A Little Bit Of Chi Goes A Long Way.

The painting is by one of my favorite artist and friends " Mr Bill" AKA Bill Davis. To see the painting better, just click on it.

Rumi, my favorite sufi poet, once said that he was writing his poetry for people not yet born. I am writing this blog for people whom I may never know but who will benefit from it, and that is good, inshAllah. That is my hope anyway. (smile) I would like to say a few more things about what I am doing in putting all this chi kung stuff out here. First, all the information on healing with chi is already out there. So no big dangerous secrets are being revealed. And people will stumble and fall down at times. Mistakes will be made and some pain will result but that happens now in all forms of healing under even the best teachers and in the best schools.

Most of the knowledge that people need to learn about chi kung healing is kept in professions or schools or in costly books or tapes. Lots of people do not have the money or the time or the qualifications to get to them. The qualifications are more useful for making money for the people who set them, than are based on what a person really needs to know before school can start. So I say if it is a choice between money or helping people in a real way to meet the needs of pain and suffering than the choice is easy enough. That is the reason we need to provide the information and the help when and where we can for free.

What you do with what you find here is up to you. I am not against people making money. Money is good.That said, I am for the people having free access to information that can help them and their families and friends when they need it the most. And that is when they are suffering. If the health care systems in this world were real and available to everyone it would not be as important.

When Mr Tam turned me on to chi kung healing almost 15 years ago it changed my life. I decided that if chi kung was going to be American than American people needed to make it our own. We need to study it's history and it's current realities in Asia and the rest of the world. But we must also free ourselves from to much dependency on their leadership. We need to free ourselves from to much dependency on any teacher or school. We need to see with fresh eyes and act with a clear mind and open intent for what happens next. Than we will have American chi kung. And in doing so, perhaps we can find things not yet imagined or dreamed. That is one of my hopes.

Mantak Chia and all the rest have put out so much that use to be kept secret. And I applaud them for doing it. They have received a lot of criticism from people for doing it. Well that is the way things go. There are lots of stones for people who want to throw them. But there are lots of people who have been helped because of the information now available about things like chi kung. I am glad this stuff is not just in the private domain of families and groups who kept it to themselves. Some of the reasons were valid and some of where not. Much of the reasons for secrecy related to greed and power trips. It was how they supported their families and kept a high social position. It's like that song" Oz never did give nothing to the tin man he didn't already have." Or something like that (smile) We are energy beings and it within ourselves that the new discoveries must be found and shared. A teacher and a book or tape can only take us to the door. We have to explore what is on the other side on our own.

A good student makes use of whatever is available. It is for them that I do what I do.

I believe that inducing chi into a persons for healing is safer than any other treatment protocol I have ever experienced. Because chi induction is life force transfusion in its purest sense the body uses it when and where and how it is needed. If you treat any place on the body the chi flows from there to everywhere the field is weak or imbalanced. Remember energy flows from a strong field to a weaker one. It literally ripples out through the body. Gradually over a series of treatments the body has a better chance of reaching equilibrium and real healing can occur on a deeper and superficial level. How long a treatment should last is debatable. You will find your own realities by doing it enough to get a feel for how long and how often. I usually do from a few minutes to twenty minutes on a point or area. Most of my treatments last about an hour more or less.

I think there should be chi classes and treatments in all homes, schools, prisons and hospitals and emergency wards. I think it should be part of our children's on going education in school and at home. Can you imagine what it would be like if we were taught from infancy to be aware of our breathing and unnecessary muscle tension especially when stressed out. Can you imagine a world where everyone had knowledge and experience with chi healing? I think the health care crises in this country would disappear. We would have problems to be sure. There are always going to be problems. But subtract out all the problems that can be treated at home. Subtract out problems caused by prolonged bad breathing patterns and unnecessary muscle tension and you got a lot less suffering. You will have a lot less visits to doctors, hospitals, prisons, therapist of all kinds and divorce lawyers. And you get a lot more money freed up to be used else where. And what was that Beatles song, oh yeah, " And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make"

Second Verse, Same As The First.

The microcosmic orbit as shown on Mantak Chia's web site.http://www.healing-tao.co.uk/ht_microcosmic_orbit.htm

The above drawing represents the chi flow in the microcosmic orbit. The following link will take you to the site:http://www.naturespathcenter.com/pages/Intermclass.html

The way to understand the Ocean is to Swim in it! The way to learn to Dance is to DANCE!!

This is a repeat of an earlier post.

Review and do the following exercises, for at least 28 minutes all told. You got to dance to the music. And you can't do it unless you do it. Do it now and learn how to recognize your self as a dynamic energy field. I recommend at least one half hour internal chi kung a day. Two times is better.



