Chi-gung is an ancient Chinese system of self-cultivation developed specifically as a means by which each individual may take full personal responsibility for protecting health, promoting vitality and prolonging life, while cultivating spiritual awareness and insight. Based on the primordial principles of classical Taoist philosophy, chi-gung is simple and practical – the practitioner learns how to harness the fundamental forces of the cosmos (Heaven), balance them with the elemental energies of nature (Earth) and harmonize them both with the essence, energy and spirit (i.e., the ‘Three Treasures’) of human life (Humanity). Chi-gung thus enables the individual to amplify his or her personal power with the infinite power of the universe.
Known in traditional Chinese thought as the ‘Three Powers’, Heaven (tien), Earth (di), and Humanity (ren) represent the sum total of all the forces and factors at all levels of human existence within the universe as we know it. It is by virtue of the balance and harmony of these powers that we may enjoy health and vitality, attain power and longevity, enhance our mental awareness and spiritual insight, overcome our instinctive fear of death, and realize the primordial immortality of the human spirit.
Though usually associated in popular Western imagination with medicine, monks and martial artists, chi-gung was also practised in traditional China by ministers of state and judicial magistrates, princes and prelates, poets and painters, each of whom utilized its power to cultivate their own particular talents, improve their professional performance, protect their health, enhance energy and prolong life. In today’s highly competitive, stressful world, chi-gung’s versatile utility as a personal tool – for promoting productivity, preventing disease, balancing emotions and calming the mind – has greater practical potential for the individual, and for society, than it ever has before. For busy people without the time or inclination for elaborate exercise programmes, expensive sports and difficult to learn manoeuvres, chi-gung provides a quick and easy system of self-healthcare that is both safe and simple to learn, and can be practised any time of the day or night, at home or at work, indoors or outdoors, without requiring any special equipment, expensive facilities or athletic skills, and only the most basic training. Yet simple as it seems, so potent are the healing powers and other benefits of chi-gung that some of the cures and other effects it achieves are discounted as ‘miracles’ even by eye-witness observers – despite the evidence – or scoffed at by incredulous sceptics as ‘anecdotal evidence’. That’s simply because there is a lot more to chi-gung than meets the eye. In fact, what meets the eye in chi-gung is merely a small tip of a massive iceberg floating serenely in the vast sea of universal energy.
Chi means ‘breath’ and ‘air’, and by extension it also denotes ‘energy’ and ‘vitality’. Gung is a general term meaning ‘work’ and is used in reference to any technique or skill which requires time and effort, patience and practice, to perfect. Hence the term ‘chi-gung’ may be translated as ‘breathing exercise’ as well as ‘energy work’, and indeed the subtle skill of breath control is the key to cultivating control over the flow and balance of energy in the body and harmonizing human energy with the elementary energies of nature and the cosmos.
Chi manifests itself in myriad ways throughout the realms of nature (Earth), the cosmos (Heaven), and the human system (Humanity). For the purposes of chi-gung, the three most important manifestations of chi are the following:
• Chi is the fundamental ‘stuff’ of the entire manifest universe, the basic building block of all matter, the immaterial energy that constitutes all material form. Modern quantum physics has recently verified a fact that has long been apparent to ancient Taoist science: that the essential nature of even the most elemental atoms and molecules is nothing more or less than an array of various energies organized in particular patterns. Chi is therefore the basic energy that comprises all matter and animates all living things, and the fundamental functional force that drives all activities and transformations in nature and the universe, from the galactic to the microscopic, from the birth, growth, decay and death of stars to the formation and dissolution of atoms, molecules and cells in the human body.
• Chi is the basic life force of all three levels of human existence – body, energy and mind. In constitutes the definitive factor in all facets and phases of human life, from the molecular level of metabolism and cellular division to the larger organic functions of digestion and excretion, respiration and circulation, all the way up to the highest faculties of feeling and thought, awareness and perception. Chi is the invisible master template behind all visible forms and vital functions of the human system, and therefore it is the primary factor responsible for human health and disease, the main gauge of vitality and longevity, the bridge that links body and mind, and the common denominator in all the complex equations of physical, emotional and spiritual life. Chi-gung provides an effective way to mediate and manipulate the vital energies of life, and to balance and harmonize them for optimum health and longevity, emotional equilibrium and spiritual awareness.
• Chi also constitutes the dynamic polar field in which all energy moves and from which all power springs. Every type of energy functions within its own specific force field, from the lowest vibrations of matter to the highest frequencies of spirit, from the heaviest to the lightest, from the most polluted to the purest forms. Therefore the purity and potency of one’s own personal chi determines the type of universal energy with which one’s system resonates, and this in turn governs the nature of one’s relationship with the higher forces and spiritual realms of the universe. Chi-gung permits the practitioner to purify and potentiate his or her own personal energy field so that it resonates in harmony with the purest energies and most powerful spiritual forces in the universe, thereby empowering humanity with the infinite energy, wisdom and other primordial virtues of Heaven and Earth.
Most forms for chi-gung involve various degrees of gentle movement or stillness of the body, balanced with rhythmically regulated breathing, all quietly harmonized by a calm, unhurried and clearly focused mind. Soft, slow movement of the body prevents the stiffness and stagnation that lead to degeneration and death. As Lao Tse states in the classic verse of the Tao Teh Ching:
Truly, to be stiff and hard is the way of death;
To be soft and supple is the way of life.
