The Truth about Spontaneous Chi Kung
( Jinns / Demonic Possession )
http://www.dangerofchi.org/mystory.htm
Introduction
Today you will find the word Ki (Chi) cropping up no matter where you look. You will see it on advertising hoardings, on posters, in newspapers and magazines and in the brightly coloured advertisements festooning the trains. Ki is regularly featured in certain magazines in articles with enticing titles such as “The Mysterious Ki Does It Exist?”, “The Miraculous Ki Cures All Diseases”, “The Secret of the Supernatural Power of Ki Revealed”, etc. "The Mysterious Power of Ki" by Kouzo Kaku p.1.
But what is Chi? Where does it come from? What are its origins? How is it that tapping into the power of Chi can enhance physical prowess by allowing the practionar to perform superhuman feats? Can cause the emission of Chi energy through the "Red Sand Palm" technique with devastating results? Allows the Martial Arts practionar through summoning Chi to invulnerabily absorb deadly blows with minimal injury i.e. the infamous "Steel Jacket" "Iron Shirt" "Iron Crotch" and "Iron Ribs" techniques? Can be projected and transmitted over vast distances spanning hundreds of miles? Can result in the notorious Death Touch ie Dim Mak, (ancient art of striking vital points of the body engineered to cause knock-out, death or delayed reaction)? Can be exchanged between people i.e. Clapping palms and passed on into food, water, and objects? Can induce trance like and altered states of consciousness during which the practioner experiences involuntary body movements (i.e. Wu Qin Xi and spiritual kungfu) and demonstrates cognizance of forms never before practised? Can miraculously heal & ameliorate the health of the critically ill (even in instances where modern medicine with its advancement & deep insight cannot avail)? Can be used to control an opponents mind freezing them up, and can be used to predict and forestall an opponents intended (not actioned) moves in battle through ki enhancing Zen mind control techniques? Can result in amazing precognitive abilities to perceive events before they occur, e.g. Master Morihei's (the founder of Aikido) legendary ability to dodge and ward off bullets by seeing flashing lights of ki coming at him, similar beliefs were also credited to the Boxers Rebellion of the late 19th century whose adherents claimed a magical imperviousness to both blade and bullet through breathing and movement exercises (chi)? Can through enhanced meditation transform one's state of mind into a monistic ("all is one"), if not an outright pantheistic ("all is God") outlook? Why is its practise often integrated or associated with polythesitic idolatrous rituals, such as woshiping idols (eg statues of Buddha, Lao Tzu, Bramer Vishnue and Shiva), false dieties, deceased spiritual or ancesterial beings (i.e. wafu) and the approbation of past masters, as well as being used as a vechile to propogate idolatrous ideologies? And can even lead to unusual energy sensations and paranormal activity at advance stages i.e. aura diagnosis, telepathy, telekinesis, remote gong (i.e. remote viewing), unleash latent psychic ability (clairvoyance and clairaudience), and even reports of levitation? And yet those practicing the internal arts number in the tens of millions daily, despite having know discernable idea of its precise make-up and the deleterious consequences that can accrue through its practice i.e. namely the medical condition known as "Qi Gong Deviation Syndrome" (today a medical diagnostic term widely used throughout China), Qigong Psychosis, evil qi (xie qi), malignant qi, stagnant chi, and "Kundalini Syndrome" (collectively referred to as the “Dark Side of Chi”). If you are a practioner of the Martial Arts, in particular the Internal Arts, ever studied the Five-Animal System of Spontaneous Chi-Kung, then this article is imperative reading for you and the sinister malign reality of Chi Kung will become all too evident. The paragraphs and comments you are about to read are derived from my own experiences, close observations and study of the Martial Arts. Inadditon I have also used other sources and references where I deemed it relevant to cogently present my case, producing both an authoratitive and objective analysis of the subject matter. My ultimate purpose is to publicize the dangers of Chi and the insidious esoteric and exoteric energies of the east. Throughout the rest of this writing the terms tai chi, ki, rei-ki, & qi gong will be used synonymously to mean Chi.
Reality of Chi
I have been a practioner of the martial arts for several years, and that also includes spontaneous Chi Kung. The Chi they utilize is not a harmonious, benevolent, all prevailing, invisible energy/force which flows binds and permeates throughout the Universe, but rather a sentient life form unto themselves (nor are they discarnate spirits of the dead as is commonly believed in the west) which religions around the world and communities & civilizations throughout history have commonly termed Spirits, Jinns or Demons. Many people around the world have been severely mentally affected to their detriment through the study of such systems which often involve (as will be examined here on in) clearly defined movements/forms or involuntary actions. Once the jinn's enter the host through the relevant nerve, pressure or acupuncture points that flow in channels/meridians, they then inhabit the host and exercise great influence, often in many instances mentally impairing the individual or even cause death. At the latter point the only means of redress then becomes undergoing a religious Islamic Exorcism. I am speaking from my own experiences with this phenomenon and not from hear say. I would like to publicize the dangers as much as possible and expose its reality .
Chi in China
Qigong (“exercise of vital energy”) is a Chinese healing system based on trance. It consists of meditational or movement exercise, or both, induced by use of a highly culture syntonic set of suggestions based on the concept of qi (vital energy). It has been estimated that about 5% of China's 1.3 billion people practise qigong, so this may be the most common form of “hypnosis” practised globally.
Chinese hypnosis can cause qigong induced mental disorders by Sing Lee, associate professor of psychiatry BMJ v320 (7237) Mar 18, 2000
Indeed the concept of Chi-Kung dates back over 4,500 years, along with the rest of Chinese Medicine, which has a long and recognized pedigree, slowly evolved into a highly refined art Today. Infact within China alone there are over three hundred Chi Kung systems, each individual style has its own specific training methods. Qigong is ostensibly a training system which helps to generate a strong flow of Qi (Internal Energy) inside the body and then circulate it through the entire body. Many Martial and Non-Martial styles of Qigong training have been created in the last 4,000 years. The most famous martial styles are:
1) Tai Ji Quan
2) Bagua
3) Xingyi
4) Liu He
5) Ba Fa
These are considered internal styles (Nei Gong or Nei Jar in Chinese), as opposed to "external" styles like Shaolin, because they emphasis working with Qi. The best known Non-Martial atyles, which emphasis the enhancement of Qi circulation to improve health are
1) Wu Qin Xi (Five Animal Forlics/Sport)
2) Ba Duan Jin (8 pieces of brocade)
3) Da Mo's "Yi Jin Jing" Muscle Change Classic
4) Shi Er Zhuang (12 postures)
"Tai Chi Theory & Martial Power" by Dr. Yan, Jwing-Ming.
Dao Yin & Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi)
The much-vaunted Five Animal System of Martial Arts or more commonly known as “Spontaneous Chi-Kung” invented by the famous Chinese physician, Hua Tuo, who lived in the late Han dynasty, is one of the most visible displays of demonic influence & possession within the martial arts practiced today taught throughout China and abroad. It is practiced not as a set of prescribed movements but rather as an escalating state of involuntary spontaneous movements including muscle tremors, twitching, unusual breathing or vocalizations and gyrating movements sending the practioner into a induced trance like state. The various postures of the Five-animal Play are related to the five elements & their corresponding solid organs. The Five-animal Play has five movement types, each named after an animal:
1.
'Xian Men' Tiger Style
2.
'She Cheng Qi' Deer Style
3.
'Geng Sang' Bear Style
4.
'Fei Chang Fang' Monkey Style
5.
'Kang Cang Zi' Bird Style
The movements called the "Five Animals" begin with simple swaying, which some cynics say occur anyway when you stand still for long periods, an effect called Postural hypo tension. But more convincing effects become apparent when you move to the next stage. The Tiger is related to the lungs and the element metal, the other organ/animal/elemental correspondences are as follows: The Deer is related to the liver and wood, the Bear to the kidneys and water, the Monkey to the spleen and earth; and lastly, the Bird is related to the heart and fire. Alarming scenes of people quite violently flapping their arms about, jumping up and down and hooting like crazed animals are to be observed abit like a zoo gone mad. The Chi can also be triggered by the ignorant instructor that has developed a powerful Chi field by transmitting the energy he has cultivated into another person. This is often done by the instructor holding the hands of the student as the jinn's pass through the finger tips or by pointing he's fingers at their foreheads at the position commonly known as the "Third Eye" (Hinduism & Buddhism faculty of insight often associated with paranormal activity and Islamically position at which the soul (rou'h) extricates the body). The finger nails serve as motorways for the jinn's facilitating ease of entry and exit. Yet all this can be done while the instructor is some distance away from the student controlling them like a puppeteer or rather telekinesis, pulling students in or pushing them away with just a gesture. More convincingly, most of the time they are unaware of he's gestures and often looking in the other direction.
Inaddition to the organs and meridians it is said our body also has three centers or collection points.
The jinn aggregate in three centers or collectons points within the human body, these are called Dan Tein, which translates as field of elixir.
"Inside our body these fields are a places for cultivation. As the name suggests the cultivation process is similar to the way crops are cultivated in a field." Five Animal Frolics Qi Gong by Franlin Fick p.15.
Except it is jinns & not crops the practionar is hoarding.
