*Qigong*:
a
method
restoring illumination
for
Light
The Yellow Emperor said to Qi Bo, ‘The very first principle
of acupuncture is that it must be rooted in shen.’
– Lingshu, chapter 8
The essentials of acupuncture lay in understanding how to
correctly regulate yin and yang. When yin and yang are
correctly regulated, the qi of jing essence (精氣) radiates
illumination. When the form and the qi are harmonised, it
allows the shen (神) to be contained within.
– Lingshu, chapter 5
The starting point for my understanding of qigong is shen 神.
I haven’t been practising Daoist qigong that long, but I’ve
been an acupuncturist for six years. I was first introduced to
the Huangdi Neijing a few years ago. Having come from studies
of Chinese medicine that, despite their beauty, were still
primarily about seeing ‘things’ and treating ‘things’, i.e.
what could be seen or felt to be manifesting or manifested in
the body (which was appropriate, because after all, in
medicine you are treating things that are causing problems),
it was very evocative to me that, despite the fact that the
Neijing is also a medical manual, its root was the shen.
The Neijing consistently spoke of shen as being associated
with light (e.g. the commonly-used term shenming 神明, spirit
illumination), and that the basis of acupuncture, in the
classical sense, is light.
Although, in TCM [‘traditional’ Chinese medicine], shen is
mainly considered as a phenomenon that is ‘local’ to a person
or a body, something merely to be diagnosed and treated
according to its manifestations, in the Neijing and in Daoist
practice, that type of shen is considered to be just a
secondary definition.
The primary idea of shen, as I understand it, is related to
the dimension of light that is a fundamental reality which
pervades existence but is beyond it.
Although I am new to Daoist tradition and practice, and I’m
aware that there are real differences from Chinese medicine, I
believe this point of reference is not too dissimilar between
systems.
This idea of light as fundamental reality speaks strongly to
me, partly because it is also consistent with the very curious
understanding of light in modern physics (I don’t pretend to
understand it that well, and fully acknowledge that I’m
probably appropriating it for my own spiritual purposes, but
it remains quite evocative to me). Light itself transcends
space and time, while still being within it. The speed, or
vibration, at which we relate to light in the universe
determines our local, relative experience of space and time,
but space/time itself is not real in any absolute sense. From
the perspective of a photon travelling at the speed of light,
everything in the universe happens at once.
Likewise, various spiritual traditions speak of perceiving
that which is vast, free, and incomprehensible, and defies
linear, sequential experience of reality. So there’s a
convergence here.
But the main reason that this description of light and shen
speaks strongly to me is that this is my experience of reality
at its most real. It’s how I experience myself when I feel
most true and authentic: filled with light, a subtle light
that isn’t visible to ordinary eyes but is felt, sometimes
very strongly. When the external world is allowed to calm down
and fall away, and I’m able to feel the essence of who I am, I
feel this is my primary reality.
So from the perspectives of classical Chinese medicine and
qigong, modern physics, and personal mystical experience,
light is the beginning and the end, the path and the goal.
Light is a reference point for dimensions of reality that both
transcend and are immanent within this one.
Diffraction of light
But ordinary reality does not feel much like a nonlinear
experience of light to most of us.
In physics terms, as things travel more slowly than light,
they begin to experience more and more relative differences;
just in the same manner that:
Dao generates one
One generates two
Two generates three
Three generates the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things are supported by yin and enveloped by
yang.
Qi rushing (together), by this harmony arises.
– Daodejing, chapter 42
This essentially describes a process of diffraction. Light
becomes ‘bent’, as by a prism, or by the earth’s atmosphere,
as it enters the material realm. From being one thing, it
becomes differentiated into many—yin and yang, space and time.
And in a world marked by differences, by yin and yang, there
are things that can be compared and related—one thing is
slower and denser, another thing is lighter and faster. The
past can be distinguished from the present, and the present
from the future.
