Daoist Inner Alchemy Readings

Daoist Inner Alchemy Alchemy is the science of transmuting base materials into pure gold. In the ancient cultures, there are myths of people performing this refinement on a physical level with things like lead or mercury. On a deeper level, though, many spiritual traditions have taken this to refer to a process of deep inner spiritual revolution. In ancient China, many spiritual practitioners began to frame the process of refining the inner spiritual body in the terms of external, physical alchemy. Origins of Daoist Alchemy Daoist alchemical practices have their roots in pre-history. The most ancient practitioners of Chinese medicine were collectively referred to as the “Wu-Yi” or “sorcerer doctors”. These individuals were likely very similar to the shamanic medicine people found in indigenous cultures around the world. These individuals would have had a deep felt sense of connection to the spiritual world around them, and acted as mediators between members of the tribe and that deeper spiritual reality. Because of this, these individuals were practitioners of deep meditation, and well accustomed to substances that could be used as medicine or to alter consciousness. The inheritors of this tradition of the Wu-Yi came to be known as the Fang Shi – or “Recipe Masters”. These individuals were prototypical Daoist priests, in the periods of China where Daoism was neither an organized religious tradition, nor had a corpus of spiritual literature. The title of Fang Shi is also

associated with being a diviner, astrologer, or alchemist. These individuals may have been early practitioners and advisors on medicine and yoga, but are also known for the practice of attempting to concoct “immortality pills” through the process of external alchemy. Practices of external alchemy were known collectively as “Wei Dan” or “external elixir”. In these schools, the goal was to find the right combination of materials with which one could create an “immortal pill”. Often, poisonous materials would be concocted together to try to create the elixir of eternal life or longevity. Sometimes members of these schools would use hallucinogenic plants in order to facilitate the spirit’s exit from the body. At other times, various materials would be “empowered” through magical and astrological processes to make them spiritually potent. If anyone succeeded in creating a pill that confers physical immortality, it is not adequately recorded by history. These arts, though, formed the basis of later Daoist traditions like herbalism (and in the West, chemistry and eventually pharmacology). They also formed the symbolic language of the process of refining the spirit. Nei Dan and the History of Inner Alchemy This process of spiritual and inner refinement came to be referred to as “Nei Dan” 內丹 or inner alchemy. Inner alchemy can refer to many things, depending on the tradition that you are dealing with. Some traditions feel that the inner alchemical process is one of simply bringing the mind toward a deeper and deeper state of quietude, and thereby

transforming oneself back to “original nature”. Other traditions hold that the inner alchemical tradition is based solely on the manipulation of subtle energy and substances within the body. Still others claim that the alchemical process is a result of deep introspection and emotional/spiritual purification toward an “awakening to reality”. It is likely that all of these views hold an element of truth and inform each other in important ways. One of the first known writings on alchemy comes from Wei Boyang, who documented the chemical composition of gunpowder in 142AD. Wei Boyang authored the “Kinship of the Three” a text that deals with the I Ching – “Classic of Change”, cosmology, and inner alchemy. Wei Boyang is mentioned by another famous master named Ge Hong, who is the reputed author of another of the earliest texts on inner alchemy - the ‘Master Who Embraces Simplicity’ – composed in the early 300’s CE. Ge Hong’s text also references anther famous text called the Yellow Court Classic, which gives detailed visualizations of various deities of the inner body. Perhaps the oldest texts on internal alchemy are not explicitly related to the alchemical process at all. The DaoDeJing of Lao Tze is dated to the 4th century BCE, when the first manuscript can be found. This text has such suggestive lines as “empty the mind and fill the belly” which are reminiscent of later Daoist inner alchemy breathing practices meant to tonify the energy center in the lower abdomen. Chapter 40’s passage “the movement of Dao is reversal” has been taken by some later Daoists as referring to the withdrawal of the senses into yogic

meditation, or even the reversing of sexual energies – from their usual path out of the body, and instead inward to vitalize subtle meridians. The Huangdi Neijing or the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic is dated to the 200s BCE and is the fundamental classic of Chinese Traditional Medicine. This text, too, mentions many of the foundational principles of alchemy, including the Daoist “Five Element” theory, and various structures of the inner body which have been claimed by yogic practitioners to be palpable in a state of deep meditation. Jumping ahead we find the Wu Zhen Pian by Zhang BoDuan in 1075 CE. This is the period when we find texts that are talking about inner alchemy as inner alchemy, and there is no question in their meaning. Zhang Bo Duan was later recognized as a patriarch of the QuanZhen sect of Daoism who practiced inner alchemy in conjunction with meditation on emptiness adopted from Cha’an Buddhism. Beyond this period, many texts on inner alchemical meditation are available and comprise a large part of the Daoist Cannon. On should keep in mind, when attempting to trace the history of internal, spiritual practices, that these teachings were often kept very secretly and passed down solely as an oral lineage. Where one person sees the later daoists as using passages from the DaoDeJing to justify their own texts and practices, others may – just as validly – claim that the DaoDeJing’s suggestive passages are showing its connection to the oral lineage that was around all along, but never written down.

Nei Dan’s Relationship to Qigong Qigong is a relatively modern term that encompasses a wide variety of disciplines. These may include “Dao-yin” yogic exercises, Neigong – or inner strength practice (often associated with martial arts training), Shengong – or training the spirit, and Nei Dan (inner alchemy). What all of these practices have in common is that they work with the subtle energies of the body in some way – thus they can all be characterized under the heading of “Qigong” – skill or cultivation of subtle energy. Nei Dan is working with the Qi, but only as a part of the process. The inner alchemical process is actually concerned with all three treasures – Jing, Qi, and Shen.

The Three Treasures – Daoism’s Threefold Division of the Subtle Body The “Three Treasures” are considered to be substances in the body – but they are subtle substances that have no direct correlation with things that can be found with a microscope. The ancient Chinese medical and meditative language is very poetic, and often descriptive of relationships rather than concrete and findable things. Just because they have no direct correlation with the physical substances of the body (chemicals, hormones, etc) does not mean that these Treasures are “intangible” in a way that you simply have to take their existence on faith though. The phenomena spoken about in these terms are

definitely findable in one’s own personal experiences, and in larger patterns of health. One teacher of Chinese Medicine recommends that one think about different kinds of maps. There are maps that show precipitation, others that are topographical, still others that show population. Any of these maps might look completely different, but they are all “true” in relation to the subject they are talking about. The Three Treasures, and other concepts of Chinese (and Ayurvedic) medicine are the same. They are speaking about different patterns than Western anatomy. If we look at it in this way, we can see how the two inform and complement each other. We can think of the Three Treasures as three different aspects of the health of our mind-body-spirit complex. They are explored in detail below starting from most dense to most subtle.

精

Jing First is the Jing. The Chinese word for jing means something like “essence”. In the character for Jing 精 , you can see the character for “Dan” 丹 as in “nei dan” 內丹 - inner alchemy (It is on the lower right). Dan refers to an elixir, or a refined substance – it is a pictogram of an alchemical cauldron with a little drop of elixir inside it. One gets the impression that the Jing is something of an essential or refined nature. On the left side of the character is the radical “Mi” 米 for “rice”, and is said to show an image of a

rice seed puffing into flower. This can imply the full expression of genetic inheritance. Pre and Post Heaven Essence The Essence of the body is divided into two levels. On one level, the Jing refers to one’s genetic inheritance. It is the “essence” that underlies the core of one’s physical make-up and constitution. Truly, in the material sense, where your body comes from is a refining down and “essentializing” of your two parent’s forms and genetic potentials. On this level, the Jing is said to represent the capacities that one is born with, and one’s constitution in general. It is said that you cannot add anything to this Jing, and that aging is the process of continually using up this precious substance. Excessive activities that overtax the body and extreme emotions like shock can use up this Jing prematurely and hasten the aging process. This is how Chinese medicine explains that a great fright can turn the hair white all at once – as if the hair on the head aged all at once! The premature draining of the Jing is also Chinese medicine’s explanation of the fact that many drug users will become clinically depressed after a very short period of using – because they have depleted the “essences” that would contribute to the brain’s proper functioning. This first aspect of the Jing is called one’s “preHeaven Essence”. This means the essence you had while you were in the womb, before coming out and “seeing the sky” (hence pre-heaven). In another sense, the “pre-heaven” Jing sometimes also refers to one’s “Destiny”, or the karma that one comes into this incarnation with. This type of karma is thought

of as relatively fixed, and something that one simply has to work with to the best of his or her ability. If you believe in the sciences of astrology, or other forms of prognostication, it is the pre-birth Jing in this form of Destiny that they are speaking too. It is thought that, although one may have a few variations in life, there are some general themes that one will not be able to escape. In Buddhism as well as Daoism, this karma is not seen to be fixed per se, it is just so very strong that most individuals never seem to escape its clutches. If you think about it, children often show up in this world with their own personalities. If you look into the eyes of your first-born child, and then later into the eyes of your second just as they are born, you may sense that they are distinctive individuals. A baby is truly not “Tabula Rasa”. Each child is also grown from what essences the mother has while carrying the baby – even the mother’s emotions during pregnancy are now being found to possibly affect the child’s brain development. In the spiritual traditions it is also thought that you come into this world from a previous life. According to this theory, the actions of your past lives (usually many lives removed from this one) are what have “thrown” the world you perceive into existence. In addition to this, they’ve also thrown the body and tendencies of mind that you inhabit. Because these karmas make up the very nature of your habits of thinking and emotion, they can be extremely hard to change. This is why, if you read into the lives of Daoist immortals, or Buddhist saints like Milarepa or Naropa, their spiritual training is usually filled with hardship. They are attempting, at

times, to make a full 180 degree turn from the way their pre-heaven karma is throwing them and create something new. Post Heaven Jing A second type of the Jing is called the “PostHeaven Essence”, or sometimes called the “Acquired Essence”. This Jing is an essence that we create as we go along in our lives. Specifically this is considered to be a special substance that is created from the surplus of energy left over from the energy of food or drink we have taken in. This does not mean that we should simply consume more – it actually refers to quality. When we end the day having generated more energy than we have spent, we get to create post-Heaven Essence. If you consume too much, it just creates a kind of sludge in the subtle body. It then requires more energy to process this sludge than you have provided. The way this happens is very simple, if you are able to extract clean burning fuel from your food, drink, and breath, and transform it into useable material in your body, you have the opportunity to generate an over-abundance of positive energy. When we sleep, this positive energy reserve is brought into storage in the body – being converted into Essence. One of the physical correlates of this the process by which Human Growth Hormone regenerates the body while we sleep. To a practitioner of inner alchemy, sleep is very important. There is one other way to create post-Heaven essence, though, and that is through deep

meditation. This is where the process of Daoist inner yoga becomes applicable. In a state of sleep, the mind becomes very concentrated and quiet. The energy is all led deep into the body, and a magical type of transformation can occur which changes the energy from food, drink and breathing, into an essential physical substance. Meditation, though, can be an even deeper state than sleep for the welltrained practitioner. This is why one will sometimes hear stories of Buddhist or Daoist meditation masters who either don’t sleep, or sleep very little. Their meditation practice is performing the main function of sleep for them, but more efficiently. Beginners should beware of attempting this practice too soon. Up until very advanced spiritual stages, one is advised to continue to get around 8 hours of sleep per night (with variations more or less for one’s personal needs). Usually, modern people are somewhat depleted in their Jing, so even if you are able to meditate deeply (which is something of a feat), you will likely still need the ordinary sleeping process to sustain you for a while. Because the Jing is the concentrated genetic essence, it is highly related to the sexual essence in a person. We could refer to it as the “Generative Essence”. This means that the semen in men, and the ovum in women is one concrete version of the Jing. Two ways that the Jing can be easily depleted are by excessive sex with ejaculation in a man, and excessive childbearing by a woman (which draws too excessively on the mother’s reserves). This is an important concept to understand in more advanced aspects of alchemical practice.

The relation of the Jing to the sexual energy is one of the reasons why the high spiritual traditions from around the world almost universally recommend celibacy during times of deep spiritual practice. Monks and Nuns of all traditions are proscribed from sexual encounters not because such acts are considered evil necessarily, but because they wish to retain and transform this most fundamental energy. In the high Daoist practices, there are also methods handed down for lay people, or clergy of the type who may take a practice partner and engage in sexual intercourse. In these methods (thought to be very advanced, and not recommended without a direct teacher!), the men learn how to enter into a state of sexual ecstasy and orgasm, but without ejaculating. This state of bliss is very healing and regenerative for the body and mind, and can catapult one into deep meditative states – but, the body is not depleted of its fundamental energies. The women in advanced Daoist practices often end up stopping their menstrual cycle, as all the generative essence begins to be transmuted. (not to worry, there is no menopause associated with this energetic reversal, and the period will resume as soon as the advanced practices are discontinued – for practitioners who decide consciously to have a child).

