Inner Issue 11| March 2013
Q uest
The Monthly Tao Journal
Featured In Tis Issue...
Te Ascending Path of ransce ranscendence ndence & Core Practical Methodss for Method Balancing Your Being Health Scares of the Month!
Bagua
aoist Adept Liu Hung Chieh's Bagua Single Palm Change
Paul Cavel, Editor
IQ: March 2013
© i s t o c k p h o t o / Y a n C
Te Ascending Path of ranscendence & Core Practical Methods for Balancing Your Being By Paul Cavel
In the last two issues, 1 I introduced Taoist cosmology, the theory underlying manifestaon and Five Element pracces of Old Taoism, more commonly referred to as the Water tradion. The path of transcendence begins by working on the asce nding half of the model, known as the Three Treasures, which is the passage or ascent from the world of the manifest to the unchanging root of the universe. Recall that although they are called the Three Treasures, there are actually ve stages: jing-Qi-shen-wu-Tao. The last two are implied, but not counted as you must be inside the tradion in order to receive these deeper teachings. The rst three stages are quite common in name, but again the deeper aspects have been kept out of the public arena for millennia. Going a bit further, to truly understand the nature of Chinese transformaon pracces, we must peel back the layers that comprise the human energec matrix.
1.
All of the Chinese terms a nd concepts referred to in this issue have been dened and explained in detail in the January 2013 and/or February 2013 issue(s) of Inner Quest . For copies, see ww.circlewalking.com/2685/taoism-i-ching and www.circlewalking.com/2736/ve-elements, respecvely.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013 The human being is comprised of eight energy bodies (see p. 5), starng with the physical body (1) and eventually encompassing the Body of the Tao (8), which includes all and everything. Each of the eight energy bodies are formed by ever-higher frequencies of energy and links with the eight trigrams that govern manifestaon (bagua). Human beings are just one example in nature that adhere to this guiding mechanism. It's probably no coincidence that we are sustained by eight essenal amino acids, and that the oxygen atom that forms the crical aspects of the air we breathe and water we drink has eight protons, eight electrons and eight neutrons. Likewise, there are eight trigrams and eight palm changes in bagua zhang, and each of the trigrams/palm changes correspond with and holds the potenal to fully develop one of your eight energy bodies.
Jing~ Clearing the First, Second + Lower Tird Energy Bodies
Qi~ Clearing the Upper Tird + Fourth Energy Bodies As part of the Three Treasures, Qi 3 refers to your higher emoons, such as generosity and kindness, as well as the full range of mental acvies—from mundane thought, such as "I want...", to higher mental funcons like analysis, deducon and crical thinking. The higher emoons are not generated by the physical body, but rather by the mind through clearing out blockages discovered in the lower third energy body. This process allows the natural caring state of the human being to emerge. The higher end of the mental body is where the ability to directly perceive any phenomenon actually occurs. Together, the higher emoons and the mental body form the outer casing, surface or supercial aspect of the mind rather than its full depth and range. However, it is at this level of pracce that you crossover from the world of qigong and enter into the realm of meditaon.
Jing translates as "sperm" or "egg", the union from which the human body grows. So the term jing literally refers to your physical body and the energy that powers it, which also includes the lower base emoons that are generated by your internal organs and glands—such as fear, anxiety, grief, dissociaon and anger.2 Clearing out the rst two energy bodies can make you a strong and vibrant individual, but will do lile for your peace of mind. The real work in transformaonal pracces begins at the third energy body, where the process of neutralising strong emoonal swings begins. Jing is developed and rened through all the variaons of qi gong, including tai chi, bagua, yoga and interacve pracces. 2.
Frantzis, Bruce, Relaxing into Your Being (North Atlanc Books, 2001), pp. 56-59.
3.
"Qi" with a capital "Q" is the second of the Three Treasures, whereas "qi" with a l ower case "q" is the energy that powers your physical body.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
Shen~
When you have developed enough qi (body energy), you can begin cultivating and refining Qi.
