Chi
Kung Culture Society of TAIPEI
Does our practice change the longer we practice? How can we convince people who are doing chikung practices which are different from ours that they are doing the wrong practice? Shouldn't all students practicing chikung be practicing in the same way?
In our practice, we go through many different changes as the dominance of our conscious mind decreases. When we first start practicing chikung, it is natural for us to compare our practice to what other people are practicing in order to satisfy ourself that our practice is the one correct one. This attitude is the result of our mind being unable to see our own practice clearly as well as not being able to see what the other practices are. This happens because our perception is clouded by poisons and fog that confuse our mind into relying on old familiar frameworks that provide some temporary comfort to us. This initial stage of our practice is often called "seeing the mountain is a mountain", meaning we look at the differences between our self and others. In other words, at this level we are using our distinguishing mind to navigate through our life.
When our practice of chikung has reached a higher level, we can see a different dimension and realize that the practice of other people is not what it originally seemed to be. Attaining this level requires our overcoming our high level of mental stubbornness; otherwise, our strong distinguishing mind takes over and we can't enter a different dimension. Slowly through our practice, we can see things from a different dimension and we realize that our practice isn't as it originally seemed to be. This level, often called "seeing the mountain isn't a mountain", takes about ten years of practice to achieve. At this level, we use our mind less as we practice, so we don't use our mind to enter our own practice of chikung. Consequently, since we don't use our distinguishing mind, we can see our practice more clearly. In particular, we can see that other chikung practices lead to different dimensions and different levels.
The third level is often called "seeing the mountain is a mountain again". This means we can see that although there are many dimensions, they are the same (ten thousand methods as one) if practiced without stubbornness or without mind. All practices have their good points, so there is no purpose in distinguishing between them.
Although there are only a few levels within this practice, most people can't go through them safely. Our practice of chikung is safe, but some people who practice it have problems with the practice arising from their basic elements (their ti dz), which make them very sensitive. Some other people have strange forces which may also cause problems. Many gung fu methods are at too high a level for most people to be studying; they start working on these levels too early. Our own practice is rather undemanding, so there are few problems which come from the practice itself. In order to avoid developing deviations, we need to go through our practice slowly. Even if you practice it incorrectly, you will still have progress. If you practice it correctly, you will make more progress. Our practice is the gate that all practices have to enter through.
With other chikung practices, if you don't practice them correctly, it will result in problems for you. If you have a practice which uses visualization, then there will be immediate reactions or results, so you will easily (although erroneously) think that you have made progress. Our practice doesn't use visualizations, so it takes longer.
The goal of our practice is to develop a holistic attitude toward life which does not have space for a distinguishing mind. In such a holistic attitude, there is nothing which is special. If you have big eyes and big wisdom, you can know that others will reach stability. They don't have to become a Shaolin master. You don't have to control them or their future. Let them be. Unfortunately, most teachers don't have a high level, so they exert control over their students in a way that opposes them. It is most important that a student unifies within him/herself. All people are different and have different directions, yet unenlightened teachers demand that all students behave the same. It is best to use a heaven and earth standard, not a human morality-based standard.