As you may know, Sigung has called Sitaigung Ho as the master of mind (shen), while he admits himself being "only" a master of energy. I am not sure whether Sitaigung Ho had innovated or improved the arts he had learned from his Sifu(s), and maybe there is only very little room for anything like that on the mind level, but for sure we can see how Sigung has lit up the whole field of energy cultivation.
My central question now is what would constitute as the mastery of jing? How would a master of jing distinguish himself while presuming that the said master is also very much into triple cultivation. Sitaigung Lai is reputed to have had beautiful forms, but was he accomplished in terms of triple cultivation?
Here are some relevant quotes by Sigung on the topic of jing, so everyone can form their opinion according to their ability:
Waiting to read of your thoughts.
With sincere respect,
Olli
My central question now is what would constitute as the mastery of jing? How would a master of jing distinguish himself while presuming that the said master is also very much into triple cultivation. Sitaigung Lai is reputed to have had beautiful forms, but was he accomplished in terms of triple cultivation?
Here are some relevant quotes by Sigung on the topic of jing, so everyone can form their opinion according to their ability:
At first I too had difficulty understanding what “jing” was, despite my knowledge of Chinese and my practical experience relating to “jing”, “qi” (“chi”) and “shen”. Take these two common tenets, for example, which we put into practice in our kungfu training. “Internally, train jing, qi and shen”, and “The Crane form trains jing”. There is also a pertinent Chinese proverbs which says, “if you wish to excel in your art, you need your master to indicate jing to you”.
My education in English has been a great help, and my training in Zen has enabled me to see the meanings of “jing” as well as the confusion many people have. Incidentally this shows my great respect for Western education and culture, in case some people may mistakenly think that I belittle anything Western since I have arduously explained and promoted Eastern philosophy and wisdom.
“Jing” refers to “tiny, minute bits of substance”, whereas “qi” refers to energy, and “shen” to spirit. “Tiny, minute bits of substance” is a literal translation from Chinese. Had I not studied English literature I would not have understood this as “the finest essence of matter”, and had I not studied Western science I would not have understood this as “sub-atomic particles”. Western science also enables me to make sense of the frequent statements in chi kung classics that “qi is transformed into jing, and jing is transformed into qi”— something that I suspect many Chinese chi kung masters themselves may not understand the meaning beyond the words.
Hence, when we use the terms “jing”, “qi” and “shen” with reference to human beings, “jing” refers to the sub-atomic particles that make up the physical body, “qi” refers to the vital energy that works the body, and “shen” the spirit, mind, soul or consciousness that controls the energy and the physical body. When we say, ”internally, we train jing, qi and shen”, we mean we enhance the sub-atomic particles that makes up the physical body, enhance the energy, and enhance the spirit.
Someone may argue that when he trains weights to develop muscular strength, he is also training sub-atomic particles or “jing”. Similarly one can also argue logically that a table is a chair, or a stone is God. But that is not the normal way the terms “jing”, “table” and “God” are used. Language is a communication tool; we use it for our practical benefits — be it in kungfu or describing a beautiful sunset — not for confusing ourselves.
Then, how do we train “jing”, in contrast to using external methods like lifting weights, striking sandbags and hard conditioning? An excellent example is zhang zhuang, like “Golden Bridge” where we “consolidate” qi to jing, and generate tremendous internal force.
Many people sometimes forget that as Chinese and English use different vocabulary and imagery, it is often not possible to have a direct translation from one language into the other. In limited context, “jing” is translated as sperms. The underlying principles are the same. It refers to the sub-atomic particles that, in this case, make up spermatozoa. In other cases, it may make up a person's arm or other parts of his physical body.
"Pre-natal energy” is not “jing”, although the term is sometimes loosely used as such. The pre-natal energy of a person is the energy he has before he is born into the world. It is mainly derived from the energy of his father's sperm, and the energy of his mother's ovum. It is also derived from the energy of the place and time of conception, as well as the energy he gets from his mother while still in her womb. After he is born, the pre-natal energy is stored in the kidneys.
In other contexts the same Chinese character “jing” carrying the same concept may be better understood when translated differently into English. For example, when we practice the Crane forms in Shaolin Kungfu, we emphasize developing “jing”, or “the finest essence of matter”. Here, this “finest essence of matter” refers not to “spermatozoa” or “internal force” (such as developed by the Tiger forms), but to desirable qualities like elegance, tranquility and good balance.
