite range of vibrational frequencies. Truly infinite? Dunno but again it doesn't really matter because the range of frequencies is also incomprehensible.

 

Still not done, though. Remember what TaoMeow said about patterns and information? Well, that's overlaid on top of,the series of incomprehensiblities outlined above.

 

Gather enough energy so that you shine with the Light of a million Suns? Still just a rounding error...

 

Yeah, "it's that big" (whatever that means). Bigger than that. As a minimum...

Edited October 10, 2013 by Brian

[tyler]

I believe its infinite. The universe is infinite and was created from nothing. Why cant that energy be? I would go on but im tired. I might continue tomorrow.

[寒月 Hanyue]

There is only yiqi 一氣 (one qi).

 

As TM explains the Chinese observed nature, and its patterns of movements and change. These rhythms, cycles, and flows, alluded to by natural phenomenon such as wind (feng) and water (shui) are 'qi'.

 

Is there a limit to the cycles throughout the Universe? Well, the Chinese figured it all went so big you couldn't tell, and so named it Dao, the thing so big and vast you can't label or name it becuase any thing you are looking at is only a part of something more, something greater.

 

Is there a limit to your attention span to observe qi, yes. But this is different.

 

Best,

[BaguaKicksAss]

Perhaps infinite, but it sure does like to "gather" in some places more than others . The forest for example.

[Isimsiz Biri]

Is there any limit to the quantity of Chi that is available to us ? If we increase our store of Chi, does that mean there is less for some other entity ? Or is it infinite ?

 

Please state the basis for your answer - a source or reference or ?

 

Good question. I do not know if it is directly related with your question, however, looking at the lives of all famous Sufis (Abdul Qadir Gilani, Ibn Arabi, Rumi, Shams Tabrizi, Attar of Nishapur, Yunus Emre, Haji Bektash Veli, Haji Bayram Veli, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Khoja Akhmet Yassawi, etc) you see that they never ever stored divine energy in their bodies like in neigong. Storing Yang Qi in your dantian and then combine it Yin Qi etc, is just like carrying an ammunition depot on your body. Instead of storing it, great Sufis distributed the divine energy they received from Divine Realm to people and environment.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Isimsiz Biri

[Jetsun]

People like the Amma, the one who hugs everyone, say they are plugged into the source of the universe. If you see her darshan she often hugs people non stop sometimes for over 48 hours straight and in all the videos she never looks tired and is always full of love, then she goes and sings for a few hours after. And she has been doing it for over 30 years so that energy must come from somewhere most regular people don't have access to.

[joeblast]

Is there any limit to the quantity of Chi that is available to us ? If we increase our store of Chi, does that mean there is less for some other entity ? Or is it infinite ?

 

Please state the basis for your answer - a source or reference or ?

*plunges sponge into bucket, immediately pulls it back out*

*wrings sponge into bucket #1*

 

*squeezes sponge, plunges it into bucket, relaxes hand, lets sponge sit for a moment, then removes it from the water*

*wrings sponge into bucket #2*

 

 

 

Sho'nuff

 

Ain't no masters here dude, ain't no slaves either... The Master doing his wisdom thang... you want wisdom you buy fortune cookie!

[Coaster]

I believe its infinite. The universe is infinite and was created from nothing. Why cant that energy be? I would go on but im tired. I might continue tomorrow.

Okay, but remember that the question is about the Chi available to us.

 

For example, the amount of space in the Universe is perhaps infinite, but the amount of land on Earth is quite finite - to the point where 100 years ago, every bit of it had been claimed and occupied by someone or another.

[Taomeow]

Okay, but remember that the question is about the Chi available to us.

 

For example, the amount of space in the Universe is perhaps infinite, but the amount of land on Earth is quite finite - to the point where 100 years ago, every bit of it had been claimed and occupied by someone or another.

That's a fine example of Pattern dictating availability, rather than amount. The pattern is "ownership" of land, which has nothing to do with the amount of available footage. The pattern is what makes most of the land unavailable to most people, not the amount. In terms of amount, the whole current population of the purportedly "overpopulated" Earth can comfortably fit into the town of Jacksonville, Florida -- twice. Drive across Texas and you'll be looking at emptiness for three days.

 

Qi is available to us in unlimited amounts, if only because qi is not an "amount of something," it's "the meaning of the pattern" and its interactions and relationships with other patterns. The human pattern is believed to be a microcosm by the originators of the concept of, and investigation into, the phenomenon of qi. So whatever is available to the universe is available to us. It's how we organize it that sets the limitations. It's the pattern of use that makes it scarce. A better pattern results in a more generous redistribution. People who get "more qi" don't get more qi in the sense they get "amounts" of it in any mechanical manner. E.g., qi expenditures of the living human organism are replenished by food, but does it mean that the more you eat, the more qi you will get? This would make the greatest and most powerful masters of qi out of the biggest gluttons, no? It doesn't though...

Edited October 10, 2013 by Taomeow

[Brian]

Another angle might be a comparison to music. If a composer writes lots and lots of scores, it doesn't reduce the "amount of music" available to other composers. Likewise, a person who listens to lots of music doesn't do so at the expense of others being rendered unable to listen themselves.

[joeblast]

and sometimes a single note with appropriate feelin'-trill can evoke more than a hacked arpeggio

[Brian]

Not sure why I left out the players of music but included the composers and listeners. Hmmm...

 

Maybe because I know I need to practice things more myself and stop posting on TTB?

[Aetherous]

People like the Amma, the one who hugs everyone, say they are plugged into the source of the universe. If you see her darshan she often hugs people non stop sometimes for over 48 hours straight and in all the videos she never looks tired and is always full of love, then she goes and sings for a few hours after. And she has been doing it for over 30 years so that energy must come from somewhere most regular people don't have access to.

 

I think she is getting it from the people (who look up to her as a saint or avatar, and thus give away their energy), from the practice of hugging, smiling, and radiating unconditional love. The latter things do give access to greater energy.