ChiDragon

Besides focusing on your LDT, you have not described what were you practicing. May I ask what were you trying to accomplish?

Here is the summary to conclude that Tao was invisible at the time before the sky and earth were born. Chapters 14,21, and 25 support Line 3 of Chapter 1. Line 3, Chapter 1 3. 無，名天地之始。 3. Invisible, was a name given to Tao at the origin of sky and earth. Chapter 14 The Invisible Tao 1. View it couldn't see, name, and call it Colorless. 2. Listen to it couldn't hear, name and call it Soundless. 3. Touch it couldn't feel, name it, and call it Formless. 13. Greet it cannot see its head. 14. Follow it cannot see its back. Chapter 21 The description of the invisible Tao 1. The appearance of great virtue; 2. Only trails Tao. 3. This thing, Tao, 4. It's hazy and indistinctive. Chapter 25 The Invisible Tao. 1. There was a thing formed by chaos; 2. Before heaven and earth were born; 3. Soundless and formless;

Where did you get that idea? You can get that idea from Chinese fiction stories from the Kung Fu movies. All cultivation should be done without any external influence. Especially not with toxic substances. FYI All the gathering or storing chi to the dan tien is only a myth. Using substances is harmful to your body. Period. It will not help you in your meditation practice at all. Please don't even think about it or do it anymore. Peace!

Yes. It is 無, but before it was formed by chaos and before the sky and earth were born. After it was form, then it becomes 有. Laotze was reluctantly to call it "Tao". Line 3, Chapter 1 3. 無，名天地之始。 3. Invisible, was a name given to Tao at the origin of sky and earth.

Chapter 25 The invisible Tao. 1. 有物混成 2. 先天地生 3. 寂兮寥兮 4. 獨立而不改 5. 周行而不殆 6. 可以為天地母 7. 吾不知其名 8. 強字之曰"道" 9. 強為之名曰"大" 10. 大曰逝 11. 逝曰遠 12. 遠曰反 13. 故道大 14. 天大 15. 地大 16. 人亦大 17. 域中有四大 18. 而人居其一焉 19. 人法地 20. 地法天 21. 天法道 22. 道法自然 1. There was a thing formed by chaos; 2. Before heaven and earth were born; 3. Soundless and formless; 4. Independent and stable; 5. Continuously cycling but never exhausted; 6. It may be the mother of heaven and earth. 7. I don't know its name. 8. I'm reluctant to call it "Tao". 9. I'm reluctant to name it "Big". 10. Big says dynamic; 11. Dynamic says far; 12. Far says reciprocating. 13. Therefore, Tao is great. 14. Sky is great. 15. Earth is great. 16. Human is great. 17. In space, there are four great's; 18. Thus human is one of them here. 19. Human follows Earth. 20. Earth follows Sky. 21. Sky follows Tao. 22. Tao follows its own nature. The first 3 lines in this chapter support the OP.

4. 獨立而不改 5. 周行而不殆 4. Independent and stable; 5. Continuously cycling but never exhausted; I see where you were coming from. The compound character, 獨立, was mistranslated. The separated character each by itself means standing(立) alone(獨). However, it really means independent(獨立) when they compounded.

Where does say Tao is standing still? Tao is always continuously cycling goes far and returning. It was stated in Chapter 25. I believe.

Yes，people in a long line shaped like the long body of a dragon. Thus they called this long line as 人龍(people dragon). It is only a descriptive noun，it has noting to do with dragons.

I knew this was coming when the word spiritual was mentioned. Well，there is a difference between spirit and spiritual. Spiritual is something to inspire or encourage oneself is all in the mind. It has nothing to do with spirits.

Welcome, Robert. I am a static and dynamic Qigong practitioner too.

Yes, everything is in a formless-form before Tao comes into existence to create them. Chapter 25 will substantiate that.

You've just opened a can of worms. The characters 炁 and 氣 both have their own separate meaning. The former is a substance was not touched by fire. The letter is 气(chi) and 米(rice) becomes 氣(chi). Chi cannot be translated with one meaning. Unfortunately, when the westerners see the character, immediately it was assumed as energy. Thus it becomes a very narrow definition. To define chi requires a new thread to discuss it. Your question about dragon. I think it is spiritual. It is because the imaginary dragon is fierce and powerful. People tend to think that they want to be as powerful as dragon.

