BAGUA MASTERY PROGRAM

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MODULE 2
Circle Walking and
Taoist Meditation:
Intermediate Meditation 1
BRUCE FRANTZIS

Copyright 201 0 Bruce Frantzis

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Table of Contents
Section 1: Meditation 1, Part 1 ................ 5
Key Concepts .............................................................. 5
Progression .................................................................. 5

Meditation 1: Put Your Mind into Your Body ........ 6

Part 1: Wake Up Your Breath and Body ................... 6
Preparation ............................................................................... 7
Instructions ............................................................................... 7

Section 2: Meditation 1, Part 2 ............... 9

Put Your Mind inside Your Body:
Center-to-Periphery Breathing ................................ 9
Preparation .................................................................. 9
Instructions ............................................................................... 9

Section 3: Meditation 1, Part 3 ............. 15

Breath and Awareness Penetrate Your
Five Extremities ........................................................ 15
Preparation ................................................................. 15
Instructions ................................................................. 15

Section 1
Meditati on 1, Part 1
Key Concepts
In Module 1, the basic physical techniques and meditation principles related to
practicing bagua as meditation were introduced. This section details an actual
meditation session.

Progression
Ideally, all training sessions should be approached from four progressive levels:
1. Walking in a straight line with and without the arms engaged. Take
a maximum of ten steps in one direction before tuning around and
beginning again. If taking a lesser number of steps, do your best to take an
even number of steps (two-four-six-eight) before turning around.
2. Walking the Circle without the hands being engaged.

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Bagua Mastery Program

3. Walking the Circle performing bagua energy postures, including the

Upper Body SPC palm position to be introduced in Module 4 and Module
5, respectively.
4. Walking the Circle while practicing the Single Palm Change (SPC).
Maybe your Circle Walking workout will last fifteen, thirty or forty-five minutes, or
even an hour or two or more. Regardless, take one instruction from each set that
follows and practice it for your entire workout without attempting the next one.
Once you are internally satisfied that you've got the gist-. no matter how many
workouts it takes-practice the next instruction plus the one you have just
learned together. Warm up with the first instruction and continue simultaneously
adding the second, if you can. However, if adding the second instruction is too
much, then just focus on the first one. Again, stay there for as long as it takes until you reach an intuitive degree of internal satisfaction and can simultaneously
practice, coordinate and integrate instructions 1-2 (above).
Then, proceed to add instruction 3, where instructions 1-2 follow each other
as the warm-up and the bulk of your practice is spent on instruction 3. If you're
being honest, it will most likely will take you at least a couple of years.

Meditation 1:
Put Your Mind into Your Body
Part 1: Wake Up Your Breath and Body
The function of this warm-up is to begin the process of putting your mind inside
your body. Phase 1 seeks to get your breath and mind to consciously feel and
inhabit your belly, lower tantien and all your internal organs. The meditation's
next stage uses and expands upon this awareness.

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Module 2: Circle Walking and Taoist Meditation-Meditation 1

Preparation
'

If Walking the Circle during Phase 1, go around the circle three times and then
reverse direction. For a minute or two, begin to warm up by physically Walking
the Circle and relaxing your body and mind to the best of your ability. Begin by
encouraging the energies of your body and mind to know it's time to wake up
rather than remain sleepy. This will help you become more aware.

Instructions
1. Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth in the way of all Taoist
chi practices.
2. Initially, when you start walking, just get your energy to move and shift
from being sluggish to lively. Become aware of your breath. Then, ideally
using the physical processes of Longevity Breathing, inhale and exhale
from your belly in a nice, easy and comfortable manner. Initially, regardless
of your previous level of training, practice regular breathing. After a while
and if you are more experienced, use reverse breathing. In either case,
practice until your belly becomes very alive with a sense of your breath
moving chi inside it.
3. Moving slowly and easily in the same direction, find out what your personal
feeling says about if you are creating too much or too little internal
pressure from your breathing. Your breath's in-and-out movements and
your walking speed shouldn't cause your nervous system to involuntarily
rev up or freeze. Walk and breathe comfortably without starting a cycle of
internal strain. Breathe in and out as you step until your mind and breath
calm down, and your nervous system continues to relax and stabilize.
4. Change direction and see if you can maintain the sense of your mind
waking up and being inside your belly and body. See if that's okay. If not,
continue to walk in the same direction and stabilize again. If so, change
again to see if the relaxation level of your body, mind, breath, nervous

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Bagua Mastery Program

system remains stable, relaxed and comfortable. If so, great. If not,

internally look inside and find out why not. Correct the situation and
make it so. Just continue to let go until the breath in your belly feels
normal, comfortable and stable.