Thus, this Daodejing verse is therefore not a simple
arithmetic statement. It speaks of the process of
manifestation: a single, unitary whole, which is ever-present
and always exists, is progressively less able to be fully
expressed because the relative framework or lens that it is
being seen through is progressively restricted. So then it
takes two things to express the same whole, then three, then
eventually ten thousand (or a million) things. This idea is
expressed in the following saying: ‘a picture is worth a
thousand words’. Words, being limited in their ability to
express visual information, cannot fully express that
information all at once. Yet, they are still all describing
one thing.
A quote from the Huainanzi
differentiation process:
describes
exactly
this
Dao begins in empty space. Empty space generates dimension
and duration. Dimension and duration generate qi. Qi has a
‘boundary’. Clear yang being light, ascends to form heaven.
That which is heavy and turbid descends to form earth. The
meeting of what is clear and subtle is easy. The formation of
what is heavy and murky is difficult. Therefore, heaven is
formed first and earth is formed later. The inherited jing (襲
精) of heaven and earth form yin and yang. The directed jing
(專精) of yin and yang form the four seasons.
[…]
The dispelling jing (散精) of the four seasons generates the
ten thousand things. Persistent heat qi of accumulating yang
generates fire. The jing of fire qi becomes the sun.
Persistent cold qi of accumulating yin generates water. The
jing of water qi generates the moon. The excess qi and jing
of the sun and the moon form the stars. Heaven holds the sun,
moon, stars and planets. Earth holds the water, rain and
dust.
– Huainanzi, chapter 3
The diffracted macrocosm: heaven, man and earth
This study of light as it manifests from the unmanifest or
wuji 無機 state is the macrocosmic perspective. From the one,
which is that ultimate/primary shen, or dao 道, the universe
begins to differentiate:
First, the universe is said to split into two, which is when
one becomes yin 陰 and yang 陽, the basic binary distinction of
all of manifest reality.
Then, it splits into three, which, among other things, can be
seen as the divisions of heaven (tian 天), humanity (ren 人) and
earth (di 地).
This tripartite concept is a useful way to orient towards the
differentiation of light, from a human point of view.
As human beings living on earth, we exist sandwiched between
two awesome phenomena or forces.
Imagine standing in an open space outside, on a night when the
sky is exceptionally clear. There is nothing blocking your
view, a breathtaking view of the stars and the galaxy that we
live in. And you can’t even count the stars you see; and you
know, because you saw Hubble-telescope photos, that every
square inch of visible sky contains countless galaxies—not
just stars, but entire galaxies. The universe is that big.
And beneath and around you is a world that is, for all its
smallness in the face of that vastness of space, no less
incredible, just in a totally different way: alive, moving,
still, constantly changing yet enduring, filled with creatures
that crawl and swim and fly, and beings that last moments and
others that last thousands of years. Intimate, alien, violent,
slumbering, all sharing the same space: this little ball of
mud we call home.
We stand, in awe, between the vast heavens and the vast earth.
We can say that our origin is from both heaven and earth,
since our substance is stardust and we were born and nourished
from the earth.
Practically, we can also see that the qi of earth and the qi
of heaven, which affect us differently, mix within our bodies
and influence us in different ways. Our bodies form a nexus
between the qi that emanates from above and the qi that
emanates from below, just as we occupy the space between
heaven and earth. In our bodies we find a complex balance of
these forces and energies; and so we can see that heaven and
earth intersect with humanity within the peculiar landscapes
of our own physical natures, and the macrocosm is reflected in
the microcosm.
The diffracted microcosm: shen, qi and jing
As without, so within.
There are aspects of ourselves which, reflecting earth, are
slow and dense, and aspects which, reflecting heaven, are very
ethereal and quick—and aspects in between. But, pervading the
entirety of it, is the truth that we are all, still,
manifestations of that light which originates beyond space and
time.
So in practical terms, the goal is to return to that primary
experience of shen, but to do it from the starting point of
being human, existing in a limited body and a limited mind,
and being mired in a relative and well-differentiated reality.
How do we do this?
