Infolad1

I learned directly from Grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng From his site: http://mastertu.com/ "Jiu Yang Shen Gong is Grandmaster Tu’s unique penis qigong. Jiu means nine. Nine is special number in Chinese numerology because it is the largest of the single digits and after counting to nine, one must return to one. It also refers to the nine major orifices of the body: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, anus, and genitals. Shen means spirit. Yang is the same Yang in Yin-Yang and Gong is the same Gong in Qigong. This method is based on Bodhidharma’s Shaolin Marrow Washing (xisuigong) and Taoist nine-circle alchemy (daojia jiu zhuan wandansu.) It combines Buddhist and Taoist, as well as internal and external methods. (Emphasis Mine) When Tu puts this in modern scientific terms, he defines the external method as cultivation of the penis while the internal method focuses on increasing hormone production." Pulling planes, and what have you, is marketing. The man has a VERY in-depth system. The Swinging, and lifting is first level. From my personal experience, it turbo boosts the process of entering Kevala Khumbaka, aka Tai Hsi/Taixi: Spontaneous stoppage of breath, the key for activating the movement of the real Yang Qi, and not just the minor movements of wind Qi that most Qigong practitioners get. Grandmaster Tu has three levels. The Iron Crotch training is level one. The levels beyond that take you deeper into neidan cultivation, once you've actually got something to work with. He teaches you at the level that you're at, once he assesses you, and then helps you get where you need to go. The initial training is a combination of stretches, specific breathing patterns, the iron crotch training itself, meditation, and striking specific points with a metal broom/striker. Short of pyrokinesis, I've personally seen Master Tu do what John Chang supposedly does ( directing"Electric"Qi. through people, light body Qigong to stand on a dozen, and a half eggs we just bought, as he paints an ink brush painting of Laozi, right after chopping a steel bar we got for him from Home Depot into a "V" shape. I could feel the energy coming off of him in waves, as he did it). And he's here in the States, for those willing, and able, to put the money down. Very nice man. Him, and his wife are great people. If you're going to learn it from someone Jox, learn it from him. Cheers!

