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Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 2, Issue No. 3

A Deep Language for Communicating
with Nature's Intelligence (Part 4)
Original Energy
as the Mysterious Language of Alchemy
by Michael Winn
One Cloud`s seven Iormulas oIIer a progres-
sive experience oI Original Energy as the mover be-
hind all cosmic cycles oI change. But what exactly is
Original Energy? Yuanqi is paradoxical, the very
deIinition oI undeIinable energy. In learning to
speak the deep language oI qi, the ordinary mind can
easily grasp the notion oI yin-yang through its many
tangible polarities light-dark, hot-cold, male-
Iemale. (In China yin is always listed Iirst, in the
west the yang qualities are Iirst, perhaps revealing
reversed hemisphere dominance). Spoken language
uses words to habitually Iix these polarities into rig-
id dualistic concepts oI black and white, right and
wrong, selI and other.
The deep grammar oI alchemy reverses this pro-
cess. Beyond the tangible bi-poles oI yin-yang, in
alchemy practice the third Iorce oI yuanqi is always
present as an invisible monopole dissolving any Iixi-
ty. As a simple metaphor Ior the mind to grasp, yang
qi is white light (photons that reIract into seven pris-
matic rays), yin qi is dark light (attractive Iorces like
gravity or magnetism approximate this), and yuanqi
is clear light that can be polarized into both white
and dark light without losing its innate neutral prop-
erty.
Between the yin-yang (north-south) poles oI our
planet is a monopole oI Original Energy in the heart
oI the earth. In humans, the heart center Iunctions as
a monopole balancing messages Irom the head
(heaven) and belly (earth) poles. In the emotional
Iield between two lovers, there is a neutral pole that
holds a single essence in their two hearts beyond the
time and space Iluctuations oI their emotional rela-
tionship. Even iI they divorce, the neutral qi Iield
created by their earlier love cannot be destroyed by
any subsequent hatred Ior each other. Their collec-
tive Iield oI Original Energy, produced in the loving
phase oI their relationship, simply ceases to be ac-
tive as their personal Iield oI communication. This is
why the innate virtue oI love (as neutral acceptance
or unity) ultimately triumphs over the learned Iorce
oI hate (as separating impulse). Forced separation
does not build any Original Energy, thus weakening
itselI over time, while uniIicationi oI opposites
grows Original Energy Iorever.
We oIten Iail to recognize Original Energy even
when we are communicating through its matrix. Our
brain, polarized into leIt-right hemispheres, physi-
cally reIlects the nature oI our ordinary mind's polar-
ized sensory perception. We see with two eyes, hear
with two ears, breathe through two nostrils. Howev-
er, yuanqi exists underneath these yin-yang pairs,
and is generated at the crossing point oI the corpus
collosum at the center between the leIt and right
brains. Original Energy generates the protons and
electrons orbiting the nucleus in each oI our atoms.
It is in the neutrinos that go whizzing past us without
stopping because there is no "neutral Iorce contain-
er" on the polarized surIace oI our earth that can
hold these stellar particles.
Original Energy is the invisible monopole around
which DNA spirals, in serpent-like coils oI yin-yang
pairs (like the Microcosmic Orbit, the ends oI DNA
strands are joined at the ends, like a snake swallow-
ing its tail). DNA is the modern equivalent oI jing,
the essence that holds our shape. As qi converts into
Daoist Internal Alchemy
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Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)
jing, the latent (ignorantly called 'junk DNA) pat-
terns are activated. Thus the original trinity oI jing-
qi-shen is able to communicate with its human Iorm
and shape it moment to moment. The subtle qi Iield
oI a human being controls the timing oI the unIold-
ment oI these genetic patterns, whose encoding at
the jing level Iorm an unimaginably complex text
three billion characters long. Some microbiologists
admit that the gene code is best described as the
"language text" oI nature, even though their scien-
tiIic paradigm prevents them Irom admitting that
Nature is intelligent and thus able to "speak", much
less write a text in any language (Narby, 1998,
p.144).
In Primordial Heaven yuanqi is the cosmic parent
that births yin-yang qi, but paradoxically in Later
Heaven yuanqi is the oIIspring oI yin-yang qi. In the
physical plane Original Energy is re-birthed only
when yin-yang come into sustained balance. This is
the key principle oI Daoist internal alchemy. A neu-
tral monopole is what allows communication and
harmonious qi Ilow between any two poles or di-
mensions. A neutral axis oI original qi is what al-
lows yin and yang to rhythmically Ilip their posi-
tions aIter reaching their extremes oI expansion or
contraction. To Iirst experience, and later to shape
the polarities oI one's qi Iield Irom this neutral point
oI eternally balanced qi is to speak the deep lan-
guage oI Nature's intelligence. II you can Iind and
stay centered in the awareness oI this neutral balance
point at every moment oI your liIe, you have stabi-
lized the eIIortless state oI wuwei and the door is
open to realize your immortality. II you can create
a vessel an energy body to hold the Original
Energy in later heaven, you have produced the
elixir.