The importance of soft flowing movement was also noted by Confucius. In the classical text called Spring and Autumn Annals, the sage says,
Flowing water never stagnates, and the hinges of an active door never rust. This is due to movement. The same principle applies to essence and energy. If the body does not move, essence does not flow. When essence does not flow, energy stagnates.
Chi-gung exercises such as the graceful rhythmic dance of Tai Chi Chuan are often referred to as ‘moving meditation’ because they blend soft, gentle movements of the body with a calm, contemplative state of mind. However, to understand fully the role of movement in chi-gung, one must also comprehend the central significance of stillness, as well as the complementary connection between the two. In the sitting meditation forms of chi-gung, for example, there is also movement, but it is all internal – in the flow of energy through the channels and the circulation of blood in the vessels and the cyclic waves of breath – while externally the physical body rests in motionless serenity. In moving forms of chi-gung, the rhythmic external motions of the body can only be maintained and kept in harmony with the cyclic rise and fall of breath by a mind that rests serenely in an undistracted state of internal stillness. Thus, like the eternal ebb and flow of the waves on the sea and the cyclic turns of day and night in the firmament, movement and stillness constitute the essential Yin and Yang poles of chi-gung and comprise the complementary cornerstones in all forms of practice.
The term ‘Tao’ transcends precise definition in words and is better understood through the archetypal symbols traditionally used to represent it – the sexual act between male and female, the constant interplay of the elementary energies of nature, the rhythmic dance of macrocosmic forces in the external universe and their microcosmic reflections in the internal world of the human body. In the classic canons of Taoist literature, the mysteries of Tao are elucidated through the symbolic formulations of trigrams and hexagrams in the ancient book of divination known as the I-Ching (Book of Change) and the arresting allusions and crystal-clear metaphors of the Tao Teh Ching, the intriguing 5000-character treatise on Tao attributed to the sage Lao Tze. The terse verse of this ancient text is a source of such universal insight and incisive truth that it ranks among the most popular, appealing and widely translated books in the world today.
The original Chinese ideogram for ‘Tao’ consists of the symbols for ‘head’ and ‘walk’. As a noun, it generally means ‘way’ or ‘path’, while as a verb it means ‘to say’ or ‘to know’. This implies that the Tao is a path through life that one takes by following the mind rather than the body; it also indicates that the Tao is the original source of all real knowledge and true words. ‘There was something formless yet complete that existed before Heaven and Earth,’ states Lao Tze in the Tao Teh Ching. ‘It’s true name I do not know. “Tao” is the nickname I give it.’
Of all the myriad elements of nature from which Taoist terminology is drawn, water comes closest to expressing the fundamental essence and full potential of Tao, and thus it has become the quintessential symbol of the Tao in philosophy, art and science. The initially yielding yet ultimately omnipotent nature of water permeates every aspect of chi-gung and provides a convenient metaphor through which the theory of chi-gung may be understood and the practice readily learned. Blood and energy move through their respective channels in the body like water flowing through rivers – free, full, unimpeded – and any obstruction to their free flow and natural equilibrium causes deviations that give rise to energy imbalance and has serious repercussions throughout the entire system. The way the body moves and feels during chi-gung practice is like swimming through water – soft and smooth, slow and rhythmic. The long, deep, diaphragmic breathing employed in chi-gung rises and falls with the same rhythmic regularity as waves on the ocean, while the human mind resting in the unruffled stillness of meditation is often compared to the surface of a lake on a windless day, calmly reflecting the silent clarity of Heaven above.
Water also symbolizes the mutable relationship between matter and energy, stillness and motion, and the transformations activated in the human system by the ‘internal alchemy’ of chi-gung practice. The fluid Yin essence in the ‘cauldron’ of the sacrum is transformed and sublimated by the ‘wind’ of breath acting as a ‘bellows’ to ‘steam’ and purify it, and refine it into Yang energy. This energy rises up the spine under the guidance of mind and enters the head, where it is further refined to nurture spirit. The spirit condenses and cools it again, inducing it to flow down the front channel as Water energy and store itself in the ‘lower elixir field’ (dan-tien) below the navel.
Traditional Taoist terminology is rooted in the universal symbols of nature and the cosmos, which is why Taoist philosophy has endured through the ages and produced ideas with significance that transcends cultural boundaries. Rather than creating new words to represent new ideas, as is the custom in Western civilization, the Chinese have always expressed their ideas through the symbolic language of nature, and therefore it requires only a little imagination to grasp even the most esoteric Taoist concepts. Taoist ideas, cloaked as they are in colourful images familiar to one and all, are refreshingly free of the fuzzy ambiguity and complex jargon that characterize philosophical discussion and scientific debate in other cultural traditions. Indeed, even the most technical scientific aspects of Taoist thought are often expressed in terms so poetically imaginative and universally symbolic that their meanings are rendered far more clearly to the layman than they are by the technical terminology of Western science, and this is what makes the Taoist view of nature and life so appealing to people throughout the world.
