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Inner Quest

The Monthly Tao Journal Issue 11| March 2013


Featured In Tis Issue...
Te Ascending Path of
Transcendence &
Core Practical
Methods for
Balancing Your Being
Health Scares of the Month!
Bagua
Taoist Adept
Liu Hung Chieh's
Bagua Single Palm
Change
Paul Cavel, Editor
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013
Te Ascending Path of Transcendence
& Core Practical Methods for Balancing Your Being
By Paul Cavel
1.
All of the Chinese terms and concepts referred to in this issue have been defned and explained in detail in the
January 2013 and/or February 2013 issue(s) of Inner Quest. For copies, see ww.circlewalking.com/2685/taoism-i-ching
and www.circlewalking.com/2736/fve-elements, respectvely.
In the last two issues,
1
I introduced Taoist cosmology, the theory underlying manifestaton
and Five Element practces of Old Taoism, more commonly referred to as the Water
traditon. The path of transcendence begins by working on the ascending half of the model,
known as the Three Treasures, which is the passage or ascent from the world of the mani-
fest to the unchanging root of the universe. Recall that although they are called the Three
Treasures, there are actually fve stages: jing-Qi-shen-wu-Tao. The last two are implied, but
not counted as you must be inside the traditon in order to receive these deeper teachings.
The frst three stages are quite common in name, but again the deeper aspects have been
kept out of the public arena for millennia. Going a bit further, to truly understand the nature
of Chinese transformaton practces, we must peel back the layers that comprise the human
energetc matrix.


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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013

Page 3
The human being is comprised of eight
energy bodies (see p. 5), startng with the
physical body (1) and eventually encompass-
ing the Body of the Tao (8), which includes all
and everything. Each of the eight energy bod-
ies are formed by ever-higher frequencies
of energy and links with the eight trigrams
that govern manifestaton (bagua). Human
beings are just one example in nature that
adhere to this guiding mechanism. It's prob-
ably no coincidence that we are sustained
by eight essental amino acids, and that the
oxygen atom that forms the critcal aspects
of the air we breathe and water we drink has
eight protons, eight electrons and eight neu-
trons. Likewise, there are eight trigrams and
eight palm changes in bagua zhang, and each
of the trigrams/palm changes correspond
with and holds the potental to fully develop
one of your eight energy bodies.
Jing~
Clearing the First, Second
+ Lower Tird Energy Bodies
Jing translates as "sperm" or "egg", the union
from which the human body grows. So the
term jing literally refers to your physical body
and the energy that powers it, which also
includes the lower base emotons that
are generated by your internal organs
and glandssuch as fear, anxiety, grief,
dissociaton and anger.
2
Clearing out the frst
two energy bodies can make you a strong
and vibrant individual, but will do litle for
your peace of mind. The real work in trans-
formatonal practces begins at the third
energy body, where the process of neutral-
ising strong emotonal swings begins. Jing is
developed and refned through all the vari-
atons of qi gong, including tai chi, bagua,
yoga and interactve practces.
Qi~
Clearing the Upper Tird
+ Fourth Energy Bodies
As part of the Three Treasures, Qi
3
refers to
your higher emotons, such as generosity and
kindness, as well as the full range of mental
actvitesfrom mundane thought, such as "I
want...", to higher mental functons like an-
alysis, deducton and critcal thinking.
The higher emotons are not generated by
the physical body, but rather by the mind
through clearing out blockages discovered
in the lower third energy body. This pro-
cess allows the natural caring state of the
human being to emerge. The higher end of
the mental body is where the ability to direct-
ly perceive any phenomenon actually occurs.
Together, the higher emotons and the
mental body form the outer casing, surface
or superfcial aspect of the mind rather than
its full depth and range. However, it is at this
level of practce that you crossover from the
world of qigong and enter into the realm of
meditaton.
2.
Frantzis, Bruce, Relaxing into Your Being (North Atlantc Books, 2001), pp. 56-59.
3.
"Qi" with a capital "Q" is the second of the Three Treasures, whereas "qi" with a lower case "q" is the energy that
powers your physical body.
Practices to Develop
the Three Treasures

