January 2011 issue

VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 1 January 2011

Mastery Journal
The International Ezine on Mastery in Qigong, Internal Arts, and Life

What is Mastery?
By Lama Tantrapa

Giving 110% May Be Trying Too Hard
By John Munro

An Eye Opening Synchronicity
By Paul Levy

Feel with the Mind
By Jon Weston

Beware of Phony Gurus
By Phillip Scott

Exercises Most Ancient
By Mark Brophy

The Unity of Opposites in Life
By Gary Giamboi

January 2011 Bringing an
Volume 1 Issue 1 Emphasis to
* Introduction to Mastery Journal
Mastery
F
* This Month’s Articles and Mastery Seekers
or about ten years,
• What is Mastery? Page 3 we have been pub-
By Lama Tantrapa lishing Qi Dao news-
• Giving 110% May Be letter, which has over
Trying Too Hard Page 6 5,000 readers now. As
our little publication
By John Munro
grew through the years,
• An Eye Opening Synchronicity we have received numer-
Page 9 ous requests to make it
By Paul Levy available online as an
• Feel with the Mind Page 13 ezine – an online magazine. Some readers were interested
in being able to access the archived issues, others would
By Jon Weston
like to see more substantive articles or even multimedia.
• Exercises Most Ancient Page 15 The most persistent type of requests has always been
By Mark Brophy to make our newsletter more regular, since it used to be
• Beware of Phony Gurus Page 18 emailed sometimes bi-monthly, sometimes quarterly, but
By Phillip Scott never very consistently.
• The Unity of Opposites in Life

M y resolution to create an ezine got boosted by the
Page 20
By Gary Giamboi massive amount of audio and video materials that
I have accumulated by interviewing dozens of experts in
* Brought to you by:
Qigong and related disciplines for my Radio talk show The
Secrets of Qigong Masters over the last two years. Many
guests of the show are well-known authors, who gra-
ciously volunteered to contribute articles or write regular
* The Many Streams on Mastery columns for this publication. Naturally, I am delighted to
make the most recent episodes of my show available to the
* Academy of Qi Dao Website readers of this ezine, too. As we continue developing the
* The Secrets of Qigong Masters Mastery Journal, it will also include short video clips from
Online Audio Broadcast our forthcoming Internet TV program The Flow Show.

* Qigong Network Social

A
Networking Interface lthough most of our articles will allow comments, we
* Twitter, Facebook, Meetup, LinkedIn also created an online community portal QigongNet-
work providing opportunities for posting your own blog
* The Flow Show entries, discussion board posts, photos and even videos.
Please become a member of QigongNetwork and feel free
On the cover: “Steps to Mastery”, Thomas Pamelia, 2011 to share about your experiences with the Energy Arts or
Publisher: Lama Tantrapa any related disciplines. Additionally, you are welcome to
Production Designer: Thomas Pamelia
Editor: Kali Tara join the sister Qigong Networks on FaceBook and Linke-
Information is correct at press time. din. Join the social networking revolution catching up
Mastery Journal is published monthly by the Academy of Qi Dao in
with the ancient arts of energy mastery!
Portland, Oregon. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the official
company policy © 2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or
whole without permission is prohibited.

What Is Mastery? tently defeated when challenged, you have ways to
go.

Lama Tantrapa It takes years or perseverance and diligent training
to reach such a level of mastery, which is beyond
Serving as the producer and host of the talk show the comfort zone of the vast majority of aspiring
The Secrets of Qigong Masters, I have interviewed martial artists. Most enthusiasts also tend to dabble
many wonderful guests, many of whom are re- attempting to learn one style after another, qualify-
garded as Qigong masters (hence the name of the ing only to be called proverbial Jack of all trades,
show). One would think that everyone appearing
on my show must be a bona-fide master of Qigong,
Tai Chi, or some other related discipline; however,
this may not always be the case. It really depends
on the definition of Qigong Master and whom you
are talking to about it. I noticed that some of the
guests, despite being internationally recognized as
Qigong masters, do not feel comfortable wearing
this label and prefer to be called teacher or coach.
Others opt for the Chinese term Sifu, which is an
honorific way to address a teacher, which is some-
what similar to Sensei in Japanese. A few of them,
however, got so used to the title that they actually
prefer to be addressed Master such-and-such.

So, given all these discrepancies, who should we
call a Qigong master? To start with, let’s establish
that Master in this context means a person with a
high level of skill and knowledge. To quote one of
my guests named Jeff Smoley, a Master is a per-
son able to do something very difficult, that even
well trained people strain to do, and make it look
too easy; someone capable of teaching even the
most complex and difficult aspects of one’s art in a master of none. Throughout my career as a profes-
clear and concise manner. The reference to one’s sional martial artist, I also saw many of those, who
art form is not incidental here, since we are trying to claimed that they could defeat anyone, but in order
clarify the meaning of mastery in Qigong, which can to prove the point performed demonstrations of ka-
be translated into English as Energy Art. Observing tas or choreographed forms. In my humble opinion,
some masters in related disciplines may help us on doing forms may be a fine exercise, but it can never
our quest. make anyone a real master. But what can then?

There are several disciplines and art forms histori- In addition to perseverance, another crucial element
cally related to Qigong, including, but not limited of mastery seems to be proper training, preferably,
to Taiji, Bagua, Xing Yi, and other Internal Martial by a real master. As it were, having a role model
Arts. Perhaps, examining the ways people achieve of a master is essential for developing a student’s
a similar status of a master in those disciplines may mastery. Of course, mindlessly following the steps
help us determine who should be called a Qigong of even the best master would not lead you to any
master. Unlike most fields of studies, Martial Arts kind of authentic mastery. The way I explain this is
provide an excellent method for testing and distin- very simple: you become a master by learning to be
guishing those with high levels of mastery from all in the flow; and you can neither be in your flow nor
other practitioners. If you prevail over all or most of in your master’s flow, as long as you merely copy
your opponents, you qualify to be called a master in his steps, moves or mannerisms. Therefore, when
whatever style you specialize in. If you get consis- a true master is in the flow, he also serves as a role

model of authenticity at the same time.

I noticed that beginning students often view mas-
tery as a destination, while I view it as a continuous
process of becoming more and more masterful.
This journey has no final destination, because there
is always more to learn; however, as we prog-
ress along the path, we gain more experience. As
it were, the more experiences we have, the more
experienced we become. Generally speaking, being
experienced, which may mean being more knowl-
edgeable or skilled in our arts, is what sets masters
apart from the laymen, even though this division is
never clearly defined, always dependent on each
person’s point of view. What appears to be an
advanced skill to one practitioner may seem rather
basic to another.

So, how can you tell apart those, who achieved a
reasonable degree of mastery, from all others in-
volved in the same field of study? In my humble
opinion, the combination of creativity, audacity to
think outside the box, ability to integrate different
elements and areas of knowledge, as well as teach-
ing capability, sets apart an authentic master. Unlike
most musicians or fine artists, for instance, most
masters of Energy Arts are likely to apply their skills
to their daily lives, so the fine line between the art
and lifestyle disappears completely. In final analysis,
the more you embody and live your art, the greater
is your level of Qigong mastery.

Mastery eventually leads to transcending the de-
sire to compare oneself to others, which may be
deemed helpful or necessary on the initial stages
of this journey. Without any competition, it would
be virtually difficult to distinguish progress or find
motivation to persevere along the path. Without any
appealing goal, it would be difficult to maintain the
course. Yet, with practice, competition and goals
fade away, and the enjoyment of the process of
self-realization becomes the predominant driving
force of the true masters. This also distinguishes
authentic masters from those who seek recognition
from others, without which they would not believe in
their own mastery. This authenticity leads to self-re-
alization that, by definition, can only be experienced
internally. Of course, this also leads to realizing that
there is no such thing as self; but that would have to
be the topic for another article.

Master of
the Month
Lama Somananda Tantrapa is the 27th lin-
eage holder of Qi Dao, also known as Tibetan
Shamanic Qigong. He has been practicing
Qigong, Dream Yoga, Meditation, and Internal
Martial Arts for over thirty five years, primar-
ily trained by his Grandfather who was the
paragon of the Russian Martial Arts and Qi
Dao Grand Master. His background is complex
enough to include serving in the Soviet Army’s
Special Forces, being kidnapped in the Ukraine
and surviving several near-death experiences.

