Hern Heng - A Scientific Foundation Towards Nei Kung

A Scientific Foundation Towards a Complete Theory of Qi, Nei Kung and “Magic” By Hern Heng

© 2013 Three Temples Martial Arts. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents Forward: About the Author and San Szu Nei Jia Kung Fu Terminological Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Nature of Yin and Yang Chapter 3: On the Antiquity of Nei Kung Alchemy Chapter 4: Types, Sources, and Cultivation of Qi Chapter 5: The Dan Tien and the Chakra System Chapter 6: Three Dan Tien Built Upon One Another Chapter 7: Building the Foundation: Filling the Abdominal Dan Tien Chapter 8: Methodologies of Absorbing Yin Qi from the Hui Yin into the Dan Tien Chapter 9: Developing “Flood-like Qi”: Why Karma Matters in Nei Kung Chapter 10: Proof of the Divine: How We Can Know the Tao Thinks of Us Chapter 11: The Mind of the Universe

Acknowledgements This work was greatly enriched by years of now countless conversations with numerous teachers in the systems of orthodox Tao Jiao, including various Taoist priests, as well, as what now amount to nearly half a dozen teachers, friends and advisers in the Mo Pai Nei Kung school. Foremost, I must thank Shifu Lin who insists that I “owe him nothing” from all the years I have invested in editing and transcribing some of his own works. I respectfully disagree. As well, Shifu Wang, Li-Ping of the Lung Men Pai lineage, and Richard Liao who has selflessly answered many questions I have posed over what has now turned into years. Thanks as well to Jonnie Fellman who has done the same and pointed me in the their direction. There are others as well, who no doubt wish to remain nameless, as well as the myriad of people who have instructed me in Baguazhang over the years, and helped to open my eyes to the connection between the system and its Lung Men Pai origins.

Many thanks to Jamyang Dorje for our years of lengthy discussions on the Tibetan and other Buddhist systems during seminars. Of course thanks must also go out to every professor who I have learned at the feet… or desk of over the years, including many amazing professors of Taoist studies and Chinese religion. Last, but certainly not least, I thank my dear friend and colleague Hadar ha’Isuni who has informed me about just how much knowledge was not lost amongst the numerous African spiritual lineages which he has studied, been initiated into and represents. I thank him last only to highlight him to the reader, as I grow more impressed by his knowledge every day.

Forward: About the Author and San Szu Nei Jia Kung Fu The author, Fa-Shih Hern-Heng is a Nei Jia ( 內 家 ), “Internal Family” Martial Arts teacher with nearly two decades of Martial Arts experience. In 2005 he became a Nei Jia instructor after having studied the following styles of Chinese Martial Arts which he received Black Sash ranking or Instructor Level in:

Cheng style Baguazhang ( 八卦掌 , also transliterated: Pa Kua Chang) Hebei style Xingyiquan ( 形意拳 , also transliterated: Hsing

I Ch’uan) Chen style Lao Jia T’aijiquan ( 陳式老架太極拳 , “T’aijiquan” is also transliterated: T’ai Chi Ch’uan) Yang Style T’aijiquan ( 楊式太極拳 ) Chen, Pan-Ling “hybrid” T’aijiquan ( 陈 泮岭 , combination of Chen, Yang and Wu styles) Northern Chinese Tao Pai Traditional Wu Shu ( 道派武術 )

Other systems studied include the following: Krav Maga ( ‫​קרב מגע‬, Israeli “close-quarters combat”) Filipino Escrima (Kali) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Traditional Muay Thai ( มวยไทย )

In addition to these Martial Arts, the author trained extensively at a variety of tactical firearms academies, with veteran SWAT officers. With more than half his life spend studying the field of Psychology, Criminal Justice, SocialPsychology and Penjak Silat based, S.W.A.T. developed, combat training and certification. The author eventually formulated complete and specialized training, for agencies and individuals, including, but not limited to:

Psychological Training Counter-Terrorism Training Profiling and Background Recognition Counter-Terrorist Infiltration and Intelligence Gathering Operations Culture and Political background of terrorist organizations

Physical Training Hand-To-Hand Combat Training Handgun Combat Training Concealed Carry Training Tactical Rifle Training Long Range Sharp-Shooting Close Quarters Knife Fighting

The knowledge the author gained through Penjak-Silat-based tactical firearms training was applied to martial arts and how one can apply martial arts in modern self-defense situations. After years of teaching a variety of systems, from which he obtained separate lineage from different teachers – training concurrently – Fa-Shih Hern-Heng (pictured below) set about to capture the philosophical approach

to “cross-training” in the Nei Jia, and additionally to applying self-defense techniques of Krav Maga, Kali, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and tactical weapons training with the principles of Nei Jia “Internal Kung-Fu.” This philosophy was termed “San Szu” or “Three Temples.”

Three Temples is a systematic approach to Martial Arts, spiritual understanding, philosophy as well as health, longevity and internal

“alchemy.” The Three Temple approach is based upon the understanding that truth itself, and martial truth, does not derive from one particular source, and is not limited to one system. The traditional Chinese approaches are largely the subject of study at Three Temples, due to their antiquity. This is relevant to both their maturation, evolution and development over the millennia, as well as their being the source from which many other latter styles derived. In many ways other cultures borrowed from the ancient Chinese and refined aspects of the teachings. In this, however, preservation of many elements were naturally lost. Thus, the focus on the Martial Arts of Chinese origin is not out of adherence to blind nationalism or the like, but instead to seek out sources of both pure, relatively unadulterated teachings, as well as studying the modern trees that blossomed from the fertile soils of this rich tradition (namely, the more recent development of the Internal Martial Arts).

The author is featured in the white hat, at the far right, leading an intro class at Mercyhurst University. Fa Shih Hern Heng has also taught regular courses for many years at Greene County Career Center, Kettering Recreational Center and Cox Arboretum, as well as teaching regular classes in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Terminological Preface While there is confusion with beginners as to the difference between “Qi Gong” or “Chi Kung” or “Qi Kung” the difference is only in the method of transliteration. The Chinese language employs ideograms corresponding to sounds. Thus, three systems emerged to correlate these sounds into Roman characters rather than ideograms. The Pin Yin system was developed by the Communist government of China was attempting to raise the literacy rate. Many of the transliterations in this system do not actually sound anything like the actual pronunciation. Such is the case with the Pin Yin system spelling of “Qi Gong.” While this system is well known, it is not particularly effective on a practical level of conveying pronunciations of Chinese words. The Wade-Giles system renders words in a more Western manner. This system was used by ancient translators - specifically German monks, who

were said to have developed it - who were not able to speak Chinese correctly. Thus, you have “Chi Kung,” which, while normal in terms of Western parlance, is not exactly correct. Instead, the “K” sound in “Kung” is more of a cross between a “K” and a “G.” They “K” is “cleaner” to most Western ears, but slightly more accurate is the Yale system, developed at the University of the same name. It was developed to purportedly teach English speakers how to speak Chinese. It is the closest to the original pronunciation, such as in “Gung Fu” or “Qi Kung.”

Chapter 1 Introduction This work is the first of its kind. In many ways, I sincerely believe – as the author – that it is the best effort that will be put forth for some time in formulating a scientific foundation towards a complete theory of qi, meditation and quantification of how legendary siddhis of the most elevated masters of Nei Kung have exhibited. This book is not one about supernatural powers, nor of anything based any more on blind faith than the most cutting edge theories of Black Holes and Dark Matter and Dark Energy. That is to say, we have models for explaining what Black Holes and Dark Matter and Dark Energy are, and explaining as well their necessary existence. But we do not, to our dismay, have photographs of them. We cannot carry out experiments on them because of the limitations and nature of what we are

studying. Nevertheless, we find compelling, even irrefutable, evidence that these are real phenomenon, and we can use observation to demonstrate their existence. In the same way, many of the various legends of Taoism and Buddhism, as well as the Hindu Tantric tradition and even the Jewish tales of Chassidic masters, and ancient Talmudic sages, Islamic stories of Muhammad and `Ali, and both the seemingly supernatural powers of their descendants and their disciples, make it clear that there is a universal phenomenon associated with believe in incredible abilities manifesting as a result of decades of meditation practices. Take two examples as proof. In the first, we find Rabbi “black feet,” who – employing the meditative-concentration practices of the chassidim rishonim, believed by scholars to be none other than the intriguing Essene sect of Judaism, would put his concentration to the test daily by holding his feet in an open fire, and removing them unscathed. On day, however, he was distracted, and his concentration broke. As a result, his feet were severely burned, after which he was nicknamed “Rabbi Black Feet.” In the second, we encounter a disciple of the sixth Shi`i Imam, Ja`far al-Sadiq, the great, great grandson of Muhammad, and a teacher of numerous founders of Islamic schools of thought (Imam Abu Hanifa, for instance, of the Hanafi mazhhab). This disciple was named Harun al-Makki (Aaron the

Meccan). A partisan (shi`i) of Imam Ja`far approached him about rising in revolt against the Califate. From the perspective of Muhammad’s family, and their partisans (shi`ah), the power to lead the Muslim community in what Muhammad meant by “Islam” had been usurped, robbed from them, first by the Umayyad dynasty who originated with Muhammad’s arch-enemy Abu Sufyan, and then by the Abbasid clan.

Sahl ibn al-Hasan al-Khurasani who was one of the followers of Ahl’ul-bayt in Khurasan (a province in Iran) came to Medina to meet imam Ja’far As-Sadiq. Sahl al-Khurasani said: “O son of the Messenger of God! You are of the Spiritual Leaders of Ahl’ul-Bayt. What prevents you from getting your right (i.e. the rule) while you find more than one hundred thousand Shi’a who are ready to fight for you?” The Imam asked him to sit down, and then ordered to turn on the oven that was in the house. After the oven became very hot and turned red, the Imam said: “O Khurasani step into the oven and sit in it.” The Khurasani said: “My master, o son of the Rasul’ullah! Do not punish me by fire and make it easy for me.” At this time, Harun al-Makki entered the room, and after the greetings exchanged, the Imam told him to put down his shoes and to

sit down inside the oven. He did so and the Imam started talking to Sahl about Khurasan as if nothing had happened. After some time, the Imam said: “O Khurasani stand up and look inside the oven.” Sahl looked into the oven and saw Harun sitting cross-legged inside the fire. Then Imam As-Sadiq asked Harun to come out of oven and he came out healthy with no burn or injury. At this time, the Imam asked Sahl: “How many individuals do you know in Khurasan like this man?” Sahl replied: “By God, not even one.” The Imam confirmed his saying and said, “We do not rise at this time when we do not even have five helpers (like him). We know better about the proper time.”[1]

This book very easily could focus on the universal traditions regarding meditation and siddhis. While there will be times when Jewish, Islamic, Native American, African, and Aboriginal material will be incorporated, this will be for the purposes of corroborating the Taoist and Buddhist materials, legends and known training methodologies. This is not a matter of cultural preference for the Asian methodologies, it is for another very simple reason… Today, and indeed since the advent of Arab Nationalism adulterating Islamic movements – even Turkish, Indonesian and Malay,

Persian and Pakistani movements – Sufism and its related turuq have not remained in the state that they once were. Notable, and laudable exceptions do occur. The deceased M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen is one noted example who seems to have achieved both remarkable longevity before passing from this world in 1986, and who also remained spiritually aligned on a vision for peace and reconciliation with the perceived “other.” In general, however, barring the rare and remarkable secluded mountain hermitages of Iran, or the personal ecstasy of a village mystic who – in a trance that they could not begin to explain the methodologies of – is able to go unscathed into the fire, the bulk of what finds in Sufi turuq today is nothing short of intellectual masturbation about charts, diagrams, concepts, all memorized and parroted back by people who do not understand what these concepts mean on a practical level. Judaism too is in no better position, though knowledge seems to have departed from the general Jewish community on these matters of methodology far later, and in many ways as a result of the Shoah (Nazi Holocaust). It is impossible to tell how many knowledgeable men took the arcane knowledge of Jewish magic and mysticism to the gas chambers and mass graves of Europe with them. Indeed, some still claim to know, but what I have found, both through my studies with Chassidim as a fellow Jew, and in academia, learning from Harvard doctoral graduates whose focus was on

Kabbalah (Qabalah) and Jewish magic, is that there is a lot of knowledge preserved, but little understand of how to “power up” the various models and practices. For this reason, I have written a dedicated book on that subject, which can be obtained prior to its public release, on a selective basis of my own choosing and criteria, by contacting me directly. Rather than making this work a dedicated compendium of global traditions on Nei Kung-type meditation, yogas and Qi practices. I have taken to heart the poignant observation attributed to none other than Muhammad, 1,400 years ago, when he said: “Seek out Knowledge… even unto China.” In another version, we read, “Seek out knowledge, even though it is in China.” Whatever siddhis Muhammad and his family seem to have attained, it was no doubt through tahannut practices spoken of in the sirah biographical accounts, having originated from none other than China. This work, therefore, will take his advice and focus on what has for centuries been the acknowledged depository of this ancient wisdom: the Asian, particular Chinese, methods of inner energetic alchemy. These methods are termed “Nei Kung” and most precisely refer to meditative work focused on the Xia Dan Tien center in the lower abdomen. In Martial Arts too, it is well known and widely claimed that Chinese Kung Fu is “the Grandfather of the Martial Arts.” What that means is not simply that Chinese Kung Fu is the oldest of martial arts, but that it is

the source, the very progenitor of other systems which drew and grew from it. One could thus reason that if one wishes to truly understand any system of Martial Arts, they would be well served to study Chinese Kung Fu and understand later styles within the framework of the Grandfather of Martial Arts, and with it as their foundation. Finally, one of my Nei Kung meditation teachers in the Mo Pai tradition remarks that China has been the “gatekeeper” of Nei Kung, even while all cultures originally had this knowledge. His own teacher believes that it was lost from other cultures because they “abused” it, but my personal view is that this is more self-justification and nationalism than reality. Certainly Chinese history is rife with examples of abuse of power, martial arts and esoteric knowledge as well. The process of Taoist “Orthodoxification,” as I term it, occurred following centuries of venal abuse by left-hand path Taoists who exploited others for the sake of their own imagined gain (this book will discuss, in Chapter 9 and 10), why such an egodriven approach is to no long-term avail). As well, there are many examples where such knowledge has not be abused on a wide scale, and as well, this begs the question that all other cultures have in fact “lost” this knowledge entirely. It would seem that in terms of Africa and other regions, that this knowledge has not been entirely lost… it is just very rare. All ancient cultures had a name for the Xia Dan Tien, like the

Japanese hara, or the svadhisthana chakra. African cultures too had the same concept. Anthropologist Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard noted, in his Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, references of the Dan Tien being, in the African view, the storage house of a sorcerer’s power, yet – while its location in the lower “abdomen of the witch” was certain, Pritchard concluded disappointedly that he was “left in doubt as to what it is anatomically.” This knowledge then, to what extent it has been lost in Africa, was lost as a result of imperialism, not as a result of misdeed. The same is certainly true in the case of Jewry, which has, throughout history, been subjected to first Assyrian and Babylonian captivity and finally Roman imperialism, followed by the Great Diaspora, and periodic pogroms from both Christian and Muslim nations. Finally, the Shoah itself seems to have tragically dealt the a knockout blow to most living lines capable of transmitting the necessary information to “power-up” Kabbalistic models of ma`aseh merkevah, and ma`aseh berashit. This, however, was not a deathblow, as esoteric lines of transmission of this knowledge do still persist. It is with all of this in mind that I proceed with this study of the specifically Chinese Taoist and, to a lesser extent, Buddhist models, to better – to best – understand what Nei Kung, Qi Kung and internal energy meditation is, how we can quantify it, and how in so doing we can better

understand the Natural Order that we are all a part of.

Chapter 2: The Nature of Yin and Yang To begin anything, we must start out, as it were, in the beginning…

Tao( 道 ) produces one One produces two Two produce three Three produce all things All things, supported by yin ( 陰 ) and embrace yang ( 陽 ) They achieve harmony by integrating their Qi ( 氣 )

The original meaning of the terms “Yin” and “Yang” related to the shady and sunny sides of a hill, respectively. “Yin” represents the shade; “Yang”

represents the sunny side. These terms came to embody this dual nature of polarities of negative and positive charges, feminine and masculine, yielding and advancing, black and white. Common translations of the term “Tao” include: road, path, way, means, doctrine. In the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing), from which this famous passage originates, it is generally used to indicate, the unseen, underlying law of the Universe, the Natural Order from which all other principles and phenomena proceed. It is described as unnameable, unfathomable and inexhaustible; and yet, in the attempt to pass on knowledge of it, it is both named and described, using the most minimal of terms, which are nevertheless so pregnant with meaning. Chinese Characters are logograms, pictograms and ideographic in nature and origin, even while the vast majority today emerge as phonosemantic, though are related to ideas through the development and association of common Chinese parlance. This is important to bear in mind, particular with the ancient form of the language, within which the Daodejing was penned. The character for “Tao” is composed of two other characters: “To go forward” and “head.” The term is used extensively in Asian philosophy to denote the “path” or “way” to clarity. In Chinese, Tao is pronounced “dow,” as in Dow Jones Index and “doe” as in a female deer, in Japanese, such as in the words “Ju-do,” “Ken-do,” and “Karate-Do.”

Often given the misnomer of “Taoism,” this “Way” of Tao Jiao (Taoism) is neither an “ism” nor “schism,” neither a religion nor sect, but an approach to all things, including religion, as well as martial arts and even meditation. Quite simply, it is the oldest “science” of life, borne of empirical observation in the laboratory of Nature and inner reflection. The Tao is the path which all things follow, and like the currents of a river, all things submit to it, either willingly or forced. The ancients masters, undistracted by the various forms of entertainment that barrage modern society, focused their “effort and time” (Kung-fu), on researching and improving ways of meeting human needs in accordance with the Tao. A lineage of these ancient masters, and sages (the transmission of which extends even into this current age), developed a complete, detailed, and scientific system of knowledge, which comprises principles of food preparation, exercise, healing, sexuality and meditation all based on yin and yang principals and harmonization of qi. These realizations caused the ancient masters to create a complete system of methods and techniques, which have, accurately or inaccurately, been given the phrase “alchemy” in association with them, particularly in relation to meditation. Through “Taoist alchemy,” the ancient masters hoped to elevate self-healing to its fullest potential, to energize the whole body, to seemingly defy time and aging. Above all these ancient masters were

scientists. They believed that wisdom came from accumulated knowledge subjected to scrutiny and deeper and deeper questioning. They had a purpose and a morality to their questioning and search for wisdom. Thus, they committed their observations to written and oral record, passed down through a host of lineages which ae the recipients of this cumulative knowledge, even to this day.

Chapter 3: On the Antiquity of Nei Kung Alchemy Throughout the history of Taoism there has always run through each phase a common thread of interest in self-cultivation. By this I mean self-cultivation as it is referenced throughout Taoist texts of the earliest to the most contemporary, dealing with the refining of the self in a way deemed in harmony with the Dao (or Tao, the “Way”); or in some cases, in a manner which facilitated the flow of the Tao and its De (Power), through the individual. As difficult to define, as these notions are, the modern understanding of “what is Taoism,” is still a topic of discussion. In “A Historian’s Reflections on the Taoist Tradition,” Arthur F. Wright speaks of the difficulty in defining Taoism and identifying the practices of Taoists of different eras:

The recent conference in Bellagio raised a host of new questions and restated many old ones regarding the place of Taoism in the development of Chinese civilization. One question raised very early was whether the division between Tao-chia and Tao-chiao (often translated as “Taoist philosophy” and “Taoist religion”), represented anything more than the prejudices of the Confucian elite as reflected in historical writings. “What is Taoism?” is an old problem.[2]

In “Worldview of the Taoist,” author Stephen Bokenkamp also explains the difficulty in defining “Taoism.”[3] Wright proposed a few common attitudes that seem to run through them all: attitudes and ways of thinking, an organic view of man and the universe, and so forth.

