 

-Podcast Articles Contact U

Tantric Daoism and internal development

by Linda Hallett | Mar 23, 2016 | Nei Gong | 1 comment

Key ‘de ne tantric Daoism’ into your computer and  all the information that appears on the screen links tantric Daoism
with sex – a sad re ection of modern society… The emphasis linking tantra with sex rather than spiritual development
perhaps shows how physicality takes precedence over spirituality in our lives. Try a search on ‘Tibetan tantra‘ and the root
of the word reveals the original spiritual de nition. Taken from the Sanskrit words tano (meaning extend/expand) and
trayati (meaning liberation), tantra is de ned as a practice which expands and liberates the mind. Being linked to Buddhist
and Hindu practices, tantra also has religious connotations – it has also been de ned as ‘a divinely revealed body of
teachings on the practice of worship of god.’ However, tantra is not a religion but perhaps more accurately a spiritual
practice. The aim is for the individual to gain an awareness/understanding that brings about a change in how they think
and perceive themselves and the world. Sometimes referred to as an ‘awakening’, the individual begins to release their
attachments to material things and shed their desires. As these changes occur, the energy of the individual begins to unite
with the energy of the universe, they become content within themselves and thus attain spiritual enlightenment.

Try a search on ‘esoteric Daoism’ and links appear to mysticism, magic and alchemy. You are led down a path where there
are possibilities of developing supernatural powers, you can buy magical mirrors and become clairvoyant! There are now
schools in Europe where you can learn ancient Chinese magic and progress through the gradings… To become what? A
magician? This is how these ancient teachings are now marketed. Is this really what these Daoist teachings are about? I
think not.

Esoteric means ‘con dential information or teachings that are intended to be understood only by initiates within a group’.
In Nourishing the Essence of Life, Eva Wong categorises Daoist teachings as follows:

·      suitable for the public and novice practitioners

·      easy to understand

outer teachings
·      can be practiced without teacher supervision

·      suitable for practitioners with a strong spiritual foundation

·      more esoteric teachings

inner teachings
·      texts and formal instruction from a teacher

·      most advanced esoteric teachings

secret teachings ·      only for the highest level adepts

·      transmitted orally direct from teacher to student

This shows the progression of training and spirituality required for a student to receive the inner Daoist teachings.
Esoteric Daoism describe the inner, secret teachings that have been carefully and selectively transmitted from teacher to
student down through the millennia.

We may wonder about the secrecy and the connection to mystics, magicians and sexual practices. A brief history of
Daoism explains these connections.

Initially, Daoism was the original philosophy of ancient Chinese people. It was based on following dao (or the original way
of nature) and many of the practices were aimed at returning to the source of life. The ancient people were attuned to the
rhythms and energies of nature and their philosophy was to live in harmony with nature. Their shamans were attributed
with the mystical powers of being able to commune with the spirits, interpret dreams, read omens, call on the heavens for
rain and heal the sick. They were also skilled at celestial divination, by interpreting celestial changes the shamans were
able to advise the imperial courts. These shamans were said to have magical skills, such as the ability to y to the stars
and to travel underground. They used talismans and incantations to heal the sick and ward o evil spirits. This legacy has
been preserved within certain sects of Daoism (shangqing Daoism) and hence the references to magic and mysticism
linked with Daoism today.

The link between sexual practices and Daoism stems from speci c internal alchemical practices. Some of these practices
use the sexual act to cultivate health and longevity of one practitioner at the expense of their partner. The practitioner
must be totally free of sexual desire to gain the maximum bene t from the practice. If not free from desire the practices
can actually be detrimental. Some Daoists consider these practices to be deviant and labelled them the ‘crooked path’.

Religious Daoism rst appeared during the western Han dynasty (206-8 BCE) when the Han emperor dedicated a shrine to
Laozi. It developed further with Zhang Daoling, who claimed to have had teachings revealed to him by Laozi. He became a
religious cult leader and a priest to mediate between the heavenly deities and the common people. The aim of many
religious philosophies is to enable humans to reach a higher understanding of their purpose and place in life. However,
and as with all religions, this was the turning point where a philosophy becomes manipulated by humans for control and
power over other people.

