Finding an inner demon, or animal?

[Ovidius]

Hello to everyone!

Venerable Wang Xiangzhai, the developer of Yiquan (Dachengquan), says in one of his texts that you have to find a demon from your heart, the heart has to become a demon, because the true power comes from this will to defeat your opponent. What do you think this finding a demon means?

I already suggested in What is Yiquan? thead that this could mean something similar like the necessity of becoming a total animal when fighting, which is the Sifu Erle Montaigue's viewpoint. Darryl commented this in the following way:

Potentially, it may be somantics but there is a wealth of difference between discovering the inherant 'demonic presence or being' within each person and returning to an 'animalistic mindset'. While this is only my opinion, I find people who are deliberately aggressive or outwardly ferocious (animal) far less worrying than cold stillness (demon).

Wang Xiangzhai writes that you have to become like a tiger or dragon when you fight, could there be differences in animalistic mindsets depending on animal -- some of them more demonic than others? (Is monkey mindset demonic? ) In this context, are demons and animals entirely different things?

Darryl also asked another important question: "What do you do with it [demon in heart] when you find it?"

Could it be this easy: you just become the demon when you fight, let it take over the control, and Bob's your uncle?

[Antonius]

Venerable Wang Xiangzhai

Somewhat off topic, but the title "Venerable" is usually reserved for monks. Interestingly, this may account for some of the differences in our philosophies since our art descends directly from monks.

More on topic, I wonder how much is lost in translation. "Devil" and "demon" are tough words to translate from Chinese.

Wang Xiangzhai writes that you have to become like a tiger or dragon when you fight, could there be differences in animalistic mindsets depending on animal -- some of them more demonic than others?

Taking on the "spirit" (another tricky word) of various animals is characteristic of many styles, including Shaolin Wuxing (Five Animal) Quan. In our style the Snake Form can be quite vicious, but as I understand it, the "spirit" of the Snake does not require you to take on a mindset of ruthlessness. Practicing ruthlessness would not seem to be consistent with a compassionate art developed by monks.

being cruel in your heart is the best way, only with ruthless hands can you vanquish others.

(Quote taken from the other thread.) Again, I wonder about the translation, but this is contrary to our philosophy. We practice compassion, not ruthlessness.

[Darryl]

become like a tiger or dragon when you fight

This is itself is an open enough statement and something that I have absolutely no problems with. As stated above, without it you are unlikely to truly understand your own Art. From a different view though (i.e. - being savage and brutal) I would disagree with it and suggest that the confusion is not in the phrase, but the translation and understanding of the individual person.

If you take 'fighting like a tiger', it can be taken two ways. First, to fight with the qualities and symbolic representation of the creature while still maintaining your own Higher ideals (compassion, mercy, tolerance). Secondly, you could take it to mean that you must fight like a wild beast, overwhelming your prey and killing your target swiftly and efficiently.

So yes, I would say that there are difference between each animal mindset (Tiger, Monkey, Crane, Dragon etc) but I would also say that there are no differences (depending on where you are in relation to the mindset, i.e.- who is in charge?). There is no doubt that the Monkey Styles can be very vicious, but they are also full of joy and laughter, playfull and forgiving. Just because I train to bite people doesn't mean that I will. I don't gnaw on raw meat, or chew wooden poles to strengthen my jaws, but I do share laughter and happinness every day with everyone around me.

For the second question,

What do you do with it [demon in heart] when you find it?

If we take it that there are the three stages of Being (Earth, Man, Heaven) and that Earth is the animal, Man is the choice and Heaven the celestial existance, then I believe it comes down to what you are training for, what you expect to get from your training. If you are training for war, for conquest, for power, then I would call these Earth. If you are training for spiritual progression, for cosmic understanding then I would call these Heaven.

In this example, I would call Earth the Demon, since it deals with the here and now, the phenomenal, the false, the place of sufferring. Then the question of "What do you do with it when you find it" depends in which direction you intend to be going. If you are aiming for Earth, then I would say that you would embrace the Demon. If you were aiming for Heaven, you would reject or love the Demon. If you were aiming for Man, you would work to understand the Demon, to understand yourself.

[Ovidius]

Hello and thanks for your comments and advices

Anthony:

I didn't know it is reserved to monks, sorry about the confusion. Wang Xiangzhai stayed in Songshan Shaolin monestary only about month, he was a guest of a monk called Heng Lin, who was a Xingyiquan master. They shared knowledge about arts and Wang respected Heng Lin very much.

