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Zhong Yuan Qigong Level One
Zhong Yuan Qigong Level One
Zhong Yuan Qigong Level One
ISBN-10: 1467903949
ISBN-13: 978-1467903943
Acknowledgement
A Note About the Authors
Preface
Foreword to the Fourth Russian Edition
Foreword to the First Russian Edition
Warnings and Disclaimers
Introduction
If by R. Kipling
How I Discovered Qigong and Why We Need It
Chapter 2. PRACTICE
General Principles and Approaches
A Base for Practicing Stage One
Opening Channels in Fingers and Toes
PRELIMINARY EXERCISES
First Preliminary Exercise: Child Praying to Buddha
Second Preliminary Exercise:
Hands of Buddha Observing Images
Third Preliminary Exercise: The Sacred (Immortal)
Crane Drinking Water
APPENDIXES
Appendix 1. FEEDBACK FROM SEMINAR ATTENDEES
Changes in Perception of the World and One’s Self
Therapeutic Effect
Development of Various Phenomena
Tamara Martynova
Tamara Martynova
Mingtang Xu
Xu Mingtang
People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the
sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the
circular motion of the stars.... and they pass by themselves without
wondering.
St. Augustine
The idols of the tribe are inherent in human nature, and the very tribe or race
of man. For man's sense is falsely asserted to be the standard of things. On
the contrary, all the perceptions, both of the senses and the mind, bear
reference to man, and not to the universe, and the human mind resembles
those uneven mirrors, which impart their own properties to different objects,
from which rays are emitted, and distort and disfigure them.
Francis Bacon
Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself
to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to
change the things which are, and to make new things like them.
Marcus Aurelius
WHAT IS QIGONG?
What Is Qi?
Master’s Story
As a result of the Chinese calendar having twenty-four seasons,
the Chinese have twenty-four levels of energy or Qi. The many divisions in
their calendar allow for many categories of seasons—for example, hot,
extremely hot, cold, chilly, and a season of very severe frost. For countless
centuries, the Chinese people have worked their farms and led their lives in
accordance with these many seasons.
The information on seasons and energy gives people guidance on
what plants to plant and when, when to harvest, and how to behave during
extreme cold and heat. Health, too, is connected to weather conditions, and
the twenty-four levels of Qi that they produce. In wintertime, for example,
many people catch colds and coughs; while in spring, many people suffer
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strokes.
Why does this happen? In winter, when it is cold, the level of Qi
energy is low. Low energy affects lungs and causes people to cough. Spring,
when everything starts to grow, is characterized by the presence of wood
energy. According to the Wu-Xing (five elements) theory, the liver belongs to
the Wood element. If too much energy enters an unhealthy liver, the excess
energy goes to the brain, where it may cause a stroke.
Many people in Moscow suffer from high blood pressure.
However, if they go on vacation to Spain’s seaside with its warm water and
humid climate, their blood pressure becomes normal. So, instead of taking
medicine, people sometimes improve their health by choosing to live in a
different climate. Several friends of mine in China suffered from asthma, but
when they came to California, their asthma disappeared. Why? Their
weather and climate changed.
In the United States, a lot of people suffer from allergies,
particularly to dairy products and cereals. However, some Americans get rid
of these allergies when they travel to China. Many people have noticed that
in some places, they feel active, fresh, and brisk, while in other places they
are tired, uncomfortable, nervous, and simply not themselves. Furthermore,
people who suffer from chronic disease know that in particular seasons and
under certain weather conditions, their diseases worsen. This is the result of
the quality of the external energy. Specifically, this occurs with people who
have arthritis, including its rheumatoid form. As a rule, these people sense
future changes in weather much earlier than meteorologists. From our own
experience with these conditions, we can see and feel the effects of Qi on our
life and health.
When we talk about weather and climate, we are talking about
external, naturally occurring conditions. We understand what happens when
it is hot or cold outside. However, what can we say about ourselves, about
the manifestation and flow of our own energy, our inner Qi?
First, we can take our temperature and judge, by the results, our
energy level at that precise moment in time. It has been proven that the
normal temperature for the human body is in the range of 36° C (96.8° F) to
37° C (98.6° F).
However, inside the body, different parts and organs have their
own temperatures. For example, the heart’s temperature is higher than that
of the kidneys. Under the influence of the environment, the temperature of the
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various parts and organs of the body can vary. If you catch a cold, your body
temperature can suddenly rise above 40° C (104° F). When this happens, you
have more energy than in normal conditions. Therefore, you need to lower
your temperature.
Our health is connected to our energy balance. Healthy people
are energetic. Their hands and feet feel warm to them. If people have
problems, they sense a change in their levels of energy. If they have too much
energy, their temperature rises; if they have too little energy, they feel weak
and apathetic. We need to understand that if we feel ill and our temperature
rises, there is something wrong with our health.
Oftentimes, sickness is not connected to the entire body; it might
be connected to some part of the body or some organ. If a body part or organ
is infected or inflamed, you will feel the temperature rise in that area – it
becomes hot. If you injure yourself, the temperature can rise only in the
injured spot and not throughout the entire body. After some time, this spot
might swell. Then, if you touch it with your hands, you may feel that the
temperature of that area is higher than that of the surrounding tissue. In this
case, you need to decrease the temperature of the given location.
Sometimes, however, one experiences the opposite condition,
when a part of our body feels colder than others. As a rule, we are used to
ignoring this. However, this coldness can indicate an energetic disorder and
problems in the body. You have probably noticed that when you are tired,
when the energy level is low, you might feel chilly, or your limbs might
become cold. As a rule, these feelings of coldness occur there where there is
a problem with energy and blood circulation.
What is Kung-Fu?
The term Kung-fu usually refers to the time and effort spent in
attaining mastery in Qigong. This includes proficiency in methods of
accumulating energy, transforming it and controlling it. Kung-fu also refers
to the “reaching of a limit” in any noble activity involving the understanding
of the mysteries of the Universe and the attainment of harmony with
universal laws.
Physics explains the meaning of Kung-fu differently:
A = F x S,
where (A) is Work or Applied effort, (F) is Force, and (S) Distance.
Furthermore,
S = V x t,
where (V) is Velocity (or Speed) and (t) is Time.
Therefore, Kung-fu is defined by three factors: force, speed, and
time.
In Qigong, force has a special meaning. Force is the work or
effort needed for the mastering of Qigong. It is the persistence of students
during practice. However, most exercises in Qigong systems, including ZYQ,
represent specific postures involving relaxation of body and concentration of
mind. This is also known as Quiet Qigong. Thus, the force of Qigong is a
quiet force.
This quiet force comes from the heart, or from the cells of the
body. It connects us to the environment and the Universe. It allows us to
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practice Quiet Qigong for long periods of time (hours, days, months, years)
without any movement. But we will talk more about this later.
Naturally, speed represents how fast a person masters Qigong,
while time represents the length of the practice sessions. Therefore, the
quality of practice depends on three factors: force, speed, and time.
If the method is weak or if there is no experienced teacher who
can correct errors and point a student in the right direction, then the student
can go on practicing for years or even a lifetime with little or no
improvement. In this case, Kung-fu would be equal to zero and the practice
would be unproductive.
Sometimes the speed of a person’s progress is very rapid. The
student assimilates everything easily, the teacher is good, and the method is
suitable. In such cases, however, if the time devoted to practice is too little,
changes in one’s energy levels and body do not occur. Therefore, Kung-fu in
such situations would also be equal to zero.
Consequently, persistence and systematic training under the
supervision of a qualified and experienced teacher are absolutely essential for
success.
Tao
In general, the concept of the Tao is very wide and very deep. In
Taoism, we are given the method of understanding the Tao without
concentrating our minds on something specific, so that we can embrace it
through our own perception, our own experience, our own mind and
consciousness.
Master’s Story
Nowadays we can say that, in general, “Tao” is a very common
word: any type of road, pathway, or track is known as Tao; this is the visible
Tao. Then we have the Tao that refers to the Way of human Life; that is, the
invisible Tao. That is why here we mean, on the one hand, the way of our
own life, the Tao of the world, i.e., the Tao of nature and the Tao of the
universe. In terms of Nature and the Universe, the Tao also refers to the way
of their development; for us, however, it manifests in the form of Laws or
Principles of the Universe.
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Each of us represents a small universe (microcosm) that is part
of a larger universe governed by laws and rules, which we must follow and
obey. This is the reason why, for us, the Way of the Universe, the Way of
Nature’s development, is Tao. Moreover, our Way must be in accordance
with the Way of the surrounding world. By Tao, we mean the unity of the Way
of the Universe and human development. Accordingly, our journey along the
Life Path must be in accordance with the larger universal Way.
Now, there are many books, the names of which contain the word
“Tao”; for example, “Tao acupuncture,” “Tao of food preparation,” “Tao
of business.” Originally, the books of Lao-tzu referred to a very specific Tao:
the Tao of humans and the Tao of the Universe.
Since ancient times, the Chinese have contemplated the various
components, or stages, of the life path.
There are many books on the Tao of humans, covering a wide
range of subtopics such as how to communicate with people around you, how
to be healthy, how to manage business or politics, and much more. These
encompass each and every sphere of human existence, including the Tao of
self-development. When Lao-tzu wrote about Tao, he did not itemize that
concept in respect to its various aspects; he did not speak separately about
life, business, politics, or health. Instead, he presented the whole picture.
Moreover, because Lao-tzu’s books covered various aspects of our lives, they
are still studied by representatives of different professions. They present a
generic picture of human activities, existence, and life. Lao-tzu expressed
even his most abstract, complex philosophical concepts in a very simple and
clear way. When we read his writings in light of our knowledge and
experience, we understand how useful they are for us. Consider, for example,
his writings on water.
Lao-tzu observed the movement of water in different situations
and came to a number of interesting philosophical conclusions. He wrote that
water is very soft, never fights anything, and never resists anything.
Furthermore, it always flows downward.
However, this is only one facet of water. From another point of
view, water permeates and feeds everything. Through this example, Lao-tzu
illustrates that it is possible to have a beneficial impact on the world around
you without being aggressive or forceful. In spite of its seemingly passive
nature, Lao-tzu observed, water is far from weak or soft. To illustrate this
point, he described a rock near his house. Every day, water would drip on it.
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After a while, the water pierced a hole in the rock. Through this example,
Lao-tzu illustrates that tolerance and flexibility do not mean weakness. In
other words, if you are tolerant of others, it does not mean that you are weak.
We need to understand the way of thinking and the philosophies
of ancient thinkers. They taught people many things, but the most important
one was the principle of continuous, constant change. They showed that
everything changes and taught people to follow the changes in one’s life that
occur in this World.
Master’s Story
When Shakyamuni was going to leave this world and pass into
another one, all his advanced disciples gathered around him to receive
farewell words. They asked him to give them his final advice on what to do.
Shakyamuni spread his arms open, pointed to the surrounding world, and did
Picture 6: Bodhidharma (Damo) (a, b) “White Buddha”—the White Marble Statue (c) Entrance to
Damo’s Cave
Master’s Story
One-and-a-half thousand years ago, Damo, a follower of
Buddhism, a monk, and a prince by birth, went from India to China to spread
Buddhism. In those days, Buddhist monks usually visited China by the
Martial Arts
The name of this school says it all. Its aims are to strengthen the
body and spirit, maintain calm in all situations, and help its practitioners
develop self-defense capabilities. Sometimes this school was called Boxing
school. It pays a great deal of attention to self-regulation and health
improvement, since the body of a warrior must be physically strong and
capable of fast recovery. However, it differs in many ways from other
schools in terms of its system for health improvement.
Today, the school of Martial Arts includes some styles of Wushu
(sometimes called Wushu Qigong), including the well-known form hard
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Qigong and the lesser-known light Qigong. Practice of Hard Qigong makes
the body insensitive to blows and helps the practitioner develop the ability
and skills to concentrate Qi energy on a particular body area instantly. This is
demonstrated through such feats as the breaking of concrete slabs, bricks, and
wooden bars with the head or hand; the bearing of heavy weights (having a
car driven over one’s chest), and resistance to sharp weapons (knives,
swords, and sabers).
Practitioners of Light Qigong can control their weight, travel fast
over several hours without rest or fatigue, and quickly climb high hills and
mountains as if they were flying. In former times, this was the training for
messengers and warriors. Nowadays, masters of light Qigong sometimes
walk on fresh eggs without breaking the shells or on paper ribbons tightened
between supports.
In general, the methods of Qigong are divided into two types:
hard and soft. Hard methods are usually used for developing skills to activate
instantaneously the full powers of the body’s functional systems for the
realization of physical and psychic abilities. Soft methods usually aim to cure
and improve health. However, the border between hard and soft methods
cannot always be clearly identified.
In addition, the exercise methods in all schools are divided into
three classes: static (sometimes they are called quiet or calm or idle),
dynamic, and static-dynamic (combination of idle postures and movements).
Each type of exercise addresses a particular activity: body regulation, breath
regulation, mind (consciousness) regulation, or some combination of the
above.
This classification system, created at the beginning of the
twentieth century, appears to be conditional. It seems to have its basis in the
interaction that took place, at the time, between a number of ideas and
philosophical doctrines. The concept of Tao, for example, was essential to all
movements and schools in China. The term “Qigong” itself first appeared in
only the third and fourth centuries BC. At first, it was used to define a
particular movement. It was only during the 1960s that Qigong became
universally associated with the now-famous technique of psychophysical
training.
Modern Classification
Picture 8: Yin and Yang (a) Yin-Yang Fish, or Symbol of Great Ultimate: the Left Part—Symbol of
Evolution (from Birth to Death), the Right Part—Symbol of Returning to One’s Origins (to
Immortality), (b) Daily, Seasonal, Yearly Changes of Yin-Yang
Categories of Yin and Yang are general and universal. They are a
part of any act of nature, and they are present in all human activities. The
knowledge that all things develop according to these universal laws will help
you grow in your life.
Master’s Story
Today, everyone knows about computers. But how is the
computer technology developing? A computer also has Yin and Yang. From
the viewpoint of the computer, it is a binary code (On/Off, 1/0). A computer
has eight bits, consisting of 1s or 0s, then sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, and
so forth. These numbers describe the principles of development.
The same principles can be found, not only in computers, but in
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every area of technology. When we find processes going in different
directions, we find the forces of Yin and Yang at work. If one wants to create
something considerably new, then he can apply this theory to his research
work. For example, working in the area of chemistry, you achieve something
through concentration. Then you can also achieve it through the opposite
method of dilution. This is also Yin and Yang. Expanding and retracting,
heating and cooling, exhaling and inhaling—these are all examples of Yin
and Yang.
We are a part of the universe, of the Universe. Therefore, Yin
and Yang are present in each of us.
It is usually said that the human body contains the “solid” Yin
organs (liver, heart, pericardium, spleen, lungs, and kidneys) and the
“hollow” Yang organs (gallbladder, bladder, small and large intestines,
stomach, and “triple warmer” or “three parts of body”). This does not mean
that these organs are strictly Yin or Yang. These characterizations, instead,
refer to the dominant Qi in the particular organ. The Yin organs contain more
Yin and the Yang organs, more Yang.
Moreover, the inner part of the body (the one that is inside the
embryo) is more Yin-centric, while the external is dominated by Yang
(Picture 9a). If we were to look at a human as if it was cut by a vertical plane,
the right side would be governed by Yang and the left side by Yin (Picture
9b).
Yin and Yang must find balance in nature, humans, and society.
In nature, we find many incidents of fire in the areas where Yang is
overabundant. Conversely, we find many floods in areas with too much Yin.
Humans with too much Yin and too little Yang cannot stand cold weather.
They prefer heat, often feel tired, complain of loss of sleep, and are prone to
depression. In contrast, people with too much Yang and too little Yin tolerate
the cold better than the heat. They act hastily, offend easily, get fidgety, and
are prone to aggression. Where Yin and Yang imbalance exists, society loses
stability, and sicknesses take over the human body.
Energy Channels
Picture 10: Five Major Energy Points and Mai-Channels (a) Laogong Point, (b) Yongquan Point, (c)
Baihui Point, (d) Ren-Mai Channel, (e) Du-Mai Channel
Origins of ZYQ
Master’s Story
The movie The Martial Arts of Shaolin that was popular in
different countries in the 1980s has led many people to believe that the most
ancient forms of Wushu, Tai Chi, and Qigong originated in the Shaolin
Monastery. However, the monastery was in fact established thousands of
years earlier. Even today, in isolated mountain villages, people develop
secret ways of working with the body, mind, and spirit. In these ancient
mountain regions, from early childhood, people have been practicing a
special type of Kung-fu. This type of Kung-fu is the basis for the now-popular
Wushu and Tai Chi Chuan schools. One of these high mountain villages is
the village of Chinyagor, which gave these systems to the world. It was here
that the Chen style originated. Later in other regions, it was transformed into
a variety of styles, including Wu.
Until 1997, this area was closed. In the coming years, another
ancient style, also from this area, will become known to the world.
Geographical maps still have “white spots” which, historically,
can symbolize the centers or cradles of a culture or civilization. Seven
thousand years ago, the above-mentioned area was the cradle of Chinese
About Yuan-Jing
Jing, the densest of the three structures, refers to the life force,
vitality, stamina, seed (sperm for males, eggs for females), and hormonal
substance (male and female reproductive hormones). An average, normal
adult has Jing in a thickened state. Hence, we can say that Jing is a type of
substance; therefore it belongs to the material world. From a scientific point
of view, Jing is associated with DNA and RNA. If a male’s sperm and
female’s egg join, they give birth to a new life form. Yuan-Jing contains
complete information about us (the vital or genetic code) from the moment of
birth until our death. We are born, grow up, and become adults with
sufficient hormones for reproductive functions. Upon reaching old age, our
reproductive ability is lost, and eventually, we die. This is the way of life on
About Yuan-Qi
Yuan-Qi (literally, “energy”) refers to the type of energy that
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originated in our bodies at birth, that will continue to exist there constantly,
and that is found throughout the Universe. We can control this energy with
our mind, with our thoughts. It has various levels. We can feel its movement
within the body, we can radiate it, we can send it out of the body, and some
of us can see this form of Qi in the form of fog. If the level of energy
increases, the energy becomes visible as light. This type of Qi relates partially
to the material world and partially to the spiritual world. It exists between the
two. Its dual existence helps explain why, at certain times, we easily sense it,
while at other times, we cannot sense it at all. With this type of Qi, we can
transfer energy from the material world into the spiritual world and back.
About Yuan-Shen
This definition refers to the soul or spirit, depending upon its
level. Unlike Yuan-Qi, this form of Qi belongs solely to the spiritual world.
We would have difficulty seeing Yuan-Shen even with the Third Eye. It can
be seen only in a certain state or with the help of Qigong practice.
Picture 15: Shen Levels (a, b) Yin Shen, (c) Opening of the Third Ear
Master’s Story
The following incident took place during a seminar in Kiev. In
the middle of the first-stage seminar, a young man came late into the lecture
hall. He hardly had time to walk to an unoccupied seat when he fainted.
Perhaps, more accurately, he appeared to have fainted. Nevertheless, even
though many people witnessed the episode and seemed concerned, I assured
them there was no problem. I told the class that he was going to be fine and
that his soul had simply gone for a short walk. I approached him and
performed certain manipulations. Those nearby heard that I pronounced
certain sounds. After that, his soul came back, and everything turned out fine.
His Yin-soul had merely gone for a brief walk.
To bring a soul back into the body, one needs to know the
language and laws of the Universe. Certain practices enable our hands to
reach the space where the soul goes. We mentally reach with our hands
there, into infinity, and those “hands” then bring the soul back into the body.
Without these manipulations, this young man’s soul would have returned
anyway, but he would have slept for some time and missed a part of the class.
The next day, the same person told me that his soul had departed
a second time that day, during the evening. He claimed that his soul had
traveled to China, where he saw how to practice certain exercises for
travelling to other worlds. However, I already knew that because, during the
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manipulations, I had given him information about how to practice further, so
that his soul could leave and return to his body without any difficulty.
Two years before that episode, a similar incident occurred in
Yekaterinburg. The soul of one of my listeners left and went to another world.
From the viewpoint of an average person, that world was one from the
distant past—about a thousand years ago. Specifically, the soul went to the
monastery of Shaolin during the time of Damo.
In these other worlds, the special guardians do not, as a rule,
admit souls. For a soul to enter, they need to see something similar to a
passport and visa. If they do not see an entrance ticket, they will refuse the
soul admission, because they do not know what kind of creature you are, or
when and why you appeared before them. Of course, there are no passports
for these other worlds, but there are special passwords that one needs to
pronounce at the entrance. The guardians will ask you how you got this
knowledge. They will require you to identify your Teacher14, whose name
they will check in a “database.” If you have something like this ID card, they
will admit you. Otherwise, they will prohibit your entrance. When I visited
different worlds, the guardians asked for my password. All worlds have the
same rules.
Sometimes, these stories sound like fairy tales. In any event, they
are not easy to explain. At this stage, suffice it to say that, for millennia, the
highest stages of Qigong remained forms of esoteric, secret knowledge. Piece
by piece, these secrets are being revealed gradually and selectively to those
whose efforts and years of practice have brought them close to the
understanding of the next level. When you approach these levels, these stories
will appear less as fantasies and more as truthful accounts.
Master’s Story
Sometimes we read about the death of a famous Master: his body
self-ignites and burns, leaving only ashes and nails. These Masters typically
come from the Tibetan system. The transformation of Yin-Shen into Yuan-
Shen requires energy, and the transformation of Yuan-Shen into Yang-Shen
also requires energy. When these Masters depart our world by leaving their
physical bodies, they appear in different worlds. Their energy level at the
moment of departure from this world determines which world they enter after
death. Moreover, the condition of the physical body after the soul’s departure
depends on the soul’s energy level.
What is death? Put simply, it is a process involving the departure
of the soul from the body. If you know exactly when your soul will leave your
body, you can control the situation. To do this, however, you need to
practice. Through practice you can control the process of the soul’s
departure, while knowing in advance where exactly it will go. It is possible to
know this before the death of the physical body.
There is an interesting story about a woman from Beijing who
was a Qigong practitioner. Newspapers from around the world wrote a lot
about her. She wanted to give scientists an opportunity to examine the body
of a Qigong Master through her controlled death. Knowing the moment of
her own death, she informed her children and grandchildren, family and
Master’s Story
Masters, who get deeply involved in the movements and achieve
incredible results, often live secluded lives. They typically live in mountains,
monasteries, or closed settlements. These Masters do not need the usual
amenities, since they can obtain necessities from the worlds beyond. With few
ordinary needs, they rarely communicate with other people.
My Teacher was such a Master, and lived this way. One day,
many years ago, while still a student at Beijing University, I went for an
extended stay in the mountains to practice with him. There, completely
secluded, I studied for a few weeks. Once I was trained quite far from the
house the whole day long.
During one of the breaks, I felt hungry. However, I had not
brought any food, since my teacher had told me that I did not need to bring
anything. Yet I was hungry. I felt fatigued and had no desire to continue
practicing. Doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not understand why such
deprivation was necessary. I tried to concentrate on the exercises, but these
thoughts kept spinning in my head.