“These three centers (Dan Tien) are also associated with three different types of energy. These three energies are called the Three Treasures: Jing (relates to the physical body and is located 2 inches below the navel), Qi (relates to the mind located in the middle of the chest), and Shen (relates to the spirit or conciousness located in the head).” Ibid. p16.
“The Three Treasures are all related and can support and tranform into each other. They are actually the same substance at different levels of refinement.” Ibid. P.16.
In other words, as the Chi moves upwards from the lower organs it becomes more potent.
“The body is the same as a container that must be filled from the bottom up.” Ibid p16.
The jinns control thus becomes complete when the Shen is affected.
The induction of jinns has dramatic affects upon the human body
“Qigong bolsters the primal, reproductive vitality, or jing; it potentiates the daily bioelectrical energy, or qi; and it refines the light of our radiant spirit, or shen.” Five Animal Frolics For High Energy Vitality and Well Being by John Du Cane p.1.
Upon the submission of each of the five stages the jinn gains a foot hold over the host germinating into every corner and then brining its possessions with it just like a human would move he's/her furniture into a new dwelling. The jinn flows through its newfound host like blood, incrementing its control. The result is the successive infiltration of each organ, limb and then ultimately the brain, brought under the wing of the jinn. This is the most dangerous part of the body the host/Chi Kung practioner can give away. Many students at this stage report seeing bright lights, coloured formations and golden balls (similar to Hindu diksha golden balls). The Jinns while being an unseen creation do have it in their power to grant humans sight of them and the world of the unseen, this is what happens when chambers of the brain are opened up to facilitate chi expansion. Once the brain is tampered with and the jinn’s is able to bring it under its dominion the host then experiences gradual mental impairment/decline in the form of memory loss, head aches, unusual energy sensations moving around the head/brain, declining mental acumen etc climaxing in a state of madness. It should be noted that many people around the world are today in such a state as a result of practicing the Five Animal System, hence I cannot stress it enough to stay away from these systems or else there will be dire consequences for yourself.
"The (Chinese) proverb "Like running against the claws of the five animals" is a reference to five animals which could cause turbulent insanity and great disturbances" Chinese Black Magic Dr Ong Hean Tatt p.125. When severe it is known as zou (“run”) huo (“fire”) ru (“enter”) mo (“devil”); this means that the flow of qi deviates from the jing luo conduits and becomes fire, as a result of which a devil (jinn) enters the person.
As to how the jinn can possess or enter human bodies in The Jinn & Human Sickness by Dr. Abu’l-Mundhit Khaleel ibn Ibraaheem Ameen the author quotes another Shaykh:
Shaykh Muhammed Al-Haamid says: Because the jinn have light bodies (that are not dense), there is no ratonal reason why they should not enter the bodies of the sons of Adam, and there is no text which contradicts this idea. For that which is light may run through that which is dense, like air which can enter our bodies, or fire which runs through coals, or electricity which runs through wires. P.51.
by will
It is no concidence that every spiritual system that has some influence with the spirit/demonic realm– from Buddhism to yoga to Native American - has a Five Element theory underlying it (some use 4 elements + center). And "certain animal groupings, especially around the number five, are not auspisicious, and often related to black magic" Chinese Black Magic by Dr Ong Hean Tatt p.101. But unlike the others it is the Five Animal System that teaches how to directly experience the 5 elements in the body as five intelligent streams of biological, psychological, & spiritual consciousness.
Elements of the oldest forms of chi kung in China Five Animal Plays & Six Healing Sounds were found inscribed on silk fragments in the famous Mawangdui tomb discovery, dated to 216 b.c. In these silk fragments the animals and their sounds were clearly being used for medical purposes. The five animals was originally a kind of a shamanic dance, a way of getting in touch with animal spirits for self-healing and empowerment. They believed these animal spirits could connect you to the underworld and the supernatural world (i.e. Jinns and demons). If you could harness them, you could be healed or gain insight and magical powers from the unseen world.
“Believing also that the highest healing skill is to teach others to heal themselves, Hua Tuo set out to create a complete self-healing system that anyone could use to stay healthy or cure themselves of most ailments. Synthesizing and refining a set exercises based on a vast body of ancient shamanic and folk healing knowledge, he created The Five Animal Frolics.” Five Animal Frolics For High Energy, Vitality and Well Being by John Du Cane p.2.
The five animals evolved within Taoist (Daoist) culture to represent the five spirits or the intelligences (wu jing shen) of the five major human vital organs. It was believed that is was here the human underworld is actually hidden, right inside our body and is not in some abstract dimension of our psyche. Hence there are five animals, one for each of the five elements.
This connection between spiritual training and shamanic influences is undeniable (shamanism being defined as a member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events). It is well illustrated by one of the world most famous Qigong proponents in the west Michael Winn ( also a former two term President of the National Qigong (Chi Kung) Association of America ) in hes Five Animals eBook section Shamanic Power Animals Live Inside Human Body he writes:
“The evolution of spiritual training in ancient China was marked, I believe, by the absorption of shamanic powers and techniques into a more advanced, all inclusive alchemical science. The wisdom of the Daoist alchemists was that the entire universe, in its essential form, is contained within our human animal body. They realized, we can stop chasing after ourselves outside of ourselves. It is all right here, under our very nose. So the shamanic journey into “other realms” evolved into the Taoist notion of an expanded energy body. The journey became increasingly internalized. You don’t need to travel to get to the underworld, you carry it around with you, right inside your body. “
The author further expounds on this point:
“With the Five Animals, we are really exploring the mystery of the body, and in particular the mystery of our vital organ spirits, our own internal animal spirits with magical powers. The six healing sounds are a way of communicating with particular frequencies of chi in each organ, and the spirit of each one of our internal animals. “
The five elements and their associated heraldic animals represent an ancient knowledge of how heavenly forces could be manipulated to affect earthly destinies. The central ritual of Taoist magic consists in the ability to call up the forces of these spirit generals and indicates that the heraldic animals are indeed the essence of supernatural powers.
Ong Hean-Tatt, The Chinese Pau Kua, An Expose, Pelanduk Pub, Malaysia, 1991
Stefan Verstappen in hes article “The Shamanic Origins of Tai Chi”, When investigating the origins of tai chi , a journey which took him to the Golden Triangle (a roughly drawn remote from civilisation geographic area that overlaps the borders of three countries: Myanmar in the west, Laos in the east, and Thailand in the south), upon meeting a shaman, he writes:
The Shaman or medicine man still plays an important role in the life of the isolated villages. In 1987 the author visited with the Ka-ren in one of the more remote areas of the Triangle. There he was fortunate enough to spend an evening with a Shaman and witness his spirit dance. It was there that the connection between this tradition and that of the Chinese martial arts seemed to meld. Ibid Chapter 1 p.1
He was showing us the movements taught him by his Shaman, which had been passed down through the tribe for generations. The Shaman moved strikingly similar to a Tai Chi master. Ibid Chapter 1 p.1
Prehaps most conclusively the author even begins to questions himself and tie the link more definitively between Tai Chi and Shamanic practices:
According to his book, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Eliade recounts that a Shaman must from time to time perform a ritual known as the Spirit Dance. Well known among native Americans, accounts of this practice also date back 4,000 years in Chinese records. During the Spirit Dance, the Shaman moves in imitation of his animal spirit to call on its powers. It is said that the animal spirit actually takes possession of the Shaman's body and imbues the Shaman with superhuman strength. This principle is also mirrored in the martial arts. Performing the movements of Tai Chi is said to generate a spiritual energy — Chi. Like the Shaman's infusion from his animal spirit, Chi also bestows superhuman strength. Could it be that performing the stylized movements of a Tai Chi form is based on the ancient Shaman's practice of dancing the spirit? Ibid. Chapter 3 p.2.
“ The shaman’s power rests in his ability to throw himself into a trance at will. The drums and dance simultaneously elevate his spirit and conjure to him his familiars, the beasts and birds, invisible to others, that have supplied him with his power and assist him in his fight. And it is in his trances of raptures that he performs his miraculous deeds.” Chang 1983 Art Myth and Ritual , the path to political authority in ancientChinap.69
The practise of magic by shamans was known by the Chinese since ancient times, known as wu or hsi, and lady shamans as chu. As their practises gained more appeal they assumed functions of priests and were known as sai kong. Part of the paraphernalia shamans were involved in concerned the communication rituals between heaven and earth this required bronze vessels with their animal images.
“Also, to work their Black Magic sorcerers of old could allegedly change their form into that of animals” Groot, de , J.J.M. The religious system ofChina1892 V p.822
Walsh, Roger in The Spirit of Shamanism, J. P. Tarcher, Los Angeles, 1990 writes
The conditions that induce these (altered) states include such common experiences as isolation, fatigue, hunger, and rhythmic sound and thus are likely to be re-discovered by different generations and cultures. Since these states may be pleasurable, meaningful, and healing, they are likely to be actively sought and methods of inducing them remembered and transmitted across generations.
In the older martial arts traditions of China, Burma, the Philippines, and Malaysia, there are systems of self-defense that are based upon the combat movements of either real or mythical animals. The better known styles originated in China and include Tiger, Leopard, Lion, Crane, Eagle, Phoenix, Snake, Dragon, White Ape, Monkey, and Praying Mantis, to name a few. Yet it is in the grand ballet of the animal styles that the connection is closest to the ancient origin of moving meditation.
