Winter Greetings from Master Wu!

[Sparhawk]

I received this by email and I share it.

Dear Qi-friends,

Greetings to you from the heavily snowing Northwest Pacific! It is unusual to have several days of continual snow in this area, and this is the first time I've seen it since I came here 2001. In Chinese, we have a saying: "Great snow is an omen for a prosperous year." Therefore, the beautiful snow here indicates that we'll have a better year. I'll be happy with 2009 because my new book, Seeking the Spirit of The Book of Change: 8 Days to Mastering a Shamanic Yijing (I Ching) Prediction System,will be published soon by Singing Dragon in London, UK. I hope you'll have a flourishing 2009.

Actually, this winter season started on November 7 according to Chinese cosmology. I have been busy teaching workshops and haven't had time to sit down to write this letter. Many friends have asked me if I am still writing my seasonal greeting email because they don't want to miss it. After I finished my last 2008 workshop on December 12, I gave myself a long vacation because winter is the season for relaxing and restoring your life energy. In Chinese inner cultivation traditions, it is time to focus on "action-less" and pay attention to your inner space. So, I am sitting next to the fireplace, drinking a cup of tea, and writing this letter before I start my personal cultivation vacation.

The winter solstice day is this Sunday, December 21. It is one of the best times of the year to do your inner cultivation because the universal Yin energy will reach the peak level and the Yang energy will be re-born. So, we should practice Qigong and other inner cultivation to support the return of our inner Yang energy. I invite you to join my inner meditation winter solstice ceremony:

At 11:00 p.m. on December 21, light a candle in front of you and do this meditation.
First, open your eyes and gaze intensely at the candle light. Then close your eyes and imagine the light in your Dantian (lower belly). Adjust your breathing to be slow and even. Feel each breath making the light brighter and brighter in your Dantian. Meditate as long as you can. Before ending, please say a little prayer:
"May the Spiritual Light shine within my heart and body!
May the Spiritual Light shine within my family and friends!
May the Spiritual Light shine within all beings!
May the Spiritual Light always shine with peace and harmony for the World!"

The really cold winter will start on winter solstice. In Chinese tradition, we enter ShuJiu (which means count nine) on that day, and the first three nine-day (3x9=27 days) periods after the winter solstice will be the coldest weather of the year. Meditating and breathing into your Dantian will ignite your inner fire and maintain your inner peace. And after you work through the difficulty condition, then you'll reach DaHan (Great Cold, one of the 24 energetic segments in the Chinese Yin-Yang Calendar) on January 20, 2009, the day for the great transition.

This will be the day that the old energy will end and the new energetic circle will begin, although the Chinese New Year will be January 26, 2009. On January 20, 2009, the Wood-Wind energy will be in the dominating position in nature. Transition is never easy for us, and it will be especially difficult for those who have problems with digestion, immune system, joints, or tendons. Cultivate your Earth Qi to strengthen your digestion, and let your anger or inner windstorm out and transform it into a harmonious wind. This will help you deal with the strong Wood-Wind energy. Overall, continuing your daily practice will help you "surf the wind" freely during the coming Wind season.

Love Qi,

Master Wu

P.S. Please check http://www.masterwu.net/events.html for my 2009 teaching schedule if you are interested.