Zazen, Dazuo(打坐), and Meditation

[ChiDragon]

The characters 趺坐調氣 from the video with the monk, let CD(the Chinese Dummy) say what is that meant.

趺坐: sit in lotus position(an esoteric Buddhist term)
調氣: regulate the breathing(it is an universal term)
調息: is another term that was used for 調氣.

There is a special breathing technique for the regulation of 調氣. Most people saw the character 氣(Chi), probably would say it is regulating energy. However, it was not that way because without 氣(breath) that is no 氣(energy). One must start with 氣(air), in order, to 調氣 to produce the energy within the body. Hence, 調氣 is to regulate breathing rather than regulate energy.

調氣 is to breath slowly and deep into the lower dan tian. During the 調氣 process, inhale with the abdomen expand outward; and exhale with the abdomen contract inward. Hereinafter, 調氣 will be referred as the Ultimate Method of Breathing(UMB) as CD's definition of Chi Kung throughout all his posts for consistency.

Btw There is an advance method one can hold the breath but still can regulate by moving the breath up and down the Trachea. Thus regulating the breath up and down the Trachea without exhalation will not cause suffocation as oppose to just holding the breath.

Edited March 20, 2014 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

Now, by comparison between Meditation and Dazuo in breathing:
1. Meditation: breathe softly and naturally.
2. Dazuo(打坐) or Zenzuo(禪坐): Regulates the breathing.

Now we have established the difference in breathing. Hereinafter, we can also distinguish the difference between Meditation and Dazuo.

From the definitions above are well defined for clarity. Now, I can go into the difference between Chi Kung and Neigong.

Why is Chi Kung and Nei Kung are so confusing? Let's follow the sequence of events, one begins as an ordinary person which has no Wu Kung(武功) experiences. That means one has to start with breathing first with Dazuo. His breathing must reach deep down to the abdomen. When that was accomplished, it was considered to be that the goal of the Ultimate Method of Breathing(UMB) has been met. The whole precess is called Static or Stillness Chi Kung. Then goes into the next stage which one might call it the Dynamic Chi Kung with slow movements.

Edited March 21, 2014 by ChiDragon

[Spotless]

Fair question to consider.

 

Breathing should be natural and spontaneous. Some people even call our breath our Chi. Granted, without life there is no breathing. The breathing of the universe. (That just came to mind - I have no idea what it means.)

 

And yes, our breathing will alternate between shallow and deep, between rapid and slow. Life conditions should dictate this and not our forced intentions.

 

In our practice, intentional breathing is quite helpful and certainly worth experimenting with.

During meditation intentional periods of breathing are helpful for many situations and desired results.

It is important to be aware of the dangers of certain intentional breathing techniques but as with all things excess is something to be careful with.

In some meditations breathing will cease.

 

[Spotless]

Sitting upright in a chair is an excellent position for meditation.

Typically with palms up and open.

It is sometimes a misconception that the index finger and thumb should touch - finger positions such as this have very definite effects. You may wish to look them up - try possibly "yoga finger positions"

Having the back in a straight posture with head slightly tucked and mouth closed but jaw slack and tongue touch the roof of the mouth and teeth is very helpful.

A straight and aligned spine as though it is being pulled up is of great importance in Qi Gong.

In practice a slouched posture is counter productive or perhaps better said, it is less opportune for changing from ones proclivities.

Your slouch is a reflection of your proclivities.

 

Whether your eyes are open or closed is of no importance - though it is interesting to do both.

 

For so many the word "should" creeps into practice yet every "should" has its many exceptions until "should" becomes an over statement.

Technically it is possible to become adept at meditation in many and varied poses as any practicing invalid may attest to.

Meditation in poses other than the traditional sitting poses typically are those while lying down or inclined on a bed or reclining chair.

In these, breathing exercises can be very helpful for staying awake - I have even propped up one arm from the elbow so that if I fell asleep it would topple over and wake me up.

I have never achieved high meditation levels in these reclined positions, but that is not to say they were a waste of time.

It was difficult for me not to move into other realms or drop off into sleep in reclined or flat positions. I have only very rarely experience this problem with sitting positions.