Lama Tantrapa was ordained as a Buddhist
monk in three different orders and initiated
into Subud spiritual brotherhood. In addition to
being a Tibetan Bon Lama, he studied with a
number of Qigong and kung-fu masters, great
teachers of Yoga and meditation, as well as
Native American, Hawaiian and Siberian Sha-
mans. He is also trained in Cultural Anthropol-
ogy, Meta-coaching, Hypnosis and NLP. When
living for two years on a small tropical island in
the Pacific, 7000 miles away from the major-
ity of his students and clients, he pioneered a
novel method of conducting Qi Dao sessions
over the Internet called Qigong Coaching. In the
last decade, he has provided wellness, peak
performance and life coaching to thousands of
people of all ages and from various walks of
life. He is also a bestselling author of several
Qi Dao books, executive producer of the film Qi
Dao – Tibetan Shamanic Qigong, creator of CD
albums Qi Dao Initiation and The Art of Being in
the Flow, publisher of the Basic Qi Dao Home
Study Course and other multimedia learning
materials available at www.qidao.org.

In addition to being the publisher of Mastery
Journal, Lama Tantrapa is also the host of the
Internet Radio talk show The Secrets of Qigong
Masters that you can enjoy at
www.blogtalkradio.com/qigongmasters.

Giving 110% our ligaments are not strong enough to support our limbs in
an extended position, the muscles will tighten up to restrict
the range of motion and prevent dislocation of the joint. If

May Be we attempt to lift a load which our body thinks is too heavy
and may tear the muscles involved, the nerves activating

Trying Too Hard the muscles will actually just switch off, causing us to drop
the load.These are a couple of physical examples of safety
mechanisms. We also develop these safety mechanisms
in other areas of our lives. If we are making ourselves too
John Munro busy we will often get a cold or other minor illness so that
we HAVE to take some time
How often do you hear the phrase, “Give it 100%” or out.
“110%?” Our culture places a lot of emphasis on effort.
We often go about our lives trying very hard to achieve all
manner of goals and objectives. We put great expectations Whenever we begin to
on ourselves to succeed and achieve and yet for many of exert ourselves too hard
us all this effort adds up to very little actual progress. Is it we start to run into these
safety mechanisms. If we
possible that all this effort is actually holding us back? do not pay attention to the
message the safety

mechanisms are sending
Let’s look a little closer at the statement “give 100%.” us, we will keep on running
Giving 100% is a good thing isn’t it? It means we have into them, and eventually
given our all to something, held nothing back, achieved the the mechanisms will start
kicking in earlier and earlier.
best possible results or does it? Our muscles will get tighter
and tighter, we will get sick
more often and easily. In the end it may seem like we are
getting nowhere, or worse, going backwards.
When an executive gives Ô100% to his job, working
long hours, not taking breaks, what happens? They may
succeed in their career in the short term, but their personal
So is it not good to exert ourselves; to put effort into
and family relationships will deteriorate. If they keep this up
accomplishing the things we want in life? Of course it is
they will have a much shorter career than they otherwise good, but the idea of giving 100% all the time is simply
might have as their health will also suffer. Have they really counterproductive.
succeeded?

A Better Way
When an athlete gives 100% at all their training sessions,
what happens? They may initially make some impressive
gains in performance and then often they will have injuries The Taoists (Taoism is an ancient branch of Chinese
or suffer recurring illness due to overtraining. They find that philosophy) have a maxim which states that we should only
their progress is hampered and rather than succeeding at ever exert ourselves 60%. Our modern understanding of
their sport they may eventually be forced to give it up. human physiology has some striking parallels. Muscles put
out the most force at about 60% of their maximum speed
of contraction. Muscles are also strongest at about 60% of
maximum length.
Physically whenever we exert ourselves to 100% of our
capacity we actually put ourselves in real danger. At 100%
of our capacity it only takes the slightest unexpected Have you ever watched an elite athlete at the top of their
occurrence to throw things completely out of kilter. A rubber game? Their movements seem almost effortless, even
band stretched to 100% of its possible length will snap with while they are doing things no-one else on the planet can
do. They have mastered relaxed exertion whereby putting
the slightest bump. The same goes for muscles at 100%
out just the right amount of effort, they actually accomplish
of load and nerves at 100% stimulation. Unconsciously the most. They make it look effortless, and in a sense it is,
we know this and so we develop safety mechanisms to mentally and physically they are relaxed and focused on
protect ourselves from being damaged by overexertion. If their goal, they call this being in The Zone. But they have

not got to this point without effort. They have normally put one or two, and so on. It will surprise you how quickly you
in many years of effort, slowly and steadily developing their remember them if you take it in small chunks.
skills and abilities, keeping their exertion levels such that
they can progress without running into too many internal
safety mechanisms or receiving too many injuries. In this
way their overall capacity is gradually developed until they Perform the exercises in a way that is comfortable but
can achieve relaxation, far more than they previously challenging to you. Make your stance high enough that the
could when giving 100%. exercises are comfortable, but low enough that your legs
gradually strengthen and your posture improves.

Extend your movements so that you feel a slight stretch at
Just like the story of the tortoise and the hare, to succeed the end of each movement.
in life we generally find that we get further in the long run
by putting in a sustained maintainable effort than by short
fits and starts of extreme exertion. We need to consider our
overall goals and how they fit together in the bigger picture
of our life. In this way we can make sure that our steady
efforts take us where we want to go rather than rushing
around expending a lot of energy on things that actually
slow down our progress. Our slow and steady efforts will
yield great success when they are pointed in the right
direction and sustained over a period of time.

So should we never give 100%?

There are times when we need to give 100%. We’ve
all heard of mothers who have lifted cars that were trapping
their children underneath and other stories of human
capabilities under extreme circumstances. At times like
this our bodies naturally turn off all the safety mechanisms
because the importance of the outcome outweighs the
dangers of 100% exertion. These situations should be
rare though, the rest of the time we will achieve the most by
exerting ourselves in a relaxed way.

So how does this apply to our Qigong practice?

Qigong is something that has the potential to greatly
enhance your health and wellbeing throughout your entire
life. In terms of life goals, it is well worthwhile to begin
putting effort in now for the rewards you will reap in years to Perform the exercises at a pace that suits YOUR breathing.
come. Abilities in qigong take time to develop, forcing and In a class setting you will usually go at the same pace as the
pushing yourself will not help you to get their faster. rest of the class most of the time. Hopefully it is a pace you
Steady sustained effort will be rewarded with surprising are comfortable with. When you are practicing by yourself
benefits over years of practice. you can suit the pace to your own breathing capacity. Never
get to the stage that you feel like you should be gasping for
breath. Keep it comfortable and gradually your breathing will
naturally slow down and deepen.
Practicing qigong is a great example of slow and
steady wins the race.
In developing your awareness of energy, do not try to force
it. Accept that you feel what you feel, or don’t feel what you
If you are learning a set of exercises, don’t worry about don’t feel. When you do feel something, accept this and
learning them all at once, learn one or two, then another work with it, in time it will grow.

Don’t compare yourself to others, except to learn from them.
Accept that you are at the level you are at, work from there
towards improving.

Have realistic expectations about your qigong practice.
Progress tends to come little by little, with the occasional
breakthrough now and then.

Be consistent and regularly schedule time in your day
to practice qigong. It may only be 10 minutes at a time, but
a little done regularly will yield great results over time.

John Munro is a Qigong and kung fu teacher based in
Auckland, New Zealand. He is the author of ‘Qigong:
Foundation Practices – Twelve Health Exercises From
The Wah Family Style’ and ‘The Tiger Within: Practical
Self Defense In A Modern World – How To Bring Out
Your Inner Tiger When You Need It Most’.

Along with his busy teaching schedule, John is also a
qualified personal trainer, traditional Chinese medicine
practitioner and an accomplished artist (sculpture). You
can contact him through his websites at:

www.developyourqi.com

www.longwhitecloudkungfu.com

www.johnmunrosculptor.com

An
life. After the fever subsided, I was never even remotely the
same, never to return to the seemingly normal life I had been

Eye-opening
living. It created enormous suffering for me, and yet, at the same
time, it’s what inspired me to find my calling.