…the notion that all phenomena (including man), are knit together in a seamless web of interacting forces, both visible and invisible. Interwoven with this is the idea of ceaseless flux: that the apogee of any of these forces engenders a reversion towards its opposite. A second common strain is primitivism, the notion that individual man and society would be better if they returned to a state of primitive simplicity, with a minimum of differentiation, of intellection, of

purposive activity. A third element is the persisting belief that some men, by diverse regimens - mystical, dietary, sexual, alchemical - can attain a kind of transcendence, which manifests itself in longevity, invulnerability, charisma, the ability to know and manipulate the forces around them.[4]

Methods of cultivation would vary from phase to phase. Following the initial Philosophical-Speculative strain of Taoism, early Alchemaic Taoists were fundamentally involved with what would be called the Wai Dan. However, there was not a definitive dividing line between Wai Dan and Nei Dan alchemy historically speaking, in terms of out modern designations. To artificially oversimplify, Wai Dan alchemy was concerned with ingesting external substances (minerals, herbs, etc), for the purpose of alchemaic transformation within the practitioner. To this end, a differentiation must be made between the tradition at the time of the Laozi and Zhuangzi, and that of Fang Shi and their patrons, such as Qinshihuangdi who could not be associated with Taoism beyond his obsession with immortality. For the imagined community of the Lao-Zhuang Era (of which we know almost nothing), it is clear that the goals of practice, and what could be termed practice itself, would be vastly different from the Wai Dan school. Still, there is evidence in these texts that there was some practice beyond

mere philosophical understanding of “Dao” and “De.” Conversely, if the means of the Wai Dan school was the ingestion of external base materials, the end was immortality. What immortality meant to Wai Dan practitioners and potentially to Philosophical Taoists is a subject that requires much more than cursory assumptions based upon latter day exoteric definitions of “immortality.” For starters “Hsien,” the word in Chinese for “immortal,” is composed of the characters for “Mountain” and “Man,” a term not at all incompatible with the prototypical Taoist of the Laozi and Zhuangzi. Could it not then be reasonable that the longevity of Taoist “Mountain Men” would lead to much of the confusion (with those outside of Taoism, or those looking back, viewing their longevity as the ultimate objective in some way)? In the development of Taoist thought, the “Nei Ye” would seem to come from about the same time as the oldest sections of the Laozi. However, it tends to expand on concepts mentioned only briefly in that text. With regards to the portion of the Zhuangzi, termed the “Inner Chapters,” we see a central notion that the indefinite prolongation of life is indeed a meaningless endeavor. The primary purpose of the qi cultivation techniques was to rise above the world and become one with the Universe rather than merely surviving with it; swimming with the stream rather than being swept away by it. This would lead many scholars, such as Nei Ye translator Allyn

Rickett to purport that these were practices of entirely separate branches of Daosim; that of the Nei Ye being more in line with texts of a later development such as the Huang Di Neijing Suwen. However, it is an oversimplification of the Zhuangzi to claim that its authors saw immortality as meaningless. For this reason, I have worded carefully above, that there is rejection of “indefinitely prolongation of life” (for the sake of itself). Still, the ancients which the Zhuangzi was lauding are also described, in the Inner Chapters, as the epitome of the most legendary Taoist Masters:

The true people of olden times did not resist poverty. They did not glory in success. They did not plan their affairs. They could miss without regretting it and hit without being pleased. Such people could climb high without shuddering. They could enter water without getting wet and fire without getting burned. Such is the knowledge that is able to climb up to the Way…[5] The true people of olden times slept without dreaming and woke without anxiety. His food was plain, and his breath was deep. The breath of the true human rose up from his heels while the breath of common men rise from their throats.

Entering water without getting wet, passing through fire unscathed and breathing from the heels are all quite obviously results that the authors would

have considered the result of years of practical cultivation. The cultivation was a part of the lifestyle of the ancients, in the perspective of the Zhuangzi, no doubt, but it is clear that Zhuangzi does not just believe that as time went on people coincidentally lost these abilities. Like Taoist legends of mastery of Qi which would follow for the centuries, it is obvious that the authors viewed the accomplishments of the ancients as a result of their lifestyle and practice (left uncharted in the text beyond a passing reference to Qi Kung in the last line). Did the earliest form of Taoism view the notion of “immortality” as something to be strived for, or a vain pursuit? Was there a necessary differentiation between adherents to the Nei Ye and that of what is regarded as the Philosophical-Speculative strain of the same era?

It is common in works on China to describe Taoism as the “religion of immortality.” This commonplace is not quite accurate, at least not as we in the West tend to understand immortality. The Tao itself is immortal, and the goal of Taoists was to merge with the Tao. As we have seen, however, one of the primary characteristics of the Tao is change.[6]

I would propose that, like the non-dualistic, “this” or “that” approach of the Zhuangzi, this too is a case where neither answer is sufficient. We can

propose that there were very diverse schools of thought even in extremely early (even infant), Taoism. Certainly one would have trouble arguing that there were not (due to an utter lack of evidence confirming this). However, the apparent differences in perspectives are only as deep as our understandings of the notion of immortality. Was the immortality of the Taoists (or is it today in modern Taoist Orders), something concerned with eternally extending the physical life of the body, or was it something else; something neither “this” nor “that;” something more akin to living life to its fullest, perhaps with no fixed lifespan as an arbitrary limitation. To propose a third option might sound innovative enough on its own, but perhaps not so when we take into account the final words of some of the greatest modern day Taoist “Immortals” who have in many cases decided on the day of their deaths. Sun, Lu-T’ang, Li, Qing-Yuen and others are reported to have told their families and students the day of their death well in advance, made arrangements, sat down and died. If the understanding of Taoist “immortals” themselves is different than the meaning presumed by Western readers then perhaps it is we Westerners who need to redefine what Taoism has ever truly meant by immortality. Only through this understanding can we gain an accurate picture of the self-cultivation methods of an era; and whether or not there were fundamental incongruencies from one era to the next.

According to Sun, Jian-Yun, her father used the Yijing to predict the exact date and time of his death. The year of his death (1933), a German doctor in a Western hospital had examined Sun and said he had the body of a 40 year old (Sun was 73). Shortly afterward Sun said that he wanted to return to Bao Ding because he had not been there in 17 years… he went back to Beijing and announced that in one month he would die… Sun, Lu-T’ang told Sun, Jian-Yun, “We should return to Bao Ding now. I want to be buried there and it will be too much trouble to take my body back when I am dead.” Sun, his wife, and daughter went back to Wan County and Sun stopped eating. He said, “I came into this world empty and I will go out empty.” He did nothing but sit in meditation most of the day and would only drink water. Sun told his daughter not to cry after he died. He left his daughter with instructions concerning what she should do when he was gone. He said he would die sitting up. They were to wait for one half hour after which they could lay his body down. After he was laying down he said his son and daughter could then weep for him. On the day he had predicted he would die, Sun was sitting in a chair meditating. His family and friends were trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t paying attention. He didn’t want to put on any clothes that

day because he said he wouldn’t need them. On three different occasions he opened his eyes and asked what time it was. The third time he said “Good-bye,” closed his eyes, and died. It was 16 December 1933. The room Sun died in was the same room he had been born in.[7]

In the case of Li, Qing-Yuen, we have a man documented by Chinese record as being 256 years old at his time of death and reported in Time Magazine[8] and the New York Times[9] as being at least almost 197. Why would such a Taoist pursue “immortality” and then one day premeditatively[10] decide on the date when he would “give up?” Was he giving up, or was he fulfilling what Taoism today, and perhaps from the beginning, originally meant when it spoke of immortality? That is, was his “immortality” – Li being, quite literally, a “Mountain Man” - perhaps not a failed attempt, but instead perhaps a means to achieving the end of true immortality. That is, if viewed as syncratic in approach, it is possible – and if Ockham’s Razor is applied, perhaps even probable – that there is no contradiction between the Laozi, the Zhuangzi and the Nei Ye’s approaches. Physical immortality would miss the point. Qinshihuangdi would thus have been a notorious example of misunderstanding what could have been a process of utilizing the physical

body as a means of developing the Shen body to achieve immortality.[11] John Chang describes the matter as such: upon death we retain some of our Yang Qi for 40 days. After 40 days this Yang Qi fades and we cross on to another plane of existence that is more ethereal, more Yin.

I thought that I was going insane from the stress of trying to make ends meet. He looked so real, though, that I thought I would try to speak with him. “Master?” I said, timidly. Liao Sifu laughed, “Yes, it’s me. You needn’t be so amazed.” “But… you are… you’re dead!” I said. “Undeniably,” he replied. He seemed very amused. “What are you doing here?” “This is the specialty of our type of training, that after death you retain the characteristics and power you had when you were alive. When you pass Level Four, you can take all your yang chi with you.”[12]

In order to be “immortal” in this sense one must have built up a tremendous amount of Yang Qi and be able to carry it over with them. In order to do this they must have also built up a proportionate amount of Yin Qi and fused the two together. Few accomplish this, but Chang says that this is the first official

point that one is an “immortal,” and yet the body dies a normal death. The practitioner at this point then utilizes the body as a means to build up more Yang Qi and gain higher levels of manifestation of the De of the Dao (Tao) through them. At a certain point, they discard their physical bodies and move on in a less encumbered form. From the perspective of this paradigm, the body would serve as a type of cocoon, that would be discarded upon the appropriate time for its discarding (perhaps giving an insight into what some Taoists today consider to be Zhuangzi’s parable of immortality[13]). The Laozi, as well, makes reference to the interaction of ghosts with this world. Far from developing Shen immortality being contrary to nature, the Laozi mentions, in passing, both immortality in Chapter 13, and the interaction of ghosts with the physical world:

When one manages the world through the Way, ghosts lose their numinous qualities. It’s not that ghosts really lose their numinous qualities, but that their numinous qualities do not injure human beings. [14]

Might it not be that the prominence of Proto-Taoist alchemists like Qinshihuangdi have left us with the impression that “immortality” entails the unending lifespan of the physical body? Kosta Danaos reports that Sifu John

“Chang” told him of both Boddhidharma and Zhang, San-Feng achieving immortality. Danaos inquired what this meant in relation to the 19th Century claims that Zhang had made a very tangible manifestation where transmission of T’aijiquan principles were allegedly conveyed.[15] Sifu John clarified that though Immortal, at the age of around 200 Zhang, San-Feng died. Whether or not one takes this story of Zhang, San-Feng – or even this historicity of the individual – to be true, is irrelevant. The point is that there are many well known Taoist masters who hold to the notion that the body is a tool for achieving immortality. Chang claims this is his Shifu (who would later appear to him in a very yang Shen body), who decided on when and where he would die, made arrangements to return to China, went where he said he would die, and on the day of his death died just as he described.

In 1962 my Master called me to him again and said that he had only three months more to live… He said that he wanted to die back in China… so we collected funds from all the people he had healed to pay for his ticket… He left for China on board a ship with two hundred other people. I knew one of the people he was going over there with, so I kept asking the man’s family for information… I went to the man’s house every day, asking for news, and one day the expected message arrived. Liao Sifu was dead, as he himself had predicted and he had

died on the very day he had foreseen.[16]

The Laozi and Zhuangzi are not “guide books” to training. They had some practice; something we know from the texts themselves. One thing that they all held in common was meditation. The reality of Taoist and Martial Chinese Orders is that until very recently guide books of the sort many Westerners have come to expect from Mantak Chia did not exist. We should not expect to find them. It wasn’t until fairly recently that many esoteric texts have come to light. Most still remain in occultation (the same being true of Qabalistic tradition which still hand copies some esoteric texts), with those that have willingly been made public being of the sort of nature that degrees of personal experience are necessary to make practical sense of the metaphors within. Even more so true in the Lao-Zhuang Era, there would have been little reason to expect anything other than vague references to practices in these texts. The absence of such information is in no way demonstrative that the authors of said texts did not practice techniques that would parallel what we find in the Nei Ye. Were these – the Laozi, Zhuangzi and Nei Ye – from divergent strains of very early Taoism? Perhaps. However, it might also be considered that they are different types of texts from the same general group of practitioners; held in regard for different reasons.

Those who retain their center endure Those who die but continue to exist are immortal[17]

Might we understand this in the same way that the aforementioned modern interpreters of “Taoism” understand it? Might it be that early Wai Dan alchemists were of two groups, those who took Wai Dan life-extension techniques to be a means to physical immortality, and those who took it as a means of extending life in order to achieve immortality outside of the physical body; living on in the Shen Body?[18] Taoism would come to term this the “Immortal Fetus,” drawing correlation to the notion of a fetus gestating within it’s mother until it is ready to be born with the process of cultivation for the purpose of refining the Shen body to live out immortality through it. It is no stretch to imagine that if there were heirs to a Lao-Zhuang community that held to such a concept, they would not be the sorts to willingly come into the service of Qinshihuangdi. Though he certainly had Fang Shi advisors, the fact that they were in his service should color how we look at their knowledge of Taoist concepts of immortality, as the Zhuangzi says of involvement in politics and government:

Zhuangzi was angling by the Pu River when the king of Chu sent two officers to him, saying, “We would like to trouble you with

administering Our Kingdom.” Without looking up from his pole, Zhuangzi said, “I’ve heard Chu has a sacred turtle. It’s been dead three thousand years and the king keeps it wrapped and boxed and stored up in his ancestral hall. Now, would that turtle rather have its bones treasured in death, or be alive dragging its tail in the mud?” The two officers said, “It would rather be alive dragging its tail in the mud.” Zhuangzi said, “Go! I’ll keep my tail in the mud, too…”[19]

Change and Practice in Taoist Thought Over the Centuries The major changes that we see transpiring historically in Taoism (and what it means to be Taoist), find expression in Zhang, Dao-Ling and the T’ien Shi he led, as well as Zhang Jiao and his Huang Jin (Yellow Turbans) of the T’ai Ping (Great Peace) Movement (perhaps related by proxy of Zhang Lu, the grandson and himself successor of Zhang, Dao-Ling), as historically representative of the shen-chiao, which admittedly varied widely from region to region. The Crypto-Buddhist Monastic form of Taoism, linked with the Mao-Shan Pa’i can be regarded as a “change” and as an inevitable sociocultural “yielding” in the process of living the water-like Dao. Buddhism penetrates Chinese society, Taoism conforms to the change. Though a

change, without a doubt, this sort of change is less-than-consequential to how we understand self-cultivation for the purposes of “immortality” and it’s meaning in original Taoist sources. The more significant changes (though less socially pronounced), are found within the Nei Dan and Wai Dan alchemaic sub-traditions. That is to say that Philosophical-Speculative Taoism is defined as the first epoch of the Taoist Era, and yet within that Era we have the Nei Ye, very much concerned with Nei Dan alchemy. The second stage of Taoism is the Alchemist Era. However, with the pre-existence of Nei Dan alchemy in the Nei Ye (and, I would argue, in Philosophical-Speculative Taoism itself), this Alchemaic Era is actually characterized by the emergence of Wai Dan alchemy techniques in particular. The Nei Dan form of alchemy remains the most heavily emphasized in Taoist orders today and for many centuries. Nei dan alchemy developed a body of techniques for attaining breath control, sexual hygiene, dietary regimens, ingestion of elixirs, and so on.[20] Though the vast body of techniques of the Nei Dan were not well known until the Han, Wright nonetheless cites them as linked with the earliest Lao-Zhuang “Philosophical-Speculative” strain of Taoism. As such, their understanding and conceptualization of the Lao and Zhuang texts should serve as the most relevant to our investigation of what might be closest to the original practices of the Lao-Zhuang Taoists.

It is important to note that modern day Taoism defines Wai Dan in a manner less specific to the transformation of base metals into gold; and instead employs this definition of alchemy as more of a metaphor for the ingestion of base elements, transmuted within the body. To this end, examining the legacy of Taoism today, we can gain insight into how we look at the words of the ancients, and which words we give more weight. “Wu Chen P’ien” (Understanding Reality), is a classic of Taoist alchemy from the Complete Reality (Ch’uan-Chen), school. In 1841 Chu Chung-T’ang described the text as originating from Wei, Po-Yang of the Eastern Han dynasty (923-220 C.E.), and being elaborated on by Zhang, Zi-Yang, the founder of the Southern branch of the Complete Reality school (983-1082 CE).[21] Chapter 2.11 reads:

In a dream I visited the sublime energy and reaches the nine heavens; a real person gave me a book point to the origin. The book is simple, without many words; it just teaches people to refine mercury and lead. The science of the gold elixir is most simple, without much talk – it is not more than refining the real knowledge in the mind of Tao and the conscious knowledge in the human mind… The sublime energy is where the true gold is produced, representing the radiance of pure light of true gold.[22]

The Laozi makes reference to both activating Qi through the body and concentrating it; two aspects of Nei Kung that would become fundamental to Taoism.

Embracing your soul and holding on to the One, can you keep them from departing?

Concentrating your qi and attaining the utmost suppleness, can you be a child?[23]

We are to “hold on” to the One; something that keeps the soul and the One from departing. That is to say that if a practice of some sort (being referenced here), is not undertaken, then departing is the natural result. The praxis of this “holding on to the One” is done through the concentration of Qi. Through this, the Laozi tells us, we attain the “utmost suppleness” and become as a child. This is called “nurturing life.” While clearly part of the PhilosophicalSpeculative stage of Taoism, this is not speculative, in nature, but practical.

I have heard that those good at nurturing life, on land do not meet with rhinoceroses or tigers, and in battle do not encounter armored

warriors… Why is this? Because such people have no place for death. [24]

Practice in the Laozi is an activity of stillness:

In the pursuit of learning, one does more each day; in the pursuit of the Way, one does less each day; One does less and less until one does nothing.[25]

Doing nothing is not a matter of inactivity or lack of practice. The nonaction of the Laozi is a practice which takes practice. One must learn to do less until they are able to do nothing. Both the Laozi and the Zhuangzi frequently refers to meditative self-cultivation that is not at all dissimilar to Nei Dan. The Laozi says, “Act, but through nonaction. Be active, but have no activities.”[26] However, far from only making reference to practices of stillness, the Laozi speaks of stimulating Qi.

Who can, through stillness, gradually make muddied water clear? Who can, through movement, gradually stir to life what has long been still?[27]

There appears to be a dual notion of stillness and movement, paired in practice like Yin and Yang in the Laozi’s reference to self cultivation. One is to be still to clear the mud; something so difficult and normatively unusual that the author begins by asking “who can” do this? Stillness not being alone in such difficulty, there is also reference to a “true” sort of movement; something that the text speaks of “gradually stir[ring] to life.” Muddied confusion seems to be the normative state, stillness and stirring to life appear to be the results of the sages mastery. Underestimating the definition of “stillness” here would be as dangerous as underestimating the term “movement.” Is the Laozi saying that this can be achieved through any old movement? If not then why is it so easy to look at “stillness” as just sitting and thinking, in some very rudimentary, philosophical manner. The point then is that if we can reasonable conclude that these words cannot be taken purely at face value then there is something being alluded to here, and yet not spelled out. What is this “stirring to life?” Chapter 42 refers to the “blending” of yin and yang qi in Nature by the myriad creatures. It is through this blending that harmony is attained. Far from being a purely philosophical text, the Laozi is here describing something that is otherwise unparalleled in theoretical or purely speculative philosophy. Whatever the text is to be called, or whether or not the definition of the Lao-Zhuang Era of Taoism is

sufficiently phrased in Philosophical-Speculative, it is difficult to explain away passages such as these are purely theoretical and devoid of practical formula.

The myriad creatures shoulder yin and embrace yang, and by blending these qi, they attain harmony.[28]

Clearly the myriad creatures “blend” without cognition of blending. However, since both the author and reader are – through the co-creative act of reading-writing – acknowledging mutual cognition, of this otherwise unconscious blending process, it is too great a leap to claim that there is no practice implicit here; particularly when notions of graduality are referenced in attaining to the state of living Wu Wei. Far from the only such reference, the Laozi speaks in both Chapter 52 and 56 of “Stop[ping] up the openings; clos[ing] the gates.”

Stop up the openings; close the gates… Unstop the openings; multiply your activities; and to the end of one’s life one will be beyond salvation.[29]

Stopping up the gates is an activity, a practice, whether this alludes to

retention of jing and qi – as it would later come to be interpreted – or in the sense of doors and windows of perception, it is an activity of intentional stillness. One does not close gates through doing nothing at all. The gates do not close themselves. Gates are closed so that one may (gradually), approach a state where a city can be safe and non-action can be practiced. Closing the gates, is apparently correlative to Taoist retention techniques of controlling the emotions and restraining the “two evil’s” of joy and anger in the Nei Ye.

When joy and anger are not limited, you should make a plan [to limit them], restrict the vice sense-desires; cast away these dual misfortunes. Be not joyous, be not angry, just let a balanced and aligned [breathing] fill your chest. As for the vitality of all human beings: It inevitably occurs because of balanced and aligned [breathing]. The reason for its loss, is inevitably pleasure and anger, worry and anxiety.[30]

“Fasting of the Mind” More to the point, closing the gates not only stops outflow but also influx of destabilizing factors; what Zhuangzi will call “the fasting of the mind.” Chapter 3 of the Zhuangzi speaks clearly to the reality of “comprehending” the “qi” of something as being directly related to regular practice. The author does this with a poignant story of an old butcher who has mastered his craft

to such a degree that he neither looks nor thinks about his job, nor does he chip his blade on bones, nor wear it out on thick muscles. His job has transformed into an art, through years of practice he has learned to perform his job in accordance with the “Way” of the animals’ corpses; following the paths of least resistance.[31] Though not an overt reference to specific practices of Nei Dan alchemy, the story makes a clear and universal statement about the nature of consistent practice itself. This notion of comprehending qi is carried on further when Zhuangzi talks of meditation through the spokesman of Kongzi (Confucius). Perhaps carrying on the notion found also in the Laozi that “When the best scholars hear about the Way, They assiduously put it into practice,”[32] the Zhuangzi seems to be portraying Kongzi and his closest disciple, Yan Hui as secretly Taoist in their private, personal practice. In the story, Kongzi is teaching Yan Hui about a practice which he calls “the fasting of the mind.” The story is reminiscent of the Laozi Chapter 33: “Those who know others are knowledgeable; those who know themselves are enlightened,” and Chapter 72 “Sages know themselves but do not make a display of themselves,” as Kongzi explains that self-knowledge is only one step in comprehending Yan Hui’s only possibility for a successful mission. Kongzi gives the following instructions:

Unify your attention. Do not listen with the ears, listen with the mind. Do not listen with the mind but listen with the vital breath qi. The ears only listen to sounds. The mind is only aware of its objects. But to focus on the qi is to be empty and await the arising of objects. It is only the Way that settles in emptiness. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.