Qi

氣

Qi refers to the subtle energy of the body. Its main correlate is a subtle electromagnetic energy that flows through certain predictable pathways called meridians. The Qi is considered the motive force in the body. It is the warmth and motion behind all processes. Qi is said to have 5 major functions. These are: Warming, Lifting, Protecting, Movement, Transformation. In any of the Organs of the body, its Qi is what makes it work. If you were to speak of an organ’s function, in Chinese medicine and internal alchemy, you should speak of its Qi. Qi is halfway in between the Jing and the Shen. The Jing is very dense and almost physical, whereas the Shen is very fine and incorporeal. The Qi is right in between. The ancient Chinese character for Qi shows “wind” 气 over a sprouting puff of rice 米 . This is sometimes interpreted as steam rising off a pot of rice cooking – which gives the impression of something that is not solid, but is very powerful (you can pass your hand right through it, but can also get burned, or it can lift the lid of the pot). It is also sometimes seen to be the force of life springing out of the plant like wind or movement. Because Qi is situated between the Jing and the Shen – or the mind and the body, it can be used to regulate both of them. This is why the practice of

Qigong can be so powerful – because by regulating the body’s energy, you can regulate every level of a person’s being. Qi is the subtle energy that flows through the meridian channels of the body and also flows around the body as the “aura” or external energy field. Qi is the subtle energy that correlates with the “Prana” of Indian yogic systems, rLung of Tibetan Buddhism, and the Ruh or Ruach (holy breath) of the Middle Eastern desert mystics. While the qi and the prana are related to the breath, they are not the breath, but a subtle breath that flows through the body. Modern research shows that many of the effects ascribed to “Qi” in classical Chinese medicine show up as low frequency electromagnetic fields in the body. It is these frequencies that are found in the hands of trained energy healers when tested with sensitive magnetometers (in addition to things like infra-red light). This energy is also found to be abundant at the classical acupuncture points, and has been used to create regenerative effects in tissues such as non-union bone fractures. [for more info, please reference Dr. Robert O. Becker’s ‘The Body Electric’, Oschman’s ‘Energy Medicine – the Scientific Basis’, and other works]. In the yogic traditions of India and Tibet there is a view of the being called the “pancha-kosha” or 5 sheaths. The level of the Qi is called the “pranamayakosha” – or the subtle energy body. This body is the crux of internal practice because it can be affected by the physical body (Jing, Anamayakosha), and also by the mind and spiritual body (Shen, Vijnanamayakosha). The

pranamayakosha or Qi level can also affect these other levels. This means that if you want to affect your body, you could learn to mobilize your subtle energy (like visualizing white blood cells attacking a virus to increase immune response, or learning to warm the hands and feet via bio-feedback to reduce migraine headaches). It also means that if you want to affect your mind, you can learn to mobilize the subtle energy (like sending energy down toward the abdomen or feet to calm a busy or worried mind). The Qi can be thought of as the Mind-Body relationship. Herbert Benson published his book ‘The Relaxation Response’ in 1975, and was one of the first voices to speak about the interrelationship of mind and body. Now, fields like psychoneuroimmunology have massive amounts of evidence that show how your thinking and emoting correlate directly to your health. The ancient yogis of China and India posited this relationship long ago, and claimed that it is facilitated by the body’s subtle energy. It is for this reason that the physical practices of Hatha Yoga asanas, and Qigong postures can be so effective on every level of health – because they using the body to affect the qi which reflects all the way into the mind and spirit. It is also for this reason that meditation practitioners show many increased health markers – the mind is affecting the Qi, which ripples all the way out to the physical body’s health. Shen

神

Shen refers to the spirit. “Spirit” is a challenging concept because it means so many different things to different people. Shen, for our purposes, has two main meanings. In one sense, Shen is the consciousness itself. It is the idea of consciousness without contents or attributes – the space in which thoughts occur. Shen is what distinguishes a sentient being from a non-sentient being. The other meaning of Shen is that of the higher spiritual qualities in a being. It refers to the capacity to experience love, insight, deep meaning, and wisdom. The first meaning of Shen is traditionally something that everyone is born with, the fact that you are aware at all. The second meaning of Shen is something that must be developed. One teacher from the tradition of Nyingma Dzogchen calls it the difference between “intrinsic” and “inherent”. The second meaning of Shen is something inherent in you, but it must be developed. We all have the potential to enter into deep meditative states and experience higher spiritual realities, but unless we work toward actualizing that potential, it actually does us no good. The character for “Shen” is made up of two radicals. On the left is a character that symbolizes a banner 示 hanging down from a flagpole. The three different strokes are said to symbolize the sun, moon, and stars, meaning “Heaven” or the spiritual realm. The character on the right is representative of two hands lowering down a rope. Put together, you could interpret Shen as “the help given you from Heaven”. Inner Alchemy and the Three Treasures

In the classics of Internal Alchemy, the primary work is around the refinement of the Three Treasures. The saying goes “Refine the Jing to create Qi, Refine the Qi to create Shen”. This is a shorthand for the process of internal cultivation. The process begins with the cultivation of the physical body – the Jing level. This level involves getting the right food, proper exercise, enough sleep, balanced sex life, and calm enough emotions to keep the hormones in a state of general balance. From the foundation of physical health, we create an abundance of subtle electromagnetic energy. This level of training involves working with the breath to maximize energy. Utilizing visualizations and subtle movement to bring in more energy to the body, and to harmonize and transmute the energy that is present. At this point in training, students often notice that they are becoming more sensitive to subtle changes in and around their body. Students may also notice that they begin to sense the emotions of other people around them in a way they have not before. When the energy is replete, the practitioner of internal alchemy can engage in meditative processes to awaken and refine the Spirit. The heightened energy that has been cultivated begins to feed deeper realizations and open the body in a way that it can carry a higher level of presence than ever before. At this point in training, one often recognizes a deeper meaning behind his or her life, and begins entering into various altered states and visionary experiences. The entire purpose of any of the stages of Qigong or Inner Alchemy training has always been to

reach this stage of feeling that there is some deep meaning or purpose in life. Remember that one of the functions of the Qi is “transformation”. This refers not only to transformation of food and oxygen into usable energy, but the ability to go through spiritual and emotional transformation as well. What we are doing, by refining the energies of the body, is facilitating the ability to go through spiritual transformation into a higher and higher capacity for integration and happiness. It has been shown that practicing meditation is one of the only ways to make any great change in the functional level of consciousness in a short period of time. This is, in part, facilitated by learning to be masterful in contacting the level of Qi or subtle energy. When we tap into this level which is pure relationship and transformation, we are able to make vast changes in our consciousness and awareness.

The Five Zhang – Yin Organs The organs of the body are divided into Yin and Yang in Chinese medicine. The Yin organs are referred to as Zhang – which implies a treasury. What the Yin organs treasure are precious substances and spirits in the body. The Yin Organs of Chinese Medicine include the Heart, Lungs, Liver, Spleen, and Kidneys, and each is associated with a certain element, negative emotion,

and virtue. Much of the language of classical alchemy is related to processes of refining the energies of these elements. The concept of an “Organ” in Chinese medicine is different than an organ in standard anatomy and physiology. An Organ in classical alchemy actually refers to a sphere of influence, or interconnected relationships. The Lungs, for example are also associated with the functions of the large intestine, the skin, the immune system, the emotion of grief, certain aspects of the circulation, fluid metabolism, and more. These associations can be hard to understand at first glance, but we must remember that there is an overarching principle that rules this system – and that is contained in the concept of an element or “phase”. The Lungs in Chinese medicine are said to be an expression of the “Metal” element. This is a symbolic representation of the energy of condensation, boundary making, and conductivity. When we understand this, we can understand that the Lungs are related by their ability to condense vital energy and draw in the breath, the large intestines condense the feces and reabsorb water. Both these Organs represent boundaries to the outside world – one takes in life, the other excretes dead waste. The skin forms another boundary with the outside world and condenses one’s sense of self – this is consistent with the functions of the immune system that the Lung Organ rules over. The list of associations is long, but enables one to understand the energetic connection between many aspects of the body. Readers are referred to my book

‘Experiencing Chinese Medicine’ for a deeper treatment of these principles. The Five Phases All Chinese inner alchemy deals with what are known as the “Five Phases”, or sometimes translated as the “Five Elements”. “Elements”, though, doesn’t quite convey what is meant. It is not talking about solid pieces of metal, water, soil, or the like, but metaphors for energies and relationships within the living being. The word that is translated as “phase” has a literal connotation that means “to walk”, or to “move”, so we can think about these five phases as types of movement or relating within the subtle body. The classical Five Phases are called Fire, Soil, Metal, Water, and Wood. They are described as follows: Wood represents the quality of rising up and of growth – like a growing plant. It is characterized by the springtime and dawn, and rules over the more “ethereal” aspects of one’s spiritual life. Fire represents the quality of radiance – like the energy and heat of fire radiating out in every direction. It is characterized by summertime and noon, and rules over the abiding presence of one’s spirit/consciousness. Soil represents the quality of stability, neutrality, and nurturing – like the energy of the earth. It is characterized by the lazy months of late summer, as well as the time when the other four seasons are transitioning between each other. The soil phase

rules the aspect of the spirit responsible for logical thinking and intention. Metal represents the quality of descending and condensation – like the molecular structure of metals and crystals, and their ability to condense and conduct liquids on their surface, or like metal’s ability to conduct electricity. The Metal phase is characterized by the Autumn season and sunset. It rules over the more “corporeal” or instinctual aspects of the spirit. Water represents the quality of ultimate yin and complete contraction – like the tendency of water molecules to clump together, and liquid’s “yin” nature of flowing down hill - flexibly adapting to any container, or around any obstacle. Water is represented by the Winter season and midnight. Water rules over the Jing – or essence – of the body. The Five Shen – Spirits According to Chinese medicine and Daoist alchemy, the Spiritual consciousness of the body has five aspects, which are referred to as the five “Shen”. Each element has a spiritual aspect associated with it according to its energetic nature. The Wood phase is associated with the Hun, called the ethereal spirit. This is the aspect of our consciousness that tends toward evolution, vision, and interest in or attunement to subtle spiritual things.

The Fire phase is associated with the Shen. This is the word for Spirit in general. The Shen, as was described in the section on the Three Treasures, is described both as consciousness itself, and also as the higher aspects of consciousness associated with compassion, insight, and the like. The Shen associated with the Fire Phase is said to contain or integrate the functions of the spirits of the other four Phases. The Soil phase is associated with the Yi - the Intention. This has to do with logical and analytical reasoning on one hand, and on the other, the ability to first bring the mind to a neutral state, and then grow very specific thoughts – like fertile earth giving rise to plants. The Metal phase is associated with the Po – the “corporeal soul”. The Po is basically one’s instinctual consciousness. It is the aspect that keeps one alive even when consciousness is temporarily lost. The Po is interested in self preservation and can tend toward addiction and gluttony if left unchecked. The Water phase is associated with the Zhi – the Will. This refers to will on the level of simple tenacity and willpower, and also on a deeper spiritual level of a kind of feeling of Destiny, or Purpose in this life. It is something that you “feel in your bones” (the most concentrated and yin structure in the body).

Emotions and Virtues Finally, it will be important for this discussion to understand about the emotions that are associated

with each Organ/Phase, as these emotions and virtues are a subject of much of one’s inner alchemical training. Emotion – Energy in Motion The emotions are thought to be energies in the Organs/Phases which are sort of acting out on their own – either through a habitual negative pattern, or for some defensive or balancing purpose. For example, a moment of anger may be necessary in order to get oneself out of a dangerous situation – this would be a balancing version of this emotion. On the other hand, a feeling of anger over a long term, or in inappropriate situations is just a habitual damaging of the subtle body. In the first case, the Anger arises and mobilizes energy in a certain direction (up and out), in order to bring the body to a state of greater balance within itself, and within the environment. In the second case, the energy is continually activated in a pattern that may not contribute to the health of the rest of the systems. The particular phase/element (Wood, in this case) has “gone rogue”, and sabotaged the functioning of the organism for its own perceived gain. Bringing the body’s emotions back into a balanced state is a major goal of Inner Alchemy. It is treated in an advanced formula called “fusing the Five Phases”. The preparatory forms of this formula are simply to create a state of emotional and energetic balance in the body. The emotions that we will work with for each of the elements are as follows. Lungs – Metal – Grief/Sadness

The energy of Sadness has a sinking quality and one can often feel how grieving can negatively effect the breath, or positively activate the Lungs to help facilitate release through sobbing. Kidneys – Water – Fear/Stress The energy of Fear contracts the energy. This is just like the extreme Yin or contracted state of the Water element. If the emotion of fear contracts too much, one can actually lose control of the urinary system as the Water element is overwhelmed. Liver – Wood – Anger/Frustration The energy of Anger makes the Qi rise up and causes blood to rush to the face and arms so that one could defend oneself if necessary. This same rising can exacerbate the tendency of the Wood element to “grow” and rise upwards. Anger can thus cause things like headaches and high blood pressure. Heart – Fire – Anxiousness/Hatred/Overjoy Anxiousness is like the fire phase in that it can scatter the qi in all directions. This can be valuable if the mind needs to look at many different pieces of information, but often becomes pathological. This is similar to the emotion of “overjoy” which is an excess of happiness itself, which throws one out of balance. The ancient Daoist meditative system recommends a type of sustainable, calm joy and presence, rather than extremes of any emotion – even happiness. Spleen – Earth – Worry The Earth element is taxed by Worry (sometimes referred to as over-thinking. This emotion causes the

energy to get tied up in knots. It is like an excess of the natural neutrality of the Earth element. This emotion can afflict the digestive organs as over thinking is like asking the body to digest and “chewon” things over and over. What is happening in the mind gets reflected in the gut.

Virtue – Energy in Balance The Virtues of the Phases are different than the emotions in that they are always balanced and integrated actions – there is no negative version of the virtues. The word for virtue - “De” 徳 in Chinese (made famous in the title of the classic text the “Dao De Jing”) – can be translated roughly as “a unified heart that sees in all directions”. The Virtues are always from the heart, visionary in nature, and in complete inner and environmental balance. It is the cultivation of these Virtue energies that allow the Five Phase energies within the body to fuse and coalesce. The emotional energies of the Organs are always about doing “their own thing”, while the Virtue energies are about working together. In creating a new spiritual being – the goal of Daoist alchemy – we tap the energies of these Virtues and allow them to fuse into a type of medicine within us. The type of being we are creating from the rough

material of our present body is a being made entirely of Virtue energy. Elemental Associations The associations of Elements and virtues are as follows: The Wood phase is associated with Growth, the energy of moving up and out. The corresponding Virtue is a feeling of Benevolence or Generosity, which also carries with it the feeling of movement upward and outward. The Fire phase is associated with Radiance, the energy of expanding in all directions. The corresponding Virtue is the energy of Peace, and also that of Compassion, which also makes the heart radiant. The Soil phase is associated with Neutrality, the energy of stability and centeredness. The corresponding virtue is of Trust, which carries a sense of grounding and stability. The Metal phase is associated with Condensation, and a downward moving energy in the body. The corresponding virtue is one of Value and Integrity, which mirror the integral strength of metals and the nature of condensing to form a strong structure. The Water phase is associated Contraction, the energy of moving inward toward the center. The corresponding virtue is that of Wisdom, which arises from a deeply concentrated mind.

