Boyett 1 Debbie Boyett Barzegar RELS 2001 27 May 2013 The Practice of Observing the Three Diets in the

Taoist Tradition to Achieve Immortality

Care for the body is essential to maintain proper qi. Qi is almost like an energy source that flows through the cosmos and ones own body. Illness and stress can be signs of improper qi flow, whereas proper qi can lead to long life. The body as a whole requires much attention in the Taoist tradition, as sages say, the tao is not far off; it is here in my body, 1 indicating that care for the body is an important feature of Taoist practice. This care is achieved by diet, meditation, and physical exercise. In dietary practices, food possesses certain medicinal and qi-based properties, so diet can have a large impact on the flow of qi in the body. Three distinctions of diet include a food based diet, an herbal based diet, and an energy diet. Traditionally, by reaching the energy diet one can achieve immortality.

On the most basic level, the Tao diet is based on the principle of frugality and balance. Festivals occur every ten or fifteen days which allow the people to enhance their frugal diet with rich foods,2 such as meat or wine; otherwise, the diet is mainly composed of various cereals. The principle of balance is achieved by combining foods associated with yin and yang qualities, consuming or avoiding certain foods based on season, and balancing the five flavors.

The concept of yin and yang can be thought of almost as opposites, which should be combined to achieve balance. Yin foods are typically associated with cool or cold features and
1 2

Schipper, Kristofer Marinus. The Taoist Body. Berkeley: UP of California, 1993, 4. Schipper, The Taoist Body, 31.

Boyett 2 yang foods are often associated with hot and warm foods. Examples of yin foods include fish, leafy vegetables, and raw food; examples of yang food include anything fried, spicy, or fatty.3 The five flavors include spicy, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. The five flavors should be balanced in every meal to match the individuals condition, stimulate the organs, and eliminate wayward qi, 4 indicating the importance of knowing the medicinal and qi-based properties of each food or food group in order to balance the bodys condition and maintain proper qi. Additionally, one should eat in a peaceful, loving state of mind because eating when one is angry or extremely tired can have harmful effects on ones well being. 5

By following the principles of this diet, one can balance the body. If this diet is not followed, one may experience weakness or illness. For example, if a persons diet consisted of 50% sweet, 30% sour, 10% spicy, 5% bitter, and 5% salty, hypoglycemia, diabetes, heartburn, indigestion, constipation, and water retention are more likely to occur. 6 Therefore, keeping in tune with ones bodily condition and adjusting the diet appropriately is essential to maintaining good health.

If the most basic diet is considered a food diet, the next level of diet could be considered an herbal diet. At this level, Taoists give up ordinary food and live increasingly on herbal, vegetal, or mineral substances like walnuts, cinnamon or mica.7 The herbal and vegetal

3 4

Kohn, Livia. Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality.Dunedin, FL: Three Pines Press, 2010, 19. Ibid., 23. 5 Singh, N. "An Introduction to Taoist Diet: a Fundamental Part of Taoist Hygiene Practices for the Maintenance, Restoration, and Enrichment of Health." California Journal of Oriental Medicine (CJOM) 13, no. 1 (2002 Winter 2002): 42-46. CINAHL, EBSCOhost (accessed May 27, 2013), 43. 6 Ibid. 7 Kohn, Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality, 73.

Boyett 3 substances can serve as supplements to normal meals as the practitioner gradually eats less ordinary food, until consuming only herbal, vegetal, and mineral substances (and water). 8

The highest diet is an energy diet. At this level, one gives up food and nourishes the body with pure qi; this level of practice is sometimes referred to as bigu. The term bigu literally means to avoid grain9 and refers to a type of fast. It is likely that bigu originally referred to a fasting that required the practitioner to stop eating the five main grain dietary staples of rice, wheat, oats, millet, and beans,10 but may not have indicated total fasting as it later came to mean. While the fasting practice is referred to as bigu, the practice of qi absorption (fuqi)11 is necessary to achieve a level of immortality. Qi is ingested through breathing and visualization techniques. Such techniques emphasize inhaling qi through the nose and holding it in the mouth to form a mixture of breath and saliva. The practitioner should consciously swallow the mixture and visualize it move through the body to the inner organs.12 Further practice may include more advanced or concentrated visualization techniques.

The medieval text, Wufuxu, contains much information outlining the practice of dietary changes and providing the reader with many recipes and techniques to achieve the ultimate level of nutrition. The Wufuxu is composed of three scrolls, dating back to the Han dynasty, with the second scroll comprised entirely of recipes for immortality.13 The Wufuxu recipes utilize

Arthur, Shawn. "Eating Your Way to Immortality: Early Daoist Self-Cultivation Diets." Journal of Daoist Studies, (February 2009): 32-63. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 25, 2013), 36. 9 Ibid., 37. 10 Ibid.. 11 Kohn, Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality, 118. 12 Ibid., 136. 13 Ibid.,, 133.

Boyett 4 seventythree different ingredients, the most popular of which are Sesame seeds, asparagus root, Rehmannia, China root fungus, Pine tree sap, Poke root, Locust tree seeds, Wolf berries, and Ginger 14 There are recipes for all levels of diet.

Although there is only one qi, it can be considered to take on two forms: a prenatal or primordial qi and an earthy qi. When people lose their primordial qi, they begin to decline and eventually die, 15 however, by practicing an energy diet, one can increase their primordial qi, to and even above the level they had at birth. 16 One will achieve immortality when all of ones qi has transformed into primordial qi and has been refined into spirit, as Kohn states, the result is a bypassing of death so that the end of the body has no impact on the continuation of the spiritperson, 17 thus one has reached a level of immortality.

The path to achieving immortality is not recognized as easy or simply. The process may begin with following the most basic diet and progressing towards qi absorption. Ideally, as one progresses through the stages, the body becomes stronger with an improved diet until eventually one naturally no longer hungers.18 Because of this ideal, illness, or suffering during extreme periods of fast may indicate that the body is not strong enough or prepared for such pursuits.

Those who do attempt to reach the ultimate energy diet are usually thought of as hermits and are the furthest removed from ordinary life,19 indicating the extreme social isolation that comes with this observance. Today and historically, most practitioners follow the most basic

14 15

Arthur, Eating Your Way to Immortality, 34. Kohn, Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality, 2. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid., 3. 18 Arthur, Eating Your Way to Immortality, 38. 19 Kohn, Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality, 73.

Boyett 5 level of diet, although select advanced practitioners do continue to practice bigu and attempt to reach a level of immortality. 20

20

Kohn, Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality, 72-73.

Boyett 6 Works Cited Arthur, Shawn. Eating Your Way to Immortality: Early Daoist Self-Cultivation Diets. Journal of Daoist Studies 2.(2009): 32-63.Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 May 2013. Kohn, Liva. Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality. Dunedin, FL: Three Pines Press, 2010. Print. Schipper, Kristofer Marinus. The Taoist Body. Berkeley: UP of California, 1993. Print. Singh, N. An Introduction to Taoist Diet: A Fundamental Part of Taoist Hygiene Practices for the Maintenance, Restoration, and Enrichment of Health." California Journal of Oriental Medicine (CJOM) 13.1 (2002): 42-46. CINAHL. Web. 27 May 2013.