Vajrahridaya Posted August 11, 2009 My friend Chris said... "I had the extremely rare opportunity to hear oral instruction on the Bao pu zi, which dates back to the 2nd century ACE and describes a method using body mandala to relax the 5 elements of the body back to their nature, which are 5 lights... " Anyone familiar?? That sounds a lot like Dzogchen practice on a certain level. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zhuo Ming-Dao Posted August 11, 2009 I love the Baopuzi, but unfortunately I do not think that there is even a halfway decent translation of the text into English. The only one that I know of was done 50 years ago or so by a Christian missionary... and the translation shows. He translates jing as sperm even when it makes no sense at all, like when women are instructed to circulate their sperm through their spine. And he translates hsian/xian as gennie rather than immortal, which makes no sence at all to me. Oh well. I do not remember him ever specifically talking about mandalas, but it might have been in the magic formula section of the book. It is also possible that someone took a general procedure magic or meditative procedure from the book and then added extra elements to it, such a with a mandala. This is what happened with the ninjutsu practice of kujiin/kujijiri, where a Baopuzi vocal spell was elaborated upon with hand seals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vajrahridaya Posted August 11, 2009 Ah hmmm, interesting. Funny too... I'll tell that one to my girlfriend. Ok, but does anyone know what the final results are, or what it's supposed to do exactly? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted August 11, 2009 Is this who you guys are talking about? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_Hong Be well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zhuo Ming-Dao Posted August 11, 2009 Yep. His name was Ge Hong, but his title was Baopuzi (Master who Embraces Simplicity), and his surviving chapters on Taoism were posthumously titled after him (his outer chapters on Confucian philosophy were lost). The Taoist chapters were about magic spells, herbs, powerful gaits (walking methods for distance or protection), sexual methods (which he did not really agree with, but explored anyway), qi/jing/shen circulation and cultivation methods, the different types of immortals, and complicated external (physical) alchemy procedures and formulas. It also included some of his philosophy on the supernatural and a personal biography of his quest for immortality. He collected his material from all over China and spent his family fortune away buying alchemy materials (gold, cinnabar, mercury, etc) and buying the right to copy peoples Taoist technical scrolls to add to his collection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vajrahridaya Posted August 11, 2009 Cool, a Renaissance man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted August 12, 2009 Hi Zhuo Ming-Dao, Thanks. Yeah, I figured it was he y'all were speaking of as I did peek at some of the info on him. Sounds like he had a pretty full and exciting life. Be well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r.w.smith Posted August 12, 2009 The bao pu zi is incomplete & the rituals wont work. Like the majority of stuff floating around the net ha ha ha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vajrahridaya Posted August 12, 2009 The bao pu zi is incomplete & the rituals wont work. Like the majority of stuff floating around the net ha ha ha Well, I'm not trying to practice it, but it just sounded vaguely like the practice I'm already committed to in Dzogchen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
r.w.smith Posted August 12, 2009 Indeed it sounds great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
