"Lost Credibility"

During the preparation of Qigong Chinese Health we received a lot of well-intended suggestions from our friends and future readers with regard to Qigong articles.  Some people were very skeptical about us mentioning the other benefits apart from healing.  We will lose credibility, they said, if we talk about going through walls, telekinesis, levitating or predicting the future (and other unexplained phenomena).  Despite the fact that most of those were witnessed by many ordinary people and that the majority of them were even proven by Chinese scientists to be possible.

But, we thought, whether we like it or not, Qigong practice brings along a lot of such phenomena.  So not mentioning some of them would not be fair to Qigong enthusiasts interested in those aspects of Qigong. Therefore the need for this article arose - in order to explain a few things first.

The best way, we thought, would be to explain how the things are in China, where it all comes from.  Not only did their scientists prove that many of the abovementioned phenomena were possible but they created a whole new science called the Science of Human Life (Rensheng Kexue).  It all started in the early eighties when some Chinese open-minded scientists (including some very prominent ones) got the green light from the government and the blessing from their national scientific governing body to conduct such unorthodox studies.  It is interesting to know that the biggest interest and enthusiasm as well as the biggest opposition to research hidden abilities of the human body (or rather mind) both came from scientists.

Anyway, since there was plenty of mentioning of unexplained metaphysical phenomena in Chinese history plus with the expansion of Qigong in the recent 30-40 years there had been more evidence in their existence than ever before*, to many of them it seemed that the time had come to stop closing the eyes to the facts.  It was there, plain to see and the fact that science could not explain them was only justifying the need of researching them and developing the science to the level of being able to explain them.

After all, some open-minded scientists were debating - what is "incredible" and/or "supernatural"?  Are there really any "miracles" in the world?  When you think, the world is such a miracle in itself.  When there are airplanes and rockets that are so heavy yet they can fly.  And TV to show you instantly what is happening on the other side of the world.  Not to mention computers, mobile phones etc.  Isn't it all quite amazing?  Well, it should be. But it is not. Not at all!  We've all seen it quite a lot.  Many are born into it.  It's nothing unusual.

Alright then, how about the fact that we can see and hear and feel?  To a blind or deaf person that is so hard to understand.  Even believe.  Yet we all take it for granted and again think that it is not a miracle.  Actually, when you think just a bit deeper, everything around us and "us" ourselves are all miracles.  But because we've "seen it all a lot" it all becomes the norm. The fact that there were too many reports of children bending stainless steel spoons as if they were jelly, X-ray vision, moving objects using the mind and so on made many Chinese accept it as the norm and therefore made it "eligible" to be researched scientifically.

Unfortunately that's how we usually work.  And that is regarded as normal too. The truth is, there are no miracles in the world.  There are only unexplained phenomena.  Among them some are hard to believe and some are not so hard to believe.  That is why we decided not to write too soon about things that are too "revolutionary" to the average reader.  Instead, we shall write about  things that we all can experience after practicing Qigong for a while and things that many of us experienced at some stages of our lives regardless of practicing anything similar or not.  When they happened to us we felt strange about them and were puzzled for a while but then, never finding the answer, we simply stopped thinking about them.

That's why, dear reader, we would appreciate your input in this section.  Not because we lack material, but because it adds to the picture and can show even more clearly that things like these exist and always existed in every nation and with every single individual.  You'll suddenly start to see that the "unusual" is very "usual", you'll find out what it all means and how you can use it in your everyday life for your own benefit and the benefit of others.

So, give your inspiration a go.  Think about things similar to those that we are writing about in this section that happened to you, your family members, friends or anybody else that you heard about that sounded strange and unusual but very interesting.  It's normally classified as "intuition", "sixth sense", "instinct", "subconsciousness", "telepathy", but it can also be someone's experience of an "old wives tale", someone's dream that came true.  There are really no fixed rules with regard to what you can write about, but we do reserve the right to edit the articles for clarity and length.   We especially encourage Qigong practitioners to come forward and tell us their experiences because Qigong practice brings along such phenomena and can develop them to the depths you never dreamt before.

*Qigong can induce these abilities or make them more powerful

---

Every move you make,

Every step you take. . .

Talking about unexplained phenomena. Practicing Qigong, apart from treating all sorts of diseases, can dramatically increase our intuition and through sometimes mysterious ways, tell us all kinds of things. Even turn us into psychics and clairvoyants. Here are a couple of examples.

Why Bother?

After only having practiced Fragrant Qigong for a couple of weeks, I was in a semi-dream state before getting up one morning to go to work - when I heard a little voice tell me not to bother.  It felt strange, but I didn't pay attention to it.  Then when I went in to work, much to my surprise I discovered that almost all the employees were retrenched including myself.  Therefore my little voice was right.