The first thing to do before starting any chi kung practice is to move into a comfortable position. This can be sitting, standing, or reclining. Start to relax all your muscles from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. Regulate your breathing so your belly goes out on the inhale and in on the exhale. Above all else smile. During a chi kung practice try to keep a smile in your heart and let it often flow to your lips. Place smiles in all three dan tiens. ( refer to "Field of Dreams section of this blog) Remember to be very kind and patient with yourself. But also remember to stay focused. Of course you will lose focus during the exercises because your mind and emotions will tend to take you away from your intention to practice. When this happens as soon as you notice that you are thinking instead of doing the exercise, just let go of the thoughts and emotions and gently return to the practice. This forgetting and then returning to the exercise is normal so do not worry when it happens. But do keep returning to the practice.
The first chi kung exercise I am going to show you is called Sky Nourishes Earth. I urge you to practice this exercise until you can do it with very little effort. I do Sky Nourishes Earth before I do any other chi kung exercise. It prepares your mind/body/energy field for all other exercises.
Sky Nourishes The Earth.
This is good for relieving or preventing the harmful effects of stress. It is also good for eliminating or preventing headaches and many kinds of pain. It is also a good way to monitor and release unnecessary muscle tension and bad breathing patterns. First feel the area around the top of your head. Now feel your g.v. 20 or bai hui area. http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupoints/gv_meridian.html Place a smile there. Feel your upper dan tien. Let it smile. Feel your middle dan tien and imagine it smiling at you. Fell your lower dan tien. Imagine it smiling with you. Feel your kd.1 or gushing springs at the bottom of your feet. http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupoints/ki_meridian.html Notice that they are smiling and happy. Now we start. The intent of this practice is to bring Heaven energy down through bai hui and out through our hands and feet. It is important to understand the intention of any chi kung practice before you do it. The Universe responds to our intentions. The clearer and stronger our intent the stronger will be the Universe's response. There is a saying in chi kung that " Chi follows yi." That would mean in English that energy follows disciplined intentional actions. In practice that means if you want chi to move in your body you must bring your awareness to that part of the body and move your awareness in patterns that you want the chi to move in. Thus "chi follows yi." There will come a time when you will pace your internal movements through your body with your breath. When you first start to practice chi kung do not worry too much about pacing with your breath. Just breathe naturally making sure you are belly breathing. Now let us start. Bring your awareness to your hair and top of your head. Fell your bai hui. Let your awareness guide Heaven chi by flowing like warm water, down through bai hui into and through your body. From the top of your head move down through your smiling upper dan tien. Release any unnecessary muscle tension you encounter as you journey through your body. From your neck move through your shoulders and down your arms and out your hands. At the same time move down through the trunk of your body ( notice the middle and lower smiling dan tiens as you pass through them) to your pelvic floor. From there flow down your legs to the bottom of your feet and out through the gushing springs into the earth. As your intentional awareness guides Heaven chi through your energy/material body intend and know that it is cleaning out any toxic energy that has accumulated within you. Imagine that the chi of the Heaven is strengthening and healing and loving you. Know that as the chi from your body enters the earth any toxic energy is transformed into healing energy for the mother earth. As you move through your body you will find areas that are tight and pulled in and up with muscle tension. Just gently relax and soften these muscles and feel them sinking down towards your center of gravity in the lower dan tien. You might notice a subtle current like sensation as you move through your body from top to bottom, skin to the core. The more you can feel and pay attention to that current the stronger your ability to cultivate chi. Do not worry if you can not feel the current at first. Sooner or later, as you practice more, you will feel it. Feel yourself as you go down through your body from your skin to your connective tissue to your muscles to your tendons to your bones. Try to feel your organs as you pass through your body from head to foot. Notice all three dan tiens and especially the smiles in your middle and lower dan tien. When you can, smile at the smiles you meet as you flow through your body. Be aware of your breath as it enters and leaves your body. As you breathe in remember to feel the lower abdomen expand and as you breathe out feel it contract. If this is not happening, please pay more attention to how you breathe until it becomes natural for you. This will take time for most people. You must learn to breathe this way to rid yourself of headaches and reduce high blood pressure. Notice what areas of your body you can feel easily. These areas are called "awake." Notice areas of your body you cannot feel. These areas are called "asleep." Every time you pass through your body try to wake up more of the parts of your body that are "asleep." Do many passes of Sky Nourishes Earth. Do Sky Nourishes Earth many times during your days and nights. It is very helpful for releasing muscle tension and making sure your breathing is healthy. When you want to end sky Nourishes Earth bring your awareness back to your lower dan tien. Take three complete breaths. In hale to lower dan tien and exhale from lower dan tien. Your intent is to bring any excess chi generated during the practice to your lower dan tien. Excess chi stored in the lower dan tien can be used whenever and wherever it might be needed in the future. This bringing excess chi to the lower dan tien is called gathering the chi. You gather the chi to your lower dan tien at the end of any chi kung practice. This gathering of the chi is very important do not forget it.
Micro-Cosmic Orbit
First do a few minutes of Sky Nourishes Earth. It is always good to do a little Sky Nourishes Earth before doing any other chi kung exercise. Breathe three times from and to your smiling lower dan tien. Make a clear intention that you will guide the energies of Heaven and Earth from your lower dan tien down to hui yin at the perineum. From there the energy will go up your governing channel (http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupoints/gv_meridian.html) over the top of your head to the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth. From the end of the governing channel guide the chi of Heaven and Earth down the conception channel (http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupoints/cv_meridian.html) to your lower dan tien. Repeat the orbit over and over. As often as you can during your orbits beware of ming men and bai hui on your governing channel. Place smile is each point. Intend that they grow stronger and more responsive each time you pass through them. Imagine as your awareness flows through your energy/material body that the chi of the Heaven and Earth is strengthening and healing and loving you. Do this chi kung for about twenty minutes for the best results. After completing the orbits gather the excess chi to your lower dan tien. After gathering the excess chi sit for awhile and feel the chi and give thanks to the Heaven and Earth.
Heel Breathing
This is a Buddhist chi kung exercise for the central nervous system and for longevity and over all health. First, do a few minutes of Sky Nourishes Earth. Now, feel the earth at the bottom of your feet. Beware of your gushing springs. Intend to guide Earth chi from gushing springs up through your legs to hui yin or c.v.1 ( http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupoints/cv_meridian.html) and into your lower dan tien. From lower dan tien guide the chi down to hui yin. From hui yin guide the chi up through your spinal column to the upper dan tien to the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth. From there move your awareness down the Conception Channel ( http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupoints/cv_meridian.html) to your smiling lower dan tien. From your lower dan tien go back to hui yin and down your legs and out into the earth through gushing springs. Repeat the flow for about twenty minutes. After twenty minutes gather the excess chi to your lower dan tien. You can do Heel Breathing while sitting, walking or reclining. You can do it for less or more time. I do it sometimes while watching TV or at movies. It is good for long trips in a car as well.
Golden Sphere of Energy
Good for pain relief and energy. Imagine a beautiful golden sphere of energy. For more energy place this sphere in your abdomen also known as lower dan tien and feel it spinning faster and faster. The key is to really FEEL it spinning and then in your mind eye SEE the golden sphere spinning. Keep it going as long as it takes. Sometimes it will be quick other times slow. But persevere. The golden sphere can be used in all three dan tiens and can be used anywhere there is pain or discomfort in the body. You can use many spheres at the same time. The KEY is to do it often enough to know it works and then make it a part of your everyday life.
Whole Body Breathing
Good for most sickness or weakness. Start with about five Sky Nourishes earth movements. Now Feel as much of your skin surface as you are able. Feel especially the bottoms of your feet, your palms and finger tips, and the top of your head. Now imagine that the pours of your skin are little noses and your lower dan tien is your lungs. As you inhale imagine that you are breathing though your pours and through your body to the lungs in your lower dan tien. As you exhale imagine you are breathing out from your lower dan tien through your body to the pours and into the sky. As you breath in and out from your skin to the lower dan tien and back again to your skin, try to be aware of your connective tissue, muscles, tendons, organs and dan tiens as you go through them. We know that when you pay attention to a part of your body with intent you can increase circulation and energy flow to that part. So try to feel as much of your body as you can as you breathe in and out. Intend and imagine beautiful healing, loving, energy entering you with every inhalation. Intend and imagine any sickness or weakness leaving your energy/material body with every exhalation. Know that any weak or unhealthy energy will be transmuted by the Universe and used for good, so do not worry about breathing this energy out. This exercise is very good for sick people. It is also good to use when you feel weak. Do this exercise for about twenty minutes. After completing Whole Body Breathing gather the excess chi to your smiling lower dan tien. After gathering the chi just relax and feel what you feel or experience for a few minutes

