I read lots of stuff on the Internet about what and how people are training, so I all the time come across lots of stuff that look worrisome. Take etheric qi practices, for example.
Etheric qi practices usually involve feeling the qi that surrounds your body and working with it in a variety of ways.
So the first thing to say is that I do this, too. The etheric qi is quite “real,” if that’s the best word to use. It can be manipulated and is quite useful to practice with.
Thing is, I look around and usually see this and other qi stuff being taught in large groups by big name gurus. This can cause a lot of problems.
Practices like this need to be cultured between the teacher and student, meaning private contact. You’ll need a private lesson or several if you hope to find the right frequency for the qi.
It’s like radio: their’s a transmitter and a receiver. If you’ve never listened to a certain radio station, but you know generally where it is, then you have to turn the dial until you find it. You may have to make minute adjustments until you get a clear signal. Once you have a clear signal, it’s easy to find the station again, although the strength of the signal may vary with weather conditions.
Etheric qi works the same way. You have to “tune in” to find it. But once you do, you can usually access it at will.
You will likely need lots of guidance to do this at first, and you’ll need to ask lots of questions.
However, in a group setting, that’s not the place for individual questions. There is rarely time for that. Also you have a “group think” mentality that prevails. If one person “feels something” then others will feel a psychological pull to say they do too, even if they kind of don’t.
Even from a purely qigong point of view, you may be feeling a bit of the collected energy of a mass of people all trying to do the same thing. You may be experiencing a passive feeling of qi that you could mistake for your own etheric qi. But since this is passive, you will likely not be able to replicate the results when you are alone. Maybe a group practice will get some people in the door, but I can see it confusing many.
I understand that retreats and seminars are likely the only place that people can come into contact with this stuff. And I do think they have their own advantages, like being able to meet others with similar interests. But just keep in mind the potential negatives, as well.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Casey // Nov 15, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Wow… I really hope you can elaborate on this. I believe in qigong not only as an exercise for mind and body, but maybe also dealing with subtle magnetic waves or some such… but have never felt anything like qi outside my body, unless you mean the sensation of, say, drawing air into your dantian. Can you go into greater about what you mean by etheric qi?
2 Chris @ Martial Development // Nov 15, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Group practice offers phsyical and psychological resonance effects. Whether this is a benefit or a drawback depends on one’s level and goals.
From the martial arts perspective, a skill that we can utilize only in a private and quiet space isn’t worth much.
3 Dave Chesser // Nov 15, 2007 at 6:46 pm
I never said you could only utilize it in a private and quiet space. I was talking about learning it.
4 Jose de Freitas // Nov 15, 2007 at 7:33 pm
To a large extent I have felt that this “etheric” qi, which I generally refer to as part of the famous weiqi, was easier to feel than the meridian qi. Was this your experience too, Dave?
5 xiongnu_lohon // Nov 15, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I’ve never had any problems learning qigong at seminars. In general I prefer water method practices to fire method practices which is why I walked away from mantak chia’s stuff in the late 90s. But all this propaganda about individual lessons is just that - propaganda. I can learn qigong from a dvd alone. Then I go to a seminar and it’s even better. I know all about qigong theory, look at the ymaa understanding qigong dvd series for more on how stuff works. as for etheric qi I have no clue what it is but I definitely say you are wrong about seminar learning.
6 Jess O'Brien // Nov 16, 2007 at 5:39 am
xiongnulohon
I don’t think Dave is saying you CAN’T learn at a seminar. He is saying that it’s hard to do. Since you are advanced and knowledgeable based on lots of hard work over decades, it’s easy for you to pick up things that others can’t.
For the rest of us, private lessons with a master’s guidance is invaluable. Normal average folks simply don’t have your wealth of experience and since it’s so easy to go wrong with these intangible practices, having a master to help you day in day out would rock.
The risk is that someone might have an inflated image of themselves, think they are getting it when they are not…. It can happen to the best of us!
-Jess O’Brien
Oakland, CA
7 wer // Nov 16, 2007 at 6:20 am
I really enjoy reading your posts and the ones about qi especially. There is one side I was thinking a lot about. During a period o intensive training my teacher told me that I should not have sex. unfortunatley he did not explain why, although i asked him. as well in the web there is not that much to find. Do you know more about it?
8 Chris @ Martial Development // Nov 16, 2007 at 9:54 am
A master can fill the room, and whether there are two people or twenty in it makes no difference. This saves everyone the trouble of idle speculation, and jumpstarts their personal practice.
9 Buddy // Nov 17, 2007 at 8:59 am
I can’t help but wonder if Chris is capable of anything more than fortune cookie pronouncements and dissent. Could it be simply a way of adding to his own websites Alexa numbers?
And BTW I find this idea of water and fire division to a false one. Show me where it exists outside a particular organization.
10 Dave Chesser // Nov 17, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Buddy,
Good questions!
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