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it usually is to the believer
Once again, in that case we are not talking about truth, but perception.
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Just because chi/qi is outside or beyond the boundaries of the western science 'BOX' doesnt mean its not possible.
I never said it wasn't possible. I said its existence can't be confirmed.
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I don't see why most of you see the concept of chi as being so mystical. To me, it's just energy, whether you call it life energy or life force or whatever.
When I am addressing the nature of Chi, I'm addressing chi by its "mystical" definition.
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How does psychosomatic illness fit into the notion of qi existing only for believers? If a healthy patient can raise his or her temperature to a fever, is that directing one's qi?
I disagree with this. You don't need to be a Qigong master to **** around with your body temp. I've been doing it since high school to fake sick and get a day off. It's the same as moving your arm to steer your car or moving your legs to walk. It's about body control and firing neurons to get your body to do certain things. If you want to define chi/qi as a non-metaphysical energy that allows your body to perform (in other words, Joules, calories, or whatever), that's fine and logical as you're just giving another name to a physiological process.
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If chi is a term used to describe an unknown force that allows us to do certain things, that works. We are just giving a label to an observable phenomenon. However, when one starts saying that chi is this spritual energy that can be harnessed to do these things, that crosses the lines.
I mean, look at humankind's experience with the unknown in the past. Anytime they see something that they can't explain, they would blame "the gods" or some other "spiritual" being or force. That's how they used to explain lightning in Mesopotamia. When lightning struck it meant the gods were ****ed and you had to go to your local ziggurat and make a sacrifice. What a waste of time that was as lightning is the result of an atmostpheric condition (it's been years since meteorology so I can't remember the whole process). Want more proof it's not spirits? Well, nobody on this planet has been to a ziggurat for thousands of years and we haven't seen more lightning than usual.
You'll see this in pretty much all areas of spiritualism/mysticism in all parts of the world. To call chi this powerful spiritual force without truly understanding it's nature is just a self-delusion and while you're at it you might as well practice forms on a ziggurat.
My conclusion and point is that nobody who defines chi as a metaphysical element truly understands chi. It's simply another theosophy.