Mantak Chia
Mantak Chia was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1944. His pursuit of Taoist teachings led him to meet the White Cloud Hermit Master Yi, a Taoist Master living in the mountains near from Hong Kong.
Over a period of five years, Master Yi transmitted to Master Mantak Chia the most sacred and closely held Taoist practices, formulas and methods of internal alchemy, culminating in the Reunion of Heaven and Man.
The author of dozens of books, booklets, videos and CDs describing these practices, Master Mantak Chia has taught hundreds of thousands of eager students the principles of Taoist internal practice over the past 40 years.
Following is an excerpt from a recent Blog Talk Radio interview with Mantak Chia:
Lama Tantrapa: What is the purpose of qigong practice?
Mantak Chia: The initial purpose of qigong practice is to become stronger, to heal yourself, and increase your wisdom and knowledge. The early stages are like Taiji, and afterwards we can begin what we call supreme inner alchemy practice.
LT: After a person has achieved good health, does that purpose change?
MC: Yes. In neidan or inner alchemy practice, you learn to condense your energy, and transform the physical material of the body into energy, for spiritual growth…Taoists believe that, like the physical body, the spirit requires careful nurturing to reach maturity.
LT: Do sexual practices play a role in this process?
MC: Jing qi, or sexual energy, is the most powerful energy we have. It is like “baby formula” for the spirit. Normally, the body will sacrifice this energy during sex, for the purpose of creating children…if you don’t know how to practice, then between sexual arousal and orgasm, the energy is lost.
The process begins with physical discipline. Sex, drugs, even coffee…these cause a loss of energy, even though an addict feels listless without them…after experiencing the bliss of practice, these addictions will lose their hold.
LT: Tell us about your own learning progression.
MC: I first learned how to open the microcosmic orbit. Everything in the universe, down to the smallest electron, moves in an orbit…
Even before this though, you must learn how to control your emotions. Negative emotions will disturb you and waste your life force. The inner smile technique can remove these negative emotions.
To listen to this entire interview–or other interviews with Scott Sonnon, B.K. Frantzis, Sam Masich, Ken Cohen, Dr. Effie Chow and more–visit Secrets of the Qigong Masters.
Is there any substance to this guy or is it all just make-believe?
He seems to have mastered the art of making nonsense sound fulfilling.
The electron which has no orbit and it not a particle. Nor does the wave energy of the electron move in a predictable manner akin to an orbit.
I believe that there may be something to his words, but that the role of imagination in this area or topic is incredibly easy to underestimate.
Josh, everything moves in an orbit…if you choose the graph axes carefully enough.
If that is true, then the reverse is also true, that no thing moves in an orbit, if you graph the axes carefully enough.
Scott, lots of people are willing to share their personal experience with Mantak Chia…Google it. None of the stuff quoted above is unique to his method, actually.
What I found most important was the very end of the interview when he said he always keeps his lower tan tien warm — and that’s how he knows he’s connecting to the universe.
simple patterns and exercises in his book feel really good and you recognize yourself in his descriptions of how your body can affect your mood.
this interview doesn’t do him justice
Yoga was a practice to keep the mind absolute empty. Then came the frauds and expoiters: “if you do this you will awaken different centers bla bla”, and the mind being so eager to have a better body, be more attractive, longer life etc got lost in these totally worthless practices,qi-gong is just a moneymaking business.
I have awoken different energy centers, I do have a better body, women do find me more attractive and I do look incredibly young for my age (more than a decade younger). Stuff I have practiced from come from Jerry Alan Johnson, Bruce Francis, Peter Ragnar, internet in general. Of course there are frauds out there. One needs a good teacher, good understanding, and discipline.
Of course you have not awakened different centers, its just your imagination. Even Krishnamacharya the famous Indian yogi admitted that chakras were just imaginary points to help align the body during difficult postures. Looking young is all about genes and healthy lifestyle, not chakras or tan tien or whatever.
Are those around me also imagining? I have also taken medical chi-kung for several years and it grows stronger and stronger and I have stronger and stronger reactions from those I attempt to treat and women I am with. The problem is discipline and understanding. For those who do believe most don’t practice enough or correctly to get any real changes. I did this for years with no results until I practiced almost daily, 5 times a week up to 2 hours and now I am feeling it growing. If I stop I can feel it subside like a muscle starting to atrophy. I know you won’t believe but there is something special and profound to these exercises.
It`s the same with any exercise routine (weights, running), if you skip one session you feel bad and the mind tells you that you are becoming weaker etc. Studies have not shown any higher life span in Qigong-masters, they suffer from the same illnesses as anyone else and they age and die like anyone else.
