Bagua
Showing posts with label Yi Fa Qi Gong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yi Fa Qi Gong. Show all posts
Monday, March 8, 2021
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Psychedelics and Spiritual Cultivation
I have often been asked whether there is any utility or value in the use of psychedelic drugs while engaging in spiritual practices, and specifically cultivation practice like that found in Yi Fa Qi Gong and other authentic Qi Gong cultivation systems.
My answer has always been that one has to be very cautious and prudent in how to approach the question of psychedelics. And in fact, people who are already engaging in or have previously used psychedelics will probably have very little benefit, and potentially drawbacks, from any attempt to use them in the context of cultivation practice.
Not because "drugs are bad" or anything like that, but because in the context of just WHAT they're useful for in terms of spiritual development. Psychedelic drugs need to be used ideally only at very carefully selected moments and in very specially selected contexts. The ancient shamanic cultures throughout the world understood this, as did some of the hermetics and some of the eastern sects.
The central feature of the psychedelic experience is twofold: it temporarily breaks down the ego, and it opens the doors of perception (to paraphrase Huxley).
The latter means that suddenly you're having a sensory experience different to anything you experienced before.
This is what leads to the effect of breaking down the ego: the mind's ability to lock-in to personality is based largely on imprinted behaviors from memory... what you could call "conditioning". Basically, ways you've programmed yourself, some of which is essential for daily living but a lot of which is also highly limiting, including in the spiritual context.
When you use a psychedelic for the first time, it makes your brain unable to refer back to any past experience that was sufficiently similar to allow the ego to assert itself (in the sense of "I know what's happening here, I know what to do") and so you have the potential to have an experience that can break some barriers the Ego has created that could be very hard to break otherwise. It is the inability to put what you're experiencing into some comfortable box of context that makes the experience so potentially charged with the opportunity to make serious Change.
But by the second time you use a psychedelic, you already have a context by which the brain can compare it to in memory; namely, the first time you used it! So even just the second use of a psychedelic will be, spiritually speaking, enormously less useful than the first time.
I would say that generally speaking, the real spiritual utility of psychedelics for transformation (in cultivation practice) is limited to the first two or at most three times you use a drug. Any use after that will, at best, only be useful for attaining a kind of trance state (but that can be done in a lot of ways, including meditation). It's no longer useful as an ego-overwhelming tool. It is just re-creating a former experience.
That means that if you had wasted the first time you used a psychedelic (say, at a party or something), you would wasted a big potential tool that you could never use again.
So you want to think carefully about when you use psychedelics. If you do use them, it should be at a carefully planned moment and in a carefully prepared context so as to make the best use of the power of the ego-overwhelming experience.
Friday, December 11, 2020
What Does Active Consciousness Feel Like?
In Yi Fa Qi Gong, a great emphasis is placed on being in the Active Consciousness. What this means is that while you're doing the exercises it is very important to be present, to "Show Up" to the practice; to be situated in your body and in the moment, attentive to what you are doing. You can't be distracted in your mind; and to avoid this you must pay attention to the sense of your body.
But some students have asked what this experience feels like; how one can know what the Active Consciousness is like?
When you're REALLY in the "zone" of the Active Consciousness you will feel like you're completely present, sort of like you're right at the front of your body.
Your breathing will be Qi Breathing, effortlessly centered in the lower dantien point (the spot just below your belly button), and you'll be experiencing the whole of your body as one whole thing.
You will feel much more solid and real than usual. You will not be in the head, though you'll still hear your thoughts, they won't feel like where you are and what you're doing, they'll feel like something in the background, like it was a radio playing on a shelf behind you.
You will feel very powerful and your practices will feel very powerful and intuitive.
These are the signs that you are effectively present in the Active Consciousness.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
The Magician's I Ching Facebook Group now has Over 3000 Members!
The Facebook group created in honor of The Magician's I Ching, but which is a general discussion group for all I Ching related subjects, has now reached 3000 members!
So if you haven't already joined the Magician's I Ching Facebook Group, please consider joining! It's free, and filled with interesting conversation and material related to the I Ching and I Ching studies. It's open to people coming from western or eastern traditions. It's very welcoming to newcomers to the I Ching, and you can get questions answered or useful advice. But it also has many very learned and highly experienced advanced students of the I Ching, and if you are one of those people you'll find some excellent higher level discussion about some of the finer points of I Ching study.
While you're at it, please consider joining the Yi Fa Society. Members of the Yi Fa Society also have a (secret) discussion group, and benefit from a complete and detailed training program for studying Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching. Members of the Yi Fa Society are taught additional Qi Gong and I Ching secrets that are not available anywhere public.
At higher levels of membership, the advanced exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are taught, and students are provided large numbers of instructional materials (whole books, like "Secret Techniques of the I Ching", "Universal Yi Fa", "The Yi Dao", and "the Great Book of Yi Fa", among others) on how to deepen their work with Qi Gong and I Ching for self-transformation and the work of enlightenment.
Members of the Yi Fa Society can work personally with me to keep up their practice, to resolve problems in their practice, and to develop discipline and structure in their spiritual path. Members also have the opportunity to have monthly Skype meetings with me for the same purpose.
Yi Fa Society membership is not free, but basic membership is on a monthly donation basis set by each student.
If you are interested in joining the Magician's I Ching Facebook group, just click on the link and join, and start reading and sharing with us!
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please contact me, here or on Facebook.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Cultivating the True Will and Superior Individual
What you have to understand is that achieving the True Will (what in I Ching terms is called the Superior Individual) requires three basic ingredients:
The first is self-inquiry. That is to say, growing in your understanding of your self, and what you are really capable of, and developing a way of tapping in, at every given moment and each given decision, to what is the best choice you can make to manifest that true will. Both meditation (Qi breathing) and the study of the I Ching helps with this; the former because it connects body and consciousness, the latter because it guides you in the situations where you can come to frame your choices in time and space. The I Ching is used for divination, but in the context of the Great Work it is a lot more than that; sometimes you will need to cast the I Ching to get answers to difficult situations, but as you grow in practice and if you've spent enough time in contemplating and considering the meaning of the I Ching you will eventually develop an ability to understand what to do by an "observation of nature" (that is, by paying attention to where you are in time and space, and being able to manifest the best possible self in your choices at that moment).
The second is developing in Virtue. The term Virtue is a very specific thing in the context of Yi Fa work; it means working on improving your dedication to the four core concepts inherent in "Yuan Heng Li Zhen": Union/Love, Discipline, Harmony/Justness, and Truth/Sincerity.
