Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Cleansing, Building, Nourishing: Which Is Strongest For You These Days?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Cleansing, Building, Nourishing: Which Is Strongest For You These Days?

    Dear Family and Friends,

    I present another poll:

    Which Process Is Strongest For You These Days: Cleansing, Building, or Nourishing?

    Please refer to this marvellous thread in which our Sifu (Grandmaster Wong) answers questions on the topic.

    In particular, the below explanation by Sifu Wong may help you decide which process predominates in your recent practice.


    There are numerous ways to classify one's progress in chi kung training.

    One helpful way is to classify the progress as cleansing, building and nourishing. The cleansing process clears blockage, overcoming pain and illness. The building process increases the volume and flow of energy, giving a practitioner vitality and longevity. The nourishing process enhances the quality of energy, giving a practitioner mental freshness and spiritual joys.

    While the progress is in ascending order from cleansing to building to nourishing, all the three aspects also operate at the same time. In other words, when a practitioner cleanses, he also builds and nourishes, and vice versa.

    Another way to classify the progress is medical and health, peak performance, and spiritual cultivation. This classification corresponds to the former classification of cleansing, and nourishing, except that the former focuses on the operation of chi flow whereas the latter focuses on its result.

    As a result of cleansing, one overcome illness and has good health. As a result of building, he attains peak performance. As a result of nourishing, he accomplishes spiritual fulfillment.

    These processes operate spontaneously, i.e.wu-wei, and in this order of development unless a practitioner directs it otherwise.

    In other words, if a practitioner is sick but at the same time he wants to do well in his work, his chi kung practice will naturally enable him to overcome his illness first before enable him to attain peak performance, i.e.it naturally cleanses before it builds.

    He may, if he has the necessary skills, direct his chi to build instead of to cleanse, i.e. for peak performance instead of for overcoming illness, but unless there is a good reason for this ad hoc purpose, is unwise to do so.

    So, it is best to let chi do its work on its own, conceptualized as wu-wei or spontaneity, as it will always work for our best benefit.

    We can also know whether chi is cleansing, building or nourishing from direct experience, just as when we drink water we know from direct experience that it is flowing down our throat, collected at our stomach or quenching our thirst. Someone who had no experience of chi, just as no experience of drinking water, would not know the difference.

    There are also signs to indicate the processes. When chi is cleansing, we may feel it flowing inside us and we may sometimes feel some pain, which we call good pain as we know it is doing us good. When chi is building, we feel it charging up every part of our body, and we feel stronger and full of vitality. When chi is nourishing us, we feel it is soothing and sometimes expanding, and we become peaceful and happy.

    However, if for some particular reasons he wishes to cleanse, build or nourish, he can tell the need as well as the result from direct experience. If he accidentally sustains a muscular sprain, for example, he knows from direct experience his need to direct chi to cleanse his blockage that causes the sprain. He also knows from direct experience that as a result of the cleansing he feels he has recovered from his injury.

    The effects of cleansing can sometimes be too strong for comfort, in which case we refer to it as over-cleansing. While cleansing causes good pain, over-cleansing causes bad pain, which may be harmful. Again we depend on direct experience to tell whether a pain is good or bad, just as we depend on our experience to tell whether the sour taste of an orange is the result of its being delicious or rotten.

    There is a thin line of difference between over-cleansing and deviation. Indeed, over-cleansing may be regarded as deviation, as the practice has deviated from being good to bringing harm.

    Nevertheless, we can often tell whether a deviation is due to over-training even when the training is correct, or wrong training even when a practitioner has trained for a short time.

    If he follows the instructions of the exercise carefully, like relaxing and not thinking of anything, but the effect is too strong for comfort relative to the time he has put into his training, it is over-training. If he ignores instructions, like keeping his mouth close and thinking of various thoughts, the effect is unpleasant even when he has put in a short time in his training, it is wrong training.

    He may also tell the difference between over-training or over-cleansing from wrong training by examining the result of the training. If he has been feeling good all the way, then feels miserable as if with no reasons, it Is likely to be over-training or over-cleansing. Toxic waste is coming too fast than his body can dispose it. He should slow down his training. If he feels miserable right at the start or whenever he trains, and the pain is often sharp, it is likely to be wrong practice. He should correct his techniques and skills.

    Despite the explanation here, most students may not have the knowledge and experience to tell the difference between over-cleansing or wrong practice, or whether his chi flow is deep rooted problem that he himself many not know. It is best to personally let a competent teacher see his practice and its result.
    Happy Polling!

    Yours,

    Charles
    16
    Cleansing
    56.25%
    9
    Building
    18.75%
    3
    Nourishing
    18.75%
    3
    I Don't Know
    6.25%
    1
    Charles David Chalmers
    Brunei Darussalam

  • #2
    Dear Charles,

    thank you very much for this interesting thread and the very good explanation from Sitaigung.

    Personally I’d say that I feel more the interconnectedness, especially of cleansing and building, as – being at beginners stage still – I can experience cleansing obviously; however I also experience building; and I feel cleansing and building each itself and also in parallel; also however with each step of building (increase in volume and flow of energy) comes automatically a ‘new round’ of cleansing, which does make sense to me.

