Daoist Wisdom for Healthy Living

Qi Magazine || Issue 60 || April 2002

By Adam Wallace

Qigong training not only encompasses breathing, movement, and meditation but should also include basic knowledge of Chinese medical theory and philosophy. ‘Dao De Jing’, written by Laozi over 2,400 years ago, is a source of wisdom, which when applied becomes high level Qigong skill.

 The following is merely a sampling together with some personal comments for clarification. 

“When a person is born he is soft and supple. 

When he dies he is stiff and hard. 

All things are soft and tender at birth and at death they are withered and dry”.  

When the body and mind are relaxed and soft the Qi flows properly which is essential to health. A stiff body is caused by straining while working or exercising and a stressful mental state. Gentle movement and remaining mentally flexible aids longevity. 

“In concentrating the Qi to achieve flexibility can you be like a baby?”

In the womb babies breathe from the Dantian, which stores Qi. Breathing with the lungs uses Qi. Dantian breathing saves much biophysical energy, which is then converted to True Qi, and serves as an internal massage for the vital organs. 

“Do not swerve from your innate nature and return to the state of infancy”. 

The newly born are pure of mind, without passions or ambitions, etc, and can let go of their emotions. They cry and quickly forget. As adults we internalise our problems, which affects our Qi and health. Meditation is the tool to enable us to return to the peaceful state of infancy and transcend our emotions. 

“A tall tree grows from a tiny sprout. 

A tower begins from the earth up. 

A journey starts with a single step”.

Everything grows from small to big. This is the way of nature. It is a mistake to rush the natural process. Businesses collapse because owners miss this principle and expand too quickly. Qigong practice is no exception - to rush or take short cuts can be disastrous. With regards to illness, listen to your body and catch any problem when it is still small and has not become too big to control. Better still, practise Qigong and prevent disease altogether. 

“If your hallis filled with gold and jade, it cannot be protected. 

If you are wealthy and honoured, pride follows, which can attract mistakes and misfortune. 

When the work is done retire; this is the Dao of heaven”. 

Many people are obsessed with collecting valuables. The more belongings you acquire, the more responsibilities and worries you have. In the end, you no longer possess the valuables, they possess you. Throughout life, we need to let go of our attachments so that we can truly be free. This includes our emotional baggage. 

“No disaster is greater than not knowing what is sufficient. 

No crime is greater than avarice. 

One who knows sufficiency will always have enough and avoid danger”. 

Desire is a disease. The more you accumulate the more you want. ‘What is a rich person? Someone who has everything he or she needs. If your needs are few and you have everything you could want, then you are richer than the person who has has financial wealth but is never satisfied. 

“The five colours cause blindness. 

The five tones cause deafness. 

The five flavours cause the inability to taste. 

Racing about on horseback and hunting cause madness”. 

Overexposure to visual stimulation i.e television, computers etc. expends Qi and damages eyesight. When the eyes are tired rest them or meditate. Constantly listening to loud music impairs the hearing. Those who move to the countryside from the city and find the quietude disturbing have already lost their balance with nature. Choose specific times in the day for silent contemplation. Perpetually eating rich or spicy food damages the palate’s ability to distinguish flavours. Those addicted to high-speed thrills and dangerous situations who only feel ‘alive’ when adrenaline is pumping have also lost balance. 

“Rare commodities cause mankind to do wrong, 

so the Sage concerns himself with his abdomen and not his eyes”.

Gold and rare jewels may seem substantial and worthwhile possessions but you cannot take them with you after you die so they are ultimately worthless. Dantian Qi, on the other hand, may appear intangible but it is more real and valuable as it cultivates your health and spirit, and bestows longevity. The eyes generally look outwards and we are tempted by what we see. Hence, it is beneficial to routinely shut the eyes and look inwards. Sometimes the blind perceive more than the sighted. 

“What is dearer, fame or health? 

What is more valuable, health or wealth?”

Everyone should ask themselves this question. You cannot enjoy your wealth or fame in sickness. Health is also the only factor over which you have complete control.

