Mark Rasmus - Elastic Force Chi Kung // Hermetics

[goretex]

I see little discussion of Mark Rasmus here. He seems to be popular for combining qigong with a Hermetics framework and filling in the "lack" of physical training in a Western tradition. He and his students also have some popularity in the taiji community as witnessed by one of the few threads being from @dwai here. With respect from senior members here including @freeform

 

I also see him mentioned in a recent thread on Damo, so I thought he could use a dedicated thread.

 

I do see that some of his practices seem to bypass a lot of the "classical" route. For example, there is much more emphasis on feeling "vital force" in the beginning stages and understanding different principles in his system. Whereas Damo does seem to warn more against relying on sensations. He also doesn't seem to have a big emphasis on LDT cultivation. He stresses using partner work for collaboratively building sense/qualities and trying to attune to these different frequencies (vital, astral, mental, akashic). 

Here's a helpful interview by a former student that doesn't follow the hermetics framework. 

 
 

Edited Wednesday at 12:18 AM by goretex

[Krenx]

I train his system along with my taiji practice. 

 

Here are the parallels that makes his system very translatable and supports taiji practice and methods. 

 

Vital frequency = physical body, jing

 

Astral frequency = Chi/Qi quality. 

 

Mental frequency = Shen quality. 

 

Akasha frequency = Wuji quality. 

 

So you train to transform the energies from vital to akasha, similar to jing qi shen, wuji. 

 

The term "transformation" is important. These frequencies are not just some random energy you pull out of thin air. You have to cultivate the prior energies to a certain extent before there is enough to transform into the next quality, vital being the most fundamental. You work on all of them, and some more then others depending on the phase of your training, and what you personally need for your goals.  

 

I have done Damo's methods too. I know he always downplays feelings, sensations and imagination stuff. But if you do this long enough, that kind of statements are really half truths. And half truths are quite harmful and leads to confusion. 

 

The truth about feelings, and imagination, is you need to know the context of what layer you are feeling, your attitude towards feeling, and same for imagination. The movement of the mind does trigger Qi, energy to move in specifics ways. It is not without its function in any practice. To abandon feelings and imagination completely is impossible. Developing a more refined context around it is the way to go.