Beyond the Illusion of Light: A Reflection on Real Spiritual Work
I have walked the Tao—not merely as a student of movement, but as a witness to inner stillness. And I have bowed before the dawn atop sacred mountains and felt the breath of the earth in forgotten forests. I have sat in silence with Buddhist arhats, Daoist hermits, and Tantric adepts. Yet the most profound teachings have not come from external voices, but from the slow, merciless unfolding of internal truth.
Let me be direct: what we often refer to as “spiritual growth” today is largely superficial. It is spirituality as an aesthetic, not as an awakening. In Qigong terms, it is Qi dispersal, not Qi refinement. It is a circulation of energy without rooting. A movement without integrity. A cultivation without stillness.
The Illusion of Transcendence
The modern seeker chases light, the way the untrained novice chases Qi: grasping, forcing, accumulating. Altered states become currency. Peak experiences become badges. But energy that is not stabilized—not integrated into Shen (spirit)—is volatile. It deceives the practitioner into a form of spiritual narcissism, where “growth” is measured by how ethereal you can become, not how embodied you remain.
In classical Neidan (Inner Alchemy), we say:
「不離塵世，何談真道？」
“If you cannot remain in the world of dust, how can you speak of the True Path?”
This is not a poetic metaphor. It is a warning. The path is not escape. The path is transmutation. If your meditation floats you above your responsibilities, above your relationships, above your unhealed pain—then it is merely a subtle form of anesthesia.
The Real Alchemy: Staying Present in the Fire
The internal alchemist learns to “sit in the furnace”—the ding, or cauldron—where breath and awareness merge with discomfort, not away from it. The true work of Qigong and inner cultivation is not how to ascend, but how to descend into your body, your fear, your anger, your shadow—and then breathe through it with non-resistance.
We do not cultivate to escape karma. We cultivate to metabolize it.
So I offer this: if your practice does not make you more available to relationship, to truth, to grief, to the unbearable contradictions of being human—it is not real cultivation. It is illusion. It is Yin without Yang. Movement without structure.
Energy ≠ Evolution
Let us also correct a common misunderstanding: experiencing energy is not the same as embodying wisdom. The Qi may flow abundantly in your meridians, but if it does not stabilize into the virtues of De—compassion, patience, courage—then it is merely scattered light. Even demons can perform miracles.
The Dao does not reveal itself to the spectacular. It reveals itself to the sincere.
And sincerity begins with radical self-honesty.
The Dao of Relationship: Love as a Measure
What, then, is the true measure?
Not how still your mind becomes. Not how radiant your aura shines.
But how intimate you can remain with what is not you.
In Qigong we learn to harmonize with the environment—not dominate it. To flow with the seasons, with discomfort, with the Tao. The same must be said for human connection. If your practice isolates you, elevates you above others, makes you intolerant of messiness—you are not growing. You are armoring.
The real path is this:
Can you remain connected in the face of pain?
Can you listen when you want to preach?
Can you love when your ego is being dismantled?
These are the muscles of true inner strength. These are the sinews of Shen Gong—the spiritual cultivation beyond form.
A Question for the Path
I leave you with the most potent form of inquiry in our lineage: the internal question. Not to be answered quickly, but to be sat with—breathed with—cultivated in the lower Dantian until it ripens into insight:
Where in my practice have I mistaken transcendence for avoidance?
What would change if I measured progress not by peace, not by power—but by love?
Let this question burn. Let it undo the masks.
Only then can the real Qi begin to flow.
✦ Final Words
The true Qigong master does not levitate. He listens. She serves. They integrate.
- There is no ascension without descent.
- There is no light without shadow.
- There is no enlightenment without embodiment.
- Cultivate not to become divine. Cultivate to become real.