Massage your ears by pulling pressing and pinching them all over do the fronts and backs of the ears. This is good for concentration and energy.

A Little Dervish Wine?

Remember healing is not just about the body. This post is for the healing of the heart and soul, inshAllah. Most people will probably want to skip the explanation of the poems. I left it in for people who want to swim deeper into that Ocean. For the rest of you, just enjoy the poems and move on. (smile)

My heart belongs to the sufi path and Rumi and Shems are my best friends. So here is a post from my yahoo Rumis group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/ I hope you enjoy. There is one poem translated a few ways. At the end of the post is an interpretation of the words meaning for a dervish.
Rumi's story is told at the following link: http://www.whirlingdervishes.org/rumilife.htm

Sunlight thanks Dr. Gamard for his generous contributions.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

The Song of the Reed

Listen to the song of the reed,
How it wails with the pain of separation:

"Ever since I was taken from my reed bed
My woeful song has caused men and women to weep.
I seek out those whose hearts are torn by separation
For only they understand the pain of this longing.
Whoever is taken away from his homeland
Yearns for the day he will return.
In every gathering, among those who are happy or sad,
I cry with the same lament.
Everyone hears according to his own understanding,
None has searched for the secrets within me.
My secret is found in my lament
But an eye or ear without light cannot know it . . ."

The sound of the reed comes from fire, not wind
What use is one's life without this fire?
It is the fire of love that brings music to the reed.
It is the ferment of love that gives taste to the wine.
The song of the reed soothes the pain of lost love.
Its melody sweeps the veils from the heart.
Can there be a poison so bitter or a sugar so sweet
As the song of the reed?
To hear the song of the reed
everything you have ever known must be left behind.

-- Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

Listen
as this reed
pipes its plaint
unfolds its tale
of separations:
Cut from my reedy bed
my crying
ever since
makes men and women
weep
I like to keep my breast
carved with loss
to convey
the pain of longing ---
Once severed
from the root
thirst for union
with the source
endures

I raise my plaint
in any kind of crowd
in front of both
the blessed and the bad
For what they think they hear me say, they love me --
None gaze in me my secrets to discern
My secret is not separate from my cry
But ears and eyes lack light to see it.

