Could Micro-Cosmic Orbit be More Effective Than Some Other Styles of Meditation?

by caspar ingham May 31, 2019

Could Qi Gong Meditation Be More Effective Than Buddhist, Advaita & Other Methods?

How would I know? Well I can only speak for what I’ve found best for me. Certainly, as far as I’m concerned there is no competition – The Micro-Cosmic Orbit Qi Gong Meditation is far more effective than many other methods of meditation I’ve tried, if you close down correctly after your practice.

One of the main issues I’ve found is that many styles of meditation can open you up too much and in this day and age – with technology – electro-magnetic waves everywhere, pollution – both in terms of petroleum products, toxic negative vibes around and other environmental hazards we are just becoming more aware of – you need a method to close down as well as open up. This is especially considering many of these styles of meditation were developed several thousand years ago when the natural environment was abound with natural nurturing energy and fresh air…

Over the last thirty years I’ve tried a lot of different styles of meditation. All have been effective, but when the S**t hits the fan you need something extremely robust, balancing, energising and protective. If the meditation only does one of two of those things then you can leave yourself exposed to many issues, especially if you are undergoing challenging circumstances.

What I’m covering here is “static meditation” – sitting meditation. I’ve tried most of the main types and practiced them for many years, in some instances between 8 and 15 years. Here is my humble opinion on what I believe are (generally) the downsides of the meditation practices I have tried:

Samatha Vipassana (Insight meditation) – balancing but not energising enough or protective, can leave you “open” and sensitive without grounding. Focused too much on the “void” or emptiness (although this can be blissful to feel one with the void and part of it) – as this I believe is only half of the true states of being in our higher awareness, there is void yes but also “actuality” – light or creative energy. Not sufficient in my opinion on removing addictions or OCD tendencies or breaking through many habits, although it might for some depending on age and many other criteria.

Mindfulness Meditation – Better but requires extensive practice, quite often ten to twenty years to integrate fully into daily routine. Again, not sufficient at removing addictions or programmed tendencies unless combined with CBT, hypnotherapy and other practices, and even then, possible relapse.

Raja Yoga (Dristi) Advaita Meditation – Excellent at cultivating energy a sense of oneness with the universe and love but not balancing enough as it ignores the body too much and focuses more on connecting higher consciousness to the one divine which is great but not grounding enough. This can lead to disconnection from material and physical as well as being “away with the fairies” or in a higher dimension a bit too much (if practiced extensively) to be effective in the material world. Also, without the body work I believe it is harder to transcend emotional blockages as the way we can reach the emotions and deep blockages is by moving the body and mind.

Holotrophic Breathing (Rebirth) – Excellent for breaking through past emotional traumas but can be traumatic and requires a lot of hard work and difficult/uncomfortable breathing exercises. Not so easy to integrate the benefits or practice in any moment or during the day. Requires a facilitator to guide you until at advanced level.

Pranayama (Basic Level in Sivananda/Hatha Yoga Style) – takes a long time to do, requires a lot of practice to get right, but definitively effective at generating prana or energy, balancing and relaxing. Hard to get the practice right and can make the practitioner a little uncomfortable in the beginning practice. I’d be interested to hear from yogis about what the closing down practice would be. Please advise on this…

Zen “No-Mind” Movement of Immediate Enlightenment – This one movement has caused some humour as well as consternation among many serious practitioners. Firstly, yes, you can be “awake” for moments when you gaze at the clouds and merge with them, dissolving your dualistic conditioned consciousness.

Many in this movement, then think, great enlightenment has been reached! They also think they don’t need “to do anything” to become awake, which in some aspects, imho, is correct, its not in the doing, its in the being, but then to be fully awake, you need to be “being” all the time. How do you do that? You have to continually go to that merging oneness place; how do you do that in this modern world? (Of course, much easier if you live in a hut in the middle of nowhere (Know-here?!)) – surely the answer is, practice, practice being in that space. Secondly, the movement subject far too much “intellectualisation” rather than actual “being”, for many but not for all.

Creative Visualisation – Good for positive thinking and creating a good state of mind and relaxing. Creative visualisation is a completely different objective to cultivating Qi (Chi or prana) as well as concentration, relaxation and deep breathing. Creative visualisation (and there are many meditation practices like this) are useful for different reasons.

The Micro-cosmic orbit includes some visualisation, sensing the body, breathing and Qi (or prana) movement and concentration it tends to incorporate many aspects of the above meditation practices…

Why I believe the Micro-Cosmic Orbit Meditation/Qi Gong is More Effective than the Above Meditations/Pranayama:

Easy to learn
Quick and can be done pretty much Anywhere for a few minutes or longer.
Combines many techniques: breathing, body awareness, visualisation, concentration and sometimes a little movement and “tapping”.
Increases sensitivity to Qi very quickly
Cultivates more Qi quickly and calmly – all over the body
Relaxes AND energises
Potentially good for health all round
Excellent “closing down” process that sustains your Qi, protects against outside influences and provides a quick massage to stimulate pressure points to further energise, balance, relax and circulate Qi and blood flow throughout the body.
Fully circulating Qi over the main Chakras or meridians in a circular motion retains the Qi rather than dissipates it.

Read a little bit about how I started taiji and Qi Gong after many years of other styles of meditation. More in-depth article here.

Combine this meditation with meditative movement, learning how-to walk-in meditation, stand in meditation practice a martial art in meditation and I believe your practice will shoot up, as all those emotional blockages are removed from your body and your meditation helps centre your way.

The Micro Cosmic Orbit Meditation and Qi Gong can also be practiced on its own very effectively before you integrate it into your Taiji form.

Ecstatic Dance and Osho’s Dynamic Meditation are on a similar level to what we practice – Spontaneous Five Animals Qi Gong – these I believe if practiced correctly can be some of the fastest breakthrough experiences and good for wellbeing on so many different levels. Dance is the root of our community culture that possibly was a method of communication before speech…

You can practice moving meditation which incorporates the Qi Gong with an excellent form of Taiji taught by my Master who is the Vice Chairman of Internal Medicine (NeiDan) and BeJing University in China and an ordained Lay ShaoLin Monk (by the Abbott in 2001 prior to massive commercialisation). I've also learnt a lot from my big brother ShiFu Jason.

A recent video of ShiFu Jason's Qi Gong form - Eight Silk Brocade you can see here>