What is Qi?
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Most people would have experienced Qi or the effects of Qi and been aware of it, but perhaps without knowing what it was.
One such experience is the information we pick up from a person without having spoken to her or even had a close look at her. There is nothing mysterious about it if we look at the theory on Qi, but it may require some pondering, because the concept is new for our Western minds.
Not everybody has the same sensitivity to Qi, but it can be enhanced through Qigong practice. It is like for any other sense: we develop and refine it when we use it.
Photo: Can you sense the full extent of the connection between the girl and the guinea
pig? Think of all the ways by which you picked it up. She is looking at you making her
information even stronger, but you may also on occasion have picked up information from
someone standing close to you, even if the person wasn’t doing anything. How?
Photo: On the way to Boulder Beach, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand.
Qi theory defines Qi as the most fundamental substance in the universe. It is the source of life. By this definition atoms, molecules and rocks are also life. Ancient Greek philosophers had a similar concept around 440 BC. They named the fundamental substance of everything 'atomos', literally meaning 'it cannot be cut [further]', and said it was physically indivisible.
Modern science thought it had found a physical basis for the ancient Greek concept 'atomos' when it named the atom, but science has progressed and we know that atoms are a long way from being the most elemental substance in the universe. This is now under investigation in the field of quantum physics. As far as I understand it, the Higgs boson is the most elemental particle with mass identified to date. The first evidence of its existence was announced in the summer 2012 and is a highly significant event for modern science. The Higgs boson is very unstable and thus has a very fleeting existence which would make it extremely difficult to study.
The study of Qi has been done using entirely different approaches from those used in modern science and the theory has a long history and is complex. One concept is that everything in the universe is transformed from Qi. The process of transformation can be seen as a process of constantly changing “from nothingness to existence, from existence to nothingness”.
Photo: The Remarkables, Queenstown, New Zealand.