Chi serves as the mysterious bridge between God and humanity
"Chi and the Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit share many commonalities. The Old Testament ruach and the New Testament pneuma carry the same ambiguity of multiple meanings, as does Chi, such as 'breath, air, wind or soul.' The word ruach has its etymological origin in air, which manifests itself in two distinctive forms; that of wind in nature and that of breath in living things. Because God as Spirit manifests herself as wind, or ruach, she is also Chi...
The cosmic dimension of Spirit is expressed in the idea of Chi, the vital energy which is the animating power and essence of the material body. The Spirit is also breath in living things. Breath is none other than wind, the movement of air or ether in the living, which is also Chi. While wind brings nature to life, breath makes the living alive. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God's breath is identified with life-giving power (Genesis 6:17, Num. 16:22, Ps. 104:29; Eccles. 3:1, Isaiah 37:6 etc.) and the Spirit becomes a life-giving power in the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-20; Luke 1:15, 35, 37). In these passages, we notice that Chi, the vital energy, which has her origin in God, is the life force of living creatures. Human beings live and die because of the breath of life, Spirit or Chi, which penetrates our entire bodies. If healing is associated with the circulation of Chi, it is certainly true that the Spirit as breath is not only the power that sustains and restores life but also the power that changes and transforms all living things. Therefore, it is important to allow Chi not only to heal our physical bodies, but also our mental and spiritual entities as well. All these concepts emanate the life giving Spirit which is in all things and is the Spirit God has provided us. It is the spiritual energy which inhabits all of us as it is an utterly dynamic living and vital force. Chi serves as the mysterious bridge between God and humanity.
Chi, like pneuma, is translated as 'breath,' 'energy,' 'ether' or 'material force,' but is better rendered as 'matter-energy.' Chi is pervasive in the universe, giving rise to all things, endowing them with life and energy. It is a substrative psycho-physical reality underlying the world as it appears to our consciousness and corresponding in a way to the pneuma of the ancient Greeks. The Great Ultimate is full of Chi. Chi is not only all-pervasive reality but also undifferentiated singleness. According to this concept of Chi, the distinction between wind and breath is simply one of modes of manifestation. Chi is the essence of all life and all existence. Without Chi, life does not exist and if there is no Spirit, nothing living can exist. God as the life-giving spirit is the proper source of life and strength. In a derivative sense, ruach also denotes the life-force of the individual (Judges 15:19) and of the group (Num. 16:22).
Chi is the ultimate reality and is immanent in all things. Because all things in the universe consists of Chi, no being can exist apart from Chi. There is no place where there is no Chi; the sky, the sun and the moon are accumulated Chi. This notion of the Spirit as Chi assists us in reaffirming the idea of divine immanence or Immanuel, God is with us. Due to interchangeability of Chi and Spirit, the concept can be captured in the combined term of Spirit/Chi. This means that God is in all things, which allows one to realize that everything exists in God and that everything exists because of God.
Andrew F. Walls, Akintunde E. Akinade, A New Day
Peter Lang Pub Inc (Jun 15 2010) pp. 293-95
"The qi must have something to do with the pneuma mentioned by Jesus"
Spirit and Qi
"In Christianity the Spirit is God permeating God's own creation. According to the creation study in the Hebrew Scriptures, 'a wind [spirit] from God swept over the face of the waters' in the beginning of creation (Gen. 1:2).. Hence, the primary mission of the Spirit has to do with life, creating it, sustaining it and directing it towards its future destiny. The Spirit is the source of life, not only of the present life but of eternal life as well. The Spirit is within creation, but is not conditioned by creation.
Chinese theologians Chang Chun-shen and C. S. Song suggest that this Sprit is what the Chinese would call qi—air, breath and spirit. According to the teachings of Confucianism and Taoism, qi is the material origin of all things; it is at the same time the origin of the life-force and energy moving into action. Or rather it is in itself equipped with life-giving properties and energy for action. The following is a standard expression of qi:
Ch'i [qi] fills the space between heaven and earth. Heaven and earth themselves, all things between heaven and earth, are all constituted by ch'i. Because of ch'i everything between heaven and earth moves, changes, and functions. It itself moves and moves all things. It is the subject of changes and movements and the origin that causes them. Human beings and animal-plant life also consist of ch'i. The human body is filled with ch'i which comes and goes. The ch'i within the human body and the ch'i outside it are the same ch'i and interpenetrate one another.
The qi must have something to do with the pneuma mentioned by Jesus. 'The pneuma [air, wind or spirit] blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes' (Jn 3:8). This is the mystery of pneuma and qi. It is wind as well as spirit. It moves and works like wind, blowing where it wills. This actually is similar to the Old testament concepts of 'soul' and 'breath' and 'soul'.”