Now with that out of the way, let's get back to the booklist! As always, my views are my own with all of this. As I always say, believe nothing. Read, research, apply. Keep the useful, discard the useless, once you have a relatively good idea which is which. It is my hope that this booklist will help save major time for people, as they progress. With that said: Part 7 of The Energy Cultivator's Handbook by Infolad1 The Energy Cultivator’s Ultimate Booklist - 7b What is Enlightenment? Paperback – November 1, 2012 by William Bodri Book Description: What is spiritual enlightenment? You often hear the term "enlightenment" in deep spiritual discussions, but it is almost impossible to find anyone who can definitively say what "enlightenment," "awakening," "union," or "self-realization" actually entails. In fact, many religions differ as to their proposals for the highest state of spiritual attainment -- which is often called salvation, liberation or becoming one with God (union) -- that often do not even include enlightenment, or they may simply recognize it under a different name. Enlightenment is the direct realization of our self-nature, source essence, or true self. This awakening constitutes directly experiencing the source and essence of reality, the original dimension of equal identity where mind and matter are one because you have found the ultimate underlying, true nature of all things. Enlightenment means to directly, experientially realize that basic substance of cosmic life where matter and consciousness are the same substance, which then consequently opens up various powers and a universal visage. That transcendental source nature you discover is often called God, Ein Sof, Allah, Brahman, dharmakaya, fundamental nature, Buddha-nature, Tao, Emptiness or Self. Some of the secular designations include Pure Consciousness, pristine awareness, one mind, uncreated light, clear light or infinite universal illumination to denote the fact that It is the ultimate substratum that gives birth to the knowingness of manifest consciousness. The way to this realization is through meditation and other spiritual practices that teach you to stop clinging to states of consciousness. You must always allow consciousness to arise, but should not cling to thoughts to thus become a perfectly free, effortless, natural and spontaneous individual. As your thoughts quiet down because of this practice, your body's chakras and chi channels will open up (you will experience a kundalini awakening) and you will gradually stop identifying your body and mind as your self. In time you can attain a pristine realization of selflessness (a state absent of the ego, I-thought or sense of separate "I-amness") that constitutes enlightenment. Regardless of your religious tradition, when you diligently cultivate spiritual practice you will gradually pass through many transitional stages of progress and particular spiritual experiences. These experiences can include special degrees of one-pointed concentration (absorption) called dhyana and samadhi attainments, which prepare you for enlightenment if you cultivate far enough. Many religions, both Eastern and Western, describe these possible achievements in great detail, and many such experiences that are not enlightenment are analyzed within so that practitioners do not incorrectly assume they have actually achieved awakening when they have only experienced inferior attainments. The various achievement levels to this awakening of self-realization that are explained. This book is the first of its kind to collect not only the rare autobiographical and biographical accounts from many traditions of individuals who achieved enlightenment (because it is a non-denominational accomplishment), but also the relevant passages in each tradition's scriptures that reveal the characteristics of the original nature that everyone awakens to (such as perfect purity, changelessness, infinity, eternality, and bliss). The reader quickly comes to the conclusion that despite sectarian differences, everyone is actually awakening to the very same thing. It cannot be anything else! The pathway to enlightenment is analyzed using many different religious paths and frameworks. Many common errors of spiritual practice and misinterpretations of spiritual states are also revealed to help individuals become correctly oriented so that they can attain enlightenment as well. Comments: Each of Bodri’s books is an encyclopedia of information from various systems, and traditions. They’re worth it just for that. He says he has a 7,000 book library. I believe him! A great book so far. I’m on page 105. It a 548 book. Let me correct that. It’s actually an over 1,500 page book PRETENDING it’s a third that size, through the use of small type. VERY small type. You’ve been warned. It also desperately needs an Index, but it’s not a deal killer for getting it. He covers enlightenment in detail, from various traditions. Bodri shows through various examples the point that he always emphasizes, and rightly so: that this process is non-denominational, and that all culture’s have experience with it, to various degrees, and levels. To me this is the primary value of Bodri’s considerable catalogue of work. To chronicle the details of these various systems for a 21st Century audience. The other thing to always remember about Bodri’s work, and that will drive some folks nuts, is that he’s super repetitive. And he does it on purpose. He’s found from years of teaching, and from my own teaching experience I’d have to agree with him, that people need to read, and hear these concepts over, and over again, so that they can start to grasp both the foundational structure, and the various details of this process, or any system for that matter. But to have a book that has collected In one place multiple examples of enlightened beings from various systems, along with showing why they’re considered enlightened, and what physiological, and mental signs can verify this, is invaluable in ways that some won’t realize for years to come, as they walk this path. Recommended. How to Measure and Deepen Your Spiritual Realization ("Measuring Meditation") By William Bodri and Nan Huai-Chin 705 page e-Book $97 Purchase Link is here: http://www.meditationexpert.com/measuringmeditation.html Book Description (It’s LONG): A tour de force of various non denominational ways to measure the extent of someone's meditation progress, using case studies that analyze ordinary practitioners and advanced meditation adepts from a large variety of spiritual traditions (Zen, Taoist, Tibetan Buddhist, Christian meditation, etc.). No other book ranks the transcendental stages of the spiritual greats according to objective criteria, and evaluates whether they had achieved samadhi or enlightenment. This 700-page instruction manual goes way past comparative religion and reveals specific yoga teachings to help you surpass each spiritual attainment level prior to enlightenment. It melds the best spiritual teachings from Eastern and Western sources. If you want to know what it's like to be taught by Master Nan and how to analyze someone's stage of meditation or spiritual progress, then this is the book to buy. Imagine Listening to an Enlightened Zen, Esoteric and Taoist Master as He Reveals Secret Meditation Techniques, Advanced Stages of Spiritual Practice, Chakra-Kundalini-Tantra Esoteric Secrets, and Teaches You How to Silence Your Internal Mind A famous Zen, Tao and Esoteric school master has finally taken all those confusing Taoist teachings on cultivating your jing, chi and shen ... Buddhist teachings on breaking through the five skandhas and realms of consciousness ... the yoga teachings in Hinduism on mastering the various samadhi and dhyana you can reach in meditation ... Tibetan tantra teachings on opening your chakras and chi channels and cultivating kundalini ... Jewish Kabbalah teachings on ayin (nothingness) and the annihilation of thought ... Confucian teachings on how to perfect your behavior to attain samadhi and enlightenment ... Christian teachings on stages of selflessness and holy spiritual love ... psychic findings about heavenly realms and other metaphysical phenomena ... and all sorts of other spiritual ranking systems ... and sorted them, cross-correlated them, merged them and then applied them to provide you with a generalized map of the stages of spiritual progress that you can personally expect to experience through meditation. Why? To provide you with a clear road map through all the spiritual junk knowledge out there, and to help you with your spiritual practice by cutting off twenty to thirty years of dedicated study, frustration and dead-ends. This "course in a book," which we fondly refer to as "Measuring Meditation," creates one unified topological map explaining all sorts of unexplained metaphysical, paranormal and psychic phenomena and does something people have desired for years -- it links the various stages of genuine spiritual development or spiritual growth in all the major spiritual schools. It took me years to compile this knowledge from all sorts of traditions, both Eastern and Western, and now it is all compiled in one single place. There's absolutely nothing like this available elsewhere. Just check the testimonials from seekers who have libraries of hundreds or thousands of books, who've spent untold dollars collecting materials, going to seminars and seeking, and yet who never encountered the real dharma. All the publishers we contacted said this material was just too large to get published -- it was too jam packed with information to be printed. But I wanted to make it available to you anyway, so here it is in ebook form... In a step-by-step fashion, this course on spiritual practice teaches you how to dispense with mysticism and nonsensical New Age explanations, and apply the scientific basis of genuine spiritual teachings to your own meditation work - no matter what school you come from or presently follow. It covers practically all your spiritual efforts, all techniques, all schools and measuring systems. We're not out to convert anyone, just deepen your own practice with true cultivation content that can help guide you to the answers you've been seeking for all sorts of practices, stages and phenomena. In this manual you will finally have a single source on internal and external yoga that makes sense of the thousands of spiritual texts and metaphysical treatises sitting on dusty library shelves. No more theory, no more mysticism, no more hogwash and spiritual "mumbo jumbo" -- inside this course you'll find straight talk and straight answers. You'll find real life applications of hundreds of extremely advanced cultivation teachings and meditation techniques that embody the real heart of spiritual cultivation practice. Basically, this is the Bible for guiding a person's spiritual growth because it even has case studies of ordinary "kundalini practitioners" at the most rudimentary stages of the path. It also has case studies of advanced adepts, and enlightened sages and the gong-fu (kung-fu) they had to cultivate, or chose to cultivate before and after their enlightenment. But don't believe me about the contents and quality of this work. Instead, just read the testimonials I've posted for you. They don't lie. They're from people just like you who are searching for clear answers about esoteric matters and the spiritual trail... I guarantee that after being exposed to this information on true spiritual cultivation just once, you'll know how to meditate properly and will say good-bye to New Age fluff forever. I personally wrote it with that one purpose in mind. With this information you'll never be confused again about contradictory spiritual teachings such as "This school says this" and "That school says that." You won't run from this teacher to that one anymore, or from this school or that course to another. You won't feel like you're missing anything when you hear about all these competing schools because you'll understand the basis behind it all, and will now know how to differentiate the TRUTH from the crap. Seriously! You'll be clear about the various grading systems of the spiritual path -- whether we're talking about chakras or kundalini or tantra, clear light and chi mai and samadhi or dhyana -- and will be able to weave all these teachings together and then apply them to your own personal practice. That's the important point. This manual offers you a very personal and practical roadmap to spiritual practice. You'll be clear about all sorts of meditation methods -- such as vipassana, mantra, mindfulness meditation, pranayama, visualization, Zen, tantrism, siddha yoga, cessation and contemplation and so forth -- along with their actual effectiveness or lack thereof. From what you know and knowledge of your habits, personality and lifestyle, it'll simply be up to you to choose which method suits you best. You'll understand karma and reincarnation, and how to change your fortune and destiny as revealed by astrology, feng shui or other fate forecasting techniques. You'll understand the true way ... and not the superficial ways touted today ... for changing your character and undergoing true spiritual development. You'll also learn how to determine which Eastern and Western religions are deficient in their spiritual teachings, and why! Lots of people have been seeking this information for decades. In their heart of hearts, they know something isn't quite right about certain "religions" or specific religious teachings in particular, but until now they just didn't have the right tools or vocabulary to be able to determine what they knew was off. Now in one glance you'll be able to know for sure ... positively, absolutely ... and will have the words for it. Boy will you tick off some people if you open your mouth without thinking because they'll have nothing to say, and the truth of what you're saying will be self-evident to everybody. You'll also be able to go through case studies of famous (and ordinary) cultivation practitioners and see exactly where they stood in terms of their own progress on the spiritual trail ... something most people would like to talk about but have no yardsticks for grading the matter ... ... and you'll learn how to do this through a step-by-step, iterative process that always reflects back upon previous lessons and teachings. Milarepa, Hui-neng, Ramakrishna, Edgar Cayce, Lao Tzu, Padre Pio, Steiner, Shakyamuni Buddha, Ananda, Mahakasyapa, Han Shan, Hakuin, Xuan Zang, Gampopa, St. Francis of Assisi, Yeshe Tsogyel, Jesus, Moses, Confucius, Chuang Tzu, Yogananda, and countless other spiritual greats are discussed and analyzed in this course. All the great ones you read about. But here's the key. Other books just say they were all great. In this book you learn EXACTLY how to determine their actual STAGE of spiritual cultivation and accomplishment. So the saints of Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Indian Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Vedanta, Christianity, Christian mysticism, medieval alchemy, Islam, Judaism, Sufism, yoga and other schools are analyzed to see what stage of spiritual practice they had reached. This isn't like looking at paintings in a museum where people say "everything is art," and thus relieving you of the possibility of criticizing what you see on the walls. Some of these saints WERE greater than others in terms of their stage of spiritual attainment! There's no doubt about it, but know you'll know how to measure this stage of realization. With a multitude of overlapping spiritual rating systems in your hands -- supplied by these religions themselves -- you'll be surprised to find out who was "enlightened" and who merely had samadhi attainments or just a small realization of emptiness or selflessness. No longer will you just toss up unexplained phenomena to mysticism, for now you'll know why and how the saints of the various religions were able to say the things they said, and perform the feats they did. Everyone who signs up for our ezine gets a free download of chapter 4 from this book so that they can evaluate this material and benefit from its teachings even if they decide not to buy it, but to really appreciate the depth of this material you have to look at its full Table of Contents: Preface 1 The Challenge of Correctly Measuring and Interpreting Spiritual Progress Kung-fu Mind-Body Transformations * Prajna Transcendental Wisdom * Avoiding Self-Delusion in Spiritual Cultivation * Direct Experience is Essential 2 An Introduction to the Five Skandhas Ranking System The Selflessness of the Ego and Phenomena * The True Meaning of Religious Practice * Form Skandha * Sensation Skandha * Conception Skandha * Volition Skandha * Consciousness Skandha * Transforming, Purifying, or Exhausting the Skandhas * Cessation-Contemplation and Zen * Using the Skandhas in Cultivation * Four Cultivation Truths 3 The Taoist Time Requirements for Spiritual Kung-fu and the Consecutive Stages of Spiritual Attainment The Five Elements Schema * 8 Sensations * The Three Realms * Tao and Longevity * Jing * Chi * Shen * Why the 5 Elements Transform in the Order That They Do * The 9 Year Transformation Sequence for the Physical Components of the Body * Taoist Jing-Chi-Shen Transformations Explain the Spiritual Path * Laying the Foundation, Pregnancy, Suckling the Baby, Facing the Wall * Inedia in Christianity and Hinduism * Proper Fasting Practice Instructions * 100 Day Bigu Fasting Practice * 9 Year Bigu Fasting Practice * The 5 Requirements for Becoming Immortal * Ghost-Human-Earthly-Heavenly-Spiritual Immortals * Shakyamuni's Analysis of Immortality Techniques * I-Ching * The Many Spiritual Measurement Systems You Need to Learn 4 Twelve Enlightening Case Studies: An Analysis of the Spiritual Progress and Problems Faced by People Practicing Meditation The Kundalini Experience * The Importance of Using Tao and Longevity as a Reference * (1) HUMANITIES PROFESSOR * Fan Chi or Wind Chi * Sensations in the Legs * Meditation Reveals Latent Illnesses * (2) HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER * Fixing Problems Revealed through Meditation * Semblance Dharma * (3) ARTIST-TEACHER * Cultivation and Mental Illness * The Du-yin Shadow Consciousness * Chi at the Back of the Head * (4) PSYCHOLOGIST * Feeling Chi Sensations in the Body * (5) COMPUTER SCIENTIST * Strong Vitality and Sexual Activity on the Path * The Number of Chi Channels in the Body * The Importance of the Left Big Toe in Meditation * Spontaneous Movements * Incendium Amoris is Christian Kundalini * Pranayama * Sounds in the Head * Saint Francis of Assisi * An Explanation of Biblical Superpowers * (6) ARTIST * The Stage of Not Needing Sleep * Fullness of Jing, Chi and Shen * (7) SCIENTIST * (8) ACTRESS * Dreams of Flying * Poltergeists * (9) PSYCHOLOGIST * (10) LIBRARIAN * Excessive Damp Heat in the Body * (11) HOUSEWIFE AFTER MENOPAUSE * Cycles of Human Development * (12) PSYCHIATRIST * Seeing a Blue Diamond * Twenty-Five Doors to Meditation Reveals Many Meditation Techniques * Zen Master Hakuin Cures Himself with the So Cream Meditation * The Cardinal Spiritual Principle of Practice 5 The Five Aggregates Schema and the Various Levels of Consciousness A Discussion of the Five Aggregates * The Stories of Vasubandhu and Asanga * Form Skandha * The Four Elements and Space * The Agglomeration of Form * The Parinispanna, Paratantra and Parikalpita Natures * Perceptible Form * Imperceptible Form * The Five Sense Organs * Ching-se Sentient Matter * The Three Natures of Reality * The True Nature of Reality * Sensation Skandha * Sri Yukteswar's Yang Shen Emanation Body and Jesus' Resurrection Body * Conception Skandha * Enlightened People are Aware During Dreams * Volition Skandha * Behavior and the Spiritual Path * Emptiness of Phenomena * 10 Omnipresent Factors * 11 Virtuous Mental Events * 6 Root Afflictions * 5 Deviant Perspectives * 20 Secondary Afflictions * 4 Variable Mental Events * Shen Tsan Helps Educate His Teacher * Non-associated Motivational Forces * States of No-Mind * Boundaries of the Skandhas * Consciousness Skandha * The 8 Consciousnesses * Sleeping, Death and Leaving Samadhi * The First Six Consciousnesses * The Seventh Consciousness * 4 Ego-centered Notions * The Eighth Alaya Consciousness * Xuan Zang in The Journey to the West * Avalokiteshvara's Meditation Method of Hearing * The Dharmadhatu and Tathagatagarbha * Reviewing the Five Skandhas * Great Mirror Wisdom * Equality Wisdom * Analytical Wisdom of Discernment * All-Accomplishing Action Wisdom * Spiritual Cultivation From the Aspect of the Skandhas 6 How to Correctly Interpret a Zen Master's Progressive Attainments Vimalakirti Scolds Purnamaitrayaniputra * Han Shan Breaks Through the Form Skandha * Merit, Sexual Discipline, Emptiness * Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi * Guang Qin * Hui-Tzu is Found Inside a Tree Cultivating Samadhi * How To Arouse Someone From the State of Samadhi * Bodhisattva Candraprabha * Rainbow Bodies 7 The Spiritual Accomplishments of Four Famous Tibetan Adepts: Yeshe Tsogyel, Milarepa, Gampopa, and Machig Labdron LADY YESHE TSOGYEL * Eight Severe Austerity Practices * When Chi Flows Cannot Meet * Master T'ien-wang Wu Floats on a Lotus Flower * Fa-jung of Ox Head Mountain * Jesus Disperses the Crowd of Stoning * Cultivation Tests * Return to Maidenhood and the Woman's Road of Cultivation * Confucius' Sequence of Cultivation Progress * MILAREPA * Kundalini Cultivation * Heavenly, Earthly and Human Dan * Food Intake During Cultivation * Wei Po-Yang's Explanation of Cultivation * Shape Shifting Versus the Yang Shen * GAMPOPA * Zen Master Huai-jang and Ma-tsu * The Complete Enlightenment Sutra and Immediate Enlightenment * Bliss, Illumination and No-Thought * Renewing the Brain * MACHIG LABDRON * Tibetan Empowerments and Real Initiations * Foundations of Chod 8 Kundalini Yoga, the Four Stages of Intensified Practice, and the Five Overall Phases of the Spiritual Path Kundalini in Chinese Culture * The Stage of Preparatory Practices * The 4 Steps of Prayoga * Stage of Warming * Stage of the Peak * Stage of Forbearance * Stage of Highest Worldly Dharma * How to Grade Yoga Achievements with the Four Stages of Prayoga * Empowerments * Cultivating Chi Through Breathing Practices * The Big Knife Wind * Makhafa Path of Islam and Way of Margaret in Christianity * The Equation of Spiritual Progress * Sexual Desire and Sexual Cultivation * Step-by-Step Spiritual Transformation 9 Essential Cultivation Principles Which Few People are Ever Taught God, Buddha Nature, Allah and Other Equivalent Terms * The Three Buddha Bodies * Dharmakaya * Sambhogakaya * Nirmanakaya * How to Cultivate the Full Three Enlightenment Bodies * The Ceaseless Transformations of the Universe * The Characteristics of Form and Ultimate Nature * Nagarjuna's and Avalokiteshvara's Negations * Existence and Nonexistence * Ontology and Spiritual Practice * Behavior as the Ground, Means and Fruit of the Path * The Nature of Conscious Thought * Merit, Wisdom and Discipline Requirements in Spiritual Cultivation * Some Various Roads of Cultivation Practice 10 The Meditative Realms of the Nine Samadhi Absorptions The Definition of Samadhi and Dhyana * Tien-tai 's Six Steps for Cultivating Samadhi * General Characteristics of the Dhyana * First Dhyana * Factors Inhibiting Samadhi * Methods for Attaining One-pointedness * Dhyana Stages of Joy and Bliss * Retreat Practice * Discipline Required of the Path * Desire Realm Heavens and Inhabitants * Ching-an State of Pre-Samadhi * Alexandrine Gnosticism * Second Dhyana * Third Dhyana * Fourth Dhyana * How Other Spiritual Schools Describe the Four Dhyana * The 5 Eyes of Wisdom * Various States of No-mind or No-Thought * Bardo States * The Four Formless Samadhi Absorptions * Samadhi of Infinite Space * Peach Blossom Enlightenment * Samadhi of Infinite Consciousness * Samadhi of Nothingness * Samadhi of No-Thought * Samadhi of Neither Thought Nor No-Thought * Edgar Cayce, Rudolf Steiner, Meister Eckhart, Padre Pio * Hakuin and Master Dokyo * Zen master Hseuh-tou Ch'in * Samadhi of Extinction * The Arhat's Fractional Nirvana of Remaining Dependency * When an Arhat Passes Away * Other Samadhi Attainments * Drowsiness * Buddhism as a Guide to Cultivation * Iron Ox Master Tieh Nieu * Stupid Emptiness Samadhi 11 Purifying the Skandhas and the Fifty Great Spiritual Paths of Delusion Form Skandha Phenomena * Sensation Skandha Phenomena * Conception Skandha * Yang Shen Body * Eyes and Seeing * Clarity Within Dreams * Zen Misconceptions * Volition Skandha * Surveying Past Lives * The Whirling Force of Life * Consciousness Skandha * Buddha Gives Specific Warnings About the Paths of Delusion * 5 Skandha Pollutions * Complete Cultivation * Transmitting Spiritual Teachings * The Creation of Consciousness and the World * Gradually Exhausting the Skandhas 12 The Internal Principles of Cessation and Contemplation Are Embodied Within All Genuine Spiritual Practices Yogacara and Consciousness-Only * Sandhinirmocana Sutra * Mahakashyapa Teaches Ananda * Nirvana Sutra * The 4 Methods of Cessation and Contemplation * 25 Variations of Cessation, Contemplation and Dhyana Practice * Zen Master Yung-ming's Lesson on Cessation and Contemplation 13 The Road of Tantric Cultivation for Opening the Sushumna Central Channel Esoteric Practice Focuses on Things Outside of the Mind * The 7 Major Chakras * Chi Channels, Chi Flows, Habit Energies, and Superpowers * The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine * Various Schools Discuss the Chi and Chi Channels * An Introduction to Tibetan Esoteric Practices * The Tantric Tradition * Padmasambhava * The Resultant and Causal Vehicles * Stigmata * Master Tsong Khapa * The Yoga of Marks * The Yoga Without Marks * Generation and Completion Stage Yogas * The Stage of Generation * The Stage of Completion * Specialization of the Tantras * A Short Analysis of the Tantric Tradition * When Chi Enters the Central Channel * Biophysics of the Cultivation Path * The Four Blisses * The Four Empties * Ways of Accidentally Seeing the Tao * Signs that Chi is Entering the Central Channel * Useful Cultivation Practices * Sexual Cultivation * Consciousness Rides on Chi * Drops * Tibetan Bardo Yogas * Comparing Spiritual Schools and Their Stages of Cultivation * Incorruptibility and Sariras * Requesting Enlightened Beings to Help You in Your Cultivation * Matching the Esoteric and Orthodox Paths 14 The Great Learning, Confucian Cultivation, and the Way to Actualize Universal Salvation Blind Faith and Superstition * Confucian Cultivation * Tan Fu and Moses * The Chinese Exodus * The Great Learning * Ming De Bright Virtue * Qin Min Loving the People * Zhi Resting in the Highest Good * The Seven Step Confucian Process for Attaining Samadhi * Transforming the World with Personal Spiritual Cultivation * Bringing Peace to the World Through the Mastery of Self-Cultivation * Purifying Your Behavior * Modern Science Lags Behind Cultivation Science * The Path Ahead Appendix The "Warning to Cultivators" Chapter of the Surangama Sutra Glossary This is a virtual tour de force of various non-denominational ways to measure the extent of someone's meditation progress and how to apply this information to your own cultivation efforts. It even contains specific meditations for breaking through each level of spiritual attainment! If you've been looking for cultivation methods to try, but also WHY and HOW they work, this is the manual you need to get. It's not tiresome to read, but a treasure to read... Comments: Get it. Did you see the table of contents!? This tome is multiple books in one. Bodri really saves you a LOT of time researching. As always, his work is a cornucopia of data. Recommended. The Various Stages of the Spiritual Experience Course: An Integrated Understanding that Will Elevate All Religions By William Bodri An $800 Correspondence Course (Although he said on a Conference call a couple of years ago that he was no longer teaching it. This may Have changed) Course Description: After so many years of spiritual seeking, visiting teachers, buying shelves of books and attending retreats, spending wads of money and having the time tick away -- are you where you really want to be with your spiritual practice? How to meditate, the common spiritual methods used by religions, transcendental meditation techniques, kundalini, chakras, chi (qi), superpowers, body doubles and dream yoga, prayer, one-pointed concentration, Zen, Buddhism, japa, mantra, Taoism, mystical Christianity, reincarnation, tantra, spiritual enlightenment ... Now you can finally find dependable teachings on all the questions you've ever had about this or that spiritual path and training, or your money back! If you're an active spiritual seeker or student of metaphysics -- and especially if you're a professional psychologist, scientist, consciousness researcher, student of comparative religion or religious functionary (priest, rabbi, monk, or nun) -- then check out the Tao and Longevity and How to Measure and Deepen Your Spiritual Realization to see what we're talking about. If you like what you read and want more -- deep insights and professional level training into all the nitty gritty explanations of spiritual experiences and metaphysical phenomena with abundant examples, along with verification through hundreds of quoted spiritual sources and comprehensive maps linking the spiritual stages and meditation practices of the world's many spiritual traditions together, and how to climb those ranks yourself-- it's finally available in a special course that's jam-packed with more information than any PhD in comparative religion will ever put you through! And more personal service than you're ever going to get from your doctor, lawyer or accountant. With this training, you'll be light-years ahead of the common seeker. You'll even put the Dalai Lama to shame, not to mention the Billy Graham's of the world as well. The common comment I hear from every taker of this course is that now they don't have to buy any more books, but know exactly what they have to do with practice. The wanderlust is gone because all their questions are answered, and the only thing left is the job of pure cultivation. When you look at all the money and time and energy you've spent, what would that be worth to you? That alone, is priceless. Here are the actual contents for each of the eight lessons to this course: Lesson 1: The Five General Stages of the Spiritual Path, which characterize all true spiritual schools, are outlined and applied to show the relative depths of Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Tantra, Islam, and yoga regarding as far as they take you on the spiritual trail. These five Mahayana stages are the first categorical partitioning scheme by which you can analyze and actually rank the teachings and teachers of various spiritual traditions, and you'll find out that nearly 100% of individuals in the world following the formalized religions are only on the first stage of this five step path. With this one initial measuring system, you will quickly be able to rule out some of the newer "religions" and spiritual sects as not being genuine at all, and now you'll know why. Lesson 2: "Gong-fu" Transformations Within the Physical Body are introduced next, by which you can determine what stage of spiritual practice you have actually reached yourself, how long it is likely to last, and how to guide yourself through these physical and psychological changes. This lesson focuses on the mind-body changes catalogued by Taoism, and the fact that no genuine advancement in spirituality is made without an corresponding physical change in someone's chi and chi channels. If you want to understand the metaphysics of jing, chi and shen transformations, then this is it. For the first time in print, the Western cultivation scheme of purifying the body's five elements is also analyzed in order to understand why certain meditation methods are preferred in the world's spiritual schools, why the actual sequences of cultivation practice actually follow the specific order that they do, and to lay out information for the new cultivation schools destined to develop in the West. This one lesson alone is worth the entire price of these materials. Lesson 3: Breaking Through the Five Aggregates of Experience is explained in detail by which you will learn how to identify physical, mental or spiritual experiences belonging to the Form, Sensation, Conception, Volition and Consciousness skandhas. You will learn how to surmount, purify, detach from or break through these skandha experiences and prevent yourself from falling into the trap of self-deception regarding your own stage of spiritual progress. Just as the second lesson of this course showed you how to incorporate the stages of Taoism and physical transformations into the five overall stages of the path, with this lesson you will now learn how to link the cultivation system of the five skandha realms of experience with Taoism, the five stages, and five elements purification, and will be able to cross-correlate all these ranking schemes and use them together. You'll also look at the biographical materials of various saints and their mystical experiences -- from a variety of traditions --and for the first time you will immediately be able to scientifically identify their stage of spiritual progress to know whether they had yet attained the Tao (experienced enlightenment) or simply awakened to the spiritual path. Lesson 4: Ranking the Heavenly Realms and Various Classes of Sentient Beings as a means of explaining the cosmos and its inhabitants will be taught. With this comprehensive lesson taught by Buddha, you will dispense with mysticism but instead learn why the heavenly ranking schemes described by various religions are very similar, as well as the characteristics of the various heavenly inhabitants and how to be reborn as a heavenly being yourself. The different merits and samadhi attainments of these beings, as explained by Shakyamuni Buddha, explains why they are born into certain heavenly realms, and thus information on this schema provides another means by which you can gain insight into someone's rank of meditation. Find out how Mohammed's vision of heaven actually matches with Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Christianity, and how to cultivate the stages of samadhi that enable you to view those heavens yourself. Lesson 5: The Nine Meditative Realms of Dhyana and Samadhi, which form the major ladder of all genuine spiritual practice, are explained in detail along with how you can cultivate these states for yourself. Using quotations from Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam, evidence is provided that these common practice vehicles are what the "saints" of all the religions actually cultivated for in their spiritual efforts. For instance, the "prophets" of the Bible were no different than the sages of Taoism, seers of India, or arhats of Buddhism, but simply had the powers they did because they cultivated to a certain level of achievement. Now you'll know what those levels are. As before, in a step-by-step fashion the various samadhi attainments are cross-linked with the physical changes of Taoism, the five skandhas system of Buddhism, the heavenly realms of various religions, and the five stages of the spiritual path as well as a variety of other ranking systems. Now you can cross-correlate them all. Lesson 6: Eight Different Levels of Consciousness are explained next, which is the most advanced and comprehensive lesson in the world on the various realms of consciousness, how consciousness came about, and how to cultivate all its various dimensions through spiritual practice. Current research in consciousness and mind-body phenomena are also introduced and explained in light of standard cultivation teachings (something all the scientists have been missing), and then non denominationally linked, of course, with our other ranking schemes . This was the toughest lesson to write, but it finally answers ontological questions that most of the popular religions avoid. Metaphysics, ontology, and consciousness studies are all explained with this material, as well as how to cultivate through the different realms of consciousness to reach the enlightenment of a Buddha. Lesson 7: Spiritual Progress as Measured by Esoteric Phenomena is the next lesson, which pulls away the cover on Esoteric Buddhism, tantra, Taoism, hatha yoga, chi cultivation, kundalini, chakras and other "esoteric" teachings. In this lesson you will also learn how the highest practices of the form-based schools are actually duplicated in Zen Buddhism, but Zen doesn't pay them too much heed because they are typically deficient roads of spiritual practice. Any experts of mysticism, tantra, yoga and Tibetan Buddhism will be shocked by this high level material that even aged monks aren't privy to. If you ever wanted just one good clear lesson on tantra or Tibetan Buddhism, this lesson is it and contains more worthwhile information than an entire library of translated Tibetan kung-fu manuals. If you previously thought that Tibetan Buddhism was the king of all cultivation schools, now you'll be able to see it and all the other form based schools -- such as Taoism, yoga and modern science -- for what they really are. You'll also see that physical measuring schemes are only relevant for very rudimentary stages of the spiritual path. Lesson 8: Proficiency in Skillful Means and the Exercise of Bodhisattva Compassion is the last lesson, which surveys the spiritual landscape and then lays out in detail how the ideals of Confucian, Socratic, Christian, Buddhist and other character-behavior based paths of spiritual practice can be used to rejuvenate the major religions and form a new character-merit-cultivation based spiritual path for today. This one lesson by itself was written to help rejuvenate Christianity and elevate all religions. It contains all the materials you need to develop a new Bodhisattva enlightenment path of behavior for the general public, and to link it with compassionate action in the world. Approaching the same topic of mysticism, spiritual stages, meditation methods and cultivation practice from many different angles, time and again the genuineness of the spiritual path is proved, as well as the unity of "true cultivation religion" rather than the disparity of religious dogma. This material contains topological maps of the spiritual trail and metaphysical areas that encompass the major phenomena people encounter in spiritual practice, and goes far beyond everything else available in actually linking modern scientific findings to these experiences. All the various areas of science, philosophy, catalogued experiences, theory, religion, mysticism and practice are woven together and shown to fit like a pair of hands and their gloves. Want a short example? To give you an idea of the course contents, there is a sample download at the bottom of this page which should help teach you some of the actual kung-fu sequences of spiritual cultivation that appear at the lower, rudimentary stages of the path. Remember that if you're not familiar with the terminology, it's simply because you didn't read the earlier material leading up to these pages....and it also shows you know hardly anything about the REAL stages of spiritual cultivation. Because the material in these lessons gives you the ability to organize, validate, cross-correlate and legitimize spiritual cultivation and spiritual phenomena, and link the various religions and their saints in an objective manner, students say it is something as revolutionary as Newton's physics, Thomas Aquinas' Christianity, Wei Bo-Yang's explanations and combining of the Chinese cultivation schools, and Maimonides' explanations of Judaism. This course is so wide in scope that I cannot promise you that you will immediately understand all the concepts in each of these lessons, so I'll be providing personal attention sending you questions and correcting them by email as a follow-up to see that you're comprehending the material. I will say that by the time you're done with this course, you will: Firmly believe that there is a genuine general path of spiritual cultivation progress, and you'll know how to locate it in almost any genuine religion. You'll also be able to tell which religious dogmas are legitimate and which are not simply by whether or not they violate basic cultivation principles Learn that some religions and their spiritual practices lead to higher levels on this path than others Acknowledge that the principles by which you cultivate this path are logically sound, consistent and universally applicable to all beings, and you'll learn a variety of meditation methods and spiritual cultivation techniques for cultivating this path to spiritual progress Realize that the various stages or levels of this path are also universally recognized by genuine spiritual sects, and you'll find evidence of this in their own scriptures Learn that the cultivation path will entail physical changes to the body, as well as mental and spiritual changes called "kung-fu" or "gong-fu," and you'll learn how to interpret these changes, how long they will last, what other masters did when they reached them and what you must do when they occur Understand how various psychic abilities and supernormal powers come about, and will have the means to explain a tremendous variety of hitherto unexplained mystical, metaphysical or paranormal spiritual phenomena And here’s the free download: FREE 189-page Taoism Lesson on Chi (Qi), Chakras, Kundalini Yoga and Other Topics from the STAGES Course on Gong-fu Transformations Comments: I’m not sure if the distance learning part of the course is still happening. Contact Bodri directly, if you’re interested. The download link is chapter two,”Gongfu Transformations Within The Physical Body”, And is a must read. Excellent breakdown. I’m reading the rest of the coursebook on Scribd, but I haven’t finished it. But if it’s as good as most of Bodri’s work, you may want to check it out. Check out Bodri's Meditation Expert website. Thousands of articles on it for free: http://www.meditationexpert.com/index.htm Okay, that's it for William Bodri's major works. Next post, I cover the rest of Nan Huai-Chin's works. Cheers!

