Everything is made of chi and everything is chi. Chi is synonymous with energy, spirit, body, and matter. It is the fundamental building block of the universe and it is the universe. As you build with chi, as chi evolves, forms change, but the essence of the form remains the same. They are still composed of chi; they still are entirely chi. Chi is the mustard seed and the Cosmos. It is the multitude of form and the Oneness of form. It is the difference and uniqueness of forms and the commonality between forms. All form and all life is united and divided by chi.
It is the force that animates life. It is consciousness and awareness. It is intelligent and it is intelligence. It can be contained and it cannot be contained. It can be known and it cannot be known. It is beyond us, yet it is us. It is the medium through which we sense and understand the workings of the universe. We sense the variations in chi through chi; and learn to understand these variations intellectually and communicate them effectively. We sense and learn about the chi that surrounds us and is us.
Why is it important to understand chi? We have many notions of how to lead our lives well. Many of these ideas are ungrounded from direct perception and exact understanding. If we can perceive chi directly, we can begin to comprehend the universe exactly as it is, rather than rely on beliefs that are dim flashlights in the dark. The better we understand chi, the better we can manage our own lives and the more effectively we can organize and govern ourselves socially.
In order to cultivate exact understanding, you must base your understanding off of direct perception of the senses. You must see chi as it is, flowing and changing, opening and closing: letting the unknown be the unknown. You must understand your assumptions as assumptions, beliefs as beliefs. They are not exact understanding or absolute truth. At best they are good approximations. At worst they are totally false. You believe in things you can't totally prove exist. You believe in them because believing them gives you something to stand on and hold onto in life. You have beliefs because your beliefs take you towards truth. They are not necessarily true. And if they are, beliefs still aren't perceiving truth directly. They are you deciding that something is true that you don't 100% know is true. We decide to believe because of what we sense. But, we don't need to have beliefs to sense the truth.
Reality is an infinitely complicated and frequently, if not always, an indescribable sea of what we call form. Our senses tap into the universe in its raw comings and goings. Our minds filter our senses into coherent and meaningful information. We perceive this information as judgement, thoughts, and subjective experience. Our beliefs often strangle our senses into deluded perception of reality. We attempt to force circles to be squares. We see circles as squares. We see every unique shape as a square. They turn raw sensory data into what we believe or assume the world is like. We perceive the world through the filters of our beliefs, and see a world and live in a world that is largely imaginative.
To see reality as it is, to see qi as it is, we must refine our beliefs and thought. We must refine them to the point of pure awareness. We must cultivate pure awareness and apply it to all of our thought and mind. We must test ourselves in the field of awareness to measure the validity of our self and thought. Through the examination of our thought in pure awareness we distill direct perception of the senses and direct perception of reality. We must examine our self to distill truth. We must examine our beliefs through the light of reason and conscious reflection to know if what we believe is true. We must cultivate direct perception of the senses to accurately judge the nature of the universe, the nature of qi. Our thoughts become living awareness of form rather than beliefs that distort our perceptions of form.
Beliefs are not bad or always wholly untrue. They are attempts to understand the world we live in. They are based in sense and tradition that can be very helpful and meaningful. They may be the best tools we have to make sense of the world and keep our lives in order. They have a place in the evolution of our consciousness and should not be rejected wholly because of the intuition that there is a better way to perceive reality. They should be carefully examined and discarded only when a deeper truth is clearly realized.
When you cultivate exact understanding you begin to see how everything is composed of radiating energy fields and currents. This energy is qi. The world is an incredibly complex matrix of interconnected and layered qi fields. Layers withing layers within layers of interconnected and interacting qi. Every particle of qi radiates itself (energy) in all directions at all times. Every particle of qi vibrates and emits light. This subtle light is the energy that is radiated. So energy, subtle light, and qi are all the same thing. Qi is also sound. Sound is emitted by the vibrating qi as well. Qi is the subtle energy that permeates through all the phenomena we sense. Its the component that unifies what we sense through our various senses into coherent perception.
Qi is much like water and air as well. It is fluid. It coalesces into streams and pools, yet because it is light it can travel in all directions. Although it is light, it is often dependent on form and fixed to specific locations. Even when it is fixed it radiates itself. When people see auras, they are seeing the radiating fields of qi emitted from the body. Every particle emits light or qi. The different combinations of particles creates unique atoms and thus unique energy signatures from the emitted light. Atoms compose molecules and molecules compose cells and cells compose tissues, so every layer of our physiological composition radiates unique frequencies of light. This light is not merely a spectacle. It is also intelligent and affecting. The intelligent light and energy (qi) emitted by different layers of our physiological composition informs the system of its degree of health. The system (body and organs and tissues and cells) can read (sense) its components and status because it too is intelligent and governed by intelligent energetic qi fields. Qi fields both emit intelligent light and receive intelligent light.
