Master Hongchi Xiao is a man with a mission. And that is to popularise Paida Lajin, a universal concept of self-healing based on ancient Taoist and Buddhist techniques that he has distilled and simplified. He recently conducted his first workshop in India — and the world’s first clinical research workshop — at TAG VHS Diabetic Research Centre, Chennai. Excerpts from a free-wheeling conversation:
On his move from investment banking
When I was 40, I decided to go back to China to do something. But what? The simplest thing was to write, since you rely only on yourself. My book was about a banker who was educated in China, went to the U.S. for his MBA, worked in Wall Street, then transferred to Hong Kong. It was almost an autobiography, but I also explored Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism. Sex and the Stocks became a best-seller. I then went on to write the script for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
The journey to healing
I was always interested in classical medicine. One day I got an e-mail from a man who said he had read my book, and wanted to meet me. When I opened the door, it was a Buddhist monk! He believed I had been a Taoist monk in an earlier life, and mentioned the areas I had lived in. Those were precisely the areas I wanted to visit in search of healers! I travelled for years and learnt acupressure, acupuncture, bone-setting…
The birth of paida lajin self-healing
After I came back to Beijing I wrote Journey to Cure and became a healer. More and more people kept coming to me for healing. I decided I needed to find something better, and simpler —something that everyone can do themselves.
So I went to the mountains again. And the Taoist monk arrived there the same day. He said we should talk — even walk together. On the way he taught me slapping. In Taoism, interestingly, it’s described as ‘revealing the disease’. Buddhism also has this practice. Paida is the name I gave — Pai means to slap, Da means to strike even stronger. I learnt Lajin from another doctor in Hong Kong. I learnt ‘striking the wall’ from a Taiwanese master in Scotland, but its origin was from the Tang dynasty.
I learnt many things from different healers and doctors. But my goal is very clear. Deduction, Deduction. Simplify, simplify, simplify, but with great healing effect. Simple but effective is my goal.
His learnings from his workshops
Paida and Lajin were both for healing pain problems. But at my workshops, people presented with all kinds of problems. After working with them, I learnt that diabetes, hypertension and many other problems got cured! They are indeed my teachers.
People are also shocked at the pain and the ‘sha’ (poisoned blood) in the first couple of days of a workshop. But then they can feel the healing, and they learn to welcome the pain.
India as an inspiration
I learnt fasting from a book on Gandhiji. That is a wonderful concept and really helps the ‘chi’ focus on healing the body. I also learnt to chant ‘Om’. This is the original vibration of the universe, I love it. It can harmonise many things. I do it every day.
His message to India
Because of the similarities between Chinese and Indian cultures, I have great hope for India, that it will become a pioneer and one of the biggest practitioners of self-healing. Indians can save a lot of money, reduce a lot of suffering and even save lives by practising self-healing.
What is Paida Lajin self-healing?
Your body has been designed to heal itself, he avers with unshakable faith. All it needs is a little help, and the intent to heal.
Forget the name of the disease. The body is one whole connected being. Focus instead on the meridians, and the flow of ‘chi’ or vital energy through the body. Blocked meridians hinder the flow of ‘chi’, causing imbalance between the forces of yin and yang. This is the primary cause of disease.
The solution is to unblock the meridians. After years of travel and research, Master Xiao put together two simple concepts that anyone can practise: ‘pai-da’ or slapping, and ‘la-jin’ or stretching. The slapping and stretching work together to clear the meridians of blocks and help the body get rid of disease.
How exactly does it work? Slapping repeatedly at one point builds heat, causing blood vessels to expand, and ‘chi’ to flow strongly. Yang rises, yin melts and long-held toxins and blocks are released.
Patients experience what many call bruising; Master Xiao describes it as poisoned blood or ‘sha’, which is the beginning of healing. For some, there is a healing crisis, where the condition worsens and then resolves. Often, there is intense pain. But pain points the way to healing, he explains. “No pain, no gain!”
Comparing the flow of ‘chi’ to that of a river, he explains that most of the garbage collects in the bends. So focus on slapping the joints — inner elbows and wrists, all around the knees, feet and ankles, and all over the head and face, working for at least 10 minutes on each part. If you don’t have the time, focus on only a few places per session. It is important to pay attention to the area being slapped.
He calls it meditative paida, and suggests that you have a conversation with your body. Over time, we should paida every inch of our body for best results.
And the stretching? ‘Jin-suo’ is a shortening of tendons that causes stiffness and disease. ‘La-jin’ reverses this by stretching the tendons and increasing flexibility. While lajin is best done on a lajin bench, modifications include using chairs or lying on the floor and stretching along a wall. He also recommends squatting and using doorframes for forward stretches.
What about side effects? There are many, he smiles. Weight loss. Better skin. Increased energy. Activation of reflexology points on our hands when we slap…
The list is long, and worth the effort. We have nothing to lose but our diseases.