2010 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.

Section 2
Meditati on 1, Part 2
Put Your Mind inside Your Body:
Center-to-Periphery Breathing
Preparation
While Walking the Circle, initially go around the circle three times and then reverse
direction (or follow the more specific instructions from the previous section).

Instructions
1. Extend your breath and allow it to open from your belly. Feel it internally move
out in increments up and down your body in tandem, until it simultaneously
spreads and arrives all the way up to your shoulders and down to the bottom
of your hips and kwa.

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Bagua Mastery Program

2. At each increment of your breath moving simultaneously a little higher

and lower, you have several options of how you can coordinate your breath
with your physical movements. Each increment is progressively more
difficult, so it's recommended that you only proceed to the next one after
the previous one has stabilized, meaning you can do it fairly easily without
strain. Breathe naturally without specifically coordinating your breath to
the specific ways you step, or extend or retract your arms or hands. The
function is to get your internal sense of breath moving inside your body,
so it can fluidly move from center (lower tantien) to periphery (bottom
of the pelvis and shoulders) and back again from periphery to center in
smooth, effortless cycles.
It doesn't matter whether you inhale or exhale from center to
periphery or vice-versa? You may inhale or exhale on either half
of the center-periphery-center movement. Two points based
on your body's natural reactions should guide you:
a) Which one (inhale or exhale) can your body most easily adjust to without involuntarily holding your breath even for short
periods of time-either moving center to periphery or periphery to center.
b) Which breathing pattern can you actually do with the least
amount of strain and continuity, as your inhales and exhales
continuously alternate moving between center and periphery?
Ideally, the practice of bagua requires a firm grounding in Opening the Energy Gates
of Your Body Qigong.

3. Next, focus on being able to feel everything inside your pelvis as your
mind, breath and chi move from your center (lower tantien) to the
periphery (pelvis and shoulders). This includes your internal organs,
intestines, sacrum and tailbone, pelvic bones, perineum, genitals and anus.
This now begins a new breathing rhythm, where you are not only affecting
your breath, but everything your breath influences.

4. As you attempt to become conscious and fully alive with each breath,
penetrate and bring alive everything in between the center and periphery.

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Module 2: Circle Walking and Taoist Meditation-Meditation 7

In your quest, ask yourself questions, until you get better and more
complete answers, e.g.,: Has my mind, by use of the breath, enabled me to
start feeling the inside my body? Does putting my mind inside my body
enable me to feel the physical tissues (ligaments, muscles, bones, blood,
organs, etc.)? If not, try to make your mind ever-more quiet and still until
you can.
5. As your mind goes inside your body and reaches to your shoulders, shoulder
blades and bottom of your hips, begin to recognize and feel what's inside
your inner emotional, mental and psychic world that is blocking your
ability to change. Feel the wrenching of what doesn't want to change and
inhibits your mind's ability to feel the inside of your body. Then, see if you
can let the inner resistance go, until your mind can continuously inhabit
and feel that part of your body.
6. If you don't succeed at first, take some more steps as you energize and open
up that area of your body to a greater level of your awareness. Continue
until you break through and can let go of some of your resistance to
changing the chi that affects the frozen or closed places in your awareness.
7. Continue to do this until you have some confidence that between your
tantien, hips and shoulders you can more or less feel what's in there. Some
practitioners can do this relatively quickly while others need much more
time. After a lot of practice, if you reach an intuitive point wher_e you feel
this is not going to happen, simply move forward to the next instruction.
Eventually, it will naturally happen as long as you let go of timetables.
Gradually, bit by bit, continue to practice as before until you find you can
fill your whole body with breath and awareness and be consciously aware
of the process.
8. Now simultaneously, as you are becoming ever-more aware of your body,
focus on also becoming aware of your awareness-that which allows
and empowers you to experience this moment. Move at a speed that
allows you to feel as though you're not pushing your system. Your body
and awareness must naturally open up without strain and maintain the

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Bagua Mastery Program

seamless continuum between both. Change direction as often as you need

to-maybe only going around the circle once instead ofthree times before
changing direction. Continue until internally you feel you're opening up.
9. Next, using the same center-periphery-center breathing in tiny progressive
increments, extend the periphery to your elbows and knees. Use your
breath to penetrate and open up the feeling inside your thighs:
Start with your muscles and blood vessels and eventually, if
possible, down into your bone and bone marrow.
Then, from your shoulders to your neck, first into the muscles,
blood, vertebrae and eventually, maybe many years later, into
your cerebrospinal fluid and the spina~ cord.