Hi everyone, I'm back! Before I begin, I need to address something I've found out over the past six months. It may have a bearing for some people, on the works of William Bodri, and Nan Huai-Chin. I put it here in the spirit of always maintaining transparency with any of the following data. Master Nan transitioned at age 94 on September 29, 2012 . Here is a letter supposedly containing his last words, as dictated to his secretaries In December of 2010: Original Link: http://www.thedaobums.com/topic/26671-master-nan-huai-chin-dead-at-94/ 1. I've read your letters. You guys want to learn from me. I've never said I was enlightened. I've never believed I was spreading Buddhism. Furthermore, I've never had any sect or students. It's been like this for more than a few decades. Everything I know are the in the books. If you read into it and get any funny ideas about me and what I said, it's you who are responsible for being duped and tricked. 2. There is saying, "rely on the law but not on people. rely on wisdom, not knowledge." If you have questions, go read the classics. Why do you have to find a person to worship and rely on? I'm 90 years. I'm tired. I have no energy to deal with so many people. 3. The college I setup is to to investigate some knowledge and to do research together. We do not take any more new students. The students that we have are just to do research together, and they were selected with some basic criteria and good serendipity. Anyone who says they have taken classes and learned here -- well, those are their words, not mine. (Emphasis Mine) 4. You guys have read too many novels and fanciful stories. Breaking your arm to learn Buddhism? Jumping in the ice river or off the top floor when I don't meet you? Kneeling until I meet you? That is psychological blackmail. Is this reasonable to common sense? Are you really learning Buddhism? Why do you use such threatening measures? It's self deception. I'm a 90 year old man. Why do you have to threaten an old man to learn the Tao? You guys are cultivated intellectuals, how can you do something like this? 5. I've never wanted to be a master. I never wanted to take students. I have no organization called Nan sect. I opposed sects and religions my entire life. That's the business of society. (Emphasis Mine) 6. You think that once you have a teacher you will become a Buddha? If you experience the esoteric knowledge in person you will reach the Tao? That's ridiculous. You guys always talk about saving others and building merit. Your own life is a mess! Start from becoming a normal person. Get a real job. Be plain and simple and do things by the rules. Don't blame heaven or people. Only using self-reflection and living a honest life is the foundation of merit. Otherwise you will just become a slacker with fanciful dreams and a burden to society. Cultivation begins with changing your psychology and habits, with meditation as mere support. Merit is the beginning of wisdom. (Emphasis Mine) 7. You want to become a buddha after learning from me? I'm 90 already, and I still haven't seen a real Buddha or immortal yet. Stop being superstitious. All the books I wrote are only book knowledge and intellectual. Don't get tricked by those books. (Emphasis Mine) Lwen Yu Summary is my main effort. There are many places to learn Zen. Go over there to meditate. I've never promoted Buddhism. When I did have Zen classes, those were just organized by colleges, and the people were screened vigorously. We just did some research together. Afterwards, everyone still had to go back to live normal lives, to rub against the difficulties of life to strengthen their heart, and to improve their habits. Everyone must walk their own paths. You want help from other people? Help yourself! If you really believe in cause and effect, start by using proper motivation and personal inspection is the intelligent way to begin. This is cultivation's heart. Your eyes are always looking outward, blaming heaven and earth, relying on gurus and saints and teachers to worship. This is self-deception and playing a joke on the world. (Emphasis Mine) Master Nan sounds like he'd had it up to here with folks! LOL! He gives a lot of great advice In this letter. People tend to turn into space cadets doing this work, so his emphasis on a balance between Heaven and Earth is refreshing. Very interesting him subtly disavowing having any actual long term students, such as Bodri. Also interesting that he calls talk of Immortals, and meeting Buddha superstition. Sounds like he was more of an armchair scholar, than an actual cultivator, which is unfortunate. However... As someone who's quoted both William Bodri, and Nan Huai-Chin extensively on here, and am currently doing posts on their major works, now would be a good time to summarize my views on the both of them. I came across Bodri's Meditation Expert site, a couple of weeks after I began to experience both Tai Hsi/Taixi/Kevala Khumbhaka, and then the real embryonic breathing. Bodri's work clearly laid out what was happening to me. Nan Huai-Chin's "Tao and Longevity" gave further details of my transformations to me, after I experienced them, which eliminated the potential for Imagining what was happening. Bodri also has encyclopedic recall on a number of cultivation texts, so he's an excellent reference for a decent bibliography to start with. Both He, and nan Huai-Chin also constantly emphasize the fact that If there aren't actual physical transformations, then what you're doing probably Isn't real. He also hammers home the fact that this process is non-denominational, and all cultures have it. His work also led me to The Tao Bums, which led me to SOTG's MASSIVE post on Scribd, which is how I ended up on Loneman Pai. So I'll be forever grateful to them both for helping me through what was Initially a scary process, and schooling me on how to assess cultivation texts, and schools. NOW. With THAT said: Bodri CONSTANTLY contradicts himself. On the one hand, he rails against chasing superpowers, but on the other hand, what Is he ALWAYS writing about? Superpowers! As you noticed, both Bodri, and Nan Huai-Chin, come down hard on the form schools, and force techniques. But contradicting himself again, he says that force must be used sometimes, and form Is part of the path. He'd really help his position by walking the middle way, which Is the truth with ALL of this stuff. EVERY THING is from Immaterial Consciousness. As long as this is always kept In mind, and that this is the goal to be reached, then whatever tech can safely get you there, I say go for It. He COMPLETELY botched a breakdown of Egyptian cultivation methods, and mixed up, or distorted, various Neteru (Psychoid Archetypes), In his "Little Book of Hercules". Still a great book though. He obviously has major Hero worship of Nan Huai-Chin, which is understandable. We tend to put our teachers/mentors on pedestals. We just have to be mindful of mindless following. It was also Interesting to me that he has no obituary, or announcement of Nan Huai-Chin's transition. I found out from a student of mine from Shanghai, at the time. He describes some practices In his books that are very bizarre, frankly. Specifically the one practice of eating your Master's pure feces, at a certain stage of your cultivation. That was truly a WTF!!? moment for me. To paraphrase Meatloaf, "I'll do anything for Godhood, but I won't do THAT"! LOL! Psychosis DOES happen In cultivation folks, and your "Guru" might be one of those who've suffered a psychotic break. Nan Huai-Chin gives this great advice In "Tao and Longevity", and It is ALWAYS to be kept In mind. As my one teacher said,"That's why I gave all of you oracles. You never know. I may have slipped In the bathtub, and bumped my head. So If I start talking about drinking kool-Aid, please check people, that I haven't lost my mind!" LOL! With all of the great stuff that I've read from Bodri, I have NO Idea If he actually cultivates. None. He says he does, but hearsay means nothing, at the end of the day. For all we know, he may have gotten all of his information on the physical transformation processes from Nan Huai-Chin, and texts not available In English yet. Who knows? And when Drew reported that Nan Huai-Chin smoked, and when I found out how he died (pneumonia?! A supposed high level cultivator? really?!), I knew then that he didn't completely walk the talk. OpenDao, and the Wu Liu Pai school folks did make a good point about so called masters not looking like they've done any actual neidan. So at the end of the day, for me, Both Bodri, and Nan Huai-Chin have some actual knowledge, that I was able to confirm, combined with a lot of Information, all of which I haven't confirmed yet. So I just filter what I don't agree with, or put under "opinion/speculation", things I can't confirm yet. Like I do with ALL of this stuff, as should everyone. Until you experience It, It's ALL hearsay. Period. But don't throw the baby out with the bath water folks! Bodri, and Master Nan both have tons of excellent data. Just have your filters on, then test if what they say works. Keep the effective, discard the useless. So I still recommend all of their work, with the above caveats. Cheers!