Contrary to common misconceptions, Taoism is not really a religion, but rather a whole way of life. While a popular religion known as ‘Tao Chiao’, complete with its own hereditary ‘pope’, did branch out from the main trunk of Taoist thought in response to the influx of Buddhism from India during the third to fifth centuries AD, the true line of Taoist theory and practice, traditionally known as ‘Tao Chia’, was a non-sectarian, non-theist philosophy devoted to the study of nature and the cosmos and their relationships with the human condition. The universal principles of nature and practical precepts of life discovered and developed by practising Taoist philosophers lie at the heart of all the traditional Chinese arts and sciences – from martial arts to medical science, poetry and painting to alchemy and geomancy, cooking to cosmology – and they gave rise to a way of life that brought the human body, energy and mind into balanced synchronicity and harmonic resonance with the primordial forces of Heaven and the temporal elements of Earth. In the Taoist system of thought and practice, chi-gung became an effective personal tool for unlocking the mysteries of life and harnessing the universal powers of Heaven to regulate the elemental energies of Earth so that both may serve the needs of Humanity.
Taoism is perhaps the only philosophic system in the world which revolves more around practice than preaching, and chi-gung constitutes one of its most important practices. You don’t have to remind a true Taoist to practise what he or she preaches, for if a Taoist preaches anything at all, it’s usually the central importance of practice. Thus the Taoist way of life precludes the common hypocrisy of preaching one thing while practising another, for by definition the only way to know the Tao is to experience its power in practice, not just to talk about it in theory. As the first line of the Tao Teh Ching makes perfectly clear: ‘The tao which can be said is not the eternal Tao . . .’
Enough said.
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The primacy of practice notwithstanding, in order to engage in a meaningful discussion of chi-gung, we must first define the basic terms and understand the key concepts which form the theoretical framework from which the practices developed. So let’s start at the beginning.
Polarity
At some inconceivably prior point in the distant past, the undifferentiated primordial unity which preceded the formation of stars and planets and all the various elements and energies of the universe was rent asunder to produce two polar forces that set in motion the ceaseless flux of creation. Known in modern Western cosmology as the ‘Big Bang’, this primal event is sparely described in the Tao Teh Ching: ‘One gave birth to two’. The two came to be known as Yin and Yang, and the polarity to which they gave rise, and which in turn gave birth to everything in the universe, is called ‘The Great Principle of Yin and Yang’.
Polarity is the basic premise of all manifest existence, the ground of all creation, the basis of all movement and change, and the field in which energy and matter engage in their ceaseless play of formation and dissolution, interaction and transmutation. Yin, the ideogram for which originally meant ‘the shady side of a hill’, refers to the negative and the dark, the passive and the female, moon and water, the soft and yielding, the internal and the lower aspects in any field, formation or system of energy. Yang, which meant ‘the sunny side of a hill’, denotes the positive and the light, the active and male, the sun and fire, the hard and aggressive, the external and the upper aspects and parts. It’s important to realize that Yin and Yang are not two distinctly different types of energy, but rather the two opposite but complementary poles in any given form, function or field of energy. Furthermore, as the original ideograms so clearly indicate, Yin and Yang are mutually transmutable, for as the planet turns and the angle of the sun changes, the sunny Yang side of the hill becomes shady and Yin, while the Yin side lights up and becomes Yang.
The polarity of Yin and Yang is manifested in every aspect of chi-gung, as well as in the human body and energy system. In breathing, inhalation is Yin and exhalation is Yang. In the body, the upper, outer and back parts are Yang, while the lower, inner and front are Yin. Blood belongs to Yin relative to energy which belongs to Yang. The head is Yang, and the sacrum is Yin. The ‘hollow’ fu organs are Yang, while the ‘solid’ dzang organs are Yin. Thoughts are Yang, and feelings are Yin, and so forth and so on throughout every aspect of body, energy and mind.
Polar terms crop up again and again in every facet of chi-gung, so let’s take a brief look at some of the most common and important pairs, all of which represent various functional facets of Yin and Yang:
• Prenatal (sian-tien) and Postnatal (hou-tien). All levels of human life have their prenatal and postnatal aspects. The prenatal aspect is the primordial potential that we bring into our lives at birth, while the postnatal aspect is the temporal form it takes during the course of corporeal life. Thus prenatal essence is the creative potential we receive at the moment of conception from the fusion of sperm and ovum from our parents. This primordial essence is stored in the sexual glands of the male and female and is passed on from generation to generation by sexual reproduction. Postnatal essence is produced during life from food, water and air, and it takes form in the blood, hormones, lymph and other vital fluids of the body.
Similarly, prenatal energy, also known in Chinese as yuan-chi (primordial energy), is the energy converted from the prenatal essence of glands, as well as the energy assimilated from cosmic sources in the sky (Heaven). Postnatal energy comes from the earthly sources of food and water, herbs and air, extracted and refined by the digestive and respiratory systems.
Prenatal spirit is the ‘primordial mind of the Tao’, the immortal soul and original spark of consciousness which ‘is not born and does not die’. Postnatal spirit is the human mind of temporal reality on earth, including sensory perception, thought and feeling, personality and ego. The purpose of the highest levels of chi-gung practice is to develop conscious awareness of primordial spirit, a difficult task that requires one to recognize and accept the artificial and fleeting nature of the ego. Attaining primordial awareness of the mind of Tao is known as ‘enlightenment’ or ‘immortality’.
