Full description of methods for the 4 stages of internal alchemy in book: Internal Alchemy for Everyone

[Yae]

Hello, I saw one post about this book somewhere but I wanted to lay out my current understanding of the methods because it seems freaking insane.

 

1. Laying the Foundation

100 day retreat to awaken correct ideal postheaven qi flow followed by 15-30min daily to keep results. Method is 2h meditation 3x per day, one session on LDT, one on MDT, one on UDT. The 15-30 min upkeep is only on LDT. Literally just sitting and focusing on it, breathing into it to gather qi.

 

Umm I don't know if this stage is really even necessary because I feel like the second stage is already gathering Qi and opening channels and it's not like your Ren Mai and Du Mai are so blocked that you can't achieve basic energy movement...

 

2. Essence to Qi

This is the 100 days of celibacy. The thing is, once it's complete, your genitals retract and you become basically sexless. The reason for celibacy is, the essence is an energy directly tied to the physical seed.

 

[There is also a female method I quoted in the first comment below]

 

The (male) method is, when yang moves (you get an erection), "steal" it (as the Huimingjing says), or "capture the vermillion crow in the net as it tries to fly away" as the Cantong Qi says. Then you use martial fire and intention to put it in the ldt cauldron (The Cantong Qi is quite descriptive noting how the crow is being boiled alive in the cauldron). Then you circulate the microcosmic orbit, inhale up the back channel, exhale down, 360 times, along with intention, to heat the essence and transmute it to qi. Actually the book doesn't say 1 inhale up 1 exhale down, it says you circulate it gradually each time with multiple breaths up and down, pushing the energy. I have just been cross referencing different texts and trying to understand it. It also says the fire (breath) should be "martial" at the beginning and end (starting from near the perineum and up the back, and ending at the top of the head), and "civil"/gentle in the middle (while traversing the spine).

 

Special note. You are not working with the actual sexual fluids. When you get an erection, the kidneys release yuan jing that leaves along with the sexual fluid, going to the supposed baby being made. This is what you are "stealing" to transmute it into yuanqi and fill the body with it over 100 days.

 

You do this for 100 days while celibate to establish a strong great ingredient or whatever. Once it's complete, there is a bright flash of light somewhere in your upper body as the qi unites with a small amount of spirit in the LDT to create the great ingredient or whatever, so you know you succeeded.

 

This is when your genitals retract and you have basically "ended the leakage".

 

Honestly, according to the book that seems to be the most difficult part technicality wise. Because as the book says, the body has an internal mechanism for internal alchemy so the rest of the way I think you are basically just fueling the fire to nurture the yang fetus and blocking a couple holes and riding it out.

 

3. The next stage is 10 months, you basically meditate on the ldt until the pill/yang fetus starts to migrate to your mdt or compass center? naturally. Then nourish it by breathing into the ldt cauldron I think for 10 months

 

4. Then it goes to your upper dan tien and you keep nourishing it and eventually it is ready to break out (9 years total). It breaks out and you slowly take baby steps with it away from the body, but careful or it can get lost. Then eventually it is ready to completely detach from the head opening.

 

"The first concrete sign that the practice is moving in the right direction is the manifestation of coagulated spirit in the form of a snow flake which indicates that the divine child is ready to exit from the body. As Liu Huayang in his Huiming jing says, "The moment you see a snow flake, let it leave the physical structure."

 

Not sure where the Bodhidharma evaporating into air thing fits in, and transmuting the body into yuanqi. Jesus and Buddha theoretically "casted off the husk" by dying physically while the completed yang spirit survived, Bodhidharma did the more ideal thing of transmuting the body too.

 

The book is for sale on Amazon, that's where I got it. It has many references to classic texts throughout

 

The images are of the Bodhi Tataung Standing Buddha statue in Myanmar. It shows the death of Buddha's physical body when he was 80 and the survival of the yang spirit. The yang spirit is composed of primordial qi, yuan qi, and can pretty much do anything, and can access the yang realm supposedly. And of course leading up to this achievement there are many other abilities said to be gained from the practice.