Translations are of course very hard to do, but in a way, I have a feeling that the original Xingyiquan isn't merciful martial art philosophy either and the passion of Yiquan comes from there. I'm not sure about this, just a hunch. Of course it is a totally different question how people use the art. I don't believe Wang Xiangzhai was a bully even though he had the power.

Darryl:

to fight with the qualities and symbolic representation of the creature while still maintaining your own Higher ideals

It would be a hideous thing if the "tiger" or the "dragon" would be totally an alter ego! A normally compassionate person would have terrible moral hangovers after utilizing such thing in a confrontation.

If you were aiming for Heaven, you would reject or love the Demon. If you were aiming for Man, you would work to understand the Demon, to understand yourself.

Wise words Darryl. Would it be too idealistic to say now "I want Earth" or "I want Heaven" since I and most people don't really know the difference? I don't like any ideas of Demons, but if there is a one inside of me, like a built in feature, then it is inevitable that I have to meet it some day if there is any progression to happen at all. By the way, how can one differentiate inner Demon from outer Demon? Darryl and others, have you met inner Demons?

[Luo Lang]

Dear Panu,

Darryl and others, have you met inner Demons?

It is a very good question: I would personally say that desire and craving (coused by desire) is the only Demon in me.

Warmest regards

Roland

[Ovidius]

Hey Roland,

Like facing circumstances but forgetting them at the same time; not being indulgent in the evil spirits of the six thieves; living in this world yet being detached from it and not being affected by the myriad changes.

Quotation taken from The Right Path of Yiquan. Here is the translators footnote about the six thieves and evil spirits:

The six thieves mean the six sense organs, i.e. eyes (sight), ears (hearing), nose (smell), tongue (taste), body (touch), and mind (the ancient Chinese people considered mind as "the sixth sense"). The evil spirits are whatever is sensed by these organs.

If Demon is the same as a Evil Spirit, which can be interpreted as a strong desire to win the battle, then this whole conversation becomes much easier to understand. To win a battle we need "Evil Spirit" or "Demon" in our heart, which is a desire, and desires are always evil and bad, but needed sometimes. The goal is still, according to master Wang, to ''completely realize the Secret (Samadhi) which is namely void". This is the Heaven I think, and any thought or desire are evil or demonic if we put them on this context of achieving void as a ultimate goal.

Thanks for your comments Roland

Btw, B.K. Frantzis describes Xingyiquan (Hsing-I Chuan) in this way:

The perspective of hsing-i is, as mentioned, militaristic: define the mission, do whatever it takes to win, preferably with minimal damage, but without qualms about inflicting whatever degree of pain or damage the situation calls for.

Sounds quite like Yiquan attitude that master Wang promoted.

[Luo Lang]

To win a battle we need "Evil Spirit" or "Demon" in our heart, which is a desire, and desires are always evil and bad, but needed sometimes

I agree: Winning has the character of trying to be better, so therefor it may be a desire, which actually would cause suffering. It is needless to say that sometimes surviving is the reason why somebody wants to win.
Actually I don't know if the leading force to win a battle is to need a Inner Demon or Evil Spirit. My idea of the leading force is not looking for the beast in me (animal instinct, animalreflexes) or for the Demon, but more to find the calmness and inner peace even while beeing in a extrem stressful situation. The stressfactor may be a fight or any stressful lifesituation (Job etc.)
From my little knowledge I have got I would say that the Inner Demon would be a hindrance in fighting. Why?: Demons evilspirits are emotionally absolutely unbalanced and craving and that could be a great disadvantage despite the fact that animal reflexes could give a fighter extrapower. The other thing is as mentioned by my Sihing's, that Demons and Evil spirits are far away from what we would call compassionated.

Sometimes to win a fight a fighter has to loose. What does that mean? Sometimes it is much more merciful, compassionated and intelligent if the fight got lost. You have certainly also heard from great Masters who were unbeatable, but lost a fight and often lost their life. They lost beacuse they knew that for the situation it would be the best. They forgot their ego, their desire and decided to let the opponent win.
To make a connection to the topic: nobody would do something merciful, ful of compassion if he would let his inner Demon fight! That is my opinion!

Little question to you Panu, my friend:
Is it only the Inner Demon you want to let out to fight better or do you want to go further to let other spirits fighting for you in your body? Is something mentioned by Sifu Wang to this theme?