This is one of the primary stages in Taoist Meditation today as described by Wang, Li-Ping, 18th Generation of the Dragon Gate of the Complete Reality school of Taoism. The mind is fasted in what Taoism (both the Complete Reality school and the Healing Dao texts), term “Dark Room Enlightenment,” until the point is reached where “the mind is empty and [you] await the arising of objects.” In other words, “shut the gates.” Excess Yin (Fasting), gives rise to lesser Yang (objects). Later in the Inner Chapters, Yan Hui tells Kongzi:

I let organs and members drop away, dismiss hearing and eyesight, part from the body and expel knowledge, and merge with the Great Pervader. This is what I mean by “just sit and forget.” [33]

Both of these passages refer to Nei Dan practices of meditative self cultivation that parallel the Laozi’s notion of actively emptying - found in

chapter eleven – speaking of adding and removing clay to form a useful vessel of what is not there. Both passages of the Zhuangzi attest to inner cultivation practice in which all normal perceptions and thoughts are actively removed. Eventually the consciousness is liberated from false perceptions of duality, of “this” and “that” of “right” and “wrong” and even of division in the perceptual world, and the practitioner achieves union with the Dao. For Zhuangzi this experience, though profound, is not the end. Through the character of Kongzi, we read: “to stop making footprints is easy but it is difficult to walk without touching the ground,” perhaps an expansive reference to Chapter 27 of the Laozi, “One who is good at traveling leaves no tracks or traces.” Today these processes described are not at all dissimilar to those which are still cornerstone to Taoism today. Far from the original approach being one discarded in another era (or practice being a later innovation), these describe practices as important today as in the Philosophical-Speculative Era.

Chapter 4: Types, Sources, and Cultivation of Qi Whenever I begin teaching a new student in any of the Nei Jia, or simply in Qi Kung and meditation, the one thing that most surprises them to hear is that there are different types of Qi. Most of them have heard of various methods of internal martial arts and meditation, breath and energy work, and so on. In fact, the nature of how I “market” my school leads to a relatively small, but select “type” of people seeking me out for instruction. As such, it is unusual for anyone to make their way to my door without first knowing something about Qi theory, and work. In spite of having some knowledge or even background on the subject Qi, it is a rare occasion when someone has heard of a differentiation between Yin Qi and Yang Qi. Some have even come from schools where they were told “Qi is Qi.” This is a fairly common occurrence in the West,

where there is a proliferation of thoroughly unqualified people teaching T’aijiquan. Conversely, one may understand different “types” of qi from the Chinese Medicine systems, which relate to largely Earth-bound concepts, as well as to the human body in its environment specifically. To be sure, they do derive from and reflect macrocosmic, universal phenomena, but their terminological framing is relative to the earth-bound context of “wind” (feng) “dampness” (shi) and the like. These are outgrowths of heavenly phenomena, but they it is important that they are following heavenly patterns, rather than being heavenly patterns. Consider the following from the Daodejing, on this matter:

Humans follow the laws of Earth Earth follows the laws of Heaven Heaven follows the laws of Tao But the Tao follows its own Tao.

As should be clear by now, this is not a medical compendium, nor a purely alchemical guide. It is, instead, a discussion of macrocosmic forces and how these concepts fit, universally in a variety of systems based on the microcosm of the human being and internal processes of energy work that reflect heavenly, cosmic phenomena. For the purposes of this discussion, let it be

clear that even broader categories are being discussed, under which more specific categorizations of qi may be classified.

Sources of Yang Qi The sun is essential for the evolution of life. It is so powerful that it literally warps time-space like a marble sinking in to a taut bed sheet. Without its pull, our planet would be sent reeling into deep space. Everything that emerges on our planet owes its yang qi to the sun. We must thus understand that the sun is the source of all localized yang qi. Neglecting solar meditation is thus a mistake, to say the least. The following passage from Neijing chapter 67, entitled “The Great Treatise on the Evolutionary Movements of the Five Phases,” illustrates how the six qi represent a vital spectrum of physiological information contained in the universe:

Yellow Emperor: “Is the earth underneath the Sky?” Qibo: “The earth is underneath humans, but is suspended in space.” Yellow Emperor: “How is it that it does not fall down?” Qibo: “The Great Qi of the universe holds it suspended in space. The dry qi dries it, the heat qi steams it to maturity, the wind qi makes it move, the damp qi moistens it, the cold qi makes it firm, and the fire qi warms it. Wind and cold, therefore, are below, dry and heat are on top,

damp is at the center, and fire roams in between. Thus the six qi penetrate the earth, and in this way the transformation of matter is initiated from the void.”

Living things, which have evolved by way of sunlight, are usually things which contain particularly aggressive natures or energy. In plants, this is often observable from the way the plant grows, where or how it grows, or how it has evolved to appear, evolving around that energy. With psychedelic plants, this can become a less straightforward subject. Let us consider the raspberry, as a minor example. Looking at it, one can see its energy, its red, fast-vibrational color manifestation and prickly nature. The Stinging Nettle herb also has many obvious yang characteristics that inform us of its nature, just from observation. In animals, it is obvious that the most yang outgrowths of a strong animal will contain significant yang energy. The antler velvet from a young deer is obviously very yang, as the antlers are outgrowths of the strength of the animal’s yang energy. Also noted for it’s aphrodisiacal power, the genitals from vital animals, and animals like great cats which can copulate all day long, are incredibly full of yang energy. The fin of a shark expresses the animal’s yang energy, and thus, shark fin soup has become a popular dish, leading to the massacre of untold numbers of the animals, as a quick fix of yang energy, by consumers who often are not interested in

serious energy cultivation and the discipline that it requires.

Source of Yin Qi The sources of Yin Qi all derive from aspects of the Yin Field. “What” that is, is beyond the scope of this discussion. It will suffice to say, for the purposes at hand, that we are talking here about “Cosmic Qi.” We are speaking, thus, about Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Black Holes, all as an expression of “Cosmic Yin Qi” from which any notion of “Yin Qi” on this planet originates and derives. On a dietary level, vegetables in general are more yin than animals. This makes sense since animals are animated beings, moving, acting, and expressing the burning off of yang energy. Vegetables, however, are not. They did not evolve that way. They are static, rooted, stationary, and do not try to move around for food, nor flee from danger, which there is no chance to run away from. They are, in so many ways, quintessentially yin in nature. As plants expressing themselves above ground are expressing a yang nature, they are often more yang than root vegetables, which absorb Yin Qi from the Earth. There are some notable counterexamples, and indeed, a lengthy discussion could ensue about “why” and “how” any root vegetable becomes significantly yang, but this too, is beyond the scope of the general discussion at hand.

As for “why” the Earth itself, the soil and such, typically contain and thus fill things growing with them or sitting upon them with more Yin Qi, the answer is simple. There are “veins” of meteoritic Iron conducting Cosmic Yin Qi throughout the planet. The planet itself, as it was slammed into, shaped by meteorites, and smoothed out by the gravitational potters wheel of the sun, became a receiver for Cosmic Yin Qi, which it emanates throughout the pulverized and “soilized” aspects of its various strata. For this reason, the ground is an essential place to meditate for connection to yin qi, and even better than that is a cave, or an improvised subterranean meditation chamber. Beyond that, there are places – above ground and below – which express a stronger connection to the yin field. This can be do to an abundance of subterranean meteoritic iron, which makes the specific location interact more with the Yin Field, or it can be due to an abundance of spirits in such a location.

The Spirit World and the Yin Field Put simply, the world that we think of as the “Ghost World,” is observable in these four dimensions as a “Yin Field.” This is the world that the Jewish tradition terms Yetzirah. The Islamic tradition refers to it as the Barzakh barrier, and the Shi`i Sufi tradition terms Hurqaliyyah – the realm whereby we can enter through “Herculean” strength of niyyah, or in Chinese yi.

Through “Out of Body Experiences” in meditation or even in lucid states of dreaming, we may connect with and enter that world which is as near to us as we are to a fish we might be leaning over in a shallow pond. The separation seems great to the fish, whose whole world is in the water, except for brief glimpses above the surface. But all the while, we may be right above them. If the fish is observant, they might see a hazy figure above them, but because of the nature of their lives and environment, it is necessary for them to “tune out” this sensory data, unless and until something breaks through the surface. As we absorb more and more Yin Qi in the body itself, and in the energy center of the Hui Yin (and finally, in the Xia Dan Tien), we become capable of perceiving this Spirit World for two different reasons: First, we create something of a “Yin Field” around ourselves, emanating from our bodies. This creates “space” for interaction with the spirit world. As well, since spirits are often “hungry” for Yang Qi, as we increasingly advance meditatively, we are more likely to find interactions with spirits more and more common place. It is best to ignore these encounters, and to learn methods of manipulating that Yin field, thereby blocking the interaction of spirits and energies in that dimension, which might otherwise seek to exploit your cultivation of Yang Qi, for their own benefit.

Conserving Jing to Conserve Qi

The alchemy of Taoism focuses largely upon extension of human life, and the methods which are used to do this sometimes include specifically sexual activities. There are complex systems of developments described within Taoist alchemical texts, often purely by way of ambiguous implication and sometimes in terms that are unequivocally sexual in nature. Such texts at times seem to make explicit references to copulation, though interpreters differ in their instruction as to how much the reader ought to take literally and how much to understand as symbolic. This is common within the Hindu and Buddhist Tantric scriptures as well; to the point that many Western scholars completely misunderstand what is being spoken of therein. Sexual energy control techniques for men involve a total aware control of the sexual function during lovemaking. This kind of fusion doesn’t end with ejaculation for man or with an explosive discharge of the sexual fluids for woman. This technique that we might term coitus rezervatus occurs when both partners exchange between themselves sexual energies, but the man refrains from a normative orgasm with discharging of yang qi (masculine sexual energy) and jing (semen). This often involves taking breaks in intercourse, in the beginning of one’s training, during the moments of overwhelming sensory and psychological arousal. During these breaks the erectile penis should remain immobile in the vagina, while those engaged in intercourse “simmer”, or we might term it “marinade” in the mutual transfer

of the fluids (jing) and energy (qi).

Rules for Retention The Universe is filled with different kinds of dynamic energy, or “qi.” The Tao, or “Way,” for each man is to creatively transform his energy over a course of a lifetime back to its original state of harmonious balance. Sexual essence, or “jing,” is a powerful, vital essence that is generated continuously within the human body. Literally, the term means “semen” in Mandarin. This jing is charged with a significant amount of a man’s qi. This, together, produces the man’s sexual drive. This drive propels the course of human evolution by transmitting the genetic lineage, while emotionally harmonizing man and woman. Spiritually this drive links the “ordinary” creative powers of man and the eternal creative process of the cosmos, the Macrocosm and Microcosm. Sperm or “Jing” is the storehouse of male sexual energy. A single ejaculation has 200 to 500 million sperm cells, each a potential human being. There are enough sperm cells lost in a single ejaculation to populate the entire United States if each cell was to fertilize an egg. The manufacture of jing capable of such psychic super potency consumes up to a third of a man’s daily energy output and is especially taxing on the male glandularimmunological system.

Conservation of sexual energy is the first principle of Taoist Sexual Alchemy. Waste of jing for purposes other than having children is a wasteful loss of an extremely precious treasure. The energy loss over long periods of time weakens the physical health of the male, can lead to unconscious emotional anger towards women. This is the cause of so many of the bizarre and dark forms of pornography which seem to delight in the subjugation and humiliation of women. For many of these reasons, it has been traditional for spiritual orders throughout the world require male celibacy. Furthermore, for Nei Kung practice, wherein high pressure breath and compression techniques are utilized, jing retention is simply a must. Celibacy, however, is not the only solution…

Eastern Medicine - Yin and Yang Theory For thousands of years now, the Chinese have held the view that sexual relations between male and female are the primary earthly manifestations of the universal principles of Yin and Yang. As such, the regard sex to be as natural and indispensable to human health and longevity as rain falling upon the fields is to plant life. They are deemed as fundamental to human life as is eating and sleeping. The intense sense of guilt attached to sexual matters in distorted Western perception of Judeo-Christian tradition is, in Chinese eyes one of the most unpleasant and incomprehensible aspects of Western Culture.

Traditional Western hypocrisy towards sex has prevented serious study of human sexuality in the modern world until only a few decades ago. Like everything else in Western philosophy, sex is viewed through the lens of dualism: it is either seen as sacred (in ceremonial matrimony) or profane (out of wedlock), with no room for anything in between. The Chinese do not draw such distinctions between sacred and profane sex. As far as Taoists are concerned, the only important distinctions regarding sexual activities are those between healthy and balanced and unhealthy and unbalanced habits. Throughout the animal world, Nature has fashioned the female as a superior specimen uniquely equipped for the survival and propagation of the species. According to the “Law of the Jungle,” the male exists only to provide the seed for future generations and to protect the nest while the female nurses the young to maturity. Under the harsh realities of survival of the fittest, it often seems as if men are nothing more than the biological equivalent of a paper plate. Only humans, (and a few higher primates such as orangutans), engage in sexual intercourse all year long, day and night, in any season or weather. However, the human male, despite his inflated ego, is still subject to the same limitations that Nature has imposed upon his gender in all species. All relevant data from the 12,000 to 8,000 BCE period indicates that pre-civilized women enjoyed full sexual freedom and were often totally incapable of

controlling their sexual drive. It has been proposed that one of the reasons for the long delay between the earliest development of agriculture (12,000 BCE) and the rise of urban life and the beginning of recorded history (8,000 to 5,000 BCE) was the ungovernable and cyclic sexual drive of these ancient women. Not until those drives were gradually brought under control by rigidly enforced social codes, (through religious heritage), could family life become the stabilizing and creative force from which modern civilization could emerge.[34] Although men took over control of the family, village, economy, religion and state, they still found themselves at the women’s mercy in bed. No amount of human artifice, and denial, can mask or alter the fundamental facts of the Tao (which literally translates to “the Way”). Hence, there arose a deep contradiction between man’s control and his genuine sexual inferiority; giving rise to the battle of the sexes that still rages in bedrooms today. This also explains the deep resentment that many men have towards women, despite women’s supposed inferiority. The foregoing observations of the Nature of Yin and Yang, (the universal principles that there are positive and negative complementary forces to everything existing in the natural world, i.e. day and night, awake and sleep, man and woman, even positive and negative electrical charges and poles of a magnet that only work when used together in harmony), make it

clear that as far as sexuality goes, men and women are not created equal. Yin is abundant and enduring, while Yang is limited and vulnerable. This is reflected in the fact that, throughout the world, women tend to outlive men by a factor of 5 to 10 years. The contrasting nature of male and female orgasm has important implications for two types of sexual activity that have aroused much controversy over the ages, and appear to be gaining in popularity today: masturbation and homosexuality. The term masturbation, is generally utilized synonymously with the concept of solo ejaculation. Generally speaking, masturbation is literally nothing more than self-stimulation, and is of no detriment to one’s health, (male or female). However, the concept of solo ejaculation can produce results altogether different. For men, solo ejaculation represents an irretrievable and uncompensated loss of semen essence. While healthy males between the ages of 16 and 21 are veritable „fountains of semen” for who this poses little immediate threat, by the age of 25 or so, all of the old warnings regarding male masturbation begin to come true, weakness in knees, numbness in lumbar regions, emission of vital nutrients for the regeneration of hair and sharp eye-sight. A woman by contrast may masturbate to her hearts content and only experience a taste of the fatigue which plagues her complimentary gender. At the same time most of her stores of “sexual essence” or fluids will remain

undamaged and undepleted if not incessantly practiced. However not all of the female’s vaginal secretions can be reabsorbed into the walls of the vagina and if masturbation becomes practiced excessively, females can experience vaginal dryness, mild cases of fatigues and diminished libidinal urges. However, the perfect balance is regarded as the ebbing and flowing of male and female essences in perfect unrestricted harmony. The same point applies to homosexual relations; women will see few impacts physiologically – usually none – while men will see highly detrimental impacts both physiologically and psychologically. Nature has made females more passive and two passive forces, (although the force is not as strong and direct as Yin and Yang coupling), do not repel. In this, parallel can easily be drawn to two positively and two negatively charged poles of a magnet - with negative poles only attracting and perfectly fitting with positive poles, two positives repelling and two negatives not attracting! Exactly as followers of Tao have been saying for thousands of years! Similarly, while the woman may experience full, normative orgasm with no fatigue, it is common for a man to experience the depressing phenomenon of “post-coital blues.” The phenomenon was experienced when males frequently ejaculate. This discussed in an interview with Miles Davis:

Davis: You can’t come, then fight or play. You can’t do it. When I

get ready to come, I come. But I do not come and play. Interviewer: Explain that in layman’s terms Davis: Ask Muhammed Ali. If he comes, he can’t fight two minutes. Shit, he couldn’t even whip me. Interviewer: Would you fight Muhammed Ali under those conditions to prove your point? Davis: You’re goddamn right I’d fight him. But he’s got to promise to fuck first. If he ain’t going to fuck, I ain’t going to fight. You give up all your energy when you come. I mean you give up all of it! So, if you’re going to fuck before a gig, how are you going to give something when it’s time to hit?[35]

What neither Davis nor Ali realized is that sexual intercourse without ejaculation prior to a “fight or gig” would improve their performance even more than if they abstained altogether. Artists and athletes rely on optimum levels of physical and mental vitality in order to perform, which is why they are even more sensitive to the loss of semen and vital energy through ejaculation. However, other men suffer from it just as severely, although they remain largely unaware of it. For example, the male tendency to fall asleep after ejaculation is a prime example of complete exhaustion. If orgasm in itself were so exhausting, then women would feel the same effects

from it. However, it is the physical ejection of semen from the body - not orgasm - that harms men.

Chapter 5: The Dan Tien and the Chakra System The Taoist concept of the San Dan Tien as energy centers, and loci of energetic “pooling,” is at first glance identical to the similar to the Indian yogic concept of the chakras. While there is a correlation of these points (as we will see), there is a key difference that must be pointed out, between Taoist and Indian yogic concepts of these energy centers. In Indian tradition, the qi or prana is stored in the chakras, to a limited extent, but their primary purpose is not intentional storing up of prana in the chakras. Thus, it is common to hear people – even Westerners with only a cursory understanding of the Chakra system – speak of their “Chakras opening,” rather than saying “My chakras are so full.” Conversely, the Taoist San Dan Tien are the major energetic storage centers – capacitors within a body that is itself a capacitor –

quite different in intended use than the yogic chakras. The Taoist use of these centers is to store and thereafter “circulate,” whereas in the yogic systems, their use is not so much as storage centers, but energetic vortices that act in the capacity of intake and output “ports.” In both systems, storage and circulation occur, but the focus is very much the opposite in some cases. Still, the points themselves correlate. In his Taoist Yoga, Lu Kuan Yu suggests that “It is harmful to pinpoint places in the body, the very idea of which should be relinquished since it hinders the course of the inner fire and of vitality.” This would best summarize the position of Indian Yoga with relation to the Chakras. This is not, however, the position of Taoist alchemy, as the centers which are focused on In Taoism are natural centers of energetic pooling, true centers, not merely the centroid regions chosen intellectually. Indian yoga agrees on the locations of these centers, but is less concerned with intentionally pooling, and more with opening. This approach is reflected in some Taoist methodologies of Qi Kung, and would effectively describe the difference between what is considered “Nei Kung” in the Mo Pai system, and what is regarded as “Qi Kung.” Put simply, the popular image of the Indian Chakra system can be thought of as a partial, two dimensional model of the “Little Nine Heavens” energy centers of the Taoist Xiao Zhou Tien “Microcosmic Orbit,” also

known as the “Self Winding Wheel of the Dharma.” This is commented on in the previously-referenced Zhuangzi which, in the chapter entitled “Yang Sheng Chu,” meaning the “Principles of Health and Longevity” states: “Use your mind to carry the vital energy along your Du Mai upward constantly.” This “Du Mai” or “Tu Mai” is also pronounced “Du Mo” and is where the Tibetan form of internal energy cultivation and alchemy “Dummo” Yoga, derives its name. This Du Mai is one of the Qi Jing Ba Mai, or the “Eight Extraordinary Meridians” ( 奇經八脈 ). These eight extra meridians are different to the standard twelve organ meridians of Chinese Medicine, in that they are considered to be storage vessels or reservoirs of energy and are not associated directly with the Zang Fu internal organs. These channels were first systematically referred to in the “Spiritual Axis” chapters 17, 21 and 62, the “Classic of Difficulties” chapters 27, 28 and 29 and the Qi Jing Ba Mai Kao of Li Shi Zhen in 1578 CE.

