SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
MARCH 2022 PART 1
Practicing chi kung is one of the best things anyone can do
Question 1
I trust you are well and all is well in Penang. My husband and I are happy, healthy, and safe, for which I am grateful.
— Sifu Molly Kubinski, Shaolin Wahnam Twin Cities, USA
Answer
I am glad that you and your husband are happy, healthy and safe. You must teach your husband chi kung if you haven't taught him.Practicing chi kung is one of the best things anyone can do, especially with the present lockdown, and a practitioner would not be a carrier as the virus is destroyed immediately. Besides, practicing chi kung gives good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys irrespectively of religion.
Question 2
It would be wonderful to learn a complete system of kung fu and chi kung.
— Trevor, Canada
Answer
Practicing chi kung, and better still kungfu, is what everyone should do. Unfortunately most people, if they ever practice, practice only physical gentle exercise, and they usually do not realize it.
The main difference is that many "chi kung" practitioners are not relaxed and not focused; they are not relaxed but think that they are relaxed, and they are not focused but they think they are focused. That is the reason why many "chi kung" practitioners are still weak and sickly, though chi kung is meant to give good health and kungfu is a martial art.
The trouble is that many people are not aware that they are sick, especially when they are emotionally sick. They are stressful for no apparent reasons, and are anxious or afraid.
Good health is a natural birth-right. The fact that they are born means that they are naturally healthy, peaceful and happy. In other words, if all their organs and systems are working the ways they are meant to work, humans should be healthy, peaceful and happy.
Chi kung gives good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys
Question 3
I stopped practicing.
I improved greatly.
I have begun practicing at a much higher level.
— Brian, USA
Answer
While we do not stop practicing, we practice at a lower level. Chi kung must be practiced every day.
We can regulate our levels. We can practice at a lower level. To us it is a "low" level, but to other people it is very "high".
Chi kung takes years, but a typical Shaolin Wahnam student takes only months. I believe that a typical Shaolin Wahnam student is more than 10 times the benefits I had when I was a student.
I took more than 20 years to experience internal force. Now at my intensive and regular courses, students could have internal force within half an hour.
I learned from Sifu Chee Kim Thong, who was famous for internal force. My siheng had a lot of internal force; they must have trained for many, many years.
I remember that when my siheng, Sifu Chee Boon Leong, who was the eldest son of Sifu Chee Kim Thong and who taught us San Zhan, just put his hands on mine, I could not move my hands or move away from him.
We practiced San Zhan for more than two years. In fact, I thought that San Zhan was used to train internal force. It was much later when I had started my world travels that I learned San Zhan could be used for any combat. I could use San Zhan against any strikes, kicks, felling attacks or chin-na. No wonder San Zhan was the fundamental set of Wuzuquan, and it has remained the same for about 700 years.
You would improve greatly when you think you had a "plateau". You would practice at a much higher level. You have improved greatly.
Question 4
I have found Zen.
Answer
Zen touches our everyday life. When we eat, we practice Zen; when we sleep, we also practice Zen.
We must really be eating, not thinking that we are eating. We must really be sleeping, not thinking that we are sleeping.
At the highest level, Zen is Cosmic Reality. In Western term it is God the Holy Spirit. In Buddhist term it is attaining Buddhahood. In Taoist term it is attaining the Tao.
If you practice kungfu, you should be able to fight
Question 5
I hope this finds you well! I wanted to write to you with my usual thanks. Chi is now flowing harmoniously throughout almost my entire body, where before I used to be one big dead sector.
— Artem, USA
Answer
Congratulations for your improvement.
That it would take 3 years for your chi (or energy) to flow harmoniously was my estimation. It will take a much shorter time if you learn from me personally. I don't know when I shall offer intensive courses, but they will be soon. Please check my website.
It will be better if you take my Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course, but you should first take the Intensive Chi Kung Course. There is no need for any prior experience besides abiding the Ten Shaolin Laws. But to take the Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course, you need to learn the Shaolin 16 Basic Combat Sequences.
Many people may not want to take intensive courses. They think that they can learn on their own. But they fail to get into a chi kung state of mind; thus, they are still sickly and weak though chi kung will give them good health, vitality and longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys irrespective of religion.