• Fire (huo) and Water (shui). Fire is the archetypal symbol of Yang, while Water represents Yin. In the human energy system, Fire is the temporal form of energy produced by metabolism and respiration, and Water is the primordial energy stored in the glands. In the ordinary course of life, Fire flares upward and dissipates itself in the discursive thoughts, conflicting emotions and physical activities of daily life, while Water energy from the glands flows down and out, dissipating itself through sexual activity and stress. The purpose of internal alchemy, known in Taoist practice as nei-gung (‘internal work’), is to reverse the course of Fire and Water and thereby retard the ageing process and prolong life. This is done by keeping Fire energy out of the head, heart and solar plexus, refining and recirculating it instead through the major channels and storing it in the lower elixir field below the navel. At the same time, the precious Water energy ordinarily dissipated through sex and stress is conserved and raised upward through the spinal channels into the head, where it is used to nourish the faculties of spirit.
• Movement (dung) and Stillness (jing). Movement is a manifestation of Yang activity, and stillness reflects the calm, cooling quietude of Yin. The hectic activity of daily life causes Fire to flare up and dissipates one’s reserves of essence and energy, while the stillness of meditation calms the system, cools the Fire and conserves vital resources. Thus, the practice of stillness constitutes a primary method of preserving health and prolonging life in chi-gung practice. Stillness not only indicates physical stillness, but also means stillness of mind and emotional quietude. In chi-gung, movement and stillness are always balanced within one another, such as the internal stillness of mind balanced with the external movement of body in moving exercises, and the movement of internal energy which occurs in the stillness of sitting meditation. In conventional life, most people never experience true stillness, for their minds are always racing with thoughts, and even in sleep their minds and bodies thrash around in disturbing dreams prompted by the worries of the day.
• Internal (nei) and External (wai). External aspects of chi-gung practice are known as wai-gung, include all movements of the body, and belong to Yang, while internal work is called nei-gung, involves mainly the mind and the breath, and belongs to Yin. Achieving a harmonious balance between external and internal aspects of practice is a primary principle of chi-gung. Similarly, using foods, herbs and other material supplements to sustain physical health is regarded as an external method of practice, while working with the immaterial elements of spirit and energy belongs to internal practice.
In all of these various aspects of Yin and Yang polarity, the goal of chi-gung practice is to always achieve optimum balance between the two and to avoid extremes in either direction. According to the tenets of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), imbalance in the Yin and Yang polarity of various energy systems within the body is the root cause of all disease, and therefore the best way to cure and prevent disease and halt degeneration is to restore and maintain a natural, healthy balance in all facets and phases of the human energy system. Chi-gung is the most direct and effective way of achieving this goal.
Trinity
A fundamental trinity of forces and factors runs throughout Taoist philosophy, as well as most other spiritual traditions. In Christianity, there are the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; in Buddhism we find the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; and, in Hinduism, there is the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. In Eastern traditions, the three primordial qualities of the universe are emptiness, luminosity and energy, which in turn are the sources of the primal virtues of wisdom, love and power.
In Taoist tradition, trinity manifests macrocosmically in the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth and Humanity and microcosmically within the human system as the Three Treasures of essence (jing), energy (chi) and spirit (shen), as well as their postnatal aspects of body, breath and mind. The locus of the primordial aspects of the Three Treasures in the human body are known as the Three Elixir Fields (san dan-tien): primordial essence resides in the lower elixir field below the navel and is associated with sexual glands; primordial energy resides in the middle elixir field in the solar plexus and is related to the adrenal glands; and primordial spirit resides in the upper elixir field in the centre of the head and is associated with the pituitary and pineal glands.
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, these three facets of human existence are referred to as body, speech and mind, with speech representing energy. That’s because speech is the most powerful expression of energy in the human system, which accounts for the central importance of mantra (chanting sacred syllables) in Tibetan practice. Taoist tradition also recognizes the potency of sound as a manifestation of energy, and chi-gung includes several special practices involving sound, such as the Six Syllable Secret used for healing, as well as particular tones used to activate and balance various energy centres (chakras).
The Three Treasures (san bao) and the Three Powers (san tsai) constitute the basis of Taoist internal alchemy, whereby essence is transformed into energy, energy is transformed into spirit, and spirit is harmonized with the essential emptiness, luminosity and power of the universe. Chi-gung is involved in all stages of practice to activate and balance the various transformations mediated by the internal alchemy of nei-gung. It serves as a functional link between the physical and spiritual aspects of the practices, and the conductor that channels, guides and balances the various energies involved.
The Five Elemental Energies
As modern physics has conclusively proven, all matter – from atoms and molecules to planets and stars – is composed of energy bound into various patterns of sympathetic vibration, held in place by electromagnetic and nuclear forces; i.e., by the power of polarity. In the traditional Chinese Taoist paradigm of creation and manifest form, all matter on earth is composed and regulated by what are known as the Five Elemental Energies (wu shing). The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine states, ‘The Five Elemental Energies of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water encompass all the myriad phenomena of nature. It is a paradigm that applies equally to humans.’ Another ancient Chinese medical text notes, ‘The Five Elemental Energies combine and recombine in innumerable ways to produce manifest existence. All things contain the Five Elemental Energies in various proportions.’