Not soul from flesh
nor flesh from soul are veiled
yet none is granted leave to see the soul.
Fire, not breath, makes music through that pipe --
Let all who lack that fire be blown away.
It is love's fire that inspires the reed
It's love's ferment that bubbles in the wine
The reed, soother to all sundered lovers --
its piercing modes reveal our hidden pain:
(What's like the reed, both poison and physic,
Soothing as it pines and yearns away?)
The reed tells the tale of a blood-stained quest
singing legends of love's mad obsessions

Only the swooning know such awareness
only the ear can comprehend the tongue

In our sadness time slides listlessly by
the days searing inside us as they pass.

But so what if the days may slip away?
so long as you, Uniquely Pure, abide.

Within this sea drown all who drink but fish
If lived by bread alone, the day seems long
No raw soul ever kens the cooked one's state
So let talk of it be brief; go in piece.

Break off your chains
My son, be free!
How long enslaved
by silver, gold?
Pour the ocean
in a pitcher,
can it hold more
than one day's store?
The jug, like a greedy eye,
never gets its fill
only the contented oyster holds the pearl

The one run ragged by love and haggard
gets purged of all his faults and greeds
Welcome, Love!
sweet salutary suffering
and healer of our maladies!

cure of our pride
of our conceits,
our Plato,
Our Galen!
By Love
our earthly flesh
borne to heaven
our mountains
made supple
moved to dance

Love moved Mount Sinai, my love,
and it made Moses swoon. [K7:143]

Let me touch those harmonious lips
and I, reed-like, will tell what may be told

A man may know a myriad of songs
but cut from those who know his tongue, he's dumb.
Once the rose wilts and the garden fades
the nightingale will no more sing his tune.

The Beloved is everything -- the lover, a veil
The Beloved's alive -- the lover carrion.
Unsuccored by love, the poor lover is
a plucked bird
Without the Beloved's
surrounding illumination
how perceive what's ahead
and what's gone by?

Love commands these words appear
if no mirror reflects them
in whom lies the fault?
The dross obscures your face
and makes your mirror
unable to reflect

-- Mathnawi I: 1 - 34
Translation by Professor Franklin D. Lewis
"Rumi -- Past and Present, East and West"
Oneworld, Oxford, 2000

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

The Song of the Reed
Mathnawi I: 1-18

Listen* to the reed (flute),* how it is complaining! * It is
telling about separations, *
(Saying), "Ever since I was severed from the reed field,* men and
women have lamented in (the presence of) my shrill cries.*
"(But) I want a heart (which is) torn, torn from separation, so
that I may explain* the pain of yearning."*
"Anyone one who has remained far from his roots,* seeks a return
(to the) time of his union.*
"I lamented in every gathering; I associated with those in bad or
happy circumstances.
"(But) everyone became my friend from his (own) opinion; he did
not seek my secrets* from within me.
"My secret is not far from my lament, but eyes and ears do not
have the light* (to sense it).
"The body is not hidden from the soul, nor the soul from the body;
but seeing the soul is not permitted."*
The reed's cry is fire* -- it's not wind! Whoever doesn't have
this fire, may he be nothing!*
It is the fire of Love that fell into the reeds. (And) it is the
ferment of Love that fell into the wine.*
The reed (is) the companion of anyone who was severed from a
friend; its melodies tore our veils.*
Who has seen a poison and a remedy like the reed? Who has seen
a harmonious companion and a yearning friend like the reed?
The reed is telling the story of the path full of blood;* it is
telling stories of Majnoon's (crazed) love.*
There is no confidant (of) this understanding* except the senseless!
* There is no purchaser of that tongue* except the ear [of the
mystic.]
In our longing,* the days became (like) evenings;* the days
became fellow-travellers with burning fevers.
If the days have passed, tell (them to) go, (and) don't worry.
(But) You remain!* -- O You, whom no one resembles in Purity!
Everyone becomes satiated by water,* except the fish. (And)
everyone who is without daily food [finds that] his days become
long.*
None (who is) "raw" can understand the state of the "ripe."*
Therefore, (this) speech must be shortened. So farewell!*

-- From "The Mathnawî-yé Ma`nawî" [Rhymed
Couplets of Deep Spiritual Meaning] of
Jalaluddin Rumi.
Translated from the Persian by Ibrahim Gamard
(with grateful acknowledgement of R.A. Nicholson's
1926 translation)
(c) Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, and
transliteration)

*Listen: states of spiritual ecstasy were induced in sufi gatherings
by listening to mystical poetry and music. During such a "mystical
concert" [samâ`-- literally, "audition" or "hearing" session] some
dervishes would enter a spiritual state of consciousness and
spontaneously begin to move. Sometimes they would stand up and
dance or whirl. They would listen to the poetry or music as if they
were hearing the voice of God, the Beloved. Such gatherings were
controversial, were criticized by orthodox Muslim leaders, and were
practiced by very few sufi orders-- usually with restrictions and high
standards for participants.

