One Hundred Days of Darkness and Light

One Hundred Days of Darkness and Light is the first section in Robert Peng's book, The Master Key
 

Another time I hovered high above a different town. Although I had never seen it before, it was vaguely familiar, and I flew down to take a closer look. I landed near a stone bridge covered by a wooden roof near a small river. Women in wide-brimmed bamboo hats scrubbed clothes and linen by hand against flat stones. The wheat in the nearby fields was turning yellow. It was autumn. I entered the town through the main gate. 

The streets were narrow, and the buildings were constructed in a style that was popular a thousand years ago. I walked along a bustling street lined with stalls. Merchants peddled cackling chickens and colorful fruit. I stopped by a little noodle shop and peeked in. It smelled good. A few men with white turbans on their heads sat on low stools. 

They slurped noodles and chatted in a strange dialect, but I could understand them perfectly. 

Then I heard some commotion and I turned around. A palanquin shouldered by four strong, wiry men headed down the street. They carried a young, dignified nobleman. Pedestrians moved to the side of the road and bowed their heads. I looked closely at his face. Though we looked utterly unalike, I instinctively knew that he was me. 

The townspeople, the streets, the bridge, and the river all suddenly vanished and I was back in the dark chamber seated on my cushion. I stretched my limbs, walked to the water jug, dipped the ladle into the jug, and drank. I returned to the cushion and settled down again. The dark chamber vanished, and I was soon flying high above the monastery again, departing on another adventure. 

At this stage of my Biguan practice, I spent at least half my waking hours exploring mystical realms. I encountered strange, nonhuman dimensions and met all kinds of intelligent beings. The rest of my waking hours were spent in deep, blissful meditation nourishing my Qi. Sometimes a whole day slipped by in one sitting that felt like only a few minutes. Xiao Yao’s visits passed in quick succession. 

More than fifty days had passed when my master said, “You are ready to take the next step. I am going to teach you an advanced meditation called Bu Jing Guan Gong. This is a dangerous practice that shouldn’t be performed until all your energy channels are fully open and your Qi is highly refined. You have reached that stage. From now on when you meditate, gather into yourself all the filth, evils, negativity, and hideous darkness in the world. Become a container for everything that is ugly, revolting, and loathsome. 

“Draw into your soul all the woes suffered in the hearts of all suffering beings. Become a magnet for grief, depression, anguish, sorrow, and all the darkest shadows hiding within. Invite rage, terror, panic, lust, and cruelty into your meditation. Fill your soul with the vilest blackness. Keep on inviting all this malevolence relentlessly. 

There are no limits to the vices you should invoke. And whatever arises, continue. The practice won’t be complete until you move through all the fear you encounter. You must overcome whatever challenges darkness throws your way. Transform your heart into a sword of purity and slay any fear you experience. And whatever you do, don’t retreat.” 

This meditation was unlike any other my master had ever taught me, and as soon as I began to practice it, I sensed an ominous shift. The blissful light I had experienced when I meditated previously began to fade. At first I experienced a gray, murky energy forming around me like a gloomy cloud. Then the cloud darkened. The light and bliss vanished and instead dreary, troubling emotions surfaced. I tried to insulate myself from the growing negativity, but it over- whelmed me, and soon the chamber became completely black again. 

On one occasion in that state, I sensed another presence in the room. I opened my eyes, and what I saw startled me. No more than three feet away, right in front of me, was a skeleton. I didn’t know what to do, so we simply stared at each other. The skeleton was completely still. I moved slightly and it also moved slightly. Its bones were translucent. I could see straight through them to the bone marrow inside. As I inhaled, I noticed a pair of lungs appear under its expanding ribcage. When I exhaled, the spongy sacks deflated. After taking another breath, I realized that the lungs were mirroring my exact breathing pattern. 

Those are my lungs! 

The skeleton I was observing was my own. I was no longer afraid. My inner sight had been awakened. I looked at “my” head. The cranium became translucent. I examined the folds of my brain. Then I looked through my eye sockets to the back of my skull. I scanned my heart. It was beating fast. I was excited. My stomach was empty. I saw the scar on my lower back from the knife cut I received when I fought Zhang Gong and his gang. I spent the next few days exploring the most fascinating world I had encountered so far—my own body. 

To be continued in the next issue of Catalyst...

Click on the following to read:   Installment #1    lnstallment #2    lnstallment #3    lnstallment #4    lnstallment #5    lnstallment #6     lnstallment #7    lnstallment #8    lnstallment #9    lnstallment #10   lnstallment #11   lnstallment #12
 
 

Robert Peng is a world-renowned Qigong Master, healer, and author of the book, The Master Key: Qigong Secrets for Vitality, Love, and Wisdom.

Click here for a free access of the audiobook, 100 Days of Darkness and Light, which is the first section in Robert's book, The Master Key.

Robert's companion resources include:

The Master Key Video Series (4 DVDs of Qigong practices)
The Master Key Audio Series (5 CDs of Qigong practices)
Qigong Ecstasy (45-minute Qigong practice video)
AM/PM Qigong (Two 30-minute Qigong routines video)

Robert was born and raised in Hunan, China. At age eight, he began an intensive apprenticeship under the close guidance of the legendary monk Xiao Yao, an enlightened master known for his profound healing ability and martial arts skill. At age 15, Robert performed a 100-day water fast in a small dark room at a secluded monastery in the remote mountains of Hunan province. He underwent a radical spiritual transformation and awakened amazing healing powers. Master Xiao Yao encouraged Robert to develop his healing skills by studying with other Chinese masters.

After pursuing his training quietly while attending university in Changsha, where he majored in English Literature, at 29 years old he began to teach publicly, and within five years had trained over 150,000 students all over China, Australia, and the U.S. 

With his deep understanding and practice of Qigong, and with extensive life and teaching experience in the western world, Robert has developed a unique way to teach Qigong that people from different cultures can easily understand and follow while enjoying the real essence of this ancient Chinese healing art of wisdom, love, and vitality. 

Robert has been a regular presenter at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, The Esalen Institute, Integrative Health Symposium, and many other organizations and schools. 

Together with Bishop Desmond and Pema Chodron, he was honored as one of "Top Ten Heroes of 2013" for his contribution to transform "the ancient Chinese healing art of Qigong into today's fast-growing holistic practices — in addition to use as a spiritual practice for inner balance and peace, Qigong movement is gaining acceptance as a gentle movement for chronic illness and pain."

Click here to visit Robert’s website.
Click here to watch and participate in Robert’s 8-minute Qigong practice, Scooping Universal Qi to Empower our Wisdom, Love & Vitality.