The Nature Of Chi
“Cease seeing with the mind, and see with the vital spirit.”—Lao Tzu
Chi is best interpreted as cosmic breath/breathing. As the cosmos breathes, the in-breath is yin, and the out-breath is yang. The in-breath returns to center, to source; the out-breath moves out, creates. All that is, is breathed into being through this great cosmic movement. All of creation follows the cycle of chi. The in-breath is yin, and corresponds with death, the out-breath is yang, and corresponds with birth.
In Feng Shui: Step By Step (1996), Simmons tells us, “As chi is the cosmic breath, the cosmos, or universe, is that which breathes. The cosmos is understood in Taoist science as an organic being that is full of life, depicted sometimes is a great dragon coursing through time, space, heaven, and earth. The dragon symbolizes the spirit of fertility and nourishment as such it emerges from the depths of the ocean and soars into the sky. It appears in storm clouds and lightning. Its voice is the thunder. It plummets to the earth as rain, and rises in abundant crops. As the Imperial symbol of ancient China, it also represents creativity, wealth, and wisdom."
The Three Phases Of Chi
As Chi is cyclic in nature, it has different phases. They are:
Seng - upward moving, active, vibrant, healthy, building, growing
Si - downward moving, stagnant, decaying, breaking down, dying
Sha - dangerous chi, strange energy, “noxious vapors” or “secret
arrows’
The Two Aspects Of Chi
We have already discussed the two aspects of Chi, and here the qualities
of each are listed. They are:
Yang - active, hot, fast, bright, high, dry, creative, quickening
of life
Yin - receptive, slow, dark, low, moist, fertile, source of life
This is the Taoist symbol for the concept of yin and yang. The black side is yin, the white side yang. The two are part of a whole, are really a cycle within “one,” as represented by the circle. One is always flowing into the other, changing into the other, containing the other. This is the in-breath and the out-breath of chi, flowing from source, coming into being, and returning to source…