[meditation bell]
Participant: I had another quick question. Jon: Yeah.
P: I was listening to one of your talks where you were talking about
Qi Gong practice. Jon: Ah-huh.
P: And uh, I don't remember exactly what you said, but you were talking about how it
is useful in facilitating awakening,
or it kind of works together. Um...
P: Because, I've done a lot of Qi Gong type practice over the years. J: Ah-huh.
P: And, I did it essentially for health benefits.
J: Ah-huh. P: To improve my health, and energy, and ...
but I also noticed in the process that a lot of things that were barriers in my
practice seemed to fall away. Jon: Yeah.
P: But I hadn't really thought of it as something that really
was an aide to awakening, or ...
I hadn't thought of it in that way other than the fact that
things did fall away that had been a struggle for me in the past. Jon: Hmm.
P: Emotional things, psychological things, physical things. J: Ah-huh.
P: Um, and I just wondered if you had anything to add.
P: It just feels like there was something you were saying that I didn't quite understand.
Jon: I have no idea what I was saying. P: [laughing] Ok.
J: I mean, I'd love to hear the thing and I could tell you probably. [both laughing]
P: I'm sorry I don't have the exact quote. J: No, that's ok.
J: Umm... P: Because you do talk about it, so maybe I'm just asking for your perspective on why you talk about it.
J: Sure. I don't remember the context of why it came up in the talk or the dialogue,
Um, I know in many cases,
people get to a point where,
the process of letting go, deeply,
requires a kind profound
consciousness through the structure. In other words, their Qi (chi)
their meridian system needs to be very clear and alive. P: Ah-huh.
J: So, in that sense, Qi Gong or --
and I want to say all of these in quotes because it's not just generic. P: Right.
J: Because you can do these things as forms,
and they won't have any benefit in that way. P: Ah-huh.
J: It's how you do them. P: Ah-huh.
J: The way I was trained was from that perspective.
But not everybody is, and not all ways are approached that way.
J: Anyway. But yoga could be like that, or any of the
martial arts--those kinds of trainings--
could also have a deep understanding in them.
I don't mean intellectual understanding.
I mean, understand that interface of energy consciousness and transformation.
So, because Qi Gong, fundamentally, is an energy practice, P: Ah-huh.
J: But it's also affecting the physical body, as you were describing,
can help clear and open
the nervous system so that one can be grounded
in the often overwhelming process of awakening for the body.
Many people get destabilized or all of a sudden they have more energy than they know what to do with,
and their bodies haven't been trained, haven't been conditioned.
So they end up having all kinds of symptoms.
Very common. It's no surprise that in many of the traditions
you learn these things for a long time before they give you the
direct teaching. This teaching here.
But now this teaching is popular from get-go
If people's bodies are clear, great. But if they're not... P: Ah-huh.
Jon: You know, like I jokingly say, I'm doing triage on the front lines of spirituality. [laughter]
J: It can really be pretty destabilizing.
So that's what I probably meant,
that it can be a very helpful, kind of, um...
facilitator in, you might say, conditioning the body
to really handle transformation.
Which absolutely affects the physical body. P: Ah-huh. J: Without question.
J: So, I think that's probably what I meant. Is that helpful?
P: Yes, yes, that was exactly what I wanted clarification on. J: Ok, cool.
P: Ok. Thank you very much. J: You're so welcome. Thank you very much.
[meditation bell]