Inner Issue 9 | January 2013
Q uest
The Monthly Tao Journal
Featured In I n Tis Issue...
Taoist Manifestation Taoist & Transc Transcendenc endencee Practices to Realise Your Y our Human Potential Potential
Closing: Fulfilling the Need to Return
Paul Cavel, Editor
IQ: January 2013
aoist Manifestation & ranscendence Practices to Realise Your Human Potential
Taoism encompasses a wide range of pracces from maral and healing arts, to yoga and meditaon, to poetry, painng, calligraphy and geomancy, as well as methods for working with the Five Elements. All of them are ulmately contained with in the teachings of the I Ching (Book of Changes) . Although throughout the ages some Taoists have studied all aspects of Taoism, most certainly do not. Instead, each individual aunes to their path to what is relevant to their personal and spiritual development. That said there are core techniques that all Taoists train, which can be classied in three categories: the 16 nei gong, Five Element pracces and I Ching arts.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013 Each stream of pracce is held central to Taoism because: •
The 16 nei gong awaken your being, giving and sustaining the force of life inside you.
•
The Five Elements allow you to connect to and draw upon vast stores of energy from the environment for health and harmony within your own being, as well as in relationship to others and the natural world in which we live.
•
I Ching arts, being much more expansive, teach practical methods for grasping and flowing with more subtle universal principles having to do with the one constant in life— change.
Taoists have always taken a pragmac approach to human development to raise awareness and expand consciousness, even in eras when mere survival could absorb the totality of the day. In ancient mes, painng, poetry and calligraphy become a means of expression, maral arts lead to the path of the warrior, healing arts create healers and doctors. Yoga, which essenally blends qi gong and meditaon, becomes a supporng mechanism for achieving sllness and higher learn ing. Adepts eventually grow their awareness far and deep enough aeld to realise that everything is slowly becoming conscious, hence the refrain "everything furthers" from the I Ching. They describe a sort of connuum from the rocks and sand to the highest spiritual beings in our universe. Human beings would be someplace along the connuum, moving towards consciousness, driven by nature and fuelled by the desire to become mature beings. Over the decades, centuries and millennia, Taoists have passed down and shared the wisdom gleaned from the science of energy and praccal training methods they developed to help future generaons follow the path and realise the teachings. Yet this highly rened and sophis cated science is cloaked in a tradion so foreign and ideologically in contrast to Western cul ture that its tenets connue to confuse and mislead some of the more vigilant modern seekers. Taoism is not about creang façades to trick a good person who puts in their honest eort, but rather seeks to unravel layers of falsehoods and the paradox inherent to the human con dion. The teachings help you move beyond confusion and paradox, penetrate direct to your core and li the veil of empness, where all decepons about you, energy and the universe are neutralised, and the secretes of life, death and beyond are revealed.
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IQ: January 2013
Wu ji
Tai ji
Liang yi
Si xiang
Bagua
to
Liu shi si gua
The 10,000 Things Figure 1
Te Descending Path of Manifestation
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013
Te Path of Manifestation + ranscendence Through an unbroken chain of adepts, who meculously developed deep meditaon pracces, observing what worked and what did not over many, many generaons, the methodology for directly perceiving the unchanging root of the universe was discovered. The model or "Path of Manifestaon and Transcendence" for replicang the experience, a roadmap, if you will, includes— •
The Descending Path of Manifestation: the filtering down of energy from emptiness to the physical realm; and
•
The Ascending Path of Transcendence: the ascent from the physical realm back up to and merging with the universal essence of Tao.
Te Descending Path of Manifestation The descending path of ever-more complex energies from Heaven to Earth is like so: •
Wu ji -Emptiness.
•
Tai ji -All "oneness".
•
Liang yi -Separation of yin and yang.
•
•
•
•
Si xiang-The first level of yin and yang combinations, known as the "Four Phenomenon". Bagua-The creation of the eight trigrams, or energetic "templates" of manifestation. Liu shi si gua-The 64 hexagrams, which are the result of combining trigrams and initiate more complex forms of energy. "The 10,000 Things"-The metaphorical numerical representation of the never-ending myriad of possibilities of physical manifestation, which is the result of the continuous combining of ever-more layers of complexity and arising through the Five Elements (wu xing).