Integration with the Tao

The Chronicles of Tao

by Den Ming-Dao

Saihung looked within his body. It was transparent. Meditation, after all, was not stillness. The body always moved: the heartpumped, blood flowed, electricity fired the nerves, energy coursed through the meridians, the organs pulsated in concert, and the lungs, even if they slowed to an apparent stop, still breathed on in an exaggerated timeline. The human being never stopped moving, never stopped changing. A human being was a cosmos. A mysteroius progression. A sacred equilibrium.

Saihung looked deeply into himself. He was completely immersed in that which was inner. Inner became everything. Inside and outside became one. Plunging deep within, he came to the perfect realization. Inner and outer became one in infinity.

He was focus. A pinpoint in the cosmos. A place where infinity had congealed into one mass of movement and experience. Qi had become the five elements, had become yin and yang, had become a human being. He was a microcosm of eternity.

Saihung imagined the Big Dipper Constellation. Silence. Space. Everything was real. Nothing was real. Both were equal. Time and space doubled back on each other in serpentine layers and lost their distinction. What went beyond duality?

***

The day came for him to emerge. He heard his master break the seal and entere. In the semidarkness of the hut, Saihung knelt down before the Grand Master. "You have been tested thorougly. You have made great strivings. Only today do you finally glimpse what it is to be a Taoist. All that matters to a Taoist is the one is in harmony with nature. In one's character, one is like heaven and earth, as bright as the sun and the moon, as orderly as the four seasons."

"When one has attained Tao, one can even precede heaven, but heaven will not act in opposition, for one will act only as heaven would have at the time. One is not destroyed because one harmoniously follows only the cyclic motion of the Tao, avoiding the aggressive, extravagant expenditures of energy. Efforts to achieve strength and power may lead to short-term success, but such excessiveness ultimately results in an early death."

"The Tao Te Ching clearly states that when things reach the pinnacle of their strength, they begin to grow old. Therefore, excessive strength is contrary to Tao, and what is contrary to Tao will come to a speedy end. Thus, one seeks not to build up one's own power, but to unite with the Tao. One is not aggressive and mighty, but rather humble and peaceful. One seeks not to go the way of the other men but rather to follow the cycles of nature. Only then can one know renewal and rejuvenation. Through returning and going forth, expansion and contraction, one knows infinity and pehraps even immortality, for at that point, one is wholly integrated with the Tao. One gives undivided attention to its vital energy, responding with the utmost pliancy. Then one can become like a newborn infant."

The Grand Master opened the door. A crack of light expanded into complete brightness. Saihung went into the light of a new world.

MIT Qigong Club Constitution

Article I: Purpose

The purpose of the MIT Qigong club is to provide a student community for cultivating health and wellness through Chinese standing meditation.

Article II: Membership

1.     Any member of the MIT community is eligible to become a member of this organization. One is considered a member of this organization in any given academic term if she has attended at least one club activity and one meeting in the preceding or current term.

2.     The organization’s membership will at all times consist of at least 5 MIT students and be more than half MIT students.

3.     This organization will not discriminate based on any characteristic listed in MIT's Nondiscrimination Statement.

4.     If this organization charges any monetary dues, there will be exceptions made for students that cannot afford these dues.

Article III: Officers

1.     This organization will have [at a minimum]  two officers:

a.     President

1.     The president shall be the official representative of the group to any other organization and to MIT.

2.     The president will preside over all meetings.

3.     The president is responsible for determining when meetings are and publicizing this to the group.

b.     Treasurer

1.     The treasurer shall be responsible for the finances of the group.

2.     MIT Qigong is a free student club with no ASA budget or outside funding.

2.     All officers of this organization must be distinct persons and MIT students.

3.     Elections:

a.     Elections of officers shall occur on Labor Day of each year.

b.     Any member of this organization is eligible to run for office.

c.     Quorum for elections is two thirds of the group.

d.     Any member is elected if he or she wins a majority of the voting members.

e.     If more than two people are running and no one wins a majority, then the person with the fewest votes is dropped from the ballot and votes are recast.

f.      The term of office runs from Labor Day until the following Labor Day.