Deep Relaxation and Purifying the Inner Organs We are now ready to move into our first inner alchemy practices, which will involve cleansing and restoring the energies of the inner Organ systems. First though, we must learn the most important preliminary practice – deep relaxation. Relaxation may not seem like the most esoteric alchemical practice, but truly, the whole practice of Daoist alchemy is contained within it. There are, actually, certain schools of Daoism, which recommend not engaging in energy practices or visualizations, but instead simply “Quiet Sitting” in which one relaxes deeply. Interestingly, long-term practitioners of this type of quiet sitting often report that the same phenomena begin to happen to them as happen to practitioners of special breathing exercises and visualizations. The reason for this is simple: the negative emotions that disrupt the energetic systems are all emotions of stress, while the positive virtues are all emotions that grow out of (and create) a rested state of mind. If one can truly learn to relax, all the deep knowledge of the alchemical tradition can arise for one spontaneously. At the same time, some traditions feel that simple “relaxation” is not enough, as there are habitual patterns in the mind and energy that need to be disrupted and routed into a more positive direction. We should be clear – the practice of an inner body yogi is not to simply come to a state where s/he doesn’t care about anything. In fact, it is just the opposite! Through the process of dropping

off ways of being that are not conducive to health and happiness, one comes to care deeply for all beings. Rather than becoming so relaxed that life loses meaning, life continually becomes more meaningful to the yogi dwelling in a relaxed state. Navigating the types of practice, like relaxation – vs- inner “work”, that are appropriate for one at any time can be difficult. This can be because we tend to decide what practices to do based on what we like, and what we like is often more a function of habit than of wisdom. It is for this reason that all the ancient teaching streams recommend that one find a Teacher, who has been through a significant amount of the training one wishes to undertake. Such a Teacher can guide one toward when to relax, and when to work hard – what to give up, and what to take up, and at what time. “Song Gong” Practice Find a comfortable position. The recommended posture for this practice is seated – as this gives a good balance between being wakeful and also deeply relaxed - but this exercise can also be practiced in a standing meditation posture, as well as while lying down. Begin by relaxing your face in the most efficient way possible – SMILE! For best effect, this should be a genuine smile, the way you smile when seeing a beloved child, relative, or lover after a long time apart. Imagine now that you are radiating that smile out into the universe and the universe begins to smile back to you. Feel that the light of the stars,

planets, and any enlightened beings you may believe in are all sending love, light, and blessings to you. Now feel that the energy of this smile enters into you face and is very relaxing, it softens all the facial muscles and sensory organs and begins to melt down through the front of your body. Feel relaxation spread through your neck and the front of your shoulders – pouring like oil down through the front part of your arms. Feel the chest relax, and then the abdomen, the pelvis, the front of the legs, and the tops of the feet and toes. Then imagine that you can smile backwards at the universe behind you – and feel it smiling back to you. Let this energy enter the back of your head and work its way down through the back of your neck, arms, spinal muscles, buttocks, thighs, legs, and heels. Finally, imagine that the universe is smiling to you from directly above your head. Imagine that this relaxing and blessing energy flows into the crown of your head and begins to relax and empower your brain. Smile down through the center of your throat and into the Heart – feel the heart soften and relax. Then smile into your Lungs, your Liver, your Spleen, your Kidneys, down through the digestive organs and intestines, and through the reproductive organs. Finally, let this relaxing, smiling energy flow down through your thighs, legs, and feet, relaxing and blessing the whole body. Feel the openness and relaxation that this exercise creates in your body and stay in this state as long as

you like. Throughout the day, you can return to this state of being for a quick recharge.

Healing Sounds, Visualized Light, and Transformation The practice of the “six healing sounds” is a very ancient practice in Daoism and Buddhism. Ancient texts like the ZhuangZi and the BaoPuZi (“master who embraces simplicity”) mention techniques involving varying the inhalation and exhalation. This specific practice can be traced back to Dao Hong Jing in the fifth century CE. His text advises us to frame the exhalation in six different ways to cure various forms of disease and distress. The TianTai Buddhist priest named Zhi Zhauan also advises them one century later. The exercise of the six sounds is given in its current version by the famous Daoist, and Chinese Medicine Physician, Sun Si-Miao (aprox 581682) in his text on hygiene This practice is indicated for balancing the internal Organs’ energies. Many variations exist in these sounds including variations in the sounds themselves, and differences in volume. Students are encouraged to find a version of the sounds that resonate with them personally and practice that system until a degree of mastery is gained.

Each sound can be performed individually for problems in its respective Organ. More commonly, the sounds are used all together in order to balance the entire body. In alchemical practices, the healing sounds are used to create balance between the Yin Organs, and are often combined with visualizations of light and color, and inner emotional work, to activate the process of transmutation from baser forms of emotional energy stored within the Organs into higher forms of Virtue. Light is visualized in the Daoist tradition according to the colour associations of the Five Phases. Students should understand that just visualizing a colour has no intrinsic power. The colours are meant to invoke a certain movement in the subtle body and a corresponding emotional state. Practitioners should attempt to feel each colour inspiring the appropriate emotional response and movement of energy. For instance, many people understand the difference between painting a room in “warm” colours (like reds and oranges) rather than “cool” colours (like blue). In the same way a red colour might “warm up” a room, visualizing the red colour in the Heart Organ can help to warm one up to feelings of peace, love, or compassion. Visualization of light in the internal Organs is indicated for tonifying deficiencies. Each colour by itself to regulate pathologies in a specific Organ system, but In the practice of inner alchemy, we will use regulation of all the Organs in order to create holistic balance of all the body’s systems.

Visualized light is a major part of many spiritual traditions as bright light is symbolic of higher energetic vibration. With each of the Organs, we will imagine that the light quality existing in them moves from a more murky or smoky state toward a more vibrant and clear light. This symbolizes the transformation of baser, unrefined energy into high spiritual fuel and realization. Practicing the Healing Sounds and Coloured Light Transmutation Meditation To begin, choose a comfortable seat or standing posture like in the last meditation on relaxation. Start with the Song-Gong smiling and relaxing practice given above to prepare the body.

Lungs Once you have smiled through the entire body, bring your relaxed, smiling attention to your Lungs. Notice how as you smile to the Lungs, they may begin to relax, start to tingle, or give some other sensation of energetic opening. Now feel into your Lung organ and begin to sense into any of the Lung’s emotion of Grief/Sadness. Begin to imagine that from all around the universe a brilliant White mist begins to coalesce around you. As you inhale, draw this white mist into the Lungs and imagine that it starts to stir the Qi and liberate the energies in the Lungs.

Now exhale with the Lungs healing sound “Ssssssss” (like a air escaping from a tiny pinhole). Imagine as you resonate the sound that it vibrates the energies of Grief out of your Lungs. Visualize this energy leaving the body in the form of a grayish smoke, which travels down into the earth. Continue to inhale the White energy into the Lungs, and now imagine that it is carrying with it a quality of Courage, Righteousness, and Integrity. These qualities fill up the Lungs with white brilliance. Continue this exercise for 5 or 6 breaths and visualize that with each breath the Lungs become cleaner and more brilliant. Conclude the exercise by imagining that the Lungs are glowing with brilliant White light, filled with Courage, Righteousness, and Integrity, and that all trace of murky or dark energy has been removed. Kidneys Now move on to smile down and into the Kidneys. Notice that as you smile to the Kidneys, they may begin to relax, start to tingle, or give some other sensation of energetic opening. Now feel into your Kidney organ and begin to sense into any of the Kidney’s emotion of Fear/Stress. Ask inwardly if any fear or stress is hiding in your body, and especially in the Kidneys or Adrenal Glands.

Begin to imagine that from all around the universe a beautiful Midnight Blue mist begins to coalesce around you. As you inhale, draw this Blue mist into the Kidneys and imagine that it starts to stir the Qi and liberate the energies in the Kidneys. Now exhale with the Kidneys healing sound “Chuayyyy”. Imagine as you resonate the sound that it vibrates the energies of Fear out of your Kidneys. Visualize this energy leaving the body in the form of a grayish blue/black smoke, which travels down into the earth. Continue to inhale the Blue energy into the Kidneys, and now imagine that it is carrying with it a quality of Wisdom and Deep Concentration. This quality fills up the Kidneys with depth and light. Continue this exercise for 5 or 6 breaths and visualize that with each breath the Kidneys become cleaner and more brilliant. Conclude the exercise by imagining that the Kidneys are glowing with brilliant Deep Blue, filled with Wisdom, and that all trace of murky or dark energy has been removed. Liver Then turn your awareness to your Liver. Notice how as you smile to the Liver, it may begin to relax, start to tingle, or give some other sensation of energetic opening. Now feel into your Liver organ and begin to sense into any of the Liver’s emotion of Anger/Frustration.

Ask inwardly if there is any anger or frustration stored in the body, and particularly in the Liver Organ. Begin to imagine that from all around the universe a brilliant Blue/Green mist begins to coalesce around you. As you inhale, draw this Green mist into the Liver and imagine that it starts to stir the Qi and liberate the energies in the Liver. Now exhale with the Liver’s healing sound “Sshhhhhh” (like telling someone to quiet down). Imagine as you resonate the sound that it vibrates the energies of Anger out of your Liver. Visualize this energy leaving the body in the form of a grayish Green smoke, which travels down into the earth. Continue to inhale the Blue/Green energy into the Liver, and now imagine that it is carrying with it a quality of Generosity and Kindness. These qualities fill up the Liver with Blue/Green brilliance. Continue this exercise for 5 or 6 breaths and visualize that with each breath the Liver becomes cleaner and more brilliant. Conclude the exercise by imagining that the Liver is glowing with brilliant Blue/Green light, filled with Kindness and Generosity, and that all trace of murky or dark energy has been removed. Heart Turn your relaxed awareness next to your Heart. Notice how as you smile to the Heart, it may begin to relax, start to tingle, or give some other sensation of energetic opening.

Feel into your Heart and begin to sense into any of the Heart’s emotion of Excessive Joy/Anxiety. Begin to imagine that from all around the universe a brilliant Red mist begins to coalesce around you. (Make sure that if you feel too hot, or you begin to get anxious, to use a more pastel or pink shade of Red, as it is energetically cooler.) As you inhale, draw this Red mist into the Heart and imagine that it starts to stir the Qi and liberate the energies in the Heart. Now exhale with the Heart’s healing sound “Haaaaaaaa” (Like a deep sigh at the end of a long day). Imagine as you resonate the sound that it vibrates the energies of Anxiety/Excessive Joy out of your Heart. Visualize this energy leaving the body in the form of a grayish red smoke, which travels down into the earth. Continue to inhale the Red energy into the Heart, and now imagine that it is carrying with it a quality of Peace and Compassion. These qualities fill up the Heart with red brilliance. Continue this exercise for 5 or 6 breaths and visualize that with each breath the Heart becomes cleaner and more brilliant. Conclude the exercise by imagining that the Heart is glowing with brilliant Red light, filled with Peace and Compassion, and that all trace of murky or dark energy has been removed. Spleen

Finally, shine your relaxed awareness into your Spleen beneath the left side of the ribcage. Notice how as you smile to the Spleen, it may begin to relax, start to tingle, or give some other sensation of energetic opening. Now feel into your Spleen/Pancreas organ and begin to sense into any of the Spleen’s emotion of Worry. Begin to imagine that from all around the universe and from deep within the earth a brilliant Golden mist begins to coalesce around you. As you inhale, draw this Golden mist into the Spleen and imagine that it starts to stir the Qi and liberate the energies in the Spleen/Pancreas. Now exhale with the Spleen’s healing sound “Whoooo” (like blowing on food to cool it). Imagine as you resonate the sound that it vibrates the energies of Worry out of your Spleen. Visualize this energy leaving the body in the form of a grayish yellow smoke, which travels down into the earth. Continue to inhale the Golden energy into the Spleen, and now imagine that it is carrying with it a quality of Trust and Groundedness. These qualities fill up the Spleen with Golden brilliance. Continue this exercise for 5 or 6 breaths and visualize that with each breath the Spleen becomes cleaner and more brilliant. Conclude the exercise by imagining that the Spleen is glowing with brilliant Golden light, filled with Trust and Groundedness, and

that all trace of murky or dark energy has been removed. Triple Warmer The sixth healing sound is optional to perform and is related to the “Triple Warmer”. The Triple Warmer is an organ of Chinese Medicine that has no correlate in Western anatomy, but is related to the metabolic processes of all the organs, as well as the lymphatic system. To practice the sound for the Triple Warmer, exhale with the sound “Heeeeeeeee” (sometimes given as Xiiiiiiiiiiiii) and imagine vibrating from the head down to the feet, smoothing the energy of the whole body. Repeat 3-5 times. Concluding the Exercise Imagine that all the negative energy that has been removed from the Organs has flowed down into the earth’s core. [do not worry about taxing the earth with these negative energies – they are like compost, and the earth has the power to neutralize them and transform them into useful energies]. See all of the inner organs glowing with beautiful light. The Lungs glow white and radiate a quality of Integrity, the Kidneys glow with deep blue and radiate a quality of Wisdom, the Liver glows with a bluish green and radiates a quality of Kindness, the Heart glows red and radiates a quality of Peaceful Compassion, the Spleen/Pancreas glows golden and radiates a quality of Trust. Visualize now a tiny pearl of light spiraling in the lower abdomen in the Lower Dan Tien center (for

more information, see the following section on the lower Dan Tien). Imagine that as this pearl of light spins and spirals, it draws all the coloured lights of the five Yin Organs into it and fuses them together. Imagine that the energies of all the Organs’ Virtue fuse harmoniously into this tiny pearl in the center of power in the lower abdomen. Smile and rest in meditation on this center for as long as you’d like. Notes: If you are practicing the healing sounds for all of the Organs, completing 5 or 6 per Organ is a balanced number of repetitions, which adds up to about a tenminute meditation session. For deeper-rooted stagnation, or more intensive practice, students can practice their 5 breaths each Organ for three cycles, for a total of 15 breaths per Organ. If a particular Organ is stagnant, it is recommended that students perform 36 rounds of that Organ’s healing sound both in the morning and evening (this should be done under the supervision of a trained medical Qigong practitioner in order to avoid excessive purging of the Organ). If a particular Organ is deficient, it is recommended to practice 36 rounds of breathing in that Organ’s colour of light both morning and evening. Finally, when practicing with all the Organs together, it is important to do the concluding meditation of gathering the now clear and luminous energy to the Dan Tien and feeling that it goes into “storage” there. This is a safer way to store and integrate the energy for long-term health than to simply leave the newly increased reserves in the Organs themselves.