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IQ: January 2013
Te Ascending Path of ranscendence Known as the "Three Treasures" (although curiously there are ve of them as the laer two are solely in the realm of spiritual pursuits), the ascending path of transcendence is like so: •
Jing-Body
•
Qi -Energy
•
Shen-Spirit
•
Wu-Emptiness
•
Tao-The unchanging root of the universe
© i s t o c k p h o t o / d e s i g n a l l d o n e
That is, jing-Qi-shen-wu-Tao. So early Taoists conceive of the concept of the path, with the descent into manifestaon and the ascent to transcendence, which can be used as a set of blueprints to nd the path back to the ulmate life source. This informaon not only enables resource-ecient pracce, but also the potenal to further your path. Learning the stages of how manifestaon comes into being (basically by rout memorisaon) provides a base for furthering your understanding of universal laws (by direct percepon). What follows is an overview of Taoist cosmology, where the descending path of manifestaon will pri marily be examined. In the March 2013 issue, the ascending path of transcendence will be examined, aer we've had more me to consider the middle ground and gain more insight into the dance between energy and the physical realm in the February 2013 issue.
Eastern Creation: From Wu Ji to the 10,000 Tings Taoist theory holds that manifestaon happens through ever-more complex weaves of yin and yang energies, which eventually produce maer or bring the pre-manifest into existence. You could think of the process as similar to how the subatomic parcles within the quantum foam combine and organise to create structure in our physical world or elements of the periodic table are formed, from the lightest (helium) to the heaviest (uranium). The fundamental principle that yin and yang energy can manifest maer means energy governs maer. So it follows that the qi of your body governs your esh. The prime direcve of internal arts training is to penetrate the esh to give you access to your qi because when you change the state of qi in your body, your esh will naturally follow suit. Taoist cosmology has had a tremendous inuence upon the internal energy arts of the healing, maral and meditaon tradions of China for one simple reason: each art adheres to universal principles, always seeking to blend with natural forces rather than oppose them. Studying Taoist philosophy therefore sets a solid foundaon for the exploraon of the in ternal energy arts, whether or not you choose to engage in the spiritual aspects of the tradion. Regardless, knowing the rules of the game dramacally increases your chances of success—whatever your goals may be, from stress relief, achieving high performance results of any kind, leng go of negave emoons, becoming a modern day warrior or healer to loier spiritual pursuits.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013
Wu Ji: Emptiness + Pure Chaos Wu ji or "empness" represents the very early stage of the universe before manifestaon was even a possibility, before me, before any energy had the ability to gather and cohese. This primordial stage held innite me, space and possibilies yet none have been realised. Wu ji is also described as the void, which reects empness and pure chaos, where no order lies yet all potenal exists. It is both everything and nothing at the same me, a concept that is dicult to grasp and only truly understood through direct percepon. Wu ji becomes the mother of tai ji.
ai Ji: Te Supreme Ultimate Tai ji or "all oneness" is the next stage of universal development, represenng a state of total cohesion of energy, oen described as the "Supreme Ulmate". All of the energy in the enre cosmos comes together into one, magnicent and balanced whole as tai ji is born out of wu ji. The ux of complete, unied and harmonious energy was sll premanifestaon, pre-expression and the reason why the universe did not remain in this state.
The art of tai chi (also taiji/t'ai chi)1 derives its name from the concept of this perfect state, and seeks to balance all the various yin and yang combinaons in the body, mind and chi to create supreme harmony within your whole being. As a Taoist method of transcendence, tai chi can elevate a human being to their highest potenal. Tai ji becomes the mother of liang yi.
Liang Yi: Te 2 Polarities
Yin
Yang
Figure 2 Liang Yi: Yin and Yang Separate
Liang yi is also known as "yin and yang", represenng the stage where yin and yang separate in order to express themselves in their individual, purest forms. The will for the universe to express itself is strong and tai ji separates and begins the process of giving birth to the universe as we know it today.
This separaon is total, energy is completely ripped apart into extreme polar opposites and, through this process, mirrors the Big Bang equivalent of what has been described by modern Western physics as having happened 14 billion years ago. Sll, no maer, no manifestaon exists, yet the basic energec building blocks of the universe are available as chaos moves towards uniformity. Liang yi becomes the mother of si xiang.
Si Xiang: Te 4 Phenomenon Si xiang, represenng the "Four Phenomenon", is the rst stage where yin and yang energies begin to combine. The well-known fact about opposites is that they aract. When yin and yang come together they create four possibilies (see Figure 3):
• Greater or pure yin—yin with yin; • Lesser yin—yin with yang; • Lesser yang—yang with yin; • Greater or pure yang—yang with yang.
1.
