I went to Beijing in July. A friend said, "Let's go to see Master Wang." A great idea, I had already planned to see Master Wang on this trip. The last time I saw him was in September 1998, it had been 8 years since I last saw him in person. Even though we talked on the phone regularly, that can't be compared to seeing him in person.
My friend suggested that we take the water route to get there so that we can enjoy the scenery along the way. We got on the boat at the nearby port to our destination. Master Wang was as compassionate and caring as before. In the following three days, I had many complex emotions since it had been 8 years since I last saw him in person. During that period of time, I have tried many things according to my own ideas. Some of those I did well and Master Wang was very supportive; some of those perhaps should have been done in a different way but Master Wang didn't explicitly mention it ; some people had slandered and caused great troubles to me and Master Wang and which he had dealt with for me. I sincerely apologized for the troubles I caused him and he was happy to accept it. He was also supportive of my idea of a Health and Wellness Center.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
2005 - Meridian Taijiquan
In 1991 when I was hired as the assistant instructor to Master Wang for the first time, he taught a practice of people with people, in one case, when the two persons got into trance, they started spontaneous movement with their eyes closed, it looked as though they were sparring with other. Each movement was as precise as if their eyes were opened. I thought at that time: maybe that's how Taijiquan was invented.
From my own experience of helping other to archive Channel SHO, those who has practiced Taiji before usually have a much easier time of attaining it and once spontaneous movements appear, the movements are elegant and nice to look at. I thought: perhaps Taijiquan is the external part of dandao. Henceforth, I paid particular attention to the progress of students who practiced taijiquan after they had attained Channel SHO, three of them had revealed partial answers to this puzzle.
The first person had practiced Taijiquan for more than 40 years, he was 80 years old. I taught him the methods and things to watch out for when trying to open up the Channel SHO. He had a very good foundation. He could sit in full-lotus for three hours or more. The first day we went up to Taoyuan, he sat on his own in the morning and his abdomen vibrated strongly. He used the method taught by me to open his own SHO. Absolutely amazing for an 80-year-old man. I was amazed by his achievements and this showed me that Taijiquan is definitely one of dandao's foundational practice.
The seond person has practiced a different lineage of Taijiquan for more than 10 years. After he had attained Channel SHO, his progress was rapid, he had 36 mudras spontaneously appeared. Master Wang had said before that there are 36 mudras associated with Ling Bao Bi Fa and he had publicly taught only 4 of them! We analyzed and concluded that these mudras appears when the qi move in and connecting the 12 regular meridians.
The third person has also practiced various forms of Taiji for 10 years or more. After she had attained Channel SHO, she can clearly felt that qi was moving in her various meridians. We used one year to investigate and conclude that in Yang's Style Taiji, when doing each external form, there is a corresponding internal movement in the channel. We took it one step further and inverted the problem: for each of the 12 regular meridians, we extracted all the forms that stimulate that meridian and reorganize and modify them. We took out the 12 restructured and modified forms that stimulate and most accurately correspond to the 12 regular channels and created the "Twelve Forms of Meridian Taijiquan". We recorded it and sent the video to Master Wang for appraisal. After Master Wang had seen it he said, "There are many people who are currently researching on this topic but none of them had a result that's comparable to yours. Also in these form, you are missing *****. You should publish this as your own work." Actually we already knew that ***** is missing but we didn't have any way to overcome it at that time. This is another example of the amazing depth of knowledge that Master Wang possess. If one does not completely understand the structure of the 12 meridians, one can not know that which parts of our taijiquan are correct and which parts are missing. A Great Teacher! A true Master!
From my own experience of helping other to archive Channel SHO, those who has practiced Taiji before usually have a much easier time of attaining it and once spontaneous movements appear, the movements are elegant and nice to look at. I thought: perhaps Taijiquan is the external part of dandao. Henceforth, I paid particular attention to the progress of students who practiced taijiquan after they had attained Channel SHO, three of them had revealed partial answers to this puzzle.
The first person had practiced Taijiquan for more than 40 years, he was 80 years old. I taught him the methods and things to watch out for when trying to open up the Channel SHO. He had a very good foundation. He could sit in full-lotus for three hours or more. The first day we went up to Taoyuan, he sat on his own in the morning and his abdomen vibrated strongly. He used the method taught by me to open his own SHO. Absolutely amazing for an 80-year-old man. I was amazed by his achievements and this showed me that Taijiquan is definitely one of dandao's foundational practice.
