Daeluin

I dreamed a coin with shifting face -- so many youthful visages so many costly dreams, and it rolled and rang 'round the gilded rim of a chalice made for gems Life of Dreams Ilbares the Hag Steven Erikson Gardens of the Moon Malazan Book of the Fallen

When the whole is divided, parts need names. The parts are infinite, but all come from the tao. Thus the ways back to the tao are infinite. When we seek return, we are calling out for something external, and so may be drawn to schools and teachers with specific methods, often helping us to return to ourselves and to stop seeking. Even within one school, experiences will vary, and to compare experiences with others often invites confusion. Some like to point out how methods that do not reach the root are wrong. But everyone's way is unique, and what is right or wrong for that person will be different for another. A person pursuing a career in healing may not be doing "neidan", but might be re-balancing karma from a life spent as a warrior. Who are we to judge what is right or wrong for someone's way? I like to believe that if one listens to their true heart and follows their intuition, they will find their way. And I also believe in radiating trust to everyone unconditionally, trusting them to do what is right for them. Because what do I know? Who am I to judge? Hopefully trusting them will help them come to trust themselves and help them align with their way.

I was once told a master is someone who has cultivated their heart to perfection and then offered their heart to the mother (tao). Why consolation for those who don't follow their heart in the first place? Not following heart is what gets us lost. Deciding to follow the heart again is no consolation, it is the prize. Qi Gong, or energy work, seems to me like a very broad subject. Certainly it has goals, like a politician has goals. Neidan, to me, is defined by its specific goals of aiming at the root, just like a presidential candidate is signified by their specific goals of achieving presidency. The goal is what shapes the techniques, the parts and methods are subordinate to the goal, even as the parts and methods too are what separate two schools aiming at the same goal. When the whole is divided, parts need names. When parts get names, people start evaluating them and confusion arises.

Hunter X Hunter starts off as any ordinary "anime" story, more or less. But as it progresses, it begins to train the characters in its own flavour of Qi Gong, complete with meditation, energetic sight, building and emitting power, and learning to utilize specialized types of energy techniques based on one's inherent five-phase make-up. This isn't just some show about characters with energy balls. The entire energy framework is explained and greatly parallels training in Qi Gong, and doesn't even happen until about 30 episodes in. There's even an island that was purchased for the purposes of creating an energy game.... people who purchased this video game would be teleported to the island and could not leave until the game was beaten. The game was like any MMORPG, but set in real life, where Qi had been set to frame the manifestation of various spells used in the game's card system. So... Hunter X Hunter, which is a show about those who train to become licensed "Hunters", is somewhat like a show where people train to become QiGong Masters, who then use their skills to benefit the world. The explorations of possibility within this very unique and complex world are as rich and rewarding as any Ursula K Leguin novel. Highly recommended.

Water and Fire are interesting. Water is said to be Yang contained within yin. Internally Yang, externally yin. In Daoist thought, winter is ruled by Water and summer rules Fire. Fire is said to be Yin contained within Yang. Internally Yin, externally Yang. In winter we have cold, all the heat is cut away. In the summer the heat has returned and the water has melted and dissipated into the atmosphere. As virtues, Fire and Water are known as Illumination and Wisdom, following the same principles. But the seasons are a cycle, and follow a circle. Just as we have North and South, there is also East and West - another duality, this one's virtues of Benevolence and Righteousness, or Wood and Metal, respectively. Or small Yang and small Yin. Wood expands the Yang, bringing heat to Spring, melting water so that it may sprout into life. Fire is the culmination of this expansion, the fullness of heat in the Summer. Metal and it's righteousness judges, compartmentalizes, organizes, settles matters into their righteous places and condenses water vapor into water again. Water without heat condenses even further into ice, retreating back to an embryonic stage to reflect on the entire cycle before beginning anew. In this way the Ancients began exploring how Yin and Yang evolved into other elemental forces that were still very basic, and still contained their own relative Yin and Yangs, but could be used to describe more complex phenomena.

