10 August 2006

Subtle energies

On another forum, someone asked about Tai Chi. This was my answer, slightly amended:

The notion of moving energy within the subtle body is very ancient, and can be found in both the Indian and Chinese traditions.

The ancient Indian texts, as early as 800BCE, talk of raising the 'Brahma force' up through the hita (veins), later known as nadis, and out of the crown of the head, later known as the Sahasrara chakra.

In China, the Daoist mystical tradition, based on the teachings of Lao Tse, had a similar knowledge of the subtle body with their knowledge of chi (energy).

Clearing the subtle body in India included physical exercises that became known as Hatha yoga, and in China similar physical exercises became known as Tai Chi.

And to follow on, when the Chinese notion of subtle energy, or chi, reached Japan at the end of the 19th century, it became ki, thus Reiki (universal energy).

The key point is this: knowledge of the subtle system cannot be divorced from realisation (yoga). So, is the 'door' at the top of the head open?
If yes, then negative energy can be sent out of the subtle body, to be replaced by divine energy.
If no, or not yet, the negative energy cannot easily be disposed off, and hence moves around within the body or is transfered, via subtle attention, to others (as in reiki).

If we can give realisation/kundalini awakening to these subtle energy practitioners (of Tai Chi and of reiki) then that would be good, however meanwhile lets not get caught out by their negative energies.

As always let vibrational awareness be our guide.

4 comments:

eb大俠 said...

Jai Shri Mataji. I am not a Tai Chi or Reiki practioner myself but there seems to be some confusion between the two practices. Tai Chi is very different from Reiki. Tai Chi (of which meditation is also an important part) is an "exercise" which helps to balance a person physically, mentally and emotionally. The word Taichi or Taiji is the Chinese pronounciation, so the "chi" here doesn't mean "energy" (as opposed to the "chi" in "Chigong"). Taichi if translated literally means "supreme ultimate", and its symbol is the famous black and white yin-yang circle that symbolizes the 10 gurus of the void. So this "chi" has absolutely nothing to do with the "ki" in Reiki, which means "energy". I believe a lot of people are confusing Taichi with Chigong.

According to my understanding, Reiki has to do with some kind of "healing" where the practioner "heals" the patient with their "subtle energy". This involves some form of energy exchange which could affect the subtle system.

John Noyce said...

Much of what Eugena says is indeed true.

However, if you look at the early 20th century origins of Reiki there does seem to be a linkage to the earlier Daoist tradition. Falun Gong also 'borrows' from Daoist and other earlier Chinese traditions.

Just as there are multiple interpretations of Kundalini yoga and a variety of partial and incomplete 'knowledges' of the chakras coming out of India, so
there are also multiple interpretations of Chinese subtle energy traditions.

For those with access to a good university library, see
Kristofer Schipper, 'The Taoist body', History of Religions vol.17(3-4), 1978, pp355-386.
Also, for Tao as the Mother, see the published work of Ellen Marie Chen; the late Russian professor Evgueni
A.Tortchinov; the feminist historian Judith Chuan Xu; and the recent work of Catherine Despeux and Livia
Kohn, esp their 'Women in Daoism' (Three Pines Press, Cambridge, Mass, 2003). (I have some of these articles in pdf for the really keen...)

As ever, let vibrations be our guide!

John

John Noyce said...

I have uploaded some of these academic articles to:
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/historye4/

Please join with your YahooID, and mention when joining why you would like access to these articles.

John

Unknown said...

Hi! Do you have some data of the 1827 representation of the subtle body? In which text/ where can be found etc.
Thanks
A