Finally, my teacher, apparently sensing my predicament, said,
“Very well, let’s take a break and eat.”
I became even more confused, because I had not seen any food.
He chose a rest spot and asked me to make myself comfortable. I began to
think that perhaps he had some pancakes or something else that did not take
up much space. That might explain why I had not noticed any food.
The teacher, then, asked what I wanted to eat. At first, thinking
he was joking or testing me, I blurted out: “Beijing duck!”
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For those who have never been to a fine Chinese restaurant, I
need to say something about this complex dish. Beijing duck takes a long time
to prepare. A duck that has almost no fat is soaked in special marinades
before being cooked in a particular way. It is then sliced and served with
sauces on thin crepes. Not every restaurant serves Beijing duck!
So after I said, “Beijing duck,” I waited anxiously to see what
would happen next.
“Beijing duck, you say,” the teacher repeated, perhaps in
disbelief.
“Oh well, let it be a Beijing duck. Take off your jacket,” he said.
Thinking that this was some kind of game, I took off my warm
jacket and gave it to the teacher. He took the jacket, and shook and flapped it
before setting it on the ground.
“Well, here you go. Eat your Beijing duck,” he said.
I stood still, because I could not understand anything.
“What, you are not hungry?” asked the teacher. “Why aren’t
you eating?” he asked, while pointing to my jacket.
I approached my jacket, bent over, and lifted it up. And there,
underneath it…yes, I found an actual serving of…Beijing duck!
I devoured the duck and filled my stomach. Spots on my jacket
proved that it had really happened.
The teacher, then, told me that I could learn this if I energetically
followed all the instructions. However, he cautioned that what he had shown
me was actually not very interesting. He pointed out that I could not yet
understand the really interesting things. He had only shown me what I could
understand at the time.
Years later, I began to realize that there are much more
interesting, useful, and amazing things. At that moment, however, the most
interesting and useful thing for me was a real Beijing duck that appeared
from nowhere.
Levels of Training
Master’s Story
At the Beijing Special Human Abilities Research Institute, we
extensively researched the Third Eye.
There was a room where a special material covered the walls
inside. It disabled the penetration of the magnetic field into this space. In
these conditions, it is possible to research the magnetic emissions of different
areas of our body, especially the brain. If we place a recording device similar
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to the electroencephalograph on the area of the Third Eye (found on the
forehead, level with the eyebrows), the device will display signals that appear
as a line with little waves. If we send our internal energy to this area and
activate it in a special way, like Qigong practitioners, we will see clearly
visible wavering, instead of smoother lines in the recorded signals. The
length and aptitude of the waves correlates to a range of electromagnetic
emission (ultraviolet, X-ray, etc.) that becomes visible to the subject, the
person being tested.
I myself have also passed such tests a few times, not only in our
institute, but in research institutes in Japan and in the former Soviet Union. If
I do not activate the Third Eye, the signals appear as a straight line. If I start
using the Third Eye, powerful waves appear in the recorded signals. When
color photos are taken during this time, researchers are able to see a glowing
spot in the area of my Third Eye, which changes color depending on what I
am looking at and how I am using the Third Eye. This is not difficult to check.
There are different devices that allow such experiments to be repeated.
I often find that when I do not have time to call students, they
call me. They tell me that they felt the need to call me but did not know why.
Perhaps you also have had similar experiences. These are small examples of
connections we make that are out of the ordinary. Through ZYQ, we develop
our abilities to use these new ways of connecting to solve many problems.
Master’s Story
When I tell you, “Give me your heads,” and you answer,
“Please take them,” you might take it as a joke, a game of words, and
nothing more. Many people do not understand the true meaning of a
command like this, because all they know is that if they give away their
heads, they will die. Their thinking, then, blocks the knowledge they might
have gained. The same thing happens with other things I ask students to do or
perform. They start thinking about whether they can do it before they even
try.
Imagine two Qigong students who have followed their teacher’s
instructions precisely. Imagine, further, that they have not been asking the
teacher questions. Both students, then, receive a piece of information that
contains the teacher’s request to come to the mountains for further training.
They go up a high mountain only to see the teacher at the bottom of it, in a
very deep chasm. The teacher says, “If you want to study—come here.”
Here, we have something similar to a test. One of the students
trusts the teacher and jumps down. The second one, not trusting the teacher,
turns around, and returns. Until that moment, they both seemed to trust the
teacher completely. Yet doubts never left the second student. He knew that if
he would jump off the mountain, he would die. His knowledge gave birth to
fear. Knowledge and fear, then, became obstacles. In contrast, the first
student, who trusted his teacher completely, jumped down to train further.
Sometimes it is not easy to believe certain things. In many
situations, when you practice Qigong, it will seem like a test or trial. If you
are afraid of something, you cannot develop further. This is the reason I keep
repeating, “Cut off your heads.” If you do not have a head, what will be the
source of your fear?
The first stage of Zhong Yuan Qigong works with the lower Dan
Tian, because health, potency, reproductive functions, and longevity depend
on the quality and quantity of a person’s Qi, especially, Yuan Jing. Chinese
medicine pays considerable attention to the kidneys. The health of the other
systems within an organism depends on the state of the kidneys, according to
the Wu-Xing theory.
The goals of Stage I of ZYQ are
(1) to activate energy in the lower Dan Tian;
(2) to improve the quality of the energy;
(3) to transform the energy in a manner that increases the life forces;
and
(4) to normalize the circulation of the energy in the channels by
opening blocked areas.
Fulfilling these goals will contribute to the full opening of the
energy channels, to the strengthening of the body, and to the improvement of
its functions.
The exercises learned at the first stage of Qigong are directed
toward (1) the balance of Yin-Yang in the body, (2) the opening of channels
and BAPs, (3) receiving Qi from the environment, (4) collecting Qi in the
REMEMBER: The more you want something to work out, the lower
your chances of achieving that goal.
1. Stand straight with feet shoulder-width apart and parallel, body relaxed,
and eyes half-shut.
2. Bend the arms in front of the chest with palms facing down.
3. Bend the index and middle finders of the right hand.
4. With these fingers, squeeze the base of the thumb of the left hand and
pull the thumb away from those fingers. Repeat one more time with the
thumb, and then do with each finger of the left hand, one by one, pulling
each finger twice (Pictures 19b–e).
5. Reverse the procedure and repeat the same with the other hand.
6. Slowly bring your hands down.
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7. Now, as with your fingers, repeat a similar procedure your toes. Using
your fingers, open the channels in the toes. (Of course, not everyone’s
toes are so flexible that a finger can fit between them. To make it more
convenient, you may first lift or lower the toe that you will work with.
To make it even easier, you may also use the index finger and thumb of
your hand, instead of the middle and index fingers.) Open the channels
of the right foot with your left hand, and the channels of the left foot
with your right hand.
While doing this exercise, imagine that you are opening those
channels by cleaning dirty areas, as though you were squeezing out
something thick and rotten from a flexible tube. Furthermore, imagine that
you are losing bad, grey-colored Qi and replacing it with clean Qi from the
outside to clean the channels. If you are at a seminar where you can walk
around outside, you can open the channels on the feet by simply curling
(flexing or bending) and uncurling your toes inside your shoes. You also can
stand on tiptoes and rotate in this position to the right and left. Optionally,
you can make the same rotation with each leg separately.
Phenomena
While opening the channels in your palms, you may feel extreme
heat in the center of the palms. This heat can be so strong that it might
become painful. If you place your hand over the region where the pain is
being felt, the pain will go away.
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If, through practice, you reach this energy level, you will be able
to cure a number of conditions associated with chronic, painful symptoms.
By simply placing your palm over the diseased area, you will be able to make
the pain go away.
Recommendations
Exercise Goals
Picture 20: First Preliminary Exercise (a-h) Rotating the Hands to the Body
This exercise helps to balance the left and right parts of the body,
especially when we align the Laogong points in the center of the palms. In
this way, the energy on the inner Yin surface becomes balanced.
When we rotate our hands and turn them to touch one another
back to back, we align the projection of the Laogong points (the “external
Laogong”). In this way, the energy on the inner Yang surface becomes
balanced.
Rotation of the hands helps Qi flow within the body. To bring
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something into balance, we need motion or movement. In this case we need
to move Qi. The physical movement of rotating the hands stimulates the
body’s flow of energy.
Third Level: to develop intuition and the ability to communicate.
If you really want to improve your intuition, you need to
imagine, during this exercise, that you are standing before a spiritual teacher
or before someone you that you see as a source of wisdom. Adopting this
pose suggests that you are greeting and notifying someone that you will be
doing the exercise. We do not know exactly why the ancients selected this
pose and technique, but we know that the exercise establishes a connection
between a practitioner and a spiritual teacher.
When visualizing a spiritual teacher, you may direct your
thoughts to any being who has achieved enlightenment, or even God itself, as
you want.
Eastern thought believes that each person, including you, the
student, can achieve enlightenment; every child is a future Buddha.
Therefore, you need to imagine yourself as a child —a little Buddha.
It is important to sense this state of being coming from your
heart. If your body is well relaxed, you can sense that as you rotate your
hands, something inside of you starts to rotate too. In this way, you begin to
connect to the energy and information at a much higher level—a level that
belongs to the being that you imagine; and then this level of energy and
information comes into your body.
Master’s Story
There is a popular book in China, loved by young and old, called
“Journey to the West,” written by the famous seventeenth-century traveler
Wu Chengen and translated into many languages. While the book tells the
story of the adventures of the Monkey King Sun Wukong, it also gives an
account of practical methods for overcoming various types of obstacles.
Wu Chengen writes about a magic monkey born soon after the
creation of the world. We learn how this monkey, in his travels around the
world, strove for self-perfection until he learned and mastered the Great
Teaching. Thanks to his mother’s wit, he received the title of “Great Sage,
Equal of Heaven.” However, none of this was enough for him; he always
wanted more. His arrogant behavior set the celestials, such as the Goddess
Guan Yin, the most worshipped deity of the East, against him. After he
refused to heed any warnings, the Army of Heaven mobilized against him, but
their mission failed. Finally, the Jade Emperor appealed to Buddha
Tathagata, who arranged a meeting with Sun Wukong. (Here it should be
pointed out that Tathagata is traditionally interpreted to mean “one who
comes and goes the same way as the previous Buddhas.” According to the
Tripitaka of the Pali Canon, Tathagata is the name used by the historical
Buddha Shakyamuni, or Siddhartha Gautama, to refer to himself. The term
highlights the unique and ambiguous status of a fully enlightened being, since
such a one is beyond the categories of existence and non-existence; in fact,
beyond all categorizations.)
At the meeting, the Buddha found that the Monkey King
considered himself worthy enough to take the throne of the Jade Emperor,
due to his superior intelligence and knowledge. The Buddha made a bet with
the Monkey King. If the Monkey King could jump out of his—the Buddha’s—
palm, he would receive the Heaven Throne from the Buddha himself. If he
failed, the Buddha would send him to Earth, never to return to Heaven to
disturb the celestials. Sun Wukong tried not to show his surprise at this easy
bet.
The Buddha reached out with his right hand, and the Monkey
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King jumped right into the middle of the Buddha’s palm, which seemed as big
as a lotus leaf to him. Then, Sun Wukong whispered something and raced
forward at what he thought was the speed of light. However, at that moment,
the Buddha, knowing that the Monkey King’s speed was actually much
slower, directed his Eye of the Mind at him. After a while, Sun Wukong
concluded that he had reached the edge of the world, since he saw five skin-
colored pillars. To prove to the Buddha that he really went there, he got off
his horse, pulled out a hair from his head, turned it into a brush with ink, and
signed the central pillar. Finally, just for fun, he urinated at the base of the
pillar before jumping on his horse and rushing back.
“Now give me the throne of the Jade Emperor,” he said. “I
reached the edge of the world!”
“You, rascal,” answered the Buddha, “You haven’t even jumped
out of my palm!”
“No way!” shouted Sun Wukong, “I put my signature at the edge
of the world.”
“Get off your horse and open your eyes wider, and while you are
at it, sniff around,” said the Buddha.
Sun Wukong saw his signature on the the Buddha’s middle finger
and smelled a strong odor. He wanted to jump out of the the Buddha’s palm
and run away, but the Buddha turned his palm upside down and dropped the
Monkey King from the Heavenly Gates to Earth. Then the Buddha, with his
five fingers, created a mountain from the five elements and five environments.
He dropped the mountain on Sun Wukong, leaving only a small opening for
air.
This story shows us that no one is allowed to break the order of
the Universe and its laws.
Exercise Goals
Master’s Story
When I finished this stage of training, I had to pass a sort of an
exam. We had certain places for the training of specific exercises. To hold
this exam, we went to a field where a number of different-sized holes were
dug out. They had covered the holes with shields and soil, making them
impossible to locate with the naked eye or any other regular sense.
They had placed a rock in one hole, a piece of wood in another,
and some copper in the third. The test was to locate and identify each of these
buried objects with only the energy from our hands. It was only after we had
passed this test that we were permitted to move on to the next stage of
practice.
ATTENTION:
1. Don’t raise your chin too high; in other words, don’t allow your
head to bend backward.
2. Do not overexert. Please note that your ability to do this depends on
the length and flexibility of your neck. When you turn your head,
you should feel only a gentle tension in that area.
Exercise Goals
We can regulate our health not only with medical drugs, plants,
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food, and other substances, but also with information. Information has a
profound effect on health. The body reacts in different ways to various types
of information.
There are always vital interactions taking place, even when we
cannot easily sense them. Imagine that on a hot, dry summer day, someone
points out a lemon tree and asks you to look at its fruit. How would your
body react to this information? Many people would begin to salivate
excessively. Oddly enough, this bodily reaction to information might start to
quench their thirst. A few words and a brief glance at a lemon produce a
powerful reaction. Imagine, then, what can happen if we see ourselves as
birds with long supple necks drinking water from a lake. How will such an
image influence our body?
Exercise Goals
Master’s Story
In the East, especially China, dragons are honored. Earlier,
there was a Cult of the Dragon, which involved various rituals that now take
the form of feasts and dances. According to an ancient legend, dragons are
the ancestors of the Chinese people. The legend goes on to say that these
dragons now live in other worlds, where they moved after achieving the
appropriate level of Shen. Many old buildings and monasteries have pictures
and sculptures of dragons (Picture 14). Today, we also see the reliefs of
dragons on the ridges of roofs. In modern China, we find houses, amusement
rides, and decorative plants built in the shape of dragons. Besides, almost in
every temple you can see the monuments and pedestals to turtles, decorated
with high reliefs of dragons playing with pearls.
Isn’t it the dragon’s population, which had left the knowledge to
their descendants before leaving this world? Are they more than mere
legend?
The first exercise regulates the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints.
The second exercise trains the area between the shoulder blades, the shoulder
girdle, and the thoracic cage area. The third exercise trains the entire spine.
The fourth exercise works knee joints and the lumbosacral spine segment.
This exercise provides complete training for the leg and arm joints as well as
the spine.
The First-Level Goal of these exercises involves the training the
physical parts of the body.
The Second-Level Goal focuses on the regulation of the energy
in the body and on the regulation of the body with the help of energy.
The Third-Level Goal emphasizes the impact of information on
the body, particularly the impact of images on the internal workings of the
body. Here we see that Qigong simultaneously trains the mind,
consciousness, energy, and body.
Final Note
1. Some writings claim that during the procedure of opening the channels,
destructive energy may also enter the body. Does energy have a constructive
as well as a destructive side?
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Energy is similar to rays of sunlight. On the one hand, sunlight
helps everything grow. In fact, nothing can grow without it. On the other
hand, strong sunlight can cause damage. As a rule, bad or evil energy comes
from the Universe. Individual human energy does not have enough power to
harm other people.
The energy we radiate is a vital energy that helps life. It is wrong
to think that when the channels are open, damaging energy can enter. Why?
Our body has an aura around it, similar to the atmosphere around the planet
Earth. Similar auras envelope each organ and living cell. These auras provide
the body with its own protection system. Qigong practice strengthens that
system by making the auras thicker and wider. When we get sick, our aura
loses thickness and becomes weaker. When this happens, “bad” external Qi
can have an impact on our body. The bad Qi can lower our energy levels and
weaken us. Indeed, when we communicate with a seriously ill person, the
sick person’s energy can have a negative impact on us.
3. Is it necessary to rotate the palms toward yourself and then away from
yourself?
The first exercise can prompt many questions: Why must the
rotation take place in two directions? Why do we need to rotate first toward
and then away from the person? Why do our palms need to touch each other?
There is a simple answer to all of these questions. Instead of asking them, we
should simply do the exercise. After some practice, it will all become clear.
The exercises have been designed to help us balance everything inside the
body.
6. What is the best direction to orient oneself during practice (north, south,
east or west)?
2. In this exercise, is it only the wrists that are relaxed, or also the arms?
In the second exercise, the wrists and arms must be completely
relaxed.
4. The only thing that I feel constantly is warmth. I cannot separate Qi from
Earth and Qi from Sky. What should I do?
At the very beginning of this practice, you may not feel any
coolness, especially if there is a high amount of energy (a “log” of Qi) in
your arms. Later, after the arms become calm, and when you enter a state of
relaxation, you will feel the difference between Earth and Sky.
5. I do not feel any difference in the sensations of Earth Qi and Sky Qi, but I
constantly feel goose bumps on my hands. Sometimes, I feel some trickles or
motion in the body, but not in my palms. Why?
At the initial stage of practice, your body undergoes changes in
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the Yin-Yang balance, and very often, the sensations that you experience are
the reactions of these bodily changes. These are internal, and not external,
reactions.
6. During the exercise, my arms and hands start hurting and go numb. It feels
as though they are heavy. What should I do about this?
In this case, you need to repeat the exercise more often, but not
for longer periods. You will feel pain if you have problems in your shoulders
or joints. Should this be the case, you will need to work on your joints.
10. Is it necessary for the fingers of the right and left hands to touch each
other while rolling the hands forward?
11. Do we need to make pauses when the arms are at the sides or directed
forward?
There should be no pauses.. The transitions from one movement
to the next should be smooth.
3. Is this exercise harmful if there are multiple lymphomas along the spine?
I have had several patients with lymphomas. They could practice
all these exercises; the exercises will not cause you any harm.
4. How many times a day should I practice this and other preliminary
exercises?
You can practice as many times a day as you wish! When you
achieve perfection in the practice of these exercises, once a day will suffice.
7. Is it acceptable to practice one exercise eight times, and the other, for
example, for ten minutes?
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Yes. You can perform some exercises for a long time until, for
example, you start to feel the Yin and Yang. Then, the next time, you can
perform another exercise for a longer period of time.
MAIN EXERCISES
BIG TREE
Every form of life has consciousness. Trees that have lived long
have acquired vast reservoirs of wisdom. Humans can learn a great deal about
longevity from these trees.
You may have read about experiments that showed plants
reacting to people’s thoughts and emotions. Researchers detected the plants’
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responses to humans from sensors attached to the plants. If a person
approached the plant with kind thoughts (“You are so beautiful,” “I like you,”
or “I love you very much!”), the plant had well-defined impulse frequencies.
However, if a person came up to the plant with hateful thoughts (“I hate you”
or “I want to set you on fire”), the plant radiated another type of impulse,
irregular. In addition, the plants reacted with analog impulses to threats to
neighboring plants and to the demise of small animals close to them.
Therefore, it seems highly likely that plants communicate with each other and
with animals. The plants used in this research were young. Imagine how a
tree that has lived for centuries would understand human thoughts and
emotions.
Master’s Story
From these experiments, we see that when humans communicate
their thoughts and emotions, trees and plants understand and respond to
them. In contrast, however, when the trees and plants think about something,
humans do not understand them. If, for example, you approach a big,
centuries-old tree with questions about aging, then perhaps the tree would
understand and answer you, but you would not understand it. If we could
understand plants and trees, then we would quickly change our attitudes
about nature.
In ancient China, highly skilled Masters who lived in isolated
mountain regions could communicate with flora and fauna. They could
understand the soul of nature. They uncovered the secrets of longevity and
passed them on to others. In Chinese history, we know of a person named
Pan Tzu who, incredibly, lived nearly eight hundred years. Another amazing
man, Chang Sen Fen, lived so long that people lost count of his age.
Among notable person who lived long lives is Lao-tzu, the first to
speak of TAO in his book Tao Te Ching, now translated into many languages.
Leaving his manuscripts behind, he moved to the mountains, where he lived
for a very long time—for how long, no one knows. Some Masters reported
that several hundred years after his disappearance, Lao-tzu visited and
taught before disappearing again. Furthermore, they claimed that his coming
and going took place over several generations. It still remains a murky
secret.
We still know very little about individuals who live for such long
periods of time, although great longevity among trees is not uncommon.
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Trees can live several thousand years, if no one damages them and they do
not get sick. If people did not get sick or suffer injury, and if they did not fight
wars…if…, if…, if…, how long would they live? Similar to humans, trees may
perish at the age of thirty or forty, either from disease, climate conditions,
natural disasters, or simply because people use them for their needs.
Disease has become humanity’s main curse. Humans often look
old not due to aging, but due to illness. Think about the reasons why most
people die. It’s a fact that most people die from illness rather than old age. If
people had good emotions, if they lived in sanitary conditions, if they had
healthy bodies, if they had interesting work, if they had satisfactory lives
overall…if they had all these things, life would not be a burden, and no one
would want to die. Some people may not want to live for eight hundred years,
but undoubtedly, they would want to live as long as possible within their
physiological abilities and limits. Each form of life on Earth has its own
natural limit.
4. Imagine, next, that your tree-trunk body grows wide and reaches into the
sky above the clouds. Then, imagine your head turning into the tree’s
branches and absorbing the light from the Sun and the energy of the
Universe. Become as large as Universe and take in the Yang energy
from it.
Now you are a big tree.
5. Forget about the exercise and yourself. Feel the Qi of earth coming from
below, through your leg-roots. Feel the Qi of universe coming from
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above. Feel their movements in your body, and feel the energy ball with
your palms and the navel. Then, again, forget it all.
6. As a modification of point five, imagine and feel the ball grow bigger and
bigger, until it goes through and beyond the boundaries of your body
and you appear inside. Feel yourself inside that ball. Feel the sounds of
music with your body, when you and the ball become as large as
universe. (Big Tree, like the other main exercises during the beginning
stages of learning [Stages 1–4], is practiced with special music. These
special tunes are performed on ancient Chinese instruments. Their goal
is to help you master the various exercises. The sounds help open BAPs
and clear energy channels by allowing them to resonate with certain
structures and levels of Qi.)
Then, imagine the ball gradually shrinking and becoming smaller.
Imagine that the energy inside the ball becomes more solid and dense
until its surface decreases and goes through your body. Then, fit the ball
in between your palms and navel. Feel the sounds of music with your
body and compare these feelings with those experienced previously.
Then, the ball again grows larger, and you are inside it. Then, it
decreases again. Repeat this pattern several times.
7. After finishing the exercise, get back to your normal state: now you are
again a human, not a tree. Then, you can start feeling the energy ball
again between your hands and navel. Mentally decrease the ball’s size,
and, slowly moving your hands toward your navel, put the ball into your
lower Dan Tian through your navel. Place your hands on your navel.
