Inner Intelligence and the End Goal of the Qigong System

1. The Inner Intelligence

The purpose of the exercises and techniques of this system is to get the student in contact with a deep intelligence that exists inside themselves. Once that has been done, the inner intelligence guides the student the rest of the way.

It is like the exercises say: “my job is to introduce you to your inner music”; once you find that inner music, you dance together, and in the dance, you are shown. It shows you its world.

It is a world of connectivity, where nothing is separated. Time is not linear, ripples are felt from both the past and future; the more sensitive you are, the more you understand.

This larger intelligence is felt as one’s own, one’s true self, as opposed to the artificial installation that is one’s “monkey chatter” – all those voices of confusion.  

The larger intelligence has a steady reliability to it, you feel correct, you see why certain actions are necessary. There is a deftness. The larger intelligence inside oneself effortlessly flows with life, taking the required steps at the required times.

Energy expenditure is set to the minimum – one seeks the path of least resistance – which sometimes requires great moments of action. One is judicious in the use of one’s energy, knowing clearly what must be spent on what, and how to keep energy up throughout the goings on.

This is why children (who still have all of their native intelligence) demand to have fun – it is the best way to keep energy high. Children have this natural understanding of the flow state – they constantly are looking for that flow channel between boredom (where the demand of the environment is low and skills are higher) and anxiety (where the demand of the environment is high and skills are low). It means being determined to develop skills as the environment becomes more challenging. Staying in the flow channel keeps energy high. A certain amount of expenditure is necessary to make larger gains.

The inner intelligence easily and naturally responds to all of this.

So, our larger intelligence keeps us in this state – and is brought down by limited beliefs and conditioning that is too tight. These drop off our energy, and our mind is brought low, into a kind of fog, where we battle out our blind spots, and out of contact with the larger intelligence.

So, all the teachings/ all the exercises and techniques are only there to get you in touch with your inner intelligence. Once that has been done, you have found your inner teacher, who guides you to deeper and deeper knowledge, practices and understanding.

2. The End Goal of the Qigong System

“Number One: Heal yourself. Number Two: Help to heal other people. Number Three: Live long and don’t get sick and the final goal is immortality. You are working for the elixir. All things are alchemy.”

Master Mantak Chia, from an interview with Ronnie Robinson, Editor or Tai Chi Chuan and Oriental Arts magazine. (https://taiji-forum.com/tai-chi-taiji/tai-chi-interviews/tai-chi-interview-mantak-chia/)

In the Taoist system, the end goal of all the Qi cultivation practices is a concept called “immortality”.

This is not the idea that the physical body can live forever, but rather that the energy body can. The physical body will always be limited within time and space, and will always have an “expiry date”. The energy body, on the other hand, is a part of us that is not limited in time and space, and can be developed to sustain our deep essence indefinitely.

The idea is that the energy body is something that, through cultivation, develops in strength and possibilities. It begins as (what is called in the Taoist system) “an immortal foetus”, meaning that it begins immature and limited, but through cultivation can develop into a force of nature that defies the limitations of physical matter, space and time.

The end goal of the entire system is for the adherent to withdraw all of the energy from the physical body into the energy body.

There are legends of Taoist masters who, when they “ascend” to immortality, leave only their hair, teeth, fingernails and toenails behind. These are the dead cells of the physical body and so have no life-force within them. The masters are able to get in touch with the life-force within every living cell of their physical bodies, and pull it into the energy body, thus making the energy body full of energy, and with the ability to appear solid – as solid as a physical body – but without any of the limitations of a physical body.

Why is there such a focus on drawing the energy of the physical body into the energy body? The answer is that there is, in fact, a tremendous amount of energy within the physical body.

To illustrate this, consider the nuclear explosions that took place at Hiroshima and Nagasaki when nuclear bombs were dropped during the Second World War. The force of these explosions incinerated everything to dust (total destruction) within a 2km radius, with the shock wave of the blast travelling up to 12 kilometres from the epicentre, knocking down buildings and reducing everything to rubble.

The astonishing fact is that this degree of destruction came from a bomb containing only about 64 kilograms (140 pounds) of uranium-235 or plutonium-239. The energy released in these explosions is a result of nuclear fission, where the nuclei of uranium or plutonium atoms are split, releasing a vast amount of energy. The reason uranium and plutonium are used for these bombs is that their nuclei are unstable and can be split relatively easily, initiating a runaway chain reaction.

The jaw-dropping fact is that this is the amount of energy contained within the nuclei of all matter.

According to Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc², a small amount of matter can be converted into a vast amount of energy. For example, if we could completely convert just 8 grams of any matter into energy, it would release an enormous amount of energy equivalent to about 143 billion joules, which is a theoretical illustration of the immense energy contained within all matter.

