CHAPTER 2
WHAT IS "CHI" ENERGY?
"Essence, chi, and spirit are the three jewels of life!' —Book of Changes and The Unchanging Truth, Master Ni Hua Ching Taoist cultivation of sexual energy cannot be understood until the Chinese concept of "chi" is clear. Chi, also known as prana, the warm current, Kundalini power, or the electro-magnetic life force, is very difficult to describe because this life energy is invisible and cannot be seen. However, we can feel it. "Chi" is simply the Chinese word for "breath." On the physical level it is the raw air we breathe in and out, revitalizing us and keeping us alive. Our life hangs by this thin thread of breath every second of our lives, and that thread is seemingly empty air. We transform that raw air by mixing it with other nutrients and refining it into a different kind of energy, one that takes a solid form. It becomes our blood, flesh and bones, but never loses an inner rhythm of pulsation that flows through each cell. Our vital organs—heart, liver, kidney, and glands—in turn refine this energy and send chi power to the higher functions of our brain, thus creating our thoughts, dreams, and emotions. From this emerges the human will to live and die, the power to love and ponder this breathing planet suspended in the vacuum of space. As this "chi"