Zhihua Yao, In the Power of the Spirit
Tripod 91 (Jan.-Feb. 1996), pp. 29-30
Amazon Product Review
"Are there correlations between the Holy Spirit of the Christian tradition and the Chi of the Asian traditions? In tackling this huge and complex question Kim boldly and provocatively opens up whole new vistas on pneumatology and shows that in our global age theology can no longer be done from just one, up to now Eurocentric and androcentric, perspective. We are all in Kim's debt for this enlightening and enriching theological adventure.” - Peter C. Phan, The Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Theology Department, Georgetown University
"Any pluralist Christian may draw energy and insight from Kim's comparative theology of Chi. She offers a spirited strategy, always clear and hopeful, for at once decolonizing our old exclusivism and empowering a fresh and healing planetary cooperation.” - Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew Theological School; author of On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process
"The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other is well researched, theologically creative, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural. The book is rich in both content and meaning. Kim's sophisticated treatment of the Spirit is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Global Theology. This book will be extremely useful for students and scholars in religious studies, theology, and cultural studies. It is a telling testimony to Kim's intellectual vitality, fine scholarship, and daring originality.” - Akintunde E. Akinade, Visiting Professor of Theology, Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Doha, Qatar
"It is in taking just such a wide angle view of its subject, and doing it with considerable attention to detail, that The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other maps out a rich landscape for further exploration. It will be an excellent resource for students and teachers, and a very helpful point of departure for scholars in theology, religious studies, and social and cultural criticism.” - Stephen Simmons, Moravian Theological Seminary
"Whether one agrees ultimately with Kim, The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other does the hard work of bringing Christian theology into dialogue with Eastern traditions. In an increasingly shrinking global village, Christians can no longer avoid doing theology only with Western resources. Kim provides one model of how this essential work is to be done. May many others take up this important task.” - Amos Yong, J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology, Regent University School of Divinity
"I highly recommend Kim's work as a fine piece of the kind of contextual theology we very much need today in the area of the Holy Spirit and Chi, given the widespread awareness and culture of Chi in so many parts of the world, especially in East Asia. She should be complimented on a very promising pioneering work.” - Anselm K. Min, Dean and John D. and Lilian Maguire Distinguished Professor of Religion, The School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University
Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com
New Look at Enriching our Idea of the Holy Spirit.
By B. Maroldon October 11, 2011 - Published on Amazon.com
Dr. Kim's book addresses the post-colonial dialectic between the center versus the marginal, the coming together versus the preservation of identity, and what insights that Eastern understandings of Chi (wind, breath) can offer to our often neglected third of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Feminist and other contextualist theologies devalue the un-knowable, transcendental aspects of Christian philosophy, inherited from Plato, and sustained up until Kant's critique. They also abhor the negation of self found in Kenosis. To preserve the self and celebrate the praxis required by the conditions in which we find ourselves, Dr. Kim raises the banner of the ancient disciplines of China, India, Japan, and Korea in understanding that way in which the spirit acts on and with us. The Christian scriptures say much about the healing power of the spirit, yet they say not one jot or tittle regarding how it is that happens, possibly due to the scripture's devaluing the physical, the "flesh". Eastern thought never makes that separation, so it devotes deep thought to Chi as a vital spirit, and thousands of years of praxis on physical disciplines treating the "whole person" such as acupuncture and Tai Chi.
Please note: I am a student of Dr. Kim, and I assisted to some extent in helping to edit this book.
boundary crossing book
By farinelon December 14, 2012 - Published on Amazon.com
Dr.Kim sets the agenda for the coming century of theological research by boldly urging that reflection and catechisis draw on the "hybridity" characteristic of today's world. She challenges the legacy of an attenuated and vapid platonism within christian tradition, with its implied denegration of the body. As a leader of adult education classes in a very multicutural parish, i find her concepts refreshing and liberating. As a deep reader of Calvin, i am delighted that dr. Kim, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian church, shares Calvin's belief that we cannot know who is "saved"; she suggests with PANNIKAR that revelation is complex and infinite, not bound to western categories of thought , and always opening us to freedom and newness. In that sense she breaks new ground, as Amos Yong has done, in the emerging and exciting field of pneumatology.
An Accessible Pneumatology
By J Choon April 17, 2012 - Published on Amazon.com
Dr. Kim does a comprehensive work in presenting the multi-layerd connections between Holy Spirit and Chi. it's highly technical, but still accessible and compelling. Her incorporation of an Eastern notion of "spirit" thickens and deepens the Christian theological understanding of Holy Spirit in practical ways. These days when so many cultures and religions are interfacing on a regular basis it is refreshing to have a resource that does so honestly, articulately, and courageously. There's no loss of authenticity or faithfulness to Christian faith here, nor any inkling of dilution, which is often a concern for those who criticize inter-religious dialogue. This is the age of the Holy Spirit, and engaging and allowing ourselves to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit is crucial for the sake of God's Kingdom.
"Paul portrays a Spirit-Christology and Jesus is understood to be raised to new life by the Spirit (Rom. 1:4). The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19) and it is through the Spirit that the believer is able to confess that "Jesus is Lord' (1. Cor. 12:1-3). Therefore, to be "in Christ' and "in the Spirit' are the same. Just as God and Spirit are the same, the Spirit cannot be experienced apart from Christ (1 Cor. 12:3). Christ is portrayed as "a life giving Spirit' (1 Cor. 15:45) and the Spirit works to give illumination and divine revelation in the face of affliction (1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; 2 Cor. 3:14-17). As a result, the believer has a responsibility to live her life in the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:4-6, 14; Gal. 5:16, 18, 25). This responsibility should not be taken lightly as one should not ignore the depth of the Spirit's power. Walking in the power of the Spirit is life-changing as the Spirit becomes an agent through which changes and transformation can occur.
