QI GONG: What is Possessed by the Devil?

[Mudryah]

Most of Chinese people know about what Possessed by the Devil(走火入魔is by watching martial arts films or martial arts books, especially a famous character Ou Yang Fengs actions after practising a special Qi gong, he appears in Hong Kong famous writer Jin Yongs martial arts book. This character gives every reader a very interesting and funny and impressive momery about what Possessed by the Devilis!

 

In our life, I find the same sample happening in some static Qigong practicers. I always search for the reason and ask Why.

 

Following to treat more and more patients who have spinal health problems by Tui na, especially the one who has the head problems by apoplexy, I found out the main reason.

 

The purpose of Tui na is to make the confused order muscle fibers into the loosen and ordered condition,that can make your blood and Qi moving into a normal passing way and no blocks.

 

When a Qi gong practicer practises Qi gong under his teachers guide,he always tries to let his body inner Qi go through by his meridian. It is always easy to run your Qi in your body by your mind for most of people,but when you try to run your Qi to pass through your head meridian,the problem happens often.

 

When your head has some disordered muscles fibers which always make the blocks to your blood and Qi moving,every time, you try to use your mind to run your Qi through these blocks,more bloods will go there under your Qis order,.

 

But what a pity! a narrow channel which made by your disordered muscles can not let them pass through at a normal way!

 

And now, a case will happen just like as you make a press on a water pipe, more Qi you try to run, more blood will gather at this narrow channel. More pressure to the nerve which is near by the channel, more rubbishes are collected there and make the channel more narrow.

 

Day after day for your practising, Possessed by the Devil happens !

 

When this happens to a Qi gong practicer,if his teacher knows about his students health problem, he can offer him the right way to make the disordered muscle into the order first before his next level Qi gong practice. But if his teacher doesnt know about this,his student will go to a bad rusult in the end.

 

But how many Qigong teachers spend time to study Chinese medicine or Western medicine when they learn or teach Qi gong?

 

Monkey says,and monkey does!will not the best way to inherit any traditional culture! As a culture inheritor,you have the duty to reaserch and tell your followers the truth and not the cover only!

[Mudryah]

Written by one of my former teacher's disciples from China.

[ChiDragon]

走火入魔: Run over the fire and enter the devil. Most people referred as a practitioner had ran into an internal problem which caused by an error in the practice.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Sounds like qi deviations to me...

[ChiDragon]

Yes, that is what it was called deviation(偏差). Isn't deviation an error?

[BaguaKicksAss]

I just mean by the description given .

 

Deviation is more "an alternate path" (but in this case not really a good one).

[baiqi]

The wikipedia page, http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B5%B0%E7%81%AB%E5%85%A5%E9%AD%94 , in English becomes "kundalini syndrom".

 

Do you believe it is the same?

 

My own translation: "when people get crazy because of a misguided qigong practice".

[ChiDragon]

Yes, I think this is the closest that we can come to for the explanation. Thanks! now, it is clear to me what "kundalini syndrome" was. It was 走火入魔 all this time. Btw This is seldom happen to those who practice Chi Kung. Unless the practitioner has been reached a high level and go to the next higher level. That would be the most critical point that could have happened.

Edited November 25, 2013 by ChiDragon

[xor]

To get bad results, I don't think you need a high level, just enough to feel qi and try to force it to a new pathway it's not "supposed" to take. Forcing with intensity over a period of time.

Edited November 26, 2013 by xor

[ChiDragon]

To get bad results, I don't think you need a high level, just enough to feel qi and try to force it to a new pathway it's not "supposed" to take. Forcing with intensity over a period of time.

 

I have heard in the past and commonly known that at low level, the practitioner does not have the capability to manipulate Chi. Thus there was a less chance of getting into 走火入魔.

[Walker]

I don't think that this is the same thing as being actually possessed by a devil (or demon, rather), or ghost, which is a phenomenon recognized as real by most traditional cultivators in China. 走火入魔 only really refers to problems arising from problems in energetic and spiritual practices--as ChiDragon said, 偏差, and probably quite extreme 偏差 in order to earn this label. Possession might more likely be called 着魔.

