The movements in the Moves & Meditations series are traditional Chi Kung movements and postures that have been practiced for thousands of years for their health benefits.  In New Creation Body Prayer the traditional nature imagery is set to the narrative of the Genesis 1 creation story, retaining the original meditative and healing qualities in a Judeo-Christian framework. People of all faiths can be inspired with this practice.  Check out other Moves & Meditations in the Blog Archive!

In the creation story Genesis 1:1 comes before creation of world, time and human beings. Therefore, all pressures related to these dimensions of life can be released as we do this movement and live into the eternal moment, the eternal Presence, into Being.

Here are specific instructions about how to enter into the peaceful state of “In the Beginning.”

“Heaven” or “Preparation;” also known as “Infinity” or “Wu Ji.”

1. 1.Stand with the feet together with knees slightly bent
   

2. 2.The sacrum is tucked so the back is flat.
   

3. 3.The crown of the head is the highest point and the body is suspended as from a string through the crown of the head.
   

4. 4.The chin is tucked in
   

5. 5.The shoulders are back and relaxed.  
   

6. 6.The arms and hands hang in a relaxed but alert fashion.
   

7. 7.The tip of the tongue should touch the palate behind the upper front teeth
   

8. 8.Relax the body and quiet the mind. Let go of all thoughts, feelings, tension. The world and all of its distractions do not yet exist. Fix your eyes softly on a distant point, as if you are staring into infinity. If you want to focus on one thought in order to center yourself, you might use “I AM”, a way of referring to the sacred name YHVH that is unpronounceable.
   

9. 9.Breathe
   

10. 10.This position is a fundamental one to Chi Kung. Many people who practice Chi Kung do only standing meditations. You may begin by doing one minute and gradually work up, minute by minute, to much longer times of an hour or more.
    

Visualize yourself as being in and with God’s creative possibilities in the eternal moment before Creation. There is no physical matter, no time, no space, no human beings, no stress. There is only God. God’s energy flows in you and through you freely without any obstruction. Feel the stillness penetrate every part of your being. There is only stillness.

Only God exists and we cannot fathom the mind of God. God says, “Your thoughts are not my thoughts” (Isaiah 55). Therefore, we quiet our thoughts in reverence.  If you have a thought that comes into your mind, gently recognize that it is there and then let it go and simply be still.

If there are feelings of stress, recall that there is no time in this eternal moment.  Breathe and relax.

                          

If thoughts of people come in, recall that there are no people in this moment before time. Breathe and relax.

Keep the eyes soft and focused on a distant point as though looking into infinity, perhaps as though seeing through to the other side of a cloud or into the space between stars.

God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” It is only when we become still in our innermost beings that we enter into the mind and heart of God.

Further Meditation

Live into the some of the thoughts below that are connected

with this posture or create your own meditations.

1. •“In the beginning, God.  Genesis 1:1
   

2. •Single
   

3. •Whole, Full, Complete, All
   

4. •Infinite
   

5. •A state of being
   

6. •All naming references are inadequate. The Name that can be pronounced is not THE NAME.
   

7. •The name YHVH is unpronounceable. Jews substitute Adonai for this name. We may refer to it as I AM or in other ways, knowing that all attempts at naming fall infinitely short.
   

8. •In Genesis 1:1 God is Elohim, indicating a plurality within the One.
   

9. •This is also the God of the Shema:  Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God is One God. (Lord is YHVH, referred to as Adonai)
   

10. •Since we are doing Tai Chi, it is interesting to hear what Chuan Tzu, a great Chinese poet said about the Tao and to see how it relates to our own idea of God:
    

The Tao has its reality and its signs but is without action or form. You can hand it down but you cannot receive it; you can get it but you cannot see it. It is its own source, its own root.  Before heaven and earth existed, it was there, firm from ancient times.  It gave spirituality to the spirits and to God; it gave birth to heaven and to earth. It exists beyond the highest point, and yet you cannot call it lofty; it exists beneath the limit of the six directions, and yet you cannot call it deep.  It was born before heaven and earth, and yet you cannot say it has been there for long; it is earlier than the earliest time, and yet you cannot call it old.