MODULE 9

Golden Thread Circle Walking Meditation (Intermediates)

BRUCE FRANTZIS

Copyright 2011 Bruce Frantzis All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Published by Energy Arts, Inc., P.O. Box 99, Fairfax, CA 94978-0099 The following trademarks are used under license by Energy Arts, Inc., from Bruce Frantzis: Frantzis Energy Arts system, Mastery Without Mystery, Longevity Breathing program, Opening the Energy Gates ofYour Body Qigong, Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong, Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong, Spiraling Energy Body Qigong, Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong, Living Taoism Collection, Chi Rev Workout, HeartChi, Bagua Mastery Program, Bagua Dynamic Stepping System, Bagua Internal Warm-up Method, and Bagua Body Unification Method.

Editing: Heather Hale, Bill Ryan, Richard Taubinger and Caroline Frantzis Interior Design: Heather Hale Cover Design: Thomas Herington Photo and Illustration Editing: Mountain Livingston and Thomas Herington Photographs by: Eric Peters, Bill Walters, Caroline Frantzis, Richard Marks and Catherine Helms Illustrations: Michael McKee and Kurt Schulten Image Alteration: Lisa Petty, GiriVibe, Inc., Patrick Hewlett and Jodie Smith Models: Bruce Frantzis, Bill Ryan, Keith Harrington, Don Ethan Miller and Paul Cavel Printed in the United States of America PLEASE NOTE: The practice of Taoist energy arts and meditative arts may carry risks. The information in this text is not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental or emotional counseling with a licensed physician or healthcare provider. The reader should consult a healthcare professional before undertaking any martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health or exercise program to reduce the chance of injury or any other harm that may result from pursuing or trying any technique discussed in this text. Any physical or other distress experienced during or after any exercise should not be ignored and should be brought to the attention of a healthcare professional. The creators and publishers ofthis text disclaim any liabilities for loss in connection with following any of the practices described in this text, and implementation is at the discretion, decision and risk of the reader.

Table of Contents
Golden Thread Circle Walking Meditation (Intermediates) .................... 5
Overview ..................................................................... 5 Phase 1: Experiencing the Central Channel ........... 6 Phase 2: Opening and Distilling the Mind ............. 6 Phase 3: Gaining a Sense of Space .......................... 6 Phase 4: Letting Go of Blockages ............................ 8

Golden Thread Circle Walking Meditation (Intermediates)

Overview
In the beginning, most practitioners cannot find stillness inside their central energy channel. Too often they are taken over by the potentially ceaseless movement of energetic experiences within it and fall short of finding what the Taoists call the "golden thread" of still awareness that runs through the central channel. The golden thread is always present, and functions as a point of stability in midst of (potential) confusion. This four-phase Circle Walking meditation will help you find your personal golden thread of still awareness within. Let go of rushing to get to the next place and take your time with each phase of the practice-that is, as my teacher Liu once advised,"lf you would like to arrive sooner rather than later:'

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Bagua Mastery Program

Phase 1: Experiencing the Central Channel

This precursor phase will help you realize the meaning of stillness within the central channel. With your best relaxed effort, use the internal opening and closing movements during Circle Walking to continuously alternate moving your chi in and out of your central channel. Initially, do this in coordination with the opening-closing and inward-outward twisting of your legs. Later, add your arms and torso. Eventually, something inside you will shift. Instead of only having the thought or intent of your chi moving in and out of your central channel, you start experiencing it as a consciously, visceral and felt experience-what I call "the real deal:'

Phase 2: Opening and Distilling the Mind

Next, encourage and allow your mind to open, if only slightly, and release any sense of contraction. Allow your mind to become very still and quiet of its own accord-without using any force. During this spontaneously arising event, let whatever mental, emotional, psychic states or even karma that might become activated-i.e., yin-yang, in-out, energetic, emotional, mental or psychic movements of the mind-be absorbed into your central channel. In gradual stages, your central channel and spirit will naturally become ever-more quiet.

Phase 3: Gaining a Sense of Space

Soon your central channel will begin to gain of a sense of space without contraction. As the swirling energies in your central channel and mind gradually and completely slow down, obvious aspects of thought and perception

2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.

Module 9: Golden Thread Circle Walking Meditation

seem to come alive and stir inside. However, they will no longer be disturbing. Eventually, the internal space inside and whatever arises in the mind peacefully coexist simultaneously without any hint of anxiety, or other uncomfortable or disturbing qualities. In time, you will notice that this state begins to translate and carry over to your normal daily activities, enabling you to live in your inner meditation "cave" without needing to be in a physical one. You will still be able to live and function well in your daily life, including rapidly Walking the Circle, amongst all the inherent chaos. As this practice phase settles and stabilizes within your being, it will lack the outer appearances very commonly associated with what many ordinary people think a "spiritual being" might or should be. Most people who arrive at this point (possibly even you one day) don't seem very special, appearing very ordinary as they go about their daily activities. Very often, this image is not what is expected or wanted from a holy person. People are looking for a particular type of energy or external demeanor to manifest-some mythological variation of Jesus Christ or Buddha. Commonly, if this human manifestation is mentally ethereal, calm and projects significant light or psychic energy toward the receiver, then meeting this manifestation of a spiritual being makes the unaware person very high and expansive. They can go so far as to believe that they are the holy one, attributing the qualities to them. However, usually as a person moves toward the central channel's stillness (within movement), everything from the raunchy to the sublime can be comfortably and seamlessly accommodated within their personality. All and everything becomes natural, so it's irrelevant whether any kind of personality manifests within their behavior. Yet as everything becomes still within your depths, you gain a constant and immense sense of spaciousness that never leaves and which continuously seeks balance within yourself and others. This internal spaciousness is non-dual

2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.

Bagua Mastery Program

(Buddhist term) or tai chi (Taoist term) as activity and stillness effectively and seamlessly fuse inside you. So without limitations there is simultaneously the lack and presence of experienced internal activity and the ability to effectively engage with whatever must be. The only way, the only place from which this usually happens is within the central channel.

Phase 4: Letting Go of Blockages

As Phase 3 deepens and stabilizes with minimal effort, if the energies moving in and out of your central channel contain anything untoward (i.e., blocked or disturbing), your next task is to simultaneously stay present to it and your central channel. If you can stay with it, the disturbances naturally release, let go, dissolve and vanish. The chi of the blockage becomes reabsorbed into your system and is made useful. Your internal fixations let go and shortly thereafter become as though they had never existed. Continuous repetition of this again and again creates ever-greater internal stability within your meditation and life. Gradually, as this internal stability strengthens within, you find you can quickly sort out all kinds of unsmooth yin-yang emotions and mental and psychic states. The sheer act of any blockage moving into the central channel ends it. They revert back to an un-polarized, non-dual or tai chi state from where the offending yin or yang originated, which brings them to their resolution. When your ability to bring any disturbance to your central channel of energy becomes strong enough, you can begin getting glimpses of the seventh energy body (the body of individuality). However, in order to bring this process about while Walking the Circle, your central channel must first open, awaken and become continuously and fully functioning.

2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.