Thanks Gyoko! I greatly apologize folks for the delay In getting back to this. Got momentarily overwhelmed by both mundane, and cultivation work, and it's effects. But I'm back. New entries from tonight onwards. I'm going to be at this for a minute. Cheers!

I apologize for the delay in replying Andrei. You've done new folks a great service by posting this. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I understand that the expense of these schools partly acts as a qualifier, but it still has the result of preventing sincere seekers from learning important information. Some would say that if it was their destiny to learn it, the means would appear for them to pay. Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. I paid over $2,000 for first level Iron Crotch training. Worth every penny. But $2,000 is the equivalent of $20,000 Dollars for both me, and most of the people that I know. And the funny thing is that most of the people who took the Intensive with me some six years ago, don't even do the training anymore. I can see why there aren't that many people who get to the levels that can be gotten to, with enough training, and an understanding of the process. So an argument could also be made that people don't appreciate what they don't have to pay, and sacrifice for. And sometimes not even then. I've been blessed to have been able to work out the process through what I've learned through teachers, and cross referencing Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Indian, Taoist, Buddhist, and current Science, and Medical paradigms. This person's journal jibes with a number of things that I've experienced, so it rings true to me. Further verification for the journal, was from the negative comments thrown your way. If the descriptions given were inaccurate, then why all the venom? Why not just ignore it? Unless what the person said was true. It tends to always turn into a cultivation version of "West Side Story: Jets vs. Sharks" on here. Opinions are many, and in the final analysis, irrelevant. Do you have a system that you can show actual results from? That's it. Period. Talk don't cook the food. If you can't show it due to school restrictions, that's cool. But don't disparage others who choose to do so. I'll continue to layout what I've learned In my "Energy Cultivator's Handbook" thread. At the end of the day, we're supposed to be here to help each other. That tends to get lost sometimes here. Cheers!

EXACTLY!! I contemplate that rhyme all the time! It tells you the truth of reality, and how to function In it, In 18 words. Simply profound. Great Reference Wells, thanks! Cheers!

Great questions SpiritME. Some consider It an entranceway to higher realms. Some consider It the manifested totality of "The One" (Fill In your desired deity, Idea, etc. here). Some consider It the equivalent of a giant "Bug Zapper", put there by parasitic Inter-dimensional entities that feed off of human souls, basically "harvesting" them, at the time of death. I tend to go with the first one, but at the end of the day, none of us will actually know, until we can travel there, and observe the process, or when we transition (aka "Die"). Until then, all we can really do Is speculate. Here's a summary of what consciousness explorer Robert Monroe had to say, In his book "Far Journeys": "25 years of Out of Body Experiences and exploring altered states of consciousness made Robert Monroe somewhat of an expert in matters of the after life. In Far Journeys he tells us about his extensive journeys into other realms, where most of us only go after we have left our physical body for good. For many the book has been an important source for the proof of life after death. Monroe discovered different energy levels or rings around the earth. Close to earth the level of vibrations are lowest. The further away, the higher the vibrations. Proof Of Life After Death According to Robert Monroe, when a human dies and leaves the physical body permanently, he becomes consciously aware of his energy body. Whatever his belief system during his last life on earth, he will be attracted to the energy level which resonates with his own belief system at the moment of transition from the physical to the non-physical. If a person is strongly catholic, for example, she would land in a realm where there is a catholic after life reality created by like-minded souls. On one journey - triggered by his own sexual arousal - Robert Monroe visited a lower vibrating level, where bodies upon bodies were engaged in constant intercourse – like group sex, obsessed with sex - never getting enough satisfaction. Then he describes souls who have died, but have not realized or who cannot accept their physical death. They seem to be stuck in the near earth vibrations and are unable to see the light which would lead them into higher realms.(Emphasis Mine) Monroe himself became a helper to these so called earthbound souls, trying to make them realize that they have survived physical death. Even in the after world, it seems, helpers are needed to give proof of life after death to the deceased non-believers of an after-life. No matter where a recently passed human soul would land, there would always be helpers from higher levels gracefully and patiently trying to make them see another perspective of their current awareness of existence. Always focussed on the intent to raise their vibration. " Reasons why some can't go "Into The light": People that had unfinished business, left loved ones behind (especially children, or spouses), or that were very conditioned to the world of gross physical matter, tend to have a hard time letting go. Some don't even realize that they're dead. Some are caught up In a re-enactment loop of the trauma of their death. The other thing about the light, Is that It supposedly penetrates through you, and shows you all of the errors, and mistakes that you've made In your life. In other words, "You're judged". Some people can't take It, and run back Into darkness. So those are some of the reasons that people don't go Into It. I've dealt with the recently dead, In a ritual context, and also ancestors, but that's about it. But until I experience It myself, I'll leave what It is In the speculation/opinion bin. Cheers!

A number of very excellent points Orion. Thanks! I dealt with a lot of Interesting experiences out of body as a child also. Flying through various dream realms. Dreams within dreams, never knowing if I was actually awake yet. Night visitors ("Old Hag", vampiric type entities, etc.). "Falling" Into my body, after travelling, my physical body bouncing up from the bed, then down. Things like that. It's been my experience that most people who get Into spiritual culture, and cultivation sciences, tend to have experiences of this sort. Then they shut down during the high school/college years (which Is what happened to me), only to re-awaken In your 20s. Children are basically In a meditative state, until they hit puberty. Super receptive, which Is why we learn so fast when we're young. Also makes us open to "Actual Reality", and It's various denizens. Again, great Insights Orion! Cheers!

