Description

Sitting Meditation is becoming more and more popular as people realize that finding their inner self brings health, happiness and clear meaning to one’s own life. Chinese Qigong has a rich theoretical foundation for meditation training known as Small Circulation where the body’s energy is consciously circulated on energetic pathways. This book describes the theory and presents a detailed practice routine for Small Circulation and Internal Elixir Qigong. # Paperback: 360 pages# Publisher: Ymaa Publication Center (April 27, 2006)# Language: English# ISBN-10: 1594390673# ISBN-13: 978-1594390678http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Meditation-Circulation-Yang-Jwing-Ming/dp/1594390673Another gem from Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming and David Silver, November 16, 2006By Patrick H. Dickson “TAIJIQUAN.COM” (Cupertino, CA) For those of you who have struggled to obtain correct and lucid information on Qigong Meditation, then this is one of a series of books that will lead you in the right direction. As those who are familiar with Dr. Yang’s publications, the book is written in a style that is accessible and accurate. Much of the previous material available in English was short on explanation and long on symbolism and obscure terms that seemed to have no clear interpretation.Dr. Yang possesses an incredible history, with a background in martial arts combined with an unceasingly inquisitive, curious and intelligent mind. His goal, as I understand it, to make available accurate and true information on various martial arts styles, is commendable, to say the least.The book presents a wide range of information, with the following sections:Chapter 1 General ConceptsChapter 2 Theoretical foundationsChapter 3 Four RefinementsChapter 4 Five RegulatingsChapter 5 Theoretical root of Small CirculationChapter 6 Embryonic BreathingChapter 7 Important Points in MeditationChapter 8 Small Circulation Meditation PracticeChapter 9 Questions and Possible Human FutureChapter 10 ConclusionChapter 6, Embryonic Breathing, is not a complete study of the subject. As Dr. Yang mentions in the book, the reader would be advised to purchase the book Embryonic Breathing and study it, preferably before beginning this book, or at least the chapter on Embryonic Breathing. It is an excellent book and provides the student with a solid understanding of the role of breathing in Meditation and qigong.As the capable and talented editor David Silver mentions in the Editor’s Note, some of the readers might already be familiar with some of the chapter topics. However, although it might be tempting to skip these chapters, especially if one had already read some of Dr. Yang’s previous coverage of the topics, the reader would be well advised to read the book in its entirety. A true scholar, teacher, or any member of any profession, should constantly be trying to improve and correct their understanding of their relative field. Dr. Yang is one of these true scholars and his explanations continue to grow and improve with time. As David mentions, fundamental training is the heart of any system and should never be skipped, regardless of one’s skill level.It’s amazing to me that what seems the most complicated at times can actually be simple once it is understood, and what seems on its face value to be simple in nature is at its heart complex. I think of the saying, “find stillness in movement and movement in stillness”. Just as in the Yin Yang symbol, each of the two opposites have the seed of each other. Such is the nature of meditation. I used to believe that there couldn’t be very much to know in order to practice meditation. Yet, when one looks at the size of this book, coming in at 402 pages, it is obviously a subject of great depth.Thank the Taiji gods for Dr. Yang and his numerous contributions to the martial arts world. Along with this book, I would recommend to the serious student to purchase Dr. Yang’s DVD titled “Understanding Qigong”. As I began to watch the DVD, I found that I couldn’t turn it off until it was complete. Although I have read numerous books on Qigong, including all of Dr. Yang’s publications, as well as practiced Qigong for many years, I found that watching Dr. Yang talk brought a level of understanding that I had never before achieved. I was amazed at how effective he is as a classroom teacher. It is truly an excellent companion to the study of Meditation.I have not yet met Dr. Yang in person, although I have talked to him on the phone on a couple of occasions. When I do finally meet him, I will probably find myself bowing to him and stating “I am not worthy”. And I mean that with the most respect. If you mediate already or are interested in learning about qigong meditation, then this is most likely one of the best books available on the subject.Please contribute back by OCRing *and* Spellchecking/Proofreading (!) this book. I recommend ABBYY Finereader 10 for doing this work in a relatively easy way. There are other applications as well. The important thing is to spellcheck and correct any mistakes the automatic software run did – often people just run automatic conversion and upload here a pdf that has many mistakes and/or can’t be converted to other digital formats.  If you start to do the process please leave a comment here so the effort won’t be duplicated by others. Thank you.