SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
SEPTEMBER 2018 PART 1

chi kung and morality

Practicing chi kung will contribute to morality and spirituality

Question 1

You have explained very clearly how chi kung overcomes illness, and contributes to good health, vitality and longevity. But how does chi kung contribute to morality?

— Florian, Austria

Answer

Besides contributing greatly to good health, vitality and longevity, chi kung also contributes to morality as well as spirituality.

It is helpful to know that morality and spirituality are different, though a morally upright person is usually, but not necessarily, a spiritual person. Sometimes a morally upright person may not believe in the spirit; he believes that this physical life is all there is. On the other hand, a spiritual person, i.e. a person well trained in spiritual matters, may not be morally upright. A good example is a black magician.

The contributions of chi kung to morality and spirituality, as well as good health, vitality and longevity, are intrinsic. In other words, just by practicing chi kung, -- genuine chi kung -- the practitioner will have better morality and spirituality, as well as better health, vitality and longevity. He (or she) does not need to direct his chi kung for these betterments.

Why is this so?

When a person practices chi kung, his chi, or energy, will strength his bones. When his bones are strong with chi, not only he can stand upright, he is also morally upright. In fact, a colloquial Chinese term for being morally upright is "gu qi", which literally means "bone energy".

Why is it that when there is a lot of bone energy, the person will be morally upright? It is the way of things, except not many people may know it. It is like when you are thirsty, if you drink some water, you will not be thirsty; when you are hungry, if you eat some food, you will not be hungry.

Chi kung is triple cultivation, i.e it not only cultivates the physical body and energy, but also the spirit. Hence, chi kung, especially high-level chi kung, enables practitioners to be spiritual.

Practicing chi kung generates chi flow, or energy flow, although in low-level chi kung the chi flow may not be noticeable. In gentle physical exercise using chi kung forms, which is practiced by many people who say they practice chi kung, there is no chi flow.

Chi flow contributes to health, vitality and longevity. When the chi flow is harmonious, the practitioner is healthy. When the chi flow is vigorous, he has vitality. When he has accumulated a lot of chi from his chi flow, which is naturally stored in his dan tian, or energy fields, he has longevity.

It is great to practice chi kung.

Question 2

What is the best position of sitting in daily life?

— Ana, Austria

Answer

The best posture is to sit upright and be relaxed. If one sits upright but is not relaxed, it is bad. If he is relaxed but not upright, it is also bad.

When a person sits upright and is relaxed, it contributes to his good health, vitality and longevity. When he is upright and relaxed, he has the best position for his internal organs and body systems to function at their best. If he is not upright or not relaxed, he blocks his energy flow which results in his internal organs and body systems working at a handicap. He may not be clinically sick, but he is not as healthy and as full of vitality as he should be.

The conditions in the West today are not conducive for good health and vitality. The cushions, for example, are too comfortable, making it difficult for people to sit upright. When they are not upright, they tense their muscles unconsciously, thus affecting their health unfavorably and insidiously.

meditation sitting upright on a chair

Students practicing meditation by sitting upright on a chair

Question 3

What is the difference between Cosmos Palm and Cotton Palm? Can you choose when to use Cosmos Palm or Cotton Palm?

— Sifu Barry Smale, Shaolin Wahnam UK

Answer

Cosmos Palm is hard and soft, whereas Cotton Palm is soft. Both are very powerful. The term "soft" is different from what many Westerners conceptualize it to be.

It may be more meaningful to say that Cotton Palm is flowing, whereas Cosmos Palm can be flowing and consolidated. This does not necessarily means that Cosmos Palm is superior to Cotton Palm because besides being flowing it can also be consolidated.

Both Cotton Palm and Cosmos Palm are great arts. Besides being very powerful for combat, they are also excellent in contributing to health, vitality and longevity, as well as excellent for healing.

The training methods of Cosmos Palm and Cotton Palm are also different. In training Cosmos Palm, I use "Pushing Mountain" and "Forceful Big Windmill". In training Cotton Palm, I use "Wave Sleeves Light Breeae" and "Cloud Hands". Examples can be found here, here, here and here.

I do not consciously choose when to use Cosmos Palm or Cotton Palm. If I strike with consolidated force, it is Cosmos Palm. If I strike with flowing force, it is Cotton Palm, but it can also be Cosmos Palm.

As I can choose to use flowing force or consolidated force, I would say that I can choose when to use Cosmos Palm or Cotton Palm.

Question 4

You mentioned earlier that some advanced practitioners failed in tests of becoming real masters. Did such tests happen to you?

Answer

I believe that such tests happened to me. I am glad that I passed them.

I was bitterly betrayed many times by people whom I helped, like giving money to them and saving their lives. I sincerely forgave their betrayals, and wished them well.

I resigned as the Grandmaster of Shaolin Wahnam Association, which I established. I could not use Shaolin Wahnam Institute as a limited company, and had to use Wongs Happy Family.

I also learned many things, like I would only teach deserving students, I would not interfere into someone's business even for his interest if he did not explicitly want it, and if someone did not get benefit from the school he could leave any time.

Hence, later when I was betrayed again, I could accept their betrayals calmly.

Horse-Riding Stance

Horse-Riding Stance

Question 5

If a person is already practicing kungfu, how often should be practice his stance training?

