In his book ‘The Body Electric’ Robert Becker discusses how there is a “Dual Nervous system”, comprised of the well known central nervous system and the not so well known “Peri Neural System”. The Central Nervous system is responsible for activity along the lines of effort and output, for example, neurological charges fire our movements into action. There is a charge, and an output. If we want to punch or grab something, or respond to a stimulus such as a threat, the nervous system is responsible for movement and sensations. We then act. In contrast the perineural nervous system is responsible for healing, repair, and maintenance of the organism. It operates automatically whether we are conscious of it or not, and comes from a source outside of us. The thing they have in common is they they are both associated with bio electrical conduction, which is to say, energy.
One of the main differences between the two systems is the frequency at which they operate. In other words, the distances that they pick up information. The Perineural nervous system is a low conductivity system which can operate over long ranges. One of the benefits of this is that it can “receive” information from afar, much like when a voice is heard through a telephone lines at long range. The voice is heard from afar because it is picked up at several relay points which are far apart. It can be boosted, or amplified, that is to say “received” more clearly the more we tune in to the right frequency and add amplifiers. These telephone lines and booster amplifiers, so to speak, are actually in our bodies, and this is how we receive energy at certain frequencies. Certain mystical practices and Eastern Healers have worked with these regions which they call “Chakras” or “Centres”. This is how the Peri neural system works, and as individuals we are like amplifiers on earth all linked together. As I will show, this energy it picks up is actually in our surrounding atmosphere, even operating between people, who can influence one another subtly.
We have all experienced a lack of energy. What often happens is that we lose concentration in what we are doing, in other words lose the coherent bond between our cells and electrons. The disruption of this subtle system, the perineural system, usually paves the way for various mental imbalances, and later physical problems. What has happened is that we have lost connection to our energy, because we are tuned to the wrong waves and the signal cuts out. We become demagnetised and lacking a charge. Not only do we act more clumsily and get easily agitated, but everything that is done out of tempo and lacks fluidity. There is lots of noise on the line. The problem is, until recently, this “line” was poorly understood, and even today scientists have had trouble identifying it because it is hard to quantify. It exists both within and outside of our physical body and is not easily delineated as inner or outer.
Think of a violinist who wants to play a concert. What does he do before he starts playing? He tunes his instrument so that it resonates at the right pitch, and plays the right notes. Everything he does in then in accord with harmonic sound. The Human body is our instrument and we have to tune it properly, in other words create the right state of tension, and then everything we do is in accord with harmony. This harmony is outside of us in a sense, but extends to the inside of us too. We can view this harmony from two perspectives, which is why in the Chinese tradition they say that the Yin and Yang, inner and outer aspects, are inseparable. Only when we have unified ourselves with this harmony can we play beautiful chords, which symbolically speaking represent our activity, whether that’s Martial Arts or otherwise. Yes, there are outside rhythms and tempos we must tune ourselves to, if we want to receive the harmonious frequencies within us. The same is true in reverse, what we do inside of us has an effect outside of us too.
The Central nervous system fires at relatively “high voltage” by nature, and runs directly through neurological pathways, or nodes, which are closely connected. The Central nervous system is like a high speed rail system which sends information at high volume to specific areas where needed. For example, certain areas of the brain fire rapidly in response to pleasurable stimulate. We are then instinctively drawn to things. In contrast, the Perineural system sends low volume, slow speed information all around the body constantly. It is not all or nothing by natures, and is slow a steady, like the tortoise. It circulates the entire body rhythmically. If we focus and concentrate on it, we can tune and relate ourselves to it. The perineural system is analogue in nature, meaning that it is constantly active, rather than fired at will (traditional nervous system). This means our will must be concentrate on it to unify ourselves to this energy, otherwise it remains external to us.
In the Perineural system, the different points of connection do not need direct physical contact with one another to communicate energy, much like when one tuning fork communicates to another over a vibrational frequency. Yes, this system can operate over vast areas, even out into surrounding space between things. When you vibrate at a certain frequency, which simply means emit a certain charge (personal magnetism), you are said to be “vibrating”. All this means is that if we are to highly positively charged we are operating beyond the capacity of our perineural system, which is “low emission” and slow by nature. If we are not careful, we are then not tuned in to the source but are using up our reserves, our storehouse. This is all well and good, but these reserves eventually run out, which means we needs to tune back in and “recharge”. We should always maintain a link. Basically, by emitting a high charge we are firing the neurons which work alongside the perineural system, but also sometimes against its interests. such “highly charged” activities includes Martial Arts Movements, which are known as hard styles, corresponding to “Yang” in the Chinese tradition. Yin is more meditative.