Deborah, NSW

I Don't Bother Any More

Since I started practicing Qigong, my intuition has increased considerably. Often when I'm not quite sure of how to go about things, I let my intuition guide me and it's been proven many times that it was the best possible way to go. When I'd have about 10 different things to do and weren't sure of which order was most appropriate, in the past, I would do things in the wrong order and end up accomplishing nothing. Another thing that would happen every now and then that I'd never paid attention to was what we normally call "coincidences" or "accidents" including making little mistakes when talking, writing or dialing phone numbers. I used to think, "Oh, no!" and try again to "correct" them. After I started paying attention to them I was amazed to find how often they were there with good reason.

My intuition was trying to tell me something with those little "mistakes", such as, if I made a mistake while dialing someone's phone number, that person was either not there (at the time) or it was not a good time to call (they were either too busy or were not in the right mood). Or if I'd write something down and I'd made a mistake, it was either because I shouldn't have written it at all or maybe not in that way.

When I was with a client once, I was filling in the details for his credit card payment and by mistake, I signed where he was supposed to sign. So I had to do it again. (We were chatting at the same time so that did not help.)  I ignored it and started writing another one. I made the same mistake again!! Well, there was something definitely wrong, I thought to myself. As it was, I found out that this man was in great debt and had problems paying them off. Knowing that, I decided not to charge him at all which made him very happy and grateful. And I had done my good deed for the day.

Another time, again by 'mistake', I wrote my client's next appointment instead of writing the following week, I wrote the week after. We checked it out and "corrected" it but then, a couple of days later, my client called and asked if it was possible to make it the following week instead (due to unforeseen circumstances). So in the end we made it for the exact day I had "accidentally" written in my diary in the first place.

As for dialing phone numbers, if I press the wrong number I hang up and either think again about whether I should call at all or I simply call some other time. It's been proven so many times that I don't even bother to dial straight away.

David, North Sydney

Fix That Machine, Will You

It was only a couple of weeks since I started practicing Fragrant Qigong that I noticed I would say things, with no apparent reason, and they would somehow make sense. Once I was passing through an office and said to the man there that there was something wrong with his computer (?!). When he went to use it, he found that it was broken. I didn't know the man, I'd never used the computer and I don't know why on earth I was saying that. But it was true. Another time, a similar situation occurred, again strangers involved, but this time I not only discovered the problem, I came up with the solution. I said to the person who was going to use the washing machine that it was out of order, but nothing serious. "There must be some coins stuck in it" (??!!). And, again I was right. They tried it, it wouldn't work so they checked it out and found there were some coins stuck in it. When they were removed, the machine was back in order again.

Andrew, Blue Mountains

A Stab In The Dark

I had two large cysts on my ovaries that my specialist was urging me to go and operate on. They were getting quite large and he was worried that they might become nasty, but I was hoping for another solution. So, by chance, I came across the John Dolic Qigong centre on my way home. On the first night after practicing Fragrant Qigong I had a very vivid dream of someone stabbing my lower abdomen on the side where the cysts were. A little scared about the dream I spoke to my Qigong teacher about it and he seemed quite pleased and excited. "Expect good results soon" he said. I kept practicing and felt great. I smelt a lot of fragrances and felt very relaxed. Within a month of practicing Fragrant Qigong I went to the same doctor for another check-up, he was very surprised.  He told me that one of the cysts had disappeared while the other one had reduced in size. A couple of months later another test showed that there were no traces of cysts at all.

R. S. from Mosman

Playing Fetch

I've been practicing Fragrant Qigong for the last couple of years and apart from it having improved my health, I have also experienced some interesting unusual unexplained phenomena.  Thanks to my heightened intuition I guess.  Here's one of them.  I live in Killara and there are many ways of getting to my home, but I usually take the same route.  Yet one day without any particular reason I took a different route.  As I drove along one of these unfamiliar streets I noticed a sign on one of the telegraph poles and I wondered what it said.  I stopped, reversed and took a closer look, which I never do.  It said that someone found a dog inviting the owner to come and collect it from them.  As I read, I realized that it was my dog they were referring to and that's how I found my dog.