Conception Vessel (Ren Mai, 任脈 ) Governing Vessel (Du Mai, 督脈 ) Penetrating Vessel (Chong Mai, 衝脈 ) Girdle Vessel (Dai Mai, 帶脈 )

Yin linking vessel (Yin Wei Mai, 陰維脈 ) Yang linking vessel (Yang Wei Mai, 陽維脈 ) Yin Heel Vessel (Yin Qiao Mai, 陰蹻脈 ) Yang Heel Vessel (Yang Qiao Mai, 陽蹻脈 )

In the Indian systems, the Meridians are divided into more subtle and ethereal (even spiritual) meridians, called Nadis or Nardis, meaning, simply, “pipes.” The most literal translation of nardi, however, is simply “flow.” Just as the negative and positive forces of electricity flow through complex circuits, in the same way, prana shako (vital force) and manas shako (mental force) flow through every part of our body via these nadis. This is an effective way to think of the Meridians. Though a full discourse or exploration into the Nardi system is well beyond the scope of this discussion, it is necessary to point out that the Sushumna or Susumna Nardi connects the base chakra and crown chakra, facilitating the flow of Qi, or in Sanskrit, prana, through the central canal and in the process. In Kundalini Yoga, it is this channel up which the Kundalini ascends. This is correlative to the Du Mai. In the Indian systems, however, the Ren Mai is subdivided into the Pingala and Ida, essentially right and left central courses. These are found in the Buddhist Tantric and Tibetan systems as well, as the two side channels, the rasana and lalana,

which similarly start at their respective nostrils and then travel down to the lower body. Along the Du Mai and the Ren Mai, there are the Xiao Jiu Tien (Hsiao Chiu Tien), or Little Nine Heavens. The Chakras correspond to these points in two-dimensions. In reality, the centers are staggered from front to back, as demonstrated in the Xiao Jiu Tien diagram. The correlations with the Chakra system should be immediately apparent.

1.

At the base of the spine is Muladhara which corresponds to the

Sacral Plexus. 2.

Swadhisthana which corresponds to the Prostatic Plexus.

3.

Manipura, the third chakra, corresponds to the Solar Plexus.

4. Anahata, the fourth chakra, is located in the heart region, and corresponds to the Cardiac Plexus. 5.

Vishuddha, the fifth chakra, is in the throat region, and

corresponds to the Laryngeal Plexus. 6.

Ajna, the sixth chakra, is located between the eyebrows, and

corresponds to the Cavernous Plexus. 7.

Sahasrara, is the seventh chakra, is located on the crown of the

head, and corresponds to the Pineal Gland.

But these seven are merely the most popular system, deriving, in part from the popular translation of the Satcakranirupana, in Arthur Avalon’s The Serpent Power.[36]

In reality, every system has had a slightly different conceptualization of the Chakras, but the core seven have remained constants. There are also, however, said to be 21 minor chakras which are reflected points of the major

chakras. These 21 are further grouped into ten bilateral minor chakras that correspond to the foot, hand, knee, elbow, groin, clavicular, navel, shoulder and ear.[37] This fits more with acupuncture points than a true correlation between the most consistently-noted seven Chakras, in correlation with the Taoist Xiao Jiu Tien, of the “Microcosmic Orbit.” Below is a diagram that includes some of the addition chakras.

Match these up with the points on the Microcosmic Orbit, below, and the correlation is clear.

But the Chakra system notes further “Chakra” acupuncture points, which cannot be taken as the same concept as the “Chakra” energy centers. We must thus bear in mind, and constantly remind ourselves, that “Chakra,” like Nardi, is simply a word in another language, much the same as we must remind ourselves that words like “Islam” in Arabic, were used in the Qur’an as verbal references, not as proper nouns.

72,000 Nadis and Taoist Meridians

The human body of a person in India is like that of a man in China. Knowledge too is factual from one land to the next. This is the nature of scientific quantification. It is no wonder that in the Arabic language, the term for “science” and “knowledge” are identical. For something to be true knowledge, it must be quantifiable, explainable, rational, and evident from error. From one land to the next, we then should not be surprised to find many commonalities, similar approaches and models related to the energy matrix of our bodies. Nevertheless, as stated from the outset, this study is expansive enough in focusing primarily on the Taoist approach. There are many similarities, but if we want to study and understand a tradition and it’s practices and achieve some of the things that the tradition claims are possible, I think it is important to become versed in that paradigm first before mixing traditions too much. This is how information is lost and watered down. Once you have a good working understanding of the basics of one, it will be that much easier to see the parallels and differences between it and other traditions. I have heard many bizarre things from beginners who, reticent to begin actually doing meditation, find more accomplishment in speaking endlessly about it, and theorizing about energies and pathways that they simply have not practical experience of. One of the strangest things I have heard from such individuals is the concept of Taoist “72 Chakras.” While

preposterous on the surface, this concept deserves some consideration, comparison and contrast with the Taoist model. To be clear, there is no Taoist discussion of 72 or 72,000 chakras in the human body. Inner alchemy in Taoism it is concerned with bringing energy to the abdominal Xia Dan Tien, and doing things with it there. There are many points on the body, but there are no 72 chakras. We read the following, however in Kostas Danaos’s Magus of Java:

While the book Magus of Java is interesting, it is far from a “Nei Kung Bible.” There is a lot of good information in there, and the story of the author’s now defunct training in Nei Kung is interesting indeed, but there is a lot in there that is the product of mistranslation and confusion. What John

“Chang” seems to have been referring to is not the chakras, but something akin to the Nadis, which are in many ways common to the Chinese concept of the Meridians. As explained above, these Nadis are more like ducts for our bioenergy, rather than energy centers or chakras themselves. Where does this concept of their being 72 levels to the Mo Pai system that correlate to 72 “chakras,” or in fact Nardis? It comes largely from what may have likely been a misphrasing or mistranslation. It may still have come from a misunderstanding of the speaker of the concept of a Chakra, and which Indian system’s conceptualization of the Chakras was being referenced. Was this speaking of the acupuncture points? If so Traditional Chinese medicine hold that there are as many as 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body, which are connected by 20 pathways (12 main, 8 secondary) meridians. First and foremost, it much be noted that the pathways are not themselves chakras. Second, there is not a 1:1 ratio of correlation between levels and different points on the body in Mo Pai Nei Kung, or any Nei Kung for that matter. The first four levels deal with the Xia Dan Tien to varying degrees and in different manners. The second level deals with a number of Meridians or Pathways in the body. Anyone who knows this level can attest to it. The third level deals with various intersections of Meridians, still with the focus on the Xia Dan Tien. It is clear enough then that the aforementioned book suffers from a misunderstanding, and a mistranslation of the former headmaster of

the Mo Pai school’s words. All start from the central channel of the chakras to the periphery, where they gradually become thinner. According to the Tantras there are 72,000 or more such channels or networks through which the stimuli flow like an electric current from one point to another An early version of the nardi system is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad, which says: “A hundred and one are the arteries of the heart, one of them leads up to the crown of the head. Going upward through that, one becomes immortal.” (CU 8.6.6) We can overlay the chakras with the Taoist centers of energy by placing the Ajna Chakra at Yin Tang and the upper, Shang Dan Tien, the Anahata chakra at the Ren 17 point and the middle, Zhong Dan Tien, and the Swadhisthana chakra at Qi Hai and the lower Xia Dan Tien. The 72[000] nardi number instead relates total of the Twelve regular Jing Luo, meridians, the Eight Extraordinary, the Fifteen collaterals, the Twelve divergent channels, as well as the musculo-tendinous and the cutaneous regions of the twelve regular channels. What the multiplication of Nardis by the thousands seem to reference, are in fact channels that emit from the body and are visible with certain photographic techniques.[38] Below we see a “Nadi Map” which will be useful in elucidating this matter.

The Kshurika-Upanishad and later the Hathayogapradikpa mention the 72,000 nardis, but in a variety of systems other even greater figures have been proposed - 80,000 (Trisikhibramanopanishad), 200,000, or 300,000 (e.g. Siva Samhita, Goraksha Sataka, Goraksha Paddhati). Thus, the Nardis, as we see, are internal and external. They begin the body, but then emanate

outward and are depicted as forming a “force field” of sorts, which we see here, on the cover of my work on Taoist Qi Vampirism.

What must be understood then is that as one advances in meditation, these pathways will not only become increasingly free from obstruction, but the

energy centers which store Qi will become filled. In this way, there is a correlation between the 72,000 Nardis and the 72 conceptualized levels of meditative practice, throughout the stages of alchemy, creation of the ethereal body, absorbing of Lei energy, Cosmic energy and the creation “immortal fetus” process, which is necessarily beyond the scope of discussion in a book such as this.

Chapter 6: Three Dan Tien Built Upon One Another The most important thing that one should take away from this work, in terms of understanding a scientific conceptualization of the Dan Tien, is that these energy centers – these centers of body mass where energy naturally pools and can be accumulated – are essentially “capacitors” within the body. We might euphemistically term them “batteries,” but they are really more of capacitors than batteries. In this section, the San Dan Tien will be explained, in relation to the San Bao ( 三寶 ), or “Three Treasures.” Different schools of thought categorize the San Dan Tien in various manners. Three main Dan Tien are typically emphasized: Lower, Xia Dan Tien ( 下丹田 ): below the navel (about three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel), associated with cultivating life energy (qi) and with vital essence or sexual energy (jing); the Middle, Zhong Dan Tien

( 中丹田 ): at the level of the heart, associated with bioelectrical energy (qi) and with respiration and health of the internal organs, in particular the thymus gland. The Upper, Shang Dan Tien ( 上丹田 ), resides in the brain, back from the forehead between the eyebrows or third eye, associated with the energy of consciousness and spirit (shen) but located in the center of the the pineal gland. The lower abdominal Xia Dan Tien is particularly important as the focal point of breathing technique as well as the center of balance and gravity. It is the true center of the body, rather than the centroid. Naturally, it should come as little surprise that energy would pool in our true center core. The Japanese word hara( 腹 ), which means simply “belly,” is the correlative with the Xia Dan Tien, in the respective systems from the island nation. A master of calligraphy, swordsmanship, tea ceremony, martial arts, among other arts, is said in the Japanese tradition to be “acting from the hara.” In the Indian systems, the Xia Dan Tien is the swadhisthana chakra, approximated with the navel, where prana – the Sanskrit concept of qi – flows to the rest of the body, and finally emanates through a plethora of Nadis, which will be discussed at length in the next chapter. The Xia Dan Tien, The Lower Abdomen Center, is considered Jing Center in Taoism. Each of the San Dan Tien are associated with one of the San Bao, or “Three Treasures” of Chinese Medicine. According to tradition,

Jing ( 精 ) is stored in the Kidneys and is the most dense physical matter within the body. It is said to be the material basis for the physical body and while it is yin in nature, - nourishing, and fueling the body – it is produced in proportion to yang qi, and its abundance allows sustained yang qi. In this way, it important to point out that the concept of yin qi, absolutely does not mean “passive” in the sense of lacking energy or will to respond. Instead, the passivity of yin qi is an active, intentional, full-of-awareness yielding energy, which overcomes aggressive yang qi, through its sustainable nature. We can think back to the nature of Yin and Yang in Sexual Kung fu, discussed earlier in this work. The woman is certainly not weaker sexually than a man, she is actively yielding, and can thereby overcome a male partner if she so desires, unless the man is either well-trained and practiced, or in a state of depletion, where – put simply – there is little rising to the occasion to defeat. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the nature of “passive resistance” are worth reflecting upon, in considering the nature of yin qi, and to thus give better understanding to the earnest seeker. The idea is explained by Martin Luther King Jr., in his speech on receiving the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, when he said that “it must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses these methods because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolent.” Passive-

resistance, King explained, “is ultimately the way of the strong man.” Though this phrase “often gives the false impression that this is a sort of ‘donothing method’ in which the resister quietly and passively accepts evil,” in reality, “nothing is further from the truth.” King further explained the matter in saying the following:

While the nonviolent resister is passive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade his opponent that he is wrong. The method is passive physically, but strongly active spiritually.

This is the nature of yin qi. Understanding this is key to understanding the seeming paradox of something produced from yang qi, like jing, being yin in nature. Production of semen, in the man, and menstrual blood and especially pregnancy, in the woman, are believed to place the biggest strains on jing. Typically, jing is equated with semen, but this is only so in the way that qi means “breath.” Yes, it does mean this, as “breath” is our most essential source of qi. It is said: three months without food, three days without water, three minutes without breath. Yet the concept of qi is clearly far beyond mere breath. So too is this the case with jing, in spite of its literal meaning of

semen. Unlike semen, it circulates through the Eight Extraordinary Channels (about which we will see more in the follow chapter), and creates both marrow and semen, among having other essential functions. When Taoist texts speak of circulating jing up the spine, it is not – as one Harvardeducated PhD professor once theorized to me – a superstitious belief that “there was a tube in the spine that semen could be pushed up into the brain.” This sort of interpretation is “Orientalist” in the extreme and belittles the deep well of knowledge that is both Taoist meditative arts, and Chinese Medicine in general. One is said to be born with a fixed amount of jing - pre-natal jing, also sometimes called yuan qi - and also can acquire jing from food and various forms of discipline and alchemy. Theoretically, jing is consumed continuously in life, by everyday stress, illness, and both dietary, lifestyle and sexual excesses and abuses. Pre-natal jing of the yuan qi, by definition cannot normally be renewed, and it is said it is completely consumed upon dying. Through Nei Kung of various types, it can, however, be restored through a long, painstaking process. This is part of the level of “Building the Foundation” in Nei Kung, and must serve as the restorative basis for all more advanced work.

Zhong Dan Tien: Middle Dan Tien – The Heart Qi, Electricity

Center The Zhong Dan Tien is, essentially, the “Heart Center.” The heart is a bioelectrical generator. Recall the passage from the Daodejing, which this book opened with.

All things, supported by yin( 陰 ) and embrace yang ( 陽 ) They achieve harmony by integrating their Qi ( 氣 )

It is no coincidence that ChongQi ( 沖氣 ) in that quote – referencing the Qi, which unites all things – is built upon the word Zhong( 中 ). There is a deep meaning in this... The Daodejing writes a daring passage embedded with double meaning. To the Western scholars of Taoism, this passage refers to the wise ruler keeping the masses fat and stupid. The Tien Shi, however, explained 2,000 years ago that the Daodejing was, and had always been about internal alchemy, and the practices of their sect, rather than about what it seemed to the masses to mean on the surface. This was part of the genius of the text. Thus we read:

Thus the governance of the sage: Empties their hearts Fills their bellies

Weakens their ambitions Strengthens their bones

This refers to the process of Xi Sui training in Nei Kung, and – indeed – to the drawing down of bioelectricity from the generator that is the heart to the capacitor that is the belly or Xia Dan Tien. The bones stay full and strong with marrow due to the weakening of ambitions. The people do not go off seeking fame and glory. They seek the strengthening of their bones. How? Why? Because the Zen Ren has “emptied their hearts” and there by filled their bellies. This refers to the Dan Tien being filled to a maximized extent by drawing from the heart center, the Zhong Dan Tien.

If the Xia Dan Tien can be thought of as a capacitor prior to Yin-Yang Kung fusion, the Zhong Dan Tien can be thought of as a generator. The heart itself is constantly giving off bio-electricity, circulating it through the body, moving the blood. Once the Foundation is established in Qi cultivation, and the capacitor of the Xia Dan Tien is filled to the limit, it can then be expanded, the capacity extended – stretched, in a manner of speaking – slowly, over the process that spans the better part of a decade. This relies on linking the former breath work of Xia Dan Tien cultivation, with the compression of free bio-electricity from the Zhong Dan Tien, into the Xia.

Any serious system of Nei Kung and Qi cultivation is doing this, whether or not it is described in these terms. This is why there are such similarities of internal processes along these lines in Nei Kung lineages like Mo Pai, Lung Men Pai and the Chen Jia “Hun Yuan” systems. This is also why we see essentially the same external movements at this level in different, more or less unrelated systems of Qi cultivation.

Shang Dan Tien: The Pineal Gland – Shen Center For all practical purposes, the Shang Dan Tien is utterly ignored in many systems of Nei Kung, until one is quite advanced. Conversely, in the Indian systems, there is a large focus on sending – or allowing circulation – of prana to the uppermost chakras. In Nei Kung, the idea is to establish the foundation fully, first and foremost. This became a noted problem during the period of Orthodoxification in the Tao Jiao. The reason for this can be summarized by saying simply that if and when the focus of the qi remains in the lower centers of the body, energy may indeed build up, but experiences of the heart are often hindered, or absent until one has progressed exceedingly far. “Psychic” phenomena, and various experiences of spiritual travel to “inner” and “outer” worlds is more or less absent from Nei Kung training that does not in any way at least dabble in other systems that allow for this. There is a very real benefit to such a restriction. The incidences of

mental illness, “Qi Kung Insanity” as it has become known in the East, is very low. “Messiah” complexes do not typically develop from lower-chakra work, whereas the spiritual sojourner focusing on the Shang Dan Tien may rapidly experience things that others around them do not, perceive things that others around them do not, and may fall into the trap of believing that there is something unique and special about them, rather than the universal causeand-effect nature of the training that they are undergoing. A fascinating approach to “balanced” training in Nei Kung is that of Lung Men Pai, which spends quite a bit of initial time on the Shang Dan Tien, in training, sinks the yi and thereby the qi to the lower centers, and again is free to go “up and out” in further stages. All the while, such “inner techniques” are balanced with focused, sustained meditation that is nearly (essentially) identical to the first stage of Mo Pai Nei Kung. This process is identical to the Classical Jewish methods of Kabbalah, which include not only the theoretical models of the worlds, the Divine emanations and various conceptualizations of the Etz Chayyim “Tree of Life” on a cosmic level but also on a human level – a practical level. Sadly – TRAGICALLY – this practical aspect of Kabbalistic Inner Alchemy has been virtually lost since the Shoah. There are some who still teach the methods and how this relates to the model of the Etz Chayyim, but they are few and far between. I have been very blessed to have learned these methods

and having practiced both the inner methods of Kabbalistic Alchemy, and the Out of Body methods, involving “astral travel.” While it is essential to mention this in correlation, due to the nature of this work, it would distract from the driving force and focus of this work to delve into any sort of comprehensive exploration of Kabbalistic Inner Alchemy.[39]

Chapter 7: Building the Foundation: Filling the Abdominal Dan Tien As has been stated throughout this work, the Xia Dan Tien, practically speaking, is a capacitor of the body. There are two examples that I feel best illustrate this matter. I will summarize them briefly in the examples that follow, so as to help quantify the phenomena as they relate to a scientific basis for Nei Kung and the siddhis which can result from advanced training.

“Meditation Everyday” The first is the example of Sifu John “Chang,” an Indonesia healer, born of both ethnically Chinese and Indonesian parents, with a characteristically

Indo-Arabic family name, along with a Chinese name by which one of my Chinese meditation and Nei Jia teachers has always referred to him as to me. As it would turn out, I had been training for many years under this instructor, and would hear him refer to various adept masters of Qi cultivation who he had, and continued to learn from. I had never asked their names, as this was simply not the nature of our teacher-student relationship. Asking their names, culturally, would have seemed either like I was questioning him in a doubtful manner, or that I was wanting to go “straight to the source” on my own. Either way, I had been in the Kung Fu “scene” long enough to know that this was bad form. A number of years had gone by, and my cultivation had begun paying serious dividends. I could no doubt illustrate this with several very entertaining anecdotes, from the Muay Thai sparring partner who I made vomit intentionally, with what felt like a light Pi Quan, as he turned too aggressive for my tastes, or the TSA agent at LAX who stood eye to eye with me when I insisted he not allow my then two year old to go through screening by himself, before his parents. As a result, my hands seemed “flare up” like red “gloves” according to passers-by and my wife. Any number of such examples would suffice to make the point that I was steadily progressing, and this resulted in students coming to me with more and more questions about Qi cultivation.

One student sent me a link to the Ring of Fire, the award-winning documentary by the Blair brothers, ”Ring Of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey” which was released decades ago. The documentary itself, was a series of five documentary films, and was very popular, even being nominated for an Emmy. As fate would have it, I saw one segment of this a youth, in school. The documentary was about the Indonesian archipelago and “Dynamo Jack” (Sifu John) just happened to be in a segment called “East of Krakatoa,” in what was without question one of the phenomenal individuals they interviewed in the documentary, this segment highlighted a strange man whom they simply referred to as “DJ”, whose preternatural abilities were showcased, unbeknownst to him at the time, to the world. Since then, many sought audience with him in the hopes to learn the meditation techniques responsible for giving him the abilities of pyrokinesis, electrogenesis, and other feats deemed scientifically “impossible” for humans to perform using their own bodies. I was “lucky” enough to have brought this up over dinner with my teacher. I mentioned his name “John Chang,” and INSTANTLY, my teacher’s eyes sharpened and penetrated me like daggers: “Not his name!” was all he said. “Oh, well, yes, I don’t know his real name, but…” This was all that I could think to reply. Sensing the humility that I have always tried to approach him with (even while at times failing to display this correctly), he calmly

returned to eating his Thai food and told me everything about his numerous trips to visit and train with John, and his senior student who would later become the successor of the Mo Pai school. This seemed a little more than “coincidence” to me. It seemed impossible that this would have happened just as a matter of happenstance. Here was a video which answered a number of perplexing issues that I had about internal Qi cultivation, and when I brought up this healer, just in passing really, it turned out that a man who I had been training with for years already knew him and could elaborate on outstanding question. What had caught my attention about this video, this documentary, in particular, is that it was not intentionally showcasing or promoting the individual. Indeed, once he found out that it had been released publicly, he did not speak with its producers for a long time. One of the brothers who made it died before ever getting the chance to reconnect with him. Seven years later Lawrence Blair contacted the crew and got the elusive healer to agree to be filmed again, and even allow them to bring three scientists with them to scrutinize his abilities: Catherine Nixon Cooke, former CEO and currently one of the Trustees of the Mind Science Foundation, Dr. Roger Nilson and Dr. Gregory Simpson, physicist from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In addition to his reluctance at self-promotion further convincing me

that these were no acts of charlatanry, his explanation of the internal processes of Kan and Li, of the merging of the Red and White Tig Li, the bringing of True Yang to the Dan Tien, the uniting of the Dragon and Tiger – all universal descriptions for what he called Yin-Yang Kung – proved to me that he knew what he was talking about. It is as with mysticism in general. When a M’qubli (Kabbalist) speaks to a Sufi Muslim, or they speak to a Taoist priest, there is no confusion amongst them. They are speaking of the same things, even if using sometimes different terms. There are certain “cues” which one can say, which lets you know that they really understand, and are not just parroting something which they read in a book, or overheard from someone else. In a nutshell, what he explained that convinced me was as follows:

DJ: In here, my positive and negative. And my positive in here [Xia Dan Tien] and my negative here [Hui Yin] and they meet together, and you can get ‘electricity’. Blair: “And is this because you’re special? Or..” DJ: “Meditation everyday.”