Cultivating the Dan Tien The “Dan Tien” is a widely discussed concept in traditional Chinese Qigong, and in inner alchemy. Literally, Dan Tien means something like – field of elixir. The Chinese character “Dan” 丹 (same as in Nei Dan – “inner alchemy”) pictures an alchemical cauldron with a tiny drop of elixir or a pill inside of it. The word Dan was used by the ancient external alchemists for concoctions that they would make out of various herbs and minerals as elixirs of immortality. One of the toxic chemicals that was often used was Cinnabar, oxide of mercury. Because of this, you will sometimes see Dan Tien translated as “Cinnabar Field”, or even “Red Field” because the word can refer to the red colour of cinnabar. The term Dan is still sometimes used in modern Chinese medicine to refer to very efficient or expensive medicines that come in pill form. Tien is a picture of a field that has been divided into four parts. Literally it refers to a farmland that has been readied for cultivation. Put together, then, “Dan Tien” means an area for cultivation of a refined elixir. Rather than creating external pills like the alchemists of old, the internal alchemist is creating a medicinal elixir within. The Three Dan Tien In classical alchemy, there are said to be three Dan Tien. The first is in the lower belly, the second is in the region of the heart, and the third is in the head. In some schools, these are thought of as points which lie on the front of the body, in other schools, they

think of points within the body, and in still other schools, the Dan Tien is perceived to be a “field” or a more general area. What can be seen very easily is that these are major areas of psycho-emotional symbolism, and of integration of the mind and the body. This can be recognized in turns of phrase in English like “Gut Feeling”, “Listen to your heart”, or “he’s too much in his head”. It can be seen that different disciplines and activities of life require centering into one or more of these Dan Tien areas for greatest effectiveness. The Lower Dan Tien To begin, let’s sense the lower Dan Tien area. Do this by just being aware of your body, mind, and emotions. Then begin to consciously breathe into the lower abdomen. Feel as if the energy of the body is centered from this point, that this is the nexus around which all the other bodily processes revolve. Then just notice how this affects you. When focusing on the Lower Dan Tien, many people will notice that a sense of energy comes into their legs and their lower body in general. Some may find that their mind gets relaxed and quiet. Other’s will feel motivated to engage in physical activity. Occasionally feelings of physical or emotional discomfort will arise due to past traumas that we may have disassociated with, but which are still locked into our physical body. The Lower Dan Tien is well known to many athletes and performers, as well as to long term meditators. Focus upon this center is taught to beginning students of Tai Chi or Aikido, and also to

beginners in Zen Meditation. The reason for inclusion in all three of these disciplines is that the Lower Dan Tien center brings energy in the body strongly down. This simultaneously creates a feeling of rootedness (responsible for some of the feats of grounding and centering seen by some Aikido masters), and centered focus (enabling deep meditation). A strong lower Dan Tien is related to the JingEssence, and responsible for robust physical health. Individuals who have an imbalanced amount of energy in this center – to the expense of the other two Dan Tien – can become obsessed with the physical body. An excess of focus here can also create feelings of physical aggression, and also excessive focus on sexuality. This can sometimes be seen in long-term martial artists who do not have a balancing practice in some other aspect of their lives – they can end up becoming more violent or addictive as they practice, simply because of too much focus on the lower power center. If you find this happens in your own practice, or a client comes in with such a problem, you could advise them to balance out their practice with disciplines that open the other centers. The Middle Dan Tien To sense the middle Dan Tien, place your focus in the area of the heart. Don’t strain too much with your concentration as this can create feelings of anxiety. Just lightly rest the awareness in the center of the heart region. Feel and imagine that the center of the chest is the nexus around which the rest of the

body-mind’s processes operate. Observe how this affects your physical body, breath, and emotions. Many practitioners notice that meditating in the heart area can inspire feelings of love and joy, or equally strong feelings of emotional pain like grief. This is because the Middle Dan Tien is related with the realm of feelings and emotions. The emotions are on the level of energy, and the middle Dan Tien is related to the Qi. This center is very awake in individuals who are deeply in touch with their feelings and are empathetic. Practitioners of Bhakti yoga or other devotional traditions often have a very strong middle Dan Tien. The middle Dan Tien can be activated by practices like art and music which call upon the feeling sense of the heart. Therapeutic processes which get one in touch with his/her emotions are also very useful in working with this center. Excessive focus in this area can make one feel overly emotional or emotionally fragile. An imbalance of energy toward the middle Dan Tien can result in the feeling that one cannot turn off one’s empathy – that he or she is swayed by everyone else’s emotions. If you, yourself, or a client is having this kind of trouble, meditation on the lower Dan Tien is indicated in order to create a sense of groundedness, and a rooted sense of self. The Upper Dan Tien To feel the upper Dan Tien, place the awareness right in the very center of the brain. You can begin by placing your finger on the little hollow at the very top of the nose, right between your two eyes. Now

feel backwards with the mind to the space exactly between the upper half of your ears. Notice how centering your awareness in the head affects you. Centering on the upper Dan Tien often brings a feeling of deep focus and concentration. In some cases, bringing energy up to the head like this can spark a whirlwind of thoughts that can be very irritating. The upper Dan Tien is paradoxically responsible for both thinking, and the ability to go beyond thinking into a meditative state (the latter ability is reflected by the name of the corresponding chakra from the Indian system: “Ajna” – meaning “A” - Not, and “Jna” – knowing). Excessive or imbalanced focus on the upper Dan Tien can result in over thinking everything, or a tendency to “space-out” and retreat to “spiritual” states. People with a deep spiritual practice will have a well functioning upper Dan Tien, as this center is responsible for the facilitation of altered states of consciousness, as well as the deep, single-pointed focus of meditation. Even beginners, while focusing on this upper center, will often report seeing light appear, hearing tones, or having ecstatic experiences of mental silence. At times, the spiritual awakening that can occur with focus on the upper Dan Tien can become frightening for a student. This is one of the reasons that one is advised to work closely with a Teacher who can explain what is happening. If you experience any anxiety, head pressure, or excessive “spiritual” occurances that impede your normal, dayto-day functioning, stop focusing on the upper Dan

Tien and switch to cultivating the lower Dan Tien (reasons for this will be given below). Training the Three Dan Tien in Balance If you study Qigong, Tai Chi, or Chinese medicine for any length of time, you will likely hear many references to “the Dan Tien”. “Sink Qi to the Dan Tien”, “move from your Dan Tien”, etc. Almost without fail, these instructions are all aimed at the Lower Dan Tien. The reason for this is that almost every system of internal alchemy starts with cultivation of the Lower Dan Tien center, and practice with the other centers is usually reserved for more advanced levels. The reasoning behind choosing to cultivate the lower Dan Tien first is that it is Foundational. This Dan Tien is like the foundation of the house. Obviously, you can work on the walls or roof of a building, but you can’t erect them unless you have a firm foundation built. Otherwise, the work that you’ve done on the upper stories will be wasted. Cultivation of the Lower Dan Tien The following section will detail the reasoning behind putting the lower Dan Tien first in training Daoist Inner Alchemy. Physical Health The lower Dan Tien is related to the Jing and the health of the physical body. On one level, cultivating this level simply means to get one’s physical health in order. This level of training may involve straightening out one’s diet, getting started on a

regular exercise program, and making sure to get adequate sleep. If the health of the physical body is out of balance, a number of things can happen when a student attempts higher-level energy practices. The first is simply that nothing works. When a practitioner attempts to bring in more energy through advanced practices, it will simply go to the areas of deficiency that are pre-existing in the physical body. This can cause the spiritual exercises to seem like they are ineffective, and in a worst-casescenario, cause the student to lose hope and give up on their practice. Another thing that can commonly happen if the physical health is not tended to is that the higher grade energy of advanced practices will actually cause disruptions in the body-mind system. In Chinese medicine, all physical disorders that can happen to a person are based on an imbalance of the Five Phases. If the Wood or Fire Phases are out of balance in an excess way, bringing in more energy to the body can actually just cause an excess of heat to accumulate. This can manifest in various negative physical or emotional symptoms. It is for these reasons that most masters of Qigong will not teach the deeper alchemical practices until the student has completed course work in basic health promoting qigong exercises. The master will also often “test” a new student to see that they are able to follow instructions, stick to their training, and handle the emotional purification that often comes along with practicing spiritual transformation. Only after going along with the

health promoting exercises – sometimes for years – will a master unveil the deeper inner methodology. The principle of regulating the physical body first is also seen in the Indian and Tibetan traditions of inner yoga. In Hatha Yoga, it is generally taught that students should be masters of Asana – physical postures and the meditation seat – and cleansing practices before they are allowed to move onto breathing exercises. If students attempt to move into pranayama and meditation too soon, they can cause serious harm to their subtle body, which takes a long time to repair. Sadly, attempting to jump ahead in your energetic practices oftentimes sets you behind. Sinking the Turbid and Ascending the Clear Another reason behind beginning training with the lower Dan Tien is that in Chinese medicine and in Inner Alchemy, there is a concept that the “Turbid” should descend, while the “Clear” should ascend. This is a very long discussion, but for our purposes, we can think about it like this: Within your body, there are various types of energies. We could make one broad distinction in them and say that some are more “Turbid” or dense, and some are more “Clear”, fine or subtle. When the denser energies are rooted down in the body, this can create a feeling of stability and strength. This is a very natural way to feel. Rooting the energy down in this way causes the subtle body to feel a bit like a pyramid – with a broad base and a narrow tip. If, on the other hand, there is too much dense energy rising up, it can manifest in a feeling of foggy headedness, or excessive thinking. There is a quality

of being “top-heavy”. You are easily taken off balance by things, and the mind is actually slower than it should be – even though it will feel very busy. The clear energy in the body carries a quality of lightness and clarity. It is rare that this energy would descend, but if the dense energy in the body is not descending, there can be a feeling of restlessness that is created in the lower limbs. Generally what happens is that there is so much density rising up, that there is no room for clarity and freedom to manifest. When we practice meditation upon the Lower Dan Tien, we are taking the dense-natured energies and allowing them to root and settle in the body. What one often finds is that very naturally, a feeling of lightness and freedom then comes into the upper body, head, and mind. By cultivating this type of meditation, one comes to experience a type of embodiment that many of us long for – a sense of rootedness and presence, combined with light, open clarity. As the clear qi ascends, insight and even visionary experiences will often occur, as the upper centers are opened and freed. The energy body becomes like a pyramid – the base is stable, and so the point at the top becomes like an antenna to Heaven’s Qi – that vast potential of openness and inspiration. Harmonizing Fire and Water The concept of Fire and Water is another phraseology that is quite ubiquitous in the literature of both Chinese medicine and of Inner Alchemy. There are advanced interpretations of Fire and Water that don’t concern us here; we will simply explore the

relationship of Fire and Water to the practice of cultivating the lower Dan Tien. Simply put, the elemental quality of Fire in the body is a quality of warmth, expansion, and illumination, and the quality of Water is one of coolness, contraction, and quiet. In nature, fire naturally rises up, and water naturally falls downward. In life, however, fire must be made to descend, and water must be made to ascend. Take a tree for example; it must draw the fire and light of the sun from its leaves all the way down to nourish its roots. A tree must also take the water that it draws from the ground and pull it all the way up to nourish its branches and leaves. The ancient Daoists felt that this same type of energetic exchange needed to take place in the human body for optimal health and functioning. The alchemists of old thought of the body like an alchemical vessel or steamer – there is fire underneath which heats the liquid inside and allows the steam to rise up. This phenomenon is what is often referred to by the alchemical slogan “place fire beneath water”, and the I Ching hexagram 63 “after completion”. When we practice meditation and settle the Qi to the lower Dan Tien, we are effectively warming this alchemical stove. The mind leads the Qi, and as the qi comes to the lower Dan Tien, this area of the body will grow warm. The warmth of Fire, or Yang, is desirable in the lower body because it acts as the foundation of the warmth for all the other caloric processes in the body – including digestion, metabolism, etc. When the alchemical process of steaming has begun in this

way, it also allows the body’s Water, or Yin, to rise up as mist to cool and moisten the internal Organs. When the Fire and Water energies of the body are out of balance, or have “separated”, we can see various symptoms. Basically, the cool and heavy energies will sink down in the body too much – leading to edema, urinary frequency, low sex drive, reproductive disharmonies, and other issues. The hot and light energies will then rise up too much because they are not being rooted – this can give rise to heart palpitations, anxiety, insomnia, and emotional distress. This phenomenon of Fire-Water separation is actually very common in our culture, showing up as things like Bipolar disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and some of the symptoms of menopause – among other issues. Learning to meditate on the lower Dan Tien can go a long way toward offering relief from these and other syndromes that individuals face. Historically, Zen Master Hakuin famously dealt with a Fire-Water imbalance that caused him great physical distress – as he reports in his autobiography. It was only resolved when, later in his life, he met a Daoist master who taught him a method of breathing to the lower Dan Tien. From the great results he got, he decided that all his students should incorporate Dan Tien breathing into their Zen meditation practice. The fusion of Fire and Water energies, or “Kan” and “Li” is also a high level Daoist alchemy process and is very similar to the practices of Indian and Tibetan yoga of taking the downward moving energy of the “Apana Vayu” and the upward moving energy

of the “Prana Vayu” and fusing them together at the navel chakra. The Moving Qi Between the Kidneys and DestinyGate Fire The “moving Qi between the Kidneys” is a phrase that is often seen in the oldest classics of Chinese medicine, and can generally be seen as equivalent with the lower Dan Tien. Another phrase is called the Ming Men Huo, or Destiny Gate Fire. This Fire refers to the basic Yang energy that should inhabit the lower part of the abdomen (as discussed in the previous section on Fire and Water). These two concepts are very important to understand. First, the Kidneys in Chinese medicine are considered to be the basis of all the rest of the body’s Yin and Yang energy. This means that if an Organ’s Yin or Yang energy is deficient, the problem is either coming from a deficiency in the Kidneys, or will eventually drain the Kidneys as they have to put out more. In any case, the Kidney Organ system is seen to be foundational to the entire energetic system of the body. The Kidneys are said to store the Jing and this means that they are the repository of the energy which is the basis of one’s physical form. It is for a similar reason that the Kidneys are said to be responsible for “holding” the qi. The Kidneys and their associated systems are at the center of the process of converting abundant energy into PostHeaven essence. This Jing then goes to strengthen the Kidneys themselves, the bones, the brain, and the reproductive system. The lower Dan Tien’s association with the Kidneys is a major reason that it is utilized as the

area in the body in which Qi is “stored”. By visualizing and feeling that the Qi goes into storage in this place, you are facilitating the conversion of this temporary excess of Qi into Jing-Essence. If you just have an excess of Qi (say in one of the Organ systems), the body doesn’t really know what to do with this. In the short term, it can make that Organ stronger (this is how medical qigong or acupuncture treatments work), but in the long term, that energy will either dissipate, or migrate somewhere else in the body. This process of migration is actually what many systems of Qigong and internal martial arts are trying to avoid when the practice self-massage routines and stimulating acupoints after a qi workout. At more advanced levels – those of internal alchemy practice – we are trying not to simply charge up the Organs for a short time, or simply to heal one specific illness. We are actually trying to alter the subtle body in a fundamental and permanent way. To do this, first, we learn to create an abundance of subtle Essence, and then we engage alchemical processes through which this essence is transformed and refined. This process is well represented through one of the most famous internal alchemy processes used for martial arts and spiritual training – called the ‘Golden Bell’ qigong. The essence of this art is contained in two parts “sinew transformation”, and “marrow/brain cleansing”. The second part which works with the “marrow” means that we are completely transforming the body on its deepest level – the level of the bones and the Jing.

