Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong I hope this doesn't sound presumptuous

GBWU - thank you for your comments.
I like your visualization of the "tree roots", and the pyramid idea. My friend at work drew a little picture of the sole of a foot and indicated a point on the center of the foot, near and slightly behind the ball where energy can be directed from the body downwards into the ground. She spoke at some length about intention; that one must intend the energy to exit through that point down into the earth.

I do feel as if I've been led to Reiki and Qigong, although it took a while for me to arrive. I completely understand that any attempts at long-distance healing must be done with the recipient's permission.

I agree that I was not necessarily meant to help that one particular woman back in 1980. At that point in time there was nothing I could have done for her, other than wish her well. But I didn't know her and for me to have intruded into that particular situation would have been extremely inappropriate. I kept my distance. Actually, I only directed my gaze at them for a few seconds - certainly less than 10 seconds and probably more like 5 or so. The meeting between that woman and her friends was very highly-charged, emotionally speaking. They brought her to meet my friend Dave, the mechanic, on their way somewhere else; probably the hospital. He stopped out there to say goodbye and offer his best wishes and encouragement. It was none of my business, but at the same time the situation was presented to me to witness (I believe) and maybe to learn from. I couldn't hear anything the people were saying to one another, nor did I want to.

I think that maybe what I was meant to get from that situation was a heightened sense of empathy for people who are suffering, a willingness to help them, and an openness to the possibility of learning some ways to do that.

At this point I have absolutely no idea how and where I may use whatever gifts I may have or talents I may develop. I don't plan that far ahead because when I do, things RARELY seem to work out as I planned. My life unfolds better when I grasp it lightly.
Throughout the course of my life, I have consciously and subconsciously envisioned desired states of affairs and sooner or later, those states of affairs tend to manifest themselves. But this seems to happen in ways that I could never have arranged.

Example: when I was very young I read comic books. I soon had a strong wish to fly like Superman. When I entered college I was walking down the sidewalk and saw a guy assembling a hang-glider in a parking lot outside a store. It clicked. I went over and spoke to him, started training with him and after about a year I was working for him as one of his instructors. I ended up with quite a few long-distance (10-15 miles) and high-altitude (3,000 - 5,000 feet) flights, and my dream of flying like Superman had more-or-less come to pass.

There was no way I could have planned that. The situation just developed. I feel that I have to be AWARE of what is in front of me. In one of Carlos Castaneda's books it is referred to as the "cubic centimeter of chance". There are brief moments throughout the course of our lives where we have this "cc of c" dangling in front of us. We have the opportunity to reach out and grasp it when we see it, but we don't have to. It may not come back. Then again, it might.

I believe that each one of those moments that we grasp or do not grasp causes the path of our lives to shift slightly. As time goes on, this little "in course correction" that we make or do not make can result in our lives taking an entirely different path.

I believe that we are responsible for the effort. I believe that we can plan all we want but that God probably has a different idea, and so what I try to do is be very aware of what is in front of me in the present moment. If I am as aware as I can be of what is happening in the present moment and I ask myself, "How can I be of service in this moment?" or "How do I do this right?" I tend to see better results.

I believe that "When the student is ready, the teacher appears", because it has quite literally happened to me over and over throughout the course of my life.

When I am ready to learn something new, a teacher appears. When I am ready to contribute, a situation presents itself.

I don't think that my job is to arrange for the teacher or the situation.

I think that my job is to make sure that I am ready to meet them.