Chapter Three

To quicken means to make alive or more alive. Quickening can be described as the manifesting of a mystical life force that imparts increased mental, spiritual or physical activity to an object or existing life form. Quickening in humans is evidenced with a departure from the status quo or from conditioned behavior and thinking.

First love is an excellent example of quickening because the increase in life force in both of the lovers is so noticeable. The lovers take on a vitality and an expanded interest in life that is in sharp contrast to their previous existence. They find a special energy to do things that they would not have even considered doing before, such as staying up all night talking or pursuing some common challenging goal. Their physical and mental health improves markedly, and they both take on a radiance that is well-recognized. This special energy or quickening is not associated with lust or the simple satisfying of physical desires, but rather is that which is used to fully meet each moment together so as to not waste one second. Young lovers have the quickening to constantly reach into the oncoming moment to further enrich each moment of life together. They become more and more alive by feeding and being nourished by each other.

Despite their odd behavior, the lovers are actually more acceptable to the social world in that they can be more efficient and cheerful in their daily tasks and interactions with others. It is evident that their world is changed in that many of the males become more loquacious and perhaps boring to their friends as their conversations seem to want to center on their love, but they are seen as more awakened and alive nonetheless. Some of the females likewise can find the absence from their lovers depressing, yet first love seems to be as a stimulant to most lovers who become more alert and alive to their existence. They certainly demonstrate an opening to the world with an increased quickening to fully meet the immediate demands of the world.

One surprising aspect of the energy of first love for virgins is that it is seldom perceived as leading initially to sexual intercourse. Their energies are placed into exploring their mutual worlds as a stage of pre-bonding rather than into enflaming biological urges. Touching, getting close and the exploring of each other's body and reactions are, of course, exciting and rewarding, however it is not done for possession or control, but for sharing, uniting and giving. This desire to share and give requires quickening in order to increase both the sensitivity to each other as well as a heightened response back to each other. Quickening stimulates both the sense organs as well as oneness.

This quickening of lovers is also similar to the quickening found by individuals who dedicate themselves to some form of improvement of their lives as will be discussed later.

There is another type of quickening that is quite spectacular because of its suddenness and power that can instantly change an individual. The Bible uses the term astonied (thunderstruck) to indicate this state of being overpowered with quickening that leads to the attainment of a revelation or insight. Being astonied can be compared with the experiences described by the Eastern Sanskrit term vajra which means a thunderbolt that can transform an individual. Religious writings tend to credit the sudden rise in quickening with the sudden influence of a spirit, god, power or of an inner rising force. The supernatural deed of an individual to save someone's life or the sudden insight that changes the immediate or future world can be explained by this sudden increase in quickening.

Many individuals have found the sudden quickening in facing an imminent danger or excitement such as your automobile spinning out of control or the sudden awareness of an answer to a long term problem that must now be solved. The increasing of quickening is many times described as the experiencing of a rising excitement, heat, vibration, electricity, tensioning, or warmth from the sexual region. This feeling is generally quite pleasurable and can stun you. During these moments of quickening, there is often no fear or other emotion, time slows or stands still and you have increased mental capabilities that seem to open your mind to another source of information.

This form of quickening must be the result of a combination of complex hormonal release as well as a unique mental process that directs the sensors and responses of the body to meet some sudden arising or intense demand. For instance, the release of adrenaline, which is probably one of the hormones contributing to quickening, stimulates the muscles such that they can meet special demands. However, it also increases the sense organs to better detect the outer world and increases the acuity of the brain to more fully understand and relate to the outer world.

One very important consideration of the rising of the quickening is that it is not obtained by direct conscious effort. This can be compared with your inability to control the secretion of hormones following some emotional experience. Quickening is generally only found with surrendering to an outside power or situation or in searching for some knowledge. Religious and success stories abound with individuals who find quickening to change their worlds.

The nearly universal description of the source of quickening is that it starts deep within your body. It seems somehow to come from your very center of being and has a power over your entire body and mind. The word 'heart' was used to describe its location that had the meaning of being the very center of something. Your heart was therefore the center of your being and contained the source of quickening and was universally described as residing in the lower abdomen, belly or sexual region by the majority of the early religious writings. The Jewish writings used the Hebrew words leb and meah to refer to the heart that was located within the intestines, belly, or bowels.
Within this lower heart the Spirit of the individual was assumed to dwell whose mystical powers were believed to be stimulated with the deep breathing experienced during the overcoming of life's obstacles and challenges. The correspondence of breath and Spirit was so strong that the word for Spirit in ancient Greek and Hebrew texts was 'deep exhalation' (pneuma in Greek and ruwach in Hebrew). This explains the importance of the use of the strong exhalation of the breath in early religious rituals as well as its usage in martial arts. In contrast, the Soul was identified with the word for 'light breathing' (psuche in Greek and nephesh in Hebrew) and was associated with the animal sentient principle located in the chest.