Qi gong develops jing
Beginning meditaton develops Qi
Deep meditaton develops shen
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013
Shen~
Clearing the Fifth
+ Sixth Energy Bodies
Shen translates as "spirit", which begins at
the psychic (ffh) body and encompasses the
causal or karmic (sixth) body. When you clear
these two bodies, to some degree, you can say
you have developed spirit, as facing and clean-
ing up your karma requires incredible courage
and resolve. At this level of practce, you must
plunge both into the depths of your mind and
meditaton, as they go together like a hand in
a glove. It is here that you wake up and real-
ise aspects of your being that otherwise lay
dormant. This begins the process of opening
up your full potental and capacity as a human
being.
These frst three layers (jing-Qi-shen) are all to
do with clearing out the frst six energy bod-
ies, with the physical body being the most
dense and having the lowest vibraton. As you
move both in and out in concentric spheres
from the surface of the physical body, energy
becomes more subtle and resonates at higher
frequencies. Therefore, a hierarchy exists and
is relevant for developing your being.
First, you work with the physical
body, its energy and the associated
lower emotions. Through the process
of clearing out your jing, to some
degree, you will develop your sensi-
tivity to more subtle energies and
begin to open up your Qi, which only
becomes possible as the cleansing
frees up space in formerly locked
body parts.
If a blockage persists no matter how
much physical-energetic training you
do, then you can be sure a deeper or
higher-aspected blockage is at root.
As we've discussed, Qi resonates at
a higher level than jing, so to gain
access to and develop your Qi you
must first open up, clear out and
circulate the energy of your body.
When you have developed enough
qi (body energy), you can begin
cultivating and refining Qi.
When the emotional and mental
bodies are, to some extent, cleared
and stabilised (through beginning
meditation practices) and you have
generated enough Qi (energy that
powers your upper emotional and
mental bodies), then you have the
chance to enter into the world of
shen. However, working on the
higher bodies can and does destab-
ilise the lower bodies, and therefore
a constant flux of working with and
cycling through the layers of
jing-Qi-shen is necessary to stab-
ilise, open up and clear out the gunk
and encrustations that have formed
around your essence.
All prerequisite exercises are rooted in the
physical body because if your body is weak or
the energy that runs it is sluggish, you will fnd
it difcult to develop the higher emotons and
mental functons. The physical body also acts
as an anchor in reality when working with and
developing the higher aspects of ourselves,
so a healthy and balanced body truly is your
temple, housing and enabling further train-
ing. The same is true for developing shen. The
mind must be present, aware, focused, stable
and capable of concentratng for prolonged
periods to tap into spirit. If you jump the gun
and just go for the gold by directly atempt-
ing to work at the level of spirit, the profound
releases (if in fact you are successful at re-
leasing any blockages) will ripple down the
bodies and can blowout the channels in any
or all of the mental, emotonal, qi and physi-
cal bodies. So the advice throughout the ages
has been to be patent, work from the ground
up, prepare well for the advanced material,
and then you can reap the fruits of your
labour. This is the essence of the Water tra-
diton because a slow, stable progression
prevents you from causing yourself problems
and thereby allows you to build upon your
successes.

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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013
Te Eight Energy Bodies
4
1. The physical body.
2. The qi body, which fuels the physical body.
3. The emotonal body, which gives rise to your emotons, both
positve and negatve.
4. The mental body, which causes thoughts to functon, whether
with clarity or confusion.
5. The psychic body, which allows us to fnd our hidden internal
capacites and helps our intuiton or psychic perceptons become
concrete.
6. The causal body, which causes karma to fow.
7. The Body of Individuality, which enables the actual birth of the
full spiritual being, commonly referred to as "essence".
8. The Body of the Tao, which allows realisaton of the entre universe.

