The Ki Crystal on my chest pulsated with your warmth. For so brief a moment, all my worries were gone. The burden gently lifted from my shoulders, my heart could fly out to you. Like a dream, you came to greet me... My protector... My love... My guardian angel... For you, I will forgive this world... For you, my tomorrow begins today...

Our theory of the Western concept of Resonance and the Eastern concept of Chi - Chi can be seen as a form of resonance. But what is resonance? In school, we learn that atoms are the building blocks of every object whether living or non-living in this universe. The cells in our bodies are made of atoms too. In school, we also learn that every atom vibrates with energy. Of course, most of the time we cannot see this energy but even a static stone has this energy. Some stones are like crystals which vibrate more and actually help heal people.

Energy is never destroyed and is only converted from one form to another. Even a still piece of ice has potential energy. All it takes is a slight push to convert that potential energy into kinetic energy. As the piece of ice moves with kinetic energy, friction will convert the kinetic energy into heat energy which will cause the piece of ice to melt into water. This is because the heat energy is causing the atoms of the ice to vibrate and move apart, thus changing the piece of ice into water. The atoms either vibrate at a higher frequency or at a lower frequency depending on the type of energy it receives or relinquishes. It doesn't necessarily mean that the piece of ice has less energy than water although the atoms are nearer to each other and vibrating at a lower frequency, it simply means that a piece of ice has less HEAT energy than water.

Now, with vibration, atoms create resonance. We do those resonance experiments in school where iron balls of the same weight are tied to a metal rod with strings of similar and also different lengths. If we swing one of the iron balls, it will eventually cause another iron ball tied to a string with a similar length to swing as well. The strange thing is that the other balls tied to strings with different lengths do not swing - that's resonance: the vibration of atoms in an object that has similar potential energy as another object. The other object has its frequency changed as a result of energy being applied to it. Consequently, both the objects with similar potential energy will try to balance their energy by vibrating at the same frequency.

Other examples are, if we put two grand pianos side by side and play a key on one piano, the similar key on the other piano will play as well. Notice that the string that the keys hit in both pianos are similarly taut so they both have the same potential energy. The vibration of one string will cause the other to vibrate at the same frequency as well. In the real world, some parts of our body might have the same potential energy as atoms in a glass. If we sing a high pitch note, the vibration of our voice box will emit our voice and will cause the atoms of the air to vibrate. Subsequently, the glass will vibrate in response to the air around it and, if the frequency is right, the glass will break as a result.

It is Eastern belief that different parts of our body control our emotions. For example, our lungs: grief/melancholy or courage/integrity, our kidneys: fear or gentleness, our liver: anger/rage or kindness, our heart: cruelty/impatience or joy/respect, our spleen: worry/neurosis or balance/fairness/harmony (from Inside Tai-Chi, John Loupos, 2002). This might be true as different parts of our body have atoms with different potential energy and depending on the vibrations of the atoms, will cause the different parts of our body to react differently, possibly controlling the flow of the chemicals in our blood stream and affecting our emotions.

Now, can the same be said the other way around? What if we control our emotions and cause the right chemicals to flow in our body? What if we calm down from rage and slow our pounding heart? Does this influence the vibrations of atoms in different parts of our body? By regulating the vibrations of atoms in different parts of our body, we are able to keep ourselves healthy and strong. Theoretically, atoms in our cells lose some type of energy in place of others) as time passes and our cells grow old. If we are able to control the vibration of atoms in our body, we can maintain the energy in our cells and theoretically be immortal. That is one of the beliefs of Taoism but yet, why hasn't any of its practitioners become immortal?

The answer is simple. How do we achieve a state where we can control our emotions so well that we produce the right chemical to regulate the vibrations in the atoms of our body to maintain our cells? Buddhism, which has been founded on the philosophies of Taoism, believes in relinquishing all worldly possessions in favor of a calmer life where we can have more control of our emotions. Today, people believe that the spirits of these practitioners are still around. Could it be that they have achieved a state where they have such control over their atom vibrations that they have become that energy itself even when their bodies have passed away? (Whether this energy has the conscience of its previous being is a topic for another subject). So, although nobody has achieved a state of immortality, one can maintain a strong presence of energy even after death as energy itself can never be destroyed, merely changed from one form to another.