Clearing the Fifth + Sixth Energy Bodies Shen translates as "spirit", which begins at the psychic (h) body and encompasses the causal or karmic (sixth) body. When you clear these two bodies, to some degree, you can say you have developed spirit, as facing and cleaning up your karma requires incredible courage and resolve. At this level of pracce, you must plunge both into the depths of your mind and meditaon, as they go together like a hand in a glove. It is here that you wake up and realise aspects of your being that otherwise lay dormant. This begins the process of opening up your full potenal and capacity as a human being.
These rst three layers (jing-Qi-shen) are all to do with clearing out the rst six energy bodies, with the physical body being the most dense and having the lowest vibraon. As you move both in and out in concentric spheres from the surface of the physical body, energy becomes more subtle and resonates at higher frequencies. Therefore, a hierarchy exists and is relevant for developing your being. • First, you work with the physical body, its energy and the associated lower emotions. Through the process of clearing out your jing, to some degree, you will develop your sensitivity to more subtle energies and begin to open up your Qi, which only becomes possible as the cleansing frees up space in formerly locked body parts. • If a blockage persists no matter how much physical-energetic training you do, then you can be sure a deeper or higher-aspected blockage is at root. As we've discussed, Qi resonates at a higher level than jing, so to gain access to and develop your Qi you must first open up, clear out and circulate the energy of your body.
• When the emotional and mental bodies are, to some extent, cleared and stabilised (through beginning meditation practices) and you have generated enough Qi (energy that powers your upper emotional and mental bodies), then you have the chance to enter into the world of shen. However, working on the higher bodies can and does destabilise the lower bodies, and therefore a constant flux of working with and cycling through the layers of jing-Qi-shen is necessary to stabilise, open up and clear out the gunk and encrustations that have formed around your essence. All prerequisite exercises are rooted in the physical body because if your body is weak or the energy that runs it is sluggish, you will nd it dicult to develop the higher emoons and mental funcons. The physical body also acts as an anchor in reality when working with and developing the higher aspects of ourselves, so a healthy and balanced body truly is your temple, housing and enabling further training. The same is true for developing shen. The mind must be present, aware, focused, stable and capable of concentrang for prolonged periods to tap into spirit. If you jump the gun and just go for the gold by directly aempting to work at the level of spirit, the profound releases (if in fact you are successful at releasing any blockages) will ripple down the bodies and can blowout the channels in any or all of the mental, emoonal, qi and physical bodies. So the advice throughout the ages has been to be paent, work from the ground up, prepare well for the advanced material, and then you can reap the fruits of your labour. This is the essence of the Water tradion because a slow, stable progression prevents you from causing yourself problems and thereby allows you to build upon your successes.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
© i s t o c k p h o t o / C o m o t i o n D e s i g n
The energy of the physical body can be found in the bag of the skin. The energec body descends deeper into the body and forms the wei chi within the fascia (under the skin). It also expands outwards, away from the body, forming a connuum from the wei qi to the etheric eld.
Bodies three through seven follow the same paern of descending both deeper in and through the layers of so ssues and bones, and ex panding further out from the surface of the body. When the rst seven bodies are unied and the ling (or soul) is formed, the eighth body appears in the central channel.