Opening of the Extraordinary Vessels The final reason that it is important for us to begin our cultivation with the lower Dan Tien is because it is the beginning point for four of what are known of in Chinese medicine as the “Extraordinary Vessels”. In the classical medicine, there are 12 “regular” meridians, which correspond to the internal Organs, and then there are 8 “extraordinary” meridians which relate more to the formation of the body. The 12 regular meridians do not actually begin to function until a baby takes its first breath. Up until this time, the eight extraordinary channels are working to develop the body inside the womb. Because of this, the eight vessels are very concerned with the Jing and the formative and fundamental forces of the body’s development. We’ll learn more about this in a subsequent chapter on the “microcosmic orbit”. The reason that we’re concerned with the eight extraordinary vessels here is that they are said to act like reservoirs in the body – mirroring the aspect of the Kidneys to “store” the Jing. It is said that if the body has a surplus of energy, this can be taken up by the extraordinary vessels and put into storage – like an overflow from river can flow into a reservoir and the water will be stored for later use. Similarly, if there is deficiency in the body, it is thought that one can call upon the stored energy within the Extraordinary Vessel system and bring it into regular circulation to nourish the Organs and meridians. Four of the extraordinary vessels are worthy of our attention here. These four are actually considered to be primary – as they form before the

other four when a baby is developing. These are called the Governing Vessel, Conception Vessel, Thrusting Vessel, and Belt Vessel. What is relevant to our discussion at this time is that the origin of each of these vessels is said to be the “moving qi between the Kidneys” – or the area we know as the Lower Dan Tien. This means that when we think of cultivating or storing Qi in the lower Dan Tien, we are actually helping to convert the energy into the body’s deeper storage system of the extraordinary vessels (which has implications which will be discussed in later alchemical formulae). The Lower Dan Tien and the 2nd Chakra The question often arises – “is the lower Dan Tien the same as the second chakra?”. I have heard many different answers from different teachers, and most of them had good logic behind them. I will give you my own interpretation here. The easiest description of a “Chakra” here would be that it is a nexus of psycho-spiritual activity. In the most common system of seven Chakras, they recognize one at the perineum or tailbone, one at the sacrum or lower back, one near the area of the solar plexus, one at the heart, one at the throat, one at the third eye, or center of the brain, and one at the crown of the head. Various systems use these chakras for meditation in different ways. As we will learn later, these major chakra points are meditation points along the route of the microcsmic orbit. For our purposes, we can say that these chakras as meditation points are on a different energetic level than the meditation point we will use in lower Dan

Tien. In one way of viewing them, the Lower Dan Tien is a fusion point between the lower three chakras which contain the energies of Earth, Water, and Fire. In some of the Indian and Tibetan yogic traditions, the 2nd chakra center is considered the opening of the subtle channel that ascends the spine to the brain. This is roughly equivalent to the Lower Dan Tien in the way we are speaking of it. The experiences of meditators while focusing on these centers are nearly identical, so in this way we can say that these centers are at least similar. The most notable experience that meditators will report from successful cultivation of the Lower Dan Tien, or 2nd Chakra is internal heat. This is the basis of the microcosmic orbit, and also the foundation of the high Tibetan yoga known as Tummo. Locating the Lower Dan Tien The classical books on Qigong and the Extraordinary Vessels locate the lower DanTien somewhere around 3 or 4 inches below the navel. Some qigong lineages feel this refers to a point on the front of the abdomen. Two points are usually recommended for meditation – one is called Qi Hai (CV6), which is about two inches inferior to the navel, and the other is called Guan Yuan (CV4) which is about 4 inches inferior. Qi Hai means “ocean of Qi (energy)”, and Guan Yuan means “Gate to the Origin”. As is obvious from their names, both of these points relate to the deep Original Qi that is stored in the lower abdomen and extraordinary vessel network.

Meditating on these points can definitely boost the level of the original Qi and the strength of the lower Dan Tien, but they are not themselves the Dan Tien Center. The Dan Tien is deep inside the body – it is approximately 3.5 inches inferior to the navel, and then 3.5 inches deep – toward the center of the abdomen. Locating the Lower Dan Tien Meditation To find the lower Dan Tien center, set up in a comfortable meditation posture. Go through the preliminary practice of Song-Gong relaxation so that you are primed and energetically sensitive. To locate the Dan Tien, we’ll first locate the points on the outside of the body that relate to it. First, place your mind on your Navel. Try to just settle the mind in the navel itself for a moment. The next point is to find the Perineum – this is the spot between the genitals and the anus. Finally, locate the area on the spine directly behind the navel – between the 2nd and 3rd Lumbar vertebra – called the “Ming Men” or Destiny Gate. It may help to physically touch each of these points in order to make it easy to feel them with the inner sense. Once you have located these three points, try to hold the sense of them in your mind all at the same time. Imagine a triangle of energy that connects these three points and then try to feel with your mind into the centermost point of this triangle. When you have found the center, you will know because there will come a sense of strength and the whole energy body comes to a kind of unification.

Another phenomenon that may occur when you’ve found the true center of the Dan Tien is that you may feel heat beginning to generate in this area of the abdomen, or in another part of the body. This is a good sign, but one should not be concerned if it doesn’t show up immediately, as having enough energy to create heat can take a number of months in many cases. Meditating on the Lower Dan Tien Locating the lower Dan Tien is a wonderful practice, and all by itself is a meditation. To practice this method, simply get into your comfortable qigong posture – seated or standing – and begin to search with your mind for the lower Dan Tien center, as described above. When you get the sensation of the body unifying, mental silence, or warmth generating, let the mind rest on that spot in the subtle body. Allow your breath to gravitate to this area, and let your mind just settle. If your mind begins to track some other thought or sensation, simply bring it back to the lower Dan Tien center. Meditating in this way has an immediate effect of reducing anxiety and leading the mind toward stillness. This type of meditation helps keep the energy rooted down into the area of the body that governs physical strength, and out of the centers related to emotion and thought. This basic meditation, then, leads to physical and mental stability as the foundation for more advanced meditation.

Gathering Qi to the Lower Dan Tien Once you have been able to locate this center, you should begin practicing in a way that cultivates Qi to this area for storage. The most effective way to do this is by visualizing filling the Dan Tien with light – synchronized with the breathing. Heaven Qi Meditation To begin, imagine that there is a tube running from the nose down the front of the body to the level of the lower abdomen and then into the Dan Tien. Imagine that as you inhale, a bright energy comes from all around the universe and you can sip it down this front channel like a straw. When you exhale, imagine that this energy spirals around in a decreasing spiral until it reaches the centermost point of the lower Dan Tien and goes into storage there. Continue practicing in this way for 20minutes to an hour at a time. After a while, this meditation will get very easy, and then you should attempt to add the cultivation of earth energy. Earth Qi Meditation To cultivate earth energy, you must be either in a standing meditation, or sitting in a chair so that your legs are extended and your feet are on the floor (rather than in a cross legged position). Imagine that your feet have become tree roots and that they reach down into the earth – all the way down to the core of the planet.

Now feel that as you inhale, you can sip the Earth’s qi - in the form of a golden light – up through your legs and to your tail bone. This Qi then spirals up to the Ming Men (L2/3 vertebra) and in – moving in a decreasing spiral until it reaches the centermost point of the Dan Tien – and goes into storage. When the cultivation of Earth energy becomes second nature, you are ready to combine it with the Heaven’s energy meditation that you already practiced. Fusion of Heaven and Earth Qi In a sitting or standing posture, imagine inhaling light from all the stars and planets above and around you. It flows in through the nose and down the front channel of the body – all the way to the navel. Simultaneously, feel that you pull up the Earth’s Qi through the legs, to the tailbone, and all the way to the small of the back at Ming Men (Governing Vessel 4). As you exhale, imagine that the Heaven’s Qi spirals down to the pelvic floor, up through the lower back and begins to spiral in toward the center of the Dan Tien as before. At the same time, the Earth Qi from the Ming Men spirals forward toward the navel, down the front of the abdomen to the pelvic floor, and up the inside of the back – continuing to spiral in toward the center. At some point these two energies come together, fusing and forming an energetic elixir in the very center of the lower Dan Tien.

Students should continue this meditation for 30 minutes to one hour. This meditation on fusing the energies of Heaven and Earth in the Dan Tien is very beneficial for restoring the Qi of the body. It can be used for individuals with fatigue disorders, individuals who have had their systems taxed through stress, overwork, or other causes. This is also a most excellent training for healing arts practitioners and qigong or yoga teachers to engage in on a daily basis – as these practitioners need an abundant supply of energy by which to facilitate the healing and transformation that they work with. This meditation is finally very good for individuals who continually work with high-frequency subtle energies. Practitioners of Reiki, channeling, or other styles that work with very subtle forms of Qi can get an issue called “cosmic indigestion” – in which they are unable to assimilate the energy that they are taking in because it is of too much of a different resonance than their body. In this practice of fusing heaven and earth, a practitioner is filling the body with the right balance of the spacious, open, Yang force of Heaven, and the neutral, grounding, Yin force of Earth. By this means, many Qi deviations and problems can be reduced or overcome. “Overheating” the Lower Dan Tien Once you have started to gather Qi to the lower Dan Tien Center, the next goal is to bring it to such a state of fullness that it actually starts to overflow.

This is one of the phases of classical Qigong training, which is sometimes called “100 days of building the foundation”. This is because it usually takes about 3 or 4 months to reach this state of energetic repletion. Classically, it is advised that one abstain from excessive sexual interaction during this period, as this can drain off the surplus of energy one is trying to cultivate. (unless one has been trained in Daoist sexual yogas designed to preserve this essential energy). Individuals are also advised to follow a clear and bland diet that is not likely to cause energetic deviations. You will know that you’ve reached the culmination of this stage of training because you will feel a physical sensation of warmth in the lower abdomen. This can sometimes be disconcerting to newer practitioners, because they do not expect such a strong physical sensation as a result of Qigong practice. The sensation is not like an imagined warmth, but actually feels like a sunburn, or like someone turned a heater on you. The sensation will start out as warmth in the lower abdomen and sometimes flush up into other parts of the body – or manifest as a feeling of global warmth throughout the body. In some individuals, this will happen very quickly, one should not mistake quick results for having reached the goal of practice – the goal is reached when one experiences the sensations of warmth for many days in a row consistently. After the stage of heat building in the Dan Tien, it will begin to overflow into the pathway of the Microcosmic Orbit by creating warmth down at the pelvic floor, or in the tailbone. It is at this time that

you know you are ready to move on to the next phase of training.

The Microcosmic Orbit The Microcosmic Orbit is an ancient practice of Daoism that is also called the “Small Heavenly Circulation”. The meaning behind this name is that it is thought that the movement of the sun through the sky reflects in the flow of Qi through the acupuncture points along the front and back of the body (the Ren and Du mai). There are even systems of martial arts and medicine that are based on stimulating points specifically during their time of greatest solar influence to achieve a potent effect. In a way, the small heavenly circulation is like the circulation of qi through the “universe” within. It is coursing the energy along this solar pathway of the Governing and Conception Vessel. To understand the importance of circulating Qi along these particular inner channels, we must remember what was said about the extraordinary vessels above – that they act as reservoirs of the Qi for the body. That means that if we have a surplus of Qi, the extraordinary vessels help put that into storage as Jing-Essence, and if we have a deficiency, we can call on the extraordinary vessels to put more energy into circulation. In cultivating the Microcosmic Orbit, we are awakening and opening two of the major extraordinary vessels in the body – the Governing Vessel that runs up the back, and the Conception Vessel that runs down the front. The Governing and Conception Vessels

The Governing Vessel, or Du Mai in Chinese medicine and inner alchemy is associated with all the Yang energy in the body. The character for “governor” – where this channel gets its name means an upright official, and carries a connotation of righteousness. This implies that a major function of this channel is to bring the quality of upright energy rising in the body – which is symbolized by good spinal posture. This channel is used to nourish the brain, invigorate the mind, warm the body, strengthen the back, and regulate the posture. The Conception Vessel, or Ren Mai in Chinese medicine and inner alchemy is associated with all the Yin energy in the body. The character for “conception” actually can imply “to give birth” – and literally portrays a pregnant man. This character, though, also carries a connotation of “usefulness” or functionality. Sometimes this channel is therefore translated as the “functional vessel”. This channel is used often to cool and calm the body, regulate the reproductive organs, and facilitate the downward movement of digestion. Each of these channels contains points that relate to every Organ system in the body. Thus, to circulate the Qi in these Vessels is like regulating and harmonizing the flow in all the body’s systems.