This seems simple, and yet is unimaginably diI-
Iicult because oI polarized language patterns oI
perception programmed into our mind and senses
by generations oI everyday liIe. The missing link
is understanding that our Original Spirit
(yuanshen) is Nature's inner voice. Whenever the
door between dimensions is opened, especially at
moments oI human birth, death and sexual copula-
tion, our Original Spirit is actively present to assist
us in communicating our inner will. These mo-
ments oI grace allow our Early Heaven selI to ex-
press its unconditional nature within the physical
plane as unconditional love, acceptance, or trust oI
the qi Iield. The adept internalizes these processes
oI birth, death, and sexual selI-intercourse in the
inner cauldron to keep open the Mysterious Pass.
Each alchemy meditation is an opportunity to
practice internal selI-intercourse, ego-death oI the
separated body spirits, and rebirth oI the Original
Spirit.
Alchemists, Shamans, and the Empty Mind
State
Original Energy is not a substance or a thing,
although it generates and dissolves both. When
any yin-yang Iield is reversed and held in a steady
balanced waveIorm, Original Energy arises and
physical reality appears to dissolve or at least lose
some oI its density. This can occur in any expand-
ed state oI consciousness where our bodies Ieel
light, as iI our molecules had moved Iarther apart.
We describe this state as "more empty", because
we have temporarily emptied out the rigid patterns
oI perception. The term xu in early Daoist texts is
oIten translated as "emptiness". However, it is a
relative, not an absolute state, meaning "empty oI
objects" but not "empty oI qi". Original Energy
thus "Iills" or rather is the actual matrix oI all
Image: prozac1 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
66
Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 2, Issue No. 3
"empty" space-time. An open or pure mind space
more accurately describes the state in which Original
Energy is engaged. The uncultivated ordinary mind
(xin) abhors the apparent vacuum created by yuanqi,
and unconsciously converts it into yin or yang qi. In
alchemy, Original Energy is seen as unshaped ener-
gy available to create a new level oI health and spir-
itual Ireedom in our lives iI we have the skill to
grasp it.
Original Energy is also oIten present whenever
someone "blanks out" or has "missing time", during
a meditative activity such as reading a book. Single
pointed concentration can cause your Iive jingshen
to spontaeously Iuse and temporarily shiIt dimen-
sions into the boundary zone oI Early Heaven. It can
happen by simple resonance; just reading about
Original Energy might cause you to driIt oII Ior a
Iew moments into your own more core Iield oI neu-
tral qi. Daoist alchemy oIIers a method Ior making
these shiIts consciously, and Ior including the whole
body in the shiIt, not just the mind. Daoist Iolklore is
Iilled with stories oI adepts who disappear and reap-
pear at will, sometimes bringing back an item Irom
Iar away as prooI oI their journey.
Between the Supreme Unknown (wuji), which can
never be known, and Later Heaven where everything
can be named and thus known, there is a continuous
qi Iield. However, there are empty spaces within and
between the qi patterns, like silent spaces between
musical notes. Silence is not heard as one listens to
music, but without silent spaces there could be no
distinguishing oI the note harmonics. Likewise, si-
lence itselI must become part oI the deep language
spoken by the adept. Traditionally, there are three
levels oI increasingly empty or pure silence: kong,
xu, and wu. In the oral tradition oI alchemy, "kong"
denotes the tangible empty physical space within
Later Heaven matter, described as the empty space
inside a pot. "Xu" is the open mind space in Early
Heaven where the xin (mind) reIines itselI. 'Wu"
denotes Wuji, the unknowable, unbounded, non
space-time underlying chaos-unity in Primordial
Heaven where our soul (ling) completes its jour-
ney.21
The adept must enter into and pass through these
three "voids" or "open mind" states in order to re-
ceive the deepest communications oI the Dao. These
are not true voids, but are in Iact Iilled with Original
Energy holding the still space between the yin-yang
pulsation oI the three heavens. Entry into these
'voids requires the adept to absorb and couple an
increasingly higher power oI yin-yang Iorces to re-
Iine a more pure quality oI Original Energy. Sitting
passively in an "empty mind" meditation may leave
a meditator in a relaxed but superIicial level oI kong
emptiness, in which occurs little communication
with the deeper xu or wu mind states.