There are two basic transformational cycles whereby these energies interact and counterbalance one another to sustain homeostasis. One is called the creative (sheng), or generative, cycle, in which one energy stimulates and amplifies the next. Thus Water generates Wood, which generates Fire, which generates Earth, which produces Metal, which completes the cycle by creating Water. The other is called the control (ke), or subjugative, cycle, whereby one energy impedes and reduces the activity of the next. In this cycle, Water impedes Fire, which reduces Metal, which impedes Wood, which reduces Earth, which completes the cycle by impeding Water.
Chi-gung provides a mechanism through which one can guide and balance the Five Elemental Energies that compose the human system by utilizing the control and creative cycles to restore normal balance and maintain natural equilibrium among the vital energies that govern the internal organs and regulate their related functions and tissues. All of the vital organs are paired in matched sets of Yin and Yang, and each pair is associated with one of the Five Elemental Energies. For example, the Yin heart and Yang small intestine, as well as the related functions of circulation and assimilation, plus the associated emotion of joy and the colour red, are all governed by Fire energy. Similarly, the Yin kidneys and Yang bladder are governed by Water, which also controls the associated tissues of bone, brain and marrow, regulates the fluids of urine and semen, houses the emotion of fear, and is reflected in the colour black. Since there are specific chi-gung exercises to influence the energies of each of the vital organ systems through their meridiens, a weak heart may be tonified by exercises which stimulate the Fire energy of the heart, and conversely, an overactive heart may be controlled by doing exercises that boost the Water energy of the kidneys, which then quells the excessive Fire of the heart through the control cycle of Water over Fire.
Similar results may be achieved by applying other associated elements to stimulate or pacify various energies. Thus, the Fire energy of the heart may be amplified by wearing the colour red and eating bitter Fire flavour foods and herbs, while the Wood energy of the liver may be boosted by wearing green clothing and consuming sour Wood foods. The Earth energy of the spleen and stomach is tonified by using sweet Earth energy foods and herbs, and the Metal energy of the lungs and large intestine may be strengthened by using the healing syllable shee. The permutations and combinations of this system are countless, and they reflect the vast potential of using chi-gung for curative healing as well as preventative healthcare.
The chart in Table 1 lists the various organs, functions, emotions, colours, flavours and other attributes associated with the Five Elemental Energies within the microcosmic system of the human body and mind, as well as the external macrocosmic world.
Meridians
While Western medicine recognizes and deals with only two circulatory networks in the human body – the nerves and the blood vessels – TCM includes a third system: the energy network of meridiens, which it regards as the primary functional network in the human system, the decisive factor in human health, and the system which must be dealt with first and foremost in the treatment of human disease. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine states, ‘Energy commands blood: where energy goes, blood follows’, which means that the decisive factor in the circulation of blood to the organs and tissues is the free flow of energy to those areas via the network of energy channels. Similarly, disorders of the nervous system respond so well to acupuncture treatment precisely because acupuncture stimulates or sedates the flow of energy through the meridians, which in turn balances the whole nervous system and permits the nerves to function properly.
TABLE 1: The Five Elemental Energies and Their Macrocosmic and Microcosmic Associations
The human energy system consists of an invisible but highly functional network of channels that forms a complex grid throughout the human body. This grid serves as a sort of master template for both the circulatory and nervous systems, and for all the other vital organs and their functions. Any congestion or obstruction in the blood and nervous systems can usually be traced to a blockage or imbalance in the energy network, and may therefore be treated by clearing the related channel and rebalancing the flow of energy through it.
The most powerful energy vessels in the human system are called mai, or ‘channels’, and they constitute a sort of reservoir from which all the other pathways draw their energy. The main system of major channels is called chi jing ba mai, the ‘Eight Extraordinary Channels’, and this is the network that is activated, balanced and replenished with energy in most forms of chi-gung work, including still sitting and ‘moving meditation’ exercises. The three major channels in this network are the Governing Channel that runs up the back along the spine, the Conception Channel that runs down the front of the body, and the Central or Thrusting Channel, which runs from the crown down through the centre of the body to the perineum (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 The Governing (back), Conception (front) and Thrusting (central) Channels; and the Upper (head) and Lower (abdomen) Elixir Fields
Next in order of power and importance are the twelve organ-energy pathways, known as ‘meridians’ (jing). Each one is associated with one of the twelve vital organs recognized in TCM practice, including the Triple Burner1 and Pericardium, which are not considered organs in Western medicine. These twelve meridians flow like rivers throughout the entire body, carrying energy to their related organs and glands, regulating their associated functions and qualities, irrigating various tissues and limbs, and automatically balancing one another through the creative and control cycles of the Five Elemental Energies. Branching out like fine filaments from the eight major channels and twelve organ meridians is an intricate web of smaller vessels called luo, or ‘capillaries’, which transmit energy to every tissue and cell of the body.