It isn't enough to just think about or study these concepts; you have to work on trying to embody them in everything you do in your everyday life. This takes a lot of work, it's like an exercise regime: you'll get better at it the more often you do it. The practice of self-inquiry mentioned above is very important in this regard because as you get better at being able to overcome the passions and impulses of the Inferior Person (the opposite of your True Will, your conditionings) the easier it will be to remember to manifest these qualities.
And the third part is the exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong. These exercise are a kind of internal alchemy; they gradually transform your body and consciousness at the same time. First off by giving you the opportunity to accumulate Qi (life force) within yourself, that is then transformed within your body to a force that breaks down the attachments you have to activities of the Inferior Person (relating to what in modern lingo could be called the mind/body connection). Beyond that, the regular practice of the exercises helps to generate Virtue, which you can then apply as mentioned above in your everyday life.
As you become more advanced in the Qi Gong practice, it will unlock new levels of your consciousness which will grant you the ability to increasingly directly manifest the Superior Individual.
Of course, all of this depends on you practicing the Work with sincerity and dedication. It takes time, but the longer you do it the more cumulative and lasting the benefits become.
The first is self-inquiry. That is to say, growing in your understanding of your self, and what you are really capable of, and developing a way of tapping in, at every given moment and each given decision, to what is the best choice you can make to manifest that true will. Both meditation (Qi breathing) and the study of the I Ching helps with this; the former because it connects body and consciousness, the latter because it guides you in the situations where you can come to frame your choices in time and space. The I Ching is used for divination, but in the context of the Great Work it is a lot more than that; sometimes you will need to cast the I Ching to get answers to difficult situations, but as you grow in practice and if you've spent enough time in contemplating and considering the meaning of the I Ching you will eventually develop an ability to understand what to do by an "observation of nature" (that is, by paying attention to where you are in time and space, and being able to manifest the best possible self in your choices at that moment).
The second is developing in Virtue. The term Virtue is a very specific thing in the context of Yi Fa work; it means working on improving your dedication to the four core concepts inherent in "Yuan Heng Li Zhen": Union/Love, Discipline, Harmony/Justness, and Truth/Sincerity.
It isn't enough to just think about or study these concepts; you have to work on trying to embody them in everything you do in your everyday life. This takes a lot of work, it's like an exercise regime: you'll get better at it the more often you do it. The practice of self-inquiry mentioned above is very important in this regard because as you get better at being able to overcome the passions and impulses of the Inferior Person (the opposite of your True Will, your conditionings) the easier it will be to remember to manifest these qualities.
And the third part is the exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong. These exercise are a kind of internal alchemy; they gradually transform your body and consciousness at the same time. First off by giving you the opportunity to accumulate Qi (life force) within yourself, that is then transformed within your body to a force that breaks down the attachments you have to activities of the Inferior Person (relating to what in modern lingo could be called the mind/body connection). Beyond that, the regular practice of the exercises helps to generate Virtue, which you can then apply as mentioned above in your everyday life.
As you become more advanced in the Qi Gong practice, it will unlock new levels of your consciousness which will grant you the ability to increasingly directly manifest the Superior Individual.
Of course, all of this depends on you practicing the Work with sincerity and dedication. It takes time, but the longer you do it the more cumulative and lasting the benefits become.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Cultivation Practice Qi Gong Requires Progressive Steps
There are many schools of Qi Gong. Many of these teach amalgam systems, which have either been created by a collection of different exercises from different sources with no consideration as to the progressive nature of cultivation teaching, or from very ancient traditions over many influences of teachers with a lot of mixed up or added material from different sources.
At present, many, undoubtedly most, Qi Gong teachings in the west (or the east as well) focus on good health, and are largely just seen as exercises for health. And in that sense, the significant majority of Qi Gong schools are perfectly adequate for that simple goal.
But the true nature of Qi Gong is not to develop good health. Qi Gong descends from the techniques of eastern Internal Alchemy, and their true purpose is to transform one's consciousness; real Qi Gong is an Enlightenment practice. And when it comes to practicing Qi Gong as a system of spiritual cultivation for Enlightenment, you can't just settle for a hodge-podge of mixed exercises that aren't concerned with establishing solid foundations followed by progressive steps of further transformation.
The way Qi Gong really works is to imagine a pyramid: the first lowest tier of that pyramid is the Body. it is the absolute foundation. This is why you begin all cultivation practice by being present in your body.
If you are doing things without your active consciousness being in the body it's like you're trying to build a house on air. So that's the first thing you have to learn, how to BE in the body. Because today most people in the West certainly don't know how to do that.
Following that, you must learn how to breathe properly, because the breath is key to the circulation of Qi. In order for that circulation to work properly, your body must be able to relax, so you must not only be consciously in your body, but also to help your body to relax, and breathe naturally. Only after that can you effectively begin in the basic first-step practices of proper spiritual cultivation, taught in the first level of Yi Fa Qi Gong.
After that, like in the subsequent levels of the Yi Fa society, the work begins to focus on other tiers: the second is the cultivation of Virtue. After that, the effort to unite with what is beyond you, and after that, to experience Reality.
All of these are necessary steps for the system, which is part of why you can't just pick and choose spiritual practices outside of a coherently ordered system, systems of spiritual Cultivation are of necessity progressive. If you just do thing A here, and thing D there, but you skipped B because no one told you about it and C because you didn't like it, then you end up creating a warped practice that will not be able to fully succeed at cultivation.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Health Issues and Qi Gong
Most schools of Qi Gong today sell themselves as being about health and healing. This is because mainly the people promoting those schools either have no real grounding in what Qi Gong is for, or are aware but felt obliged to keep the real purpose hidden. In China, Qi Gong was very badly persecuted during most of the Communist period. It was only allowed to be revived in the time after the terrible persecutions of the Maoist Cultural Revolution, when the Chinese Government eased away from attacking traditional Chinese culture, and when the nation was facing a health-infrastructure crisis.
In fact, there was no such term as "Qi Gong" before the modern age, this was a name created to unite concepts in traditional Chinese healing, cultivation practice, and internal martial arts. The government began to promote Qi Gong, not as a spiritual practice of cultivation, but as a system for improving health and wellness. So many opportunists who had little or no real understanding of cultivation set themselves up as "qi gong healers", while some of the genuine teachers began to teach again by hiding their more esoteric training behind the facade of "health and healing". In fact, this fit in nicely with the historical tradition of "secret schools", where serious Qi Gong masters would hide the nature of their teaching.
But regardless, Qi Gong was not meant to be about health, or healing. It was meant to be about cultivation for the purpose of eventual enlightenment.
So how useful is Qi Gong, for someone who is only interested in preserving their health or healing some kind of ailment?
Regarding health issues and Yi Fa Qi Gong; or health issues and Qi Gong in general, you have to consider the sources of various health problems. They are caused by one of a selection of sources:
0. Accidents or short-term illness: a broken leg or a cold or upset stomach are not really caused by anything in most cases, except misfortune. These problems do not really need Qi Gong to heal.
1. Genetics: This is one of the most common causes of non-acute health problems. Recent medical studies have found that a great number of health issues are largely caused by genetic predisposition. This is a product of birth. Qi Gong can't really do anything to prevent these problems. There's not really anything Qi Gong needs to do about these, in terms of prevention, and only limited amounts it can do in terms of treatment.
2. Environmental issues: These are health issues caused by where you are, by elements of your environment. This also includes things you might have a genetic predisposition toward, but would not be affected by it without being exposed to some environmental trigger. These health problems can sometimes be resolved by changing your environment. Doing Qi Gong without making changes in your environment won't be of any real help.
3. Lifestyle/choice issues: Some health problems are caused as a consequence of your lifestyle or behaviours, related to eating habits, sleeping habits, drinking, drugs, smoking, or other choices. Again, if you don't change your lifestyle, Qi Gong will not be of help here.
4. Stress or emotional issues: some health problems appear as consequences of mental stress or emotional tension manifesting in the body. The best resolution to these problems is through relaxation, meditation, and the expanding of your own consciousness until your attachments disentangle themselves. The exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are effective at dealing with these issues, if properly practiced.
So this is why I do not put very much emphasis on 'health' in Qi Gong practice. Anything related to health that can actually honestly be helped by Qi Gong can and will be helped by performing Yi Fa Qi Gong correctly, even though Yi Fa Qi Gong's primary goal is not health but Enlightenment.
None of the other sources of health problems can be significantly helped by any Qi Gong, even those forms of Qi Gong that allege to be about health.
In fact, there was no such term as "Qi Gong" before the modern age, this was a name created to unite concepts in traditional Chinese healing, cultivation practice, and internal martial arts. The government began to promote Qi Gong, not as a spiritual practice of cultivation, but as a system for improving health and wellness. So many opportunists who had little or no real understanding of cultivation set themselves up as "qi gong healers", while some of the genuine teachers began to teach again by hiding their more esoteric training behind the facade of "health and healing". In fact, this fit in nicely with the historical tradition of "secret schools", where serious Qi Gong masters would hide the nature of their teaching.
But regardless, Qi Gong was not meant to be about health, or healing. It was meant to be about cultivation for the purpose of eventual enlightenment.
So how useful is Qi Gong, for someone who is only interested in preserving their health or healing some kind of ailment?
Regarding health issues and Yi Fa Qi Gong; or health issues and Qi Gong in general, you have to consider the sources of various health problems. They are caused by one of a selection of sources:
0. Accidents or short-term illness: a broken leg or a cold or upset stomach are not really caused by anything in most cases, except misfortune. These problems do not really need Qi Gong to heal.
1. Genetics: This is one of the most common causes of non-acute health problems. Recent medical studies have found that a great number of health issues are largely caused by genetic predisposition. This is a product of birth. Qi Gong can't really do anything to prevent these problems. There's not really anything Qi Gong needs to do about these, in terms of prevention, and only limited amounts it can do in terms of treatment.
2. Environmental issues: These are health issues caused by where you are, by elements of your environment. This also includes things you might have a genetic predisposition toward, but would not be affected by it without being exposed to some environmental trigger. These health problems can sometimes be resolved by changing your environment. Doing Qi Gong without making changes in your environment won't be of any real help.
3. Lifestyle/choice issues: Some health problems are caused as a consequence of your lifestyle or behaviours, related to eating habits, sleeping habits, drinking, drugs, smoking, or other choices. Again, if you don't change your lifestyle, Qi Gong will not be of help here.
4. Stress or emotional issues: some health problems appear as consequences of mental stress or emotional tension manifesting in the body. The best resolution to these problems is through relaxation, meditation, and the expanding of your own consciousness until your attachments disentangle themselves. The exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are effective at dealing with these issues, if properly practiced.
So this is why I do not put very much emphasis on 'health' in Qi Gong practice. Anything related to health that can actually honestly be helped by Qi Gong can and will be helped by performing Yi Fa Qi Gong correctly, even though Yi Fa Qi Gong's primary goal is not health but Enlightenment.
None of the other sources of health problems can be significantly helped by any Qi Gong, even those forms of Qi Gong that allege to be about health.
Friday, April 14, 2017
Undoing Emotional Attachments Through Yi Fa Qi Gong
Someone at one point asked about how to best handle 'negative' emotional issues that they feel attached to, using Qi Gong. The following was my reply:
The technique would be very simple: when you begin the level 1 exercise, bring those feelings to mind; engage with those feelings as you do the practice.
Bring your active consciousness into your body, your movements, and your stillness, as usual.
So at this point you bring up the emotional energy trapped by the attachment, and then start to focus on a totally different use of energy: the practice.
"Energy" here really means intensity; the 'intensity' of your feelings tied up in your attachments is a kind of effort(energy). Give them a different direction, and it can gradually untie the knot of that attachment by putting that same level of intensity into your practice.
The technique would be very simple: when you begin the level 1 exercise, bring those feelings to mind; engage with those feelings as you do the practice.
Bring your active consciousness into your body, your movements, and your stillness, as usual.
So at this point you bring up the emotional energy trapped by the attachment, and then start to focus on a totally different use of energy: the practice.
"Energy" here really means intensity; the 'intensity' of your feelings tied up in your attachments is a kind of effort(energy). Give them a different direction, and it can gradually untie the knot of that attachment by putting that same level of intensity into your practice.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
The Magician's I Ching Facebook Group now has Over 2000 Members!
So if you haven't already joined the Magician's I Ching Facebook Group, please consider joining! It's free, and filled with interesting conversation and material related to the I Ching and I Ching studies. It's open to people coming from western or eastern traditions. It's very welcoming to newcomers to the I Ching, and you can get questions answered or useful advice. But it also has many very learned and highly experienced advanced students of the I Ching, and if you are one of those people you'll find some excellent higher level discussion about some of the finer points of I Ching study.
While you're at it, please consider joining the Yi Fa Society. Members of the Yi Fa Society also have a (secret) discussion group, and benefit from a complete and detailed training program for studying Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching. Members of the Yi Fa Society are taught additional Qi Gong and I Ching secrets that are not available anywhere public.
At higher levels of membership, the advanced exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are taught, and students are provided large numbers of instructional materials (whole books, like "Secret Techniques of the I Ching", "Universal Yi Fa", "The Yi Dao", and "the Great Book of Yi Fa", among others) on how to deepen their work with Qi Gong and I Ching for self-transformation and the work of enlightenment.
Members of the Yi Fa Society can work personally with me to keep up their practice, to resolve problems in their practice, and to develop discipline and structure in their spiritual path. Members also have the opportunity to have monthly Skype meetings with me for the same purpose.
Yi Fa Society membership is not free, but basic membership is on a monthly donation basis set by each student.
If you are interested in joining the Magician's I Ching Facebook group, just click on the link and join, and start reading and sharing with us!
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please contact me, here or on Facebook.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
How to Understand "Relaxation" in Yi Fa Qi Gong
This is a very useful video to understand some of what I mean with regards to 'relaxing' into Qi Gong practice. Although it's obviously being presented from the point of view of martial arts, it's coming from a tradition that makes some use of Qi Extension, and thus it relates to some of what we talk about in the Yi Fa Qi Gong practice.
Note that I'm not saying you need to do these stretches in particular (you could if you want to, but they're geared toward martial arts practice), I'm saying pay attention to what he's talking about just what 'relaxation' means.
People tend to tense up their muscles, while in Qi Gong the point is to keep the musculature relaxed while still holding an internal firmness. So I've found it's very important to remind people to relax while they practice; holding tension in the musculature makes it very ineffective for Qi circulation. But at the same time, this doesn't mean to be all floppy; the POSTURE is firm, the musculature is relaxed (and the breathing is relaxed as well).
There is a parallel in this when it comes to one's consciousness during the practice; you do not want to be mentally tense while you practice. You DO want to be in the Active Consciousness, but this means being very present in a very relaxed way!
There is a parallel in this when it comes to one's consciousness during the practice; you do not want to be mentally tense while you practice. You DO want to be in the Active Consciousness, but this means being very present in a very relaxed way!
Also note what he's talking about "mind" and "putting the mind into the body". When he says "mind" he's talking about what in Yi Fa Qi Gong we call "active consciousness". When you are really present in the active consciousness, your body is not tense, your mind is not tense, but you are fully connected in the body and so without any great effort other than that attention you are able to be in good control of your posture and movements.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
The Curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, Level 3
Each level of the Yi Fa Society has its own curriculum, with new
material presented for the student's growth, practice and study. Previous entries already detailed the Curriculum of Level 1, and Level 2.
The Curriculum of Level 3, in brief, consists of the following points:
1. The "Great Book of Yi Fa": a 95-page "secret text", this book elaborates on some of the mysteries already revealed about the philosophy of Yi Fa, the practices of Yi Fa Qi Gong, and the great work of Enlightenment (personal and universal).
2. The Guide to the Taijitu: this short text consists of an explanation of the Taijitu, the I Ching cosmology's equivalent of the Qabalistic Tree of Life (though it is in fact older than the Tree of Life), and how the different dimensions of manifested reality unfold.
3. The Level 3 Yi Fa Qi Gong exercise. This is a secret exercise taught only to members of level 3 of the Yi Fa Society program.
4. The Zhong Yong: a 9-page text on cosmology, philosophy and virtue, revealing the nature of the Middle Pillar.
5. An exercise for understanding the Image of the Hexagrams.
6. The basic instruction on the techniques of Qi Extension.
These advanced teachings are only available to those students who are members of the Yi Fa Society and complete the Level 1 & 2 curriculum.
If you are interested in membership in the Yi Fa Society, please contact me!
The Curriculum of Level 3, in brief, consists of the following points:
1. The "Great Book of Yi Fa": a 95-page "secret text", this book elaborates on some of the mysteries already revealed about the philosophy of Yi Fa, the practices of Yi Fa Qi Gong, and the great work of Enlightenment (personal and universal).
2. The Guide to the Taijitu: this short text consists of an explanation of the Taijitu, the I Ching cosmology's equivalent of the Qabalistic Tree of Life (though it is in fact older than the Tree of Life), and how the different dimensions of manifested reality unfold.
3. The Level 3 Yi Fa Qi Gong exercise. This is a secret exercise taught only to members of level 3 of the Yi Fa Society program.
4. The Zhong Yong: a 9-page text on cosmology, philosophy and virtue, revealing the nature of the Middle Pillar.
5. An exercise for understanding the Image of the Hexagrams.
6. The basic instruction on the techniques of Qi Extension.
These advanced teachings are only available to those students who are members of the Yi Fa Society and complete the Level 1 & 2 curriculum.
If you are interested in membership in the Yi Fa Society, please contact me!
Monday, October 10, 2016
The Importance of Doing Qi Gong as its own Reward
That each meditation, or each Qi Gong session should be done FOR ITS OWN SAKE is really hugely important.
Meditation and cultivation practice cannot work if it is something you do now for the hope of some kind of future outcome.
But if you do it right now, for the sake of doing it, to Show Up and be in it, then it provides an instant response.
It becomes its own reward.
And it allows you to connect to that cultivation that will lead to long-term transformation.
Like so many other parts of Qi Gong or spiritual practice, the future takes care of itself and you do not have to do anything about it, as long as you are taking care of and Showing Up in the present right now!
If you are interested in working the curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, please feel free to contact me about joining.
Meditation and cultivation practice cannot work if it is something you do now for the hope of some kind of future outcome.
But if you do it right now, for the sake of doing it, to Show Up and be in it, then it provides an instant response.
It becomes its own reward.
And it allows you to connect to that cultivation that will lead to long-term transformation.
Like so many other parts of Qi Gong or spiritual practice, the future takes care of itself and you do not have to do anything about it, as long as you are taking care of and Showing Up in the present right now!
If you are interested in working the curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, please feel free to contact me about joining.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Yi Fa Video: Qi Gong Hand Positions
In this new video on Yi Fa Qi Gong, there's some further explanation of the movements and positions of the hands while performing the preliminary exercises and level 1 exercise:
If you are interested in a more profound study of Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching for cultivation purposes, please feel free to contact me for membership in the Yi Fa Society.
If you are interested in a more profound study of Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching for cultivation purposes, please feel free to contact me for membership in the Yi Fa Society.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Some Unusual Experiences in Early Qi Gong Practice
The following is an excerpt from the Level 2 book "The Universal Yi Fa":
"Brand new students may feel, sometime in the first week or two of daily Qi Gong practice, some physical symptoms that are not unlike having a mild cold; this is also normal and happens to at least a third of all new students. The ancient teachers suggested that this was due to the expulsion of stagnant Qi (or later, once Buddhism had become popular in China, the expulsion of "bad karma"); however it may also bepossible that these symptoms are in fact due to the way Qi Gong stimulates the lymphatic system into more effective detoxification.
Many students will experience, after their first few sessions of Qi Gong, feelings of excitement and pleasure during the practice, and a general sense of well-being after the practice. This is different from the bliss stage of pre-enlightenment, but is rather an effect of that initial enthusiasm for practice (and the conscious or unconscious sensing of initial Qi cultivation). It happens to at least a third of initial students. Instructors should make it clear that this is a normal sensation, but not to dwell too much or make that kind of pleasure the goal (otherwise, in the middle-early stages, when perfecting the technical
side of the movements becomes more challenging, they may start to get discouraged).
On the other hand, at least a third of the students may find that, in the days after initial Qi Gong practice, they start to feel more easily annoyed or irritated by everyday things in their life and environment. This is likely caused by the initial increase in sensitivity and perception that properly practiced Qi Gong generates. Students should be advised not to worry too much about it, to try to avoid outbursts or reactions caused by such irritation, and that once they get used to their higher level of perception, these sensations will pass.
One very common physical side effect of Qi Gong practice is most curious: practitioners will experience an increase of "bubbles" in their urine. The ancient teaching suggested that these are due to "excess Qi", not yet able to be contained in the new student as they are still in the process of activating the First Furnace. It may also be likely, however, that this is a side effect of increased oxygenation produced by improved breathing when practicing Qi Breathing. In either case, this curious side effect is completely harmless.
Finally many students, after the first two or three weeks of practice, report that they are getting less sleep than they used to; and for some this can seem quite distressing. However, the student should consider whether their reduced hours of sleep actually translate into a sensation of being tired when they wake up. They will likely find that even if they have slept one to three hours less than they were previously used to, they wake up feeling no more tired than they would normally. This is because the physical effects of Qi Gong, and the increased life energy generated by the proper circulation of Qi in the body, makes less sleep necessary to get the same amount of physical regeneration. So if a student is sleeping less but is not feeling exhausted from it, they should realize that this is not a serious problem at all, but rather an advantage of practice! At the same time, the instructor should warn students away from intentionally getting less sleep; if their body naturally sleeps less, that is different than if they are trying to use Qi Gong as a way to "burn the midnight oil", which is not as such advised."
If you are interested in Yi Fa Qi Gong, you could start on it by checking out the Yi Fa Society Playlist on Youtube.
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society and working on its curriculum, please feel free to contact me!
"Brand new students may feel, sometime in the first week or two of daily Qi Gong practice, some physical symptoms that are not unlike having a mild cold; this is also normal and happens to at least a third of all new students. The ancient teachers suggested that this was due to the expulsion of stagnant Qi (or later, once Buddhism had become popular in China, the expulsion of "bad karma"); however it may also bepossible that these symptoms are in fact due to the way Qi Gong stimulates the lymphatic system into more effective detoxification.
Many students will experience, after their first few sessions of Qi Gong, feelings of excitement and pleasure during the practice, and a general sense of well-being after the practice. This is different from the bliss stage of pre-enlightenment, but is rather an effect of that initial enthusiasm for practice (and the conscious or unconscious sensing of initial Qi cultivation). It happens to at least a third of initial students. Instructors should make it clear that this is a normal sensation, but not to dwell too much or make that kind of pleasure the goal (otherwise, in the middle-early stages, when perfecting the technical
side of the movements becomes more challenging, they may start to get discouraged).
On the other hand, at least a third of the students may find that, in the days after initial Qi Gong practice, they start to feel more easily annoyed or irritated by everyday things in their life and environment. This is likely caused by the initial increase in sensitivity and perception that properly practiced Qi Gong generates. Students should be advised not to worry too much about it, to try to avoid outbursts or reactions caused by such irritation, and that once they get used to their higher level of perception, these sensations will pass.
One very common physical side effect of Qi Gong practice is most curious: practitioners will experience an increase of "bubbles" in their urine. The ancient teaching suggested that these are due to "excess Qi", not yet able to be contained in the new student as they are still in the process of activating the First Furnace. It may also be likely, however, that this is a side effect of increased oxygenation produced by improved breathing when practicing Qi Breathing. In either case, this curious side effect is completely harmless.
Finally many students, after the first two or three weeks of practice, report that they are getting less sleep than they used to; and for some this can seem quite distressing. However, the student should consider whether their reduced hours of sleep actually translate into a sensation of being tired when they wake up. They will likely find that even if they have slept one to three hours less than they were previously used to, they wake up feeling no more tired than they would normally. This is because the physical effects of Qi Gong, and the increased life energy generated by the proper circulation of Qi in the body, makes less sleep necessary to get the same amount of physical regeneration. So if a student is sleeping less but is not feeling exhausted from it, they should realize that this is not a serious problem at all, but rather an advantage of practice! At the same time, the instructor should warn students away from intentionally getting less sleep; if their body naturally sleeps less, that is different than if they are trying to use Qi Gong as a way to "burn the midnight oil", which is not as such advised."
If you are interested in Yi Fa Qi Gong, you could start on it by checking out the Yi Fa Society Playlist on Youtube.
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society and working on its curriculum, please feel free to contact me!
Thursday, August 25, 2016
On the Nature of Ritual and Qi
The other day I posted a Youtube video related to the subject of ritual, in the context of the Bhagavad Gita:
Now, this video is not part of the Yi Fa Curriculum. But the subject of 'ritual' is very significant to the Yi Fa work. As the video points out, ritual is not meant to be something done automatically, or even as such for some kind of ulterior motive: it is its own reward.
This brings to mind the question of 'what is ritual'? We tend to think of ritual in terms of being some kind of ceremony meant for religious or magical purposes.
But in Chinese thought, ritual or "rites" (which is called "li") means not only religious ceremony, but also it encompasses all the notions of 'proper conduct'. It can be understood as including customs, manners, etiquette, 'proper form', etc. We could call it "rules of art". It is tied to the Virtue of harmony; both in the sense of good harmony within our own being (balance), but also harmony with our world, our fellow human beings, and society.
Another of the Confucian Classics, aside from the I Ching, is the "Book of Rites". If you look at that book, you will find that it is not some book of magical rituals, but rather a wide-ranging guide to all kinds of standards of etiquette and ancient customs (from the Zhou dynasty, the dynasty that wrote the I Ching).
In relation to Qi Gong, the practice of the forms of Qi Gong (including Yi Fa Qi Gong) are certainly a type of ritual. It is important to further clarify what this means in the context of Qi. There are many people talking about the "Qi Gong" of other activities: how painting can be Qi Gong, or writing, or dancing, or all sorts of other things (even "Qi Gong Golf" or "Qi Gong Cooking"). In some cases, this is interpreted in some kind of very esoteric way, like as if you are doing some very special mystical technique. But this was not really the purpose of this concept, it is actually just the opposite.
Let's further define an intentional act, and a ritual act. In western esoteric magic, we are told that "any intentional act is a magical act", and that magick is "the art or science of causing change to occur in conformity to the Will". We can thus surmise that any intentional act is an act where you are directing your will.
So what marks the difference between an 'intentional' act and a 'ritual' act is that a ritual act is to direct the will within a certain form. Any practice that has a technique is not only an intentional act, but a ritual act. This is how to understand 'rites' in the context of Qi Gong.
What this means is that if you get up in the morning and brush your teeth, and the practice of brushing your teeth is done in a certain way (you stand in front of the sink, you fill a glass, you lift the glass to your lips and slosh some water in your mouth, then spit it out into the sink; you grab your toothbrush, open the toothpaste, put a bead of toothpaste on the toothbrush, put the toothbrush in your mouth and scrub in a certain fashion going from one part of your teeth to another, then rinse your mouth again, wash off the toothbrush, etc.) then you can say that you have a "technique" of brushing your teeth. But this is not a ritual, unless you are also doing it as an intentional act. As soon as you are doing this exact same technique, just as you always did it before but now as an intentional act, it becomes the Ritual of Brushing Teeth.
It is the same with countless other things you do in your ordinary life. You have techniques for all sorts of ordinary things in your life. Often, these are done mechanically, specifically as a way to avoid paying attention while you are doing it; you can be on 'automatic' because of how familiar you are with these techniques.
In Qi Gong, Qi is a measurement of the direction of your Will. It is treated as a substance, and thus we understand Will not as some invisible thing or only a mental effect but as a part of our material existence. When we do anything as an Intentional act, we are directing Qi. So if we are doing some technique in a mechanical way, we are not directing Qi into these activities. But as soon as we do that technique in an intentional way, we are directing Qi into them: a mechanical activity becomes a Ritual activity. This directing of Qi does not really require any special effort on our part aside from intention; just like in Yi Fa Qi Gong you do not need to do anything mentally to 'move' the Qi, it naturally happens just by performing the practices with intention.
If we are trying to brush our teeth, or paint, or play golf, or prepare breakfast or any other thing, through some technique, whether it is ordinary or somehow fancy or ceremonious or unusual, it is NOT Qi Gong, if it is mechanical. But it can be said to be "Tooth-brushing Qi Gong" or "Painting Qi Gong" or "Golfing Qi Gong" or "Cooking Qi Gong" if we are doing it with a technique and form AND we are also doing it intentionally!
This is why I say people often understand it the opposite way of how it is intended: it is not about reciting some kind of mantra or visualizing something or doing some unusual movements or mentally directing something, while you are doing these ordinary things. It is about doing these ordinary things with order and structure, with harmony and balance, and with the Active Consciousness, with intent. The point is not to try to mystify ordinary activities, but to understand that that all sorts of ordinary things can be mystical, can be part of cultivation, simply by doing them consciously.
And we have to conclude, by this same reasoning, that it is not that Qi Gong is something separate from the ordinary, but very much part of the ordinary. Our ordinary life does not need to be integrated into our cultivation practice; rather, our cultivation practice needs to be integrated into our everyday lives! We do not need to separate ourselves from ordinary existence to find the magical, we have to unite our Will to the ordinary.
There, in the Manifested, is where the Great Work is to be found.
Now, this video is not part of the Yi Fa Curriculum. But the subject of 'ritual' is very significant to the Yi Fa work. As the video points out, ritual is not meant to be something done automatically, or even as such for some kind of ulterior motive: it is its own reward.
This brings to mind the question of 'what is ritual'? We tend to think of ritual in terms of being some kind of ceremony meant for religious or magical purposes.
But in Chinese thought, ritual or "rites" (which is called "li") means not only religious ceremony, but also it encompasses all the notions of 'proper conduct'. It can be understood as including customs, manners, etiquette, 'proper form', etc. We could call it "rules of art". It is tied to the Virtue of harmony; both in the sense of good harmony within our own being (balance), but also harmony with our world, our fellow human beings, and society.
Another of the Confucian Classics, aside from the I Ching, is the "Book of Rites". If you look at that book, you will find that it is not some book of magical rituals, but rather a wide-ranging guide to all kinds of standards of etiquette and ancient customs (from the Zhou dynasty, the dynasty that wrote the I Ching).
In relation to Qi Gong, the practice of the forms of Qi Gong (including Yi Fa Qi Gong) are certainly a type of ritual. It is important to further clarify what this means in the context of Qi. There are many people talking about the "Qi Gong" of other activities: how painting can be Qi Gong, or writing, or dancing, or all sorts of other things (even "Qi Gong Golf" or "Qi Gong Cooking"). In some cases, this is interpreted in some kind of very esoteric way, like as if you are doing some very special mystical technique. But this was not really the purpose of this concept, it is actually just the opposite.
Let's further define an intentional act, and a ritual act. In western esoteric magic, we are told that "any intentional act is a magical act", and that magick is "the art or science of causing change to occur in conformity to the Will". We can thus surmise that any intentional act is an act where you are directing your will.
So what marks the difference between an 'intentional' act and a 'ritual' act is that a ritual act is to direct the will within a certain form. Any practice that has a technique is not only an intentional act, but a ritual act. This is how to understand 'rites' in the context of Qi Gong.
What this means is that if you get up in the morning and brush your teeth, and the practice of brushing your teeth is done in a certain way (you stand in front of the sink, you fill a glass, you lift the glass to your lips and slosh some water in your mouth, then spit it out into the sink; you grab your toothbrush, open the toothpaste, put a bead of toothpaste on the toothbrush, put the toothbrush in your mouth and scrub in a certain fashion going from one part of your teeth to another, then rinse your mouth again, wash off the toothbrush, etc.) then you can say that you have a "technique" of brushing your teeth. But this is not a ritual, unless you are also doing it as an intentional act. As soon as you are doing this exact same technique, just as you always did it before but now as an intentional act, it becomes the Ritual of Brushing Teeth.
It is the same with countless other things you do in your ordinary life. You have techniques for all sorts of ordinary things in your life. Often, these are done mechanically, specifically as a way to avoid paying attention while you are doing it; you can be on 'automatic' because of how familiar you are with these techniques.