Page 5
The energy of the physical body can be found in the bag of the skin.
The energetc body descends deeper into the body and forms the
wei chi within the fascia (under the skin). It also expands outwards,
away from the body, forming a contnuum from the wei qi to the
etheric feld.
Bodies three through seven follow the same patern of descending
both deeper in and through the layers of sof tssues and bones, and ex-
panding further out from the surface of the body. When the frst seven
bodies are unifed and the ling (or soul) is formed, the eighth body
appears in the central channel.
4.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Chi Revoluton: Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force (Blue Snake Books, 2008) p. 23.


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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013
How Taoist Energy Arts
Create Change
When you change the fow of
chi in the physical body through
practce of qi gong, tai chi or bagua,
you create a shif from stagnancy
towards vibrancy. If the blockages
are minor (e.g. daily stress), the
shif can be permanent; if, however,
the blockages are old and lodged
deep in the body, any shif will be
temporary (at best) as the energetc
patern of the blockage will pull the
body back into the closed or distorted state. If you practse regularly, eventually
the balance tps and the shif can become permanent.
Blockages in the emotonal or mental bodies require meditaton to clear
out as qi gong practces alone are not refned enough to elicit lastng results.
Oscillatng between sitng and moving meditaton practces allows you to
undergo a series of shifs, untl your practce becomes resilient enough to make
these temporary shifs permanent.
As an example, tension from work accumulates daily. When you get home and
practce, you can release that stress and thereby restore some level of bal-
ance to your system. If it's just the mechanics of your working life, then when
you have a proper holiday from work, your stress levels would drop. However,
if the stress is the result of a blockage in your mental body (rather than only
superfcially afectng your mind-body-qi matrix), when you take that break the
stress will contnue to generate itself from the energetc patern rooted in your
mental body and you will consistently experience the same stress, regardless of
the situaton.
Now meditaton becomes critcal in dealing with the blockage as meditaton
practcespecifcally the Inner Dissolving techniquehas enough power to shif
the gunk in the emotonal and mental realms. Going back to our example, med-
itaton practce can, through diligent and regular practce, release the energetc
patern that generated the stress in the frst place and therefore yield greater
peace of mind. If, however, the root of the blockage goes deeper than the men-
tal body and is, for example, the result of a psychic contracton or larger karmic
fow, then you must refne and deepen your meditaton practce yet further by
entering into the realm of shen, and looking for resoluton at this level.
This is quintessental Taoist methodology, or at least that of the Water trad-
iton. Initally, you might be aware of discomfort or pain in your physical body, so
you look for resoluton through qi gong. Although some issues might be cleared
through sustained practce, others will not. This is the point at which meditaton
becomes relevant and can take the baton. Over tme, the most dedicated
students will follow their blockages in through the layers of their beinginto
their coreto uncover their essence, where emptness can be discovered.
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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013

