Yin/Yang ascending/descending flow reversed in meridians

[HoldorFold]

I've always thought of Yin as descending and Yang as ascending. This is intuitive in terms of cold air/water etc. descends and hot-air/fire etc. rises. And qigong water methods in general focus on descending qi and fire methods focus in general rising.

This concept is consistent with the microcosmic orbit, where Yin descends in the conception vessel and Yang ascends the governor channel.

 

 

 

However, I've just started getting into the 12 primary meridians, i.e. the 6 Yin organ meridians and their 6 Yang organ pairs. 

With these, the Yin meridians ascend and the Yang meridians descend. For instance, the kidney meridian, a Yin meridian, has an ascending flow but it's paired Yang meridian, the bladder, has a descending flow. And so it is with each Yin/Yang organ pair.

This is counter-intuitive to my usual understanding of Yin/Yang ascending/descending flow. Anyone understand why this is?

 

 

[cheya]

Hi HoldorFold,

Not sure I understand why this is so, but I can tell you what I have been told.   

 

The yin energy rises from the earth. The yang energy descends from heaven. It is hard to reconcile that with yang fire rising, and yin water sinking.... and I can't explain that part..

 

But, setting that aside for the moment, the part about the MCO is maybe easier to understand. The Ren and Du channels differ from the twelve regular meridians. They belong to the Eight Extraordinary Channels, and are the only two of those which have their own points. (The other EEVs use points from the twelve meridians.) The Ren and the Du are both numbered in Chinese medicine as going up.

But the eight extraordinary channels are described more as reservoirs, not the same as the meridians (which are more like rivers) But to experience Ren and Du in a circuit, they have to flow, and one will have to return down. Sometimes the orbit is run the opposite direction. Sometimes they are described as running in both directions simultaneously.  (Never experienced that myself!)

 

So maybe one way to look at the MCO is that the energy usually is run up the yang side of the body and down the yin, but perhaps the energy itself is neither yang nor yin. Hopefully someone more versed in this will chime in and clear the rest of it up for us!  (sillybearhappyhoneyeater ?.... Gerard?)

 

Curious... How are you going about studying the 12 primary meridians?

Edited April 25, 2017 by cheya

[gendao]

Great question!

 

My guess is that the Ren & Du Mai are extraordinary vessels that were active prenatally (xiantian) in the womb - when fetuses invert head down.  Not that orientation matters that much in the womb anyways...as energy is absorbed from the Mother?

Whereas the 12 meridians are active postnatally (houtian) and the Yin ones draw qi up from the Earth, while the Yang ones draw qi down from Heaven.

[HoldorFold]

Hi HoldorFold,

Not sure I understand why this is so, but I can tell you what I have been told.   

 

The yin energy rises from the earth. The yang energy descends from heaven. It is hard to reconcile that with yang fire rising, and yin water sinking.... and I can't explain that part..

 

But, setting that aside for the moment, the part about the MCO is maybe easier to understand. The Ren and Du channels differ from the twelve regular meridians. They belong to the Eight Extraordinary Channels, and are the only two of those which have their own points. (The other EEVs use points from the twelve meridians.) The Ren and the Du are both numbered in Chinese medicine as going up.

But the eight extraordinary channels are described more as reservoirs, not the same as the meridians (which are more like rivers) But to experience Ren and Du in a circuit, they have to flow, and one will have to return down. Sometimes the orbit is run the opposite direction. Sometimes they are described as running in both directions simultaneously.  (Never experienced that myself!)

 

So maybe one way to look at the MCO is that the energy usually is run up the yang side of the body and down the yin, but perhaps the energy itself is neither yang nor yin. Hopefully someone more versed in this will chime in and clear the rest of it up for us!  (sillybearhappyhoneyeater ?.... Gerard?)

 

Curious... How are you going about studying the 12 primary meridians?

Ah yes, I've also heard of the MCO running in the opposite direction, although I've never tried it myself. For me, I've often felt hot qi running up my back into my head and I've spent a lot of time working on bringing it down the front.

 

Downward qi flow makes me feel more relaxed and yin, but then it does eventually make me feel more physically powerful and grounded. I suppose that is still in keeping with yin though, as it's jing like.

 

I'm looking at experimenting with the 12 meridians by meditating on them and directing my consciousness on them in the direction of their flow like one would do in the MCO. I was partly inspired by William Mistele (a hermeticist) who wrote about this in an essay of his.

 

Quote:

 

"...in many Taoist practices, meditating on the meridians is

used as a means for becoming conscious of and connecting the

energy flows of vitality through the body. Dr. Stephen Thomas

Chang in his book, The Complete Book of Acupuncture, Celestial

Arts, 1976, gives a brief description, p. 48, of The Around the

World Massage, "Using the bulb of the thumb or index and middle

fingers, gently massage the entire length of each of the main

meridians in the direction of the energy flow along the meridian."

[The sequence is lung, large intestine, stomach, spleen-pancreas,

heart, small intestine, bladder, kidney, heart constrictor, triple

heater, gall bladder, and liver.]

After becoming competent in the previous exercise, he suggests

meditating on the meridians. "...focus all your attention on the lung

meridian. Trace the path of the lung meridian with your index and

middle finger paying close attention to the concurrent subjective

feelings that arise as a result of this procedure. Mentally follow the

flow of energy as it descends along the lung meridian and then

repeat the same procedure along the large intestine meridian which

has an ascending flow of energy. Massaging the entire length of all

twelve of the main meridians will eventually enable one to sense the

most minute energy fluctuation along the meridian circuit.

Ultimately, one will be able to willfully direct the energy flow along

any one of the meridians. Becoming consciously aware of the

circulation of energy within the body will confer longevity of life,

for this ability will enable one to maintain a state of energy balance

under any and all circumstances." 

Source: http://www.williammistele.com/physical2b.html

[Sudhamma]

Hi Holderfold, just my 2 cents worth: Seems that you are confused by the meridians' directional flows. You are right with your observation. If you are learning acupuncture, shiatsu, or acupressure, then the meridians (and their directional flow) are important, and with that the timing aspect as well. Leave it to your body to regulate the flow. In any case, just do your orbit according to the instructions given by your teacher. Note: Not all qigong systems require the micro or macro cosmic orbit to complement their practice.