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 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.

Early Experiences in Qi Gong Practice

 The following is an excerpt from the Level 2 text "The Universal Yi Fa Qi Gong", available only to Yi Fa Society students. In this excerpt we look at some of the common early experiences that happen to people starting a regular Qi Gong practice:



It is quite common for a significant percentage of new practitioners to experience the sensation of Qi
moving through the body while practicing the exercises; but it should also be noted that at least as many
may not feel Qi. While the ability to experience a sensory perception of Qi will steadily rise in most
students, to the point that the majority of Level 2 students will obtain such sensations, teachers should
take note of advising brand new practitioners that these sometimes surprising sensations are normal.
They should likewise reassure those who do not feel Qi yet that it is also completely normal not to
experience such sensations even until a considerable time practicing Qi Gong has passed.

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 be
possible 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 joining the Yi Fa Society please feel free to contact me here, or on Facebook or Google+.

What is Involved in Applying for Yi Fa Society Membership, and the Benefits of Membership

The application process for becoming a Yi Fa Society member is just filling out a short questionnaire. Most of the questions in this form are used to understand the background and previous experience of the applicant, and their reasons for wanting to join.

There's usually only three reasons why someone wouldn't be accepted: if they didn't seem to have a serious interest in actually working the system, if they're interested in learning the system for totally wrong reasons, or if they were in a situation in their current moment where they wouldn't be able to have enough very basic stability in their life to fulfill the necessities of what it takes to practice effectively.

If you are a member of the Yi Fa Society, you get access to a secret group, where you will be taught additional material not available on this public blog or the Yi Fa Society Youtube Playlist. This includes more elaborate guidance to how to practice Yi Fa Qi Gong, secrets of the I Ching, guidance for meditations, other special techniques, and lots of files of teaching to help you in your advancement.

The group also provides you with the opportunity to interact with other members, and to  present your questions and experiences to me for help and advice. Members of the Yi Fa Society can write me any time (and are encouraged to do so AT LEAST once a month as a minimum) to let me know how they're doing and to keep them guided and motivated in their advancement.

This is at level 1.  There are 8 levels in total in the Yi Fa Society, and you have to fulfill certain work in order to move up to the next level each time (no one gets to go up just based on time served or special friendship or donations, or anything like that; this isn't about getting fancy titles, it's about learning how to master yourself and your inner being and outer world).

While level 1 is mainly about improving on the core and basic Yi Fa practices, from level 2 and up you get all kinds of new material including new and secret Qi Gong practices and I Ching secrets not available to the public.  You also receive training in techniques of advanced meditations (and what could be called 'magick') for working with your Qi, De and Gong (the three types of spiritual/alchemical forces you use in the Yi Fa system).  Each level works progressively in guiding you to self-transformation, an alchemical process to manifest your "Superior Individual" (as the I Ching calls it), or true nature.

In the Yi Fa society you work at your own pace, you can take it fast or slow, but the goal is to develop a regular and daily practice that can fit into your life and that serves as a foundation to more advanced work.  You are expected to be trying to keep working on this, and developing your discipline and virtue.

Membership in the Yi Fa Society requires that you give a monthly donation; the amount is your own choice, based on your own means and level of value you find in the work.

If you are interested in membership in the Yi Fa Society please contact me via private message on Facebook or G+.

The Curriculum of the Yi Fa Society, Level 2

Each level of the Yi Fa Society has its own curriculum, with new material presented for the student's growth, practice and study.  A previous entry already detailed the Curriculum of Level 1.

The Curriculum of Level 2, in brief, consists of the following points:

1. The Level 2 Yi Fa Qi Gong exercise. This is a secret exercise taught only to members of level 2 of the Yi Fa Society program.

2. "Transforming the Inferior Person": a contemplative practice, used by a level 2 student to address those parts of their persona that act as barriers to the Superior Individual, to re-integrate them and remove them as barriers.

3. The Universal Yi Fa Qi Gong: a 50 page secret text that acts as a guide to the theory and study of Yi Fa Qi Gong.

4. "The Three Offerings": devotional practice/ritual to further the development of Union.

5. Secret Techniques of the I Ching: secret methods to determine further insights into I Ching castings, including understanding the origins and further developments of aspects of the present casting, alternate resulting hexagrams, and concepts of Timing to determine duration of casting effects.

6. The Yi Dao: a 22 page text of commentaries on the study of the I Ching.


These advanced teachings are only available to those students who are members of the Yi Fa Society and complete the Level 1 curriculum.

If you are interested in membership in the Yi Fa Society, please contact me!

Practicing Qi Gong While Ill

Contrary to those who "do not have time", there are also practitioners that find themselves in the difficult situation of being injured or unwell.  How should one approach the practice in these situations? On the one hand, Qi Gong is specifically beneficial to recovery from injury or ill-health, but ironically those conditions can sometimes make it feel very difficult to practice Qi Gong.

The following is a selection from the Level 2 text "The Universal Yi Fa Qi Gong", a special document exclusively for students of the Yi Fa Society that explains both basic and advanced concepts in Yi Fa Qi Gong practice. While many sections of that text are secret to Level 2 students (and above), there is nothing in the following section that prevents its public dissemination.

XLIII. Practicing While Ill

The practice of Qi Gong is generally beneficial to bodily health (although not always to the extent some try to claim). However, there will be times a practitioner may become ill as this is a natural consequence of life.

When ill (or injured) it may be difficult to keep up the standard discipline of Yi Fa Qi Gong practices. Whenever a practitioner is ill, they should still practice as much as they comfortably can, but without straining themselves or complicating their illness. If they are too unwell to continue the practice in full, they should only do those practices that are easy for them. If their movement is restricted due to injury or health complications, they should adapt the exercise so as not to cause themselves pain; however, they should only adjust the exercise movements as little as is necessary to avoid pain or discomfort. If a practitioner cannot stand or get out of bed due to their health issue, then they should focus their practice on Qi Breathing.

The Yi Fa Society is open to applications for membership. If you wish to join its training program, please contact me here, by email, or on Facebook.