Synchronicity
The only refuge that I had found that made me feel any bet-
ter from the overwhelming trauma was to step out of trying to
figure my way out of the suffering with my mind, and instead, to
simply watch what was happening inside of me, which is what
Paul Levy meditation is. For about a year and a half I began doing very
serious meditation practice called “vipassana,” known as “insight
meditation,” or the practice of mindfulness, as a way of dealing
When I was first introduced to the world of psychiatry in May of with my troubles. One day I was sitting in meditation and all of a
1981 at 24 years of age, I experienced a particularly unique syn- sudden, out of the blue, in one nano-second, a bolt of lightning
chronistic event that rocked my world and changed my life for- ignited in my brain. The lightning bolt didn’t come from outside
ever. I burst onto the scene of psychiatry in a dramatic way, as of myself, but originated from within the inner sky of my own
a life-transforming event happened within the very first minute mind-body. At the time I had no idea that being struck by a bolt
of my being admitted to my very first psychiatric hospital. I have of lightning, as with Zeus and his thunderbolts, symbolizes in
a very real edge around sharing this synchronicity with others, mythologies the world over the initiation of a spiritual process.
however, as it brigs up my fear of being pathologized, of being
told I that I am just hallucinating or imagining, or worse yet, that Within hours of being struck by that flash of lightning, I be-
I am crazy. This would just be a re-creation of the trauma earlier gan merging with the spontaneity of the present moment, and
in my life when I did share this experience with my parents, entered into an ec-static (beyond stasis) state. The next day I
friends and psychiatrists, and they did think I was crazy. This is began acting so unlike my ordinary, conditioned and repressed
why I’m more than a little gun-shy about sharing my story now. self that a close friend thought I was going crazy and had me
In the past I got really beat up for it, it seemed to upset just brought, by ambulance, to Highland Hospital in Oakland, Cali-
about everybody, and it got me in a lot of trouble. To get around fornia (please see my article, “We are all Shamans-in-Training”).
my fear, I’ve even imagined telling the story as if it was “just a I had so “let go” that I was just following the process and going
dream,” and didn’t actually happen in the so called waking state. along for the ride. I was stepping out of myself in such a way
But it did happen, at least in my experience. that every moment was synchronistically and effortlessly cre-
ative and full in a way I had hardly even imagined was possible
It feels like the right time to share this, as it feels like it’s not just previously. I had become unself-conscious, at one with myself,
my story. On the one hand, this synchronistic experience was as if I had stepped out of all restraints. It was as if I was re-
tailor-made just for me, while on the other hand, it wasn’t just my leased from any social conditioning, in that my actions were no
experience, a circumstance meant solely for my personal con- longer a reaction to what I thought others thought. As if snapping
sumption. It feels like it is a revelatory experience that contains out of a double-bind, I wasn’t limiting myself anymore. I wasn’t
gifts for all of us. It feels more right to share it now because it contracting against myself but simply getting out of my own way
has taken me this many years to digest it, and to integrate the to let my light shine, as if I went from being a 75 watt light-bulb
meaning of what was being shown to me so that I’d be able to to being a million watt bulb. This was a dangerous situation,
share the story without identifying with the role. It also feels like however, as at the time I certainly hadn’t yet developed the
the time is right to share this miraculous-seeming event because container within myself to channel this energy in a way that was
I’ve developed the psychological fluency so that I can now socially acceptable. I had so surrendered to what was happen-
describe what my experience was in a way that I imagine will be ing, which was the only thing that made sense to do, and the
received and taken in, instead of judged. Being archetypal, my only thing that I could do, that I had stopped trying to control the
synchronistic encounter is a self-reflection for all of us, revealing situation. Little did I realize that upon entering the hallowed halls
a process that exists deep within each one of us. of psychiatry, my life would be changed forever.

THE STORY In the very first room I was brought to in that hospital, some
sort of lounge for psychiatric patients, I saw among the group of
To place this event in context, a couple of years before this patients a blind woman, whom I immediately approached. Her
experience, I had suffered terrible abuse from the psychic hands eyes were a blind person’s eyes, opaque, with no color or radi-
of my father. The specific content is unimportant to the story I ance at all. Without any thought on my part, I went right up to
want to tell here. The salient feature is that I felt psychologically her and found myself staring at her eyes, saying over and over
violated to my very core. The emotional abuse was so toxic that the following words: “All you have to do to see is open your eyes
I literally woke up the day after one particularly bad incident and look.” These words were literally coming through me, having
with a fever, which from that day onwards lasted on and off, for fallen into my head, as if I was channeling them. I kept on get-
a year. I went to doctors and hospitals, and no one could find ting closer and closer to her as I repeated these words, looking
anything physically wrong with me. Over the years I’ve realized into her eyes all the while. What happened next, over the course
that the fever was my mind-body’s way of attempting to integrate of less than a minute, I will never forget. In front of my very eyes,
the overwhelming and shattering nature of the emotional trauma her eyes began regaining their color and luminosity, going from
I had endured. This abuse changed the trajectory of my whole the dead, diseased eyes of a blind person to normal, healthy,

seeing eyes. She had regained her sight. before I somehow “saw” this, as if a clairvoyant part of myself
had announced itself in a most eye-opening way. In addition, I
At that moment, as if divinely choreographed, a beautiful somehow knew just what to say and do, as if I had become a
woman doctor came into the room, gave me some pills to conduit for some deeper, healing force to play itself out in form.
swallow, and brought me into another room. The attendants It was also clear to me that it was no accident that she and I
then strapped me on to a bed, where I was bound hand and had come together. It was clearly a synchronistic meeting, one
foot. And there I spent the night. I remember lying there know- in which we were both playing roles in a deeper drama. As if we
ing I was going through a profound spiritual experience. It was were telepathically connected, within a few moments she says
hard not to realize this, after just having had the exchange with to me “Aren’t you going to answer the phone call from Roy?”
the now ex-blind woman. My encounter with her helped me to (my father’s name). These were, literally, the first words she
inwardly know that I wasn’t going crazy, but rather, was evi- spoke to me. Moments later the nurse came into the room and
dently going through some sort of spiritual awakening process. said my father was on the phone. Word had evidently reached
There is a correlation between abuse and spiritual awakening: my parents that their only child had been hospitalized with a
The seeming miraculousness of what had happened with the nervous breakdown.
blind woman feels inversely proportional to the horror of abuse

that I was passing through via my relationship with my father, STEPPING THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
as if they were inverted mirror images of each other. While tied
up, I remember feeling that whomever I would think of I was in While in the hospital I found myself in an absurd situation: I’m in
some way connecting to and “bringing along” on my awakening, the midst of a full-blown, life-changing spiritual awakening (see
so I kept on expanding my imagination of whom I could bring my article “Spiritual Emergence”) and the doctors are interview-
along until I began thinking of everyone I had ever known and ing me about my grasp on reality to see if I am crazy. In my
then some. Needless to say, I didn’t exactly get a normal night’s “enthusiastic” (en-theos means to be filled with spirit) sharing
sleep that evening. with them about the revelatory experience I was having, I can
only imagine how this certified in their minds that I was crazy.
When this event happened with the blind woman, I couldn’t pos-
The next morning, after I was unstrapped, I was brought to a sibly have been prepared for the energies that this synchronicity
room and the only other person in the room, sitting across a helped to unleash, both within myself and in the field around
table from me, was, coincidentally, that same ex-blind woman. me. Not having had time to integrate the overwhelming mystical
She’s looking at me and lovingly smiling from ear to ear, not experience that I was having, I was “crazy” not to realize that I
having said one word to me as of yet. All of a sudden, it was as shouldn’t be talking about my religious experience with people
if a closed fist in my heart completely opened. It was perfectly who were still entrained in consensus reality.
clear to me that this was my heart chakra blossoming. This is
described in spiritual literature as the opening of a thousand- I was let out of the hospital after three days, however, once I
petaled lotus, and though I had never had this happen to me realized that if I simply appeared normal and talked about my
before, it was an experience that I immediately recognized. I problems, I could leave. When I got released from the hospital,
then had the spontaneous realization of what had happened whereas all of my friends and family thought I had suffered a
between us the day before. I intuitively understood that her eyes psychotic break from reality, I knew something very important
had been physically fine, it was just that she was not letting had happened. I intuitively sensed I needed to find someone to
herself open her (inner) eyes and look, which was “causing” talk to who would understand what had occurred. I found out
her blindness. It was like she was keeping her inner, psycho- that there was a Burmese Buddhist monk named U Silananda,
logical eyes closed, was choosing not to look, and this was who was living across the bay in San Francisco. I went to see
reflected through her apparent physical blindness. And the day him and told him what had happened. He said that I was in luck,