Although Daoist concerns about health and longevity appear within the writings of Laozi’s Daodejing and the ‘yellow
emperor”s Huangdi Neijing, this emphasis increased during the ‘warring states’ period (200- 589 CE). Now, alchemical
Daoism developed the arts for prolonging life and there was a strong belief in immortality. These Daoists worked on
developing external and internal methods of cultivating the elixir of immortality. External methods included ingesting
herbs and minerals and from this Chinese herbal medicines developed. Although the aim was long life and immortality,
many of these practices brought about early death due to ingesting poisonous substances!

Internal alchemists worked with the internal vibrational energies within the body known as the sanbao – the three
treasures of jing, qi and shen. These three treasures may also be referred to as essence, energy and spirit/consciousness.
They are ultimately the same energy, which can vibrate at di erent frequencies, much the same as water can be
transformed into ice or steam. Jing vibrates just above the realm of the physical body and is re ned through neigong
practices and converted in to qi. Qi may be further re ned into shen through neidan meditative practices. Qi is in the realm
of the energy body and includes the meridian energy pathways, the etheric eld around the physical body and the three
energy centres in the head, the chest and the abdomen known as the three dantian.

The energy body channels energy to all the organs and tissues in the body. It can be felt through qigong practice as the
practitioner learns to tune into their energy body, but is experienced by most individuals through the changes of their
emotions. With further practices, qi is re ned to the higher frequency of shen, which can connect to the universal energy
of dao. Using various qigong or neigong techniques, the ancient Daoists  aimed to use these energies to cleanse the body,
transform the mind and bring about a spiritual awakening and possibly immortality. It is these practices which strongly
in uence the modern-day esoteric Daoist practitioners. The aim remains the same as those of the ancient Daoists: long
life, enlightenment and, for some really dedicated individuals, the possibility of immortality. To progress to the higher
levels, neidan meditation needs to be developed alongside neigong practices. The practitioner will also require the
guidance, transmissions and inner teachings from a skilled teacher to progress to the higher levels of alchemy. These
higher levels are still kept relatively secret as some of the skills developed in training may be abused if the morality and
ethics of the practitioner are not pure.

There are a number of reasons one may start qigong and/or  neigong training. Practitioners may start training due to ill
health and endeavour to improve their health through their practices. Some seek spiritual enlightenment and are initially
drawn to the neidan practices. Others may start within the martial arts and progress to the spiritual path. As the
practitioner progresses, their aims may then change. The most seriously dedicated practitioners may still have the
ultimate aim of returning to the source, connecting with the dao and becoming an immortal.

Neigong works to transform the internal energies of jing, qi and shen. These are the life-force energies of an individual. The
aim in alchemy is to re ne the denser jing into qi and ultimately into shen. Shen is the most re ned form of energy: it is the
spirit or consciousness of an individual that enables them to connect with the universal energy of dao.

To understand how neigong may help the practitioner to connect with dao, we must rst study the Daoist philosophy on
the process of creation.

dao universal energy

wuji golden light/ yuanshen

consciousness ve lights

energy realm movement/emotions

physical realm physicality

The  yuanshen, or original spirit of an individual, is formed when energy from  dao enters into the stillness of wuji as a
golden light. Here, it moves into the realm of consciousness and divides into the ve smaller spiritual lights, which are
named shen, hun, po, yi and zhi.

As these spirits descend to the energetic realm, they each produce a di erent energetic movement. These energies can
be experienced as emotions and may also be felt as a physical sensation when practising certain qigong exercises.

As the vibrational energy descends into the physical realm, the ve energies manifest as the various organs and tissues
that create the individual’s body. Now, the individual consists of a physical, energetic and spirit/consciousness body. As
the individual lives their life, the e ects of their daily living, their emotions, the food they eat and the impact of their
environmental stresses all cause imbalances within the ve spirits. Whether a practitioner is aiming to just improve their
health or to re-connect with dao, balancing the ve spirits is the key to progress.

There are a number of neigong stages that a practitioner must work through to enable them to advance their practice:

1. conditioning the physical body

2. regulating breath and mind.
3. beginning the conversion of jing into qi
4. awakening the energy system
5. movement of yang qi
6. attainment of internal vibration
7. conversion of qi into shen
8. conversion of shen into dao

Where does the modern practitioner start their neigong journey? Find a skilled teacher and look to the ancient Chinese
classics for guidance. For example, consider conditioning the physical body. Following the qigong practices of Da Mo’s
Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic (or Yijin Jing) is a good example of how these skills were used to strengthen the body. All
qigong practice should incorporate an initial stretching routine to open the energy channels, lengthen the tendons and the
fascia. The daoyin sets are another example which help to clear the energy pathways and stretch and strengthen the
body. The Dragon daoyin exercises are an excellent example of an energy practice that can incorporate the physical
stretches to strengthen the body and lengthen the tendons and fascia, whilst the energetic principles of breathing and
focusing into the distance help to clear pathogenic qi from the system.