Johannine pneumatology (from the Greek, pneuma, meaning breath, comparable to the Hebrew word for spirit) shows the Spirit's life-giving power of water and breath: rebirth (John 3:5-8), spring of life (John 4:14; 6:63; 7:38-39), and new creation (John 20:22; cf. Gen. 2:7; Ezek. 37:9). The Johannine Epistles speak of anointing (1 John 2:20, 27) and Jesus has been given the Spirit (John 3:34). The Spirit is named "other Paraclete' (14:16) which implies that Jesus is the first (1 John 2:1). The term parakletos (from para+kalein) means "one called alongside to help' and thus is an advocate or witness (John 14:26). The Spirit becomes a source of inspiration and vision as people feel the presence of the Spirit around them. The Spirit also becomes an indispensable aspect of living ass it becomes an advocate for us to help us live a life of good stewardship.”
Colonialism, Han, and the Transformative Spirit
Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Palgrave Pivot (April 18, 2013) p. 73
“The Kundalini rises through a very thin line of Brahmanadi. In the beginning only a hair like thing rises, it pierces through. In some people, of course, in a big way it rises also. And then it pierces this fontanel bone area which is a real baptism, real. Today only people felt the Cool Breeze (Chi) coming out of their heads. Can you do that by jumping, or by paying money? They felt the Cool Breeze (Chi) in the hand. it's written in the Bible, even in the Bible very clearly, that it's the Cool Breeze (Chi). Cool Breeze (Chi) is the sign of the Holy Ghost. You start feeling the Cool Breeze (Chi) in your hands and you start feeling the Cool Breeze (Chi) on your head. This is the actualization.”
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
"Jesus lived on this earth in one time in one area; the Paraclete dwells within every believer for all times (14:15-17). Thus the Paraclete is more intimate and enduring presence. It should now be clear why in discussing Johannine ecclesiology, we may see the Paraclete concept as another facet of John's emphasis on the relationship of the individual to the Jesus. Just as Jesus represents on earth the Father who sent him, the Paraclete represents Jesus on earth Jesus who sent him. Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9); it would we equally possible for Johannine Jesus to say, "Whoever has received the Paraclete has received me" (see 14:17)
An especially emphasized aspect of the representative role of the Paraclete is a teacher. In 14:15-17 Jesus says to his disciples, "If you love me and keep my commandments, then at my request the Father will give you another Paraclete ... the Spirit of Truth.” (152) He continues, "The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you" (14:26).” (Brown 2002, 107-8)
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“Now those who have got Realization and those who have felt the Cool Breeze (Chi) and have matured in Sahaja Yoga know that automatically you drop out many things, automatically. Now why do we do it, you see, why do we drop things? Even I don't ask you for it, you just drop them, why? The reason is the light of the Spirit within ourselves empowers us to see that this is wrong. Like as we have got eyes, once we have eyes we know whether we are going to fall here, or we are going to slip, or what's going to happen. In the same way, when you get this vibratory awareness, it is not an awareness only of the fingers, is the awareness of the whole being and you just drop out everything that is against your Spirit. I don't have to tell you. But without Self-Realization what happens that reality is just a myth. it's only a mental projection with which you live. You project your mind and you think this is reality. You can call anything as reality. Any hallucination can be a reality, any theory can be a reality, any absurd ideas could be a reality. I mean all religions have taken that form now, it's very sad.
But all religions, which came from truth and from reality, are nothing but mental projections, and they're very far away from reality. You can only feel, understand and assimilate reality if you are a self-Realized person. Unless and until this Self has expressed itself or manifested within yourself, the light has come into you, how are you to manage? Whatever you try is a mental projection. Like many people who came first: 'Oh, we believe that we are born again.' All right, now how can you challenge it, if you believe into something? 'I believe' is the one of the great sentences we use. But what is that I that believes? That's that ego. That's not your Self, because you have not yet felt the Self. So to feel the Self is the most important thing if you have to know the reality. So you must excuse all others who have not felt the Self, who have their own mental projections. They might look like fanatic; they might look like stupid people. They may look like to be very high handed or maybe you might think they are these ego orientated pseudo-intellectuals and all sorts of things. But all that is mythical, because that plane on which they move is mythical itself. Whatever you know through your mental projection is imagination itself. But Spirit is the reality, and to know the reality you have to be the Spirit.”
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
How to talk to New People, Hampstead, UK—May 12, 1983
“It is a difficult subject to talk about Adi Shakti because it's not easy to understand that Adi Shakti is the power of Sadashiva. Sadashiva is the God Almighty. She is His breath (Cool Breeze or Chi), as they some people call it. Some say She is the desire and some say that She is the entire power of Sadashiva and Sadashiva cannot do anything without Her powers.”
The Paraclete Shri Mataji
Adi Shakti Puja, Cabella Italy—May 25, 1997
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