Pastor Yu Bin’s “Truth of the Spiritual Realm” Part Five: Qigong, or Spiritual Work?

I. Article Note: This Is a Video Transcription

This article is organized from the public video content of Part Five of Pastor Yu Bin’s “Truth of the Spiritual Realm” series, 《气功？灵功！》. The original video discusses qigong, Tai Chi, extraordinary abilities, healing by qi projection, and whether Christians can practice qigong.

It should be noted that this article is positioned as an observation on religion and spiritual culture. It does not make absolute judgments on whether qigong is effective, whether extraordinary abilities are real, or whether qigong necessarily involves the spirit realm, nor does it prove any religious position. The terms in the text such as Holy Spirit, evil spirit, spirit communication, and spiritual breach are presented primarily as explanations within the speaker’s Christian faith framework.

II. Video Theme: How Christians View Qigong

1. Starting from Personal Practice Experience

In this episode, Pastor Yu Bin says that for Chinese people, qigong is both familiar and mysterious, so it is necessary to offer a Christian faith-based reflection. He raises a key question: How should Christians view qigong? What is qigong, exactly?

According to his own account, before he came to faith he practiced qigong and at one point reached a level where he could “send qi to heal people.” He also attempted to cultivate so-called extraordinary abilities such as opening the heavenly eye and out-of-body experiences. Although he says he never fully mastered these himself, he believes that some people have truly developed more unusual abilities than he has known or encountered before.

Therefore, this episode is not a simple outside commentary on qigong; it is the speaker’s own reinterpretation of his past practice after coming to faith.

2. Neutral Definition vs. Religious Interpretation

In general references, qigong is usually described as a traditional mind-body practice combining physical movement, breathing training, mental focus, and meditation. In modern contexts, qigong is often presented as wellness, relaxation, rehabilitation training, or traditional cultural activity.

But Pastor Yu Bin does not discuss qigong from a sports-medicine perspective. He interprets it through Christian spiritual discernment. He argues that while qigong appears to train “qi” on the surface, in essence it involves a person’s “spirit”; therefore he summarizes his conclusion as “qigong is spiritual work.”

This distinction is important. This article does not simply label all qigong as a specific religious act. It presents how the speaker understands qigong within his own framework of faith.

III. “Qi, Wind, Spirit”: Theological Association by the Speaker

1. Starting from Hebrew

In the video, Pastor Yu Bin mentions that in biblical Hebrew there is a close relationship among “qi,” “wind,” and “spirit.” Broadly, this refers to the term *ruach*, which in different contexts can relate to wind, breath, and spirit.

He further cites 《创世记》 from the biblical account of creation: Yahweh breathed the breath of life into the human nostrils, and the person became a living soul. According to his understanding, the human spirit comes from the breath given by God, and life’s deep core also carries an ability derived from God.

This is a Christian theological interpretation. It is not a linguistic paper, nor historical verification of qigong tradition. It is the speaker using biblical language to explain that a person’s spirit, life breath, and God’s creative work are connected.

2. Adam and Eve and Lost Capacity

Pastor Yu Bin further says that in humanity’s original creation there was honor and capacity granted by God. He gives Adam and Eve managing the Garden of Eden, stewarding the whole earth, and naming animals as examples of an original authority humans had over creation.

After the fall, sin suppressed the ability in the soul that came from God, and people lost that original condition. Today people often say human potential is only the “tip of the iceberg.” In his view, those hidden capacities originated from God but were suppressed by sin.

This section lays the basis for his later explanation of qigong: if a person truly has latent potential hidden by sin, then qigong may be understood as one way of trying to excavate these capacities.

IV. Why He Thinks “Qigong Is Spiritual Work”

1. Qigong Excavates Powers in the Spirit

Pastor Yu Bin’s core judgment is that qigong does not train only the body, and not only the breath; to some degree, it touches the spirit and attempts to excavate hidden capacities within the soul.

According to his view, these capacities were originally from God, but were restrained by human sin. The danger of qigong is that it might bypass God, bypass the Holy Spirit, and directly attempt to open spiritual capacities inside a person.

Thus, he calls qigong “spiritual work.” This is not a standard definition in qigong circles but an evaluation derived from Christian spiritual discernment.

2. The Boundary Between Renewal by the Holy Spirit and Demonic Intrusion

He further distinguishes two paths. The first is when a person is renewed through God through the Holy Spirit—understood in Christianity as rebirth, transformation of mind and heart, receiving God’s ability, a life turned by God, and growing increasingly into the likeness of Christ.

The second is when a person does not go through the Holy Spirit, but attempts to access spiritual power through qigong cultivation. In his understanding, this may allow demonic forces to touch or assist in excavating powers in the spirit, thereby entering a degree of spirit communication.

This is his main reason for opposing Christians practicing qigong: not because every movement is inherently evil, but because he believes qigong at a deeper level may open a gate toward the spirit realm.

V. “Zouhuo Ru Mo”: Risks of Cultivation and Spiritual Explanation

1. Religious Interpretation of “Zouhuo Ru Mo”

Pastor Yu Bin specifically mentions “zouhuo ru mo.” In ordinary usage, it often describes imbalance during cultivation, practice, or psychological instability, and is also used in folk explanations of unusual experiences during practice.

In his Christian interpretation, “zouhuo ru mo” is not merely metaphorical but directly tied to “being possessed.” He believes qigong practice may open a person’s life toward the spirit realm and demonic spirits, creating openings for hostile influence to enter.