that one of the most spiritually developed practitioners of the Who was I in her dream, but a visionary part of herself that she
twentieth century in his tradition had just arrived in the Bay Area,was split-off from, and hence projected out and dreamed up into
and that I should go and get his blessings. Within the week I and as an in-sight-ful (dream) figure in her (waking) dream. As
was sitting at the feet of and being blessed by The Most Vener- if waiting for me to arrive, it was as if I had become drawn in
able Taungpulu Sayadaw, at 85 years old considered to be the and drafted into her dreaming process. It was as if I was sent by
greatest living Buddhist master of all of Burma. When I told him central casting because I was open and sensitive enough at that
what had happened with the blind woman, he didn’t think I was moment to simply pick up a role that was being dreamed up in
crazy, but recognized that I was in the midst of a spiritual unfold-the field, waiting for someone to give it full-embodied, incarnate
ment. form. Just like I was the living re-present-ative of a part of her-
self, at the same time, she was an embodied reflection of a blind
Over the next 16 months, I continued to have a series of over- part of myself. She symbolized the part of me that was refusing
the-top “non-consensus reality” experiences. Some of the expe- to look at something within myself. In healing her own blindness,
riences so defied the conventional laws of third dimensional time she also stood for the part of myself that was now stepping into
and space that they seemed physically impossible, as if they and embodying a new level of seeing, as if the blind part of my-
could only happen in a dream. Because I was still in the process self was regaining its sight.
of metabolizing what was happening to me, I was still learning
how to express my experiences in a way that didn’t upset the It was as if the blind woman was ready to heal her blindness,
applecart of consensus reality. As a result I was hospitalized and just needed a little reminder of what to do. Upon entering
at least three other times, as I tried to contain, understand and the scene I said my lines perfectly, with genuine aplomb, as if I
assimilate the deeper process that was happening both within knew the script, as if I had practiced for lifetimes. We stepped
me and in my outer life circumstances. Concretized by the psy- into each other’s waking dreams in such a way that our interac-
chiatric system as being mentally ill, the psychiatrists “hoped to tion was a re-presentation of what was going on inside of both
one day make me a functioning member of society” (please see of our psyches. At the same time that I was being dreamed up
my article “Psychiatry Almost Drove Me Crazy”). The event with by her to help her heal, she was being dreamed up to pick up
the blind woman was also a demarcation point in my relation- a (third) eye-opening role in my unconscious. We were collab-
ship with my family, who bought in hook, line and sinker to my oratively dreaming each other up, reciprocally co-arising relative
psychiatric diagnosis. From that moment on it was as if we were to each other, as if we were both contained within and expres-
living in two very different universes. Over the course of time my sions of a higher-dimensional process. This experience between
relationship with my family deteriorated, became more and more us was an epiphany in materialized form, a revelation in time
fractured, dis-connected, and estranged, until now, where I have encoded with catalytic information.
no “blood” family left. But I have a huge spiritual family, which
only continues to grow. The two of us were engaged in a mutual synchronicity that we
were sharing, not just as passive witnesses sitting in the audi-
My whole life changed from this synchronistic experience, as if I ence, but rather, we ourselves were the act-ive participants in
had given birth to a new part of myself. I was no longer living in our own living revelation. Though this experience seemed like
the same universe that I was in the moment before this experi- a miracle, with Biblical associations, it was actually a synchro-
ence. From that moment on, I was inhabiting a world of ex- nistic, auspicious co-incidence of factors, a synergistic con-
panded possibilities, where even the seemingly impossible now vergence of two beings coming together in a moment of time, re-
seemed possible. It was as if I had fallen through a rabbit hole, vealing a deeper, more fundamental creative process at play. At
stepped through the looking glass, or passed through a portal, that moment my relationship with that blind woman was the me-
and found myself playing a role in a cosmic, visionary drama dium through which a more grace-filled order of reality emerged
that certainly had my highest attention. and incarnated into the third dimension. She and I were just the
actors through which the deeper process clothed, in-formed,
DREAMWORK and revealed itself. Not being able to heal by ourselves, the two
of us were collaboratively helping each other to dream up our
Even though the situation with that blind woman actually hap- own healing. The archetype of the wounded healer had been
pened in waking life, it is quite profound to contemplate what constellated in the field between us. The relationship between
happened symbolically, as if it were a dream. To see our life in the two of us is a prototype, a microcosmic iteration of a fractal,
this way is to view the events in our life as if they are a dream of what is available to us en masse, as a species. Just like the
that a deeper part of us, what I call the “deeper, dreaming blind woman and I, we can come together and co-operatively
Self” is dreaming into materialized form in and as our life itself. help each other to heal and awaken.
Just like doing dreamwork on a night dream, we can then ask
ourselves, what is the meaning of this dream (i.e., our daily life Through this experience, a deeper order of reality was revealing
experience)? How would I interpret it? What parts of myself are itself while at the same time I was being used by it as one of its
embodied in the different dream characters that I meet as my life instruments of revelation. In other words, this deeper dimension
unfolds? wasn’t something separate from myself that I could objectively
contemplate, but rather, I was participating in its revelation of
The encounter with the blind woman was a waking dream that itself. I was enlisted in the service of being an instrument for
the two of us were collaboratively dreaming up together. Being something deeper to happen in the field. I am very clear that I
a mutually shared dream, we can look at what got dreamed up didn’t do anything special, but rather, that a miraculous-seeming
between us from either of our point’s of view (what dream char- event made itself apparent through a synchronistic encounter I
acter was I in her dream, and what part of myself was she?). had with another human being. “I” didn’t do anything, other than

to just be myself. There was no “I” healing anyone other than
just being spontaneously present to what arose in front of me. A long-time practitioner of Tibetan
There was no “I” in that in that moment, “I” was empty, an open- Buddhism, Paul Levy has intimate-
ing, simply allowing the universe to move through me so that ly studied with some of the greatest
healing could happen in the field. masters from Tibet and Burma and
serves as the coordinator of a Bud-
Over the years I’ve come to realize that what happened be- dhist center in Portland, Oregon.
tween the two of us, when contemplated symbolically, as if Deeply steeped in and inspired by
it were a dream, was revealing what is happening all of the the work of C. G. Jung, he is an
time, with everyone. With the majority of people, however, this innovator in the field of dreaming
dreaming process between us – in which people are simultane- (both night dreams as well as wak-
ously dreaming each other up while being dreamed up by each ing dreams). He has had innumerable articles published
other – is happening unconsciously in a way which usually just on consciousness, dreaming and spirituality, and has
continually reinforces each other’s limited, wounded identities. lectured about his work at various universities.
We are all co-dreaming with each other all the time, as we are
interconnected and interdependent in such a way that we only Paul is also the founder of the “Awakening in the Dream
ultimately exist in relation to each other, which is to say there is Community,” a group of people who mutually help each
no separation. In a nonlinear, acausal process that happens out- other to wake up to the dreamlike nature of the uni-
side of time, we are all dreaming each other up to play roles in verse. His work is the inspiration for the “Awakening in
each other’s waking lives. We can help each other to recognize the Dream Center,” a psycho-spiritual healing center in
this in a way which helps everyone. We are all dreaming up the Mexico. As visionary artist, he helps create an “Art-Hap-
deeper field as well as, concurrently, being dreamed up by it, a pening Called Global Awakening,” a work of living art in
process that Buddhism calls interdependent co-origination. which we, as a species, collaboratively help each other
to become lucid in the dream of life.
Every part of the universe is evoking, while simultaneously be-
ing evoked by, every other part. The event with the blind woman Paul has developed a unique and creative vehicle to
was a materialized crystallization in form revealing, literally introduce people to the dream-like nature of reality that
and symbolically, how we dream up our world, what I call “the he calls “The Dreaming Up Process,” which is based on
dreaming up process.” Encoded in what happened between the realization that the same dreaming mind that dreams
the blind woman and me is a revelation of the dreamlike nature our dreams at night is dreaming our life. He teaches
of our universe. Contemplating the experience with the blind this dreaming up process in “Awakening in the Dream
woman symbolically, as if it were a dream, was the key which Groups” where people who are awakening to the dream-
helped me to extract the blessing of what this situation was re- like nature of reality come together and collaboratively
vealing, becoming the seeds which later helped me to articulate help each other to wake up in the dream together.
and develop my life’s work.
Paul is also a visionary artist and a spiritually-informed
“All we have to do to see is open our eyes and look.” This is in political activist. He is the author of The Madness of
essence what I always find myself coming back to in one way George Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis.
or another in all of my writings. I notice that when I am working Feel free to pass this article along to a friend if you feel
with people, this is exactly what I am trying to get across – for so inspired. Please visit Paul’s website
us to simply open our eyes, so to speak, and see, i.e., to recog- www.awakeninthedream.com.
nize the dreamlike, and hence, creative nature of both ourselves You can contact him at paul@awakeninthedream.com
and our situation. It brings to mind the saying of Jesus from the
Gospel of Thomas, “The Father’s kingdom is spread out upon
the earth and people don’t see it.” All we have to do to see is
open our eyes and look. We teach what we need to learn. I am
in essence talking to myself. In finding the words I am helping
myself heal my own blindness.