4.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Chi Revoluon: Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force (Blue Snake Books, 2008) p. 23.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
How aoist Energy Arts
Create Change
e l a H r e h t a e H y b o t o h P
When you change the ow of chi in the physical body through pracce of qi gong, tai chi or bagua, you create a shi from stagnancy towards vibrancy. If the blockages are minor (e.g. daily stress), the shi can be permanent; if, however, the blockages are old and lodged deep in the body, any shi will be temporary (at best) as the energec paern of the blockage will pull the body back into the closed or distorted state. If you pracse regularly, eventually the balance ps and the shi can become permanent. Blockages in the emoonal or mental bodies require meditaon to clear out as qi gong pracces alone are not rened enough to elicit lasng results. Oscillang between sing and moving meditaon pracces allows you to undergo a series of shis, unl your pracce becomes resilient enough to make these temporary shis permanent. As an example, tension from work accumulates daily. When you get home and pracce, you can release that stress and thereby restore some level of bal ance to your system. If it's just the mechanics of your working life, then when you have a proper holiday from work, your stress levels would drop. However, if the stress is the result of a blockage in your mental body (rather than only supercially aecng your mind-body-qi matrix), when you take that break the stress will connue to generate itself from the energec paern rooted in your mental body and you will consistently experience the same stress, regardless of the situaon. Now meditaon becomes crical in dealing with the blockage as meditaon pracce—specically the Inner Dissolving technique—has enough power to shi the gunk in the emoonal and mental realms. Going back to our example, meditaon pracce can, through diligent and regular pracce, release the energec paern that generated the stress in the rst place and therefore yield greater peace of mind. If, however, the root of the blockage goes deeper than the mental body and is, for example, the result of a psychic contracon or larger karmic ow, then you must rene and deepen your meditaon pracce yet further by entering into the realm of shen, and looking for resoluon at this level. This is quintessenal Taoist methodology, or at least that of the Water tradion. Inially, you might be aware of discomfort or pain in your physical body, so you look for resoluon through qi gong. Although some issues might be cleared through sustained pracce, others will not. This is the point at which meditaon becomes relevant and can take the baton. Over me, the most dedicated students will follow their blockages in through the layers of their being—into their core—to uncover their essence, where empness can be discovered.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
Realising Wu + ao As menoned, wu and Tao are implied but not counted in the Three Treasures. The pracces with spirit in these stages connues past the causal body and into the seventh Body of Individuality, where empness can be experienced and your true essence is revealed. This is the stage at which the ling is formed. When you are successful at clearing the rst seven bodies, your jing, Qi and shen will be strong and your ling can unify. Up unl then, from a Taoist perspecve, you are totally and completely governed by the reincarnaon process of working through many, many lives in order to achieve unicaon. Once the ling is formed, your intent is intrin sically changed and your will, driven by your pure essence, can decide where, when and if to incarnate. If you can be truly successful at clearing your seventh energy body, immersing yourself in empness, the Tao (the unchanging root of the universe) will eventually reveal itself to you. This is seen as the highest aainment in Taoism and those who achieve it are disnguished as "Immortals". Obviously, this is not in the physical sense, but rather in the spiritual realm. That is Immortals have penetrated their being right through to the core, unied their soul and merged with the Tao by opening up their eighth energy body, fulll ing their potenal as a living being. Few have ever realised the Tao throughout the ages. l e v a C l u a P y b o t o h P
Taoist Teachings In the West The decision to open the doors to Eastern transformaonal pracces and many other Taoist subjects was made by my teacher's late teacher and Taoist Immortal Liu Hung Chieh of Beijing, China, when he realised the me for secrets had passed. Tradionally, the blueprints for making a person powerful in both himself/herself and society—the deepest treasures of Taoism—were guarded within monasteries, powerful families or as secrets throughout China, and therefore only taught to iniates. Liu, in his wisdom, realised the West could benet from the personal development methods in Taoism, and gave my teacher Bruce his express permission to teach openly to the level of discipleship. 5 This includes much more in-depth and rare teachings than are generally available in the West (and even the East).
Balancing Your Being All Taoist Water tradion pracces from qi gong, internal maral arts, yoga and meditaon start with the physical body and work, perhaps paradoxically, inwards and outwards through the other energy bodies. The rst port of call is to open, heal and balance the physical body through mind-body exercises that propel the body and chi into moon. Over me, the aim is to penetrate your esh, access, control and develop energy in both movement and sllness pracces, and fuse the two streams into one coherent system. When you tap into your qi, open
5.