Those who practice so-called kungfu cannot use their kungfu for combat, and they do not have any internal force. Worse, they become more unhealthy the more they practice.
Those who attain my Intensive Chi Kung Course learn to enter into a chi kung state of mind, and those who attend my Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course develop internal force. A main aim of the Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course is combat application, i.e. learning to use kungfu for combat. But combat application is not just for combat; it is for daily living.
In the Intensive Chi Kung Course you will also learn internal force, which will enhance daily living. Just imagine, by attaining the Intensive Chi Kung Course and the Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course you can have good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys not in a matter of years but in a matter of days.
Question 6
I speculate that Lohan pose sitting meditation is designed to be slightly simpler than holding the universal mudra because the upper body can be gently supported on the knees, and maybe this builds internal force differently. Could you please comment on the intention of the differences between Lohan and Buddha pose sitting meditation?
Answer
This is where the Intensive Chi Kung Course will be helpful. You will learn entering into a chi kung state of mind within half an hour of the course. Entering into a chi kung state of mind is also taught in the Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course.
A practitioner must be relaxed and focused in meditation, which is a training of mind or spiritual cultivation. Most people are not in meditation, though they sit in a lotus position, a semi-lotus position, or cross-legged. They are not relaxed and not focused. Myriad thoughts come to their mind, which is very common to most people.
There are two main categories of Buddhist mediation known as Tathagata meditation and Patriarch meditation, propounded by Siddhartha Gautama for all schools of Buddhism and Bodhidharma for Zen meditation. Tathagata meditation takes countless lifetimes, whereas Zen meditation is sudden.
As mentioned by the Sixth Patriarch, Hui Heng, a person becomes a Buddha when he is Enlightened, but when he is not Enlightened he becomes an ordinary person. By a shower of hands, many people have become enlightened, i.e. they have seen Cosmic Reality.
You should not hold any mudra or perform any meditation because your purpose at present is to overcome your curved spine. Holding any mudra or performing any meditation will not bring any desired result as you haven't entered into a chi kung state of mind or not be relaxed and focused.
Merging with the Cosmos
Question 7
Perhaps this question will show you that I am a little confused here. Any kind of meditation you will eventually find concentration, which will enable you to apply your penetrating eye and reach contemplation.
Answer
We perform standing meditation. Sitting meditation takes a long time. In regional courses like "Sinew Metamorphosis" and "Merging with the Cosmos", we achieve in standing meditation what others hope to achieve, but never will, in sitting meditation.
You also should not focus on one-pointed mind or on no mind. You are confused. At present you should attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course and Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course. You can save a lot of time and money.
Question 8
Could you please comment on the distinctions between the beginner stage standing meditation, and on no thoughts or no-mind? Have I achieved Tathagata Zen or Patriarch Zen?
Editorial Note
Artem's questions are continued at March 2022 Part 2.
Answer
Regional courses like "Sinew Metamorphosis" and "Merging with the Cosmos" are for advanced practitioners. Right now you should learn entering into a chi kung state of mind. You neither have achieved Tathagata Zen or Patriarch Zen. The minimum result is that you are fresh and alert, which are two of the spiritual joys.
You have to learn from a master willing to teach you. Most masters are unwilling to teach. Unless you have a lot of experience, you can't achieve it alone. Following the breath, like what Siddhartha Gautama taught in all schools of Buddhism, and focusing on the void, like what Bodhidharma taught in Zen Buddhism, are different forms of meditation. Buddhism is not a religion as what the West conceptualize it to be.
The gist of Buddhism as Siddhartha Gautama mentioned it are:
- Avoid all evil.
- Do Good.
- Cultivate the mind.
Although most Westerners accept as a fact that Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism, all schools of Buddhism without a single exception do not regard Siddhartha Gautama as the founder. There are many Buddhas, the Enlightened Ones. In Zen Buddhism everyone is a Buddha, though most people do not realize it.
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
- Shaolin Chi Kung Eighteen Techniques
- What is Zen
- White Crane Flaps Wings
- A Little Stream of Consciousness
- Fun Time in Disney World