HEALING WITH CHI

Mr. Chow used to say that there were three levels of T’ai Chi. The first level provides good health for the practitioner. The second level can be used for self defense. The third level engenders the ability to promote good health in others. Many times when people would come to Mr. Chow with health issues he would offer a treatment which was often reported by the receiver to have immediate beneficial effects. 

The Treatment

The patient is seated in a straight backed chair and Mr. Chow would stand behind them and, after raising his arms in the beginning movement of the T’ai Chi form, he would place his hands upon their shoulders and stand for a few moments with his arms extended. Although observers might sometimes notice a slight trembling sometimes, I can’t recall that I ever noticed much more than this.

A Retrospective Explanation

A common explanation would be that he was “sending” the Chi energy to where it was needed. This might be accurate, but doesn’t give any clues as to the process, or how to emulate this and get effective results. My understanding of the process was never explained to me in words, but suggests a possible beneficial practice and invites empirical verification by practitioners capable of generating the Chi energy.

The flow of Chi is created as a product of the body being integrated as a unified whole with all the parts connected through movement, and a lack of tension-created-energy-blocks, which allows for resonant standing waves to appear. This is a condition within the body, and not something which can be “sent”, but rather “induced” by two possible means, radiation and induced current flow. Radiation of the energy might be experienced by being in the presence of extremely evolved individuals, but is beyond the scope of this article. 

What I believe I observed Mr. Chow doing was inducing a current not by sending energy out, but by allowing the flow within him to flow through the patient, inducing the waves of chi energy in them, using their energy, allowing them to heal themselves by increasing the flow of energy between the parts of their own body, or, in other words, creating similar standing waves in the patient. The practitioner here doesn’t lose any energy, and heals by sharing their level of internal integration, as it were.

The practice suggested here would be guaranteed to be harmless, as the energy suggested cannot be created unless there is harmony. I would be interested in hearing about other practitioners’ experiences in this area, and offer this as a contribution to possible growth of this field of healing.

Namaste & Mahalo,

Dan Zuckerman, October 2010

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE DALAI LAMA

I have seen the Dalai Lama four times, and this most recent time the pieces that I had gathered before seemed to fit together and transform from some wonderful but for me perhaps impractical advice into a very practical step by step plan by which much could be accomplished. (I was present when Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama, spoke at the University of Miami on October 26^th, 2010.)

A Smile is the Same in Any Language

 When he was asked how he could love all people, how he deals with the rise of a new wave of communism in Latin America, he responded that one could work with all people through cooperation, by finding some common ground, some aspect which you share with them. He then offered that this common ground was that all people want happiness, want to be happy, and gave the example of his experience with George Bush.

Cooperation, Friendship, Trust

The Dalai Lama said that he liked Mr. Bush. (A few people clapped). Then he suggested that he didn’t necessarily like all of Mr. Bush’s policies. (More people clapped). He said that the first time he met Mr. Bush, he kept this to himself, and only after several meetings did he feel able to express this to him. He suggested that cooperation should be based on friendship, which requires trust. Trust is built through openness, honesty, and truthfulness, and it is through this path that positive change can occur. 

When my wife spoke with Geshe Sonam Rinchen, a Buddhist monk and scholar at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Daramshala years ago, he said “I don’t hate the Chinese. There are too many of them to hate.” 

Compassion

“People, even dogs, cats, and birds have compassion. When you do something nice for them they can show appreciation.  Mosquitoes, I don’t know. I watch one land on me. It puts its tube in, takes blood, and then it flies away. No appreciation.”

A Precious Human Life

“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself. To expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts toward others, I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” H.H. The XIV Dalai Lama      (from a tee shirt purchased in Daramshala)

STRETCHING

Tight muscles (tension) cause bone- against-bone type of connections in the joints. (This might not be exactly correct anatomically but suffices for purposes of this lesson). When we stretch, the joints open up and instead of the above type of connection the bones have some space between them and are connected by softer tissues; muscles, tendons, etc.. Each of the T’ai Chi movements can be considered as a stretching and opening of the joints which engenders a more flexible condition in the entire body. 