— Sifu Leonard Lackinger, Shaolin Wahnam Wien, Austria

Answer

It demands much on the developmental stage of the person's kungfu performance. If he is a beginner, he should practice stance training everyday. If he is intermediate, he can practice it occasionally, like once or twice a week. If he is advanced, he practices stance training whenever he likes.

Some of our advanced practitioners like stance training. They practice it everyday, because they derive subtle joys from it. Consequently, they have a lot of internal force.

Most people, including myself when I was a student, regard stance training as an endurance exercise. They endure the training as much as they can, often tensing their muscles and grimacing their faces. I remember a university-mate told me that if I could do stance training, I could do anything else.

Stance training is a relaxing exercise, though it is not easy to relax at the beginning. The more a practitioner relaxes, the more internal force and mental clarity he can develop from his stance training. When he is relaxed, Cosmic energy flows into him and accumulates at his dan tian, or abdominal energy field. If he is tensed, he blocks the energy, and becomes stressful.

It is recorded that Hoong Hei Koon, a great Shaolin master, practiced his Horse-Riding Stance for an hour or two everyday. At first I was puzzled how he could do so for an hour or two when other people could not even stand at the Horse-Riding Stance for 5 minutes. Later I discovered that Hoong Hei Koon was relaxed, whereas these other people were tensed. It was no surprise that Hoong Hei Koon had tremendous internal force.

When I first practiced my Horse-Riding Stance, it was low and box-shaped. Later I discovered that when I raised my body higher, but not too high, to adopt a pyramid shape, not only it was less taxing, but I could develop more internal force and mental clarity.

Question 6

You said that those who were not in our school, would miss the application and health aspects of the Tiger-Crane Set. Those who did not attend this Tiger-Crane Course might understand the combat application and health aspects, but would not understand the secrets, and those who attended the course would not only understand the secrets but also derive benefits from the secrets. Can you please explain?

— Peter, Austria

Answer

Those outside our school will not know the sophisticated combat application of the Tiger-Crane Set that make the set famous. Some may not even know how to apply the patterns in the set for simple combat. They just perform the external forms of the set, which they can obtain from my website if they are interested.

They will not understand the philosophy why generating an energy flow will give good health, vitality and longevity, as well as enable them to attain peak performance and spiritual joys. Hence, they will not derive the practical benefits that are available in the set. Some may tense their muscles in their attempt to be muscularly strong when performing the set, but do not realize that this will be detrimental to their health.

Our students will understand the philosophy and derive the practical benefits of any kungfu sets learnt in our school. If they are interested in the Tiger-Crane Set, they can learn it from my videos. But they will not understand the sophisticated combat applications of the set as well as some finer points of philosophy for combat as well as for health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys.

Those who attend the course will have these philosophical and practical benefits, especially those benefits that make the Tiger-Crane Set famous.

For example, those outside our school will not know that by sinking their chi, or vital energy, at the dan tian, or abdominal energy field, they can be more focused and can develop internal force. They do not know that by rotating their waist like in many of the Tiger-Crane movements, not only they can minimize opponents' force but also enhance their sexual, intellectual and general performance. Even if some may know theoretically, they cannot do these actions in practice.

Those who attend the course will have these benefits. They will understand and be able to put into action, for example, the function of disabling opponents in combat when using the tiger claw, or the importance of the shadow hand when using the no-shadow kick. The combat application of the Tiger-Crane Set are very sophisticated. When applied on opponents, it is difficult for them to escape.

More significantly, the Tiger-Crane Set is excellent for health, vitality and longevity. It contributes to peak performance and spiritual joy.

Sifu Leo and Grandmaster Wong demonstrating an application of the Tiger-Crane Set

Question 7

Thank you for the very beautiful experience just now in Merging with the Cosmos. What happens if the practitioner does not come back?

— Natalia, Spain

Answer

Merging with the Cosmos is indeed a very beautiful experience. It is life-changing for many people. It is simply ridiculous that we can attain this experience in just a few hours of a high-level course. If a monk meditating daily for many hours could have such an experience in five years, he would kiss the feet of his master.

If the practitioner does not come back, he will leave this phenomenal world and happily merge with the Cosmos. Indeed many students asked me why I told them to return to the phenomenal world so fast as they were very happy in the Cosmos. We are not ready to merge permanently with the Cosmos yet. We have to come back to the phenomenal world where we work and live. It is therefore important to practice this art under the supervision of a master.

Question 8

What should a meditator do if he meets other spirits in his meditation?

Answer

If a practitioner merges with the Cosmos transcendentally, there will be no spirits. There will be nothing else, just a universal spread of energy or consciousness. In religious terms, there is only God and nothing else.

If he is still in the phenomenal realm, there will also be no lesser spirits because these lesser spirits would have run away. You need a lot of energy to break through your illusory body into the Cosmos, and lesser spirits are afraid of this energy.

However, you may very unlikely meet powerful spirits, like titans, called assuras in Buddhist philosophy. They will not be bothered with you, and they carry on with their own ways. You may meet some good spirits and some high divine beings. Greet the good spirits and pay homage to the high divine beings.

Such occurrences are very unlikely. You just feel blissful in the nothingness.



If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.

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