Dear orange_soda,
You remind me of myself when I was younger and concerned about
particularization. As a veteran of Qi-arts, I can assure you that all
these different categorizations, schools, methods, and philosophies, etc,
are unfortunately the products of our imperfect human tendencies to want
to fragment and divide what is actually whole.
It's somewhat like asking, which color is best? Red, blue, green, purple,
yellow, or neon pink? Oh, did I forget orange, as in "orange_soda"?
There are infinite shades of color, but they are all just aspects of one
thing: Light. Nevertheless, our human natures particularize, and minor
wars can be raged over preferences of color. For someone to advise
you should practice only this or that Qi-system (or anything else in life)
is equivalent to advocating only this or that color should be included in
the spectrum of light. How petty we can be.
The deeper one understands the true Qi, the more one realizes that all
these fragmentations, specializations, rules, and doctrines serve only the
practical purpose of allowing us convenient entry points onto the Path.
The farther along the Path one travels, the more these particularizations
lose their meaning and value. Those who choose to become attached to such
particularizations are acting from a sub-enlightened spirit, which taken
to its extreme is a source of suffering.
By all means, play with all those systems which you have found to benefit you
the most. While you do so, I hope your spirit will become lighter and
lighter, until it is able to float beyond particularizations. Then you
will have found the true Qi.
As a wise man once said, the truth shall set you free.
Best,
HF