Page 7
5.
Frantzis, Bruce, Bagua and Tai Chi: Exploring the Potental of Chi, Martal Arts, Meditaton and the I Ching
(Energy Arts, Inc., 2010), pp. 149-155.
Realising Wu + Tao
As mentoned, wu and Tao are implied but
not counted in the Three Treasures. The
practces with spirit in these stages con-
tnues past the causal body and into the
seventh Body of Individuality, where emp-
tness can be experienced and your true
essence is revealed. This is the stage at which
the ling is formed. When you are successful
at clearing the frst seven bodies, your jing, Qi
and shen will be strong and your ling can unify.
Up untl then, from a Taoist perspectve, you
are totally and completely governed by the
reincarnaton process of working through
many, many lives in order to achieve unif-
caton.
Once the ling is formed, your intent is intrin-
sically changed and your will, driven by your
pure essence, can decide where, when and if
to incarnate. If you can be truly successful at
clearing your seventh energy body, immersing
yourself in emptness, the Tao (the unchang-
ing root of the universe) will eventually reveal
itself to you. This is seen as the highest atain-
ment in Taoism and those who achieve it are
distnguished as "Immortals". Obviously, this
is not in the physical sense, but rather in the
spiritual realm. That is Immortals have pen-
etrated their being right through to the core,
unifed their soul and merged with the Tao by
opening up their eighth energy body, fulfll-
ing their potental as a living being. Few have
ever realised the Tao throughout the ages.
Taoist Teachings
In the West
The decision to open the doors to Eastern
transformatonal practces and many other
Taoist subjects was made by my teacher's late
teacher and Taoist Immortal Liu Hung Chieh
of Beijing, China, when he realised the tme
for secrets had passed. Traditonally, the blue-
prints for making a person powerful in both
himself/herself and societythe deepest
treasures of Taoismwere guarded within
monasteries, powerful families or as secrets
throughout China, and therefore only taught
to initates.
Liu, in his wisdom, realised the West could
beneft from the personal development meth-
ods in Taoism, and gave my teacher Bruce his
express permission to teach openly to the
level of discipleship.
5
This includes much
more in-depth and rare teachings than are
generally available in the West (and even the
East).
Balancing Your Being
All Taoist Water traditon practces from qi
gong, internal martal arts, yoga and med-
itaton start with the physical body and
work, perhaps paradoxically, inwards and
outwards through the other energy bodies.
The frst port of call is to open, heal and bal-
ance the physical body through mind-body
exercises that propel the body and chi into
moton. Over tme, the aim is to penetrate
your fesh, access, control and develop ener-
gy in both movement and stllness practces,
and fuse the two streams into one coher-
ent system. When you tap into your qi, open
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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013
Did you know? All links in the IQ journal
are actvesimply point + click!
up the channels and food the body with
energy, you feed every cell in your body with
life-sustaining energy, and thereby grow from
strength to strength.
Balancing the energies of yin and yang is
critcal throughout this process to:
Attune yourself to universal flow;
Create the space for healing and
boost vitality;
Give you access to the interplay
of yin and yang (liang yi), which
ultimately leads to the experience
of tai jiwhere all and everything is
unified in perfect harmony.
Along the way there are many, many yin and
yang combinatons to bring into balance, so
Taoists start with practcal exercises for the
body to train awareness, such as:
The six directions of space in three
pairs (up-down, left-right, forward-
back) in any movement or stillness
practice;
The opening and closing of the body;
The twisting out and in of the soft
tissue;
The lengthening out and in of the
fascia;
The shrinking and growing of the
body;
Tapping into the rising and falling
chi of the body;
Projecting and absorbing qi;
Focusing on any of the internal
nei gong components within a
qi gong set;
Engaging and balancing kan (Water)
and li (Fire) practices;
And so on...
If you train internal martal arts, the point is
to seek to balance the Four Primary Energies
of peng, ji, liu and an (si xiang)individually
and in their pairs, with peng-an and ji-liu
being opposites. Balancing each one and all
four aspects brings the body, qi and mind
closer to the tai ji space so, as you work
through the six bodies (from the physical
to the karmic), all energies are brought into
harmony in their own right as well as in refer-
ence to all others.
Regardless of the specifc practces you train,
balance is a cornerstone of Taoism. Through
total and complete balance, you can enter
the tai ji space that enables access to empt-
ness and discovery of your essence. To com-
plete the process (as previously described),
you clear out your essence and descend deep
into emptness, which can lead you to the
Tao. Without balance, none of this is possible.
Without clearing out blockages on ever-deep-
er levels of your being, nothing profound can
be realised.
Many people start practsing with spiritual
ideals, but become disillusioned along the
way because their goals are too lofy and
higha failing strategy. The advice through-
out the ages has been the same: Leave your
hopes, fears and dreams at the door. They
can only limit your ultmate potental. Be in
the here and now, practse to the best of your
ability and see what unfolds.