Every style has its own folklore regarding its origins. Often they are like parables that teach moral and philosophical lessons as well as the style's origins. But there is also a pattern to many of the tales. From the perspective of cultural anthropology such folktales may contain an ancient memory of an even older tradition, which Stefan Verstappen describes as that of the "Vision Quest." Common to Shamanism, the Vision Quest is a ritual whereby a young warrior first undergoes a period of training after which he sets off alone into the wilderness. He must bear the hardships of isolation while fasting and meditating until he has a vision. The vision usually takes the form of an animal that reveals certain secrets. This animal then becomes the warrior's kindred or guardian spirit and shares his powers with the warrior. For example, if the visionary animal was a fox, the warrior would take on the qualities of cunning; an eagle would bestow far sight; a bear strength, and so on.
As to why jinns often take on the form of animals and come across as animal spirits using them as a vechile to possess or misguide people, In The Jinn & Human Sickness by Dr. Abu’l-Mundhit Khaleel ibn Ibraaheem Ameen writes
the jinn have special abilities… such as their ability to take on different forms and appear in the form of animals such as snakes, cats (tigers), dogs etc p.45.
Animals are their favourite attire, historically jinns have often appeared as animals (eg the notorious black dog). Animals also serve as perfect disguises for the jinns without having to reveal their true identity and nature. This often causes many people to either supplicate & approbate animals as divine deities or to become embued with their characteristics and abilities, this is largely done because when the jinn take on their form they demonstrate and transfer by possession super normal abilities such as magic, empowerment, healing, and great strength.
Jinn also have many similarities to animals, notably jinns are much stronger and faster than humans just like many animals & and see in a spectrum of light that humans can’t, just as many animals can. It must also be noted many animals unlike humans can see jinns.
Also according to Abu Tha’labah al-Khushani said: “The Messenger of Allah Muhammed (pbuh) said: 'The jinn are of three types: a types that has wings, and they fly through the air; a type that looks like snakes and dogs; and a type that stops for a rest then resumes its journey.” [Shaykh al-Albaani said in al-Mishkaat (2/1206, no. 4148): al-Tahhaawi and Abu’l-Shaykh reported it with a saheeh isnaad]
Hence the first type that has wings and can gain flight and mimic birds (i.e. crane & eagles etc), and the second type like snakes and dogs can mimic reptiles and four legged animals (i.e. snake, tiger, bear etc) and lastly the third type thats stops and resumes journeys can appear as humans for example the Budhhist and Taosit ancesterial beings that have appeared through the aeons to influence earthly events many centuries after they were deceased.
It also causes many people to engage in foolish rituals or acts of worship dressed as animals to ward off so-called “spirits”, such as the fang-siang-che ceremony of the Chou Li or the Tao No ceremony which are examples where by an inspector of the region along with 12 persons or even a priest would at times of calamities caused by irregularities in the heavenly and earthly fields impersonate various animals to drive away demons and diseases before making a sacrificial offering.
“It is also likely to form the basis of the lion and dragon dances currently practised in modern times during the Chinese new year.” Chinese Black Magic by Dr Ong Hean Tatt p37
In the fifth century BC there is described the ritual whereby the "inspector of the region" would dress in a bear's skin and accompanied by twelve other attendants each dressed as a different animal, they would perform the "Bear Dance" which was meant to drive away evil spirits. Waterbury, F., Bird Deities in China, Artibus Asae Publishers, Ascona, Switzerland, 1952
When experiencing adverse affects Qigong related energy is often referred to as evil (xie) qi. It is said to have ten thousand manifestations each with its own true (zheng) qi, and if it permeates in the host the true qi becomes perverted.
“When malignant qi dwells in a person’s body, it is called infestation. A result of systemic imbalance, depletion or exhaustion in the patient. The malignant qi may gain entrance if….he has suddenly come into contact with emanations from the dead or has collided with a ghost or demon.” Chinese Magical Medicine by Michel Strickmann. (from Ch’ao’s On the Origins & Symptoms of Diseases completed in 610).
Such spiritist concepts have not gone without attention by the Chinese. Infact Chinese philosophy has tried very hard to explain the metaphysical realm of the jinn, but sadly this has been in non-sensical language that lacks any authenticity as is not based on any divine source but rather fairy tale, superstition and magic. For example the invasion by Gui.
The Gui are the earthly spirits: the Chinese character for Gui has a hook on it, showing that its nature is to attach to the earthly realm. The Gui are in duality with the Shen (the heavenly spirits). Unique, distinct spirits (Gui) slip in and live through you: often the effects to the host are not intended but are the result of the Gui being there & turning you into a suitable vehicle. Gui can be benevolent or malevolent: some want to be somewhere else; some do not want to be elsewhere; some want to leave the host; others do not want to leave.
“The expression used for the procedures employed by the malevolent dead was ‘plaint from the tomb’. This term described the origin of the pathology, but the pathology itself or its physical symptoms were designated by another term, ‘ghost (or demon) infusion’ or ‘ghost-infestation’. The first syllable denoted not only ghosts but also demons, and sometimes lesser deities as well. The second syllable means, literally, a ‘pouring-in’. The spectral pathogens visit their victim and stay on & on.” Ibid Chinese Magical Medicine by Michel Strickmann.
The Shen divides into five manifestations, three take the heavenly aspects (Shen, Hun, Po) & two the earthly aspects (Yi, Zhi). But of the heavenly trinity two have the earthly spirits within them (the ancient Chinese belief that a person is composed of the spiritual soul i.e. the 3 Hun & the corporeal soul i.e. the 7 Po). Hence the Chinese proverb "The demon is afraid of man 7 times, while man is afraid of the demon 3 times". Thus it is believed a strong Shen will shield a person from all evil forces. On occasion, the Po themselves can pervert the person and/or call in other Gui.
It is said by Chinese tradition, the Gui from a deceased person at a true death or ‘the entering’ the Shen rises out of the person’s body on the wings of the Hun. The Shen (the Divine) goes home immediately, while the Hun hover above the body and if saintly may live for centuries, benevolently affecting the daily lives of their offspring, while the Po remain in the body as it rots quickly and merge with the earth. (The Yi & the Zhi have no form without the heart & so dissolve instantly.) In cases of unnatural death, however, the Po may escape & roam the world, looking for another vehicle/host to cling again to the earthly realms.
Dangers of Eastern & New Age Spiritualism :- Chi, Ki, Prana, Mana, Kaa, Shiatsu, Orgone, Kundalini, Yoga, Meditation, Healing, Psi balls, Reiki, tantra
And yet the cultivation of Chi energy is not solely practiced by the Chinese. As with the fighting arts, many other races would have had their own methods of tapping into the ostensibly "Cosmic energy". One of the principal features of New Age practice is the belief in a universal or cosmic energy circulating throughout the body, this energy can be manipulated for various spiritual or psychological purposes, and it is even palpable.When we look back through history, there are many accounts of the use of energy Chi recorded in various languages and cultures at different times and places. Meditation, self-observation, self-remembering, breathing exercises, chant, tai chi, qigong, yoga, sacred dances, group exchanges, & somatic therapies are all such examples. Energy "manifestations" are a principal characteristic of meditative experiences as well. Although it is widely accepted in the East that psychic powers are a natural by-product of meditation, the vehicle through which these psychic abilities are produced is often viewed as a from of "cosmic" energy. The gentler arts notably Tai Chi, which is a Chinese form of rhythmic callisthenics made up of a comprehensive series of gentle physical movements and breathing techniques with the aim of inducing a meditative state (very subtle by comparison), is also similarly demonic origin. There are many other versions of inducing spontaneous Chi flow, most use relaxation and concentration on energy flow within the body. Others use concentration on major acupoints of the body that correspond to the nerve plexus' and/or chakras (energy centers).
A major study on meditation asked respondents to check characteristics of their in meditative experience. One description was: "I felt a great surge of energy within me or around me." Karlis Osis, et al., "Dimensions of the Meditative Experience," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 14, no. 1, 1982, p. 121.
Meditators whose experience could be described in this manner were to check this item. Significantly, it received the highest "loading score" of all 16 items in the category of "Intensification and Change of Consciousness." Ibid., p. 127. The method used was the Verimax Orthogonal Factor Analysis: the loading score was .66
Experiencing a "great surge of energy" was therefore a dominant characteristic of meditative experience. cf. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "Energy," Sannyas, no. 1, January/February 1978 and the kundalini issue (no. 2, 1976), Rajneesh International Foundation.
The authors related this to the spiritistic mana of Polynesian shamanism and the occult prana, or kundalini, of Hinduism.Osis, et al., "Dimensions of the Meditative Experience," pp. 132-133
Consider other characteristic descriptions: "The force went through and through my body…. It was absolutely wild and intense…. I felt possessed by the energy." This and dozens of similar reports are given in Bubba Free John, Garbage and the Goddess (Lower Lake, DA: Dawn Horse Press, 1974), pp. 69-100 and passim.
One woman described the supernatural power as "entering me and taking over my being.... I was completely possessed…. [It was] taking me over completely…. There was nothing left of the person I thought to be Marie." Ibid., p. 76.
The experience of a surge of energy or power is also related to the cultivation of altered states of consciousness.Osis, et al., "Dimensions of the Meditative Experience," pp. 132-133.