Hi MooNiNite, I apologize for the delay in replying. I had to do some research for the second part. In answer to your first question, according to the model, once you shed the human form, the Earth Immortal can travel throughout the Earth realm, until such time as they build enough energy to transform Into a spiritual Immortal. Our neck of the woods has some Interesting things about It, so I'm sure they won't get bored. Great second question. I noticed that also. So I did some research. I hope that this answers It: "By Hu Xuezhi The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji (鐘呂傳道集/钟吕传道集; Anthology of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhong[li Quan] to Lü [Dongbin]) is associated with Zhongli Quan (second century C.E.?) and Lü Dongbin (ninth century C.E.), two of the legendary Eight Immortals. It is part of the so-called “Zhong-Lü” (鍾呂) textual tradition of internal alchemy (neidan). The text, which probably dates from the late Tang (618-906) dynasty, is in question-and-answer format, containing a dialogue between Lü and his teacher Zhongli on aspects of alchemical terminology and methods. The book emphasizes the united practices of xing and ming. As the contents said, "Just to practice the xing without any of ming is the first illness toward the practices of Tao, just to practice the inherited xing without any practice of dan 丹 (cinnabar) will result in the difficulties of transcending the yin spirit into the Saint even though generations passed. On the other hand, achieving the end processing of the practices of body but losing the inherited xing will be as same as the moment when we wish to see our faces we have no mirrors. This is just like an idiot who has got the longevity like the heaven and earth, or the one who has got the authority of the house treasures lacks of the power of decision making.” The claims obviously denoted the important practices of both xing and ming. The transformation during the practices of ming kung, in the inner alchemy of Zhong-lu, is not like that of Quan Zhen sect; while as in the former, the body is a real physical body that can last as long as the heaven and earth. It implies that the ming kung is the training which can change the physical human body and not just deal with the xin and shen. The suppressing of the xin and the practices of xing kung only remains on the subjective level of changing in mind. This idea can also be found in the book: "The burning of the three dan-tiens 丹田 (the storing pools of cinnabar) results in acquiring the dan 丹 (cinnabar) which permanently located in the lower abdomen. Further practices of the human form will finally attain the immortal body and becomes the De-xian 地仙 (the Earth Immortal)… When the entire yin transforms into the pure yang, it happens that a new body appears beyond the original body. At this moment the yang will turn the body into the immortal and thereafter, all other routines on earth will not be cared any more and then he returns to three mountains. We call it Shen-xian 神仙 (the Spirit Immortal)… (Emphasis Mine) However, the Shen-xian hates to stay on earth and so, he passes the Tao to an extent that he accumulates the merits on the way with the widespread virtues. One day when he achieves the required level he will be honored with a heavenly memorial and back to the dong-tien 洞天 (the palace of the heaven).” Here the immortal states are actually divided into five levels, named Gui-xian 鬼仙 (the Ghost Immortal), Ren-xian 人仙 (the Human Immortal), De-xian (the Earth Immortal), Shen-xian 神仙 (the Spirit Immortal) and Tien-xian 天仙 (the Heaven Immortal). The achievement of De-xian, Shen-xian and Tien-xian is entirely based on the level of practices toward the yang. But the most important point we have to concern is that those practices will transform the body into various states of immortality. This is a factual transformation. It thus shows the distinct arguments in the methodology of Wang Chung-yang. However, as said in his discourses, he still argued that the efforts of the practices would result in the appearance of dan-sha 丹砂 (cinnabar). And the brightness of this dan-sha was interpreted as the shen 神 (the pure yang) that could finally free from the body (shell) and wander through the space. This shen, as he said, is the lotus flower and the body left behind is the lotus root. The argument here is clearly a contradiction. Dan-sha should be the origin of the energy that could transform the body into the immortal state. And this should be a real physical change." So the translation of the Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji I originally used should've been clearer of the fact that there's transitional stages between the various Immortal levels, and that's what's being described, the stages from Earth Immortal, the transitional state, and then the Spirit Immortal level. But It's all speculation, theory, and opinion at this point, until we get to these levels ourselves. Here's some additional pitfalls to avoid, when cultivating. This is a long excerpt from Bill Bodri's "The Insider’s Guide to the World’s Best and Worst Spiritual Paths and Practices": "The Secrets to How the Seers Cultivated Immortal Bodies There are many roads of spiritual practice you might pursue after you begin to correctly cultivate your chi and mai and initiate the kundalini phenomenon. Some ofthese roads of practice can be considered proper, and others can be considered inappropriate or improper. One particular path that will become open to you is the path of physical immortality that was a trademark of early Chinese Taoism. In the Buddhist Surangama Sutra, which recorded a number of interesting dialogues between Shakyamuni Buddha and several of his students, there is a chapter that mentions ten types of Indian seers (rishis) or “immortals” who can live extremely long physical lives, even as long as several thousand years. These practitioners usually achieved their super-longevity through a particular set of cultivation practices that involved one or more of the following: ·special diets ·special herbs and medicines ·special mineral substances ·special breathing practices ·cultivating the hormones of the body ·absorbing the planetary essences of the sun and moon ·special mantras ·special mental practices ·certain types of sexual practice ·application of secret types of heavenly and earthly transformations Even though these immortals can perpetuate their life in the human realm for incredibly long periods of time, and while the cultivation practices they use can sometimes lead beyond the Desire Realm, they only produce phenomenological results, rather than lead to the goal of enlightenment. In effect, the adepts or seers known as “long-lived Immortals” achieved their longevity because they mastered a special form of one-pointed concentration. However, Buddha said that their spiritual practice is actually improper because they become fixed, or actually “stuck” in concentrating upon some particular delusion, and fixedly hold onto this thought with single-minded devotion. In other words, they cultivate samadhi incorrectly because they cling to the samadhi realm they reach. Nonetheless this single-mindedness of mental fixation, after their energy channels have been transformed, is actually strong enough to pull them through hundreds or even thousands of years of life. This is an example of how powerful the mind can be, especially when the powers of the mind are connected to our chi, or life force. In other words, you can cultivate your mind to the stage where you can live almost forever in a physical form, but Shakyamuni did not say that this was the right type of samadhi you should be cultivating. He said it was not right because these Immortals cultivated samadhi incorrectly. This means there is a right way to cultivate samadhi, and a wrong way to do it. Modern medicine will never be able to extend our life spans to the extent of the Immortals, but life extension is a definite possibility on the road of spiritual cultivation. To accomplish this physical immortality, spiritual practitioners must refrain from losing their jing (seminal essence) and chi, and must open up all the body’s chi channels clear to the bottom of their feet. They must also clean their small and large intestines so that they become empty of putrefied material. Furthermore,they must also accumulate the merit necessary for being able to live a long life, and must master the required level of one-pointed samadhi concentration. These are all the requirements for super life extension, but you absolutely can achieve this sort of gong-fu with practice. However, that does not mean that this constitutes the correct road of spiritual practice. Rather, it is simply another of the many by-roads that branch off the one direct trail of pure spiritual cultivation. Buddha mentioned that many of the Indian Immortals resorted to special herbs, minerals, mantra and mystical practices to lengthen their lives, but the most important point was that they all had to master a certain type of one-pointed samadhi concentration. This is actually why the long lived elders of most cultures are always mentioned in conjunction with a particular spiritual religion. In other words, if you want to cultivate health and longevity then you have to go about it by cultivating samadhi, and that sort of practice falls under the province of religious (spiritual)striving. This is why the long lived elders of most cultures are usually mentioned in conjunction with spiritual streams that emphasize samadhi attainments. China, like India, also had a tradition of immortality seekers in Taoism, and these people are roughly equivalent to the class of Indian seers mentioned by Shakyamuni. The Chinese, who called them “Immortals,” classified these individuals differently than the Hindus and recognized five different classes or stages of these beings: Ghost Immortals, Human Immortals, Earthly Immortals, Heavenly Immortals, and Great Golden Immortals. Most of these individuals were very advanced in their spiritual cultivation practice, but they lived apart from the human world so that they were not bothered by human beings and other human concerns. Other countries, such as Egypt, also have egendary accounts of immortality seekers. Modern day Burma still has a cultivation tradition of deathless immortals that is called the weikza-lam, which means that the individuals within this tradition follow “a path of occult knowledge.” Whether an Immortal has achieved single-pointed concentration through mantra practice, visualization exercises, through cultivating their chi and mai (chi channels), or some other meditative method is not really the important thing. It does not matter because in settling for the cultivation of physical immortality, it indicates they have not achieved any great stage of transcendental wisdom. In fact, there is even a stage of immortality that is physically attainable by the great Arhats of Buddhism who have actually reached a very high stage of spiritual enlightenment, but it, too, is considered an “outside path” to the true enlightenment way. The practices of the Immortals can definitely enable them to live very long lives,which is why they are classified as “Immortals” in the first place. In fact their special designation – this special accomplishment – indicates they should not be considered as either mortals, heavenly beings, or even asuras. Although they can be considered a special class of human beings above the ordinary rank, the Immortals definitely cannot be considered enlightened. In fact, most of these individuals remain stuck within the Realm of Desire because they still cannot attain to the Realm of Form with their meditative accomplishments. To attain a stage of samadhi that reaches into the Realm of Form, it is necessary to rid oneself of any overt or even secret hidden desires for food and sex. This is one of the requirements for being able to mentally free oneself from the Desire Realm, as is the idea of being or possessing a physical body. You can understand that achieving samadhi is not an easy feat to attain, and because the continuity of its spiritual transmission is quite fragile, samadhi cultivation usually becomes a protected practice enveloped or enshrouded by an outer coating of religion for the masses. On an esoteric level, samadhi not only requires a transformation of your chi, and the ability to detach from your body and sexual desire, but we can also say you cannot accomplish a samadhi attainment unless you open up the heart chakra to some extent. Thus if someone tells you that you have opened your heart chakra but you still have not been able to enter samadhi and meditatively attain to the Realm of Form, they are just deceiving you, or you are just cheating yourself. In particular, if you cannot attain to the Realm of Form in meditative cultivation, you are not yet capable of becoming enlightened, nor of even generating an Enjoyment body (sambhogakaya or bao-shen) from transforming your energies as mentioned in Esoteric Buddhism. This is why the Zen masters, who seek enlightenment as directly as possible, many times advise practitioners to recite the Zhunti mantra1 in their cultivation. This is one of the two mantras that can help open up your heart chakra and enable you to access prajna transcendental wisdom. Even though most Immortals remain within the Realm of Desire, because they have highly developed their powers of one-pointed concentration for such a long period of time, it is possible that they can become enlightened in an instant if they are shown the correct path of cultivation and given a chance to reach the proper sort of awakening. If they are lucky enough to meet a good teacher, and all the right circumstances come together, they can become enlightened immediately. This was the case of the Taoist immortal Lu Ch’un-yang, who was author of the “Hundred Word Inscription” which describes the cultivation practices that will bring about the stage of the Immortals and yet higher spiritual attainments. This poem collapses the entire road of spiritual cultivation into just a few words, and has been used to train countless generations of spiritual adepts. Lu Ch’un-yang’s story is a very instructive one. For years he had cultivated his internal chi energy to the point where he had reached the stage of the Immortals. He could live forever in the world without dying, and had attained many spiritual powers such as making himself invisible and projecting a double of his physical self. Becauseof his internal energy, like the Tibetan adept Milarepa he could even fly through the air. One day he was actually flying through the sky and noticed a particularly auspicious aura around a mountain. When he dropped down to investigate the source of the aura, all he could find was what appeared to be an unimpressive old monk, Zen master Huang-lung Nan, lecturing to a group of students. When the monk found out that the visitor was Lu Ch’un-yang, he insulted his famous visitor by saying, “I thought from your reputation that you were someone special,only now I see you are just a ghost guarding a corpse.” In other words, “You have cultivated this body of yours so that it might go on living forever, but since this is not the real you, you are just clinging to a dead material shell. ”Lu Ch’un-yang shot back: “The true man possesses the elixir of immortality inside. What is that useless body of yours worth compared to this?” but Zen master Huang-lung Nan calmly countered, “Even if you can drag your corpse through eternity without dying, in the end this is of little significance.” Lu Ch’un-yang became very angry at this slight and drawing upon his superpowers, threw his sword at the Zen master to frighten the old monk. The sword sliced through the air headed at the master but surprisingly, stopped in front of the monk,reversed itself, and then started to fly back toward Lu Ch’un-yang! Lu Ch’un-yang was incredulous at this turn of events. How was this counter-feat possible from an old bald-headed monk who did not exhibit any signs of superpowers at all? Lu Ch’un-yang never imagined that a Zen monk could be so powerful. Lu Ch’un-yang relaxed his defenses and opened up a little at this event, and then started to engage the old monk in dialogue to see what he had to say. Zen master Huang-lung Nan challenged him to reveal what he had learned through his many years of cultivating his physical nature. Master Huang-lung Nan said, “You do not have to resort to this sort of technique. Just a moment ago you said you had some real ability. Tell me what spiritual truth you have realized.” Because of the subsequent conversation, Lu Ch’un-yang realized that he had been holding tightly onto the view of an inherent ego, and clinging to his physical body rather than cultivating emptiness. When Master Huang-lung Nan taught him that Zen meant emptying the mind of concepts, judgements, opinions and ego, Lu Ch’un-yang finally awakened in enlightenment, and later wrote a verse to commemorate his realization: I throw away the gourd and drop the zither, I don’t long for the gold in the mercury any longer. After I saw Master Huang-lung just once, I finally realized that I had always been wrongly using my mind. There are many stories like this which all show that enlightenment requires adherence to consistent and determined spiritual practice, and continually working until the right circumstances come together for an awakening. From this story we can also see that laying a correct spiritual foundation through consistent training and practice can result in instantaneous enlightenment when one is prompted correctly. Simply “practicing the physical nature,” which includes cultivating your body’s energy channels and chi, will not result in spiritual enlightenment. However, it can indeed banish sickness and help prolong life. These results correspond to a physical purification that can in turn help you to progress on the spiritual path. The ultimate inadequacy, however, of cultivating your physical form is the big problem we have been trying to emphasize for those who practice yoga, Taoism, Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism. As an ancient saying tells us: Merely to cultivate your physical body in order to prolong life, but not to practice to realize your self-nature, is the first type of cultivation mistake. But to practice only to realize the self-nature, while neglecting to support the alchemical transformations within the human body, will result in you cultivating for aeons without becoming enlightened." I hope that this Is helpful. Cheers!

This thread was getting very interesting, and then It stopped. What happened? Did It pick up In another thread? Cheers!

If you're saying that you've had direct experience with these realities, then no, It's not a belief. Which is what I said: "Unless we experience It, we don't know. It's a belief." Is that what you're saying? That you've experienced some of these levels? Please clarify. Thanks. Cheers!

Excellent point Brian! Most folks don't realize that about 90% of what they believe to be "true", Is actually just hearsay, usually from figures of authority (School, Church, Parents, etc.). It's THE primary source of problems In this world. I've got to run, and teach a Tai Chi/Self-Defense class. I'll be back after 2pm EDT. Cheers!

Thanks Zhou Zhouqi! I trust that my Wiki Gongfu Is adequate. I try to be as exact as possible. LaoZiDao asked for references, and I gave them. Wikipedia had them all In one location, which saved me a lot of time. I'll have the actual books listed In my "The Energy Cultivator's Handbook" thread, over the next month, or so. I'm here to help. I like what you did there. You're a funny guy. SOTG Is my spiritual brother, and fellow traveler, so thanks for the complement. I'm based In Philadelphia. He's not. So no, we are not the same person. I'm not a teenager, or a 20 something. I don't Indulge In silly games of that sort. It's a waste of time, and I don't have time to waste. Cheers!

Hi MooNiNite, I'll have a detailed explanation for you later this afternoon. As a preview, we have to be clear that we're utilizing models that are based upon speculation. Unless we experience It, we don't know. It's a belief. I've found that people on the cultivation path, have a bad habit of stating speculation, belief, and opinion as truth. It really confuses things for folks. But the conviction of belief can do some very amazing things, which I'll also touch upon later. Cheers!

