Hello All,
Nice discussion in regards to faith, the question that arises to me from such an idea is faith in what? I have a nice sifu story that touches on this,
A new student turns to his teacher and asks ‘why so much suffering, why does <god of your choice> not practice miracles and help the people of this world’
The teacher smiles and responds ‘In your thinking it is a miracle if god does man’s bidding, in mine it is a miracle when man does gods bidding’<br>
this statement leads onto the other point you discussed that of ‘acceptance’. IMHO practitioners of marshal arts can gain a lot from giving themselves to their chosen art in terms of development, skill and most importantly self observation. If we do not do this we might well find ourselves bouncing of our ego reducing our opportunity for self observation and all that draws from that.
- [IMHO] -
On the additional topic of ‘Chi’ I have found that most conversations around this topic draw to the more esoteric levels of chi manifestation and less regard is given to the basic aspects. Chi is often talked about as an abstract idea, those amongst you that have some TCM training will know that chi is not at all abstract. One interesting definition is that of Chi and Blood, it is said that where there is blood there is chi, that they are one and the same thing (this has some really interesting implications in regards the chi-gong aspects of our training). It can readily be said from a TCM position that our existence/survival is based from our ability to process chi from breath and when mixed with chi from food create the chi to drive our organs and thus the manifestation of chi in different forms (organs, bone, etc) to balance the chi energy system known as the body in all to support the driver of the body (shen). (all these different forms of chi have specific names).
I find this a hugely holistic approach that also touches on another point mentioned in this thread i.e. the Jewish believe of god as totally infinite, (this is a view shared by other groups and in my case a Christian belief) with this thought in mind one could extrapolate that if our existence is based on the different manifestations of Chi to hold shen then why not other animals and other compounds until we see that the whole universe is Chi (energy) manifested in different ways or a more scientific way as energy at different levels of vibration encompassing the divine <god of your choice>, a stretch to far perhaps but it is an interesting idea
)
Touching on Patrick’s other point
Wayne ni hao
Qi is one of the most common topic people talk, discuss, or even argue about. Yet this topic still attract people's attention, especially among those who practice Chinese arts. Really an elusive thing.
As one of the basics of Chinese arts, Qi always mentioned everywhere. For examples:
In TCM: Chinese understanding energy transformation in our body , Jing melts into Qi; Qi melts into Shen. Shen follows the Tao.
In Kan Yu: The essence is how to maximise the Sheng Qi into the property and get rid of Sha Qi. By achieving this, guaranteed the resident of the property will be blessed with happiness and success.
In Martial art: Qi stored in Dan Dian and our waist as the pump to channel it to the hand and feet.
I am sure we can easily find so many different references regarding Qi with its definition and theories.
But at the end of the day, words can only capture the shadow of reality. As it is written in the Tao Te Ching,"The Tao that can be described is never the true Tao," so it is with Qi, that which you experience is the true essence, and that essence is far richer than words can describe.
Cheers.