Long ago, I stopped teaching Standing meditation. It is the essence of movement and the beginning of 10.000 Things (Ways) in Martial and Movement Arts, yet it is rarely understood to the fullest.
It is so limited into phrases like "you will get a better rooting and structure" .. or .. "it helps the inner Qi flow, and you can start feeling your meridians.." etc.
If Standing would "only" be this, it already would be by far more valuable than it is understood and assumed by so many so-called internal Martial Arts 'Masters'.
Standing ...
..is not "only" this.
Years back at mt. Wudang, I remember how Basic Instructor Students of mine who were candidates for Advanced Instructorship told me that they don't need to practice Standing Meditation anymore because their level was already high and passed that state of practice.
What can you say .. to those who think the FUNDAMENTAL WORK is too low for them?
What was the idea behind such action?
Better; how could THEY, who were long-term students don't understand the value of such critical & essential practice? Yes, we also had very beginners who were asking us, what the reason for such a dull routine is, or practicing it one day; they were telling, "yes, I did this already yesterday, what's up for today?" I can understand this from a beginner. But from an advanced Student... there are only two plausible explanations:
1) The practice is still too difficult and heavy for them (this implies that they are not candidates for Advanced Instructorship).
2) The ego does not allow such practice due to various inner reasons but creating OUTER reasons to cover the inner ones (like, "yes, but my hip is hurting" or "I always have back blockades when I stand longer" instead of 'if I'm honest with myself, it is just to difficult to overcome the MOVEMENTLESS 'TIME' and 'STATE' during the practice' or 'I don't want to do stuff, beginners usually do.' (real outer physical body issues aside).
STANDING
...is the symbolic indication for THE HUMAN.
STANDING represents the ONE- and WHOLENESS.
The HUMAN is UPRIGHT. UPRIGHT in his deeds and action as well as his thoughts and ideas. Standing stands for this uprightness.
It is a 'persons' attribute and easy to talk about mistakes in 'others.' But it is a 'humanly' attribute to point and see profound truth in 'others' and the 'mistakes' in oneself. The second of these actions is called UPRIGHTNESS.
The five stars are facing heaven—a Chinese & Daoist phrase for Full Lotus Meditation Position. (Because the Energy-points under the feet are facing up, the hands are facing up, and the top of the head is facing up)
The 5 Stars:
The two hands, the two feet, and the head, representing the Big Heavenly Circle and building a BIG STAR of 5 peaks, have six realities.
What are these realities?
1) LIFE (alive without limitation)
2) NON-DEPENDING (SELF alive, not depending on birth or death)
3) JUDGEMENT (scaling via eternal truth, not with the truth of cultures or traditions)
4) FAIR (judging even-handed, equitable, impartial & right-minded from 'above and within')
5) HOLY (BECAUSE of the above 4)
6) INDIVIDUAL (these 5 realities, when manifested on ONE individual, represent the HUMAN within the being(s) - the ONENESS within the 10.000 Things) - Remember: 'Wàn fǎ zhuāng gōng shēng.' Now, ZHUANG GONG (Still Standing -Pillar- Work) has four main categories. Like the Human has one Pre-Written Destiny, one Spiritual Inner Reality, one Physical Earthly Reality, and one UNDERSTANDING AND OBSERVING Reality.
Every Category includes 3 States of enlightenment or awareness.
The four Categories in Standing Meditation are:
1) The Pre-Heavenly Pillars
2) The Heavenly Pillars
3) The Earthly Pillars
4) The Humanly Pillars.
These four are harmoniously corresponding with the four realities of a human being.
Every Category has 3 Pillars, which makes 12 Pillars divided into 4.
There is One universal Pillar that can go into ALL Categories. So in total, these are our 13 Standing Meditation Postures.