Thus, "[Meditation is] a profoundly transformative process, for when practiced intensely, meditation disciplines almost invariably lead into the transpersonal [occult] realm of experience.... A progressive sequence of altered states of consciousness can occur, which may ultimately result in the permanent, radical [occult] shift in consciousness known as enlightenment or liberation." Roger N. Walsh, Frances Vaughan, eds., Beyond Ego: Transpersonal Dimensions in Psychology (Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarcher, 1980), pp. 136-137, emphasis added.
For us, the key issue is to determine the nature of this energy. Transpersonal psychotherapist Dr. Frances V. Clark, who wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on "Approaching Transpersonal Consciousness Through Affective Imagery in Higher Education," refers to our culture’s modern fascination with occult energies. "In recent years we have learned much about releasing energy, raising energy, transforming energy, directing energy, and controlling energy flow. Yet the energy we are talking about remains undefined." Frances Clark, "Exploring Intuition: Prospects and Possibilities," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 5, no. 2, 1973, p. 163.
In the preface to "Kundalini Causalities," an article discussing the dangers of yogic kundalini arousal during meditation and other New Age therapies, The New Age Journal points out: Traditionally, spiritual teachers have warned their students of the dangers and possible side effects of meditative techniques and helped practitioners deal with these difficulties as they arose. Now that meditation is being marketed as a mass commodity, the information concerning the dangers and the necessary help is often not part of the package. Moreover, certain body therapies and human potential techniques appear to be triggering off the Kundalini syndrome completely outside the context of spiritual training and often the therapists themselves have no idea what this energy is, let alone how to deal with it. "Kundalini Casualties," The New Age Journal, March 1978, p. 47.
We are convinced that the mysterious, dramatic energy experienced in New Age meditation is characteristically the result of spiritistic influence. That meditation produces energy manifestations clearly associated with primitive shamanism, the occult, and Eastern or Western spiritism, is undeniable. Meditation-induced "energy manifestations" are so often associated with spiritism, that we have no doubt that this energy is not human, and certainly not divine, but demonic. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "Energy," Sannyas, no. 1, January/February, 1978; see the kundalini issues, Sannyas, no. 2, 1976; also Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "Suicide or Sannyas," Sannyas, no. 2, 1978; Tal Brooke, Riders of the Cosmic Circuit: Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Muktananda… Gods of the New Age (Batavia, IL: Lion, 1986). (1039/1040/249).
Whether the phenomena are described in terms of the Eastern guru’s shaktipat diksha (transfer of occult energy), classical shamanism, kundalini arousal, or something similar in other traditions, we are dealing with one and the same energy. Many primitive traditions attribute this energy to the spirit world (cf. the num of the Kalahari !Kung tribe); others see it as an internal manifestation of divine power residing potentially within all people. Even if this energy is not directly attributed to the spirit world, the spiritistic associations and manifestations are so blatant and persuasive one would be hard-pressed to conclude that he was dealing with anything other than spirit influence or possession. Great surges of energy are typically felt by Eastern and Western gurus, who freely confess they are possessed by spirits, demons, or gods.Brooke, Riders of the Cosmic Circuit.
Occultists also admit the same condition, David Conway, Magic: An Occult Primer (New York: Bantam, 1973), pp. 129-132. as do many practitioners of yoga. Swami Bakta Vishita, Genuine Mediumship (n.p.p.: Yoga Publications Society, 1919).
Swami Rudrananda, in Spiritual Cannibalism, writes that while in meditation his master touched him, and "I immediately felt within me a surge of great spiritual force.... [M]ovements similar to those of an epileptic controlled my body for about an hour. Many strange visions appeared and I felt things opening within me that had never been opened before." Rudi [Swami Rudrananda], Spiritual Cannibalism (New York: Quick Fox, 1973), p. 85.
In another experience, "Slowly [the spirit of my guru] Swami Nityananda came toward me and entered into my physical body. For three hours, I felt nothing of myself but that the saint had possessed me." Rudi [Swami Rudrananda], Spiritual Cannibalism (Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1978), p. 13.
A leading popularizer of Tibetan Buddhism in this country, Chogyam Trungpa, states, "I will say that for beginners, it is extremely dangerous to play with [this] energy, but for advanced students such work becomes relevant naturally." Chogyam Trungpa, "An Approach to Meditation," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 5, no. 1, 1973, p. 74.
One of the dangers is temporary or permanent insanity. Here are a few illustrations from meditators who follow guru Da (Bubba) Free John: Bubba’s eyes rolled up, and his lips pulled into a sneer. His hands formed mudras [yogic movements] as he slumped against Sal, who also fell back against other devotees sitting behind him. Almost immediately, many of those present began to feel the effects of intensified Shakti [power], through the spontaneous internal movement of the life-force. Their bodies jerked or shook, their faces contorted, some began to cry, scream, and moan. The whole bathhouse seemed to have slipped into another world…. I saw Bubba just enter into Sal, just go right into Sal. From there he went out over everybody else, and then everybody else started going crazy. Bubba Free John, Garbage and the Goddess, p. 47.
My hands were slowing and vibrating. It felt like electricity, like they were on radar or something, and they were just being directed to all of the people around me. I felt like I was conducting the Force through me to the others there. People were screaming and howling, crying and yelling out. Ibid., p. 60.
As soon as I went into the room, I felt the Force. My head started jerking, and I sat down next to Billy Tsiknas and Joe Hamp. The Force went through and through my body, at first warm, then hot. It started to hurt. I was in a sitting position. My hand was raised, and I couldn’t move it because of the Force moving though it. My head was bent down. I was so full of intensity, I started to cry. Ibid., p. 61.
I was so insane I didn’t know what was happening at all…. Everybody sitting here stared to have incredible Shakti [power] manifestations, and other things. It was absolutely intense…. When I was sitting here with everybody, I was shaking, and it felt sort of like I was possessed…. The "terror of being destroyed, totally destroyed." Ibid., p. 66.
Suddenly his body exploded with movement, his arms and legs flying outward, his head rolling around and snapping. Force seemed to be flung from his body into the others present. Ibid., p. 72.
What is called "intensification," or possession by energy, is a core experience in the historical literature of meditation and many occult practices. This "energizing" is experiences as a dramatic and even overwhelming influx of spiritual power. It can be wild or uncontrollable, even deadly. And, irrespective of the interpretation placed on it, it shares characteristics with spirit possession. Abundant literature illustrates this, such as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s The Book of the Secrets Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, The Book of the Secrets, Volume 1: Discourses on Vigyana Bhairava Tantra (New York: Harper Colophon, 1977.;
Swami Muktananda’s Play of Consciousness Swami Muktananda, Play of Consciousness (New York: Harper & Row, 1978).; Swami Rudrananda’s Spiritual Cannibalism Rudi [Swami Rudrananda], Spiritual Cannibalism (Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1978).; Da Free John’s Garbage and the Goddess Bubba Free John, Garbage and the Goddess (Lower Lake, DA: Dawn Horse Press, 1974).; Tal Brooke’s Riders of the Cosmic Circuit.Tal Brooke, Riders of the Cosmic Circuit: Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Muktananda… Gods of the New Age (Batavia, IL: Lion, 1986).
What is troubling is the pervasive denial that what is really operating here is, in fact, demonic influence or spirit possession. The following cartoon illustration underscores our concerns:
There is a cartoon by Feiffer that illustrates some of these component aspects of meditation, and it proceeds something like this: Harry is sitting meditation; Madge walks in and asks, "Harry, what are you doing?" "I am concentrating on my mantra." "A mantra? What’s a mantra?" "It’s a secret. I cannot tell." "Harry, what is a mantra?" "I cannot tell," "Harry, I must know what a mantra is. Tell me what is a mantra? It’s either me or the mantra." Harry doesn’t tell and she packs up her bags and leaves, and Harry says, "See it works; no stress." Meditation may be working for a variety of reasons other than the ones that the literature cites, and I think we need to research these reasons. Roger Walsh, et al., "Meditation: Aspects of Research and Practice," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 10, no. 2, 1978, p. 128.
Though no one really knows how meditation "works," given the historic and contemporary association to spiritism, it is by far the most logical theory as to how it "works," On the "Merv Griffin Show," July 25,1986, Griffin interviewed New Age channeler Jach Pursel and actor Michael York and his wife. They, along with Griffin and many other top Hollywood stars, were described as disciples of "Lazaris," the spirit entity who possessed Pursel and spoke through him while on television. On the show, Pursel described how he met his spirit guide while engaged in his normal practice of simple meditation. In October of 1974, he recalled, he was meditating as usual; there was nothing abnormal in his experience. But all of a sudden—totally unexpectedly—he became possessed. The entity took him over entirely, completely controlling him and using his vocal chords to speak through him. His wife recorded the entity’s statements, and Pursers career as a medium was launched.The significant fact here is not the birth of another medium, but how easily Pursel became demon-possessed (he had been practicing 20-minute sessions of a simple and widely practiced form of meditation twice daily).
