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20-07-2018, 06:00 PM
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I don't know if anybody actually read the whole post that started this thread. It is Bodhidharma teachings. Right there is what he taught. Bodhidharma did not teach "energy" practices. Here is an example of what he taught from the post that started this thread.
Quote:
Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen. To transcend motion and stillness is the highest meditation. People who reach such understanding free themselves from all appearances without effort. Such is the power of great Zen. Using the mind to look for reality is delusion. Not using the mind to took for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.
Bodhidharma
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But yea he also taught martial arts which is common in that part of the world. A lot of Buddhist monks learn things like Kung Fu. I just watched a youtube video of a guy yesterday who is living in a Buddhist temple and they teach him Kung Fu as part of the monks schedule.
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20-07-2018, 06:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesboy
Chi is energy.
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To you in 2018 yea. To Bodhidharma no. The word and concept "energy" did not exist yet.
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20-07-2018, 06:05 PM
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Master
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 15,603
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesboy
Why didn’t you quote the whole thing?
The history of qigong, the Chinese practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and martial arts training, extends back more than 4,000 years. Contemporary qigong is a complex accretion of the ancient Chinese meditative practice xing qi (行氣) or "circulating qi" and the gymnastic breathing exercise tao yin (導引) or "guiding and pulling", with roots in the I Ching and occult arts; philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts; along with influences of contemporary concepts of health, science, meditation, and exercise.[1][2]
Chi is energy.
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Your wasting your time, disruption rather than discussing comes to mind, yet again.
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20-07-2018, 06:06 PM
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Master
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,272
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain95
What is your concept of energy?
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My own personal understanding of "energy" as it relates to Spirituality is that it can sometimes be roughly synonymous to words/terms like Consciousness, Divine Love, Life (life force), Presence, Awareness, Vitality, Spiritual Force, Being, Authentic self etc. All those are just terminology that comes to my mind when I practice Qi Gong in martial art, in healing work, and in Spiritual development. However, I like to say that no amount of terminology can ever capture the experience and the actualization of it. :)
P.S. This is just my experience and how I try to articulate it with a limited vocabulary. I'm certainly not saying Bodhidharma taught this to me, LOL
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20-07-2018, 06:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Imzadi
I am not asserting...that Bodhidharma taught "energy" work.
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Yea it wasn't you, somebody else was asserting that. I guess the subject of martial arts came up now and whether that means he taught energy work....
Seems to me, from reading his long quotes, he taught Zen.... doesn't seem like his martial arts stuff was very important to him. Doesn't seem to have ever written about it. It was probably seen as a physical fitness and self defense type thing as it is in a lot of modern Zen temples.
The monk I saw in the youtube video was like, ok done meditating, now we go do 2 hours of kung fu.... he was laughing as he did it. It seemed to be fun for him.
It's a part of their day. They can't sit in Zazen 24/7. They need exercise. It's actually a good exercise for "staying thought free" within and self aware. The movements require a lot of self awareness and focus on the now.
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20-07-2018, 06:15 PM
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Master
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,272
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain95
Yea it wasn't you, somebody else was asserting that. I guess the subject of martial arts came up now and whether that means he taught energy work....
Seems to me, from reading his long quotes, he taught Zen.... doesn't seem like his martial arts stuff was very important to him. Doesn't seem to have ever written about it. It was probably seen as a physical fitness and self defense type thing as it is in a lot of modern Zen temples.
The monk I saw in the youtube video was like, ok done meditating, now we go do 2 hours of kung fu.... he was laughing as he did it. It seemed to be fun for him.
It's a part of their day. They can't sit in Zazen 24/7. They need exercise. It's actually a good exercise for "staying thought free" within and self aware. The movements require a lot of self awareness and focus on the now.
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From what little that I do know about Zen from a layman's perspective, I have not heard of any mention of energy work either. And I actually think the practice of Qi Gong might have existed in ancient China prior to Bodhidharma's arrival (I could be wrong). Although I think it is common for this type or similar types of energy work have been incorporated into various religious, spiritual, and secular practices moving along throughout history.
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20-07-2018, 06:24 PM
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Master
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 15,603
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain95
To you in 2018 yea. To Bodhidharma no. The word and concept "energy" did not exist yet.
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Ok I will try and explain once more as I would to a child.