Why all of the hostility LaoZiDao? Leading people astray? Do really think the people on this forum are that weak? I beg to differ, from what I've seen so far. LOL! You're a feisty bunch. My ideas aren't New Age In the least. I made a point of clearly Indicating that what the scriptures, texts, etc. discuss is the exact same thing as a virtual reality simulation. Everyone's just using different words. That's all. I've both cross referenced, and practiced these processes, for 20 years now. I'm not a slave to dogma. Does it work? That's my yardstick. Also I teach general audiences, and advanced practitioners, so I utilize terminology that folks can relate to. Also, these processes are non-denominational. Every culture has a group that understands the alchemical process. But since everyone uses different terminology, and come from different cultural paradigms, they all think they're saying something different, when they're not. I was very clear In other posts that new folks should find a teacher, with a system that actually works, versus useless Intellectual discussions that lead nowhere. I teach a number of things. Tai Chi Quan, Meditation, Cosmology, Qigong, Neigong, Zhan Zhaung, nutrition, fitness, Illustration, writing, visual storytelling, and other things. I never said that I was a "Neidan Teacher" exclusively. I teach people for two established schools. One Is the Wutang system of Grandmaster Liu Yun Qiao. The other is an International Ancient Egyptian/Taoist Organization. I've also learned the first level (Iron Crotch/Iron Body Qigong) of Grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng's system,directly from him. I'm not speaking In an official capacity for any of them, on this forum. I'm talking as an individual, doing what I always do. Helping people with Information maps garnered from my experience, so they can cut through all of the BS Inherent In pursuing actual practical, working cultivation knowledge. I keep things simple on purpose. Who cares if you can recite the Surrangama Sutra chapter, and verse, If you've got no gongfu transformations, never "Woke Up", and lose consciousness like everyone else when you transition? I've activated Tai Hsi, Ching An, The River Chariot, and formed the Yellow Court. I can physically show that I'm at the "Qi Into Shen" stage of cultivation. Both my breathing, and digestive system have changed. All low level transformations, but I can show them. I can't show the noumenal transformations (yet), but they're also there. Oh yeah. And I can lift 120 lbs. with my privates. (I should be at 200 lbs., by year's end). Iron Crotch Helped kickstart a lot of the above. (And for the record, other than the pyrogenesis, I've seen Master Tu do everything that John Chang does. And he's In the US, on the West coast. Just have $3K ready to start, not Including airfare, and lodging). But you want definitions. Happy to oblige. ... Xian (Chinese: 仙/仚/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade–Giles: hsien) is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as: "spiritually immortal; transcendent; super-human; celestial being" (in Daoist/Taoist philosophy and cosmology) "physically immortal; immortal person; immortalist; saint" (in Daoist religion and pantheon) "alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques" or by extension "(alchemical, dietary, qigong) methods for attaining immortality" (in Chinese alchemy) "wizard; magician; shaman" (in Chinese mythology) "genie; elf, fairy; nymph" (in popular Chinese literature, 仙境 xian jing is "fairyland", Faerie) "sage living high in the mountains; mountain-man; hermit; recluse" (folk etymology for the character 仙) "immortal (talent); accomplished person; celestial (beauty); marvelous; extraordinary" (metaphorical modifier) Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and T'ai chi ch'uan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality". The xian archetype is described by Victor H. Mair. "They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as ṛṣi who possessed similar traits.1994:376" According to the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, Chinese xian (仙) can mean Sanskrit ṛṣi (rishi "inspired sage in the Vedas"). The word xian The most famous Chinese compound of xiān is Bāxiān (八仙 "the Eight Immortals"). Other common words include xiānrén (仙人 sennin in Japanese, "immortal person; transcendent", see Xiānrén Dòng), xiānrénzhăng (仙人掌 "immortal's palm; cactus"), xiānnǚ (仙女 "immortal woman; female celestial; angel"), and shénxiān (神仙 "gods and immortals; divine immortal"). Besides humans, xiān can also refer to supernatural animals. The mythological húlijīng 狐狸精 (lit. "fox spirit") "fox fairy; vixen; witch; enchantress" has an alternate name of húxiān 狐仙 (lit. "fox immortal"). The etymology of xiān remains uncertain. The circa 200 CE Shiming, a Chinese dictionary that provided word-pun "etymologies", defines xiān (仙) as "to get old and not die," and explains it as someone who qiān (遷 "moves into") the mountains." Edward H. Schafer (1966:204) defined xian as "transcendent, sylph (a being who, through alchemical, gymnastic and other disciplines, has achieved a refined and perhaps immortal body, able to fly like a bird beyond the trammels of the base material world into the realms of aether, and nourish himself on air and dew.)" Schafer noted xian was cognate to xian 䙴 "soar up", qian 遷 "remove", and xianxian 僊僊 "a flapping dance movement"; and compared Chinese yuren 羽人 "feathered man; xian" with English peri "a fairy or supernatural being in Persian mythology" (Persian pari from par "feather; wing"). Two linguistic hypotheses for the etymology of xian involve the Arabic language and Sino-Tibetan languages. Wu and Davis (1935:224) suggested the source was jinn, or jinni "genie" (from Arabic جني jinnī). "The marvelous powers of the Hsien are so like those of the jinni of the Arabian Nights that one wonders whether the Arabic word, jinn, may not be derived from the Chinese Hsien." Axel Schuessler's etymological dictionary (2007:527) suggests a Sino-Tibetan connection between xiān (Old Chinese *san or *sen) "'An immortal' … men and women who attain supernatural abilities; after death they become immortals and deities who can fly through the air" and Tibetan gšen < g-syen "shaman, one who has supernatural abilities, incl[uding] travel through the air". The character and its variants The word xiān is written with three characters 僊, 仙, or 仚, which combine the logographic "radical" rén (人 or 亻 "person; human") with two "phonetic" elements (see Chinese character classification). The oldest recorded xiān character 僊 has a xiān ("rise up; ascend") phonetic supposedly because immortals could "ascend into the heavens". (Compare qiān 遷 "move; transfer; change" combining this phonetic and the motion radical.) The usual modern xiān character 仙, and its rare variant 仚, have a shān (山 "mountain") phonetic. For a character analysis, Schipper (1993:164) interprets "'the human being of the mountain,' or alternatively, 'human mountain.' The two explanations are appropriate to these beings: they haunt the holy mountains, while also embodying nature." The Shijing (220/3) contains the oldest occurrence of the character 僊, reduplicated as xiānxiān (僊僊 "dance lightly; hop about; jump around"), and rhymed with qiān (遷). "But when they have drunk too much, Their deportment becomes light and frivolous—They leave their seats, and [遷] go elsewhere, They keep [僊僊] dancing and capering." (tr. James Legge)[1] Needham and Wang (1956:134) suggest xian was cognate with wu 巫 "shamanic" dancing. Paper (1995:55) writes, "the function of the term xian in a line describing dancing may be to denote the height of the leaps. Since, "to live for a long time" has no etymological relation to xian, it may be a later accretion." The 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi, the first important dictionary of Chinese characters, does not enter 仙 except in the definition for 偓佺 (Wo Quan "name of an ancient immortal"). It defines 僊 as "live long and move away" and 仚 as "appearance of a person on a mountaintop". Textual references This section chronologically reviews how Chinese texts describe xian "immortals; transcendents". While the early Zhuangzi, Chuci, and Liezi texts allegorically used xian immortals and magic islands to describe spiritual immortality, later ones like the Shenxian zhuan and Baopuzi took immortality literally and described esoteric Chinese alchemical techniques for physical longevity. On one the hand, neidan (內丹 "internal alchemy") techniques included taixi (胎息 "embryo respiration") breath control, meditation, visualization, sexual training, and Tao Yin exercises (which later evolved into Qigong and T'ai chi ch'uan). On the other hand, waidan (外丹 "external alchemy") techniques for immortality included alchemical recipes, magic plants, rare minerals, herbal medicines, drugs, and dietetic techniques like inedia. The earliest representations of Chinese immortals, dating from the Han Dynasty, portray them flying with feathery wings (the word yuren 羽人 "feathered person" later meant "Daoist") or riding dragons. In Chinese art, xian are often pictured with symbols of immortality including the dragon, crane, fox, white deer, pine tree, peach, and mushroom. Besides the following major Chinese texts, many others use both graphic variants of xian. Xian (仙) occurs in the Chunqiu Fanlu, Fengsu Tongyi, Qian fu lun, Fayan, and Shenjian; xian (僊) occurs in the Caizhong langji, Fengsu Tongyi, Guanzi, and Shenjian. Zhuangzi Two circa 3rd century BCE "Outer Chapters" of the Zhuangzi (莊子 "[book of] Master Zhuang") use the archaic character xian 僊. Chapter 11 has a parable about "Cloud Chief" (雲 將)  and "Big Concealment" (鴻濛) that uses the Shijing compound xianxian ("dance; jump"): Big Concealment said, "If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Instead, the beasts will scatter from their herds, the birds will cry all night, disaster will come to the grass and trees, misfortune will reach even to the insects. Ah, this is the fault of men who 'govern'!" "Then what should I do?" said Cloud Chief. "Ah," said Big Concealment, "you are too far gone! [僊僊] Up, up, stir yourself and be off!" Cloud Chief said, "Heavenly Master, it has been hard indeed for me to meet with you—I beg one word of instruction!" "Well, then—mind‑nourishment!" said Big Concealment. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root—return to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaos—to the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally end of themselves." Cloud Chief said, "The Heavenly Master has favored me with this Virtue, instructed me in this Silence. All my life I have been looking for it, and now at last I have it!" He bowed his head twice, stood up, took his leave, and went away. (11, tr. Burton Watson 1968:122-3) Chapter 12 uses xian when mythical Emperor Yao describes a shengren (聖 人 "sagely person"). The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight who leaves no trail behind. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. And after a thousand years, should he weary of the world, he will leave it and [上] ascend to [僊] the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God. (12, tr. Watson 1968:130) Without using the word xian, several Zhuangzi passages employ xian imagery, like flying in the clouds, to describe individuals with superhuman powers. For example, Chapter 1, within the circa 3rd century BCE "Inner Chapters", has two portrayals. First is this description of Liezi (below). Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on? Therefore I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. (1, tr. Watson 1968:32) Second is this description of a shenren (神人 "divine person"). He said that there is a Holy Man living on faraway [姑射] Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn't eat the five grains, but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the Four Seas. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. (1, tr. Watson 1968:33) The authors of the Zhuangzi had a lyrical view of life and death, seeing them as complimentary aspects of natural changes. This is antithetical to the physical immortality (changshengbulao 長生不老 "live forever and never age") sought by later Daoist alchemists. Consider this famous passage about accepting death. Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singing—this is going too far, isn't it?" Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter." "Now she's going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. So I stopped. (18, tr. Watson 1968:191–2) Alan Fox explains this anecdote about Zhuangzi's wife. Many conclusions can be reached on the basis of this story, but it seems that death is regarded as a natural part of the ebb and flow of transformations which constitute the movement of Dao. To grieve over death, or to fear one's own death, for that matter, is to arbitrarily evaluate what is inevitable. Of course, this reading is somewhat ironic given the fact that much of the subsequent Daoist tradition comes to seek longevity and immortality, and bases some of their basic models on the Zhuangzi. (1995:100) Chuci The 3rd-2nd century BCE Chuci (楚辭 "Lyrics of Chu") anthology of poems uses xian 仙 once and xian 僊 twice, reflecting the disparate origins of the text. These three contexts mention the legendary Daoist xian immortals Chi Song (赤松 "Red Pine", see Kohn 1993:142–4) and Wang Qiao (王僑, or Zi Qiao 子僑). In later Daoist hagiography, Chi Song was Lord of Rain under Shennong, the legendary inventor of agriculture; and Wang Qiao was a son of King Ling of Zhou (r. 571–545 BCE), who flew away on a giant white bird, became an immortal and was never again seen. The "Yuan You" (遠遊 "Far-off Journey") poem describes a spiritual journey into the realms of gods and immortals, frequently referring to Daoist myths and techniques. My spirit darted forth and did not return to me, And my body, left tenantless, grew withered and lifeless. Then I looked into myself to strengthen my resolution, And sought to learn from where the primal spirit issues. In emptiness and silence I found serenity; In tranquil inaction I gained true satisfaction. I heard how once Red Pine had washed the world's dust off: I would model myself on the pattern he had left me. I honoured the wondrous powers of the [真人] Pure Ones, And those of past ages who had become [仙] Immortals. They departed in the flux of change and vanished from men's sight, Leaving a famous name that endures after them. (tr. Hawkes 1985:194) The "Xi shi" (惜誓 "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed") resembles the "Yuan You", and both reflect Daoist ideas from the Han period. "Though unoriginal in theme," says Hawkes (1985:239), "its description of air travel, written in a pre-aeroplane age, is exhilarating and rather impressive." We gazed down of the Middle Land [China] with its myriad people As we rested on the whirlwind, drifting about at random. In this way we came at last to the moor of Shao-yuan: There, with the other blessed ones, were Red Pine and Wang Qiao. The two Masters held zithers tuned in perfect concord: I sang the Qing Shang air to their playing. In tranquil calm and quiet enjoyment, Gently I floated, inhaling all the essences. But then I thought that this immortal life of [僊] the blessed, Was not worth the sacrifice of my home-returning. (tr. Hawkes 1985:240) The "Ai shi ming" (哀時命 "Alas That My Lot Was Not Cast") describes a celestial journey similar to the previous two. Far and forlorn, with no hope of return: Sadly I gaze in the distance, over the empty plain. Below, I fish in the valley streamlet; Above, I seek out [僊] holy hermits. I enter into friendship with Red Pine; I join Wang Qiao as his companion. We send the Xiao Yang in front to guide us; The White Tiger runs back and forth in attendance. Floating on the cloud and mist, we enter the dim height of heaven; Riding on the white deer we sport and take our pleasure. tr. Hawkes 1985:266) The "Li Sao" (離騷 "On Encountering Trouble"), the most famous Chuci poem, is usually interpreted as describing ecstatic flights and trance techniques of Chinese shamans. The above three poems are variations describing Daoist xian. Some other Chuci poems refer to immortals with synonyms of xian. For instance, "Shou zhi" (守志 "Maintaining Resolution), uses zhenren (真人 "true person", tr. "Pure Ones" above in "Yuan You"), which Wang Yi's commentary glosses as zhen xianren (真仙人 "true immortal person"). I visited Fu Yue, bestriding a dragon, Joined in marriage with the Weaving Maiden, Lifted up Heaven's Net to capture evil, Drew the Bow of Heaven to shoot at wickedness, Followed the [真人] Immortals fluttering through the sky, Ate of the Primal Essence to prolong my life. (tr. Hawkes 1985:318) Liezi The Liezi (列子 "[book of] Master Lie"), which Louis Komjathy (2004:36) says "was probably compiled in the 3rd century CE (while containing earlier textual layers)", uses xian four times, always in the compound xiansheng (仙聖 "immortal sage"). Nearly half of Chapter 2 ("The Yellow Emperor") comes from the Zhuangzi, including this recounting of the above fable about Mount Gushe (姑射, or Guye, or Miao Gushe 藐姑射). The Ku-ye mountains stand on a chain of islands where the Yellow River enters the sea. Upon the mountains there lives a Divine Man, who inhales the wind and drinks the dew, and does not eat the five grains. His mind is like a bottomless spring, his body is like a virgin's. He knows neither intimacy nor love, yet [仙聖] immortals and sages serve him as ministers. He inspires no awe, he is never angry, yet the eager and diligent act as his messengers. He is without kindness and bounty, but others have enough by themselves; he does not store and save, but he himself never lacks. The Yin and Yang are always in tune, the sun and moon always shine, the four seasons are always regular, wind and rain are always temperate, breeding is always timely, the harvest is always rich, and there are no plagues to ravage the land, no early deaths to afflict men, animals have no diseases, and ghosts have no uncanny echoes. (tr. Graham 1960:35) Chapter 5 uses xiansheng three times in a conversation set between legendary rulers Tang (湯) of the Shang Dynasty and Ji (革) of the Xia Dynasty. T'ang asked again: 'Are there large things and small, long and short, similar and different?' —'To the East of the Gulf of Chih-li, who knows how many thousands and millions of miles, there is a deep ravine, a valley truly without bottom; and its bottomless underneath is named "The Entry to the Void". The waters of the eight corners and the nine regions, the stream of the Milky Way, all pour into it, but it neither shrinks nor grows. Within it there are five mountains, called Tai-yü, Yüan-chiao, Fang-hu, Ying-chou and P'eng-Iai. These mountains are thirty thousand miles high, and as many miles round; the tablelands on their summits extend for nine thousand miles. It is seventy thousand miles from one mountain to the next, but they are considered close neighbours. The towers and terraces upon them are all gold and jade, the beasts and birds are all unsullied white; trees of pearl and garnet always grow densely, flowering and bearing fruit which is always luscious, and those who eat of it never grow old and die. The men who dwell there are all of the race of [仙聖] immortal sages, who fly, too many to be counted, to and from one mountain to another in a day and a night. Yet the bases of the five mountains used to rest on nothing; they were always rising and falling, going and returning, with the ebb and flow of the tide, and never for a moment stood firm. The [仙聖] immortals found this troublesome, and complained about it to God. God was afraid that they would drift to the far West and he would lose the home of his sages. So he commanded Yü-ch'iang to make fifteen [鼇] giant turtles carry the five mountains on their lifted heads, taking turns in three watches, each sixty thousand years long; and for the first time the mountains stood firm and did not move. 'But there was a giant from the kingdom of the Dragon Earl, who came to the place of the five mountains in no more than a few strides. In one throw he hooked six of the turtles in a bunch, hurried back to his country carrying them together on his back, and scorched their bones to tell fortunes by the cracks. Thereupon two of the mountains, Tai-yü and Yüan-chiao, drifted to the far North and sank in the great sea; the [仙聖] immortals who were carried away numbered many millions. God was very angry, and reduced by degrees the size of the Dragon Earl's kingdom and the height of his subjects. At the time of Fu-hsi and Shen-nung, the people of this country were still several hundred feet high.' (tr. Graham 1960:97–8) Penglai Mountain became the most famous of these five mythical peaks where the elixir of life supposedly grew, and is known as Horai in Japanese legends. The first emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on expeditions to find these plants of immortality, but he never returned (although by some accounts, he discovered Japan). Holmes Welch (1957:88–97) analyzed the beginnings of Daoism, sometime around the 4th-3rd centuries BCE, from four separate streams: philosophical Daoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi), a "hygiene school" that cultivated longevity through breathing exercises and yoga, Chinese alchemy and Five Elements philosophy, and those who sought Penglai and elixirs of "immortality". This is what he concludes about xian. It is my own opinion, therefore, that though the word hsien, or Immortal, is used by Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu, and though they attributed to their idealized individual the magic powers that were attributed to the hsien in later times, nonetheless the hsien ideal was something they did not believe in—either that it was possible or that it was good. The magic powers are allegories and hyperboles for the natural powers that come from identification with Tao. Spiritualized Man, P'eng-lai, and the rest are features of a genre which is meant to entertain, disturb, and exalt us, not to be taken as literal hagiography. Then and later, the philosophical Taoists were distinguished from all other schools of Taoism by their rejection of the pursuit of immortality. As we shall see, their books came to be adopted as scriptural authority by those who did practice magic and seek to become immortal. But it was their misunderstanding of philosophical Taoism that was the reason they adopted it. (Welch 1957:95) Shenxian zhuan The Shenxian zhuan (神仙傳 Biographies of Spirit Immortals") is a hagiography of xian. Although it was traditionally attributed to Ge Hong (283–343 CE), Komjathy (2004:43) says, "The received versions of the text contain some 100-odd hagiographies, most of which date from 6th-8th centuries at the earliest." According to the Shenxian zhuan, there are four schools of immortality: Qì (气—“Pneumas”): Breath control and meditation. Those who belong to this school can "...blow on water and it will flow against its own current for several paces; blow on fire, and it will be extinguished; blow at tigers or wolves, and they will crouch down and not be able to move; blow at serpents, and they will coil up and be unable to flee. If someone is wounded by a weapon, blow on the wound, and the bleeding will stop. If you hear of someone who has suffered a poisonous insect bite, even if you are not in his presence, you can, from a distance, blow and say in incantation over your own hand (males on the left hand, females on the right), and the person will at once be healed even if more than a hundred li away. And if you yourself are struck by a sudden illness, you have merely to swallow pneumas in three series of nine, and you will immediately recover. But the most essential thing [among such arts] is fetal breathing. Those who obtain [the technique of] fetal breathing become able to breathe without using their nose or mouth, as if in the womb, and this is the culmination of the way [of pneumatic cultivation]." (Campany 2002:21) Fàn (饭—“Diet”): Ingestion of herbal compounds and abstention from the Sān Shī Fàn (三尸饭—“Three-Corpses food”)—Meats (raw fish, pork, dog, leeks, and scallions) and grains. The Shenxian zhuan uses this story to illustrate the importance of bigu "grain avoidance": "During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black hair. Upon seeing this person, the hunters wanted to pursue and capture him, but the person leapt over gullies and valleys as if in flight, and so could not be overtaken. [but after being surrounded and captured, it was discovered this person was a 200 plus year old woman, who had once been a concubine of Qin Emperor Ziying. When he had surrendered to the 'invaders of the east', she fled into the mountains where she learned to subside on 'the resin and nuts of pines' from an old man. Afterwards, this diet 'enabled [her] to feel neither hunger nor thirst; in winter [she] was not cold, in summer [she] was not hot.'] The hunters took the woman back in. They offered her grain to eat. When she first smelled the stink of grain, she vomited, and only after several days could she tolerate it. After little more than two years of this [diet], her body hair fell out; she turned old and died. Had she not been caught by men, she would have become a transcendent." (Campany 2002:22–23) Fángzhōng Zhī Shù (房中之术—“Arts of the Bedchamber”): Sexual yoga. (Campany 2002:30–31) According to a discourse between the Yellow Emperor and the immortaless Sùnǚ (素女—“Plain Girl”), one of the three daughters of Hsi Wang Mu, “The sexual behaviors between a man and woman are identical to how the universe itself came into creation. Like Heaven and Earth, the male and female share a parallel relationship in attaining an immortal existence. They both must learn how to engage and develop their natural sexual instincts and behaviors; otherwise the only result is decay and traumatic discord of their physical lives. However, if they engage in the utmost joys of sensuality and apply the principles of yin and yang to their sexual activity, their health, vigor, and joy of love will bear them the fruits of longevity and immortality. (Hsi 2002:99–100) The White Tigress Manual, a treatise on female sexual yoga, states, “A female can completely restore her youthfulness and attain immortality if she refrains from allowing just one or two men in her life from stealing and destroying her [sexual] essence, which will only serve in aging her at a rapid rate and bring about an early death. However, if she can acquire the sexual essence of a thousand males through absorption, she will acquire the great benefits of youthfulness and immortality.” (Hsi 2001:48) Dān (丹—"Alchemy", literally "Cinnabar"): Elixir of Immortality.(Campany 2002:31) Baopuzi The 4th century CE Baopuzi (抱朴子 "[book of] Master Embracing Simplicity"), which was written by Ge Hong, gives some highly detailed descriptions of xian. The text lists three classes of immortals: Tiānxiān (天仙—“Celestial Immortal”): The highest level. Dìxiān (地仙—“Earth Immortal”): The middle level. Shījiě xiān (尸解仙—"Escaped-by-means-of-a-stimulated-corpse-simulacrum Immortal", literally "Corpse Untie Immortal"): The lowest level. This is considered the lowest form of immortality since a person must first “fake” their own death by substituting a bewitched object like a bamboo pole, sword, talisman or a shoe for their corpse or slipping a type of Death certificate into the coffin of a newly departed paternal grandfather, thus having their name and "allotted life span" deleted from the ledgers kept by the Sīmìng (司命—"Director of allotted life spans", literally "Controller of Fate"). Hagiographies and folktales abound of people who seemingly die in one province, but are seen alive in another. Mortals who choose this route must cut off all ties with family and friends, move to a distant province, and enact the Ling bao tai xuan yin sheng zhi fu (靈寳太玄隂生之符—“Numinous Treasure Talisman of the Grand Mystery for Living in Hiding”) to protect themselves from heavenly retribution. (Campany 2002:52–60) However, this is not a true form of immortality. For each misdeed a person commits, the Director of allotted life spans subtracts days and sometimes years from their allotted life span. This method allows a person to live out the entirety of their allotted lifespan (whether it be 30, 80, 400, etc.) and avoid the agents of death. But the body still has to be transformed into an immortal one, hence the phrase Xiānsǐ hòutuō (先死後脱—“The ‘death’ is apparent, [but] the sloughing off of the body’s mortality remains to be done.”) Sometimes the Shījiě are employed by heaven to act as celestial peace keepers. Therefore, they have no need for hiding from retribution since they are empowered by heaven to perform their duties. There are three levels of heavenly Shījiě: Dìxià zhǔ (地下主—“Agents Beneath the Earth”): Are in charge of keeping the peace within the Chinese underworld. They are eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality after 280 years of faithful service. Dìshàng zhǔzhě (地上主者—"Agents Above the Earth"): Are given magic talismans which prolong their lives (but not indefinitely) and allow them to heal the sick and exorcize demons and evil spirits from the earth. This level was not eligible for promotion to earthbound immortality. Zhìdì jūn (制地君—"Lords Who Control the Earth"): A heavenly decree ordered them to "disperse all subordinate junior demons, whether high or low [in rank], that have cause afflictions and injury owing to blows or offenses against the Motion of the Year, the Original Destiny, Great Year, the Kings of the Soil or the establishing or breaking influences of the chronograms of the tome. Annihilate them all." This level was also not eligible for promotion to immortality. These titles were usually given to humans who had either not proven themselves worthy of or were not fated to become immortals. One such famous agent was Fei Changfang, who was eventually murdered by evil spirits because he lost his book of magic talismans. However, some immortals are written to have used this method in order to escape execution. (Campany 2002:52–60) Ge Hong wrote in his book The Master Who Embraces Simplicity, The [immortals] Dark Girl and Plain Girl compared sexual activity as the intermingling of fire [yang/male] and water [yin/female], claiming that water and fire can kill people but can also regenerate their life, depending on whether or not they know the correct methods of sexual activity according to their nature. These arts are based on the theory that the more females a man copulates with, the greater benefit he will derive from the act. Men who are ignorant of this art, copulating with only one or two females during their life, will only suffice to bring about their untimely and early death. (Hsi 2001:48) The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji (鐘呂傳道集/钟吕传道集 "Anthology of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhong[li Quan] to Lü [Dongbin]") is associated with Zhongli Quan (2nd century CE?) and Lü Dongbin (9th century CE), two of the legendary Eight Immortals. It is part of the so-called “Zhong-Lü” (鍾呂) textual tradition of internal alchemy (neidan). Komjathy (2004:57) describes it as, "Probably dating from the late Tang (618–906), the text is in question-and-answer format, containing a dialogue between Lü and his teacher Zhongli on aspects of alchemical terminology and methods." The Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji lists five classes of immortals: Guǐxiān (鬼仙—"Ghost Immortal"): A person who cultivates too much yin energy. These immortals are likened to Vampires because they drain the life essence of the living, much like the fox spirit. Ghost immortals do not leave the realm of ghosts. Rénxiān (人仙—Human Immortal”): Humans have an equal balance of yin and yang energies, so they have the potential of becoming either a ghost or immortal. Although they continue to hunger and thirst and require clothing and shelter like a normal human, these immortals do not suffer from aging or sickness. Human immortals do not leave the realm of humans. There are many sub-classes of human immortals, as discussed above under Shījiě xiān. Dìxiān (地仙—“Earth Immortal”): When the yin is transformed into the pure yang, a true immortal body will emerge that does not need food, drink, clothing or shelter and is not affected by hot or cold temperatures. Earth immortals do not leave the realm of earth. These immortals are forced to stay on earth until they shed their human form. Shénxiān (神仙—"Spirit Immortal"): The immortal body of the earthbound class will eventually change into vapor through further practice. They have supernatural powers and can take on the shape of any object. These immortals must remain on earth acquiring merit by teaching mankind about the Tao. Spirit immortals do not leave the realm of spirits. Once enough merit is accumulated, they are called to heaven by a celestial decree. Tiānxiān (天仙—“Celestial Immortal”): Spirit immortals who are summoned to heaven are given the minor office of water realm judge. Over time, they are promoted to oversee the earth realm and finally become administrators of the celestial realm. These immortals have the power to travel back and forth between the earthly and celestial realms. Śūraṅgama Sūtra The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, in an approach to Taoist teachings, discusses the characteristics of ten types of xian who exist between the world of devas ("gods") and that of human beings. This position, in Buddhist literature, is usually occupied by asuras ("Titans", "antigods"). These xian are not considered true cultivators of samadhi ("unification of mind"), as their methods differ from the practice of dhyāna ("meditation").[2][3] Dìxiān (Dìxíng xiān 地行仙, "earth-travelling immortals") – Xian who constantly ingest special food called fuer (服餌). Fēixiān (Fēixíng xiān 飛行仙, “flying immortals”) – Xian who constantly ingest certain herbs and plants. Yóuxiān (Yóuxíng xiān 遊行仙, “roaming immortals”) – Xian who “transform” by constantly ingesting metals and minerals. Kōngxiān (Kōngxíng xiān 空行仙, “void-travelling immortals”) – Xian who perfect their qi and essence through unceasing movement and stillness (dongzhi 動止). Tiānxiān (Tiānxíng xiān 天行仙, “heaven-travelling immortals”) – Xian who constantly practice control of their fluids and saliva. Tōngxiān (Tōngxíng xiān 通行仙, “all-penetrating immortals”) – Xian who constantly practice the inhalation of unadulterated essences. Dàoxiān (Dàoxínɡ xiān 道行仙, “immortals of the Way”) – Xian who achieve transcendence through unceasing recitation of spells and prohibitions. Zhàoxiān (Zhàoxíng xiān 照行仙, “illuminated immortals”) – Xian who achieve transcendence through constant periods of thought and recollection. Jīngxiān (Jīngxíng xiān 精行仙, “seminal immortals”) – Xian who have mastered the stimuli and responses of intercourse. Juéxiān (Juéxíng xiān 絕行仙, “absolute immortals”) – Xian who "have attained the end" and perfected their awakening through constant transformation. I trust that this satisfies your need for references LaoZiDao Do the work, and you won't need a book. Books are essential In the beginning, but they only take you so far. I trust that you're getting your 3+ hours daily of cultivation time, and have the Initial transformations to show for it? If not, I would politely suggest that you, and everyone else who's serious about this, get to It. Our time here Is limited, If you don't put the work In. I want people to be successful In this. You can take, or leave everything I say. I don't want anyone to take what I say at face value. Believe nothing. ESPECIALLY appeals to authority from books that may, or may not have the real deal in them, and ESPECIALLY anonymous Poindexters like me! Find out for yourself. Do your own research. Do your own work. And In time, you'll know. Cheers!