The seond person has practiced a different lineage of Taijiquan for more than 10 years. After he had attained Channel SHO, his progress was rapid, he had 36 mudras spontaneously appeared. Master Wang had said before that there are 36 mudras associated with Ling Bao Bi Fa and he had publicly taught only 4 of them! We analyzed and concluded that these mudras appears when the qi move in and connecting the 12 regular meridians.
The third person has also practiced various forms of Taiji for 10 years or more. After she had attained Channel SHO, she can clearly felt that qi was moving in her various meridians. We used one year to investigate and conclude that in Yang's Style Taiji, when doing each external form, there is a corresponding internal movement in the channel. We took it one step further and inverted the problem: for each of the 12 regular meridians, we extracted all the forms that stimulate that meridian and reorganize and modify them. We took out the 12 restructured and modified forms that stimulate and most accurately correspond to the 12 regular channels and created the "Twelve Forms of Meridian Taijiquan". We recorded it and sent the video to Master Wang for appraisal. After Master Wang had seen it he said, "There are many people who are currently researching on this topic but none of them had a result that's comparable to yours. Also in these form, you are missing *****. You should publish this as your own work." Actually we already knew that ***** is missing but we didn't have any way to overcome it at that time. This is another example of the amazing depth of knowledge that Master Wang possess. If one does not completely understand the structure of the 12 meridians, one can not know that which parts of our taijiquan are correct and which parts are missing. A Great Teacher! A true Master!
2004 - Third revision of Yin Xian Fa
After I had mastered the techniques for SHO, I had a deeper understanding of the part "Refining the body to accumulate qi" in Yin Xian Fa, it led me to examine that portion of the practice again. I reexamined the Yin Xian Fa technique for the third time and wrote three reports on it "Analysis of the Techniques in Yin Xian Fa", " Analysis on the verifications of Yin Xian Fa", "Analysis on the results of Yin Xian Fa". The objective of these reports is clear, to completely deconstruct every detail of Yin Xian Fa in order to define step by step the methods and the corresponding results. The goal might be difficult to archive, but from my experience, working through a difficult problem always bring unexpected results. The are two parts to this problems:
(1) When one has accumulated enough experience so that each method and the its result is clear, then one has developed a set of techniques. When we apply the same principles to dandao, what would happen? This is a question of technique refinement.
(2) Since "Yin Xian Fa" is so great, how can one popularize it? This is a question of mass transmissions.
(1) When one has accumulated enough experience so that each method and the its result is clear, then one has developed a set of techniques. When we apply the same principles to dandao, what would happen? This is a question of technique refinement.
(2) Since "Yin Xian Fa" is so great, how can one popularize it? This is a question of mass transmissions.
2004 - An emergency call for help.
In August, a group of us went up to Mt. Xing Long again. We did the Star Formation Practice one day. One person did this star practice for the first time and he didn't follow the rule exactly, he just stood up when the practice has not been properly ended, this is strictly prohibited. As an analogy, let say 4 persons are lifting a heavy object together and one of the person abruptly let go of his hand, what would happen to others?
Unsurprisingly, an older gentlemen told me that "It's broken, the balance is lost." He was working on the level "Refining the Form with Golden Liquid", we tried many different ways to "repair" to no avail. As the last resort, I called Master Wang for help. I told him what had happened and then he asked me, "How old?" "60" I said. Master Wang then said, "This is because of this and that, you should look up so and so book, there is so and so passage and that's the way to fix it." I was on the mountain and didn't bring that book, so I called a friend and luckily he has that particular book. I asked him to look up the particular passage and read to me. Once he was done, I immediately understood what's wrong. We tried it immediately and it worked!
Cultivation happens in your body, if you weren't careful problem will arise and you would need to face the condequences. Troubles don't usually occur under normal circumstances but there are always exceptional time. Therefore one must find an accomplished teacher otherwise when problem occurs, you won't be able to deal with it yourself. I was only an assistant instructor, I am more than capable to teach the foundational materials but to teach the more advanced stuff, it's a more difficult question to answer.
