Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong Sensing energy

Hi all

Firstly id like to say many thanks to all who replied to my last post- this seems a very supportive forum.

I find it impossible at the moment to sense my energy within my body at the moment. the other day in my martial arts training we were sitting in a circle sending energy around that circle. I couldnt feel anything although the people either side were feeling that they were almost being burnt by the energy coming out of my hands- our hands were a few inches apart. My friend next to me sent me an extra burst when i said this and i felt a huge warm ball in my chest for a few seconds. i am now being able to sense what we call sakki ( a killing intention) from another- someone stands behind you with a wooden sword and you are sitting in seiza with eyes closed- at a random moment they strike down and if you dont move you get hit, and even on a pulled blow the sword is fairly heavy so it can do damage. the technique is done silently so it doesnt involve any conscious recognition of sounds- i generally feel an uncomfortableness in my stomach, fear or even cold energy at the back of my neck.

With all this happening i wonder why i cant feel chi gung in my body? The other thing that occurs to me is there are three of us that can do energy work- one a long term chi gung practitioner- and we are all in different ways not healthy. With all this energy work going surely there should be better health amongst us?

I look forward to your replies.

Take care

Rich

Hey Rich,
Another fellow early riser I see.
Sometimes expectations can get in our way. We all experience energy differently and this can change for you over time as well. The depth of the methods used in spring forest amazes me because there is so much to be gained. The more you practice the more you attune your senses to the energies of your body. The more you do that the more you tune into the energies outside your body it is an awesome adventure. If you slow things down, that is movement and breath your awareness kicks in more or has a greater chance to sense more or more opportunity to sense more often over time however you want to look at it. By doing this process you naturally tune in as you get into the meditation and the expectations melt away as well.

Regarding your sensing their energy versus them yours. If the focus of the exercise was to send energy then I am not surprised by the results. Think about where your intentions were, you were focusing on sending, (not to be taken lightly by the way). My guess is that your energy level is much higher than your neighbors (right & left) due to the work you are doing. This would explain there point of view as well. If your attention had shifted more to sensing and there energy was higher you would have sensed there’s as well. Eventually your sensitivity would rise to the point where you would sense at what ever level they are at.

The exercise done in seiza can be practiced with out the fear of pain coming down on you. Your two friends for example can practice attacking you from behind with out a weapon and the effect would be the same. This is an exercise in awareness. They can do this from several feet back as well. Eventually you would sense them not only from a distance but based on there intention. Usually just before or as they start to move you are sensing. Kind of like the red light, green light game kids play.

I hope this helps

[This message has been edited by Ascending1 (edited November 05, 2003).]

Hi Ascending
Thanks for your comments- the intention and energy level parts make a lot of sense.

No, not an early riser, just coming from England - I wasnt aware there was two six o clocks in a day until told!!

Regarding the martial arts stuff- we do all sorts of energy games including just sensing without weapons but the sakki tests are very important and the hardest- you have to detect the energy of the opponents harmful intentions a split second before the strike and then roll etc out of the way. The highest level grades do it with a live blade!

Regards

Rich

Well I came to the forum to start a thread... and gee you've got it started.

I like what Ascending1 said about intention and your experience. I'm sure you can have a dual intention and feel their while sending, but you may have been focussed mostly on sending.

The other comment I would add is the experience or analyze idea. When I look for energy I often can't find it, but when I just live it I find it without trying.

Now the experience I was going to relate, which is like the opposite of yours. I was sending energy and visualizing the person I wanted to help. I was having a hard time visualizing the person clear of excess energy. I raised my hand upwards from desk level past my face, to use the energy from my hand to sweep the excess energy from their entire body (distance person).

What happened was shocking. I had been feeling nothing extraordinary. Mild sense of love energy, and the puffy fingers stuff. However, the sense of disturbing the energy pattern around myself was so strong. I felt it in my hand and face. (I've sat here here for several minutes now trying to describe it. Here are some jumbled words, but they aren't quite right). It was like having threads stretching out of my face then as my hand went through them it was like the threads were pulling on my face. The hand is even harder. It was so fast, and so strong. It was also completely unlooked for. It was a complete surprise. I ended the healing session shortly after, because I kept being distracted by the memory of this experience.

I just wanted to share. Thanks for listening, and sorry if I derail your thread Rich23.

You are perfection.
Iam2

No problem Iam; interesting experience and some pertinent points you make.

Was reading some stuff on reiki the other day and it seems that if people expect to feel certain things they are more likely too but if they havent been told of this then they dont- either way the healing can happen. It appears expectation may play a part in what we sense but the results will be the same anyway. I found a nice description as well of healing that started with 'doing by not doing' and basically described not being concerned about anything and just BEing- same as going into the emptiness? It seemed so to me.

