Comparative Benefits - Energy vs Trance

[semipelican]

Hello everyone,

I would be interested in hearing people's ideas about the comparative benefits of doing energy practices vs doing trance meditation practices. I've been interested in meditation for decades, and got into it when I was a teenager because I found that it helped me control a rather embarrassing vocal tic disorder. Over the years, I have had sort of just enough experiences in meditation to be convinced of the idea that what we really are is something independent of the body, and that this is something worth exploring.

I also have some experience with energy practices both from studying kriya yoga and trying to experience energy in chakras, and also from several years of traditional taiji training. I have trained the Wu / Hao style (the one created by Wu Yu Xiang and later taught by Hao Wei Chen) from a very traditional teacher. He has also given me training in Liu He Ba Fa, which is similar.

I think there are a lot of good benefits of both kinds of practices, and I would like to hear ideas from people with more experience than I have with these things. I know a lot depends on what one's goals and objectives are. I would say I am mostly interested in understanding what it is that (I really believe) survives after the body dies, the possibility of rebirth, and ideas about how karma affects these things. I had some very unusual and distressing experiences in my life, and I do believe there is a reason I was born in a situation where I would have those experiences so I could learn something from them. I am also interested in the physical, mental, and emotional health benefits of these practices.

I can tell that regular meditation practice can help a lot with learning to have more patience and calmness dealing with difficult situations, and also in getting those rare glimpses of the spiritual self nature. I'd really like to be able to accomplish the traditional Zen goal of learning to really recognize and identify with that self nature.

I can also tell that regular energy work practice helps a lot with learning to feel the inside of the body in a detailed way, and helping to eliminate habitual tension and alignment issues. I also think it is probably good for improved self healing ability in ways that go beyond just the removal of tension.

If you had limited time, say one hour a day to spend on such things, what would your efforts go into? Doing all meditation, all energy work, or a mix of the two? Would you want to do a full one hour session each day, or split it into maybe three twenty minute sessions? What do you consider the best way to get the most benefit from these things?

[Malathion]

Good day.

Both mediation and energy work are required for spiritual development. But it’s important to balance the polarities of the two practices.

For instance, if you’re practicing meditation it’s important to practice both Receptive and Active forms of meditation at the same time, even it is only for as little as 5 minutes for each at a time, so you will develop your mind power evenly without issue. Receptive meditations are those that clear the mind and let you to perceive what is actually taking place spiritually, practices like Vipassana, Transcendental Meditation, etc, and should be preformed before Active meditations. Active meditations are things like creating visualizations or thought forms. They’re things that let you craft mentally and take action in higher realities like what happens in OBEs.

Energy work should be balanced both in function and direction of movement. It’s very important to ground your energy directly after energy raising to allow the changes in your subtle bodies to take maximum effect (Like resting your muscles after exercising). Walking around with too much ungrounded energy will only attract problems generally for the person. It’s also very important to work on both upwards and downwards movements to the higher and lower centers evenly so you can perceive energy more holistically with your whole being at once.

To answer your question on what to do daily: it’s best to do both types of practice as often as possible even if it is only for a very short time every day. Sometimes it makes more sense to do meditation one day and energy work the next as nobody has an infinite amount of time during the day to spend on spirituality. But generally speaking, it’s always better to do things consistently, like a drop of water eroding away a stone over a long period of time, than to do a whole lot once every once in a while.

I hope that helps to answer your question.

Cheers,
- Malathion.

[WhiteMonkey]

I would split it in 3x20 or 2x30. Make it always around the same time and make first 10 min trance and then 10 mins energy work that will bring the bewt result.

Otherwise the above post is already perfect

[CFTraveler]

I combine them and find that sometimes energy work can put me into a trance or if I do tactile imaging while in trance, the sensations are much more palpable, and often visible too. So I don't think of them as polarities, but complementary practices.