A personal account of the Tai Chi, Qi Gung, & Taoist Meditation Workshop held at the Omega Institute with David Carradine from October 6-8, 2000

After we went through the Standing Meditation, we had a question and answer period. Arnold first started out mentioning what we talked about on Friday, about the connection of Tao and how that connects to nature. He referred it to as nature itself. He stated basically, we have these three Dan Tiens, three centers, that reside in our body center of the head, center of the chest, center of the abdomen. Arnold stated once again that each of the centers has to do with different aspects of our being.

He stated, "In the practice of the Tao what happens is that as you cultivate this energy; body, mind/emotion, spirit, you come from this integrated center and that energy, is a whole energy, is what you present to the world. That's how you interact with the world. When we do this, we are introduced to the life-force breathing, the energy field around us, some of you talked about how you expanded out, passed the room, and then you came back, and then you stayed connected to the room and you could feel things around you. Well what happens . . . what the practice of these three Dan Tiens from the center core, we imagine this pole which runs all the way from the top of the head, the crown point, down to the perineum. And this center core or pole is actually where we turn off of.

"So for instance in the practice of Tai Chi, just like the Standing, I usually introduce my students to the Standing, they feel these energies and these alignments. Then from there, when you go into practice of the Tai Chi, everything always comes from the center. So it doesn't matter what style you are doing, or even if you're not doing any of the martial styles, you always come from the center. That's where your inner most being resides, but then also, too, that's your reference point. Or your way in which you interact through your energy field with the rest of the world. So, the body, mind/emotion, and spirit are connected through these different centers by keeping this essential pole connection.

"Now I also mentioned that we connect with the heavens above and the earth beneath us. We're actually in the human realm. We interconnect with these energies and we're a combination of the two. Inside our body, the physical center relates to what we call the Jing or the sexual essence. That's the raw fuel for our chi. Sometimes you might here about or you might think, why are these monks celibate, that's the reason why. It's because by gathering this Jing, they can take the raw fuel and then through a process of qi gung, tai chi and cultivation, they can take this raw essence, and convert it into the chi; which is the energy for nourishing our tissues, working for ourselves and our daily living. But beyond that what happens is from the chi; it further rarifies, or refines itself to become the Shen or the spirit. So in other words, in order to refine the energy to become, or connect with the spirit, we have to go through these processes of connecting through the chi and also using the basil energy essence. Now what happens during this whole time, is of course you have the Hun and the Po, I was talking about the higher spirits inside you, that objective observer self that knows what you need to do. But what happens the whole time it's fighting with your other selves. And remember there's three versus seven. The three higher energies have to be very, very strong in order to overcome that.

"So that's part of the cultivation and it's interesting because in the Taoist perspective we don't really look at retreating from life. Instead, it's more of an embracing, of going out. And your spiritual cultivation really is done more through the tools of that which you face in everyday living. Having a job, having a family, having to keep up with all the tasks that everyone has to do on a day to day basis, actually provide many different lessons for us. And what happens sometimes, when people retreat from society, sometimes what happens is they loose out on the opportunities for growing.

So in the Taoist cultivation, it's interesting, one of my senior classmates, his teacher, Wachi Ni, the Taoist Master whom I referred to earlier, had him go around and start these different centers. On one of his trips he want to Taoist, New Mexico. Anybody familiar with that? Okay, beautiful energy. So he goes out there and he says, 'Wow this is great, all the trees and the mountains and the water. People are great and the energy, and everything. The air is so fresh and clean. Oh, I've got to invite Wachi Ni out here and we'll establish out headquarters out here and I get to run it.' and he thought this was pretty neat. So he invites Master Ni out and he goes out there and he shows him around and he says, 'What do you think of the place? Don't you think the people are great?' and he says, 'Oh yeah the people are great.' 'What about the air and the environment and the trees?' 'Oh yeah it's great, great.' 'Everything is really complete, it's great here.' And he says 'Yes.' 'Well, how about it? Don't you think this is the perfect place to have a center?' So Master Ni turned to him and he looks at him and says, 'No." and he says, 'Why?' 'Anybody can cultivate and evolve an environment like this.' And his student says, "What do you want me to do then? You know you want me to open a center.' and he says, 'Go to New York City.' (Arnold laughs at this point then continues the story.) And when I talked to him he said, 'Oh I hated New York City. You know it was the worst place for me to go.' But of course what happened he was there for three years. It was interesting because he didn't meet a lot of people." Then Arnold modified it and said, "He had met a lot of people but you know what happened, maybe about two or three people came out of that. And you know, for them, they stayed with Meshini ((?) Uncertain of the correct spelling for both of theses.) teachings and one of them went to the Yosom University and studied Chinese meditation and graduated, went back and established the center for it.

