SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
OCTOBER 2017 PART 3
Guru Paramhansa Yogananda, one of the most famous yoga teachers in the world. Picture reproduced from http://www.facenfacts.com/NewsDetails/55040/paramhansa-yogananda:-indias-first-yoga-guru-in-the-us.htm
Question 1
I had a powerful surge of energy shot up my spine and merge with Cosmos. My heart also spontaneously opened weeks after. I continue to feel this powerful kundalini force on a daily basis.
— Stephen, USA
Answer
This is the opening and activation of the rush meridian, and is similar to kundalini in yoga. It is sometimes a result of attaining the Small Universe. For regular chi kung practitioners, once the rush meridian is open and activated, it will remain open and activated. It makes every day a joy.
Question 2
The energy feels very different from internal force, as it is electrifying yet simultaneously blissful.
Answer
The effect of the opening and activating the rush meridian is different from that of internal force. The former is for joy, the latter is for efficiency.
A feeling of bliss results when the rush meridian is opened
Question 3
In fact, I am sometimes so blissed out that I feel lightheaded. My daily worries about mundane life also seem so petty now. I am afraid that I won't care about my career or social life since everything pales in comparison to experiencing God and His bliss.
Answer
To be joyful and to be concerned about your career and social life are two different issues.
One can be joyful and be concerned about his career and social life, or he can be joyful and forget about his career and social life. Alternatively, he can be stressful, and concerned about his career and social life, or he can be stressed and not concerned about his career and social life.
Now you are joyful instead of stressful. This will make it easier as well as more effective to be concerned with your career and social life, especially when you have internal force. It is not for no reason for the saying that genuine Shaolin arts are more valuable than the ability to change stone to gold.
Question 4
I have tried to come back down to Earth by focusing on my Dan tian, but that seems to amplify this new blissful energy in my body! I am also seeing soft glowing lights everywhere.
Answer
By focusing at your dan tian, you prepare more energy flow along your rush meridian. Hence, you become more blissful. You can now use the energy at your dan tian to focus on your career and social life.
Seeing soft glowing lights is a common result of our dedicated chi kung practitioners. These glowing lights are spots of energy. You have opened some psychic centres, that usually remain close in ordinary people, enabling you to see these soft glowing lights.
If you want the wonderful benefits of chi kung, you must learn from a master
Question 5
I was concerned about kundalini awakenings after reading horror stories on the Internet. However, I realize that under Sigung's guidance and teachings in chi kung, my body was ready to handle this new energy. I am very fortunate to have Sigung and Sifu's guidance to experience bliss rather than the horrors of kundalini that I continue to read online.
Answer
There is a lot of information on the internet, but be aware that much of the information is misleading and sometime downright wrong. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can literally go onto the internet and write nonsense.
The horror stories about kundalini are by people who practiced joga wrongly. These horror experiences of kundalini are true, but they are adverse effects of kundalini instead of proper result.
The proper result of kundaline is bliss. As a practitioner continues his training, eventually he opens his crown cakra, and his personal spirit merges with the Universal Spirit resulting in Yoga, or union with Cosmic Reality. In Taoist chi kung, it is the opening of five petals to attain immortalitiy.
Question 6
With that said, does Sigung have students who also experienced kundalini awakenings? What are some advice to deal with this new reality? The past 2 months have felt like a dream. The best way to put it is that I am experiencing daily life on an energetic rather than physical level.
Answer
Yes, I have students with such experiences. They have found every day a joy.
It is wonderful to live your daily life like a dream. It is due to your dedicated training. But you have to come back to the phenomenal world where you live and work.
Be grateful for this blissful feeling. Be grateful for your mental clarity and internal force which enable you to attain peak performance.
Work well and live well, and wholesomely enjoy your life. Be kind and generous to other people.
White Snake Shoots Venom
Question 7
Recently I came upon shaolin.org and saw the video explaining the 15-minute chi kung's benefits.
Where or how can I learn this? Is it possible to learn from a book or videos?
— Dan, USA
Answer
You can get a lot of information from my website.
The important thing in getting benefits from any art, like driving or swimming, is to learn from a master who can help you to develop the skills for the art. If you learn swimming or driving from a good book or video, you can learn only its techniques, but not the necessary skills. You still won't be able to swim or drive.
It is the same with chi kung. You have to learn from a master if you want the wonderful benefits of chi kung. Indeed, most chi kung practitioners today only perform chi kung techniques, but they don't derive the benefits of chi kung because they don't have the skills.
I would recommend that you attain my Intensive Chi Kung Course. Please see my website for available dates, and contact my secretary for registration. Many people from all over the world attend my chi kung courses.
Question 8
A student asked me why I call the high attack in our basic combat sequence "White Snake Shoots Venom" whereas some other Shaolin Wahnam sites refer to this pattern as "Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom". I always called this pattern White Snake and didn't give it much more thought. However, I suddenly remembered you also commenting that this pattern is Poisonous Snake a couple of years ago.
Looking at all of the recent videos of the basic sequences, I have found that you use Poisonous Snake. I started to ask myself why I was using this pattern name. Then I found the following: https://www.shaolin.org/review/snake.html. This was the first version of the sequence you posted and represents how I learnt the set. As you will note, White Snake Shoots Venom is used.
Could you please clarify this discrepancy for me? Should I, for example, change the term I have been using?
— Sifu Andrew Barnett, Chief Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland
Answer
Both terms, "Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom" and "White Snake Shoots Venom", are used in Shaolin Kungfu and Taijiquan. But "Poisonous Snake" is more frequently used in Shaolin Kungfu, and "White Snake" in Taijiquan.
I do not know the reason. I suppose it was due to historical factors. Shaolin masters used "Poisonous Snake" and it became widely accepted. On the other hand, Taijiquan masters used "White Snake" and it was also widely accepted.
Pattern names, like other kungfu terms, are for convenience. They are not definitive or restrictive like scientific terms. Due to the long history of many kungfu styles, the same names may be used for different patterns, and also the same patterns may be given different names.
We have some examples in our school. The pattern that usually starts Shaolin kungfu sets is called "Double Lifting of Sun and Moon" in Sifu Ho Fatt Nam's school. But in Uncle Righteousness' school the same pattern name refers to another kungfu pattern, like Pattern 53 of the Essence of Shaolin at https://www.shaolin.org/shaolin/kungfu-sets/essence-shaolin/pictures.html. Even in the same Uncle Righteousness' school, sometimes the palms instead of the fists were used in this pattern.
Hence, in some other schools, "Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom" or "White Snake Shoots Venom" may refer to another pattern. Or the same pattern which we called "Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom" or "White Snake Shoots Venom" may be called by a different name.
There is no need to specifically change the term you have been using. But, if for any reason, like maintaining uniformity with other instructors, you wish to change the term, it is fine.
If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.
LINKS
Selected Reading
- Indian Types of Meditation
- Why did Bodhidharma go East?
- A Poem for Spiritual Cultivation in Beautiful Chinese Calligraphy
- Wudang Three-Harmony Set
- Please Blow your Horn