Nice post. I didn't specify the type of Wind, but I agree with what you wrote. Overall the ancients considered Wind to be Yin, precisely due to what you wrote - the temperature is what creates wind, but wind itself is a passive occurrence, never acting of it's own will. Wind may be perceived as Yang or Yin, but even then the Wind itself is simply in free fall, yin. From this one might see the gunpowder as Yang and the bullet as Yin. The bullet made no action - it was acted upon. Important point about the poles. I didn't bother to note this in my earlier post, but the South North principles mentioned there apply to the Northern Hemisphere, and would be reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. In terms of temperature, there would be more Yang near the equator and more Yin near the poles. In terms of the planet's electromagnetic field and how it influences other planetary bodies, perhaps that is different. In terms of Ba Gua, Water is considered to be Yang, but it is Yang contained within Yin. In terms of Chinese Medicine, cold and damp are considered Yin, while dry and hot are considered Yang. It's wise to be cautious about what beliefs one adopts, but if one creates their own system it can be difficult. Letting principles self-validate based on natural phenomena is a great way to both gain clarity and simplify one's understanding. At least this is what I did.... and over time more and more of my principles would be replaced by simpler ones without loss. And this is what lead me to reading about the tao... I was shocked that such a system existed that had already gone so far. But of course as I read I would still validate everything based on natural phenomena. At some point I hit a barrier and could go no further mentally without learning to feel things internally as well. Good luck on your way!

Women may not make the first move (yang), but they (many) are still attracted to men.

The energy in the body is full of different systems and circulations, all serving the purpose of making our bodies work, slowly drawing on our reserve primordial qi until it runs out and we die. Energy work (qi gong) explores this energy and works on returning it to full health. Neidan (or jindan, golden elixir) takes the energies in operation in the body, and merges them back together following the order of their creation... at which point different components are no longer "hidden" and these are taken and merged to create medicines which are circulated and refined throughout the body following specific orders, and so on, until one has returned the body to a level of purity where even one's past lives have been dissolved into a unified emptiness that is complete, and ultimately one is able to pass beyond the boundaries of the universe as we know it. Or something like that. There are many perspectives. Naturally a process like this is not just about playing with energy, but requires precise balancing for various components to come together, and the external world continues to present challenges, so dealing with this is a component as well. Every person has a unique energetic make-up and tendency, so the way to balance is unique for all of us - not everyone is likely prepared to do this work, but those who are, and are sincere, are able to find teachers. The Teachings of Immortals Chung and Lu, tl Eva Wong This is just a piece.... the "math" in this book is extensive. This text is supposedly a commentary on the Ling Bao Bi Fa, which I don't believe has been fully translated into English, but the translated Ling Bao Tong Zhi Neng Nei Gong Shu supposedly includes techniques from this text, as taught to and by Wang Liping. The "math" is extensive - it describes the fabric of reality - but the body knows how to do these things when guided appropriately. Many of these transformations will occur on their own if one sincerely practices qi gong - but how does one know which stage one is at, or what comes next? Rare is the perfect person, but it is common for one to be natural at one thing and find another thing difficult. But to return to the Tao requires full mastery of one's self, and what one has trouble with also needs work. Hence the importance of a teacher who has already experienced these transformations and can see what needs to be done. If one were to attempt controlling their body to do these things in ways the body was not ready for, the body could easily be damaged. Further, not everyone's "karma" is prepared to take such a journey. It is possible for people to have dabbled in these arts in the past when it was not their time then either, and now they feel tugged this way again, but are still missing out on what they really need to be doing to achieve balance this lifetime. Always follow the heart, always work to understand the messages the tao has left during one's entire life. Then one will know what to do. One might say the goal of Neidan is what sets it apart. Edit: I do not mean to imply Neidan is the only way to achieve the goal of Neidan, or to put Neidan on a pedestal above other ways.

Not sure how many words, but this might do.

It is easy to say push is yang, pull is yin. But when something moves, was it pushed or pulled? Or both?

Wind: Yang or Yin? It can be gentle and warm. Or sharp and penetrating. These qualities may be seen as Yang or Yin, but there is a reason it is mainly one. North is Yang in the sense that is the direction our solar system moves towards. North is Yin as it is colder, and moss grows on the north side of trees where it is more moist, also yin. In China South was the top of the maps because South represented Yang, the heat of the summer, etc. Yin and Yang contain each other. They are subtle, and it is very easy to get sucked into theories that work great from one perspective, but don't hold up to other perspectives. It is fine to say yang always comes first. But yin is always there to receive yang before it acts. They do nothing without each other. There is no right or wrong, nothing to win or lose. Yang can be strong and firm, or impulsive and forceful. Yin can be flexible and yielding, or weak and easily pushed around. When force is used, things become broken, walls are raised, and separation is enforced. When one is firm of conviction internally, but gentle and flexible externally, trust is built and sharing deepens. Holding fast to righteousness easily exposes firmness and it becomes difficult to prevent clashes. A good way to explore Yang and Yin is via Tai Chi, which is all about learning to feel yin and yang inside the body. Feeling how yang and yin move and interact is humbling to me. The more they refine and merge, the more I feel at home where ever I may be. The more I feel like this, the less anything else matters.