"Evil Spirit" or "Demon" in our heart

Mmmhh I got a little differnt opinion. When I am looking for something in my heart (mind, spirit is in this word included) then it is my original face, how Wong Sifu would call it. And this should be far away from Demons and Evils, which belong to the lower realms and suffer evn more than we do.

Thanks to Panu to start such a interessting thread! I am enjoyining it

Respectfully

Roland

[Ovidius]

Two ways to understand Demons

I would say that the Inner Demon would be a hindrance in fighting. Why?: Demons evilspirits are emotionally absolutely unbalanced and craving and that could be a great disadvantage

That's the point. We have here two interpretations on what Demons and Evil Spirits mean:

1. Evil beings that have their own personality and can exist inside and outside human being.
2. Not beings or persons at all, but merely a substantial part of human being itself, namely mind, or monkey mind. "Generally speaking, the human spirit is very clear but the mind disturbs it. Ordinarily, the human mind is calm but desires bring it into turmoil." (Wang Xiangzhai)

We can understand mind as the sixth of the Six Thieves (see my earlier message) and the sensations and movements of it as Evil Spirits. Why are they considered evil? Probably because Evil Spirits hinder the person from seeing the Original Face, the God, entering the state of no-mind (Wang Xiangzhai uses this term) and completely realizing Samadhi, which is void. Contents and movements of mind, for example desires, are against no-mind, and in that way they are considered evil. Maybe even Demons!

My teacher has said that practicing Yiquan is not Meditation. Maybe this need of a strong will (aka Demon) to defeat your opponent in heart is one thing that makes the difference between Yiquan and Meditation. The latter one cultivates no Demons (aka mind or Yi), it is usually understood as a art of getting rid of mind. But how is this Meditation or state of no-mind reached through Yiquan and other arts? Meybe it is easier (and more usefull too) to begin with a focus on something than directly trying to enter the no-mind.

Sometimes to win a fight a fighter has to loose.

Interesting thought. Sometimes there are other ways to handle sensitive situations. Here is one story borrowed from this address:

In 1928 Wang, together with Zhang Zhankui (a xingyiquan master from Tianjin) went to Hangzhou, where he acted as arbiter at wushu (guoshu) competition. Then, being invited by Qian Yantang (Guo Yunshen's student), Wang went to Shanghai. Qian organized a banquet to receive Wang, and during it asked Wang to have a friendly sparring. Wang tried to refuse, because he didn't want to make Qian ashamed, when other people were present. But Qian insisted, so Wang agreed, saying: "If elder brother (it means eldership inside Guo Yunshen's lineage) wants to see my skill, I will ask him to sit on this sofa." It meant that Wang would be able to throw Qian on that sofa, no matter what Qian would do. Qian attacked Wang with beng quan. Wang made quick, short movement, putting palm of his hand above Qian's fist, and Qian was immediately thrown over, landing on the sofa. After a while Qian stood up, very moved, wiht tears in his eyes, and said: "After so many years I feel as if I met our teacher again. I'm really glad that he has a true successor." Wang lived at Qian's home. Soon Qian organized another banquet and invited many famous masters. One of them was Wu Yihui, a master of liuhebafa (liu ho pa fa), whom Wang described later as one of the greatest martial arts masters in China.

You see, Guo Yunshen was Wang's nr.1 teacher and Wang did not want to make Guo's older student Qian to look weak in front of others, so he used a sensitive way to show his supremacy. Yiquan is not an demonic art or the founder was not evil man, even though such interpretations can be easily made from his texts.

Little question to you Panu, my friend:
Is it only the Inner Demon you want to let out to fight better or do you want to go further to let other spirits fighting for you in your body? Is something mentioned by Sifu Wang to this theme?

One thing is quite sure, no Demons (in meaning 1.) are involved or should be involved -- the responsibility and control is on fighters own hands. You cannot blame Demon or Evil Spirit from doing what you have done.

I haven't found anything that explicitly says that you should find a personal Demonic being and let it enter your heart to boost your combat I'll get back to the topic if I find traces of this.

Thanks to Panu to start such a interessting thread! I am enjoyining it

Thanks to you too.

[Luo Lang]

Not beings or persons at all, but merely a substantial part of human being itself, namely mind, or monkey mind.