Feel with
The Taoists call the mind the Monkey Mind. The reason why
they call it the monkey mind is it always gets into a lot of mis-
chief, because the monkey mind has to always do something.

the Mind
So, how do we slow this monkey mind down? The Taoists
can learn to observe, using the upper mind to slow down the
‘monkey mind’ by tricking the monkey mind. The monkey mind
Jon Weston says, “I can do anything”, but basically it is actually our own ego
saying it. We really cannot destroy the monkey mind because it
is us. So what do we do? The Taoists say, “Ah, I have to figure
When we look within, we begin to see what really is; and this is a way to trick the monkey mind.” The monkey mind likes to do
the beginning of your understanding of the Tao. That is the key something all the time; because it needs to be active; the mon-
factor and this takes the Mystery out of Mysticism. key mind needs something to do. So, in the meditation in the
Taoist system, what the Taoists actually do is ask the monkey
We look at the world in a way that we do not see what really is, mind to trace the thirty-two energy channels of the body.
because our entire thinking process is reversed from thinking
in the Tao. In other words, to live in the Tao we need to learn Of course the monkey mind says, “I can do that, no problem,”
to think in the Tao. In the West we learn to think with our minds because it is our ego, so the monkey mind reacts to stay active;
and feel with our hearts. In the Tao, we learn to think with our it is reacting to our request to do something because it is being
hearts and feel with our minds. challenged with its ego. It never wants not to do something,
In the West, what we are doing is training the mind to think or because that would show that it is inferior; it always wants to
make decisions. But what we should do is to let the mind do its show that it is superior; that it can do whatever it is that you
natural function which is to feel or observe. In the Tao we are requested. I can do this, I can do that. This is the process of
training the mind how to feel and observe. To use an allegory, reacting, instead of thinking, “Do I really want to do this or do
the mind is an observatory tower. How is it an observatory I not want to do this?” That is called conscious choice. But, as
tower? It observes what is, and that is what the Tao is all about. you go through life, you always think with the monkey mind and
you always react; we do things but we never ask ourselves why
We all know what it is to think with our mind; in the West we are we should do them, and do we really want to do them.
trained to think things out logically. In reality, that is not really But the Taoists understand this, and say to the monkey mind,
what the mind is really about. What the mind was made for was can you trace the thirty-two energy channels of the body? Of
to observe. It is like driving a car; who is driving the car, you or course the monkey mind says yes, because the monkey mind
the car? The car is the mind. The car is an instrument, so the wants the challenge, wants to be superior, using the ego. So
mind is an instrument. It is a tool; it does not have a mind of its the monkey mind says, OK great, what do I do? And the Tao-
own. So it has to know where to go. It is a function; it is a re- ists say, oh, no problem, just sit still and focus internally. Smile
trieving machine or station. In other words, messages are sent down, look down within yourself, and start to feel the first chan-
to the body or from the body, to go to the mind and then to an- nel of the body, the Functioning Channel by moving the energy
other part of the body. What the mind does is observe. Another down your body and then feel the energy coming up your spine,
word for observe is to feel or sense. This is the real purpose to the Governing Channel. So the monkey mind says, no prob-
feel or to observe. How it observes is through the five senses. lem, I can do this. Let’s go. So, you close your eyes and so the
This is the feeling process. monkey mind closes the eyes of the body and starts to focus
In the West, what we are doing is training the mind to think or within. As you start to focus within, you feel the energy moving
make decisions. But what we should do is to let the mind do its down the front of the body and up the spine. This is the Micro-
natural function which is to feel or observe. In the Tao we are cosmic Orbit, the two channels of the body. The energy moves
training the mind how to feel and observe. To use an allegory, in the belt channels and the thrusting channels, the bridge and
the mind is an observatory tower. How is it an observatory regulatory channels. The body starts to open up and you start
tower? It observes what is, and that is what the Tao is all about. to focus, using the upper mind, this monkey mind to observe in-
stead of think; this time to sense and feel what you are actually
We do not make a judgment on something, we witness it. We moving in the body.
see it for what it really is and the direction on what to do comes
from the heart. In other words, in order to do this we must learn And of course there is nothing there, because it is just energy.
to think with the heart. To feel with the heart or to think with the So, what happens when you give the monkey mind an oppor-
heart we have to slow down the mind. The way to slow the mind tunity or anything to try to do something active, what happens
down is through meditation. When you slow down the mind, you as the Taoists know, is that within the Yang or active energy
start to separate molecularly the two charges in the universe, there always will come Yin or non-activity. So within the yang
the positive and the negative, the electron and the proton; and, there is yin, and as the monkey mind is doing this activity, all of
as you slow down these two opposite forces separate, and a sudden it becomes blank, no mind. It loses consciousness.
as they separate there is a void. Consciously, the observatory In reality, what happens is, as the monkey mind starts to slow
tower (mind) enters this void inside. down it starts to enter the separation into the void and when it
enters into the void there is nothing and everything goes blank.
It is like driving a car at 90 miles an hour. When you look out the So for the first time, the active mind, this monkey mind gets rest
window, what do you see? Not a whole lot. But if you stop the and peace as it enters the void into nothingness.
car and start walking, now what do you see? A lot more, right!
This is how you start to connect with the vision within, or the

feeling or sense within yourself, this oneness. And so how do have any free choice. They do not have consciousness of what
you actually get connected with this? Well, what takes place is they are doing, and if you did not have a reaction, you would not
that the monkey mind says, yes, I can do this; I can do that and have the opportunity to make that conscious action.
starts to focus on these channels in the body. Then after about
ten minutes or so, the monkey mind says, Hey, wait a minute, I
think we have done enough of this, because the monkey mind
gets bored quickly. So you say, no problem. You open your eyes
and look around and half an hour has passed. So where did
the other twenty minutes go? What took place was the monkey
mind entered this activity trying to trace this nothingness in the
body, the molecular structure slowed down, there was a separa-
tion of the positive and negative charges in the molecular struc-
ture, and your consciousness or your observation went into this
void, the nothingness, the Wu Chi (as the Taoists call it), infinity,
God, or whatever you want to term it. It is as if you collected this
energy and entered nothingness. As it starts to connect with this
energy, it enters nothingness so everything goes blank.

For twenty minutes, everything just went blank; there was no
record of anything. You always know when you entered this void
because there was stillness within your body. You feel the con-
nection with the oneness of the universe, the connection with
the oneness of our infinite being. Now, the monkey mind says,
I do not know what happened, let us do it again sometime. So,
you do it again, and as you slowly start to work with this you
start to still this upper mind, and as you make stillness with the
upper mind, you start to connect with your true consciousness,
which is in the heart center. This energy will speak to you, not
verbally, but it will express itself in a feeling, and this is how you
learn to think with the heart. That gives you the direction in your
life.