10. Change whenever you get to a place where even if only after you take a
few steps your breath and awareness can no longer penetrate, so that your
mind is not inside your body.
Continue in this way until your mind, using each breath,
can naturally saturate your body fairly effortlessly. The sheer
process of breathing itself makes you aware of your body
regardless of how many other things you are aware of at the
same time.
Change when you feel you need to regardless of whether it's
after three or one-hundred steps, just maintain the continuity
of your body, breath and awareness.

11. Walk without changing direction when you perceive the need to energize
any "dead" areas.
12. Once you have completed the previous instructions, take as many minutes
as you need to simultaneously integrate all the instructions of part one
and two inside yourself. All the instructions must become one seamless,
natural event, rather than a series of separate events.

201 0 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.

Module 2: Circle Walking and Taoist Meditation-Meditation 1

When Bruce finished teaching Part 2 of this meditation practice, he

then transmitted the essence of how to do the previous instructions
using both audible ancient Taoist chants (liturgies) and silently. He
reiterated the central point of the practice after the chants and
before the silent transmissions.
After the one minute of chanting, he said: "Changing when you
need to, open up the chi bound inside you. Open up that which
blocks the change, that which blocks the ability of your mind, your
awareness to be present inside your body."
Then, he deepened the transmission and said, "Each breath makes
you aware of what's happening inside. The breathing process itself
first links your mind and breath to make you aware of the inside
your body. So later, just by breathing alone, you can become aware
the inside of your body without having to especially focus with your
mind."
He then silently transmitted the same information for thirty
seconds.

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Section 3
Meditation 1, Part 3
Breath and Awareness Penetrate
Your Five Extremities
Preparation
From Part 3 forward, change the direction you walk after a single revolution of
the circle, unless otherwise specified. Continue to follow all of the instructions
detailed in Part 2.

Instructions
1. Continue the process of Meditation, Part 2 and incrementally extend
your center-to-periphery breathing sideways to your wrists, down to your
ankles and up to your occiput, the top vertebrae of your neck. Walk for
awhile.
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Bagua Mastery Program

2. Next, move forward. Breathe from center to periphery to your head and
third eye, center of your palm and the bubbling well point on the ball
of your foot. Usually, this requires some stabilization time to seamlessly
integrate the center-to-periphery breathing this far.

Exercise patience and do not rush ahead to step 3. Bruce silently transmitted for
almost two full minutes during this teaching.
3. Finally, incrementally extend your center-to-periphery breathing to your
fingers and fingertips, feet and end of your toes and bai hui point in the
center of the crown of your head. In this final opening of your breath,
remember not to push yourself in a way that strains your nervous system.
That will inhibit your capacity to smoothly sustain center-to-periphery
breathing while remaining highly aware-especially being aware of
awareness itself.
Once again, ask yourself questions and try to find informative personal answers.
As your center-to-periphery breathing progresses, notice what's happening.
Ask yourself: Am I aware of my awareness? What else am I aware of? What is the
subtle something that exists inside of me that allows me to be aware of things?
For example, if you visualize yourself being a nine-foot-tall rabbit or a super hero
walking in a circle, what is it inside of you allowing you to be aware of that vision?
What enables you to be aware of your body? Yes, you want the breathing rhythm
to make it automatic, but what is it that allows you to be aware of your body,
breath or to visualize yourself doing this movement?
From here forward, to invoke that awareness (whatever it may be to you), the text
will instruct you to "use your mind" to do something. Start asking: How is it that I
can begin to relax this awareness, so it's not tense?
Bruce, to help his students better understand and wire in how they
can personally embody center-to-periphery breathing, then chanted
and silently transmitted for more than five minutes.

201 0 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.