We start by understanding how the body works, how it is a
manifestation of shen, so that we can use this understanding
in our process.
The macrocosm of heaven, man and earth can be seen
microcosmically in the threefold nature of the body: shen 神,
qi 氣 and jing 精.
In this context, shen can now take the form of its secondary
definition—the manifestation of consciousness within
individual human form.
Qi is the energetic/informational aspect of the body. It has a
connotation
of
that
which
stands
between
the
shen/consciousness, which is entirely immaterial, and the
physical, which is absolutely material.
Jing
is
the
dense
potential,
like
stored
fuel,
whose
combustion generates qi for living.
These are actually one substance, or one energy, just with
different gradations, just like different colours on the
visible light spectrum are still one light.
But, operationally, they are distinct from one another, and
being different, can interact with one another, and sometimes
even be at odds. Being at odds or in conflict is the source of
disharmony and disease, and death at its worst; since these
three substances are meant to interact harmoniously with one
another in a living being, when they can no longer fully
interact, life can no longer persist.
The opposite then can be true: we can discover how to increase
health, and develop more fully along the lines of our true
nature, by bringing the three substances into greater harmony
in their interaction with one another.
How to do so is the trick.
Now we can begin to see statements like the Lingshu quote from
the beginning of this article as instructions:
When yin and yang are correctly regulated, the qi of jing
essence (精氣) radiates illumination. When the form and the qi
are harmonized, it allows the shen (神) to be contained within.
Undoing
diffraction
through
ecological
restoration: the three regulations
The neigong process is about optimising the body as an
ecology.
The body, as a landscape, is a network of watersheds. Like a
watershed, there are different terrain types, some more
enduring, some very ephemeral. In the body, these are the
different types of tissues or channels associated with each
organ system.
As in the Lingshu quote, we want to free the blockages in the
denser ‘form’, so that the rivers of the body can flow freely.
We want the winds and the atmosphere to be light and clear,
all so that the entire landscape can glow with natural
‘illumination’.
form/body
We begin with the part of ourselves that is slowest and most
dense, and the easiest to access: this is the physical body
and the jing level.
The most relevant for Daoist practice is the jingjin 經筋, which
roughly encompass the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and
especially the fascial matrix/connective tissue in the body.
This is the tissue type that is most capable of carrying a
‘charge’ or conducting qi through the body.
The aim is to begin bringing the body, and especially the
jingjin, into a certain alignment, in such a way that the qi
can begin to flow.
Thus, the first stage of practice is about relaxing,
strengthening, and aligning the physical body in order to
enable and enhance this conductivity.
qi/breath
In nature, everything pulses with rhythms. The body is no
different. In order for the form of the body to be truly
healthy, it must also move in cycles and rhythms.
Of all the different rhythms of the body, the breath of the
lungs is the most constant, the easiest to be aware of and
control, and also the most critical and influential on momentto-moment functions. For all of these reasons, and more,
regulating the breath is another primary aspect of qigong that
is trained.
The breath is both something that can influence the body’s
rhythms, and also something that reflects the state of those
rhythms. A shallow or obstructed breath is a reflection of
other problems in the body where qi does not flow well. So it
can be used in multiple ways.
Most broadly, to breathe is to live. Rhythm is life.
shen/mind
Now we return to mind, consciousness, shen.
Although mind has its rhythm, it is an aspect of self that is
less necessarily bound by rhythm than the denser aspects, that
is, it has the power to expand and contract according to will,
intent and imagination.
But, for most of us, our minds tend to settle into habitual
patterns of being, from the superficial to the deep and
enduring. Minds can move in ruts that then affect the body,
sometimes very powerfully. A mind held rigidly in a certain
way for a long time inevitably means a body held rigidly.
Thus, to truly free the body and the breath, we must also free
the mind, and give it a habitual pattern that encourages free
flow of qi.
If one endlessly obsesses over sensual desires or suffers
worry and misery without end, the jing qi ‘slackens and
deteriorates’. When this occurs the rong diminishes and the
wei separates. Therefore, shen departs (the body) and illness
can no longer be treated.