Blair narrates later, in his follow-up interview, what John explained to him further about “how” one accomplished these feats, what the Indian yogic

tradition terms siddhis.

First you learn to distinguish between yin and yang energy in your body... then how to pool it in your navel chakra... then how to project it... and it’s the proportionate mixture of yin and yang that accounts for different effects, like pulling or pushing objects, or igniting them...

But this was getting ahead of itself. While those explanations indeed did cue me into the fact that this was a legitimate and advanced master of energy cultivation, he was alluding to levels so advanced that most never get to them: levels of development after one has achieved Yin-Yang Kung.

The “Capacitor” of the Body The second elucidating observation on the Dan Tien as “capacitors” comes from a sort of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not show which showcased an Eastern European television repairman who figured out that it was possible for him to “charge up” on the capacitors in old tube television sets. He would hold on to these for long enough and could thereby absorb enough bio-electrical-static that thereafter his fingers placed close to tissue paper would give off an arch and light the paper on fire. While this was far less impressive than some of the examples that

Sifu John demonstrated, it nevertheless followed the same principles. The body itself could act as a capacitor, and in the same way, the gravitational center of the three segments of the body would be the respective cores of that energetic capacitors. Nei Kung was using intentionality to guide the qi to the centers, to the core, where qi was already naturally gravitating, utilizing them as “capacitors,” in a manner of speaking. Given enough effort and time (kung and fu), the energy in those centers could become immense.

Gravitational “Centers” There are three Dan Tien. These are the gravitational centers of the head, the torso and the whole body itself in the abdomen. These are the gravitational centers, different from the centroid of each region of the body (and the body itself), which is to say the center of measurement. The gravitational center is where the gravity “sits,” and by nature it is thus where the energy in the body “pools.” When we do not concentrate this energy, it gathers or “pools” in loose “puddles” of energy in these centers. The Qi is scattered, and unconcentrated. This is why so many Western Nei Jia teachers will speak of the Dan Tien of the abdomen being a very big area. Anecdotally, my first Cheng style Baguazhang teacher, who was also a good friend, would humorously explain his expanding waistline by suggesting that it was his “Qi

Belly.” This, plainly speaking, is ridiculous. After years went by, I would try to subtly suggest that many thin individuals had very strong and concentrated Qi in their abdominal Dan Tien, and yet their belly did not expand so large. Now, to be sure, the belly of an infant does get quite large, expanded with breath and energy, and fully of plump, healthy organs. Yet if you look at their abdomens, you can sometimes even see their abdominal muscle outlines. My second son was born at almost 10 lbs. He was so large that his collar bone broke coming out, which the midwives explained is a normal function of Nature, to preserve both the child and mother. It would, they explained, be healed within a week or so, because the baby was so healthy. They were right. It was only several days before he was absolutely fine. In any event, one of the first things I noticed about him when I first held him after delivery, was his defined “six pack” as though he had been doing abdominal “crunches” in utero, perhaps trying to get out (he was a week late). Still, his abdomen was very health and round. One of the cutest attributes of babies once they enter toddlerhood, is their thin wasteline, which, when a shirt is tucked in, has a poofy stomach protruding over it, still not fat per se. On that level, my friend and Bagua teacher was expressing a fair theory. “What if” his larger stomach was a result of an increase of Qi to the abdomen. That might have been the case, with regards to a very limited

amount, but our mutually agreed-upon second conclusion was far more sound: as an internal martial artist increases in skill, they exert less cardiovascular effort in training, and thus they naturally add a layer of fat unless they do supplemental training to rid themselves of this. This, of course, is not an issue for those who do not train in the martial arts who undertake meditation, as their bodies have not acclimated to a certain level of training exertion. Of course, this would not argue against training, it would argue for continuing to train very hard, even when exerting power becomes very easy and natural. Inlaid within this anecdotal example is an important other point. Infants have high qi, the very primordial qi which we struggle so hard to reclaim in the first levels of Nei Kung. Yet their Qi is “loose,” a “puddle” of qi, not a concentrated crystallization of Qi, which we must form through intention. This is essential to understand and to never forget, on so many levels. First, you must realize that the Qi must be concentrated in the Dan Tien. But you must also realize that the Qi must first “pool” into a diffuse “puddle” in this region. You must keep this “cloud” of qi strong and concentrate it daily to a very small point: first the size of a mustard seed, then the size of a marble, and finally the size of a golf ball. This process alone will take the average diligent student about ten years. The following description of the first four levels – through Yin-Yang

Kung – is transcribed from one of my teachers in the Mo Pai Nei Kung system. I present it for your further edification, to better understand how what is essentially a “capacitor” of positive energy in the Xia Dan Tien is combined with the negative energy pooled in the Hui Yin, and then combined and brought to a “cell,” changing the Xia Dan Tien into a true bio-electrical battery, rather than just a capacitor.

Step 1: Building the Foundation, Filling the Abdominal Dan Tien In the first level you build an immense amount of yang qi, in the abdominal Dan Tien, known as the “hara” in Japanese traditions. You will literally feel the Dan Tien before long and will know exactly where it is located within you, because you will feel it. This is what we are doing in this level. There are some other very important – essential – details you need to know to do this, and these can be taught to students, but this practice is common to other systems as well. Various powerful Nei Kung lineages all start from this level of building the foundation, and filling the Dan Tien with qi. The practice at this level will also cause the “alpha state” physically, and the pineal gland excretes melatonin, bringing great peace, and potentially slowing down aging, (though this is not a goal). In time it will function to heal illness. What we call here “actual meditation,” is similar to the state

between wake and sleep, but do not presume that it is as simple as meditating in this state. Though this might help at some times, it can also backfire and cause the mind to wander more than in other states. In his book Nei Kung, Kosta said many good things. One thing that stood out to me was a quote on the matter of concentration in relation to Nei Kung. In it, he said:

I am often asked how to meditate. Regrettably, the answer is always the same: I really cannot tell you how to go about it. One of the earliest things I learned from John Change was that each of us has to find his or her own way into meditation, that there is no general method suitable for all. Through the grace of the universal spirit, we are all individuals – each of us must find an individual path.[40]

That is to say that meditation is not really our goal here. Our goal, instead, is pure concentration on a single-pointedness. We must breathe as instructed and focus with unwavering concentration, as instructed. We must do this for as long as we can, for as many times as we can. This will not make sense at first. You will think you are doing this, yet I assure you that you will not be for at least months of regular practice. This is what Kosta’s reference to John’s words, above, is talking about. How you find your way to

concentration, which he calls here “how to meditate,” is an individual matter, and one that you cannot be instructed upon. Understand then that meditation is not enough, we must concentrate either with a Zen mind, or focus upon a single point in meditation (indeed, Zen is a single-pointedness). It is to this end that mantra is employed in so many traditions. John explained the first level to Kostas: “Say this is the dantien, right? First it is empty; then we fill it with yang chi. At this level we engage solely in sitting meditation. The Nei Kung at this level is not as much difficult in terms of technique as it is in terms of intention, focus and having a teacher to tell you what the signs of appropriate progress are. You will need to devote at least an hour a day to meditating every single day, no matter how late it gets, no matter how busy you are. You need to realize that you will be doing this for several years; think approximately 4.5 years or 1,620 hours at 3 minutes of “actual” meditation, on average, per hour of meditation every day. This will equal 81 hours of “actual” meditation. Do not confuse this with 81 straightforward hours of sitting for meditation. It will take 1,620 at least. For some it will take even longer. This is just to pass Level 1, but even this level is beyond what most teachers of most Nei Jia schools attain in their whole careers! If you expect to complete Level 1 sooner than this then you will almost certainly be disappointed. It can happen before then, but more often than not, people take

about this long, if they are diligent.

Step 2: Expanding the Dan Tien In the Second Level, which is really of no concern to a person at level one, for many years, you pack the yang qi in the lower Dan Tien and then add more until it has expanded to the size of about a golf ball... Kostas asked John: “and for Level Two… we compress the yang chi in our dantien, correct?” John explained Level 2, or what the Mo Pai school calls “2a” in Indonesia, saying “for Level Two, we compress the yang qi and actually introduce twice as much intro the same area. We make it hard, so to speak.” He explained to Kostas that “You must be sexually abstinent to complete this training.” This is partially correct. From a traditional approach to sex, a man must be sexually abstinent to complete this training. He may, however, engage in what is called “fang zhong” (“sexual hygiene”). For those who wish to know more about this, consult: Tao Fang Zhong Shu: Learning Taoist Sexual Alchemy, A Pre-Requisite For Sexually-Active Mo Pai Nei Kung Practitioners. But unless one is very skilled and does not spill a drop of jing, then abstinence is a must. At this level, one must be extremely careful with their health. What makes Nei Kung a Nei Dan practice, is that it is internal, essentially, as an

exercise. But the qi itself is internal within the body, focusing all to the core of the body itself. All excess yang qi is gathered and condensed to the Dan Tien. If the qi is deficient in any way, it will drain the body and tax the organs. This is why no jing can be lost to accomplish this. To understand how to properly deal with the potential pitfalls of practice at this level, one should obtain Overcoming Sickness with Nei Kung: Why do so many Mo Pai practitioners get seriously ill? What you can do to prevent, or correct this. I would highly recommend these two books that I have written, whether you intend to practice Mo Pai, or another method of Nei Kung. Some have tried to suggest that the next level is the “real” Level 2, and that this – 2a – is merely supplemental to fill the Dan Tien. This level he described is perfectly fine if one wants to number it that way. But this does not change the fact that the “second” level (whether called “2” or “2a” or “supplemental to 2”) is the secondary packing-to-the-Dan Tien level that John was describing above to Kostas. This is a standing exercise that involves movement. It is a type of Nei Kung practice that we find in many different lineages. It is done in some lineages hard, and in some soft. I have personally learned this same exercise from two different lineages besides Mo Pai. In all cases, the goal is the same: to fill the abdominal Dan Tien to the point that it is absolutely as full as it can possibly get, before then mobilizing it.

Step 3: Mobilizing the Dan Tien At what Kosta (and thus everyone discussing Mo Pai outside of the East), calls the Third Level you have to do exercises to cause the cords holding the Dan Tien in place to break. When you do this you will see a bulge from the Dan Tien pressing outward very concretely once you succeed. This is not unique to the Mo Pai lineage either. Here again I remind you that these are scientific levels, they are not magical spells, nor are they anything other than very systematic procedures. There is one lineage that I have learned a version of this level from, that is different only in that it is done standing in this other lineage. In Mo Pai, this level is done sitting. If you do this in this manner, for about this long then this and that will happen. That is how it works. There is a teacher in the US who was a Korean martial arts teacher in Greece for a while who I believe Kostas makes reference to. His name is Master Lee and he was very public about doing this. He liked to freak out folks by having them feel the hard mass and making it move around. Not limited to such anecdotal examples, the Lingshujing and also the Taozang discuss freeing the actual Dan Tien physically. If you find these passages I will discuss them with you. John explained this third level by simply saying to Kostas that “In Level Three we make the Dan Tien mobile. We can make it move” in any direction. “We move it in these four directions at first, like an X; after that we can make the dantien move anywhere,” he

explained, saying further that “It is a solid lump of hardened yang qi” which one “can tap into and use at will.” At this point, the individual is differentiated from other practitioners of different lineages of Nei Kung. This is not because other lineages do not mobilize the Dan Tien. This is, instead, because a significant amount of time is spent not just “building the foundation” in Mo Pai, but filling the Dan Tien to the point that it cannot be filled any further. Thus, when the next level transpires, and Yin and Yang are fused, a much more powerful “cell” will be created. Other systems that do work on merging Yin and Yang, do so sometimes in more indirect ways. Because they do this, they start to get minor results, in a quicker manner than Mo Pai. It took John almost two decades to get to Yin Yang Kung. Compare this with some systems where you can start “using” qi emission after only a few years. Why the discrepancy? The reason is that many lineages will start using qi as soon as any amount is built up. This is like someone who gets a descent job and starts spending all the money right away. They never save up anything, because they are so used to being poor that they cannot bear to live frugally and save. Mo Pai is a much more patient approach. Instead of building a little, performing exercises to allow us to utilize the little that we have stored, and using this accumulated qi after a few years, Mo Pai Nei Kung is only getting

started after a few years. The reason is that if we fill the Dan Tien as much as possible, then when we combine Yin and Yang, we will have a very powerful battery cell right from the “start” then (even if this takes two decades to produce). In that way, once we proceed from there, we can do much more impressive things than those practitioners of systems who start working with energy emission when one has not built very much up, by comparison. But because we are working with much higher energy than most other systems, when we combine Yin and Yang, there is more potential danger, and the need for the Tien Ming to advance to Yin-Yang Kung.

Step 4: Yin-Yang Kung At the Fourth Level, the yin qi that has gathered near the Hui Yin perineum and the yang qi in the Dan Tien meet the yin qi through extreme concentration, holding, and pressure. This is discussed in great length as well in Dummo tradition. They call it the fusion of the Red and White Tig Li in the Central Channel. Many Taoist works also discuss this fusion of Yin and Yang. This is not even remotely limited to the Mo Pai tradition, though it is commonly thought to be, by Mo Pai students. The only difference in systems that fuse Yin and Yang is how Mo Pai Nei Kung focuses on building, and building and building, and filling and filling and filling before progressing to this level. In this way, this level is much more substantial: we are fusing two

very tangible things, not merely ephemeral energies. Even this, however, is not different from all systems, as there are others which also do the same. Most Western Taoists are just starting to learn about such esoteric lineages. We read in Kostas’s Magus of Java book, on Mo Pai, that “When we are finished with Level Three,” John explained, “we send our yang down to the hui yin. There it gathers as much yin as we have sent down yang.” This is what makes methods of Nei Kung that attain Yin-Yang Kung unique. It is not, however, unique to the methodology of Mo Pai. This practice is very intensive, but “After a time, maybe even months or years, yin and yang rise together.” Kostas reports John saying, in relation to the above drawing, that “The white circle is the yang, the black the yin. They float around inside the body, and the pain is incredible, constant, unbelievable.” This refers specifically to the practice of the fourth level. This is not to say that the Dan Tien and the Hui Yin Qi simply migrate throughout the body, but that they are connected in the abdominal region and must be fused together. Yin and Yang energy can surge through the body at this point, but not the Dan Tien itself. That is not what John was saying. John continued, “Only if you have the discipline to ignore it can you control them and put their power inside your Dan Tien. At that point, they become squeezed together and take this shape, like the Tai Chi” or “Yin Yang” symbol.

“If you are successful,” John said to Kostas, “by forcing the two together, you also force them to react. Remember, they are not like electrical poles; they do not attract each other, but repel.” It is not that these forces “repel” but that they each have their natural places to pool in the body, and these natural places are being pulled into meeting. They are like a very strong man who wants to be left to himself to train and get powerful, and a very strong, independent woman who wants to be left alone and pursue her career. These two are forced into an arranged marriage – arranged by your yi – and they do not like it one bit. This does not mean that they are not attracted to one another, but they want – ultimately – to be in their natural places. Only once fused do they “accept” the marriage and thus become functional. Before that, when you pull them together, they do not accept this. Kostas asked about what happens “if you are not successful?” To which, John said, “Then you will probably die. There is no point in doing this type of training unless you are ready to die for it.” This is true, but the reality is that not only is it highly unlikely that you will get to this level, it is unlikely that you will have the qi to succeed at combining Yin and Yang. John explained that this is something that relies, to a great extent, on the will of Heaven and ones karma. Almost no one in the world gets to this level. So you must ask yourself, if you aspire to attain this level of achievement, why should Heaven will for you to progress to this level?

How this is done in Mo Pai is something which very few people know. This is because most never commit the time to the previous level, the third level, which requires one to basically have no need to go to a job daily. For that level and for this, you will not be able to go to a “9 to 5” job and complete either of these levels. This means that if you are serious about Mo Pai, you will have to obtain a means of earning a living that will afford you a considerable amount of time. If you are at the first or second levels of Mo Pai right now, you should be strategizing financially for how you will do this in around 10 years. If you plan for this now, and are dedicated, Heaven will provide a way for you to complete the third and fourth levels. But for this reason, because of the immense dedication of time that these levels take, very few people will pass the third and four levels.[41]

Chapter 8: Methodologies of Absorbing Yin Qi from the Hui Yin into the Dan Tien If one was to summarize the different approaches to Dan Tien meditation, which we are terming here “Nei Kung,” the following two major differences between different lineage approaches can be delineated.

1.

The “Bottom Up” Approach: An approach that focuses

exclusively on the Xia Dan Tien before doing any other work, sometimes spending years on this foundation, then working on movement of Qi from this region, then through the body, then finally – possibly – out of the body. This approach will usually create very sudden and powerful results, after extremely long periods of time building towards those reactions. Many of the

sects which have approached Nei Kung in this way were deemed heterodox centuries ago. Their approached typically cause health problems for those who try to “go it alone” without proper and continued guidance from a qualified instructor.

2.

The “Top Down” Approach: An approach that focuses,

usually from the top down, on circulation, sometime building, outside of the Xia Dan Tien, before finally building in the Xia Dan Tien. This approach usually does many of the things the first approach does, but during somewhat concurrent periods. The results with this approach are usually a process of very gradual evolution, with subtle changes, month by month. This most closely embodies the approaches of Tao Jiao “Orthodoxy” and various sects which absorbed influences from Zen (Ch’an) approaches to the same training.

One thing worth noting, which is often overlooked in books on meditation, is that the Zhong Dan Tien, is rarely treated as a “Dan Tien” in either of these methods. That is, it is a generator of energy, and it indeed is a source of energy, but it is not a center which either methodology focuses extensively on

building energy at. In my Xingyiquan lineage, we in fact try to avoid too much storing at the heart itself when practicing Organ Meditation. There are numerous reasons for this, but the essential point to understand is that this is not a center that we need to focus on for storage of energy. To this end, the Chen Jia Hun Yuan system of Nei Kung ignores it entirely as a Dan Tien, and essentially treats the Hui Yin as the Xia Dan Tien, and the abdominal Dan Tien as the Zhong in practice. Understanding this leads to a true understanding of Kan and Li in Taoist meditation. When a teacher does not understand this, you can be sure that they are parroting things that they have read somewhere, but are not working with practical knowledge of the subject.

Why the Hui Yin is not a Dan Tien, but acts like one At the very root of the torso, at the center of the pelvic floor, a half-inch in front of the anus, lies Hui Yin, the first point on the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel). The English translation of Hui Yin is “Meeting Of Yin” or “Convergence Of Yin.” The point is also occasionally rendered as “Seabed.” Simply in virtue of its location (as the lowest-most point), Hui Yin is considered the most “yin” point of the human torso. Metaphorically, it is like the floor of the ocean. It is also the meeting-place of three important extraordinary meridians: the Ren (Conception), Du (aka Governing) and

Zhong (Penetrating) Mai. As an acupuncture point, its traditional indications include a variety of physical imbalances related to the lower abdominal region: vaginitis, retention of urine, nocturnal emissions, hemorrhoids, enuresis and irregular menstruation, and, interestingly, to alleviate mental disorders or “shen disturbances.” In certain Taoist sexual practices, Hui Yin is utilized to prevent ejaculation, and instead redirect and reabsorb the activated sexual energy. The Xia Dan Tien is described as a “field” in which one has “red mineral” activity. The heart of the Zhong produces electricity, but this is diverted when Jing is not abundant. The pineal gland of the Shang produces spiritual energy, consciousness, visionary experiences and astral travel, yet will not be “powered up” if the Qi is low. All of these levels are built upon the foundation of full jing, and ideally – therefore – upon a filled Xia Dan Tien. This explains the San Dan Tien, and thus the San Bao, but it does little in the way of explaining the relationship to the Hui Yin. Consider the following words from the Classic of the “Masters of Huai Nan,” which one of my teachers was involved in rendering the first English translation of.