My education in English has been a great help, and my training in Zen has enabled me to see the meanings of “jing” as well as the confusion many people have. Incidentally this shows my great respect for Western education and culture, in case some people may mistakenly think that I belittle anything Western since I have arduously explained and promoted Eastern philosophy and wisdom.
“Jing” refers to “tiny, minute bits of substance”, whereas “qi” refers to energy, and “shen” to spirit. “Tiny, minute bits of substance” is a literal translation from Chinese. Had I not studied English literature I would not have understood this as “the finest essence of matter”, and had I not studied Western science I would not have understood this as “sub-atomic particles”. Western science also enables me to make sense of the frequent statements in chi kung classics that “qi is transformed into jing, and jing is transformed into qi”— something that I suspect many Chinese chi kung masters themselves may not understand the meaning beyond the words.
Hence, when we use the terms “jing”, “qi” and “shen” with reference to human beings, “jing” refers to the sub-atomic particles that make up the physical body, “qi” refers to the vital energy that works the body, and “shen” the spirit, mind, soul or consciousness that controls the energy and the physical body. When we say, ”internally, we train jing, qi and shen”, we mean we enhance the sub-atomic particles that makes up the physical body, enhance the energy, and enhance the spirit.
Someone may argue that when he trains weights to develop muscular strength, he is also training sub-atomic particles or “jing”. Similarly one can also argue logically that a table is a chair, or a stone is God. But that is not the normal way the terms “jing”, “table” and “God” are used. Language is a communication tool; we use it for our practical benefits — be it in kungfu or describing a beautiful sunset — not for confusing ourselves.
Then, how do we train “jing”, in contrast to using external methods like lifting weights, striking sandbags and hard conditioning? An excellent example is zhang zhuang, like “Golden Bridge” where we “consolidate” qi to jing, and generate tremendous internal force.
Many people sometimes forget that as Chinese and English use different vocabulary and imagery, it is often not possible to have a direct translation from one language into the other. In limited context, “jing” is translated as sperms. The underlying principles are the same. It refers to the sub-atomic particles that, in this case, make up spermatozoa. In other cases, it may make up a person's arm or other parts of his physical body.
"Pre-natal energy” is not “jing”, although the term is sometimes loosely used as such. The pre-natal energy of a person is the energy he has before he is born into the world. It is mainly derived from the energy of his father's sperm, and the energy of his mother's ovum. It is also derived from the energy of the place and time of conception, as well as the energy he gets from his mother while still in her womb. After he is born, the pre-natal energy is stored in the kidneys.
In other contexts the same Chinese character “jing” carrying the same concept may be better understood when translated differently into English. For example, when we practice the Crane forms in Shaolin Kungfu, we emphasize developing “jing”, or “the finest essence of matter”. Here, this “finest essence of matter” refers not to “spermatozoa” or “internal force” (such as developed by the Tiger forms), but to desirable qualities like elegance, tranquility and good balance.
The Crane is reputed to train "jing". The term "jing" is tricky, even in Chinese. When translated into English or other languages, the confusion increases.
As explained earlier, "jing" here means essence, and includes qualities like effectiveness, balance and elegance.
"Jing" in this context is different from "jing" in the context of "jing, qi (chi), shen", though they are closely related. In the context of "jing, qi, shen", "jing" refers to the finest aspect of the physical. In modern language it refers to sub-atomic particles. "Qi" is energy, and "shen" refers to spirit, or mind, or consciousness.
I believe I am the first, as far as I know, to translate "jing" as "sub-atomic particles". This doesn't mean the early masters did not have the concept of sub-atomic particles. They did, and named the concept "jing". The terms "sub-atomic particles" came much later from Western science. Having the advantage of training n both Eastern philosophy and Western science, I am able to relate "jing" with "sub-atomic particles" to make the meaning clearer to modern public.
Please bear in mind that jing, qi and shen are integrated. In other words, even when we train only one of the three aspects, the other two are involved. But for easier understanding, I shall explain the three aspects separately.
From the perspective of jing or physical aspect, the purpose of training Crane patterns is to attain effectiveness, balance and elegance. This does not means that effectiveness, balance and elegance are not found in the training of other patterns, or the Crane patterns do not have other benefits like mental clarity and internal force. Hence, if one is ineffective or clumsy when performing a Crane pattern, he misses its essence.