Certainly, the cook was highly skilled. Yet in doing he did not use his knowledge, he opened to heavenly knowledge and flowed with spirit. One might discern from this the cook understands the difference between his human mind and the "mind of tao" which is in communion with the knowledge of heaven. Then he describes how when faced with tangles, doing is not his answer, but he withdraws and allows to an even greater extent, and allows the Course to flow imperceptibly, leaving him amazed by the power of the Tao. Nourishing life may be done by way of allowing oneself to flow with the way, and the greater one trusts, the more can be accomplished. Why seek out knowledge when allowing produces results that meet all situations? Do nothing, and allow everything to be done.

Brook Ziporyn

When 1 becomes, it can only be 1 (+) because of everything not 1 (-), and two are distinguished in our law of duality. After that, anything 1 does expends 1 into 2 (-), or invites 2 (+) into 1 (-). When 1 feeds 2, more 1's and 2's are created in what is external to 1. When 2 feeds 1, more 1's and 2's are created in what is internal to 1. By "doing", 10,000 things are created, endlessly living and dying. Tao exists before duality, before Yang and Yin. When 1 nurtures the inner dualities, refining them until 1 is pure yang again, Then 1 embraces the receptivity of 2 via "non-doing", and yang-yin return to Tao. By "non-doing", yin and yang merge, death and life are left behind, and one reunites with the ancestral. That which is done with Tao lives close to the center, that which is done without Tao is leaving the center. That which returns to Tao offers its center to the greater center.

For what it's worth, vonkrankenhaus, I read your post and quite enjoyed it.

I believe this undestanding of masculine and feminine is missing the notion of circularity and linearality. Before puberty masuline and femine has little difference, mostly social imprinting. After puberty life-force is yearning to procreate. The feminine is receptive, but most importantly, cyclical. The masculine is expressive, and looks for external "homes" to express in. It is important to understand the masculine "intelligence" comes from the sacrifice of its own life force. What is spent in a linear fashion is sent into another body, idea, business, paradigm. The masculine always yearns to spend its power to ensure the continuation of the patterns of its egos and creations. The feminine circuality understands cycles, understands the center, and has no need for such external ambitions. What is important is close at hand, what is spent is spent in ways that will return; what returns may be unified. The feminine nurtures the whole. Intelligence blind to its own circularity blindly pushes forth using force to change the world unnecessarily. Heavenly Intelligence is natural, has no need for learning, requires no attachments, and does not compromise circularity.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, but time carries on. Reactions bounce back and forth, always carrying us further ahead of where we started. Life expresses and changes ripple out in all directions. The changes transform and the transformations reflect those ripples back out. Eventually they return to their origin, transformed, full of messages and reflections. When these messages are accepted, the origin listens and becomes more refined. When received these reflections may become fully absorbed back into the source. When one closes a little to the reflections of the tao one separates a little from the tao, A little ego is unwilling to change, reshaping karma and projecting it back out, rather than dissolving it. In this way one settles into a pattern of erroding their inner power, until it is gone.

I find it curious how terms and phrases may become obvious once one has experienced what they describe. If one seeks, one travels away, but if one surrenders seeking, one no longer prevents return. I suppose this is why many texts were intended as tools for the already enlightened, and the teachings intended as experiential transmission. Once I had an experience of this principle. Where I previously would distinguish different locations in my body, and feel energy travelling between them, suddenly anywhere I focused was the same. It was all one - there were no body parts, everything was unified, and every location was the center, but a center that defied location.

