Chi is not a concept
It seems that most Western minds can only understand something that can be put into exact words as a 'concept'. But some things can only be comprended by direct experience, not through reading or hearing words of descriptions about it. A good example is Chi, the life force. The Chinese character itself 炁 is so rich but at the same time subtle in connotation that it may only be fully understood through direct experience. Any attempt to summarize it with words (esp. English) as a concept is futile.
Chi is not our breath. It is the primordial life force that supports all life. We already had it when we were in the mother's womb before we could breathe independently. This primordial life force which is not dependent on the physiological functions of the our lungs is called Zhen Chi or Zhen Xi (real breath) in Chinese. It is this Chi that we aim to find and enhance within our body through Tai Chi or Chi Kung exercises which are too often misunderstood as 'breathing exercises' in the west. Due to such misunderstanding, one often hears those 'masters' in this country talk about 'moving your Chi from left to right', 'sink your Chi down to Dan Tian', or 'breathe in for this move and breathe out for the next move.
The paradoxical thing is, subtle, intangible and formless as 炁 is, one can certainly feels its movement and its impact on the entire system once it is cultivated within your body, often through some arduous and unremitting discipline under the right guidance. The whole psyche will feel the impact as well and often undergo transformation to some degree over time. A new layer of consciousness will gradually unveil itself. But no amount of breathing this way or that can achieve this.
One of my students of Tai Chi used to ask me all the time, ''Can you describe with words what it is like exactly to have Chi in the body?'' This put me in such a dilemma because if I answer 'No', that would give the impression that Chi doesn't exist or I've never experienced it myself. But If I attempt to convey to her in English words what it feels like to have Chi moving within the body, she will be stuck with the words and start imagining herself experiencing those sensations during her practice.
Here lies a major difference between the western mentality and Chinese mentality. Chinese students of Tai Chi or Chi Kung will never urge their teacher to tell them what it feels like to have Chi moving or what does this exercise do to you. They will simply accept what their teacher teaches and go away and practice quietly until they can experience it within themselves and then come back to their teacher to clarify some issues in relation to their practice. ''Words are not the thing'', as Krishnamurti says. One may develope some concept in the most exact, rational and scientific manner but still fall short of full comprehension of it due to lack of direct experience. Carl Jung commented in one of his essays about difference between West and India, ''Did you ever stop to think how much of the conqueror (not to say thief or robber) lies in that very term 'concept'? It comes from the Latin concipere, 'to take something by grasping it thoroughly,' That is how we get at the world.''
The Chinese share a lot of similarity with the Indian in the way we don't feel the need to 'take things by grasping them thoroughly' all the time. A lot of things, such as nature, Chi, is there for us to live with or as part of. Chi, the life force (prana in Sanskrit as used in the Yoga exercise of pranayama) is not something you can put under your belt as a concept anyway. If there's too much mind in the effort, it will never reveal itself to you. Those self-styled 'lineage masters' in the west are merely performing mind gymnastics or, at its best, breathing exercises when they try to manipulate their Chi this way or that way by moving it here and there within the body. The result is damaging to themselves and misleading to those who are trying to learn from them.
Chi is not our breath. It is the primordial life force that supports all life. We already had it when we were in the mother's womb before we could breathe independently. This primordial life force which is not dependent on the physiological functions of the our lungs is called Zhen Chi or Zhen Xi (real breath) in Chinese. It is this Chi that we aim to find and enhance within our body through Tai Chi or Chi Kung exercises which are too often misunderstood as 'breathing exercises' in the west. Due to such misunderstanding, one often hears those 'masters' in this country talk about 'moving your Chi from left to right', 'sink your Chi down to Dan Tian', or 'breathe in for this move and breathe out for the next move.
The paradoxical thing is, subtle, intangible and formless as 炁 is, one can certainly feels its movement and its impact on the entire system once it is cultivated within your body, often through some arduous and unremitting discipline under the right guidance. The whole psyche will feel the impact as well and often undergo transformation to some degree over time. A new layer of consciousness will gradually unveil itself. But no amount of breathing this way or that can achieve this.
One of my students of Tai Chi used to ask me all the time, ''Can you describe with words what it is like exactly to have Chi in the body?'' This put me in such a dilemma because if I answer 'No', that would give the impression that Chi doesn't exist or I've never experienced it myself. But If I attempt to convey to her in English words what it feels like to have Chi moving within the body, she will be stuck with the words and start imagining herself experiencing those sensations during her practice.
Here lies a major difference between the western mentality and Chinese mentality. Chinese students of Tai Chi or Chi Kung will never urge their teacher to tell them what it feels like to have Chi moving or what does this exercise do to you. They will simply accept what their teacher teaches and go away and practice quietly until they can experience it within themselves and then come back to their teacher to clarify some issues in relation to their practice. ''Words are not the thing'', as Krishnamurti says. One may develope some concept in the most exact, rational and scientific manner but still fall short of full comprehension of it due to lack of direct experience. Carl Jung commented in one of his essays about difference between West and India, ''Did you ever stop to think how much of the conqueror (not to say thief or robber) lies in that very term 'concept'? It comes from the Latin concipere, 'to take something by grasping it thoroughly,' That is how we get at the world.''
The Chinese share a lot of similarity with the Indian in the way we don't feel the need to 'take things by grasping them thoroughly' all the time. A lot of things, such as nature, Chi, is there for us to live with or as part of. Chi, the life force (prana in Sanskrit as used in the Yoga exercise of pranayama) is not something you can put under your belt as a concept anyway. If there's too much mind in the effort, it will never reveal itself to you. Those self-styled 'lineage masters' in the west are merely performing mind gymnastics or, at its best, breathing exercises when they try to manipulate their Chi this way or that way by moving it here and there within the body. The result is damaging to themselves and misleading to those who are trying to learn from them.
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