What Exactly Is Chi?

[Limahong]

5 hours ago, freeform said:

Qi is not vague. However the term is very context dependent. And within each context what it 'is' is very specific.

 

5 hours ago, freeform said:

But within each context it has a specific meaning.

 

Hi freeform,

 

Yes ~ besides context, "qi" needs to be specific re content.

 

 

 

 

- Anand

 

[Nintendao]

Tangential to the actual topic, but in case any want to learn a cool thing about plasma (or possibly a fun party trick for the holidays 😇)

 

Edit: i got to thinking, wait a minute i think i posted this here before.. turns out is was exactly one year ago yesterday. Might as well make it a holiday tradition. Deck the halls and zap the balls! Except I don't own a microwave, and most people don't like when i do this in their kitchen, for some reason.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Nintendao

[Sketch]

 

[Desmonddf]

On 22/12/2020 at 3:14 AM, Limahong said:

 

Hi Desmonddf,

 

No... yeeeeah.

 

(Un)definable "qi" is a continuum with(out) a beginning and an end ~ like for example...?

 

 

 

 

- Anand

 

 

 

And your definition comes from which source?

 

Or are you just "following your intuition"?

 

Worst still, are you saying "Qi can't be defined" when the people who INVENTED the world and crafted it at the first time GAVE IT a definition?

 

Because appropriating on words and cultures in order to describe your own ideas is just a jerk move. You're destroying a whole mental reality and substituting by your own without any care and value to that mental reality.

 

Make your own words instead of stealing others'.

 

Obs: If you're saying there's some kind of "undefineable Qi", then you're creating a logic paradox. If it is undefineable, it isn't "Qi", as being "Qi" means something has a definition - it is a word, after all, and words are words only because they have meanings associated to them.

 

Yes, we can use poetic license to say there's some kind of "undefineable Qi". Even the tao te ching say there are "two kinds of Dao", one that's defineable and one that's not.

 

But that's poetic license, not "the truth about what Qi is".

 

There's no truths and no lies in the transcedental. Something being transcendent doesn't mean you can say it is anything you want and get away with it. Just that saying it is something at all means you're using something limited (words) to try and contain the unlimited (undefineable).

 

Do it with parcimony and respect to the word itself and the culture it came from if you want to, but do keep in mind that that's not the "one true definition" of that word. Indeed, it is at best a metaphor, just like saying "god is onions".

 

It technicaly isn't wrong in a purely phylosophical term, as god is undefineable so it could be called "onions". But onions keep on being roots you use to cook, as long as you use the official english language and not a resignificated version created by yourself.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Desmonddf

[Limahong]

5 minutes ago, Desmonddf said:

And your definition comes from which source?

Or are you just "following your intuition"?

Because appropriating on words and cultures in order to describe your own ideas is just a bad thing.

 

Hi Desmonddf,

 

From myself and then I go in search of the best means to communicate/share with others.

 

If I have nothing good... the way I feel in sharing ~ I will lie low.

 

- Anand

 

[Desmonddf]

5 minutes ago, Limahong said:

 

Hi Desmonddf,

 

From myself and then I go in search of the best means to communicate/share with others.

 

If I have nothing good... the way I feel in sharing ~ I will lie low.

 

- Anand

 

 

Then please don't try to appropriate words which already have meanings. Use your own and build your own system of beliefs and practices. Not only will that be more concise and practical, you'll also be able to get your point across better, as those who already know those words with other definitions won't have to create a whole "Limahong dictionary of words with definitions which aren't the consensus".

[Limahong]

22 minutes ago, Desmonddf said:

Make your own words instead of stealing others'.

 

I don't like to steal.

 

If I borrowed the thoughts of others when I deliberated on issues ~ I always made references.

 

6 minutes ago, Desmonddf said:

Then please don't try to appropriate words which already have meanings.

 

Why reinvent the wheels ~ when the good words/works of others can be honored for sharing, going forward?

 

 

[Desmonddf]

Just now, Limahong said:

 

I don't like to steal.

 

If I borrowed the thoughts of others when I deliberated on issues ~ I always made references.

 

 

Why reinvent the wheels ~ when the good words/works of others can be honored for sharing, going forward?

 

 

 

 

When you recognize your ideas are a ressignification of the original and add to it, not substituting the original meaning.
 

Take english words.

 

"Swear" mean both "making an oath" as well as "using offensive words".

 

That happens because "swearing in the name of god" some kind of curse for someone was the origin of the idea that "swearing" means "offending someone".

 

Both meanings exist simultaneously. There is no substitution. There's addition. That's how you honour what comes from other cultures and/or languages. By adding your own idea without trying to say that is the real meaning - just that you like the word and use it as such.

[Limahong]

9 minutes ago, Desmonddf said:

When you recognize your ideas are a ressignification of the original and add to it, not substituting the original meaning.

 

Besides having a dislike for stealing ~ I do not like to split hair with those I hardly know.

 

 

[CCD]

What is chi? It's either matter, a physical material like gas or plasma, or it's a form of energy/work. If it's the former, you could separate it from the body just like you could blood or lymph. If it's the latter, the big question is what is it doing or what can it be used to do?

[Spaceofawareness]

I’ve heard some people say it could be the nervous system, and or the endocrine system (hormones).

[Nungali]

On 25/12/2020 at 6:46 AM, Nintendao said:

Tangential to the actual topic, but in case any want to learn a cool thing about plasma (or possibly a fun party trick for the holidays 😇)

 

Edit: i got to thinking, wait a minute i think i posted this here before.. turns out is was exactly one year ago yesterday. Might as well make it a holiday tradition. Deck the halls and zap the balls! Except I don't own a microwave, and most people don't like when i do this in their kitchen, for some reason.

 

 

 

... its probably better that you don't have a microwave .

[Lha Bho]

On 12/31/2020 at 2:42 PM, Spaceofawareness said:

I’ve heard some people say it could be the nervous system, and or the endocrine system (hormones).

 

100% Because physical matter is merely slowed down energy as it is.

 

The Nervous System is equal to Meridians, as the Endocrine System is equal to the Chakras.

 

As most of my beliefs... they are beliefs, theories. But having said that... I think this is the closest answer to the question asked by the OP, so far.

I have this recurring idea: "Consciousness is to Mind as Bone is to Body." (By Mind I mean the whole Psychosomatic Entirety, i.e. Body + Brain ) 

 

Qi = Consciousness in this line of thinking.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Lha Bho
Because Dragons

[Limahong]

6 hours ago, Lha Bho said:

I have this recurring idea: "Consciousness is to Mind as Bone is to Body." (By Mind I mean the whole Psychosomatic Entirety, i.e. Body + Brain ) 

 

Qi = Consciousness in this line of thinking.

 

Hi Lha Bho,

 

I feel Qi effortlessly with/in/by/of...  my body experientially ~ without a programmed mind... without any preconceived ideas... without...

 

I am truly blessed when I meet and can share openly/trustingly with a like-minded traveler on our paths less traveled. 

 

I have met such.

 

- Anand

 

[XianGong]

Idk how anyone can say Qi is not physical, last time I did simple Qigong, I could hardly move my hands physically under the pressure of two massive magnetic fields that I could see as well with my eyes.