Regarding the whole "You'll stay a Ghost Immortal forever" statement. Here's the thing... NO THING IS FOREVER. "Reality" Is a Multi Level, Virtual Reality Simulation. The ancients didn't have Oculus Rift, so they used different nomenclature to describe the same thing. The creator, prime mover, and foundation of this simulation, is Consciousness (Which Is Immaterial= NoThing/Not Matter). I don't know If It's a translation Issue or what, but a lot of times, when various texts say "consciousness", what they're actually talking about Is the personality, the self Image. What most folks think of as "me". This is the false self, and not "The Real You". People are avatars/game characters In this simulation. The core Self of these characters Is Consciousness. What they normally think of as "Me" Is a mental construct. Their "Mind" Isn't even In the body, It's non-local. The brain is just a receiver. It Isn't the mind. We are NEVER "IN" the Body. A MAJOR misunderstanding/Error In a number of current systems. Like every "thing", bodies are mental constructs. Limited, finite, conditioned structures that consciousness utilizes as focal points. Most of the writers of these alchemical texts were aware of this. This is one of the "traps" I talked about previously. Intentionally set for folks not paying attention to what's being said. Western Science actually figured this out In the early part of the 20th century. And It disturbed the hell out of them. So they say,"quantum mechanics Is weird", and left It at that. If you "Wake Up" to this reality, you can then function as the core Self. You can then travel through all of the various levels of the simulation, with full Self Awareness. Call It what you will: "Rainbow Body", "Diamond Body", "The Body of Ausar (Osiris)", "Atman", "Metatron", "Adam Kadmon", etc. Just different models for the same thing. But these levels aren't forever. Your various personas/self images aren't forever. The only forever Is "I". So you wouldn't stay a ghost Immortal forever. That's just silly. You don't stay any thing forever. We're affected by these various states, to the extent that we stay attached to the human self Image. A "Ghost" Is what In Ancient Egypt was known as the "Khaibit". Just the Qi/breath/vapor/plasma that moves our vehicle, with some remnant memories (If you hadn't "awaken" before you transition (aka Death), you eventually lose your memories/personality, "Dying The Second Death". If "you" get a chance to Incarnate again, you don't remember any of this. It's like waking from a dream. People with more energy do remember previous lives, vividly In fact, and there are many documented accounts In various cultures throughout the world. The various "Immortal" levels, are just various levels of wakefulness. A Ghost Immortal could stay that way for 10 months, or 10 years, relative to our reference of time (which people have to remember, Is different on the different levels of existence). "Forever" Is relative. 100 years to you, Is 1 nanosecond for some other being. Wiki Powers ACTIVATE!... "Anicca or impermanence is understood by Buddhists as one of the three marks of existence, the others being dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) and anatta (non-selfhood). All things in the universe are understood by Buddhists to be characterised by these three marks of existence. According to the impermanence doctrine, human life embodies this flux in the aging process, the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara), and in any experience of loss. This is applicable to all beings and their environs including devas (mortal gods). The Buddha taught that because conditioned phenomena are impermanent, attachment to them becomes the cause for future suffering (dukkha)." Sometimes, even the writers of these wonderful texts forget the basics. Every Thing Ends. It may take 10 seconds, or 10 Million Eons to do so, but It does. All great stories end. And then "you" aka "I" create a NEW one. Because I, Consciousness, NEVER End. We are all Incredibly blessed to even be having this conversation. To even know about these realities. 99.9% of the people on this planet don't. So most of them will lose consciousness, and wake up as yet another persona, probably the slave of another man, In whatever new dream reality the people In power In their world create. I just dealt with a friend's mother transitioning. They began showing up In my friend, and her daughter's dreams (Theta brain wave state Is the location of the "Bardo", "Duat", "Heaven", "Hell", etc.), saying It was cold, dark, and that they needed help. She transitioned In an upset state, according to readings that I did. But she's got to go through that now. Her belief system didn't show her what she needed to do In life, to avoid this. And she's going to have to lose consciousness because of It, and forget her life. Don't let that be YOU. I know I'm not. Just do the work to wake up. Build up to 3 to 4 hours of practice (both movement, and stillness work) 365 days a year, for 10 years, or so, (your mileage will vary), and You'll find out the details yourself directly, If you do. Everything else is just opinion, belief, and egoistic posturing, thus useless. Cheers!