Located at various spots on the body are sensitive energy terminals known as shueh, or ‘vital points’, which serve as relay stations through which the energies along related channels may be amplified or pacified by means of acupuncture, moxibustion, acupressure or massage. Acute sensitivity at these points serve as warning indicators of imbalances in those meridians and their related organs.
By replenishing the reservoirs of the eight major channels with energy drawn from external sources in nature and the cosmos, then guiding the energy to the organs and glands via the meridians and suffusing every tissue and cell with energy through the capillaries, chi-gung provides a simple, efficient way to recharge and rebalance the entire human energy system on a daily basis, thereby preventing and correcting the deficiencies and imbalances which give rise to disease and degenerative conditions in the body. Chi-gung pre-empts problems that may have already begun by restoring optimum balance and harmony to the entire system, thereby activating the body’s own healing responses.
Types of Human Energy
In the parlance of chi-gung, a variety of different terms are used to describe the types of energy that exist and flow through the human system. These energies are the fundamental forces involved in chi-gung practice. The major types of human energy are briefly described below:
• Yuan-chi (primordial energy). This is the prenatal energy with which every human being is born into this world. Bestowed by the sexual plasma of father and mother at conception, it is stored after birth in the testes of men, the ovaries in women, and the adrenal cortex in both. It constitutes a reserve of vital energy which the body may draw upon when normal supplies of postnatal Fire energy extracted from food, water and air run low. However, since each individual is born with a limited potential of yuan-chi, the faster you use it up due to poor diet, frequent illness, chronic stress and ‘fast living’, the shorter your lifespan, and the weaker your immune response becomes. Sometimes also referred to as Water energy, yuan-chi is regarded as an important foundation for sustaining robust health and attaining longevity, and its conservation and tonification are fundamental principles of chi-gung practice.
• Jen-chi (true energy). This is the postnatal energy derived from digestion, respiration, metabolism and the other basic bodily functions, and constitutes the mainstay of daily life. Also known as Fire energy, it begins to supply the system with energy the moment a baby has its umbilical cord cut and draws in its first breath of air. True energy is produced in the blood when the nutrient energies refined from food digested in the stomach meet and fuse in the bloodstream with atmospheric energies extracted from air by the lungs. Chi-gung improves the body’s capacity to produce True energy, especially when a healthy diet is followed, and the breathing methods used in chi-gung enhance the lungs’ efficiency in extracting energy from air. Thus chi-gung helps conserve precious stores of yuan-chi by enhancing the body’s supplies of jen-chi. True energy takes two basic functional forms in the human system: nourishing energy and guardian energy.
• Ying-chi (nourishing energy). Ying-chi is the fuel of metabolism and other vital functions of the organs and cells, and it travels within the blood vessels and the energy meridiens, which distribute it to every organ, gland, tissue and cell of the body, providing the basic nourishment and energy that activates the entire system. Its potency depends upon the quality of food and water consumed, the purity of the air one breathes, and the efficiency of the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems. Correct breathing, clean blood, and strong heart and liver functions are preconditions for the unimpeded flow of blood and energy required for efficient delivery of nourishing energy to all parts of the body. Chi-gung gives a powerful boost to all of these functions, insuring adequate supplies of this energy to the whole system.
• Wei-chi (guardian energy). Guardian energy moves outside the bloodstream and energy channels and is distributed evenly throughout the surface of the body, in the subcutaneous tissue of the skin and around the exterior surface, where it forms a protective shell of energy that resists invasion by aberrant external energies from the environment, such as extremes of weather, radiation and negative energies from other people. The strength and density of one’s Guardian energy determines the level of the body’s overall resistance to the external factors of imbalanced energy that give rise to disease. Wei-chi responds automatically to shifts in ambient environmental energies to maintain optimum balance between internal and external forces. Perspiration, pores, pH balance and other vital functions of the skin play essential roles in the way Guardian energy responds to environmental challenges. Since the skin is an external extension of the lungs, chi-gung breathing helps maintain a strong defensive aura of Guardian energy around the entire surface of the body.
• Dzang and fu chi (solid and hollow organ energy). These are the energies associated with the ‘solid’ Yin organs (dzang) and the ‘hollow’ Yang organs (fu), each pair of which is governed by one of the Five Elemental Energies. These energies are involved in all the body’s vital functions and associated qualities as outlined in Table 1. The vital organ-energies of the solid and hollow organs respond to external sources of the Five Elemental energies drawn from nature through food, water, air, weather factors, colours and herbs, as well as related internal factors such as emotions, thoughts, hormones and metabolic processes, and their mutual balance, which may be mediated by chi-gung, is a primary indicator of health and a major factor in overall vitality and longevity.
• Jing-chi (essential energy). This is a potent type of energy derived from the conversion of the purest, most potent forms of essence in the body, particularly sexual fluids, hormones and neurochemicals. When these essential fluids are conserved rather than dissipated, they may be transformed into the potent energy of jing-chi through the internal alchemy (nei-gung) of the Three Treasures. This sort of energy suffuses the entire body with a potent vitality that enhances immunity, promotes mental clarity, increases stamina and prolongs life.