V. G.,  Killara

Recycled Garbage

Since I started practicing Qigong my intuition improved enormously.  Sometimes I have an urge to do something or call someone on the phone without any reasonable explanation.  And when I listen to my inner voice, most of the time it's proved right, but when I ignore it, I regret not listening to it.  Other times, when I was consciously intending to do something or call somebody, on the contrary, it made me feel that it's not right to do (at least not then).  The more I follow my instinct, the more I realize its correctness, therefore I don't question it anymore.  You may call it 'unexplained phenomena' but to me the only thing that matters is that it works. Here is one example of my intuition in action:

I work near where I live and I often go to the office after hours.  Before that, I usually have my dinner and take the rubbish out and drop it into one of the public street bins before heading back to the office.  There are rubbish bins at the back of the building, but they are not as close and not on my way to the office, so I seldom put the rubbish there.  Every night the garbage collectors collect rubbish from the public street bins, while the ones at the back are collected once or twice a week.  One night as I was about to leave, my partner asked me to take an item to the office because someone was coming to collect it the next day.  Sure, I said and took it with me.  When I left, I first put the rubbish in the bin and then headed towards the office.  Yet this time, for some reason, I put the rubbish in the bin located at the back of the building.  Don't ask me why I did that, I have no I idea and, at the time, I didn't give it much thought.

The next day, the person who was supposed to come and collect the item called and said they'll be there in an hour.  I said OK and hung up.  Then I looked around and even though I remembered clearly that I took it the night before, I simply couldn't find it anywhere.  So I called my partner and asked if I forgot to take it with me, but it wasn't there either.  How strange!?  There must be an explanation.  I carefully rewound the tape in my brain and retraced my steps to see what may have happened.  "... I took the bag with the items, took the bag with the rubbish, put the rubbish in the bin and came to the office.  Damn!! I must have put both bags in the rubbish bin."  I went to the back of the building, opened the bin and ‘presto' there it was waiting for me.  Had I put it in the "on street" bin, it would have been gone with the "midnight express".  Thank you my silent little voice (yet again).

Yanni, North Shore

The following article is translated from the Chinese magazine "Qigong and Science" 1995, issue 5

Qigong - The Wind Beneath My Pen

I came across Qigong accidentally and was very impressed by what I saw and heard, so I decided to start practicing it myself.  I tried a few different styles and when I found the right one I stuck to it for many years.  Apart from achieving good health and vitality, I benefited in many other ways too. I once had "bigu" (spontaneous fasting) that came over me for 49 consecutive days.  Not only did I feel great throughout the whole experience but I even developed some psychic abilities as a result. Notably seeing auras around people, but what made me especially excited was that my writing skills had improved enormously. 

For many years, I have been working in the profession of Chinese characters and language, such as updating dictionaries.  My hobby is to research public documents and papers for errors.  In the past I have tried writing articles on the subject.  From 1985 I wrote more than 30 articles, but most of them sunk like stones to the bottom of the sea.  Up until 1990, there was only one local publisher who published one of my articles and until 1993, another four articles were published, also by a small publishing house.

But since 1994, things had changed dramatically.  That year I had some major breakthroughs with my Qigong practice and since then it was as though I had an unimaginable ability to write with ease.  The articles just came naturally.  I'd simply sit, relax and soon after, the inspiration comes naturally and effortlessly.  From the middle of the previous year to the end of that year, I had 12 of my articles published by a very reputable publishing company.  That is to say, in the last half year, I had three times more articles published than in the previous nine years.  It felt like a huge harvest.  When someone asked me what the secret of my success was, I replied with, "Qigong is the wind beneath my pen".

Written by Li Shu Xin

---

And here are some examples of intuition naturally acquired:

Parting In Dreams

I had a dream one night, many years ago, that kept repeating itself throughout my sleep.  I kept seeing myself kissing and parting from my younger sister. Each time after that, I would wake up straight away.  I felt strange and worried.  I went back home that same day only to find out that she had passed away due to the complications during labor. 

Rob, St George, NSW.

Face The Music

My grandmother was very sick and unconscious for days.  Even though we still hoped she would pull through, we were prepared for the worst.  But when the worst really did happen, we were still shocked.  Around the time she passed away, my older sister suddenly felt the "shivers" and asked me to stop playing music.  Even though I thought to myself, grieving should be after the loved one passes away, not before, I did stop it.  And since my grandmother lived so far from us, how could my sister have known?  Somehow she did.

Jim, Mt Druitt, NSW  

Burning Lungs

My cousin, a radiologist by profession, told me this true story (from his own practice) that happened several years ago.  A friend of his father's, came to have his lungs X-rayed.  My cousin asked him why he wanted his lungs X-rayed and he replied that the night before he had a dream where he saw his lungs burning.  The radiologist said, "Do you feel anything?".  He said, "No".  They completed the X-ray and there were no signs of abnormality.  The man then left and went to work.  He was a builder and as he was working on the roof of the house he was carrying a pole and he accidentally touched the power lines, which then electrocuted him.  He suffocated as a result and died.  All this happened one hour after his X-ray.  Interestingly enough, many other builders had refused taking up the job of building this house because of how close the power lines were, he insisted that it would be OK. Unfortunately, it cost him his life.