Indications For Practicing the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation The microcosmic orbit meditation is useful for many different reasons. The first, as described above is simply to harmonize the energy of the whole body.

This is done by simply smiling and breathing while guiding the intention through the channels in a very gentle way. The second main reason is that this exercise is a pre-requisite for more advanced Qigong practices. In order to begin raising the level and quality of energy in the body, you have to have a pathway prepared for that energy to travel in – otherwise it can back up and cause stagnation and disorders. When you have opened the microcosmic circulation, the overflow of Qi in the system is taken up and distributed to the Organs that need it most, or placed into storage as Post-Heaven Essence. In advanced Qigong and inner alchemy formulas, one begins bringing in a higher degree of energy to the body than ever before, and this energy has to go somewhere. One of my Teachers calls it “upgrading your wiring from 110 to 220”! The other part of this second reasoning is that this level of practice is sometimes referred to as “fusing the Ren and Du Mai”. There are two acupoints that act as gates connecting the Governing and Conception Vessels. These lie at the perineum and where the tongue touches the roof of the mouth behind the teeth. In a normal person, these junction points are only partially open, and so the circulation between these major meridians is largely unconnected. After training in the meditation which opens these points, it is like you’ve facilitated a closed circuit within the subtle body which allows the energy to flow much more smoothly.

Finally, this flow is valuable to practice because it helps to resolve Qi deviations. This effect is based upon the above explanation of how these channels balance the body as a whole – by spreading the qi throughout the Organs and meridians. If there is a Qi disorder, it means that the energy is either flowing up too much, or down too much, or it is blocked in a certain channel or part of the inner body. By practicing massaging the qi along these channels – up and down, over and over, meditatively and with the smooth breath, it places the inner body in a state of order and regulates the imbalances. Different Meanings of “Opening the Microcosmic Orbit” In inner body practice, there are three major ways of thinking about what it means to “Open” the microcosmic circulation. The first relates simply to the harmonizing function mentioned above. To practice in this way, one simply smiles gently and imagines that energy circulates through these channels with the breath. The second method is a deeper alchemical training that is used to prepare one for advanced qigong cultivation. In this version, you must have practiced the Dan Tien cultivation given earlier until you are feeling heat on a regular basis, and that heat sensation has begun to overflow down to the perineum and tailbone. When this sensation occurs, it means that the heat you have generated in the body is now overflowing into the microcosmic circulation. What

to do with that energy will be covered in more detail in the next section. What differentiates this style of practice is that it is creating opening on a much more dense and physical level than the previous version. Simply breathing through the circuit can be very harmonizing and bring spiritual calm and purification, but it doesn’t create much lasting change in the gross physical level of health. This is actually something that differentiates the Daoist yoga tradition from many other spiritual traditions in the world. In many traditions, spiritual development is a thing that happens regardless of what happens to the physical body. In more extreme cases, the body is to be disregarded, and the spiritual practices can even harm the subtle energy system. In the Daoist system, special care is taken to assure that the inner development is very integrated – awakening the physical, subtle, and spiritual bodies in balance. Finally, on the deepest level, the Micrososmic Orbit can refer to something roughly equivalent to what is called awakening the “Kundalini” in the Indian and Tibetan traditions of inner yoga. This is a deep method and requires the supervision of a teacher to complete efficiently and safely. Suffice it to say here that opening the microcosmic orbit on the level that we are speaking of – with the Du Mai and Ren Mai, front and back channels – mirrors the deeper work of arousing the transformational and evolutionary energy of the Kundalini, but on a more peripheral level.

The practice of working with the Kundalini routes the energy of the body into the central channel (Chinese: Chong Mai, Sanskrit: Sushumna Nadi) and opens the blockages present so that the energy can stay there and transform the consciousness on a deep level. The practice of the microcosmic circulation trains one in all the prerequisites that one may need in terms of concentration and energetic sensitivity – while massaging that central channel from access points on the front and back. The Gates of the 7 Chakras One final important point about the mechanisms of the microcosmic circulation is that the main points of focus or meditation correspond with 7 main energy centers seen in many traditions throughout the world. In some schools of Qigong, it is taught that each chakra center has a front and back “gate” – these are placed on the meditation points we will use in opening the microcosmic circulation. The chakras mean different things to different traditions, but for our purposes, we can think of them as transformation points for subtle energy. When thought of in these terms, our opening of the microcosmic circulation is a method that we can use to transmute and transform energy from lower and less refined states into higher and more refined states. The flow of Qi up the back helps us to take denser energy and transmute it into subtler energy – thus facilitating the awakening of subtler states of mind. As the energy rises and becomes purified

through meditation, the mind begins to settle into subtle and ecstatic states of awareness. Meditating on each of these chakra “gates” has the result of bringing energy into “crucial points” in the body that facilitate global circulation through the spiritual and energetic system.

The Microcosmic Orbit Meditation The version of the microcosmic orbit that we’ll be practicing is a basic level practice. It is indicated for daily meditation aimed at balancing the energy body and transmuting subtle energy. Step 1 – Song Gong Begin your practice by going through the deep relaxation given earlier – this primes the body and smoothes out any kinks in the energetic system. Smile to the universe, and then down through the front, back, and finally center – through all the inner Organs. If you have time, you may also complete the healing sounds and coloured light meditation to cleanse and charge the Organs. Step 2 – Dan Tien Breathing After relaxing the body and preparing the internal Organs, imagine that all that positive energy is beginning to coalesce and spiral together in the area of the lower Dan Tien. You can focus on the Navel if it’s easier, or if you are able, focus in the center of the lower abdomen.

Begin practicing the “Fusing Heaven and Earth” breathing given previously and continue until you feel some sense of fullness or energy in the lower abdomen. This may feel like pressure, tingling, or heat. Step 3 – Opening the Yang Gates Now that the Dan Tien is full of energy, you can begin to use that energy to open up the points along the Governing and Conception Vessels. The Hui Yin – CV 1 Before training the energy to ascend the spine, it needs to be brought from the Dan Tien into circulation along the Extraordinary Vessel pathways. The first point where the Qi usually flows is at the very base of the pelvis, known as the Hui Yin or “Yin Meeting”. This point is named this way because it is the most Yin point on the entire body, and all the Yin energies collect here. Meditating on CV1 can be useful in lowering blood pressure, treating insomnia, and reducing headaches and eyestrain. This is also an important point to know when opening the microcosmic orbit. Occasionally, when opening the points near the head, some people can get energy blockages which will result in headaches or anxiety. A quick cure for these is to meditate on the Hui Yin point until the energy descends.

The Hui Yin is also important because it is one of two bridges along the microcosmic orbit which connect the Governing and Conception Vessel (the other is the “magpie bridge” which will be covered later). While practicing, one is advised to keep the muscles of the perineum slightly engaged. The classic texts refer to this as “hold up Hui Yin”. It is important, though, that one does not apply too much force here, or one can get problems with stagnant energy in the reproductive organs or colon. It is a very subtle contraction – kind of like you had to go to the bathroom and were holding it, but you didn’t have to go very badly. By slightly activating the muscles in this area, you can easily bring the mind there. Smile to this area in the body to bring the Qi from the Dan Tien to the point. Hold the gentle awareness there until you feel some sense of opening or awakening of energy. When the point feels full and open, you’ll know you are ready to move on the next one. Gate 1 – the Sacral Hiatus Begin by focusing the mind at the point Governing Vessel 2 – at the area of the Sacral Hiatus. This is a small hole where the tailbone joins to the rest of the sacrum. Find this point by allowing the mind to search in the area just above the tailbone until some point is found that feels energetically potent. Rest the mind there until you feel that the point has “opened”. This again may feel like tingling, pressure, or heat. Occasionally as these points open, students will feel an aching sensation. You should not worry if

this happens to you, as it is the feeling of deep stagnation being moved by the new energy that is circulated into the area. Gate 2 – The Ming Men – “Destiny Gate” When you have felt some opening in the first gate, you may feel the energy beginning to ascend on it’s own up to the next point in the orbit – which is in the lower back. Technically, this should be the point Ming Men, or Governing Vessel 4, which is located between the L2 and L3 vertebrae, but the crucial points are a little different on everyone, so use your energetic sensitivity to find where it is for you. Let the energy ascend to the area of the low back, and search with your mind for a spot that feels energetically potent. Rest the mind here until, again, you feel some sense of opening – tingling, pressure, heat, etc. Gate 3 – “Center of the Spine” The next point is called the “Center of the spine, because it is roughly in the middle of the spinal column. Let the energy move up to just behind the solar plexus at around Governing Vessel 8. Rest the mind here until you feel that the point has opened. Gate 4 – the Heart The fourth gate is the back gate of the Heart Chakra. Find this by allowing your mind to ascend from the “center of the spine” point to roughly behind the

center of the chest in the area of Governing Vessel 11, 12, and 13 (again, it’s slightly different for everyone). Rest the mind here until you feel energetic opening. Note: the Heart Chakra point can stimulate a great deal of emotion internally, so do not be alarmed if you have emotional releases while meditating on this point. These are perfectly natural and part of the alchemical purification process. Gate 5 – the “Big Vertebra” The fifth gate is located at the juncture of Thoracic Vertebra 1, and Cervical Vertebra 7. If you feel the place where the neck joins the shoulders at the top of your back, there is a vertebra (or two) there which will feel prominent. This is the area you should place your mind in. Feel for the point which needs to be opened and smile to it. Gate 6 – The Jade Pillow The sixth gate is the point GV 16, known as the “jade pillow”. This point is right at the base of the skull, where the neck joins the head. This is the only point that I advise going “by the book” in finding. The reason for this is that the point right below it GV 15 is known as the “brain door” (Nao Hu). GV15 can feel energetically potent if you meditate on it, but it has an effect of sending the energy directly in to the upper Dan Tien and the brain – whereas GV 16 tends to send energy through

the microcosmic orbit up to the crown and the next gate. To find GV 16, the Jade Pillow, feel for the little bump (the occipical protruberance) right above the base of the skull. Just on the underside of this bump is a small hollow which is still on your skull bone. Place the mind here until you feel some energetic opening. Gate 7 – the Hundred Meetings point The Hundred Meetings point (Bai Hui), or Governing Vessel 20, is the most Yang point on the entire body. It is located at the very highest point on the crown of the head. For most modern people, though, the posture of the neck is slightly misaligned, so where we think the center point of the crown is, is not where it actually is. To find this point correctly, find the tips of your two ears and trace a line up until your fingers meet at the crown. Alternatively, you can measure about halfway from the third-eye on the forehead, and the jade pillow point at the base of the skull. This should place you at a point just behind what we normally think of as the top of the crown. Place the mind at GV20 until some sensation of openness occurs. This point leads the energy strongly upward, so do not be alarmed is sensations of floating, visionary, or spiritual experiences occur while meditating here. Gate 8 – the Yin Tang or “Third-Eye”

This point is an “extra point” – meaning that it does not have a numerical designation like the other gates along the Governing vessel have. To find the Yin Tang, find the small impression right between the eyes where the nose joins the cranium. This point may differ slightly for different practitioners. Some schools of yoga place the third eye in the center of the forehead, while others place it right between the two eyebrows. This latter point is called by the ancient Sanskrit name “Antare Bruhvo” (antare = center; and comes into English words like “Enter”, or the prefix “inter-“; Bruhvo = Brow; and comes into the English “Brow”). This point, in all of these traditions is considered the front gate of the Ajna Chakra. Step 4 – Opening the Yin Gates Up to this point, all but one of the points we have been working with have been along the Governing Vessel – the major Yang channel of the body. As we move down the front of the body, we transition into working with the major Yin channel, known as the Conception Vessel. The “Magpie Bridge” There are two points along the route of the Microcosmic Orbit which act a little like circuitbreakers. The upper one of these is known as the “magpie bridge”. The meditation point is at the tip of the tongue and acts as a link between the Governing Vessel and Conception Vessel. It was observed by ancient Daoists that when an infant sleeps, it’s tongue stays pressed to the roof of

the mouth. They took this to be a sign of how a person naturally regulates his/her energy and found that this position allows the Qi to flow in the microcosmic circulation. It is called the “magpie bridge”, because of an ancient Chinese myth in which a cowherd falls in love with the daughter of the Goddess of Heaven. When the goddess finds out, they are forbidden to be together, but once a year, the magpies would take pity on the lovers and form a bridge across which they could walk to meet between earth and sky. The symbolism of the myth relates to this position on the microcosmic orbit. It is the tongue that acts as a connection between the upward moving energy of the Governing Vessel, and the energy we will move down the Conception Vessel – it is a point of uniting between Heaven’s Yang energy, and Earth’s Yin. It is also named in this way because birds like ravens and magpies of the “corvus” species have dexterous tongues and can be taught to speak (like the famous Edgar Allan Poe poem). To find this point requires having the tongue in the right position. Once you have felt energetic opening in the third eye region, imagine the energy flowing down to the roof of the mouth – just behind the front teeth. Place your tongue on the roof of the mouth and experiment with positions ranging from immediately behind the front teeth to a couple of centimeters behind. Somewhere in that area will be a spot that feel like there is a “zing” of subtle energy connection. This is the area on which to meditate.

Keep the mind smiling right on the juncture between the tongue and the palate. Rest here until you feel sensations of opening like before, and you also begin to feel the Qi flooding into the tongue and ready to move down the channel. Interestingly, the tongue position that is recommended in Daoist alchemy is the same position that a newborn baby or child will hold its tongue while sleeping. This relates to the Daoist idea of Naturalness – that if beings could learn to follow their innate instincts, they would likely conserve more subtle energy. This concept does not, however encourage one to try to simply act like a child, for the Daoist system is deeply invested in the cultivation of human potential. The Dao De Ching, though, implies, that if we follow the Way of Nature, we can learn to be happy. Ultimately, the Way of Nature is expressed in “De” or “Virtue”. Following the way of nature does not mean that we just act on impulse and call it instinct. It also does not necessarily mean that if we just peel back enough layers, we will find some perfect being inside. It does mean that we can cultivate an instinct for Virtue. When we do so, we reach a true “Fusion of Heaven and Earth”. The ideal world, represented by Heaven becomes manifest in our own bodies and lives. CV 22 – “Heaven’s Chimney” The next Gate on the Yin Channel is right at the pit of the throat (the sternal notch). This is where your collar bones join the breastbone and there is a little divet at the bottom of the neck.