• Ling-chi (spiritual energy). Ling-chi is the subtlest and most highly refined of all the energies in the human system and the product of the most advanced stages of practice, whereby the ordinary energies of the body are transformed into pure spiritual vitality. This type of highly refined energy enhances spiritual awareness, improves all cerebral functions, and constitutes the basic fuel for the highest level of spiritual work, such as gestating the ‘Spiritual Embryo’ (ling-tai) of immortality, attaining the enlightened state of mind and achieving the body of pure light known as the ‘Rainbow Body’, which serves as a vehicle of entry into the astral realms of existence beyond the material world.
Basic Modes of Moving Energy
In all forms of chi-gung, there is a variety of different modes of moving energy through the human system, as well as in and out of the human energy field. All of them are guided by the faculty of mind known as yi (intent, or will power) and regulated by breath control. At least several of these modes are generally involved in any particular style of chi-gung practice, and the modes selected for working with energy depend upon the overall purpose of the exercise. The basic modes of moving energy most frequently employed in chi-gung are briefly discussed below:
• Shi-chi (drawing energy in). This term refers to methods by which energy is drawn into the system from external sources through vital energy gates on the body. The points most often used for this purpose are the yung-chuan (Bubbling Spring) points on the soles of the feet, the lao-gung (Labour Palace) points on the palms of the hands, the ni-wang-gung (Medicine Palace) and bai-hui (Hundred Confluence) points on the crown of the head, the hui-yin (Yin Confluence) point at the perineum, and the tan-jung (Central Terrace) point at the heart. This method requires one-pointed mental focus on the energy gates selected for practice, the visualization of energy as light flowing through the point, and the concerted application of intent to draw energy in through the gates. Energy usually enters the system on the inhalation phase of breath.
• Shing-chi (circulating energy). This mode is used to circulate energy through the major channels, vital meridiens and minor capillaries of the human energy network. Its purpose is to clear obstructions and eliminate stagnant energy from the channels, irrigate the organs and tissues with fresh energy, balance Yin and Yang polarity throughout the system and harmonize the vital functions governed by the Five Elemental Energies. It may also be employed to target specific organs or tissues for treatment with healing energy, or to circulate energy in particular channels for refinement and transformation, such as in the Microcosmic Orbit meditation practice.
• Pai-chi (expelling energy). This method is used to expel stagnant, toxic, excess or other unwanted energies from the system by moving it out through specific energy gates, such as on the palms and soles, and the point between the eyebrows. This sort of energy is usually visualized as dark fog or smoke as it is driven from the system, and it is expelled on the exhalation phase of breath. It may be used to clear the entire system of stagnant chi or to purge specific organs via their related meridiens and points.
• Huan-chi (exchanging energy). Exchanging energy means intermingling one’s energy with an external source in order to refresh, recharge and rebalance one’s entire energy system. For example, practising huan-chi on the beach or high up on the mountains quickly recharges the whole system with the pure, potent energies generated by oceans and mountains. Practising in a forest allows one to exchange energy with trees, which produce very potent chi. In the Dual Cultivation style of Taoist sexual yoga, male and female intermingle and exchange their energies in order to boost and balance one another’s vitality through the internal alchemy of sexual essence and energy.
• Yang-chi (cultivating energy). This refers to the phase of practice in which internal energy is concentrated and stored in the lower elixir field centre below the navel, in other major storage centres or in a specific organ targeted for tonification. For example, you may wish to cultivate Wood energy for the liver or Water energy for the kidney system, or cultivate the essential energy of hormones to boost vitality.
• Lien-chi (refining energy). Refining energy means to increase the purity and potency of a particular type of energy, and this is usually done in still sitting practice, using a fusion of mind and breath to refine energy in the ‘cauldron’ of the lower elixir field, then slowly drawing it upward along the spine into the upper elixir field in the head. This mode of internal practice is often compared with the external alchemy of trying to refine pure gold from baser metals, using the ‘Fire’ of internal heat, the ‘Water’ of vital essence, and the ‘wind’ of breath in the cauldron of the energy centre in the abdomen.
• Hua-chi (transforming energy). Transformation of essence into energy and energy into spirit is one of the fundamental formulas in the internal alchemy of the Three Treasures of life. The first stage involves the conservation, concentration and purification of vital essence, particularly hormones, sexual fluids and neurotransmitters. These fluids are then ‘steamed’ in the energy centres in order to transform them into higher forms of energy, the highest form being the ling-chi utilized for advanced spiritual work.
• Fa-chi (emitting energy). This is the mode of energy work used by master chi-gung healers to transmit healing energy from their own energy fields into the systems of their clients. Such energy is almost always emitted from the lao-gung point in the palm of the hand, although sometimes the fingertips, feet, brow point or even the entire body may be used for transmitting healing energy. In China, martial artists sometimes used this technique to deliver an ‘energy blow’ to vulnerable points on their opponent’s bodies, or to envelope themselves in a protective shield of energy to deflect similar blows aimed at them.
Managing Energy with the ‘Water Mind’ of Intent
The postnatal aspect of spirit that governs our daily lives is known in Taoist practice as the ‘human mind’, and it has two distinctly different facets. One is the ‘mind of emotion’ or ‘Fire mind’, which resides in the heart. The other is the ‘mind of intent’, or ‘Water mind’, which resides in the head.
