Qi-Gong

The Advert

             High Level Qi-Gong
           Falun Gong All classes free

If you have benefited from meditation, tai-chi, yoga etc. but are aiming
for higher attainment, Falun Gong would be invaluable. If you have no prior
training or experience of any kind, you can still benefit quickly from learning
Falun Gong straightaway. In addition to being a powerful mechanism for
healing, stress relief and health improvements, Falun Gong is different from
other qigong techniques in having a higher objective of enlightenment.
Belonging to the ancient tradition of Taoist and Buddhist qi-gong, Falun Gong
is an advanced cultivation method practised by millions in China.

Falun Gong has a set of five exercises to complment one's cultivation. They
are easy to learn yet very poewrful and effective. Falun Gong gives top priority
to the cultivation of XinXing (inner nature) and its assimilation to Zhen-Shan-
Ren (Truth-Compassion-Forbearance).

I was handed this leaflet in town, so I've decided to go.

The First Time

The class was at the RISC in town. I forget what that stands for, but they have several large rooms used for organising organic food bring and buys, 3rd world meetings, salsa classes, yoga and other such related ventures. I'll have to get more involved with some of it and see what goes down.

It took a while to find the class; The whiteboard in the leaflet distributing entrance lobby suggested the room was different to `conference hall'. Now the class was to be in meeting room 2. I spotted the sign that told me to go through the conference hall and turn left; so I did---after informing several people that no, I wasn't here for the salsa and hoping I was pronouncing Falun-Gong at least reasonably. They hadn't heard of it though.

The room was extremely tiny, dark and empty so I turned around and went back though the beginnings of a salsa class to study the whiteboard again. It hadn't changed, insisting that the small room was still the right place. I called the number on the leaflet to make sure the group hadn't been aborted or anything, but the person who answered said that it was still on and `RISC' sounded familiar, so was probably the place.

Maybe both the leaflet and whiteboard where wrong. I tried meeting room 1 at the suggestion of the salsa instructor, to find an elderly gentleman and an oriental lady. I quickly excused myself saying I evidently have the wrong place, and that I was looking for the Falun-Gong group. But lo ! This was the group, and they were just about to move into room 2.

No doubt there would be more people joining us soon, a possibility confirmed by the oriental lady asking the salsa people to direct the others in our general direction, and if they could keep the music a little less loud today that would be nice. See, what were are doing is kind of meditative.

The other person who was with her in the first room was now no where to be seen, so we moved the soft chairs to the corners of the room. I was then shown a few sheets of paper with pictures of people in orange robes in various poses, before going through a long sequence of movements involving making circles with everything so the energy can flow, and the channel is open.

The elderly gentleman returned after we had been though a few of the groups of movements. It might have been a different elderly gentleman; I don't remember. He was very smartly dressed and a war veteran I was later to learn. Shrapnel in his legs is why he has difficultly with the final lotus.

The Second Time

I didn't go the second week. I had expected too, but was in town with Alex and John when it hit 7 o'clock and were driving home. I didn't feel like staying in town, and I had shopping to take home.

Every other Time

I think it's stopped now. I'm not certain though, but I looked for leaflets about it and noticed it wasn't listed on the board of events on a tuesday any more. I'll give the reason for giving up as not liking the general philosophy, with the main guy being really important and enabling the lesser people. That's someone elses reason though, I just stole it.