Heavenly Streams: Meridian Theory in Nei Gong (Daoist Nei Gong)

Although Martial Arts have been diseminated, the knowledge about the existence of Nei Gong (or Nei Kung) is fearly recent.Many of us may have some time or another seen a series of Anime where the characters fight one another making use of supernatural powers, this being the leit motiv of all those Anime.Now, in spite of being ficticious, that genre of art is not based solely upon wild imagination, but on oriental ideas, ideals, as well as a way of being and understanding existence.Although exagerated, those warriors have powers which might have existed, in a way or another.Until recently, in a science minded society like ours (I mean, the West) it was ludicrous to think of fighter having "powers" other s than patience, endurance, courage, valor, compassion, etc.Althouh these traits are indeed "mental powers" and the are almost supernatural if we take into account how hard it is to develop them and how much time and sacrifice is needed; the fighters of olden times had another powers.It was at this age that we begin to believe that is possible for all those myths and allegories not to be entirely metaphorical, and so it came about the disclousure of the "internal arts" that deal with energy or Qi rather than strength or ability.There are many martial arts, yet almost all of them stem from China. That is not reassuring, since China has son many martial arts that only an expert could, perhaps, name them all.The are usually called by the misnomer KUNG FU.KUNG (or GONG) means, among other things, "power" meaning the ability or capability to do something.FU means "time".So Kung Fu could be translated as "the attainment or developement of the power and capability to do something consciously and willfullly, by means of persistent, patient, sacrificed, and disciplined training during a long time".As we see, Kun Fu in not the name of a Martial Art, but of the internal attitude one must have in orden to achieve anything, in martial arts, daoist practices (usually called as Dao Shiao) or, for what matters, anything in life whatsoever.Those martual arts are usually divided into two gropus:WEI KUNG, meaning external power, including all those martial arts which are called external or hard, meant for excercise and fighting.NEI JIA, meaning all those called internal or soft martial arts, such as Tai Chi, which are intended to develop harmony among all the parts of the human being by means of a "moving meditation" which, in many cases, resembles those same movements of the external arts.NEI KUNG, which is the methos of developing the energy system that we all posses in order to evolve our full potentials, whether physical, energetical, emoctional, mental, or spiritual.Nei Kung is not a particular martial art, rather it uses the other arts, specially Tai Chi and Qi Gong, to promote its inner workings.There is a close relationshio between Nei Kung, Nei Dan (Inner Alchemy) and what has been called "Taoist Yoga", because these three deal with the same process: the full developement of all that a human being is meant to be, by means of learning first how to control the energy.Because of the nature of these topics at the core of the practical side of Daoist Spirituality, they lend themselves to muc mumbo jumbo.Damo Mitchell is one of the most serious masters in this area, and his books are complete, genuine, and valuable.The may not promise Goku like powers like those books written on Mo Pai Nei King (a particular style of Nei Kung) yet it is profound enough to cahne one's life.Perhaps, if one reaches the top, he will know what to do to acquiere all those other powers, if it si possible to be interested in that when you can see the universe and say "here you are, I am you and you are I"

This book helps me a lot in my practice. Both theory and practice are covered in great details in this book. The recommend readings at the end of the book are also useful. Being able to feel the meridian and the flow of energy by applying the exercises in this book is an amazing experience. I have not had such powerful experience until learning from Damo's books, despite doing qi gong for years. Damo is a great guide/instructor for nei gong.

I have been involved in internal martial arts and spirituality for 50 years. I have noted over time how more and more information, previously hard to obtain, has been made available. This book continues the trend.The specific strength of this book is a detailed, precise and accurate explanation of the process of focusing awareness on the acupuncture points and meridians of the body as a Qigong practice. This is rarely explained in enough detail to enable one to practice it without personal instruction or prior knowledge. This book does the trick.Mitchell also presents information easily accessible elsewhere: the locations and functions of the various points and meridians. He does so (as far as I can judge) accurately and succinctly.It appears to me that Mitchell is a well-qualified teacher who wants to communicate accurate and helpful information, and is able to do so with welcome clarity.

This book, along with the authors first, has helped me lay the foundation for my internal arts practice. It is invaluable and is a must read for anyone interested in and practicing the Daoist internal arts. I can't recommend it highly enough, this book combined with Nei Gong: the internal art of change, has fundamentally influenced my internal arts practice, opening up incredible new worlds for me.

Don't waste your money. This book is basically a paid advertisement for his programs. There are very book books written on this subject, this is just not one of them.

While I do not personally agree with everything the author says based on my own experience, what makes this books a rare gem, is that it is based on his quality experience, and will move you in the right direction both in approach and wisdom. Thanks to the author, and I highly recommend it for practitioners who can apply themselves in this way.

Now this is what I was missing. This is beyond mambo yambo...The contents of this book are surprisingly easy to understand If you have read much of Taoist Alchemy you'll know what I am talking about.This volume has graphics to aid you on the understanding of Qi, Hemispheres and lots more. Great reading material.

the author's lifelong commitment to his art is a rarity in our time, this is reflected in his writing style and a real gift to the reader

It's a very dry read, and is mostly focused on chinese healing and meridians. Towards the end the author admits he has limited personal experience with the deeper aspects of energy and consciousness. It's a reasonable place to start for those with a little knowledge though.

Having developed an interest in this subject quite recently via martial arts, I do not have a detailed working knowledge of Daoist theory or of the subject matter of this book. I found the content of the book to be well structured, taking the reader through each component of critical foundation theory and practice without assuming / requiring prior technical knowledge. The explanations provided are extremely clear and certainly this book will be very helpful and informative to anyone like myself who doesnt have much background knowledge in the subject.I would also recommend the book to more experienced / knowledgeable practitioners of chinese medicine and related studies, due to its highly practical approach based on exercises designed to experience the energy system within the body. The book contains very good descriptions and illustrations to guide the reader through these exercises and gives some ideas as to what they can expect to observe for themselves and how to use their observations to diagnose and treat imbalances. Highly recommended!

Abundance of theoretical explanations and practical exercises and advice on understanding one’s energy system. Equally useful for NeiGong, QiGong or Chinese medicine practitioner. A must have! Please note that practical skills cannot be learnt from books so find a good teacher.

This book contains a lot of information about Meridian theory and is presented in a very clear and ordered fashion. I especially liked the section on Wu Xing qi gong, which I found usefu and fruitful , not only in my personal practice but also in my class teaching. The emphasis on experiencing the meridians directly is a refeshing and welcome addition to inner energy practice.

With the aid of the Yuan points in this book I can now finally separate out the paths of each meridian.That alone has been worth the price of a library of books to me. The potentials are enormous.Many thanks Damo!