Category talk:Tibetan Buddhist meditation

I am not sure if the description here should be in this category page. I suspect it should be in an article. Also, the article is clearly about "Tibetan Qigong" rather "Tibetan Meditation" and so that should be the title. Also, it should use the most commonly accepted spelling of Qigong rather than Chi Kung. I believe that this is now standard for scholarly, ie encyclodia articles. Also, the generic category qigong is listed as being within "tibetan meditation", which is wrong. It should be the opposite, Tibetan Qigong should be under the category Qigong and particular schools of Tibetan Qigong should be under the category "Tibetan Qigong". The content of the page itself seems interesting and fairly useful. Hans Joseph Solbrig 21:01, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Text removed from category page
Tibetan Chi Kung meditation or Qi Gong differs from Chinese Qi Gong in several ways. Tibetan Chi Kung was begun by ancient societies high in the mountains of Tibet who had been influenced by Chinese martial arts and Indian yogic practices, according to Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, martial arts scholar.
 * History

Tibetan Chi Kung is practiced with frequent references to Tibetan yoga and incorporates many different schools of Chinese martial arts, from White Crane Chi Kung to Snake style Kung Fu (and other animal forms). This means that instead of simply coming out of a particular school (Yang or Chen style Tai Chi, for instance) it can use and combine movements from many forms. It is particularly dependent on visualization and the circulation of the breath to break up blockages in the body.

Tibetan Chi Kung, like Chinese Chi Kung, has both paired and solitary exercises to clear blockages in the body, and improve kidney, lung, liver, spleen and heart health. It also aids correct posture, releases tension in the muscles and ligaments, and helps in the prevention of disease and sickness. Energy blockages can be caused by stress placed on the body, for example; overwork, bad posture, excessive drinking, smoking, drug usage, or emotional or physical trauma.
 * Health benefits

However, Tibetan Chi Kung has more mystical aspects than Chinese Qi Gong, and is practiced not only for health, but for spiritual purposes. This type of Chi Kung does not arise from Tibetan Buddhism, as one might expect, but from an older, nature-based religion. In China, Chi Kung in general can be prescribed for health without a religious correlation. In Tibet, when Chi Kung is practiced, visualization of a positive universal force is encouraged, and certain aspects of nature can be used to enhance the meditation.


 * Mystical Aspects

Practitioners of Tibetan Chi Kung are more able to feel energy around and inside the body, which helps them in their daily lives to make decisions based on intuition and empathy. In Tibetan Chi Kung, intuition is classified as receiving a thought about a situation or a person, and empathy is classified as having a somatic sensation in the body about a person or situation. For our purposes, "energy around the body" could be classified simply as the body's electro-magnetic field, but there seems to be something else there, not yet explained by science.

Tibetan Chi Kung is linked to the practice of an internal martial art called "Lin Con Ji" or "Empty Force," which is a process whereby an Empty Force/Chi Kung master directs and manipulates energy to transmits it to his students, allowing them to raise their level of energy. Various exercises combined with the teacher's presence and intention to transmit energy cause this to happen. For instance, say your normal energy level is that of a AA battery, and you want to raise your energy level. The Empty Force master's energy level can be thought of like a D battery, but a D battery with an infinite supply of energy. So the larger battery size can be a metaphor for both how much energy you can handle, and how much you can give out and transmit to others.

Footnote: Reference taken from "Qigong, The Secret of Youth" [Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming], YMAA Publications Center, 2000. Page 43. "Tibetan Buddhism has always been kept secret and isolated from the outside world. Because of this, it is very difficult to decide when exactly Tibetan Buddhism was established. Because Tibet is near India, it is reasonable to assume that Tibetan Buddhism started earlier than that of China. Naturally, it is again reasonable to assume that Tibetan Qigong training has had more influence from India than Chinese Qigong has. However, over thousands of years of study and research, the Tibetans established their own unique style of Qigong meditation. The Tibetan priests are called Lamas, and many of them also learned martial arts. Because of the different cultural background, not only are the Lama’s meditation techniques different from those of the Chinese or Indian Buddhists, but their martial techniques are also different. Tibetan Qigong Meditation and martial arts were kept secret from the outside world, and were therefore called “Mi Zong,” with means “secret style.” Because of this, and because of the different languages, there are a very limited number of documents available in Chinese. Generally speaking, Tibetan Qigong and martial arts did not spread into Chinese society until almost the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 AD) Since then, however, they have become more popular. …According to the available documents, Tibetan Qigong training emphasizes spiritual cultivation through still meditation, although it also used many physical Qigong exercises which are similar to Indian Yoga."

For more information: Tibetan Chi Kung

Written by a six-year Tibetan Chi Kung Practitioner --Mazarinet 22:57, 20 September 2006 (UTC)