Ryko, NSW

---

more unexplained phenomena: 

Superstitions - There must be something in it!

If you accidentally hit your funny bone, you will receive a letter.

I have a very superstitious aunt who has a whole repertoire of superstitions up her sleeve.  I never believed in them until I started paying attention.  It happened a few times but what really made me think there was something in it was when I was far from home, in a Canton Hotel, taking a bath and accidentally hitting my funny bone - I distinctly remember thinking to myself:  "This is rubbish - who is going to write me a letter here.  I am only here for the day."  Then next thing I knew I heard a knock on the door and I was receiving an express post envelope with my passport in it that I had forgotten behind in Beijing.  But I had forgotten about that minor technicality.

If you go out the door and realise you have forgotten something behind and you go back to pick it up, you will only be going in vain.

There was a group of us travelling to visit a friend, when I realised on the way that I had forgotten something behind and had to go back to pick it up.  My aunt then said to us:  "O-oh this is going to be a futile call."  We didn't pay attention to her until we got to the friend's place and she wasn't there.  That is when my aunt exclaimed: "Didn't I tell you we were going for nothing!"  That was another confirmation of there having to be something in these old wives' tales.  And it has happened many more times since.

John from Brighton

Healing Urge

My son told me about his neighbour who was naturally gifted with the ability to do hands on healing.  However, after some time, she discovered it was damaging her health.  She would help people with their problems but then she would get sick.  Therefore she decided to stop healing others.  However her next problem was that she couldn't stop herself from healing people by remote control.  She was not even aware of the fact that she was doing it.  For instance if she knew of one of her friends taking ill, all she would do is think of them and their problem and they would get better, but then she would get sick.  The most disturbing thing about this story is that probably as a result of her healing people she underwent 11 operations to correct her health.

Dorothy from Canterbury, NSW

Editor's Note:

This is a typical case where Qigong could help in two ways.  (1) Qigong enables the practitioner to control their own energy and this lady was not in control of her gift.  (2) Regular practice of Qigong can enable anyone to become a psychic/spiritual healer or, in cases like this, to increase their energy and protect them from harm.  In Qigong terminology, using your own energy to heal others is called External Qigong (Wai Qigong).

Pointing the Bone

A friend of mine who had back pain for several days was telling me about her health complaint and began to show me where abouts her problem was on my body.  Unfortunately, after letting her, I began to experience some pain overnight in the same spot.  Meanwhile she felt just fine the next day.  It was only after couple of massages that I got rid of it.

T.D.  from NSW

Editor's Note:

I hope this taught you a lesson.  In almost every culture's superstitious beliefs this is Taboo, a big NO, NO (i.e. letting somebody show you where they feel discomfort or pain on your body).  However, they all have ways to counteract it, for example some cultures normally spit three times in the air (tpu, tpu, tpu) and move their body from the spot straight after it happens.

Astral Travel

I was once in a serious accident that required me to go through a very risky operation.  During the operation I had a Near-Death Experience where I found myself looking at my body above the operating table.  It felt great, I could fly and then. at a moment when I thought of my house, I found myself back home whizzing in and out of the rooms and I saw my dog in the yard.  The most amazing thing was that my dog sensed me.

After the operation, I found that there were still some aspects of my health that needed healing and thanks to Qigong it has brought my health to a much better state of recovery.

G Scott, Dundas

A Dream Come True

My mother often sees people that we know dying in her dreams.  However, the only problem is that the day after she sees them, they die for real.  Since I began practicing Qigong, I have had similar experiences.  In one of my dreams, I saw a person that had already died greet me with a "Hello, I am back".  Since he didn't come back from the dead, the only other explanation I can think of, is that he must be reincarnated.

P. G.,  Sydney

Don't sit at the corner of the table, unless you don't want to get married.

This is common knowledge in many European cultures.  But what makes it interesting, is that there is a similar belief in Feng Shui, only the Chinese believe that it has more of a negative affect than slim chances of ever getting married. 

They believe that whatever you are in the middle of practicing, while sitting at the corner, will not go well.  For instance if you are eating, you will not digest well, if you are negotiating a business deal, it will not work out to your advantage, if you are trying to impress someone you will not be successful at it.  To avoid this from happening at all the Chinese traditionally have round dinner tables.

Once my friend was playing chess with his father whilst sitting at the corner of the table and he lost the game.  Then I reminded him of this fact, therefore, after moving to an equal position, he won.