Waves

Consider the difference between a stick and a rope. If you hold one end of a rope and I hold the other, I can make waves in the rope by waving my hand up and down. If we hold the ends of a stick, say a two by four ten feet long, it would be very difficult to make waves in it. When our muscles are tense and our joints inflexible, our body parts resemble the stick. By relaxing and stretching the joints our body sections might be conceived of as a series of small sticks (the bones) connected together by rubber bands (the softer tissues), much like a length of pieces of old wooden clothespins with rubber bands between them. If you held one end and I held the other, we could easily make waves in this “rope”. The explanation of the concept of the flow of Chi as waves resonating through the body and its’ accurate description in these terms is another paper at another time. In simple terms, the tight muscle condition is an energy block which inhibits the flow of Chi – the ability of all the parts to work together and communicate with each other, which is enabled when the connections are relaxed and stretched.

As we practice our T’ai Chi, if we consider each movement as a stretch, we can facilitate the flow of this communication between the parts and increase actual physical circulation (not just some nebulous philosophical energy – I’m using the word “Chi” here in a very practical sense). This applies also to the circulatory system and actual blood flow as well.

Consider a river or stream with several bends in it. If you are in a canoe out in the middle where there is good flow the water is clear and clean and you might be able to dip a glass in it and drink it. (I don’t recommend this – this is more a poetic image than the reality of the condition of today’s waterways.) If you look on the side where there is no current, the water might be all green and black and slimy, with bugs and who-knows-what. Our bodies are like this. Where there is no circulation there is opportunity for poor health. T’ai Chi, by increasing circulation through all parts of the body, promotes good health and facilitates healing.

When you raise your arms in the beginning of the form, think of this as a stretch, all the way from the spine to the fingertips, relaxing all the parts in between. As you pick up your leg and extend it, do the same thing. In this way each movement can be seen as a stretch and can increase the circulation. In the beginning, as we do our form we might forget and find things tightening up, so each time we remember to stretch and loosen up it is beneficial. As our practice evolves, this process becomes more subtle, but applies at new levels, helping us to pay more attention and further perfect our form, maybe relaxing and opening the finger joints, or slightly correcting our posture to relax our lower back. 

On yet another level, we might benefit from relaxing and opening our heart, and find our inner peace grow to a new level. When the circulation is good, all manner of healing is facilitated.

REAL WEALTH

(Written in the spring of 2001)         

      The subject of the upcoming workshop in Dharamshala is “What is real wealth and how can we create it?” It was suggested that we connect with our communities and do some preparation by discussing this subject with people before the workshop. These are a few of the insights that I have had and that my friends have shared with me when I brought the subject up.

                Before I read the description of the workshop focus, my wife told me about it and asked me “What is real wealth?” My answer was that it was friends, community, and a “Meaningful existence, which meant making the world better for our having passed through it, and this related to community. Also pertinent was covering basic needs: health, food and shelter.

                My wife said that real wealth was all our relationships and the love that we give and feel.

                My parents said that real wealth is good health

                My therapy supervisor suggested that there were four components; and that there was intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual good health. 

                My long time spiritual mentor/friend who I keep in touch with across the country, when I told him of the upcoming workshop and the group audience with the Dalai Lama, said:

                “ Well, the Dalai Lama is always talking about compassion. I think that if there were cosmic beings that grew up in the universe and you wanted to send them to school, this would be the perfect place to learn compassion, empathy, and the ability to create beauty. It is perfect because of the malleability of the terrain, and because of the capacity for integrated relationship.”  I asked him what he meant by “Malleability of the terrain”, and he said “All the materials here will allow you to express your ideas. Fashioning of … Materials are amenable… No matter what you look at there’s a form capable of expressing that. Beauty is the capacity to excite admiring pleasure.” (…’s are mine; I couldn’t write fast enough, and now will have to meditate and recall the rest of the discussion; they are my fragmentary notes. …).

                My T’ai Chi student Jack Gilman, a computer systems network guy, came back with “Real wealth is fresh fruit; and the way to create it is to grow your own tree.”

                What is real wealth got many responses, and they all seemed to have something to do with the quality of life, and after meeting basic needs, involved compassion. 

                How we create real wealth is a more complex question. We create it by manifesting compassion in our lives. But how do we do this? Sometimes the answer is easy. I think that the most interesting and pertinent situations occur when, as is often the case in human situations, it is not so clear which path is the correct one, and difficult choices must be made. 