The location of the heart was later changed to the chest where it became identified with the blood-pumping organ. This may have been due in part to the old usage of the Greek word kardia that meant an organ with two orifices and hence could be either the stomach or the upper pumping organ. The shift in location can also be briefly explained with the Christian belief in the blood atonement of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb of God, which replaced the earlier Jewish blood rituals using animal sacrifice. The 'Sacred Heart' of the risen Jesus, as the source of the redeeming blood, became the center for the inspiration and power source for believers. This belief in the power of blood then became the reason for the change of inner power from the lower abdomen to the chest. To further increase the importance of blood and pumping heart, worshippers also engaged in the ritual of drinking the sacred blood of Jesus that would further unite their blood, body and purpose with that of Jesus.

With the shifting of what was believed to be the individual's center of being up into the chest and its pumping heart, some of the old religious disciplines no longer were understandable. The disciplines that applied pressure to the perineum or lower sexual area, for instance, were no longer considered to be of value. One such discipline was the simple act of sitting that was advocated worldwide. This practice can be seen as activating the lower heart, and hence quickening.

There are two entirely different physical methods of sitting. One fits the modern concept of being comfortable and relaxed, generally with the back supported and reclined to some degree, and with a soft pad under the buttocks and perineum. The other method, used for stimulation or increasing the quickening rather than relaxation, has the back unsupported and upright, tummy relaxed and protruding, and the perineum in contact with the support of the seat. Much of the world also sits cross-legged which has the advantage of stretching and providing more pressure on the perineum that is able, in turn, to apply direct pressure and stimulation to the lower center.

The perineum is one of the sensitive areas of the body that a child loves to stimulate or have stimulated. Adults learn to let a child sit on the knee or foot and then bounce the child up and down with obvious enjoyment from the child. Children, in playing, love to fall or bounce on their buttocks or apply direct pressure to the perineum with such activities as straddling and then sliding along a tree limb or bars on the playground. The older children learn how to bounce on a teeter-totter or how to enjoy sledding down a bumpy slope which also stimulates the perineum and inner center.

Pressure or pounding on the perineum puts pressure on or massages the inner lower glands as well as changes the pressure within the spinal fluid. The sacred bone, or the sacrum, has holes along its length that may couple the pressure arising from the perineum to the fluid within the spine. The change in pressure of the lower spinal fluid is then transmitted upwards to the base of the brain thereby also providing some stimulation to the glands in the head.

Rocking on the perineum is known to change the body and mind. As for instance, a wonderful therapy for autistic or severely depressed children is obtained with bareback riding on a horse, which results in the direct massaging of the perineum. Simple sitting and rocking is also found therapeutic to both children and adults who may find relief in emotional problems such as grief or apprehension.

Even greater stimulation can be obtained for the lower center or lower heart with inner movement of the lower abdominal muscles. Examples of this motion is found with crying or laughing, both of which are known to change the mind, body and view of the outer world. Deep exhalations, with the lungs emptied, press on the lower abdomen with surprising results. One interesting example of the change in breathing is found when you become demanding or authoritative. You breathe out forcibly using a lower lung capacity rather than the filled lungs. Using the downward deep exhalation changes your voice such that others react to it giving you more attention and respect. This deep exhalation is fundamental to mastering the martial arts as well as loosening the source of quickening. You may have noticed that when you are startled, you make a sudden gasp of exhalation or inhalation which stimulates the lower abdominal breathing muscles to ready or quicken the body to meet an emergency. If you wish to increase your inner energy, exhale strongly and let your lungs fill (without forced inhalation) to half capacity and repeat. You have, however, been taught the reverse of taking a deep breath and then breathing out slowly without effort. (Children must be conditioned to breathe this way to make them easier to control and able to learn.)

The value of quickening is illustrated in a story about the origin of the martial arts when a group of yogis in ancient India were suddenly set upon by bandits. The yogis, who had mastered the breath and churning of the abdomen, found that they could easily vanquish the bandits because they could move faster as well as anticipate the moves of the bandits. In order to verify this power of quickening, a group of middle-aged adults with increased quickening were measured as they clapped their hands in response to a sound. Their speed of response was then compared to a group of 12-13 year old children as well as a middle-aged control group of adults. The results are quite surprising, and do support the ancient story as well as modern claims of increased reaction times in emergencies. The children responded on the average 30% faster than the adult control group, as normally expected; however, the quickened group responded 27% faster than the young children with a man of nearly 70 years beating the time of the fastest child.