 

Pang Ming, who created Zhineng Gong wrote a primer on the history of qigong and he believed that the strictest definition of 走火入魔 meant qi deviations inside of the brain during small heavenly circle practice, if I recall correctly.

 

It is very sad to see people with this kind of problem, as they often remain attached to whatever they were doing that made them disturbed.

[dan the man]

thank you so much for this post. i ended up in the hospital for two weeks. Now i feel like im not crazy and its a actual thing.

[Starjumper]

Some people end up being possessed by a dragon, is that OK?

[dan the man]

I guess its all up to you. i particularly dont want to be possessed by anything or anyone.

[dan the man]

they also cll it kundulini syndrome.

[Starjumper]

Ah, so I have kundalini syndrome, is that bad? Maybe possessed isn't the right word.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Starjumper

[dan the man]

did you look it up? for me it was scary and not cool.

[ChiDragon]

Ah, so I have kundalini syndrome, is that bad? Maybe possessed isn't the right word.

 

That's right, "possessed" is not the right word. Don't worry!

[Starjumper]

Thank you chi Dragon, it's an adventure, and not worried.

 

did you look it up? for me it was scary and not cool.

 

I looked up kundalini syndrome a long time ago so I'm a little fuzzy on that. I've also read there is some kind of parallel in Taoist cultivation called chi sickness or something like that? I wonder if the causes of both are similar?

 

Once I mentally/verbally challenged the devil to try to scare me and also put it in a public message on a long lost forum long ago (that was so more people would witness it and give the challenge more energy). Well, tricky bastard scared the fork out of me after all, but it was a good learning experience, and not much could scare me after that because I learned the nature of fear.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Starjumper

[dan the man]

I definitely learned a great deal about myself and on one side am glad i had it. At first there was such clam and void.

[Starjumper]

I definitely learned a great deal about myself and on one side am glad i had it. At first there was such clam and void.

 

Yes, that's the spirit. Some mistakes teach you much more than is at first apparent.

 

Please clarify what you mean by 'at first'.

[dan the man]

I was sitting and i felt a bubble come up from my wa lu point ll the way up to my heart then is hung out there for a bit then mover up to my head and there was so much pressure in my head. After all that it was chill tell i started seeing spirits in people. i was not happy with them in the people knew needless to say i started trippin. all though during i did feel like there was some thing trying to help me out.

[dawei]

Most of Chinese people know about what Possessed by the Devil(走火入魔)

 

I think the simplest understanding is Qigong Deviation (氣功偏差). Qi has taken a wrong path/turn and psychosis occurs.

 

The most literal translation probably needs to state that something exits and something enters, as that is what is implied. For example, one has lost their mental facility (Spirit) and acquired a psychosis (Demon).

 

Here fire (火) may refer to the spirit as is its meaning in reference to breathing in relation to firing the cauldrons (energy fields).

 

http://books.google.ca/books?id=Q5-Gk8jBCUUC&lpg=PP1&dq=Breathing%20spaces%3A%20qigong%2C%20psychiatry%2C%20and%20healing%20in%20China.%20Columbia%20University%20Press&pg=PA77#v=onepage&q=Breathing%20spaces%3A%20qigong%2C%20psychiatry%2C%20and%20healing%20in%20China.%20Columbia%20University%20Press&f=false

[ChiDragon]

走火入魔 cannot be judged its meaning superficially. It is just a simple expression or description which means that something went wrong in one's practice. It would be an over evaluation if one looks at it character by character.

[dawei]

走火入魔 cannot be judged its meaning superficially. It is just a simple expression or description which means that something went wrong in one's practice. It would be an over evaluation if one looks at it character by character.

 

So says the first person to respond in the thread and attempt to do a superficial character by character translation

 

"走火入魔: Run over the fire and enter the devil. "