SFQ Spirit Guides ??

[awarenessrules]

Does Spring forest qigong involve working with spirit guides or entities ? I am asking this because chunyi lin uses the word Masters energy very frequently. I think its a transmission based system and you cant master this qigong system from a video or book unless you take a class with a teacher whether live or online. Also they practice MCO in level 1 while in other systems MCO is a very advanced meditation. In MCO chunyi Lin uses Masters energy to open the pathways. Thats the reason it is practiced at such a beginning level without side effects. It uses some type of external energy like that of Reiki etc. I do not know much about this system though but have heard only good things about it. Is it okay for people with religious background? As far as i know nearly all monotheistic religions warn against working or seeking help from spirits or these so called spritual entities. Any thoughts? some months ago i read a story by Guy who was deep into some type of transmission based Qigong system and later it led to spirit possesion. Is there any truth to this? 

[liminal_luke]

Call me naive but I´m inclined not to worry about spirit possession.  I don´t know anything about Spring Forest in particular.  To me, calling on "Master´s energy" isn´t woo-woo or dangerously esoteric -- it´s just good practice.  Whatever we do, we stand on the metaphorical shoulders of those who have come before.  Honoring this sense of lineage deepens connection.  I believe that energetic support from past masters is always available in all traditions and one of the keys to success is having the humility and wisdom to avail oneself of it.

[RiverSnake]

It is not mentioned as something important in the interview. May be worth reading. 

 

 

 

[Vajra Fist]

There's an excellent Spring Forest qigong Facebook group where they're very quick in answering questions like this.

 

Alternatively their general contact page was very good at answering questions when I first started. 

 

I practiced it for about six months. Always felt that the 'master's energy' visualisation was as much about helping you feel the energy was coming from outside of your body into the acupoint. Potentially a transmission too from Chunyi, you could definitely ask them and see what they say. 

 

Definitely no work with spiritual guides or entities though as far as I know. There are supplementary practices in the system that use the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra from Buddhism. This is because Chunyi says positive emotions aid in healing, and this mantra generates a lot of compassion. But I've also read elsewhere (and experienced to a certain extent) that it has a spiritually protective effect. So I wouldn't worry about anything externally interfering with you, especially if you practice this mantra alongside it.

 

On the whole Spring Forest is a strange system. It seems to fit more in the new age movement, particularly with the rainbow and butterfly meditations further into the system,  than it does within classical neigong. Although the moving exercises from level one generate a significant amount of very dense, palpable qi early on. There are a lot of people who have healing major illness from it, so it definitely has a bit of juice. 

[awarenessrules]

Thanks for replies, I just thought that during the spring forest transmission they assign a spirit guide to each practitioner. The spirit then helps the practitioner with healing and energy cultivation. When you call the master energy, you are actually requesting the assigned spirit for help. Thats what I thought about this system. I am still confused. There are some Qigong systems which assign spirits to practitioner to help with energy cultivation but I am not sure whether that's the case with sfq. Falun gong and a few others do this. In Reiki when you get attunement, you also get a spirit guide. Most people don't know about it and they practice reiki but there is a spirit guide with them since attunement. Some reiki practitioners who have good awareness skills actually interact with these spirit guides and get help from them. But I find it unethical because people get these reiki attunements and they are not told about spirit guides. Most people are not comfortable with these things. I will try to contact SFQ and let's see whats their response.

[Vajra Fist]

2 hours ago, awarenessrules said:

Thanks for replies, I just thought that during the spring forest transmission they assign a spirit guide to each practitioner. The spirit then helps the practitioner with healing and energy cultivation. When you call the master energy, you are actually requesting the assigned spirit for help. Thats what I thought about this system. I am still confused. There are some Qigong systems which assign spirits to practitioner to help with energy cultivation but I am not sure whether that's the case with sfq. Falun gong and a few others do this. In Reiki when you get attunement, you also get a spirit guide. Most people don't know about it and they practice reiki but there is a spirit guide with them since attunement. Some reiki practitioners who have good awareness skills actually interact with these spirit guides and get help from them. But I find it unethical because people get these reiki attunements and they are not told about spirit guides. Most people are not comfortable with these things. I will try to contact SFQ and let's see whats their response.

 

Thanks, never got that sense from SFQ, or seen anyone saying anything about that. But would be curious about what they say in response. 

 

Its true in Falun Gong there's something similar to what you describe, but the spirit guide is considered by its followers to be an emanation of the teacher, or a "fa-shen". Even there though, it purely assumes a protective role. If anyone claims to see it anything more than fleetingly, or say they have communicated with it in their minds, they are considered to have a pretty serious deviation.

 

The only system I can think of, similar to what you've described is Xiao Yao Pai. There's a lengthy thread on that in the 'systems and teachers' section on the forum. Seems a fascinating system, albeit one that's never really appealed personally. 