A journey of a thousand miles begins
with the frst step.
Lao Tse

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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013

Page 9

Excessive Sitting/Movement
Can Lead to Infertility
Courtesy of Energy Arts Instructor
Fred Gordon
A new Harvard School of Public Health study
found that men who watched 20 or more
hours of television per week had sperm
counts that were 44% lower than those who
watched almost no television.
Men who exercised for 15 or more hours per
week had sperm counts that were 73% higher
than those of men who exercised for fewer
than fve hours per week. Researchers say ex-
ercise protects against oxidatve stress, which
can damage sperm cells.
Sitng on the sofa may also overheat the
testcles and for too long, which could reduce
sperm count the same way that wearing tght
underwear can, according to Allan Pacey, a
fertlity expert at the University of Shefeld.
Researchers cauton that overdoing exer-
cise can backfre since previous studies
have shown that long-distance running and
biking can actually reduce semen quality.
My advice would be everything in moder-
aton, says Pacey, and that includes tme in
the gym as well as watching TV.
Fred: The Law of 70%. . . again, moderaton in
all things.
1.
BBC News, 5 February 2013, see htp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21326810.


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Health Scare of the Month!
Studying the Five Elements
Every spring, Paul ofers a Five Element
Qi Gong retreat on the breathtaking Greek
Island of Crete. Typically, the retreat takes
place during the second week of May to take
advantage of the Bank Holiday Monday in the
UK.
Find out the specifc subject mater and
complete details by visitng:
htp://www.circlewalking.com/tao-retreat/
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013

Page 10
There are two basic forms of the Single Palm Change
(SPC) in our school, namely the Heaven Palm and the Swim-
ming Dragon Palm. These two forms contain the full range
and depth of the entre nei gong system from all three perspect-
ives: health/healing, martal arts and meditaton. That is the way in
which the internal content is fused within the forms contains the
potental to be developed in any or all of the three streams. This
is not the case in all bagua schools and, in fact, this seamless
combining of content is extremely rare in both the East and the
West. To fully understand how this unique applicaton of the SPC
came into being, we must look at the history of our lineage and
specifcally the studies of Taoist adpet Liu Hung Chieh (my teacher
Bruce's primary teacher).
Origins of Bagua: A Very Brief Overview
The martal traditon of bagua zhang was brought into the public arena in the late 18th
century by Tung Hai Chuan on whom there is an enormous amount of material writen with
slight variatons on one basic theme: Tung turned up in Beijing apparently unknown by every-
body and earned a reputaton of the highest degree as a top-class martal artst in a very short
period. Nobody could defeat him and nobody had seen his art of bagua before. He took disciples
of which four stood out from the rest; they were Yin Fu, Cheng Ting Hua, Ma Gui (also known as
Ma Shr Ching) and Ma Wei Chi. They were said to have been Tung's best students and obtained
the highest skills in the art of bagua. Of these masters, most lineages have been passed down
from Yin Fu and Cheng Ting Hua, as the other two did not teach many students between them.
Tung Hui Chuan had an interestng method of teaching bagua as he didn't teach everybody the
same forms. In fact, he would look at the style of whatever art his students practsed (and they
needed to be masters in another art before he would accept them as students), and he adapted the
palm changes according to their personal skill set. This is only possible because the palm changes
are not set in stone. Each is developed from specifc neigong content that generates a partcular
overall energy and therefore can be adapted to body type, skill level, fexibility and background of
the practtoner. Some students would be taught many palm changes from the beginning, while
others would only learn the Single Palm Change for many years. In this way, Tung would develop
the natural abilites of each individual.
Bagua

