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Wang Mu Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan 152 pp., Golden Elixir Press, 2011 Paperback PDF ISBN 978-0-9843082-5-5 Web page: www.goldenelixir.com/press/tao_01_foundations.html
This slideshow may be freely downloaded and uploaded to other websites, provided that it is not modied and that it is made available at no charge 2
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Part 1 Introduction
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Introduction
The Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian) was written by Zhang Boduan around 1075 Contains the orthodox transmission of Taoist Neidan Has been valued within all the Three Teachings (Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism) Other works by (or attributed to) Zhang Boduan focus on the initial stage of the Neidan practice 1. Secret Text of Green Florescence (Qinghua biwen) 2. Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir (Jindan sibai zi) 3. Book of the Eight Vessels (Bamai jing)
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Wang Mu, Foundations of Internal Alchemy: An Outline Golden Elixir Press 2012
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Replenishes Original Essence, Original Breath, and Original Spirit within the body Generates a Breath made of the union of Original Essence and Breath Generates a Spirit made of the union of Original Essence, Breath, and Spirit By rening Spirit one attains Emptiness and Non-Being
2. Rening Essence to transmute it into Breath 3. Rening Breath to transmute it into Spirit 4. Rening Spirit to return to Emptiness
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Introduction
At the beginning of the Neidan practice, one should replenish the basic constituents of the body The basic constituents are Original Essence, Original Breath, and Original Spirit These are the Three Treasures (sanbao ) When the Neidan texts speak of rening the Elixir, they mean rening the Three Treasures Two main tasks at this stage 1. Preserving the state of Essence and Breath 2. Replenishing their shortage
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Spirit and Breath are abundant There is no need to perform any practice to build the foundation Essence, Breath, and Spirit are consumed and should be replenished One should rene oneself using the practice of laying the foundations
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The Function vessel (dumai, right) and the Control vessel (renmai, left)
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Part 2: Stages 1: Laying the Foundations The Functions of Essence, Breath, and Spirit
Spirit (shen )
The whole Neidan process is ruled by Spirit Spirit is stored within the Heart Its movement in non-doing is called Original Spirit (yuanshen) Its movement in doing is called cognitive spirit (shishen) One should perform practices to eliminate the impure thoughts 1. Collecting the mind (shouxin) 2. Guarding Unity (shouyi) 3. Ceasing thoughts (zhinian) 4. Entering the state of quiescence (rujing)
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Part 2: Stages 1: Laying the Foundations The Functions of Essence, Breath, and Spirit
Breath (qi )
In Neidan, Breath involves both the breath of respiration and the precelestial Breath, or internal Breath (neiqi) At the beginning of the practice, one performs the ordinary breathing In the next stage, the inhaled breath rises along the Control vessel (dumai) and the exhaled breath descends along the Function vessel (renmai) An an even more advanced stage, one does not rely on inhaling and exhaling The spontaneous circulation of the internal Breath is called circulation of the hidden Breath (qianqi yunxing) This is also known as the embryonic breathing (taixi)
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Part 2: Stages 1: Laying the Foundations The Functions of Essence, Breath, and Spirit
Essence (jing )
In Neidan, the terms Essence, Breath, and Spirit are used in different ways compared to the medical texts The Neidan texts speak of two types of Essence 1. Original Essence (yuanjing) or precelestial Essence (xiantian jing) 2. Postcelestial essence (houtian jing) or essence of the intercourse (jiaogan jing, i.e., semen) The Essence is the mother of the Elixir (danmu)
When it is damaged, it causes weakening and aging When it is restored, it can lead to a long life Therefore Zhang Boduan uses the expression true seed (zhen zhongzi)
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Part 2: Stages 1: Laying the Foundations The Coagulation of the Three Treasures
Rening (lian
The term rening derives from Waidan (External Alchemy) In Waidan, the ingredients are rened by re In Neidan, the Essence (jing) is rened by the Spirit (shen) In Neidan, therefore, Spirit is represented by Fire, and Essence is represented by Water At the initial stage, rening involves both Xing (Nature) and Ming (Life)
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Part 2: Stages 1: Laying the Foundations The Coagulation of the Three Treasures
Harmonization (tiao )