The Perineural system, which is inseparable from the “living matrix”, (the body and surrounding environment), powers the nervous system. This concept is know as the “Cosmic ocean” by mystics. The living matrix extends outside of the physical body, and out into the air we breath, so life from this perspective is not limited to our visible apparatus, which I will soon go into.
So, to summarise, the two nervous systems run in concert, in other words they overlap. But the thing is they are not the same at all. The Perineural system powers and is responsible for the energy generation of nervous system. Its powers come from outside us and need to be linked up to this source, which is in the atmosphere. The traditional nervous system is responsible for use of that energy within our physical structure.
Now to the main point. The interesting thing is that the energy meridians in Chinese medicine, and Tai Chi practice, correspond to these perineural pathways. Robert Becker, an American Osteopathic Surgeon says in his book “The Body Electric”, that the perineural pathways and the Chi channels describe the same phenomena. From this it is clear that Bioelectricity and Chi energy are actually one and the same. In fact, what the Indian Yogis called Prana energy, or life force is also talking about the same reality. In his book “Qi Gong meditation”, Dr Yang tells us that the Chinese had no idea about Electricity for thousands of years, and they simply called it Chi energy. Dr Yang goes on to show that bioelectricity and Chi are analogous. He says he is convinced that “our entire body is essentially a big battery”.
In his book simply titled “Health Guide” the Spiritual Master Peter Duenov describes “the living electricity and the living magnetism… called by the Hindus Prana.” He also says “Two types of natural power pass: Positive and negative electricity”. He goes on to describe how a highly magnetised individual can “influence the minds and the hearts of the surrounding people”, that is to say the thoughts and feelings. There has been some recent discussion, for example in a book called “The gnostic Gospels”, that Jesus was practicing a kind of Energy healing which he is reputed to have picked up from the East. The story goes that around that time, 2,000 years ago, there was a recently opened trade route, the silk Road, and it is thought that Jesus might have gone to India. Anyway, Peter Duenov describes how this prana, or magnetism travels up the spine and to the brain which he describes a “dynamo, an accumulator of electricity”. Known simply as the Master, Peter Duenov used to take his disciples up into the Bulgarian mountains, where he said the influence of the earths magnetic field was at its strongest.
In this big battery which is our body, the Hara Centre is the main storehouse1. This is according to Eastern tradition. This is the physical centre which balances everything. Now, the Chinese divide the body into two kinds, Yin and Yang. Yin corresponds to the passive inner state, in other words the Perineural system I have been discussing. If you remember, this perineural system (Yin) receives energy at a steady slow rate when active. The Yang side of things refers to high activity and importantly high current, associated with the Spine and brain area (nervous system), in other words high voltage action.
Yin and Yang are like two polarities of a magnet, one is positive and the other negative, but are inseparable and two manifestations of the same reality. The positive is the Hara Centre, and the negative is the Brain and Spine. However, the Indian Yogis tell us the the left brain is positive, and the right negative (the right side of the brain controls the left and vice versa). So manifestation of polar opposites interacting are in fact visible at all levels. As you can see, this gets very complicated and whether something is “positive” or “negative” depends on the context. But lets leave all that for now, it would take too long to cover.
The Spine and Brain do not actually produce electrical energy, or chi, but consume it. In other words there is not much resistance along the spine, it is thought to be highly conductive or if you like “receptive” of energy (negative). And so the spine (negative) is linked up to the Hara Centre (positive), and the Hara Centre produces physical energy, and is highly positively charged, that is to say emissive of energy. The Hara centre can be thought of as the battery through which the positive charge is sent to the brain and spine (negative/receptive). This is why so much emphasis is placed on meditation and postural alignment in Eastern Practices, it is a way of charging or conserving the battery power by “turning off” the brain, or changing the current. You then switch polarity to outwardly manifest this energy, or as they call it “Chi”. This, meditation is not simply a matter of resting or sitting idly. It is an intense form of concentration, before you “expand” outwardly. This explains why people who overuse their nervous system, in other words over work themselves physically and mentally, do not recuperate enough, and then burn out.
On the skin are conductors of energy, which is where the meridians can be traced in Chinese acupuncture. So how does this Chi energy get to the spine, which is also a good conductor of energy, from outside of the body? For Chi or Prana energy to get through, it must pass through layers of “low conductivity” such as fat and other tissues. Obviously we get energy from food and other sources, but think about how these sources receive energy. What I am talking about bioelectrical energy, which actually comes from the sun and is found in the earths electromagnetic field. This is the source of Chi energy, or if you like the perineural energy, which if you remember can absorbed energy from long distances, and is amplified by “relay points”. One such relay point is the Human perineural system. Also, the earths electromagnetic field acts as such a relay point from the sun, and in fact we have our own energy field surrounding our own physical body, like the earth does, which I will explain shortly. Basically, our body interacts with the Earths Electromagnetic field and has its own “field”.