Aha, now I got it. Thanks for clarification. So you are talking about the Monkey brain: To anticipate any personal connection to our Monkey Sihing Darryl we call it reptilebrain . That's quite different!
I think we have already had a similar thread about using the extrapower of the reflexes of earlier developementstages of human beeings. It is very interessting to think about this theme and there are many reasons why you could have an advantage if you could use this reflexes and powers.

But it's never like this that you are able to use only the positive effects of a deep rooted system. That would be too perfect. I think, If it's possible to use our animalinstincs again, then we also get the negative charakteristics indirectely: animalreflexes are caused by fear and the strong will to survive, to kill. So if you use this power which is inside of you can not only use the positive things and therfor use the positive powers, you are also damned to let out and use the negative sides.
It's true that a tiger or a Leopard or any wild animals kill fast and "compassionated" to not let the other animal suffer. But still they follow their instincts as an wild animal...

I haven't found anything that explicitly says that you should find a personal Demonic being and let it enter your heart to boost your combat

You are right! I just misunderstood the reaptilebrain with the Demon!
Now I hope I have understood what you mean.

"Generally speaking, the human spirit is very clear but the mind disturbs it. Ordinarily, the human mind is calm but desires bring it into turmoil." (Wang Xiangzhai)

Wow, great words of a wise Master! I like that! Thanks for sharing

Now it's your turn my Northman

Respectfully

Roland

[Ovidius]

Hellou hellou!

So you are talking about the Monkey brain

No, not brain but mind Mind and all the functions are dependent on brains, and also the body as whole, but this does not mean that mind could or should be thinked as brains or even body as whole. The reductionist doctrine of neurosciences is trying to do that. Some philosophers are still defending the unique qualities of mind, and I think they have every right to do that. Usually they say something like that mind operates on a different logical level than biological body and what happens in the mind, for example a deep feeling of joy, cannot be reduced to a explanation what happens in a brain. The connection between these two levels is admitted, but what comes to finding a cure to mental related problem, neuroscientist tend to emphasize drugs which directly affect to certain biological functions, and these philosophers and psychologists say that the mental problem is rooted on a different level and therefore the mess up should be also solved through using "the tools" that mental level gives us. This is not to say that brain reseach is waste of time. (To continue this would need to start a new thread)

Sifu Stier wrote on a different thread:

At the highest levels of skill, the practitioner 'becomes the animal' in his/her personal expression of the Forms, and will be capable of looking like and thinking like the animal even aside from performing the Form Sets!

We don't have exactly the same brains that monkey has, but the essence of monkey can still be reached through the mind That's why I prefer mind in this context and not reptile or monkey brain. We cannot blame our brains for not being enlightened If we could, then a pill of instant enlightenment could be developed.

Any thinking or work of mind can be thought as a work of a Evil Spirit or Demon if our primary aim is to reach Nirvana. For example education is cultivation of a Evil Spirit -- the same agency that troubles you when trying to Meditate. Martial arts are a form of education. But how can we live in this world without any kind of education? We humans just do not have everything needed as a built in features, most of the skills are culturally transmitted.

Luo Lang:

So if you use this power which is inside of you can not only use the positive things and therfor use the positive powers, you are also damned to let out and use the negative sides.

I have a Xbox game called Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and in it you play a Jedi who can choose which kind of abilities he or she wants to develope. Some are common to all Jedi people and some are not. The point is that you can choose to develope also Sith abilities. For those who do not know the Star Wars universe: Jedis are normally the good guys or girls and Siths the bad ones. One of the Sith abilities is Force Rage, the official description of it is this:

Affords Jedi protection against damage, an increase in speed, and an increase in damage potential, all at the expense of Jedi's health. Jedi need some recovery time after Force Rage ends.

This is a textbook case of the negative effects. In real life, I don't know if this has any similarity in becoming "a raging animal", but I like to play with the idea. I don't believe it harms your body as it self, if you are well prepared, but I admit that it could cause a serious mental conflict if you are, as a normal person, shy and do not kill even a fly, and then in a "animal mood" you bash the opponents head to the wall and cause him or her to suffer for the rest of his or her's life.

Luo Lang:

It's true that a tiger or a Leopard or any wild animals kill fast and "compassionated" to not let the other animal suffer. But still they follow their instincts as an wild animal...

