Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre

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In the last issue of Qi Magazine, I talked about how Qigong was notonly for health and living longer, but a way in which to accept our endingwith a peaceful heart, as not everyone will live to be over one hundred, nomatter how hard they practise.Qigong MoralityLife TrainingThis time I would like to talk aboutQigong morality. Some people donot like to talk about this side ofQigong, thinking that it sounds too muchlike religion. But is this really so? Religion,by definition, is a belief or reverence ofa supernatural power who is consideredto be the creator or organiser of theuniverse. Religion is the following of aset of rules which that supernatural beingimposes on its followers in order to keeporder. Religion certainly considers thecorrect moral behaviour, but it does notnecessarily consider keeping a healthybody. It can even be said that the way inwhich many followers practise theirreligions, they often damage their healthrather than fortify it.So how are Qigong and religiondifferent?Qigong evolved from naturalmovements that ancient peoples used tohelp them feel better and relieve illnessor injury. These may have been anythingfrom stretching, jumping, dancing,massaging orshaking theirextremities tofeel better.Later thesem ov em e nt sevolved andbecame moreconscious asto direct Qi tothe body ’se x tr e m i ti e sthrough themeridians. These movements wereconnected with breathing and relaxationand came to be known as Daoyin.Daoyin was the precurser toQigong. There have been Daoyinexercises found recorded on bronzes andsilk banners which have been recovedfrom various tombs in archeological digsin China. During this time, there came agrowing knowledge in TraditionalChinese Medicine and also a morestandardised written language. Booksbegan to be written on herbal medicine,philosophy and the meridian andacupuncture theories. Taoism andBuddhism also began to flourish and alsolater Confucianism. These all influencedthe understanding of the human bodyboth mentally, spiritually and physically.One of the oldest surviving texts onChinese Medicine today, written around3 BC, is the Yellow Emperor’s Classic onChinese Medicine. In its pages, we cansee even then that there was a profoundunderstanding not only of the physicalbody, but how the way in which one livesand thinks can affect physical wellbeing.All of these ideasinfluenced the developmentof Qigong and it became away of regulating health bynot living in excess butrather in accordance withnature. It became a wayof making the bodyhealthy throughbalancing the blood andQi through the practise ofDaoyin movements. By“We want so manythings that we havelost the taste forwhat is before us.”nourishing our internalorgans, our emotionsbecome more stable andour hearts more generous.It was understood that overindulgencein things coulddamage the body. Living andeating with the seasons,exercising regularly and not overextendingoneself, these were theways to health.Today, we have lost much of thispath as we have covered much of ournatural surroundings under homes andbusinesses and places of recreation. Wehave lost touch with the starsand moon and sun and liveonly by our alarm clocks sittingbeside our beds. The batteriesto our body clocks have rundown and we push ourselvesto the extreme. We think thatwe will have more fulfilled lives if canexperience as much as possible. But as itsays in Buddhism, ‘five colours can makeyou blind’.With television, radio andcomputers, we hear so much that we aredeaf. We want so many things that wehave lost the taste for what is before us,Qi Magazine 16
continually hungry for new things, newpeople, new experiences. We see somuch, we have to shut our eyes to gainpeace. Our senses are so over-loaded,we can not distinguish between the roseblooming in the hedge and the appleblossom on the tree.Qigong can help bring us back tonature. If we practiseoutside near trees, ameadow or a lake, wecan hear birds singingand see the seasonschanging with eachday. Our body becomesmore attuned to thechanges in the weatherand so we can withstandany changeswithout becoming ill.But what about whenwe go home or back towork. Maybe yourmother is telling you todo your homework or you have a bigdeadline for a report and so you findyourself getting tense and upset. Maybeyou even want to leave and findsomewhere more peaceful. Maybe youeven want to shout back at someone. Butyou know from your practise that losingyour temper can damage your liver. Youknow that worrying too much candamage your spleen. You know thatrunning away will just make you loseheart to face the future and affect yourlungs and heart and kidneys.So Qigong can be used to help uscontrol our emotions. It can also help uscontrol our desires. We all want thingsas this is the way we have been raisedand what we are bombarded witheveryday. But if we practise more Qigong,we can find what is real and what is not.We can see more clearly what we reallyneed and what we are just buying ortrying in order to comfort a feeling ofblues or loneliness. We can also seepeople more clearly and ourselves aswell. And we can see when we need tohold on to something and when to letgo. Qigong can show us how to calmourselves to behave in society, not onlythinking of ourselves, but others as well.Lao Zi recommended breathingexercises to help calm the emotions.When we take deeper breaths, the wholebody will begin to relax and the normalfunctions of the organscan continue. But if weare tense and angry, ourQi will be affected. If itcontinues, it willdamage our internalorgans and physicalhealth. Confuciusrecommended Qigongto help regulate theemotions so one canfulfill one’s duty insociety and not causeharm to others.Buddhists use Qigongmethods to help themind let go of illusions so they can reachenlightenment. So Qigong is not just forhealth, it is also to help us behave better,to know our hearts more clearly and nothurt others. The more we practise, themore calm we will be and the more wewill know what is the right path to takeby Shin Keisihnkei@qimagazine.comKunlun Twinning Hands BaguaNew York:27/28 October 2001This exercise is an advanced form in the famous WildGoose (Dayan) Qigong System. Bagua relates to thenumber 8 and in this form we walk in eight differentdirections, improving body balance and internal Qi.Special movements also stimulate the liver, getting rid ofliver anger and improving circulation and eyesight. Italso creates a strong Qi field and is suitable foreveryone.Contact Adam Wallace on (212) 330 8327or the Centre directlyTse Qigong CentrePO Box 15807Honolulu, HI 96830USACall Toll Free outside Hawaii:1-866 TSE TSE8 (1-866-873-8738)or in Hawaii(808) 528 8501Fax (520) 441 6578tse@wildgooseqigong.comQi Magazine 17
Page 3 and 4: 1 Editorialwith Michael Tse.3 PO Bo
Page 5 and 6: what the results will be. It is the
Page 7 and 8: Dear ML,This type of experience is
Page 10 and 11: Pushing Hands is a unique skill fou
Page 12 and 13: Five Levels ofQi Magazine 12
Page 14 and 15: movement that starts from the insid
Page 18 and 19: JumpingTrainingEverytime when we wa
Page 20 and 21: Learning Wing Chun and especially C
Page 22 and 23: Qi Magazine 22
Page 24 and 25: ecause in the past, the life of the
Page 26 and 27: Comfort and QuietLying Down QigongN
Page 28 and 29: Just over Suzhou Creek in north cen
Page 30 and 31: PreservedEggsSometimes called Thous
Page 32 and 33: Coming back to the reasonwhy differ
Page 34 and 35: Shou GongShou Gong is the ending mo
Page 36 and 37: The Dragon is a symbol of China, as
Page 38 and 39: Qi MattersWhile books are informati
Page 40 and 41: No support for the people who sleep

Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre

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