4.     Removal: Officers may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the members.

Article IV: Meetings

1.     Meetings shall be held at least every semester.

2.     Meetings shall be presided over by the president.

3.     All decisions shall be made by a majority vote of all members present.

4.     Quorum for a meeting shall be one quarter of the members of the organization.

Article V: Amendments

1.     Amendments shall be presented by any member of the organization.

2.     Amendments shall be passed by a two-thirds voted of the members present.

3.     Quorum for amending this constitution shall be one third of all members of the organization.

Article VI: ASA Governance Clause

The MIT Qigong Club agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the Association of Student Activities, and its executive board. This constitution, amendments to it, and the by-laws of this organization shall be subject to review by the ASA Executive Board to insure that they are in accordance with the aforementioned rules and regulations.

The Joy of Meditation

Monday Qigong: February 6, 2012
10 min gathering qi
10 min turning cow
10 min cow post (#5)
10 min natural post (#1)
5 min left strength testing (shi li)
5 min right strength testing (shi li)
5 min moving zhuang (#1)
seal/wash
*link to 8 zhuangs
    

The Chronicles of Tao
by Deng Ming-Dao

     Six months of practice had elapsed, and Saihung, writing in his diary, tried continually to assess his experiences. He now genuinely enjoyed meditation. He laughed in amusement. Huashan had trained him for a decade before he had reached that point. Now, the serenity, the joy, the feeling of absolute health, and the thrill of learning had literally become addicting. There was no boredom. Meditation had made him sensitive. Far from missing human beings, he relished the solitude. His senses and feelings had become so sharpened that there was more than enough stimulation. Art and music were diversion enough. Self-discovery was learning enough. And his unusual experiences, real or visionary, were wondrous enough. In the months ahead, he experienced events so powerful that the question became more and more indistinct. No matter where the source of reality lay, he knew that it could affect him physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Central Principles of Daoism

Qi Magazine

Issue 59 | February 2002

By Adam Wallace

Daoist philosophy, which dates back almost 5,000 years, is so ingrained in Chinese culture that it forms the basis of its cosmology, sciences and medicine, folklore, mysticism, poetry, painting, calligraphy, martial arts, and Qigong

Daoism is not strictly a religion but a way of life which allows the follower to reconnect and live more closely with nature. Unlike religious worship of a Supreme Being, Daoism recognises a ‘supreme state of being’ which everyone can achieve through their own personal efforts. Dao is eternal, infinite, and beyond all time and space. It is the source of all being; the mother of the universe. It is the invisible thread which connects and permeates everything in existence. Laozi, the Sage, reluctantly termed it the Nameless (as well as The Unknowable, The Void, and The Way) as he knew words limit and Dao is limitless, beyond all description. Void is the very nature of Dao and to say that it exists is to exclude that which does not. Dao gave birth to One (the Universe or Unity), which created Two (Yin and Yang - the entire spectrum of complementary opposites including light and dark, male and female, mountains and valleys, etc.), which created Three (the Three Treasures -essence, energy, and spirit) which gave birth to the multitude of living things.

