Does qi flow up the zhong mai, or down it?

[Phoenix3]

I am confused.

 

Religions like shinto (which is very similar to Daoism) say we receive energy from above, which descends into the head and down the body. 

 

However, you have dharmic religions which talk about energy rising from the root chakra towards the head.

 

So I don’t know which is correct. Are there any Daoist sources which say which way the qi flows? Up or down?

 

edit: found this:

 

 

Quote

 

"The essence qi [jingqi 精氣] invariably soars up along the grand thoroughfare and ascends to irrigate the yin and yang. Thus, a person's primal qi and esence qi all arise from below. Moreover, in arising from below, they divide into three pathways and ascend [this is the ren, du, and chong]."

 

"Hence, the sages did not call them chong, du, and ren, but referred to them [collectively] as the grand thoroughfare. The name grand thoroughfare refers to the arising ascent of essence qi within the body and does not only mean the sea of blood."

 

Nei jing bo yi (1675) Luo Dong-Yi

Edited April 14, 2018 by Phoenix3

[Try]

Different system has different way. You choose which one you want to follow.

[Miffymog]

I've recently been experimenting with the MCO and found I could either draw up energy from below or draw in energy from above. Each one has it's own quality, although I found the higher energy to be purer.

 

Adding this extra energy may allow for various meridians to be cleaned out more easily, also if you know what you are doing, you may be able to refine and transform it.

 

However, the path I’ve chosen is to ignore both of them. So rather than drawing in higher or lower energies, I deliberately stay ‘self contained’.

 

Letting go of attachment to any energy has really benefited my other practices. It’s hard to put into words how, but it just has …

Edited April 14, 2018 by Miffymog

[silent thunder]

In general, energy flows up my Du channel and down the Ren. 

Up the back, down the front, starting and ending in the lower dan tien.

 

In some forms, I will engage my energy and reverse the flow, moving up the Ren and down Du.

This can be likened to a hand, moving against the flow of water in a creek.

The hand does not change the flow of the creek, but the hand may clear out some leaves and blockages by moving counter to the flow..

 

[blue eyed snake]

In women, the flow in  the du-ren can spontaneously flow the other way, in that case it is oke, not fiddle with what you don't understand yet.

 

the zong-mai is , in my admittedly small understanding,  a different channel, in which energy can go two ways too. Different teaching prefer a different 'way in' . 

 

it's maybe not a matter of correct, but something like: which way you choose to reach some end.

[Phoenix3]

The ren mai and du mai aren’t the same as the zhong mai, in my opinion.

[Edward M]

Good topic from the past on this very subject: