"Mysterious Pass"

[ShifuC]

OK,

 

Correction, the translated book was:

The book of balance and harmony : a Taoist handbook / Translated by Thomas Cleary. Author: Li, Daochun, 1219-1296.

 

So this author used the analogy of a marionette puppet. The mind is the hand controlling the puppet. The puppet itself is like the body. The myserious pass would be the strings. That place between the mind and the body. The connection, or the pass between the two.

 

OK, we have a winner. This is probably the best source I have found on the subject. I would cross reference with Understanding Reality.

 

Also please do not mix up with the "yellow court" even though yellow is the color of earth/center.

 

Many of the ideas on here are valid, though. "Center" is enough. So I think most would say the Navel area/level.

 

Wang Liping had an interesting idea. That since there are "8.4 inches" between the lower dan tian and heart, that it is 4.2 inches below the heart. If 1.5 inches is ~3 cun (using his book), then 4.2 inches ~8.5 cun, or somewhere in the region of RN11 and 12.

 

At RN11 I have seen often creases in patients who have delved into their essence due to chronic or longterm degradation of Qi. RN12 opens the pylorus. RN14 goes to the heart and so does RN10. So, if one were to look for it in the body (and the BoBaH says it is not IN the body but is NOT to be sought outside the body), then that might be a valid area.

 

However, IMO, actually the "center" is found by first ascending to DU20 then using its connection to the vagus nerve/Liver channel and mentally gazing vertically downward to pass through the heart chakra towards the perineal floor. The center I think is this axis. You see in Neidan/Qi gong the points of activation lie along a circle. But in yoga, they are spheres suspended from DU20 to the pelvic floor. They are entered through those points on RN and DU (nerves/channels/luo mai), but the activation uses the Taiji concept of Peng/Zheng and makes a rod-like connection that ascends out of DU20. Technically speaking the rod is also a center if you look downward upon the body. It is a perfect center.

 

That being said there is also a point in the center of the head between taiyang's and Yin-tang, when the head is tilted forward slightly yin-tang and the occiput are level. AND this point I have found gives one "dragon's eyes" and is active when you are "non-minding" aka Mind of Tao. As soon as you sense it, it tends to move away, so don't hold onto it. It isn't the 3rd eye, it is behind it.

 

So I have given a few options, now go find it!

 

peace to you all, hope you got some good taoist texts for Christmas like me!

[soaring crane]

I've (for my own use) have seen mysterious passes where ever there are two halves, and especially the two halves of the brain. I've gone on long rambling walks along the path that leads through those two mountains. Seen some interesting things along the way.

[taiwabbit]

As I delved deeper into the mysterious pass I have discovered that it is not only the gate between intention and movement of the body, but...when the divide between the internal sense of the body and the external world is effectively removed (the blissful sense of oneness with the universe that can be achieved during meditation) THEN this pass can affect change from intention to manifestation in the reality of the outer world through the same pass while the separation is removed.

[Marblehead]

As I delved deeper into the mysterious pass I have discovered that it is not only the gate between intention and movement of the body, but...when the divide between the internal sense of the body and the external world is effectively removed (the blissful sense of oneness with the universe that can be achieved during meditation) THEN this pass can affect change from intention to manifestation in the reality of the outer world through the same pass while the separation is removed.

I like what you said but had trouble with the way you said it.

[deci belle]

It has no location. it is not the person nor is it relative to the person.

 

There is no one to intend anything. Since it has no location, it is not a place. Though this is the heart of heaven and earth and this aperture is not empty, yet it is immaterial. it is not a matter of meditation.

 

It is simply the Center which contains the impulse of living aware energy uncreated, unmanifest, void of self, presence without origination.

 

The mysterious pass, existing before all time, is the aperture of nonorigination— giving birth to ordinary people and immortals alike. In this regard it is not limited to the absolute, but is the perennial gateway of potential aware energy in the living minds and bodies of all beings individually. Using this mysterious pass unconsciously is the norm for ordinary people. Self-refinement is the task of seeing the Mysterious Pass for oneself.

For those who have refined the elixir of immortality by penetrating the mysterious pass, it is possible to actualize non-doing and develop the response-body. One learns to use this aperture of nonoriginated potential to match reality in everyday ordinary affairs. If one knows this aperture yet cannot use it— it is the same as not knowing. Wu wei is not a state— it is a function of crucial importance in the lives of ignoramuses and potential illuminates alike.

Non-doing is the Great Sameness, unborn and undying. Actualizing potential in response to situations is the work of immortals. If you have experienced the undifferentiated, nonoriginated selfless potential it is imperative that you work on this basis. Don't throw this away!

 

Witnessing the Mysterious Pass is only planting the seed of immortals and buddhas in the homeland of nothing-whatsoever.

 

This is merely entry into the inconceivable. It is not something to discuss with anybody until many years after the singular achievement, if ever.

Where thoughts originate and feelings secrete is close to this immaterial aperture. It is the critical juncture where all the elements combine to form complete real human being.