Taoist Adept Liu Hung Chieh's
Bagua Single Palm Change
By Paul Cavel
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IQ: March 2013
The monastc traditon of bagua is far more
elusive as nobody really knows its true ori-
gin. What is known is that these meditaton
teachings are deeply interwoven with the
I Ching, which has an oral traditon of around
8,000 years.
1
Oral teachings speculate that
Bagua Circle Walking was developed 4,000
years ago
2
in the Kunlun mountains to real-
ise the teachings of the I Ching. The Single
Palm Change is documented to have been
practsed for at least 1,500 years in mon-
asteries throughout the region. Whatever the
truth is about the origins, the monastc trad-
iton is far older and almost def-
initely a precursor to the martal
art of bagua zhang. What Tung
knew and taught was an ad-
aptaton of the energies of the
I Ching applied to fghtng, which
was an ofshoot or a part of the
original monastc bagua trad-
iton.
Te Amazing Taoist Adept
Liu Hung Chieh: 1905-1986
Master Liu's infuence on our bagua system is
uterly profound as he sought out and trained
with the best living masters of his day, draw-
ing together many threads and weaving them
into one incredible fabric. He began his jour-
ney into bagua at age 14, when he was the
last student admited to the original bagua
school of Beijing. Originally opened by Cheng
Ting Hua
3
(one of Tung's top four disciples),
his eldest son Cheng You Lung headed the
school at the tme that Liu joined.
According to my teacher Bruce, this school
was the meetng place for many of the best
bagua players in Beijing. Liu not only learned
1.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Chi Revoluton: Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force (Blue Snake Books, 2008), p. 121.
2.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Chi Revoluton: Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force (Blue Snake Books, 2008), p. 125.
3.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Power of Internal Martal Arts and Chi (Blue Snake Books, 1998, 2007), p. 243.
4.
Frantzis, Bruce, The Power of Internal Martal Arts and Chi (Blue Snake Books, 1998, 2007), p. 246.
Photo istockphoto/Szefei
Cheng's Dragon Palm, but also Yin Fu's
Willow Leaf Palm. In fact, Liu had access to
many high-level bagua practtoners and
trained daily untl the school closed. At that
point, Liu became the formal disciple of Cheng
You Lung and later lived and studied with Ma
Gui (another of Tung's top four disciples). The
forms we practce today are basically Cheng's
Dragon Palm style (infuenced by Yin's Willow
Leaf Palm), with the deeper and more critcal
chi work coming from Ma Gui.
Afer this inital period of learning the mar-
tal traditon of bagua (with the associated
health and power develop-
ment techniques) and the
meditaton method (mainly
concerned with generatng
enormous power through act-
ivatng and controlling the
psychic body), Liu looked
more towards spirituality. Ini-
tally, Liu worked through the
layers of Buddhist practces becoming
formally declared Enlightened under Tan
Hsiu Fa Shr, the Tien Tai Buddhist master.
However, Liu had a keen interest in Taoism
and later sought out and connected with
Taoist adepts in the mountains of western
China. Liu remained in the mountains learn-
ing the monastc traditon of bagua for
10 years, where he completed his studies of
chi, meditaton and bagua by discovering the
root of the I Ching, and ataining the level
of a truly realised Taoist Immortal. Later he
became the head of an important northern
Taoist lineage.
4

