You have to be a calm person, and very flexible. The control ofQi energy is something that just happens on its own if a persontrains hard enough for long enough. Flexibility, is of vitalimportance, as lack of it interferes with the Qi flow. Its alsospelled "Chi" but lets use your spelling. Qi flows best when thebody is flexible, any Qi related work from various forms of NeiKung, to Chi Kung, to Tai Chi Chuan among other internal martialarts, anyway any Qi related work works best if its combined withstretching. Different people begin at different levels, and I'm notgoing to sugar coat the truth, working with Qi exclusively isextremely arduous work. Working with the body's vital energy,because you are dealing with something that sustains your life, thefeel of it circulating can be overwhelming. Then there is also theissue of exhaustion due to holding a position for a really longtime.
Although there is a "minimum requirement" of 20 minutes, thetruth is, the recommended amount of time you want to do Nei Kung isa solid hour. However you need to build up to it, and its not easy.Daoist hermits, spend literally the entire day holding the ZhanZhuang posture, stretching, eating, and chopping for firewood. IfDaoist hermits wear strange outfits, it is because modern clothesare not fit for hermit life, they tear up to easily. Among poorChinese, most of the clothing they make for themselves is designedto last, hence it does not tear easily and some articles ofclothing are even family heirlooms. In days past, peasant Chinesehave worn clothing that may have been 100 years old or more, thatis how strong the material was.
Its good to take into account such stories, because it is areminder of how weak you are; I myself I would not be strong enoughto live like a poor Chinese, and be happy. I have always admiredtheir strength, how they are able to find contentment in such asimple yet hard life. My own personal "high goal" in meditation, isto make my mind strong enough to live in that kind of poverty,while still staying healthy, and happy. According to Lao Tzu, theseare the characteristics of an accomplished meditator;
1) Adaptable, like water; "water ever changes its shapeaccording to its vessel, and it stays in places loathed by allmen." What this means is, in the same way water never changes itsessence, even if its in, say, a sewer, a sage is able to live, andbe content ANYWHERE. They are mentally so strong, it is impossiblefor them to get depressed, to be mentally affected by theirsurroundings. A sage feels no different in a Beverly Hills mantion,than they would in a hovel. By all standards that is a suprememental accomplishment.
2) A sage posesses true wisdom.
3) They acquire a quiet nature; in China, even by the standardsof Chinese culture, people engaged in Daoist meditation for a longtime are so quiet foreigners often mistake them for mutes. They arenot mute; their egos are just so small, they rarely speak. Ofcourse, the opposite extreme is also true; silence, may also be asign of supreme arrogance. You ever watch "Vampire Hunter D?" Oneof the characters said there are two types of quiet men in theworld, namely, men too busy planning something evil to have muchtime to speak, and men who feel speaking should not be done unlessthere's something worth saying. The goal of Daoist meditation is tobe the second type. Talking too much is a sign of a large ego, butnot an overlarge one, however it is also a sign of inbalance. :-)Balanced people don't talk much, unbalanced people talk a lot.
4) They are charismatic, like royalty, but where royalty have tobe trained for their poise, much of the charisma from royalty comesfrom their mental focus. What I mean by that is, believe it or notcharisma and magnetism, is something that can be acquired, theChinese believe that anything require intensive focus, in factdirects the chi, and even the spirit. Royalty is trained to eat acertain way, to carry themselves a certain way, and because theymust always be mindful of every single action, to maintain "propercarriage" demands focus. Years and years of doing that, over time,make the person charismatic. You combine that with supremeself-confidence due to lineage, and, even though they may bearrogant, and not necessarily likeable people, even an unpleasantroyal has charisma and magnetism. Lao Tzu says in his Tao Te Ching,that for a Daoist sage, proper carriage and charisma comenaturally, due to the power of heaven flowing through them.
5) They literally glow with good health; no skin blemishesanywhere, not nasty wrinkles, no loss of skin color, no eyebags,some have even been known to regrow teeth beneath nasty ones,another gift of extensive meditation is perfect dentation. In fact,its flawless. Absolute perfect health.
