Advice for Practice: "Think Nothing, Do Nothing"

The way the story goes, when one of my teacher's teachers first learned sitting meditation, the instructions he received were terse:

Sit upright and balanced with the legs crossed. Think nothing, do nothing.

This kind of simplicity of instruction is typical of Zen training, and of genuine meditation in general. You may think that following such an instruction is out of your reach, but if you've practiced Qigong with me, you actually have an experience of it already!

The instruction is about what you do with your will and your effort. It's not about stopping thoughts or freezing your body, though some practitioners do make that mistake. Consider that "thinking nothing" doesn't have to mean thoughts don't arise, and "doing nothing" doesn't mean that things stop happening. The instruction is about letting your effort rest, not forcing your thoughts any particular way, not forcing your actions any particular way, and allowing things to happen spontaneously. The wisdom of this principle is simple: when we abide in this state, our bodies and minds (and if you follow Buddhist and Daoist thinking, the whole world) naturally change to become healthier, stronger, and more harmonious.

We do this when we practice Qigong. It's the meditative state itself, relaxation and awareness, where we begin every session. It's the state of being that manifests as Flowing Breeze, Swaying Willow. It's both the method of correct practice and the result of correct practice. What would it feel like to live in this state all day long? How do you think your life would change?

Let this short writing remind you of what's important in good Qigong practice, and maybe what's important for life in general as well.

Advice for Practice: "One Disease, Long Life. No Disease, Short Life."

When a person receives a severe diagnosis, it can be a profound wake-up call. In a way, a sickness can be a blessing. It brings you back to yourself. You leave the ephemeral yearnings of modern life, with all its stress and vapidity, and return to your ancestral home: your body and mind. When you have and accept that you have a disease, an injury, a limitation, or something else along those lines, you take better care of yourself. Ironically, you may live a healthier life overall as a result!

On the other hand, if a person always goes around believing everything's fine and nothing is wrong with them, eventually they'll wind up in trouble! They're not paying attention.

This is the meaning of the proverb, "One Disease, Long Life. No Disease, Short Life." Don't be afraid to acknowledge your weaknesses; you'll always be better off than those who don't.

In meditation and in bodywork, awareness of a problem naturally begins the unconscious process of solving it. You can't relax your leg if you don't feel its tension, and you can't be open to a more positive mindset if you never fully meet the negative one.

Take good care of yourself, and I hope to see you at class sometime!

Advice for Practice: When you practice Qigong, the whole world practices Qigong.

Everything we are, we share with others. Our communal living experience is an economy of beliefs, memories, and feelings in constant circulation.

Do you ever get the feeling that someone's in a particular mood as soon as they step into the room? A little later you notice their posture, way of speaking, and so on, but for a brief moment, before all that other stuff, you just know.

We express ourselves in ways we aren't aware, and in ways that our science doesn't understand very well. What's more, our expression of ourselves influences others. We share our energy, and the people around us take it with them.

Practicing Qigong allows us to act as a purifier of energy for the world. If you enter your Qigong practice with a mean mood and emerge with a joyful one, that means the mean mood ended with you. Whatever energy created that feeling of meanness has been transformed, and what you pass on will be different. You've turned lead into gold.

I believe that authentically caring for your well-being is one of the most selfless things you can do. If you feel more relaxed, then everyone in your community feels more relaxed. If you feel more spacious, then everyone in your community feels more spacious. In the Buddhist perspective, every good practice session raises the enlightenment of the whole universe!

Advice for Practice: What does the word "Wholesome" mean to you?

Continuous, long-term Qigong practice gives us a special sense of the things in our lives that are really good for us: things that make us feel healthiest, happiest, and most in tune with the flow of the universe. The more we practice, the more we find ourselves naturally gravitating toward those things, without effort.

I like using the word "Wholesome" to describe this quality. As Qigong makes you feel more Whole, you become attracted to more wholesome things. When you think of the word "wholesome", what do you think of? What kinds of people? What kinds of experiences? What kinds of habits? Some of the things that come to mind may feel off-putting, like unwelcome chores. I think that feeling comes from the unbalanced, blocked parts of ourselves. You don't have to wrestle with that feeling as part of some superficial drama: just practice Qigong (or another genuine meditation practice) and as you feel more balanced within yourself, the habits and activities of your life will grow more balanced as well.

Happy Practicing,

Arun