Next, Dr.Pang elaborated on the concept of consciousness from various perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, medicine, Buddhism, and Taoism. We have distilled the content relevant to our practice for everyone to understand. Today, we will focus on the definition of the subconscious from a psychological perspective, which is highly insightful. The original text from the book reads as follows: "The term 'consciousness' emerged after Buddhism was introduced to China. Before that, ancient China referred to it as 'mind' or 'spirit,' broadly meaning advanced neural activities." "Psychology: Consciousness is considered the sum total of all psychological activities. Psychological activities refer to emotions, moods, temperament, thinking, memory, abilities, etc. All these activities take place against the background of consciousness." Additionally, psychology defines the subconscious as follows: "Primordial Consciousness Layer: It resides at the most 'fundamental level' of all neural activities. Under normal circumstances, it is obscured by the conscious layer and submerged by conscious activities. Only when conscious activities cease can it manifest. It does not rely on conceptual activities but directly aligns with information. Hence, it is non-analytical and non-conceptual. When concepts come into play, conscious activities begin." Please take the time to reflect deeply on this definition of the subconscious. By doing so, we can better understand when we might catch glimpses of our subconscious in daily life—that hidden force that silently influences and controls our life activities. Furthermore, we can explore the principle of how the subconscious emerges and flows during our practice of “Do-nothing” meditation.

在前面我们带着大家阅读的内容中，可以看出庞老师是引用了佛家、道家锻炼中最经典的关于主动运用意识的内容，明确所有的修行门派都离不开主动运用意识这一要旨。目的是让大家清楚，我们智能气功功理功法的编撰不仅有经典有历史的实践为依据，更重要的是我们是汲取了不同修行法脉中最核心最重要的精华，提纲挈领，正中要害。节省了大家的时间与精力，也降低了在茫茫修行大海中迷失自己的风险。所以大家要珍惜，把握要领，深入琢磨哦。 In the content we've read together earlier, it's evident that Dr. Pang drew upon the most classic teachings from Buddhist and Taoist cultivation practices regarding the active application of consciousness, clearly demonstrating that all cultivation traditions hinge on this essential principle. The purpose is to make it clear that the compilation of our ZN Qigong theory and techniques is not only grounded in classical, historically proven practices, but more importantly, we have distilled the most essential and vital elements from different lineages of cultivation. We grasp the essence, hitting the nail on the head. This saves you time and energy, and reduces the risk of getting lost in the vast ocean of different brancheds of practice. Therefore, everyone should cherish this, grasp the key points, and delve deeply into them.

One student:"Birth and death are natural laws—when a person dies, it is only the physical body that perishes, yet doesn’t their information continue to exist in the universe? Could this residual information be what we call “ghosts”? And when Qigong practice reaches an advanced stage, one aims to shatter emptiness and merge with heaven and earth—can’t this state be called “divine” or “god-like”?" Dr.Pang said: "The 'ghosts' in feudal superstition refer to the belief that after death, a soul persists—a conscious, active entity capable of independent action. What we describe as 'residual information' is entirely different. For example, after all of you leave this lecture hall, traces of your presence will remain in this space, which could even be captured through infrared imaging technology. However, this is merely a temporary informational phenomenon caused by the disturbance of the natural electromagnetic field by the human electromagnetic field during activity. It lacks autonomy and is fundamentally distinct from the concept of 'ghosts' in feudal superstition. The 'gods' in feudal superstition are said to be omnipotent rulers of all things. Yet, even the highest level of practice—'shattering emptiness'—cannot achieve such powers. Take Shakyamuni Buddha as an example: during his lifetime, he did not demonstrate 'boundless Dharma powers,' nor did he save all beings. His activities were confined to a limited region of India for several decades, and he faced opposition throughout his life—most notably from Devadatta, whom he could not persuade. Thus, even the highest state of cultivation is not equivalent to the traditional concept of a 'god.'"

“By emphasizing the active use of consciousness as its primary principle, ZNQG captures the most fundamental aspect of ancient Qigong practice. Once this concept is understood and internalized, practitioners will actively apply consciousness during their practice, aligning their thoughts with the requirements of Qigong. Gradually, this approach extends beyond practice sessions into daily life, ensuring that all life activities conform to the principles of Qigong. As a result, the quality of life becomes entirely different. While this may sound simple, achieving it is far from easy. To accomplish this, we must thoroughly examine all aspects of consciousness. In daily life, our minds are constantly active, filled with numerous ingrained impressions. If we do not use Qigong knowledge to "cleanse" these imprints from our minds, it will be impossible to align our life activities with the requirements of Qigong. Therefore, let us now delve deeper into understanding consciousness.”

“In Buddhist practice, the cultivation of the Four Dhyanas and Eight Samadhis also requires conscious awareness to function from beginning to end. In the First Dhyana, when one starts practicing and gradually becomes calm, one becomes aware of the inner body, feeling very comfortable. After comfort arises, a sense of joy and delight emerges within the mind. By amplifying this joy, allowing it to fill the entire body, every part of the body becomes joyful, as if every pore is radiating bliss—happy and comfortable. This, in fact, is a sign of sufficient qi. When genuine joy arises, it corresponds to the ‘living zi hour’(活子时） in Daoist practice. However, the Buddhist ‘living zi hour’ is different from the Daoist one. In Daoist practice, the ‘living zi hour’ emphasizes kidney qi and kidney yang, which can easily lead to sexual arousal. In contrast, Buddhism focuses on filling the entire body with qi, making every part comfortable. Sometimes, practitioners may even laugh during meditation out of sheer bliss—a genuine, heartfelt desire to smile. Once this kind of feeling arises, one should ‘discard it’—let it go and not cling to it in the mind. Isn’t this an active use of consciousness? If one does not abandon it, progress in practice becomes difficult, and there is a risk of falling under the influence of ‘demonic joy’ (the demon of delight). Some practitioners of spontaneous qigong may feel joyful and start laughing during practice. If this laughter continues uncontrollably, they may become ‘possessed by the demon.’ In Buddhist practice, at every stage of cultivation, whenever a sensation arises, one should not cling to it but actively discard it. This continues all the way to the stage of ‘neither perception nor non-perception’—where there is neither active thought nor absence of thought. Even at this stage, there is still some subtle mental activity.”