Edited March 17 by Yae
Edited to explain Stage 2 breathing more accurately

[Yae]

The female method is only different for stage 1 and 2. For stage one, you focus on the Milk Creek between the uhh, female chest parts, instead of the lower dan tien. Again, I think the laying the foundation seems kind of unnecessary. 

 

Stage 2, umm you focus on the spirit and steady your breathing and focus on the Energy Cavern between the female chest parts. Next, cross over your hands and massage the chest parts gently 20 times as you breathe up gently from the lower dan tien 36 times.

 

Continuing with the hands on the female chest parts, turn your vision inward and again steady the breath. 

 

"After doing this for a prolonged period, perfect energy will naturally arrive. Opening and closing it in a steady rhythm, nurture it to create a large region as big as the cities Gen and E(Chinese characters included in the book text). Spirit and energy will be full and complete, and perfect yang naturally comes to dominate. Menstruation will spontaneously cease, the [female chest parts] will retract to look like a man's: this is called "decapitating the red dragon".

 

Proceeding like this for a long time, there will be no need to hold the [female chest part] or inhale with intention. Just concentrate the spirit in the Energy Cavern, revert the light and focus your vision inward. This is called 'opening the gate of the Mysterious Female.'

 

Eventually, you will become aware of a tiny dot of numinous light, neither outside nor inside, flowing from the lower elixir field [lower dan tien] up to the Scarlet Palace [heart] and the Niwan (upper dan tien), then again descending through the Twelve-storied Tower [windpipe] and into the golden womb and spirit chamber. Reverting the light and concentrating the spirit, this perfect energy is made to settle into the cauldron of the Central Palace--none other than the Spirit Chamber, Mysterious Female, and Womb of Immortality. It signals the dropping of the tiny dot into the Yellow Court.

 

Ten months after this, the great work is complete, and the yang spirit will emerge, ready to be refined to emptiness. From here on in, the cultivation of perfection is the same as for men. There are no more differences between the sexes.

 

For women who are post-menopausal and no longer menstruate, the practice is different. It begins with various techniques to recover the menses, including focused breathing on the lower elixir field (LDT), [female chest parts] massages, and herbal supplements. Once menstruation has been reestablished, they can proceed as described."

Edited March 16 by Yae

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

Have you tried all of this?

[Yae]

33 minutes ago, -ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ- said:

Have you tried all of this?

I'm trying stage 1 and 2. Open to discuss others' opinions. But I think it's awesome that the Huiming Jing and Cantong Qi seem to corroborate its methods, although potentially that is open to debate too

 

From stage 1 I can clearly feel sensations during the meditation. Stage 2 uhh I feel something but have to prolong it for more days to see what happens. Also the Secret of the Golden Flower says something about how Laying the Foundation is important because "when Yang moves" it needs to happen spontaneously due to a certain level of internal qi development. But that book is channeled anyway so I don't know if it's true or not. And besides Yang seems to move in the morning spontaneously anyway 💀

Edited March 13 by Bluemind

[Yae]

Also I have quite a lot of experience with the Yu Xian Pai and less so in the Wu Liu Pai lineages, and in other schools, and these methods seem rather relatable such that I don't see much need for caution. Meditating on the LDT and circulating the MCO are pretty normal. And the added part of stealing the ingredient is backed by some of the biggest Taoist texts in existence, assuming the translation and interpretation are right. It may exist in higher levels of the lineages I have experience in, I just haven't gotten there in them yet to see, although I couldn't tell about it if I had

Edited March 13 by Bluemind

[Chang dao ling]

On 3/14/2024 at 1:20 AM, Yae said:

Hello, I saw one post about this book somewhere but I wanted to lay out my current understanding of the methods because it seems freaking insane.

 

1. Laying the Foundation

100 day retreat to awaken correct ideal postheaven qi flow followed by 15-30min daily to keep results. Method is 2h meditation 3x per day, one session on LDT, one on MDT, one on UDT. The 15-30 min upkeep is only on LDT. Literally just sitting and focusing on it, breathing into it to gather qi.

 

Umm I don't know if this stage is really even necessary because I feel like the second stage is already gathering Qi and opening channels and it's not like your Ren Mai and Du Mai are so blocked that you can't achieve basic energy movement...