The cycles of Midnight, Sunrise, Noon, Sunset - this mechanism helps the Celestial energies integrate with the more dormant Earthly energies, via the light and heat of the sun. Heat is applied to what is frozen in place, and it moves, blossoms, fruits and returns back to stillness. Places that are sealed off from both the light of the sun, and buried underground are more disconnected from this daily expansion and contraction of the energies present in the room. Thus whatever energies are created in this basement are less likely to change and flow. They'll simply build up and stagnate, perpetually in a midnight-like state where things just stay as they are, frozen in place until conditions invite them to change. If you're on the internet a lot in this space, then there will likely be a build-up of mental energies used for learning, discriminating, communicating. Often people who are online a lot will develop stiffness in their spine and shoulders - this type of activity is usually of the Metal phase, and metal is what takes the fruits of summer, judges what to keep and discard, harvesting what it wants as it cools off the fire, condensing the humidity into water that becomes dew and frost over night. In other words, metal cools water, invites stiffness. So in our already stiff environment we've added conditions to create even more stiffness and stagnation! What you need is more Wood and Fire, an element of heat (love, heart), and to create cyclical routines in this environment. In a way you are protected from outside changes here, and may create whatever you want, but of course if you do not maintain this routine it will begin to stagnate again. But if you cultivate lots of beautiful energy in here it should also stay here. I recommend being very careful what you do in your basement, and to carefully cultivate a sacred relationship to this space. Dance, spin, do circle walking, create artificial air flows and heat and light sources. Go out into the world and absorb positive energies and bring them back to your space for nurturing your plants and the flows you are creating. Decorate the space to smooth any angularity in the room, turning straight lines into curves and covering any exposed wires or separating appliances and things in storage from the main living space. Make sure to keep things clean, to ensure maintaining a smooth flow of energy. Good luck!

Tao is never far from humanity. Humanity moves away from Tao by questioning Tao. When nothing is asked, nothing is left unanswered.

Ultimately, if a "drug" can be used as a tool, we can also learn to produce the effect of the tool on our own. Tools we develop dependency to can become crutches; tools we transcend use of are launchpads. We all come to develop our own way of finding balance in ourselves. Some of us are more introverted, some more extroverted, etc. An altering substance (including food, air, qi) may change this balance. If we study this change, we may learn to product the effect on our own.

Expectation is the hoary curse of humanity. -- Steven Erikson When an empire's heart revolves around greed, where is the surprise in any of this? When a greedy society yearns for healing, what shape does this take? The truth is here for those who look, and is parroted widely by those who take what they want from it. Parroted truths may miss the mark, but spread quickly. Parroted truths may lack foundation, but invite foundation. When the foundation appears, what was once superficial gains support and grounding. This works both ways. Politicians know to address the dominant memes, harnessing the worries of the misguided with promises of manifestations that will support those fears. So easy to build a house of cards, to line up the dominoes just so. Chinese Astrology functions along the lines of this "As Above Commands, So Below Lives" - the Heavenly energies are active, but unrooted. The Earthly energies are contained and dormant. When the Heavenly energies connect to the Earthly energies a bond is formed. What was dormant becomes aroused, what was intangible is given substance. Ideas are able to manifest instead of remaining as dreams. Stone becomes fertile soil and life takes form. The key to this is integration. It takes time, should not be forced. The increasing popularity of "Superficial Spirituality" has great potential to become rooted in deeper truths, over time. My mother raised me doing yoga for health, but I felt called to something deeper. People need time to hear the call from their heart. This landscape changes slowly. Who can judge its progress, its purpose, its place in the greater balance? Even chaos and violence have purpose in balance - if we care to promote harmony, it helps to trust that all things have their place, and to smile at them rather than frowning. Opposing negativity simply maintains negativity. Harmony is created when negativity is simply seen as a staircase one may follow up or down. Challenges take us to new levels, new layers within the tao. How can we flow like water if we reject what is lowly, stagnant, dark? When one slows down and sees clearly these things are not the obstructions they once appeared to be. Zhuangzi, Watson:

Thank you. I get the impression that by cross referencing the aphorisms in the analects with his existing studies, he came to realize his understanding was complete, yet the key he was looking for could not be tangibly described by written words. Understanding this, he freed himself to proceed on the work, transcending the barrier of bookishness even as he became open to receive the detailed timings and methods from this master. Or something like that. The Tao guides us all in mysterious ways.

Opening the Dragon Gate (tl Cleary), ch 8: ch 10: Perhaps these excerpts can help show how powerful Taoist Mystical practices can be, and how easily they can be perceived as threats by political structures. Political structures can be very delicate and it is easy for deep truths and arts to pose a threat to a government's structural choices that may go against the Way, especially if those truths become widespread. Now that we have means to share and preserve knowledge, these arts are beginning to spread, but those who make use of them still must be careful to follow the Way, avoiding force, allowing time for what is powerful to integrate into the culture so that it is not treated as threatening or extreme. Following the Way is following Balance.