More frequently now these reclined positions are good for developing higher bodies and simply being with the day.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Spotless

[ChiDragon]

So far, Dazuo(打坐) is practicing Chi Kung(氣功), the UMB. There was no physical exercise involve yet. Thus Nei Kung(內功), internal practice, has not come into the picture yet. Actually, during the static Chi Kung practice, a scanning process was going through the body for illnesses or bad tissues. As soon any problems were found, the healing process with begin to repair the bad tissues and fine tune all the internal organs simultaneously. Chi Kung is getting the body ready, in tip top shape, for the next stage which is Nei Kung. Nei Kung requires Chi Kung to assist the body to build up the physical strength. When the body parts are moving while performing the UMB, that is where Nei Kung begins . It is because the muscles are working together with the respiratory system in the biophysical loop. The biophysical loop will provide energy for muscle tone. After a prolong practice, the muscles will be firm and increase in strength. Hence, that was where all the energy of the body came from.

[ChiDragon]

A little summary for Chi Kung(氣功)
Chi Kung may be considered to be preliminary for Nei Kung. Even though the UMB is the primary part of Chi Kung, but it was only exercising the lung while massaging the internal organs. The extra amount of oxygen from breathing through the lung will provide energy for the heartbeat. Each time the heart will beat stronger and circulate food and oxygen to the internal organs to enhance their functions or repair any bad tissues. As the result, Chi Kung was really helping the body to do all the internal maintenance work. In a way, it may be considered to be preliminary for Nei Kung because no physical work has been done yet.

[ChiDragon]

People talk about meditation but do they really speaking about Chi Kung? It depends what they had in mind. If they were only have the cultivation of the mind in mind, just talk about sitting straight and align with the spine, and not too seriously about putting the emphasis on breathing, then, it cannot be considered that to be Chi Kung. They can even tolerate the practitioner in falling into sleep due to the lack of breathing or not breathing was acceptable. Thus, that is not what Chi Kung is all about. Chi King cultivate three things, regulating breathing, enhance the body and inspire the mind. However, the last two criteria will have no effect if the first one was not performed. If someone teaches me Chi Kung but taught me meditation instead, then I would reconsider going to somebody else for that matter. Btw That is a way to tell is the teacher any good or not by this dead give away.

Edited March 23, 2014 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

Now, we got the part on "regulating the breathing" out of the way. It is time to enhance the body. As soon Chi can be sunken to the dan tain, 氣沈丹田, then it is ready to begin with the Neigong practice. That is when the body moves slowly and in synchronize with the breathing. Start inhalation when the hands are raising slowly. When the hands are at the peak point, the Chi(breath) should be sunken to the LDT. When the hands are starting to lower, exhalation should be start taken place. Continuing with this moving and breathing process, the body muscles and joints will learn to adjust and get use to the applied stress slowly. Through the diligent practice, the muscles will become firm and flexible with the increase in strength. Thus the body strength was developed by the biophysical loops, inside the body. It is because the bio-loop was induced by the combination of the movements and breathing. The bio-loop was being taken place in the body without the realization of the practitioner. The practitioner only felt that the body strength had been increased tremendously.

For that being said, we can distinguish the difference between Chi Kung(氣功) and Neigong(內功). The breathing part is the Chi Kung. The body movements in conjunction with Chi Kung is Neigong. Hence, Chi Kung is the prerequisite for Neigong(inner strength).

Tai Ji Quan has the combination of Chi Kung and Neigong. That is why Tai Ji is so effective which may kill two birds with one stone. Practicing the Tai Ji movements, the practitioner is learning to breathe and building the muscle tone at the same time. After a prolong practice, a practitioner has built up lot of jin(勁). To issue the Jin, it becomes very natural to breathe and moves the arms and legs spontaneously and swiftly. One who can tell if a person has been practicing Tai Ji or not is by observing the swift moves and feeling the strength with a hand shake.

Edited March 27, 2014 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

Inspire the mind

The mind got a mind of its own. In Neigoong, while performing the UMB(the ultimate method of breathing) and the slow movements; all the focus was on the dan tain and the movements of the muscles. Subliminally, the mind was already inspired and cultivated by focusing on all the internal activities. The fast reflexes of the movements was done by the focus on every muscle. The first focus is to sink Chi to the dan tian, then focus on the next moves of arms and legs. The mind will direct which muscle to be moved to where and how. If one want to do a punch, then the focus is on the hand to make a fist and how the punch was performed. Here is the sequence of events. While taken a deep breath and sink chi to the dan tian, hold a fist and start moving it toward the hitting target by the arms. The arms are relaxing at the beginning, then progressively increasing the internal force as they are moving forward. By the time the fist hits its target, the full power was already applied to the fist.

Neigong gives one the ability to exert the maximum body power at any circumstance. It was designed and done by the mind focusing on the breathing and body control. Hence, the focus of the mind gives the accuracy of the breathing rhythm in sync with the body movements. The integration of these three criteria are required for the body to react, at its maximum efficiency, in any unexpected adversity.