The nervous system is the main way in which the body understands its composition. The qi(intelligent energy/light) of cells, tissues, and organs is sensed through the nervous system. The cells, tissues, and organs possess quasi-autonomy and awareness. This autonomy and awareness is essential for the functioning of the living structure. Each layer of physiological composition includes the awareness and intelligence of the structures within it and the structures within those structures. Each structure is semi-independent and self-possessing and relied on by the super-structure it lies within. The awareness/intelligence of each structure is included in the structure subsuming it which is why the body can sense the functioning within its cells and we can sense the condition of our organs. Each structure has a different way of being aware of its composition and condition, but each way is dependent on the awareness of qi. Each way transmits information through subtle energies.
These subtle energies radiate infinitely outwards and can be perceived from anywhere in the universe. Their influence also reaches the furthest extent of the universe. This is why there is karma.
Because what you do literally affects the whole universe, and the whole universe responds. The qi that radiates from your being uniquely pushes and shapes the universe in a way that in tandem uniquely pushes and shapes you. Your thoughts and feelings(your overall energy signature, psychic sum of your radiation) contain emotional and structural imprints and commands. Your body and being, regardless of your awareness of it, send out intelligent energy to get what they want and need from the world and universe. The universe is composed of intelligent structures which sense this outreach and respond given their disposition to your energy signature. Deeper cosmic forces sense your output and instantly respond through the web of form.
Our heavenly form lies within what we call our physical bodies. Really our astral (heavenly) form is simply a finer energy construct that operates within and surrounding our physical energy systems(cells, nerves, tissues, organs, bones muscles). I call them physical energy systems because the physical body is really not solid. We experience it as solid because of our relative, subjective, dualistic and personal-sensory experience. Our physical body is more like an intricate living system of condensed light. What we see as the material components of our bodies are really just condensed qi. The essence of this organic, material qi is the same essence as the essence of the qi that composes our astral bodies. Our physical bodies depend on our astral forms to exist. We need heavenly qi(energy) and heavenly connection to sustain them.
Our astral body is Light channeled through an incredible complex system of chakras. Chakras are like consciousness machines that create unique structures of life such as the material universe, the sexual creative universe, the universe of form, the universe of individuality, the universe of communication, the astral universe, and the universe of spirit. All of these universes/structures/dimensions are connected to each other in complex ways through the chakra system and are ultimately one with each other existing in one seamless universe. When we are sick, our physical body is affected, our subtle energy body is also effected. Our chakras are connected to our organs and body components. They work in synergy with the organs and the body to sustain the life of the body and its components/systems. If the chakras aren't flowing in healthy ways the body suffers and can even die.
When we are cultivating exact understanding of the world, we are not simply learning accurate knowledge of the world's processes. We are cultivating direct awareness of our senses and the world. We are cultivating the ability to see the qi that composes and travels through our bodies and the bodies of the world. With this awareness, which itself is a field of qi, we can perceive the layers of intelligent energy and learn how they interact by direct observation. We learn to see the qi of the chakras and the subtle ways they interact with the body. With this awareness we can actually manipulate our energy and chakra fields. We can ramp them up or slow them down; channel them through different parts of our body; and integrate them in any kind of expression or art. We do this subconsciously or unconsciously already. The more we become conscious of chi and our subtle energy systems the more we can manipulate them: freeing ourselves from sickness and ignorance; and expanding our abilities and personal expression.
It feels good to uncover new parts of yourself. It feels good to overcome challenges and have a firm grasp of what you need to do to go where you want to go. It feels good to see the world unmasked from ignorance and delusion. When I see the same energy flowing through and composing all things in such a broad and intricate way I feel great joy and wonder. I am less afraid of sickness and death; and I feel much more confident in becoming who I want to be by mastering myself. I am more confident because I can see directly how my actions generate harmony or illness in my body and being. I can see the small flows of qi within myself and know how to direct them to be in harmony with Life. And its not only harmony with my life, but with all Life. Qi is the micro and the macro. It is the mustard seed that mystics seek, the indivisible particle and essence of all form. It cannot be divided because even in its smallest form it is one with the Universe. To understand qi, you must realize that all forms are indivisible from each other. That all qi lives in a seamless vibrant sea of energy, being, and consciousness. That as each form is itself, it is also the universe. The form cannot be without the universal background. And the universe would not be without form. When you can see the big picture you can begin to put all of the smaller pieces together in a way that really works. You can begin to rearrange qi in ways that are truly good because you see exactly how things fit together. You realize that this good is Good because all is One and One is All. You begin to understand exactly how things work because you can only see the smallest particle when you can see the whole universe at once. The big picture is not only a space, it is a way of being. It is a way of being that is the essence of form. And the essence of form is the fundamental particle that composes all forms: Qi