There are three primary Chinese translaon styles. For the purposes of this arcle, Pinyin has predominantly been used. However, to dierenate between tai chi , a health art, and taiji , a philosophical concept, Wade-Giles and Pinyin styles have been used, respecvely. © 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013
Bagua, and Ten Tere Were 8 Greater Yin
Lesser Yin
Lesser Yang
Greater Yang
Bagua literally means "eight trigrams", which includes the second layer of combining yin and yang energies, producing three lines in each gua (trigram) with eight possible combinaons (see Figure 4). According to Taoist theory, together the eight trigrams serve as templates that govern manifestaon, including all forms of change—the primary subject of the I Ching.
Figure 3 Si Xiang: The 4 Phenomenon
These four bigrams represent many states in the world as we experience it, such as the four direcons of the compass, the four seasons, the four energies of internal arts ( peng, ji, liu and an) and so on. Ulmately, however, the four bigrams represent one thing, another thing, both and neither, an expression of yin-yang-tai ji-wu ji. Si xiang can be used oensively or defensively in maral arts strategy, but when entering the state of si xiang, it is possible to experience the Four Phenomenon all in the same moment. To any raonal mind, this would seem impossible: How can you experience two separate events, both and neither at the same me? The terse Taoist response is the map is not the territory, the menu is not the meal. Understanding only occurs through direct percepon of any phenomena rather than analysis. The model or map can help you enter the territory, but once in, pracce is what actually leads to recognion and embodiment of any state of being. Pracce is the only means to the answer. Si xiang becomes the mother of bagua.
Heaven
Earth
Wind
Thunder
Fire
Water
Mountain
Lake
Figure 4 Bagua: Eight Trigrams
Similar to the ways in which DNA determines how the body will grow (e.g. height, eye colour, size, mass, etc.), the eight trigrams determine how, where and what manifests in the physical realm. This is the main reason why many maral arts—not just Taoist internal arts, but also external forms— take their inuence from the eight trigrams. If you can tap into these governing energies, then your power will grow exponenally. However, most arts aribute direcons, angles of aack, techniques or manoeuvres to the trigrams, which will do lile to help students achieve their hopes and dreams. All internal energy arts, to varying degrees, tune into the energies of the I Ching, but only one was developed as the pure Taoist art form to realise the Eight Energies of Change: bagua zhang (also, ba gua chang) or "Eight Trigrams Palm".2
2.
It should be noted that tai chi chuan was designed as a hybrid of Shaolin kung fu and Taoist nei gong and, at least as it is taught in the Wu style of our school, contains the 16 nei gong, and can be pracsed in accordance with Five Element Theory and the Eight Universal Energies. However, this is not the norm for most styles of tai chi, whether taught in the West or the East.
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IQ: January 2013 The art of bagua, developed through direct percepon of the energies of the eight trigrams, uses forms known as "palm changes". Each palm change corresponds with and helps the praconer to reconnect to each of the trigram energies. Accordingly, bagua becomes a praccal method for progressing and learning, through direct experience, how the Eight Primal Energies morph and ux between themselves. In so doing, bagua training can be applied to any of the three modalies: • Healing to release blockages;
Bagua Zhang Palm Changes are Practised to Directly Reconnect with the Energies of the Eight rigrams
• Martial arts to neutralise an aggressor; • Meditation to shift perspective and attain realisation. Once contacted, the energies can be used to generate and develop core strength, clarity of mind and vitality in body, mind and qi. Once available to you, you can tap into those energies at will and apply them as you wish. Bagua becomes the mother of liu shi si gua.
Liu Shi Si Gua: Completing the I Ching Liu shi si gua or the "64 hexagrams" represent the potenal outcomes of combining the eight trigrams. Once the templates for manifestaon have been created, the slow process of combining yin and yang, line by line, is no longer the absolute and combining trigrams takes precedent. The 64 hexagrams help us to understand the underlying, constant and unrelenng change that permeates life: from day to night, winter to spring, hot to cold, young to old, rich to poor, sad to happy and so on.
With the hexagrams in place, the I Ching is complete, which if you recall now encompasses everything from wu ji, tai ji, down through the layers of separang and com-
bining yin and yang, and through the tri grams to the 64 changing paerns, or hexagrams. When yang reaches its absolute, it transforms to yin and vice versa. Whether a single line (part of that energy) or all six lines (the whole energy) change denes if the change is paral, complete, gradual or instant. The maral arts of tai chi and bagua really exploit this methodology to gain personal advantage, but for modern man arguably the real benets lie in the healing and meditaon arts. Liu shi si gua becomes the mother of the 10,000 things.
