FAQs & Facts
J Remember, there is only one truth and that is what is true for you at this moment. You may change your mind tomorrow when you have another realization J.
Qigong or Chi Gong ? Taijiquan or Tai Chi ? 
Personally, I think it doesn't really matter, as long as you understand what we are trying to say. I may even use a wrong spelling sometimes because people will better understand what I am talking about (e.g. tai chi instead of taijiquan).
Translating Chinese characters into Roman characters (Latin letters) is a difficult job. In order to stop the confusion, Chinese linguists developed a standard system of romanization which is called Pinyin. Pinyin does not always conform to English, but it is generally accepted and officially used. Here are some examples of correct writing and pronunciation:
Pinyin (official spelling)
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Pronunciation
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Other 'incorrect' spelling
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Qigong
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Chee Gung
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Chi Gong, Ch'i Kung
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Taijiquan
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Tie jee Chuan
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Tai Chi, T'ai Chi Ch'uan
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Dantian
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Dan tian
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Tan T'ien
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Qi
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Chee
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Chi, Ch'i
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Binqi
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Beeng chee
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Bing Chi
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Interesting fact: Chi from 'Chi Gong' is a totally different character than Chi from 'Tai Chi'. The first one means 'air, energy', the latter 'extreme, ultimate'. This is obvious when we use the Pinyin spelling: Qigong and Taijiquan.
The concept of Binqi (diseased Qi or energy)
Qi or energy runs in our body through several energetic pathways, called channels and meridians. In a perfectly healthy person, this Qi is healthy and moves freely and smoothly. However, when a person develops a physical or emotional problem, or when the flow of Qi is blocked in certain areas (stagnation), the quality of the Qi changes into diseased or distorted Qi. In other words, whenever there is pain or disease, the Qi in the affected bodypart will be of a different quality than the Qi in other areas of the body. Water in a fast running river is usually clear and fresh, stagnant water in a pool smells and looks unclear.
I have learned from my experience as a Qi-healer that the elimination of Binqi often leads to quick results and immediate relief of symptoms.
Translation: Bìng: disease, ailment, default, defect, pathological, sick; and Qi: air, gas, breath, energy. (back)
Qigong reactions
It is very important to know that you may have reactions during and after practicing qigong. Not everybody will have them. Some people only have minor reactions, some have no reactions at all and some have strong reactions from the very beginning. Just know that this may happen and if so, recognize it as “having a reaction.”
Some practitioners reported having the following reactions:
physical reactions : burping, breaking wind, yawning, sweating, diarrhea, vomiting, chills, spontaneous trembling and movement…emotional reactions : crying, laughing, sighing, singing, outbursts of anger or sadness,…
mental reactions : a sudden strong aversion to certain exercises, a sudden desire to stop practicing and to leave,…
Having a reaction is actually a very good sign: it means that the exercises are working!
Note: Qigong reactions are very common when practicing Qigong Postures for Self-healing. They happen occasionally during the Self-healing Daoyin and rarely during Taiji Qigong.
Developing a daily practice
Developing a daily practice is probably the most important and the most difficult part of Qigong. Generally speaking, we can divide qigong practitioners in two groups.
The first category consists of people who practice Qigong to improve their health. If you belong to this group, you have to practice on a daily basis. You have no excuse not to do so. Concerns about your health should be a strong enough motivation to get you going, day after day! Most people soon feel better after starting a regular practice, which is encouraging on itself.
It is usually more difficult for those who resort under the second category: practitioners who are healthy and practice Qigong because they realize that prevention is better than cure; or those who practice qigong as a means for personal or spiritual growth. There is usually no problem if you are new to the Qigong practice, but after a couple of weeks, months or years, maintaining a daily practice may be difficult and demand a lot of self-discipline.
A spiritual daily practice on itself or in addition to your daily qigong practice can be useful too. One could for instance before or after his/her practice read the Thought for the Day by Sathya Sai Baba, and then meditate on it. (see Info & Links).
About teachers & masters
This is a difficult one. Here are some personal thoughts...
What do you expect from a teacher or master? What is a master according to you?
E.g.: “When he holds his hands over mine, they become hot, hot, hot.”
E.g.: “He can knock someone over by just looking at him.”
E.g.: “He can blow out the flame of a candle by pointing a finger at it and emitting Qi.”
Ask yourself, did the master teach you how to do it and can you do it? Was it useful what you learned?
E.g.: “He said he is going to give us something special today.”
Oh yes, that's what we all want: something special. Especially if we can just get it, without having to practice for a longer period of time. But aren't we just bleep-ing lazy? We don't want to do anything, or at least not much, but we do want fast results. We want the world and we want it now! J
And then what? What do we want? Health. Happiness. Anything else?
