Ching Sung interview answers

[BaguaKicksAss]

This will be in a couple of parts, as he is emailing me each answer one by one. Which is pretty cool as it is obvious he's putting a lot of thought into this.

 

The questions chosen were:

 

 

1. You seem like quite a traditionalist. On the Tao Bums we're mostly philosophic taoists (if that). What do we lose by not going a more traditional route? What lessons did you get from Taoists priests that we aren't exposed to on the secular side?

 

question 1

re Tradition

Tao has local and non local Spirits

a Traditional Taoist Initiate knows both and helps you to make contact with them

Initiation ritual is an introduction to these spirits

If you are honest about your self these spirits can introduce themselves to you

Initiation Ritual is a time to check your honesty or sincereity it is a kind of mirror for you to look at your self

while Tao transcends culture some local spirits are culture bound as are some people so local Chinese spirits need Chinese initiation

so advantage of Traditional teaching or formal study is to know spirits from accumulated tradition this also might help prevent wrong imagination of spirits

 

2. In many Ritualistic Practices there is an emphasis on working with Spirits and Deities while in many internal arts practices there is the emphasis that one should rely solely on our own efforts in order to grow spiritually. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and what is a preferable and balanced approach for the advancement of the individual practitioner?

 

question 2

originally Taoist martial arts have full spirit invocation practice before form practice some residue still seen in salutation or raising hands choreography at beginning or end of practice

always invoke spirits you work with at beginning and give thanks at end

sometimes there is complete invocation and convocation meeting before martial art practice and so it is assumed part of later training

communists remove ritual movements from forms as they believed it "superstition of old men"

alchemy of martial art practice always witnessed by spirits but if you not acknowledge them then your alchemy can become only about personal power and your spirit will become smaller even making you more fearful and afraid

instead of true Tao communion with greater spirits who can help and teach you so you become helper to the greater spirit world and fullfill potential of real human as allie of Tao.

 

3. As a martial artist how do you handle aggressive emotions and energies that emerge from the inherent intent and origins of the practice.....and how do you balance this with ones spiritual advancement?

 

3 -Aggressive Emotions

this pertains not to the form of practice but the emotional nature of the practicethat is to say if you think of harming someone with anger in your technique or movement you are using hatred as a form of Black Magic

and you can nurture this in your techniques and movements and so perfect your hatred forging it into your techniqueby doing this you become smaller and darker with each practice and with each practice you move further away from the Spirits whose desire is to welcome you into the Path of the Tao.

originally prior to any practice you banish demons and hatreds so they do not infuse themselves into your practice and you then also invoke the Deities and spirits you have as assistants---self defense as practiced in the Tao is an act of balance in life so emotions are carefully regulated but not forbidden.

If you do not take the time to purify yourself before practice of any kind---then your practice will forge what is present within you --- and that is often not known til the moment of regret arrives and you find yourself acting in a way which is not your true self...

 

4. What is the role of love and compassion in the traditional Daoist training you have encountered and are there any specific practices for developing these qualities that you have been trained in?

 

4. Love and Compassion

This is about perspective on beings. The big picture. In the landscape of the earth the human is short lived and weaker than many animals...such a weak and small creature who is so slow to understand requires the friendship of greater spirits to assist knowledge of life. If you have a good Father who teaches you then you know how the greater can help the lesser. So it is also when you have alliances with higher Spirits. You can then express this to those of your level and less...this is Chi which is actual Virtue demonstrated in Behavior of what in the west is called Compassion.

 

further note on developing love-----this is a form of kindness and understanding `(not condescension) usually experienced through having a good teacher. It can also be experienced through reading written material or meeting a teacher in a dream if one does not have access to a living teacher. The higher Spirits can get to you if you invite them. In fact at times they seek to correct the work of bad teachers by appearing to students in dreams or in totems like strange meetings or encounters with animals or spirits...

This transcendent understanding kind of love is not the same as erotic love. Erotic love is also part of Tao and is an aspect of nature connected to the seasons - mainly spring time. Because of its power to over ride the sense of balance the Taoist view is to seek to balance the erotic drive. This is not through repression but through regulated expression according to season. Wine, meat and spice tends to amplify the erotic force so these things are considered necessary to regulate...and they are substances which in themselves can also be used to regulate erotic drives...in fact all five senses and their extensions need this regulation since all is building up in the spring and in general toward every full moon...ones physical practices wether yogic or martial also follow these cycles...