Hmm, not in every case, you know, cats play with mice before eating, which of course causes great suffering to mice before they actually die and get eaten. This whether there is real compassion in non-language talking animals is questionable and is related to the question that logically you need to have a concept of "suffering" to be able to feel empathy towards other beings. You need to know that other beings have feelings similar to yours. Most animals, without no doubt, lack this ability of empathy. Humans have it, but does it still remain active while being "an animal" in a martial arts sense, is an open question.

Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome Roland, and thanks for your inspiring reply

[Ovidius]

Most animals, without no doubt, lack this ability of empathy. Humans have it...

I should say potentially have it, since many people still do not live like having it. For example situation in Iraq or war between Russia and Tchetzenia. I am pacifist and proud of it!

[Luo Lang]

I am pacifist and proud of it

And I support any pacifist if it's peaceful and compassionated.
Panu, I know the stories of Finland: first the Germans, later the Russians. When Russions invade your country there fought 1000 Russion soldiers against 1 Finnish.

No, not brain but mind

Yes, got it But I try to calm this Monkey mind, how you call it, in my every day training, in my everydays live. In my opinion it not only could affect one's fighting ability, also one's Karma. So therefor I tend to calm it.
The highest fighting skill to me is to reach the point where you are not affected by any mind things. Mind is one, man thinks nothing, is calm and ready.
Sifu described it in a book: mind is calm, energy is still and you listen to (hear) to all eight directions. That's a state which high, high highlevel Masters had to have to avoid arrows, flying knifes, multiple attackers

biological body and what happens in the mind, for example a deep feeling of joy, cannot be reduced to a explanation

This is the reason why i like the Chinese three tressure system: Shen, Chi, Jing. Joy is an emotion which is in connection to our heart. The heart in Chinese is not only connected to our physikal heart, no it's also meant to be the mind, the Spirit.
As you said:what Western scientist try do to is to find out and explain every chemical and neural reaction in our brain. That would be only the physikallevel. You can't separate mind energy and body. All in all it's the same. Many great past Masters have described that according to their experience. Western scientist do not know anything about experience..So therefor they are still experimenting with people...

Respectfully

Roland

[Ovidius]

Panu, I know the stories of Finland

You have a wide knowledge Roland. I like to think that "Oh, it happened a long time ago", but it really is not so long ago since my dad fought in that war and he still lives. The Germans were not so bad to Finnish people, they only burned Lapland (northern Finland) and such.

Sifu described it in a book: mind is calm, energy is still and you listen to (hear) to all eight directions.

Sounds like a wonderful technique of "hearing the force" Can I ask, what are the eight directions? I have only heard about six directions: up, down, left, right, front and back.

The heart in Chinese is not only connected to our physikal heart, no it's also meant to be the mind, the Spirit.

Here we encounter, again, the difficulty of making translations. Not many Western people understand that heart is associated with mind in Chinese culture, and if the heart is translated directly to the "mind", then something essential gets lost. I think this point you make is crucial for understanding what "Demon in heart" means.

Western scientist do not know anything about experience..So therefor they are still experimenting with people...

I'd say that the epistemologies (=what is considered as a knowledge and why) are just different in Western science and in Eastern tradition.

[Ovidius]

For example situation in Iraq

This is the kind of attitude and situation I mean. Makes one think, does it? So sad it is, and cruel.

[Ovidius]

Futi - Spirit Possession

Here is a reproduced chapter from a free e-book by Falun Dafa leader Li Hongzhi: Zhuan Falun, Turning the Law Wheel, English version, pp. 57-62. It provides a "spirit possession viewpoint" to the topic of thread.

"A lot of us in the cultivation world might have heard of stories about animals, like maybe
foxes, weasels, ghosts, or snakes, taking possession of human bodies. And what are these
things all about? Some people say that practicing qigong develops supernatural abilities,
but the truth is, it’s not that it develops supernatural abilities—those “supernatural
abilities” are just a person’s innate abilities. It’s just that as society moves forward,
people pay more and more attention to the visible things in this material dimension of
ours, and they come to rely more and more on our sophisticated tools. So our human
innate abilities have steadily atrophied, and now it’s come to the point where they’ve
totally vanished.

If someone wants to have abilities, he has to go through cultivation, return to his
original, true self, and bring them out through cultivation. But animals, on the other hand,
they don’t have complicated thoughts like people do, and so they’re connected to the
nature of the universe and do have their inborn, innate abilities. Some people say that
animals know how to cultivate, that foxes know how to make elixir, that snakes and suchand-
such animals know how to cultivate, and so on. It’s not that they know how to
cultivate. At the start they didn’t know a thing about cultivating—it’s only that they had
those innate abilities. So under certain conditions, in certain environments, and after a
long time their innate abilities might take effect, and they’ll be able to get gong, and have
abilities come out.