If you think about how much you weigh – perhaps 50 kilograms or perhaps 150 kilograms – you then contain within the nuclei of your physical body the energy of a nuclear bomb – or if you weigh 150 kilograms, nearly three times the energy of a nuclear bomb. That’s a lot of energy.

Qigong masters are able to tap into this energy within the physical body and withdraw that energy into their energy bodies. With that degree of power within their energy bodies, they have tremendous abilities but with none of the limitations of a physical body. They are able to fly, walk through walls, survive underwater, travel through time, etc. etc. and also have the ability to appear as solid as a physical human body, so that no-one knows that what they are talking to is actually an energy body only. This is what is referred to as “immortality” according to the Taoist system.

There are echoes of this concept of “immortality” in other traditions as well — though it may be framed differently according to language, culture, and spiritual orientation.

In Indian Yogic philosophy, there are tales of siddhas — realised beings who have attained siddhis (spiritual powers) through intense meditative practice and internal transformation. These beings are said to possess mastery over time, space, and the elements, and are known to appear or disappear at will, live in remote mountain regions unseen by ordinary eyes, and influence the world without ever being physically present.

In Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, highly advanced practitioners are believed to undergo a process known as the rainbow body, where, upon death, the physical body dissolves into light. Monks who attain this are said to leave behind only hair, nails, and robes — strikingly similar to the Taoist stories of ascension. This transformation is not merely metaphorical, but is taken literally by adherents of the tradition, and supported by eyewitness accounts preserved in monastic lineages.

In ancient Egyptian teachings, the concept of the Ka and the Ba — different energetic components of the self — also pointed to a view that the physical body was but one aspect of the human being, and that through purification and alignment, the soul could travel freely beyond the material plane.

Even in Christian mysticism, stories of saints who were able to bi-locate, levitate, or whose bodies did not decay after death speak to a deep awareness of the energetic and spiritual potential that lies beyond ordinary physical life. These may be interpreted not as miracles in a supernatural sense, but as signs of the same deeper principle — that the true self is not limited to flesh and bone, and that through devotion, alignment, and practice, it is possible to embody something far greater.

The Toltec tradition of Mesoamerica, preserved through Nahuatl oral history and later teachings such as those shared by don Miguel Ruiz and Carlos Castaneda, speaks of the cultivation of personal energy as a path toward freedom from the constraints of ordinary perception. The Toltecs believed that through impeccability of action, recapitulation of life experiences, and mastery of awareness, one could consolidate the energy body — sometimes called the double — and prepare it for what they called “total freedom.” This refers to a state in which the practitioner does not die an unconscious death but transforms into a being of pure awareness, leaving behind only the physical shell. Stories abound of Toltec naguals (spiritual leaders) who, having accumulated sufficient personal power, were able to shift into another mode of existence entirely — no longer bound by the material world.

The Australian Aboriginal Dreaming also holds keys to this universal idea. While not expressed in the same energetic language, many Dreamtime stories tell of ancestral beings who walked the earth and then “stepped out” of the physical realm into the Dreaming — a timeless, spaceless reality that continues to inform life today. In some accounts, initiated elders gain the ability to walk between the worlds, merging the physical and spiritual through deep connection with the land and its sacred songlines.

Similarly, in Kabbalistic Jewish mysticism, there is the concept of the Merkavah or “chariot,” a spiritual vehicle developed through mystical ascent and meditation. Ancient practitioners known as Merkavah mystics attempted to journey into the heavenly realms while still alive, merging the soul with divine light and returning transformed. The fully integrated human, in this view, becomes a vessel for divine presence, transcending the limitations of mortality.

Even in Sufi Islam, stories of saints and mystics describe figures who become “invisible,” travel vast distances in moments, or radiate a presence so intense it alters reality around them. These tales, while sometimes poetic or allegorical, echo the same principle: that through devotion, practice, and inner refinement, the human being can awaken to an eternal and luminous self.

Whether we call it the immortal body, the rainbow body, the body of light, the double, or anandamaya kosha, across traditions we find the recognition that human beings have the capacity to awaken and stabilise a higher, more subtle dimension of being — one that transcends the constraints of time, decay, and separation.

The Taoist system is especially practical in how it approaches this profound possibility. It teaches that through steady cultivation — not through belief, but through direct, embodied practice — anyone can begin to accumulate and refine energy, strengthen their internal field, and awaken to the reality of their energetic self.

The path may take years, or lifetimes, but the direction is clear: by working with the Qi of the body, harmonising the emotions, calming the mind, and awakening the spirit, we move closer to our true nature. And along the way, we become healthier, more resilient, more compassionate, and more aligned with the natural world.

This course, and the practices within it, offer a step on that journey. Whether you’re drawn to the promise of longevity, the curiosity of spiritual potential, or simply the desire to feel more alive and connected — the path of energy cultivation is a path worth walking.

Welcome to it.