An excellent pattern for the purpose of this training is "White Crane Flaps Wings". Do not perform the pattern just once. Perform it many times in different directions. Or perform it in combination with other patterns.
Another excellent training method is to perform a double jumping organ-kick. You should be elegant while in the air, stable when landing, and achieving the purpose of the training, like having good balance, precision in your kicks, or achieving good timing and spacing.
From the perspective of qi or energy, the purpose of Crane training is to have your qi stabilized at the dan tian, yet gently flowing. The focus is more on stability than on flow. You should be able to explode force suddenly and fast, yet remaining calm and composed. This is known as "lang keng" (Cantonese), which literally means "cold-force". .
For example, while engaging your opponent, you suddenly blast his genitals if you want to be nasty, or break his shin with a kick, without him even noticing that you have moved your leg. Or you remain at a poise-pattern. When an opponent moves in to attack, he finds that you have moved back a step or to another position, but you still remain at the same poise-pattern as if you had not moved.
The secret is in the breathing and the control of energy flow. Generally breath in when you move and breathe out when you settle down. But your breathing, like that of a crane, is so gentle that others may not notice it.
From the perspective of shen or spirit, the purpose is to attain a mind that is sharp and quick, yet serene and crystal clear so that you can direct your energy flow and physical movements swiftly and effortlessly.
You mind is so clear that you can pick up an opponent's thoughts and energy even before he makes any physical movements. This may sound bizarre to other people, but many of our advanced students have attained this skill. They know their partners' movements beforehand in free sparring.
[...]
The Crane is represented by essence, which is a tricky word open to many interpretation and mis-interpretation, especially when it is translated into English and other languages and when the readers or listeners do not understand the naunces of the Chinese term. In Chinese context, essence means the best in its purest and simplest form. Hence, Crane patterns are characterized by cost-effectiveness, balance and elegance.
http://shaolin.org/answers/ans11a/apr11-1.html
As explained earlier, "jing" here means essence, and includes qualities like effectiveness, balance and elegance.
"Jing" in this context is different from "jing" in the context of "jing, qi (chi), shen", though they are closely related. In the context of "jing, qi, shen", "jing" refers to the finest aspect of the physical. In modern language it refers to sub-atomic particles. "Qi" is energy, and "shen" refers to spirit, or mind, or consciousness.
I believe I am the first, as far as I know, to translate "jing" as "sub-atomic particles". This doesn't mean the early masters did not have the concept of sub-atomic particles. They did, and named the concept "jing". The terms "sub-atomic particles" came much later from Western science. Having the advantage of training n both Eastern philosophy and Western science, I am able to relate "jing" with "sub-atomic particles" to make the meaning clearer to modern public.
Please bear in mind that jing, qi and shen are integrated. In other words, even when we train only one of the three aspects, the other two are involved. But for easier understanding, I shall explain the three aspects separately.
From the perspective of jing or physical aspect, the purpose of training Crane patterns is to attain effectiveness, balance and elegance. This does not means that effectiveness, balance and elegance are not found in the training of other patterns, or the Crane patterns do not have other benefits like mental clarity and internal force. Hence, if one is ineffective or clumsy when performing a Crane pattern, he misses its essence.
An excellent pattern for the purpose of this training is "White Crane Flaps Wings". Do not perform the pattern just once. Perform it many times in different directions. Or perform it in combination with other patterns.
Another excellent training method is to perform a double jumping organ-kick. You should be elegant while in the air, stable when landing, and achieving the purpose of the training, like having good balance, precision in your kicks, or achieving good timing and spacing.
From the perspective of qi or energy, the purpose of Crane training is to have your qi stabilized at the dan tian, yet gently flowing. The focus is more on stability than on flow. You should be able to explode force suddenly and fast, yet remaining calm and composed. This is known as "lang keng" (Cantonese), which literally means "cold-force". .
For example, while engaging your opponent, you suddenly blast his genitals if you want to be nasty, or break his shin with a kick, without him even noticing that you have moved your leg. Or you remain at a poise-pattern. When an opponent moves in to attack, he finds that you have moved back a step or to another position, but you still remain at the same poise-pattern as if you had not moved.
The secret is in the breathing and the control of energy flow. Generally breath in when you move and breathe out when you settle down. But your breathing, like that of a crane, is so gentle that others may not notice it.
