Waysun Liao - Chi: Discovering Your Life Energy

ABOUT THE BOOK

Chi is the invisible energy of life that flows in and around us throughout the universe. Used skillfully, it can have a remarkable effect on health and vitalityto the degree that youd be tempted to call it magical, if it werent so completely natural. Here is a perfect introduction to chi that explains in a direct and simple way what it is and why it is essential to a healthy and vital life. It provides an easy-to-understand explanation of chi, and then helps readers recognize, develop, and strengthen their own chi through specific breathing techniques and basic exercises, all demonstrated by the author.

There are many books on chi development through tai chi and qigong practice, but this one goes deeper to enable you to understand the fundamental principles as you cultivate it. This book is a reference for alternative health professionals such as acupuncturists and shiatsu therapists and their patients, as well as for anyone who practices tai chi, qigong, aikido, and other chi-based martial arts.

To learn more about the author, please visit his website at www.taichitaocenter.com.

MASTER WAYSUN LIAO studied tai chi in a Taoist temple in his native Taiwan from the age of twelve. He is the founder and master of the Taichi Tao Center in Oak Park, Illinois, where he has taught for nearly forty years.

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Chi

Discovering Your Life Energy

Waysun Liao

Shambhala Boston & London 2011

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2005, 2009 Waysun Liao

Revised edition of Chi: How to Feel Your Life Energy published in 2005 by Taichi Tao Productions.

For more information on the teachings of Master Waysun Liao, visit www.taichitaocenter.com.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Liao, Waysun, 1948

Chi: discovering your life energy/Waysun Liao.1st Shambhala ed., [rev. ed.].

p. cm.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2360-0

ISBN 978-1-59030-695-6 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Qi (Chinese philosophy) 2. Tai chi. I. Title.

II. Title: Discovering your life energy.

B127.C49L6 2009

613.7148dc22

2008044894

Visit your magazine stand or bookstore today and you will easily find fascinating new information on bioelectricity or energy medicine. Or perhaps you will read about physicists discovering the interconnections between the nature of energy, our mind, and the universe. When youre finished, wander down the street to a new age church and hear sermons about consciousness, the power of our mind, and our oneness with God and the cosmos.

While many people would like to feel that this is groundbreaking information, modern society is only scratching the surface of the vast depth of knowledge that the Taoist masters of old already knew.

Taoist masters not only knew about bioenergy and energy healing, they mapped out a grid that charts the path and circuitry of the bodys energy. Likewise, they not only knew about botanical medicine, they applied sophisticated principles of biochemistry that use the properties of plants and other natural materials to affect the condition of the bodys energy.

Centuries ago, Taoist masters knew truths about the astronomical structure of the universe that we claim to have discovered in our own generation. And instead of sermons about the oneness between our consciousness and the Creator, Taoist masters walked a path that brought them into direct communication with the power of God, and taught others that same path.

Unfortunately the years have not been kind to the wisdom of ancient Taoist masters. Religious and political persecution in China forced many real masters into hiding over the years, preventing them from teaching more widely. Additionally, charlatans and hucksters promoted mystical-sounding teachings that they claimed were Taoist wisdom, and fooled many. Finally, scholars read surviving texts of Taoist masters, but without the living oral tradition and guidance of a master, misunderstood the meaning of the words. These scholars, though well-intentioned, perpetuated their misunderstanding, further obscuring the truths of real Taoist wisdom.

The veiling of Taoist wisdom allows our assumption that we are only now discovering life energy and all of its marvelous potential. The truth is that real exposure to Taoist wisdom will prove modern mans knowledge of life energy and the universe to be merely a shaky beginninga stab at the truth.

This book unveils but a part of that wisdom. It is designed to introduce you to the wonders of your own life energy through experiencing that energy. It will illuminate the purpose behind meditation and show you why Tai Chi provides a gateway to restore your connection to the Infinite.

May you enjoy the wisdom of Tao and open the door of your own life energy to find the wonders that await you.

MASTER WAYSUN LIAO

W ISE AND ANCIENT people identified an invisible force within all of life and nature. They speculated that this invisible force is from our cosmic origin and that it sustains everything in our known world. Yet in old days, there were no words to describe this mystical yet essential and ever-powerful force.

Observing this ever-present natural force, the wise ones realized that it was as unpredictable as the weather. They also saw that this power is as essential to us as the air we breathe. This same force wields power as immense as that of our atmosphere and its storms, which were the most formidable examples of power imaginable in that ancient world.

In the end, since this force behaved so much like weather and air, these ancient people borrowed the word for air to name it. In the case of the ancient Chinese, this invisible force was the Air, or Chi, (pronounced chee). In other Asian dialects and languages, like Japanese or Korean, this same word is spelled Ki, Qi, kei, etc.

Over time, the wise ancients observed that there are many layers or stages of Chi in our world. Seeing many different faces of the Chi, they gave many different names to its specific stages or levels.

For example, the ancient Chinese believed that the Chi of the sky dominates our weather. This is why they named the weather the sky Chi, or Tien-chi. Similarly, our fate is determined by complex odds and uncertainty that follow the interplay of various forces of destiny. The Chinese named our destiny the Chi of odds, or Yuen-chi. People who suffer bad luck in their life seem to possess contaminated or negative energya bad Chi, or Mei-chi. If irritation makes one lose his or her temper, they call this anger reaction the erupting of Chi, or Seng-chi.

CHI AS THE SIGNAL OF HUMAN LIFE ENERGY

Chi can also refer specifically to the unique signal of our own life energy. This life energy signal will be our primary focus in this book.