“And this system was invented by the Chinese?” asked Andrew.

“Not really,” answered the Teacher. “It is the Hindu system of self-regulation, which migrated to China at the beginning of a new era.”

“I’ve read that there exist different types of Qigong.” As always, Kostya put in his remark. “I think there are two different schools.”

“There are a lot more of them,” said Igor Mikhailovich. “In the modern world there are plenty of different schools of Qigong. For example, Confucian, Buddhist, medical, military…”

“Medical?” I shuddered. “What does it heal?”

“Many diseases.”

“So, we need only to breathe the right way?” Andrew interrupted my next question.

“Not only. You also need to think the right way. There is a saying that ‘a thought guides Qi, and Qi guides the blood.’ Blood is like the ambulance of the body; it includes all necessary medical supplies. In the very ancient medical treatise Huangdi Neijin, it is said that ‘when a thought rests in stillness it is free.’ It means that you can master Qi. The human who thinks the right way has good health.”

“To put it short, a sound mind can only exist in a healthy body,” Kostya made a conclusion for himself.

“Not really. I would say, with healthy thoughts there will be a sound mind, and with a sound mind will be a healthy body.”

“Could you please explain to me, you always emphasize the importance to think the right way, both during physical trainings and now,” remarked Andrew. “But for some reason, before I thought that all we need is just to act the right way. Because thoughts can be different during the choice of action: both good and bad.”

“That’s where you waste priceless time on the struggle with your own self. You shouldn’t have to choose between a good and a bad thought because you shouldn’t have any negative thoughts in your mind at all. The goal of the Highest Art, the Art of Lotus, is to learn the proper way of thinking; in other words, ‘to kill a Dragon inside,’ or ‘to conquer a Dragon.’ Have you heard of such an expression?”

“Yes.”

“That is the purpose. The greatest victory is the victory over yourself. What does that mean? It means to win your own negative thoughts, to control them, and to control your emotions. I repeat once again, there shouldn’t be anything ne-ga-tive in your mind. Only positive thoughts! Then you won’t need to spend time fighting with yourself, and your doings will always be positive. Peace should be first of all inside of you. Peace and harmony.”

“So, it means that human thought is reflected in any action?” asked Andrew, thinking about something known only to him.

“It is not only reflected, it guides all action. Because the thought is material.”

“Material?” It was Nikolai Andreevich’s turn to be surprised.

“Of course. It’s a much finer substance, not studied enough yet. But it does exist, it is real, its movements are traced. There have been many effective experiments on psychics and psychic phenomena. There were experiments with our own psychics; for example, Nina Kulagina, Julia Vorobieva, and many others. I don’t even mention the rich world practice. This research is conducted all over the world, although it is known by different names. For example, in England it is known as mental investigation. In France it is ‘metapsychics’, in countries of Eastern Europe ‘psychotronics’, in the U.S. ‘parapsychology’, in China ‘investigations into extraordinary functions of the human body’, and so on.

“And if you look deeply into the history of mankind, you will find there is much evidence that it was known from the earliest of times. In all mythical, magical, and religious views and teachings of people, a firm belief exists that it is possible to influence anyone and anything through thoughts, regardless of the distance, time, and space. In other words, generally speaking, this knowledge has always existed.”