Heaven (seen here as the ultimate source of all being) falls (duo 墮 , descends into proto-immanence) as the formless. Fleeting, fluttering,

penetrating, amorphous it is, and so it is called the Supreme Luminary. The Tao begins in the Void Brightening. The Void Brightening produces the universe (yu-zhou). The universe produces qi. Qi has bounds. The clear, yang [qi] was ethereal and so formed heaven. The heavy, turbid [qi] was congealed and impeded and so formed earth. The conjunction of the clear, yang [qi] was fluid and easy. The conjunction of the heavy, turbid [qi] was strained and difficult. So heaven was formed first and earth was made fast later. The pervading essence (xi-jing) of heaven and earth becomes yin and yang. The concentrated (zhuan) essences of yin and yang become the four seasons. The dispersed (san) essences of the four seasons become the myriad creatures. The hot qi of yang in accumulating produces fire. The essence (jing) of the fire-qi becomes the sun. The cold qi of yin in accumulating produces water. The essence of the water-qi becomes the moon. The essences produced by coitus (yin) of the sun and moon become the stars and celestial markpoints (chen, planets).[42]

The San Dan Tien are built on one another and give rise to one another, but the Hui Yin is not the foundation of the Xia Dan Tien, and thus it cannot be regarded as one, in a true sense. It is, however, a point of intersection of meridians, and the most yin point of our body. It is where yin naturally

“pools,” in the way that the Masters of Huai Nan explained the pooling of yin cosmic forces to give rise to the formation of planets, of the Earth itself. Yin Qi drew the Earth together, and still today presses in against it, that Qi then extending through the veins of meteoritic iron within this planet, and pulverized throughout what has become its soil. It is for this reason that we can think primarily of the Earth as our source of Yin Qi, even while the source of its Yin Qi is essentially cosmic. Another reason why we must not think of the Hui Yin as a true Dan Tien, is that it does not itself give rise to Jing production through its accumulation of Yin Qi. This, instead, occurs from the Xia Dan Tien. The Hui Yin, instead, can be a useful center in balancing the heat of the Xia Dan Tien, transmuting and circulating accumulated Jing. This is essentially common to most forms of Taoist alchemy, particularly since its Orthodoxification, a subject far beyond the scope of this discussion.

Two Basic Methodologies for Accomplishing “Yin-Yang Kung” From the previous sections, it should be absolutely clear that the Xia Dan Tien acts as something of a capacitor, and at a certain point, it can be turned into what is effectively a “battery.” The Mo Pai approach to this has been laid out, and can be summarized as:

1. Fill the Xia Dan Tien 2. Expand the Xia Dan Tien by force of Yi and borrowing surplus Qi from the Zhong and indeed throughout the body. 3. Mobilize the Xia Dan Tien in the Kwa. 4. Compress Yin Qi pooled in the Hui Yin with the golf ball-sized Xia Dan Tien

This approach is very powerful. When it is successful, it produces clear, abrupt and ignorable changes in the body. Small changes transpire along the way, but this is a path of building incredible amounts of energy and then working with those huge quantities of energy. While this can produce dramatic results, it can also cause serious health problems.[43] This, of course, should remind us of the admonitions in the Indian Yogic traditions and others, cautioning against focusing energy in certain places. Put simply, when energy is focused, it is drawn away from the circulating freely in the system. This is why serious students never proceed without the guidance of a qualified teacher who has “been there and done that.” Indeed, we can understand the cautious nature of both the popular forms of Indian Yoga, and also Chinese Qi Kung. But methods of Nei Kung do focus on building energy in certain areas – albeit natural areas of qi pooling – but they do not do so with a disregard for circulation. While it is

possible to practice Nei Kung from different systems, incorporating the best facets from each, towards a common aim, this should never be attempted without the explicit guidance of a teacher who knows and has accomplishment (kungfu) in the respective systems, in question. A counter approach to Yin-Yang Kung exists in both the Lung Men Pai system, and the Chen Jia “Hun Yuan” Nei Kung system. In their process of combining reservoirs of Qi, merging the Abdominal Yang Qi Xia Dan Tien with the Hui Yin, to form the “Battery,” absorption occurs little-bylittle, a little at a time. Yang Qi is descended down, and Yin Qi raises up. The methods for doing this do not require the complete severing of the “cords” that hold the Xia Dan Tien in place, but it does require their stretching, opening, and allowing for deeper, internal movement. It is to that end that so many Hun Yuan movements, and Chansigong “Silk Reeling” exercises are performed. I have been very fortunate to have studied with so many great masters in so many powerful systems.

A Full Dan Tien Yin Yang “Cell”: Powering “Magic” As noted in the introduction to this work, Anthropologist Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard noted, in his Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, references of the Dan Tien being, in the African view, the storage house of a sorcerer’s power, yet – while its location in the lower “abdomen of

the witch” was certain, Pritchard concluded disappointedly that he was “left in doubt as to what it is anatomically.” Discussing this matter at great length with my colleague Professor Hadar Ha-Isuni, M.A., Head Res. And ,Fdr. of the Orunmila Institute of Afrikan Esoteric Wisdom (OIAEW), it became clear that what “E. E.” EvansPritchard noted was no anomaly amongst African traditions, and those of IFA, Vodun, Nansom, and other related approaches. The region of the Xia Dan Tien is indeed commonly associated with development of “magical” powers. Because of the nature of various oaths of secrecy, much of this cannot be discussed any more openly. With his permission, however, I am including a photograph of an African shaman in levitation, along with the comments of Professor Hadar:

Hern, levitation like this happens often in many African rituals. It cannot be faked out in the middle of nowhere. Feeling the force generated by those standing near it many rituals were also include dancing inside of 100 high (and higher) bonfires that are so hot that most can’t even stand within 25 or even 50 feet of it. There are many other kinds of demonstrations, some far more extreme and others much less. It depends on the forces being called and being worked with.

Tummo Tibetan Alchemy An interesting point that I discovered while working on my Masters Thesis years ago,[44] is that during the Sassanid Persian period, the term “Shaman” was used throughout the Middle East to reference a “Buddhist.” In the inscription of the Zoroastrian high priest (mobadan mobad) Kirtir, under Emperor Bahram II (276-293 CE), we read that Yahud, Shaman (Buddhists ) Brahman (Hindus), Nasara (Nazarenes), Kristiyan (Christians), Makdag (Baptizers) and Zandik, which was the name by which the Manichaeans were known to the Persians. Kirtir in one inscription declares how Ahriman and the idols suffered great blows and continues as follows, to recount the groups

that he hated and sought to suppress in the following order:

The Jews, Buddists, Hindus, Nazarenes, Christians, Baptizers and Manicheans were smashed in the empire, their idols destroyed, and the habitations of the idols annihilated and turned into abodes and seats of the gods.

It thus came as no surprise to me that in the “Shaman” traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, just as in so many other shamanistic traditions the word over, the Dan Tien region is associated with the development of siddhis “powers” or “feats,” and with the formation of the salis crystals. After cremation, the ashes of a monk may be sifted through to demonstrate their level of attainment, evidenced by the presence of these, essentially “shards” of burnt, crystalized Dan Tien. The descent of the white Tig Le in the Head Centre, the Shang Dan Tien, descending to the Red Tig Le, is immediately recognizable to any student of Lung Men Pai Nei Kung. It should come as no surprise that the Tibetan Buddhists are the most accomplished amongst many schools of Buddhist Dharma, in demonstrating siddhis of their development. Compiling accounts of relevant examples, from this tradition alone, could easily span volumes. One example that will be given here, however, is from a documentary narrated by European illusionist

who is looking for real magic in the Nepal mountains. After impressing various locals with what were admittedly tricks of illusion, he gains the information about where a local Buddhist holy man resides. After a lengthy process of convincing the monk to demonstrate a feat of levitation, he agrees. Interestingly, as in the case of African shamans, he levitates in a circle of candles – fire – and chants mantrically before the levitation begins.

What “E. E.” Evans-Pritchard observed and reported on regarding the relationship of the Xia Dan Tien to the shaman or “witchdoctor,” is not coincidence. As noted, in the Taoist heterodox schools, particularly in centuries past, this was the same approach: build the Xia Dan Tien, fill it, and thereby use it to power-up what outside observers, the uninitiated, imagine to be “magic.” Those with true power and ability were always happy to leave

people with this uninformed impression, because it kept people away from them, so that they could pursue further training. Even outside of heterodoxy, per se, Taoism – Tao Jiao – retains a continued tradition of “Magic,” which is to say “Dharma” or “Fa.” In the methods and practices of “Thunder Magic,” or Tao Jiao Lei Fa, the Dan Tien must be absolutely full and thereafter manipulated, along with breath work, certain mantras, physical postures and gestures and the like. Without these, the “Fa” simply will not work.[45] This is concept of “powering up” the Xia Dan Tien, is of course how the Mo Pai Nei Kung methodology works, as seen in the aforementioned Ring of Fire documentary, where John “Chang” uses a projection of Yang Qi through the manipulation and moving of Yin and Yang Qi in the Xia Dan Tien, to emit enough heat that paper or dry brush can be ignited.

Worthy of note is how long he kept his hand in the flame after igniting it, in this example and in many other times he has reproduced these results, prior to retiring from the position of the headmaster of the Mo Pai school. Though the Mo Pai system has in many ways preserved the heterodox approaches of “Pre-Orthodoxified” Tao Jiao, this particular lineages focuses on the ethical teachings of Mozi (Mo Tzu), and the importance of karma in advancing, along with extremely diligent Nei Kung practice.

Chapter 9: Developing “Flood-like Qi”: Why Karma Matters in Nei Kung Within classical Chinese thought there exists the notion of “cultivating Qi. [46]“ To different traditions within China, this has taken on slightly variant meanings; meanings which often converge. Originally indicating a type of vapor, the mist in the morning which the Zhuangzi alludes to - in the chapter on “Balancing Things” - in reference to the formation of mushrooms[47] (seen in both Traditional Chinese Medicine, or Taoism in general, as one of the most potent food sources of health and energy), it would later take on a

meaning of “breath” and the intrinsic, vital energy within all things. The cultivation of Qi generally has implicit within it the notion of retaining Qi.

Shut the door, close the gates, blunt the sharp points, unravel the knots; dim the brightness, bring yourself into obscurity. [48]

To Buddhists who cultivated Qi this would take the form of abstinence. To Taoists, it took the form of retention of essence or jing, often during prolonged sexual encounters. There are no shortages of studies of retention and even cultivation techniques in both Buddhist and Taoist traditions; these often were interwoven with Martial traditions. Yet another notion has been somewhat overlooked by many, and that is the concept of “Cultivating Flood-Like Qi” (Hao Ran Zhi Qi), which Mengzi (Mencius), articulated. Kungzi (Confucius) says nothing of Qi explicitly, but clearly the terms of debate had changed by the time of Mengzi. In his writings, there is talk of Qi, Xing, (human nature), the Xin, (power of the heart/mind); all of the concepts common to Taoism and to the martial and alchemic traditions that would

stem from this tradition, are, during Mengzi’s time, being discussed from a Confucian perspective. Traditionally, and conventionally, however, the concepts of the “Three Treasures” of Jing, Qi and Shen[49], are seen as trademarks of Taoism. In describing the process of cultivating Qi, Taoists emphasize correct practice, while Mengzi emphasized moral uprightness. For instance, the Dao De Jing explains:

When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other. [50]

To this end, Taoism sees the process of internal alchemy as entirely neutral; something capable of being exploited by an individual with knowledge of the Dao, regardless of their personal morality. That is not to say that morality

does not factor into Taoism, but it is to say that it has typically been conveyed as more incidental to the notions of balance and harmonizing with the flow of the Dao. The Daodejing further states:

The Dao doesn’t take sides; It gives birth to both good and evil. The Master doesn’t take sides; She welcomes both saints and sinners.[51]

Thus, knowledge of the Dao is a matter of knowledge itself. It is a matter of knowing practices and then implementing them (practicing). To that end, a superior athlete can be morally good or bad. A great fighter can be moral or immoral. In many cases, the moral individual may lack superior skill. This becomes an increasing problem for the Buddhists of Shaolin by the advent of Ch’an Buddhism and the propagation of Da Mo (Boddhidharma), insofar as many of the superior practices, were implemented by practitioners out of the drive of the ego. For Buddhist monks, this ego was fought against as an integral part of daily life, and it was fought in manners that often required utter stillness and detachment from the body. Accordingly, legend maintains that the Buddhist monks grew weak and sick, unable to participate for long periods of time in standing meditation

techniques that Da Mo brought to them. They also were unable to concentrate for long periods of time sitting without slipping into unconsciousness. Thus, those of elevated morality were on the physically weaker end of the spectrum, and conversely there could be many amoral, or even immoral Taoists, who exploited the Dao to achieve the ends of their own egoism. Mengzi, discussed the notion of “De” as “Virtue” in the traditional Confucian sense.[52] To him, “cultivating flood like Qi” was a natural process; one that “cannot be forced.” Mengzi viewed this as something that manifests as time progresses in conjunction with living an upright life; an abundance of Qi is “produced by accumulated righteousness,” and “cannot be obtained through a seizure of righteousness.” Such cultivation comes down to proper spirit or intention. Interestingly, and equally important, it would seem illogical to assert that Mengzi was suggesting the various practices of Taoist cultivation were comparatively less successful than the average person who was living his daily life in a positive manner, devoid of any intentional practice of Qi cultivation. Though easily over-looked in this discussion, everything, as we will see from Mengzi, comes down to asserting the intent[53] in concert with the development of Qi. The Dao De Jing weighs in on this in Chapter 55 of the portion categorized as the “De.” Common translations of this passage read something akin to the following:

He who has in himself abundantly the attributes of the Way[54] is like an infant. Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him. The infant’s bones are weak and its sinews soft, yet its grasp is firm. It does not yet know of the union of male and female, yet its penis may be excited, showing the perfection of its physical essence. It may cry all day without becoming hoarse, showing the harmony in its constitution. Manifesting this harmony, one learns of the Way, and thus finds wisdom. All life-increasing arts turn to evil; where the mind makes the vital breath to burn, the strength is false. When things that are strong attack those that are old, this is contrary to the Way, and will not last long.[55]

What is being said here is that human efforts to cultivate Qi by any means, turns into evil practices. Interestingly, we see here “De” translated as “the attributes of the Way,” whereas we will see later that it is elsewhere rendered as “Virtue.” Beyond this point, we have here what is clearly a Taoist reference to good and evil in a non-dualistic manner; a manner that perceives

“good” as sustainable balance and “evil” as perishable imbalance. According to the text, when one works to move the Qi and focus it with the use of the mind this is a limited development of Qi and a false application of it. Naturally, this begs the question then of what is the “true strength” and the appropriate way for Qi to express itself in the practitioner? It is this passage that it seems Mengzi picks up on in addressing “cultivating floodlike Qi.” In order to achieve this, one cannot merely act morally for some gain or personal benefit; acting moral for the sake of morality, righteousness is practiced for righteousness’ sake. Mengzi correlates this cultivation with the power of the mind (xin). To Mengzi, this is the meaning of the story of the man from Sung, who tried to help his grain grow by pulling the gain upwards. In his deliberation efforts he has short-circuited his long-term goal with short sightedness.

You don’t want to be like the man from Sung. There was a man from Sung who was worried about the slow growth of his crops and so he went and yanked on them to accelerate their growth. Empty-headed, he returned home and announced to his people: ‘I am so tired today. I have been out stretching the crops.’ His son ran out to look, but the crops had already withered. Those in the world who don’t ‘help their

crops by pulling’ are few indeed. There are also those who regard all effort as wasteful and don’t even weed their crops. But those who think they can hurry their growth along by forcing it, are not only not helping their Qi but actually harming it![56]

Thusly, we see in the statement of “there are also those who regard all effort as wasteful and don’t even weed their crops,” that Mengzi saw a lack of intentionality in cultivation as flawed. To Mengzi, negative actions, immoral actions, actions lacking “de,” have a negative impact on the cultivation of Qi; draining the Qi through anxiety, worry, tears, and emotional distress and turmoil. It can be said that the “Left Hand” path Taoists[57] who tended towards the amoral to immoral side of things had circumvented these negative repercussions through utter emotional and moral detachment to such ideals which might bring about anxiety and distress. Still, to Mengzi, there were certain acts which would invariably create such anxiety; acts which would turn others, and society itself, against the individual would be destined to create distress. To Mengzi, if one is a moral person, they are naturally calm and stable, and able to cultivate “flood-like qi.” Again, morality exists for its own sake, not moral for some end or selfish ambition, because you would then be worried about cultivating that end and would be motivated by the wrong reasons..

Power Versus Force: “The Tao Thinks of You” Correlative to the notion of “flood like qi” being intrinsic to virtue (de), modern research has provided quantification for these ancient notions. As astounding and far-fetched a notion as it seems, the study of Kinesiology (the scientific study of human movement), has demonstrated that human musculature goes strong or weak correlative to objectively virtuous or wicked concepts. Kinesiology ushered in a powerful diagnostic tool called “muscle testing.” Muscle testing is a procedure for testing the strength or weakness of responses to questioning. Easiest to measure without instruments is the outstretched arm of the deltoid muscles. The revolutionary nature of these discoveries aside, most people are willing to rationalize that something other than the “conscious mind” is effecting the response. Nevertheless, a remarkable study is outlined in the book “Power versus Force,” [58] which details that these sorts of studies can be done with or without the test subject being made consciously aware of what concept (or object) is being tested. To that end, the concept (or object), in question may be concealed on paper in a sealed envelope or in a box. The response will still correlate with a test result of which the one being tested has conscious awareness. Virtue will strengthen, evil will weaken. This is perhaps a

difficult premise to leave surmised “as is.” Nevertheless, defense of this position through empirical research is the purpose of the book in question, and is both beyond the scope of, and tangential to, the discussion at hand. To that end, for the sake of argument and brevity, skepticism must be necessarily held relatively at bay, in making the case in correlation with Mengzi. In Power versus Force, Dr. Hawkins’ main thesis is that you can use kinesiological testing to test the objective truth of a statement. In the form of testing he uses, the subject stretches out his arm to the side. The subject makes a statement such as - an example in the text - “artificial sweeteners are good for you.” If the subject can maintain his arm outstretched under a firm push from the tester, the statement is accepted as true. If the subject’s arm can be pushed down, the statement is regarded as false. Rather than simply regarding the subconscious mind as governing the individual’s body, Dr. Hawkins applies these results within the context of metaphysical paradigms which assert the interconnectedness between all events, actions, thoughts and emotions written within the unlimited “Database of Consciousness,” what Michael Talbot terms “the Holographic Universe.” Hawkins thusly theorizes that as participants in this universe, we all have access to that Database; what the Theosophy described with the Sanskrit terminology of the “Akashic Record.” The methodology employed is not at all dissimilar to less proven

ancient methods of Dowsing, and also, in part perhaps, referenced in the Biblical story of Samson (which Kosta Danaos also mentions as connected to Yang-Qi[59] cultivation from the sun and due to semen retention). Kosta Danaos asks in his book “Nei Kung,” if these sorts of esoteric practices had no functional use in enabling societal function (that is, if they were all purely expressions of superstition and did not improve the lives of practitioners on a functional, quantifiable level), then they would not have been socioreligiously weeded out and discarded in the maturation process of societal evolution? Instead, these practices were not only retained but further developed over the course of times that were often brutally pragmatic. This is something that the true believer and the skeptic would account for in diametrically opposed directions. Still, what seems a reasonable middle ground is that there is – at the core – some sense of reciprocation between the practitioner and practice; something, just enough, to have served as catalyst for the maintenance of the practice. To deny this much would seem to put the die-hard skeptic in a similar position as the true believer in their own right; a hard-core adherent to the arrogant notion that all knowledge and practices of the ancients have either already been dismissed and disproven; catalogued as either quantified or debunked as fraudulent (assuming as a basis for this that it has even been seriously explored in the scientific community). Clearly, if true, the implications of Dr. Hawkins research are staggering. If so, there is a

modern, further delineated approach to what the ancient Chinese were apparently trying to tap into through the variety of consultations of oracle bones, books, yarrow sticks and such. If this premise is accepted, the objectivity of the human body as a kinesthetic conduit for these answers could be tested. While the text makes controversial and implicit claims of a grandiose nature, it has many supporters in high places that have vouched for its practical effectiveness. Sam Walton and Lee Iacocca have used it in relation to business and attest to its effectiveness. Mother Teresa also was convinced and wrote a promotional review for it. Interesting, testing with her name is one example given in the book. Still, some of the notions of the book do get a bit muddled as the study progresses. At the very least, one can say that Hawkin’s mathematical terminology is off at times, and in other times that there are mathematical typos that make mistakes of staggering implications. Still, the core research is unaffected by Hawkin’s less than impressive familiarity with Chaos Theory or Statistics in devising a scale of objectivity to assess the inherent “strength” of a concept, individual or object. So what does this mean or imply relevant to the study (or the concept of de producing “flood like qi”)? It could mean that de empowers those who believe it will empower them. Still, the objectivity of testing objects in sealed boxes and envelopes would indicate that even if the empowerment is subject

to one’s willingness to be empowered, the empowerment itself would still be objective and not drawn out of the subconscious prejudices and preconceived notions of “right” (shi) and “wrong” (fei). This, is the most important point to note, as this makes it clear that there is some notion at the core of this testing that is quantifiably determining the overall strength or weakness of a thing or concept (“strength” and “weakness” perhaps being a more objective way to express such concepts than “good” and “evil,” which all too often carry with them subjective perceptions of what is often circumstantially relative morality).