People mistakenly come to believe that human being is a title, whereas in reality, it is a capacity which is only rarely fulfilled.

[3bob]

Hi people. Have been reading some Thomas Cleary recently. Extracts from various authors. The mysterious pass is frequently referred to, but no clues re its location. Does anyone have any experience/knowledge in this regard?

Thanks. Mike.

 

the gate can only be approached but not passed unless all is dropped before it, for what must be dropped remains with and belongs with the One.

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

The text mentions if one can find this place then a person could become “a wizard”.

...

[traveler]

The dan tien is an interdimensional portal into an inner space where all qi completes itself, by returning to its original state of primordial unity. The dan tien has no physical location within the body, although it has nexus points in the belly, heart, and head connecting it to personal physical, mental, and spiritual functions. ...

 

The dimensional opening into the pre-natal space of the dan tien is known by various alchemical code names, such as the Mysterious Female or Mysterious Pass. In One Cloud's formulas, this opening is energetically symbolized by a vesica piscis, the eye formed by two intersecting circles or spheres of yin-yang qi.

 

This vesica holds open a portal into Early Heaven (alchemical code: "true earth") between the "water and fire" spheres that control Later Heaven. From this portal within the cauldron arise neutral clouds of "steam", yuan qi birthing within the body. The internally generated vapors of yuan qi are circulated in various energy channels of the adept's body and in the three dan tiens, dissolving any Later Heaven patterns of false yin or false yang within the adept and replacing them with the harmony of True Yang and True Yin qi. ...

 

Where does this alchemical process take the adept? After working through all seven formulas, having achieved clear and effortless communication with all of the many levels of collective intelligence embodied within Nature, the adept stands at the doorway to the Supreme Unknown. Having lived virtuously and transformed one's personal essences into original essence, one re-enters the primordial chaos-unity in order to merge with the profound and paradoxically unknowable Dao as oneself. This is not the end, but rather marks a new beginning of conscious creation. (Alchemy Formulas, Qi Field & Language Theory, by Micheal Winn)

 

In response to taiwabbit's post, your way of expressing this is how I have been seeing this. It is nice to see it in print. As Michael Winn stated, there are two parts, which I call expanding consciousness and energy movement, and that I personally call the Fusion of Heaven and Earth; when these two halves are brought together there is an inner explosion, every time. This is a basic concept so I am not saying anything new here. I equate intension with heaven and body movement with earth. A new something emerges when you combine these approaches in any way. Such as action following intent, using affirmations and energy meridians like EFT employs, and so forth. Expanding consciousness can be simply that - letting down the barriers and allowing your concept of self to enlarge outward. This is different than moving energy along a meridian such as running the orbit. So, what if you lit up the Mortal Gate (CV1) and then moved energy up the thrusting channel to the lower tan t'ien, then while holding that, expand your awareness outward to engulf the belly? In some small way, at least, the portal into True Earth opens and there is a new sensation that fills your body and flows outward, without center, like you've been connected to something far greater than either your upward moving energy or your expanding consciousness. So, taiwabbit, I liked the way you expressed this. Another way to look at this is found in Hua Hu Ching: you are to give service in all directions undiscriminatingly (that is the energy movement part, doing), and you are to adopt the view that there is no separation between any of the parts of creation (that's the expanding consciousness part). If you can follow these two paths simultaneously, a third path presents itself as the portal into True Earth opens. deci belle, I also liked your post as much and for the same reasons.

[deci belle]

It has no location.❤

 

 

 

 

 

ed note: add heavy heart!!

Edited April 20, 2014 by deci belle

[taiwabbit]

Practical Taoism 

by Thomas Cleary

 

Is a really great book. Translated by Thomas Cleary but attributed to the Preserver of the Truth. (Aren't old Taoist master names cool? My favorite is Master of the White Jade Moon). This book is available for free online in PDF form.

 

Anyway, this book really lays out some good content on the mysterious pass in my opinion. After reading it I had the experience of "breaking through the matrix" in a really powerful way. Of course this is also following much time meditating with sitting/forgetting. After releasing my spirit from its confines the mysterious pass is now so evident and obvious to me that there is not doubt about it. Even if it had a physical location that really wouldn't matter anyway. It is the passing through that counts. And if it did have a location, it seems like trying to focus on it would just mess up the ability to pass through it anyway.

[thelerner]

Thanks for the reminder.  Cleary's thick heavy dated tomes translating authentic classics hold more value then a 1,000 pop philosophy books. 

[joeblast]

well what the hell, I have  50 in amazon gift card from work bonus awards, why not

 

it has no location just like earlier when all the nerves are attenuated and the light is turned around, the location of the light has no apparent association with spacetime at all.  omnidirectional as if there were no direction, brilliant and timeless.    that is in a sense "where" it forms

 

[Kara_mia]

I've read somewhere that mysterious pass or true dantian to be open itself after a certain stages of the practice of internal alchemy. Before that it is not possible to locate it.