From the perspective of shen or spirit, the purpose is to attain a mind that is sharp and quick, yet serene and crystal clear so that you can direct your energy flow and physical movements swiftly and effortlessly.
You mind is so clear that you can pick up an opponent's thoughts and energy even before he makes any physical movements. This may sound bizarre to other people, but many of our advanced students have attained this skill. They know their partners' movements beforehand in free sparring.
[...]
The Crane is represented by essence, which is a tricky word open to many interpretation and mis-interpretation, especially when it is translated into English and other languages and when the readers or listeners do not understand the naunces of the Chinese term. In Chinese context, essence means the best in its purest and simplest form. Hence, Crane patterns are characterized by cost-effectiveness, balance and elegance.
http://shaolin.org/answers/ans11a/apr11-1.html
I first knew about jing, qi shen in my teens when I read kungfu classics during the time I was learning Shaolin Kungfu from Uncle Righteousness. But at that time I did not fully understand the meaning of jing, wi and shen. I only knew that good kungfu was not just about fighting. It was triple cultivation of jing, qi and shen, or the physical body, energy and spirit. But I did not understand how to cultivate jing, qi and shen.
Like most people, including most Chinese, the term "jing" was most problematic. I knew jing referred to the physical body, and that in good kungfu it was not just practicing physical kungfu forms but also train energy and spirit.
I heard of the expression, "internally train jing, shen, qi; externally train ken, gu, bi", which means "internally train physical body (as that was the meaning I understood jing to be), energy and spirit; externally train tendons, bones and skin". But I did not understand how by training the physical body one can train internally. I thought training the physical body was external training.
It was much later, after I had established Shaolin Wahnam Association, the forerunner of our school, Shaolin Wahnam Institute, that I had a better understanding of jing as the finest physical substance, so fine that we could not see with our naked eyes, which I translated into English as sub-atomic particulars. I also understood that a macro collection of jing, or sub-atomic particles, resulted the physical body. I believe I was the first person to describe jing in this way, to translate it as sub-atomic particles.
With this understanding of jing as the finest physical substance, or sub-atomic particles, I realised that when we trained Horse-riding Stance or Golden Bridge, we strengthened jing, thus developing internal force. This gave me a clear idea why cultivating jing was internal training, as opposed to stretching muscles like in leg stretching exercise, hitting one's arms against a wooden dummy, or hitting sand-bags, which were cultivating ken, gu and be or tendons, bones and skin.
Like many people, including many Chinese, I first thought of qi as air. I thought, wrongly, that chi kung was a form of breathing exercise to regulate breathing of air. It is interesting that now even students in our school know that one can practice high-level chi kung without regulating his breathing. I asked my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, whether air flowed into our abdomen in Abdominal Breathing as I clearly felt qi flowing into my dan tian. My sifu answered that it was not air, and that qi was some form of electricity. People in the past, he explained, did not know of electricity, so they called it qi.
But I had no difficulty understanding why cultivating qi was internal training. My early chi kung training, however, was associated with breathing, though I knew that qi was not just air. When I trained Lifting the Sky and One-Finger Shooting Zen, for example, I had to regulate my breaths. It was much later, when I had started teaching chi kung in public and when I had understood the importance of entering into a chi kung state of mind, that I realised one could perform high-level chi kung without having to regulate the breath.
One of my earliest understanding of qi was through reading books on Chinese medicine written in Chinese. Stomach diseases were described as "wai hei pat chok" in Cantonese, or "wei qi bu zhu" in Mandarin, which word-for-word means "stomach functions not enough". I knew that here qi did not mean air, but functions. It was not that a person's stomach lacked air that made him sick, but that his stomach was not functioning properly.
In the first book I wrote (but the second to be published), Introduction to Shaolin Kungfu, I translated qi as intrinsic energy. I believe I was also the first person to use the term "intrinsic energy" to mean qi. I was quite happy that this term caught on, and a few people used intrinsic energy to describe qi. Later, like in The Art of Chi Kung and The Complete Book of Chinese Medicine, I translated qi as vital energy when found in persons, and as cosmic energy when found outside persons. Now I just use energy to mean qi.
Although of the three terms -- jing, qi shem -- shen was the most abstract, it did not present any problems. All the while I have understood and translated shen as spirit, soul, mind or consciousness, depending on the culture of the people using the terms. All these translations refer to the same concept -- the non-physical, real being -- though the connotations for some people may be different. A religious person referring to shen as soul will have quite different connotations to a scientist referring to shen as consciousness.