But anyhow, the point is, if you take yourself out of your opportunity, which is always presented to you, you don't need a special class or a special lesson. The Universe always gives it to you. It's automatic. They call that the subtle energetic universal response, it's a law that automatically happens. And as I said before, you may not like what you get, you may not be comfortable with it, but you're always going to get what you need. And, if you are aware enough, this awareness that comes through your practices, this chi, this energy, then what happens is you can recognize, oh, okay, it's this lesson again, maybe. And then what happens if your recognize it, hopefully you learn what you need to learn then you evolve and you move further. The neat thing is that these lessons usually become more subtle as you become more experienced. So, by moving forward and embracing life, through this energy center of aligning all three of the Dan Tiens and seeing the world from that reference point, that's what makes a difference. I was talking to somebody yesterday about Feng Shui (?). This same classmate of mine was looking . . . always many times people who practice these arts are looking for the mystical, the spiritual, and so forth. And sometimes its spiritual and the mystical is in the ordinary way of looking at things. Do, it came time for him to move away from being with Master Ni after a number of years. He was going to look for an apartment. So Feng Shui of course is one, I guess you can say is one avenue in development of Taoist system. So what happed he said, 'I'm going to moving out to an apartment I want to know what the best Feng Shui (?) is for my energy.' So Master Ni sits fact and he ponders and he said, 'Hmmm, yes. I have the answer.' and student says, 'Yes?' Master Ni said, "Biggest square footage for lowest rent.' (Arnold got a big laugh with that story.) He then went on to say that it's the practical that we really need to address. He also stated that a lot of this comes up also in martial arts, such as the different trainings and so forth, from just jumping in and experiencing the energy. He stated that you can talk and talk about something but the more you talk, you get further and further away from doing it. He stated by keeping in your energetic experience, we're an energetic being living in this world, interacting with an energetic universe that's actually just an illusion. He then stated, "See how confusing words can be?"

He then had us do again the Three Dan Tien practice. He said that it came from the I Chuan system that comes from Shing Yi. He asked if anyone heard of Shing Yi. Only a few members of the group had. He then went on and explained that Shing Yi is one of the internal martial arts. You have Tai Chi Chuan which is related more with Yin and Yang, Bag Wa, which utilizes palms and circular movement and that, relates to the I Ching. And then you have Shing Yi, which tends to be more linear. With Shin Yi, they will move more in lines and that connects with the five-element philosophy. Arnold went on to explain that there are four levels. The first being the set stage which related to the physical aspect of your being. The second is the shifting and moving, similar to what Rob Moses was showing with the shifting of the water, so this stage relates more to mental imagery, which will activate your energy further. Then the third stage developed vibration (Arnold did a visual demonstration of this stage) and energy inside you and it's related to the emotional stage, because what happens at this stage, there's a lot of vibrations that comes up. It shakes up the emotions and what happens is it moves further beyond the blocks. The last stage (which Arnold also demonstrated) doesn't look like much. It looks similar to the beginning. The fourth stage is referred to as the spiritual stage. What is different about the spiritual stage is that the energy refines itself, hones itself down to a resonance. This resonance is actually slowed down.

Arnold demonstrated with his hand, the vibrational movement of the energy, showing at each stage how the energy becomes more refined and slowed. He stated that what you can use that energy for is for healing, not only for ones self, but for others. When he stated that, I knew that I would have to learn more on Qi Gong healing practices. It would seem this is what I had been looking for and did not know it. Arnold then demonstrated on a member of the group. He demonstrated what each stage was like: the first being massage, the second which the man could feel more heat, the third stage the man could feel it more on the cellular level and that it went deeper. He could feel the energy go where it was needed and the breaking up of the blockage. Arnold then had the man close his eyes and he then demonstrated on the fourth stage. This stage was even more amazing. The man stated that he could feel the tissues opening up and it felt like they were almost turning inside out. He stated that the resonance got infinitely more subtle. Arnold then thanked the man and then stated that this was just an introduction to all the various stages. He stated that as you evolve the energy naturally evolves and that it comes from our own cultivation. Arnold went on the say that he uses this in his daily practice and with his students. He then mentioned how there were other instructors who would just tell you to stand a certain way for two hours every day and not tell you anything more. You can do that and after six months you might feel something, but at the same time, your understanding as to what is happening may not be clear. For myself, I seem to be at the second stage and have yet to get to stages three and four. My energy cultivation has been done without guidance and without knowledge. With this new found knowledge, I would love to be able to develop it further. Arnold then stated that when his Master Ni came to this country and met the Taoist students, he said, "If you have problems, I will take them away." and one of the students asked him "What if I don't have any problems?" and Master Ni replied, "Then I will give you some."