Now, you are probably asking yourself. Why do we have this Jon Weston is the true “international man of mystery,”
monkey mind if it just gets in the way? Well, the reason we have who contributed to the massive success of master
it is we have ego, and that is why we are here on the planet. In Mantak Chia and his organization. In addition to W. U.
other words we thought we had a better way, swimming against Wei, Jon Weston wrote under the pen name Wei Tzu and
the river. We think we are going to develop our own ability, with co-authored Living in the Tao, the twelve Taoist poetry
a different approach to the universe. So, the Taoists say, you books of over 1,200 poems Emerald River expressing
can learn to flow with the river or you swim against the river. the feeling, essence and stillness of the Tao. He also
When you flow with the river, you actually learn how the river co-created with Mantak Chia the Universal Tao formula
flows and then you can connect with the energy. A Taoist learns cards, “Chi Cards” (6 sets of over 240 formulas) under
to flow with the river. You can swim against the river, which will the pen name
cause you pain and suffering and ultimately death, which is the The Professor – Master of Nothingness.
monkey mind, and that is most of the egos in the world. They
have an idea that they do not have to go down the river in that
direction. They are reacting, thinking they can do a better job.

However in reality, no matter what you do, going with the river or
against that river, you have still got to go down that river, be-
cause that is how the natural flow of the universe is. No matter
who you are, no matter what you do, you have got to go on that
river. That is the universal truth. So when you defy the river, you
are defying the whole aspect of our whole existence. That is our
ego, that is the separation. So, why do we have this ego? Well,
we have it to learn what to do and what not to do. When we
make that conscious choice and once we discover how to flow
with the river, we no longer react against the river. So, when you
make that positive realization you start to connect with yourself
on a conscious level. Without the difference you would not make
a conscious recognition of what is really taking place. That is
true with animals, they have a consciousness, but they flow
with the river, they do not react against the river and they do not

Exercises Most
hunger; sexual drive and insulin production are further reduced
allowing the body’s many functions to return to normal. Keeping

Ancient
the muscles and ligaments supple and strong also allow us
maintain good mobility and physical abilities well into old age.
Use it or loose it is ever so true when dealing with the muscles
Mark Brophy and sinews.

With the New Year approaching, the thoughts of New Year’s
resolutions are a dance in many people’s mind. Without a doubt Since ancient Chinese scholars didn’t have knowledge of our

many will be entertaining the idea of starting a new exercise endocrine system as we know it today, they came up with

regimen either to address a specific health concern or for general another theory for homeostasis or a body’s healthy balance.
overall well-being. It might surprise some people that some of The theory is based on a central yet simple idea is that the

the best and easiest exercises to learn that address specific whole universe, and thus the body, is full of a vital energy quality

health concerns or general wellness are some of the oldest ever call “qi” (pronounced “chee”). It’s the qi in qigong. Many other

recorded by man. healing modalities from all around the world all make reference
to this energy quality so the idea of qi is not unique to China. In
fact, on every continent in the world, you can find a reference to
In December 1973, near the town of Changsha in the Hunan
this vital energy with every indigenous tribe of people. What’s
Providence of China, archeologists working on the third tomb of a
interesting is some of these tribes have never interacted with
feudal family at Mawangdui uncovered a lacquer box containing
anyone outside of their own for hundreds of years, and yet these
scrolls of bamboo and silk that had been buried with a son of
independent groups all share the same core concept of the
the King Ma. The son’s recorded death and burial was 168 B.C.
existence of
Amongst the scrolls were a copy of Laozi’s Daode Jing and 15
vital energy in
different written manuscripts regarding ancient health longevity
the human body
techniques. The most important finding in the group was a scroll
for health and
entitled Daoyin Tu. This scroll contained 44 colored illustrations
vitality.
of human figures performing curative exercises together with
a brief description of the health benefits of each exercise. It is
these earliest recorded exercises that are the foundation that When you are

we in the modern age call Qigong. For those familiar with such healthy, the

well known Qigong routines such as Ba Dua Jin (Eight Piece energy (qi) is

Silk Brocade) or Yi Jin Jing (Bone Marrow Cleansing) one in constant

can immediately identify many of the postures and poses on movement and

the Daoyin Tu scroll. balance like
a gentle river.
Not to violent to
Before we get into the Chinese perspective of the benefits of
cause damage,
these exercises, it’s easy to see how any exercises that gently
but not too
exert and stretch the body can benefit overall health. Gentle
weak to cause
stretching combined with relaxation of the breath can further
drought. Illnesses and physical maladies occur when this energy
engage the body’s parasympathetic system, the system that
is out of balance. Energy moves through the body in various
actually turns off negative affects of the body’s natural stress
patterns including the well defined acupuncture medians. Qi is
response. During this reversal process, the body’s natural stress
to these meridians as water is to the garden hose. When there
hormones called gluccortoids, which when active, suppress
are energy blockages in the body, just like water running through

the hose, one side of the blockage is in an unhealthy excess obtain two health benefits at the same time. It should be noted
state and the other side is in an unhealthy deficient state. Gently that these Daoyin exercises are not solely found in Qigong.
moving and stretching the body in various ways allows us to Many of the same postures can be found in the three sisters of
smooth out the daily kinks and blockages that occur as a result the Chinese fighting arts, Xing Yi Quan, Bagua Zhang and one
of our lifestyle. the most famous Chinese arts of them all, Tai Chi Ch’uan.

This ancient idea of needing regular Ancient Chinese Scholar and Physician Hua Tuo (A.D. 110-207)
physical movement in our life is is often referred to as the “Father of Chinese Medicine”. Hua
extremely applicable today in our once said “The body should be exercised, but not to excess.
more modern and more static lifestyle. Exercise improves digestions and keeps the meridians clear of
Long commutes to work, sitting at a obstructions. In this way, the body will remain free of illness.A
desk or home pc for hours at a time door hinge does not rust if it is frequently used. Therefore
or any other overall inactivity can be ancient sages practiced dao-yin.” Daoyin, a.k.a. Qigong, can
more harmful to our health than we be a very easy way for people of all ages and health levels
realize. How many people do you to introduce mild and beneficial exercises into their life with
know that were relatively healthy before their retirement but very little effort. Most exercises can be done in the smallest of
over time subsequently developed more physical or nuisance spaces so dedicated workout facilities or additional accessories
health maladies due to a static retired lifestyle? Hypertension in aren’t necessary.
the elderly is often lowered by the introduction of simple daily
constitutional walks.
Many exercises take only a few minutes to complete and
yet when practiced a few times a day, reward the body with
The goals of Daoyin exercises are to not only keep the muscles cumulative results. Qigong is very easy to learn and that fact is
and sinew healthy by keeping them moving, but to stimulate the verified with the many DVD’s and books on the market. Although
parts of the body where qi flows in relation to the inner organs DVD’s and books are a great start, like any other activity, to
and viscera. Stretching the arms not only aides the muscles in really get the most benefit and information, one should seek out
the arms and shoulders but aides the energy flow in the Heart, a qualified and experienced instructor. Classes and workshops
Lung and Intestines as that is where the acupuncture meridians are starting all over with the New Year and now is a great time
for those organs reside. Therefore the reason for these very to begin an age old exercise regime for good health.
specific and unique Qigong postures is so the practitioner can

For over 20 years Mark Brophy has studied and
taught Marital & Healing Arts including Qigong
and Taiji. He’s a Certified Qigong Therapist with
The Chinese Healing Arts Center in Danbury, CT
and Certified Instructor with the Health Preserva-
tion Association in Albany, NY. Mark continues his
lifetime of learning and practicing these arts with
renowned author and teacher Ken Cohen at The
Qigong Research & Practice Center in Colorado.
Mark and his family live and work in Columbia,
South Carolina where they enjoy watching Avatar,
The Last Airbender cartoon series together. Mark
offers regular classes and workshops on Qigong
and Taiji. For more information check out
www.scqigong.com.