Now that things have gone this way, that animal gets some special abilities. At one
time we would have said they’d “acquired subtle powers” or “gained special abilities.” A
lot of people seem to think animals are just incredibly fierce and that they can control
people easily. Actually, I’d say they aren’t fierce—they’re nothing before a true
cultivator. Big deal if they’ve cultivated almost 1,000 years, a pinky is more than enough
to crush them. So now that we know animals have innate abilities and can have some
special abilities, there’s another law in this universe of ours: animals aren’t allowed to
succeed in cultivation. That’s why you’ve read in ancient books that they’re killed once
every several hundred years in large catastrophes or small calamities. When an animal’s
gong grows to a certain level after some time, it’ll be destroyed, struck by a thunderbolt,
or something else will happen to stop it from cultivating. That’s because they don’t have
the essential nature that humans have, and they aren’t able to cultivate like humans do.
It’s guaranteed they’d be demons if they succeeded in cultivation since they don’t have
human traits. So they aren’t allowed to succeed in cultivation, and that’s why they’re
slain by Heaven. They too know that. But like I said, the world is sliding downhill
bigtime, and there’s no evil some people won’t do. When it’s hit this point, isn’t the
world in danger?

“When something reaches the extreme it reverses”! We’ve discovered that every time
the world was destroyed in the different cycles of prehistoric ages, it was always when
the human race’s morals were terribly degenerate. Right now the dimension where we
human beings exist and a lot of other dimensions are in great danger. And the same goes
for other dimensions at this level. The beings there, too, want to leave as quickly as
possible, they want to climb up to higher levels. They think that by going up to higher
levels they can escape. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? If you want to cultivate
you have to have a human body, and that’s one reason we’re seeing qigong practitioners
get possessed.

Maybe some of you are thinking, “How come all those Great Enlightened Beings and
all those powerful masters aren’t doing anything about it?” In our universe there’s
another law: if it’s about something you’re seeking or just want, nobody can stop you.
Here we’re teaching you to take the right path, and along with that, we’re teaching you
the Law inside and out and encouraging you to have your own understanding of it, but
it’s still up to you whether you decide to learn it. “The master leads you through the door,
but cultivation is up to you.” Nobody’s going to push you to cultivate. It’s up to you
whether you cultivate. Or to put it another way, when you choose your own path, when
you decide what you want, or when you’re trying to get something—nobody will stop
you. They can only try to kindly persuade you.

You see some people doing qigong exercises there, but it’s actually the possessing
spirit that gets it all. How did they attract possessing spirits? Just consider all the people
around the country who practice qigong, do you know how many of them have
possessing spirits on their backs? If I told you, a lot of people wouldn’t dare to do qigong.
The number is scary! So what would bring something like that about? Those things are
really wrecking the ordinary world. So how did something so serious come about? It’s
people’s own doing. Because mankind is going bad, demons are everywhere. The worst
is those fake qigong masters, they all have possessing spirits on their bodies, and when
they pass on their practices they’re transmitting that stuff. Never in history were animals
allowed to get on human bodies, and if they did they’d be killed—whoever saw it
wouldn’t stand for it. But would you believe, in today’s world some people pray to them,
they want them, and they make offerings to them. Some people won’t be too happy to
hear this—“But that isn’t what I asked for!” You didn’t ask for it, but you asked for
abilities, and would the Enlightened Beings of a true cultivation give them to you?
Asking for those kinds of things is an attachment that ordinary people have, and that kind
of desire has to go. Then who do you think would give them to you? Only demons and
different kinds of animals that are in other dimensions. Isn’t what you did just like asking
them for those things? So they came right over.