This explanation belongs to spiritual warfare language. For non-Christians, it may be understood as the speaker’s faith-based expression of perceived risks in qigong practice, rather than a medical diagnosis.

2. Boundaries Between Religious Experience and Physical-Mental Health

For qigong, meditation, Tai Chi, and similar mind-body practices, modern medicine and public health literature often discuss possible benefits in terms of movement, breath, relaxation, and balance training. But within religious traditions, there may also be caution or opposition based on faith boundaries, spiritual sources, ritual context, and theological framing.

Thus, reading this kind of material requires separating three levels: first, qigong as physical exercise and breathing practice; second, qigong as traditional culture and cultivation systems; third, qigong as interpreted through Christian spiritual discernment.

If someone experiences severe fear, loss of control, hallucinations, sleep disruption, mental instability, or self-harm risk during cultivation, meditation, or other mind-body practices, they should seek professional doctors, psychologists, or crisis services promptly. It is not appropriate to explain everything only as “zouhuo ru mo” or “spiritual attack.”

VI. Tai Chi and Zhan Zhuang: Distinguishing Movement Exercise from Internal Cultivation

1. The Speaker’s Own Tai Chi Experience

In the second half of the video, Pastor Yu Bin also discusses Tai Chi. He says he started martial arts at around age seven, and around age twenty he also learned Tai Chi and practiced it for a period.

According to his understanding, Tai Chi on the surface is movement, but its core and essence is not only the movements themselves. He believes Tai Chi’s true essence lies in the standing-posture training (zhan zhuang) before striking forms, and that zhan zhuang is essentially close to qigong.

Therefore, he believes that if one treats some Tai Chi movements as ordinary stretching, exercise, or physical conditioning, the issue is relatively limited. But if one enters the internal-gong aspects of Tai Chi—such as zhan zhuang, qi cultivation, and related inner practices—one touches the qigong concerns he fears.

2. Modern Classification of Tai Chi and Qigong

In modern health literature, Tai Chi is often viewed as a slow, gentle discipline that emphasizes balance and mind-body coordination. When practiced for health promotion, it is often categorized as a form of qigong or a related mind-body activity.

This aligns and diverges from Pastor Yu Bin’s judgment. It aligns because he also acknowledges Tai Chi’s close relation to qigong. It diverges because modern health references usually explain it from physical training and health benefits, while he raises warnings from the standpoint of spiritual risk.

Therefore, if Christian readers wonder whether they can practice Tai Chi, the key question may be not only the name of the movement but whether the practice includes inner training, qi cultivation, meditation, devotional imagery, master-enstablishment rituals, or spirit-oriented guidance and mediumship-oriented narrative.

VII. Reading Value as a Religious and Cultural Text

1. It Presents a Christian Spiritualized Interpretation of Qigong

A defining feature of this episode is that it reframes qigong from a general wellness, exercise, or traditional cultural practice into cultivation potentially involving the spirit realm.

Within qigong traditions, “qi” may be understood as life energy, breath, bodily sensation, meridian flow, or cultivation experience; in modern health contexts, it can also be interpreted as breath work, movement, and attentional training. But in Pastor Yu Bin’s Christian framework, “qi” is further linked to “spirit,” and interpreted within a contrast between the Holy Spirit and evil spirits.

Whether readers accept this interpretation depends on their own faith position. Yet as a religious-cultural text, it clearly shows how Christianity reinterprets traditional Chinese cultivation systems.

2. It Also Reflects the Boundary Question Between “Wellness” and “Spirit Cultivation”

In modern society, qigong, Tai Chi, yoga, meditation, and similar practices are often packaged as health, relaxation, stress relief, rehabilitation, or lifestyle tools. Historically, they are also often connected to religion, philosophy, embodied ontology, cosmology, and cultivation traditions.

This creates a boundary problem: when is it merely exercise, when does it become cultivation, and when does it involve religious imagery or spiritual practice? Different traditions provide different answers.

Pastor Yu Bin’s answer is very cautious, even strict: he believes qigong is essentially spiritual work, Christians should not practice qigong, and they should not create openings for demonic intrusion under the pretext of physical strengthening.

VIII. Conclusion: Faith Discernment Through the Qigong Debate

In this episode, 《气功？灵功！》, Pastor Yu Bin’s core focus is not to present the full history of qigong or to review all modern medical research on it. Rather, he answers from Christian spiritual discernment: can Christians practice qigong?

His answer is clear: no. In his understanding, qigong appears to work on qi but fundamentally engages the spirit. Without the Holy Spirit renewing a person, it may become an opportunity for evil forces to enter and become a channel for spirit communication or spiritual breach.

For Christian readers, this is a warning text about boundaries around qigong, Tai Chi, and spiritual discernment. For non-Christian readers, it also serves as material for observing how Christianity reinterprets traditional Chinese mind-body cultivation. Regardless of whether one accepts the theological judgment, this kind of text reminds us that many practices that seem purely physical can be given entirely different meanings within different faith systems.

The same series also includes I Ching/divination and spiritual discernment and Feng Shui and spiritual discernment, and read together for a fuller picture.

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References

• Pastor Yu Bin’s “Truth of the Spiritual Realm” Series, Part Five: Qigong? Spirit Work!
• Pastor Yu Bin’s “Truth of the Spiritual Realm” Playlist
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Qigong
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Qigong: What You Need To Know
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Tai Chi and Qigong
• 《创世记》2:7: Yahweh Breathed the Breath of Life into the Human Nostrils