Unsurprisingly, an older gentlemen told me that "It's broken, the balance is lost." He was working on the level "Refining the Form with Golden Liquid", we tried many different ways to "repair" to no avail. As the last resort, I called Master Wang for help. I told him what had happened and then he asked me, "How old?" "60" I said. Master Wang then said, "This is because of this and that, you should look up so and so book, there is so and so passage and that's the way to fix it." I was on the mountain and didn't bring that book, so I called a friend and luckily he has that particular book. I asked him to look up the particular passage and read to me. Once he was done, I immediately understood what's wrong. We tried it immediately and it worked!
Cultivation happens in your body, if you weren't careful problem will arise and you would need to face the condequences. Troubles don't usually occur under normal circumstances but there are always exceptional time. Therefore one must find an accomplished teacher otherwise when problem occurs, you won't be able to deal with it yourself. I was only an assistant instructor, I am more than capable to teach the foundational materials but to teach the more advanced stuff, it's a more difficult question to answer.
2003 - A breakthrough
In August, I went on a retreat with a group of friends on Mount Xing Long. When I was practicing in front of a tree one day, I felt that my body was swaying. After some careful observation, I realized that my Channel Small Heavenly Orbit was circulating rapidly like a wheel and the feeling was great. It was spinning when I was sitting, it was even spinning when I was sleeping. This showed that I have completely recovered. I helped everyone present to open up their orbits, later on, a few other came up to mountain, they all have their orbits opened except one. When other students in Lanzhou got hold of this news, they all immediately came up, at that time I was very excited and happy, so I helped everyone with their SHO. Of course this has caused me problems later as mentioned in an earlier post.
From that time on, I had developed a complete program for SHO that is simple, convenient, safe and reliable. Those who have experienced it were amazed, those who hasn't can not believe it. One need to know that for all these, I had investigated and researched for eight whole years. A difficult but rewarding eight-year period.
From that time on, I had developed a complete program for SHO that is simple, convenient, safe and reliable. Those who have experienced it were amazed, those who hasn't can not believe it. One need to know that for all these, I had investigated and researched for eight whole years. A difficult but rewarding eight-year period.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Brief Introduction to Ling Bao Bi Fa
Ling Bao Bi Fa is divided into three volumes, it was collected and published in the Supreme Pureness section (Tai Qing Bu) of the "Authentic Daoist Canon" (Zheng Tong Daocang). In the prologue of Ling Bao Bi Fa, Ancestor Zhongli quan stated that he had studied classics and consulted with many friends to learn about the great Dao, later he had found 30 volumes of "Ling Bao Jing" in Mount Zhongnan. In it "the first section called the Golden Words, written by the Jade Pure One; the middle section called the Jade Book, written by the Supreme Pure One ; the last section called True Origin, written by the Grand Pure One. Together made of several thousands words." Ancestor Zhongli ponders deeply on the materials and ultimately discovered the true meaning within: "To transcend the mundane and achieve Sainthood, which can be summarized in three levels of methods." He named it "Ling Bao Bi Fa" and transmitted it to Ancestor Lu Dongbin.
"The Daoist Teachings of Zhong and Lu" had mentioned that "Ling Bao Bi Fa" is divided into 10 volumes on 12 topics. Each topic has Six Yi, six ways of explaining the topic, they are : Golden Words (Gin Gao), Jade Book (Yu Shu), True Origin (Jhen Yuan), Analogy (Bi Yu), True Code (Jhen Jyue) and Essence of Dao (Dao Yao).
The content of Ling Bao Bi Fa can be divided into three volumes of ten gateways (or three levels of ten methods):
The first Volumes is called "Minor Methods for Good Health and Well Being", the four methods are Pairing the Yin and Yang number one, Collection and Dispersion of Water and Fire number two, The mating of Dragon and Tiger number three and Cooking the Cinnabar Medicine number four. This is the foundation method of building the neidan, following the methods can leads to good health and well being.
The second volume is called "Intermediate Methods for Longevity" which contains three methods, The Golden Crystal Flying Up from the Side number four, the Jade Liquid Restorative Cinnabar number five, the Golden Liquid Restorative Cinnabar number seven. These are the method to complete the neidan cultivation. The method can leads to longevity.