Take care

Rich

Hi Rich,
I wanted to get back to your original topic, sensing energy, and a couple of other points. You have already been given good feedback...
Qigong, by general definition, is simply a state of being. If someone is practicing qigong, one needs to further define what that is. You could be practicing a given exercise called qigong exercise, or even a set, and it doesn't necessarily mean it is complete, or balanced, or even focused on self healing. Most systems or exercises out there, are not complete, not balanced, and the focus is all over the place, or what the exercise encompasses, is very minimal. Just because you , or your friends are practicing energy sensitive games or exercises, doesn't mean you are opening up, releasing blockages, and opening channels. It takes a good system, and a complete system to achieve maximum results. Also, your focus and intention on that. Usually, in martial practice, the qigong exercise doesn't focus on healing, and healing isn't always a side effect to that energywork. Sometimes energywork is directed more towards aquiring a specific technique, or ability. The intention behind the technique, may be aligned with a lower purpose, or application. Sometimes, the involvement can almost be looked at as karmic, in the sense of you recycling an experience with that energy..Just because one works with energy, healing and raising one's consciousness doesn't automatically follow. Everything is energy, and in a sense, everyone is working with it, conscious or not. Within this picture, there are levels, pretaining to all aspects of it.
Martial qigong and medical qigong, and spiritual qigong, are very different as singular 'extremes'. Systems can be specific , or mixes of these types, and or sources of qigong method.
Over the past years I have focused on spiritual energy and healing energy, in my qigong practice. SFQ is a wonderful, complete system that addresses both, on a very high level. It lays out a path too, that goes off to the horizon. I was a very serious martial artist at one time, and had very good information, in the qigong sense, to support that endeavor. I also worked with a master, in the sense of 'the master's energy' during that time, so I also had a spiritual source to draw on. Physically, I was stronger at that time, versus where I am now, in specific physical ways. (I was also younger!) I am actually healthier now though, focusing on SFQ. The way I moved through my life's experience, at that time, was very different. The way I held energy, projected myself to others,,,,how I walked into a room, what my mind's eye was looking at...
The ability to kill someone, or hold that intention, is a state of being. From my current perspective, I can't imagine going there. Your post stuck out to me, as it connects to a mild, but real aspect of this energy.
In a complete martial system, your salutation, identifies your system, and, connects to lineage in that system. It is a key or password, just like merging with the universe...There can be alot of spilled blood, and bad feelings, mixed in that energy, as it goes back, and continues to recycle, going forward. I spent some years, working with my master's energy, in the spiritual sense of master's energy, to transform the warrior energy within the relationship. Warrior energy 'is' in there. No judgement, just fact, it is, what it is...
It is a choice to engage with it. What you feel, and what you nuture, are specific, within that experience. It is hard to mix that with higher levels of spiritual qigong, or healing in the fullest sense of what the concept of healing can entail. Interestingly, an aspect of that master(master's energy), was interested in my transformation, away of being a warrior. I am talking about a martial deity here... It was spiritual focus that brought about this insight and experience, not martial. It was funny to me at that time, to think of this deity, common on other martial altars, and speculate about the idea of whether or not they knew what this deity was up to! :-)
Anyway, what I am getting at, is that you are mixing alot of stuff together. Stuff at extremes of the spectrum..If you want to heal, and raise your level of consciousness, focus on SFQ. There are levels of awareness too. It is very different to experience 'the truth of the universe', for instance, as a type or level of awareness, rather than sense a killing intention in someone else. The latter, is more on the level of practice, like sensing a blockage in someone, but not as high as that, in the healing or spiritual sense, in purpose. Please don't misunderstand my ramblings. I make no judgements, and as I said, I have worked with people, as a healer, that I have shown exercise to from martial source, as , this is what would help them at that time. It also aligns with transforming that energy, by aligning it to a higher purpose. I have found too, that at times, I have occassionally brought in that martial intensity, into positive spiritual or healing work,,,, and warrior energy,,,, can be utilized to feed will power, initiative, focus,,,,lots of good things. I have found though, that in doing healing work, and focusing on raising my level consciousness, I have moved farther and farther away from it, over time, as a 'source' for energywork. It is an incredibly good feeling to walk the earth as a healer and helper. People look at you, and smile. The sources, or many manifestations of the creator, we refer to as the master's energy, or spiritual energy, is the most powerful energy you can tap into. The higher level work you do, the more power you receive, to do your work. Self defense, is not an issue, you have skills and awareness to take care of yourself. Healing work, and spiritual work, are higher up on the list, than fighting, or killing, or , learning how to work with that energy. I do think it is possible to engage in a martial art, and base yourself in a higher purpose than the fighting aspect. It can provide a source of really good physical exercise,,,the best, perhaps.. Grounding that practice in a higher spiritual and/or healing purpose is better. Not always easy to do, if you have to spend time in an environment that focus's elsewhere. I think it may be difficult for you to mix SFQ with warrior energywork and intentions. It is different ,to say, practice a tai chi form as just energy, for self healing purpose and self realization, than to practice it connected to fighting technique. There are of course, all shades of gray. Often, if I revisit doing a martial form, I will connect to an aspect of where the form comes from and the teacher that taught me, and strike a new relationship based in healing. It is good for the source I connect to, and good for me. I 'choose' not to connect to the other, darker aspect. I have always found, that the higher aspect exists, within everything, and you can expand, that part,,, benefit, and experience the benefits of being a healer or spiritual worker, within that experience. I hope my post makes you think about what you are doing, and hopefully inspires you to consider a different focus to your practice, or make you think about what you are connected too, and how you are working with energy.
love,
gallen