Women should put the right hand on the navel with the left hand on top.
Men should do the opposite. The thumb of the hand on top hides under
the lower hand to create a “lock,” and the center of the lower palm (the
Laogong point) is aligned with the center of the navel.
CLOSING EXERCISES
Recommendations
For best results, practice the Big Tree exercise in the morning.
This way, it can help with the reception and collection of energy from the
outside throughout the day. Many people have an excessive amount of energy
that makes it hard for them to fall asleep, when they practice the exercise in
the evening or at night. However, the choice of practice time is yours. These
are individual decisions that depend on each person’s situation and
opportunities. There are no strict recommendations for any of these first
steps.
REMEMBER: Before you practice Big Tree, you need to open the
1. Heat or Cold. If Yin and Yang are not balanced, you might experience
heat or cold during practice. The concentration of Qi in the lower or
middle Dan Tian usually causes a sensation of a warm or hot ball. With
the correct practice of Big Tree and an intense collection of Qi from the
environment, you might experience unbearably extreme heat. Your heart
rate may increase, and you might experience excessive perspiration.
During certain stages of practice, some people experience
differences in temperature in the right and left palms or in the right and
left halves of the body. This happens because one half of the body
belongs to Yang and the other to Yin (Picture 9b). There are methods of
practice that allow us to strengthen and seal this effect. In ancient times,
this was used in martial arts systems. One hand could scald an enemy as
though it were a torch; the other hand could freeze him.
Sometimes for several days, you may feel chilly, as though you were
catching a cold. During such a period, wrapping yourself in a blanket
might not even give you warmth. This indicates the beginning of
changes in your body, and you need to practice more intensively during
these days. Occasionally, after practicing Big Tree, students can
suddenly experience extreme cold. For them it feels as though the blood
is freezing in their veins. Do not be frightened by this state; do not try to
break it artificially, through massage, hot baths, or warm drinks. When
this occurs, it means that the body is still in the process of changing,
even after the exercise is completed. In this case, one needs to overcome
this state, these feelings, and to continue practicing. When you have
achieved this, you ascend to the next stage of your development.
2. Insects or Itching. Sometimes, you might feel as though there are insects
creeping and crawling all over your body. These sensations often
accompany the opening of the BAPs. If the points have been blocked
and begin to open very quickly, you might also experience itchiness. In
the area of the head and neck, the itching can become unbearable. Don’t
scratch these itches, because you may interrupt the process of changes in
your body. Try to overcome this discomfort. After a short time, such
unpleasant sensations go away, and you will feel better and lighter in
those areas. You can then “breathe” through those zones.
Sometimes the feeling of creeping insects is accompanied by
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trembling or vibrations. Goosebumps accompany the vibrations of the
zones. However, these vibrations, which seem to come in waves, are not
permanent. Usually, they are more interesting than discomforting, but
sometimes they can become painful. A sensation of pain indicates a very
intense opening of the points. After the process ends, the body feels as
though it has became more porous and open, as though air now blows
through the pores and the body itself. In this case, until students become
familiar with these feelings, we recommend avoiding extremes of hot
and cold while showering or, for example, swimming in cold water.
3. Weightlessness. Lightness and weightlessness occur when, during the
exercise, practitioners manage to “forget about themselves.” Eventually,
with practice, they will pass to another state, where the body does not
limit their perceptions and feelings. This is the first stage of the
QIGONG STATE. It marks the next stage of one’s development.
4. The feeling of heaviness appears to be due to the failure to relax or to
adopt a correct posture. Unusual positions of different parts of the body
will cause heaviness and numbness. Filling up with Qi also causes
sensations of bloating, whereby the legs, fingers, and toes swell, making
them hard to bend. In time, the Qi begins to be automatically
redistributed throughout the body.
5. Vibrations usually occur when Qi enters our body from the outside and
flows in the channels. Sometimes it feels as though we have live
humming wires inside our body.
6. When excessive Qi enters the brain, it may cause ears to block and a
humming sensation, as though we were in an airplane changing
altitude. Later, students will acquire the talent to hear distinct sounds
and talk over long distances.
7. Flashing Lights. The activation of BAPs in the zone of the Third Eye
when a large amount of Qi enters the area can cause feelings similar to
lights flashing in front of you (mainly with the eyes closed).
8. Visions. Practitioners may experience different images that include
communication with Jesus, the Buddha, or other Saints, visions of other
epochs on Earth, pictures of other worlds, voices, advices, etc.
During the first stages of Qigong, these types of visions are
produced by the mind working at various conscious and subconscious
levels. They are based on our internalized information from books,
movies, studies, and the imagination. They do not represent the truth.
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However interesting you find them, do not focus your attention on them.
The feelings and visions will constantly change, since they are
associated with changes in the body and mind.
If you pay attention to these visions, you will easily lose your
direction and never reach your goals. Compare this to the highway
where you drive your car. You need to cover this highway by a certain
time. Various landscapes fly by your windows. You may enjoy them;
keep them in your memory. But you don’t lose track of the goal of your
journey. The more you focus on the passing sights, the less you will
remember the goal of your trip. However, if you stopped at every new
area and got out of the car to look around, you would never reach your
final destination. You would be stuck at the very beginning of the Path,
not even realizing that it was just the beginning. Other landscapes and
perceptions await you on your way. You would risk losing your Path,
being extremely late, or never reaching the end of your journey. Your
life might not be long enough for you to arrive at your desired
destination.
2. Fainting
Practitioners who are still recovering from recent surgeries might
experience short fainting spells during the Third preliminary and Big Tree
exercises. Heart disease, problems with blood pressure, or a disruption in the
cervical spine may also provoke such symptoms. These are caused by the
intense flow of Qi into a weakened body part or organ (especially the brain).
This is not dangerous. As a rule, after several minutes, the practitioner will
regain consciousness without any help. Sometimes, however, the fainting
spell can be transformed into regular sleep.
Applying pressure to the Yinjiao point helps revive the person
(Picture 10e). Those who feel weak or close to fainting (about to lose
consciousness) should rub their nose area with their fingers, especially while
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washing the face. This also heals nose diseases. Next, they
should massage the temples. If they suffer from headaches
which make them feel faint, they should massage the
Yinjiao and Hegu points by rotating the fingers eight times
Picture 28: Hegu
Point in one direction and eight times in the other. The Hegu
point is located at the base of a thumb on the backside of
the hand, between the first and second metacarpal bones, closer to the radial
edge (Picture 28).
If a person loses consciousness, applying pressure to the above-
mentioned points, combined with some light patting, will help. The person
can continue practicing after regaining consciousness. In fact, that person
needs to keep practicing. Later, these fainting states will no longer bother the
practitioner, and he will start to feel stronger, fresher, and more capable.
6. Loud sounds
Crying, laughing, singing, and shouting during the Big Tree
practices are symptomatic of certain heart and lung diseases.
a) With these sounds, bad Qi leaves the body, and good Qi
comes in. You should not intentionally cry, shout, or otherwise “fake” these
emotions. Students may allow them only if they occur naturally in a state of
Qigong.
b) If you are sensitive enough to feel the illness of a person near
you, your Qi can also react to it. Sometimes, for example, the state of that
person will improve after you have cried.
All of the above-mentioned effects are results of various healing
procedures that may happen during practice.
1. During the exercise, I felt some pain in the right leg, but almost none in the
left. Why?
Usually the right and left sides of the body have different
sensitivities. The right side of the body belongs to Yang, whereas the left
belongs to Yin. Since the part that belongs to Yang is more sensitive, people
typically start feeling the movement of energy in the right half of their bodies
earlier. However, there are exceptions, such as when the Yin part is more
sensitive, or when both halves of the body have equal sensitivity.
3. I feel light warmth in my legs, and my eyes hardly recognize any light.
This is an appropriate reaction. It indicates that the energy is
entering into the leg area and that the activation of the Third Eye is
beginning.
5. I have not sensed any heat, but I have sensed something moving up my
legs. I am going through Stage I for the second time. Last time, you sent us
energy and helped us practice. However, now the quality of the energy seems
different. Am I right?
Of course. The energy you receive will differ from time to time,
just as there are differences in the types of energy that exist. Besides, every
day we change. Today you are different than you were yesterday. Similarly,
you change from one seminar to another.
7. When I have finished practicing, I still keep getting more saliva. Is this
normal?
Yes, keep swallowing it.
10. Sometimes I want to move with the music. What should I do?
This is normal. You should not resist this urge and force yourself
to be motionless. Let your body go. Do not prevent the Qi from doing its
work.
13. I have different sensations every time while practicing Big Tree:
sometimes I experience stomach pain; sometimes I feel heat in my body.
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Today I felt the urge to laugh during the entire exercise. What does this
mean? What kind of sensations should we experience in general?
There is no hard and fast rule about the sensations you should
experience. They are very individual and vary from person to person. For
example, today, you feel cold, but, tomorrow, you might feel hot. The more
you practice, the more sensations change.
14. During the exercise, what parts of the body should we imagine the Qi
goings through?
You need not imagine anything. You will soon feel it.
16. After Big Tree, my legs seem to be numb. What is the fastest way to bring
them back to normal?
During the final patting exercises, you should start hitting your
legs from the Huantiao point (Picture 26c), or intensely massage that point by
applying finger pressure.
17. Why do some parts of my body (for example, my head, neck, and
shoulders) start itching? What should I do in this case?
Very often, the opening of the BAPs and the zones will cause
itching, especially in the head, neck, face, and shoulders. You should try and
tolerate this. For these unpleasant sensations to disappear, you should
practice more intensely. Vigorous practice will enable more Qi to enter the
body, and the process of opening the points will take place faster.
19. I often feel like laughing while listening to certain melodies that are
played during the practice of Big Tree. Should I stop myself?
Do not stop yourself. Such phenomena are related to certain
changes in the physical body and the flow of Qi. They will change as you
practice.
20. Some of the music that follows ZYQ exercises irritates me. Why do some
people say that they like these melodies, when I cannot stand some of these
selections?
Such phenomena are related to your physical body. Different
music affects different parts of the body. If the Qi enters a seriously ill area,
you feel pain in that zone. If the problems are not too serious and connect to
the state of the nervous system and the psycho-emotional sphere, you may
experience irritation, or rage. These moods will continue until the area is
worked out completely. Then, you will stop emotionally reacting to the
melodies.
21. During the exercise, my body goes through rocking and bending motions.
It feels as though some force is driving me. Sometimes, I fall down. What
should I do?
People who experience such movements should not close their
eyes completely during the exercise. This will help them control their body
positions better. Continue practicing with opened eyes.
22. I feel as though my hands are located on top of a ball that grows bigger
and bigger. Sometimes I find my hands floating higher than the level of the
navel, and I cannot feel my arms at all. They seem to be on top of some kind
of pillow, and it is hard to bring them back to their original stance before the
end of the exercise. What should I do?
You are experiencing the appropriate sensations. Do not put your
arms down during practice. The only thing you should do is place them in the
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original stance in the beginning and then try to forget about them. All the rest
will happen automatically.
23. At some point during Big Tree, my breathing slows down, becomes
shallow, and then stops. For some time, I do not want to breathe at all. Then,
I gasp for breath. My breathing pattern returns to normal and becomes
regular, but soon afterward it again becomes shallow and stops. This usually
happens several times. After this, I do not feel my body at all and cannot
sense any breathing. Is that dangerous?
These reactions are good and indicate that you are doing
everything right. This is the beginning phase of the state of Qigong. Later,
you will be able to “switch” to that state instantly.
24. It seems to me that as soon as I adopt the appropriate position and start
seeing some blurry images with changing colors, the music stops and I need
to do the end exercises. Is there any explanation for this?
This is very good. This is the true state of Qigong. In this case,
you can practice the exercise longer—for an hour or two.
25. I used to feel so hot that sweat dripped off my face and back. However,
yesterday, all I felt was heat. What does this mean?
This reaction is not a problem. In Qigong practice, heat and
warmth are normal phenomena. These reactions occur because you have
collected large amounts of Yang Qi during the exercise.
26. I experience strong pain on my left side that lasts for about thirty minutes
after the end of the exercise. I did not feel this on the first day; however, on
the second and third day, the pain made its first appearance and became
hard to tolerate. What should I do?
Are you aware of any problems that you might have in the area
of the pain?
Yes, six years ago, I had two fractured ribs. Last year, in the same spot, I had
intercostal neuralgia, but I am fine now. Could these be connected?
Of course, these factors are connected. Even if the problem is ten
27. I do not feel anything. Does this mean that I do not collect energy? I do
not feel any warmth under the hands in the lower Dan Tian. All I feel is
pulsation and pressure.
These are also sensations. They indicate the collection of Qi and
its entrance into the lower Dan Tian. At this stage, you need not experience
warm sensations. These will come later.
28. I always see flashes of light, sometimes bright and multicolored, during
Big Tree. What does this mean?
This is a good reaction. It shows that you have activated the
Third Eye zone due to a large quantity of Qi entering your brain area.
30. At some point during the practice of Big Tree, I experience heartache.
Just before the pain appears, I almost stop breathing. Then, just below my
shoulder blade, I feel as though a plug has been inserted. Involuntarily, I
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inhale deeply and the pain goes away, but the whole experience gets repeated
after some time. This lasts throughout the forty minutes of practice. It
happens even when I practice at home. However, I have a healthy heart.
This happens when you have narrow channels in the shoulder
blade area. A very rough region for the Qi to travel through is the area around
the Chiachi point. People often report heartache when Qi goes through this
area. These discomforts will last until the point has opened up completely. If
you practice intensively, these unpleasant sensations will go away faster.
Yes, perhaps you are right. Today the pain was much weaker than yesterday.
Tomorrow, it will be even less.
31. You tell us that during Big Tree we collect Qi. Nevertheless, after the
exercise, I feel very sleepy. What kind of energy is this? Is it possible that
instead of collecting it, I am losing it?
What was your condition before you began this practice?
Three years ago, I underwent surgery for a bad appendix. After that, I had a
slight fever for more than a month. During the last month, I constantly had a
bitter taste in my mouth, and I did not sleep well enough. It felt as though I
had insomnia.
Has anything else changed apart from the hypersomnia?
The bitterness in my mouth seems to have gone. The headaches have almost
stopped.
You see, hypersomnia is symptomatic of the body undergoing
reconstruction. You have had too many problems. Energy is necessary for
healing. It will aid in the recovery of your organs’ functions in particular and
your physiological state in general. Very often, during Qigong practice, the
prolongation of sleep is connected to all kinds of healing and health-
improvement processes in the body. As you heal, your vital powers will
increase and the duration of your sleep will shorten. As you see, it is all quite
logical.
32. Before the practice of Big Tree, I did not experience any headaches, but
33. I am aware of all my diseases, and I would like them to disappear as soon
as possible. I would like to open up my points as fast as I can. May I
intentionally direct the energy toward the infected areas during the Big Tree
practice?
No, you may not do so. First, when there is a large amount of Qi,
it will move automatically to the appropriate area. Second, you do not know
the exact and required path of the Qi movement inside your body. You know
where you are experiencing problems, but overall, you seem to have no idea
how to work out these faults.
34. Can I move to the second stage if body rocking and similar movements
have not stopped after the completion of the first stage?
This depends on several factors. Usually, this is not an obstacle.
However, we need to review each case individually.
I had some a long time ago. In addition, I had headaches when I was sick
with the flu.
Practice more and do not force anything on your body.
36. I have always considered myself healthy because I rarely get sick. I do
not take sick leaves or see doctors, except for dentists. However, on the third
day of the Big Tree practice at home, I started to experience spontaneous
movements. If I try to stop my body from moving, I feel irritation,
disturbance; sometimes, I even have tears in my eyes. This worries me. I am a
grown-up man, not a whiny child. What should I do about this?
The passage of inner energy causes changes in your emotions:
sometimes, you feel like crying or laughing; sometimes, you experience other
emotions. Do not try to control yourself. Do not restrain yourself. These
emotions arise because the energy inside your body has been activated. Do
not control it. Do not worry. These responses should be welcomed. If you
have sick areas, your body will certainly move. If the movement does not
take place immediately, it certainly will after several days.
If there is no illness in your body, if you know you are healthy,
all your channels are open and the energy flows freely. In these cases, there
will not be any movements. If movements occur, it means that you have
problems and that the passage of Qi energy makes your body move.
Therefore, there is no need to force your body and intentionally stop the
movements. If you do this, you will interfere with the passage of energy. As a
result, you can experience emotional outbursts or pain. Let everything work
naturally. This is the process of healing.
37. When I try to concentrate on the image of a big tree, I feel either the head
or the legs. How often do I need to redirect my attention to imagining the
roots or the top? Should I fight this phenomenon?
You should imagine this picture only at the beginning. During
practice, you need to remove all thoughts from your mind. First, picture
yourself as a big tree; then, feel yourself as a big tree to the extent that you
are unsure whether you are human or tree. This is the correct method.
39. May I manipulate the sick areas of my body, primarily the spine, during
the Big Tree exercise?
No, you may not. You must learn to let go completely. If you
intentionally try to control your bodily processes during practice, you will not
be able to relax.
40. Can I stand right next to a real tree during the exercise? It is believed
that only actual big trees fit the goals of the exercise and that, otherwise, the
exercise will not be beneficial.
No, this is not true. Standing next to a tree is of no essential
value, as far as the exercise is concerned. What is of importance here is the
working of your mind at the initial moment of the exercise. You need to
imagine yourself as a big tree.
41. I don’t feel anything when I pat my head with my hands after Big Tree. It
seems as though it is not even my own head. How do I bring back normal
sensations?”
You need to intensely pat your head with your hands. Soft
patting will not work. While patting, you need to imagine that your activated
palms open BAPs and channels. Try the exercise again, with these
modifications.
REFINING QI
There are two ways to increase your own energy.
The first is to use certain exercises that allow you to receive this
energy directly from the environment. You are already familiar with the most
effective exercise for this—namely, Big Tree.
The second way is to generate the energy inside your body or to
About Qi Generation
You know that in order to build muscles and strength, you need
to exercise. However, exercise alone is not enough. Only after exercising
regularly for a period of time do we notice any increase in the size of our
muscles and our strength. The same applies to the lower Dan Tian. After a
certain period of training, we start feeling warmth followed by heat in this
area.
When we vigorously rub our palms together, they become hot. If
we run or do some other intense exercise, our body heats up and we begin to
feel hot as well. Qigong practice in the Dan Tian area requires the opposite
approach. First, we must reach a deep state of relaxation and quietness and
not make any movements. Here we use a new method of producing energy
and warmth. This method is not dynamic but has similarities to a chemical
method. While working with this area, we first increase the quantity of our
energy and then, its quality. How do we do this?
Most people notice that our energy decreases when we feel sick
or have bad moods or negative emotional states. In contrast, our energy
increases when we feel upbeat or happy, or experience a high level of interest
in something. The increase in energy means that our minds have connected
with Qi. Hence, in order to produce Qi, we need to use our minds. For this,
we should use visualization techniques.
About Visualization
Picture 30: Practice Postures (a,d) Lotus Pose, (b) Half-lotus Pose, (c,e) Turkish Style
Rub your palms until they are hot and wash your face with them.
If you were practicing for a long time, perform the entire set of closing
exercises that we did after Big Tree.
Practical Guidelines
Master’s Story
We use our mind to control Qi, so that it can serve us. Humans
constantly strive to learn, progress, and develop. However, first we need to
understand who we are. The existence of all living creatures, including
humans, has three aspects: physical body, energy, and mind/consciousness or
spirit. Therefore, human development assumes the development of each of
these aspects.
We believe that we understand everything about the physical
body. We have devised many sports—football, basketball, skiing, ice-skating,
swimming, jogging, etc., and special types of training for certain muscle
groups. To develop the body, we begin athletic training as early as preschool.
We have developed gym facilities filled with exercise equipment.
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However, despite all these efforts, an analysis of the health of professional
athletes shows that by the age of forty, if not earlier, their health is much
worse than that of other people of the same age. This indicates that there are
limitations and drawbacks to our knowledge and philosophical perception of
life and health.
Let us turn to the second aspect of human nature—energy. What
methods can we use to improve it? Can you recall being taught this subject at
school?
What have we learned about developing our spirit and soul—the
third aspect of a human being? Today many people, including students, suffer
from depression in the face of stressful situations. Why don’t we focus more
on ways to improve their emotional states? Maybe our philosophy of life is
not quite right? May be we misunderstand what health means?
We devote considerable attention, effort, and resources to the
improvement of the material aspect of life, but comparatively little to
spiritual and emotional development. In recent years, however,
biotechnology has started to make tremendous progress, because humanity
really wants to understand what life is. It is time to start the development of
Human Beings as a form of Life.
Qigong provides a way for us to attain deep insights into the
nature of Life and various aspects of its existence. To assure success in this
venture, we need to develop our brain. To do this effectively, we need to
develop our energy and to improve its quality. This should help us
understand the importance of the practice of the Refining Qi exercise. The
recipe is simple: first, improve your health, and then, develop yourself—your
mind, intellect, and spirit.
1. Health Effects
a) This exercise tunes up the inner organs. It also brings a certain
order to the body. As a result, each organ works optimally and in harmony
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with all the other organs. We practice Qigong to bring each organ to its
optimal state.
Perhaps we would not need to do these things if external factors
were not causing excessive, uncontrolled emotions in us and if these
emotions were not affecting our inner organs; if our body parts were not
being damaged by medications, or improper food; if our bodies were not
being subject to improper physical exercises and incorrect practices; if…if…
The state of deep relaxation and silence of mind brings all inner
organs to order automatically, naturally, without any help. The practice of the
Refining Qi exercise brings us to this calm state and returns our inner organs
to their normal functioning. When we relax and calm down, our energy
increases and properly flows through the channels. Such flow of inner energy
helps balance the inner organs. This shows us the importance of learning how
to relax during this first stage of training.
Visualization helps greatly. It activates the occipital part of the
brain and calms down the frontal parts of the brain, so that it appears to have
fallen asleep. The frontal part is responsible for our thinking processes.
Hence, our mind also calms down, and our thoughts do not trouble our body
and energy system. Visualization techniques allow the energy to flow as it is
supposed to. In Qigong, the mind does not control or direct the energy.
Qigong aims to enable the body to go to its natural self-regulatory state.
b) One more aspect of this exercise also affects the transmission
of pain. The Refining Qi and ball activation are energy exercises. If someone
has a disease of the inner organs, located in the lower Dan Tian area, that
person will feel a pain similar to the one felt during the Big Tree exercise.
The opening of the energy channels offers ways to remedy this. Pain
symptoms frequently occur in women with gynecological disorders, and in
people with healing problems after surgery. Colitis and distortions in the
urogenital area may cause discomfort as well. The image of a red hot—not
just warm—ball can help relieve these pains and discomforts.