The Power and the Way It is worthy of note that the Dao De Jing is not merely the Dao Jing. That is, the Classic contains two texts, and perhaps most interestingly, in the most ancient copies archeologically unearthed, the De Jing comes before the Dao. Again, a more literal translation of Chapter 55 of the Dao De Jing reads:

Those who are steeped in De (Virtue) are like newborn children. Poisonous creatures will not strike them; Fierce beasts will not seize them; Birds of prey will not snatch them away. Their bones are weak and sinews yielding and yet their grip is firm

They do not yet know the union of male and female, but their potency is at its height This is because they are perfectly pure; They can wail all day without growing hoarse This is because they are perfectly balanced. Knowing balance is called “constancy” Knowing constancy is called “enlightenment” What helps life along is called “inauspicious” When the heat and mind is used to guide the qi this is called “forcing things” For after a period of vigor there is old age. To rely on such practices is said to be contrary to the Dao And what is contrary to the Dao will come to an early end.[60]

“Taoism” is perhaps something of a misnomer (or perhaps an isolated look at the original intentions of the Classic), as the Classic conveys the essentiality of both conformity to the Dao and, simultaneously, conformity to De. If one wishes to obtain “Power,” implicit with this notion is that they must embody “Virtue.” While the Dao De Jing clearly speaks of the Dao being exploitable for both the good and the evil alike, the portion addressing “De” can be noted by the striking absence of claims that “De” can be similarly exploited

for selfish aims. As a complete picture, the Dao De Jing is telling us how to live in accordance with the Way, and to obtain true Power through Virtue. One only conforming to the Way can obtain only a lower level of power; what Dr. Hawkins would call “lower calibrations” of power. It’s noteworthy that in his system of calibration, anything below a level of calibration of 200 would be considered “Force” instead of “Power;” those calibrating higher. It would seem that there is something here that the ancients knew, but could not quantify in modern scientific terms. It was perhaps this that Mengzi was referring to when he spoke of “De” being the source of producing “flood-like qi;” that is, qi in abundance, inexhaustible and free-flowing. Though much of this belongs to a discussion between Taoists and Confucianists that is too often never had, it is not a stretch of the imagination, nor a struggle for an interpretive “Grand Unifying Theory” of socio-religious perspectives (though the prospect of such is seductive to say the least). Mengzi spells out as much in his own work, and to be sure the point is not being lost, he refers to the “De” and the “Dao” back to back, as it was referenced in the most ancient copies of the Laozi.

Kung Sun Ch’ou asked Mengzi: ‘Is there a method for attaining mental stability?’

‘There is. For example, Pi Kung Yu had a method of developing his courage. When attacked, he would neither flinch nor turn away his eyes. If someone touched a single hair on his body, he would regard it as if he had been publicly beaten in the marketplace. What he would not take from a bum, he would not take from a great prince. He regarded the stabbing of a prince just the same as the stabbing of a bum. He had no fear of the great nobles. If slanderous words reached his ears, he would never let it go by without revenge.’ ‘Mang Shih She also had a method of developing his courage. He said: ‘I regard victory and defeat as the same. To gauge the enemy and then attack; to plan the victory and then engage--this is to be afraid of the opposing army. How can I be sure of winning? I can only be fearless, and that’s all.’ ‘Mang Shih She was like Tsengzi. Pi Kung Yu was like Tzu Hsia. Among Pi Kung and Mang, I don’t know who is better, but Mang Shih She focused on the essentials. For example, in former times, Tsengzi said to Hsiangzi: ‘So, you like bravery, do you? I have heard from our Master about Great Bravery. If I reflect on myself and find that I am not right, then won’t I even fear facing a bum off the street? But if I reflect on myself and find myself to be right, then even if it be an army of one hundred thousand, I will go forward.’[61]

Mengzi prefaced this to his discussion of development of inexhaustible Qi. He is referring above to intentional practices of achieving a specific end through discipline. He is not disregarding intentionality, nor saying that in “not forcing things,” one should disregard intention; just as before he denounced those who neglect the weeding of their gardens along with those who stretch their plants. The above examples make this much clear. Continuing on, the topic and relevance to the development of Qi is highlighted.

But Mang Shih She’s attention to his Qi is still not equal to Tsengzi’s attention to the essentials. Ch’ou asked, ‘Will you please tell me about your ‘mental stability’ in relation to Kaozi’s ‘mental stability’?’ Mengzi replied, ‘Kaozi says that what cannot be attained through words should not be sought for in the mind, and that what cannot be attained in the mind should not be sought for through the Qi. This latter proposition is correct, but the first one is not. The will is the director of the Qi, and the Qi is something that permeates the body. So the will is primary and the Qi is secondary. Therefore, it is said: ‘Hold on to your will; do not scatter your Qi.’[62]

Here Mengzi attests to what would become a standard of Taoist practice, that the Xin, or in later Taoist differentiation, the Yi commands the Qi. The admonition against use of the Yi by Kaozi is itself abrogated, though his latter statement of not forcing the Qi with the Yi is maintained. To Mengzi, it would seem clear that if the Yi is developed properly, then the Qi will naturally fall in line as a subordinate to the highly developed Yi.

Ch’ou said, ‘You just said that the will is primary; and the Qi is secondary. Now you say, ‘hold on to your will; don’t scatter your Qi.’ Why do you say this?’ Mencius said, ‘The will influences the Qi and the Qi influences the will. For instance, jumping and running, though most directly concerned with the Qi, also have an effect on the mind.” ‘May I ask in what it is that you are superior?’ ‘I understand language, and I am good at nourishing my vast Qi.’ What do you mean by ‘vast Qi?’ That is difficult to explain. Qi can be developed to great levels of quantity and stability by correctly nourishing it and not damaging it, to the extent that it fills the space between Heaven and Earth. In developing Qi, if you are connected with Righteousness (De) and the

Dao, you will never be in want of it. It is something that is produced by accumulating Righteousness, and is not something that you can grab from superficial attempts at Righteousness. If you act without mental composure, you will become Qi-starved.[63]

Herein lies what is perhaps the missing link between morality and Taoism. Though clearly not a Taoist work, the Mengzi is commenting here on the notions espoused in the Dao De Jing; here also ordering “De” and “Dao” in the form that the classic has been found in most ancient copies in. It would seem that much as the Zhuangzi would like to present sayings of Kungzi – not found in the Analects – as Taoist in nature and teaching, Mengzi is, in turn, postulating Confucianism as the pinnacle of Taoism, or at least the application of the Virtue and Morality implicit in the De of the Laozi.

Chapter 10: Proof of the Divine: How We Can Know the Tao Thinks of Us “Come, let us reason together…” – Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1.18

There is existence. We are aware, or “conscious.” We cannot doubt the existence (whether “real” or “illusory” makes no difference) of something, because doubt itself is a form of awareness. We lump together all that of which we are aware under the convenient name of “Existence;” what the Sufi calls “Wujud.” We know that we exist by our contemplation upon the matter of our existence; that is “i think therefore i am” (“Cogito ergo sum”). “Ac proinde haec cognitio, ego cogito, ergo sum, est omnium prima et

certis sima etc.” The argument that is usually summarized as “cogito ergo sum” appears in Meditations on First Philosophy,[64] in which René Descartes attempts to build an entire philosophical system from scratch, with no prior assumptions. Although the ideas expressed in “cogito ergo sum” are most commonly associated with Descartes, they were present in many of his antecedents, notably in Saint Augustine in Confessions. It is from here, from this philosophical foundation, that all philosophies and arguments regarding existence itself or the existence of a Higher Power must be constructed. In order to begin this undertaking, Descartes reasoned that since all his beliefs were derived from potentially misleading sensory data or potentially fallacious logic, he would trust nothing he had previously taken to be true. That is to say, he would systematically doubt all that could conceivably be doubted. However, this led him to discover that the one thing that he cannot doubt is his own existence. He claims, quite correctly, something nonexistent is incapable even of the act of doubting. Accordingly, the formulation, “I think, therefore I am,” was the starting point of his philosophy. Thus, it is with this similar starting point that we too begin. Some have criticized this argument on the grounds that it is a tautological, or circular argument, in that the statement “I think” already contains the notion of “I,” and thus presupposes existence. However, in reality this is not so. The fact that there is a questioning of existence by

something, WHATEVER it is that we that question are, is proof of existence itself. Thus, we return back to the fundamental truth that that which THINKS by definition IS or exists. We know that within existence are those who have the capacity to contemplate their own existence, and are thus “conscious.” Within the observable reality, the empirical data suggests that all things are what Arthur Koestler termed “Holons” (i.e. “Whole ‐ Parts”); meaning that something is both an individual “Whole” and simultaneously a “Part” of something greater than itself which it is contained within. The term itself is a combination from the Greek holos (whole), with the suffix on which, as in proton or neutron, suggests a particle or part. Two observations impelled Koestler to propose the word holon. The first comes from Herbert Simon, a Nobel Prize winner, and is based on his “parable of the two watchmakers,” Hora and Tempus. From this parable, Simon concludes that complex systems will evolve from simple systems much more rapidly if there are stable intermediate forms than if there are not; the resulting complex systems in the former case will be hierarchic.[65] The second observation, made by Koestler while analyzing hierarchies and stable intermediate forms in living organisms and social organization, is that although it is easy to identify sub ‐ wholes or whole ‐ parts and “parts” in an absolute sense do not exist anywhere. This made Koestler propose the word “holon” to describe the hybrid nature of sub-

wholes/parts in real ‐ life systems; holons simultaneously are self ‐ contained wholes to their subordinated parts, and dependent parts when seen from the inverse direction. Koestler also establishes the link between holons and the watchmakers’parable from professor Simon. He points out that the sub ‐ wholes/holons are autonomous self ‐ reliant units, which have a degree of independence and handle contingencies without asking higher authorities for instructions. Simultaneously, holons are subject to control from multiple higher authorities. The first property ensures that holons are stable forms, which survive disturbances. The latter property signifies that they are intermediate forms, which provide the proper functionality for the bigger whole. Thus, a proton, neutron or electron is a holon of an Atom. It is unique itself, yet an Atom contains all of its properties AND transcendent properties that emerge from the TOTALITY of the Whole. Similar, a molecule contains the properties of each atom within it AND the transcendent properties that emerge from the TOTALITY of the Molecule. A Quark contains the properties of each molecule within it AND the transcendent properties that emerge from the TOTALITY of the quark. A cell contains the properties of each quark within it AND the transcendent properties that emerge from the TOTALITY of the cell. An organism contains the properties of each cell

within it AND the transcendent properties that emerge from the TOTALITY of the organism. This continues all the way up the “Ladder” of Creation, so to speak until we get to the planets being part of the Solar System, the Galaxies containing all within them, yet also the transcendent properties unique to the Totality of the Galaxy. This continues then on to the ENTIRE Universe; which i am presenting as the “matrix” of the Divine Mind within which ALL are thoughts. Thus, the Universe contains EVERYTHING within it, AND the transcendent properties that emerge from the TOTALITY of the WHOLE. So, put simply, the WHOLE of the UNIVERSE is the construct of the DIVINE MIND, and ALL within it are thought ‐ parts. The skeptic may then say “But how can you claim the Universe is MIND when it is physicality? How can you make the leap that the Universe has a Mind when we only see empirical evidence of physicality?” The answer is simple. The Whole can NEVER be absent of the traits of the PARTS within it. Thus, if WE have mind and we are PART of the Universe, then the Universe LOGICALLY MUST have Mind, but to a more TOTAL and COMPLETE degree than the thought ‐ parts within It. Thus, there is JUST AS MUCH proof that the Universe Itself has Mind, as there is that WE have mind. Our mind is merely a particle of mind within the COMPLETE and TOTAL Mind of the WHOLE. Thus, logically, the

Universal Mind must AT LEAST be as conscious, aware and mindful as the SUM of ALL thought within the Universe. However, just as in the case of unique properties emerging when protons, neutrons and electrons are combined to make an atom, we also can logically deduce that there are unique properties associated with the TOTALITY of Mind, that makes it greater and more unique than the sum of all thought within It. Thus, the conclusion is that there is not only a Higher Power that is MORE than the Sum of ALL things, or “Whole ‐ Parts” within the Universe, but that It is ALSO empirically discernable as a CONSCIOUS Higher Power, since Consciousness exists within It. Thus, this Higher Power is the origin of ALL things, and is not only as great as the sum of ALL power and consciousness within Reality, but that It also contains transcendent properties BEYOND the sum of all things, in exactly the same way as all other Wholes contain transcendent properties beyond the sum of their parts. We conclude that this Higher Power is by “Nature” so far beyond, so much more transcendent beyond us, that we cannot view ourselves as parts of It the same way that a grain of sand is physically a part of a beach or a drop of water physically part of the ocean. We instead realize that just as Descartes realized that no presumptions could be taken for granted, we neither should assume that the physical world, our physical bodies, and the Universe itself is the Ultimate “Reality.” The Reality Itself is the Higher Power that we can

rationally deduce Exists. Thus, whilst we can deduce that there is existence to that which questions existence, we CANNOT take for granted that these “personalities” or “egos” that we have been conditioned to accept as our “selves.”

Continuing on...

Before any, there existed something formless yet complete, before the Heavens and the Earth, without sound or substance ‐ yet the Source of both ‐ depending on Nothing, unchanging, yet constantly in ‐ flux. All pervading, unfailing. For It there was no beginning and shall be no end. For It is the Beginning and the End. Its End is in Its Beginning and Its Beginning in its End. By It the entire Universe was given form. This is THAT which we define as “Consciousness” as the “Higher Power.”In the East it is THAT which was referred to by the prophets and sages ‐ such as almost mythic Laozi ‐ as the “Dao.” Modern day, “Taoists”have strayed so far from the teachings of such Prophets ‐ not only in creating “isms” out of an original expression of submission to the ways and channels[66]of Life ‐ but also in abandoning the empirical reasoning that PROVES that the Tao MUST be AT LEAST as Conscious and deliberate as the SUM of all Consciousness within Existence, and THEN even MORE so, by nature of the transcendent

properties which emerge uniquely within the WHOLE; beyond the mere sum of Its parts. This fact is evidenced in that the originators of religious Taoism, the T’ien Shi (Celestial Masters), left behind their exegetical legacy of the “Xiang Er” commentary on the Daodejing; a work meaning “the Dao thinks of you.” That is to say, the earliest formal communities of Taoists, universally accepted by the Scholarly community as the origins of Taoism itself, viewed the Dao as absolutely conscious and concerned with moral uprightness. It would only emerge much later that certain Taoist Orders (not all), would come to view such concerns as antithetical to the Dao.[67] If there was Nothing in existence in the time “before creation,” (or existence), and since there was not anything which was brought into existence independent of its Creator, then ALL, that has ever been, was given form from this; the very BEING of this, THAT which we term the Divine (by whatever name of cultural expression). For if not, then anything that existed independently of this Source would be a “god,” having been made from something that did not originate from It. If this were the case then the entire Universe would be in disarray and these hypothetical “gods” would be in competition with each other for dominance. Therefore, since All was formed from the very Essence, the Substantive expression of the Mind, ‐ or Thought Construct within the Mind ‐ then all of the reflections of the “Force,”[68] (that drives all things to

live in the perfect balance of the Straight Path), through introspection can follow the internal road map to life, permeating the entirety of the manifest world so often called creation. It is here where our internal, intuitive knowledge lies dormant. This can be studied not only through empirical observation of this Mental Construct of the Divine Mind (referred to herein as the “Universe”), but also through communication of the Divine MIND to Its individual THOUGHTS. Such a process is what has been known in the Abrahamic traditions as “Prophethood.”[69] This not only occurs on a subtle level that pervades all of the Universal Construct of the Mind (in what we call our “Nature”), but also on a deliberate level of the Mind waking up particularly conscious and elucidated thoughts to Higher Realities. This occurs firstly on the level of what Islam calls “Muhaddathin” (those who are spoken to) and secondarily to those who are then visited by a species of more advanced, extraterrestrial life which the Qur’an calls the “Mala’ikah” (commonly translated as “Angels”), from the Hebrew “Malakhim” or “Messengers.” This is something inherent to higher consciousness; a matter of the human mind subtly interpreting a science of probabilities on a heightened level. Faith is not the only justification for this spiritual doctrine of the Mind’s communication within Itself to Its thought ‐ creations. This “Higher Law”is hard ‐ wired into all of Reality. It is what dictates the Truth of what

must be done to succeed the most productively and harmoniously with a given set of variables. That which drives us to engage each other sexually and reproduce, as a result of sensory or psychological arousal, to nourish our bodies when we are hungry, to sleep when tired, to fight when in danger and to flee when the odds are stacked against us. This same Force drives the groundhog to judge the coming climactic conditions by the cast of the sun’s rays. Our Creator, (Allah, YHVH or whatever terminology one may refer to It in), is a constant example of the Truth which we are to live in SUBMISSION to if we wish to survive (in this world and the next), and do what is right. All that one needs to do is look, there in the beautiful workings of Nature, to see the very Force permeating the entire Universe and all that dwelling within and animating the workings of the world around us. This can be observed in the life which surrounds us all, expressions of the consciousness of the Mind ‐ accordingly making the Supreme Source of Power self ‐ evident to all who can truly see. If there was not anything brought into existence independent of its Creator, then All, that has ever been, was given form from This; the very Existence and Substance of the Divine Mind. For if not, then anything that existed independently of this Source would be a “god” having been made from something that did not originate from It However, since all of creation was formed from the very essence of God then all of the reflections of the

“Force,” through introspection, can follow the internal “road map to life” found throughout Reality. In Jewish and Islamic thought ascribing partners to God is the most grievous of sins. This is for the simple reason that such a perspective is the misguided belief in separateness and duality; the belief that the individual is an independent island. It is the root of duality, false notions of separation, ego and all sins. Thus, in Islam it is suggested that sin of “shirk” cannot be forgiven. The Sufi would maintain that this is because such a sin can only be awakened from. Such iconoclastic perspectives can be traced back to the Biblical narratives of Abraham himself, to the Midrashim and Aggadotsurrounding his years in ancient Babylon, and to the origin of Anti ‐ Semitism, as Agricultural Civilizations’ backlash against the Haberu apostasy of tribal unity, nomadism and a perception of the singularity of life. To the Sufi, this doctrine of Absolute “Tawhid” or Unity of Allah states that, “There is NOTHING – no god in the heavens above, nor god ‐ man on the Earth below – there is ONLY Allah, the Divine Itself.” Ironically it is the perspective of fundamentalists, of any traditions, to claim that there is something “other than” God. If one says that “they” are other than God, then out of “what” did God “create” them? Out of “what” did God create that which It made you? And out of “what” was that created? Essentially if it was of something “other than” a FINITE FACET of God’s

INFINITE essence, then that something is a god. THAT is polytheism, and THAT is limiting the Limitless. We are manifested of God’s Infinite Will within Itself. If one dreams of that which Is Real then the dream is not illusory, it is a reflection of what has been or what will be. If I dream of what will happen tomorrow, then my dream was not “make ‐ believe” it was pure Intellect bestowed from the One. That is the sort of “dream” that we are a part of. This dream is Real, but a dream nonetheless. Muhammad expressed this saying: “In life mankind is asleep, when one dies they wake up.” The “I” does NOT exist. The “I” is an illusion, only God is Real. Ill Allahu, there is only Allah. God is the Infinite, we are the finite. God is Independent, we are dependent. A cell within a body is NOT the Total Being; yet it IS within it. A drop of water is NOT the Ocean but it is a tiny, finite FACET of the Ocean. A grain of sand is NOT the Beach, but it is a finite particle of the Beach. Does this mean that we are “parts” of God the same way as a drop of water is a “part” of the “whole” ocean, or a grain of sand is a “part” of the “whole” beach? No. It means that we are “parts,”THOUGHT ‐ parts, of the CONSTRUCT of God’s Mind. The CONSTRUCT itself is by definition “Creation,” but that “Construct” is not “Reality” in and of itself. God Itself is the Ultimately Reality, what the Sufi calls “Haqiqah,” the Sefirah which the M’qbali (Kabbalist) refers to as

“T’firet.” To say that we are “Parts” of God is to accept the misguided notion that the CONSTRUCT of the Mind is the Reality within which the Mind is. The Reality is that the Mind is That OF the Reality, That OF God. Within the Construct of That Mind is ALL that we know, and do not know; all that we can observe and all that we cannot. Within this Universal Construct of the Divine Mind is ALL. We must understand this with discernment. The drops of water in the Ocean and the grains of sand on the Beach are Real, but ONLY when seen as part of the Totality of the Construct of the Mind itself (which is real). When limited to themselves they are not Real. When a grain of sand says that it can stand alone as the entire Beach, then it is deluded by its ego, and has fallen into the false perception of shirk. But likewise, it is also incorrect to think that you are a grain of sand, “separate” from the Reality. Such a person perceives that around them are only other grains of sand, the Beach is real but it is off somewhere else where they have never seen, and “we” are absolutely unrelated to It. One must NEVER say that a particle is the Whole. God is the Whole “we” are the particle. But God tells us “we” cannot divide the Whole of It; so far be it from us to consider anything as “separate” from It.[70] Similarly, a thought cannot claim logically to be a part of the Mind. The Mind is One, and the thoughts are mere ILLUSIONS. Thus, there is NO “us” there is ONLY the Mind that is THAT which generates the Universal Construct within Itself.