Frantzis, Bruce, Bagua and Tai Chi: Exploring the Potenal of Chi, Maral Arts, Meditaon and the I Ching (Energy Arts, Inc., 2010), pp. 149-155.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013 up the channels and ood the body with energy, you feed every cell in your body with life-sustaining energy, and thereby grow from strength to strength. Balancing the energies of yin and yang is crical throughout this process to: • Attune yourself to universal flow; • Create the space for healing and boost vitality; • Give you access to the interplay of yin and yang (liang yi), which ultimately leads to the experience of tai ji—where all and everything is unified in perfect harmony. Along the way there are many, many yin and yang combinaons to bring into balance, so Taoists start with praccal exercises for the body to train awareness, such as: • The six directions of space in three pairs (up-down, left-right, forwardback) in any movement or stillness practice; • The opening and closing of the body; • The twisting out and in of the soft tissue; • The lengthening out and in of the fascia; • The shrinking and growing of the body; • Tapping into the rising and falling chi of the body;
If you train internal maral arts, the point is to seek to balance the Four Primary Energies of peng, ji, liu and an (si xiang)—individually and in their pairs, with peng-an and ji-liu being opposites. Balancing each one and all four aspects brings the body, qi and mind closer to the tai ji space so, as you work through the six bodies (from the physical to the karmic), all energies are brought into harmony in their own right as well as in reference to all others. Regardless of the specic pracces you train, balance is a cornerstone of Taoism. Through total and complete balance, you can enter the tai ji space that enables access to empness and discovery of your essence. To complete the process (as previously described), you clear out your essence and descend deep into empness, which can lead you to the Tao. Without balance, none of this is possible. Without clearing out blockages on ever-deeper levels of your being, nothing profound can be realised. Many people start pracsing with spiritual ideals, but become disillusioned along the way because their goals are too loy and high—a failing strategy. The advice throughout the ages has been the same: Leave your hopes, fears and dreams at the door. They can only limit your ulmate potenal. Be in the here and now, pracse to the best of your ability and see what unfolds.
• Projecting and absorbing qi; • Focusing on any of the internal nei gong components within a qi gong set; • Engaging and balancing kan (Water) and li (Fire) practices;
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the rst step.
• And so on...
—Lao Tse
Did you know? All links in the IQ journal are acve—simply point + click!
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
Studying the Five Elements Every spring, Paul oers a Five Element Qi Gong retreat on the breathtaking Greek Island of Crete. Typically, the retreat takes place during the second week of May to take advantage of the Bank Holiday Monday in the UK. Find out the specic subject maer and complete details by vising: hp://www.circlewalking.com/tao-retreat/
Health Scare of the Month! Excessive Sitting/Movement Can Lead to Infertility —Courtesy of Energy Arts Instructor Fred Gordon
A new Harvard School of Public Health study found that men who watched 20 or more hours of television per week had sperm counts that were 44% lower than those who watched almost no television.
biking can actually reduce semen quality. “My advice would be everything in moderaon,” says Pacey, “and that includes me in the gym as well as watching TV.” Fred: The Law of 70%. . . again, moderaon in all things.
Men who exercised for 15 or more hours per week had sperm counts that were 73% higher than those of men who exercised for fewer than ve hours per week. Researchers say exercise protects against oxidave stress, which can damage sperm cells.
© i s t o c k p h o t o / E r a x i o n
Sing on the sofa may also overheat the tescles and for too long, which could reduce sperm count the same way that wearing ght underwear can, according to Allan Pacey, a ferlity expert at the University of Sheeld. Researchers cauon that overdoing exercise can backre since previous studies have shown that long-distance running and 1.
BBC News, 5 February 2013, see hp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21326810.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
Bagua
Taoist Adept Liu Hung Chieh's
Bagua Single Palm Change By Paul Cavel
s r e t l a W l l i B y b o t o h P
There are two basic forms of the Single Palm Change (SPC) in our school, namely the Heaven Palm and the Swimming Dragon Palm. These two forms contain the full range and depth of the enre nei gong system from all three perspectives: health/healing, maral arts and meditaon. That is the way in which the internal content is fused within the forms contains the potenal to be developed in any or all of the three streams. This is not the case in all bagua schools and, in fact, this seamless combining of content is extremely rare in both the East and the West. To fully understand how this unique applicaon of the SPC came into being, we must look at the history of our lineage and specically the studies of Taoist adpet Liu Hung Chieh (my teacher Bruce's primary teacher).