Traditionally the simple practice oI emptying the
ordinary mind oI thoughts was to weaken the desires
and conIlicting wills oI the body spirits. The Daoist
practice oI zuowang, "sitting and Iorgetting", was
Iirst made Iamous by Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu). As
Livia Kohn notes in her translation oI Sima Cheng-
zhen's Zuowanglun, in later alchemical classics emp-
tying the mind was considered a beginning practice
that laid the Ioundation Ior succeeding phases oI al-
chemical reIinement oI yuanqi (Kohn, 1987). How-
ever, it is also an advanced practice. AIter alchemi-
cally reIining the male-Iemale, sun-moon and other
paired Iorces, the adepts again empties the mind oI
alchemical qi patterns beIore merging with the Dao.
One Cloud's Iormulas Iollow this pattern. The Inner
Smile is used by the beginner to empty the mind oI
physical tension, and also as the most advanced
practice oI simplicity an adept merged with the
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Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)
Dao, smiling eIIortlessly through all three heavens.

Is internal alchemy a Iorm oI shamanic commu-
nication with Nature? Some shamanic elements can
be Iound in One Cloud`s Iormulas. I believe that
generations oI alchemy practitioners have over the
millennium reIined the shamanic journey out oI the
body and interiorized it so it all happens inside the
adept's cosmicized energy body. This may have
evolved to allow communication between heaven
and earth to be more continuous and deeper. In my
own alchemy practice, I rarely "leave" my physical
body on journeys. It is easier to simply expand my qi
Iield out to embrace by resonance whatever level oI
Nature I wish to communicate with, and allow the
vibrational inIormation to silently Ilow back inside
me. Once it is down loaded it becomes part oI a li-
brary oI cosmic essences available Ior reIining in my
ongoing alchemical process. Once digested, these
essences absorbed Irom Nature open up continuous
pathways oI communication. The cycles oI the
moon, solstices and equinoxes, all impact strongly
on my energy Iield as spontaneous communications.
I oIIer a Iew experiences that correlate my inner
perceptions with objective physical events. When
there are major sun spots, my heart beat accelerates
and my body grows very warm. Major astrological
conIigurations will sometimes Iorce me to stop all
other activities to 'listen to them. The most dra-
matic case came in 1994, when I suddenly Ielt my
liver get hugely inIlamed, despite perIect health and
no changes in diet or liIestyle. I was very puzzled. It
was only when I saw television pictures oI Jupiter
being hit twenty-two times by a comet that I realized
my experiences were caused by the cosmic reso-
nance between my liver/hun spirit and Jupiter. Each
vital organ spirit learns to communicate with its
planetary spirit "cousin" in the Greatest Kan and Li
Iormula, and there is no shutting Nature out once it
knows you will listen to it.
Interesting objective conIirmation oI alchemy as a
deep language spoken by one's whole being came
Irom recent tests on Mantak Chia by an Austrian sci-
entist using modern equipment to measure brain-
wave patterns and hemispheric balance.22 This sci-
entist had Ior years been testing monks and medita-
tors Irom diIIerent traditions to try to map their bodi-
ly response to meditation. He was very surprised to
Iind that alchemy meditation was totally unique.
Chia produced on demand (by practice oI the Iirst
Iormula Inner Smile and sexual recycling oI jing in
the Microcosmic Orbit) a simultaneous rise in alpha,
beta, and theta brain waves. This meant that as his
mind slowed and relaxed more deeply, his body's
physical energy Iield grew more active. Also unique
was that the measured rise was equal in both brain
hemispheres and lasted Ior a much longer duration
three days versus several hours Ior other types
oI meditation.
The applications oI alchemy to healing are vast,
and beyond the scope oI this paper. The healing es-
sentially is a natural by-product oI the deep language
process. My experience suggests it can shiIt the ge-
netic level oI disease. I started going blind with a
rare condition inherited Irom my mother known as
birdshot choroiditis, with initial symptoms oI my not
being able to read Ior six months. AIter a week`s
intense practice oI Greater Water & Fire Iormula and
absorbing inner solar essence, the condition abruptly
reversed itselI.

Michael Winn is the Iounder oI Healing Tao University
with 30 Tao summer retreats in
Asheville, N.C. and is the past
President oI the National Qigong
Association. Michael has over 30
years experience in Taoist arts and
leads an annual China Dream
Trip. He has co-authored 7 books
with Mantak Chia, and is also the
author oI 10 Qigong and Inner Al-
chemy home study courses, as well as a Iree e-book, Way
oI the Inner Smile. All are available on
www.HealingTaoUSA.com or call: 88-999-0555.