Great post Gallen, but since were on the subject of Martial Arts... do you think it would be fine for a person like me to take up Tai Chi while simultaneously practicing SFQ?

Thanks for the post gallen. I had some thoughts on the three types of energy practice, but didn't feel comfortable commmenting.

One source I had indicates that you work in one energy form (medical, martial, or spiritual). However, Master Lin says that energy is energy; it is not good or bad, it is just what our intention direct it to be / do. So the idea of martial and medical energy work have been riding around in the back of my thoughts right from the beginning of my SFQ experience.

I was siding with the idea that I could work with energy for whatever purpose I chose. I realized that accessing energy through love for a martial purpose would be hard, if possible at all. I also understand that did not want to put my thoughts in to what I label as negative energy like anger, hate, resentment, and a desire to desrtoy. I currently don't do any martial arts but have long wanted to learn a specific practice. It just hasn't happened yet. I had envision sensing energy from, or accessing and using energy from a quiet peaceful state.

I've always envisioned that martial practice was better done from a peaceful state, not one rooted in anger and directed to destroy.

My left brain says that accessing energy is acessing energy. Using is using it.

Another part of me says that I can access my true potential, and this will involve a significant about to access universal energy, by following the path that is right for me. This path is label with peace and love.

Spiritual and medical, or spiritual and martial seem like easier blends of energy work than medical and martial. However, my left brain says there should not be a difference.

Just some of my ramblings. Ideas that are not fully rooted.

You are perfection.
Iam2

Nacho, hi,
I can't answer that for you!
All I can say is, number one, you are self empowered, and, you have the freedom to choose what you want to do. Decide what your goals are, and what 'you' want to accomplish. I know from my own experience, that it pays to focus on something ,and excel at it. Decide what/who you want to be! A qigong master? a healer? a teacher? None of the above...One idea I reflect on in my own experience, is how things we do, or choices we make, can take us in directions we don't really want to go, versus, deciding what you want to do, then engaging with things that support that, and staying centered, and on track. 'You' should make these choices and decisions. It is good to have a clear picture of what 'you' want to do, or who you want to be. Then, focus on manifesting that. Bottom line too,,,,this is a loving universe, and, the creator does not judge us. As long as you are good person, and live that way, everything will be fine in the big picture. Your specific choices or interests within that, won't derail you if your intentions are good. We all are travelling to the same place. Some of us may get there sooner, but we all will get there, eventually.
Iam2,
We do have the power to create what we want, through our intentions. You can transform material to align with your purpose. Sometimes the existing place that comes from, or the living teacher, might not support that concept, as far as, say, changing martial information to align with a more spiritual or healing purpose. On a spiritual level, anything is possible.
love,
gallen

Hi all

Interesting comments... I tend to agree with Iam (and Master Lin) that energy is energy is energy, and so it can be used however one wishes. Being able to detect Sakki is almost like a preventative medicine- if I can sense danger then I dont have to be there and so no injury occurs to anyone, and I dont have to express harmful energy either- this makes it a 'higher' level I believe. Much like doing Chi Gung to stop blockages forming in the first place rather than being remedial in treating pre existing conditions. Our taijustu also seeks to always 'not be there' either prior to, or during conflict..when one becomes as Soke then even conflict can be done with a smile and no lasting damage to an adversary- a true dance.

For me the Warrior's Path is identical to the path of Healer- just seemingly different routes up the mountain to the same place of love and unity.

Take care

Rich