SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
DECEMBER 2022 PART 2
Note
: The Q & A Series will end on Apr 25 Part 1, but the Series will carry on as usual.
Pushing Mountain
Question 1
I wish to share with you about a case of my former student by the name of Chandra. He now lives in Canada, and works in a hospital as a technician. He informed me that he was infected with Covid 19. I asked him whether he practiced chi kung regularly. He said he only practiced occasionally.
I refreshed him of the chi kung he learnt from me by teaching him over the phone to perform "Carrying the Moon", "Pushing Mountain" and "Separating Water". I also assured him to practice chi kung 3 to 5 times a day but practice for about 5 minutes per session.
After 3 days he went for further Covid test and he was assured by the hospital that he had recovered. He was very happy when he called me and had express his sincere appreciation.
— Dr Foong Tuck Meng, Holistic Health Cultivation Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Answer
Congratulations for your successful treatment of Covid 19.
Chi kung should be practiced every day, not occasionally. Most people practice gentle, physical exercise and they don't know about it, as the external form is the same.
Remember that Covid is deadly, and we have no obligation to help those who only practice occasionally.
Question 2
I remember you said something like not drinking or at least decreasing consumption of alcohol can help my spirit in martial arts. I am a smoker of tobacco. Would quitting helps my spirit as well?
— Brandon, USA
Answer
I said that not drinking alcohol until he became intoxicated that he might harm others, was one of the cardinal rules in Buddhism, which is actually not a religion.
Most Buddhists, for example, do not regard Siddhartha Guatama as the founder of Buddhism as there are Buddhas before and after him, but many Westerners regard him as the founder. Siddharta Guatama however is the Buddha of our era.
Most kungfu masters are drinkers of alcohol. My first and third sifus, who influenced me very much, were great drinkers. My first sifu, Sifu Lai Chin Wah who was better known as Uncle Righteousness, frequently had Guinness Stout on his table. My third sifu, Sfiu Ho Fatt Nam, the third generation successor from the Shaolin Monastery at Quanzhou, south China, drank heavily but on occasions.
Quit smoking tobacco can help your spirit, though I don't have objections to others who smoke provided they don't smoke in front of me. By the way, I am a non-smoker.
Smoking, culled from https://www.healthgrades.com/right-care/quitting-smoking/negative-effects-of-smoking-from-head-to-toe
Question 3
I am currently in Portugal taking care of my father. He is 77 years old.
He made some bad decisions for his health attending a retreat which made his health worse. At the retreat they made him take many vitamins and do saunas several times a day.
After the retreat he was very sick and in bed for around 4 weeks. He lost a lot of weight during this time. He has been recovering from this ever since.
I would be extremely grateful if Sigung could please recommend any qigong that might help him regain his strength and his health?
— Sifu Miguel Spariosu, Shaolin Wahnam Utrecht
Answer
I would suggest that your 77-year old father does some gentle chi flow to recover his health. He can start with "Lifting the Sky", "Pushing Mountain" and "Carrying the Moon" -- in that order -- to have a gentle chi flow, and then carry on with the chi flow. He should not perform vigorous exercises.
He can perform the three exercises -- "Lifting the Sky", "Carrying the Moon" and "Pushing Mountain" -- for about 8 minutes, and then follow with a gentle chi flow for another 8 minutes. The whole session would take about 15 minutes.
Question 4
Every day, I marvel at the arts you have taught us. So once more, I wish to express my deepest thanks for your sacrifice of traveling the world to spread the genuine Shaolin arts to deserving disciples irrespective of race, culture or religion.
— Dr Steffen Wankmuller, Germany
Answer
I wish you can start teaching when the world lockdown is over. You are accomplished.
I may have said this but it is good to repeat. Accomplished in the Shaolin arts is better than changing stones to gold by touch. Health is our greatest wealth, besides we have vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys irrespective of religion.
Smiling from the heart
Question 5
As old emotions and mental blockage are gradually flushed out by chi flow and my mind becomes more clear. I wonder if there are any special chi kung skills or techniques to enhance compassion? So far, the skill that has helped me most -- the best skill I know -- was smiling from the heart.
Answer
Emotions and mental blockages are important parts of our being. It is wonderful that your chi flow is flushing them out and your mind becomes clearer.
We in Shaolin Wahnam are special. Many martial artists are not compassionate.
I believe that our being compassionate is due to not just teaching chi kung and kungfu but also a philosophy of life.
Your loved ones have to attain my courses to get the benefits. They will learn how to enter into a chi kung state of mind, and to generate chi flow.
Question 6
I was wondering if it's possible to harm people using distance chi transmission.
I read a story where a bird dropped its dropping on a man. He got so angry that he looked at the bird in anger: the bird dropped.
— Bala, India
Answer
I haven't used distant chi transmission to harm people but I suppose it can be done. I only used it to save lives.
When the man looked at the bird in anger, the bird dropped. There could be other reasons.
Many things are possible, but science has not yet find out. The Buddha, for example, has made many discoveries, and they are from experience.
Many people have not heard of chi or energy, but it is the core of our being. The Cosmos, for example, is made of chi, and it is undifferentiated.
Actually in the perfectly transcendental realm, it is only energy and is undifferentiated. Because of our senses, we perceive energy as differentiated. A bacterium or a fairy, because of their different senses, may not see us.
Three-Circle Stance
Question 7
Could you give three separate exercises to train jing, chi and shen? As far as I know, the horse riding stance is used to train jing, the three circle stance is used to train chi, and the lotus posture is used to train shen.
Answer
"Jing", "chi" (or "qi" in Romanized Chinese) and "shen" are known as the three treasures of internal arts. They are collectively known as triple cultivation, i.e. the cultivation of the physical, the cultivation of energy, and the cultivation of spirit.
Zhang Zhuang, or stance training including the Three-Circle Stance, is used to train "jing"; breathing exercises in chi kung patterns, like Abdominal Breathing and Small Universe, are used to train "chi". Meditation, like Buddhist meditation and Taoist meditation where thoughts are not employed at all, is used to train "shen".
Question 8
I once asked a Hindu saint about heaven. He said that heaven was only for enjoyment.
Answer
Heaven is also for cultivation, besides enjoyment. The problem is that if that heaven beings are so used to enjoyment that they tend not to cultivate.
If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.
LINKS
Selected Reading
- Entering into a Chi Kung State of Mind
- Is it Necessary to Have a Chi Flow after Practicing a Chi Kung Technique?
- Chi Flow and Cash Flow
- Why is Shaolin Kungfu More Effective in Combat than Other Martial Arts?
- Our First Taijiquan Combat Sequences in the 1980s