6) Here delving into myth, Daoist sages are also invulnerable.You can not kill them; true Daoist immortals, as the name implies,can not be killed, their chi is much too potent. Now, experiencedmeditators may not have invulnerability, but, they may posseshigher than normal coordination, tremendous physical strength, allof which are borderline "comic book character" levels. Part of thereason superhero comics are not popular in China, or elsewhere inEast Asia, is rooted in the fact that the Buddhas and Immortals oftheir religion are in fact far more powerful, plus, in theirculture "natural ability" matters less. The Chinese recognizenatural talent, but, to most of them, natural talent is not thehave all, end all, and be all of acquiring a high degree of skillto them, practice and hard work are more important. In the westernworld, by and large if you have no talents you're worthless; anddon't try to improve yourself because its not possible. You eitherhave ability, or you don't, but no, sorry, you can't betteryourself. There is very little compassion in western culturetowards those who do not serve the selfish convenience of others;with many it may not even be there. Lack of compassion paired withextreme arrogance, is not a good combination; its why people hateyou (westerners). In the end though, increasingly east Asiansociety is becoming the same way; places like Hong Kong and Tokyo,are especially hellish.
7) Finally, "natural morality." A Daoist sage follows "highmorals" on instinct, not fear of punishment from a deity, or fearof Karmic consequences. In short all morality comes from the heart,and a truly purified soul, will be naturally compassionate andgood.
Chi circulation, only happens when a person has acquired those 7characteristics, the most important ones being mental. Also, youcan't get away with being like a hypocritical Christian here,claiming to believe something you really don't and be a total andobvious fraud; You need to meet the health and calm requirements,to see that you are truly growing spiritually. If you glow withgood health, then you are making progress, if you don't, then youhave made no progress at all. If you are particularly messed upemotionally, some of the changes that take place, can be painful.Myself I tearfully apologized to a woman, I have been hurting for along time; time will tell if she has forgiven me but, I credit inpart Daoist meditation, not just a threat to my survival. Howeverglowing good health still elludes me.
And what is "glowing good health?" The body of an 18 year oldminus the acne; if you can achieve that, congratulations, yourspirit is being purified. Extensive work with Chi, assuming you areunder the age of 60, will give you the body of an 18 year old minusthe acne, I'm assuming you were a physically fit 18 year old. Ifyou were, you will get that body back, without supplements, andwithout even, trips to the gym. Of course stretching is so very,very important.
I myself do not know how to circulate it; I am justregurgitating to you, the stuff I've read. It may seem silly, butit makes perfect sense; how many overweight religious fanatics doyou know? How many ultra religious types have you met who pray orchant all day and yet "glowing health" is not exactly your pictureof them? Although some of the religion is messed up, and I onlysubscribe to the "Shangdi" sect of Daoism, if I had to subscribe toany of them, they do make a good point; if a person has trulypurified their soul, then they should glow with good health, vigor,and youthfulness, they should not be aged, and decrepid, andoverweight. You ever notice how the nicest people, with them, timedoes not seem to affect them? Cruel people on the other hand, donot age well. Well not just cruel but also poor souls deterioratedby sadness. Consider how unhealthy the extremely poor are, or thosepeople, not happy and satisfied with life. The Daoists, make a goodand valid point; if you have truly grown spiritually, it shouldshow on your body, there should be physical proof. Again, people ofthe Abrahamic faiths, I have seen much chanting and many claims,but only among the most sincere among them have I seen goodhealth.
The Christians I've met who chant "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!"all the time, who say "Jesus!" so much, almost as if they aretrying to convince themselves to believe something they reallydon't, very rarely, actually, never have I met one who is actuallyhealthy. By the other end of the spectrum however, sincereChristians, the really kind hearted ones seem to almost glow. Ihave never felt comfortable with people who say "Allah" or "Jesus"a lot.
Ultimately though now I'm just rambling; I hope this was allhelpful and remember the "tests." By "test" I mean, don't convinceyourself you have made progress, you have to actually see it, toknow it. Believe it or not, according to Lao Tzu, even spiritualpursuits need to yield visible results, even the seeking ofspiritual fulfilment, needs to meet with scientific scrutiny, andaccording to Daoist philosophy and religion, both are in agreementthat a person of true spiritual accomplishment, glows with goodhealth, and they age gracefully too. At 50, they look 30, at 60,they look 40, at 80, they look 50, at 90, they look 60, and 120,assuming they have not in fact truly achieved immortality, at 120they look 70, and die peacefully. That is, a "physically fit oldperson" 70. That is the ultimate achievement, of Daoistmeditation.