*the reed [nay]: a flute made by cutting a length of a naturally
hollow reed cane and adding finger holes. "The nay or reed-flute as
the poet's favourite musical instrument and has always been associated
with the religious services of the Mawlawí ["Whirling Dervish"]
Order, in which music and dancing are prominent features."
(Nicholson, Commentary). The reed flute symbolizes the soul which
is emptied of ego-centered desires and preoccupations and is filled
with a spiritual passion to return to its original nearness to God.
Rumi said, "The world (is) like a reed pipe [sornây], and He blows
into every hole of it; every wail it has (is) certainly from those two
lips like sugar. See how He blows into every (piece of) clay (and)
into every heart; He gives a need and He gives a love which raises up
a lament about misfortune." (Ghazal 532, lines 5664-5665) Rumi
also said, "We have all been part of Adam (and ) we have heard those
melodies in Paradise. Although (bodily) water and clay have cast
skepticism upon us, something of those (melodies) comes (back) to
our memory.... Therefore, the mystical concert has become the food
of the lovers (of God) for in it is the image of (heavenly) reunion."
(Mathnawî IV: 736-737, 742)

*separations: "The point is that while self-conscious lovers complain
of separation from the beloved one, and reproach her for her cruelty,
the mystic's complaint (shikáyat) is really no more than the tale
(hikákat) of his infinite longing for God-- a tale which God
inspires him to tell." (Nicholson, Commentary). Rumi said: "I'm
complaining [shikâyat mê-kon-am] about the Soul of the soul;
but I am not a complainer [shâkê] -- I'm relating words
[rawâyat mê-kon-am]. (My) heart keeps saying, 'I'm afflicted by
Him!' And I have been laughing at (its) feeble pretense." (Mathnawî I:
1781-82). "Be empty of stomach and cry out, in neediness (neyâz),
like the reed flute! Be empty of stomach and tell secrets like the
reed pen!" (Divan: Ghazal 1739, line 18239). "Lovers (are) lamenting
like the reed flute [nây], and Love is like the Flutist. So, what
things will this Love breathe into the reed pipe [sôr-nây] of
the body?! The reed pipe is visible, but the pipe-player is hidden.
In short, my reed pipe became drunk from the wine of His lips.
Sometimes He caresses the reed pipe, sometimes he bites it. (Such) a
sigh, because of this sweet-songed reed-breaking Flutist!" (Divan:
Ghazal 1936, lines 20374-20376)
Nicholson later changed his translation, based on the earliest
manuscripts of the Mathnawi, to "Listen to this reed how it
complains: it is telling a tale of separations" (from, "Listen to the
reed how it tells a tale, complaining of separations. " This is what
the earliest known manuscript has. (This is the "Konya Manuscript,"
completed five years after Rumi died, and written by Muhammad ibn
Abdullâh Qûnyawî, a disciple of Rumi's son, Sultân Walad,
under his supervision together with Husâmuddîn Chelabî --
who was present with Rumi during the dictation of every verse of the
Mathnawi.) All manuscripts and editions after the 13th century
adopted a changed (and "improved") version of this line: "Listen
from the nay, how it tells a story... [be-sh'naw az nay chûn
Hikâyat mê-kon-ad / az jodâ'îy-hâ shikâyat
mê-kon-ad].

*the reed field [nay-estân]: lit., "place of reeds." A symbol for
the original homeland of the soul, when it existed harmoniously in the
presence of God. "... referring to the descent of the soul from the
sphere of Pure Being and Absolute Unity, to which it belongs and
would fain return." (Nicholson, Commentary)

*in (the presence of) my shrill cries: Nicholson later changed his
translation, based on the earliest manuscript, to: "man and woman
have moaned in (unison) with my lament" [dar nafîr-am] (from, "my
lament hath caused [az nafîr-am] man and woman to moan").

*explain: a pun on the two meanings of the same word [sharH],
"explanation" and "torn."

*the pain of yearning: The longing of love is painful, because of
separation-- yet also sweet. This is because the longing brings
remembrance of the beloved's beauty. Longing for nearness to a
human beloved, such as a spiritual master, is a means for the
spiritual disciple to increase his longing for nearness to God, the
only Beloved. Rumi said: "If thought of (longing) sorrow is
highway-robbing (your) joy, (yet) it is working out a means to
provide joy.... It is scattering the yellow leaves from the branch of
the heart so that continual green leaves may grow.... Whatever
(longing) sorrow sheds or takes from the heart, truly it will bring
better in exchange." (Mathnawi V:3678, 3680, 3683)

*roots: also means foundation, source, origin.

*union: also means being joined.

*my secrets: "The Perfect Man (prophet or saint) is a stranger in the
world, unable to communicate his sorrows or share his mystic
knowledge except with one of his own kind; he converses with all
sorts of people, worldly and spiritual alike, but cannot win from
them the heartfelt sympathy and real understanding which he craves.
This is the obvious sense of the passage, and adequate so far as it
goes, but behind it lies a far-reaching doctrine concerning the
spiritual "Descent of Man.' .... The whole series of planes forms the
so-called 'Circle of Existence', which begins in God and ends in
God and is traversed by the soul in its downward journey through
the Intelligences, the Spheres, and the Elements and then upward
again, stage by stage-- mineral, vegetable, animal, and man-- till as
Perfect man it completes its evolution and is re-united with the
Divine Soul..." (Nicholson, Commentary)

*the light: refers to the ancient Greek theory of Galen, that vision
is caused by an "inner light" within the eye. Similarly, the faculty
of hearing was believed to be caused by an "inner air" within the ear.