Chapter 21 The description of the invisible Tao 1. 孔德之容 2. 惟道是從。 3. 道之為物 4. 惟恍惟惚。 5. 惚兮恍兮 6. 其中有象。 7. 恍兮惚兮 8. 其中有物。 9. 窈兮冥兮 10. 其中有精。 11.其精甚真。 12.其中有信。 13.自古及今， 14.其名不去。 15.以閱眾甫。 16.吾何以知眾甫之狀哉！ 17.以此。 1. The appearance of great virtue; 2. Only trails Tao. 3. This thing, Tao, 4. It's hazy and indistinctive. 5. Amongst the haziness and indistinctive, 6. It has images. 7. Amongst the haziness and indistinctiveness, 8. It has a thing. 9. It’s minute and dim, 10. It’s a minute substance. 11. The minute substance is real, 12. It can be proven. 13. From present to ancient, 14. Its name does not vanish. 15. Using it to observe the origin of all things. 16. I can recognize the original state of all things! 17. From it.

Chapter 7 - The Unselfishness 1. 天長地久。 2. 天地所以能長且久者， 3. 以其不自生， 4. 故能長生。 5. 是以聖人後其身而身先， 6. 外其身而身存。 7. 非以其無私邪? 8. 故能成其私。 Translation in terse English... 1. Sky and Earth are eternal. 2. The reason they are eternal, 3. Because they do not strive for themselves. 4. Therefore, they are eternal. 5. A gentleman always placed himself behind but ended up in front. 6. One keeping oneself in a neutral position will survive. 7. Is it not because of his unselfishness? 8. Thus gained his personal accomplishment.

As I stated before, you are gentleman and a scholar.👍

Yes，I do have an opinion for this. It is just for kids to do such thing.

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Perhaps. It may be. It is not my idea. My translation was going by the knowledgeable native scholar. It may not be 100% correct but may be 80%. PS I thought I might share with those who are interested. I guess not.

Spirits means diety, ghost, devil or any spiritual thing that is not human. I recognize what chi 气 is but not in a matter of belief. I believe there are/were dragons existed.

It is just common sense. PS If I keep getting this kind of response and attitude, I have just lost my interest in further posting.

I thought that means I don't believe in spirits. If I say I don't believe in spirits, would that change in meaning?

The muscles are at rest when the arms and legs are fully extended. Thus, it has no effect on the muscles. Biologically, the body cells are activated by the slight contraction of the muscles. The contraction of the muscle will cause the cells to produce an "action potential". An action potential is the energy that keeps the muscle to continue to contract. As soon the muscle releases, the action potential will be gone, and puts the muscle back into the resting state again. That is why one will see the Taiji practitioners with their arms and legs bent. Especially, the Yang style Taiji. It is the best style to practice for health. PS Keeping the muscle cells active is part of the cultivation of the body.

Chapter 14 The invisible Tao 1. 視之不見,名曰夷。 2. 聽之不聞,名曰希。 3. 摶之不得,名曰微。 4. 此三者不可致詰， 5. 故混而為一。 6. 其上不皦， 7. 其下不昧， 8. 繩繩不可名， 9. 復歸於無物。 10.是謂無狀之狀， 11.無物之象， 12.是謂惚恍。 13.迎之不見其首， 14.隨之不見其後。 15.執古之道以御今之有。 16.能知古始， 17.是謂道紀。 Translated in terse English... 1. View it couldn't see, name, and call it Colorless. 2. Listen to it couldn't hear, name and call it Soundless. 3. Touch it couldn't feel, name it, and call it Formless. 4. These three are inseparable 5. These three objects blended in one. 6. Its top is not brilliant. 7. Its bottom is not dim. 8. Its continuance is unnameable. 9. Returned to being formless(state of invisibility), 10. Is called a form of no form. 11. An image of formless, 12. Is called obscure. 13. Greet it cannot see its head. 14. Follow it cannot see its back. 15. Grasp the presence of Tao to see all existing things, 16. Able to understand the ancient origin, 17. It's called the Principles of Tao. Editing Note: 1. Still needs to be refined. 2. As of 9-28-23, the refinement has been completed.

What are the benefits as we accumulate more and more energy? I think the real question lies here. The benefits are makes one breathe better with more oxygen intake. Increase the energy level. As a result, increases the immune system. Less chance of getting a cold. Resist colder temperatures in a winter environment. Overall, makes one a healthier and better person. Traditional people say the energy was accumulated without any scientific knowledge. The body generates energy and the energy cannot be stored or accumulated. The energy is generated by the mitochondria in the body cells by cell respiration. The greater number of mitochondria in the cells will generate more energy. The number of mitochondria will increase from the slight contraction of the muscle from the Qi Goong exercise. Lots of people do not realize why Qi Gong practitioners raise and lower their hands slowly for that purpose. The most important thing is breathing in Qi Gong. Qi Gong breathing has to be done slowly, long, and deeply. Without it, then, it wouldn't be considered Qi Gong.

Yes, I agree. Having more and more energy will not solve all the issues in life. However, it will solve all the health problems in the body. How people want to use their energy is a different story.