internal alchemy Hypothesis of Internal Alchemy

[Sleepy Bluejay]

I just had this shower-thought!

 

Before our birth, we do not exist.

After our birth, we exist.

Once we are dead, we cease to exist once more.

These things are known to all of us, therefore many of us believes in reincarnation, since the next step would likely be "to exist once more".

 

This is the circle of life and reincarnation that most follow by their own free will, but those who seek to cultivate the three treasures does not follow this circle out of their own free will.

 

My thought is; Those who practice neigong or chigong are like Sisyphus, endlessly pushing a boulder up the hill.
Not because what we do isn't real but because we are like a bucket full of holes, what we build up leaks out fast.

 

My hypothesis is that we start with nothing, no meridians or dantians, but we (our soul/consciousness) are a seed.
We must use inaction (wuwei) to grow our meridians and then later grow our dantians (similar to how potatoes grow).

 

(We refine our meridians and dantians with Shen, Qi and Jing after storing enough of it).

(Shen is spiritual force/energy, Qi is life force/longevity and Jing is vitality/youth.)

(Qigong and other exercises could be used to refine the body).

 

To use Wuwei:

1. Get comfortable (meditate).
2. Focus with your sense of touch/feeling (not only your mind) on the acupressure point between your eyebrows (slightly above the nasal bone a.k.a the glabella). Do not actually move (hence to inaction). Though involuntary movements are fine and sometimes putting your focus on those movements, trying to feel it again, is good.
3. Focus on the acupressure points of your temporal bones.
4. Go back and forth between those points.

 

 

Your goal would be to feel a light buzzing of energy in those areas. Later you must try to spread this feeling down to other acupressure points which would later allow you to feel strings of energy taking the shape of meridians. To spread the energy, you must simply focus with inaction on the next acupressure points.
Trust yourself and try to find the right buzzing feeling, as well as, acupressure points for you (a feeling of; that this is the right one to focus on).

 

 

 

Good luck and happy cultivation.

- Sleepy Bluejay

Edited November 7, 2023 by Sleepy Bluejay
corrected step 2. of "To use Wuwei" with the "(slightly above the..)" part.

[Maddie]

That's interesting, but what do you base this hypothesis on?

[Sleepy Bluejay]

21 hours ago, Maddie said:

That's interesting, but what do you base this hypothesis on?

Foundations of Internal Alchemy by Wang Mu and personal experimentation.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Sleepy Bluejay
Whole book title added

[thelerner]

Your thoughts on meditation on the facial points and bones are interesting.  I've seen people curl up into fetal positions and near unconsciousness by skilled neuro-head massagers.  Manipulating the skull's plates seemed to have a powerful effect on their body and psyche.  Seemingly regressing them to childhood.

[Sleepy Bluejay]

*Just edited the "To use Wuwei:" step 2. in order to be more specific of the nasal bone/the glabella acupressure point *

fun fact; the glabella acupressure point is also known as the third eye (I just learn that today btw, kinda cool).

[StressedByAMountainOfBooks]

This is very interesting, specially because the basics of what describe happen basically immediately. Needless to say I have not yet spread to the rest of my body, but I will try to implement it in my further practice. Reminds me of this method I found a while ago, in a book, surprise surprise, let us see if it can be found! If you were an external ssd, where would you hide? (It was very well behaved, in the back of the cable drawer!)

 

The book is by Scott Baker, and is titled "Chi Kung in Wing Chun". It is about the internal components of Wing Chun, I know you could not tell by the title. Which I found valuable, because most Wing Chun courses around here understandably focus on the physical side and usability of it. It is a really short book, but I find it has some really valuable information as well as pointers to other information you may want to research before diving in to what is described in the book.

 

Well, I will just copy paste with reference here, is that ok? If it is not, please don't ban me yet! 

 

It is part of a standing meditation, that is advised to do and master before moving on to Siu Lim Tao with a focus on the internal component. This part of the full meditation is called "Opening the Gates" or similar.

 

Quote

 Throughout the body, often around joints but also other places, there are gates,
or places where energy tends to accumulate and stagnate over time. This meditation is
designed to unlock that stagnant energy and release it. I will not take the time to identify
every gate in the body, but will start with some of the most important ones.

While standing in the described stance the student closes his eyes to help
him focus internally. Then once the breathing is relaxed and set he puts his
attention on the crown chakra at the top of the head. As he focuses his attention there
he will begin to get a feeling sense of the area about the size of a hen's egg. In fact it is
often suggested you imagine a block of ice the size of an egg burred half in and half out
of the top of your head. As you get a real feeling sense with
your attention then you will progressively relax that energy. As it releases you will feel it change from a solid to a relaxed liquid feel, or from ice to water.

 

This intention of dissolving the tense energy at that gate will result in a relaxing of the energy there and
when you do it correctly you will actually feel a real change, as if it has dissolved into
water, then you keep relaxing/dissolving the point turning the water to steam or gas. This
is when the gate really opens and you release the energy out as it washes over your
entire body.

 

At first it may take 20 minute to half an hour to just get this one point to
relax. There may be times that the point just doesn’t relax, in such cases it is fine to move
to the next point and attempt the same process of intending it to dissolve and
release through relaxing deeply.

 

The 10 gates in the head are; 1) the crown or top, 2)
the center of the forehead or third eye, 3) the eye balls themselves, 4) the roof of the
mouth and the tip of the tongue together, 5) under the tongue, 6) the hollow in the throat
just above the collar bone, 7) the temples, 8)
the ear canals, 9) the jaw hinge and the jaw bone, and 10) the base of the skull where the
neck bone connects to the skull. 

 ©Scott Baker 2000, Chikung in Wing Chun

 

I realise it is not exactly as you describe, but it is very similar in focusing on (some of) the same spots, and actually the feeling I get is nearly the same (I think I would have to practice a few times to compare fully).

