Chapter 8
HEART-CENTRED PRACTICE
It is here, at the intermediate stages of Nei Gong training, that women really start to move into a very unique aspect of the training. The work carried out by women with the middle Dan Tien is very important to them; it is a stage of development far more pivotal for women than it is for men. In order to progress to this level of inner development, it is wise to have ensured that you have already attained a healthy level of rotation within the orbits of the ‘small water wheels’, as discussed in Chapter 7. If you progress to this stage too early, then there will be a limit to the levels that you can reach, as well as a higher chance of generating imbalance as the ‘recycling’ function of the ‘small water wheels’ is not in place. The ‘small water wheels’ serve, in part, to make sure that any excesses you accidentally generate within the upper regions of the energy body are drawn back downwards towards your lower Dan Tien region where they can safely be retransformed or discharged through the legs.
If you are sure that you are ready to move on, then it is time to switch from the basic practice of the Wuji stance towards the more advanced Hundun posture; either of the two variants of this position are fine. This stance raises your centre of mass upwards towards the middle Dan Tien, which will assist you with progressing on to work with the more refined aspects of the energy body.
It should be noted here that you would normally expect male Nei Gong practitioners to begin working with opening the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian once they have attained the various rotations within the congenital energy body. Men can empower this aspect of the process using the foundation they have built within the lower Dan Tien, although, to be honest, hardly any ever manage to do this because they first have to change the aspect of their acquired mind related to their base desires. If men open this channel prior to dealing with this aspect of their acquired mind, it will instead fuel the acquired mind with raw energy. The by-product of this is that they begin to distort their nature more and more. These characters then generally go on to become larger-than-life caricatures of themselves in the Daoist community. All of the desires for money, power, sex, fame and recognition overtake them and they become lost on the path. Their journey is essentially over.
Women generally work in a slightly different manner to their male counterparts and so change the focus of their study to opening up the Heart centre. When this has been achieved, a very natural and spontaneous opening of the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian normally takes place for them. The process of opening this channel for women relies very little on the strength of their lower Dan Tien; this energy centre is basically responsible for initiating the ‘small water wheels’ in women’s Nei Gong and little else. Women only really need to return to the lower Dan Tien when they begin a study of more advanced practices such as Nei Dan meditation. The biggest challenge for women with regard to timing is that if they progress on to the middle Dan Tien work too early, they run the risk of fuelling the surface layers of the acquired mind. This causes their emotional state to become greatly imbalanced, an issue that can result in emotional swings and heightened feelings of stress. If you move on to work with the middle Dan Tien and find that your emotions begin to run out of control, then consider stepping back to the foundation stages of Nei Gong training.
WHAT IS THE MIDDLE DAN TIEN?
As discussed in Chapter 2, the middle Dan Tien is also known as the Heart centre due to the close relationship that exists between these two aspects of the human body. It is the energy centre that roots the consciousness body into the realm of human existence and the key location where Qi is transformed within the body into Shen. This ethereal source of energetic information then travels onwards to generate development in the intellect and other cognitive aspects of the human mind. The Daoist view of human consciousness is that it essentially exists in a state of fragmentation. This division of spirit into several parts is much of the reason for human beings not existing in a state that naturally leads them towards spiritual elevation. Existence of consciousness itself leads to a refraction of our awareness into several aspects, and only through reversing this process can we find the unified original state of human seed consciousness – that which can lead us towards direct contact with Dao.
The interesting problem with human consciousness is that it generates various energetic fluctuations that we know as emotions, which then go on to form the seeds for mental activities that we call thoughts. These fluctuating movements of mind then cause a ‘leakage’ of energy from the middle Dan Tien, which weakens our ability to either connect with or empower true human consciousness. It is for this reason that so many Eastern traditions discuss the importance of settling the mind. Once settled, our thoughts can be stilled, emotions can be regulated and thus we can connect to higher states of conscious evolution.
THE FIVE SPIRITS – A MODEL OF FRACTURED CONSCIOUSNESS
The model of the five spirits is a universal model that is used heavily in Daoist alchemy, Nei Gong and even Chinese medicine. It is a model that shows how the human mind interacts with the external universe, and how emotions are generated from the distorted activities of these five spirits. In the Daoist model of human development, life began with seed consciousness, a spark of spiritual life which provided the blueprints for the development of the energy body and then finally physical existence. During this developmental process of creation, true human spirit was refracted into the five spirits shown in Figure 8.1.
FIGURE 8.1: THE REFRACTION OF THE FIVE SPIRITS
True human spirit is the congenital state of human consciousness prior to it moving into the acquired state of mind. Once the acquired mind is created, then the five spirits begin to manifest within each of us. The spirits are briefly discussed below.
Shen
Shen can be a confusing term because sometimes it is used to refer to one of the five spirits, as in this case, and it can also be used as a general term for the highest-frequency manifestation of the three internal treasures, the other two being Jing and Qi. To be honest, if you are new to the Daoist arts, then this is always a challenge; you find after some time, though, that you become used to the contexts in which these terms are being discussed and so there is less confusion.
With regard to the Shen of the five spirits, it is this aspect of human spirit that connects us to the divine information of Dao. A person’s concept of the spiritual aspects of life is dependent upon the strength of their Shen. If the Shen is weak, then they will be ruled by their intellect rather than the deeper aspects of human consciousness.