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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
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Page 12
Te Monastic + Martial
Traditions of Bagua
The monastc traditon difers greatly from
the martal traditon in several ways. First
and foremost, the bulk of the monastc
practcesif not allcan be taught,
practsed and embodied through the Single
Palm Change (SPC). Conversely, the martal
traditon normally uses an eight-palm and
sometmes a 64-palm method. That is the
martal traditon teaches complex change
paterns that embody martal applicatons
of various and sundry natures. The monastc
traditon taps directly into the eight trigram
energies and 64 hexagram energies of the
I Ching through subtle changes to the SPC and
does not require extensive form work. The
martal traditon uses palm changes, ener-
gies of the I Ching and meditaton practces to
develop strategy and power for fghtng;
whereas the monastc traditon develops
these energies to comprehend the workings
of the cosmos, and the nature of mind to
enter into emptness and realise the unchang-
ing root of the universe.
The monastc meditaton practces go beyond
the psychic body and the ability to control
and delve deeply into the causal (or karmic)
body by developing the Body of Individual-
itywith the intent of unifying a ling (or
soul). The monastc traditon goes far beyond
the martal traditon and has much more
relevancy in modern Western culture as, at
the lowest end, the practces clear and de-
velop the human nervous systemproviding
a sound methodology for obliteratng stress,
and calming and focusing the mind.
Both traditons develop the ability to fow and
merge with change, remove inerta, foster
adaptability, and develop health and vitality.
Although, all things considered, the monastc
traditon arguably has far more potental and
covers much more ground through less com-
plex form worka winning combinaton for
most students.
Te Tree Streams of
the Single Palm Change
To begin, the Single Palm Change (SPC) is
developed out of the 16 nei gong system.
That is to say that forms are created from in-
ternal content rather than a form being flled
with specifc nei gong, as is the case with tai
chi as well as half internal and half external
styles, such as aikido and ninjitsu. In building
the SPC and embodying the internal content,
you naturally develop health and vitality be-
cause nei gong opens up your system, and re-
leases stagnant and blocked qi. The SPC fully
works your physical and qi bodies, leaving no
stone unturned. Once you have some of the
basics in place, you can focus on developing
martal arts, meditaton or both. If you can-
not produce power (which the SPC does very
efciently), you cannot become a good fght-
er or meditator. Have you ever encountered
a sickly, weak person who embodies great
martal prowess? The same principles apply
to meditaton: If you don't produce the juice,
you will become tred quickly! Training bagua
for meditaton requires focus and the ability
to remain present for prolonged periods.
Bagua Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis
adjusts Senior Student Paul Cavel's
Bagua Dragon Palm Posture
P
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2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013
So nei gong becomes the bedrock for all
aspects of practce and critcal to obtaining
the results you are seeking. Liu, in his wis-
dom, took the best martal aspects in both
form and power development, and mated
them with the entre meditaton traditon,
fusing a practce that contains the three
streams. This allows a practtoner to begin
their bagua journey in one aspect and later
change their focus without having to learn
a new art or form in order to contnue to
develop. Life changes around us and our
needs change accordingly. Quite ofen
students start bagua with an interest in
the martal arts, which changes when they
experience a health issue; or they begin
with a health concern and, when they grow
strong, shif to meditaton. Bagua accom-
modates these shifs as fowing with change
is at the root of its nature.
Te Heaven + Swimming
Dragon Palms
The two versions of the Single Palm Change
that we practce today serve diferent needs
for the body, mind and qi. The Heaven
Palm manifests the pure energy of Heaven
(yang), which is the real base of our bagua
system, teaching the fundamentals of all
bagua practce: how to open the body,
produce power, unify the body and its qi,
as well as how to produce light in the body.
Heaven Palm is traditonally both the be-
ginning of and the container for the whole
system, which in itself appears to be a para-
dox. However, any practtoner can directly
perceive how and why it is so with enough
dedicated practce.
The Swimming Dragon Palm brings a watery
(yin) aspect to your practce and further de-
velops the circular and spiralling nature of
bagua, as well as fuiditybringing you a step
closer to removing inerta from your practce.
Here, the Dragon Body begins to develop,
which is unique to bagua and forms the
essence of this original art of the I Ching (see
image on p. 11).
Whatever is learned in one form can be fold-
ed into the other and, through systematc
practce of the two, you can develop an
incredibly strong and healthy body with
excellent vitality and a deeply focused mind.
Between these two palms, they ofer the
possibility to introduce, develop and refne
all aspects of bagua practcewhatever
your needs, hopes or dreams. For dedicated
practtoners, the two palms ofer a path
that unfolds along the road of personal and
spiritual development.
Lao Tse, Tung Hui Chuan
+ Liu Hung Chieh
Although the Taoist Water traditon existed
for at least 1,500 years before Lao Tse, his
infuence on Taoism is immeasurable. First
and foremost, Lao Tse was head librarian of
the Imperial Archives, which is both an actual
positon in the power structure of China and
representatve of his spiritual leadership. Lao
Tse was not only the most respected advisor to
the emperor of his tme, but also oversaw the
Taoist monasteries in the region. It was Lao
Tse who coined the phrase "Water method" to
artculate the ideology behind the teachings,
which promulgate the lack of force or push-
ing, as well as any expectaton of change (as
practsed in the younger Fire method).
Instead, the way of Water involves becoming
sensitve to, tuning into and fowing with the
constant fux of change.
Within the monasteries that were under Lao
Tse's tutelage, all of them trained nei gong,
Five Element and I Ching practces. Some
studied bagua as their main focus and deep-
ly developed the practce into a cosmic art,
including delving into and completng the
spiritual aspects of a human being.
At some point, having realised the ways of
man had veered of the spiritual path only
to be replaced by the lust for power, wealth
and dominion, Lao Tse road out on his ox,
leaving behind the world of dust. As Lao Tse
headed out, a gatekeeper recognised the