– Suwen, Chapter 14
Undoing diffraction by aligning with rhythms of
nature: the five phases
All life is rhythm. For the body to be healthy and for its qi
to circulate, it must be able to ‘breathe’ in harmonious
rhythm, in all of its cycles—from the respiratory breath
itself, cycling many times a minute, to the digestion, which
has a daily rhythm, to the menses, which has a monthly rhythm,
and so on.
Regulating the body, as the beginning of the qigong path,
means opening and clearing obstructions to the body’s various
rhythms and cycles so that one’s external physical movement
and one’s internal organ movement are free to move in the ways
that are natural to them.
This is, in many ways, expressed and encoded in the philosophy
of the five movements, wuxing 五行, also known as the five
elements or phases. These make the most sense to me as
directional or seasonal movements:
spring, wood, expansion
summer, fire, peak of expansion
centre/inter-seasonal periods, earth/soil
autumn, metal, contraction
winter, water, peak of contraction
I especially like the seasonal analogy for the five phases
because it’s one of the most intuitive. Most people can relate
to the aggression of spring, the expansiveness of summer, the
peacefulness of Indian summer, the melancholy of autumn, the
introspection of winter. We can see differences in places that
are more summer-like (such as Portugal!) and places that are
more winter-like (like Alaska).
It is not the differences or the distinct points that really
matter—in other words, we shouldn’t be looking at any one of
these things as objects, set out of context. After all, winter
has no context without summer. Rather, the description of the
cyclical stages of a singular natural process is what is
useful here—a process which is, itself, a reflection of shen.
With regards to shen:
In heaven it is wind, on earth it is wood.
In heaven it is heat, on earth it is fire.
In heaven it is dampness, on earth it is soil.
In heaven it is dryness, on earth it is metal.
In heaven it is cold, on earth it is water.
Therefore in heaven there is qi, on earth there is the
generation of forms. Form and energy move/resonate together
and the world of the ten thousand things is born.
– Suwen, chapter 66
Therefore the movements and stillness of heaven and earth
follow the guiding principles of shenming. In turn, these
generate the motions of birth, growth, gathering and storage.
When (this cycle) reaches its end, it returns to its
beginning (to begin again).
– Suwen, chapter 5
Qigong: a method for restoring illumination
When shenming enters space and time, it diffracts into
separate levels or frequencies of vibration, and into
different pieces. These are all then set in motion in relation
to, and interaction with, each other. This motion exists most
purely in the forms of cycles, rhythms and waves, which exist
everywhere in nature, and in the body. These rhythms are the
most direct expression of shen available.
These are the ‘ten thousand things’.
Our job is to go from the ten thousand things back to the one,
and ultimately the no-thing, wuji.
We do this by bringing ourselves back into alignment with
rhythms and cycles. We start with those rhythms most
immediately accessible—the ones in our own bodies.
So we open the body so it can move and breathe more freely,
and we release the breath to breathe freely, and we calm the
mind so it can allow nature to take its course in the self
more naturally.
All of the above culminate in the practices known in modern
times as qigong, and the transformational process called
neigong. The great variety of forms are not random, but
operate best as a part of a strategy that prepares the body as
a vehicle.
Of course, what I’ve been speaking of in this essay is more of
a spiritual or alchemical perspective. There are branches of
qigong that are medical, aiming to improve the health; or
martial, to develop combative skill; or even magical, to
influence the world. Whatever the goal, the initial foundation
of restoring flow, using the methods of body, breath and mind,
are generally the same.
Daoist alchemy is ultimately about illumination. The aim is to
experience shen in the macrocosmic sense, according to its
primary definition—as light. From an alchemical perspective,
qigong and neigong prepare the body as a vehicle to experience
that light more and more directly, to experience with greater
directness the authentic wholeness of reality.
And although this is an epic endeavour, in a real sense all we
are trying to do is find our way home, back to the
undifferentiated wholeness that is already ours.