The Secrets of Standing Stake Practice

When standing in the stake position, whether there are mental activities or not, there should be sensations and reactions. Normal sensations contribute to the improvement of the level; otherwise, standing in the stake position would be meaningless. Mentality and sensations are often inseparable. When the correct sensation is described in words and consciously applied to the stake position practice, it becomes mentality. Meanwhile, the similar reaction produced by the conscious activity is the sensation. Many of the mental activities we use today were passed down by predecessors based on their experiences (including sensations). Different mental activities can have the same sensation, and the same mentality can also have different sensations. As for what exactly is the correct sensation, only a general description can be given because everyone's specific situation is different, and specific analysis is still needed when solving problems.

Generally speaking, during practice, as long as you feel comfortable, powerful, coordinated and balanced, without holding your breath or being overly tense, and have a slight fatigue or a sense of lingering enjoyment after practice, it can be considered normal and you can persist in practicing.

During practice, don't look for a certain sensation for a certain mentality. That may lead to formalism and possibly train out side effects. Just pay attention to being earnest in spirit and specific in mentality. Let various sensations form and disappear naturally. Only in this way can the skills be practiced onto oneself.

Even if sometimes it is necessary to look for the sensations produced by certain mentalities, seek the mental sensation rather than the physical force sensation. The difference between the physical force sensation and the mental sensation largely depends on the depth and intensity of the mentality. Therefore, if your skills are not yet proficient, do not use overly intense mental activities. The mental activities used should ensure that you can flexibly grasp and control their meanings.

The process of standing in the stake position is a process of continuous self-adjustment. Due to the stance and mentality causing sensations, and using these sensations to contrast the requirements of the stance and mentality for adjustment, while also testing the correctness of the mental activities, in the continuous thinking, sensation, and adjustment, the qi and blood nourish themselves without being consciously nourished, and the muscles train themselves without being consciously trained, achieving the purpose of exercise and the effect of health preservation.

Different stages and levels of the stake position practice will have different reactions and exhibit different functional states. In addition, due to the differences in each person's constitution, illnesses, practice purposes, and individual nerve sensitivities, practitioners will also have various and individual reactions. Generally, there is no need to mind these reactions and just let them be. The following twenty-one sensations, perceptions and reactions are all normal effects of the practice, but it should be noted that do not consciously pursue them. When practicing, do not seek for the effect; the effect will come naturally. Seeking for the effect will not lead to it; it is just a waste of effort. Just focus on the effort and do not care about the gain; the gain will come naturally. As the saying goes, "Skills come naturally with practice."

1. Kinesthetic sensation: Itchy sensations like ants crawling may occur on the human skin, and there may also be muscle tremors and body swaying. The ant-crawling sensation is caused by the flow of qi and blood on the epidermis, and the swaying is a manifestation of the body's spontaneous adjustment and search for balance. There is no need to pay attention to it. People who have just started standing in the stake position for a short time tend to have muscle tremors in the limbs, especially in the legs. This is a normal phenomenon in the adaptation stage of the stake position practice and there is no need to worry about it at all. After a period of time, this dynamic phenomenon will naturally disappear and enter the excellent state of "not moving".

2. Numb sensation: In the early stage of practice, numbness may be felt on the skin, especially in the palms and soles of the feet, which is a normal reaction when the qi and blood are not flowing smoothly enough. It will naturally disappear over time. When practicing to a certain extent, the numb sensation, especially the electric numb sensation, is the reaction of the body's bioelectricity and is a manifestation of the growth of internal power. The numb sensation comes and goes, sometimes weak, sometimes strong, sometimes present during practice and absent when not practicing. Later, it transitions to a reaction that is the same whether practicing or not.

3. Thermal sensation: During practice, a warm and thermal sensation may occur, feeling a stream of heat flowing in a certain part of the body, or the whole body gets warm with slight sweating. This is a good phenomenon of the circulation of qi and blood, that is, "qi flows by itself without being consciously moved", but it should not be pursued but allowed to develop naturally.

4. Distension sensation: The distension sensation is the normal effect of "stretching the tendons and expanding the membranes" in the training of the bones and tendons, and it is also the normal reaction of the expansion of arteries, veins and capillaries during the operation of qi and blood. At the advanced stage, a slight distension throughout the body and extreme comfort will be felt.

5. Sour sensation: Generally, beginners will have muscle sourness or soreness. For example, the body feels uncomfortable and local soreness occurs, especially in the shoulders, which is particularly intense. This is caused by local muscle tension. Although standing in the stake position emphasizes relaxation, a basic strength is still needed to maintain the balance of the stance. Therefore, in the early stage of standing in the stake position, often the relaxation and tension cannot be coordinated, or although relaxed, it is not thorough enough. Therefore, the reaction of muscle soreness or acid distension is normal and will subside on its own with the deepening of practice.