2. Rejuvenating Effects
The practice of Refining Qi allows us to transform our body, to
improve brain functions, and rejuvenate ourselves. When we practice this
exercise, we work with the lower Dan Tian, which is located in a part of the
body containing Yuan-Jing energy. We have already mentioned that this
energy relates to the genetic code (DNA and RNA) and to male and female
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sex hormones. Researchers have shown that this practice transforms DNA
and RNA into the energy that feeds the brain and activates its cells, thereby
making them work more efficiently. In addition, this exercise activates the
cells of the spinal cord. You will only have truly mastered this exercise when
you constantly feel warmth in the lower Dan Tian outside your daily routine,
and when you feel intense, almost painful, heat during practice. The heat
produced by the exercise relates to the process of transforming hormones into
Qi. This heat indicates that your body has started to change. It is difficult to
improve one’s health without the sensation of a hot red ball. Hence, it is
important to practice daily, with the ball.
Recommendations
Find a special time for practice. However, you should try to
practice at any opportunity: whether riding a bus, reading a book, working at
a computer, or during any type of activity that allows the periodic redirection
of your attention to the lower Dan Tian area. In these cases, you can practice,
without using your hands, by mentally recalling your ball in order to check
on its state, and to feel it in the lower Dan Tian.
Constant practice will increase hormone production in the body,
which in turn will generate more energy. What sensations accompany these
processes?
Master’s Story
With regular practice of the Refining Qi exercise, a person will
feel younger and more energetic. This increase in energy leads to an increase
in male and female sex hormones, followed by desire and sexual potency. In
many people, a lack of or decrease in sexual drive results from disease, not
aging. If sexual feelings have faded away with age, they will return with
Qigong practice, because the Refining Qi exercise triggers the recovery of
related physiological functions. In other words, your Qi returns to you. When
your energy starts increasing, your sexual desire also increases. If you do not
control this desire, you can lose energy and the Third Eye will stop working.
If your sexual desire increases during practice, you need to redirect that
energy to your brain. This energy will feed our Shen (or spirit), activate the
brain, and lead to the opening of the channels of extrasensory perception.
Usually, to redirect the energy, we use the Small Sky Circle (or Microcosmic
3. Developmental Effects
By practicing regularly, you will soon feel a hot area in the lower
Dan Tian. Further practice leads to intense heat, near-pain, and sometimes,
fire. Usually, the energy from the lower Dan Tian automatically goes up to
the brain and reaches the area of the Third Eye. Sensitive people may feel the
movement of this energy. When it reaches the brain, you will see something
similar to flashes of lightning, of the kind that you experienced in the Big
Tree exercise. Later, various colors of light will also appear. These colors are
very distinct, very bright, and clean. All the while, your mind will remain
clear.
This experience marks the beginning of the work of the Third
Eye. At the beginning, we said that Qigong practice increases the quantity of
our energy and improves its quality. This means that Qigong practice
expands the range of our sense perceptions. Normally, we see ourselves,
other people, nature, and the surrounding world through our perception
channels, but our senses are limited, as mentioned above.
Widening our range of sensations enables us to widen our
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perceptions, understanding, and knowledge about the environment, about us,
and about life.
Master’s Story
Researchers in the United States investigated the use of
Visual Phenomena
Many practitioners experience the phenomena that accompany
the activation of the Third Eye, which we have mentioned before. As you
continue to develop the Third Eye, you will see new images at each stage.
The images appear automatically. Here you should not think about what you
see or may see, but continue to maintain a state of relaxation and mental
silence, and keep on practicing. We call these visions “phenomena,” because
of their constantly changing nature. Do not try to analyze them or determine
whether they are correct or not. When your phenomena change, you also
change. These changes indicate your progress. If you like some phenomena
and want to linger to spend time with them, then your progress will stop.
If you believe everything you see during meditation, you will
have serious problems. For example, you might see yourself as a child of God
or as God. If you believe in these phenomena, focus on them, or respond to
them, you might get mentally excited and they can drive you insane.
Auditory Phenomena
When your energy rises into the area of the ears, that area may
feel hot. The ears may then start itching, and you may experience painful
sensations. After that, you may hear the sound of wind, and then, voices. The
opening of the Third Ear is similar to that of the Third Eye. Your response to
the auditory phenomena connected to the opening of the Third Ear must be
the same as your response of the visual phenomena associated with the
opening of the Third Eye. In other words, you must not pay any attention to
them. Just keep practicing. Do not try to strain your ears to determine what
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sounds or voices you are hearing. You must ignore all of these phenomena. If
you stop paying attention to the sounds and stop trying to understand them,
they will soon disappear. However, if you believe them, and want to listen to
them and figure them out, you can get into trouble.
Our memory allows us to remember not only the images and
pictures we see, but also the sounds we hear. After a music concert or a club,
we sometimes can continue to hear the music even after returning home. We
realize that we are hearing something that was playing earlier and pay no
attention to it. Eventually, the sounds go away. In contrast, if we listen to the
auditory phenomena, pay attention to them, and try to recognize them, they
may settle in our brain and become almost impossible to get rid of.
We need to learn about and understand the nature of these
phenomena without attributing them to extrasensory abilities. Then, there is
no danger. We should just keep practicing and, after a short time, they will
disappear. Later, they will reappear, but only as real information, and not as
phenomena.
1. How big should the ball in the lower Dan Tian be?
The ball should be the size of a large apple.
2. What happens if, during Refining Qi, I feel the heat all over my body?
This is very good. It means that you have large amounts of Qi. In
this case, after the exercise, you need to concentrate the energy in the lower
Dan Tian. You need to gather it mentally from all areas of the body and put it
in the lower Dan Tian. This means that you mentally move the energy from
the entire body into the lower Dan Tian and compress it into a small ball,
almost the size of a dot.
5. I do not see the red energy ball. Instead, I see some circles—first blue, then
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dark.
In the very beginning, you will not see the ball. If you could see
it, you would not need to meditate. Likewise, you will not be able to feel the
warmth at first. Later, you will begin to see and feel everything. All you need
is practice.
6. I do not see the ball. I see an oval that moves very fast. What is that?
The ball can spin but not very fast. Think and imagine that it is
there, and then, that it is not.
8. How does the energy transform during the Refining Qi exercise? Can we
call it “evaporation of energy”?
No, it is not an evaporation of the energy. It is a metamorphosis,
a transformation, a change. The transformation takes place at the molecular
level and is connected to changes in DNA. We say that during this process,
the seed Jing can turn into the energy feeding Yuan-Qi.
9. I feel warmth in the lower Dan Tian, but cannot concentrate it into a small
volume. What should I do? I always observe this area with my mind’s eye.
This is quite normal during the first stage of practice. Try and
redirect your attention to the center of this area and do not look at the entire
zone.
11. I practice Refining Qi very often, usually for thirty minutes, but
sometimes for two hours. At the beginning of my practice, I felt warmth in the
lower Dan Tian. With time, it turns into heat, and finally, I begin to see the
light. This doesn’t happen every time; however, when it does, it takes much
more time than I thought it would. For example, when I think that it will take
fifteen or thirty minutes, it ends up actually taking two or more hours.
When you enter the state of relaxation and peace of mind (this
exercise relates to Quiet Qigong), it is easy to reach the Qigong state. Then,
you do not feel the passage of time. It may feel as though it has been several
minutes when, in reality, an hour or more may have passed. It is the same
with Big Tree. Some people seem to take to this position. They close their
eyes and, much to their surprise, forty minutes go by, and the exercise is
over. This is a good thing. This is how it should be.
12. You said that to practice the Refining Qi exercise the right way, we need
to enter a calm state where nothing distracts us. Nevertheless, how can we
ignore our environment when, from day to day, we live chaotic lives? Even
when everyone else in the house is asleep, I cannot practice because of
snores coming from the other room.
I think this is not as much about the external situation as it is
about you. I will tell you a story. Try to see the analogy in it.
Master’s Story
Our practice room had an electric lamp that hummed. One of the
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students would give it an irritated look and sigh. Obviously, the noise
distracted him and interrupted his practice. Exasperated, he could not hold
back any longer. He asked me if the light bothered me and rhetorically
inquired whether I thought it was a good idea to turn it off.
I advised him to listen to the sounds and try to enjoy them,
because such vibrations can clear up the channels. After some time had
passed, he indicated that he agreed with me. He reported that he had
absorbed the sounds, and that they had increased his energy.
In our lives, we come up against different situations like this. If
we react to them in a negative way, we will have bad feelings. Therefore,
even when you have to deal with bad things, think how you can use those
situations to learn about changing yourself.
Method One:
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SMALL SKY CIRCLE USING BREATHING
1. The posture is similar to the one in the Refining Qi exercise: the spine is
straight, the head hangs by the vertex (Picture 30), the tongue touches
the roof of the mouth, and the hands are folded on the navel.
2. Concentrate your attention on the lower Dan Tian. Imagine and feel a
hot red ball inside it.
3. During inhalation, push in your stomach slightly with your folded hands,
while tightening your buttocks and anus. By doing this, you push the
ball out from the lower Dan Tian to the belly button, and then along the
Ren-Mai channel downward, to the perineum, the Huiyin point. Then
move the ball up along the spine, along the Du-Mai channel to the
Baihui point. Observe this process and feel the path of energy as it
travels from the lower Dan Tian to the Baihui point.
4. While exhaling, let go of the stomach, relax the body, and move the Qi
from Baihui downward to the roof of the mouth. Then, bring the energy
into the lower Dan Tian, passing through your tongue and down along
the Ren-Mai channel (Picture 34).
5. During the next inhale, repeat the same motion with the ball. Again,
push in your stomach and tighten your anus. Lower the ball along the
Ren-Mai channel to the Huiyin point. Then, continue moving the ball up
the Du-Mai channel to the Baihui point. On the exhale, lower the ball
into the lower Dan Tian.
Please notice that during this sequence, we use reverse breathing: we
push in the stomach while inhaling and relax it while exhaling.
6. Completing the exercise, put your hands on the navel and concentrate Qi
in the lower Dan Tian.
7. Finally, pat yourself on your head and chest as you did after the Big Tree
practice. This ensures that Qi does not stagnate in the head and the upper
body area instead of going down to the lower Dan Tian. If you practice
for a long time, you can proceed with the full series of closing exercises
as after the Big Tree practice.
Usually, Small Sky Circle should be practiced from twenty to
thirty minutes.
Method Two:
SMALL SKY CIRCLE USING MIND
Practical Guidelines
Find out which of the two methods (the breath or the mind) gives
you a clearer sensation of Qi moving along Small Microcosmic Orbit.
Depending on the answer, you can start with the exercise that is easier for
you. You can start with five to ten minutes of the easier method, and then
continue for twenty to thirty minutes with another, more difficult method.
It is more convenient to practice when you can feel the ball and
compress it to a small size. As a rule, any method works fine and you feel the
movement of this ball when, initially, you have plenty of Qi or when you
obtain large quantities of energy during the Big Tree practice. You may get
the same result when you activate the ball using Refining Qi. High sensitivity
and good imagination increase your feelings during this practice.
If you have insufficient energy, or if you
have a problem concentrating this energy in a ball or
imagining this ball’s movement inside the channels
(Picture 35a), try picturing half the ball under the skin,
and the other half outside the body (Picture 35b). In the
Picture 35: Small
early stages, some people find it easier to practice Microcosmic Orbit, the
Small Sky Circle (using breathing) in another way. Ways of Moving Qi Ball
1. Place the body in the same position as in the first breathing method of
1. Health Benefits
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a) Energy Balance: The front part of our body is Yin, and the
back is Yang. When the ball of energy starts moving along, it triggers an
exchange between Yin and Yang, and they become balanced.
This exercise allows you to balance the energy when you
experience symptoms that indicate a disruption in the balance. For example,
if you feel that one part of your body is heavier then another, the balance is
broken. Another symptom is the feeling of a heavy head that prevents
concentration and makes it hard to think. In these cases, your thinking will
seem slow and your thoughts unclear. Like many others, you may find
yourself complaining about your feet always being cold. If you have any of
these symptoms or chronic pains, such as painful sensations in the
lumbosacral spine area, back, shoulder blades, or head, practicing Small Sky
Circle will ease your condition.
b) Channel Opening: This exercise may sometimes produce
pain sensations similar to Big Tree. The reason is the same: the Qi moves
through narrowed or blocked parts of the channels. Moving along the Du-Mai
and Ren-Mai channels, Qi activates the energy inside them and cleanses them
by breaking up the congestion and removing blockages. The actions of the Qi
have beneficial health effects on the organs and the zones of the body located
along those channels. In fact, these are all internal organs, such as the throat,
nose, eyes, brain, spine, and central nervous system. The active Qi also
speeds up the process of healing from the common cold and flu.
2. Developmental Benefits
a) The Third Eye: When the Qi moves from the Baihui point
down, it goes through the area of the Third Eye and activates it. This
movement of Qi causes a number of phenomena, such as flashes of light,
glowing and tingling sensations, pressure, pain, etc. When a sufficient
amount of Qi builds up in this area, it becomes active, thereby causing the
opening of the Third Eye—a new channel of perception. Practice of the Third
Eye falls within the scope of Stage III of ZYQ; however, intense practice of
the main exercises of Stage I can also open the Third Eye. During Stage I
practice, in rare cases, the Third Ear may open, as well as the Second Heart.
Usually, practice for the opening of the Second Heart begins at
Stage II.
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b) Intuition and Creativity: The practice of Small Sky Circle
makes extensive use of visualization. These exercises activate and develop
the occipital parts of the brain, which in turn causes phenomena and effects
similar to Refining Qi.
3. Enhancement of Intellect
Summary
Master’s Story
First, the ball moves along the trajectory of Small Sky Circle. We
concentrate this ball in the lower Dan Tian. Then, it stretches out in a
manner similar to a comet. Gradually, its “head” catches up with its tail,
producing the image of a constant stream of Qi running along the trajectory.
Later, while mastering this exercise, another phase starts: sitting in a calm
and relaxed position, you will feel this energy automatically moving along
the trajectory.
After some more practice, you will experienced the next phase
when the stream turning into a wide ribbon start to move along a few parallel
channels at once, as a hot wide band through the entire back. If you continue
practicing even more, at the next phase, this wide ribbon will divide itself in
three energy streams: one will be warm or hot; the second will be cold or
cool; and third will be neutral, with no temperature variations. You will feel
all of these different streams simultaneously. Moreover, you will start seeing
the color of each stream: black, yellow, and red. When you reach this stage,
you can truly say that Small Sky Circle has started working. However, this is
still not the last phase and the highest level attainable through the practice of
this exercise. If you continue regular practice, all three streams will gather in
one. Then, experiences will take one of two forms.
First, the stream will change its trajectory and move not into the
Du-Mai channel but directly into the spine and brain. When the three streams
combine into one and go through body and brain, the sensations produced
are hard to describe with words. Suffice it to say that, at this stage, all
necessary conditions for our soul to go out of the body and come back have
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been met. After that, our soul can travel to other worlds.
Second, the stream will form a ball. However, it will not be the
original ball from the lower Dan Tian, but a very powerful energy sphere. It
can automatically move through the central channel Zhong-Mai, through all
three Dan Tians, opening all areas of the central channel and Heaven Gates
in the Baihui area. After that, the soul can leave the body.
This is what is called the hundred-day base for further practice.
That is because the real practice of Zhong Yuan Qigong starts from this
moment, the moment of the first soul’s departure.
This is when spiritual practice begins – the practice of soul and
spirit. Everything we did so far was directed at the improvement of our
health, and the preparation of our body and mind. Of course, not everyone
needs exactly one hundred days to build this foundation. Some people need
ninety-six days, while others require one hundred five days or even more.
Everything depends on the readiness of their physical bodies. If they
encounter many problems and have many diseases, they need to cure them
first. The Stage I and Stage II exercises are particularly suited for this
purpose. Only after that can you send your soul on journeys.
Theoretically, any healthy (or relatively healthy) person can
attain quick results during the hundred-day period of practice without any
sex. Here, let us use as an analogy the task of boiling water. Imagine putting
a pot on the stove. The water warms to a temperature of 80° C (176° F), at
which point you remove it from the stove, instead of letting it continue to
boiling point. Then, after the water cools, you again turn on the stove and
bring the temperature of the water to the 176° F mark, after which you again
turn off the stove. If you keep repeating this process, you will never bring the
water to a boil. It is the same with Qigong practice. Therefore, it is better
that you engage in intense practice for a period of time to obtain definite
results.
Since ancient times, ZYQ has been taught mainly to children and
not to adults. The Teachers waited for the children to open the Third Eye,
and then taught them how to initiate the journey of the soul. After that, the
children’s souls traveled to various worlds, where they could see the
Universe and understand the meaning of Life as well as the meaning of these
other worlds. They were allowed to have families and children only after they
mastered these techniques and reached these levels.
Usually, women had to complete the practice by the age of
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twenty-one and men, by the age of twenty-four. After the women and men
reached their respective age limits, they could marry. All of the above relates
to Yin-Shen practice. The next step would be the beginning of Yuan-Shen
practice.
1. I do not feel any motion along Small Sky Circle. What should I do? What
techniques can I use?
Try to perform physical exercises that warm up the body. For
example, do some push-ups. When your body is warm, the muscles relax, the
vessels and channels open up, and sensitivity increases.
2. Instead of going along my spine, the ball goes parallel to the Du-Mai
channel and aside from it. What does it mean?
This means that your Du-Mai channel is still closed. Later, as
you practice, the ball will become stronger and go where it is supposed to go.
There are several channels on the left and right side of the spine, apart from
the one in the middle. Energy flows to the zones where it meets least
resistance.
4. I cannot feel the channels. How do I know which trajectory to use for my
energy to go along my spine? What places and depth should I imagine the Qi
stream to flow?
Do not think about locations and depth. Just try and feel that the
Qi is flowing through your channels. For the moment, that is good enough.
As you progress, your ability to feel the energy will improve, and all the
questions will disappear. At present, the energy should rise up the back and
down the front.
5. What kinds of changes take place in our body during Small Sky Circle?
If you practice well, you will have a large amount of saliva in
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your mouth. When you feel the heat of the rising energy, it is healing diseases
as it moves.
6. Should the speed of the energy flow be the same during home practice as it
is during seminar classes? I feel as though the flow of the energy is slower at
home.
The speed may vary. Every individual has his/her own speed
level. At seminars, we try to do exercises simultaneously, in order to heighten
the effect. At home, you should practice in a manner that is convenient for
your rhythm.
10. I imagine the red-hot ball that moves along the spine. However, I do not
feel any warmth inside my body.
At this point, you imagine more than you feel. The sensations
will come as you practice.
13. During the exercise, I experience a metallic aftertaste, and the end of my
tongue feels as though it is being pinched, as though I were touching battery
poles. What does this mean?
This means that the Qi is going through the lifted tongue (“the
established bridge”), between the Du-Mai and Ren-Mai channels. This is a
correct reaction.
14. I feel as though it is not a ball that is moving inside me, but rather a
ribbon or an endless stream. Should I try to transform it into the form of a
ball?
No, do not do that. You are experiencing the proper
phenomenon. Let everything take place naturally for you.
15. I feel the ball. However, it is easier for me to move it constantly and
evenly than to stop in the lower Dan Tian. Do I have to pause between
inhaling and exhaling and stop the Qi at the bottom?
No, do not do that. Nonstop motion is the best.
16. As the Qi moves along its trajectory, I feel a lot of heat along the path it
takes. It feels as though the Qi is lighting up and burning. Is this dangerous?
This is the correct phenomenon. This happens when you have
plenty of Qi and it is concentrated.
17. When I practice Small Sky Circle, I start moving with the rhythm of the
imaginary motion of the ball inside my body. Am I practicing correctly?
Yes. Later, however, your movements will cease.
18. When I practice this exercise, I feel pain in the navel area.
There is a point in that area that is hard to open. Later, the pain
will go away.
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19. I do not feel any energy movement at all. If I keep attending your classes,
will I be able to feel anything? Right now, I do not understand what I am
supposed to feel.
What do you sense during the practice of other exercises?
When I practice Big Tree, I feel pain. When I try to make the ball move
automatically, I do not feel or see it. However, I feel pain in the area where I
have my hands.
These are normal sensations for the early stages of practice,
before you start to feel the energy moving inside your body. You are not yet
feeling the motion itself. As you practice more, the pain will cease. Then you
will experience stronger sensations. Keep practicing.
20. Is it normal for the ball to hop instead of moving in a smooth manner?
It is possible at the beginning.
22. I feel the ball moving in Du-Mai, but it stops in the shoulder-blade area,
against the chest, and then again at the base of the skull.
These zones have points that are hard to go through. You need to
give yourself time to open them.
23. Can I practice this exercise standing and while lying down before
sleeping?
Yes, you can.
26. With the strain that the special breathing can cause, how does the
practice of Small Sky Circle during the initial and later stages of pregnancy
affect the baby? Can this exercise result in the termination of a pregnancy or
harm to the baby?
Pregnant women do not have such negative reactions to Small
Sky Circle. When you practice, do not restrict yourself to a breathing pattern.
You may skip breathing practice entirely and use your mind to move the ball.
Also, you may start from the middle Dan Tian, instead of the lower one.
REMEMBER: If during one’s entire life, a person has never entered the
state of Qigong—he or she will have experienced a very big loss,
never having known his/her “second” side.
It is very similar to Yin-Yang, when you know only one side and
Master’s Story
Massaging the heel closer to the instep can enhance the sexual
functions of men and women. Nowadays all this is well known. Earlier,
however, there was no theoretical basis for practicing this exercise.
When I was learning Qigong in my youth, my Teacher told me
that the monks, who lived in the mountains, and people engaged in Taoism
regularly practiced this exercise while walking. However, apart from telling
me that this method is very useful for the physical body, he did not go into
any details. The rest—an understanding of the benefits of this method of
walking—was left to the practitioners to understand from their own
experiences.
Master’s Story
We have already mentioned that sleep is the best natural method
of rest and energy restoration. However, very often, an exhausted person is
not able to fall asleep. Logically, an exhausted person should be able to fall
asleep right away, almost instantaneously. Why, then, does this fail to happen
sometimes?
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If you are tired and unable to fall asleep, it is because there are
disorders in your energy system. If the energy flow is not right, the brain
cannot stop—it cannot function well. As a rule, when you don’t sleep well,
you cannot perform your work duties very well, because the body has
insufficient energy. Therefore, you have increased drowsiness during the day,
instead of being active and ready to work. At night, when your brain and
body must rest and recover, your thoughts do not allow you to fall asleep—
your brain is active as though you were working, not resting. The brain
works nonstop in a person who suffers from insomnia.
This problem has a solution: energy training. Our body has a
perfect energy system. Modern science knows a lot about general anatomy,
but knows almost nothing about the anatomy of energy in our bodies. ZYQ
knows about it. If we are to train our energy system as we train our muscles,
it will work much better, and we will be able to prevent serious diseases.
Sleeping Qigong is the simplest method.
Each system of our body needs a certain amount of energy in
order to work. If all of a sudden, you realize that you have problems with
memory or some organ, the problem might not be physical, but due to lack of
energy.
You know that school classes have the same conditions and
environment for everyone; however, some people learn faster than others.
The reason for this is not merely the speed of the intellectual process. It is
that the child cannot understand the language, and one of the reasons for this
is a lack of energy in the brain area. Such children might be very active and
playful; however if their brain has insufficient Qi, they think slower and have
trouble memorizing.
We can practice Qigong not only at specific times when we are
awake, but also at night, while we sleep.
Using this method, people can successfully solve many problems.