Some Chinese martial art systems list the lower abdomen as the source of chi or quickening and teach that this lower center must be stimulated with various breathing exercises and motions of the body. The early Indian systems were more descriptive of the lower center (svadishthana, place of standing of the self) and even the West used the term of 'solar plexus' (place of connections to the sun) in a similar manner. (This term is understandable if the usage of the word sun is recognized as the center for interacting with the outer world. )

The ancient system of alchemy was developed, in part, to convert the latent bio-energy of the body into a higher form of energy. The alchemical process began in the lower chambers of the athanor (body) with heat and mixing in the presence of a special catalyst (the stone of the philosopher) and is many times depicted in sexual terms and symbolic scenes such as the nude embrace of a prepubescent boy and girl, the union of god and goddess, or the union of the sun and moon.

There is an optimum standing posture for supporting quickening as well as a posture that suppresses quickening. Modern society teaches and supports the latter which has the tummy and buttocks pulled in, making the lower body become straight, tight and flat. You are taught, starting in elementary school, that you look fit and healthy with this posture. Quickening, however, demands a relaxed and expanded lower abdomen such as found in young children with the buttocks and stomach protruding outwards such that the perineum can be stimulated with the pressure from the movement of the thighs. This relaxed posture is also the correct posture for many of the early martial arts.

The early religious writings of many of the major religions taught that sexual intercourse diminishes quickening and hence sex should be used only for procreation. Almost all ancient philosophies assumed that the creative energy of the body is limited and, if used for sexual orgasm or the creation of a new life, will be lost for quickening. To support this concept, consider how you have experienced that your world opens and your senses increase with an extended period of absence from sexual release. You are also very much aware of how your world closes down with reduced vitality after sexual gratification. Modern society and its institutions know that individuals who have frequent sexual intercourse are more easily managed and hence encourage frequent sex. Consider for instance, how society lauds sexual prowess, teaches sexual techniques and contraceptives in public schools, and promotes conjugal prison visits.

The early writings, however, taught the necessity of a special form of union between a male and a female and the merger of their two distinct characteristics that increased quickening. Some of the writings pointed to a higher form of a male/female coupling that because of its extremely ecstatic and transformational power has suffered suppression over the centuries. This coupling was without penetration or orgasm and increased quickening, voluptuousness and ecstasy, but which is beyond the scope of this book.

Quickening is often considered to be a feminine or feminizing force, which may explain the sex of the universal great 'Quickener', i.e. 'Mother Nature'. The feminine sexual-like feelings encountered within the lower center can many times become very strong with the sense of inner female-like responses. It is this strong feminine inner feeling that, no doubt, led to many religions describing the inner controlling power as an indwelling feminine spirit. It is easy to postulate that the feminine form of religious garb around the world is a result of the feminine feelings arising from quickening.

There is an opposite masculine force associated with quickening that is related to the outer creations or changes that are evidenced coming from a quickened person. The creative and innovative actions are generally described as coming from an inner masculine force. Later the quickening and the driving forces will be described as coming forth from an inner center that contains both. Many religions describe this combined sexual experience as having an androgynous nature and many ancient gods were depicted with both masculine and feminine characteristics.

The increase of quickening and the resulting opening and sharing with others is first experienced in the imaginary games of childhood during which a child must fully respond to the imaginary characters or roles that everyone puts on. As children are able to fully find the oneness with each other and the necessary energy or quickening to fully play their roles, they step into the magical world of oneness and ecstasy that quickly overpowers all of the players.

This sense of quickening is found many times as an adult where there is no fear of repercussions from your statements or actions or judgment of others. One familiar example of this quickening is experienced during a trip where you find yourself bored and looking for something of interest. Many times you can easily initiate a conversation with the person next to you and find that both of you quickly get pulled into the resulting discussion. Many times it seems that you are both of one mind and you become quite quickened as you compare stories or anecdotes. You both become aware of the direction of the discussion and are anxious to assist in its unfolding. The discussion becomes as an exciting game where you both know the rules and the assumed roles that you both play. During this time together you sense a oneness as time seems to pass ever so quickly or has no meaning. There is only complete acceptance of the other person without any judgment. It is as if you have known and played with each other for much of your lifetimes. That you exhibited quickening during this process is evidenced by you becoming fully awake and alert, whereas initially you felt fatigued, bored and enervated. You have probably also seen the same vitalization in a child who was sitting dejected and doing very little until he is pulled into a game with other children.

Quickening initiates the development of another power within the body that is associated with providing creativity, intuition and what can be called guidance. For instance, many individuals who find quickening in facing an emergency also find an opening of the mind that provides an insight into what they should do. Some individuals find that under some strong demand which quickens them, they can become quite creative. The creative conversation above can be credited in part to this power. Many practices that can be called religious or spiritual can likewise produce a quickened state in which philosophical, scientific or religious questions may be answered.

This creative inner guiding power is called by many names from the Holy Spirit to indwelling gods to kundalini by various groups and religions. This book will attempt to avoid the use of such names because of the conditioned interpretation given to them. Instead the simple name of 'inner power' will be used in the following chapters.

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