Beware of Phony
Medicine Ways of other cultures – the same proscriptions do
not apply. By analogy, if I were invited to attend and witness cir-
cumcision ceremonies in the Jewish faith or open-heart surger-
ies in a hospital (or obtained information from merely reading a

Gurus book or surfing the internet), it would be presumptuous to think
such exposure would qualify me to conduct the ceremony or
perform the operation. Yet this perception of entitlement is the
Philip Scott prevailing attitude encountered in the colonial world regarding
Indigenous ceremonial practices, which leads to misappropria-
As a consequence of the recent indictment of a new-age guru tion and negligence, often with unseen and dire consequences.
on charges of manslaughter in the deaths of three participants
in a so called “sweat lodge” experience at a retreat facility in To serve as a spiritual leader is a sacred trust. One is respon-
Arizona last year and its subsequent resurgence in the media, sible for the lives and welfare of the people – to protect and
several people have solicited my perspective on this tragedy. support. It is evident there was abuse of this trust – in addition
to misleading those in attendance through misrepresentation,
To begin with, I extend my prayers for safe journeys to those there was a fundamental lack of awareness of the health con-
who have passed on from this unfortunate incident and my sin- cerns of those in his care and a refusal to heed the appeals of
cere condolences to the families and friends who remain here to departure from the participants while in the structure. Were he
walk the path of grief. a qualified and sanctioned ceremonial leader, he would be far
more sensitive and observant of what is transpiring, less dog-
Besides the absolutely misguided notion that warriorship can matic and the ancestors with whom he would have cultivated a
be taught and realized in the course of a week as well as the direct and abiding relationship would have informed him of the
mercenary act of charging a ridiculous sum which included an condition of the people and instructed him accordingly – thereby
experience billed as a “native ceremony” (for which there is diffusing a perilous situation.
never a charge in North America), his conduct is reprehensible
– it exemplifies egregious negligence, cultural misappropriation, As the late Grandmother Paula Underwood of the Haudeno-
disrespect and abuse. Without equivocation, had this man been saunee People would often query: “So, what may we learn from
properly trained and sanctioned, this calamity would have been this?” In a word: discernment. Ask questions. Not long ago,
circumvented. Bear in mind this is not the first time fatalities before the commencement of a ceremony, an Ojibwe woman
have occurred in “sweat lodges” at the hands of unqualified indi- pulled me aside. She prayed I would not be offended by her
viduals. questions: The duration I have walked the Red Road…The
number of years I have sundanced…The Medicine men/women
Native ceremonies are Medicine Ways. As such, they require who trained and sanctioned me to pour water…The length of
years of apprenticeship, which include rigorous training and time I have been conducting lodges…willingly answering her,
initiations, under the tutelage of recognized medicine people I was not offended in the slightest. In fact, I was honored and
before one is qualified to serve in such a capacity. Upon em- commended her for the inquiries – they indicated she had been
barking on the path, just as in the martial arts and allopathic educated in a good way by her traditional family, elders and
medicine, there are levels of training and mastery – in the latter, mentors. As a result of my responses as well as the ease and
referred to as scope of practice. lack of resistance to answering, both she and her daughter
remained to participate.
The Purification Lodge (as opposed to a new age “sweat
lodge”) is no exception. It is a powerful, sacred, indigenous Undoubtedly there are gurus, healers and spiritual teachers of
prayer and healing ceremony. It is not a game. Nor is it a glori- questionable authority, accountability, scruples and experience
fied sauna (as found in a spa or fitness center), a prison or an in the world. The best antidote to safeguard oneself and others
endurance test. It is an essential component of worship in the from misfortune is to be aware and pay attention – open one’s
Native Way of Life. There are requirements and criteria that eyes and ears – and, at an appropriate moment, to simply ask
must be satisfied well before the training to become a water questions regarding their qualifications. Based upon their reply,
pourer for the people is even considered. Once achieved and your impression and feelings, make an informed determination.
the blessing to begin bestowed by the mentor, the evolution
of the education is extensive and includes innumerable tests, This is your right and ultimately, it may save your life.
responsibilities and thresholds to pass before final approval and
sanction is granted. Virtually every culture on the planet has a
form of cleansing and healing in this manner – with variations
between each tribe and family, observing and strictly adhering
to its own specific songs, procedures and protocols. Hence the
years of immersion, study and praxis to familiarize oneself with
the complexities and nuances of the ceremony.

It is understood and enforced in the Western world that practic-
ing contemporary medicine without a license or beyond one’s
scope of training is unlawful and is subject to criminal charges.
Yet there is a fundamental disrespect and disregard for the

Of Western Band Tsalagi (Cherokee) ancestry, Phillip
Scott, aka. Tsunka Wakan Sapa, has walked the Native
path for over twenty-five years, learning from Medicine/
holy people, tribal spiritual leaders, shamans and elders
from various cultures. A ceremonial leader in the Lakota
tradition, he is devoted to sharing Indigenous wisdom and
healing practices with the contemporary world. Interviewed
both nationally and internationally on radio, television
and in newspapers, he has been featured in journals and
books. In addition to founding and directing the programs
at Ancestral Voice – Center for Indigenous Lifeways in
Northern California, he maintains a private healing practice,
performs ceremonies, lectures and conducts intensives
and pilgrimages worldwide.

To obtain further information, register, schedule an appoint-
ment or to arrange intensives, ceremonies and presenta-
tions in your area, please contact him at
(415) 897-7991 or E-mail: Phillip@AncestralVoice.org

The Unity of specific pair of opposites I want to discuss with you: Yin and
Yang.

Opposites in These are the Chinese terms for the two polar opposites of
Energy (Qi) which in effect, define all the processes, energy and
matter of the Universe (Dao).

Life Giamboi As a quick refresher, Yin Qi/Energy is cooling, more solid, more
static, feminine, etc. Yang Qi/Energy is warming, less solid,
Gary more dynamic, masculine, etc.

We all know about opposites: Good and Bad, Light and Dark, It is the constant ebbing and flowing of these two energies
Short & Long, Male and Female, etc. One of a pair of opposites which produces all that there is. Or as the Chinese envisioned
is exactly what the other one isn’t and visa verse. Since they it, the totality of the Yin/Yang or Taiji (Tai Chi) Circle/Cycle.
are truly opposite, it is very easy to tell them apart and to keep
each in its proper place. One of the first things we learn about in Qigong is that the front
of the human body is Yin and the back is Yang. However, let’s
However, I believe that the true extent of how opposites are one look deeper than that. What does the front of the body do? It
and the same thing is not universally understood in regards to pushes. Our chest muscles are the prime movers (most im-
how both All of Creation and the human body and mind func- portant muscle) in a push-up or pressing action. So? Pushing
tions. is a Yang activity. It is expansive in general and in the relative
because our back expands as the chest contracts (Yin).
First of all, in most, if not all, instances there is really no such
thing as opposites. What we call opposite is really just a conve- Let’s recap this: Our Yin side causes Expansion by Contracting;
nient way for our mind to grasp and make sense of what we are or, our Yin side causes Yang by being more Yin than it was.
thinking about by judging it against something we already think
we know about. OK. What about the Yang and the back of the human body? It is
exactly the same in the opposite way. Our back which is Yang
For example, let’s look at the opposites of Hot and Cold. There pulls, which is absorbing or Yin, by contracting (which is Yin) its
is actually no such thing as Coldness. There is really no such muscles. Thereby expanding the chest which is now more Yang
quantity as “Cold.” There is only Heat (or lack of Heat). than it was.

Thermometers cannot and do not measure the amount of Cold To sum this up, Yang produces a Yin effect by being Yin, which
there is. They only measure the amount of Heat. The concept causes the back (Yang) to contract (Yin); Therefore, Yang
of Absolute Zero, where all motion ceases and even matter causes a Yin effect by being more Yin. Further more, when
changes its fundamental nature is not the greatest amount of done within the limits of harmony, a Yin action (pulling) causes
Cold possible. It is simply the least amount of Heat possible, the torso to move forward (which is Yang); and, a Yang action
which is zero. (pushing) causes the torso to move rearwards (which is Yin).