Energy is a word that we who speak English use, in Chinese it is called ' Chi ' in Japanese it's called ' Ki ' other languages you can google yourself.
So Bodhidharma used ' Chi ' because he was in China so we could say Bodhidharma taught ' Chi Practices ' Now why did he teach these ' Chi Practices ' ....
He observed the Shaolin Monks where falling asleep during Meditation because they had no ' Energy ' or no ' Chi '. He invented a set of exercises to enhance their ' Energy ' or ' Chi ' These practices are called 'Energy 'or ' Chi Practises or Qigong.
What is Qigong?
Qigong is an ancient energy practice passed down by ancient masters who understood the interconnections inherent in the Universe and between man and nature. They understood how certain movements and postures could rebalance the body, mind, and spirit by connecting to Universal energy. The life force or energy that animates everything in the universe and your body is the very essence of Qigong. It’s no surprise to learn that TCM doctors were Qigong masters. Qigong is not physical exercise. It moves beyond the muscle and tissue and works in your body at the energy level.
Hope this helps.
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20-07-2018, 06:26 PM
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Master
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,272
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sky123
Exactly......
He actually invented a Qigong Form..
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Wow, that would be very interesting and something new that I had never thought about. Would you be able to find a scholarly reference for this to show us?
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20-07-2018, 06:27 PM
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Master
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 15,603
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain95
Yea it wasn't you, somebody else was asserting that. I guess the subject of martial arts came up now and whether that means he taught energy work....
Seems to me, from reading his long quotes, he taught Zen.... doesn't seem like his martial arts stuff was very important to him. Doesn't seem to have ever written about it. It was probably seen as a physical fitness and self defense type thing as it is in a lot of modern Zen temples.
The monk I saw in the youtube video was like, ok done meditating, now we go do 2 hours of kung fu.... he was laughing as he did it. It seemed to be fun for him.
It's a part of their day. They can't sit in Zazen 24/7. They need exercise. It's actually a good exercise for "staying thought free" within and self aware. The movements require a lot of self awareness and focus on the now.
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He never taught Martial Arts to defend oneself, he taught it to enhance their ' Energy ' or ' Chi '.
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20-07-2018, 06:28 PM
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Posts: 901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Imzadi
My own personal understanding of "energy" as it relates to Spirituality is that it can sometimes be roughly synonymous to words/terms like Consciousness, Divine Love, Life (life force), Presence, Awareness, Vitality, Spiritual Force, Being, Authentic self etc. All those are just terminology that comes to my mind when I practice Qi Gong in martial art, in healing work, and in Spiritual development. However, I like to say that no amount of terminology can ever capture the experience and the actualization of it. :)
P.S. This is just my experience and how I try to articulate it with a limited vocabulary. I'm certainly not saying Bodhidharma taught this to me, LOL
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Yea the word is not defined well when people use it now days that's for sure.
I just googled it and this came up:
Your therapist combines "angelic" energy with specific hand positions and light acupressure in various locations on the physical body. This treatment is ideal to clear accumulated energy blocks. Through releasing these blocks, you will begin to feel more self-empowered, spiritually connected, and able to move through life more easily. This treatment is done fully clothed.
50 minutes $90, 80 minutes $140
So for 100 bucks somebody clears your energy blocks.... lol
So say somebody believes in that stuff..... then they say.... hey Bodhidharma taught the same thing.....
Yea very wrong and misleading.
Bodhidharma was not in the business of selling "energy work." His Zen teaching was pretty straight forward. Whatever you do, be self aware and not focusing on thought or the mental world. Self awareness was his thing.
If you wanted to use some new word for it like energy. that did not exist in his time, it would be closer to "state of being." But then that's one way we use that word now days. We say, "wow that guy had negative energy!" Or we say, "Wow her energy was really calming and sweet!" Meaning the vibe we got off them, the feelings, what they were projecting by their state of being or consciousness.
Like some kid starts throwing a tantrum in a store because he wants candy and his mom says, "HEY CHANGE YOUR ENERGY!"
So yes Bodhidharma wanted us to change our state of being, our consciousness. So one could say he was doing "energy" work in that sense. Take your attention off your thought and thinking, you change in how you experience the world and in what "vibes" you give off. How you act and react changes.
Is this like all these modern "energy" work things people sell for $100 an hour like Integrated Energy Therapy, Reiki, or Kripalu Master-Level Energy Work, probably not.
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