Origins of Bagua: A Very Brief Overview The maral tradion of bagua zhang was brought into the public arena in the late 18th century by Tung Hai Chuan on whom there is an enormous amount of material wrien with slight variaons on one basic theme: Tung turned up in Beijing apparently unknown by every body and earned a reputaon of the highest degree as a top-class maral arst in a very short period. Nobody could defeat him and nobody had seen his art of bagua before. He took disciples of which four stood out from the rest; they were Yin Fu, Cheng Ting Hua, Ma Gui (also known as Ma Shr Ching) and Ma Wei Chi. They were said to have been Tung's best students and obtained the highest skills in the art of bagua. Of these masters, most lineages have been passed down from Yin Fu and Cheng Ting Hua, as the other two did not teach many students between them. Tung Hui Chuan had an interesng method of teaching bagua as he didn't teach everybody the same forms. In fact, he would look at the style of whatever art his students pracsed (and they needed to be masters in another art before he would accept them as students), and he adapted the palm changes according to their personal skill set. This is only possible because the palm changes are not set in stone. Each is developed from specic neigong content that generates a parcular overall energy and therefore can be adapted to body type, skill level, exibility and background of the praconer. Some students would be taught many palm changes from the beginning, while others would only learn the Single Palm Change for many years. In this way, Tung would develop the natural abilies of each individual.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013 The monasc tradion of bagua is far more elusive as nobody really knows its true origin. What is known is that these meditaon teachings are deeply interwoven with the I Ching, which has an oral tradion of around 8,000 years.1 Oral teachings speculate that Bagua Circle Walking was developed 4,000 years ago2 in the Kunlun mountains to realise the teachings of the I Ching. The Single Palm Change is documented to have been pracsed for at least 1,500 years in monasteries throughout the region. Whatever the truth is about the origins, the monasc tradion is far older and almost definitely a precursor to the maral art of bagua zhang. What Tung knew and taught was an adaptaon of the energies of the I Ching applied to ghng, which was an oshoot or a part of the original monasc bagua tradion.
Te Amazing aoist Adept Liu Hung Chieh: 1905-1986 Master Liu's inuence on our bagua system is uerly profound as he sought out and trained with the best living masters of his day, drawing together many threads and weaving them into one incredible fabric. He began his journey into bagua at age 14, when he was the last student admied to the original bagua school of Beijing. Originally opened by Cheng Ting Hua3 (one of Tung's top four disciples), his eldest son Cheng You Lung headed the school at the me that Liu joined.
Cheng's Dragon Palm, but also Yin Fu's Willow Leaf Palm. In fact, Liu had access to many high-level bagua praconers and trained daily unl the school closed. At that point, Liu became the formal disciple of Cheng You Lung and later lived and studied with Ma Gui (another of Tung's top four disciples). The forms we pracce today are basically Cheng's Dragon Palm style (inuenced by Yin's Willow Leaf Palm), with the deeper and more crical chi work coming from Ma Gui. Aer this inial period of learning the maral tradion of bagua (with the associated health and power development techniques) and the meditaon method (mainly concerned with generang enormous power through activang and controlling the psychic body), Liu looked more towards spirituality. Inially, Liu worked through the layers of Buddhist pracces becoming formally declared Enlightened under Tan Hsiu Fa Shr, the Tien Tai Buddhist master. However, Liu had a keen interest in Taoism and later sought out and connected with Taoist adepts in the mountains of western China. Liu remained in the mountains learning the monasc tradion of bagua for 10 years, where he completed his studies of chi, meditaon and bagua by discovering the root of the I Ching, and aaining the level of a truly realised Taoist Immortal. Later he became the head of an important northern Taoist lineage.4
According to my teacher Bruce, this school was the meeng place for many of the best bagua players in Beijing. Liu not only learned Photo © istockphoto/Szefei 1.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Chi Revoluon: Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force (Blue Snake Books, 2008), p. 121.
