In the West, people will recognise the constellations through Latin or Greek names. But although there may be some similarities, Chinese and Western culture have evolved separately over millennia. So what’s the difference?
For today’s seminar, Sifu looked in more detail at the constellation of the Dragon in the East direction. Sifu explained that the Chinese ‘Long’ (Dragon) is different from the Western idea of the Dragon, and that we have to think of it as being related to not just the other animals in the Chinese calendar, but also the heroes, emperors, and other symbols that are all part of a long cultural history and all feature in many different stories.
So by looking at the Dragon in more detail, Sifu demonstrated that through study we can learn the meaning behind all parts of the form, we can then understand it more. There is the Dragon as an animal and what this symbolises – it’s element, direction and energy. Then if we explore the Chinese name and character of the 7 constellations that Dragon, each character represents and connects to it’s own ideas too, which in turn, also then connects back to different areas of our own body. So when we practice the form and think of the names of the constellations, we are also being led on a journey through our own body. Sifu then talked us through each of the 7 constellations in the Dragon, and the number of stars.
So not only is there a lot of insight to be gained from learning about all the constellations, but then in moving through the body parts of the dragon, we can also think then about our own body parts, and then think about the body as a whole as we move through the complete form and all the constellations as a whole. So there is a lot of information in a name, and we should even explore Grandmaster Tse’s full name, and learn about the meaning behind his name, too.
In today’s seminar, Sifu also talked about change, and said that just as the constellations change, people also change. So the sky is always changing. Some stars are brighter at certain times of the year, with different constellations more prominent at different times. So because the constellations can change, their energy can change, so this also effects the energy at the time we practice, and likewise, can effect our character at the time we are born. So when we take our first breath, the character and energy of the stars and constellations at that time will effect our own character and our energy. But Sifu also added that spirit and emotion are not something that can be measured in the same way that height, volume and weight can be measured. The main thing is that we practice, so that our Qi becomes strong, and then we will be able to think more clearly and connect with the elements of nature to make us stronger. He then said that through 28 Constellation Gong we can connect with the 28 constellations and get more energy from nature, and with more study, everything will make more sense and we can learn the meaning behind things and then understand more. We can learn more about the form by reading and following Sifu’s Qigong Dao diary entries online.
He then told us a story set in the Japanese war, about a Chinese master: One day in the Japanese war, a Chinese master was captured. The Japanese soldiers wanted to kill him, but over a long period of time he ended up getting tortured and kept in a small cage like an animal. The cage was so small that he couldn’t even stand up properly, and so he suffered a lot. But 7 years later, even though many of the other prisoners died, he was still alive. Other prisoners said “but how did you survive?” and they couldn’t understand, and so the master said, ”every day even though I couldn’t move, I think about the form with my mind”! So he used his mind to imagine the forms and practice them in his mind, and this is what kept him going. So though he couldn’t move and was trapped in a cage, he could still use his mind to think about the form and imagine going through it.
So, the message is that even if there is not enough room, we can still ‘think’, and use our mind and keep it active, even if space is limited. And the master knew all the skills for good health and used his mind, and so this is the reason why he survived and recovered.
So in modern day, we can still think about the forms. Like if we are on a plane and there isn’t any room to move. And each time we think about a form then we are still able to connect to it, like thinking about the constellations and moving through the form. And then if we can empty our mind, we connect with everything. We then began learning the new part of the form.
Last seminar, we began Part 5 of the form. This starts after the spiral energy, and begins with a quarter turn to the right, (right foot right hand to Dantien, left foot left hand to the Dantien). We are again facing forwards.
Today’s seminar:
During practice, Sifu spoke about about the energy behind each part of the form up to where we are currently. Part 1 of the form he said was to do with the Qi Hu, Dantien, and Dai Mai points. For part 2, the focus is on the leg channels. Part 3 is about the sky and collecting Qi from the sky. Part 4 is about spiral energy, And part 5 is about numbers.. there is more to come on this during the next seminars.
by Carly Collingwood
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