 

2. Essence to Qi

This is the 100 days of celibacy. The thing is, once it's complete, your genitals retract and you become basically sexless. The reason for celibacy is, the essence is an energy directly tied to the physical seed.

 

[There is also a female method I quoted in the first comment below]

 

The (male) method is, when yang moves (you get an erection), "steal" it (as the Huimingjing says), or "capture the vermillion crow in the net as it tries to fly away" as the Cantong Qi says. Then you use martial fire and intention to put it in the ldt cauldron (The Cantong Qi is quite descriptive noting how the crow is being boiled alive in the cauldron). Then you circulate the microcosmic orbit, inhale up the back channel, exhale down, 360 times, along with intention, to heat the essence and transmute it to qi. Actually the book doesn't say 1 inhale up 1 exhale down, it says you circulate it gradually each time with multiple breaths up and down, pushing the energy. I have just been cross referencing different texts and trying to understand it. It also says the fire (breath) should be "martial" at the beginning and end (starting from near the perineum and up the back, and ending at the top of the head), and "civil"/gentle in the middle (while traversing the spine).

 

Special note. You are not working with the actual sexual fluids. When you get an erection, the kidneys release yuan jing that leaves along with the sexual fluid, going to the supposed baby being made. This is what you are "stealing" to transmute it into yuanqi and fill the body with it over 100 days.

 

You do this for 100 days while celibate to establish a strong great ingredient or whatever. Once it's complete, there is a bright flash of light somewhere in your upper body as the qi unites with a small amount of spirit in the LDT to create the great ingredient or whatever, so you know you succeeded.

 

This is when your genitals retract and you have basically "ended the leakage".

 

Honestly, according to the book that seems to be the most difficult part technicality wise. Because as the book says, the body has an internal mechanism for internal alchemy so the rest of the way I think you are basically just fueling the fire to nurture the yang fetus and blocking a couple holes and riding it out.

 

3. The next stage is 10 months, you basically meditate on the ldt until the pill/yang fetus starts to migrate to your mdt or compass center? naturally. Then nourish it by breathing into the ldt cauldron I think for 10 months

 

4. Then it goes to your upper dan tien and you keep nourishing it and eventually it is ready to break out (9 years total). It breaks out and you slowly take baby steps with it away from the body, but careful or it can get lost. Then eventually it is ready to completely detach from the head opening.

 

Not sure where the Bodhidharma evaporating into air thing fits in, and transmuting the body into yuanqi. Jesus and Buddha theoretically "casted off the husk" by dying physically while the completed yang spirit survived, Bodhidharma did the more ideal thing of transmuting the body too.

 

The book is for sale on Amazon, that's where I got it. It has many references to classic texts throughout

I suggest you stay away from this book. Because Rudi told me it's not an authentic book. He is neigong teacher so you should believe his words 

[Yae]

7 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

I suggest you stay away from this book. Because Rudi told me it's not an authentic book. He is neigong teacher so you should believe his words 

Someone just being a neigong teacher doesn't make them right. Even in the neidan world there is debate between claimed Masters. This is not just one book. It is the result of studying the most trusted textual sources in neidan. Your vague negativity is toxic and useless. Who is Rudi? Have you or them reached the stage of ending the leakage?

Edited March 15 by Yae

[Yae]

The author did say that he ommitted some details that the reader would have to find themselves. Maybe DM me if you are willing to cooperate in studying texts and refining our understanding as much as possible. Maybe we could form a group in some instant messaging medium. Or potentially we could just use this thread or another one here.

 

Also if it wasn't obvious my explanation of the methods was not as exact as in the book.

Edited March 16 by Yae

[Elysium]

So you are basically creating a new body with this 10 year long process?

[Yae]

4 hours ago, Elysium said:

So you are basically creating a new body with this 10 year long process?

Yes, that's the goal of Internal Alchemy, the basics should be pretty easily available online, maybe on the wiki for internal alchemy, or goldenelixir.com.

 

But, some sources seems to say you've already created the yang spirit after 10 months, or part of the time after that and the "9 years [or so] facing the wall" are to transmute the physical body so you don't have to "cast off the husk" by dying? Something like that.