Now coming back to more practical applications, let's see the control of emotions and the subsequent control of atomic body vibrations in practice. From Taoism came Tai-chi and Chi Kung. The former being a martial art and the latter being a more self-heath exercise. Both emphasize the flow of Chi or in our terms, the correct resonance in parts of our body as a result of atomic vibrations. Religion, martial arts, and even dedicated work are all for the sake of focus. When we are focused, the chemical content of our bodies are at a high and the vibrations of different parts of our body can be controlled indirectly. For an extreme example, when we are frightened, our body produces the chemical adrenaline in our blood stream and this causes our heart to pump faster and our muscles to tighten. Does this not all cause atomic vibrations? Now, if a focused and trained mind can calm our body's natural reaction to fear and control the flow of adrenaline, we can create "miracles". Take for example, a bully frightens us - if we make an all out effort to fight him with adrenaline pumping, we are more likely to lose to the stronger bully as a result of tiring our own body out. But what if we can control that adrenaline flow with a calm mind, vibrate at the right frequency as the bully's, and with a single touch of our finger, which becomes the channel of all our vibrations, throw the bully 10 feet back? What if we don't touch the bully at all? What if we project our energy through air (much like how singing a high pitch note can break a glass)? Is this is a miracle? Is this Chi? Is this atomic resonance?

Now, let us look at less violent examples. A trained Chi-Kung master can heal a person by simply touching him/her. This is possibly true as a person who can control his/her vibrations can also project it to others. That is the healing heat we feel - the movement of atoms and the build up of energy. That is also how the vibrations of crystals can help us. That is also how a group of people praying for a miracle can project the right vibrations to achieve that miracle (praying for a sick person for example). The more people praying, the higher the chances are for the right focus and the right resonance. Today, even music is used in Western countries to help the growth of unborn babies and it is all thanks to the power of resonance. The trick is to control the resonance, to find the right frequency and to find the right part of our body or an object with similar potential energy to vibrate to that frequency.

Coming back to our daily lives, everyday, people interact with us and pass either negative or positive energy to us. People who push us around or just shake our hands are projecting vibrations to our body. To add to it, our body has a parasympathetic system that adds its natural defense chemicals and reactions to stimulants, thus influencing resonance within our body. So, how does all this theory help? The next time someone offends us or does something irritating to us, try to treat our own resonance, our chi if you will, as water. As negative vibrations come our way, sometimes we have no choice but to engulf it but still find a way pass it as water blocked by a block of ice would. Eventually, the ice would melt and although some of it pollutants might be carried along with the clear water, it will sink to the bottom eventually if the water is still and calm. That is why we must remember to calm ourselves and send the negative energy we absorb back down to the ground. Then, we are centered to the ground - imagine negative energy flowing pass us to the ground, our own positive energy flowing forward and redirecting the flow of negative energy to the ground while absorbing whatever positive energy that comes at us.

In simpler words, learn from all experiences in life but do not let the bad experiences sour us. If a bully pushes us, do not sink into rage, redirect the physical energy of the push if we must. In the Japanese martial art, Aikido, we would do a slight step out of the way and turn while lowering our center of balance, thus leading the force down to the ground and bringing our opponent down with it. Similarly, redirect the emotional energy of the push - imagine it entering us and our own energy engulfing it and leading it down to the ground. Remember, people who project negative energy have negative atomic vibrations within them which will cause them their own bad health (thanks to resonance) and if we learn how to redirect that energy, we will vibrate with positive resonance and live a happier life.

Society...a man-made construct to teach us what is right and what is wrong... to control us so that we contribute to the better good of the other individuals of our particular society. What then will happen if two societies with different values of good and evil meet? What then is good and evil? What then is the definition of good without evil? What then is the definition of evil without good? When individuals of these two societies meet... a clash of vibes or the birth of a beautiful new unification? Maybe both for each individual is unique.