    On a sidenote: in Sabah recently at the Intensive Chi Gung Course was talking with Paddy about India including the Hindu god’s Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and what they stand for; while reading Sitaigung’s explanation just noticed a similarity in these processes:

    Brahma – Creater/Creating – Building
    Vishnu – Maintainer/Maintaining – Nourishing
    Shiva – Destroyer/Destroying - Cleansing

    Thank you,
    Kind regards,
    Michael

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi Michael,

      Thanks for your reply.

      I'm curious as to which one you voted for.

      Yrs.

      Chas.
      Charles David Chalmers
      Brunei Darussalam

      Comment


      • #4
        Dear Charles,

        thank you for your reply and question. Didn't vote cause it feels like I can't say 'I don't know' on one hand and that I needed the option to vote for more than one 'category' on the other hand.

        Thank you,
        Best regards,
        Michael

        Comment


        • #5
          Hi there!

          Lately I have been experiencing increased intensity of cleansing because my chi flows have finally become very emotional. Still I would say that nourishing spirit is my predominate mode. The wonders I experience every day by simple gratitude and mercyfulness are nothing short of profound.

          With sincere respect,
          Olli

          Comment


          • #6
            Great thread Charles~
            Thank you for sharing Sifu's words. Despite having known the 'cleansing-building-nourishing' description for some time, it is great to read Sifu break it down again.

            I was perusing the forum briefly before bed when in fact Olli's post caught my eye so I came in here for a gander. Ahoy there Ollworthy! I must say that I am cleansing these days too. I seemed to be building before the Zen and Wudang Courses in Dublin, and felt supercharged in the 'build-up' to those courses (forgive the pun there^^) but since then, I edged into cleansing territory. I didn't quite understand how much extra force I was dealing with afterwards and tried to keep up my practice but started becoming quite emotional... I would actually say I was bordering on over-cleansing but fortunately Sifu's words on overtraining rang in my ears as well as Joan Sije's words to the same effect (truly blessed to have such a great Sifu whose words ring in my ear- just today I read on Damian Siheng's Facebook page an article about what makes a good master - WHAT a RELIEF to have been able to stop searching for a good master when I found Sifu and since then, what an immense blessing to have, I would reckon, one of the very very few genuinely great masters on this planet right now)(and luckier still that this master is accessible, speaks our language, agrees to teach us, TRAVELS to teach us....ANd it occurred to me recently, travels to teach us of a different culture, who often don't appreciate the preciousness of these amazing teachings when we start out. THAT is in actual fact, indescribably humbling because I am obliged to admit that when I first started, I was unable to quite comprehend that gold was literally being placed right into the palm of my hand... which compounds Sifu's generosity a thousand fold. For example, if you saw a poor man on the street and were about to give him money or means to slowly extricate himself from his plight but, just as you were about to give to him, you saw that he had no idea what you were really giving him, that he might not use the money at all because he didn't understand that it was a currency or that he might go into the shop with his million-euro bill, buy a packet of salt 'n' vinegar and then stroll out leaving the change behind him or that he might use it all but unwisely. Well, then, most of us wouldn't bother giving him the money~ Damian Siheng, thanks for reminding me of that).

            However, I digress. Cleansing! My cleansing experience at present has been rather interesting. As I realized that I was in danger of over-cleansing, I stopped everything. Then, very quickly, within about a day, the intensity of emotion subsided and I was feeling very connected and full of joy at the leaves, the trees, the grass, the open air. Then I felt like I was nourishing. Feeling grounded again, I would start my practice again and within a couple of days I would be back in the territory of emotional intensity, a slight edginess and a certain poignancy. I would stop and the cleansing would subside within about a day or two and then I would feel light and joyful again. This happened a few times so it seems with the jump up in level of internal force, there is a process of re-calibration which must be gone through. It certainly is beneficial to be particularly vigilant in the immediate aftermath of any course, especially an Intensive, for signs of cleansing. That is to say, if one restarts one's practice soon after an Intensive Course and is still cleansing and feeling emotional for an extended period after, it's a sign to stop and recalibrate your practice with your recently attained jump-up in level.

            Similar to what Olli mentioned about gratitude and profundity... sometimes it seems as if gratitude is vehicle and destination enough. To realize a state of ultimate gratefulness would be reward enough for all the time spent practicing (and we don't even spend that much time practicing compared to past masters cos our school's system is so ridiculously cost effective). Smiling from the Heart is it's own reward. To actually be in a position to talk about 'over-cleansing'!! when some ascetic monks and practitioners never even experience a chi-flow, a cosmic shower, merging with the cosmos, moving form with mind, all the direct or indirect result of cleansing... Simply to have the ability, method and teaching about how to cleanse... thanks for this thread Charles, and reminding me about the precious precious gold Sifu has given us. It never encapsulates the sentiment but from the bottom of this cleansing heart, thank you Sifu.

            Comment

            Working...
            X