 

But really it's a lot to explain here unless you guys want me to try, so I recommend reading the book and also collecting other texts mentioned in it like the Cantong Qi, Wuzhen Pian, Huiming Jing etc.

Edited March 17 by Yae

[MIchael80]

On 14.3.2024 at 12:22 AM, Yae said:

Also I have quite a lot of experience with the Yu Xian Pai and less so in the Wu Liu Pai lineages, and in other schools, and these methods seem rather relatable such that I don't see much need for caution. Meditating on the LDT and circulating the MCO are pretty normal. And the added part of stealing the ingredient is backed by some of the biggest Taoist texts in existence, assuming the translation and interpretation are right. It may exist in higher levels of the lineages I have experience in, I just haven't gotten there in them yet to see, although I couldn't tell about it if I had

Really? 

 

Where in Yuxian pai do you sit while meditating on the dantien? 

 

What kind of Wuliu pai method? Ancient northern, ancient southern or broad northern method?

[Neirong]

Why would you learn something so serious from books?

[silent thunder]

Why would you assume to know what someone else is capable of learning from any given source?

[SirPalomides]

The dirty secret is that many an august "oral" lineage sprang from someone pondering stuff from a book and then declaring he'd gotten a revelation from a god or a transmission from some hermit either too dead or too remote for anyone to verify.  

 

As for this book... well the title seems to assume a lot about the practical ability of "everyone" to keep a hundred day retreat. 

Edited March 21 by SirPalomides

[Yae]

2 hours ago, MIchael80 said:

Really? 

 

Where in Yuxian pai do you sit while meditating on the dantien? 

 

What kind of Wuliu pai method? Ancient northern, ancient southern or broad northern method?

What nonsense is that 😂 I said I have experience in multiple schools, not that each of them does exactly what this books says. Next question

 

Yes tree trunks often have branches. Is there any point to showing us you know the names of tree branches?

Edited March 21 by Yae

[Yae]

48 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

The dirty secret is that many an august "oral" lineage sprang from someone pondering stuff from a book and then declaring he'd gotten a revelation from a god or a transmission from some hermit either too dead or too remote for anyone to verify.  

 

As for this book... well the title seems to assume a lot about the practical ability of "everyone" to keep a hundred day retreat. 

A logical person would do more than that for less reward than ultimate universal freedom following the path agreed on by the kings of all religions.

[SirPalomides]

Just now, Yae said:

A logical person would do more than that for less reward than ultimate universal freedom following the path agreed on by the kings of all religions.

 

Let us know how it works out for you. 

[MIchael80]

9 minutes ago, Yae said:

What nonsense is that 😂 I said I have experience in multiple schools, not that each of them does exactly what this books says. Next question

 

Yes tree trunks often have branches. Is there any point to showing us you know the names of tree branches?

Well you said "that you have quite a lot of experiences with yuxian pai and less with wuliu pai" and that they are "quite relatable". But yuxian pai does nothing even remotely similiar to anything in this book. 

 

And what i mentioned about Wuliu pai has nothing to do with branches from a tree at all. 

[Yae]

Just now, SirPalomides said:

 

Let us know how it works out for you. 

Have fun doing things that take less than 100 days while I'm at it.

[Yae]

Just now, MIchael80 said:

Well you said "that you have quite a lot of experiences with yuxian pai and less with wuliu pai" and that they are "quite relatable". But yuxian pai does nothing even remotely similiar to anything in this book. 

 

And what i mentioned about Wuliu pai has nothing to do with branches from a tree at all. 

Being ignorant and denying things is not a valid argument. You've said nothing of any substance.

[SirPalomides]

7 minutes ago, Yae said:

Have fun doing things that take less than 100 days while I'm at it.

 

I am. Thank you! 

[MIchael80]

6 minutes ago, Yae said:

Being ignorant and denying things is not a valid argument. You've said nothing of any substance.

? 

Of course is denying something an arguement. 

You made claims....i said yuxian pai does not do anything remotely what is described in that book. 

 

I also said what you said about wuliu pai is not true either. 

The only one not saying anything of value at all is not me.

[Yae]

14 minutes ago, MIchael80 said:

? 

Of course is denying something an arguement. 