 

5. In Internal Martial Arts much is made of developing "Internal Power" as a pre-requisite to growing in skill. However can a practitioner whom has great physical skill but little internal power defeat someone with lots of internal power but only moderate skill? The distinguishing factors between these pieces is often left quite ambiguous....what is the active dynamic between internal power and actual physical skill/talent in these arts?

 

Internal Power vs Skill

"Internal" implies something kept in a family, country or within ones body. So the general idea is something which is contained and rarely expressed. In the traditional Chinese family the love between the father and son or mother and daughter is not spoken about in public. Rather is is felt in the atmosphere of the room as a kind of Chi. To speak about it would use it up. Internal Power is like this. It is about something held in reserve. One could say in western language it is about the power of the Will. But it has substance. So it is connected to individual freedom or autonomy. Skill is technical as in a craft like making a musical instrument. It is in the real sense "Gung fu" or "Work-through-time -with a human". In defensive arts one could win technically and yet somehow still feel in ones heart that one is inferior to the opponent one has defeated. How to explain this? Perhaps your opponent allowed you to win? so this feeling of encountering what is superior and yet being more clever---how to explain this? so this shows what you can call "Internal Power"...this is deeply connected to the human character and its capacity to carry devotion to a great cause or even a demonic one...in the West you could say this is connected to what is called "Sub conscious" or "Un conscious" but Taoist believe there is no "Un conscious" just very conscious Spirits using you and you do not detect it til you look for it! But Internal Power could also be simple domination of another through power of concentration of Will...a kind of hypnosis. Usually talking or giving a drug or some kind of suggestion is used with this...magical gestures while talking or some secret ritual to manipulate the Will of the perceived adversary is often used...this too is "Internal Power"...Even simple gossip to wrap ones enemy in veil of misconception is an example...

 

6. I would be interested to hear how the ancient training methods for development of the body differ from the modern? What exactly has been lost?

 

Loss of Training methods

most of what is lost is secret of Time. People do not use star, constellation, time of day for training. Season very important. Your age also very important. Location very important. Not practice in park or public. Intent to show off and tell others is not inwardly directed for personal alchemy. Actually secretism has its own power and can be used also for good effect not just for evil purposes. Good deed done in secret better than good deed for others to see. Spirits see all and reward accordingly but usually not with money. Also some technical methods like combing horses hair with skin of palm, or iron cones which cannot be lifted due to shape (like human breast) or hitting water or slapping candle---these things not done any more which also have healing functions---not to mention long term work with partner on tactical hands on technique for hours a day til movement is without specialness but intensely intelligent...use of handling human skeletal bones on full moon and other things which impart to body special intelligences also very good...but all must be done with alliance with good Spirits and with good outcome in mind in accordance with the Greater Tao otherwise one just becomes small devil in league with large Devils...

 

7. can you learn from books and DVDs etc. or do you need person to person training?

 

Person to person training

better to try from book than bad person who will help you lose faith in all teachers...intelligent person can learn from all things. That is way of Tao. Personal relationship with good teacher where both parties are in accord will transmit full tradition unimpeded. That is the best way. Otherwise one collects experiences and divines ones own path from a multitude of persons and experiences. This also works. Good student can extract good from bad teacher but is often burned from such an experience. Even Chang San-feng after 10 years at Shaolin had to have his pride balanced by having his sparks driven out by the Fire Dragon in Wu-Tang mountains...Bad student learning from Good teacher will pervert teaching due to his own bad nature and then will transmit dirt to others...this then pollutes society but will in time be balanced by opposing forces...all in time. It has been said good student harder to find than good teacher...Even bad student wants reputation of having studied with the best teacher!

 

8 what kind of daily practice regime do you recommend for a beginner?

 

Practice Time

best time for modern student is during and after sunrise and round sunset. Modern times require special knowledge of point of change or transition phase...Sun is easiest most positive and best teacher. Moon good too but can make one prone to moodiness unless balanced with sun. Intensity practice toward full moon and then go back to very mild practice for new moon or rest...and meditate more.