*not permitted: "As the vital spirit, though united with the body, is
invisible, so the inmost ground of words issuing from an inspired
saint cannot be perceived by the physical senses." (Nicholson,
Commentary) The reed flute's speech ends here, and Rumi's
commentary begins next.

*The reed's cry is fire: Nicholson, in his Commentary, quotes
Rumi's verse (Divan, Ghazal 2994, line 31831): "The flute is all afire
and the world is wrapped in smoke; / For fiery is the call of Love
that issues from the flute."

*may he be nothing [nêst bâd]: a pun on another meaning of these
words -- "it's not wind." It means, "May he experience absence of
self so that he may burn with yearning love for the presence of the
Beloved." Nicholson interpreted that this means, "The Mathnawí is
not mere words; its inspiration comes from God, whose essence is
Love. May those yet untouched by the Divine flame be naughted, i.e.
die to self!" He said that the words here [nêst bâd] "should
not be taken as an imprecation [== a cursing]; the poet, I think,
prays that by Divine grace his hearers may be enraptured and lose
themselves in God." (Commentary)

*into the wine: "i.e. Love kindles rapture in the heart and makes it
like a cup of foaming wine." (Nicholson, Commentary)

*tore our veils [parda-hâ]: a pun on the two meanings of this word,
"veils" and "melodies." The meaning of this line is that the sounds of
pure yearning from the reed flute tore through the veils covering up
the inward spiritual yearning of listening mystics -- the sufis, who
have had the capacity to understand the meaning of the reed flute's
melodious wails. This is a reference to the "mystical concert"
[samâ`] of the Mevlevi ("Whirling") dervishes in which the reed
flute is prominent.

*the path full of blood: "the thorny path of Love, strewn with
(Díwán, SP, XLIV, 6) 'with thousands slain of desire who
manfully yielded up their lives'; for Love 'consumes everything else
but the Beloved' (Math. V 588)." (Nicholson, Commentary)

*Majnoon's crazed love: "Majnún: the mad lover of Laylà: in
Súfí literature, a type of mystical self-abandonment. "
(Nicholson, Commentary). Majnoon (lit., "jinn-possessed" ) was a
legendary Arab lover whose love for the beautiful Laylà [lit., "of
the night"] made him crazy. Majnoon's love for Layla also symbolizes
the perception of spiritual realities seen only by mystics, as in
Rumi's lines: "The Caliph said to Layla, Are you the one by whom
Majnoon became disturbed and led astray? You are not more (beautiful)
than other fair ones. She said, Be silent, since you are not Majnoon!"
(Mathnawi I: 407-08; see also V:1999-2019, 3286-99) This
"craziness" of being an ecstatic mystic lover of God is quite
different from the craziness of being psychotic or mentally ill.
*this understanding: "the spiritual or universal reason (`aql-i
ma`ád) and transcendental consciousness of those who have escaped
from the bondage of the carnal or discursive reason (`aql-i
ma`ásh)." (Nicholson, Commentary)

*the senseless [bê-hôsh]: a play on "understanding" (hôsh),
and also means devoid of understanding lacking reason, swooned and
insensible. The meaning is that no one can understand mystical
understanding except one who is able to transcend the intellect.
*that tongue: an idiom for language. The meaning is that only a
mystic who is capable of passing beyond the senses and ordinary
mind has an "ear" which can understand the "tongue" or language of
the heart. Nicholson explained: "i.e. every one desires to hear what
is suitable to his understanding; hence the mysteries of Divine Love
cannot be communicated to the vulgar" [== ordinary people].
(Commentary)

*longing [gham]: lit., "grief." An idiom here, meaning the suffering
of longing love.

*evenings [bê-gâh]: An idiom meaning "evening." Means that the
days became quickly used-up. Nicholson (1926) erred in translating
this idiom too literally as "untimely." (I am indebted to Dr. Ravan
Farhadi, an Afghan scholar, for this understanding of the idiom.)

*but You remain: 26. God is addressed directly as "Thou," or
perhaps indirectly as "Love." "The meaning is: 'What matter though
our lives pass away in the tribulation of love, so long as the Beloved
remains?'" (Nicholson, Commentary)

*water (âbash): Nicholson later corrected his translation to,
"except the fish, every one becomes sated with water" (from, "Whoever
is not a fish becomes sated with His water"). As Nicholson pointed
out, the word for "water" here [âbash] is a noun (as in III: 1960--
Commentary). It therefore does not mean "his water" or "water for
him" [âb-ash]. Nicholson also explained: "The infinite Divine grace
is to the gnostic [== mystic knower] what water is to the fish, but
his thirst can never be quenched." (Commentary)

*become long: Nicholson mentions this as "alluding to the proverb,
harkih bí-sír-ast rúz-ash dír-ast" [The day are long for
whoever is without satisfaction] (Commentary)