A Kundalini release (ie. energy that lies dormant at the base of the spine until it is activated, as by the practice of yoga, and channeled upward through the chakras in the process of spiritual perfection) is often the result of such practises, this can be triggered by the afore- mentioned meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, reiki, qigong, healing, tantra, transcendental meditation and other eastern or new age spiritual exercises. When the kundalini energy is rising through the chakras/meridians, it can cause big problems for the body and mental health of the practionar. Thousands of people around the world who have been damaged by these artificial spiritual exercises which are simply wholly Demonic/Jinn in origin and ostensibly consist of various techniques or "intentional triggers of transformative experiences" such as: sensory isolation and sensory overload, biofeedback, meditation of every description:Zen, Tibetan Buddist, chaotic, Transdental, Christian, Kabbalist, kundalini, raja yoga, tantric yoga, etc., psychosysnthesis, a system that combines imagery and meditative state, chanting, mood-altering music, mind expanding drugs, esoteric systems of religious mysticism and knowledge, guided imagery, balancing and aligning"energies," hypnosis, body discipines...radical seminars designed to obliterate former values, etc. Marilyn Ferguson "The Aquarian Conspiracy".
Dangers to Physical and Mental Health
Transformation of consciousness, psychic powers, and spirit possession are not the only dangers of meditation. There are many studies which show that physical and psychological harm can occur from meditation training. Among them are Leon Otis, Adverse Effects of Meditation (Menlo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute, 1979); J. A. Fahmy and H. Fledulisu, "Yoga Induced Attacks of Acute Glaucoma," Acta Ophthalmologica, 1973, 51, pp. 80-84; J. Hassett, "Meditation Can Hurt," Psychology Today, 1978, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 125-126; A. Lazarus, "Psychiatric Problems Precipitated by Transcendental Meditation," Psychology Reports, 1976, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 601-602; B. O. Regan, "Mind/Body Effects: The Physiological Consequences of Tibetan Meditation," Newsletter of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1982, vol. 10, no. 2.
And these consequences, like those discussed previously, mirror the effects produced by occult practices in general.
A symposium report by a number of authorities, some of whom practice meditation, "Spiritual and Transpersonal Aspects of Altered States of Consciousness," comments: "Recently the ‘fringe benefits’ of meditation regarding health, vitality, and cognitive functioning have been broadcast, and increasing numbers of people practice meditation for these purposes.... [But] there are many dangers in this journey." Mary Jo Meadow, et al., "Spiritual and Transpersonal Aspects of Altered States of Consciousness," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 11, no. 1, 1979, pp. 62-63.
One authority states, "There can arise a clear vision of the dissolution of the self from moment to moment, and this often leads to a realm of fear and terror, and a kind of inner death." Roger N. Walsh, Frances Vaughan, eds., Beyond Ego: Transpersonal Dimensions in Psychology (Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarcher, 1980), p. 153
In "Psychiatric Complications of Meditation Practice," Mark Epstein, M.D., and Jonathan Leiff, M.D., discuss potential hazards. Leiff is a graduate of Yale College and the Harvard Medical School and is with the Boston University School of Medicine. Epstein, a psychiatrist at Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School, wrote his undergraduate thesis on Theravadin Buddhist psychology and has practiced vipassana meditation for over a decade. The authors note the lack of public awareness concerning meditation hazards:
What has not been made clear, however, is the range of side effects of meditative practices that may present to the clinician as psychological disturbance. Some of these complications have already been noted by Western health professionals, others are only too well known within the meditative traditions. The most obvious misuses of meditation were hinted at by early psychoanalytic investigators, while the more subtle abuses and psychological crises of the advanced practitioner have traditionally been handled by the meditation teacher. Mark D. Epstein, Jonathan Lieff, "Psychiatric Complications of Meditation Practice," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 13, no. 2, 1981, p. 137.
The authors’ conclusions are based on their ten years of experience observing literally "hundred of meditators." They note that "practitioners of meditation, often swimming in the rhetoric of transformation, may fail to recognize the regressive nature of much of their experiences." Ibid., p. 139.
After a long discussion of the psychiatric complications noted in the literature, they conclude with a significant observation: "Meditation may be conceptualized as a developmental process that may produce side effects anywhere along the continuum. Some of the side effects may be pathological in nature while some may be temporary distractions or hindrances," and they ask, "How can innocuous side effects of meditation be differentiated from debilitating ones?" Ibid., pp. 144-145.
The point is that they cannot be differentiated. The person who meditates in the Eastern or occult manner takes risks with his bodily health, his mental health, and his spiritual health, as a great deal of research and literature demonstrates. Komilla Thapa, Vinoda Murthy, "Experiential Characteristics of Certain Altered States of Consciousness," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 17, no. 1, 1985; Jack Kornfield, "Intensive Insight Meditation: A Phenomenological Study," The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 11, no. 1, 1979; John Weldon, Zola Levitt, The Transcendental Explosion (Irvine CA: Harvest House Publishers); John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Craig Branch, Thieves of Innocence: Protecting Our Children from New Age Teaching and Occult Practices (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), pp. 182-184.
The following are some of the characteristics experienced at the deeper levels of a particular type of Buddhist vipassana meditation, but they are not unique to it. They include spontaneous movements, experiencing dramatic "energy flows," unusual breathing, dream and time changes, out-of-the-body experiences, and psychic phenomena. The descriptions given in the "spontaneous movement" category included much twitching, involuntary jerks, violent shaking, spontaneous yoga stretching, jerking, weird faces, drooling, pain, arms dancing, head rolling, falling over, violent shakes, loosening, and arms flapping like wings. Kornfield, "Intensive Insight Meditation," pp. 41-45.
On his own meditative journey, vipassana practitioner Jack Romfield said, "[M]y arms started to involuntarily flap like I was a chicken or another bird. I tried to stop them and I could barely do it, and if I relaxed at all, they would flap.... For two days I sat there watching my arms flap." Stanislav Grof, Christina Grof (eds.), Spiritual Emergency (Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarcher, 1989), p. 155.
Meditators also described many other experiences, such as loss of body awareness, the body disappearing, leaving the body, the head detaching itself, the body growing huge, LSD-like visions, hallucinations, and visions of Buddha. Almost half of those completing student questionnaires reported "especially dramatic mood swings." These included huge releases of anger, "screaming mind trips," depression, fantastic mood swings, "turbulence of mind," "days of acute anxiety," "violent crying," restlessness, and "hellishness." Kornfield, "Intensive Insight Meditation," pp. 47-49.
It is hardly surprising that one hears about meditation-induced casualties, when the very process of meditation is designed to radically dismantle the divinely instituted functions of human perception. After all, if one refuses to play by the rules, one might expect problems.
Many of the horrors experienced by committed meditators are also revealed by Tal Brooke, the former leading Western disciple of India’s premier guru, Sathya Sai Baba. Before receiving his graduate degree in religion from Princeton University, Brooke wrote Riders of the Cosmic Circuit, Tal Brooke, Riders of the Cosmic Circuit: Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Muktananda… Gods of the New Age (Batavia, IL: Lion, 1986).
a little-known but urgently needed exposé unveiling much Eastern metaphysics for what they really are: forms of Satanism. But the power of the book also lies in documenting the hazards of many Eastern paths, including the radical breakdown of personal morality, suicides, and insanity. Ibid., pp. 140-154,190-202.
These kinds of profoundly regressive states of consciousness are one reason for the confusion surrounding so-called "enlightenment," and how to properly evaluate it and distinguish it or its components from psychopathology (e.g., madness or insanity). Experiences of Easter and occult "enlightenment" and mental illness are often so similar that even some New Agers are baffled at their correspondence.
Dr. Maggie Phillips, the director of the California Institute of Clinical Hypnosis and a licensed psychologist in Oakland who teaches workshops to colleagues around the world on the proper applications of relaxation therapies. "I've had people that went to these five- to eight-day-long retreats, and they were practically basket cases when they came out the other end. And they're told, "You just have to be more patient.' A lot of spiritual teachers don't know how to look at the internal dynamics and how they interact with types of relaxation and meditation."
Dr. Margaret Singer, clinical psychologist emeritus at Berkeley, with research partner Dr. Janja Lalich, collected case histories from 70 clients seeking treatment for problems that began during meditation practice. Their research presents several examples of these symptoms and notes that prior to meditating, none of the patients had individual or family histories of mental disorders.
These results support what other researchers have discovered about the side effects meditation can cause. Dr. Michael Persinger, a psychologist at Laurentian University in Canada, found in 1993 that meditation induces epilepsylike brain seizures in some people. His study of 1,081 students showed that the 221 meditators among them had a higher rate of hallucinating floating spots of light, hearing voices, and even feeling the floor shake. Other studies reported that meditators complained of feeling emotionally dead and seeing the environment as unreal, two-dimensional, amorphous. Those results aren't surprising if meditation reduces blood flow to the parietal lobe. In longtime meditators, unreality can strike spontaneously. Singer describes it as "involuntary meditation." One of her patients took anti-seizure medication for 25 years after quitting meditative practice to regain control of his mind.
Other side effects fall under the paradoxical umbrella of "relaxation-induced anxiety," or RIA. Instead of relaxing during meditation, RIA sufferers feel distressed. Psychologists at Virginia Commonwealth University monitored 30 chronically anxious people during guided meditation. Seventeen percent indicated that their anxiety got worse. A previous study led by Dr. Frederick Heide at Pennsylvania State University reported that the same happened to 54 percent of the subjects. Symptoms of RIA include panic attacks, sweating, a pounding heart, spasms, odd tingling sensations, and bursts of uncontrollable laughter or tears. RIA can also aggravate conditions, such as schizophrenia, depression, asthma, and bleeding ulcers, that were previously stable.
