DEVIATION AND HOW TO GUARD AGAINST IT
If a practitioner practices genuine chi kung, he will sure to have good health, vitality and longevity
Question 1
What is the root cause of deviation, and what is the best way to guard against it?
What is the difference between a deviation and a blockage?
Is it possible or desirable to never deviate? Or should we simply recognize that, from time to time, tendencies that could grow to become deviations may begin to arise as part of our development process and that we should just try to get better at becoming aware of them sooner and correcting or letting go of them before they become big and serious?
Omar
Answer
There are two dimensions to the meaning of deviation. One, it is practicing an art but not getting the result the art is meant to give. Two, it is practicing an art and getting adverse effect instead of benefit.
In the first dimension, practicing chi kung is meant to give good health. Someone practices chi kung for some time, but he does not have good health. So, his is an example of deviation.
In the second dimension, a practitioner may not be sick to start with. But after practicing chi kung for some time, he worries unnecessarily. This is an example of deviation.
Let us take some examples from kungfu, any style of kungfu. A primary aim of practicing kungfu is to be able to defend oneself, but after practicing for some time he still cannot defend himself. This is an example of deviation in the first meaning.
Practicing kungfu is to give us benefit, but instead of benefit, irrespective of whether he can defend himself, a practitioner sustains injuries instead. This is an example of deviation in the second meaning.
It is actually shocking, though many people may not realize it, that outside our school many chi kung and kungfu practitioners experience deviation of the first or the second type, or both. We are indeed very lucky that we don’t face deviation. A main reason is that we understand the philosophy of our arts.
Not having deviation should actually be the norm. In the past, practitioners might take a longer time than us to achieve result, but they did achieve result. Those who practiced chi kung would have good health, vitality and longevity. Those who practiced kungfu would be able to defend themselves.
Today, these arts have been so grossly debased, that having deviation, especially those practicing martial arts, is the norm!
In Chinese the modern term for deviation is “bian cha”, which literally means “sideway-mistakes”. The classical term is more frightening, and is “zou fo ru mo”, which literally means “escape of fire, and entrance of monster”. The deviations sustained by modern martial artists, like broken bones and damaged internal organs, are more like “monsters” than “sideway-mistakes”.
The root cause of deviation, regardless of whether the deviation is in the first or the second meaning, is not following instructions of competent teachers. Often the failure to follow instructions is unintentional, like students tensing their muscles when they are supposed to be relaxed. But sometimes this is due to students trying to be smarter than their teachers, like students adding unnecessary training material to what has been taught.
This trying to be smarter than their teachers is not uncommon in other schools, where teachers themselves are incompetent and their teaching usually do not bring the results practicing the arts should give. But even in our schools, where good results are commonplace, some students try to be smarter than their teachers. For example, they have been told not to worry, not to intellectualize and to enjoy their practice, but they still worry whether their practice will give then the best results they want.
The best way to guard against deviation is to respectfully follow the instructions of competent teachers who have shown good results. This isn’t a problem in our school, but it may be a big problem in most other schools. Hence, in most other schools, students first have to find out whether the teachers are competent, i.e. they can provide the results practicing the art will give.
A deviation is practicing an art wrongly. A blockage is where energy is not flowing smoothly.
A practitioner may or may not have a blockage before he starts his practice. If he already has a blockage, like he has an infected disease, wrong practice will make his blockage worse, i.e. his infected disease becomes more severe. If he does not have a blockage, like he does not suffer from an infected disease, wrong practice may cause one, i.e.. he may develop an infected disease.
A person who has a blockage may or may not practice chi kung or kungfu. If he practices chi kung or kungfu correctly, clearing the blockage, i.e. becoming well, is a matter of course. He can also clear the blockage by other means, like taking medication.
Some people may consider deviation as having a mental blockage. It is a matter of semantics. They know that they should follow competent instructions to avoid deviation, but somehow they are mentally blocked and do not follow the instructions.
It is possible and desirable to never deviate, though minor deviation is not uncommon. Just follow the teacher’s instructions.
If the teacher asks him to practice at about 30% of his potential, a wise student trusting that his teacher knows best, will practice at about 30% of his potential, which may not be the same as another student’s potential. How does he know it is about 30% of his potential? He depends on his own subjective judgment. If he, for example, aims to practice his best, he is not following the teacher’s instructions.
A wise student may recognize that once awhile despite following his teacher’s instructions respectfully, he may still deviate, in which case he will check himself and revert back to his teacher’s instructions. If he finds that he deviates despite following the teacher’s instructions, he will then consult his teacher. But this is different from expecting that deviation is a norm.
At the risk of appearing to be arrogant, in most other schools, deviation as defined as deviating from the expected result of practicing an art, is the norm, though most of their teachers and students may not realize it. In our school deriving the expected result of practicing an art, is the norm. This is because we know what result is to be expected and how to practice the art to get the result. We shall put these basic knowledge and skills into practice in the coming UK Summer Camp.
An excellent way to avoid deviation is to practice according to what a competent teacher says
The above article is reproduced from the thread Deviating from the Fundamental Skills of Shaolin Chi Kung in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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