For example, is it better (more compassionate) to show acceptance of someone’s faults or imperfections, or to try to help them grow by correcting or criticizing them or their words or actions? The wonderful thing about real life situations is that they are all unique, and each one requires its own solution. A shy, slow student might be driven away by criticism while for another, accepting maladaptive behavior might encourage it, and be less than compassionate. In these situations, in order to be able to “do the right thing” it could be argued that the best thing you can do is to become more sane and aware. To have clearer insight into which course is the more compassionate, various forms of meditation might seem to be indicated. 

Generosity of Spirit:

TREATISE ON CHI (PART I)

Newtonian physics allows an excellent scientific explanation of the process of entropy upon which western science’s mechanistic view of the universe is based. In order to explain the basis for processes which seem to defy entropy and move in the direction of (exhibit) growth, or evolution, additional building blocks are required. The concept of ‘Chi’, or ‘Chi Energy’, falls into this category.

Dissipative Structures

In 1977 Ilya Prigogine won a Nobel prize for his work on the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium systems. His work in fluid dynamics mathematically explains how some systems seem to evolve from simple to more complex states. It appears that the flow of chi can be accurately described in Western scientific terms by using this model.

A mechanistic view of the universe suggests that it is winding down, moving from a higher to a lower state of energy. On a human level, this implies that as the day progresses we use up our energy and get tired. Even though this appears to be an accurate description when we look at the big picture (with telescopes, etc.), most of the systems that we work with on a day-to-day basis are not closed systems where these rules are applicable. They are open, with energy coming in at one end, and going out at the other. They are systems which dissipate energy. Some examples are our solar system, where the sun produces energy which allows for the growth and evolution of life on Earth, or a human being (or any other life form), which consumes food (chemical energy) and grows from a single cell to a complex organism. At a local level we see countless examples of growth, seemingly defying the laws of entropy. These can be seen in chemical processes, social systems, life processes. 

Organization as Energy

A more complex level of organization can be viewed as a higher level of energy. According to the theory of dissipative structures, when more energy is put into a system than it can handle, sometimes it will jump to a new level of complexity which allows it to function more efficiently. Use this to describe conscious growth or evolution, as in what happens when we study T’ai Chi - a more ‘intelligent’ way of moving, exhibiting a more complex level of integration of the separate components, and manifesting a new quality, not evident when the parts are viewed separately, and we have the basis for an elegant description of how Chi works. The next step is to look at the mechanics of how this transpires in physical terms.

There are two ways of communication available to the different body parts which allow the parts to interact in an organized fashion. One way is through the nervous system, where a sensory motor signal is routed from a sensory input through nerves to the brain, processed, and the results are then used to send a signal back through nerves to activate the response in the muscles. A much more direct path is possible through direct physical contact between the parts, and actual physical energy transferred between them. This direct ‘communication’ can achieve a high level of organization when feedback loops are created by means of resonant waves (real physical waves generated by movement of the body, not theoretical mystical mumbo jumbo). Chi can be described in these terms as a product of standing waves which resonate through a system (the body) when the parts and the flexible connections between them allow for instantaneous communication between all parts.

 

When we understand the physical nature of the Chi energy, it isn’t surprising that we can feel this energy and observe manifestations of its generation through the T’ai Chi movements. How our brains choose to interpret these sensations can vary in different individuals. Some people might feel a warmth in their palms when the movements are done with relaxed shoulders and the flow isn’t blocked by tension. Others might feel a vibrating sensation in different areas, similar to if one were carrying a cell phone set on vibrate, and received a call. Others might not feel anything consciously at all. (The flow of the chi energy is still there and is created by the movements and has a beneficial effect, whether you can feel it or not).

Some Spiritual Possibilities

At one end of the spectrum we have Western science with its basically material view of the universe, in which entropy is king. At the other end we have a spiritual, or religious view, which suggests that the basic components are spiritual, or conscious, in nature and also suggest a purpose – the evolution of beings toward higher consciousness, or ‘Love’. Prigogine’s theory explains a way in which this spiritual side works and makes sense in hard scientific language and math. [Those interested can see his books Order out of Chaos, Man’s new Dialogue with Nature (with Isabelle Stengers, 1984), or the more technical treatise From Being to Becoming; Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences (1980)].