Smile to this area and find where the point is for you, rest the mind there until you feel opening occur. This point strongly helps to descend energy, so don’t be surprised if you feel some kind of streaming down the front of the body while meditating here. Some people are already very open in the front channel and you may feel that when you meditate on this point, the energy automatically streams all the way down to the navel and completes the circuit. Even if this happens, it is very beneficial to open each point in succession, so stick with the meditation until the end. CV 17 “Central Altar” This point is the front gate of the Heart Chakra. All spiritual traditions think of the Heart as a sacred place in the body, and most consider it to be the “Seat of the Soul”. It is for this reason that this point is termed “central altar”. To find CV 17, mentally make a line between the two nipples to the very center of the breast bone. Alternately, you can measure halfway between the last point at the sternal notch and the bone at the bottom of the sternum called the xiphoid process. Either way, try to find the very center of your sternum. Place the mind here and smile until you feel some sense of energetic opening.

As with the point on the back, meditation here can open up a lot of stored emotion, so don’t worry if strong feelings happen to arise during your meditation. CV 14/15 and the “Yellow Court” The next point in the sequence is traditionally called the “Yellow Court”. Part of the reason for this is that it is the front gate of the solar plexus chakra which is traditionally associated with a golden colour. The other reason is that gold is an Imperial colour. In the ancient Daoist system, the Heart is considered to be the Emperor/Empress, as it is the seat of the Spirit or Shen. The Yellow court, then, is considered to be like a waiting room of sorts. This is an area in the body which can store repressed emotions – because the body is keeping them from plaguing the “emperor” of the Heart. The Heart’s job, according to inner alchemy, is to be a repository of peace and compassion. Any emotion that is too strong for the spirit to handle at any time can sometimes be repressed and get stuck in storage in the Yellow Court area. Because of this, people will often complain of tightness in the solar plexus area, and can get all sorts of trouble in the digestive system or respiratory diaphragm. When this area is cleaned of old repressed feelings, it becomes a center of power. The solar plexus chakra is often associated with “personal power” and this is because when this area is functioning properly, it allows one to embody fully with a sort of solar fire in order to serve others. This is the reason why the Buddhist system of inner yoga

refers to the navel chakra as “nirmana chakra” or the chakra of emanation or embodiment. To find where this center is for you, let the awareness flow down from the “Central Altar” point to the bottom of the sternum, feel around in this area until you find a point that seems energetically potent. Rest the smiling and relaxed awareness here until you feel some sense of openness. The Navel Center The last point on the microcosmic orbit is easy to find, as it is the navel itself. To meditate on this point, place the awareness inside the belly-button and look for a spot of potent energy. Resting the mind here may cause you to feel the energy streaming back into the body and into the Dan Tien. This is because the Navel is the front gate of the lower Dan Tien. Meditating on this point is the way to complete and seal the meditation on the microcosmic orbit. Step 6 – Circulate the Qi Now that we have become familiar with all of the points in the microcosmic circulation, we can begin to circulate the energy more smoothly and then allow the qi to follow the breath. To begin, feel the energy gathered in the lower Dan Tien, and smile it to the navel and down the front of the body – past the pubic bone and to the Hui Yin point.

Continue smiling to the energy and slowly bring the awareness up through the points at the Sacral Hiatus, Ming Men, Center of the Spine, Back of the Heart, big Vertebra, Jade Pillow, and Hundred Meetings. Continue smiling as you bring the energy slowly down through the Yin Tang, Magpie Bridge, Heaven’s Chimney, Central Altar, Yellow Court, and back to the Navel. Practice flowing the energy like this slowly until you feel you can do it easily without any loss of concentration, or the energy getting stuck at any point. Step 6 – Circulate with the Breath Now begin to imagine that on the inhalation, you bring the energy from the navel, down the front, and all the way up the spine to the crown. On each exhalation, bring the energy from the crown all the way down the front of the body and back to the navel. Continue breathing this way for 3-100 breaths depending on how much time you have. Step 7 – Sealing the Qi in the Dan Tien Just like all the other meditations, it is important to bring the energy back down in the body and place it into storage after performing such strong energetic openings. This will allow the subtle body to integrate the changes you’ve made much more effectively.

To seal the qi, bring the energy and intention all the way down to the navel once again. Focus on the very back of the navel and feel this draw the Qi deep inside the body and into the Dan Tien center. Imagine a tiny pearl in the Dan Tien that is spinning (it can be spinning in any direction you like). Feel that the spiraling of this pearl draws the cultivated energy into itself and stores it in the lower belly. Mentally give the Qi the instruction “stay”, and feel that it is stored in the lower belly center. Review – Opening the Microcosmic Orbit Here is a short form version of the above meditation: Step One – Relax Perform the Song Gong relaxation technique – time allowing, perform the healing sounds and colours meditation. Step Two – Gather Qi to Dan Tien Meditate on the lower belly center until you feel heat, fullness, or energetic opening. Step Three – Opening the Yang Gates Begin smiling and gathering Qi in sequence to the following points: Hui Yin, Ming Men, Center of the Spine, Back of the Heart, Big Vertebra, Jade Pillow, 100 Meetings, Yin Tang (third-eye) Step Four – Open the Yin Gates Bring the Qi from the third eye down to the place where the tongue is touching the palate until you feel

the tongue fill with subtle energy. Then place the intention sequentially on the following points: Heaven’s Chimney, Central Altar, Yellow Court, Navel Step Five – Circulate the Qi Begin to smoothly run the mind/intention/energy from the navel down to the pelvic floor, up to the spine, and back to the navel. Continue until this circulation feels smooth. Step Six – Circulate with Breath Allow your inhalation to draw the Qi all the way from the navel center up to the crown and your exhalation to draw the energy back down from the crown to the belly. Repeat numerous times. Step Seven – Seal the Qi in the Lower Dan Tien Place the mind on the Navel, visualize a bright pearl in the Dan Tien spinning and drawing in the cultivated energy. Give the Qi the command “Stay” and feel it go into storage deep in the subtle body. Troubleshooting This section will take a look at a few of the challenges that people encounter while practicing the microcosmic orbit and some simple remedies. This information is extremely valuable for teachers, as it is our job to help individuals undergoing some difficulty brought on by energetic work – whether they have done damage through practices we gave them, or practices they learned somewhere else.

Qi Deviations As was mentioned before, the energy in the body can move out of its smooth, harmonious circulation into a circulation that is either in the wrong place, or is rough and jagged rather than smooth. The Tibetan tradition knows this by the name of a Lung disorder (Lung is the Tibetan for subtle inner energy or “wind”), and it is sometimes known as a disorder of the “prana vayu” in Ayurvedic medicine. More extreme forms are sometimes nowadays referred to as “Kundalini Psychosis” or a “kundalini crisis”. It is important to understand that when cultivating inner yoga from any tradition, you are generating more energy, heat, and movement than before. If the channels through which this energy, heat, and movement travel are not clear then one will experience uncomfortable symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms of Qi deviations are:  Tiredness/Fatigue  Mania  Depression  Anxiety  Insomnia  Digestive issues (including gas)  Changes in sex drive (increase or decrease)  Headaches  Spiritual Crises (including seeing spirits, becoming anti-social, having visionary experiences which are confusing)

One of the things that an experienced spiritual practitioner will notice about the above list is that these things will often happen with any kind of spiritual awakening. They are all symptoms of more energy and life trying to move through a person. The only time they become a problem is if they last more than a few hours or a few days – then they are signs that one is trying to move too much energy, or too fast. Rectifying Qi Deviations Headache: Headache while training the microcosmic orbit is very simple to deal with. It very often occurs because of a blockage around the “Jade Pillow” point at GV 16. It can also occur if the points in the head are open, but the point at the tongue is not – leading to an accumulation of energy in the head. If this occurs, one can practice visualizing (and feeling) the energy moving from the head back down the spine and into the Ming Men point at the small of the back – returning Qi inside the body to the Dan Tien. Next, one can imagine that any extra qi that the body cannot digest continues to flow down the back of the legs and out through the heels. This clears up most headaches, if the headaches persist, two other things can be tried: 1. Practice meditating on spiraling the qi at the “jade pillow” point. Simply imagine the qi swirling around one way about 9 times, and then the other when you are at that point in your meditation.

This serves to help “unlock” the point so that less stagnation is present. 2. Headaches can sometimes be a result of stagnant energy in the Liver meridian. You can try adding in more repetitions of the Liver sound before your practice of the orbit. Finally, if headaches still persist, there is a deeper level issue present. It is advised that you seek out a skilled medical qigong therapist, acupuncturist, or herbalist to assist you in harmonizing your meridian system. Mood Issues (mania, anxiety, depression): These issues will often happen because the new level of energy in the body is bumping into old stagnation from the past. This is particularly old stagnation of negative emotions. We all tend to carry a certain degree of negativity around in us, accumulated from the trials that life serves us. When we begin to expand our energetic potentials, it is important for us to purify and let go of this energetic negativity. Often as you practice, these things will come up and you will feel them as you purify. If these emotions get too intense, a few remedies may be tried: First, reduce the amount of heat-building practices that you are doing. The Dan Tien meditation that we learned in particular is a practice that builds heat. This heat in the body can agitate the mind. The microcosmic orbit meditation can also build heat when practiced regularly. Normally, this is not a

problem, but if you are experiencing negative emotions, it can mean that the body is getting to hot and agitated. Heat should also be reduced in the system through dietary means. Any time I began an advanced practice, my Qigong masters would advise me to give up meat, alcohol, chili peppers and other hot foods, and tobacco. This was meant to purify the body, but also was specifically meant to reduce foods that cause Heat to build up – according to Chinese medicine. This parallels the dietary teachings from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika chapter 1. Second, you can try the balancing meditation of the six healing sounds and colours – either for all the organs, or specifically for the organ which is related to the emotion you are experiencing. Sleep. If you are not sleeping enough, your body will become deficient in Yin – the element which cools and calms you, and also forms a basis for the rootedness of the mind. If this element is deficient, the mind is more easily agitated, and one can also experience a type of deep mental fatigue. Practice the “Four Infinite Thoughts”. Master Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutra says that there is one best remedy for obstructions when they arise in your practice – practicing loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. The meditation is simple, just think of someone whom you feel love toward. Now imagine them as very happy, and wish for them to be happy. Next, compassion is to wish that they could be freed of any

suffering they experience. Joy, means that you take joy in the ways they are already happy and hope that they’ll increase. Equanimity, finally, means to imagine applying that same love to everyone – even beings you don’t like so much. The reason this works is very straightforward: when you feel any negativity, the energy body clenches and tightens up. This leads to continuing to feel negative emotions in the body as the energy tries to move through tight channels. Emotions like compassion, on the other hand, radically expand the energy field, and so can cut right through the clench that has formed. Take a Break! If you are experiencing challenging emotions in your practice, it can mean that you are practicing too much. The amount of practice that each person should do is different for everyone, and at different times in our lives. Don’t think that because a book tells you that you should practice everyday for one hour, you absolutely have to do so. It might be better for you to practice for 20 minutes per day, 5 days a week. In time, your system might be ready for more. If we practice too much, the energy body can get strained, just like any other kind of exercise, so make sure to take breaks. If your mind is getting too heavy, go out and watch a movie or stay home and read a novel! Insomnia: The issue with insomnia is largely the same as headaches listed above. The energy is rising up to much and causing too much wakefulness in the

mind. You can use the same remedies as given in the above sections. If the insomnia is due to dream disturbance, many practitioners have found that the six healing sounds practice is very effective for making the sleep sounder. These sounds work because they clear out subtle emotional disturbances in the subtle body. These subtle disturbances are one of the reasons that one dreams – as a way to process the unresolved emotions. When one has worked to purify these energies, the quality of sleep can improve, and one can also begin to use the experience of dreaming as a way of cultivating more spiritual awareness, or receiving “messages” from the spiritual realm. Two other remedies are very useful to draw the energy down in cases of insomnia. The first is to simply rub the feet. One can rub the whole foot, or choose specific points like Kidney 1, Kidney 6, or Kidney 3 (please see the course “Qigong Acupressure and Daoist Yoga” for more detail). A warm soak for the feet before bed can also help in the same way. Forward bends from any yoga tradition are also useful for calming the mind and guiding the energy down and in (where it needs to go to promote sleep). Take any simple forward bend and practice softly breathing from the lower abdomen. Changes in Sex Drive: Changes in sex drive occur because you are making major changes in the body’s generative energy – this is the same energy that empowers the sex drive.

