Dancing in the Wind

By Brother Phil

IF you have seen tai chi practitioners in an open space early in the morning or late at night, moving and swaying gently to their own internal rhythm, you would realise that some physical exercises are somewhat like dancing.
Qi gong masters as well as tai chi masters make it look so easy to those of us who know nothing about such arts. But if you have done it often enough and long enough, you would one day arrive at that level when it becomes second nature.
So one morning you walk up to your usual spot inside your house or somewhere outside in the garden, you engage in the same old steps that you have been doing for years. Suddenly without thinking, you are caught in a dance.
Your movements become part of you and you are literally dancing in the wind. It's so natural. The only thing is you are no longer thinking. Your body is still your own and yet it is far removed from you.
It is akin to a Zen-like moment when time stands still and your mind seems to have taken a holiday. Are you still on this planet? Does your body still belongs to you? You are not sure because for a moment in time (not measured in seconds), you are not here and yet you are here.
If that all sounds a bit ridiculous, it is. But not according to the laws that govern other realm. You have but touch the veil of a fleeting spirit. That's what qi gong can do for you.
When you are in that state of being, your body, mind and soul harmonise, just for a moment. Everything becomes still. Your body is swaying. You are dancing in the wind.
In that pristine state, all that you are becomes one with the Source. The cells in your body follow another calling. When qigong moves in time with the rhythm of the cosmos, a celestial spark seizes all-there-is, and the source that is you is transported onto the highway of eternity.
Even if it's just half a second, you will think and feel that it has taken place and feels like a lifetime. When the qi moves with the inexorable force that changes the galaxies, all that is askewed becomes right, and all known ailments cease their course.
In other words, you become "perfection". It is brief, at the same time it is lasting. On a lower level, qigong recharges your body, just like how you recharge your handphone everyday.
At its ultimate, qigong moves your future, makes clear your present and lets your take control of your time, but all that is left for another day.