2.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Chi Revoluon: Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force (Blue Snake Books, 2008), p. 125.
3.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Power of Internal Maral Arts and Chi (Blue Snake Books, 1998, 2007), p. 243.
4.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Power of Internal Maral Arts and Chi (Blue Snake Books, 1998, 2007), p. 246.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013
Te Monastic + Martial raditions of Bagua The monasc tradion diers greatly from the maral tradion in several ways. First and foremost, the bulk of the monasc pracces—if not all—can be taught, pracsed and embodied through the Single Palm Change (SPC). Conversely, the maral tradion normally uses an eight-palm and somemes a 64-palm method. That is the maral tradion teaches complex change paerns that embody maral applicaons of various and sundry natures. The monasc tradion taps directly into the eight trigram energies and 64 hexagram energies of the I Ching through subtle changes to the SPC and does not require extensive form work. The maral tradion uses palm changes, energies of the I Ching and meditaon pracces to develop strategy and power for ghng; whereas the monasc tradion develops these energies to comprehend the workings of the cosmos, and the nature of mind to enter into empness and realise the unchanging root of the universe. The monasc meditaon pracces go beyond the psychic body and the ability to control and delve deeply into the causal (or karmic) body by developing the Body of Individuality—with the intent of unifying a ling (or soul). The monasc tradion goes far beyond the maral tradion and has much more relevancy in modern Western culture as, at the lowest end, the pracces clear and develop the human nervous system—providing a sound methodology for obliterang stress, and calming and focusing the mind. Both tradions develop the ability to ow and merge with change, remove inera, foster adaptability, and develop health and vitality. Although, all things considered, the monasc tradion arguably has far more potenal and covers much more ground through less complex form work—a winning combinaon for most students.
P h o t o b y H e a t h e r H a l e
Bagua Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis adjusts Senior Student Paul Cavel's Bagua Dragon Palm Posture
Te Tree Streams of the Single Palm Change To begin, the Single Palm Change (SPC) is developed out of the 16 nei gong system. That is to say that forms are created from internal content rather than a form being lled with specic nei gong, as is the case with tai chi as well as half internal and half external styles, such as aikido and ninjitsu. In building the SPC and embodying the internal content, you naturally develop health and vitality because nei gong opens up your system, and releases stagnant and blocked qi. The SPC fully works your physical and qi bodies, leaving no stone unturned. Once you have some of the basics in place, you can focus on developing maral arts, meditaon or both. If you cannot produce power (which the SPC does very eciently), you cannot become a good ghter or meditator. Have you ever encountered a sickly, weak person who embodies great maral prowess? The same principles apply to meditaon: If you don't produce the juice, you will become red quickly! Training bagua for meditaon requires focus and the ability to remain present for prolonged periods.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013 So nei gong becomes the bedrock for all aspects of pracce and crical to obtaining the results you are seeking. Liu, in his wisdom, took the best maral aspects in both form and power development, and mated them with the enre meditaon tradion, fusing a pracce that contains the three streams. This allows a praconer to begin their bagua journey in one aspect and later change their focus without having to learn a new art or form in order to connue to develop. Life changes around us and our needs change accordingly. Quite oen students start bagua with an interest in the maral arts, which changes when they experience a health issue; or they begin with a health concern and, when they grow strong, shi to meditaon. Bagua accommodates these shis as owing with change is at the root of its nature.
Te Heaven + Swimming Dragon Palms The two versions of the Single Palm Change that we pracce today serve dierent needs for the body, mind and qi. The Heaven Palm manifests the pure energy of Heaven (yang), which is the real base of our bagua system, teaching the fundamentals of all bagua pracce: how to open the body, produce power, unify the body and its qi, as well as how to produce light in the body. Heaven Palm is tradionally both the beginning of and the container for the whole system, which in itself appears to be a paradox. However, any praconer can directly perceive how and why it is so with enough dedicated pracce. The Swimming Dragon Palm brings a watery (yin) aspect to your pracce and further develops the circular and spiralling nature of bagua, as well as uidity—bringing you a step closer to removing inera from your pracce. Here, the Dragon Body begins to develop, which is unique to bagua and forms the essence of this original art of the I Ching (see image on p. 11).