How many people are there who have proper thoughts when they do qigong
exercises? When a person practices qigong he has to take virtue seriously, do good things
for others, and be kind—he should discipline himself this way in every action and in
every circumstance. Take all the people doing qigong exercises in the parks and all the
ones doing them at home, and how many do you have thinking that way? To be honest,
when some people are doing their qigong, who knows what they’re doing, they’ll be
exercising away, swinging their bodies all around, and at the same time going off about
things—“Ugh! That daughter-in-law of mine has no respect for me,” “My mother-in-law
is such a wretch!” Some people even go on and on, from talking about things at their
company right on to headline news—there’s nothing they don’t babble about, and the
things they don’t agree with will blow their fuse. Tell me, is that doing cultivation
exercises? And then there are people doing a standing exercise right there, getting so tired
their legs shake, but his mind isn’t at rest, “Things are so expensive these days. Prices
have gone up, and my company can’t make the payroll. Why can’t my practice bring out
some abilities? If I got some abilities I’d be a qigong master, and I’d get rich—I could
make money by giving people treatments.” Once he sees that other people’s abilities have
come out he gets even more agitated. He gets obsessed with getting abilities, with getting
the Third Eye, and with getting healing skills. Now think about it, isn’t that about as far
as you can get from the nature of our universe, to be True, Good, and Endure?! He’s
simply turning his back on it. To put it a little more seriously, he’s practicing in an evil
way! But he isn’t aware of it. The more he thinks like that, the worse the thoughts are that
his mind emits. That kind of person doesn’t have a handle on it, he doesn’t know he
should take virtue seriously, and he thinks that by doing those movements he can get
gong, and that he can get whatever he wants by seeking after it—he thinks that’s how it
is.

A person attracts bad things precisely because his thoughts aren’t proper. Then the
animal sees it, “This guy wants to get rich off qigong, and that guy wants to get famous
and get abilities. Boy, his body is pretty good and what he has is pretty good. But his
mind is really bad—he’s after abilities! Maybe he has a master, but even if he does, I’m
not afraid.” It knows that the master of a true cultivation will see him seeking abilities
like that, and the harder he seeks after them the less likely the master will give him them,
since that’s exactly an attachment he should get rid of. The more he thinks that way, the
less the chance he’ll be given any abilities, so basically the more oblivious he is to how it
works, the more he wants them and the worse his thoughts get. Finally that master gives a
deep sigh when he sees that this guy is finished, and he won’t have anything more to do
with him. Some people don’t have masters, and maybe somebody who happens to pass
by will look after them for a while, since there are so many Enlightened Beings in
different dimensions. An Enlightened Being might take a look at him, watch him and
follow him for a day, and leave him after he sees that he’s not good. The next day another
one comes by, takes a look at him, finds out he’s no good, and off he goes.
The animal knows that whatever kind of master he has, be it a regular one or a
passing-by one, his master won’t give him what he’s seeking. Animals can’t see the
dimensions where Great Enlightened Beings are, so they aren’t afraid, and they’ve taken
advantage of a loophole: our universe has a law, that when somebody wants to seek
something, or wants something, normally he shouldn’t be stopped. It takes advantage of
that loophole—“He wants them, then I’ll give him them. It’s not wrong for me to help
him, right?” So it gives them to him. At first the animal doesn’t dare get on his body, so it
starts by giving him a little gong as a test-run. The person keeps seeking it, and one day
he really gets it, and he can even heal people. The animal sees that it’s worked pretty
well, and it’s just like playing a prelude before the show really starts. “He wants them, so
I’ll get right on his body. And once I’m there I can give him more, I’ll pour it on!” “You
want the Third Eye, right? This time I’ll give you it all.” So it gets right on him.
While he’s having that thought about wanting it, right there doing that, his Third Eye
pops open, he’s able to send out gong, and he’s even got a few little abilities. He’s beside
himself with joy, and he thinks that he’s sought and sought these things and finally got
them, and he thinks they came from his practice. But actually, his practice didn’t bring
him anything. He thinks that he can see through a human body and see where the
problems are in someone’s body. In reality, though, his Third Eye isn’t open one bit—it’s
that the animal is controlling his brain. That animal sees things with its eyes and then
reflects what it sees into his brain, and he thinks his Third Eye is open. “Want to send out
gong? Go for it.” When he holds out his hands to send out gong, the animal’s little paws
extend out from behind his body. When he sends out gong, the forked tongue from the
little snake’s head comes out to lick the sick or swollen area. There are a lot of things like
this. Those spirits that possess these people come only because they asked for them.
So he seeks after them, he dreams about getting rich, and about getting famous.
“Okay then!”—he gets abilities, he can heal people, and he can see with his Third Eye.
That makes him happy. The animal takes a look, “You want to get rich, don’t you? Okay,
I’ll make you get rich.” It’s way too easy to control an ordinary person’s head. The
animal can control a lot of people and make them come to him for treatments, and they’ll
come in droves. Oh my goodness!—while he sees patients right here, it’s stirring up
reporters over there to promote him in newspapers. It manipulates ordinary people to do
these things. When someone who comes for a treatment doesn’t pay him enough, he
won’t let them off the hook, and he’ll make you have a headache. What it comes down to
is that you just have to give him a lot of money. The guy pulls in both fame and wealth—
he’s made a bundle, he’s become well-known, and now he’s a qigong master. People like
him usually don’t care about character and they’ll dare to say anything, “I’m second to
none but Heaven.” They go as far as saying they’re the reincarnations of well-known
deities, like the Queen Mother or Jade Emperor, and they even go as far as saying they’re
Buddhas. They haven’t really gone through character cultivation, so they seek abilities
when they do their exercises and end up getting possessed by animals.
Maybe some of you are thinking, “What’s wrong with that? It’s okay as long as I can
make money, or get rich, and I can get famous.” That’s what a lot of people are thinking.
But I’ll tell you, that animal isn’t doing it without a purpose, it turns out, and it doesn’t
give you something for nothing. There’s a law in this universe: no loss, no gain. What
does the animal get? I talked about this earlier, didn’t I? It’s trying to get that bit of
essence in your body to cultivate into a human form, so it just gathers the essence from
the human body. But there’s only this one share of essence in a human body, and if
somebody wants to cultivate, he only has this one share. And if you let the animal take it
from you, you can forget about cultivating—how would you cultivate then? You’ll have
lost everything, and you won’t be able to cultivate at all. Maybe some people will say, “I
don’t want to cultivate. I just want to get rich. All’s well as long as I have money. I
couldn’t care less!” Look, I’ll tell you: you want to get rich, but after I explain how it
really works, then you’ll change your mind. So what happens? If it leaves your body not
too late your limbs will feel like lead, and you’ll be like that for good, because it drained
you of too much of your essence. But if it leaves your body late, you will become a
vegetable and lie in bed for the rest of your life hanging on by a thread. Even if you had
money, would you be able to spend it? Even if you had fame, would you be able to enjoy
it? Wouldn’t it be horrible?