*the state of the ripe [pokhta]: refers to the spiritual state of the
spiritually mature, experienced, refined. This contrasts to the state
of the raw [khâm]-- the unripe, immature, inexperienced, uncooked,
the one who bears no fruit. Rumi has been quoted as saying, "The
result of my life is no more than three words: I was raw [khâm], I
became cooked [pokhta], I was burnt [sokht]." However, this is not
supported by the earliest manuscripts (collected by Faruzanfar), only
one of which contains the following: "The result for me is no more
than these three words: I am burnt, I am burnt, I am burnt (or: I am
inflamed, burned, and consumed-- Divan, Ghazal 1768, line 18521).
In Rumi's famous story of the man who knocked on the door of a
friend, the visitor was asked who he was and he answered, "Me."
He was told to go, for he was too "raw" [khâm]. The man was then
"cooked" by the fire of separation and returned a year later. Asked
who he was, he answered, "Only you are at the door, O beloved."
His spiritual friend then said, "Now, since you are me, O me, come
in. There isn't any room for two me's in the house!" (Mathnawi I:
3056-63)

*farewell: Here, Rumi's famous first eighteen verses end. Rumi's
close disciple, Husamuddin Chelebi had asked him one night: "'The
collections of odes [ghazalîyât] have become plentiful... .
(But) if there could be a book with the quality of (the sufi poet
Sana'i's) 'Book of the Divine,' yet in the (mathnawi) meter of (the
sufi poet Attar's) 'Speech of the Birds,' so that it might be
memorized among the knowers and be the intimate companion of the
souls of the lovers ... so that they would occupy themselves with
nothing else...' At that moment, from the top of his blessed turban,
he [Rumi] put into Chelebi Husamuddin's hand a portion (of verses),
which was the Explainer of the secrets of Universals and particulars.
And in there were the eighteen verses of the beginning of the
Mathnawi: 'Listen to this reed, how it tells a tale...." (Aflaki, pp.
739-741) After that, Husamuddin was present with Rumi for every verse
he composed of the Mathnawi during the next twelve years until Rumi's
death. The number eighteen has been considered sacred in the Mevlevi
tradition ever since.

A New Kid On The Block, With Another World .

The photographs are from Bill's web site.

The top picture, in Bills words:
"The website organizer ( Bill) training at Yi Chuan with Sifu Donald Wong."

I will let Bill introduce himself as he did in our medical chi kung yahoo group. His site is well worth exploring. I will say more later. I just wanted to put it out to you ASAP.



Hi All:

In an effort to create one central qigong source to help educate people on resources, I have put together the following website. It includes many people we all know and love and I've worked with all their material in someway or another:
http://www.qigongguide.com/

Enjoy...

I hope this is helpful...

Many blessings, Bill Rowe

Walk In Beauty.

A big part of education and development is repetition. In that context want to explain my intent once more. My intent is to walk in a good way on a good path . My goal is to be of help to the people of the planet. I chose the healing path. What you chose is up to you. But if you chose the healing path lets walk awhile and see what we can share.

It is not good now in many parts of the world and with many people and families and relationships. If it is good for you, God bless you. But I am talking with people who are not doing so good. Or who know people who are not doing so good. It is for people that have physical/psychological/social/spiritual suffering in their lives and want to learn how to be with it in terms of healing. In most of the world it is not good unless you are rich. Even than it is not that good. So with global warming and high medical costs and an increasingly stressful world we need to know how to help ourselves and each other.

I am here to help people who want it or need it. My path is the shaman path. I walk the dog soldier path.I walk the dervish path. I walk the chi kung path. I walk the Romantic path. I walk the Quan Yin, Rumi, Shems path. I walk the path that has no name or explanation.

What I bring to the fire and the tavern is good real working ways to learn and practice that work more often than not. I bring directions to other paths and introductions when needed. I walk a path that is well traveled. Many many walk in a good way and on many good paths. The people and the paths come together at intervals and needed information is exchanged. This place is one of those places. Be here in a good way and you will profit us all. insAllah.

"What are you doing with your life? How are you exploring the inner and outer worlds? What do you understand about your current condition. How would you describe it? What should I know about you and it? Are you beautiful with the people in your tribe or family or friends? Are you beautiful with your self?" Those are questions I ask people I work with. I ask my my clients and students and colleges These are questions I have been asked and ask myself. I do not assume anything about you. I ask these things because if you want to help someone in pain or discomfort it is important to know these things and much more. It is important for them to know these things or begin to explore them. How do they move or hold their body? What do they look like? How would you describe their skin and how it changes as your exploration with them goes on? What does their breathing tell you. How about the sound of their voice and the way they describe their suffering. The more you do this kind of exploration with them, the better you will be in helping them when they need you the most in the times to come.

You have to explore the person you will be working with. The more difficult the problem the more you will have to explore with them. The key words are" with them." We are midwives more than anything else. Midwifes and coaches and occasionally medics. We help them to start exploring themselves and using their suffering as their classes and field trips. We are all student/healers. We always will be. If we do not learn more and deeper from every healing it is a bad sign. (laugh) We must always have white belt determination. They say that in the martial arts to say we need to keep the same " determined to learn attitude" we had at the height of our new passion or love.

Nobody can make you read or try the things on this blog. You get out of this place what you put into it. Nothing more, nothing less. But if you are into being here, I can assure you there are treasures here for those who are dedicated. Read through this thing. Find something you want to help. Headache, back problem, whatever. Use one of the modalities found here. One hand near. One hand far. Koryo hand therapy. or my favorite site .

http://www.yinyanghouse.com/ If you need help doing it just ask for help. It is not hard to ask for help if you get use to it. Here, ask for help.