Let me illustrate with another analogy, one we are all familiar with, that of the famous Physicist Gravasande. In this example, from the experiment where a series of 8 balls are suspended alongside each other, only the two outside balls bounce left and right outwardly on either side of the row. A familiar scene in an office set up. The other balls in-between remain motionless, but actually act as transmitters of energy for the two outside balls which swing left and right respectively. A raw energy from the moving balls has been absorbed and transmitted through a dense layer (motionless balls) and out again to the other side as high energy. The perineural system receives low frequency subtle energy from the environment and slowly makes its way through the harder layers (skin and flesh). These hard layers are like the balls in the middle of the Gravasande experiment. These balls, or areas of the body, apparently are not affected by energy from the outside, but are actually transmitters from one area to the other.
Now to start with, the energy from outside of us would have originated from highly charged source (the sun) but comes to us in the form of low charge (chi, or bioelectricity). This makes it more refined and useable to our bodies. We then “transmit” this energy through the nervous system through action. This “universal energy” or Prana as the Yogis call it, also penetrates the earths atmosphere as visible light, as well as other manifestations and so on but lets not get into all that, it would take all day. Basically, through the perineural nervous system, we are merely experiencing energy from something that is far away and would burn us to a crisp if experienced directly in all its intensity. It is the human form of an original source, which is formless.
If you remember, Low frequency energy (slow vibrations) can transmit across vast distances, and even through obstacles which might be in the way (resistance). They are received at certain “antennae” relay points, and the effects are “amplified” by interactions with other processes within the body. Everything is connected and part of a piece. High frequency charge, when is has been internalised and transformed, requires low resistance (spine and brain). The lower frequency transmitter is the perineural, or chi system, acting on the physical body through the intermediary of the nervous system and other organs. In other words some forms of energy (chi) can pass through high resistance(muscle, fat, etc.,), so long as the current keeps flowing over long periods and we continue to work with this energy. It is the same process as how water burrows into a rockface over time, or how the tortoise by constant small efforts outdoes the hare. The important thing to remember is energy is experienced at different levels of manifestation, not all of them obvious.
Breathing and thought are necessary for this process of transferring energy, or rejuvenation. When we breath properly, aligning our spine and focusing our concentration on the internal energies, we activate the various Centres within the Spine which the Indian Yogis call the Chakras. These are areas of high conductivity in relation to electrical energy, or prana. The Solar plexus is one of these areas. This is how we can power the vital organs and processes, rather than passing them through the nervous system and outwardly.
These chakras are areas of energy which can indirectly affect other regions (such as the heart and lungs) by drawing on subtle energies from our surrounding organism and atmosphere. The solar plexus can in fact influence the activity of the heart and therefore blood flow, which is why it is known as the true heart in some traditional systems, such as Chinese medicine. The confusion lies in the fact that the solar plexus powers the heart and is therefore seen as the source of its activity by Spiritual healers. Air is needed to power the diaphragm, which acts on the solar plexus. The nerves here at the plexus can stimulate heart activity, and through the nervous system blood flow can increase and health can flourish. All I am saying is that everything is connected and acts on each other, which is how a subtle energy can become powerful, or a small charge can become high voltage.
Blood is inseparable from what the Chinese call Chi energy, or Prana as the Yogis call it, In other words Bio electricity, which comes from the air. There are certain substances in the blood which are highly receptive of prana energy. Blood, which is associated with feeling and water, is responsible for transporting and flowing energy around the body to keep us healthy. This blood is like a perimeter fence that must be kept charged with energy. It is the breathing exercises, which work indirectly on the blood flow, and this blood flow is responsible for chemical reactions. Thus air acts upon water, which acts upon the earth surface (body).
Air (electrical energy) is controlled and directed by the mind. In other words, intelligent direction of the bodies forces, bioelectricity, requires our brain to control this flow. This is how thought can power everything. This is why the Chinese Chi Practitioners say “The Chi Starts with thought”2. Thought is all powerful and just by thinking we set in motion subtle changes which over time lead to big transformations in health, wellbeing, and power. Not tomorrow or the next day necessarily, but over time. But starting today ensures future success. But part of the equation is belief, and without that it becomes impossible to harness these subtle energies. By lacking in belief, giving way to doubt, you thereby limit the powers of the imagination and subjective feelings, which engender a certain rejuvenation.