 

9. yin chi! Do we absorb it from the earth or the moon? DO we have to be grounded when me meditate to absorb it? is it beneficial to be grounded when you meditate? For example some folks make use of a copper grounding wire (similar to orgone and radionics) to enhance such things.

 

Yin Chi

Yin is "Shadow" so actually from dark part of moon. Full moon is least Yin of all moons. Most expressive.

Moon magnetic and watery (Kidneys) compared to Sun which is electric...Earth has both powers like children have mother and father in them...so is not pure Yin. Mineral composition of earth allows for Yang and Yin forces from Cosmos to flow through it giving birth to elements etc. Still most practitioners seem to have feeling earth is female. Don't know if Canon or other sources are clear about this since we look at stars and constellations. But feet on earth very much and yes grounding good since we have natural and permanent relation to earth not like birds which can fly. Yes we can fly but it is not the same. It is not in our nature unless we transcend our nature. But in Tao we always first and primarily work WITH nature. Then after that we understand nature then we can transcend it -- but we cannot skip steps...it must be gradual and step by step. That is alchemy. Always alchemy is grounded. Earth makes gold and earth is "grounded". Human body no different -is miniature earth. In Taoism we borrow Chi from Big Earth and put in our small earth body. So we need contact. All our alchemy is about borrowing forces in a conscious way. Cloth bottom shoes allow grounding. Silk and wool best to ground. Also warm when wet. Cotton cold when wet---not very healthy. Some use animal skin of Tiger or Ram or Stag to sit on. But this is not considered auspicious unless you are given it or find it without killing. Like I-ching book it is always more auspicious if it is given to you freely and perhaps `"by accident"...otherwise there is the idea of something stolen...not truly yours...let things find you. Copper mineral becomes warm in hand easily especially right hand... iron magnet in left hand or as ring on finger...and gold thread in cloth very helpful...old embroidery often placed in clothing to help chi circulate as with silver and gold thread over heart or along spine...minerals worn on body near places of pulses...very good...all simply connects you to earth more clearly...and once experienced can be dispensed with. You cannot un-ring a bell.

 

10. Have you come across any schools where you felt the training methods were more like the ancient styles, as you perceive them?

 

Ancient Schools

All now is in fragments. Now if we wish to know tradition we must follow stream back to river and origin. Even "paper carrying" Taoists (!!) must do this. Never confuse political power with actual alliance with Spirits!

 

11. What characteristics would you look for in a good school? What sorts of exercises would they do?

 

A good school

regular hours
a kind patient teacher who admits he or she does not know everything
lack of melodrama
good tea (perhaps in West good coffee!)
old people exercise and laugh
young people can be intense and true to ideal
part of local community very much and always has work study for poor students but not exploit poor student-just exchange


but as far as learning real passage of knowledge is individual and person to person. Not in a group. But training in two person exercises very necessary and is good in group.

 

12. Many of our forum members do practice some form of sexual retention, whether it be short term, long-term, or perhaps just 100 days at some point. How important do you feel this is to one's practice, and do you feel it is necessary?

 

Sexual Retention

Implies Sex needs to be "retained"...well perhaps due to media in West this is so. At present in modern West people are sexually stimulated daily. This can be relaxed with a sort of fasting from media...try a few days and see how you feel. No tv or computer or phone.