First Variation:
Second Variation:
In the above-mentioned pose, you can mentally look at your feet,
imagining hot red balls or, simply, fire at your feet.
In this case, the Qi of fire goes down (fire and the Universe
belong to Yang Qi), blood follows, and blood pressure goes down.
It is recommended that you practice these exercises for ten to
twenty minutes daily before falling asleep.
With Hypotension
First Variation:
1. Lie down on your back, relax, and close your eyes.
2. Stretch your arms along the sides of the body, palms up.
3. Imagine and feel the Baihui point. Do not concentrate on it intensively:
“it seems it is; it seems it isn’t. Fall asleep in such a state.
Second Variation:
1. Lie down on your back, relax, and close your eyes.
2. You can also breathe in the direction from Yongquan to Baihui (see
“Breathing through points”).
3. You can also imagine a fire in your feet that is rising.
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Here, the explanation is similar to the previous one: Breathing
follows attention, Qi follows breathing, and blood follows Qi. In this case,
the pressure rises.
With Insomnia
1. Lie down, relax, and close your eyes.
2. Stretch your arms alongside the body, palms down. You can place your
hands on the lower Dan Tian.
3. Breathe quietly and evenly. Try not to think about anything.
At the second stage, we will discuss various methods of
breathing through the body. Some of these methods help stop the flow of
thoughts and help us relax, contributing to the quality of sleep.
Exercise Sequence
The exercise is performed in the following way:
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms hanging down along
your body. Your body should be relaxed.
2. Lift yourself on your tiptoes, and then suddenly drop down on your
heels, shaking the body.
3. When you lower your body and hit the ground with your heels, imagine
that the bad Qi goes into the ground through the legs and Yongquan
points.
4. Keep shaking for one to five minutes. You may feel as though you are a
ball bouncing off the floor.
The duration of this exercise depends on your health. If you have
serious heart disease, brain-vessel spasms, herniated disks, or any other
problems limiting physical activity, you should not shake your body very
intensively. In such cases, one to two minutes of shaking is enough. Base the
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duration of the exercise on how you feel.
Practicing this exercise before the longer Big Tree can be very
beneficial. It is also a good exercise to practice after lengthy Quiet Qigong
exercises and meditation. This is due to the fact that the position of your body
during Quiet Qigong may be not completely correct and could cause cross-
clamping of channels or muscle tissue in some zones. Such shaking allows us
to sense the areas with disorders of blood and energy circulation—you will
feel heaviness in these areas. During the process of shaking, the body relaxes
completely, the feelings of heaviness disappear, and you can feel Qi
movement inside the body.
This exercise is very useful when you feel tired or sick, or when
you are emotionally unsettled.
It is recommended that you practice such shaking after the
establishment of a patient’s diagnosis and treatment, together with the
exercise for purifying by energy ball.
Second Variation
When you bring the ball into the lower Dan Tian and put your
hands on the navel, concentrate Qi in the lower Dan Tian until you feel
distinct sensations. At this point, breathing is arbitrary. After some time,
through regular inhalation, receive Qi into your palms. After that, repeat the
action of taking the ball into your body through Baihui while holding your
breath. As you exhale, put it into your lower Dan Tian. Then again, for some
time, concentrate your attention there without focusing on breath, and so on.
Third Variation
After receiving the ball of Qi into your palms while inhaling,
lower it to Baihui point and hold it there for some time until you feel it with
the top of your head. During this procedure, breathing is arbitrary. Then, with
another exhalation, move the ball through your head and entire body into the
lower Dan Tian, and put your hands on the navel. After this, you may use any
of two variations: as in the first one, you may receive another ball into your
palms with another inhalation and repeat the action of holding the ball over
Baihui. Or, as in the second variation, you may hold your hands on your
navel and direct your attention to the lower Dan Tian.
If for some reason you need to calm down on a bright sunny day,
or if you need to become more active at night, you can use your imagination
and your mind to receive the kind of Qi you need. To receive Yang Qi in the
evening, close your eyes, raise your arms, and imagine that they are touching
the sun. Take the Qi of the sun into your hands, imagine and feel its warmth
in the palms of your hands, and bring it into the lower Dan Tian. To collect
Yin in daytime, you can receive the Qi of Water, as water is a Yin structure.
Another way is to close your eyes and imagine that your stretched arms reach
the moon and accept its Yin Qi.
Picture 39: Breathing Through Points and (a) Breathing through the Hands, (b) Breathing through the
Legs, (c) Breathing through the Baihui Point
Combined Breathing
1. While inhaling, receive and feel Qi through Baihui, and while exhaling,
move Qi out through Yongquan.
2. While inhaling, receive Qi through Baihui, and while exhaling, move it
out through the Laogong points.
3. While inhaling, accept Qi through Yongquan and, while exhaling, move
it out through Baihui at the top of the head.
4. Inhale Qi through Yongquan, and exhale Qi through Laogong.
5. While inhaling, receive Qi through Baihui and Yongquan
simultaneously. While exhaling, move Qi out through the Laogong
points. At first, use each arm separately, then, both arms simultaneously.
Practical Guidelines
Most people have far less sensitivity in their legs than in their
arms. Not surprisingly, since legs’ functions are less diversified, particularly
in comparison with the functions of our hands, wrists, and fingers. Moreover,
the legs always carry the pressure of our weight, which unfortunately, often
turns out to be excessive. Therefore, in order to develop sensations in the
legs, we need to practice in a lying position while moving Qi, preferably
before sleeping at night, for fifteen to twenty minutes. This way, even people
with low sensitivity will start feeling Qi movement in a couple of weeks or
even less. Very often, people with low sensitivity turn out to also frequently
suffer from cold hands or feet. Breathing through our extremities allows us to
improve blood and energy circulation, which leads us to improving and
restoring the normal state and sensitivity of the body.
First Variation
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1. Place your palms apart, facing each other.
2. Then move them toward and away from each other in a slow and smooth
motion, feeling Qi between your palms. Palms and arms must be
relaxed.
3. Imagine these sensations in the form of an energy ball. Move your hands
as though you were squeezing the ball with your hands and then
releasing it and allowing it to expand. Use your mind and imagination
(Picture 32).
4. Then concentrate Qi in one of your palms (Picture 40d).
Second Variation
1. Hold your palms apart, relaxed, motionless, and facing each other,
exhaling through the Laogong points into the space in between (Picture
40e).
2. Feel Qi between your palms.
3. Mentally concentrate energy in one of the palms, in the form of a ball.
Third Variation
1. Move or rotate your palms, as they face each other, until you experience
distinct sensations in them. Then, concentrate those sensations in one of
your palms in the form of a Qi ball.
2. Feeling the Qi ball in one of your palms, send it into the other palm with
a light movement (Picture 40f).
3. Repeat the action of throwing the Qi ball from one palm to the other,
until you experience distinct sensations.
Picture 40: The Ways of Sending Qi (d) Concentration of Qi in a Palm, (e) The Qi Ball between the
Palms, (f ) Throwing the Qi Ball
This method is used for treatment. You can treat your own pain
by sending the Qi ball into the area where you feel pain. You may use the
3. Why do we begin receiving pure energy from above and not from below?
What is more important, the brain or the legs? Therefore, we take
in energy through the brain, which goes down through the body, to the feet,
and out. During its movement, the bad Qi is pushed out of the body. We do
not want any bad energy to get into the brain and affect it. Besides, we need
to push bad energy out into the ground, because earth will transform that
energy into energy that is useful for trees and other plants.
4. What is the guarantee that we are receiving pure energy from Universe
and not taking it away from other people or humanity in general?
There is plenty of energy around us, much more than air. You
don’t think that when you inhale air, you take it away from other people, do
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you?
7. When I try to “play” with the ball, throwing it from one hand to the other,
my right hand feels it very well, but my left hand hardly feels anything. Is
there an explanation for this?
As we said earlier, usually the Yang part of the body is more
sensitive. The right side belongs to Yang.
8. I feel that the palms of people differ in temperature. Some palms feel warm
to me, while others feel cold. Does this mean that some people give energy,
9. The sensations in my left and right hand differ. Is this how I’m supposed to
feel?
Such differences are typical. You can train your hands for equal
sensitivity. However, as a rule, one hand is more sensitive than the other.
10. Could you please repeat how to determine which energy we should
receive—Yin or Yang?
If Yang is the dominant energy in your body, you will experience
irritability, and your mouth will be constantly dry. The question whether your
body is dominated by Yin or Yang can be answered by investigating how
your lips curve, and also whether your lips are dry and often chapped.
Depending on the curvature of your lips, and the dryness of your lips and
tongue, you may need to absorb some additional Yin. If you feel cold, weak,
lazy, or sad, you need some Yang energy.
11. Is it necessary to receive energy through the Baihui and Yongquan points
in order to emit it through Laogong? Can we just hold our hands and feel the
energy directly entering us from the environment?
If you have high sensitivity, you can use this approach.
12. In our area, the air is not very clean. The houses have concrete ceilings
and floors. Can I practice Qigong in such conditions?
Of course. Having fresh air around would be ideal, as it is
healthier. However, from the Qigong point of view, it does not matter where
you practice. What matters is the effort you put in through your mind and
consciousness.
Master’s Story
I will now try to introduce to you some aspects of oriental
methods of diagnosis and healing. Since early childhood, I have been
familiar with TCM. I later learned about the Western approach to medical
care. It appears that medical science is particularly rich in the various
approaches it contains.
The East recognizes several types of traditional therapy and
usually uses them in conjunction with each other. The most popular one is
called herbal therapy (or phytotherapy). In today’s society, this method has
experienced a rebirth and has developed intensively. Plants are used in
herbal therapy, as basic ingredients from which pills, tablets, drops, and
ointments—all those forms of medication that are used in treatment—are
made.
Earlier, the procedure for preparing medicines amounted to the
making of teas and tinctures, and was the patients’ responsibility. For many
people, it was a great inconvenience, due to a lack of time, energy, and
proper conditions. Often, the teas and tinctures turned out to be unpalatable.
In recent years, thanks to industrial technology and new development
methods in the preparation of extracts from secondary raw materials, we
have an opportunity to produce herbal medicines in forms that are suitable,
convenient, and easy to use for people from Western countries. Such
pharmaceutical factories now exist in Japan, China, the United States, etc.
The second method widely used in Chinese medicine is called
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acupuncture. In China, it is usually referred to as Cheng Chiu: Cheng means
the use of needles, while Chiu refers to the use of moxa cigars (or moxa
sticks), moxi-bustion, heating, and warming. I have found a number of
differences between Western and Eastern approaches to acupuncture.
Usually, books on the Western approach describe needle impact on BAPs as
a method to control the state of the body through the nervous system.
However, Chinese specialists use BAPs in order to affect energy channels
and the flow of Qi inside them. Traditional Chinese reflex therapy uses
needles based on the Yin-Yang theory, Wu Xing, and energy channels. For
the successful application of reflex therapy, the doctor must know exactly not
only the point that needs to be impacted, but also the kind of impact it
requires, as there are many different methods for adding or taking away
energy with needles.
The third method, which is also widely used in TCM, is massage.
Usually, a doctor who uses massage in his practice is familiar with Cheng
Chiu methods. Today, Chinese universities recognize and recommend several
separate branches: Cheng Chui, massage, herbal therapy, and Qigong
therapy. However, good specialists always use Qigong methods, regardless
of whether they work with the other three methods or not. The reason for this
is that Qigong methods work with energy as a base, as a result of which, they
work well with other methods. The end results of medical care defines a
doctor’s level of qualification: if the doctor practices Qigong well, the results
are much better.
Today, the whole world is interested in TCM, especially herbal
medicine and Qigong. I think there are several reasons for this, the most
important one being the mentality underlying treatment methods. After
diagnosis, Chinese doctors use different methods of treatment for seemingly
similar illnesses.
Master’s Story
Often, women experience pain in their knee joints while walking.
It has been discovered that this is a secondary problem caused by
gynecological diseases, due to the lack of free flow of energy in that area.
This results in blood congestion. If the disease is new, it can be cured in a
short period of time. In addition, this problem might have a number of
causes, including diet. Acupuncture is a great way to cure headaches or post-
injury disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Usually, at the beginning,
stroke patients receive medications; sometimes, however, medications lose
their effectiveness over time. This means that the disease is now a channel
disease. Further treatment is possible through the use of Qigong and/or
acupuncture methods.
Each treatment method has its own advantages. Some methods
result in extraordinary success, while others are less successful. Therefore,
the specialist who additionally practices Qigong will use Qigong methods of
diagnostics and treatment in his practice and become a very famous doctor.
In China, there are several such famous doctors who can cure
any disease that cannot be cured by Western methods. The reason for this is
that instead of treating individual organs, they treat the body as a whole.
During my early childhood, I was fortunate to meet an
interesting person. He was a medical doctor and a friend of my father. He
had the nickname “Three Needles.” He was given this nickname because for
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every patient and disease, he used only three needles and worked with only
three BAPs. He never used anything apart from the three needles.
Often, people went to other doctors who also used the Cheng
Chiu method, but without success. He was once visited by the relatives of a
sick person who, despite a lengthy treatment program, had not improved and
could not get out of bed. The patient was able to walk again after a single
session of acupuncture involving only the three needles.
My father, a surgeon, became interested in this case and the
method of treatment used. He started asking questions about the treatment
and how it worked. As it turned out, the doctor detected in his patient three
points in energy channels that were completely blocked. He inserted needles
into these three points, opening them and restoring the flow of Qi through the
channels. As a result, the patient regained his ability to walk.
The doctor independently discovered that for any cause of pain,
he could always find three points which were in worse condition than the
others. Therefore, in order to treat any patient, he always used three needles.
Causes of Disease
Master’s Story
Often I am asked why an inflammatory process has developed in
a particular area or why there is pain in a particular zone. Western doctors
might deduce that pain is the result of inflammation, as this zone has a larger
concentration of white blood cells. While this is certainly possible and can be
a valid explanation as to why we feel pain, is it the cause of pain? Why, for
example, do you feel pain if someone hits you or if you bump your head?
I will give you an example of a systematic approach. Let’s say a
patient complains about a heart problem. We can figure out the exact
problem and its cause using pulse diagnostics (Picture 41a). If the rate of the
patient’s heartbeat is high—in the West, it is called tachycardia or rapid
heart, and it is treated in a certain way, the Chinese doctor tries to define the
roots, or sources, of disease. For the treatment of the heart, it is sometimes
very effective to have a remedy that affects not only the heart, but also certain
points. When energy flows up the spine, that point affects the heart.
Therefore, we first need to check to see if the heart problem is caused by a
problem with the spine. If we are able to determine that it is a cardiologic
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disease only, the heart will, of course, receive treatment before anything else.
However, it might be determined that the heart problem is connected not to a
heart as an organ, but to the liver. In this case, when the heart is treated first
and gets better, doctors will start treating the liver. Additionally, depending
on a patient’s type of energy, doctors will find herbs that are suitable for him.
It is therefore important that, while meeting with his patient, a
Chinese doctor must have the ability to determine whether the patient is a
Yang-type person or Yin-type person, and whether the disease is Yang-type
or Yin-type.
Picture 41: TCM Diagnostics (a) Pulse Diagnostics, (b, c) During the Image-Medicine Workshop
Kidneys
Kidneys must give a cool sensation. Place your hands on the
kidney area, feel them, and compare the sensations received from the left and
right kidney.
You may diagnose a patient using a touching or a non-touching
method.
A cold, almost icy, sensation indicates kidney stones or a lot of
kidney sand. Similarly, feelings of warmth or heat indicate improperly
functioning kidneys, signaling an excess of Yang and a lack of Yin.
If the disease is serious, the patient can experience a noise or
buzzing in his ears. Easy sweating is another phenomenon that accompanies
this disease. Such a state affects heart function, and if the illness lasts long—
at least a year or more—the condition of the heart worsens, leading to an
increase in heartbeat and tachycardia.
All of these are either phenomena and/or symptoms. There is no
need to fear them. Instead, one should work with them. If you feel heat or
warmth from the kidneys, you need to fill them with more Yin energy. We
will discuss how to do this later, in the chapter about treatment.
Heart
If the heart is healthy and works properly, it always gives off
warmth. This can be felt with our hands. Check your own heart and see if you
can feel warmth.
Place your hand on the heart area, close your eyes, and wait a bit
—about one or two minutes. Listen to the sensations that come from the
heart, not from your clothes or your skin. Wait until the sensations rise from
the depth, until you start feeling them. Compare the different sensations you
Lungs
We have already mentioned that healthy lungs give off no
sensations at all, or only minor ones. Therefore, of all organs, the lungs are
the most difficult to diagnose with hands. But if you feel definite cold, wind,
warmth, or heat coming from the lungs, this is a sign that they are not
working properly. In order to find problems with the lungs, we need to use
additional methods of diagnosis, using, for example, the body or the Third
Eye. We will learn these methods at the second and third stages, and in the
second part of ZYQ: “Image Medicine.”
NOTE: Men usually diagnose with their left hand and women with their
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right, regardless of whether they are right-handed or left-handed.
Accompanying phenomena
Since ancient times in China, it has been known that the color of
Qi in diseased areas of the body is the gray of smoke, or sometimes black.
This is something that can be easily seen by the Third Eye. This type of Qi
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has an interesting feature: if somehow, we were able to take it out
of the body, it would stay in the place where we left it. Then, if a
person with a similar disease appeared, the original Qi would be
attracted by the similar, corresponding Qi in the person’s diseased
area. It would merge with the corresponding “bad” Qi in that
person’s body and worsen the disease.
This type of Qi will not move anywhere by itself;
wind cannot blow it off, water cannot wash it away, and fire cannot
burn it. Nevertheless, such methods of healing—with fire or water
—are well-known and similar in different world cultures, and often
give good results. There is a good reason for this.
There are many methods of treating diseases.
However, if we try to analyze them, it would appear that folk methods of
healing boil down to well-defined procedures using water, fire, sounds, and
the movements of a healer. Today we often talk about praying, the use of
various mantras, tambourine and tam-tam sounds, etc. In modern terms, the
use of various sounds for healing is called sound therapy. It causes certain
vibrations in the body. Often, such a procedure leads to channel opening,
loosening of certain parts of the body, release of spasms, and a boost in
metabolism. This category also includes rituals (ceremonies), involving
dancing and singing in front of large audiences, and participants who
cooperate in the healing process. When the healer relaxes and “loosens” his
body and mind, he falls into a trance-like state in which he involves his
tribesmen. In the trance, the body is out of control, convulsing, etc. Similar
methods are still in use today.
Many nations have different methods of “burning out” or
“pouring out” diseases that are different in form but similar in nature. In
today’s society, some healers in Western countries and the former Soviet
Union use fire in the healing process to “burn out” bad Qi. However, the
Third Eye can see that this type of Qi does not interact with fire or water.
Nevertheless, the disease vanishes after the use of such methods. Modern
research tells us that such Qi cannot be destroyed by water or fire, but by
thought and mind.
In ancient China, there were many methods that used water and
fire for healing. For example, paper was used to burn out diseases.
Sometimes, special paper was used for these purposes—it could change color
when being burned or wet. Because of this, both the patient and healer
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thought the disease would be destroyed. It is true that the disease did get
destroyed, but only by the minds of the people working together toward a
single purpose. The thoughts, indeed, destroyed bad Qi and the patient felt
much better. After a period of training, our hands will acquire the ability to
draw unhealthy Qi from the body.
At Stage I, we study four methods of treatment with our hands.
They boil down to the extraction of bad Qi from a sick patient’s body and the
replacement of sick Qi with healthy Qi. These methods are simple and easy
to understand. The difficulty is that the energy in the hands at the initial stage
of practice does not possess enough power. Therefore, nothing you have read
or learned in theory makes using these methods any more effective. What do
we mean by “energetically strong hands”?
This means that during practice, you can feel strong heat,
almost to the point of pain, in the center of your palm at the Laogong point.
If you experience such sensations, then after reading about, understanding,
and trying methods of healing, you will obtain good results right away.
While medicines cause undesirable side effects and various
allergic reactions, methods involving energy-based treatment appear to be
very powerful and effective, because they give fast results without side
effects.
First Method:
EAGLE’S CLAWS PLUCKING BAD QI
You must repeat these steps until you feel that there is no illness
in this area. During the procedure, you can either touch the patient’s body or
work from a distance.
You can grab bad Qi, wrap it around your palm as though it was
a snake, pull it out of the body, and hurl it into the ground. The direction of
palm movement is not important: you can move your palm clockwise or
counterclockwise. It does not matter if you are in contact or at a distance
during this procedure. The main thing here is your imagination.
The patients always feel as though something is being drawn out
of them from a specific area.
In addition to dropping the bad Qi into the ground, you can give
it to a tree or throw it into water. For example, if you pull bad Qi out of the
liver area and give it to a tree, the tree will like it. Even though the bad Qi is
not good for us, it can be very useful to other life forms. For example, oxygen
is very useful for us; in fact, we cannot survive without it! We inhale oxygen
and exhale carbon dioxide. Trees are just the opposite—they take in carbon
dioxide, transform it into oxygen, and release it.
After the bad Qi has been extracted, it needs to be replaced with
good Qi (see Third Method).
Second Method:
DRAINING BAD QI THROUGH CHANNELS
Picture 44: Treatment with Hands (a) Eagle’s Claws Plucks Bad Qi, (b) Drainage of Bad Qi through
Channels
If disease and bad Qi occupy the entire body, perhaps the patient
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is in an overall bad state of health, or has a problem with blood circulation or
with the lymphatic system—ask the patient to stand up, and clean his body,
using the Qi field in your palms. Move your hands downward from head to
feet, thereby throwing this bad Qi into the ground.
If the patient is weak and does not feel well, it may be hard for
him to stand. Ask him to lie down, and then perform the same procedure of
cleansing, moving your palm over him from head to toe. In this case, you will
be moving his bad Qi through the entire body, to his toes. Then, you can take
it off through his feet and/or toes and throw it into the ground.
Using this method, you can work over all necessary areas or the
entire body in general. It doesn’t matter whether you touch or don’t touch the
body.
Third Method:
SUPPLYING ENERGY OR REPLENISHING QI
If you extract excess Yang Qi from the patient’s body, you will
need to replenish it with Yin energy. In order to do that, you need to accept
only Yin energy through your feet. However, the Laogong point radiates a lot
of Yang Qi. Therefore, we send Yin Qi using another method, known as the
method of the sword. This method allows for the emission of energy from the
index and middle fingers (see “Cleansing, Gathering, and Emitting Qi ”).
b) In a smooth motion, send the energy ball, formed in your
palm, into the “empty” zone. You can form a ball using any of the above-
mentioned methods.
If you really take out bad Qi and replace it with good energy, the
earlier dark zone will start turning lighter.
Fourth Method:
CONTACT METHOD
REMEMBER: During the process of healing, you must love your patient
or at least want to help him. If you dislike your patient, or if during
the process, neither of you is experiencing any sensations, or if there
are no changes in the patient’s state, you should not work with that
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particular patient.
TREATING KIDNEYS
First Method
This method follows the Big Tree exercise. After practicing Big
Tree, you should
1. rub your palms intensively until you feel intense heat; and
2. place your hands on your kidney area with thumbs pointing forward.