Te 10,000 Tings or Infinite Possibilities The number "10,000" is actually a metaphor used by Taoists to describe the never ending connuum of change, of possibilies, where maer as we know it comes into being. Here, the Five Elements come into play and give solidity to our reality. The eight trigrams govern manifestaon, while the Five Elements are the vehicles through which manifestaon occurs. Up to this point, we are playing with concepts to do with pure energy, inuences and potenals—formless states.
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IQ: January 2013 Now, the physical realm takes centre stage from the repeated and connual combining of yin and yang in yet more complex chains and changes. Through manifestaon, the 10,000 things mirror what wu ji held in its potenal. The circle is complete, and the full expression of wu ji is slowly unfolding in front of our eyes and throughout the universe. What we experience as reality, which gets dened and redened as we grow up as a species, is but one ny pinprick in our vast, unending universe.
Adapting to Change + Evolving Energy This model of creaonism has been passed down for thousands of years in the East, serving as a set of blueprints to help students of the Tao understand how energies behave and interact to shape our reality. But, as discussed, true understanding is gained through embodiment of movement and sllness pracces only by directly perceiving 3 energy at play in your being, the environment and the cosmos. Each individual's path will be unique unto themselves, referred to in Tao ism as the "36 million passes of the Tao". Whether the latest discoveries in quantum physics or the tradional texts of the I Ching, published some 4,000 years ago, modern Western scienc thought and ancient Eastern philosophy agree that energy governs maer. Since energy is in constant ux anyway, if you can tune into and observe the changing energy already at play around you, then you can choose when it's appropriate and benecial for you to join the slipstream or best to avoid and sidestep change when it is not. The crux of all Tao meditaon and energy arts training is about developing the ability to observe and ow with change, whether for applicaons in healing, maral arts, meditaon or your daily reality. Ulmately, how well you can recognise and adapt to a changing environment, evolving energy, the Five Elements and the realm of the 10,000 things, determines how well you navigate this wild ride called life.
This Arcle Is Part I of III: • Learn how to develop the Five Elements through nei gong training in the February 2013 issue, available at http://www.circlewalking.com/2736/five-elements/ . • And, look deeper at the ascending path of transcendence as well as core practical methods for balancing your body, mind and qi in the March 2013 issue, available at http://www.circlewalking.com/2848/taoist-energy-arts/.
A Word of Gratitude... The knowledge shared within this arcle and the following two arcles on the subject of Taoist cosmology is largely due to my teacher Bruce's connual input. It is with my deepest gratude to my teacher, for his guidance and never ending support along The Way that I share this informaon with you here today.
3.
For an arcle on di rect percepon, see the December 2012 issue of IQ, available at: hp://www.circlewalking.com/2643/heaven-earth-qigong/.
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013
Closing
Fulfilling the Need to Return
One reason the internal energy arts of qi gong, tai chi and bagua are so unique is because they simultaneously train the mind and body on various levels. That is the ways in which form movements are executed by the body and its energy are inextricably linked to the ways in which you direct your mind's intent, and vice-versa. Each inuences and develops the other, so the depth you achieve in one aspect unlocks or gives access to more rened training methods in the other. One of the fundamental internal power development principles (nei gong 7) has to do with creang openings and closings in the body, and the enre human energec matrix for health, healing, maral arts applicaons and meditaon. From a physical perspecve, the learning process is rather pragmac. For example, the focus is inially on amplifying the pulse in the joints, next the cavies and so on unl you can ulmately pulse the enre body and its energy. First, an experienced praconer gently manipulates a body part to provide you with a direct experience, then you aim to achieve these methods on your own and eventually bring them alive in every aspect of your form(s).
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013 elasc band, your internal connecon will be severed. Instead of returning the expanded energy, and allowing it to carry forward and mulply through subsequent moves, you will basically short circuit the cycle.
Many students nd remaining connected and balanced throughout opening-closing techniques challenging, causing an intermient, start-stop quality. In me, you must tune into and smooth out the pulse to gain deeper access to it. Some students have more diculty staying relaxed during the open, while more commonly students nd it dicult to let go and remain so into the close—without collapsing. Part of the reason comes down to the fact that many people misunderstand the principle of soness in the internal energy arts or don't train the depth required to implement a so closing acon while maintaining the integrity of core internal structures. Many stretch or open out in a smooth, connected and conscious way, yet as the changeover from an opening to a closing acon comes into play, they basically drop into a state of a wet noodle and simply go limp! Wet noodles may be good to eat, but the natural state of the body is so not oppy.
