Buddhist Qi Gong - Dharma Wheel

Re: Buddhist Qi Gong

• Quote

Post by Huifeng » Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:47 am

Hi,

Rakshasa wrote:It is believed that Bodhidharma came to the Shaolin monastery from South India, observed that the monks there had physically weak bodies after strenuous meditation practices with long hours of inactivity, and therefore devised Qi Gong like Bone-Marrow washing (Yi Jin Jing) and tendon changing classic to help them strengthen the bodies of these monks. Eventually, the number of Qi Gongs devised by monks increased and in today's times there are literally hundreds of Qi Gong practices - some martial and some spiritual - which are especially taught by lay men (especially martial arts masters).

Yes, so it is believed. A question at the start here would be what is meant by "qi gong", because it's kind of a modern (or at least new) word. I'm taking it in the broader sense of stuff like dao yin, tu nei, xing qi, bu qi, fu qi, lian dan etc. etc. http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E6%B0%94%E5%8A%9F" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; But note: Once the broader meanings are used, where to draw the line at, say anapanasmrti, or cakra-nadi-bindu type tantra?

1. How often is Qi Gong included into the curriculum of Buddhist monks in China, Japan and other East Asian companies?

In China, well, what does one even mean by curriculum? At most Buddhist seminaries (foxue yuan), probably no such thing would be in the courses. Maybe in those few rare monasteries which traditionally have strong Shi Dao (Buddhist Daoist) connections, they may have (in theory, but have never heard of it).

2. Were these Qi Gongs created in China or they were imported from India?

In China, before China was China. These practices have been around for thousands of years. eg. Chun Qiu 《呂氏春秋》「筋骨瑟縮不達，故作為舞以宣導之」 But, note on what you mean exactly by "qi gong" as above.

3. Did the Buddhists actually borrowed Qi Gong methods from the Taoists? Or was it based on Tantra or simply meditational practices of non-Tantric Buddhists?

As above. Though, again, what do you mean by "Taoist"? This term is something of a neologism in English, and it's usage doesn't correspond exactly to either Daojia / Daojiao or Lao Zhuang (actual categories that the Chinese use). And where you want to draw a line - if any - between Daojia and maybe traditional Chinese medicine. Some scholars have questioned the reverse, actually, ie. that such prana methods in tantra originally come from China.

Ba Duanjin, Yijinjing, 18 Arhats, etc are some of the popular Buddhist Qi Gong methods available worldwide nowadays.

Yes. "nowadays".

Does anyone practice Qi Gong in this forum? And if yes, how is the experience?

Depends what you mean by "qi gong". For me, personally, because I spend most of my time living in a Chinese language environment, and the very word "qi" in Chinese means something quite different to how the term is used in English (because in English it's only associated with so-called "Taoists" (sic) and "qi gong" stuff, in part), it is quite a tricky question. If we just say "working with the breath", then I do that every day, a couple of times, at least. I don't call it "qi gong", though.

Apologies for too many questions in a single post. I am interested in the value of Qi Gong in spiritual cultivation and its historical origins, and the theories it is based on. To me it seems unlikely that Qi Gong is based on Tantric methods, because Qi Gong is usually non-ritualistic.

May want to clarify what you mean by "qi gong", and even just "qi", as well as "taoist" while we're at it. ~~ Huifeng My Prajñācāra Blog Buddhist Studies at Fo Guang University, Taiwan