Now, consider regulation of the breath. Guidance is given in the Daodejing:

The sage knows when to seek progress and when to simply follow nature.
Sometimes his breathing is forceful,
Sometimes it is natural.
Sometimes he creates expansion,
Sometimes he simply succumbs.

(Daodejing, verse 29)

The regulation of breath is intrinsic to the practices of qigong, neigong and neidan. Deep abdominal breathing is used
predominantly for basic qigong training. The practitioner learns to expand the abdomen on inhalation, drawing down the
diaphragm to fully expand the lungs; on exhalation, the diaphragm returns to neutral. The breathing must be kept
relaxed. The inhalation and exhalation must be even, with no forcefulness or stuttering. The practitioner gradually learns
how to control and extend the breathing. Di erent breathing skills are developed with more advanced neigong and
alchemical meditative practices.

When we are considering regulating the mind, we may be aiming to focus the mind in order to lead the qi or we may be
aiming to silence the constant stream of mundane thoughts. The mind is described as the ‘monkey mind‘, jumping about
from one thought to the next. We are aiming to have a mind ‘like a plough horse’, just focused in one direction; in order to
do this, we must have strong yi or intent. The regulation of breath and mind act as communicators between the physical
body, the energy body and our consciousness. Control of mind and breath is intrinsic to the progression of training.
However, the control of breathing is easier to train than the control of the mind! If we are aiming towards enlightenment,
then part of the process is to settle the mind equally between ‘the three bodies of man’ – i.e. the physical, energetic and
consciousness aspects within us. It is only when these ‘three bodies‘ are healthy and functioning well that the mind can
rest in the ‘mysterious pass’, which is the point of balance between all three.

Qigong exercises that focus the mind on the lower dantian may be used to start the conversion of jing to qi and for
‘awakening’ the dantian. Again, the Daodejing gives guidance,

He empties his heart mind,

Awakens his dantian,
Rids himself of desires
and strengthens his body.

(Daodejing, verse 3)

Attempting to quell the ‘desires’ of the physical and emotional bodies is part of the process of balancing the internal
energies. These desires may be for things such as food, sex, money or power over others. These desires give rise to
imbalances within the energy system, which create blockages or cause pathogenic energies to accumulate and illnesses to
develop. Daoyin exercises may be used to clear these pathogens whilst basic qigong sets – such as jiben qigong – may be
used to regulate the energies within the meridians. Wuxing qigong may be used to balance the ve elemental energies to
quieten the emotions which disturb the heart. It is only by quietening the emotions that we can ’empty the heart-mind’ or
shen. This occurs as through practice the emotions are transformed into virtues and an inner contentment is developed.

emotion virtue

anger/frustration patience/kindness

excess joy/mania contentment

worry trust/truthfulness

grief/sadness righteousness/dignity

fear/paranoia wisdom

We ‘awaken‘ the lower dantian to activate the energy system by focusing our mind whilst breathing into the lower
abdomen guiding the qi to that area. Once the lower dantian is activated, the process of converting jing to qi will take
place. The movement of yang qi will happen naturally with continuous correct practice and internal vibration will begin to
develop. Neidan practices help with the conversion of qi to shen.

If these practices are maintained, they can help the practitioner improve their health, shed their desires and attachments
to the material world and gradually become a more enlightened being. Immortality requires life-time dedication,
knowledge of esoteric neidan practices and access to an enlightened teacher!

1 Comment
Damo Mitchell on March 25, 2016 at 1:53 pm
Great article

Scholar Sage Online Damo Mitchell - Lotus Nei Gong

1,521 likes 7,029 likes

Like Page Learn More Like Page Share

Be the first of your friends to like this Be the first of your friends to like this

Scholar Sage Online

on Friday

Scholar Sage & Lotus Nei Gong International. Copyright 2019 ©  