Putting Out a Candle

[I:http://www.uniquearticlewizard.com/extras/pics/bowzerimage14.jpg]One of the less spectacular feats in the martial arts, and yet one of the most important, is how to put out a candle. Interestingly, with just a little bit of practice almost anyone can put out a candle, it is that simple. Unfortunately, most people reach the point where they can do it, then stop, but that is where they should begin their study, for doors are about to be opened.

The basic principle of putting out a candle is to let the woosh of air drain oxygen from the flame by stopping your fist an inch from the candle. There is much higher ability available, however, if one continues to pursue this simple trick. One can, for instance, put out a flame from across the room.

When you stop the fist you are learning to focus your muscles, and thus it is on a physical level. To pursue the technique to a higher level you must not concentrate stopping the muscles, but on letting the mind go. By letting the mind go you unloose your intention, and that is the key to real higher ability.

Try stopping your fist two inches from the candle. The air is not be effected because your fist is too far away. Now, to make the candle flicker and go out, you must rely on intention.

Actually, it is better to start this second stage of training at about a foot, although you may have to experiment, even up to a dozen feet or more, to find the distance that is best for developing your intention. When you flick the fist you must watch the candle. Do not watch it hard, but rather increase your relaxation. Relaxation is the key to making this trick work.

Your real body is the bubble of world that you perceive, it is not the fleshy envelope you are wearing. Thus, you must learn to desire to effect what is outside your body. And, just like a light in a bulb, perceptions work best through space.

Through space, a vacuum, nothingness, emptiness. Not air, or even brick or wood, or other things which, though they appear real, are merely ideas held in place to support the idea of your real body.

What I have said here is alien concept to most people, and it even frightens some, for it strikes to the heart of the matter of our existence in the cosmos. The heart of the matter of our existence in the cosmos aside, space, that nothingness in which we place the universe, is the most important thing…behind the structure of the universe. So place the candle across the room, still the mind until it is as peaceful as a coal mine at midnight, and practice launching your relaxed and certain intention, and a few dozen hours practice will enable you to see what I am talking about.