CK, Bexley

Simon Says

My building teacher, Simon told me this story about 40 years ago.  When he was about 25 he lived in the countryside of Europe with his wife and decided to build themselves a house.  But in those days of poverty he did not have all the funds to finish the roof.  Therefore the house was uncovered for many months.  The roof's frame was there but there was no money to buy tiles with.  There was very little hope in ever covering the house's roof.  The strange thing was that on a daily basis their turkeys would climb up to the tileless roof and stay overnight.  One day, Simon said to his wife "You know what, I think these turkeys are going to ‘cover' our roof".  A few days later there was a travelling salesman, a true rarity in those days, never seen in his village, who was passing by.  When he saw the turkeys he became very interested and asked if they were for sale.  Since there was no better plan for the turkeys, he sold them to the travelling salesman for the price of covering the roof.

Rodriguez from Ramsgate

Editor's Note:

Even though this story sounds silly and pointless to some, there is a deeper meaning than what appears on the surface.  The daily turkey trip to the top of the roof symbolised they could be used to cover the price of building a roof which proved correct.  With Ba Gua, Feng Shui, I Ching and Chinese numerology, symbolism is widely applied and has great significance.  For example, in Chinese medicine many beans that have the shape of various organs are considered to be beneficial to the organs they look like.  In Feng Shui, if you resist the last mouthful of food on your plate, it symbolises that you will always have plenty of everything in life.

---

Do Plants & Animals Practice Qigong?

Practicing Qigong, among other things can enable us to sense things that we normally wouldn't be able to sense.  Many styles of Qigong are directly taken from plants and animals (Styles such as 5 Animals Play, Flying Crane, Wild Goose, Snake, Tree, Lotus).  The fact that many styles of Qigong originate from imitating plants and animals, proves that these practices the Chinese call Qigong, exist in all living things.  As a result of thousands of years of "practicing" these abilities, plants and animals have highly developed their instincts to help them in their survival, for example looking for food, communication and sensing danger. 

Many studies in recent years showed some amazing discoveries such as the experiment that measured the high-sound frequency that is produced after a plant has been cut.  Then using the same device, they received the same high-sound frequency when someone nearby had the mere intention of cutting the same plant.  This and many other similar experiments prove that plants can sense our thoughts.  And so can many Qigong practitioners, after years of steady practice.  The parallels are there, all we have to do is simply open our eyes and see them.

Here are a few more examples of the animal instincts, some thoroughly researched, some known by many, some believed by many and some never heard of by most:

Horses can sense danger

I remember some twenty years ago I had the chance to witness a disturbed horse that would not move an inch forward after he was lead about a hundred meters away from the grizzly bear's cage in a zoo.  Even though he was not able to see him he could sense danger.  The horse was to be moved from one part of the zoo to the other, passing by the bear's cage, and no matter what they tried to do they could not get him to budge.  In the end they gave up and took him back.

Jason, Dee Why,

If you get lost in the dark of night and in the middle of nowhere, just let the horse lead the way back home

Proven many times, even in the darkest of nights, far from home and roads.  The horse first stands still for a while, moves his ears, makes some noises, or sniffs around and then starts moving.  He does this on and off until he leads you straight back home.

R.D. from NSW

Dogs can tell when their master is coming home

A scientific study has shown that dogs can sense when their master leaves the office and start coming home.  They impatiently wait for them by the door or window. (Australia's Radio National report in 2000)

Ants and flies

We know that ants can sense rain because, before the rain comes, they run around like crazy to find shelter.  Flies and mosquitos can sense if someone is going to swat them and fly away before it's about to happen.

Wise Ass

Reading your 1^st issue of Qigong Chinese Health magazine in the section of "Unexplained Phenomena", made me recall an experience that I'd like to share.  Many years ago, I was serving in the army for a couple of years.  In those days, there were no four wheel drives, so when we needed to transport some heavy weapons and equipment to rough terrain we would use asses.  I was ordered to look after one of them, which I found was a very difficult task.  No matter how hard we tried, it would be impossible to put a load on its back.  It just wouldn't stay still.  In the end, we would quit and report it to our superior.  Their advice was pretty straight forward, "If it does not cooperate, just shoot it".  There was no mercy in those days.  But then, against all expectations, when we would go back, there would be no problems in getting the ass to do as we wanted.  The ass would stay so still until the last moment of loading, and everything would go well, almost as if it knew what was in stall for it.  Now, the strangest thing of all was that this happened on many occasions.  Later on, I discovered through some older soldiers that this has been the case, almost since the year dot. 

Ryan from Brighton

For more unexplained phenomena please, check out Qigong chinesehealth magazine,

---