In Qi Gong, Qi is a measurement of the direction of your Will. It is treated as a substance, and thus we understand Will not as some invisible thing or only a mental effect but as a part of our material existence. When we do anything as an Intentional act, we are directing Qi. So if we are doing some technique in a mechanical way, we are not directing Qi into these activities. But as soon as we do that technique in an intentional way, we are directing Qi into them: a mechanical activity becomes a Ritual activity. This directing of Qi does not really require any special effort on our part aside from intention; just like in Yi Fa Qi Gong you do not need to do anything mentally to 'move' the Qi, it naturally happens just by performing the practices with intention.
If we are trying to brush our teeth, or paint, or play golf, or prepare breakfast or any other thing, through some technique, whether it is ordinary or somehow fancy or ceremonious or unusual, it is NOT Qi Gong, if it is mechanical. But it can be said to be "Tooth-brushing Qi Gong" or "Painting Qi Gong" or "Golfing Qi Gong" or "Cooking Qi Gong" if we are doing it with a technique and form AND we are also doing it intentionally!
This is why I say people often understand it the opposite way of how it is intended: it is not about reciting some kind of mantra or visualizing something or doing some unusual movements or mentally directing something, while you are doing these ordinary things. It is about doing these ordinary things with order and structure, with harmony and balance, and with the Active Consciousness, with intent. The point is not to try to mystify ordinary activities, but to understand that that all sorts of ordinary things can be mystical, can be part of cultivation, simply by doing them consciously.
And we have to conclude, by this same reasoning, that it is not that Qi Gong is something separate from the ordinary, but very much part of the ordinary. Our ordinary life does not need to be integrated into our cultivation practice; rather, our cultivation practice needs to be integrated into our everyday lives! We do not need to separate ourselves from ordinary existence to find the magical, we have to unite our Will to the ordinary.
There, in the Manifested, is where the Great Work is to be found.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Strength and Fluidity in Qi Gong
The following is an excerpt from the Level 2 document "The Universal Yi Fa":
When practicing Yi Fa Qi Gong, you should already be aware that all the motions and positions should be
done in a flowing fashion. The posture of the 'lotus palm' mudra is very relaxed, and in the stance only
the back is firm while the rest of the body is relaxed and fluid.
But 'relaxed' and 'weak' are not the same thing. The flow of Qi Gong exercises should always be
understood as 'gentle but strong'. It is not the breakable strength of rigidity but the adaptable strength
of being relaxed but capable of generating tension. The arm motions are done in a soft motion but with
an underlying intensity that can easily convert into tension (such as in the pushing out motions in the
first exercise, where that flowing tension is applied).
Thus in every detail your body is expressing Yin and Yang at the same time.
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society and working through it's curriculum, please contact me.
When practicing Yi Fa Qi Gong, you should already be aware that all the motions and positions should be
done in a flowing fashion. The posture of the 'lotus palm' mudra is very relaxed, and in the stance only
the back is firm while the rest of the body is relaxed and fluid.
But 'relaxed' and 'weak' are not the same thing. The flow of Qi Gong exercises should always be
understood as 'gentle but strong'. It is not the breakable strength of rigidity but the adaptable strength
of being relaxed but capable of generating tension. The arm motions are done in a soft motion but with
an underlying intensity that can easily convert into tension (such as in the pushing out motions in the
first exercise, where that flowing tension is applied).
Thus in every detail your body is expressing Yin and Yang at the same time.
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society and working through it's curriculum, please contact me.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
The Yi Fa and "Belief"
The following is an excerpt from the Level 2 document of the Yi Fa Society, called "the Universal Yi Fa".
Yi Fa Qi Gong is not a belief system. You could also say, perhaps even more accurately, that it is not a “belief-based system”. Belief is largely a process of convincing one's self of something that one actually has no true understanding. No 'belief' is required in Yi Fa Qi Gong. However, it is also important to to avoid what could be termed “anti-belief”; just as one's preconceived notions should not lead to some kind of blind faith in things one has not experienced, notions also should not be allowed to shut down or dismiss things one has not experienced.
In the early stages of practice, a student should approach Yi Fa Qi Gong with an open spirit of curiosity and inquiry; not accepting anything purely on faith, but not rejecting anything without testing it. Engage with the practice as though you are conducting experimentation on your own inner being. Be open to accepting results, and not trying to project pre-made results (either favorable or unfavorable) on your practice.
As a student develops, they will have certain experiences that will serve to confirm certain things they may have already been told about the practice. At this point, the student can feel a greater certainty based not on blind faith but on their own experiences! They can also thus trust the practice they are engaging with; still not taking anything for granted or following anything blindly, but practicing with a confidence in the practice itself based on a proven track record of certain confirmed experiences.
This type of Certainty (not faith) is quite important as an attitude to develop to ensure that the practice proceeds effectively. Doubt what you are told, but doubt it in a way that is open to testing, and without making assumptions for or against. And absolutely trust what you have actually experienced. Trust yourself.
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please feel free to contact me here, on Facebook or on Google+!
Yi Fa Qi Gong is not a belief system. You could also say, perhaps even more accurately, that it is not a “belief-based system”. Belief is largely a process of convincing one's self of something that one actually has no true understanding. No 'belief' is required in Yi Fa Qi Gong. However, it is also important to to avoid what could be termed “anti-belief”; just as one's preconceived notions should not lead to some kind of blind faith in things one has not experienced, notions also should not be allowed to shut down or dismiss things one has not experienced.
In the early stages of practice, a student should approach Yi Fa Qi Gong with an open spirit of curiosity and inquiry; not accepting anything purely on faith, but not rejecting anything without testing it. Engage with the practice as though you are conducting experimentation on your own inner being. Be open to accepting results, and not trying to project pre-made results (either favorable or unfavorable) on your practice.
As a student develops, they will have certain experiences that will serve to confirm certain things they may have already been told about the practice. At this point, the student can feel a greater certainty based not on blind faith but on their own experiences! They can also thus trust the practice they are engaging with; still not taking anything for granted or following anything blindly, but practicing with a confidence in the practice itself based on a proven track record of certain confirmed experiences.
This type of Certainty (not faith) is quite important as an attitude to develop to ensure that the practice proceeds effectively. Doubt what you are told, but doubt it in a way that is open to testing, and without making assumptions for or against. And absolutely trust what you have actually experienced. Trust yourself.
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please feel free to contact me here, on Facebook or on Google+!
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Yi Fa Qi Gong and Food, and Other Taboos
The following is an excerpt from a book that's part of the curriculum of Level 2 of the Yi Fa Society, The Universal Yi Fa.
There are some Qi Gong schools that make their students follow special diets. Sometimes these are general restrictions (like eating no meat, or abstaining from alcohol). Other times they are seemingly very specific and unusual restrictions (such as avoiding Onions or Garlic). Likewise, some Qi Gong schools teach that sexual abstinence is essential to Qi Gong practice, to preserve the 'primordial Qi' of the body that they claim would be wasted through sexual activity.