Dangers to Mental State (Psychopathology)
Properly evaluating the relationship between enlightenment and psychopathology has been difficult for some people because what we commonly define as mental illness in the West is actually a sign or component of "enlightenment" in the East. In other words, many Eastern gurus teach that periods of insanity indicate spiritual enlightenment! This is why it is called "divine madness." The Hindu guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh once quaintly remarked that many of his disciples were going to become zombies, and all to the good:
You be a Zombie. Be a perfect Zombie.... This is what is happening: catalepsy.... This is going to happen to many. Don’t be afraid when it happens. ... You become idiotic.... And [it is] good, because it will destroy the past.... That is the whole meaning of sannyas and discipleship: That your past has been completely washed away—your memory, your ego, your identity—all has to go. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "God Is a Christ in a Christ," Sannyas, May-June 1978, p. 11.
Meher Baba teaches that many of India’s insane, the Masts, who in the West would be treated in mental hospitals, are in various stages of spiritual evolution. They are mad precisely because they are so spiritually committed to God. C. B. Purdom, The God-Man: The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba (London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1964), pp. 137-39.
Meher Baba calls them the "God-intoxicated" ones. In the words of biographer and disciple C.B. Purdom:
They are in a state of mental and physical disorder because their minds are overcome by strong spiritual energies that are far too much for them, forcing them to renounce the world, normal human habits and customs, and civilized society, and to live in a condition of chaos. They are psychological cases beyond the reach of psychoanalysis, because their condition is too advanced and obscure for any known procedures. Their minds are in some way shattered and their brains cannot fully function. Only a spiritual Master, says Baba, who is aware of the divine spirit that possesses them, which causes them to be unfit for normal society, can be of any help to them, and even his help reaches them with difficulty as they are virtually shut off from human contact. They are in the world but not of it. In Baba’s terms they are "God-intoxicated souls." Ibid., p. 137.
Significantly, the Masts became mad from meditative practices, and during some of these practices it was "by sudden contact with a highly advanced spiritual being." Ibid.
It is supposedly a "divine spirit that possessed them which causes them to be unfit for normal society." Ibid., emphasis added.
The famous Ramakrishna experienced insanity while undertaking his duties as a priest in the temple of Kali, and at many other times. During meditation he would experience a "divine delirium" and see demonic creatures emerging from him. For him, the truly enlightened soul often acts, in his words, "like a madman." Mahendranath Gupta, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrisna, 6th ed. (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1977), p. 405; cf. p. 548).
Biographer Romain Rolland described part of Ramakrishna’s experiences:
He was no longer capable of performing the temple rites. In the midst of the ritual acts he was seized with fits of unconsciousness, sudden collapses and petrifactions, when he lost the control of the use of his joints and stiffened into a statue.... Minute drops of blood oozed through his skin. His whole body seemed on fire.... He became the Gods himself.... He was the great monkey [god], Hanuman.
The legion of Gods swooped upon him like a whirlwind. He was torn in pieces. He was divided against himself. His madness returned tenfold. He saw demonic creatures emerging from him.... He remained motionless, watching these manifestations issue from him.... He felt madness approaching.... Two years went by in this orgy of mental intoxication and despair. Romain Rolland, The Life of Ramakrisna, vol. 1 (Calcutta, India: Advaita Ashrama, 1979), pp. 36-37, 41.
On his own path to enlightenment, Gopi Krishna "passed through almost all the stages of different, mediumistic, psychotic, and other types of mind; [and] for some time [he] was hovering between sanity and insanity." Gopi Krishna, The Awakening of Kundalini (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1975), p. 124.
Da Free John extols the "divine madness" of his own gurus, Nityananda, Muktananda, and Rudrananda:
True yogis are living forceful beings. They are madmen, absolutely mad—and absolutely dangerous. ... Look at Nityananda—he severed heads all his life.... Those who came to him ...were wiped out, torn apart.... My experience with people like Rudi, Muktananda, Nityananda, and others was like this: I would be sitting in my house in New York by myself, and this force would enter me, it would practically break my neck, and my body and mind would be taken over. And I would walk around as Nityananda, as Rudi, as Muktananda, literally.... [T]hese wildmen served that process [of enlightenment]. Bubba Free John, No Remedy: An Introduction to the Life and Practices of the Spiritual Community of Bubba Free John, rev. ed. (Lower Lake, CA: Dawn Horse Press, 1976), pp. 275; cf. Franklin Jones [Da Free John], The Method of the Siddhas (Los Angeles, CA: Dawn Horse Press, 1973), pp. 256-258.
Such stories could be multiplied ad nauseam. This modern penchant to reinterpret demonism and insanity as "true spirituality" is illustrated in numerous books, such as by consciousness researchers Stanislav and Christina Grof (eds.) in Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis and The Stormy Search for the Self. Chapter titles from Spiritual Emergency include such items as "When Insanity Is a Blessing: The Message of Shamanism." Grof and Grof, Spiritual Emergency, pp. 77-97.
The introduction to the book informs us that pathological states of consciousness, when "properly understood and treated supportively," can produce "healing and have very beneficial effects on the people who experience them." Ibid., p. x.
Ng B-Y in hes article "Qigong-induced mental disorders" Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, April 1999, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 197-206(10) writes "Qigong remained veiled in secrecy and available only to the elite until the early 1980s. Despite the widespread use of Qigong, there is a conspicuous lack of controlled data regarding its effects on mental health. Qigong, when practised inappropriately, may induce abnormal psychosomatic responses and even mental disorders. However, the ties between Qigong and mental disorders are manifold, and a causal relationship is difficult to establish. Many so-called ‘Qigong-induced psychoses’ may be more appropriately labelled ‘Qigong-precipitated psychoses’, where the practice of Qigong acts as a stressor in vulnerable individuals." In the article entitled "Chinese hypnosis can cause qigong induced mental disorders" by Sing Lee associate professor of psychiatry Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr. Lee writes "In the past two decades many reports of mental disorders induced by qigong have been published in the Chinese psychiatric literature. In the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders, second revised edition (CCMD2-R), qigong induced mental disorder is found as a culture related mental disorder. In psychologically vulnerable individuals, qigong induced health disturbances or pian cha are believed to arise from the inappropriate application of qigong or the inability to "terminate the qigong" (shougong), or both. When severe they are known as zou ("run") huo ("fire") ru ("enter") mo ("devil"); this means that the flow of qi deviates from the jing luo conduits and becomes fire, as a result of which a devil enters the person (metaphorically, referring to the emergence of psychotic symptoms)." All of this illustrates the deep spiritual confusion now coursing throughout our nation. The East has indeed come West and society must be prepared to deal with the consequences.
Dangers of Yoga
Yoga is a special physical exercise peculiar to India. Its characteristics are suffering and perseverance. Yoga practitioners are unbelievably restrained. Of course, when it is spread out over the world, Yoga has already lost its essence and become simply a health-improving method like gymnastics.
The methods of the practice of Yoga involve treating human body cruelly, putting the body in almost untenable postures, suffering hunger, swallowing strings in order to clean the intestines, keeping the same posture for a long time, holding the breath for a long time, or even cutting the tie under the tongue to stretch it long enough to reach the part that is between the nose and the mouth because in this way the practitioner can practice having the ability to breath little. Some Yoga practitioners are able to lie in hibernation underground for a month, depending on only the air in the coffin in which they lie, which is sufficient for them. Usually, the hibernators will need many Yoga practitioners to wake them up through meditation.
There are many websites and some organisations that have been developed for the purpose of brining to light the dangers of Yoga which regrettably few people seem to be aware of ie Kundalini Risks & Information , Kundalini Signs And Symptoms Branded by the spirirt Kundalini Awakening. Anything that involves the intervention of the Demonic realm will often result in adverse effect e.g. Kundalini Syndrome.
I was very pleased that in September 2004 Egypt's highest Islamic theological authority has called yoga an "ascetic Hindu practise that should not be used in any manner of exercise or worship". The edict signed by the Mufti Ali Gomoa, called the practise of yoga "an aberration" and said mimicking it was "forbidden religiously".
Such a fatwa in my opinion was long overdue, and I now hope maybe the Theological Council will make a similar such ruling with respect to Qigong Chi and other Eastern Arts, especially given that many of China's most famous martial artists have infact been Muslims (known as the Hui people in China) and they have made significant contributions at the highest level to the Chinese systems of martial arts and indeed many other systems in different countries (See Muslim Chinese Martial Arts).
The similarities between Hindu and Buddhist practices is striking, in fact if we take the subject of this website as an example we see even qigong is often referred to as the “Chinese Yoga” by many practitioners. Throughout my research I have realized that there is a consistent theme within China’s main religions and Hindu practices and that they often spill over into each other, such as the following:
1. Of the most blatant is that they are the worlds most idolatrous and ancient religions. (See Buddhism an Idolatrous Religion).
2. Both offered their own versions of their esoteric energies, The Buddhists/Taoist/Conficianist name it Qigong or Chi whist the Hindus call it Prana.
