Energy Arts, Knowledge and Practice (Chi 氣, Prana, Odic Force, Kundalini, etc)
Posted: June 22nd, 2022, 4:06 pm
I decided to start a thread about something we started getting into in a couple other threads:
Chi, prana, Odic Force, Kundalini energy, and what methods can be used to safely cultivate this type of life force energy.
Energy arts such as Chi Gong or some types of Yoga can help cultivate this lifeforce.
I only have personal experience with Chi Gong in solo practice (no benefit of a master's teaching, except through books), and then some more ways it's manifested itself, and then the quote from @Lucas88 refers to some other experiences I had of it when it started becoming way more dramatic, and he talked about how he actually practiced kundalini but it became dangerous.
The Chi Gong I've practiced is more lightweight than that, yet I've found it effective in being able to experience Chi Flows, so wanted to add that as a word of encouragement that you don't need to do anything extreme. I've heard cultivating it in this way has very positive potential for your energy levels and your overall health, including immune system strength.
Off the top of my head:
Ancient China is (as far as I know) the greatest treasure trove of ancient knowledge about these arts and the nature of "Chi", and fortunately a lot of ancient poems about the nature of Chi (and related topics in Chinese mysticism) survived many revolutions.
I'll list some of those old texts later. I'm looking forward to getting more into the study of these.
I don't know a lot about Japan's practices, but believe they have practiced these for a long time (including in martial arts), and Reiki has become popular on the energy and healing arts side I've heard (though still haven't read about Reiki specifically myself, mostly only Chi Gong):
Here are the traditional Chinese characters for Chi Gong by the way:
氣功
And the Japanese Kanji is this:
気功
きこう
They Japanified it a little for their きこう kikou Chi Gong, but Takoboto (an electronic Japanese dictionary) still used the traditional version for Reiki:
靈氣
れいき
India is a really fascinating one that I don't know about, but is famous for some Yogic practices that include a lot of this kind of thing, but I haven't learned very much about their systems yet.
I think it was known to a lot of ancient cultures, but not sure how much literature or lore about it survived various onslaughts by the likes of the Romans or hordes of culture destroyers from the Abrahamic religions, including the Vatican which seemed to share a fixed interest for a period of time in wiping out the indigenous spiritual and metaphysical knowledge of countries they took over (whether by the sword, or by other conversion methods).
Very interesting later era physical/Western scientific research on it was done by Karl von Reichenbach who called it Odic Force.
I think it was what Franz Mesmer was dealing with too with his use of mesmerism and projection of energy, though need to look more into him before I can be sure about that one...
Some more was also done by that whacko Wilhelm Reich who I'm not too crazy about for various reasons, but some of the work his successors did on "orgone" and trying to create box-like devices that concentrate this energy and measure it are very interesting and worthwhile.
Lucas88 warned about the danger from experience of trying to do too much advanced Yoga though: VERY interesting stuff there, but I can say from personal experience that I'm pretty sure you can safely practice lighter-weight Chi Gong exercise and just start building up Chi through breathing and gentle meditation/imagination without having to take those kinds of risks...
Chi, prana, Odic Force, Kundalini energy, and what methods can be used to safely cultivate this type of life force energy.
Energy arts such as Chi Gong or some types of Yoga can help cultivate this lifeforce.
I only have personal experience with Chi Gong in solo practice (no benefit of a master's teaching, except through books), and then some more ways it's manifested itself, and then the quote from @Lucas88 refers to some other experiences I had of it when it started becoming way more dramatic, and he talked about how he actually practiced kundalini but it became dangerous.
The Chi Gong I've practiced is more lightweight than that, yet I've found it effective in being able to experience Chi Flows, so wanted to add that as a word of encouragement that you don't need to do anything extreme. I've heard cultivating it in this way has very positive potential for your energy levels and your overall health, including immune system strength.
Off the top of my head:
Ancient China is (as far as I know) the greatest treasure trove of ancient knowledge about these arts and the nature of "Chi", and fortunately a lot of ancient poems about the nature of Chi (and related topics in Chinese mysticism) survived many revolutions.
I'll list some of those old texts later. I'm looking forward to getting more into the study of these.
I don't know a lot about Japan's practices, but believe they have practiced these for a long time (including in martial arts), and Reiki has become popular on the energy and healing arts side I've heard (though still haven't read about Reiki specifically myself, mostly only Chi Gong):
Here are the traditional Chinese characters for Chi Gong by the way:
氣功
And the Japanese Kanji is this:
気功
きこう
They Japanified it a little for their きこう kikou Chi Gong, but Takoboto (an electronic Japanese dictionary) still used the traditional version for Reiki:
靈氣
れいき
India is a really fascinating one that I don't know about, but is famous for some Yogic practices that include a lot of this kind of thing, but I haven't learned very much about their systems yet.
I think it was known to a lot of ancient cultures, but not sure how much literature or lore about it survived various onslaughts by the likes of the Romans or hordes of culture destroyers from the Abrahamic religions, including the Vatican which seemed to share a fixed interest for a period of time in wiping out the indigenous spiritual and metaphysical knowledge of countries they took over (whether by the sword, or by other conversion methods).
Very interesting later era physical/Western scientific research on it was done by Karl von Reichenbach who called it Odic Force.
I think it was what Franz Mesmer was dealing with too with his use of mesmerism and projection of energy, though need to look more into him before I can be sure about that one...
Some more was also done by that whacko Wilhelm Reich who I'm not too crazy about for various reasons, but some of the work his successors did on "orgone" and trying to create box-like devices that concentrate this energy and measure it are very interesting and worthwhile.
Lucas88 warned about the danger from experience of trying to do too much advanced Yoga though: VERY interesting stuff there, but I can say from personal experience that I'm pretty sure you can safely practice lighter-weight Chi Gong exercise and just start building up Chi through breathing and gentle meditation/imagination without having to take those kinds of risks...
Lucas88 wrote: ↑May 6th, 2022, 8:10 amKundalini practice is great if done correctly but work with this energy can also be extremely dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. What many people don't understand is that you need to open all of the chakras (in most people they are only ajar) through specific meditation techniques and develop the body's meridians through Hatha Yoga stretches BEFORE you cultivate chi energy or awaken the Kundalini. If you don't do this first then the Kundalini energy will ascend through meridians where it isn't supposed to go and overload them. This can cause dysfunctions, symptoms of psychosis or even reversal of flow as was my case. Don't even attempt to awaken the Kundalini until you have opened all of your chakras and developed the body's meridians sufficiently and really know what you are doing. A premature Kundalini awakening can really mess you up.
Lucas88 wrote: ↑May 6th, 2022, 8:10 amWhat you say about remarkable energetic phenomena with the ladies is also true. Sexual energy is identical to chi energy and therefore to the Kundalini too. I too am able to make orgasmic energy expand through a large part of my both either through sex or masturbation. My body produces chi energy very easily and I am extremely sensitive to it (hence my premature Kundalini awakening). The fact that you are able to have those energetic sensations with only a short practice of Chi Gong and simple sexual stimulation shows that you are already an advanced soul with a high-vibrational frequency and a well-developed energetic system. Most people are unable to cultivate any significant quantity of chi energy even with years of Yoga or Tai Chi.