SPIRITUALITY, MORALITY AND RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE
The Ten Shaolin Laws is a very good base to practice morality
Question
Can the Small Universe and Big Universe be activated spontaneously without previous chi kung practice, if a person's spiritual attainment is "advanced" enough? For example, can a living saint, who has never done chi kung or other energetic specific practices but is quite spiritually developed, have the Small and/or Big Universe activated, or is it necessary to practice an energy specific art?
Does the practice of Small and Big Universe help us to attain Enlightenment, and if yes, how?
Andrew R and Karol
Answer
A highly spiritual person, like a living saint, can attain the Small Universe and the Big Universe without having to practice any chi kung exercises.
I would take this opportunity to explain the meaning of spirituality and of chi kung, because their meaning is often misunderstood. The meaning is what the two terms originally meant, and also what we interpret them to be. The general public often takes their meaning differently.
Most people take the meaning as the terms are generally understood, or misunderstood, and the terms are generally far off from what they originally meant. We in Shaolin Wahnam are most familiar with “kungfu” and “chi kung”. By “kungfu”, the public generally means kungfu forms for demonstration and fighting using techniques of other martial sports or fighting like children. By “chi kung”, the public generally means gentle physical exercise using chi kung techniques.
The term “spirituality” is self-explanatory, but it is often confused with morality and religious education. Spirituality concerns the spirit as opposed to material things. Usually a highly spiritual person is highly moral, and knows much about religions, but it is not necessarily so.
A highly spiritual person, like a black magician who has spent much time cultivation his spirit though he may call it by other names like psychic training, may not be morally upright. Another highly spiritual person, like a genuine kungfu master who has spent much time in triple-cultivation, including his spirit, may not believe in religion.
Chi kung, written as “qigong” in Romanized Chinese, is the art of energy. The methods to cultivate energy are usually formal, but they can also be informal. A highly spiritual person who has spent much time in meditation, but who has not performed any formal chi kung exercises, may have attained the Small Universe and the Big Universe. His vital energy may continuously flow along his Ren Meridian and his Du Meridian, and he may have experienced transcendental reality, including merging with the Cosmos.
His attainment of the Small Universe and the Big Universe is not in-born, but an art. Actually all people have the Small Universe when they are babies, but all of them lose it as they grow up. The highly spiritual person acquires, or re-acquires, his Small Universe and the Big Universe though long years of meditation and informal energy practice, though he may not call it the Small Universe or the Big Universe.
Hence, it is possible that a highly spiritual person, who may not have practiced formal chi kung exercises, to attain the Small Universe and the Big Universe. But this happens rarely. The person must be highly spiritual and have practiced meditation or similar exercise for a long time, though he may not call his practice chi kung.
It is unlikely that a highly spiritual person would have his Small Universe and his Big Universe activated spontaneously, i.e. without any practice at all, irrespective of whether he consciously know the practice. To have the Small Universe and the Big Universe activated, one must have a lot of energy. It takes time to develop a lot of energy. If the energy is generated too fast, the physical body of the person may not cope with the energy; he would have over-trained.
The Small Universe and the Big Universe certainly helps us to attain Enlightenment. A main aim of the Big Universe is to attain Enlightenment, and a main aim of the Small Universe is to attain the Big Universe.
Enlightenment means an experiential awareness that one is the Cosmos or the Great Void. There is no differentiation at all, no object and no subject, no knower and no the known. It is returning to God the Holy Spirit, or attaining the Tao. Enlightenment, here, with a small letter “e” unless it starts a sentence like in this case, is not just understanding the underlying reasons, like the age of enlightenment.
On the other hand, attaining Enlightenment may not be the reason for practicing the Small Universe or even the Big Universe. As an analogy, in our school combat efficiency may not be the reason for practicing kungfu.
Combat efficiency is actually the fundamental reason for practicing kungfu. In other words, the fundamental reason why anyone practices kungfu is to be combat efficient, so that he can defend himself or his loved ones when needed. However, in our school people practice kungfu because of the benefits genuine kungfu can give them, like good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys.
The fundamental reason for practicing the Spiritual Big Universe is to attain Enlightenment. The fundamental reason for practicing the Medical Big Universe is to have good health. The fundamental reason for practicing the Small Universe is to attain the Big Universe.
While these are fundamental reasons, the actual reason, or reasons, why members of our school practice the Small Universe and the Big Universe may be different. Understandably, their actual reasons vary from persons to persons.
Many practice the Small Universe because of the tremendous internal force that the practice will bring. Many practice the Big Universe to have a glimpse of the Cosmos, to experience a satori or spiritual awakening, to have a life-changing experience.
Some practice the Small Universe and the Big Universe because of the rare opportunity our school provides. The Small Universe and the Big Universe normally take years to accomplish if practitioners have the rare opportunity in the first place, but in our school the course takes only 3 days!
How do the Small Universe and the Big Universe help us to attain Enlightenment. Enlightenment is omnipresence and infinite, where there is totally no differentiation. This is exactly what the Big Universe will provide.
But we are not ready to leave our phenomenal world to be totally Enlightened. So we have a glimpse of Cosmic Reality and come back to our phenomenal world. This glimpse is life-changing. It will, amongst other benefits, make everyday a joy.
The Small Universe is an ideal preparation for the Big Universe, which will ultimately bring Enlightenment. Hence, we practice the Small Universe to attain the Big Universe to attain Enlightenment.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions on Small and Big Universe in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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