Let me give you an example. If you are dealing with a headache you might think " OK I will use the Koryo Hand treatment and pulse press Bl17 on both sides of the nails edges at the tip of the middle finger. Usually the headache will subside rather quickly. Not all the time but many times. Than the exploration begins as to what causes the headaches to recur. How does his body breath? Where does he hold his muscle tension. What if he breathed differently and relaxed his muscles? Would the headaches come back and with the same intensity? Usually not. And if they do you will have learned to quickly check breathing and muscle tension and change them if necessary and press Bl17s. Enjoy the results.

When you have tried something and it worked the journey starts in earnest. Until than it is not real.

We cannot depend on the mainline medical community beyond a certain point. It is good to have them there but it is a crap shoot as to the results you will get from their treatments. Or if how they treat you will be effective and affordable . It seems all to often the longer you need medical help the more likely you will run out of the money to pay for it. We all know that is more often reality than not for most people on this planet. I am not just talking about AMA medicine and practitioners. I am speaking of the vast majority of healing schools and practitioners.

You can not depend on may people when you are in real need. Or when a loved one or a friend is in real medical need. So become a healer and let people have a few people they can depend on.

That is why I am doing what I can to have a place people can come and learn how to heal. The first step in a healing school is learning how to learn and to be determined to be good students. And then we can begin to learn about healing and the nature of ourselves and our patients.

We will then be ready to start to see and understand and experience ourselves and others as dynamic interrelated energy fields. We will soon know ourselves and each other not as just physical/psychological/social beings. But also as dynamic fields of interrelating energies existing in context of endless fields greater and smaller than ourselves. The understanding and experiencing of the body as dynamic energy field is key. IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE BODY, YOU MUST FIRST UNDERSTAND WHAT CREATED AND SUSTAINS IT. THAT IS THE DYNAMIC ENERGY FIELD WE ARE.

Once you understand the nature and dynamics of the energy field it will be easier to see and understand why chi transmission works so well in so many medical cases. It is life force transmission. Like a blood transfusion but with chi and not just chi. It is like jump starting a car battery. The reality is that energy flows from a strong field to a weaker field. It does not matter if it is from a strong person to a weaker person or from a strong battery to a weak battery. The weaker the battery the more powerful the charge can be. Of course it is well to remember the old adage. " Nothing works for everyone all the time." But be assured, the chi techniques you learn here will work more often than not, if you use them.

Our eyes and other physical senses tell us who or what we are. But they do not see very much or very deep. So we have to explore not just with our eyes and other physical senses. We have to explore with our whole energy being from as many manifestations as possible.

So let's do it.

Latest update on the video recorder search:

I am waiting for a few months to buy a good video camera. I decided if I was going to make videos that are worth using than I should make them as beautiful as possible. A really cool three color chip video camera from Sonny will be out within a few months inshAllah. Than we can make really good quality videos. They will be free and easily accessible through places like youtube. I urge anyone who can and is good, to make tapes of different styles of chi kung and put them on the web. If you make it, it is yours to give away. Will there be bad tapes and stuff put on the web? Mais, oui. But they are out there now. So you, who are real gold, have even more responsibility to share what you know. You make the videos that are worth learning from. And you put them out where they are needed for free. I am not talking to people who do not want to do it. I am talking to the people who when they read this will see the beauty and need and do it. It will be very beautiful when you do.

I am going to make a series of videos that will show you how to treat every thing from headaches to chronic fatigue. The first series will be mostly about chi transmission and include work with breath and relaxation as well. They are ways that I know work more often than not. There are many ways that work. Share the ones you know. Why not? The need is here and the Internet gives us the opportunity to meet and share and help humanity.

I urge you to share what you know with people who need it. And I urge you who are in need to take responsibility for learning and practicing what you learn.

I like this healing path and many of you do and/or will as well. If it is not for you, then that's cool. My first series of projects with our video is to go from the top of the head to the bottom of feet. Each video will show how to treat an area of the body using mostly but not only chi transmission. It will use One hand near one hand far. It will use the Koryo hand therapy paradigm with chi transmission. And it will use treatments from the yin/yang site using chi transmission instead of needles.

I urge you to start a project or help with a project. The key is to learn and do and help and learn and do and help. I urge anyone who wants to contribute in a good and beautiful way to come and dance and sing and help. I urge any who suffer or have people who suffer to come and take this journey. There is enough that works here to make even a short stay worthwhile. And it will get much better as time goes on, inshAllah.

Native people do not say I walk in truth. They say I walk in beauty. Beauty in front of me. Beauty beside me. Beauty above me. Beauty below me. I walk in beauty. I urge you to look at your life and relations not for truth or lies but for beauty or ugliness. Than I urge you to learn how to walk in beauty in all of your life's manifestations, inside and out.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE PIG

The pig and the rest of the animals can be found at the following link: http://www.herbalshop.com/zodiac/pig.htm




The rat had to be with his pig so here I am.


HAPPY NEW PIG YEAR EVERYONE. MY WIFE AND I WISH YOU MUCH LOVE, HAPPINESS, HEALTH AND WEALTH DURING THIS PIG YEAR. MY WIFE IS A PIG PERSON AND I LOVE PIG PEOPLE. I AM A RAT.WHATEVER YOU ARE, ENJOY.


LOVE RIVER AND MY, AKA, MR RATTY AND MRS PIGGY