Traditional Chinese way is to follow seasons for this. But human unlike animal desires to have sex at times other than Springtime! so some regulation is necessary. Also humans have sex for pleasure not just for progeny so is different. Less sex gives more energy for physical activities and if one is a martial arts teacher or having a physical job this is necessary or one can become weak. Kidney energy very important. Chinese view is this is inheritance from parents and so is also connected to memory and Will of ancestors and respect for them. How to do it? what is against nature and what is fighting nature? Tao has principles and techniques. Water flows down. Sex is natural urging. How does natural become un-natural? this is real question for human to ask. So Taoist idea is not to stop sex like some Buddhist schools. At same time in male sperm is only ripe at certain time and so must be changed otherwise one is merely carrying the dead-perhaps in more ways than one! Old time table was quite strict...around 15-25 man can release once a week, 25-35 every two weeks and 35-45 every three weeks and at 50 once a month and after 50 one should stop emitting. This is for life span of 120. Most men in West die at 70-75. So here you get the math. Basically from old view Western man has sex twice as much as he ought for Taoist life span. Of course life in modern times much more stressful and quietness is not practiced and moreover is considered inconsiderate due to need for work production for society. And if married and partner has desire one needs to consider needs of one another. So old rules can be adapted. Sexual process for women similar. Fertility declining with the female as capacity (not necessarily desire) declines with male. However both sexes can have desire ripening and lessening at various times in their lives. Sexual desire often directed by Spirits and also Ancestors. It is not just "You" who wants to have sexual relations. Other spirits participate. Thus one can feel "driven" or "possessed". So some kind of "Spirit Hygiene" can help with this. Correct Ritual and meditation practices, etc. For young women vegetarian diet with intense physical activity can all but stop menstruation. Fertility however will remain. This is important for them to know. Idea that women must lose blood by nature not an absolute rule. Depends on level of physical activity and diet. And young men also who are working physically intensively and not near womens smell will also often forget about sex. So much depends on smell and proximity. This is why Monasteries were found effective for Spiritual research. Monastic life not about repression but about expression. Very intentional concentration-so men and women separated. Not for everyone. And not permanent. Just for a time.

As for special gymnastic for man not emitting this can be done for birth control (very old tradition) but unless started when young (puberty) can be too painful. Also can cause stones in kidneys and so one must drink more water and have a bit more salt in the diet to dissolve extra minerals which back up in kidneys and bladder. If one tries this kind of thing in middle age it is a bit too late and hard on the body but this depends on the individual. Certainly if one talks about doing this for months or years this is in opposition to nature and Tao and there is a price to be paid. One can attempt balance via special breathing and forms of chi-gung but please remember to increase movement of breath in the body will make any imbalance increase! first there must be some balance---in Tao we go to Stillness. Then concentration. Otherwise breathing exercises merely make ones problems more. Like blowing on a fire. Various sicknesses can result. For women if they do exercise to make vagina more contractile it is good to prevent or relieve prolapesed uterus. Muscular exercise for both sexes in urogenital region good for health and old age. Of course not too much. It is medicine. Every three days to do some good.

Also some ideas of sexual "control" due to Confucian view of women as "taking" from man. These ideas degenerated to foot binding and other various unnatural acts. One can become less than human through unnatural practices. Then what is one?

 

13. If Ching Sung invokes/communicates with spirits, then I'd ask how he identifies them. There are some claims from practitioners as to what spirits and/or immortals they speak to and the practitioners maintain they will know the identities of the spirits/immortals. How?

 

13 Spirit Communication

extremely personal and generally not to be shared with others except perhaps teacher

spirits identified by traditional description of texts and from teacher with overlapping personal phenomena of

omens, totems, synchronicities, dreams all contribute to verification as well as any direct or dramatic experience

all phenomena needs to be carefully examined and not cause for personal glory

if one exploits or attempts to exploit Spirits they usually depart if they dont then we can truly question their identity

generally spirit work is similar to conversation with a trusted friend and so is not to show to others

a simple check is to see if the Spirit likes exactly what you like- if so that can be a problem-it may simply be your ego or personality extension

another way is to put up imaginary black veil and see is spirit can express through it

if so then it is at least powerful enough to come through your intentional block and therefore not

merely imagination

14. I have noticed in my Bagua practice that the vortexes and circles tend to attract various things, and manifest others. How do you recommend working with this aspect of the art?

 

14 Ba gua vortexes

Ba gua has synthesizing quality and so it is good to be eccentric yourself otherwise the weirdness factor may be too high

it is not for everyone

so protection ritual very necessary to filter out parasites of all kinds

Edited May 26, 2014 by BaguaKicksAss

[BaguaKicksAss]

Scroll up, I have added the first 4 answers. When they are all complete, I will also PDF them.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Added some more answers . Including further elaboration on #4.

[BaguaKicksAss]

I just added his replies to the last 2 questions. Apologies for the delay with this, I was a bit distracted the past couple of weeks.... (not his doing, he replied in a timely manner).

[RiverSnake]

Lovely interview