The third volume is called "Great Methods for Transcending from the mortal Realm" which contains three methods, Facing the origin to refine the qi number eight, Internal Viewing and Swapping number nine and transcension and Subdivision number ten. These methods can lead to transcendency.
In each method, it is explained from six different angles called the Six Yi, they are different ways to interpret and explain the method. Golden Words, Jade Book and True Origin were written by the Three Pure Ones who use the great Dao, the Heaven and Earth to explain the method. Analogy use the the ten thousands things as analogies to explain the qi and shen of the human body. True code and the essence of Dao summaries the methods and important points to watch out for during the practice.
From the practice point of views, the three volumes of Ling Bao Bi Fa is explaining the 45 segments of actual practice in the Three Immortal Methods. By following the TTIM, one should be able to archived the corresponding goals stated in Ling Bao Bi Fa. It is called "Bi Fa" because it is a complete and systematic methods of the Great Dao.
Dandao is also called neidan, it came from Waidan (external cinnabar), by referring to the methods of creating the external cinnabar, one can then easily comprehend the neidan system. The main process in waidan is the following: choose a auspicious location, setting up the stove and the cauldron, put the medicine and water into the cauldron, start the fire in the stove, boil the water and cook the medicine. The medicine will then move in the water, when the water have been completely evaporated, the medicine condensed and form the cinnabar.
Neidan method is very similar the waidan methods. It uses yin and yang to create the dan (cinnabar). The difference is that in neidan, one need to condensed and create the dan three times. The first time the dan is created, it can be used to refine into dan medicine ; the dan medicine can then be used to create a refined dan ; keeping cooking the refined dan more and one can create the golden dan. The three levels of cultivation in Ling Bao Bi Fa, "Human Immortal Methods", "Terrestrial Immortal Methods" and "Celestial Immortal Method", are precisely the methods to create and refine the dan three times.
The "Human Immortal Methods" use the body as the cauldron, the qi as the medicine, the heart as the fire, the kidney as the water, nine restorations and seven reversals, Kan and Li combine and the Golden Elixir Restorative Cinnabar created.
The "Terrestrial Immortal Methods" use the shen as the cauldron, the qi as the medicine, the sun as the fire, the moon as the water, seeking treasure in the deep ocean, walking in the sky to see the moon, Yin and Yang perfectly matched.
The "Celestial Immortal Methods" use the shen as the cauldron, the true-self as the medicine, the wisdom as the fire, the stillness as the water, the nine palaces indestructible, the heaven and earth circulate forever and the heaven and man become one.
Practicing neidan is a way to refine yin and yang for creation, the process for rebirth.
Ling Bao Bi Fa is a systematic method to build the bridge between the mortals and the immortals. It is the pinnacle and the greatest of all methods in neidan. It is a ladder to the understanding of the Dao as told by Laozi 3000 years ago.
Finally Ling Bao Bi Fa showed us the Youwei method of using the shen to refine the qi, the Wuwei method of us the the qi to refine the shen and the Wubuwei method of combining the shen ling. All this theory must be put into practice, using real and tangible results to verify the content of Ling Bao Bi Fa. To study Ling Bao Bi Fa require very a meticulous and flexible mind.
"The Daoist Teachings of Zhong and Lu" had mentioned that "Ling Bao Bi Fa" is divided into 10 volumes on 12 topics. Each topic has Six Yi, six ways of explaining the topic, they are : Golden Words (Gin Gao), Jade Book (Yu Shu), True Origin (Jhen Yuan), Analogy (Bi Yu), True Code (Jhen Jyue) and Essence of Dao (Dao Yao).
The content of Ling Bao Bi Fa can be divided into three volumes of ten gateways (or three levels of ten methods):
The first Volumes is called "Minor Methods for Good Health and Well Being", the four methods are Pairing the Yin and Yang number one, Collection and Dispersion of Water and Fire number two, The mating of Dragon and Tiger number three and Cooking the Cinnabar Medicine number four. This is the foundation method of building the neidan, following the methods can leads to good health and well being.
