Study of the Mind & Body

The mind alone can continue to loom as the dreary cloud above, that never goes away. In matters of health, we've become so good at being the clueless victims. How do we know so little about the body, in this age? How have we created a free geographic database like Google Earth, eqipped with the jawdropping technology of streetview, and continue to remain without an easy-access map of the anatomy of the human body. It does, afterall, function much like a planet in all its chaotic shift, flow, and energy exchange.

Mind is at the root of many diseases, with all of the emotional imprints that have been made throughout a persons life and how all of that is carried forward to the moment-to-moment lifestyle choices that we make. Even if the cause of the disease does not immediately reflect your lifestyle choices, the mind continues to be involved in either the perpetuating of suffering, or engagement in self-knowing and triumph over ill habit. It is inevitable that we must endure a plethora of sufferings throughout our lifetimes,  however rich or poor. When we realize our fearful flight into the arms of a caregiver and how we abandon the trust in our own abilities to recover from sudden upsets in health, we must remember that it is essential to face ourselves and challenge ourselves to become reacquainted with what has ALWAYS rightfully belonged to us: The Human Body and Mind... (although hi-jacked by history)

With countless cells dying every second, and new ones beginning within the bones, muscles, and skin... How can we keep the body in a state of unchanging, perfect health? We cannot... But the effort to recover an OPTIMAL state of health and well-being is likely. Give this your careful attention. If you could find riches within the state of your being, would not the wealth be limitless?? Concentrate and resolve to watch and listen..

It can be hard enough to focus the mind on a project or goal that you find yourself dreaming of so passionately about, let alone fighting an invisible enemy or an obscure affliction which follows you from past habits and potentially unacknowledged traumas.

Seize the knowledge of yourself; the mastery of the chaotic branching of your mind... YOUR THOUGHTS.
 Spirit will follow. It is then that you will experience a growing, surging upliftment ("shen").

A great purpose of Qigong training is to acknowledge that you must continue to more or less exist as an embodied person and have the opportunity to enhance its capacity for sensation - more specifically, to recognize the potential for healing that comes from the sparks of liveliness that can be discovered within your body and imagination. Qigong meditation is ONE of several methods. It is said again and again, that through this practice one may eventually approach an understanding of how to raise their "shen" (spirit) or "shine peacefully", which comes only as a result of choice, intent, and diligent work.

Qigong methods allow people to have a close look at the feelings of sickness and wellness in their bodies and improve how they approach exercising that part of the body with the conscious direction of the mind, and also how to allow it to open up and relax.

The utility of the mind has been devalued in western medical science, separating mind from body, leaving the global patient at a significant disadvantage in a pharmaceutical empire of misled caregivers.

Later on, I intend on elaborating on the topic "What is healing? What is it to cure?" from an existential and self-transcendent point of view.

I hope this, as well as future interpretations, will be found useful by those who loathingly wait at the dead end of their health care profiteers.

[Previously Posted on: Sunday, August 28, 2011]

The Stonecutter

-- a Chinese Fable
There was once a stonecutter, who was dissatisfied with himself and his position in life.

One day, he passed a wealthy merchants house, and through the open gateway, saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stonecutter. He became very envious , and wished that he could be like the merchant. Then he would no longer have to live the life of a mere stonecutter.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. But soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants, and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish I could be a high official!"

Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around, who had to bow down before him as he passed. It was a hot summer day, and the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, hated and feared by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering stone. "How powerful that stone is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a stone!"

Then he became the stone, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the solid rock, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the stone?" he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stonecutter.

[Previously Posted on: Tuesday, July 19, 2011]

Constructing the Tower of Vitality

"The apparent paradox of the late Master Cheng Man-Ching's words 'Do not ignore your qi or try to help its growth' bothers beginners who are trying hard to develop the feeling of qi within themselves. Perhaps an analogy will be helpful: When you plant a tree, you don't overtend to it in order to make it grow faster; but you don't completely forget about it either.
Proper and constant care is the best way to make a tree grow. Similarly, Master Cheng described the daily growth of qi as being as little as a thin later of paper. 'To stack it up as high as a skyscraper,' he said, 'will take you a good several years.' "
[Waysun Liao]

[Previously Posted on: Thursday, June 23, 2011]

19 Senses and Counting!

In sitting meditation, we gradually become more receptive and aware of our environment and the feelings within ourselves. As we discuss our approach, practitioners often address the five senses (which is great to begin with!), but in your day-to-day living, how often do you consider the presence and activity of the following senses?

SENSES                 KIND OF INPUT
 
Sight                      Visible light
Hearing             Vibrations in the air
Touch               Tactile contact
Taste               Chemical molecular
Smell               Olfactory molecular
Balance           Kinesthetic geotropic
Vestibular     Repetitious movement
Temperature    Molecular motion
Pain                         Nociception
Eidetic Imagery Neuroelectrical      
                             image retention
Magnetic   Ferromagnetic orientation
Infrared        Long electromagnetic
                                  waves
Ultraviolet     Short electromagnetic                            
Ionic              Airborne ionic charge
Vomeronasal  Pheromonic sensing
Proximal           Physical closeness
Electrical              Surface charge
Barometric      Atmospheric pressure
Geogravimetric    Sensing mass   
                                 differences

[Previously Posted on: Wednesday, June 22, 2011]

Qigong Observations

With deeper breathing we cultivate the steel beneath the cotton. As the breath is deepened (and consequently the movements become slower), the internal energy "mass" or qi is increased and should be felt. It is difficult to distinguish something that has always been there, but was not being perceptively isolated and consciously cultivated with the breath.

Using the entire body, in grand and gentle circular (in conjunction with figure-eights at the knees) motions synchronized with the breath.When pushing palms down on an exhale, feel the gravity above it... and when lifting hands up on an inhale, push up with the force of gravity that you felt from above. Lift your heart also. Do this in a forward and back motion with your hands, remembering to use the gentle coiling of your spine.

The lifting is the gravity of the unifying spirit found in the stillness, which influences and deepens the experience outside of the body. The spirit gives a feeling of loving growth. Lift yourself from slumber with the gravity of the spirit. Help to educate others in this method of centering and finding one's proper place between the great beyond (Heaven) and great below (Earth).

When forwardly pushing hands, see the index fingers point ahead. Watch these fingers and contemplate the forward moving cycle.

[Previously Posted on: Tuesday, April 13, 2010]