Like fire, the mind of emotion is volatile, hot and unpredictable, tending to run quickly out of control, and easily inflamed by the winds of external stimuli. By contrast, the mind of intent is like water – clear, cool, calm and stable, capable of reflecting ‘everything under Heaven’ without disturbing its own nature. While the Fire mind is linked directly to the five senses and responds emotionally to the constant play of sensory perceptions, the Water mind, when still and silent, enjoys direct access to the infinite wisdom and awareness of primordial spirit. Intent is the faculty by which the Water mind may take command of the human system, quell the flames of the emotional Fire mind, and manage human energy in accordance with the universal laws of wisdom and compassion rather than the dictates of personal ego and selfish desire. As the Taoist sage and chi-gung master Chang San-feng wrote six centuries ago, ‘When wisdom controls desire, you live long; when desire overcomes wisdom, you die early.’
One of the primary goals of chi-gung practice is to learn how to harness passion with wisdom, control Fire with Water, and use intent to manage energy rather than letting energy be wasted by emotion. The purpose of transforming essence into energy, refining energy and raising it up the spinal channels into the head, then transforming it into spirit, is to nurture the awareness and volitional command of the Water mind, and to enhance the power of intent to control emotions and manage energy. Once this has been achieved, the second phase of internal alchemy may be practised, whereby spirit commands energy, and energy commands essence, which means that the mind gains firm control over the body through the medium of energy, realizing the primordial power of ‘mind over matter’.
The ultimate stage of Taoist self-cultivation and internal alchemy is to fathom the mysteries of awareness itself and gain volitional control of our highest spiritual faculties. ‘If you can open this one gate,’ states an ancient Taoist axiom, ‘all other gates will open naturally.’ At the core of all chi-gung practice – whether moving or still, martial or medical – lies the deep still pool of the Water mind, in which is clearly reflected all the wisdom of the universe. The key point is to bring this primordial wisdom into the light of conscious awareness during one’s lifetime, rather than leaving it to lie fallow in the dark recesses of the subconscious levels of the mind from one lifetime to the next. In order to do this, you must enlist the full power of intent to control the volatile responses of the emotional Fire mind and manage your life in accordance with the primordial principles of the ‘Mind of Tao’. As the 2000-year-old Wen Tzu Classic states, ‘When the spirit takes command, the body naturally follows it, and this arrangement benefits all Three Treasures. When the body leads the way, the spirit trails along, and this damages all Three Treasures.’
Chi-Gung as a Pillar of Life
Chi-gung is an integral and essential component in the ancient Taoist system of healthcare, life extension and spiritual self-cultivation known as yang-sheng dao, or the ‘Tao of Cultivating Life’. This system is patterned on the eternal ways of nature and the transcendent laws of the universe and includes everything from diet and herbal supplements to breathing and exercise, sexual yoga and chi-gung, meditation and internal alchemy, awareness and attitude. In order to gain full benefit from chi-gung, it must always be properly practised within the overall context of the whole yang-sheng system of cultivating life.
Of all the various yang-sheng methods of cultivating health and longevity, chi-gung is the swiftest and most effective way to nurture, balance and manage the basic energies of life. As well as working on a physical level in the body, chi-gung enhances cerebral functions and awakens latent talents and abilities that might otherwise lie dormant for ever. It also pacifies emotions and balances moods, and stimulates the cultivation of the highest spiritual virtues by opening the mind to the universal wisdom of enlightened awareness.
Cultivating spiritual virtues such as wisdom, compassion, patience and tolerance is every bit as important in chi-gung practice as cultivating physical strength, health and power, for without the virtues of spirit, the power of chi-gung is easily bent towards deviant purposes by the fickle Fire mind of the human ego and selfish emotions. Using the power and latent abilities awakened by chi-gung for fighting, fortune-telling, gambling and profiteering are typical examples of what can happen when chi-gung is practised without guidance from the wisdom and intent of spirit. The end result of all deviant applications of chi-gung is the total loss of power, erosion of health, foreshortening of life and ultimate exclusion from the higher realms of existence after death.
The reason for this is quite clear: besides nurturing the energies required for life on earth and promoting longevity of the physical body, chi-gung also opens a gate to the infinitely powerful forces of the universe and establishes a direct link between the personal energy field of the individual practitioner and the universal energy fields of the cosmos and all creation. Anyone who tries to harness this power without respecting the wisdom and compassion with which it is inseparably linked at the source of creation is truly ‘playing with fire’ and is very likely to get badly burned.
In human life, most people enslave their minds and spend their energies to serve their bodies and satisfy their desires, thereby ‘mistaking the servant for the master’. In the higher orders of the universe, which human life was designed to reflect, spirit is the master, and energy is the tool through which the spirit expresses itself creatively in material form. In order to harness the power of the universe for the benefit of humanity, human beings must pattern their bodies as well as their minds on the universal order of creation reflected in nature and the cosmos and known as the Tao, for this is the context in which human life evolved. When practising the Tao, one must learn to balance physical health and vitality with spiritual awareness and virtue, for that is the one and only way the Tao works.
1. Each ‘burner’ is associated with one of the body’s three main cavities: thorax, abdomen and pelvis.