What I touched upon before was that the Bioelectricity we receive from the environment comes principally from the earths electrical field. This comes from the Sun and the universal energies of the cosmos. In other words, if we are receptive to the earths energies (Yin) then we can manifest Yang (outward action) more safely without depleting our energy storehouse. If you remember, this energy storehouse resides in the Hara Centre, which draws from subtle energies such as Chi (Low frequency) before making its way through the body – which often offers high resistance. To overcome this resistance requires work, harnessing the powers of the mind, body, and spirit. Low frequency waves (Chi) can operate through the nervous system (high voltage, low resistance) producing powerful Martial Arts manifestations. That is if we transform the subtle into visible. If we do this too much, we break our link to the source, by becoming too positively charged the nervous systems burns us out. The Chinese refer to this as “Too much Yang”. Mediation is a “Yin” activity and is a way of reversing the polarity.
Importantly, if we are constantly using our nervous system for all kinds of adventures without linking up to the source, the result is an unstable charge and even an explosion. Of course, if we are never outwardly manifesting energy then we lower the demand for it and become slow, dull, and lethargic, so there is a balance to be struck.
As I was saying, the earths magnetic field powers our own magnetic field, or electric body, which is replica of our physical body. The Chinese Sages call this the Chi body, which they believe is a living entity, and actually extends outside of the perimeter of the physical body slightly. Other “occult” systems call this the aura, the spiritual body, or the body of light. To create this chi body relies more upon constant vigilance and small efforts4, rather than all or nothing one off efforts typical of the traditional nervous system. In other words, work with chi or prana, requires work at the level of our perineural system, rather than using up the resources of our traditional nervous system. At the moment, people so often prefer one of maximal efforts, and then they feel they should switch off the rest of the time! But there is no void, no inactivity, just a change of state, a change of form.
Of course, ideas such as the aura are considered nonsense by science, however there is now a scientific basis for an electric body3. It is powered by Nature (earths atmosphere), and the earth also interacts with space and the Universe by manifesting universal energy (or radiation) in varying ways. For example, the sun is seen as visible light we see with our eyes, and at the same time forms subtle radio waves which are experienced through other more subtle apparatus in the body (perineural system). We need to boost our amplifiers, which are the Chakras and subtle centres, the meridians of Chinese acupuncture.
Of course, people often prefer to use the more readily available energies of the instincts5, rather than use them to power a more refined energy system. In the same way, primitive man preferred to rub to sticks together to make heat, rather than use that heat to create a power plant and power a whole city. Heat is just one aspect of light, or energy, it can be experienced across more subtle centres if they are developed. Another analogy, which I have used is how the instincts correspond to the troops, and the mind is the General. A lot of the time, people let the troops run the show whilst their general slacks off. Of course this is just a way of saying the body (troops) should be led by the mind (General).
The System of Chinese medicine explains to us that Chi is obtained from sunlight, at a slow and steady frequency, best obtained through meditation and Tai Chi practice. This is why they practice at Sunrise, when the suns energies are strongest. Peter Duenov also explained this, and instituted the practice of meditating at Sunrise in the mountains of Bulgaria. Through activity, this life force energy can then be chemically converted into various hormones, such as adrenaline, which as you can see has its origins in light energy, or electrical energy outside of us. This is the source, and it manifests itself differently depending on our thoughts and actions. In this way it is possible to regenerate yourself and vibrate in Harmony with the universe, if you channel it in a certain way. This is the basis of “energy healing”. At first work of this nature can be tedious, however as the results begin to flood in it becomes more and more important and self evident. For example, you don’t get bored of eating the same food all the time, because the results are apparent.
Various traditional practices, such as Tai Chi, Yoga, and others, have always emphasised the importance vibrating in Harmony with Nature. What they are getting at is that you can “tune in” to these vibrations, which is the same as saying “receive the light”. This is the same phenomenon as two tuning forks vibrating together accorss long distances. They pick up each others vibrations and resonate together, even though physically they are apart. This is true of people and how they interact with nature. You speak and you are heard, so long as you resonate in Harmony with the right frequency (long or short). This can be done in all our activities, especially meditation, and in this way the smallest visible actions contain the greatest meaning if viewed correctly, because they generate powerful results with commitment, will power, and patience. Through meditation we can tune in to a different reality of light (vibrations), which is not the same as seeing it with our physical eyes, but is more a quality of thought and feeling, the will in action.
References
1 The Hara Centre https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/10/25/the-hara-centre/
2 Balance, Ida and Pingala, Yin and Yang, Mental and Physical https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/04/05/balance-ida-pingala-ying-and-yang-mental-and-physical/
3 Energy Medicine – In this book published by Elsevier (no micky mouse publisher), there is an extensive catalogue of Scientific knowledge on the subject. An interesting discovery was that DNA contains “antennae” which pick up electromagnetic waves.
4 Stay in the Centre https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/01/28/stay-in-the-centre/
5 The General and the Troops https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/04/02/the-general-and-the-troops/