These things have become really serious and they’re common among people who
practice qigong these days. The animal doesn’t just possess the body, it also kills the
person’s master soul, and it burrows into the person’s Niwan Palace and squats there. The
person looks like a human being, but he’s not. You even see things like that nowadays.
Mankind’s morals have changed, so when some people do bad things, and you tell them
they’re doing bad things, they just don’t believe you. They think that making money,
wanting money, and getting rich are their birthright, and that these are the right thing to
do. So they harm other people, they hurt others, and they’ll stop at nothing to make
money—they’ll do anything! The animal won’t gain if it doesn’t lose. Would it give you
something for nothing? It wants to get the things that are in your body. Of course, we’d
say that people invite all those troubles just because that idea they have isn’t right, and
their thoughts aren’t proper.

Let’s see what our Falun Dafa has to say about this. When you cultivate in our
discipline, as long as you can always keep up your character, “one good can overcome a
hundred evils”—you won’t run into any trouble. On the other hand, if you can’t keep up
your character well, if you seek after all sorts of things, you’re sure to invite trouble.
Some people just can’t let go of the things they used to practice. We all know that you
have to commit to one discipline when you do qigong—in true cultivation you just have
to. Some qigong masters have written books, but so what. You know what, their books
are such a mess they’re like those things they practice—snakes, foxes, and weasels,
they’re all in there. When you read those books that stuff will jump out from the words. I
have to tell you, those fake qigong masters outnumber true qigong masters by a lot, and

you can’t tell who’s who. So you have to know what you’re doing. It’s not like I won’t
settle for anything but your cultivating in my Falun Dafa. Actually, you can cultivate in
the discipline of your choice. But there’s an ancient saying, “No true teachings for
thousands of years, better than wild heresy for one day.” So you really have to know what
you’re doing, and really cultivate a true teaching. Don’t mix anything into your
cultivation—don’t even add thoughts. Some people’s Law Wheels have gotten all out of
shape. Why is that? They get defensive, “But I didn’t practice that other qigong.” But
whenever they do the exercises, their thoughts just keep pumping in the things they
practiced before—wouldn’t that add it in? That’s all I want to say about spirit possession."

(Relevant picture borrowed from Scary Squirrel World)