 

I like to think that most descriptions of cultivation methods or esotheric theories in general are just approximations according to the describer and their experience, not necessarily wrong (or right for that matter), but a bit incomplete because of the limitations of words and language and subjectivity.

 

So some conjecture and questions! 

 

- The description you give of growing the meridians and the dantians, could actually be the unblocking of these points and channels that are prone to stagnation? I do realise that the gates and the meridian system's points are not synonymous, but they do overlap.

 

- Would you use a map of the meridians to guide your practice? And if you are fully building the pathways say, then could we diverge from what is the standard meridian system? Conjecture only ofcourse, I am not sure if experimentally building different than expected pathways is a good idea, I am also not sure that it is not, and I guess someone will have to try it out to know. 

 

- Many other theories state that the meridian system and the energies that course through it are necessary for health and life and a lot of whatnot. Might be wrong in several ways, e.g. it could describe the effects of a set of underlying systems, then your growing of the meridians might allow for the actual application of these energies. And if previous theories are correct, and your theory is as well, then I wonder. Since kids are born useless ,or helpless I guess, the growing of meridians and dantians could happen up to a basic level during the (inactive by the way) spread of consciousness/intent/sensations/experience throughout their bodies during the first months (years?) of their lives? e.g. Practically blind, but the sensation of light and the experience it causes draw consciousness to it, and a subconscious intent deepens the channels to allow for sight eventually.

 

Conjecture though, I will think more about it!

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by StressedByAMountainOfBooks
I found my ssd and parenthesis.

[Sleepy Bluejay]

21 minutes ago, StressedByAMountainOfBooks said:

If you were an external ssd, where would you hide?

I don't know what an external ssd is but I would hide at a remote farm like the manhua "I am a Cultivation Bigshot".

[StressedByAMountainOfBooks]

Hahaha, thanks for the laughs. It is simply an electronic device with no moving parts to store information on. You can connect it to a computer to see the information and lose track of it if you did not use it for a while..

 

Ok, a silly question perhaps. Are there several threads called the same? Hypothesis of internal alchemy, that diverge, and why?

Edited November 12, 2023 by StressedByAMountainOfBooks
Silly questions

[Sleepy Bluejay]

21 minutes ago, StressedByAMountainOfBooks said:

Ok, a silly question perhaps. Are there several threads called the same? Hypothesis of internal alchemy, that diverge, and why?

That is because I have my own personal practice discussion (a PPD).

Within my PPD I leave a few more hypothesis related to my cultivation, as well as a log of how for I have gotten within my cultivation.

 

I named it "Hypothesis of Internal Alchemy" because it is my hypothesis (my guesses) to how to cultivate.

My goal is to see it to the end and then report my full experience now and then.

[StressedByAMountainOfBooks]

Ok, cool, thanks and thanks for documenting! Are there any guidelines around where to respond with which types of responses or do you have any preferences? If that makes any sense 

[Sleepy Bluejay]

1 hour ago, StressedByAMountainOfBooks said:

I realise it is not exactly as you describe, but it is very similar in focusing on (some of) the same spots, and actually the feeling I get is nearly the same (I think I would have to practice a few times to compare fully).

 

I like to think that most descriptions of cultivation methods or esotheric theories in general are just approximations according to the describer and their experience, not necessarily wrong (or right for that matter), but a bit incomplete because of the limitations of words and language and subjectivity.

 

So some conjecture and questions! 

 

- The description you give of growing the meridians and the dantians, could actually be the unblocking of these points and channels that are prone to stagnation? I do realise that the gates and the meridian system's points are not synonymous, but they do overlap.

 

- Would you use a map of the meridians to guide your practice? And if you are fully building the pathways say, then could we diverge from what is the standard meridian system? Conjecture only ofcourse, I am not sure if experimentally building different than expected pathways is a good idea, I am also not sure that it is not, and I guess someone will have to try it out to know. 

 

- Many other theories state that the meridian system and the energies that course through it are necessary for health and life and a lot of whatnot. Might be wrong in several ways, e.g. it could describe the effects of a set of underlying systems, then your growing of the meridians might allow for the actual application of these energies. And if previous theories are correct, and your theory is as well, then I wonder. Since kids are born useless ,or helpless I guess, the growing of meridians and dantians could happen up to a basic level during the (inactive by the way) spread of consciousness/intent/sensations/experience throughout their bodies during the first months (years?) of their lives? e.g. Practically blind, but the sensation of light and the experience it causes draw consciousness to it, and a subconscious intent deepens the channels to allow for sight eventually.

 

Conjecture though, I will think more about it!

 

 

My thought of meridians and dantians come from the fact that most practices doesn't work. The thought was: What if it doesn't work because it hasn't been created yet. What if the first stage is to grow the meridians and dantians from the soul like a seed sprouting roots and potatoes.

I agree that they are similar which is pretty cool i guess hehe.

 

 I don't use a map of the meridians because they are all different, so my thought here is that everyone has their own map of the meridians and you gotta feel it through like if you were a yellow slime mold.

 

[Sleepy Bluejay]

10 minutes ago, StressedByAMountainOfBooks said:

Ok, cool, thanks and thanks for documenting! Are there any guidelines around where to respond with which types of responses or do you have any preferences? If that makes any sense 

It does, I prefer that feeling of a buzzing energy that feels like it is getting sucked in. It also feels like a really light and comfortable, buzzing cramp but also not really like a cramp if that makes sense.

My best way to describe it would be; that feeling when you close your eyes while slowly pointing closer and closer to your forehead without touching it. You feel like the finger is gonna touch your forehead at any moment but doesn't until it, by surprise, does.