The same is true for Long and Short. Rulers do not measure Similarly, a male uses his size and weight when being aggres-
the Shortness of something. They can only measure its Length, sive. A male is Yang, Aggression is Yang; but, size and weight is
whatever that length maybe. more Yin (like a mountain is Yin). So the Yang needs the Yin in
order to produce its desired effect.
Finally, let’s look at Young and Old. There is no such thing as
Youngness. There is only Age. If something has more of it, we A female is Yin; but, giving birth is expansive and Yang. Giving
call it old. If it has less of it, we call it young. birth is Yang. Actually, Giving, itself, is Yang. In this case, the
Yin (the female) must use a Yang process (giving birth) to be its
I hope that I have given you enough examples for you to under- most Yin (feminine).
stand that the nature of opposites is that they are a construct
of the human mind. In effect, they are nothing more than a tool In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the five Yin organs, the Heart,
which helps the human mind to put things into a relative per- Liver, Kidneys, Spleen and Lungs ALL perform Yang actions
spective which makes it easier for us to judge and understand or activities. The six Yang organs, the Small Intestine, the Gall
those things in our human terms. Bladder, the Urinary Bladder, the Stomach, the Large Intestine
and the Triple Heater all perform the Yin activity of storage
Of course, this means we do all of this to avoid understanding (among other things).
things on their own terms. Therefore, by using opposites, we
are setting ourselves up to never really understand the true na- To sum this up, Yang is Yang because by its very Yang nature
ture of the object or concept unless we can go beyond the limits it performs Yin actions; and, Yin is Yin because by its very Yin
of opposites and our human understanding. nature, it performs Yang Actions. Each of the things discussed
above would be not be classified the way it is if it did not have
Now, having prefaced with this concept, let’s proceed to the the exact same relationship with its “opposite.”

characteristics depend solely upon where and when the Energy
What about the Yogic view of things? It is actually the same. is manifested.
Shiva is Consciousness, Yang, which cannot perform any action
without Power or Kundalini which is Yin; and, Kundalini can’t This means that the State of your Being can actually make
perform any action without guidance which is Yang. One could your Internal Energy more Yin or more Yang. Your Body, Mind
say that Power without the Will necessary to do anything is and Spirit can make one person’s Yin Energy more Yang than
essentially Powerless; and, Consciousness and its Will to do another’s Yang Energy and visa versa.
something is totally useless without the ability to act upon its
thoughts and desires.

Yin and Yang is just not a case of one giving rise to the other
and the existence of a never ending cycle of waxing and wan-
ing, one into the other. It is truly a case of an intertwining so
complex that it cannot be unraveled without destroying the
whole; because it is the whole.

The whole is the whole and is not divisible. Yin and Yang are
relative terms used to form an understanding of a whole we
cannot understand without the aid of our relative constructs.

What most belief systems consider their Absolute is always
something Unchanging. If It is unchanging, where does a cycle
fit in? Where do Yin and Yang, Shiva and Kundalini fit in?

Only in our human minds.
Gary Giamboi founded The Institute of Asian Arts in 1994 in
The Dao De Ching speaks of Wuji in the beginning. It wasn’t order to continue the tradition of discovering, nurturing and
until the separation of opposites occurred or Taiji occurred that passing on the wisdom of the ancients. He began his Eastern
the Ten Thousand Things (a metaphor for all of Creation) came journey in 1969 and has had the unbelievable good fortune
into being. to have become a disciple and personal student of four World
Class Masters
Yoga speaks of all of Creation being illusion and only The One
is Real. Maya or Illusion is the cause of separation from our He has achieved the Rank of Master Level Instructor in
realizing non-separation. Qigong, Taijiquan, Ninpo, Jujutsu, Asayama Ichiden Ryu,
Kenjutsu and Yoga in world recognized organizations. He is
Taiji is Yin and Yang or the concept of opposites which is an illu- also certified as a Personal Trainer, as a Pilates instructor, in
sion. Without Taiji there is The One. Without Maya there is The Ohashiatsu, in Thai Yoga and has several other lower rank
One. Black Belts in various martial arts. He specializes in finding
the common thread of Truth in All of these Arts, because at
The core tenets of Yoga and Daoism are actually very similar. the end of the day “Things Can Only Work One Way.” Even
Of course, the way they express their beliefs is very different; though they use different systems of Internal Energy, Yoga
and, thus their rituals are very different. But their core is essen- works in China and Acupuncture works in India. Each con-
tially the same. tains a piece of The Truth or The Way Things Are. It is up to
each of us to find as much of That Truth, That Way and live
Perhaps you are asking yourself, even if this is correct, what by it as closely as possible.
does it have to do with me and my life and practice?
Gary has taught and demonstrated Martial Arts, Qigong, Yoga
Well, if this somehow strikes a chord with you, everything. If it and Fitness Training in the USA, Japan, China, Canada, UK,
sounds like nonsense, then it has nothing to do with you {at this Belgium, Germany, and Ireland. He has several articles pub-
time}. lished a total of over 64 times on various web sites and blogs,
produced 2 DVDs on Qigong, 1 on Taijiquan, 2 on Yoga, 1
OK. I can see you want me to “give” you an example you can on Balance and a Point by Point Relaxation CD. He also has
use. two books nearing publication and several new DVDs com-
ing soon. His web sites are www.Genbukan.biz and the new
When you practice your Qigong or Pranayama, and you get www.Secrets-of-Yoga-Qigong.com
your Internal Energy flowing throughout your body, did you ever
wonder how the Yang energy flowing out from your center gets
changed into the Yin energy that returns back to your center?

It doesn’t. There is no such thing as Yang Energy or Yin Energy.
There is only Energy with Yin or Yang characteristics. These

Future Events
attending this free workshop, you will learn how to feel
when and where to be, as well as what to do in order to
Qi Dao Basic Certification Program enjoy being in the flow.

Next Program begins April 2011
During this Open House, I will offer a free workshop
Basic Practitioner program offers training in dedicated to getting familiar with a uniquely harmonious
developing physical and mental fitness, wellness, culture of movement specific to the best Qigong
and self-healing as well as the first level of Qi Dao masters. You will also see why embodying this culture of
Initiation. The terms begin quarterly on the weeks movement is much more essential for your wellbeing than
learning any Qigong forms.
after solstices and equinoxes.

Skills: Where: 3516 NW Skyline Blvd, Portland, OR 97229

When: Sunday, January 9 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
~ Basic body, energy and kinesthetic awareness How much: Donation, bring food for the potluck lunch
~ Exploration of flexibility and range of motion after the workshop.
~ Six Directional Movements with elbows
~ Three Element of Earth kicks
~ Foundational principles of Qi Dao
~ Identification of Holding Patterns.
Qi Dao Group Classes at Academy of Qi Dao

You are invited on a journey of exploring and
Benefits:
promoting your health, performance, personal
growth and spiritual awakening. Whether you are
~ Developing a reasonable level of energy and body a brand-new Qigong enthusiast, practicing Massage
awareness Therapist, or serious athlete, you can find our courses
~ Learning the alphabet of Harmonious Culture of bringing a deeper sense of empowerment, balance
Movement and awareness into your life. Enrollment into our
~ Gaining a basic knowledge of Qigong and Internal classes is on a monthly basis with no contracts or
Martial Arts long-term obligations. Any of these classes can serve
~ Receiving the first Qi Dao initiation as an introduction to the Basic Qi Dao Practitioner
~ Discovering the sense of being in the flow. Certification Program. If you are interested in
attending our classes but their time slots are not
convenient for you, please email us at academy@qidao.
Please contact academy@qidao.org for more information
or to register. The deadline for early bird $150.00 discount org to suggest classes at other time slots.
is March 1, 2011.

Dao Yin Qigong for Holistic Wellness

Open House and Intro Workshop at Basic Class – Tuesday and Thursday from 7:00 to 8:00 am
Academy of Qi Dao
Join our community of Qigong enthusiasts for the Open Where: 3516 NW Skyline Blvd, Portland, OR 97229
House at our new location. Start the month of February
on the right foot by taking a proactive step to living your How much: $150 per month or $430 per quarter
life as healthy and empowered as humanly possible.
You can achieve that and much more by learning and
practicing the Art of Being in the Flow, which is the way I Practicing Dao Yin Qigong will enable you to
refer to my family style of Tibetan Shamanic Qigong called discover the Harmonious Culture of Movement
Qi Dao. Being in the flow of your life means being in the through experimenting with graceful and natural
right place at the right time and doing the right thing. By movements, meditation and energy awareness. This

January 2011 issue

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January 2011 issue