Let's say you're sick. Consider your lifestyle. Do you think someone can give you your health back without any effort or change from your part? Doesn't it make more sense that you learn to slightly or drastically change your daily life, and that you learn what you can do to get healthy again? Don't you realize that it's your life style, your attitude in/towards life that makes you sick? You have been eating fat and sugar and chips and ice cream for 20 years, living like a couch potato staring at the TV. Rather than changing the way you live, you'd prefer someone to instantly fix you, or it's also fine with you if they can clone a new liver and colon for you, hey why not!
Show some respect for your body. A healthy body goes together with a healthy mind. In (Japanese) traditional martial arts, practitioners use hard and disciplinary training to train and control the mind. Why did the Shaolin monks initially learn martial arts? Because too much meditation for a long time without physical activity caused them to become weak and sick.
In Daoist tradition, physical, energetic and mental/spiritual influence each other. Doing a physical exercise influences (transforms) the Qi (energy) and the Shen (spirit/mind). Exercises focused on transforming the Qi, will also transform the Jing (here: physical body) and the Shen.
Indeed, Qigong can also be translated as cultivating the Qi through long and persistent practice. Be honest, most of us don't like this translation !
The tai chi master in a Beijing park who can knock you over with his Qi, has practiced for over 40 years. If you stay long enough with him, he may (or may not) teach you his special knowledge. Sounds familiar?
Why focus on the ability to knock someone over with Qi? Is that so special? If you believe in God, imagine appearing before him after you died and when he asks what you achieved in your life, you tell him “I learned to knock someone over with Qi.” God happy? Don't think so.
Mother Theresa was not a Qigong master. She could not blow out a candle with her fingers. The people she took care of didn't have to say “hot, hot, hot” because her hands emitted too much Qi. Mother Theresa practiced compassion! A quality far more important than mastering special abilities.
This leads me to the question: What do you want? What is really important?
If you want health, qigong can help you. Learning how to expel diseased energy and to strengthen your immune system is the first step. Then, you have to practice REGULARLY so you can achieve results, heal yourself and prevent becoming sick again.
If you want happiness, qigong can help you. Learning how to release emotional blockages and stored negative emotions is a first step to happiness. Meditation can help you understand the true nature of your emotions so you can control them and transform them into positive ones.
According to the Buddhist tradition, one can only be truly happy if one practices compassion. In other words, you should wish happiness for ALL beings. Not only in your mind, heart or prayers, but it should reflect in your deeds in daily life!
For the Catholics among us, meditate on the ten commandments and try to live accordingly (Keep your hat on, I just said, meditate on it! You decide how to interprete them. Notice how even thinking about them leads to becoming a better person, and THAT is what matters).
So, about teachers and masters...
Most people are looking for something more when learning or practicing qigong, yoga, martial arts. It is however hard to find because teachers or masters hardly ever show you what you're looking for. Instead, they will show you their power and confuse you so that you think that power is what you want. But you don't ! And for that reason, you may go and check out another master, and another teacher who promises great things, and another one, a really special one this time… until you realize that you have been mislead, that what you really want is a transformation of your self. And that no-one can do that for you, and that no special, secret technique is needed. There are many ways to achieve transformation, but even when you have made your choice and start practicing faithfully and consistently, it may still take many years.
So be clear about your intention, about what you want. Practice to achieve your goal. Meditate on your goal and on what you are doing. Pray for and accept the guidance you get. Accept it when it's time to move on, to change your approach, to adept your practice or your life.
The practice of qigong is only a tool to help you find what you are looking for, to achieve your goal. It is not a goal on itself!
Developing psychic or paranormal (ESP) abilities should not be a goal on itself. It can serve a greater goal, but keep that in mind, and set your priorities. And ask yourself again: What do you want? And why do you want that?
Many teachers - they like to call themselves Masters - think that their qigong system is superior, and in some cases it really is. Sometimes, they learned valuable techniques in China and don't want to share this with others unless you pay for it. Whether it is to protect their system or to make money out of it, several qigong styles are registered® which makes it more difficult to share with others what you have learned.
But universal knowledge is not for sale! It is there for everybody and should not be restricted by any means. One can only reach a higher level and learn more if one shares his knowledge. This is a universal law.
On the other hand, sometimes students think they 'master' the techniques and will start teaching too soon. This results in incomplete or wrong knowledge, leading to a wrong practice of qigong and thus doing more harm than good.
Choosing a teacher can be difficult. But remember that you never have a guarantee. So-called masters who studied with famous Chinese masters, who spent several years in monasteries with fancy, exotic names and who have a 40-year experience can be incompetent as well. And there are many charlatans out there!
