The path toward the learning and studying of Qigong is filled with pitfalls and ignorant teachers and charlatan who will robs and hurt you. So the following two cases will illustrate the pitfalls. Hopefully, these will help beginners to avoid the sorrow and deep pain these two beginning Qigong students felt.

Dear Sir,

I am 33 years old Chinese man writing from S___.

Four months ago, at the last day of only 8 lessons Qigong beginners
class (2 hours per week over 2 months), my instructor test a few of us
for "chi" (energy) by hitting with a 16 mm diameter light wooden stick
into our Dan-Tian (the energy reservoir about 2 to 4 fingers below the
navel) directly perpendicularly to the stick. The stick broke into two,
although we do not feel any pain at the time. Just before the stick hit
our body, we tighten our muscle at the lower abdomen or Dan-Tian and
breadth out at the same time. After hit, we just simply rub 9 times
clockwise and anticlockwise on the Dan-Tian.

From second day onwards I have these symptoms until now:
1) Feeling of a lump or blockage inside my throat whole day long.
2) Keep on burping for no reason I can think off for last 4 months
everyday.
3) Feels whole upper body (chest & back) very tight, congested and
having breathing difficulty.
4) Very difficult to describe but having feeling of numbness or
soreness almost like some energy is projecting outward from my chakra
point at my back opposite chest level and at mingmen. This is the most
uncomfortable experience I had never encountered before.
5) Feeling of sharp pain that moves from one point to another point,
head to toes including sometimes at the genital. The sharp pain is like
being poked by small needles or ants bite.
6) Also feeling of strong muscle pain, blockage and tension - inside
the left side upper body at heart level around the left shoulder blade.
When I turn my head to the back and right or lift up my left arm, I can
feel the tension pain and tightness more.
7) Feeling nausea although have not vomited yet so far.
8) Sickly feeling and had fever once.
9) On examination, my backbone is not straight 8 inches below my
neck/shoulder level. It pulls to the right side of my body. I think I
had it since young.
10) I went for some Chinese taichi massages as well as acupuncture but
ended up with blue marks on my body. I notice that I could get blue mark
very easily that even a not too hard press with fingers would cause it.
After massage or acupuncture the next day my whole body becomes
extremely tight and very uncomfortable especially where it was pressed
or acupuncture.
11) I notice that if I slouch down on a sofa for even just a few
minutes, my front abdomen will feel very tight.

I went back to asked the Qigong instructor about what he did that had
caused me to suffer so much but he tried to avoid my questioning and
instead put words into my mouth for things I did not say. I believe the
other students (but all no more continue the class) are also having this
painful experience.

Western doctors could not detect anything wrong in my
throat/chest/abdomen. X-ray of my abdomen and chest shows nothing wrong.
But I still feel the painful symptoms described above. I had also
consulted many Chinese physicians but the acupuncture needles can even
causes blue marks on my body and make the muscular pain at the point
where he inserted needle become worse. The Chinese medicine does not
work either.

I shall appreciate it greatly, if you could offer diagnosis what had
actually gone wrong from the above symptoms and advise any Chinese
medicine to take or what Qigong movements/techniques I could do to cure
this terrible pain that is already more than 4 months. I have run out of
persons to approach for healing. If you know any energy healer in
Singapore or Malaysia, I will appreciate greatly if you could inform me
of their contact numbers or emails.

Thank you in advance again for your time in reading this long letter and
careful consideration.

Yours truly,

XXX

(The following is my answer to the person. I had debated whether I should correspond to that person. It is always risky to deal with such a delicate situation. But the pain and suffering of the person moved me so much that despite my hesitation, I decided to correspond to him.)
 
 

Dear XXX:

I am honored and also worry that you written to me of your sickness!

It is extremely hard to diagnose over such a long distance but it seemed that you are running out of option and the people you know including your Qigong Master could not seemed to resolve the problem.

After reading of your description of the incident. And the following symptoms. I could only hazard a guess that due to some reason or accidents your Chueng Mok, Central Qi Meridian Vessel is blocked.

Again, I have to say without seeing you in person that is all I can say.

As to the bruised condition of your body, there is a lack of Qi which help to get rid of the bruised purple blood from the area of injury. You should have your nutritionist to check whether you are lacking certain vitamin.

As to your solution. that is a hard question to answer over long distance. I like to direct you to my website

http://www.erols.com/dantao/

check out the reading list of Qigong, you will find one of my grandmaster's, Nan Hui G, book working toward enlightenment and realizing enlightenment both of them explain in detail what should be done.

Also Master Guo Lin's walking Qigong for Cancer Therapy may prove to be very beneficial for resolving the blockage of the Chueng Mok, the Central Channel.

I am sorry that I can only make such approximate guess.

Yours truly,

Sat Hon

The second case is slightly different due to the nature of harm. It is about the student who was being pulled out of her own inner sense of truth and committed a terrible mistake of choosing a wrong path. A path that cuts her off from the very source and nourishment that she very much needed. This is her realization which painful as it might seem, I sense a real clarity of coming to her true sensibility. Walking alone, she may able to hear her own voice more clearly.

