BAGUA MASTERY PROGRAM

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MODULE 6
Circle Walking and
Taoist Meditation:
Intermediate Meditation 4,
Parts 1-3
BRUCE FRANTZIS
Copyright 2010 Bruce Frantzis
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PLEASE NOTE: The practice of Taoist energy arts and meditative arts may carry risks. The information
in this text is not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental or emotional counseling with
a licensed physician or healthcare provider. The reader should consult a professional before undertak-
ing any martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health or exercise program to reduce the chance of
injury or any other harm that may result from pursuing or trying any technique discussed in this text.
Any physical or other distress experienced during or after any exercise should not be ignored and
should be brought to the attention of a healthcare professional. The creators and publishers of this
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Table of Contents
Section 1: Meditation 4, Part 1-
Understanding the Bodily
Energies of Your Emotions 5
Overview ..................................................................... 5
Part 1: Working with Subtle Emotional Energies .. 6
Preparation ............................................................................... 6
Instructions ............................................................................... 7
Section 2: Meditation 4, Part 2-
Unfreeze Your Emotional Energies
until They Freely Flow 11
Section 3: Meditation 4, Part 3-
Releasing the Resistance to Change 15
Section 1
Meditation 4, Part 1 :
Understanding the Bodily
Energies of Your Emotions
Overview
Before moving on to Walking Meditation 4, you must find and stabilize the place
inside where your internal continuum feels natural. If your emotions become
overexaggerated, they block your ability to be aware, especially when changing
directions very rapidly. However, when your emotions are not blocked, it's much
easier to maintain your awareness even when changing directions very rapidly.
From a Taoist meditation perspective, humans have two basic types of emotions:
lower emotions, which are derived from our body, such as anger, fear, frustration,
hunger, greed and physical desire; and higher emotions, such as love, compas-
sion, balance, generosity, caring for others, the desire to further everything. The
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2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.
6 8agua Mastery Program
higher emotions are essentially about the hope and the intent to do what is best
for all and in harmony within everything, including nature (or the environment).
Higher emotions go beyond the survival needs and just grasping at anything you
can and in any way you can.
Part 1: Working with Subtle
Emotional Energies
Preparation
Ideally, you will integrate at least two of the more advanced neigong
techniques into your walking practice, such as twisting (neigong component
#9) and activating the energies of the spine (neigong component #11), to most
effectively develop this phase of meditation.
In Meditation 4, the twisting of your waist, arms and legs should become very
strong, penetrating deep within the soft tissues, and around and into your
internal organs. If you add the spinal qigong technique of Bend the Bow, each
and every step you take should constantly pump the fluids within your spine,
deepest muscles and other anatomical structures.
These deep structures and fluids link to your brain through your spinal cord.
The organs, spine, spinal cord and other deep structures are prime places where
many subliminal emotions are stored within the body. When activated, they can
cause stored subliminal emotions to naturally release and emerge.
If you try to incorporate Bend the Bow Qigong into your walking during earlier
meditations (1-3), it might result in your subliminal emotions becoming yet more
suppressed or coming out much slower than if incorporated into your walking
meditation practice at this more appropriate stage. So don't be in a rush and
make sure you have a stable foundation in Meditations 1-3 before trying the
following exercises. Bagua Meditation work and internal neigong are arts that
you should develop over a lifetime, and should never be rushed.
2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.
Module 6: Circle Walking and Taoist Meditation-Meditation 4, Parts 1-3 7
Instructions
1. Take some time to consider your past. Consciously think about, focus your
awareness on or ponder the events of the past few days. Maybe they've
provoked general or specific anger, frustration, sadness, a light depression
or other feelings within you. This will begin to move your mind toward
sensing the more subtle qualities of the emotions that subliminally live
inside you at all times.
Although emotions are easily recognizable when in full-blown expression,
in quieter periods they can otherwise be consciously unrecognized and
hidden well below the surface within your unconscious. Nevertheless,
these energies are very much alive regardless of your ability to recognize
them, no matter how subtle or gross the feelings or energies might be.
Alternatively, instead of pondering the past, if you are experienced in the
methods of Taoist sitting meditation, you could begin to consider an Inner
Dissolving emotional agenda of your choice. Only use this method if
you've had prior experience with it.
Bruce's book, Tao of Letting Go, explains the process of using agendas in Taoist
meditation.
2. Deeply twist and open and closeyourbodywhile maintaining the energetic
flows of heaven and earth as practiced in Meditation 3. Observe your inner
world until you start noticing where these subtle emotions live inside you.
Keep in mind that the idea of an emotion for most usually precedes the
actual feeling of the emotion itself.
You may either get the actual feeling of an emotion-no
matter how light and watered down-or possibly just the idea
of a possible emotion, something that just seems to come to
mind of its own accord. For example, you may feel or think of
anger, frustration, greed, sadness or loneliness during an open-
ing, closing or twisting of your liver. This can then serve as your
access point into the more subtle chi of that emotion.