Whatever is learned in one form can be folded into the other and, through systemac pracce of the two, you can develop an incredibly strong and healthy body with excellent vitality and a deeply focused mind. Between these two palms, they oer the possibility to introduce, develop and rene all aspects of bagua pracce—whatever your needs, hopes or dreams. For dedicated praconers, the two palms oer a path that unfolds along the road of personal and spiritual development.
Lao se, ung Hui Chuan + Liu Hung Chieh Although the Taoist Water tradion existed for at least 1,500 years before Lao Tse, his inuence on Taoism is immeasurable. First and foremost, Lao Tse was head librarian of the Imperial Archives, which is both an actual posion in the power structure of China and representave of his spiritual leadership. Lao Tse was not only the most respected advisor to the emperor of his me, but also oversaw the Taoist monasteries in the region. It was Lao Tse who coined the phrase "Water method" to arculate the ideology behind the teachings, which promulgate the lack of force or pushing, as well as any expectaon of change (as pracsed in the younger Fire method). Instead, the way of Water involves becoming sensive to, tuning into and owing with the constant ux of change. Within the monasteries that were under Lao Tse's tutelage, all of them trained nei gong, Five Element and I Ching pracces. Some studied bagua as their main focus and deeply developed the pracce into a cosmic art, including delving into and compleng the spiritual aspects of a human being. At some point, having realised the ways of man had veered o the spiritual path only to be replaced by the lust for power, wealth and dominion, Lao Tse road out on his ox, leaving behind the world of dust. As Lao Tse headed out, a gatekeeper recognised the
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: March 2013 loss that would ensue and requested that he write some words of wisdom to help future generaons nd their way back to the spiritual path. Lao Tse authored the Tao Te Ching,5 and then slipped away quietly towards the west. Following, Taoism essenally went underground for thousands of years with only a trickle of the teachings emerging and ltering down into the public domain. Tung Hai Chuan likely learned an oshoot of this pure stream of Taoist teachings through the maral art of bagua, aer suering some kind of injury. Liu Hung Chieh was denitely exposed to the authenc, core teachings when he spent me in western China with an elusive group of unnamed adepts that completed his understanding of the Taoist tradion.
Liu's Legacy: Reuniting the Monastic + Martial raditions Over seven decades of studying health, healing, maral arts and spirituality, Liu Hung Chieh is one of only a few modern masters who fully understood the true nature and depth of the internal energy arts. Maybe he was lucky to have been born into a family of medical doctors, and at just the right me and place to have the opportunity to study with the best third and fourth generaon bagua masters, realised spiritual adepts and great healers. Given the many personal sacrices Liu had to make in his lifeme, I don't know if that's true. But two things are for sure: • When he went to the mountains in western China, he tapped into a very old and pure stream of bagua.
• He was more than qualified to adapt the material he learned from his sources and weave them together into one coherent whole, unifying (and possibly reuniting) the martial and monastic bagua traditions. What has been passed down to us today is a rare, authenc and pure Taoist tradion with potenal beyond what most people will ever be willing and able to develop. What is needed now is more dedicated students to take the baton and Walk the Circle. I'll oer more on bagua in forthcoming issues.
∞
When a man moves away from Nature, his heart becomes hard. —Lakota Nave American Proverb
5.
Tzu, Lao, Translated by Jonathan Star, Tao Te Ching: The New Translaon from Tao Te Ching - The Denive Edion (J P Tarcher/Penguin Putnam, 2008).
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
Page 14
IQ
Tank You to: My teacher, Taoist Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis, who has openly taught me about the depths of nei gong; Heather Hale for eding, design + photography; Gee Loose for photography; and Elena Ray for cover artwork © istockphoto/elenaray; and the Tao Arts School Members who made this report possible.
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