The second volume is called "Intermediate Methods for Longevity" which contains three methods, The Golden Crystal Flying Up from the Side number four, the Jade Liquid Restorative Cinnabar number five, the Golden Liquid Restorative Cinnabar number seven. These are the method to complete the neidan cultivation. The method can leads to longevity.
The third volume is called "Great Methods for Transcending from the mortal Realm" which contains three methods, Facing the origin to refine the qi number eight, Internal Viewing and Swapping number nine and transcension and Subdivision number ten. These methods can lead to transcendency.
In each method, it is explained from six different angles called the Six Yi, they are different ways to interpret and explain the method. Golden Words, Jade Book and True Origin were written by the Three Pure Ones who use the great Dao, the Heaven and Earth to explain the method. Analogy use the the ten thousands things as analogies to explain the qi and shen of the human body. True code and the essence of Dao summaries the methods and important points to watch out for during the practice.
From the practice point of views, the three volumes of Ling Bao Bi Fa is explaining the 45 segments of actual practice in the Three Immortal Methods. By following the TTIM, one should be able to archived the corresponding goals stated in Ling Bao Bi Fa. It is called "Bi Fa" because it is a complete and systematic methods of the Great Dao.
Dandao is also called neidan, it came from Waidan (external cinnabar), by referring to the methods of creating the external cinnabar, one can then easily comprehend the neidan system. The main process in waidan is the following: choose a auspicious location, setting up the stove and the cauldron, put the medicine and water into the cauldron, start the fire in the stove, boil the water and cook the medicine. The medicine will then move in the water, when the water have been completely evaporated, the medicine condensed and form the cinnabar.
Neidan method is very similar the waidan methods. It uses yin and yang to create the dan (cinnabar). The difference is that in neidan, one need to condensed and create the dan three times. The first time the dan is created, it can be used to refine into dan medicine ; the dan medicine can then be used to create a refined dan ; keeping cooking the refined dan more and one can create the golden dan. The three levels of cultivation in Ling Bao Bi Fa, "Human Immortal Methods", "Terrestrial Immortal Methods" and "Celestial Immortal Method", are precisely the methods to create and refine the dan three times.
The "Human Immortal Methods" use the body as the cauldron, the qi as the medicine, the heart as the fire, the kidney as the water, nine restorations and seven reversals, Kan and Li combine and the Golden Elixir Restorative Cinnabar created.
The "Terrestrial Immortal Methods" use the shen as the cauldron, the qi as the medicine, the sun as the fire, the moon as the water, seeking treasure in the deep ocean, walking in the sky to see the moon, Yin and Yang perfectly matched.
The "Celestial Immortal Methods" use the shen as the cauldron, the true-self as the medicine, the wisdom as the fire, the stillness as the water, the nine palaces indestructible, the heaven and earth circulate forever and the heaven and man become one.
Practicing neidan is a way to refine yin and yang for creation, the process for rebirth.
Ling Bao Bi Fa is a systematic method to build the bridge between the mortals and the immortals. It is the pinnacle and the greatest of all methods in neidan. It is a ladder to the understanding of the Dao as told by Laozi 3000 years ago.
Finally Ling Bao Bi Fa showed us the Youwei method of using the shen to refine the qi, the Wuwei method of us the the qi to refine the shen and the Wubuwei method of combining the shen ling. All this theory must be put into practice, using real and tangible results to verify the content of Ling Bao Bi Fa. To study Ling Bao Bi Fa require very a meticulous and flexible mind.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Brief Introduction to the "Daoist Teachings of Zhong and Lu"
The "Daoist Teachings of Zhong and Lu" (DTZL) recorded the daoist transmissions from Zhongli Quan to Lu Dongbin in a questions and answers format. The earliest historical record of this text can be found in the Northern Song Dynasty, in "Xuan He Shu Pu" volume 19 stated that Lu Dongbin was a disciple of Zhongli Quan and "there exits books of their dialogue and poems etc", the "dialogue" should be referring to this classic. The "Dao Shu" In the Song dynasty has collected this classic and called it "Collection of Daoist Transmissions". The 14th to 16th chapters of the "10 books on Cultivation" in the Doaist Canon, "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" (Gu Jin Tu Shu Ji Cheng) and "Essentials of Daoist Canon" had also a copy of this classic.