Arnold then had us stand up. We went right into our Qi scattering cleansing exercises and then went right into the Standing Meditation practice. It became more powerful a practice when I knew just what it was that we were trying to achieve. After we did the meditation and exercises, he had us get a partner and we made a mental note of our experience. We found three partners. One partner was aware that I had been injured by the way my energy felt. Another partner that I was aware that she was holding back, that she was not quite sure of what she was experiencing and did not want to believe what was happening. Experiencing three different partners helped us to feel the difference in how the energy changed. We then shared our experience. Arnold then had us share our experience. Many people expressed heat; some experienced different levels of heat. I shared the experience that one partner felt that I had been injured, from my right shoulder. I shared the fact that I had been having discomfort in my left heal. Arnold found that very interesting and then shared that was the very thing that he would teach to his students, the various ways how one could assess a patient's well being because that was how the modulation and correction of the energy was going to be done. One man stated that he could feel one side was smooth while the other was like a corduroy sensation. He could follow it and found where the blockage was. Arnold then stated that he loved the descriptions people were giving him.

A woman found it interesting how the energy would change in frequency, become weaker when she pulled her hands back and then stronger when she drew them closer. Another gentleman related how he felt as if there was someone standing behind him and pressing him on his shoulder, even though there was no one there. He even turned and looked behind him to be sure. Arnold responded that part of the increase awareness meant that you see things that you had not seen before (in this instance sensed) and this expansion through consciousness starts to include energy that is on a more subtle realm. One woman mentioned that with the first partner, she felt heat, but when she turned to the second partner, she felt cold at first. She felt like it came from her, not from her partner. Arnold mentioned that though this was a small scale, you could just imagine if you did this every day and through half-hour sessions of healing, just what might unfold. Another man stated that he could feel the person being drawn to him, so he thought what might happen in if I push on that force and he almost knocked the woman over. Arnold mentioned there was something called an "empty force" which is part of the martial arts. Arnold went on to say that this is part of that Standing Meditation and if you hear people say, how do you expect to get anywhere by standing around, this is how. He also mentioned about doing Bag Wa, which is circle walking. And you know that saying, about going around in circles, he said he did not get it (and the whole time he was smiling because he knows those sayings are not true with respect to martial arts), it works for me.

Arnold topped off the section by saying, "Body, Mind/Emotions, and Spirit integration connects together in your every day life. Your cultivation is your life. And if you stayed centered in this awareness, what happens is that you will find, as your life evolves, there are different stages. One of my teachers actually described this as saying, from looking in terms of the whole life cycle, ages from the birth to 10 years, it's like you're foundation formative years. Ten to 20 relates with faster physical developments, so many changes happen during that time, a person reaching adulthood for example. Then 20 to 30, has to do with your mental development. A lot of focus, for instance, of learning your job or your career, school, college, etc. And then what happens, you evolve further into the years, 30 to 40, involves more of your emotional aspect. People have families, then go further into their careers, many challenges are coming at them and really effecting them even moreso again at the emotional level. Of course, these all overlap. And then, after that, you have 40 and beyond that relates with the spirit. Once a person starts to awaken they realize, 'Well, you know, there must be more than all this that I've experienced up to now,' so there's no top on that. And what happens of course is these are just general increments, but what happens is that they can happen at any time because your potential for the infinite, the divine connecting between Heaven and Earth is at every moment. You can connect through your awareness, through your energy. So, as you evolve further through this process of integration, you’re staying conscious of your energy. And through your daily life, you will connect with something that is probably beyond whatever other experiences you had had up to now, because that's the expansion process and is forever changing in the Tao. With this connection of the spirit, you will receive this higher inspiration, subtle energy that comes down and it works with our emotions and thoughts. And through these emotions, thoughts, and feelings, expands out social consciousness, which turns around and guides us through our lower center in physical manifestation, our behavior and our actions. So, from the top down, we're always connected to these centers." Arnold then had Rob Moses come up and work with us again with his Nine Psalms. He also said that he enjoyed working with us and thanked everyone. Everyone gave him applause and he said that he would like to be able to do this again some time soon.

End of Day 3 - Morning Session - Part 3

Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2002.
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