How often I have observed so many intermediate Qigong students quitting just at the moment of when they really began to have deep transformation in their health and their awakening. Most case as YYY stated, the light seemed to be too bright and they ran away.

I cited YYY's case in order to warn and caution other Qigong students: beware of the fundamentalist Qigong master and system that excludes all other practice and hold their own system and their teachers as the supreme deity that surpass both Buddha and the sages. In our Dan Tao school, I encourage my students to learn and study with other teachers—it will only enrich their Qigong vocabulary. I myself had studied with more than a dozen masters and teachers so far and hopefully, if I am lucky I will able to study with other great teachers as well.

In YYY's case, she had cut the tied to her root teacher to pursuit the F__ Gong due to the influence by her boyfriend. It is unfortunate, because, once the root is cut to one's root teacher, the lineage is broken. May she find other teacher in the future!

Dear Sifu,
 

I just got off the phone with my mother. I hadn't called her in many months
(a long story), but I called her tonight because I needed--and I mean
needed--to speak to someone who knows me better than I know myself, and on
some level, she does…. Earlier this evening, I was sure I was
having some kind of nervous break down. The tension and fear and anxiety
that I've been carrying around inside for the last six or seven months has
worn me down, little by little. Even when I thought I was doing so well,
even when I had "reaffirmed my commitment" to Qigong, even when I thought I
was revealing my heart to you in letters, even those moments in class when I
seemed so at peace, it was there, way down deep, the kind of fear that makes
you have nightmares that you can't remember…

I've done a lot of self healing in my life to get to the point that I am at today, but there is
still some serious work to be done. Deep inside, there remains some part of
a hurt and terrified child that I have not been able to reach. This part of
me has evolved into a woman who is terribly unsure of herself, and quick to
think the worst of herself (I am bad, evil, weak, cruel, selfish, worthless,
you name it.) The practice of Qigong was part of my ongoing healing work,
and enabled me to become much more intimate with myself and to show
gentleness within and without, but these deep rooted issues sometimes take a
very long time to be resolved as layer upon layer must be unraveled to reach
the heart of the matter. This year, for some reason, a lot of my low self
esteem manifested. It is strange, because on the one hand I was making some
very positive decisions and changes--quitting the music biz, going to
school, moving into a new apartment, learning about
nutrition and herbs, and other things as well. I also felt as if my Qigong
practice was deepening and growing more profound. But apparently, the other
hand was still clenched in fear and doubt. I did not realize how vulnerable
I was becoming because I am often very self sufficient and a good survivor,
so it kind of snuck up on me. Surely, you must have sensed my intense
neediness. I came to you again and again, asking--but not quite asking--for
more.

My hunger for spiritual meaning and direction grew more voracious as
my doubts continued to manifest. Of course, being as unsure of myself as I
was, (not to mention lonely and besides, my biological clock is starting to
tick), I met a man. And of course, he came with so many answers to my
questions. A student of Chinese Medicine, and a health nut like myself, I
pushed my first impressions aside about how judgmental he was and slowly
became involved with him, deciding to "open my mind". And in doing so, I
also became involved in F___ Gong (a new form of fundamentalist Qigong very popular in China and USA. F__ Gong prohibited their students to study other style of Qigong). I do not hold anyone else responsible
for my recent decisions. It is I who, in my hungry state, allowed myself to
create a situation in my life which only served to further undermine my
sense of inner resources. This evening my mother said, and I agree, that
the teachings of F___ Gong were very dangerous for me, because they struck
the deepest chords of hope and fear within my being at a time when I was not
clear enough, stable enough or strong enough to handle the echoing
vibrations that followed each strike.

It was very slow and subtle, but.little by little, I felt more and more out of touch with my inner strength and self knowing. I tried very hard to believe in the teachings of F___
Gong. I have never had a religion or systematic philosophy that I lived by,
and for some reason, it suddenly seemed like a very important thing to have.
The ideas put forth in F___ Gong did in fact penetrate my mind to such a
degree that I continued to fall back into it, even after I was so sure that
I was out and leaving it behind. I had not told my friends too much about
it at all (another clue that it wasn't sitting right with me) and so I was
pretty much alone except for my friend/lover who had introduced it to me
(who, by the way, is my upstairs neighbor). I isolated myself into this
world and therefore became even more vulnerable. And being involved with
someone whose whole life reflects these beliefs only complicated matters for
me. I am ashamed, in a way, for being so desperate for an answer and
compromising so much of myself. But I must let go of that shame and move
forward. I take full responsibility for my decisions, and I think over
time, I may understand on a deeper level what drove me to take this road.
I'm really glad that I called my mother and opened up to her about this,
because I think my mental well-being was truly at risk, and I might have
become yet another casualty on the "path to enlightenment".

. Anyway, this is my story,
summarized, about YYY getting lost and giving away the very light that
guided her because she thought it was blinding her. My storehouse burns
down, now nothing blocks my view of the moon.

Sincerely,
with all my heart,
YYY
10/29/00