"Daoist Teachings of Zhong and Lu" consists of the questions and answers between the two ancestors on the 18 specialized topics in cultivation ( "On true Immortals", "On Great Dao", "On Heaven and Earth", "On the Sun and the Moon", On Four Seasons", "On Five Elements", "On Water and Fire", "On Dragon and Tiger", "On Cinnabar and Medicine", "On lead and mercury", "On Extraction and Deposition", "On River Car", "On Restorative Cinnabar", "On refining the form", "On returning to the origin", "On internal viewing", "On Demonic Obstacles", "On verifications"). The book fleshed out the concepts clearly, revealed the different layers in each topic and it is full of wonderful discussions. This book had revealed to the world previously closely guarded daoist secrets. It is not an exaggeration to call this book the most important classic of the five ancestors and the seven sages and all the saints that followed them. DTZL is a more comprehensive discussion of the dandao of Zhong and Lu than any other publicly available classics.
To get to know the Zhong and Lu dandao better, the 18 topics of DTZL can be divided into 6 sections.
1. The Purpose. The goal of Zhong and Lu dandao is to become an immortal through cultivations. So what is an immortal? How to cultivate it? The answer is in "On true Immortals".
2. The Theory. Dandao is the fruit of the fusion between the great dao and the daoist culture. So how can we understand dandao from the point of view of the great Dao? The answer is in "On Great Dao".
3. The Theory from Yijing. Dandao culture was built on the backdrop of the idea "Heaven and Man become one". The "Heaven" in this idea consist of at least two levels of meaning. The "pre-heaven" (xiantian) stage of the universe and human, these had all been incorporated in the theory of "Zhou Yi". Secondly, how can we get to know the laws of the Yijing from observations of the circulation between of the heaven and earth, the movement of the Sun and the moon and the transitions between the 4 seasons and use these observations to help us understand the practical aspects of dandao. The different stages of the process in "Heaven and Man become one" are method of earth, method of heaven and method of Dao and they are explained in "On Heaven and Earth", "On the Sun and Moon" and "On the four seasons".
4. The theory of alchemy. The main idea in dandao is the theory of creation and rebirth, i.e. the creation of embryo from yin and yang, the embryo is nurtured until rebirth is possible. "Dao give birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to the ten thousands things". Creation is not possible without Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang is from "One", then where does "One" comes from? See "On the five elements". And how does "One" gives birth to Yin and Yang? See "On Water and Fire". How does Yin and Yang give births to the yang within yin and the yin within yang ? See "On Dragon and Tiger". How does Yin and Yang give birth to "Three", the embryo? And how do we nurture the Embryo ? See "On Cinnabar and Medicine". And how about the yin and yang in the embryo? See "On Lead and Mercury".
5. The theory on the cultivation method. Cultivation methods follow the laws of the nature, the theory in Yijing and the circulation between heaven and earth. How does one get the yin and yang, and how do we use the yin and yang? See "On extraction and deposition". How do we make the ying and yang follows the rise and fall (circulation) between the heaven and earth ? See "On River Car". How does one refine the quality and increase the volume of Yin and Yang? See "On restorative cinnabar". How does one cleanse the body with Yin and Yang? See "On Refining the form". How does one achieve transcension? See "On returning to the Origin". How does one see the process? See "On internal viewing". How does one overcome psychological obstacles? See "On demonic obstacles. The 10 methods and 45 segments of Ling Bao Bi Fa are precisely the practical methods to complement these theory.
6. On verifications. Since one has the methods, so we should also have verifications of the methods. To know the verifications in each stage, see "On Verifications". How does one assess the result and the achieved level of the immortality? See "On true immortals". How does one understand the great dao through cultivation ? See "On the Great Dao".