Page 13
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: March 2013

Page 14

When a man moves away


from Nature, his heart
becomes hard.

Lakota Natve American Proverb
loss that would ensue and requested that
he write some words of wisdom to help
future generatons fnd their way back to the
spiritual path. Lao Tse authored the Tao
Te Ching,
5
and then slipped away quietly
towards the west. Following, Taoism es-
sentally went underground for thousands
of years with only a trickle of the teachings
emerging and fltering down into the public
domain.
Tung Hai Chuan likely learned an ofshoot of
this pure stream of Taoist teachings through
the martal art of bagua, afer sufering some
kind of injury. Liu Hung Chieh was defnitely
exposed to the authentc, core teachings
when he spent tme in western China with
an elusive group of unnamed adepts that
completed his understanding of the Taoist
traditon.
Liu's Legacy:
Reuniting the Monastic
+ Martial Traditions
Over seven decades of studying health, heal-
ing, martal arts and spirituality, Liu Hung
Chieh is one of only a few modern masters
who fully understood the true nature and
depth of the internal energy arts. Maybe
he was lucky to have been born into a fam-
ily of medical doctors, and at just the right
tme and place to have the opportunity to
study with the best third and fourth gener-
aton bagua masters, realised spiritual adepts
and great healers. Given the many personal
sacrifces Liu had to make in his lifetme, I
don't know if that's true. But two things are
for sure:
When he went to the mountains in
western China, he tapped into a very
old and pure stream of bagua.
He was more than qualified to adapt
the material he learned from his
sources and weave them together
into one coherent whole, unifying
(and possibly reuniting) the martial
and monastic bagua traditions.
What has been passed down to us today is a
rare, authentc and pure Taoist traditon with
potental beyond what most people will ever
be willing and able to develop. What is need-
ed now is more dedicated students to take
the baton and Walk the Circle.
I'll ofer more on bagua in forthcoming issues.
5.
Tzu, Lao, Translated by Jonathan Star, Tao Te Ching: The New Translaton from Tao Te Ching - The Defnitve Editon
(J P Tarcher/Penguin Putnam, 2008).
www.PaulCavel.com
IQ
Tank You to:

My teacher, Taoist Lineage
Holder Bruce Frantzis, who has
openly taught me about the
depths of nei gong; Heather
Hale for editng, design +
photography; Gee Loose for
photography; and Elena Ray
for cover artwork istockpho-
to/elenaray; and the Tao Arts
School Members who made
this report possible.
Health + Safety Notce:
Any mind-body-energy exercise
may carry risks. Do not atempt
any exercises presented in this
publicaton if you have any
physical, emotonal or mental
conditons that may make you
susceptble to injury without frst
seeking the advice of your health-
care professional.
2013 Paul Cavel
All rights reserved. Reprintng or
sharing any porton of this publi-
caton without expressed writen
consent is strictly prohibited.
Tao Arts London
(Trading as Internal Energy Arts Limited)
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chi@circlewalking.com
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