The Pre-Heavenly Pillars are
1) Bao Yuan Shou Yi (Embrace Eternity - Keep the Oneness)
2) Wu Ji Zhuang (Pillar of Polelessness)
3) Hun Yuan Zhuang (Pillar of the Cosmic Circle - The Cosmic Origin)
The Heavenly Pillars are
1) Yin Yang Shou Dan (The Yin and the Yang are protecting the Elixir)
2) San Cai Zhuang (also known as San Ti Shi) (Three Treasures Pillar)
3) Long Tan Zhuang (The Rising Dragon Pillar)
The Earthly Pillars are
1) Han Ji Zhuang (Winter Rooster Pillar)
2) Qi Xing Zhuang (Seven Star Pillar)
3) She Chan Zhuang (The Snake twining Pillar)
The Humanly Pillars are
DA ZI ZHUANG (Figure Big Pillar - this is the universal Pillar)
1) Zhi Tian Hua Di Zhuang (Pointing the heaven, drawing the earth Pillar)
2) Xiang Long Zhuang (Subdue the Dragon Pillar)
3) Fu Hu Zhuang. (Taming the Tiger Pillar)
To understand these 3 Pillars in every Category, one must be THROUGH at least in a basic sense ONES for a while uniquely and adequately. Then only I speak of the '3 small enlightenments' received to open the big Gates of that what is called XUAN. (Mysteriously Hidden).
When I was referring these pillars to the advanced instructor candidates in China, I could not believe that they thought this is only for the 'beginners' and not needed to be practiced by the 'higher' Levels. Truly I understood, what it means to give away jewels to individuals without ANY deeper sense of value.
The three enlightenments are connected to 3 unique and straightforward PRINCIPLES.
Principle 1: Let Go.
Principles 2: Go Back.
Principle 3: Create.
Let's have a look at this with reference from the first 3 PRE-HEAVENLY Pillars:
1) Bao Yuan Shou Yi (Embrace Eternity - Keep the Oneness)
2) Wu Ji Zhuang (Pillar of Polelessness)
3) Hun Yuan Zhuang (Pillar of the Cosmic Circle - The Cosmic Origin)
1) Embracing Eternity.
Is this even possible?
What do I embrace when saying I EMBRACED ETERNITY?
Anything within my 'embrace' would be within my Borders & Boundaries. How can INFINITY be embraced (enveloped) when it has no LIMITS?
This fact schools me: You can only embrace infinity by LETTING GO of the idea of EMBRACING (covering) it.
Let Go.
Doing so, you KEEP 'THAT' that was before the beginning and will be after the end—the ONENESS from eternity into eternity.
2) Polelessness.
Go back to the state of no thought, no idea, no manifestation, no appearance—the origin-state of DAO.
Sit back, settle. After letting go of all your IDEAS of controlling and covering. After letting go of your ideas of HAVING AND GETTING. WANTING. WISHING. MAKING. ..... go back.
RE-set.
Reset in order to arrive at the bottom of a place called BEFORE TRUTH.
Thus will be the only way how to understand the AFTER truth.
Reset.
There is no activity; there is no purpose. There is no passivity; there is no authority.
Only from here...
..we can
3) CREATE.
The Cosmic Circle.
HUN YUAN ZHUANG - The Pillar of the Cosmic Circle will be IN THAT SENSE, step three of enlightenment, which would not appear without steps one and two.
The Heavenly Pillars
1) Yin Yang Shou Dan (The Yin and the Yang are protecting the Elixir)
2) San Cai Zhuang (also known as San Ti Shi) (Three Treasures Pillar)
3) Long Tan Zhuang (The Rising Dragon Pillar)
Now, before you RISE, with your energy...
LET GO the fish into the river.... it belongs there, not in your hands. LET GO to COME BACK to the SCALE (the YIN and the YANG) in order to be able to observe and see the three treasures JING QI & SHEN. (SAN CAI).
Only after being able to SEE the fundamental purposes of an idea (the fish) that you wanted to hold on to so badly you will understand its outcomes for the ESSENCE of (your) Life (JING), the vitalizing QI in your veins, and the sublime and supreme SPIRIT of your being.
Now, you can:
3) RISE.
Rise with justice and knowledge.
Rise without hesitation, with your Conscience & heart being pure.
RISE with complete & plain fairness that leads to holiness in power and wisdom. (which is represented by the Dragon).
CREATION, if it is born from here, is infinite creation.
I leave the understanding of the earthly and humanly pillars to you.
Every each Pillar has its very own effect and reality within the ocean of that what is called BEING.
Our purpose of life is to READ, UNDERSTAND, and SEE those transmitted (from us to us) 'ideas'.
IDEA is the beginning of creation.
Remember.
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