You made claims....i said yuxian pai does not do anything remotely what is described in that book. 

 

I also said what you said about wuliu pai is not true either. 

The only one not saying anything of value at all is not me.

Yes and I saw a unicorn in the sky. Anything else?

 

Yuxianpai starts by opening specific channels. It may be the most perfect form of qigong currently popular. This book skips qigong. It says that doing energy work goes against the way of nature. The qi field is a natural occurence and manipulating it is likely to lead to deviations. Instead it simply supplies qi to the body through the energy centers through breathing into the dan tiens, and the qi fills all of the organ channels and others naturally. Similar to prolonged intensive post standing, which I have learned does have valid sitting and walking versions.

Edited March 21 by Yae

[Yae]

It's the same in every major text 💀. This is from the Mirror For Compounding the Medicine and famous commentary (Ruyao Jing Zhujie):

 

 

Quote

 

11

It is Nature and Existence, it is not Spirit and Breath. Lead in the village of Water: the one ingredient.

 

One's Nature (xing) is Spirit, one's Existence (ming) is Breath. The inchoate merging of Nature and Existence is the precelestial foundation; the cyclical transformations of Spirit and Breath are the postcelestial operation. Therefore it says, "it is Nature and Existence, it is not Spirit and Breath." (Divided full quote into contiguous parts)

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

If those who devote themselves to self-cultivation want to make their Nature numinous and their Existence firm, from the mo- ment they set to practice they must collect the Lead in the village of Water. "Lead in the village of Water" means that Kun is breached by Qian and becomes Kan. [Therefore) within the Kan-Water there is the Qian-Metal:

 

Metal is the mother of Water

the mother is hidden in the embryo of her son.¹

 

One particle of True Yang dwells in it. As soon as you meet the movement of the Yang principle in the zi hour within yourself, you should immediately collect it. Ziyang (i.e., Zhang Boduan) said:

 

When Lead meets the birth of gui, quickly you should collect it.

 

He meant that at the time of the collection you must use the Intention, which goes back and forth, and lead the Fire so that it forces the Metal [to ascend]. This is exactly what is meant by the words:

 

 

It says from the moment you set to practice collect Lead in Water, so I'm not sure if it's saying to skip the first stage and start with the second when you collect the ingredient, or if it means preheaven qi by lead, being collected in the LDT.

 

Then it says "As soon as you meet the movement of the Yang principle..." "you should immediately collect it." Same as my original quotes, "When it moves, steal it." It also quotes Zhang Boduan saying the same thing, maybe from the Wuzhen Pian, not sure yet.

 

Quote

 

Fire forces Metal into movement, following an inverted course,

and the Great Elixir coagulates of its own within the Tripod.

 

 

Ah this is so useful. So you don't have to put Metal in the cauldron when you collect it apparently. You just move it (yuanjing energy) along the inverted course using breath and intention and it coagulates on its own when ready. I was wondering about that. I thought you collect it, put it in the cauldron, then circulate the MCO, but I wasn't sure about if the yuanjing was both in the cauldron and circulating or what? Actually I still have conflicting information from different books I think, but I'm inclined to trust this one.

 

Fire is breath, Metal now definitely means the collected yuanjing

 

Quote

 

This one ingredient is the root of the Great Dao.

 

 

This means the metal hidden within water, the yuanjing hidden within the male sexual fluid which was collected when the yang principle (it) moved from the kidneys to the male genitals

 

And if course this is discussing the male method, the female method is discussed less often I guess.

[Yae]

6 hours ago, Neirong said:

Why would you learn something so serious from books?

Go to a door in your living area and open it and then close it.

 

Did you understand that? It's the same thing. Books aren't necessarily inadequate. It simply takes correct explanation. It's not like telling a blind person what a sunrise looks like (assuming they also don't have the ability to imagine color). Everyone has a body so these methods are relatable.

Besides, a book has its benefits. No one can gatekeep the knowledge behind a crippling paywall recurring for years just because they can because you want to know the methods and potentially never even teach you them and blame it on you, and because you decided that you would only learn it from a real person considered qualified by some other people you don't know.

 

For the methods to be able to be written in a few words refined as much as possible while leaving nothing out, I think that's as good as it gets.