2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.
8 8agua Mastery Program
Likewise, activating the spine may tag you into becoming
aware of emotional pain or sadness. What's happening in your
joints may be the connector to somewhere else in your body,
say your heart or brain. In turn, that will be a lead-in to enable
you to recognize and become aware of the subliminal and
subtle chi of the emotions connected to those body parts.
Eventually, the subliminal emotions hidden inside you become
affected and revealed by currents of chi that your internal
movements engender. Some examples are opening and
closing, spinal pumps, soft tissue twisting or activating the
bodies spiraling energy currents.
By the end of this practice, the intent is to get your first experiential tastes of
these subtle emotions or thoughts. You can then influence your ability to access
the subtle chi of your emotions by focusing on the relationships between the
different ways you can, for example, twist, open, close and practice spinal pumps
inside your body. You can do it through any neigong component, either stronger
or more gently and in various combinations, by adjusting how much of your in-
ner world you are willing to work on without becoming overwhelmed. Increasing
or decreasing your sensitivity to your emotions and the speed at which you can
dissolve and release them while maintaining your own seventy percent rule, can
also help you begin to balance your emotional energy.
3. Increase your walking speed until your inner emotions start surfacing
more rapidly and become stronger.
4. By using awareness alone, observe how you can become aware ofthe ways
in which emotions live insideyou. So just by thinking about something and
using your intent and awareness, you can rapidly go to where the related
emotions live inside you. Walking faster helps because the faster you walk,
the more your system naturally revs up and starts releasing what's stored
inside you.
This said, in the beginning to maintain your personal 70
percent rule, you must walk very slowly and only gradually
speed up over time. Otherwise, your internal infrastructure is
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Module 6: Circle Walking and Taoist Meditation-Meditation 4, Parts 1-3 9
not strong enough to withstand the release and you will simply
gap, gap, gap. This prevents the object of the meditation
exercise, which is to reduce or eliminate all gaps in your
awareness that block your ability to notice the subtle energetic
qualities of your emotions.
If you are not yet enlightened, it is inevitable that gaps will
occur. This is especially true for relatively beginning
practitioners. The task is to simply gap out less and not cause
more gaps.
5. When your body feeling or your mind suddenly gaps out after recognizing
where the subtle emotional energies live insideyou and loses its continuity,
notice if there is a slight jarring effect when you reconnect. This can last
from the time it takes to take a few steps, complete a full circle or even
longer. When you find this has happened to you, walk a little slower and
become grounded. Then, being mindful of your 70 percent rule and when
you feel you have got yourself together again, gradually return to full
speed.
6. Think of a horrible, sweet, depressing or lofty thought about something
you really do or don't want to happen in your life to better refine your
understanding of where your emotions live in your body. Where do you
feel it and what other kinds of related emotions emerge in your body-
mind?
Think about something you have truly desired and would like
back again. Ask yourself, "Where does that desire live inside my
body-mind?"
Next, ask yourself where any of the recent questions live
inside your energy channels. At this stage, do your best to
continuously activate your body's left, right and central
energy channels, if you can. Through these and all the other
channels that you can consciously feel, you start becoming
aware of how your emotions live and react within your body's
energy channels.
2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.
10 8agua Mastery Program
As you monitor your inner world, ask yourself: "How do the
subtle thoughts, images, sounds, or feelings impact myabil-
ity to be aware as well as conscious of the nature of awareness
itself, the deepest level of intent or the Heart-Mind?"Then, by
moving faster, you can bring your hidden emotions into your
awareness. So rather than being hidden and opaque, you bring
the energies to the surface where they can be consciously
accessed.
7. This is the point at which you confront your inner demons. Bring them
out of the murky depths, use the Inner Dissolving process to dissolve and
resolve them, and be free of them once and for all. Regardless if it's anger,
fear, greed, feeling helpless and powerless or anything else of which you
could conceive, energize yourself with each step of your circle.
Along with the help of the neigong components with which you are
working, you dissolve, resolve and tame your inner beasts and demons.
Always CHANGE the circle's direction anytime you feel you're getting stuck
within your fear, anger, grief, sadness, hopes or frustrations.
2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.
Section 2
Meditation 4, Part 2:
Unfreeze Your
Emotional Energies until
They Freely Flow
There's a time to grieve, a time for sadness, a time for joy and happiness. Like
changing weather patterns, your emotions have many moods. They come from
the glands and internal organs and are a part of what makes us human.
However, to truly transcend them is to simply let them have their own time in
their own place without allowing them to exceed their functionality and cause
us to get stuck. Sadly, many become fixated until their emotions set like cement
and, like a lump, sit occupying and dominating the rest of their natural life.