[Paradoxal]

 

2 hours ago, awarenessrules said:

But I find it unethical because people get these reiki attunements and they are not told about spirit guides. Most people are not comfortable with these things.

 

I can't speak for SFQ, but you speak as if people don't already have spirit guides available to them before joining these systems. This is not the case, as people will literally *always* have a spirit guide available; it's kind of what spirit guides do, afterall. From my personal experience, the one that I am in contact with will generally help me in cultivation, and she was not "unlocked" through any lineage, rather, she has always been available to me from the time I began looking for my spirit guide. 

 

I would agree that folks are somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of an unseen hand, but that is exactly why they don't tell you about the deeper aspects of these systems when you first join. If someone is not ready for the knowledge, it can certainly destroy their progress. I don't believe it is unethical to not say anything about these, no matter how little "comfort" someone may have with the idea. Using external help from benevolent entities is never wrong, no matter what religion or system you practice in. If you do not have a good teacher, it becomes extremely hard to progress. The key phrase here, however, is "benevolent entities". Spirit guides and angels are classified as such, even though not all gods are benevolent; this is why it can be risky working with unknown gods, but it is not risky to work with unknown guides or angels. As a short example, I often call upon the archangel Michael for assistance in some of my tasks, but I am not part of any of the faiths that have him in their pantheon. I get the help, thank him for his assistance, and move on. 

[Cosmic Soldier]

Short answer is no. 
 

Longer answer below directly from SFQ
 

How to choose your master to go deeper

[awarenessrules]

On 9/18/2020 at 11:55 PM, Vajra Fist said:

There's an excellent Spring Forest qigong Facebook group where they're very quick in answering questions like this.

 

Alternatively their general contact page was very good at answering questions when I first started. 

 

I practiced it for about six months. Always felt that the 'master's energy' visualisation was as much about helping you feel the energy was coming from outside of your body into the acupoint. Potentially a transmission too from Chunyi, you could definitely ask them and see what they say. 

 

Definitely no work with spiritual guides or entities though as far as I know. There are supplementary practices in the system that use the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra from Buddhism. This is because Chunyi says positive emotions aid in healing, and this mantra generates a lot of compassion. But I've also read elsewhere (and experienced to a certain extent) that it has a spiritually protective effect. So I wouldn't worry about anything externally interfering with you, especially if you practice this mantra alongside it.

 

On the whole Spring Forest is a strange system. It seems to fit more in the new age movement, particularly with the rainbow and butterfly meditations further into the system,  than it does within classical neigong. Although the moving exercises from level one generate a significant amount of very dense, palpable qi early on. There are a lot of people who have healing major illness from it, so it definitely has a bit of juice. 

 

 

I Read a lot about this system in past few days and i am quite sure now that its a deep spiritual system and needs loyalty to the Grand Master Chunyi Lin and the lineage itself. I am not talking about the home study course. But Once you take any Level with a teacher whether in person or online, you are connected to the lineage. Regarding calling the Masters energy, On their website they say that the Master can be anybody, your father, mother or your pet But i think in reality during live classes the students are encouraged to call on their Qigong Master energy or simply Chunyi Lin energy and its an important part of the system, i would say 50%. Level 1 Class is basically an initiation into the system. In fact during the live class the teacher transfers Yuan shen into his students to help with their energy cultivation and healing. Thats what i read read here by a senior SFQ practitioner. The system totally relies on energy transmissions to get results.  Now with home study course, the story is entirely different, you are on your own just like any other Qigong dvd course or books. It can help you with healing from any illness if you practice it for long enough but you do not have the energetic help from teachers or lineage. I think The level 1 movements are deeply healing even if you learn it from home study course. But if someone wants to go beyond health, then the best route is taking all levels in person or online with a certified teacher. And you are right the system does have new agey vibe unlike classical neigong systems. But it does look interesting. Did you take level 1 in person or home study course?

@Vajra Fist

[Vajra Fist]

16 hours ago, awarenessrules said:

Did you take level 1 in person or home study course?

 

Just the home study course. There are a few other bums here who know far about the style than me.

 

16 hours ago, awarenessrules said:

Thats what i read read here by a senior SFQ practitioner.

 

If you're referring to Drew aka Voidisyingyang, I wouldn't say he is a senior SFQ practitioner. Drew just heard about Chunyi doing extended meditation in full lotus and ran with it, forgetting meditation part and just sitting with his legs folded, shooting mind bullets at women to make them orgasm. All of which isn't included in the SFQ curriculum!

[awarenessrules]

Yes the same one. But I do think he is at least level 4 practitioner because he took a live retreat with Master Lin. And said that his 3rd eye fully opened which usually happens at level 4 along with the fasting thing. I think he is not active anymore otherwise he would have replied to my threads on sfq.

@Vajra Fist