Yi Fa Qi Gong has no such taboos.
It is clear that some of the greatest Masters and Sages of history ate meat (or onions, or garlic), drank alcohol, and had sexual relations, even as other great Masters and Sages did not. Thus, it is obvious that neither one nor the other has any effect on cultivation. What does matter is Virtue, which requires that a person practice harmony in their life, and discipline in their actions. Thus, no specific things are forbidden, but moderation in avoiding excessive indulgence is recommended.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Qi Gong and Control
The following is a rewriting of advice given in the private teaching group for the Yi Fa Society. If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please get in touch!
What does Yi Fa Qi Gong teach us about control?
If you are like most people, you want control, but it is the wrong sort of control.
Your notion of control is based on a feeling of not being in control in the first place.
So in fact, the way you try to be in control is an expression of your lack of control.
REAL control is awareness.
When you can become aware of your body as it is, rather than trying to make it into something else, to force it to behave a certain way, then you take the first step to being a master over yourself.
When you can get to the point that the body is so natural and relaxed that the breath seems to stop, then you have achieved a type of control that can't be compared to anything in common understanding.
The first thing you have to do to gain real control is to accept fear, and carry on anyways.
The second is to be able to relax, to be relaxed.
Think about it, who is in control in a situation? Let's say on the battlefield, who is in more control: the guy who is freaking out, or the guy who is relaxed?
The next step, in that relaxation, is to be connected to the whole body. You start with an anchor: the lower dantien, the straight spinal column, the breath. But from there the goal is to be inseparable from your whole body as it is.
In a boxing match, who is more in control: the guy who is rigid and tense, or the guy who is fluid and relaxed? The guy who knows his body, or the guy who doesn't? The guy who can think and move as one, or the guy who thinks and only then moves?
If you can relax and be so connected to your body that your breath seems to stop, then you will be in more control than you ever have been in your entire life.
What does Yi Fa Qi Gong teach us about control?
If you are like most people, you want control, but it is the wrong sort of control.
Your notion of control is based on a feeling of not being in control in the first place.
So in fact, the way you try to be in control is an expression of your lack of control.
REAL control is awareness.
When you can become aware of your body as it is, rather than trying to make it into something else, to force it to behave a certain way, then you take the first step to being a master over yourself.
When you can get to the point that the body is so natural and relaxed that the breath seems to stop, then you have achieved a type of control that can't be compared to anything in common understanding.
The first thing you have to do to gain real control is to accept fear, and carry on anyways.
The second is to be able to relax, to be relaxed.
Think about it, who is in control in a situation? Let's say on the battlefield, who is in more control: the guy who is freaking out, or the guy who is relaxed?
The next step, in that relaxation, is to be connected to the whole body. You start with an anchor: the lower dantien, the straight spinal column, the breath. But from there the goal is to be inseparable from your whole body as it is.
In a boxing match, who is more in control: the guy who is rigid and tense, or the guy who is fluid and relaxed? The guy who knows his body, or the guy who doesn't? The guy who can think and move as one, or the guy who thinks and only then moves?
If you can relax and be so connected to your body that your breath seems to stop, then you will be in more control than you ever have been in your entire life.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Join The Magician's I Ching; and the Yi Fa Society!
Only a couple of weeks ago, a blog entry informed that the Facebook group created in honor of The Magician's I Ching, but which is a general discussion group for all I Ching related subjects, had reached 1200 members.
Well, as of today the Magician's I Ching Facebook Group has well over 1300 members! So if you haven't already joined, please consider joining! It's free, and filled with interesting conversation and material related to the I Ching and I Ching studies. It's open to people coming from western or eastern traditions. It's very welcoming to newcomers to the I Ching, and you can get questions answered or useful advice. But it also has many very learned and highly experienced advanced students of the I Ching also, and if you are one of those people you'll find some excellent higher level discussion about some of the finer points of I Ching study.
While you're at it, please consider joining the Yi Fa Society. Members of the Yi Fa Society also have a (secret) discussion group, and benefit from a complete and detailed training program for studying Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching. Members of the Yi Fa Society are taught additional Qi Gong and I Ching secrets that are not available anywhere public. At higher levels of membership, the advanced exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are taught, and students are provided large numbers of instructional materials (whole books', like "Secret Techniques of the I Ching", "Universal Yi Fa", "The Yi Dao", and "the Great Book of Yi Fa", among others) on how to deepen their work with Qi Gong and I Ching for self-transformation and the work of enlightenment. Members of the Yi Fa Society can work personally with me to keep up their practice, to resolve problems in their practice, and to develop discipline and structure in their spiritual path. Members also have the opportunity to have monthly Skype meetings with me for the same purpose.
Yi Fa Society membership is not free, but basic membership is on a monthly donation basis set by each student.
If you are interested in joining the Magician's I Ching Facebook group, just click on the link and join, and start reading and sharing with us!
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please contact me, here or on Facebook.
Well, as of today the Magician's I Ching Facebook Group has well over 1300 members! So if you haven't already joined, please consider joining! It's free, and filled with interesting conversation and material related to the I Ching and I Ching studies. It's open to people coming from western or eastern traditions. It's very welcoming to newcomers to the I Ching, and you can get questions answered or useful advice. But it also has many very learned and highly experienced advanced students of the I Ching also, and if you are one of those people you'll find some excellent higher level discussion about some of the finer points of I Ching study.
While you're at it, please consider joining the Yi Fa Society. Members of the Yi Fa Society also have a (secret) discussion group, and benefit from a complete and detailed training program for studying Yi Fa Qi Gong and the I Ching. Members of the Yi Fa Society are taught additional Qi Gong and I Ching secrets that are not available anywhere public. At higher levels of membership, the advanced exercises of Yi Fa Qi Gong are taught, and students are provided large numbers of instructional materials (whole books', like "Secret Techniques of the I Ching", "Universal Yi Fa", "The Yi Dao", and "the Great Book of Yi Fa", among others) on how to deepen their work with Qi Gong and I Ching for self-transformation and the work of enlightenment. Members of the Yi Fa Society can work personally with me to keep up their practice, to resolve problems in their practice, and to develop discipline and structure in their spiritual path. Members also have the opportunity to have monthly Skype meetings with me for the same purpose.
Yi Fa Society membership is not free, but basic membership is on a monthly donation basis set by each student.
If you are interested in joining the Magician's I Ching Facebook group, just click on the link and join, and start reading and sharing with us!
If you are interested in joining the Yi Fa Society, please contact me, here or on Facebook.
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