TRYING TO BE SMARTER THAN THE MASTER
In this chi kung, it is not necessary to place the tongue at the palate
Question
Many Chi Kung books recommend touching the tip of the tongue to the top of the palate, but in this zhan zhuang book, it does not mention anything about that, in fact it says not to do that because it will cause tension. What do you say about this? What is the purpose or effect of touching the tip of the tongue to the top of the palate? Do I need to do it to benefit from my zhan zhuan chi kung session?
— Wai Man, USA
Answer
I say clearly and loudly, “Follow the instructions of the master.” He has specifically mentioned that it is unnecessary to touch the tip of the tongue to the top of the palate as it may cause tension. Yet you intend to do so because you think it will bring more benefit to your practice — and you are not even a seasoned chi kung student!
Although you never meant to be disrespectful, this is an example of someone trying to be smarter than the master. Tacitly you implied that the master did not know that by touching the tongue to the palate a practitioner would get more benefits, but you knew.
Actually many people who learn from books have this attitude. They commit a common mistake poetically described in a Chinese saying as “knowing the superficial but not knowing the depth”. Because they have read about other methods from elsewhere, and sometimes these methods may not be from chi kung, they reason that they would get more benefits from their training by adding these methods. They make a big mistake thinking that chi kung is some form of gentle physical exercise; they do not realize it is a profound art of energy and mind.
The main purpose of touching the palate with the tip of the tongue is to connect the “ren” and the “du” meridians to effect a Small Universal (or Micro-Cosmic) chi flow. In exercises where the Small Universal chi flow is not directly involved, it is not necessary to do so. However, I suspect that many teachers who ask their students to do so, may not know the reason. Many of them do so out of fashion, or attempt to make their teaching look grandiose.
The above is taken from Question 5 of July 2005 Part 3 of the Selection of Questions and Answers.
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