I was also aware that many spiritualists of the Indian tradition differentiated between mind and soul, and that Buddhists of the Theravada tradition did not believe in the soul. Many Westerners also shared the concepts of these two traditions. But in the Shaolin tradition, which follows the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the soul and the mind are the same, and are referred to in classical Chinese as "xin", which is translated as "heart".
In my writing on Buddhist philosophy, I have suggested that Buddhists believe in the soul, though some Buddhists, like Theravadins, call it the mind. The Buddha, for example, clearly stated that since the time he vowed to save the world when he and his mother were drown, had gone through 500 reincarnations to be finally reborn as Siddhatha Guatama and attained Enlightenment, and it was his same soul that had been reincarnated in different bodies.
I was also aware that cultivating shen was non-religious, and all religions dealt with shen, or spirit. Shen was also very important to people who did not believe in religion. Cultivating shen, which constituted internal training, would make those who were timid to be confident, afraid to be calm, agitated to be peaceful, and depressed to be contented.
It is also because of our success in the cultivation of shen that we have become very cost-effective.
Our understanding of jing, qi and shen has brought our training to an unprecedented high level. First integrated by the great Zhang San Feng many centuries ago but still not understood by many people, our training is not triple-cultivation separately but all at the same time. In other words, we do not merely cultivate jing, qi and shen at different times in our training, which by itself is great, but we cultivate jing, qi and shen simultaneously, which is even greater.
While most others abuse their body when they practice kungfu, have no experience of energy when they practice chi kung, do not train their spirit when they practice meditation, whenever we practice any kungfu, chi kung or meditation exercise, we cultivate our body, energy and spirit simultaneously.
http://shaolin.org/answers/ans16a/apr16-3.html
Like most people, including most Chinese, the term "jing" was most problematic. I knew jing referred to the physical body, and that in good kungfu it was not just practicing physical kungfu forms but also train energy and spirit.
I heard of the expression, "internally train jing, shen, qi; externally train ken, gu, bi", which means "internally train physical body (as that was the meaning I understood jing to be), energy and spirit; externally train tendons, bones and skin". But I did not understand how by training the physical body one can train internally. I thought training the physical body was external training.
It was much later, after I had established Shaolin Wahnam Association, the forerunner of our school, Shaolin Wahnam Institute, that I had a better understanding of jing as the finest physical substance, so fine that we could not see with our naked eyes, which I translated into English as sub-atomic particulars. I also understood that a macro collection of jing, or sub-atomic particles, resulted the physical body. I believe I was the first person to describe jing in this way, to translate it as sub-atomic particles.
With this understanding of jing as the finest physical substance, or sub-atomic particles, I realised that when we trained Horse-riding Stance or Golden Bridge, we strengthened jing, thus developing internal force. This gave me a clear idea why cultivating jing was internal training, as opposed to stretching muscles like in leg stretching exercise, hitting one's arms against a wooden dummy, or hitting sand-bags, which were cultivating ken, gu and be or tendons, bones and skin.
Like many people, including many Chinese, I first thought of qi as air. I thought, wrongly, that chi kung was a form of breathing exercise to regulate breathing of air. It is interesting that now even students in our school know that one can practice high-level chi kung without regulating his breathing. I asked my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, whether air flowed into our abdomen in Abdominal Breathing as I clearly felt qi flowing into my dan tian. My sifu answered that it was not air, and that qi was some form of electricity. People in the past, he explained, did not know of electricity, so they called it qi.
But I had no difficulty understanding why cultivating qi was internal training. My early chi kung training, however, was associated with breathing, though I knew that qi was not just air. When I trained Lifting the Sky and One-Finger Shooting Zen, for example, I had to regulate my breaths. It was much later, when I had started teaching chi kung in public and when I had understood the importance of entering into a chi kung state of mind, that I realised one could perform high-level chi kung without having to regulate the breath.
One of my earliest understanding of qi was through reading books on Chinese medicine written in Chinese. Stomach diseases were described as "wai hei pat chok" in Cantonese, or "wei qi bu zhu" in Mandarin, which word-for-word means "stomach functions not enough". I knew that here qi did not mean air, but functions. It was not that a person's stomach lacked air that made him sick, but that his stomach was not functioning properly.
