Sources on Buddhist Qigong?

Forum for discussion of East Asian Buddhism. Questions specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
Javierfv1212
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:39 am
Location: South Florida

Sources on Buddhist Qigong?

Post by Javierfv1212 »

I've recently been going to Tai Chi + Qigong classes, mainly for health reasons (after having Covid 3 times in the last few years since Vocid began) but also as a way to support my meditation practice. The teacher is a Daoist and I don't mind this.

However, I am also aware that there are Buddhist traditions which practice this kind of stuff (mainly Shaolin I believe, though there also seems to be some tradition out of mount Emei?). I was wondering what were some good sources on these "Buddhist" Qigong practices and how they are understood in the Buddhist traditions that practice them. I have been looking around, but almost all sources are Daoist. There seems to be a short book by Nan Huai-Chin, but that is all I was able to find. So does anyone know of any good sources that explains how qigong / daoyin / yangsheng is understood and practiced by the Buddhist traditions who make use of it? Also, is there any work which discusses the history of this and how Buddhists adopted it?
It is quite impossible to find the Buddha anywhere other than in one's own mind.
A person who is ignorant of this may seek externally,
but how is it possible to find oneself through seeking anywhere other than in oneself?
Someone who seeks their own nature externally is like a fool who, giving a performance in the middle of a crowd, forgets who he is and then seeks everywhere else to find himself.
— Padmasambhava

Visit my site: https://sites.google.com/view/abhayajana/
User avatar
Johnny Dangerous
Global Moderator
Posts: 17091
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:58 pm
Location: Olympia WA
Contact:

Re: Sources on Buddhist Qigong?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Yang Wing Ming has some decent explanatory books. I have not seen a lot of good explanatory writings on Buddhist Qigong outside his work.

A lot of the history around this stuff is pretty speculative.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
PeterC
Posts: 5192
Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 12:38 pm

Re: Sources on Buddhist Qigong?

Post by PeterC »

It's highly debatable if there really is such a thing as 'Buddhist Qigong' except in the sense that Chinese monastics have practiced it at some point. The earliest texts are all nominally Daoist, though really it should be viewed as a development of traditional Chinese medicine. I know of nothing that demonstrates a 'Buddhist' origin except for the largely spurious attribution to Bodhidharma of physical practices, and the long accumulation of myths and legends around the Shaolin monastery.

If you want to read more about the history, you'll need to read original chinese texts, which is a slow process. Your time might be better spent reading more about Chinese medicine's view on health and physiology, of which there is plenty in english (if that's the language you're looking for).

There's no reason not to practice this as a system of exercise - even if there isn't Buddhist qigong, there isn't Buddhist running, swimming or weight training either.
VolkerK
Posts: 110
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:37 am

Re: Sources on Buddhist Qigong?

Post by VolkerK »

ronnymarsh
Posts: 170
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:52 am

Re: Sources on Buddhist Qigong?

Post by ronnymarsh »

There is not Buddhist Qigong. The notion of Qi comes from Taoism.

Qí in Chinese literally means "wind", as well as the Greek term "Pneuma", the Hebrew "Ruach", among others, which is translated, from Latin, as "spirit".

In the Taoist concept Qi is part of a concept that is called "Three Treasures", but that has no relation with Buddhism, only the name is the same. They are: Jing (Essence), Qi (Spirit) and Shen (Divinity).

In Taoism, these three elements also appear grouped with the term Qí, as in Qigong, which represents this transmutation process (which is represented in the character 氣 - Qi- itself where we have the rice being "cooked" and the steam rising from it).

This process starts from the training of the essence (Jing), which is the material aspect of the being, the body, seeking to carry out its transmutation into Spirit (Qi), the most subtle aspect that, when elevated, becomes Divinity (Shen).

This can be related to orthodox Christianity, Jewish Kabbalah, Sufism, some Hindu perspectives, and other Western and Eastern mysticisms, but not Buddhism because at the heart of this practice is an element that the Dharma denies: it essences, or "atman".
Post Reply

Return to “East Asian Buddhism”