Looking at the content of DTZL, we can see that Ancestors Zhongli and Lu were standing and teaching us at a level unimaginable to mortals, they taught us true neidan and true methods, they told us that there are 5 levels of immortals: ghost immortal, human immortal, terrestrial immortal, shen immortal, celestial immortals. There are three levels of cultivation, minor cultivation, medium cultivation and great cultivation. Minor cultivation can grant one human immortal status, to live well and healthy on earth ; medium cultivation method can grant one terrestrial immortal status, to enjoy longevity; great cultivation method can grant one the shen immortal, celestial immortal status, to transcend from the material world. The method of neidan came from the great Dao, it states that the human body is a universe in itself, that's why one needs to imitate the circulation of the heaven and earth, the conversion of the 5 elements, the interactions of the sun and the moon in the body. To extract the Xiantian yang from the kidney water as the ingredients of dan, to mate the true yin and true yang, to mix and merge them, to circulate in the 3 fields, using yang to cook the yin and use the yin to refine the yang. By conversion of essence to qi, qi to shen, shen to the void and refine the void to Dao, then the golden dan can be formed and the yang shen can transcend. Jump out of the gate of heaven into the world of the three pure ones. The classic had detailed the 12 levels of internal refinement methods, they are Pairing the Ying and Yang number one, Collection and Dispersion of Water and Fire number two, The Mating of Dragon and Tiger number three, Burning and cooking the cinnabar medicine number four, The golden sphere flying up form the side number five, The jade liquid restorative cinnabar number six, the jade liquid refinement of the form number seven, the golden liquid restorative cinnabar number eight, the golden liquid refinement of the form number nine, returning to the origin to refine the qi number ten, internal viewing number eleven, transcension and subdivide number twelve. Combining sixth and seventh into one method, and the eighth and ninth into one method, reducing the twelve methods into ten, this is Ling Bao Bi Fa.
DTZL has established the venerable position of Zhong and Lu dandao: it inherited from the three pure ones and bequeath this treasure to the mortals in next one thousand year. It is the pinnacle achievement of the ancient daoist tradition; it wakes up the internal shen and ling of man and connect them to the external space and time. It is a comprehensive system of dandao cultivation, it revealed to the world the extraordinary wisdom of the daoist tradition and give people a glimpse of it's effective health and wellness method.
Therefore when we read DTZL, we need to ourselves in between the heaven and earth, time and space, to view and think about them from mutiple angles, the corporeal and concrete, the corporeal and formless and the incorporeal and formless. To see how can "heaven" and "man" become one? How does the "heaven" and "man" correspond to each other? What is being merged from "heaven" and "man" ? etc ..etc...
"Daoist Teachings of Zhong and Lu" consists of the questions and answers between the two ancestors on the 18 specialized topics in cultivation ( "On true Immortals", "On Great Dao", "On Heaven and Earth", "On the Sun and the Moon", On Four Seasons", "On Five Elements", "On Water and Fire", "On Dragon and Tiger", "On Cinnabar and Medicine", "On lead and mercury", "On Extraction and Deposition", "On River Car", "On Restorative Cinnabar", "On refining the form", "On returning to the origin", "On internal viewing", "On Demonic Obstacles", "On verifications"). The book fleshed out the concepts clearly, revealed the different layers in each topic and it is full of wonderful discussions. This book had revealed to the world previously closely guarded daoist secrets. It is not an exaggeration to call this book the most important classic of the five ancestors and the seven sages and all the saints that followed them. DTZL is a more comprehensive discussion of the dandao of Zhong and Lu than any other publicly available classics.
To get to know the Zhong and Lu dandao better, the 18 topics of DTZL can be divided into 6 sections.
1. The Purpose. The goal of Zhong and Lu dandao is to become an immortal through cultivations. So what is an immortal? How to cultivate it? The answer is in "On true Immortals".
2. The Theory. Dandao is the fruit of the fusion between the great dao and the daoist culture. So how can we understand dandao from the point of view of the great Dao? The answer is in "On Great Dao".
3. The Theory from Yijing. Dandao culture was built on the backdrop of the idea "Heaven and Man become one". The "Heaven" in this idea consist of at least two levels of meaning. The "pre-heaven" (xiantian) stage of the universe and human, these had all been incorporated in the theory of "Zhou Yi". Secondly, how can we get to know the laws of the Yijing from observations of the circulation between of the heaven and earth, the movement of the Sun and the moon and the transitions between the 4 seasons and use these observations to help us understand the practical aspects of dandao. The different stages of the process in "Heaven and Man become one" are method of earth, method of heaven and method of Dao and they are explained in "On Heaven and Earth", "On the Sun and Moon" and "On the four seasons".