Walking up the Qi Path

By Brother Phil

ABOUT seven years ago, I was hospitalised with a bleeding ulcer. The good doctor happily admitted me into a ward for treatment and observation. Prior to the admission, I was bleeding internally for four straight days.
Strangely though, I didn't experience any drop in vitality, nor was I tired. Anyway, I think the doctor did a blood count and found that I had lost some significant amount of blood without realising it.
Again, I wasn't behaving like someone who had just dropped two or three pints of blood. In other words, I should be feeling sleepy, fatigued or just plain drowsy. The doctor asked me if I wanted blood transfusion. I said no and gladly returned to bed and rest.
The few times the doctor examined me, he asked: "Do you feel any pain?" When I replied in the negative, he shook his head and said: "You must be one of those who belong to the painless sufferers group."
Frankly, I have not heard of such a group and I was puzzled. However, I did know that I had been practising gigong on my own for some time then. After a few more stringent tests, I was told I had the virus Helicopter Pilori in my system, and that little critter of a virus was responsible for my bleeding ulcer.
I do not smoke, hardly drink coffee and not inclined to worry too much. So all that worked in my favour. After 48 hours, I was out of hospital and resting at home.
After that little unpleasant stay in hospital, I came to the conclusion that even though I had a bleeding ulcer I didn't feel any sensation of unpleasantness and pain because my qigong had played a major part in my "strange" condition.
So I continued to do qigong everyday. In fact, I took steps to learn a few more qigong moves. One of my office colleagues and a few others expressed interest in learning a particular form of qigong that seemed to be quite popular in one part of the city.
We engaged an instructor to come to our office building rooftop everyday at a certain hour to teach us. It was a crash-course of five straight days and the fee was 100 ringgit (roughly US$25).
When the trainer turned up, we were surprised it was a woman in her 50s. Apparently, her husband who was the real instructor was busy and had sent his wife who was also an instructress in her own right.
She imparted some valuable rather quickly. She told us: "My wish is for you to continue to do qigong long after the course is over because you will be throwing away good money and wasting my time if you do not follow my instructions."
Obviously, she was quite upset with students who were caught up in the moment while doing the exercises and then quickly forgetting them when the session is over. The five days of instruction came and went.
There were about eight of us. That was about three years ago. Today, I believe I am one of two who continue to practise what we had been taught. I do the qigong exercises everyday for about 20 to 45 minutes. It is just a simple set of exercises and does not require Shaolin Temple type of discipline. All it needed was a mental commitment and a self-discipline.
All in all, I have been practising qigong consistently for a better part of eight years. My health has improved by leaps and bounds. My visits to the company medical clinic have narrowed down to zero.
The few times when I catch a cold, the recovery period is 24 hours with minor effects. Sometimes when I get caught in a heavy downpour, my hair and clothes are wet and I entered the airconditioned office and not changed my clothes. So they dry under the aircon.
The usual effect on me - nothing. I don't get a cold. I don't feel under the weather and frankly, the rain has no effect on my entire physical constitution. So practising is believing as I have been preaching to all those who want to listen to me.
I have read a number of books on qigong and the fundamentals are all there, except in my cases, the movements are different. The principles of qigong are basically the same. If a qigong practitioner can achieve partial success in harmonising his heart, mind and soul, his body becomes a crucible of smooth, flowing energy. It is what the Chinese have been calling "qi" or "chi" for thousands of years.
In the old days, about 2,000 years ago, qualified doctors were few and far between. So if you happened to be a poor peasant in the heart of nowhere in outback China and if you fall sick, then may God help you. So some kung fu practitioners came up with the formula of building a body that is impervious to ailments and other bodily diseases.
The art of qigong has been going on for hundreds of years. Some have been honed to a fine degree, so much so that the really good qigong masters can move their own bio-kinetic energy to another person and cure him of diseases.
This qigong energy transfer still happens today but the masters do not like to talk about it or want publicity. Too much foreknowledge of this kind of healing only invites too many requests which would eventually be impossible to fulfil.
However, the person who subscribe by the philosophy and the art of qigong lives to see miracles taking place within his own body and in his life. His mind becomes sharper. Occasionally he can sense the thoughts of another party and the events that may take place.
These are not hocus-pocus stuff but can actually take place in the realm of qigong. No qigong master likes to talk about his uncanny abilities because some people will start calling him a crackpot or may suspect him of smoking some strange weed.
Personally, I have walked down the qigong road for sometime now and the results are amazing. It is not something I feel the need to brag about but it would be good that others know that the art of self-healing is within their reach.
Doctor's bills can sometimes be quite daunting. So if you want to take the first step towards the road to longevity, pick up a simple book on qigong and start reading. Then when you are ready, find a good qigong teacher and start learning practising. You have nothing to lose but only your illness.
As time goes by, I shall provide more insights into this astounding ancient art that came from the Middle Kingdom that is now called China.

Try this experiment

By Brother Shui

A Master was once asked by his student: "How do you know there is Qi?" The Master, being enlightened, replied: "How do you know there is oxygen when you can't see it? But because you are alive, you know that oxygen exists. What you cannot detect with your eyes does not mean that it does not exist."

Qi can be detected, not but through the eyes for normal people. However, there is a simple experiment which I think you have to try.

Close your eyes and sit down on a chair or stool. Slowly brng your hands together, palms facing each other.
Do it so ever slowly and relax fully. Bring the palms closer and concentrate on each palm until you feel 'something repelling' each palm.
Stop once you detect this feeling and slowly move your palm away from each other. Done correctly, you will feel the pull in between both palms.
Once your feel the pull diminish, bring the palm together again until you sense the energy.
This energy, in between the palms, is Qi. This exercise is the most common exercise in Qigong when students want to feel Qi. And important thing to note is to relax fully or your will not be able to feel anything.

That, is the manifestation of Qigong, and the exercise forms one of the basic exercises in many Qigong forms.