Sense the warmth of your palms as they transfer the heat to your kidneys
and adrenals. (If you suffer from kidney disease, use this method
regularly)
3. Perform a light massage of the kidney area, moving your palms in a
circular motion, first in one direction, then the opposite. Do this eight,
sixteen, or thirty-two times. While moving your palms, imagine that
your hands are entering your body and touching your kidneys, after
which they will directly massage the kidneys.
4. While making the first movement with your palms, imagine that your
kidneys are growing bigger and bigger, growing beyond your body’s
limits. When you move your palms in the opposite direction, imagine
that they are getting smaller and smaller, until they return to their
original size, leaving bad Qi outside the body.
Feel those fresh, renewed kidneys.
You can also do these exercises without practicing Big Tree first.
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However, you should always start by rubbing your palms intensively before
placing them on the kidney area. If you did not practice Big Tree first, you
need to repeat this exercise several times in a row.
If you are older, practice this exercise daily at home without any
clothes on the kidney area, placing your hands directly on your skin.
Second Method
Third Method
1. Touch any tree trunk with the tips of your toes or stand on top of the
tree’s roots, if they are protruding from the ground.
2. Extend your arms toward the crown of the tree and upon inhaling, take
Qi from the tree.
3. Bring the energy inside your body through Baihui point (similar to what
we do when we cleanse the body) and move Qi to the liver.
4. Upon exhaling, direct bad liver Qi out, through the feet, into the trunk of
the tree, or into its roots. You can do this using only your mind or
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moving your hands to help the process. When your feet touch the tree,
the Qi that is pushed out during exhalation goes into the tree very easily.
This exercise for treating the liver should be done daily, three
hundred times a day. After exchanging Qi with the tree, you may continue
cleansing the liver using the first method of emitting Qi through your eyes.
This set of exercises eliminates many liver diseases. If you do
not feel comfortable with some trees, that is OK. However, please make sure
that you like the tree you work with. You can do it all without using your
hands, accepting good Qi from Universe.
However, if you have been suffering from chronic liver disease
for a long time, you need to begin by performing breathing exercises for the
liver and spleen, cleansing three hundred times. You then need to follow this
up by expelling bad Qi through your eyes sixty-four times.
Improving Sight
Nearsightedness
Farsightedness
Farsightedness is connected to the fact that the eye lens has been
flattened. Therefore, we must change its form into one which is more convex.
It can be stretched like a ball.
To do this, first remove the bad from the eyeballs (the first
method of treatment). Then place the palm of one hand on the back of the
head. With your mind, prolong the energy of the fingers of another hand to
the eyeballs, grab the energy of the eye lens, and pull it out; again grab and
pull, and again. During this procedure, imagine that the energy you are
pulling “stretches” the eye lens. After some time the results follow.
If it appears that the liver and spleen are involved, you need to
take care of these organs first. You should adjust the duration of performing
this procedure depending on the level of improvement in your vision: you
may practice less if vision improves more. The results are usually much
better if you practice near a big tree. During this exercise, you can accept the
energy of the tree while inhaling and direct it into the liver area.
Master’s Story
Very often, students ask me to tell them a little bit more about
fasting being a normal and natural thing in Qigong practice. This is
absolutely true! If you practice, you can see the true value of this method,
especially, at Stage III.
When I was still a student at a certain stage of practice, I did not
eat for 108 days. In the first several days, when the body reorganizes itself
because of such training, a person simply cannot eat. He feels sick every time
he eats—he vomits as the body rejects food. The same is true with water. It is
a “dry” hunger—a month of total fasting. When you want to drink but
cannot, your body absorbs the Qi of water. Usually, such practice takes place
somewhere in the mountains, where the air is fresh and clean, and a river or
some other body of water is relatively close by. This is where the Qi of water
comes from. You can see a body of water with your Third Eye and accept
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water from there, or from fountains, rain clouds, etc. Then, after a month of
fasting, you can start drinking water bit by bit, but you cannot consume food
for a long time. You simply don’t feel like eating.
Do not assume that you should force yourself to reject food. It
comes naturally: during the practice, there comes a time when you simply do
not want to eat. This is something completely different from hunger, because
in Qigong practice this happens naturally. A person leads a normal life, can
continue his or her work, but simply cannot eat. During practice, the person
consumes energy instead of water and food.
After several months of such practice, the appetite suddenly
returns. The practitioner starts eating normally, immediately, without any
restrictions. Then, there are no problems. There is no special way of
abandoning the fast. The person simply eats the food that he wants. That’s all
there is to it. Such methods cure many diseases very effectively, because the
body cleanses itself during the fasting period. We receive such results,
because in Qigong practice such a period of fasting happens naturally,
automatically, and as something completely normal.
TRANSFORMATION OF FOOD
After specific mental training, having good visualization skills
and a sufficient amount of Qi in the body, the practitioner is able to change
the structure of matter. This acquired skill allows the practitioner to transform
food.
Sometimes, the food we eat can be lacking in quality or nutrition.
Sometimes, a person may have a craving for something special but might not
have the opportunity to eat this food. For example, the person cannot afford
such food or the food is not readily available. In this case, sitting at the table,
you can clearly imagine what it is that you want to eat. When you start eating,
think and visualize that you are eating something different. Imagine that you
are eating the food that you want. Picture it, feel it, and sense its taste in your
mouth.
Experiments have shown that when you do this, the body reacts
as though you were eating the food you imagined.
You can do this with regular water and change its structure in
such a way that it will have the same therapeutic impact as medication. Such
practice can dramatically help to regulate food and drinks in based on the
wishes and needs of the practitioner’s body.
3. What is the explanation for this or that sensation that arises in the palms
during diagnosis? How can we use it to determine the name of this or that
disease?
To detect the pathology in different parts of the body of the
patient, apart from the three organs mentioned above (kidneys, heart, and
lungs), you need to rely on your own experience. For example, you can sense
a well-defined feeling of warmth in an area where there is an inflammatory
process. A normal state does not trigger any sensations. However, from the
point of view of Qigong, there are no definitions for inflammatory processes
or other such ailments. According Qigong and TCM, all diseases are either a
hot or cold type. If a patient has a serious disease, such as cancer, the
diagnostician can feel pain. The more severe the disease, the more pain you’ll
feel. This is the reason why the diagnosis of patients with serious diseases
usually is correct.
5. What does it mean when my hands sense a very strong feeling of warmth
during the diagnosis of some part of the body?
It depends on what organ or area you are talking about.
7. Speaking of healing, you said that we could collect energy and send it to a
sick organ. Could we use the same method to cure ourselves without help
from other people?
You can use almost all these methods to cure yourself. You can
extract bad Qi from your sick areas yourself and refill these areas with good
energy. However, self-healing is not as effective as being treated by someone
else. An external healer can be more effective than your own impact on
yourself.
8. When I breathe through my feet, I feel almost nothing. Can I still heal my
hypertension?
Yes, you can, but it will take more time.
9. If we diagnose and heal other people, can we hurt them? For example,
when I diagnosed my son, I experienced all the sensations you told us about:
warmth from the heart and coolness from the kidneys. Everything was as it
should be. However, my son said that he felt tingling in some parts of his
body. I didn’t feel this. What is the explanation? Is this dangerous?
No, this is not dangerous. Your son’s sensations are easy to
explain: during the process of diagnosis, your hand accepted the energy from
his body parts while you were sending energy to him using your own palm.
This is a common occurrence when you work with children, because they are
more sensitive than adults. Moreover, parents and children always have a
better connection due to their genetic relationship.
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But this is a very negative effect. He felt pain in those areas.
If he felt pain or something unpleasant in some areas, they are
not very healthy. There are some problems there. That is why the Qi in these
areas was weak. During the process of diagnosis, the Qi of your hand was
moving to the places of your son with bad and weak Qi. So his pain was the
usual effect of healing.
But I didn’t sense any anomalies in those areas. My son sensed it, but I didn’t
feel anything.
It is possible that when you conducted the process of Qi
emission, you didn’t assume the right frame of mind for feeling. Therefore,
you were unable to feel what he did. Moreover, as we have already said,
children have greater sensitivity than adults.
10. What are the factors that affect our ability to heal patients using the
methods mentioned above?
You have to have strong energy in sufficient amounts to pull bad
Qi out of the body. If the energy around your hands is strong enough, you can
pull the unhealthy Qi out of the body in one or two sessions. You will also
improve your curing abilities by using such procedures.
11. I have a whole slew of illnesses. It seems to me that I get worse from all
these exercises. Maybe I should not practice as intensely as other people who
do not have as many diseases.
Do not be afraid of such things. If a person can come to class by
himself, all exercises are good for him. The worsening of diseases is a very
common thing, and many practitioners experience this occasionally. The
most important thing in this case is your own attitude. Many things depend
on your mental attitude while practicing Qigong, as well as in your life in
general. If we start to think, daily, that our health today has improved
compared with yesterday, we can cause the opposite situation, involving
every day new problems. This may happen due to regular comparing
nowadays state of health with previous. In this case, all the time your mind
returns to the past, when your state was worth. Thus the information of worth
state might be strengthened.
In order to avoid this trap, you need to “jump” out of the state
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where you generally think about your health. Stop believing that you can be
sick. If you do not want to be ill, if you are convinced that you cannot get
sick, it will indeed be hard for you to get sick. If, on the other hand, you want
to get sick, you fall ill easily. However, if you think the exact opposite, if you
tune into the idea that you have no time to get sick, that you cannot afford to
get sick, the energy around your body will reorganize itself. The protective
layer will be much more powerful. We know that an individual’s psychology
plays a crucial role in achieving and maintaining good health. Below is an
example.
Master’s Story
Here in the West, we do not practice too intensively. In China, by
contrast, my classes were much more intense. They last ten days in a row,
day and night, in a secluded place. As a rule, after such intense practice,
many diseases disappear. We have found that many diseases are linked to
emotions. They are linked to our thoughts. Qigong is not the only system that
knows this. United Nations researchers have shown that many diseases are
linked to our thoughts and depend on them. I often meet people who talk
about their many illnesses. They are sure that their diseases are more serious
than those of others. Why do you always think about your suffering? You
need to think that all of your diseases will go away. You need to help yourself
with your mind, thoughts, and consciousness.
The following happened to me in my healing work. Two patients
came to me with cancer. Doctors, having discovered numerous metastases,
had already passed unfavorable sentences. At that time I was in a period of
self-evaluation, and I thought that if I really possessed special skills, I would
cure these two patients. I told them the whole truth: I told them, that their
doctors were sure that they would die soon. Then I have added that I was
their last and only hope, as I was the one who would help them survive and
get well.
“You don’t have to believe me during the first two days,” I said.
“However, after these two days, you will see and feel changes for yourself.
After these two days, you will tell me honestly what your heart is telling you
—do you believe that I can help you?”
Even people with no medical education know that terminal
cancer brings unbearable pain and that patients cannot go on without
analgesic agents or painkillers. They must take medication before sleeping
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and during the day.
So I started treating them. After the first session, they slept
through the night with no painkillers.
Experience has shown me that after this initial progress, patients
typically start trusting their healers, because they begin to sleep without
medication and start gaining strength. Usually, I spend several days treating
such patients, after which I leave for a week so that they can get to work on
themselves while I am away. I then come back and work with them for two
more weeks. After these two weeks, they go to a hospital for a checkup. These
checkups always show that most of the malignant cells have disappeared.
Why does this happen? Partly because I have enough energy to
treat cancer. But the most important thing is that I arouse the energy of the
patient with whom I work, so that he gains the ability to fight for himself. If
we used only my energy, it would not be sufficient. However, if the patient is
distrustful and thinks that no one is going to be able to help him and that he
is going to die, nothing can save him. Therefore, if you are sick, you must
believe you can help yourself. Moreover, you are the only person who can
help. We say, “If you don’t want to go to Hell, no one can make you go
there.”
Our body is self-aware; it can restore itself. From this point of
view, disease is an abnormal state. With the help of Qigong exercises, you
can open yourself to the outer world and bring Yin and Yang into balance.
Then, most of your diseases will disappear. Do not think about your diseases
while exercising—think about your upcoming recovery. Then you will
become healthy, and it will be difficult for you to get sick.
Doctors are constantly treating patients who have lost their will
to live. There could be a number of reasons for this loss of will, such as
misery, diseases, problems, etc. Poor emotional state of a human reduces its
energy and resistance to diseases. The Chinese have a saying: “A fox doesn’t
eat sick hens.”
12. Different cultures of the world have used special herbal and mineral-
based hallucinatory mixes and drugs in order to speed up psychological
training. Has something similar been used in China, or is Chinese healing
mostly focused on exercises?
The Chinese have used various herbs and drugs but not on a
mass scale. I’ll explain.
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Master’s Story
Very often, people with diseases attend our classes,
understandably so—after all, the first stage of our system helps improve
health. Sometimes, we find that our practitioners have a low sensitivity. This
is due to the fact that they lack Qi in their body and that they have narrowed
channels. Persistent practice improves one’s health and increases sensitivity.
In ancient times, there were two methods of work in such cases.
The first method was based on the practice of the person himself. You could
achieve unbelievable results, but only with a lot of time and effort. This
method was used by the common people. Nowadays it is known as the
“inner” method,
People of other classes, such as Chinese emperors, wanted to
gain results without spending their time practicing. As a result, a new method
was developed for them—“the external” method—involving preparations of
plant, animal, and mineral sources. Ancient Masters knew how to use herbal
preparations to treat many diseases. They added a small amount of mercury
to them. Mercury, combined with different herbs, was heat-treated, and the
resulting solution served as a base for special mixtures. Practitioners who
drank these mixtures would experience a change in the physical body
afterward. All of the body’s energy channels would completely open.
It was very hard to obtain the primary components. Moreover,
the method itself was not suitable for everyone, because it was very
dangerous. It was dangerous because after taking these preparations, all
channels would open up, including the one on the top of the head. As a result,
the soul would leave the body and often would not want to return. In ancient
China, there were cases when even Emperors died after taking such
preparations.
Now, we use methods that pursue two goals: increasing vital
energy and healing. These herbal preparations do not have the same strength
as previous versions. As a result, their use does not cause death. On the
contrary, after taking them for two years, a person becomes younger.
13. How can we protect ourselves against bad energy or, as some call them,
“energetic vampires”?
A person whose abilities are lower than yours cannot steal your
Qi. If the person’s abilities are greater, he has a different type of Qi and does
not need yours. Thus, neither would steal your Qi. Also, there are many
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places on Earth where the energy is much better than inside of our body.
Therefore a person with abilities of taking Qi from the outside can take it
from there much, much easier than from you. Even if some bad person will
try to harm you in such way, he will fail with a Qigong practitioner. The Big
Tree exercise allows you to imagine that you and your energy are as large as
the universe, which enters you. So, do not fear such vampires, for what can
possibly hurt a creature as big as the universe?!
14. Are there people who are better off left untreated?
Usually, if you are very sensitive, but your body is weak, it is
better for you to perform just diagnosis, without treatment. If you feel good
and work as a healer, you should not work with a patient if something about
working with that person “goes against your grain,” so to say. Sometimes, we
just don’t want to treat a particular person. This may mean that you are not
able to help him at your level, or that other specialists are required for his
particular disease, or that the disease has progressed too far.
15. Are contact lenses obstacles to liver cleansing through the eyes?
No, they are not. No obstacle can prevent the flow of Qi.
16. Often, when I perform liver cleansing with full concentration, I lose
count. What should I do?
Count the cleansing one or two times, and make a note of how
long it takes. Then, you can measure by time and not by number.
17. How many times do I need to repeat the exercise when I treat
farsightedness and nearsightedness?
It depends on how successful you are with this procedure. You
may need to repeat the exercise thirty-six times. However, if you are
successful, eight times can be enough.
18. I usually use other methods of treatment. If my relatives or friends ask for
my help, can I treat them without using methods for collecting energy from
the outside and putting it into a sick organ? I want to use the other method
known as “empty head.”
19. From the medical point of view, it is known that in some regions,
including Kiev Province after the Chernobyl accident, some procedures that
require the use of warmth are not recommended. How can the image of a
red-hot ball inside of the body affect some patients? Could it harm them?
In such cases, when the patient has a “hot” disease and we give
him additional warmth, he can get worse. However, the warmth that we use
here during practice is not regular warmth. It is the energy inside our body—
our own energy. If we have such energy in large quantities, the body will get
better; it will be strong and healthy. Such warmth is not harmful; it has a
different nature.
To clarify the previous answer, could you please tell us what kind of disease
you consider to be of the “hot” type?
“Hot” diseases include conditions involving inflammation or
fever. With these diseases, if we give the patient additional warmth, he will
obviously feel worse. Nevertheless, if we use our own warmth, there will be
no problem. If our body has less warmth than needed, the body will become
very weak. This warmth is actually a type of vital energy, which is why we
need to practice using it.
1. As you wake up in the morning, place your hands on the area of lower
Dan Tian and concentrate Qi in it. Duration: three to five minutes.
2. Open the channels in your fingers and toes.
3. Perform Big Tree. If you have some extra time, start with the
preliminary exercises. Otherwise, practice Big Tree only. If you don’t
have much time at all, accept Qi from environment by standing in front
of the window.
4. Practice food transformation during meals.
5. Practice Qigong while walking, as you go to work, to a store, or
anywhere else.
6. If you are in a vehicle, commuting or traveling, practice Small Sky
Circle, Refining Qi, or Big Tree without hands.
7. While driving, practice Refining Qi.
8. If you have a sedentary job, first concentrate your attention on the lower
Dan Tian and feel the hot ball inside it. Then, start working.
Periodically, direct your attention to the lower Dan Tian and sense the
ball there, as if it’s both there and not there at the same time. You may
also practice Small Sky Circle. If your work involves standing, you may
practice Small Sky Circle or Big Tree without hands.
9. It is very good to practice Refining Qi while watching television.
10. In the evening, before going to bed, open the channels in your fingers
and toes, and practice Refining Qi for five to ten minutes. Then, sitting
calm and motionless with your back straight and your eyes closed, try to
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see the red-hot ball in the lower Dan Tian with your mind’s eye.
11. Lie down on your back and do healing exercises (if you need any). You
may practice Small Sky Circle or place your hands on the lower Dan
Tian area. Fall asleep in this position.
Master’s Story
Your state, your thoughts, and your desires affect the quality of
your energy. In turn, your energy affects people around you, because
everything is connected in our world.
If you talk about your miseries to your friends, they will start to
avoid you. Similarly, in order for you to practice Qigong, you must first
convince yourself that you need to be healthy. If you practice Qigong very
well, you will definitely become healthy, and your energy will become
pleasing and good. If necessary, you will be able to help your friends, and
people will love you. If a person has strong energy, there is no need for that
person to speak to others. He affects them by simply being around them—his
energy improves them. I will give you several examples.
Soon after I arrived in the former Soviet Union for the first time,
I went to visit a family with three children of different ages—the youngest
being about two years old, a dog, and two cats. I didn’t speak Russian yet, so
I sat quietly on the couch and relaxed and watched the adults. This is what
happened: the children and animals climbed all over me. The toddler climbed
on one of my knees and put his head on my stomach. His sisters joined from
the other side. However, the most interesting thing happened with the
animals. One of the cats took a fancy to my shoulder, while the second
climbed on top of the girls and tried to lie down with its face near the
youngest child. Approaching from the side, the dog wanted the same spot for
its head. For some time, the cat and the dog were each trying to push or
move over the other’s head, without actually fighting. Then, all three heads—
the child’s, the cat’s, and the dog’s—lined up with each other and lay still.
The adults watched this scene with quiet amazement. The thing is
that everyone there had his/her/its own character and temper, as in any
society. Such an idyll had never been seen before.
SUMMARY
You have completed Stage I of Zhong Yuan Qigong.
In closing, we would like to remind you that ZYQ is simply a
science of life. You must consider this system as a science, first and
foremost, because it offers the specific technology required to modify a
human being in accordance with his goals, such as the improvement of health
and the widening of outlook for serious spiritual development. With this, we
realize the process of studying and understanding ourselves, the environment,
and the various forms and levels of life. The first stage of ZYQ gave you the
opportunity to learn the origins of the ancient art of self-regulation, health
improvement, and individual human development, which remains relevant
and applicable to our modern world. You have learned the goals of the
system, and the stages of practice required for their attainment. Every person
has the option to choose things that suit his desires and inner goals.
The majority of people strive to improve their health and the
quality of their lives; some people want to increase their capabilities and
healing skills, while others would like to increase the capabilities of their
sense organs and acquire a panoramic world perception. Then there are those
who are attracted to mystical and unknown things, those who want to “touch”
things that are covered by the curtain arising from our modern lack of
knowledge. There is one more desire common to all—to be happy.
Many of you have experienced various phenomena while
performing exercises described in this book. These phenomena include
sensations of Qi, as well as the activation of the Third Eye and the Third Ear.
However, this is just the beginning.
With advanced practice, your capabilities will increase. In
general, all these capabilities exist in all of us; all we have to do is awaken
them. Success depends on the individual person and his or her natural ability.
Some people with natural talents can achieve the results almost immediately;
others have to apply more effort. Nevertheless, if you continue practicing,
you will be able to dramatically improve your health, as well as your brain
3. Based on this, can we practice during the day, say around noon?
Of course you can. However, most people work during the day.
At night, the environment is calmer—people are sleeping, businesses are
closed, etc.
5. Is there any particular time that is better for practicing Small Sky Circle?
As we have already explained, you can decide for yourself. Your
energy becomes active at certain times of the day. Usually, we say that a
suitable time for practice is before one o’clock; however, that is not the only
suitable time. As a rule, there is another time period that is also good for
practice which people rarely speak of. That happens when, sometimes, you
feel that the area below your navel has become active. In this case, you need
to concentrate your energy in the lower Dan Tian, and this is a very good
time to practice Small Sky Circle. Why does such phenomena signal a time
for practice? Usually, you cannot catch the moment when the seed turns into
energy. However, after the transformation, you can feel it very well (we
discussed these sensations while learning exercise “Refine Qi”). When you
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feel that the energy in your lower Dan Tian becomes active, start practicing
Small Sky Circle. Bringing that energy up into your head you will expand the
functions of your brain. In other words, you will be giving this energy to your
Spirit. Another phenomenon is connected with increased sexual desire. An
increase in your sex drive tells you that your energy is becoming very active.
Then, when you inhale, you can bring it up. You must raise that energy to the
brain and when you exhale, lower it. You can perform this energy movement
eight times.
6. I am a volleyball player. Does China use Qigong in team sports, and how
does Qigong benefit the players? How can I combine these two?
Many different sports, including soccer, volleyball, basketball,
etc., use Qigong. Qigong practice helps you recover faster and overcome
fatigue. You can practice Qigong after a workout or practice session to calm
down and return your heart rate back to normal.
7. Can I try and send the energy to flowers, like we do to our patients?
Of course you can. You can conduct the following experiment.
Send energy to one part of the flower, or a plant, while ignoring the other
parts. Send energy to this same part for five minutes daily. Notice how the
area that receives energy will grow faster than the one that does not receive
any Qi.
