- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hi Barry,
Just a couple quick comments about your journal yesterday . . .
Your journal entries are a welcome addition to the site, as
they provide a glimpse of qigong and internal development in
progress–a practical view.Don’t ever feel embarrassed or shameful about any issue that
you are struggling with. From my limited time alive, the one
thing I’ve learned is, no one is completely “normal”. We are all
screwed up at some level — physically, emotionally, spiritually.We all have a path in life that we need to follow. Those
who act like they don’t have issues are hiding behind fear and
arrogance and often have more deep seated issues that those
that are brave enough to reveal their weaknesses. I applaud you
for having the courage to face yours.Many blessings for your journey,
StevenThanks for the support and your point of view. My only qualification is we are not screwed up spiritually..if we were all the other practices of mind heart and body would be fruitless…know what I mean? Barry
I see what you are saying, but I still sort of think
that if one aspect is flawed, all are.The reason is that everything is interactive:
body-mind-spirit or jing-chi-shen. If the body is ill,
it affects the mind; and if the mind is ill,
it affects the spirit.In other words, one thing affects the whole system.
To me, it feels like body-mind-spirit is one container, of say
“murky water”. Over time, it naturally filters and becomes more
clear on its own. Qigong/internal techniques serve to speed
this up by “adding purified water” to the container, so that it
becomes more clear at a faster pace.Perhaps this is why over time, you can get a stronger
energy flow and have more pathways open. Like a cyclical
dynamo, as all aspects of you heal, your internal techniques
that you practice improve as well, which then heal you faster,
etc.In other words, I think you can be ill, and still be able
to recognize it and do something about it–if not slowly
at first.Best,
StevenI agree with what you are saying. Over time we do filter and with skillful techniques speed this process up.
In your literal analogy I was struck by the container. It is paradoxical that we are held in perfection and filtering/growing at the same time. It isn’t the province of the ordinary mind.
But without that ‘container’ which reflects down to my personal core shen qualities of heart/love, kidneys/overarching gentle protection etc. there is no journey to be taken.
I could say the container is the cauldron where we allow change to unfold. I haven’t thought before of the cauldron with a quality of ‘perfection’. Maybe best as a gold cauldron.
My mind struggles with ‘perfection’, the word…but inside, chi moves as the container no matter what it looks on the outside is a safe one. The true one. The universal one.
And the tension between the cauldron and what is being cooked, between the Primordial and manifestation is where I take refuge, where I journey, if that makes any sense.
I find it easiest to view alchemical transformation as a process that never ends. Perfection seems to imply a fixed state, or from another perspective it could refer to an advanced state where spirit has been integrated into matter (and vice versa) that allows for spontaneous unfolding of our physical reality in complete balance becuase of a high presence of yuan qi. Unfolding in the vessel of our free will…
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.