4. The theory of alchemy. The main idea in dandao is the theory of creation and rebirth, i.e. the creation of embryo from yin and yang, the embryo is nurtured until rebirth is possible. "Dao give birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to the ten thousands things". Creation is not possible without Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang is from "One", then where does "One" comes from? See "On the five elements". And how does "One" gives birth to Yin and Yang? See "On Water and Fire". How does Yin and Yang give births to the yang within yin and the yin within yang ? See "On Dragon and Tiger". How does Yin and Yang give birth to "Three", the embryo? And how do we nurture the Embryo ? See "On Cinnabar and Medicine". And how about the yin and yang in the embryo? See "On Lead and Mercury".
5. The theory on the cultivation method. Cultivation methods follow the laws of the nature, the theory in Yijing and the circulation between heaven and earth. How does one get the yin and yang, and how do we use the yin and yang? See "On extraction and deposition". How do we make the ying and yang follows the rise and fall (circulation) between the heaven and earth ? See "On River Car". How does one refine the quality and increase the volume of Yin and Yang? See "On restorative cinnabar". How does one cleanse the body with Yin and Yang? See "On Refining the form". How does one achieve transcension? See "On returning to the Origin". How does one see the process? See "On internal viewing". How does one overcome psychological obstacles? See "On demonic obstacles. The 10 methods and 45 segments of Ling Bao Bi Fa are precisely the practical methods to complement these theory.
6. On verifications. Since one has the methods, so we should also have verifications of the methods. To know the verifications in each stage, see "On Verifications". How does one assess the result and the achieved level of the immortality? See "On true immortals". How does one understand the great dao through cultivation ? See "On the Great Dao".
Looking at the content of DTZL, we can see that Ancestors Zhongli and Lu were standing and teaching us at a level unimaginable to mortals, they taught us true neidan and true methods, they told us that there are 5 levels of immortals: ghost immortal, human immortal, terrestrial immortal, shen immortal, celestial immortals. There are three levels of cultivation, minor cultivation, medium cultivation and great cultivation. Minor cultivation can grant one human immortal status, to live well and healthy on earth ; medium cultivation method can grant one terrestrial immortal status, to enjoy longevity; great cultivation method can grant one the shen immortal, celestial immortal status, to transcend from the material world. The method of neidan came from the great Dao, it states that the human body is a universe in itself, that's why one needs to imitate the circulation of the heaven and earth, the conversion of the 5 elements, the interactions of the sun and the moon in the body. To extract the Xiantian yang from the kidney water as the ingredients of dan, to mate the true yin and true yang, to mix and merge them, to circulate in the 3 fields, using yang to cook the yin and use the yin to refine the yang. By conversion of essence to qi, qi to shen, shen to the void and refine the void to Dao, then the golden dan can be formed and the yang shen can transcend. Jump out of the gate of heaven into the world of the three pure ones. The classic had detailed the 12 levels of internal refinement methods, they are Pairing the Ying and Yang number one, Collection and Dispersion of Water and Fire number two, The Mating of Dragon and Tiger number three, Burning and cooking the cinnabar medicine number four, The golden sphere flying up form the side number five, The jade liquid restorative cinnabar number six, the jade liquid refinement of the form number seven, the golden liquid restorative cinnabar number eight, the golden liquid refinement of the form number nine, returning to the origin to refine the qi number ten, internal viewing number eleven, transcension and subdivide number twelve. Combining sixth and seventh into one method, and the eighth and ninth into one method, reducing the twelve methods into ten, this is Ling Bao Bi Fa.
DTZL has established the venerable position of Zhong and Lu dandao: it inherited from the three pure ones and bequeath this treasure to the mortals in next one thousand year. It is the pinnacle achievement of the ancient daoist tradition; it wakes up the internal shen and ling of man and connect them to the external space and time. It is a comprehensive system of dandao cultivation, it revealed to the world the extraordinary wisdom of the daoist tradition and give people a glimpse of it's effective health and wellness method.
Therefore when we read DTZL, we need to ourselves in between the heaven and earth, time and space, to view and think about them from mutiple angles, the corporeal and concrete, the corporeal and formless and the incorporeal and formless. To see how can "heaven" and "man" become one? How does the "heaven" and "man" correspond to each other? What is being merged from "heaven" and "man" ? etc ..etc...
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