So find these cemented places inside. Let whatever the emotion is reach its
natural conclusion with a willingness to have each emotion pass and change into
another. Always make sure that within the rising and falling energies of heaven
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12 8agua Mastery Program
and earth that your nervous system finds its natural rhythm within an unbroken
continuum of consciousness. This way it can change naturally and comfortably
without strain or force.
Emotions can be useful, neutral, distressing or like nasty poisons that destroy
you from the inside out. After a specific emotion's usefulness has passed, you
can become internally free enough to let go and change. This allows the space
for the next emotional change to be available to you. Or, you can remain frozen
or stuck without moving forward in which case the frozen emotional residue can
either be aggravating at best or make your life a living hell at worst, and distinctly
unpleasant for those around you.
Sharpen your sense of what it means to either connect or disconnect from the
energies of earth and heaven, neither of which you should disconnect from dur-
ing Meditation 4, Part 2. So ask yourself what is occurring. Notice where your
emotions are in your body and energy channels during all the in-out, open-close,
twist and pump motions.
In time, you can jump to the next level and recognize how your movements
influence and inhabit your spirit, so you can become even more aware of how
emotional energies play and swirl inside you. As your emotions change, the point
is always to gain the ability to internally shift freely without getting stuck.
1. After finding the obvious energies and as your awareness changes and
grows, look for progressively more subtle emotional energies within you.
Initially, focus on and find out where the more subtle negative
emotions live in your body.
Summon all of your dissolving power to release whatever you
feel is blocked.
Let go of whatever stops you from freely changing from one
emotion to another.
2. Become aware of your positive emotions and release them. For many, this
may be somewhat counterintuitive. I mean, who wants to get rid of the
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Module 6: Circle Walking and Taoist Meditation-Meditation 4, Parts 1-3 13
good stuff, right? Consider that it doesn't matter if you are stuckor attached
within a positive or negative emotion because stuck is stuck. Your energy
is still frozen and can't change. Unless it becomes free, it cannot convert
into spirit. Frozen emotional energy of any kind is neither fully alive nor
fully natural. In Taoist practices (Walking the Circle, sitting meditation or
in life), a guiding principle is to always seek what is natural for its time and
place. Strong attachments to anything clearly exceed this principle.
3. Again, repeat the same question with a different face: "Where are the
positive emotions hidden in my body?"Where are these energies of being
positive, kind, generous, or willing to help within you and your body?
4. Now move faster and you will be able to dredge out these emotions from
your system more rapidly. Just take care that as you move faster, you do
so without strain and at a speed that your nervous system and glands can
handle.
5. While moving between your positive and negative emotions, release and
free them. As they release, look inside and observe if something else is
there. Something that cannot be defined, that has no specific quality, that
is beyond words or thoughts to express, but can be recognized within your
awareness. Is there anything that can simultaneously be fully present and
yet coexist with your positive or negative emotions as they come and go?
Do you have any sense of an all-pervasive, universal quality? See if you can
find it.
2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.
Section 3
Meditation 4, Part 3:
Releasing the Resistance
to Change
Many freak out from negative changes, the horrible things that happen in life.
Likewise, others are afraid to relinquish negative changes and enter the positive
because they can't accept what can be nurturing for all sorts of reasons. But noth-
ing stays the same forever. Seasons change, one into the other; cold changes to
warm and dry to moist. Days grow longer while nights become shorter and vice-
versa.
Everything in life is constantly changing.
Turn, twist and thereby transcend your resistance to change. Allow the change to
happen without forcing it. Find what is natural. Change if you feel it's appropriate
or not, as the case may be. Use everything Walking Meditation 4 has taught you,
so you can recognize and overcome the common resistance to change, the flows
of life-regardless of whether you want them or not.
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16 8agua Mastery Program
1. As you change from one direction to the other, focus on your Heart-Mind
and allow it to lead the negative and positive rising and falling, dissolving
and changing. Let the resistance between the changes let go. Know that
many things will happen in your awareness and many things won't. Know
that at times you'll make yourself out to be an absolute fool while others
you'll be the absolute wise one. Allow each arising and just let go of it-
whatever it may be-to flow one into the next like the changes of the
seasons, movement of the stars and the whole universe.
2. Find this place of change. Release the resistance to it. Maybe to release the
resistance, you must dissolve your emotions. Maybe you must energize
them first, especially if their content is very feeble. Or, maybe you have to
dissolve something you just can't define yet but you sense is stuck.
3. As your emotions more freely let go, change and move to what the next
greater sense of naturalness means. Can you get a sense of that which does
not change, the emptiness that permeates everything and fundamentally
underlies nature itself?
In Chinese, nature or naturalness is called dze ran.
4. As this new, indefinable something arises in your awareness, move faster.
As you do, you also more rapidly release your negative subtle emotional
energies as well as your resistance to change and thereby can more easily
and freely change. Transcending the resistance to change enables you to
develop a natural relationship with the way that everything is always in
the middle of becoming the next thing. Become comfortable with this,
settle into it.
2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.