Mysteries of the Life Force by Peter Meech. This is another one of
those books where the author writes about his apprenticeship with a
master. Very much like the Magus of Java, the author first sees his
soon-to-be-master on a television program, but instead of a documentary
on volcanoes, it was, "Ripley's Believe It or Not". So impressed by the
master's demonstration, Peter seeks out Dr. Chow, to learn of this
mysterious power he has. From there, we are led into the interesting
world of chi, and the mysteries of this life force energy.
Peter Meech first sees Dr. Chow on the show "Ripley's Believe It or Not" after a demonstration he performed for the show. Despite this, I wasn't able to find a clip of the demonstration, otherwise I would have added it. The author then searches out Dr. Chow to become his apprentice. I'm starting to notice a theme between a lot of the books I read.
This story is a lot like The Magus of Java in many ways. One big difference is it wasn't quite as fascinating to me as The Magus of Java was. It felt a bit watered down. It wasn't a boring book, just different, really. One of the biggest differences was, the emphasis on the intelligence of chi. The book illustrates how chi can actually move independently and intelligently throughout your body.
Once chi is inside, it will actually, automatically go through your whole body, slowly carving out and unblocking passages ways for the energy, that have long remained dormant. This is something that I have seen hinted at in other texts, and by other people as well. Though in the book, the intelligence seems far more elaborate and thorough, border-lining on sentience.
One of the reasons the book feels a bit more watered down is, a large part of the book is dedicated to the author recounting his experience of receiving Dr. Chow's chi. He sits on a table for much of it, focusing on the sensations created by the doctor's chi and experiences it move independently throughout his body. It slowly changes him from the inside-out. As these sessions progress, he explains how his body, emotions and mind change overtime, and eventually emerge as an almost completely different person.
It might be easiest to describe the book as a collection of short stories that center around Dr. Chow and Peter's apprenticeship. The chapters are short. Each containing a little side story or journey, that stems from Peter's growing relationship with Dr. Chow. These stories at first feels a bit off the beaten path, only to reveal near the end the stories relationship to Chi Kung. It's a lot like a season to a television show. An over-arcing theme or goal, with mini-arcs that connect the way.
A benefit to these short chapters that I wasn't expecting was, it kept me reading. Each chapter is only a few pages long on average. Because of this, I just kept taking in chapter after chapter. The downside was, I did this probably because each chapter wasn't all that fulfilling, and left me feeling a bit empty. Although it is interesting, and overall fun to read. The book didn't quite hit all the right spots. That isn't to say that it wasn't a good book, it was just a different take on some of these phenomena, and I wasn't quite expecting it.
The book flows fairly well, for the way the story is laid out. There wasn't very many things in the book that bothered me, but here are a couple. One was a little story of Peter beginning to take on the characteristics of his teacher, Dr. Chow, because of it was his chi that Peter was receiving. It's not quite as alarming as it sounds, as I believe it is suggested that it's not actually characteristic traits being passed along, as it is more a link developing between the two. But I read it and thought how this story wasn't helping them convince anyone to find a teacher if this is what could occur, even if the link is temporary.
Another was Bilocation. The book briefly discusses the topic of bilocation, which is the ability to be in two places at the same time. I had a little trouble with this chapter because it made it sound as if the copy of the original wasn't under the direct control of the original. Although I may have misread it. Also, it made it sound like the copy of the original was also physical, as in other people could see and interact with this copy. This is only troublesome to me because, even though I believe in a great many things that others find ridiculous, bilocation in this sense, is a bit of a stretch for me.
Most of the book was actually pretty good though. As I've said, befitting a collection of short stories, but each story does lends to intrigue as each story adds little pieces to this growing picture of what chi is. Like how developing your chi can lead to past life regression. But not only your own life, you can actually begin to see other people's past lives as well.
Telepathy takes on a whole new level in this book as well. From the traditional telepathy, where you can read, or at least generally know what another person is thinking, to being able to actually pick up on another persons movements to such a degree, you can mirror the other person exactly. This may not sound very cool, but imagine if you could do this, how much easier and faster learning could be. Listening to someone and trying to figure out what they mean would be a thing of the past. You could just tap into them and know what they mean, receiving an almost first hand account of it.
It even touches on Magic Wands and how they work. The book illustrates some connections between Chi Kung, Charles Dickens, and Franz Mesmer, who is best known for a theory resembling Chi Kung, known as Animal Magnetism. As well as an assortment of different theories and histories of chi. It even covers how other cultures have similar practices, showing how Chi Kung is a very natural part of life.
It touches on a lot of little things, and a few big things, but, because the chapters are so short, no detail in any of these matters are ever given. And because of the way the author was initiated into Chi Kung, there isn't anything to be given to the reader in terms of what or how to practice. Unless you can find a master who is willing to give you their chi. It has no substance to give the reader, so I can't say I would recommend it. It is a good casual read though, so if you find the book for a cheap price, or if you can get it from a friend, I would suggest going ahead and picking it up and giving it a read.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
5/10