We are limited, God is unlimited. We are finite expressions of Itself within Its own Universal Consciousness, and the Mathematical Construct thereof. It is Infinite. It is through the manifest that we can reflect upon signs in order to Know the Source Matter is a manifestation (or “expression” if you will), of Spirit. There is Nothing, only God. If we are not created of the Essence of God then of “what” are we created? Where did that purported material come from? If it came from anything “other than” God, then we have just ascribed a partner to God. We have then said “There is God and there is this ‘other’ substance which It made us from.” This is NOT the case. We must not be afraid of this Reality; we must seek to understand it. What is being said here is that God neither begets (i.e. “creates outside of Itself”), nor is begotten (i.e. “there is Nothing else for It to be created out of”). God did NOT “break off” a piece of Itself. For “where” would this piece be broken off too? What would lay between the cracks that would signify the “break”? Where else could It “put” those broken pieces other than within Its Infinite and Omnipresent Existence. God is the One, Ahad to the Muslim, Echad to the Jew; indivisible. There is Nothing, only It. We are WITHIN Its Mind, though not within any sort of physical body (jism). We are certainly NOT WITHOUT, or OUTSIDE OF some “god in the sky” created from the mythologies of alien to tribal

humankind; attempting to explain phenomenon outside of their understanding. That is why we are dependent upon It. If we were “somewhere else” then we would by nature be dependent upon that “place” which we were. But we are here. There is no there, there is only here; the here that is the reality. We are in reality, a part of reality, inseparable from reality and thus must accept reality.

Chapter 11: The Mind of the Universe The scientific journal Nature’s Scientific Reports, published November 16 of 2012, argued compelling that the Universe itself may grow, replicating itself, projecting “out,” in the same way that a giant brain grows. According to a new computer simulation, researchers claimed that it appears some undiscovered, fundamental laws may govern the growth of systems large and small, from the electrical firing between brain cells and growth of social networks to the expansion of galaxies. “Natural growth dynamics are the same for different real networks, like the Internet or the brain or social networks,” said Dmitri Krioukov, coauthor of the study published by the Cooperative Association for Internet

Data Analysis (CAIDA), based at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego. While not going so far as to “claim that the universe is a global brain or a computer,” Krioukov cautioned, “the discovered equivalence between the growth of the universe and complex networks strongly suggests that unexpectedly similar laws govern the dynamics of these very different complex systems.” Kevin Bassler of the University of Houston, who was not involved in the study, explained that the new study suggests a single fundamental law of nature may govern these networks, said physicist, “At first blush they seem to be quite different systems, the question is, is there some kind of controlling laws can describe them?”

Using Einstein’s equations of relativity, which explain how matter warps the fabric of space-time, physicists can retrace the universe’s explosive birth in the Big Bang roughly 14 billion years ago and how it has expanded outward in the eons since. Krioukov’s team wondered whether the Universe’s accelerating growth could provide insight into the ways social networks or brain circuits expand. The team created a computer simulation that broke the early universe into the tiniest possible units — quanta of space-time more miniscule than subatomic particles. The simulation linked any quanta, or nodes in a massive

celestial network, that were causally related. As the simulation progressed, it added more and more space-time to the history of the universe, and so its “network” connections between matter in galaxies, grew as well.

Simple mapping between the two surfaces representing the geometries of the universe and complex networks proves that their large-scale growth dynamics and structures are similar.

Image courtesy of CAIDA/SDSC

When the team compared the universe’s history with growth of social networks and brain circuits, they discovered something remarkable: all the networks expanded in similar ways. They balanced links between similar nodes with ones that already had many connections. An example given to

illustrate this: “a cat lover surfing the Internet may visit mega-sites such as Google or Yahoo, but will also browse cat fancier websites or YouTube kitten videos. In the same way, neighboring brain cells like to connect, but neurons also link to such ‘Google brain cells’ that are hooked up to loads of other brain cells.”[71] Krioukov explained that this is a “pattern” not simply a “coincidence.” He further explained that it’s more likely that some unknown law governs the way networks grow and change, from the smallest brain cells to the growth of mega-galaxies: “For a physicist it’s an immediate signal that there is some missing understanding of how nature works… This result suggests that maybe we should start looking for it.”[72] SDSC Director Michael Norman exclaimed, “Who would have guessed that the emergence of our universe’s four-dimensional spacetime from the quantum vacuum would have anything to do with the growth of the Internet? Causality is at the heart of both, so perhaps the similarity Krioukov and his collaborators found is to be expected.” What these findings mean, in light of the conclusions of the previous chapter, should now be clear. The Tien Shi said it this way: ““ or “The Tao thinks of you.” What this means then is that the notion of “The Will of Heaven” in Chinese tradition in general, as well as Moism and Taoism specifically, is that the Tao has a Will. It connects to us, within its mental construct, and we can connect to it. Consider the following oft-

misunderstood and misinterpreted passage from the Daodejing, which says:

Heaven and Earth are impartial They regard myriad things as straw dogs The sages are impartial They regard people as straw dogs

This passage does not mean that the sage does not care for the people, allowing them to be burned up ceremonially, with no regard. Indeed, the startling nature of these words is supposed to call our attention to their paradoxical meaning. If the passage had said “…they regard all things as empty,” then we would not realize the paradox, not realize the deeper meaning. But instead, scholars imagine this speaks of a disregard by the Sage. Nothing could be further from the truth. We know this both by the nature of Taoist governance laid forth in the Huinanzi, only centuries after the Daodejing, and also in the Xiang Er of the Tien Shi, now nearly two millennia old. The Tao thinks of you… This is what the Daodejing is trying to help us understand. Even as you read these words, you might think you understand: “Oh, yes, ‘the Tao thinks of me…’” No, not like that. You, are brought about, by the thinking of the Tao. “You,” as it were, “exist” by means of the Tao’s

“thinking of ‘you.’” This is the basis of all ancient Taoist understanding. Thus, it is said in the Hua Hu Jing, likely written by the Tien Shi:

To the ordinary being, others often require tolerance. To the highly evolved being, there is no such thing as tolerance, because there is no such thing as other. She has given up all ideas of individuality and extended her goodwill without prejudice in every direction.

Yes, the Universe is a Mind. The Mind is a Holon. All the way “up” and all the way “down” to the thought-creation of the myriad of things, it is all generated by the sustained “thought” – the thought-construct – that is the perceivable and unperceivable Universe. We might doubt it, but if we do, we must ask ourselves – remind ourselves – “if I have consciousness, how can the Holon of the Universe lack it?” Understanding this, we move forward with our practice, realizing that everything we do is observable and observed by the Tao. Everything we do is instantaneously weighed by the Tao as just or unjust, and thereby kinesthetically “judged” as “virtuous,” even “righteous” – the Tao determining instantly, naturally, the De of a thing.

Therefore, if our karma is dragged down by kinesthetic baggage, by unjust

and unvirtuous deeds, intentions and orientations, then it is only natural to imagine that our ability to absorb Qi within the capacitor of the body, and the centers in which energy naturally pools therein, will be hampered by our own misdeeds. Yes, we can fight against the current and absorb against the flow of our karma, but this will be many times the effort, for far less results. The frustration borne of this impedance leads the iniquitous to the path of hate. Their focus is narrowed by the glare of their yi on the nature of this Dharma, or Fa. This might allow them some progress, but there will always be a point of diminishing returns where further progress is impossible, regardless of intensity of focus, if the karma of one’s actions – their De – is not aligned with the Universal De. The Universe is a Mind. The Tao thinks of you. You are not separate from the Tao, nor is your consciousness separate from the Mind of the Universe. Thus it is written:

Without going out your door, know the world; without looking out the window, know the Dao of Tien.

In the aforementioned Hua Hu Jing, we find this explained:

The superior person settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in

the sky. By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.

Your actions are not meaningless, and justice is not a construct of human subjectivity. The Tao itself empowers just deeds kinesthetically, and drains the force from deeds of selfishness, disconnection, and the illusory barriers which the ego-identity constructs, walling itself off from the Way and the Power that is the Tao and its empowerment of Virtuous deeds. This is the meaning of the Daodejing, when it says:

Have little and receive Have much and be confused

Have little ego, and be filled up with Qi. Have much ego and the Qi will always find its way in slowly and with difficulty. When it is stored up, it will later be scattered and depleted. After health is restored, it will be lost again. Nothing is inconsequential. This is the most profound realization. Thus, the Huahujing says:

Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and

other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short and long, life and death? Can you let go of all these dualities and embrace the Tao without skepticism or panic? If so, you can reach the heart of the Integral Oneness. Along the way, avoid thinking of the Oneness as unusual, exalted, sublime, transcendental. Because it is the Oneness, it is beyond all that. It is simply the direct, essential, and complete truth.

Understand then that the true meaning and source of the San Bao, the Three Treasures of Jing, Qi and Shen is in Virtue, De, which connects us to the Mind of the Universe, as we fulfill the Will of Heaven. In walking the Tao of Tien, we express the Yi of the Mind of the Universe. As it is said, “Yi Tao, Qi Tao.” Where the Yi goes, the Qi goes. This is the secret to “Cultivating Flood-Like Qi” (Hao Ran Zhi Qi): the secret is to do the will of Heaven. Thus, it is written:

I have three treasures I hold on to them and protect them The first is called compassion The second is called conservation The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world Compassionate, thus able to have courage

Conserving, thus able to reach widely Not daring to be ahead in the world Thus able to assume leadership

Western mystics have said “As above, so below.” Indian mystics have said “What is in the body is in the Universe.” Realize this and understand that your mind is a reflection of the Mind of the Universe. Understand this and realize that energy will flow into your body, pool in centers, and flow in the same manner whether you are from an Indian background, Chinese background, African background, or Western background. Each system may have a different way of describing these processes, but the processes themselves are universal manifestations and reflections of Cosmic phenomena.

Humans follow the laws of Earth Earth follows the laws of Heaven Heaven follows the laws of Tao But the Tao follows its own Tao.

Realize this and focus your training towards not only repairing any damages to your body, by the excesses and imbalances of youth, hard living, and

unmindfulness, but also to repairing the world from the damages of our species’ youth, excesses, imbalances, hard-living and unmindfullness. Thus, it is written that:

Heaven and Earth are everlasting The reason Heaven and Earth can last forever Is that they do not exist for themselves Thus they can last forever Therefore the Sages: Place themselves last but end up in front Are outside of themselves and yet survive Is it not due to their selflessness? That is how they can achieve their own goals

Through such virtuous devotion to restorative justice in the world, the Tao which is always mindful of us, will kinesthetically reciprocate, empowering us towards the aim of our focus on De. This is the meaning of the Tao and the De.

Bibliography Bokencamp, S. (1999). Worldview of the Taoist. In Early Taoist Scriptures (Taoist Classics , No 1). Bracy, J. (1998). Ba Gua: Advanced Hidden Knowledge in the Taoist Internal Martial Arts. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books; Reissue edition. Danaos, K. (2002). Nei Kung: The Secret Teachings of the Warrior Sages . Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions. Hawkins, D. D. (2002). Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior. Australia, United Kingdom: Hay House; 1 edition. Ivanhoe, P. J. (2001). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, 2nd edition. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Co. Roth, H. D. (1999). Original Tao, Inward Training (Nei-Yeh). New York: Columbia University Press. Thomas Cleary, C. K. (1998). Opening the Dragon Gate. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. Wright, A. F. A Historian’s Reflections on the Taoist Tradition,. In History of Religions.

[1] Notes: al-bihar, v47, p123, hadith #172; also in manaqib by ibn shahr ashub [2] “History of Religions,” A Historian’s Reflections on the Taoist Tradition, Arthur F. Wright, pp. 248

[3] “Early Taoist Scriptures,” Worldview of the Taoist, Bokencamp pp. 10-11 [4] “History of Religions,” A Historian’s Reflections on the Taoist Tradition, Arthur F. Wright, pp. 248

[5] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Zhuangzi, Chapter 6, pp 235 for first section and omitted portion, in part, from Thomas Cleary’s translation, pp 235 [6] “Early Taoist Scriptures,” Worldview of the Taoist, Bokencamp pp.22

[7] Xing Yi Quan Xue, by Sun, Lu-T’ang, translated by Albert Liu, Complied and Edited by Dan Miller, pp 36-37 [8] “Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog” Article from the May 15, 1933 issue of Time magazine.

[9] http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html? res=FA0915FE3E5C16738DDDAF0894DD405B838FF1D3 [10] “Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li ChingYun” by Stuart Alve Olson, pp. 32 [11] There is no doubt that this is the case in modern day, Nei Dan practice.

[12] “The Magus of Java: Teachings of an Authentic Taoist Immortal,” Kosta Danaos, pp. 44 [13] “One night, Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly – a happy butterfly, showing off and doing as he pleased, unaware of being Zhuangzi. Suddenly he awoke, drowsily, Zhuangzi again. And he could not tell whether it was Zhuangzi who had dreamt the butterfly or the butterfly dreaming Zhuangzi. But there must be some difference between them! This is called ‘the transformation of things.’” Zhuangzi, Chapter 2 [14] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Laozi, Chapter 60, pp. 192 [15] Wile, Douglas “Lost T’ai-chi Classics from the late Ch’ing Dynasty” (1996) State University of New York Press, Albany. [16] “Magus of Java,” Kosta Danaos pp 42

[17] Laozi, Chapter 51 [18] Thus, being Taoists who saw no Wai Dan and Nei Dan division, but only cultivation for whatever definition of immortality, longevity, or simply living life unfettered by normative concepts of disease (in the Chinese sense), and degeneration. [19] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Zhuangzi Chapter 17, pp 247 [20] “History of Religions,” A Historian’s Reflections on the Taoist Tradition, Arthur F. Wright, pp 249 [21] Cleary, “Taoist Classics,” Vol. 2 pp 9

[22] Ibid, pp 76 [23] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Laozi, Chapter 10 [24] Ibid Chapter 50 [25] Ibid Chapter 48

[26] Ibid Chapter 63 [27] Ibid Chapter 15 [28] Ibid Chapter 42 [29] Ibid Chapter 52 [30] “Original Tao, Inward Training (Nei Ye),” Harold D. Roth, pp 86-88 [31] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Zhuangzi, Chapter 3, pp 224

[32] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Chapter 41 [33] “Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Zhuangzi, Chapter 4, pp 228

[34] Daniel Reid, The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity. p 260 [35] Reid, p. 261 [36] White, David Gordon, Kiss of the Yogini. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 2003), 221. [37] Acupressure and reflextherapy in the treatment of medical conditions, John R. Cross, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2001, p. 12 [38] For examples, see my work on Qi Vampirism, in the Taoist tradition. Hern Heng, Qi Vampirism: Background and Beginning Training In Taoist Energy Absorption Meditation, (Three Temples Publications, 2012) [39] Expect, however, a dedicated work on this subject, which will likely be published under my given, Hebrew name Mikhah ben David, rather than my Tao Jiao lineage name of Hern Heng. [40] Kosta Danaos, Nei Kung p 121-122

[41] For more on this subject, and for the source of this selection on the “levels” of Mo Pai Nei Kung, in building towards the fusion of “Yin-Yang Kung,” interested parties are directed to Shifu Lin’s Beginning Mo Pai Nei Kung: The Complete Guide to Establishing the Foundation in Dan Tien Meditation (Lung Hu Shan Publications: 2003) [42] Huainanzi, 3:1a/19

[43]

Shifu Lin, Overcoming Sickness with Nei Kung: Why do so many Mo Pai practitioners get

seriously ill? What you can do to prevent, or correct this, (Lung Hu Shan Publications, 2012) [44] Mikhah ben David, People of the Book: What the Religions Named in the Qur’an Can Tell Us About the Earliest Understanding of “Islam” (New Dawn Publications, 2012) [45] For an absolutely essential, and yet concise, discussion on Tao Jiao Lei Fa, the serious student should read Shifu Lin’s work by the same name: Tao Jiao Lei Fa: Taoist Thunder Magic Traditions and Their Relationship to Nei Kung Meditation (Lung Hu Shan Publications: 2012) [46] Baguazhang teacher John Bracy, as well as John Chang, and his biographer and disciple of the Mo Pai tradition Kosta Danaos and others describe “Qi” as “bioenergy,” or the intrinsic energy permeating all things. [47] (Ivanhoe, 2001), Zhuangzi, Chapter 2:4, “Joy and anger, sorrow and delight, hope and regret, doubt and ardor, diffidence and abandon, candor and reserve: it’s all music rising out of emptiness, mushrooms appearing out of mist.” [48] Ibid, Dao De Jing: Dao 56, pp. 190. This passage is interpreted philosophically by philosophers and alchemically by alchemists; each focusing on what is likely a multilayered meaning of the text. [49] A spiritual or spiritualized form (or perhaps grade), of matter; comprehensible in light of the fact that Taoists saw no inherent separation between the physical and spiritual, but an interaction and overlapping, or “bleeding through,” of one to the other. [50] (Ivanhoe, 2001), Dao De Jing: Dao 2, pp. 163

[51] Ibid: Dao 5, pp. 165 [52] Ibid: Mengzi: 2A2, pp 127 [53] Intent in the Mengzi is referred to simply as the Xin (Heart). Later Taoists would differentiate between the Xin and the Yi (Intent of the Mind). Though the term Xin is employed here, it is apparent from the usage that Mengzi is speaking of the core intent and not the emotional heart as the later Taoists would differentiate the Xin. [54] We will see an alternate translation of this passage later, which corroborates more closely with the interpretation of the matter by Mengzi. [55] (Legge)

[56] (Ivanhoe, 2001), Mengzi 2A2, pp. 127 [57] Throughout Taoist history there are many such individuals that have figured into legends. Sometimes these were evil Martial Arts Masters like the infamous “White Eyebrow” – said to have originally been a Buddhist – who both originated his own style of Kung-fu and is also speculatively thought to be the originator of both “Bat Style” and, by proxy, Ninjitsu. As well, the “Celestial Masters” school of Taoism were apparently responding to a variety of “Qi Vampires,” who would exploit women for the purpose of draining their sexual energy. [58] “Power Versus Force,” Dr. David Hawkins, Hay House; 1 edition (April 2002)

[59] In Hebrew the name “Samson” is “Shimshon,” from the common root of “Shamash” meaning “sun.” In Nei Jia, Danaos expresses that solar energy is the primary source of cosmically localized Yang Qi. [60] (Ivanhoe, 2001), Daodejing, pp. 189

[61] Ibid, Mengzi 2A:2, pp. 127 [62] (Ivanhoe, 2001), Mengzi 2A:2, pp. 127

[63] ibid. [64] John Cottingham, Meditations on First Philosophy, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). [65] Koestler, A. (1968). The Ghost in the Machine. McMillan: New York.

[66] This is the original etymological meaning of the pictogram “Dao.” [67] For a much more detailed investigation into this matter, consult “Virtue and the Way: Cultivating Flood‐like Qi.” This work deals with some of these issues, but also the centrality of “Virtue” (De), in the Laozi text. [68] “Power” would actually be a more accurate term, as expressed in the aforementioned “Virtue and the Way,” as well as in “Power versus Force.” Interestingly, this is a Qur’anic expression for the Divine, “Al‐Qadar.” [69] In the Islamic tradition it would be expanded to state that a Prophet is strictly one appointed by the Angelic Council to take a message to a people. The general communicators with the Divine Mind are therein – within Ahadith literature – termed “Muhaddathun,” or “those who talk.” Prophets, Islam declares, are appointed by third parties of an administrative hierarchy, from amongst these. In any event, cultural semantics and linguistic specifications aside, the Biblical prophets implied either the Islamic status of Nabi (Prophet) or Muhaddath. [70] How does God tell us this? At this point of the argument, it has been established through reason that the Construct of the Universe must have at least the Sum of all Consciousness, as well as transcendent properties emergent from this holon relationship. As such, with the argument thus made, it is reasonable that the Mind can communicate with the thoughts and vice versa. Accordingly, when there are figures who emerge with sacred writ beyond the knowledge of people of their day, claiming to have originated from this Mind‐thought connection, it is reasonable that we might approach this with an open mind.

[71] Michael Rundle, “Physicists Find Evidence That The Universe Is A ‘Giant Brain’“ Huffington Post UK (November 27, 2012 < http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/11/27/physicists-universe-giantbrain_n_2196346.html > [72] Jan Zverina, Human Brain, Internet, and Cosmology: Similar Laws at Work? University Communications and Public Affairs News Center, UCSD (November 19, 2012) < ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/human_brain_internet_and_cosmology_similar_laws_at_work >