For many Chinese people life is difficult-they suffer at work and are now being laid off in a large numbers. In this depressing condition, they are even more vulnerable to the multitudes of diseases that result from crowded conditions, pollution, chain smoking, and lack of modern heating and sanitation. Finding a qualified doctor is extremely difficult. There are many other misfortunes suffered daily by the Chinese people and they need genuine help, rather than being fooled, cheated out of their money and stripped of their dignity by some charlatan who has become their “master.”
House why not practice then preach.
Honestly i want to admit a whole lot to house’s comment, and holding true to certain things that he said, these people are playing us all psychologically…. pranking our minds on matters that really makes us worry……for all those seeking a remedy to ur pre..ejaculations pls try going for a nice road work in the mornings after that u should have a very nice stamina with ur woman…she should also do the same…..and just keep ur head straight and forget all the junks, i have read one too many can any one help
Mantak Chia is a great teacher. What he teaches is common knowledge of basic qigong/meditation practice, internal alchemy or “nei dan”.
Someone said “Yoga was a practice to keep the mind absolute empty. Then came the frauds and exploiters” This is not correct. The oldest known written document on Earth, aside from clay tablets, is the Diamond Sutra. Buddha himself discussed transforming the body and transcending physical life; qi circulation and practice are referred to as “the winds in the body”. Buddha dharma does not lie.
Someone said “qigong masters age, get sick, and die like everyone else”. This is also not correct. Basic qigong practice improves your immune response to the point where you do not catch colds or flu. Intermediate qigong practice allows you to be strong and full of energy for many, many years. Advanced qigong practice develops the energetic body for the purpose of existing beyond physical death.
The bodies of advanced practitioners have been shown to be full of crystals or pearls, known as Śarīra, which are developed through practice. Some of these masters remain undecayed after death, as though they were mummified. The practice transforms the physical body in a very real way. This same process is known in other disciplines, such as Catholicism ( “incorruptibiles”)
Research it yourself. It is fascinating. Enjoy your practice.
D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śarīra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_body
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neidan
David, thank you for posting your wise words. I was so surprised to read the negative & dismissive comments above yours. Qigong is all about peace, starting from within and reaching then to the community, the country and into the Universe. It does not interfere in any way with any religion and is simply a practice that expands our abilities to live peaceably and healthfully in our world.
If indeed we use only 10% of our energetic capacity, why not learn how to tap into the greater reserves! Qigong meditation serves as a bridge to the other 90%.
On a lighter note, I saw a movie recently called Limitless, where the central character accesses 100% of his brain capacity through the use of a new drug. If you’ve practiced qigong – and know a true qigong master – a lot of the “powers” don’t seem that surprising.
I’ve studied with a qigong master in Minnesota whom even the Mayo clinic calls upon when they have extremely difficult cases. I saw a friend’s massive breast tumors reduced down to one easily removable tumor in the space of 2 weeks, declared a medical miracle by her doctors.
Qigong is easy – and fun – for everyone. It is truly a win-win-win proposition.
House above is wrong. A qigong set is little more than 10 to 30 low impact circular movements, no where near the strain of a weight training or a cardiovascular daily routine. Thus, they are not comparable.
As for death and dying, yes w/o some stem cell a/o telomere lengthening, human lifespan is limited. This part is known to science but yet, to live from the ages 50 to 80, without chronic pain and illness, is a worthy achievement in itself. Many qigong practioners have achieved that, including those I regularly train with. The health benefits are tremendous.
to address to the negative comments at the top:
how can you describe colour to a blind man?
you cannot
how can you show wisdom to those who insist on keeping their eyes closed.
there is great wisdom in taoist yoga, and in advanced internal energy practises.
it is good that everyone has an opinion, but it is almost painful, to hear fools talking as though their words were fact, when in fact, without doing any real investigation, without having tried to master the practises, and without having spent years daily, feeling the building internal energies, – without all that, they are just like playground bullies, angrily trying to assert that their closed minded, small minded experience and viewpoint is THE truth and fact. It is sad, and funny for those in the know, to watch.
The fact is that these practices and energies are very real.
A blind man can shout at me and tell me I am talking nonsense, and that there are no ‘colours. He has never seen them. But this is his own blindness speaking. Not the accumulated wisdom of a long lifetime of seeking and practise.
The energies are very real.
Also in regard to the comment about chakras. You can say they are not real. Well yes they are not physical things, like a pimple in each spot on your body. They are energy points. So in the etheric, the astral plane, these points are very real. Even down here, even most advanced martial artits know about and use the tan tien point, for more destructive energy transmission, in attacks.
So please, to those children, who are talking as if they have the accumulated wisdom of several lifetimes, claiming the high ground of all knowledge, please have a little more humility and open-mindedness. You are like children looking at atomic energy. You have no conception of what you are dealing with. Even for acupuncture, the chinese have a saying that it takes several lifetimes to learn. So please have a little more intellectual humility. Without a lifetime of study and practise, really, you are just an ignorant child, shouting that he is right.