Te Principle of Return The direcve of all closing techniques is to release and relax the mind and body, and return the energy to your centre that you brought up or expanded out during the opening. The ability to close well develops the yin aspect of pracce, where leng go into the downward ow is emphasised and absorpon can commence. If you simply allow the body to snap back as if to let go of a stretched
From the perspecve of health, obviously becoming a wet noodle will have lile eect on blood and other uid (e.g. lymph and cerebrospinal) circulaon. The rst advice of fered by the Tai Chi Classics is to "Move like a great river". When does a great river stop owing? When do the waves that crash on the shore not get reabsorbed back by the ocean? Tai chi's specialty is liu or "absorbing"; liu is responsible for the so, yielding nature in tai chi. The energy of liu is pure yin. It is the closing and absorbing half of the pulse and what trains the body's nerves to let go on a profound level. Liu is what allows not only the tai chi praconer, but all internal arsts to absorb the energy back into their centre. Only working on the yang half of the cycle will diminish your levels of qi because very lile returns back to the centre. Closing techniques are oen misinterpreted as the whole upper body going limp. This is not the case. Instead, the core structure remains strong, while the outer casing (skin, muscles, fascia and tendons) becomes incredibly so and relaxed. Have no doubt though, it is sll very much alive!
raining the Mind's Intent The state of the mind's intent in the wet-noodle scenario is even more interesng. Each me you nd yourself going limp, or snapping back aer an opening or stretching move, you can be sure your mind has entered some sort of gap or dark corner of your consciousness—you spaced out. Now whether the gap has emoonal content (i.e. anxiety, worry or euphoria), is mental chaer (analysis or planning) or your mind simply goes numb, may be dicult
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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IQ: January 2013 to idenfy and doesn't much maer in the beginning phase anyway. The important lesson is to learn how to catch the gap before it happens...bringing new meaning to the phrase "mind the gap"! Throughout the ages in Taoism, the process has involved oscillang between internal energy arts and sing meditaon pracces to root out that which perpetuates ambiguity, dissoluon in the mind and negave emoons. Sing pracces specically include methods to: • Become present; • Expand your awareness; • Refine your focus; and • Increase powers of concentration. These pracces can be incredibly benecial for training the mind because anyone can and many do set unrealisc goals for themselves. The end result can lead to frustraon, disappointment, depression, jealousy—all sorts of negave emoons that derail your good progress. On the other hand, when you have the ability to be present to the here and now, you also gain beer judgment because you're not clouded by the view from some mental projecon about what life should be like. You simply experience life for yourself and move forward from one moment to the next without reservaon or regret.
Becoming Present Presence enables you to see further aeld and focus on that which is important rather than being distracted by a bunch of nonsense that doesn't t with your ow. We all get caught up in these hamster wheels, but in me, as you develop your skills of awareness and focus, you will nd it easier to gath er your intent, your energy and concentrate it on the subjects of your choosing.
You really cannot achieve comparable results by thinking about how wonderful, rich or powerful you can be. You've got to train your mind and hone your intent because the mind is a fantasc slave and a terrible master. It can also run around the world three mes while you're sipping your morning tea—whether into some traumac space of the past or happy place of the future. Years and years can go by while lamenng about the past or suering from anxiety about the future, all the while the present moment eludes us. We must release these blocked places in our body, mind and qi energy. Leng go gently and smoothly into the closing phase, while remaining connected and present in all qi gong, tai chi and bagua forms, gives us pragmac methods for doing so. As you pracce, see if you can remain present during each and every closing acon in your form. Find the balance between a so, yielding nature while staying internally connected and awake. • From a martial perspective, you can then recycle this power for your next offensive move; • From a health perspective, you will re-circulate the body's fluids and qi that deliver life-sustaining nutrients to every cell in your body; • From a healing perspective, you will protect your body from harm, and release and let go of the gunk in a safe and gentle manner; • From the perspective of meditation, you can release stress and negative emotions that plague your clarity and rob you of a sense of peace inside yourself.
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IQ: January 2013
Closing techniques present us with many, many opportunies to develop our body, mind and qi, and improve our ability to follow through with our goals in a balanced and connected way.
Closing the Season of Indulgence Now that the Season of Indulgence is behind us and there is a general feeling of geng back on track—whatever that means for you. From the outset, culvate so, slow and connected closing acons in whatever forms you're training. Have the intent of releasing the nerves, dumping the stagnancy and guiding qi back to your centre. This yin method of exercising can root your energy, stabilise your mind and nourish your body. From the perspecve of the internal arts and the intrinsic value of life, these methods will never go out of season.
∞
“o be truly ignorant, be content with your own knowledge.” —Chuang Tse
© 2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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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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