8. If I don’t have the opportunity daily to practice each exercise fully, how
can I choose exercises that suit my needs most of all? I still want to continue
developing my intellect and increasing my energy levels.
If you have health problems, concentrate your attention on
dynamic Qigong, the preliminary exercises, and Big Tree. If you are healthy,
practice a lot more of Quiet Qigong, doing Small Sky Circle. This exercise is
connected with the transportation of your energy inside your body, that
energy that you must “save up” after practicing Big Tree and Refining Qi.
Therefore, people who would like to become wiser, and see with the Third
Eye, should pay more attention to Refining Qi and Small Sky Circle exercises
—they develop the intellect of a human.
10. Is there any additional literature on Qigong that we can use? How can it
affect our practice of ZYQ?
It is impossible to progress in practice of Qigong through books
alone. The most important factor is the availability of your teacher. If there is
no teacher, it is impossible to learn Qigong. The only thing you can
understand from books is how to practice; they contain no information that
you receive directly from the teacher. For example, practitioners in my
courses receive energy directly from me, daily. We direct the knowledge
transplantation method toward each person attending the workshops. It is
impossible to receive that from books. Therefore, it is difficult to progress.
From the very first class, we discourage beginners from reading about this
subject. By reading a lot, you acquire a lot of knowledge but little experience.
However, knowledge does not help you perform the exercises. If, on the other
hand, you start reading books after practice, you may see that some of the
things described in the books are identical to what you have experienced
yourself.
11. I read that even after the soul leaves the body, the two remain connected
by a silver thread. How can the soul travel to other worlds with this thread?
What do other worlds look like, anyway?
It is very hard to describe other worlds—you have to see them
yourself. Only after frequent practice will you be able to fly there. As I have
Master’s Story
During the early years of my work in the cities of the former
Soviet Union, such as Kiev, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg, I faced a pattern
that amazed and impressed me.
We have always believed that Qigong is an art that helps people
obtain their own experience for further development. At least, this is what
happens in China: we can get knowledge and information through practice.
In the countries of the former Soviet Union, there are many
people who have extensive knowledge about things connected to spiritual
practice and other worlds. They have read many books and know everything
about the Third Eye and about the soul and its departure from the body.
However, in spite of this knowledge, nothing has been changed in those
people—their souls are not developing. The reason for this is that knowledge
received from books, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc. is superficial
knowledge on an informational level. It may be very interesting, but it is not
your own experience. This knowledge is not the same as what you would
acquire as the result of engaging in spiritual practice that can transform you.
You can read a lot about someone else’s experiences. You can read all your
life, think about what you’ve read, and retell it to others. You can ask
questions on every situation or phenomenon described, but if you don’t have
experience of your own, then in the end, you will not receive any true
information.
I have many so-called “personal students,” who wrote different
books on this subject. One of them asked me why I hadn’t written a book
about my own experiences. I told him that some things are not very clear to
me and I don’t want to write about them. I don’t want others to repeat my
mistakes. When I understand things, they cannot be described in words. Why
do I need to describe something, if everything is clear?
This is the point at which people will write in order to explain
something to themselves. For example, one of my personal students wrote a
lot on this subject. Because he contemplated what he might write, he found
many words to describe his thoughts. When everything is clear, there is
nothing to describe. Usually, this area does not use written experience, and
training involves a “face-to-face” component, so, there is a direct transfer of
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knowledge from the teacher to the student. My Teacher received his
knowledge directly from his Teacher. He taught a group of students and
transplanted knowledge the same way as I do with you. If you were to merely
read about it, it would be unclear and therefore confusing.
Let us consider the example of a table. You know what a table is
and what purpose it serves. I can therefore specify only some details: Is it big
or small? Is it a coffee table, dining table, or magazine table? Does it have
one or four legs? Now imagine that in your entire life, you have never seen a
table, and you have no idea what one looks like or what it is used for. How
long will it take, and what kind of words will I need, to explain to you what a
“table” is? And still, after my description, each of you will form your own
picture of this object, and all of them will be different. Possibly, none of your
pictures will represent reality. If a person is familiar with an object, his
description may be insufficient for another person who knows nothing about
it. He may forget to mention some details that are obvious to him but are
important to the other person. As a result, the other person might form an
incomplete or even distorted view of the object. For example, what holds the
table up? How many supports have you seen? Are there four legs? Or three,
for that matter? There are tables with three legs, too— magazine tables, for
example. Or consider the large antique tables that have one big, round
pedestal leg. And then you have modern folding tables, which are not
supported by the usual four legs. What if a bar cabinet has a hinged door that
turns into a table? In this case, there are no legs at all! The same applies to a
writing cabinet. I have seen children in small apartments doing their
homework on such “drop” tables.
You might say that this is not typical; a regular table comprises
a plane with legs. However, this is your point of view, based on your own
experience. But it is only the tip of the iceberg. Similarly, other worlds, of
which there are many, which are often very different from our physical world
here and which have become commonplace destinations for those practicing
higher stages of Qigong, cannot be described in words based on our current
experience.
12. Some scientists are under the assumption that there are worlds with
higher speeds than our own, and that these worlds are able to beat the speed
of light. What can you say about this? In general, if a soul decides to live for
a while on its own, will it find the body afterward?
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It is true that there are different kinds of worlds. The group that
includes our world has a speed that is much slower than the speed of light. In
other groups of worlds, the speed is much higher than the speed of light.
However, in these worlds, time is slower. In accordance with Einstein’s
theory of relativity, if the speed at which a material object moves approaches
the speed of light, the object’s size decreases and time slows down in it.
Several minutes for such an object equal years, even decades according to our
time—higher speed slows down time. We know that time is constant in our
world, but in other worlds, it changes. If time changes, life changes. This is
hard to understand if you have no personal experience. Nevertheless,
scientists today are prone to think that there are worlds where the speed of
movement is higher than the speed of light. Concerning the soul visiting other
worlds and returning to the body, I can tell you one true story.
Master’s Story
Did you know that China had a Great Cultural Revolution?
During this period, many monasteries and temples were destroyed. But
before that, there was a person, the Superior, at a Taoist monastery, who
practiced very intensely.
One day when he was practicing Quiet Qigong, he saw his
Teacher. The Teacher offered him the opportunity to go and practice in a
completely different place, in a special cave in the mountains. After giving
orders to the monastery where he lived, the Superior went to the cave to
practice with his Teacher.
While practicing, his soul moved to another world, along with
that of his Teacher. He visited different worlds and spoke with different
Teachers in these worlds. He saw many things, learned many things, and
understood many things. Then, all of a sudden, his Teacher told him to go
back to his body. The Superior didn’t want to return; he wanted to remain in
the other worlds. However, he was forced to return, and suddenly, in a leap,
he realized he was in his body and on Earth, in the cave.
In his opinion, he had been gone for sixteen, maybe eighteen
hours. He didn’t want to return to the monastery so soon. He tried to leave
his body and revisit the other worlds, but nothing worked for him. Then he
started crying, screaming, and begging his teacher. Still, there were no
results. He had to return home, because in the other worlds, he understood a
lot of things about Earth and had to bring this understanding to our world.
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He had to tell our world what he had seen.
So he had no choice but to leave his cave, go down the
mountains, and return to his monastery. But while he was descending, he
couldn’t tell where he was. He didn’t recognize the area. At first he thought
that, due to his preoccupation with his journey, he was lost and had gone
down from the mountain in the wrong direction.
Then he began to ask strangers how to get to the monastery, but
no one knew the answer. Finally, one person brought him to an old relative
who had visited that monastery.
As it turned out, the Superior was not gone for sixteen to
eighteen hours, but for almost twenty years. Everything had changed—people
had changed, time had changed, life in general had changed. The Great
Cultural Revolution that destroyed his monastery had ended a long time ago.
As time went on, the Superior adapted to new conditions and
realized his place in this life. He started giving lectures about everything he
saw and understood. At first, he gave lectures in China, then in Singapore.
This is an example of how time operates differently in different
worlds. It also tells us that we cannot always willingly leave this world.
13. Is it possible for a soul to depart and for a person to visit other worlds
through this practice? I often see different pictures.
Nothing of the sort happens during the early stages of exercising.
Pictures are often just a reflection of the information that a person collects
during life, including movies, stories, legends, and personal thoughts. In
order to leave, the soul needs certain conditions. In general, we practice soul
departure at higher levels.
14. You have told us a story about how, one day, a seminar attendee had his
soul depart during classes. What would happen if my soul were to leave my
body during the Big Tree exercise and not return? How do I live all by
myself?
First, if you practice independently, your soul will not leave. It is
very complicated, but because your energy isn’t strong enough, your soul
stays inside your body. During classes, I give you additional energy.
Sometimes, you feel like your soul leaves your body, but only during sleep. If
this happens during sleep, both you and your soul know that the soul must
15. How and when does the soul leave the body? Is the practitioner aware of
this? Does he hear anything during this time? How does it appear from the
side? How can he hear or see if the body is left behind?
In general, a person can always feel his soul departing. When he
feels this, he simply knows that it will return automatically, because he gives
his soul the order to come back. The departure of the soul, and everything
connected to it, is not our primary goal at the first stage, and does not happen
during the initial period of practice. In fact, this requires a lot of special
practice. First, the soul goes out, and comes back after traveling a short
distance. Then it goes a little further, for a longer period of time. It practices
inch-by-inch, step-by-step. When the soul departs from the body for real, the
person does not faint, although it may appear to the people around him that
he has fainted. With that, his pulse disappears, and people get the impression
that he has had heart failure. However, the person knows everything. It is
only the body that is cold, because it still doesn’t know how to change its
appearance: the person understands everything but cannot move, and his soul
sees everything that is happening to him. If we only speak about this, you
will receive certain knowledge without knowing how to practice. When the
soul leaves during practice, you fill this gap. Therefore, we should postpone
this conversation to a later time.
16. One of my acquaintances had a very strange experience. She was lying
motionless for a week and, in her head, kept hearing the hissing “shhh…”
sound. She did not know what had happened to her, because she could not
move. However, she did keep hearing that sound. Was this the soul
departing?
If the soul leaves the body, the person knows that. It is as though
the person has simply moved to another place. He knows everything and
understands everything clearly. But his body remains motionless. He gets the
impression that just takes part in some action. The only difference between
this state and real travel in the body is that he can travel now much more
easily wherever he wants, and immediately reach the destination. Perhaps, it
1. Method (Fa)
You realize that in order to learn the right way and practice well,
you need a teacher. Of course, you cannot stay with your teacher all the time.
Therefore, you need a good partner, who will be able to help you
during practice, and whom you can help. Here, your partner is, above all, a
second family member (husband for a wife, and wife for a husband). In
addition, these partners are soulmates, with whom you have much in
common, and who can support you during difficult times and “hold up the
rear.” It is especially important that this remains in the family, because
sometimes, the practice of Qigong requires long-term detachment; inner
tranquility; and at higher levels, a period of solitude, and care for the body
when the soul leaves it for training and practice in other worlds. It is possible
to achieve success, only if there is mutual understanding and support within
the family. Therefore, the Qigong practitioner must pay more attention to his
family and take on more responsibilities than before practice. Otherwise,
what is the value of his training and knowledge?
Master’s Story
(A Parable)
Once upon a time, there lived a very wise man. People called
him Master. He had pupils who called him Teacher. When someone from the
settlement had a problem, they addressed this Master for help and advice and
were never denied. Therefore, people respected him and tried not to bother
him with small matters.
One day, people found out that the Master had decided to accept
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new pupils. Many people wanted to be his students but considered themselves
unworthy of such an honor.
Nevertheless, on the appointed day, they appeared before the
Master. He looked at them and said that he could not take them all. Then he
explained that being a student is a very serious matter, and that for a new
student to learn everything the older students already knew, it is necessary to
study very hard, beginning with the simplest things. He asked these people,
“Why did you come, and what can you do?”
Many of them lost their nerve and could not articulate anything.
All their explanations boiled down to one thing: they were ready for
anything, “if only given a chance,” because they knew nothing. They saw
how the Master, and sometimes his students, helped solve problems that
seemed very complex to local residents.
When it was time for one of the applicants to speak, in contrast
to the others, he started listing what he had done, what he had practiced,
which masters he had visited, what he had learned, and from where. His
speech was long, logical, and beautiful. He obviously stood out from the rest,
who dropped their heads—they understood what kind of pupil the Master
needed.
The Master listened attentively and calmly. Then, he asked one of
his students to bring him two bowls: one was empty, the other filled with
water. He took a jar containing a healing elixir, filled the empty bowl with it,
and then started pouring the elixir into the bowl with water. The healing
liquid started spilling on the ground over the edges of the bowl right away.
“Teacher!” shouted the last applicant, “What are you doing?
Don’t you see that the bowl is already full? Is it impossible to put more into
it. This is a waste of elixir!”
“You are absolutely correct,” said the Master. “You know so
much, and have seen so much, that there is no room left in you to add
anything more. I am sorry.”
All the rest became his students.
If you want to achieve a lot, don’t think that you know a lot.
Think that you know little and can learn little. In training, put yourself in the
lowest position, for the deep sea gathers waters from many rivers. If you
think you are at a high level, you will not be able to take in information from
other sources. This is especially true when we consider that knowledge
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gained from Qigong is dramatically different from knowledge acquired
through another system.
You can ask whether the teacher is good or bad. When you take
Stage I classes, you will heighten your sensitivity. You can have contact with
your teacher, and if you feel pleased and at ease, this means that he is right
for you.
When people receive information during the training period,
many of them think that simply hearing and understanding something is good
enough. However, in Qigong training, a student must receive information not
only in the form of words, but also with one’s body and heart. To define this,
eight words are used in China:
Sing, Chuang, Kou, Shou,
Sing, Lin, Ee, and Huei—four of these concern the
Teacher, and four, the student.
1. Sing has been translated as “heart” since ancient times.
However, in ancient times, this was considered the organ of
thinking. Therefore, it reflects different psychological aspects:
soul, thought, mind, mentality, feelings, etc.;
2. Chuang means “to pass on” (or “to convey”), which, together
with Sing, means “to pass on through heart and mind
simultaneously”;
3. Kou means “mouth”;
4. Shou means “to teach.” Together with Kou, they mean “to teach
verbally” (by mouth);
5. Lin means “to receive”;
6. Ee means “thought” or “consciousness”; and
7. Huei means “to understand” or “to be able to.”
Four words for student mean “to receive knowledge and
understand thoughts with soul and heart, with soul and mind.”
Four words for Teacher mean that the Teacher uses words and
heart while teaching, so that his students can hear and understand. Students
must use their hearts to receive this information from the Teacher and use
their brains to understand it.
Ancient China had several extraordinary Teachers. They allowed
their students to do whatever they wanted. Some students thought that the
Teacher was not teaching them anything with such an approach, as a result of
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which, they left. Those who understood the idea stayed. Perhaps it took about
three years before the Teacher could tell a student, “You have received
everything I could give you; now go, and find yourself another Teacher in
another place.” He also said, “If you have difficulties, all you need to do is to
call me, and you will know what to do.”
Therefore, if a student has problems similar to those that his
Teacher had, all he needs to do is address the Teacher for the latter to come to
the student’s help in solving these problems.
In general, if a person wants to practice Qigong and develop in
this direction, he must have many teachers.
Not only human beings can be our teachers. They can be plants,
animals, localities, or situations, as Qigong training methods have nothing in
common with other educational approaches. Qigong training is based on real-
life situations, not on books.
Therefore, anyone or anything that can help you in your
development can be your teacher.
MASTER’S WISHES
I am sure that the methods you have just learned will help you to
master Qigong in the future.
I hope you will be able to continue practicing and meditating for
the rest of your life.
I believe that these exercises will improve your health, help you
develop your intuition, and creativity, and make you a successful person.
I appreciate everyone who came to learn.
I appreciate those who heal people and came to learn this system
and its methods.
I am grateful to the organizers of the seminars–they allow me to
make many friends.
I wish every one of you good health, a loving family, healthy,
happy children, many friends, and prosperity.
Do not compare your material income with that of other people;
do not compare your social position with that of others; do not compare your
house or your car with others. Instead, gradually rise higher and higher, along
THERAPEUTIC EFFECT
Accountant, Female, 50 Years Old
I have completed Stage I twice within the interval of one and a
half months. I practice daily. At first, it was hard to make myself stand in Big
Tree position after the seminar. However, after five days, time would fly, and
I increased practice to sixty minutes. During the evenings, I practice Refining
Qi and Small Microcosmic Orbit.
I have experienced the following changes:
1. Dramatically improved memory—I notice that I remember information
and phone numbers with no difficulty at all.
2. Hair color is returning.
3. My sight has improved. I had age-related farsightedness, +1.5 diopters;
now it is +0.5.
4. My hearing has improved.
5. Climacteric symptoms have disappeared, and the elasticity of my body
has returned; my facial skin is much lighter.
6. I feel full of energy; I can easily treat headaches and my own bad blood
pressure as well as that of my friends.
Tamara Martynova
My Father
CHILDHOOD PAGES
You can say that the family I grew up in was not really typical.
My immediate family and relatives had special abilities of various types and,
for many years, I considered this to be the norm. In other words, I believed
that everyone had these abilities. From my early childhood, I was constantly
encountering new and specific things, sometimes accidentally, sometimes
consciously.
My Mother
My Father’s Mother
I have already told you that our family has had many healers.
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However, none of these were regular healers—they were shamans or, if you
will, wizards. In our family, almost all my ancestors, more or less, mastered
this art, using specific methods for healing patients.
For example, my paternal grandmother did not herself heal
people. However, she had mastered an unusual treatment technique. In
ancient times, such techniques were employed in many regions of the country
(they are very similar to what we are learning right now in Image Therapy).
My grandmother could pinpoint the cause of a person’s disease and, by doing
so, was able to correct his behavior and health.
In early childhood, I witnessed many interesting pictures of her
life, as well as that unusual mastery. For example, she could predict the
future and locate lost objects, using such devices as pendulums. Some
incidents have settled in my memory forever.
When I was a little child—I remember this very well, although
many years have passed—my father bought me a very beautiful pen, and I
lost it the very same day. I was very upset and cried. Grandma asked what
happened. I told her that I had lost my new pen. She looked at me and said in
a very tender voice, “Don’t you worry, I will find it.” Then she filled a big tea
bowl with water and got her instrument—a stick with a string. At the end of
the string was a needle (Picture 48).
It was a simulation of a pendulum. Then,
looking at the water and holding her tool right above it,
she said, “Where is the pen?” The needle showed her,
and grandma told me that the pen was in an old shed,
detailing its exact location. It was a building where
people milled grain with grindstones. Those were
Picture 48: My severe years, our family lived in a village, and we had
Grandma’s Device for to grow ourselves almost everything that we needed for
Finding Lost Things
food.
The pen was right there.
At that time, I didn’t know how she did it. Now, however, I can
assume that she probably used her Third Eye. Apart from doing many
amazing things, she taught me a lot.
One day in 1998, when I was in Kiev having lunch with three of
my personal students, I suddenly heard a voice saying that my grandma was
leaving this world. She was eighty-four years old. I was in a state of shock. I
felt that this was not right and that I must see her at least one more time. I
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asked my students to take me to a cemetery right away. Cemeteries are
almost exclusively full of yin energy and offer a convenient environment for
communication with souls. What I needed to do was to perform a special
ritual to postpone the moment of her death.
When we arrived at the cemetery, I asked my students to wait
behind the gates—they were not supposed to be next to me during the ritual. I
then went further to a solitary place. There I recited the necessary mantra,
performed a certain ritual, and conveyed through suitable authorities—beings
from other worlds—a request that those in China who were next to my
grandmother should correct the situation in such a way that she wouldn’t die
until I saw her one last time.
When I came back from the cemetery, I called my sister in China
and asked if she had heard anything. She had not, since grandma lived in a
village far from our town. However, my father was at grandma’s house.
Because the phone connection was very bad, my sister promised to go there
immediately and find out everything. In two days, I called her again. Now
she said that something mysterious had happened.
That day, my grandma and my father were sitting in the yard and
talking. In spite of her advanced years, she was healthy and disease-free.
When suddenly my father didn’t hear the answer to one of his questions, he
asked again; still, there was no reply. Then, he turned to her and saw that she
looked like she had fallen asleep. He touched her gently, but she did not
react, which was not like her at all. Then he tried to find her pulse. Her heart
was not beating. Then, he started to press the appropriate points and perform
the necessary manipulations. My grandma came to. She could not remember
anything about those moments, but she asked him, as if irritated, why he was
shaking her. That was the time when I was performing that ritual in the
cemetery. My actions and the necessary medical procedures had been
synchronized.
I think that many of you have been in such situations: if someone
very close to you leaves this world, you have a kind of premonition. Two
years after this incident, my grandmother departed from this life, when it was
really her time to go.
My Mother’s Mother
Why did this method yield such positive results? Very often,
people have stomachaches after quarrels in the family, at least in small towns
and villages. The pain is a consequence of post-quarrel depression. As a
result, people have spasms that cause pain symptoms in the stomach. After
the aforementioned procedure, everything returns to normal, because the
patient completely redirects his attention to some other object. He believes it
to be true and participates in the process of his emotional healing.
However, even if a person has a serious disease—for example, a
stomach ulcer, it heals after a certain time, using the same procedure. What is
the reason for this?
We know by now that at least one pattern is always consistent: if
a person doesn’t believe that he is sick, his body relaxes after a certain time,
and he himself finds the behavior pattern that is in accordance with the
attitudes, thought, and mindset that are driven by consciousness. And then the
disease, too, goes away.
Sometimes, feeling sick, a person can behave in a manner that is
not right. What do we mean by “not right”? Take the following example. A
sick person, every night before going to bed, thinks about all possible causes
of pain. Perhaps he treated someone and “picked up” the patient’s bad Qi? Or
maybe he is suffering due to having a fight with someone who now wants
revenge? What if it is some kind of increasingly serious and hitherto ignored
disease? Or, maybe…. The following night before bedtime, he does the same
thing: maybe someone thinks ill of him and he feels it? What if it is a spine
problem or something worse? If this happens on a regular basis, the person
actually creates certain images that influence the physical body through the
brain and the nervous system. As a result, his state of pain and discomfort is
maintained: it is not forgotten, because the information about that pain
constantly feeds on such images. It is extremely difficult to cure such a
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patient.
I learned several methods for helping this type of patients from
my grandma, and I still use them. You know that children are very perceptive
and learn fast. Sometimes, for them, it is enough to see something once, to
remember it for the rest of their lives. At first, they may not understand
everything. However, after some time, they begin to understand what they
saw, sometimes even using it in practice. In this connection, I shall tell you
about an interesting incident.
MY FIRST TEACHERS
One Day...
Two or three years passed. Periodically I still came to her to
study. I must say that her house was located far away from ours.
One day, when I came to her as usual, she had one more student
there—a woman I had never seen before. The following events unexpectedly
took place.
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When the teacher addressed me, she used the words “Ta
Da Die”—a typical greeting, similar to the one used to address a sister. She
said something like this: “Sister, I have taught you many things. I have taught
you to practice independently, and later, you will be able to use these
methods to help children and adults.” The unfamiliar woman asked,
“Teacher, why do you address him as if he were a girl? He’s a boy, not a
girl!”