Dao is seen as a ceaseless flow, changing every moment. Yet the changes proceed in orderly cycles.We can predict day following night, the changing order of the seasons, and even Halley’s Comet which passes once every seventy-six years but other cycles are longer and harder to comprehend. Investigation into nature’s patterns allows us to predict events which is how the Daoist ‘Yijing’(or ‘Book of Changes’) was created. Daoists follow the principle of Non-action (Wu Wei) which is to act without forcing, moving in accordance with nature’s flow, and following the path of least resistance, like fish swimming with the current or a plant bending towards the sunlight. Stillness, which is central to Daoist philosophy, is to return to the original state of being. Meditation is the tool to achieve this. Activity should always alternate with periods of stillness and never be pushed to the point of strain. This is the principle of balance, necessary for a long and healthy life. The practitioner’s heart and mind should constantly remain calm. Anger, anxiety, desires, frustration etc. all disturb inner peace so it is best to reject them. The emotions should not be suppressed but transcended.The 5 Elements (wood, fire, earth,metal, and water), or five energies, exist everywhere in the universe. They are represented by the colours, directions, seasons, emotions, flavours, internal organs, climates etc. None is superior as each exerts a mutually creative(supporting) or destructive (restraining) influence upon the other. The Three Treasures have various manifestations within the cosmos. Within the confines of the human body Essence (Jing) is the seminal fluid and blood, Qi is vital energy, and Spirit (Shen) relates to the mind. These become weaker and coarser due to bad living habits and unrestrained desires, or lighter, purer and more refined if they are conserved and cultivated. Alchemy is the process of refining the spirit, generally disguised as the quest for converting base metals into gold. Daoists sought to refine a ‘goldenpill’ which bestowed perpetual youth, resistance to disease, and immortality(or immense longevity). Some ingested experimental compounds of cinnabar (sulphide of mercury), gold, silver, jade,pearls, silver, and even arsenic, many of whom died from poisoning. The highest form of Daoist alchemy is Qigong, which is natural and requires no external aid. The refining process involves conserving Jing, or bodily essences (the raw materials), and fusing it with Qi (the catalyst) through breathing practices and meditation, to develop Shen (unified mind, breath, and spirit).

There are essentially two goals in Daoism. The first involves living in accord with Nature. The second is the process of cultivation. The ego places a barrier between us and Dao so it must be dissolved until we become Selfless. This is to return to the Source, like a rain drop falling into the ocean. In death, the physical body (coarse matter) is discarded, like a snake shedding its skin, and if the consciousness (pure energy) has been developed to forge a strong ‘astral body’ it is free to become One with the Universe, and transcend death. So Daoists meditate to develop the mind in the quest for immortality, but a healthy body is necessary otherwise all the Qi is spent on healing, leaving none spare to develop the spirit. Speculation aside, on a truly practical level those who follow‘The Way’ and Daoist health regimens unquestionably attain longevity and in China 100 years in good health is tantamount to ‘Immortal.’

Blooming of the Thousand-Petaled Lotus

From the Chronicles of Tao

By Deng Ming-Dao

One of the highest meditations that Saihung learned, the ling qiu meditation, opened the psychic centers. The body centers, situated in a straight line from the base of the body to the top of the head, had specific healing and spiritual powers. Meditation aimed at bringing the life force straight up through each of the centers of the crown. Paralleling the Indian Kundalini meditation, the Taoists opened each of the centers until, at the very top, they reached what the Hindus called Samadhi, the Buddhists called Nirvana, and the Taoists called Stillness. Saihung began to practice the attainment of that Immortal Spirit.

Each center, according to its anatomical placement, controlled and healed the adjacent body structures and organs and yielded particular psychic powers. The Grand Master continually warned Saihung that the abilities that would come to him would be gifts from gods and were not to be abused. Many ascetics, having come this far, had fallen because they had grown obsessed with the importance of their centers. Instead of reaching the spiritual, they remained fascinated with the use of their lower centers and became trapped in the abuse of their powers.

Before he meditated to awaken each center, Saihung studied the center's colors and response to invocation, and looked at at diagram of its shape. Each center was imagined as a lotus bed that could be opened by the specific sound of the invocation. Within the flower was a certain pattern of colors. While he concentrated on that pattern in meditation, Saihung produced the invocation. The blooming center lit up, and its powers began to emanate. Saihung felt whirling sensations and heat whenever the center was activated. When the meditation was complete, the center closed and became dormant again.

The first center was actually outside the body and was the source of energy. Saihung brought the life force into his body at the base of his spine. Both this center and the next one at the navel controlled life and reproduction. Meditating on them brought lightness, increased physical energy; and sexual desire. The Grand Master warned him that feelings of physical and sexual power would become so strong that he might be reluctant to go on. He said that many adepts remained at those two centers, cultivating massive strength and sexuality for all sorts of deviant purposes. When Saihung opened the centers, he found it was true. Deep sexual cravings and the realization that he could develop the power of an almost unbeatable martial artist tempted him and strained his discipline. 