3. Both religions also believe in an untappped center of energy around the base of the spine (dantien or elixir field).
4. The Buddhists/Taoist/Conficianist describe the acupoints or meridians as channels whereby the chi flows and similarly the Hindus describe this as the chakra points.
5. Both Hinduism and Buddhism emphasize the illusory nature of the world and the role of karma in keeping men bound to this world, transmigration of souls and the cycle of births and deaths. (See for a critique of the theory of Karma and Reincarnation)
6. Both believe in he existence of gods or deities on difference planes.
7. Both believe in certain spiritual practices like meditation, concentration, cultivation of certain bhavas or states of mind and ultimately achieving some form of enlightenment.
8. Both religions claim to see Taoist Golden orbs or diksha golden balls during certain meditative practices and rituals.
9. Both believe in paranormal activities upon following various rituals and worship
10. Both believe in harmful affects that can accrue through various spiritual practices e.g. Qigong Deviation Syndrome (Qigong psychosis) and Kundanlani Syndrome.
11. Both believe in detachment, renunciation of worldly life as a precondition to enter to spiritual life. Both consider desire as the chief cause of suffering.
12. The Advaita philosophy of Hinduism is closer to Buddhism in many respects.
13. Buddhism and Hinduism have their own versions of Tantra.
14. Both originated and evolved on Indian soil. The founder of Buddhism was a Hindu who became the Buddha. Hence Buddhism is regarded as the greatest gift of India.
15. Buddhism acknowledged the existence of some gods and goddesses of Hindu pantheon, but give them a rather subordinate status.
16. The original Buddhism as taught by the Buddha is known as Theravada Buddhism or Hinayana Buddhism. Followers of this do not worship images of the Buddha nor believe in the Bodhisattvas. The Mahayana sect considers the Buddha as the Supreme Soul or the Highest Being, akin to the Brahman of Hinduism and worship him in the form of images and icons.
17. Hinduism accepts the Buddha as an incarnation of Mahavishnu, one of the gods of Hindu trinity. The Buddhist do not accept any Hindu god either as equivalent or superior to the Buddha.
18. In Buddhist, Hindu as well as Taoist beliefs there is an assumption that the underlying state of reality is nothing. Taoists calls this Wu Chi (Wu means "empty" or "void" and "Chi means "limit") , Buddhist call it the state of ultimate attainment Sunyata, the "Void", and in the Vedantic philosophy of India, the highest state is called Nirguna Brahman.
19. In Chinese philosophical teaching there is the belief that there is no personal God—all is the impersonal Tao (similar to the impersonal God-force of pantheism in Hinduism). The Tao is composed of conflicting opposites (Yin and Yang) which should be balanced or harmonized through yoga, meditation, etc., to promote spiritual wholeness. According to legend, Taoism founder Lao-tzu wrote Tao Te Ching (“The Way and Its Power”) about 550 BC. His teaching was developed and spread in the third century BC by Chuang-Tzu, whose writings inspired the Tao Tsang, 1200 volumes of Taoist scripture.
Monotheism in Ancient China
It is hard to comprehend that ancient Chinaprior to 500 BC, was once a land of pure monotheism where the worship of Shang Ti the “One imageless Supreme God” prevailed. All forms of idolatry were strictly prohibited. Only afterwards did polytheism start making deep inroads into mainstream Chinese beliefs. Part of the success of this can be put to the titanic battles that occurred around the 2nd millennium BC where black magic was shunned and given no room to develop in ancient China which thus had to spawn its pernicious practise elsewhere, such as shamanism to the south in south-east asia (e.g. Thailand, Burma and the Indochina’s) and north to Shintoism in Japan and shamanism in Mongolia, Siberia and North America and then Central America. The proponents of monotheism amongst the ancient Chinese emperors from Chuan Hsu (2600 BC) down toYaoand Shun (255 BC) can be credited for much of this having had to contend with the southern Chinese tribes of Jiu Li and San Miao which sought to bring in occult practices.
“There is no question that the ancient Chinese believed on one Almighty God. All the records, from the earliest times, testify to this. They called him Di, “the Lord”, or Shang Ti, “the Lord Above”… Unlike other people, however, they never endowed their God with human attributes or with any kind of physical image. From all records prior to 2nd century B.C. there is no indication that they had ever worshipped idols… In fact, idol worship was introduced to China only after the advent of Buddhism in the 1st century A.D.”
Wu, Kuo Cheng. 1982 The Chinese Heritage p.7. Crown Publishers, incNew York.
Confucius who has long been regarded as a prophet of God by many Islamic scholars preached such a message of monotheism (as did all the messengers of God – that to worship the one true God who is both distinct and separate from hes creation and not to make partners with him) and it was during hes reign that he had to fend off the beginnings of the encroachment into deviant idolatrous practises eroding the pure monotheism he taught. However it must be noted the Confucianism of today has become severely distorted over time and no longer reflects the pure monotheistic message of its original founder.
The effectiveness of Confucius teachings of the power of truth hood over falsehood are well illustrated by the example of a well known battle that once occurred between a wu (shaman) from Yueh region and a Confucian scholar named Tung Chung Shu who remonstrated against Emporer Wu at the time for hes involvement in the dark arts during the Han dynasty (140 to 86 B.C.). In anger the Emporer commanded the wu to execute a death spell against Tung Chung Shu. The Confucian scholar put on hes court dress and then started to recite a Confucian Classic. As the wu began hes demonic attack by going into a trance all of a sudden half way through he died. The Emporer realised the folly of hes ways and promoted Tung Chung Shu and resolved to worship only Shang Ti there on in. Thus the power of the “Tao” of God had prevailed over evil.
Such beliefs of absolute monotheism are also integral to the Islamic religion.
“ He is Allah, the Eternal, the One, the Absolute. None is born of him nor is he born, he begetteth not nor is he begotten and there is nothing like him. “ SuratIklas Quran
(See Audio Lecture on Islamic Monotheism and the Statue of Buddha by Sheikh Ali-Tamimi)
From 100 AD as a result of the onset of the affects of Buddhism in ancient China as well as the resurgent southern tribes of China renewing their efforts to propagate deviant practises, we see today within the space of almost 2000 years China has undergone a sea change from monotheism to polytheism along with its darker off shoots of magic and a culture of superstitious practises which pervades all aspects of modern Chinese life (and indeed the life style of other countries in south east asia). (See Buddhism an Idolatrous Religion)
Such practises of idolatry and magic go hand in hand, this is because idolatry represents the greatest form of oppression whereby a person deifies creation e.g. this can be either in the form of an individual (Buddha) or a location (the Hindus) thus negating the supreme power of the one true God i.e. Shang Ti , Allah etc. Also magic rites will invariably have connotations of idolatry e.g. the magician will worship other besides God and or make sacrifices etc thus appeasing the jinns to gain their assistance.
Although the belief in magic and the supernatural exists in all societies, the Chinese have embraced it like no other.
“It seems that to the Chinese mind, one of the first essentials in order to live in harmony with this world is to coordinate the activities of man with those of all the spirits, both beneficent and maleficent, who are believed to people the other world.” Chinese Magic and Superstitions in Malaya by Leon Comber p1.
Hence the Chinese mind set plagued by this way of thinking has approached the problems of everyday life best by evoking the help of the spirits (jinns) and seeking their advise in seeing into the future and planning accordingly. The agency by which this is facilitated
“are Taoist and Buddhist priests, mediums, necromancers, geomancers, palmists, physiognomists, phrenologists, astrologers, and other fortune-tellers, who with their seemingly magical knowledge of the spirit world and pre-knowledge of things to come, are to be found everywhere there are Chinese.” Ibid p.2.
Chinese Magic
“The Chinese is one of the few modern races where magic has survived since the dim dawn of human history dating as far back as 4000 B.C. and which still forms a significant portion of the mystic, often by using secret names, spells, enchantments, formulas, pictures, figures, amulets and performing of ceremonies to produce supernatural results.”
Chinese Black Magic An Expose by Chinese Black Magic by Dr Ong Heat-Tatt p.3 chp 1
“Every ethnic religion is filled with magic. It is used as a method of gaining one’s desires from the gods and of controlling the evil spirits which are ever ready to harm one. Through it they would win the blessings of long life, happiness and prosperity, but also an easy way of revenge. Wherever the gods fail to grant ones prayers, he resorts to magic as a plan to forcibly obtain his wishes. Through it, the unseen and hostile powers are governed for ones benefit, and the discomfort of ones enemies.”
Plopper (1935)
Practionars of magic often pursue their art with great diligence as it requires knowledge of orders of the universe and the earth, plant and animal worlds, properties of spirits, astrology, herbology, mineralogy, even medicines, mathematics and alchemy.
“Magic is conducted by utilising rites, incantations, magical names, mystical characters and symbols, fumigations or burning. The mind of the operator of magic would be prepared through repentance, expiation, fasting, ablutions, cleansing, meditation and other ceremonies, including sacrifices.” Chinese Black Magic by Dr Ong Heat-Tatt p.5
The jinns may demand anything from polytheistic idolatrous practises to be performed to the worship of other than God, to self imbulation through self tourcher e.g. whipping or cutting oneself or indeed degenerate acts e.g. drinking menstrual blood, smearing oneself in thesis, isolating oneself from friends and family for a long period of time, insulting or violating scared texts, or even the ultimate human sacrifice on the altar. The evil jinns (shayteen) being party to Satanism also possess an extreme hatred and inferiority complex against humans and so will be determined to inadvertently humiliate the magician in as much as is possible. The magicians through usurping the powers of the jinnie will believe they exercise great control, in fact the opposite couldn’t be more true the jinnie has thus succeeded in subverting the magicians values and norms and through the magician spreads nothing but corruption throughout the whole of society.
