A Christian’s Attack on Buddhism, Feng Shui, and Qigong – 走出風水陣

Ref: http://www.torontostm.com/truthmonthly/86/01.html

Here is my email to the pastor in response to the above article:

Dear Rev. Tse,

Thank you so much for responding to my email, Rev. Tse.

As a Buddhist, I also find some other unfair remarks made by the author of  走出風水陣 since the article should have been re-titled as 走出氣功陣! Yes,  qigong, or 氣功, is a debatable practice of breathing techniques that could have therapeutic value but, then again, sometimes could lead to serious pathological implications and complications if practised “incorrectly”.  The problem with qigong is to define one’s comfort zone and what should be considered acceptably and correctly safe and unsafe practice, which is totally outside the scope of the context of my email.

What I find disturbing is that the author used guilty by association to relate Buddhism and Feng Shui (風水) to qigong.

Firstly, the author mentioned his cardiac disorder and was totally cured after giving up  three of his favourite pastime, namely Buddhism, qigong and Feng Shui. I really cannot see why Buddhism can be a cause for his cardiac disorder but Feng Shui and qigong could definitely be the culprit .  In other words, if he were a Christian while he was practising qigong,  it would have brought him good health too for abandoning qigong and Christianity at the same time!  A noteworthy point about qigong is that qigong is not practised only by a select few of Buddhists, it is also practised by Taoists, martial artists and the general public who might be fascinated by some of the promises (sometimes false promises) made by the qigong practitioners

Secondly,  Feng Shui, a unique branch of Chinese studies, is widely accepted in the non-Christian world as a study of the environment and its effect on oneself.  Yes, I concur that there are elements of Feng Shui that could find their roots in some unknown means that could be branded superstition, especially by Christians, but dismissing Feng Shui totally as something evil, I think, is quite irresponsible.

Sorry for seemingly ranting non-stop but I promise this will be the last of my emails expressing  discontent with the articles in the Truth Monthly.

Again, thank you so much for your time both in reading my emails and for producing an excellent newspaper for both Christians and non-Christians alike.