The Anapana and Chi Conversations

[Smile]

Bill Bodri released new interviews between Nan Huai-Chin and Peter Senge: http://www.meditationexpert.com/AnapanaChi.htm

Good stuff...

[Smile]

Some parts...

Today there is much confusion surrounding the practice of Anapana meditation. The problems stem from the misconception of the word Xi or Hsi (息). Many cultivation sects, the Japanese Zen schools included, confuse the in-and-out breathing for Xi. Therefore when they teach the students to meditate by counting the Xi they are simply counting the breathing, not the Xi that stands for the source of life without the movements of inhaling and exhaling. Xi, by its original definition in the Chinese language, means stillness or rest. In the I-Ching, Xi carries the meaning of growing. The in-and-out breathing is the phenomenon of depletion and replenishment; inhalation and exhalation form the way of birth and extinction. Xi is not depletion but only standing still. Cultivating Xi is a practice to break away from the birth-and-death cycle.

 

According to China's Tian Tai School (Tendai) (天臺宗), breathing can be divided into four categories. The first is panting (喘), the short and rapid breathing in the lungs, as when one runs. The second type is the unhurried breathing, which is called wind (風). The third one is Qi or Chi (氣) , the deep and quiet breathing, as when one is in meditation or sleep. Qi is very subtle. It is inaudible but one can feel it as it passes through the nose. When a person falls into sleep, as long as the breathing continues, he is not really in deep sleep. His mind, or consciousness, is not at rest. Only when the breathing stops completely, albeit briefly, beyond the regular in-and-out pattern, is the person in deep sleep. This is the state of Xi (also transliterated as Hsi), the fourth kind of breathing, a complete stillness or resting.

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There are people who deliberately cultivate certain phenomena for esoteric practices. I lived in Tibet for a while in my youth. Once a fellow student wanted to show off his achievements that he could go into deep meditation and make his body disappear into a cloud of lights. On seeing this, I reached my hand into the cloud of lights to tap him, telling him, "Stop this act of play!" Most people would have been very impressed by this show, believing he possessed supernatural power.

 

This kind of things are rather common in places like Tibet, Bhutan, Northern India and the high plateau areas of the southwestern part of China. I always felt these places are like fairylands. Our body feels lighter in those places. The feet also feel light.

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We all know from modern medical research that a fetus in the mother's womb does not eat or breathe; it is sustained by the mother through the umbilical cord only. In the "Entering into the Womb Sutra" (入胎經), the Buddha describes for us in great details the evolution of the fetus in the womb from conception to birth. The original Sanskrit text of this sutra was lost in India. Luckily it was translated and preserved in China.

 

According to the Buddha, every seven days the fetus evolves into a new phase of growth. There are 38 of such seven-day-phases before birth. The fetus is sustained not just by the umbilical cord but also by the Qi. This is not the breathing Qi, for the fetus does not breathe! The breathing Qi is the "Sustaining Qi." For the fetus, the Qi that powered the growth is called the "Reward-Body (Sambhogakaya) Qi" (報身氣), which is a retribution derived from karma. The Taoists in China call it the "Yuan (Primordial) Qi" (元氣).

 

After having powered the fetus for 38 seven-day-phases, the Reward-body Qi pushes the fetus in a head down position and then birth begins. The first breath of the new born baby is the crying out with an out breath as the residual of the Reward-Body Qi is exhaled. When the baby breathes in from the nose for the first time, the Sustaining Qi begins and the in-and-out breathing cycle starts and will carry on until death.

Maybe more later...

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Smile, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I considered buying this book, but it seemed too much effort to get a credit card for just one ebook. Heh, it was you who initially led to me Bill Bodri and his teachings have been helpful in my development.

 

You are a scholar and a gentle man.

 

Thank you,

James