Also once the magician begins hes career in this debauched practise he will find the jinns wont let him leave, it is also very common for many spells often to reverse themselves on the spell maker thus demonstrating that the magician really has no complete control over the jinnies at all.
The people who possess such powers (e.g. the Chinese wuist priests) are often either greatly respected or feared (in some cases even persecuted by people and rulers). The magician is only able to perform supernatural acts through the intervention of the jinnies (demons) that will exact an exorbitant price from the magician in return for their services.
The Sai Kong, i.e. male wuist priests largely occupy themselves with sacrificial work, south saying work and divination, calling upon the shayteen (evil jinns/devils) for assistance. Their altars display the pictures of Lao Tzu and also Chang Tao Ling. Their wu-ship is often hereditary due to the secret nature of all the treasure of the mystic knowledge of ceremonies, formulae, charms and spells. Hence there is often a strong incentive to keep it in the family or close by, As the shayteen outlive humans considerably, there would often be a smooth succession over their control by other members of the Sai Kong’s family. If their was no one to pass the family spirits into then it is said the Sai Kong would be liable to suffer an agonizing death. This is what we find that practionars of magic once in cannot leave the fold of the occult. Tao Nai-nai are the female equivalent of the male Sai Kong, hence they are termed female Taoist witches. Typically they offer the same type of services as their male counter parts, often slipping into trances, summoning spirits and lightening joss sticks in incense holders and then observing the ashes as an indication of how the patient would faire. They also have a notorious reputation of requiring a human sacrifice often of a family members child , when the elders illness cannot be cured.
The main forms of black magic inChinaare Ku magic (this revolves around small highly poisonous animals/insects e.g. serpents, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, frogs and lizards), Lu Pan Magic (i.e. carpenter magic), Mao Shaun Magic & the six Chia spirits magic.
Building Magic was very common in China (Chin Hua) where by images, artefacts, models and or figurines (because they are considered to be the essence of deities, Gods or sprits) as well as dead animals following sacrifices would be placed at various locations within a building, often within its very foundations by a building mason, which is why it was very important to be on good terms with such masons and carpenters incase they performed magic on the new resident cursing them. Similarly the “Book of Lu Pan”, who is regarded as a patron saint of carpenters and artisans and is considered divine from the Han dynasty, contains many pictures each with a specific effect e.g. to cause poverty, death or marital discord etc which the craftsman would utilise. Puppet magic akin to voodoo, was also very common where by the victims hair, nails or clothes was sought so the spirit could relate to the victim.
Also ku magic (European equivalent of the witches cauldron) is notorious in China, whereby a poisonous drink would be served to the victim causing a variety of different affects from love spells or acquiring the wealth of the intended victim ore even destroying their live stock or crops etc. Ku magic has many types, one of the most popular is by placing a variety of different insects and or reptiles (the most deadly being the golden caterpillar) in a jar for a certain period often on the 5th day of the 5th moon, after which only one insect/reptile will prevail within the jar the rest having being devoured, and then unleashing this on the intended victim, who’s five viscera would rot away. It is also said the insects or reptiles could transform into other animals e.g. dogs or pig to do their work. Just as the art of using ku magic for malevolent purposes exists, the method of nullifying its affects of demoniacal diseases has also developed e.g. by using a gold pin to pierce the ku, using jan ho (ginger plant), wearing of musk, leek juice mixed with spirits and a drink prepared from minced stalks of orange trees.
The 5th day of the 5th moon is by no coincidence the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival (which is strongly connected to ancient rites of human sacrifice) and symbolically the period of summer solstice. Historically this time is often been associated with the forces of evil as it signifies the ascendancy of darkness and it is likely that its inception into Chinese mainstream culture has foreign roots which migrated to China during ancient times. It is also the day when according to Chinese folklore that various deities or saints are invoked to quell demons e.g. Taoist Pope Chang Ta Lin riding out on he’s Tiger and Chung Kuei, and the day when the Pakua is placed on roof tops.
Chinese Black Magic in its most pernicious form can also involve the use of body parts to subjugate a human soul i.e. kue mei or yen mei meaning spectres in subjection. This could entail anything from taking specific body parts of a victim through their deliberate pre-meditated murder, grave robbery or theft of their soul by placing objects besides a sleeping person to prevent the return of their soul.
Another powerful form of Chinese Black Magic utilises the six Chia spirits (chia-tzu, chia-hsu, chia-shen, chia-wu, chia-ch’en, chia-yen). This is done by the meticulous writing out of talismans which often have to be committed to memory and then burnt to summon the spirits. The nine stars of the northern heavens are invoked to control the spirits each with its own mudra and mantra. There is also a close relationship between the six spirits and that of the Ganzhi system. The Tun Chia ceremony of the Taoist left has often been used to summon the six Chia spirits.
For a complete understanding of the most powerful aspects of Chinese black magic one must understand the Chinese concept of the five elements (fire, wood, water, metal and earth) and their respective cardinal directions. These are the basis of a wide array of magical arts that also includes Chinese geomancy e.g. Feng Shui. The western concept of magic is also very similar except it includes four of the above elements (earth, water, air and fire) the fifth element being “ether and breath”. Central to this theorem of Chinese Magic is that the world is composed of these five elements and that this relationship has one of two possibilities. This dichotomy is either mutually productive whereby each of the five elements support each other in a circular fashion. This is known as the “Early heaven of Fu Hsi array” and it is considered a harmonious relationship which is propitious to the family and general well being, as a result this type of pakua is seen hanging over the front doors of homes across the landscape of China to supposedly ward off evil.
The second relationship is a destructive one where wood over powers earth, earth conquers water, water – fire and fire – metal. This is known as the “Later heaven or King Wen array” pakua and was invented around 2600 BC. The elements are each in opposition to each other traversing the centre of the circle to attack linearly its respective counter part, hence this is depicted as a pentagram.
In addition King Wen is credited with the I Ching, Book of Changes which the pakua is closely associated. The I Ching occupies a position of monumental importance as a repeller against evil forces and it contains a total of 64 hexagrams.
Thus the ancients realised both the Fu Hsi and the King Wen array pakuas in addition to the first 2 hexagrams of the I Ching (all considered to be Feng Shui white magic) where particularly effective against combating against the evil. This methodology of using magic to break magic inChinawas and still is a popular way to fight off black magic.
The combinations of two inverted triangles forms what is known as the six pointed seal of Soloman. Such is the quintessential power of this seal that it is said to be equated with the “stone of immorality”. The tip of the top inverted triangle represents fire and the tip of the bottom inverted triangle it is water, the interaction of both of the inverted triangles is thus 2 of the 5 elements.
In Chinese system, the animals of the four cardinal directions are also the four elements. According to some versions the four cardinal directions animals are placed in the two triangles i.e. Seal of Soloman, to Taoists this is known as the “two mountains” i.e. one group the four cardinal directions and the other group the “Six masters”.
Conclusion
In conclusion, meditation today is almost universally seen as a positive path bringing physical or mental health and spiritual wholeness. Unfortunately, many of those who suffer from such an interpretation have little knowledge of either the occult tradition behind meditation or the dynamics of spiritual deception. I have further demonstarted that the concept of Chi as a amorphous cosmic energy has been known about by other civilisations and communities, with a similiar set of rituals/movements & problems associated with them. The perception of Qigong as a practise associated with quietness, relaxation, and internal harmony has been challenged and disparaged. The Chinese communities obsession with its history and superiority and the much elevated position of adoration Martial Artitsts recieve in the West, often blindes them (to the point of arrogance) choosing to disseminate a flawed doctrine (based upon occult practises/forces) and to avoid warning students of the potential risks associated with their practise. This comes at a time when Chinese quackery medicine is making big inroads into the gaping vacuum Western medicine presents with the proliferation of medicine stores and alternative forms of healing up and down the country, as well as the backdrop of China's ascendency as a great economic power. For those that seek to deride my writing should at the very least greet with incredulity the advise given offered to them by their instructors and look objectively at the facts.
Jinns are very real. Chi Kung is an incorrect term to describe malevolent entities that only aim to create mischief by occupying a host for their own fulfillment. The Jinn's live in the stomach where they feed off the contents the individual ingests, which is why the Chi kung practioner you will observe always brings the Chi to settle in the lower regions of the stomach i.e. the "Dantiem" (a position three inches below the naval). It saddens me greatly to find individuals who are deluded and choose to spread the handy work of Satan by teaching such illegitimate practices of Chinese Black Magic which has its origins deeply rooted in primitive shamanism, such people who incidentally would have two hundred years ago been correctly branded as Occultists, Witches or Satanists, the difference being in this instance the perpetrators of this evil (i.e. the instructors of martial arts) are completely ignorant of the powers/forces they are summoning and tinkering with.
Next see: The Dangers of Chi : "My Story" Jinn Possession in Qi Gong, Tai chi, and some martial arts and meditation practices
main page thejinn.net
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