[dawei]

These two comments provide some insight to talking about the Mysterious Pass:

 

Zhonghe ji 中和集 (Anthology of Central Harmony) 

 

Ding’an asked: When the Golden Elixir is achieved, can it be seen?

Li Daochun replied: Yes, it can be seen.

 

Ding’an asked: Does it have a form?

Li Daochun replied: No, it has no form.

 

Ding’an asked: If it has no form, how can it be seen?

Li Daochun replied: “Golden Elixir” is only a name used out of necessity:

how can it have a form? When I say, “it can be seen,” it cannot be seen with the eyes.

 

* * *

 

The Mysterious Barrier is the utterly mysterious and utterly essential mechanism.  Many present-day students get stuck to the physical body. They say that it is between the eyebrows, or in the wheel of the navel, or in the space between the kidneys, or “before the kidneys and behind the navel,” or in the gallbladder, or in the Cinnabar Field. Sometimes they point to the Gate of Birth (the vagina) as “the place where one is generated,” or to the mouth and the nose as the MysteriousFemale. This is all wrong.

 

If it is only located in the physical body, it is entirely incorrect. However, it cannot be separate from one’s own person and searched outside it. Why does no scripture on the Elixir say where it is found? [because] it is difficult to be expressed by writing or speaking; this is why it is called Mysterious Barrier. Therefore the sages showed it only by the single character zhong 中 (“center”), since only this character elucidates the Mysterious Barrier. This Center it is not the center of “internal and external”; it is not the center of “the four directions and above and below”; and it is not the center that is within.

 

-- Tr. Pregadio, Fabrizio

 

------------------------------------------

 

It is not about the physical senses nor the 'center' as most think.  

[Ormus]

Famous Nei Dan Master Chen Zhixu clearly say it is female organ Gate of Birth.Yes I know this is herectic but this is position of paired cultivation Yin Yang Xing Ming Shuang Xiu and all theories proposed here come from solo cultivation Qingxiu so the diference.

 

Master Chen was Nanzong Pai and Yu Xian Pai...check for his excellent works.

 

Ormus

Edited January 24, 2017 by Ormus

[awaken]

I open it every day

[Ormus]

I belive you.

 

Ormus

[Bindi]

Does anyone know if this quote (from post #33 above) concurs with the general Neidan idea of the mysterious pass and beyond?

 

This vesica holds open a portal into Early Heaven (alchemical code: "true earth") between the "water and fire" spheres that control Later Heaven. From this portal within the cauldron arise neutral clouds of "steam", yuan qi birthing within the body. The internally generated vapors of yuan qi are circulated in various energy channels of the adept's body and in the three dan tiens, dissolving any Later Heaven patterns of false yin or false yang within the adept and replacing them with the harmony of True Yang and True Yin qi. ...
 
Where does this alchemical process take the adept? After working through all seven formulas, having achieved clear and effortless communication with all of the many levels of collective intelligence embodied within Nature, the adept stands at the doorway to the Supreme Unknown. Having lived virtuously and transformed one's personal essences into original essence, one re-enters the primordial chaos-unity in order to merge with the profound and paradoxically unknowable Dao as oneself. This is not the end, but rather marks a new beginning of conscious creation. (Alchemy Formulas, Qi Field & Language Theory, by Micheal Winn)

[awaken]

I belive you.

 

Ormus

Why don't you join me?

[awaken]

Does anyone know if this quote (from post #33 above) concurs with the general Neidan idea of the mysterious pass and beyond?

 

I do.

 

But the English part is too difficult to understand then the mysterious pass.

 

Ha.

 

True earth, 真土 = 真意 true yii

 

真意 vs 凡意 ordinary yii

 

= 本來面目，the original face, awareness 覺，正念 right thought vs. 妄念 illusion though

 

= mirror heart vs. illusion heart

 

= Pure awareness vs the focus heart

 

This is most difficult part to distinguish these two parts

 

Only one who is enlightenment can tell what is the difference between them

 

I believe that there are some people have been enlightenment in the forum

 

The most difficult part is 頑空定

 

I have never mentioned about 頑空定 here

 

Because I have not seen anyone talk about 入定 stillness here

 

It is too trouble to "explain" all these

 

And if you still don't go the right way

 

The more words I explain , the more confusion you would get

 

I don't know why writing daily cultivation diaries is so difficult for you

 

You write diaries, I tell the way you should fix, then you get to the garget

 

So easy. Right?

 

 

 

But some people told me they have teacher , so they can't write diaries.

 

Why?

 

I don't understand why.

 

You have a Qi gung teacher. It doesn't mean you can't learn dao.

 

Dao is not Qi gung.

 

Totally different.

 

The methods you practice will never let know what is dao.

 

It only make you have more And more Qi.

 

But you still don't know and can't aware what is dao.

 

All you can do is try to go to forum to discuss with a lot of people.

 

Just like you did here.

Edited January 28, 2017 by awaken