6. Pain sensation: Some patients with illnesses may feel an aggravation of local pain in the early stage of practice. Generally speaking, this is a benign reaction of the impact of qi and blood on the lesion after practice, which conforms to the TCM principle of "where there is pain, there is no smoothness; where there is smoothness, there is no pain". Persist in practicing, and the reaction of "qi attacking the lesion" will become weaker and weaker, and finally the illness will also be cured. This is the result of the struggle between the righteous and the evil, and ultimately the victory of the righteous over the evil.

7. Joyful sensation: During practice, an extremely comfortable, pleasant, relaxed and happy feeling is felt. It is the happiest and most pleasant moment. During practice, one should treat it indifferently and not be addicted to the joy, as excessive joy harms the heart qi.

8. Sound sensation: Different sounds of varying degrees occur in muscles, internal organs, bones and joints, such as hissing sounds, buzzing sounds, cracking sounds, chirping sounds, etc. There may also be hiccups, intestinal rumblings and farting.

9. Heavy sensation: There is a thick, solid and heavy feeling when standing in the stake position. The center of gravity sinks and the stance is like a "roly-poly", and further on there is a feeling of "the body being as if filled with lead". This is a high-level effect of the practice.

10. Integral sensation: The whole body seems to be solidified and unable to move. The hands want to open but cannot, want to close but cannot, want to lift but cannot, want to put down but cannot. The human body and the outside world form an integral whole. Further on, there will be a feeling of "the body being as if cast" and "the muscles being as one". The integral sensation is a high-level feeling in standing in the stake position and is also one of the manifestations of the external sensible state of the round and integrated force.

11. Light sensation: The whole body is as light as a swallow, the muscles are soft and flexible, as soft as if boneless. Both the body and mind feel relaxed at the same time, as if about to take off from the ground and float with the wind.

12. Drifting sensation: The body feels as if it is floating. There is both oneself and no oneself. It seems that there is only the soul but no body. Only a feeling of lightness and ethereality is felt throughout the body, like a wisp of smoke and haze, like a cloud. The body and mind are unrestrained and happy, and the body shape is only vaguely self-aware. At this time, the body has lost weight but has not lost shape. The appearance of the drifting sensation indicates that the practitioner has entered the state of the unity of body and spirit, and the unity of body and mind.

13. Transforming sensation: The body shape becomes lighter and lighter, and its outline becomes less and less distinct. Eventually, the body shape "transforms into qi" and integrates with the qi of the universe and nature. This indicates that the practitioner has entered the state of "the unity of heaven and man". The fundamental difference in the sensory experience between "drifting" and "transforming" lies in that "drifting" only loses weight but not shape, while "transforming" loses both weight and shape.

14. Empty sensation: There is neither the body and mind inside nor the world outside. This is a state of "forgetting both the self and the external things". The state of "the unity of heaven and man" is the "emptiness" of the "nihility state", while the state of "forgetting both the self and the external things" is the "nothingness" of the "nihility state". This is a high-level effect in the process of "refining the nihility and integrating with the Tao".

15. Grand sensation: Feeling that one is tall and large as if able to reach the sky and stand on the earth.

16. Sexual sensation: The heart feels trance-like, the whole body is soft and comfortable and happy, and the sexual organ erects vigorously, as if about to ejaculate but does not. The sexual sensation is different from the sexual pleasure in daily sexual activities. The sexual sensation is the manifestation of the vigorous kidney qi and enhanced sexual function of the practitioner. Those who are proficient in practice often have a firm and lasting erection during sexual intercourse, with a tendency of being unable to stop and having an unbeatable sexual ability, which is greatly beneficial to a harmonious sex life. But the sexual sensation is also very easy to be addicted to. If one is addicted to it, or even has wild fantasies, causing the leakage of the original essence, it will be detrimental to the skills.

17. Fragrant sensation: Various fragrant scents are emitted from inside the body.

18. Color sensation: Various colors such as white, yellow, red, black, blue, cyan and purple appear around the body, especially cyan, blue, purple and green, which are superior skills.

19. Light sensation: There is a feeling of the body being transparent throughout, and there are dim and bright lights above, below and around, or light beams are emitted from inside the body, and light masses, halos and round and integrated light balls are formed outside the body.