Finding Happiness, everybody's ultimate goal
Buddhism teaches that virtue is the cause of happiness, and non-virtue the cause of suffering. Pure actions, those done with a motivation that is unstained by self-cherishing (or any other disturbing) thoughts, become virtue and lead to happiness. Indeed, don't we all feel happy deep inside when we were able to really help someone else?
The 10 commandments (with examples of interpretations)
Please meditate on these and come up with your own interpretations if you like. The idea here is to make you aware that we put a lot of energy in thinking of money, job, boyfriend/girlfriend and conquering our fears (usu. by trying to gain power and to control others) and that we often forget to think of more important things such as being nice to each other. More and more people don't like the world we live in (unemployment, war, terror, being single, traffic violence...), and I believe that if you want to change the world, you have to change yourself! Try it, it works! (this is in Dutch, for my friends in Belgium J )
1. Do not have false Gods (Bovenal bemin één God)
God loves us and is always with us. There are times when we forget and make other people and things more important (such as money!)
Believe in the law or principle of Divine love.
2. Do not take God's name in vain (Zweer niet ijdel, vloek noch spot)
Show respect.
Names are special. No one should dishonor anyone's name, especially God's name.
3. Keep holy the Lord's day (Heilig steeds de dag des Heeren)
God wants us to have a day of rest, a day when we put aside our work and pray. In other words, we should regularly be spiritual, think of what really matters, examine ourselves to see if we can be better human beings and more loving to each other.
4. Honor your father and mother (Vader, moeder zult gij eren)
You can learn from your parents and grandparents. Treat them with respect.
We are all family, respect each other.
5. Do not kill (Dood niet, geef geen ergernis)
Have the courage to be peaceful.
God gave each of us life. We have to respect and honor that.
6. Do not commit adultery (Doe nooit wat onkuisheid is)
Honor yourself and others, and be sincere. Don't break promises.
Treat others mercifully.
7. Do not steal (Vlucht het stelen en bedriegen)
Help build a society without deceit and injustice.
We all have things that are special to us. Perhaps we have worked hard and earned it or perhaps it was a gift for Christmas or a birthday. Whatever the reason, we would never want what is ours to be taken from us.
To just take what is not ours is wrong. It is selfish and harmful. Everyone has a right to what belongs to them
When we cheat, it's the same thing. When we are cheating to win a game, to get the right answer, whatever we cheat on, it's taking what is not ours.
8. Do not lie (Ook de achterklap en `t liegen)
The truth makes us happy and lies make us so sad. Lies hurt other people and they hurt us. There are times when we lie to get out of trouble. There are times when a lie seems to help. That isn't true. A lie always hurts the respect we have of ourselves and it usually hurts another person. A lie brings shame on us. A lie makes us sad.
When you tell other people's secrets, even if its true, that hurts them. When we make them hurt, we hurt ourselves.
9. Honor your neighbor's wife (Wees steeds kuis in uw gemoed)
Be in harmony with your environment and with yourself.
"Be pure in thought" sounds better than Honor your neighbor's wife. Remember, every creation begins with a thought. People pick up on your thoughts, whether they consciously know it or not. Thoughts build a consciousness, a collective consciousness where others can tap into. Those who e.g. have murderous thoughts contribute to the murder committed. Those who have lustful thoughts contribute to the rape committed, and help shift the focus onto "imitation" or false love.
10. Honor your neighbor's goods (En begeer nooit iemands goed)
There is abundance in life.
Many times, other people have really neat things. We might even wish that it was ours. Many people are good in sports or have really wonderful clothes.
To want nice things for ourselves is okay. When we become mean or nasty to others that have what we would like to have, that's wrong.
We need to admire the things that other people have. We need to admire their special talents. We need to be happy for them. We need to thank God for the special gifts He has given us.
Abandoning the 10 non-virtues
1. Killing (negative action of body)
2. Stealing (negative action of body)
3. Sexual misconduct (negative action of body)
4. Lying (negative action of speech)
5. Slander (negative action of speech)
6. Harsh speech (negative action of speech)
7. Gossip (negative action of speech)
Note: These actions become negative when they are motivated by anger, ignorance (!), attachment, self-cherishing or any other delusion.People find it difficult to decide what is right or wrong. Anything done with compassion and with the wisdom that it will benefit others, becomes a positive action.
8. Covetousness (negative action of mind)
9. Ill will (wish to harm others) (negative action of mind)
10. Wrong views (negative action of mind)
Conclusion: If you want to be happy, you have to change your mind and your actions by abandoning these 10 kinds of negative karma. We are free to do what we want, to create our own happiness or to create our own suffering! There is no external creation for this!