Thank you very much Antares for your reply. It's the clearest explanation I've heard about what the WLP school does so far. And your English Is fine. Better than quite a few native speakers actually. Cheers!

Thanks Bluemind. Appreciated. I don't really have any questions. I was just making an observation about all of this "Our system Is the Best, but we can't give you any details as to WHY It's the best. Or show you any of our advanced practitioners as examples. Just believe us. It Is. Oh yeah, and every other system is crap" that goes on on this forum. Human nature, I know, but I thought the goal was to get beyond such pettiness. And I say the above with the caveat that they just might have a fantastic system. You just have to travel to actually find out. I've done all of that already, with the systems I now use. Now it's about putting the practice time In. 3 hours minimum everyday, 365 days a year, for 5 years, for me at this point. People should ask these various systems the most Important question,"how do I know that I will actually be an Immortal upon transition, and not lose consciousness". THAT'S the one you want to know. Powers, etc. mean nothing, If you forget It all when you reincarnate. I'll deal with this In a different thread. Thanks again Bluemind. Cheers!

You're a funny guy Taoist Texts, In so many ways. Cheers!

Well If you don't see such a thing as a "Wrong Student" for a particular system being a reality, there's not much more to say about that. As a basic example. Guy learns how to drain Qi from women during Intercourse. Unbeknownst to the teacher ("Teacher" has just read a few books, took a $5,000 Intensive with "Master of The Week", put up a Wordpress site, and printed some business cards out at Staples), this man has major issues with misogyny, narcissistic personality disorder, with a dash of violent sociopathy, for good measure. Add Neidan practices, shake, and voila, a FUBAR situation for all parties Involved. Damaged psyches, vehicles, lives, etc., for all Involved. A separate, and Important point that I forgot to mention earlier, Is that ALL of the ancient cultivation texts, are, for want of a better term, "Booby-trapped". They have various misdirections, and outright lies contained In them, to discourage "the profane". Add bad translations to the mix, and you have the current state of spiritual cultivation, a virtual "Tower of Babel", where no one understands what the other Is trying to say, and It all devolves Into juvenile name calling, and pointless arguments. "Taoist Yoga", "Serpent Power", Initiation Into Hermetics", etc. all do this. It why there's so much confusion. And that's Intentional. Things of great value are not easily gained. It is why having a good teacher at the beginning Is essential. I was fortunate to only make one wrong turn teacher wise. And It worked out like It was supposed to, because I met my Gong Fu teacher through a workshop one of his students gave at her place. Once you have a good foundation, THEN you can research, and test on your own. You can get Into a lot of trouble otherwise. With the proper foundation, cross system research, and an understanding of physics, quantum mechanics, physiology, nutrition, Classical, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, cosmology, culture, etc. (and/or access to people that do), along with 10,000+ hours of actual practice, you can grasp the actual process, and how to get there. All any good teacher, or system can do Is get you to the door. You still have to open It yourself. Cheers!

Exactly! See "Anakin Skywalker" aka "Darth Vader", for a popular culture reference. Cheers!

Hi Taoist Texts, 5 year old corresponds to lack of knowledge, self-control, darkness = The Kan trigram. A teenager can work just as well In the metaphor. Lack of actual experience, yet thinking they've "got It", and everyone else Is just trying to ruin their fun. You're assuming that most adults are adults. Biologically, yes. Mentally, and Spiritually? Not so much. The nuke Is Neidan, In the wrong hands. You don't have to be a Superior Man, or Woman to do the Initial practices, and get some very powerful phenomenal realm results. You really want to minimize people with various character flaws In possession of these materials. It ends up being a problem for both them, and the people around them. Cheers!

This very Interesting thread clearly shows the inherent problems In propagating advanced teachings. I call It "The 5 year old/Nuke" dilemma. Do you really want to give nuclear capabilities to a 5 year old? It's going to be a bit of a disaster for all Involved. From reading the WLP site, and comparing It, and Opendao's various comments to my own experiences, and teachers, It's obvious that they're familiar with the physical transformation aspects of actual neidan practice, along with the potential Issues than can occur when you start dealing with other levels of "Reality", and the various entities that reside there. With that said, there's no way to know for sure WHAT the Wu Liu Pai School's got, unless you're willing to spend $1200K round trip on average (not Including lodging, Food, etc,) to go to Saint-Petersburg, Russia from the US, to find out. I'm very fortunate to not have to do that, but if you're attempting to evaluate ANY school, or teacher, It's really the only way to do so. Everything else Is hearsay, and opinion, at the end of the day. "Does It Work?". "Can You Show Me That It Works?". "Do You Have Multiple Examples Of Effective Students?" "Is The System Coherent Enough To Learn, And Then Teach Others?" These are the only questions that matter. The whole "My System/Sifu/Teacher/Master/Guru Is Better Than Yours" thing, doesn't help anyone. Results, and accomplished students, and teachers that can demonstrate, do. Every system I've learned, I've made the trip, met the teacher, verified what they had worked, spent the money, learned the system, and now teach It to others (If they're ready). Real Neidan can be very dangerous, without both thorough research, knowledgable teachers, and access to a trained practitioner of both Classical, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Herbalism, and Tuina, If possible. Your vehicle transforms, as your consciousness transforms from these practices, so you need to be prepared. Qigong isn't Neidan. Unfortunately, there's a lot of distortion, and confusion occurring these days from well meaning people not understanding the differences. the same thing Is happening with the practice of Tai Chi Quan In the States. Movements of Wind Qi through the Meridians, Is NOT the movement of The Real Yang Qi. I learned this once Tai Hsi, aka Kevala Khumbaka, began. That's when you begin to learn what's the real deal, and what's make believe. WLP folks are VERY passionate about their practice, and It's effectiveness. That's great, and I trust that they will get everything that they're looking for. Unfortunately, the lack of any basic outline of their actual techniques, beyond the theory on their site, limits their acquisition of students to their local area, and those with the resources, Intestinal fortitude, and destiny, to travel there to learn. And that's fine. From my personal experience as both practitioner, and teacher, people love to talk, but most don't want to put the time, and effort Into "Eating The Bitter" to learn these truly amazing systems, and abilities. So these advanced systems, by their very nature, are going to always have a very limited group of practitioners, with a larger group upset at being "Locked Out" of learning the practices. Peace, and Blessings to all of you. Much success on your journey. Cheers!

Excellent reference Tibetan_Ice! Kudos! Monroe's trilogy is required reading, for folks Interested In these sorts of things: Journeys Out of the Body http://www.amazon.com/Journeys-Out-Body-Robert-Monroe/dp/0385008619/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458175861&sr=1-1&keywords=journeys+out+of+the+body Far Journeys http://www.amazon.com/Far-Journeys-Robert-Monroe/dp/0385231822/ref=pd_bxgy_14_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1R53R5DGAJ4MW799E50D Ultimate Journey http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Journey-Robert-Monroe/dp/0385472080/ref=pd_bxgy_14_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1HHMDZD48AXBWGWM5CM3 You also want to check out Tom Campbell's work, who was a student of Robert Monroe, helped him build the Hemi-Sync system The Monroe Institute uses, Is a trained Physicist, and has traveled "Out Of Body" for over 30 years. He's the "TC" that Monroe talks about In "Far Journeys". (The more accurate term would be "Out of Mind". Your Consciousness Is non-local. We're never "In the Body". In the words of Western occultist Lon Milo DuQuette,"It's All In Your Head. You Just Don't Realize How Big Your Head Is". ) Here's his book, and YouTube Channel. My Big TOE - The Complete Trilogy http://www.amazon.com/My-Big-TOE-Complete-Trilogy/dp/0972509461/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Rjnev%2BWIL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR108%2C160_&refRID=1CBVCBAZTH3Z3Z0SK2FP YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/twcjr44 Here's the playlist of a talk he gave In London, that will help clarify a number of the Issues discussed on this thread: Physics, Metaphysics & the Consciousness Connection And here's the link to the Powerpoint slides that go along with the above presentation: http://www.my-big-toe.com/uploads/LondonLectureSlides.pdf Great reference for folks Tibetan_Ice. thanks! Cheers!

Hi everyone! I greatly apologize for the delay. I had some personal matters that came up, and needed to be dealt with. I'll have over 10 new entries In by the weekend. Happy Holidays to all! Cheers!