In the first book I wrote (but the second to be published), Introduction to Shaolin Kungfu, I translated qi as intrinsic energy. I believe I was also the first person to use the term "intrinsic energy" to mean qi. I was quite happy that this term caught on, and a few people used intrinsic energy to describe qi. Later, like in The Art of Chi Kung and The Complete Book of Chinese Medicine, I translated qi as vital energy when found in persons, and as cosmic energy when found outside persons. Now I just use energy to mean qi.
Although of the three terms -- jing, qi shem -- shen was the most abstract, it did not present any problems. All the while I have understood and translated shen as spirit, soul, mind or consciousness, depending on the culture of the people using the terms. All these translations refer to the same concept -- the non-physical, real being -- though the connotations for some people may be different. A religious person referring to shen as soul will have quite different connotations to a scientist referring to shen as consciousness.
I was also aware that many spiritualists of the Indian tradition differentiated between mind and soul, and that Buddhists of the Theravada tradition did not believe in the soul. Many Westerners also shared the concepts of these two traditions. But in the Shaolin tradition, which follows the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the soul and the mind are the same, and are referred to in classical Chinese as "xin", which is translated as "heart".
In my writing on Buddhist philosophy, I have suggested that Buddhists believe in the soul, though some Buddhists, like Theravadins, call it the mind. The Buddha, for example, clearly stated that since the time he vowed to save the world when he and his mother were drown, had gone through 500 reincarnations to be finally reborn as Siddhatha Guatama and attained Enlightenment, and it was his same soul that had been reincarnated in different bodies.
I was also aware that cultivating shen was non-religious, and all religions dealt with shen, or spirit. Shen was also very important to people who did not believe in religion. Cultivating shen, which constituted internal training, would make those who were timid to be confident, afraid to be calm, agitated to be peaceful, and depressed to be contented.
It is also because of our success in the cultivation of shen that we have become very cost-effective.
Our understanding of jing, qi and shen has brought our training to an unprecedented high level. First integrated by the great Zhang San Feng many centuries ago but still not understood by many people, our training is not triple-cultivation separately but all at the same time. In other words, we do not merely cultivate jing, qi and shen at different times in our training, which by itself is great, but we cultivate jing, qi and shen simultaneously, which is even greater.
While most others abuse their body when they practice kungfu, have no experience of energy when they practice chi kung, do not train their spirit when they practice meditation, whenever we practice any kungfu, chi kung or meditation exercise, we cultivate our body, energy and spirit simultaneously.
http://shaolin.org/answers/ans16a/apr16-3.html
In the internal training of jing or essence, a practitioner enters into a heightened state of mind and remains in a special poise, usually, static, to let his sub-atomic particles be charged with energy. A good example is Golden Bridge. As a result the practitioner becomes powerful, without having to tense his muscles, and is able to perform more efficiently any activities, especially physical activities, including sparring and demonstrations like breaking bricks.
In the internal training of qi or energy, a practitioner enters into a heightened state of mind and often, but nor necessarily, remains in a static poise to regulate his energy flow, often mistranslated as breathing, to enable the energy flow to harmonious and vigorous. A good example is Abdominal Breathing. As a result, the practitioner has a lot of energy which gives him good health, vitality and longevity.
In the internal training of shen or mind, a practitioner enters into a heightened state of consciousness, lets his energy flow be spontaneous, usually but not necessarily always in a static position like standing upright or seated in a lotus position, and cultivates his mind by taming, building and nourishing it. A good example is Standing Meditation. As a result the practitioner attains mental freshness and clarity, and at higher levels, attain spiritual awakenings irrespective of religion.
http://www.shaolin.org/general-2/int...l-force08.html
In the internal training of qi or energy, a practitioner enters into a heightened state of mind and often, but nor necessarily, remains in a static poise to regulate his energy flow, often mistranslated as breathing, to enable the energy flow to harmonious and vigorous. A good example is Abdominal Breathing. As a result, the practitioner has a lot of energy which gives him good health, vitality and longevity.
In the internal training of shen or mind, a practitioner enters into a heightened state of consciousness, lets his energy flow be spontaneous, usually but not necessarily always in a static position like standing upright or seated in a lotus position, and cultivates his mind by taming, building and nourishing it. A good example is Standing Meditation. As a result the practitioner attains mental freshness and clarity, and at higher levels, attain spiritual awakenings irrespective of religion.
http://www.shaolin.org/general-2/int...l-force08.html
With sincere respect,
Olli
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