The Spirit is related to the eyes By looking inwardly, the Spirit is collected within This is called circulating the light and inverting the radiance (huiguang fanzhao), cessation and contemplation (zhiguan), or inner observation (neishi) Inhaling and exhaling through the nose Breathing should be subtle and long-drawn, continuous and uninterrupted Original Essence is harmonized by not wasting ones material essence
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Introduction
Rening Essence to transmute it into Breath is the rst level after Laying the foundations This stage of the practice is also called the Barrier of the Hundred Days (bairi guan) This is only a conventional term It does not mean that this stage of the practice requires 100 days
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Transmutation (hua )
Essence, Breath, and Spirit coagulate with one another and form the Medicine The practice of harmonization allows the Essence to collect itself and produce the mother of the Elixir (danmu) Through further sublimation, the mother of the Elixir becomes the material foundation of ones inner renement This is called transmutation
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Conclusion
Laying the foundations and Rening Essence and transmuting it into Breath constitute together the rst part of the Neidan practice When they are completed, one can proceed to the higher stages of the practice
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Introduction
Rening Breath to transmute it into Spirit is also called Barrier of the Ten Months (shiyue guan) The Barrier of the Ten Months uses the metaphor of the 10-month pregnancy
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The 7-day rening is called entering the enclosure (ruhuan) The Embryo of Sainthood is also called the Infant (yinger)
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Generation of the Embryo Source: Xingming guizhi (Principles of Balanced Cultivation of Nature and Life)
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Introduction
This stage is also called the Barrier of the Nine Years (jiunian guan) Nine years does not refer to the time required to achieve the Great Elixir It alludes, instead, to the story of Bodhidharma who sat facing a wall for 9 years This story is a metaphor for the stage in which one enters the practice of Xing (Inner Nature) The alchemical practice emphasizes the backward process of inverting the course (nixing) Reverting to Emptiness and Non-Being is equivalent to returning to the Dao
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Returning to Emptiness
The Infant is moved from the lower to the middle Cinnabar Field It is further rened and nourished Then it is moved from the middle to the upper Cinnabar Field This is called moving the embryo (yitai) Finally one obtains the Yang Spirit, which exits from the Gate of Heaven (tianmen) This is called delivery of the embryo (chutai) As one dwells in constant stability and constant silence, the four elements return to emptiness, and one escapes from the cycle of birth and death This view of the return to Emptiness is the same as the view of Chan Buddhism Therefore the nal state of realization is the same in both teachings
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Returning to Emptiness
Delivery of the Infant Source: Xingming guizhi (Principles of Balanced Cultivation of Nature and Life)
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Part 3 Conclusion
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Part 3: Conclusion
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Wang Mu Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan 152 pp., Golden Elixir Press, 2011 Paperback PDF ISBN 978-0-9843082-5-5 Web page: www.goldenelixir.com/press/tao_01_foundations.html
This slideshow may be freely downloaded and uploaded to other websites, provided that it is not modied and that it is made available at no charge 50
Wang Mu FOUNDATIONS OF INTERNAL ALCHEMY The Taoist Practice of Neidan Edited and translated by Fabrizio Pregadio Originally written for Chinese readers, this book provides a clear description of the Taoist practice of Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. The author outlines the stages of the alchemical practice and claries several relevant terms and notions, including Essence, Breath, and Spirit; the Cinnabar Fields; the "Fire Times"; and the Embryo. The book is based on the system of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), one of the main sources of Internal Alchemy, and contains about two hundred quotations from original Taoist texts. Wang Mu (1908-92) received the Longmen ordination in his youth. He taught Internal Alchemy (Neidan) and was held in high regard by both Taoist practitioners and scholars. He served as a board member of the China Taoist Association and was for some time in charge of its research activities. He is known outside China mainly for his annotated edition of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), the text at the basis of the outline of Internal Alchemy that he provides in the present book. Web page: www.goldenelixir.com/press/tao_01_foundations.html
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