20. Transcendent sensation: The sensation of transcending time and space. When the sensation of forgetting the self occurs, the sensation of transcending time and space will naturally arise. The transcendence of the sense of space begins when the body shape is forgotten. When the existence of things disappears, space cannot be produced. At the state of the unity of heaven and man, the part of space that exists as the body shape is also forgotten, seeming to exist and yet not exist, or seeming not to exist and yet existing. The transcendence of the sense of time is often discovered after the practice is over. There are two situations. One is that "only a few days have passed in the cave, but thousands of years have passed in the world", the sense of time is shortened, feeling that only a moment of practice has passed, but looking at the clock, several hours have passed. The other is the opposite, feeling that a long time has been practiced, but in fact only ten or twenty minutes have passed. When the activities of both the self-body and the self-awareness are forgotten, the perception of time naturally no longer exists. The transcendence of time and space can be said to be completed in "nothingness". When feeling "nothingness", time and space are transcended.

21. Spiritual sensation: Remote sensing, prediction, perspective, and other extraordinary functions such as the "six supernatural powers" appear. This is a high-level state of wisdom and is the intuitive reaction after the activation of the subconscious. After entering tranquility, one becomes particularly sensitive to future events and has predictability. This is the ability of prediction, foresight and prophecy. The crawling and walking of small animals several meters, tens of meters or dozens of meters away from the body are clearly perceived. Even the emotional reactions, behavioral states and psychological activities of someone far away can be perceived. This is remote sensing. In the state of tranquility, one can also see one's own internal organs, bones and meridian system. This kind of internal vision function is perspective. Ancient Chinese medicine is to observe and experience the twelve meridians and eight extraordinary meridians of the human body in the internal verification experiment. Just as the medical scientist Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty said when talking about the origin of the meridians, "The tunnels inside the body can only be observed by those who reflect inwardly". Its basis is the perspective function under the activation of the subconscious of the human body. The "small celestial circulation" practice in traditional qigong cultivation is to internally observe the conception and governor meridians; the "big celestial circulation" practice is to lead the qi with the mentality and make the qi pass through the twelve meridians with the mentality; the "maoyou celestial circulation" practice is to make the qi pass through the eight extraordinary meridians with the mentality. In the Chan sect of Buddhism, the "six supernatural powers" are used to refer to the advanced states and extraordinary functions in qigong cultivation, namely: "divine eye", being able to see things that ordinary people cannot see and being able to perspective the internal organs and objects of the human body; "divine ear", being able to hear sounds that ordinary people cannot hear, even extremely subtle sounds from afar; "divine foot", having flexible limbs, light hands and feet, a light body and quick walking; "understanding the thoughts of others", having inspirations that ordinary people do not have and having a better sense of foresight than others; "knowledge of past lives", being able to perceive past events and predict future events; "the thorough elimination of all leaks", after highly entering tranquility in practice, one can reach the state of purity, tranquility, indifference and nothingness, and no leakage of essence, qi and spirit.

The above "twenty-one sensations of standing in the stake position" are the sensory and emotional experiences after entering tranquility when standing in the stake position. Let them come and go naturally and do not deliberately pursue them, otherwise it will bring burdens to the body and mind and even cause deviations.

Most of the experiences of the above-mentioned effects of practice are still within the "six roots" (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind). Qigong practice is to enter and exit from the "six roots", that is, to close the "six roots" and enter the state of "nihility" and "nothingness". This is the "entry point", "exit point" and "completion point" in the mental method of the Chan sect.

When standing in the stake position, "internal thoughts do not wander outside, and external influences do not invade inside", "stay if there is a predestined relationship and leave if there is no predestined relationship. Let the gentle breeze send the white clouds; only when the six roots are pure can there be tranquility. Let go of the body and mind to see the universe".

When standing in the stake position reaches the state of "four likenesses", that is, "the body is as if filled with lead", "the body is as if cast", "the muscles are as one" and "the hairs are as halberds", the internal power of "there is no point in the whole body that is not a spring" is basically achieved. The so-called "integral force", "round and integrated force", "shivering and vibrating force" and "penetrating force" are also basically possessed. When fighting in combat, often "beating people is like an electric shock, and releasing people is like hanging a painting". This is not an empty talk.

A senior Taoist master once said when discussing the effect of practice and the level of skills in standing in the stake position: "When practicing hard, feeling that the qi and blood are flowing throughout the body and there is something in the body, cultivating the nature and gathering the spirit, and there is no stagnation in the whole body, this is the initial skill. If the whole body makes hissing sounds and no matter when walking or sitting, one touch can make a person fall several meters away, this is the medium-level skill. Qi is generated outside the body and the light is shining in all directions. If one looks at a person with the eyes, the person seems to lose consciousness. Then gradually enter the state of divinity and transformation." Every accomplished student, as long as they abide by the teachings of the masters, integrate knowledge and action, and persist in standing in the stake position, the skills will grow like seedlings in spring, not seen to increase but growing day by day. If one practices intermittently, fishing for three days and drying the nets for two days, then the skills will be like a stone for sharpening a knife, not seen to decrease but deteriorating day by day.