As soon as he opened the solar-plexus center, his ordeal ceased. He had passed into the spiritual centers. The solar plexus was a source of vitality for him and gave him increased power to heal. 

The heart was compassion, skill, appreciation of beauty, and artistry. Opening it developed artistic ability and supported the arts. The Grand Master emphasized that creativity arose from this center and that people like Mist Through a Grove, an unusually talented muscian, natrually had theirs open.

The throat center, not surpinsingly, aided singing, but was also responsible for clairvoyance. Used in combination with the third eye, it interpreted the perceptions of other realties seen by that center. Often Saihung did not understand his spiritual experiences until the throat center poured forth verbal understanding.

The upper dan tian, or third eye, perceived other dimensions. The Grand Master stressed again that most people, and Saihung, had agreed to see the world only in a certain way and had called that "existence." In actuality, it was not real. Reality was the shifting of different illusions, because many dimensions coexisted. Using the third eye, Saihung could pierce through the illusory world for the meaning behind it.

Ascending the body centers symbolized the whole of Saihung's training. He had developed his body powers; learned martial arts; secured his health, longevity, and vitality; become versed in art, literature, science, and divination; and had perceived extrasensory realities and spiritual wisdom.

Now, he entered his final center. He was on the threshold of a level that was at once a culmination of many arduous years and the foundation for higher stages: the Crown Center. The Thousand-Petaled Lotus bloomed. His senses dropped away. There was no external reality, no internal reality. He felt nothing, thought nothing. He merged completely with Voidness.

The Benefits of Group Qigong Practice

By Michael Tse (Founder of Qi Magazine)

If you have ever been to my seminars or classes, you would have noticed that we all gather together at the end in a large circle to do meditation together. People will often comment afterwards that the energy was very strong, stronger than when they meditate at home on their own.

Of course, when people gather and work together towards the same goal, there is a sense of harmony that will develop. There will also develop a strong sense of community. This is very important when studying because there are times when you will come to a plateau and it may seem you are not making progress. It is easy at these times to get discouraged and maybe even want to give up. However, if you have made friends with those in your class and also find that others have gone through the same problem, then it is easier to overcome it because of their support.

In relation to meditation, when we are doing together as a group, you have a different mind set. You do not really have the luxury of thinking about stopping your meditation to go do the dishes or call a friend. So your mind is more concentrated. Even if you feel uncomfortable, bored or agitated, you hang in there because to not do so would draw attention to yourself. It is easier just to stay and eventually, you may even find your boredom and agitation just slips away without you noticing. So practising in a group can help you push yourself a little harder and achieve more than you thought you could.

When you practise meditation one on one with someone, it is more personal because you are opening yourself to them both consciously and unconsciously. However, practising alone is good and also necessary. If you always rely on a group for lifting and developing your energy, then your level of development will be limited.

In regard to there being a special Qigong form for practising as a group, itis not necessary. Any form or set ofexercises can be done as group, either with a teacher leading or everyonepractising their own things in the sameroom. The feeling and results will bedifferent in each case, both for the teacherand the student.

Not everyone can be in a situationthat they have a teacher and class topractise. They have the harder roadbecause they arewalking that road alone.If you go to a movie, I think most people would prefer to go with a friend than on their own as it is good to be able to share the experience with someone. That does not mean that if you do go to a movie on your own that you cannot enjoy it. Maybe you will even find it better as you do not have to worry whether or not your friend likes it or what row you should sit in. You can please yourself.

When you practise on your own, you can go to the place you like best and do the forms you want, in the order you want and you can meditate for as long as ou wish. Unlike in a class which is more structured. If you can have both situations, that is good, but it is more structured. It is most important to develop to the best of your ability in whatever field you happened to have been planted.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Tse