If the sex drive is increasing, this can be a result of gathering to much energy to the lower dan tien center – which is very close to, and energizes the sexual organs. The remedy is very simple – make sure to do a little more of the Microcosmic Orbit practice – which helps to transform the sexual energy that is being gathered. If one finds that the sex drive is decreasing, this is a natural result of the generative energy being transmuted and transformed to a higher level. Sometimes, one finds that this is a very natural thing – one’s sex drive was actually in excess before. In other cases, this change can interfere with the closeness of existing relationships and cause problems. One answer to a decreased sex drive can be to make sure to do a little more tonification practice relative to transformation. You can also slow down on the microcosmic orbit. The decrease may also be from an underlying deficiency, and so one should check with a Chinese Medicine practitioner to rectify this. Low Energy/Fatigue: If one notices that their general level of energy decreases after beginning of qigong training it can be a sign that you are doing too much, or the wrong kind of practice. Energetic work is not a “one size fits all” affair. Depending on what is present in your energetic system, the practice presented in this text may result in fabulous levels of energy and increases in mood, or it may result in just the opposite. This is similar to any holistic health practice – herbalism has a great parallel. Medicinal herbs are

very powerful, and they move the energy in the body in very specific ways. Ginseng, for example, is a very popular herb with a warm or hot nature according to Chinese Medicine. If someone who is deficient or cool takes this kind of herb, they will experience an increase of energy, digestive power, bodily warmth, and an uplifted mood. If, on the other hand, someone has an underlying heat condition and takes Ginseng, these symptoms can be aggravated. The same holds true for Qigong exercises. They are designed to have very specific and powerful effects in the body and mind. They should be used appropriately, and at the right time. Some of the reasons that the exercises might not be right for a practitioner are as follows:  Healing sounds o Practitioner is already deficient, and so cleansing practices are contraindicated. o One is going through extreme emotional challenge, and so cleansing the negative emotions brings them to the surface too strongly o One has strongly repressed emotions from the past that are being brought up by the practice  Dan Tien breathing o One has a condition of underlying heat, and tonification practice is adding to this. o One has a condition of stagnation somewhere in the body and so tonfication is aggravating the already built up energy.  Microcosmic Orbit meditation o An excess condition is present (as above).

o One is already ungrounded, and so energy transformation practices aggravate this tendency (this is why it is recommended for one to firmly establish the Dan Tien practice – so the energy can be rooted). With all of the above issues, one is recommended to ask his or her Qigong master, or a practitioner or energetic medicine for a clear assessment and practice advise. In the short term, one can attempt to balance tonification and dispersion by moderating how much of each of the above practices one is engaging in – for example, if you are getting tired and think it might be because the healing sounds practice is too dispersive for you, try doing less of that practice and more of the “Fusing Heaven and Earth in the Dan Tien”. Similarly, if one feels weighed down by excess energies, one could do less Dan Tien breathing or add a little more of the healing sounds practice. Cosmic Indigestion: Another phenomenon that can occur in the realms of low energy, fatigue, spaciness, etc. is what Master Mantak Chia calls “Cosmic Indigestion”. This means that you have brought in too much of the high-grade “spiritual” energy of Heaven, and your system is not able to handle it. This can happen simply from beginning to do a more regular practice of qigong exercise. The Microcosmic Orbit practice is actually designed to help avoid this problem later in one’s training – as it helps to rewire the system to be able to handle larger amounts and higher frequencies of energy.

If you feel this might be the issue for you, experiment with the frequency of your practice. Daily practice is generally advised, but not everyone needs to do an hour every day, sometimes it’s best to just do 15 minutes and give the body only a little bit of new information at a time – allowing the system to slowly transform. Spiritual Crisis: For a period of time after the big explosion of Eastern spirituality into the United States, there was some degree of talk about the “Kundalini Crisis” – a case of excessive sensitivity manifesting as severe psychological disturbances. When qigong was being researched heavily in China before the political issues with the Falun Gong, there were also many reported cases of Qi deviations of a spiritual or psychological variety. Some of the symptoms one might experience are things like seeing colors, seeing shadows out of the corner of the eyes, even seeing “spirits”. One might also have deep spiritual questions arise, insights (that can cause one to become slightly manic), and existential crises – like a deep depression based on the need to know the underlying truths of reality. Sometimes a practitioner will have the deep and direct experience that the world s/he is relating to on a daily basis is an illusion, like a dream. [A famous quote from the master ZhuangZi reflects this kind of insight: “I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?”

All of these symptoms are simply a result of the energy being transmuted and brought upward toward the higher centers – but if they get too extreme they can cause problems. The insight that one is viewing life through a lens of illusion can be very valuable to spiritual growth, but an inability to function because one cannot distinguish dream from reality is not helpful. Additionally, one does wish to be able to see higher realities, but being distracted by all the “spiritual” information that is coming in to the point where one can’t function in an ordinary way is not very effective, as it causes more strife than ease. These challenges are actually part of why the classical traditions of yoga were often performed in the forest, monasteries, or other forms of deep retreat. When engaging in spiritual awakening, we are pushing the boundaries of what is ordinary, and this takes great care. It is not that spiritual growth needs to take place in seclusion; it’s just that it can be easier to integrate to a new level if you are surrounded by supportive individuals and freed from ordinary tasks that require a denser vibrational level. It is actually required that, once one has done significant inner work in seclusion, one goes out into the world to give back in service. The famous “Zen Ox Herding Pictures” give this as the last step in meditative cultivation – “returning to town with blissbestowing hands”. Aside from going away to practice in a monastery, is there anything we can do for these issues? Yes, and basically, all the techniques have been given in the issues listed above. Basically, if spiritual phenomena are arising in a way that is

uncomfortable or distracting, it means that you are waking up subtle centers too quickly and need to slow down. We can slow down in two ways; one is to decrease the frequency or intensity of practice. Either do a little less, or concentrate a little more lightly and easefully. The other way is to stop working on practices that open up the upper centers in the subtle body, and pay more attention to working with the lower centers and grounding energy into the earth. We can do this with Dan Tien meditation to lead the energy down, the inner smile, or the technique of draining qi into the earth given above as a remedy for headache. Cultivating a Well-Rounded Inner Alchemy Routine As we have seen so far, the uses of these basic inner alchemy practices are many and varied. Having been given all of these practices, and different styles in which to engage with them, it can be hard to know how to go about designing a practice to meet your personal needs. This next section will discuss various ways of going about making Daoist Inner Alchemy a part of your life or your existing spiritual/health cultivation practice. Exercise 1: Design Your Qi Goals! To begin creating your optimum daily practice with Qi, you have to know what you want. So the first exercise is simply to make a list of your goals. I would suggest actually writing out or mind-mapping this on paper or your computer rather than just

making a list in your head. It can be nice to look back later and see how well your practice is meeting the goals you have set. You     

can divide your goals into 5 basic categories: Body Emotions Mind Spirit World

Body This section includes any health goals that you may have. These could be simple things like “I would like more energy around 3 in the afternoon when I tend to have a slump”. These could be Chinese Medical diagnoses that you have from a practitioner. If you do not have any particular health concerns or things you’d like to optimize, you can simply state what you would like to maintain through your qi practice. Emotions This is anything that you would like to change about the way you feel emotionally. This could refer to a present emotional state – like you feel closed to new relationships, or get overexcited in certain situations, etc, or it could be something you intuit is alive in you emotionally from the past. Mind This refers to the quality of your cognitive processes. Would you like your mind to be sharper, faster, more flexible, more open to new things? How about your memory? Feel free to dream big.

Spirit Are there goals you hold about your spiritual growth? Are there ways that you wish to feel more connected in some spiritual sense? Are there answers to Big Questions that you think meditation can help you find? World In this section, place anything that you think your qigong practice might help you do for the world around you. For example, I partially practice qigong because it helps me be more effective in my energetic healing practice. I also feel more attuned to my environment as a result of my work with the subtle body, and I feel that cleansing and working my own energy field has effects that ripple out to the entire globe. How would you like your practice to affect your world? When you have finished this project, you will have gained a great deal of insight into the forces that are driving you to practice Qigong. You can use this knowledge to help you decide what kind of practice is right for you. Exercise 2: Assess your schedule needs Now that you know WHY you want to establish a practice of qigong, you will understand the importance of making time for it in your life. The next step is to actually plan ahead and envision what kind of time you’ll need to perform your daily cultivation.

I am of the opinion that EVERYONE in the world should probably do about 15 minutes of some kind of cultivation practice at least six days out of the week. What kind of cultivation is of course going to differ for each individual – and some people will want more. With this basis, decide how much time you think you’ll have to perform qigong exercise as part of your daily routine. Can you happily practice six days per week, or do you think you should start with three? Is 15 minutes all you can spare, or do you deeply crave an hour’s daily practice of meditation and are willing to carve out the time for it. Then think practically about when you might have the time. The two best times for training are first thing in the morning, and sometime in the evening – usually either before dinner or before bedtime. You should assess whether you will actually have the time in your schedule, and also if you will have the qualities of mind you’ll need to make these sessions successful (will you be too groggy in the morning, or too wiped out in the evening?). It’s not just quantity of practice that makes qigong work, but quality. To have a productive practice, you must be relaxed, focused, and happy. Many practitioners have tried increasing the amount of time that they were practicing with no noticeable effect (or negative effect – stress), only to find that their results increased when they decreased the time spent training, but were doing so in a relaxed and happy manner! If you don’t currently have the time for as long a practice as you’d like, or if you would like to do long meditations every day, but don’t think your mind will

let you, you can make a graduated plan. This would be something like: Month 1, 15 minutes of meditation each morning; month 2, 15 minutes of meditation in the morning, and 10 in the evening. Continue this way until you have reached your goal. Exercise 3: Assess your training needs The final exercise that should be done in preparing for developing a qigong practice is to see how much time per day you will actually need to accomplish your stated goals. If one wants to be a qigong healer, the amount of time required for daily cultivation is higher than someone who just wants to increase his or her own health. If one wants to be doing qigong healing AND accomplishing high spiritual goals, the required practice time is even more. If, however, you simply want to regulate your emotions, or work with a specific complaint, you can get by on a short daily practice. The reasoning behind this is very straightforward: everything that we do in life requires ENERGY (according to the Daoist presentation). That means that if you are spending some energy on being a qigong healer, then you will need to spend some time making sure that you have gathered a little extra. Spiritual cultivation is taking the energy that we’ve gathered and building it up until it overflows into the higher chakras – this means that we have to have a greater amount of qi flowing in the body than would normally be required for ordinary functions. Because of this, qigong practice must be increased beyond the needs of people seeking ordinary health goals.

A rough template of time for specific goals is as follows:  Basic health promotion, mental calm, etc: 20 minutes per day  Addressing specific minor complaints in the meridian system: 15 mins twice a day  Qi development to complement a martial arts practice: 15 mins twice per day, in addition to normal martial training routines.  Awakening subtle body sensitivity: 15 mins per day  Training as an energetic healer: 40 minutes per day  Enhancing higher energetic functions like intuitive perception, and spiritual insight: 1-2 hrs per day. To reiterate what was stated above in the section on Qi Deviations, this list is not to be taken as a recommendation for every practitioner. Each body is unique and will have specific needs. Some people will see dramatic spiritual results with just 15 minutes per day of practice, while others may actually harm themselves with more intensive practice. In the opposite way, some people working with physical complaints need MUCH more than 30 minutes of qigong practice if they are dealing with serious issues like cancer – these conditions should be supervised, though by an experienced master of Medical Qigong. The Place

Now that you’ve made a plan for your training schedule, you should make sure that you have a place set aside for training. For meditative yogas like the ones listed in this course, it is important to have an indoor space in which to train. This is because if one is outdoors, there can be an excessive amount of distraction from other people, animals, or insects. Traditional theory also states that it is important to be shielded from extreme temperature changes and wind. The reason for this is because the body’s energy field opens up when doing meditation, and that same external energy is what protects one from catching cold. The tradition of Chinese medicine believes that external energies can enter the body when it is especially open like this and cause illness. Many experienced meditators will have taken to wearing a shawl at some point during their training as they realized the desire to create a feeling of greater energetic containment. The other things to say about the place are that it should be clean, and you should be undisturbed. Any distraction will cause the mind to wander, and anytime the mind wanders, the body’s energy will follow it. In these practices we are trying to do very specific things with the body’s energy, if someone walks through the room where we are meditating, and our mind follows their footsteps, it causes a break in the energetic pathway we have created internally that can make us feel more stressed at the end of our meditation session rather than more whole and relaxed. Having dirt or any kind of mess around has a similar effect on a more subconscious level.

The Seat The final aspect of preparing for your practice is to make sure to find a comfortable seat. Most of the practices given here are from traditions where one is encouraged to sit in a chair with the soles of the feet touching the floor. This comes from the Daoist theory of posture in which having the legs open and feet on the ground allows one to ground energy through the earth. The cross legged positions like the “lotus pose” of yoga are used by Daoist yogis to “close the lower gate” and actually stop energy from flowing down through the legs so that they can redirect it up into the higher centers through the body’s central channel. This is very valuable for higher-level practice, but at the level of this course, one is advised to sit in a chair, or experienced with some of the various Daoist “standing meditation” postures. For individuals who do wish to add some of the practices like the inner relaxation, or the healing sounds to an existing practice in a cross legged posture, it is advised that one’s knees be touching the floor. Most yoga teachers and meditation teachers now hold that having the hips slightly higher than the knees gives better spinal posture. The Daoist tradition holds this as well and adds that the knees become the grounding connection to the earth in a cross-legged position. Individuals who are having problems in meditation or whose minds are wandering can find significant results simply by grounding the knees in their seated posture. The Prep

Once you have prepared your space, your time, and your seat, you are ready to begin your meditation practice. Many people find that it is valuable for them to invoke “sacred space” of some kind. This is, to a degree, built in to the initial practices of relaxation and the healing sounds. In these practices you are smoothing the energetic circulation and then aligning the mind toward the energy of giving and virtue, which empower the inner organs. One is advised, for greatest results, to practice the whole sequence of exercises given in this text, relaxing, practicing the healing sounds, then moving into Dan Tien meditation and the microcosmic orbit. When practiced in this way, the meridians are all brought into a state of relaxed balance and the organs are tonified to a state of high integrity. This makes the filling of the lower Dan Tien easier, and the opening of the governing and conception vessel more efficient. If you have less time, you can practice any of the meditations presented in this text individually for the reasons listed. Some people find it useful to invoke some sort of spiritual energy or Higher Power before beginning their practice. This is not required if you do not have a religious or spiritual practice, but if you do, the power of your belief makes this kind of invocation very potent for your qi cultivation. This kind of invocation will be covered in future courses, but if you currently have a practice of this type, it is appropriate at this point. The Practice Once you have completed all of the above steps. The practice is very straightforward. Find your seat,

smile and relax, move through the inner relaxation, healing sounds, Dan Tien breathing, and microcosmic orbit. Altogether this particular meditation takes about 20-30 minutes. One can also take any portion and make it into a 20-30 minute practice as desired (or shorter if time requires it). Student’s are encouraged to follow the practice requirements in the homework sections for ideas on how to structure a daily practice in addition to those given here.