THE SMALL UNIVERSE AND SHAOLIN COSMOS CHI KUNG
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Question
What are the specific benefits of the Cosmos Stance and how should I integrate it into my practice?
— Paschal, Ireland
Answer
The main purpose of the Cosmos Stance is for practicing Cosmos Chi Kung, where the stance is used when tapping cosmic energy. Its main benefit is enhancing results. In other words, we may use other stances or postures to tap cosmic energy, but using the Cosmic Stance, when one is ready, produces the best result. However, when one is not ready, it may not produce good result, or may produce adverse side effects. Hence, in our school, beginning and intermediate students use the Wuji Stance, which is standing upright and relaxed, to tap cosmic energy. For them at their level, this is the best posture.
You should use the Cosmos Stance only if you have attended my Small Universe Course. Otherwise it would be better to use the Wuji Stance, which is not only safer but produces better result for those not familiar with the Cosmos Stance. But if you like, you may try the Cosmos Stance for fun, or for comparison. If you feel uncomfortable, go to a chi flow to cleanse out possible adverse effects.
The term "Cosmos Chi Kung" above is used in its specific sense. It is the specific type of chi kung that my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, taught me. In essence, it is similar to what we now call "Forceful Small Universe", which is the fourth step in our Small Universe training. The first three steps are "Abdominal Breathing", "Submerged Breathing" and "Long Breathing", and the final step is "Gentle Small Universe".
When my sifu taught me, he taught me only this one step. With just this one step, but with a much longer time, I attained the Small Universe, and later the Big Universe. Years later in my teaching, from my own personal experience as well as understanding classical description of the Small Universe, I introduced the other four steps to help my students attain the Small Universe faster.
It took me a few years to attain the Small Universe, which was a great achievement. My early students took about six months, which was considered impossible by many people. In the Small Universe Course I offered to selected disciples last year, they accomplished the Small Universe in a few days. It is no wonder that some people call us big liars.
My sifu did not mention the "Small Universe" or the "Big Universe". I used these terms many years later in my teaching when I realized the effects and benefits of this training were the same as those of the Small Universe and the Big Universe as described in chi kung classics as well as by other masters, including my two other sifus, Sifu Chee Kim Thong and Sifu Choe Hoong Choy.
At the time, when I asked Sifu Ho Fatt Nam the name of the chi kung I was training under him, he told me it was "Siu Lam Wan Yun Yeit Hei Kung", which was in Cantonese pronunciation. In Mandarin, it is "Shao Lin Hun Yuan Yi Qi Gong", which is word-by-word "Shaolin Cosmos One Energy Art", or "Cosmos Chi Kung" for short. My sifu also explained that "One" refers both to the infinitesimally small, as well as the infinitely big.
I am not sure whether by "Cosmos Chi Kung" my sifu was referring to that particular art he taught me or the whole range of chi kung taught in his school. I guess it was more likely to refer particularly to tapping cosmic energy at the Cosmos Stance. It was in line with what I later discovered in my research. I found out that Cosmos Chi Kung was an ancient art, was very powerful and was practiced by top masters in the past.
Their method as described in the classics was the same as what my sifu taught me, except that breathing and visualization were not emphasized. Basically it was remaining at the Cosmos Stance and letting cosmic energy "soak" in, which was exactly what my sifu taught me at the advanced level.
But with my understanding of chi kung philosophy as well as the tradition of writing classics, I believe that what was described was only the essence. Preliminary exercises leading to this essence, which were probably similar to what my sifu taught me, were not mention so as to "hide secrets in the open". Someone finding the classics and attempting to tap cosmic energy at the Cosmos Stance will not have any result because he has not practiced the preliminary exercises.
My sifu did not teach me many chi kung methods, and when he taught me he referred to them by the names of the techniques, like "Lifting the Sky", "Separating Water" and "One-Finger Shooting Zen". This was in line with traditional practice. He did not say that these techniques were all part of Cosmos Chi Kung.
Our Shaolin Wahnam members would be glad to know that the result I got per training session was far less than what a typical Shaolin Wahnam student now gets from training under a certified Shaolin Wahnam instructor. Roughly, what a typical Shaolin Wahnam student achieves a day, I would need many months to achieve! There are many reasons for this incredible result. One main reason is that now we tap cosmic energy right at the beginning of our training. At my time I started tapping cosmic energy only after a year or two of chi kung practice. Hence, it is fitting to call our style of chi kung "Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung".
LINKS
Reproduced from Question 1 in Selection of Questions and Answers — August 2008 Part 1
Please e-mail your questions to Sifu Wong Kiew Kit stating your name, country and this webpage for reference. E-mails without these particulars may not be answered.