The nun was very surprised and asked me if this was true. I
confirmed this, but was surprised by her question and by this meeting with
the woman. It was very strange to me because all these years, I had never
seen any other students during my practice, and I had never thought about
this either.
Now I know why she made such a mistake—she saw my
previous life and still other previous lives with her Third Eye. As a child, I
was very shy. I loved to listen and did not like to talk. Everyone knew that I
was not given to speaking. Therefore, for three years I practiced in the
capacity of a female. I didn’t know that then, since I only studied—we do not
ask the Teacher any questions. Later, I found out from books that part of the
practice that the nun involved me in was directed toward the proper
development of the girl’s body to a healthy woman. A typical example is the
massaging of the breasts. Males do not need to do this.
Meanwhile, the nun continued with me: “You need to stop my
lessons. I will send you to my brother, and he will teach you everything you
need to know.”
The man to whom she sent me to continue my education was not
her blood brother. They were students of one and the same Teacher.
My Great-Grandfather
One day, my father got very sick. Now I know that he suffered
from inflammation in the area of the pancreatic gland. It was infectious and
often accompanied by strong pain.
My mother was very scared and started praying. In her thoughts,
she called my great grandfather for help. In reply, she received information
that the next night, my great grandfather would appear in our house, in my
father’s room. He would treat my father. Then, my mother asked my father
not to go anywhere, but to wait. In the evening, knowing about the visit, she
left the room.
During those years, we lived in a house that had two parts, one of
which was occupied by our family, the other by neighbors. We lived together
very well. Our neighbors often had friends over for a game of Ma Dian, a
Chinese game very similar to dominoes, and my father joined them from time
to time.
As soon as my mother had left, my father went to the neighbors’
part of the house to play—later he said that he had a strong pain again and
did this to take his mind off it. While he was out, my great-grandfather
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appeared. He was very angry with my father for not having waited for him in
his room as he had been told to do.
My great-grandfather was a very good healer, but his main talent
was the ability to be transported across large distances in the wink of an eye.
At night, he could instantaneously go as far as eight hundred kilometers
(about five hundred miles), while during daytime, he could do even better—a
thousand kilometers (about six hundred twenty miles). I still do not
understand why he was with us for such a short time. He treated my father
after having him called over from the other half of the house, and then in an
instant, he suddenly disappeared.
Later, many people would tell me about his ability to transport
himself, because they had seen it at different stages of their lives. Of course,
it was amazing and mysterious. At that time, I didn’t know anyone with the
same abilities.
That was the reason why I told my new Teacher that I wanted to
learn how to transport myself. He answered, “Very well, I will teach you this
method, if you will be patient enough.”
He asked me to go with him and
brought me into a very small room without any
windows. I remember very well that he drew a
picture on the dirt floor with a wooden stick. The
picture consisted of several lines. Then he showed Picture 49: The Practice of
me where I was to put my feet and how I was to Transportation
stand (Picture 49).
The method resembled our Big Tree. The teacher gave me a
mantra and left, shutting the door behind him. He said, “If you see or hear
something, tell me about it later, after you are done with practice.” I was left
alone in complete darkness. I stood in a specific pose, throughout the
duration of which I spoke the mantra.
The first few times I practiced, I didn’t hear or see anything. I do
not remember how many times I went to that dark room, until one day, I saw
a bright white light resembling a big moon.
I informed Teacher of this phenomenon. He said, “Keep
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practicing. It is good.” That was it. No more comments or explanations. So I
continued going back to that room many more times, until I saw the same
light again. The next moment, it seemed that a bright, glowing hole appeared
before me. It grew very fast in diameter and became taller than me.
At that very same moment, I felt as though my body was being
moved forward, sucked into the light, into the hole. When that sensation of
being transported was over, I opened my eyes and found myself standing on
the street. I looked around and then went into Teacher’s house and told him
what had happened. I said that I had seen a glowing big hole and, through it,
had gone to the street from the dark room. Again he commented, “That is
very good, very good. Later, if you learn to see that hole in front of you
constantly, you will be able to transport yourself to any place—underground,
underwater, through anything.”
At that point, I was sixteen years old. The same year, I graduated
from school, passed exams, and went to Sian, the capital of Shansi Province.
There, I enrolled in one of the most famous universities of China to study
computer technology. I attended the university for four years, vacationing at
home once a year.
I couldn’t complete the transportation training, because during
that period, my Teacher left this world. He was ninety, about the same age as
my first teacher, the nun. I felt this loss, and was very sad. Later, I think it
was his son, who introduced me to the next Teacher, also a very old man.
Maybe you are wondering why I always met old Teachers. Do
you know why?
The war, the Great Cultural Revolution, now became history, and
everyone was afraid to show his or her skills and level of mastery. As a
result, it was hard to find a Teacher back then. These days, Teachers with the
ability to transport themselves still exist. However, they are very, very old. I
know at least one of them in Beijing, who may or may not be alive. At the
turn of the century, he was about ninety years old.
Damo’s Teaching
She continued the dance moves and this time, once again
unexpectedly, she had a bunch of joss sticks in her hand.
She put them down and again moved her arms. In that same
moment, I heard the Voice.
That Voice spoke to me saying, “You must take the Book. Do
not show it to anyone because no one will be able to understand it at this
time. You will have that Book each time we wish you to read it and it shall
disappear each time we do not wish you to.”
My hands started moving by themselves, and suddenly, a Real
Book appeared in my hands. That was in 1988.
Later, when I looked through it, I saw that it looked like an old
book that had been written before the invention of the printing press.
However, it had one distinguishing feature: it had no text. It consisted of
pictures, most of which were symbols. Sometimes, when I work with this
Book, my spiritual Teacher comes over to me and helps me understand its
contents. He explains many things to me.
I have been reading this Book from the time I was presented with
it, but have yet to comprehend a lot.. In general, the Book contains a
description of the structure of the human and the Universe. It speaks of the
origins of the Tao and methods of healing in according to Image Therapy.
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In Chinese, the name of the book is Zhong Yuan Mee
Dee. Zhong Yuan refers to our Qigong system. Translated, it means “Middle
Chinese Plain,” the location at which this type of Qigong was born more than
seven thousand years ago. Zhong means center, middle, and equilibrium,
while Yuan means original, initial, natural resources, and source.
Mee Dee refers to secret information, or esoteric knowledge. It
is, in other words, the Book about where everything came from, and thus, in
essence, is the Book of Origins or Beginnings.
Now, everything we learn and everything we teach in ZYQ
comes from this book.
Early Memories
Experiment
108-Day Fast
I then set out to fulfill the task for which I had done all of this—
the facilitation of the soul’s departure to study in other worlds.
There is a monastery with a statue of a Sleeping Buddha in
Beijing. Over three or four kilometers (about two or two and a half miles)
behind it, you can find a plain. Going still further, you will come across many
mountains with caves. In order to get there, you need to go through a peach
garden, in which there are many peach trees and fierce dogs guarding them.
Then, you will need to go through a cemetery and over a very steep
mountain. First, you will have to climb it and then, descend. After that, you
will find yourself in a secluded plain, with cave-filled mountains on its
opposite side.
In ancient times, the area had many monasteries, but these have
now been completely destroyed. The caves are still there, though—many
different caves, natural ones in their original form, as well as those created by
men in those remote times.
There is one very interesting and rather spacious cave. Walking
inside, one can seclude oneself by closing the entrance with a rock from the
inside. This rock has been used for that purpose for many years. On top, in
the center of the cave’s roof, there is a hole through which one can see the
sky. This cave was named “String into Sky,” because if you look upward
through that opening, it appears that the cave is connected to the sky by a thin
thread, like an extended wire.
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I practiced in that cave many times from 1986 to 1991. I stayed
there for different periods, sometimes for long ones, extending into several
days. Often in the course of these periods of seclusion, my soul would leave
my body. However, someone would take care of the body.
It is a very good cave for such practice, because even during
summer, in hot weather, the cave maintains a stable environment—the
temperature is constant and cool. If it is raining outside, the inside of the cave
it is still dry and clean. The most important factor is that no one can interrupt
you and spoil your practice. One of the main contributing factors to this state
of affairs is the peach garden that is guarded by fierce dogs, which are feared
by all who try to pass through.
This is how everything happened:
When I was told to go there and practice for seven days, I found
a person who knew that locality and everything in it very well. He was my
guide.
A friend of mine, who worked in a publicity department and
dealt with social connections, took a vacation and went with me. He made a
special bed in the form of a hammock. He put it between two trees in front of
the cave, where I was supposed to spend seven days.
I was inside the cave; he was sleeping outside, right near the
entrance. He took care of my body.
Prior to such undertakings, you must have your Second Heart
activated and working. That way, you hear what your Teacher tells you. You
hear what you must practice, where you must go, and for how long. When
you practice after receiving these instructions, you soon enter the state of
Pause, and your soul leaves your body and goes up.
There are no obstacles for the soul—no mountain or cave roof
can stop it—you simply fly through all these and find yourself over the
mountain. There you see your Teacher waiting for you, and you travel
together around the Universe with different worlds.
When I returned, I felt like a changed man. I looked at our world
in a different way. I knew where I came from, for what reason, and what it
was that I had to do. Then, I understood in full the nature and development of
the Universe and humanity. This was the point at which I began serious
spiritual practice.
I have already told you that my mother had a similar experience
that lasted twenty-one days. For twenty-one days, her soul traveled around
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other worlds. But I will tell you this story some other time.
I had never been required, earlier, to sit in the lotus pose. Since
early childhood I had been engaged in Kung-fu and had executed static
exercises while standing for long periods. If I had to sit during practice, I sat
in the usual way, or with my legs crossed Turkish style. One day during
practice, my spiritual Teacher appeared before me and said, “You need to
learn to practice in lotus pose so that you can receive my energy and
information.
I told him that I couldn’t sit in this pose because I found it
painful and couldn’t do anything about it. My Teacher replied, “If you can’t
do it, you can’t receive this teaching.”
He proceeded to say something that I remember to this day:
“When you say or think that you can’t do something, it is an obstacle born in
your mind, not your body. When you stop thinking about what you are not
able to do and think only about what you can do, your mind will make the
necessary changes in your body and you will be able to do anything you
want!”
These words made me sincerely believe that the mind can change
the body.
I sat in a lotus pose immediately. The very first time, I practiced
nonstop for more than thirty minutes. This was followed by a practice session
of more than two hours. During practice, I didn’t feel any pain. However,
after it was over, my legs were numb and my anklebones bruised. These
phenomenons proved my Teacher’s words right and assured me that the mind
could control the pose and shape of the body. In addition, I realized that self-
belief can enable us to achieve anything.
The lotus pose is one of the most important poses for such
learning. No one likes it, because it hurts a lot, especially in the beginning.
However, with time, it ceases to cause difficulties. This pose is absolutely
necessary for Stage V training. Without this pose, there is no way to receive
Stage V information. When you practice using the lotus pose, all major
central points face up. The translation from Chinese of the word “lotus”
means “five centers or hearts face up.” This means that a person sitting in
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lotus pose is completely open to all information and fully capable of
receiving it through the five main points—Baihui, two points; Laogong, on
palms; and Yongquan, two points at the bottom of the feet. For some reason,
many people think that this is also a praying pose. In truth, it is the pose for
learning, the pose for acquiring knowledge.
The lotus pose is the way to receive information from the highest
levels.
We went further. Soon we saw another rock with the old man on
it. Passing by, I heard the voice, “Take the music; you need music for the
ritual.”
I stopped and asked Ernst to give me a cassette player with an
audiotape. I didn’t know yet when we would need the Native American
music. But it appeared that we had left everything in the car and were already
far away from it. Anyway, the most important was to get to the spot, even
without music. I said, “Very well, then. Let’s go without the tape recorder.”
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Then, Lidia’s husband suggested splitting up. He said that he
wanted to take another road. Lidia asked to go with him, but he said he
wanted to go alone. While we were talking, Ernst continued to walk and was
far ahead of us. Lidia and I started catching up to him while her husband
slowed down and turned. Later, we found out that he had gone back to the car
to get the tape player and audiotape, which helped me a lot later—without
music, everything would have been much more difficult.
When we finally caught up with Ernst, he said that he had just
seen a huge snake. I asked him, “Do you believe it was a real snake?”
He answered, “Yes, I am absolutely certain. It was a real snake.”
I asked that question because my senses told me that that snake
was not normal; perhaps it looked like a real snake, but there was something
wrong with it. While Ernst was telling me about it, the image of the snake
appeared before my eyes for a second or two, and I sensed that this was not
reality. However, Ernst took it for real, for an entirely normal but huge snake.
It went into a hole in the ground very quickly.
Finally, we reached the caves. There were many of them, as it
turned out, with the majority located on a steep slope near the top. One of the
caves stood out for its big entrance. We had to climb to the top; the steps
were steep and some of them were missing. It was, in short, an inconvenient
situation, and we didn’t have much time.
Finally, we reached the cave. I was very surprised to see an
actual “Ritual Cave” sign at the entrance. There were plenty of other caves,
but this one, indeed, was intended for rituals. Because I had heard so much
about the ritual cave from the natives, I immediately recognized the place
when I saw it.
I practiced a little bit in the cave, but I felt that something was
missing. We looked around. In the floor of the cave, we saw an opening akin
to an underground entrance. We went down. This cellar turned out to be a
small dwelling. The cave itself was stone, and below, a space for living had
been dug out, one in which people lived or gathered. A set of stairs led
downward. At this point Lidia’s husband returned with the tape recorder and
a cassette.
One by one, we went down the flight of steps and sat down, all
four of us, opposite each other along the sides of that underground dwelling. I
started practicing a certain type of communication with the environment,
where one can see what exactly is happening in a particular place, what
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exactly is inside that locality and in neighboring worlds. This is a specific
ceremony, a certain type of Kung-fu, where Sky and Earth open up and one
can see the souls of those who lived here, a long time ago and recently. I saw
several territorially large places where many people had died, with their souls
still experiencing suffering and torment.
I used a special mantra in order to bring the souls of these people
from the lower world into the higher world. It appears as though you open the
ground, take them out from the lower world that makes them suffer, carry
them into our world, and then send them to the world in which they are
supposed to live. I also saw the old Indians standing above, waiting for other
souls to arrive.
I conducted this procedure in one spot, after which I saw another
place with the same characteristics and went to work there—I kept bringing
suffering souls upward.
When I was completely done with the procedure and was able to
stop, I asked Ernst if he had seen anything unusual. The reason I asked was
because at the very beginning of the procedure I saw something that made me
worry and even get scared during the procedure—I saw an enormous snake
lying on the top of the mountain over the cave we were in.
There, on top, the old natives—the old man and woman—were
standing right next to the snake. I could not understand why such a huge
snake was there and what it was anyway. Because of that, I did not feel
comfortable. However, during the procedure, I kept bringing the souls to
where the snake, the old natives, and the other souls were. The man and the
woman helped bring them up. I still could not understand why the snake was
there—I had never seen anything like it before and, since childhood, have
always tried to avoid snakes.
Suddenly, I remembered Ernst telling me that he saw a big snake
slither by us and go into the ground at the end of the procedure. At the same
time, I noticed that there was no snake on top of the mountain. Was it the
same snake?
Ernst had read many books about Native Americans, and each
one of them spoke of a connection between Indians and snakes.
I do not know how long it took me to finish my job, but finally I
could say, “Let’s go back. The ceremony is complete. I have done everything
I could.”
Going back through the park, we saw the ruins of a Native
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American dwelling. I had been told to practice there as well and informed my
company accordingly. “Here we will stop for just a little bit. I need to do one
more ceremony,” I said.
Once again, we turned on the music and started our practice.
Each one of us danced in his/her own manner. Once again, I saw the huge
snake and the same old natives.
They answered my questions in a unique way, the information
appearing like fragments of a movie before my eyes. I asked about things that
were bothering me, including questions involving the origins of the snake and
events from the distant past.
It was many years ago that the following happened. Once, a big
flood occurred in this place, and the people who had been living there were
forced to leave the bottom of the canyons very quickly and abruptly; they had
to climb higher to the top of the mountain. However, not all of them could
make it—the mountain was at a steep incline, as a result of which many
people were not able to climb it. Many of them died, carried away by furious
streams of water.
Then, a huge snake appeared and lay down in such a way that its
body could serve as a ladder, and many natives climbed it from the bottom of
the mountain upward. The snake gave its body to save people. In this manner,
it helped them. I also saw the same old natives with an eagle. I saw it help
people climb on top of the mountain to escape the flood.
My heart melted. I felt the deepest gratitude and respect toward
all life, because at that very moment, I realized that there are no boundaries
between the various species of the animal world. I realized that animals,
despite occupying a level of development lower than humans, often offer
themselves up to help people in extremely critical situations.
In the final analysis, there are no borders between animals and
humans, because they all constitute Life. Moreover, there are no borders
between nations and races. So why are there still wars and hatred among
people? Why do we create suffering for people who are the same as us? Why
don’t we help each other? Why don’t we live happily in this world? What,
after all, is our level of consciousness compared to that of animals and
snakes?
Suddenly, at that point, a realization dawned on me like morning
light: there are no borders between the different levels of life in general, no
borders between humans, birds, and animals—in other words, between
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anything alive. I was grateful to have encountered a situation like this, which
helped me to understand more about life. I was grateful to life for giving me
such a lesson.
I now had the feeling that my spirit had changed, that I had at
once undergone certain changes that had made my heart kinder. Prior to this
event, I still sensed differences between people, that some were better, some
worse. I felt that if someone did something bad, one could categorize that
person as a bad person. However, as a result of this event, this line no longer
existed for me. I ceased sensing anything bad in people. In addition, the
thought occurred to me that “there are so many connections in this world—
between the past, present, and future; so many connections between different
parts of the Universe and of different worlds, all of which are beyond our
understanding.” I understood that there are no differences between myself,
other people, and animals—there are no borders, obstacles, or walls—we are
all the same; we are representatives of Life.
We completed the procedure. I did what I was supposed to do.
The Indians then gave me a gift. When I received it, I recalled that I had seen
it before.
More than ten years ago, my Teacher had shown it to me, saying,
“In ten years, when you will be in America, you shall receive this present.” It
was amusing, because I knew about this gift ten years ago, but I had forgotten
about it until it actually happened—the gift did indeed come to me. I will tell
you about this, a little later.
Back to the story: we finished everything, in time. If one
accomplishes a good deed, Sky reflects it. The unbelievable color of Sky was
captured on videotape by Lidia.
I said, “Let’s go back to the town and have a great dinner.”
Because I hadn’t had any meat in three days and, in general,
hadn’t had too much food, I was hoping to have a lot of meat and some beer.
We went home through Santa Fe, a little town on the way to
Albuquerque.
We wanted to find a good restaurant there, but it was impossible,
because it was around ten o’clock at night and everything was closed.
Finally, we found a café serving pizza and beer. I ordered a drink and pizza
with meat.
After dinner, we went to our hotel, spending one more hour
driving. We arrived at the hotel at exactly midnight, as on the very first night.
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Earlier, I had said that we would be there at exactly twelve o’clock. Saying
good night to my company, I mentioned that I finally expected to get a good
night’s sleep, since everything of importance had been accomplished. Once
in my room, I turned off the overhead lights right away and dived quickly
into my bed. Ernst sat down near a table lamp to read a book.
I fell asleep immediately. However, in about twenty minutes, I
woke up again.
Do you know why? Indeed, the same two natives had
reappeared. However, I was so sleepy that I intentionally kept my eyes
closed. I was outraged and, in my thoughts, I was saying that I did not want
to see anyone and that I really wanted to get a good night sleep. I said that my
mission had been accomplished and that I needed some rest—that I deserved
it.
They did not care about my outrage and were preparing
something. As for me, I just kept sleeping on purpose. However, in my
dream, I felt them perform some strange manipulations on me.
Due to the fact that they couldn’t wake me up, they took
something that looked like a knife—I clearly felt, and saw it—and cut into
the skin on my head and exposed the skull bones. Then they dug around my
brain and placed over it something similar to a brain membrane. They placed
it as though it were a little hat and closed everything.
I felt as though they had inserted a bleeding piece of some fabric
—I saw the blood-red membrane they put over my brain. They could not
open the entire skull at once, so they uncovered one part like a petal and put
in one part of the red covering. Then they lifted another “petal,” exposed
another part of my brain, and again put in another part of the red covering,
and so on. I was sleeping and did not want to open my eyes. However, at the
same time, I was seeing them and their actions, and I felt everything.
The next morning when I woke up, the first thing I did was touch
my head to check what was there. Then I glanced at the pillow to see if there
was any blood. Everything was clean. When I was finally completely awake,
I let Ernst know that I, once again, hadn’t gotten any sleep, before telling him
what had happened.
He told me that this was one of the rituals commonly practiced
by Native Americans. Throughout their history, they have been known to use
such methods. They say that it is traditionally used in connection with certain
religious rituals. Typically, Native Americans drill into the skull or make a
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small opening in the head, and then place something there, in the brain and
the skull bones. I don’t know this for sure, but that is how they describe it.
The system of ZYQ knows that our brain has nine layers. It
appears that by using this method, the Native Americans helped me to change
one of the layers of my brain. This means that my brain has something
similar to what Native Americans have in theirs, something that unites me
with them. We therefore have established a spiritual connection between
ourselves.
On the other hand, I had been studying a certain type of Kung-fu
for many years: it was Kung-fu for bringing souls from the lower world into
the higher world. After that event with the Native American souls, I
understood why my Teacher had taught me that type of Kung-fu work with
souls so many years ago. However, it was at the Indian grounds that I really
applied my knowledge and ability for the first time: I opened Earth to reach
into the lower world, took out the souls that were trapped there, and brought
them up.
Usually, the soul of a recently departed person remains in a
world bordering our own. This is the reason why such souls often appear
around us. Sometimes, we can see them and communicate with them. In
order to reach them, one need not apply the special procedure for opening the
deep layers, the deep lower worlds—one can simply take the soul and help it
ascend.
There at the park, I had, for the first time, literally opened Earth
to reach into a deeper, lower world so that I could take those souls out of
there and move them up.
As a rule, when someone dies, his soul after some years goes into
a transitional world; in other words, into the world between material
existences—between any particular place and the next one, where the next
phase, the rebirth of this soul will take place. But because centuries had
passed since these Native Americans had perished, their souls were trapped
deep inside this transitional world and needed help to be reborn. I had to take
them out of this space and send them to the place of their next birth.
I always felt that the ZYQ system and the primordial culture of
natives populating the American continent had something in common—some
kind of interdependence. At times, it seems to me that they have the same
roots, although I cannot be sure of this yet. I did, however, become convinced
of this belief, once again, after the above-described event.
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Also, I realized that we had received the powerful support of the
spirits of the natives. We have established powerful Hu Fa there. If we ever
teach ZYQ in that area, we will have strong spiritual support.
I think you will receive such support too if you hold ZYQ
seminars in America.
Now, I would like the other members of our group to share their
experience, visions, and impressions.
“I would like to share my thoughts, because we all received
priceless experiences, and everything that happened there impressed me very
much,” said Lidia.
Lidia’s Story
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