Shen is also very important for human connection because it is the aspect of human consciousness that enables us to develop compassion, love and the ability to care for others.
Hun
The Hun is the Yang aspect of the human soul; it is the element of human consciousness that continues to exist after our death through the act of transmigration. During human life it is in charge of our ability to dream and generate plans. If the Hun becomes constrained for whatever reason, then it can lead to great feelings of inner frustration. Almost all emotional feelings of being ‘trapped’ by some aspect of your life are to do with constraint of the Hun.
The Hun is also interesting because it is the key aspect of human consciousness that is said to become active at night when you dream. If a person is far from being able to contact their innate wisdom, then the Hun presents confused imagery during the night in the form of abstract dreams. However, if a person is able to reach a sufficiently high state, the Hun can serve as a messenger from the Dao and therefore skills such as prophetic dreaming will begin to unfold in a person.
Yi
The Yi is our awareness, our focus and the general term used for our cognitive faculties. The strength of the Yi depends in part on the health of our digestive system and the acquired Qi, but also on the balance of the other four spirits. It takes the information delivered to it from the other four spirits and processes this information into concrete thought patterns.
If the Yi is weak, then a person will find it difficult to think properly. Mental focus and the ability to concentrate on anything for long periods of time can be compromised.
Po
The Po is the Yin aspect of the human soul and as such is paired with the Hun. These two work together to connect us to our outer world. The Hun connects us with the entity of Heaven, while the Po connects us to the more tangible aspects of life, usually referred to as being a philosophical manifestation of Earth.
The Po gives us our ability to tangibly ‘feel’ things, both physically and emotionally. If the Po is weakened or disturbed in some way, then a person will often become quite emotionally ‘numb’ to the events taking place around them. They can protect themselves emotionally by building up layers of emotional ‘shielding’, which can make them appear cold to those they meet.
Zhi
The Zhi is our willpower, our ability to see things through. Without a healthy Zhi, we will never take the dream-like plans of the Hun or the mental processes of the Yi and turn them into actions that we complete. Many people lack a healthy Zhi because of its connection to the Jing and the fact that the Zhi is rooted in the physical organ of the Kidneys. This is why the majority of people never really manage to commit to any kind of inner path. They generally find that they do not have the Zhi to see the training through.
On another level, the Zhi is also connected to the grand scheme of life, which is closely related to what we in the West would know as our destiny. This is perhaps not a totally accurate term to apply, though, as destiny implies that every person has a high-minded goal that is inherently part of their life. The Daoist concept of this is known as a person’s Ming, and the only guaranteed aspect of a person’s Ming is that they are going to be born, travel through life and then die. How smoothly they manage to do this will be due, in part, to how closely they are following the path of their Ming. This is in turn dependent upon the strength of their Zhi. A person with strong Zhi will find that they naturally seem to follow their Ming, while those with a weak level of Zhi will often find that they simply have no idea what direction they are supposed to take in their life.
This has been a brief overview of the functions of the five spirits. It is enough for practitioners of Nei Gong to understand in order to move on to working with the middle Dan Tien, but it is far from the whole story. A full discussion of the nature of human consciousness would require several volumes in their own right. If you would like more detailed information, please refer to Damo Mitchell’s White Moon on the Mountain Peak: The Alchemical Firing Process of Nei Dan.
EMOTIONS OR VIRTUES
Arguably more important for Nei Gong training is understanding the manner in which the five spirits express themselves within the acquired mind. If the five spirits sit at the core of our being, responsible for the processing of our interactions with reality, it is the information that comes out of these interactions that begins to change the nature of our being. The manner in which the five spirits can be expressed generally falls into two main categories: they express themselves either through emotions or through virtues. Table 8.1 shows a summary of the emotions and virtues that come from each of the five spirits.
|
TABLE 8.1: THE SPIRITS, THE EMOTIONS AND THE VIRTUES |
||
|
Spirit |
Emotion |
Virtue |
|
Shen |
Excitation |
Contentment |
|
Hun |
Anger |
Patience/understanding |
|
Yi |
Worry |
Empathy/compassion |
|
Po |
Sadness |
Bravery/conviction |
|
Zhi |
Fear |
Wisdom/clarity |
When looking at the Daoist model of the emotions, it can initially appear too simple. As a model of the human mind, it appears to come nowhere near close to discussing all of the various emotional traits that a person can have. This is because the five key emotions are just broad headings, beneath which should be placed all the other emotions that a person can experience during the course of their life. As an experiment, I (Roni) once sat down and listed as many emotions or emotionally based character traits as I could think of and then I put them under the obvious headings of the five key emotions listed here. In fact, it was very easy to do, and so the Daoists perhaps did indeed manage to successfully identify the key characteristic traits of human consciousness.
Alongside these key emotional headings are the five virtues, or De (德) in Chinese. The virtues are stated to be the congenital manifestations of their corresponding emotions. This is to say that if the five spirits are operating in a balanced manner, they will produce the virtues instead of the emotions. Each of these is explored individually.
Excitation to Contentment
The spirit of the Shen resides within the Heart. It is the spiritual manifestation of the element of Fire. Excitation and manic outbursts are the most extreme ways in which this spirit will express itself when it is in a state of excess. During these times the Shen is at a high and often completely out of control. This would be considered to be like the flames of the Fire burning high. Like a burning flame, it cannot burn so brightly for ever, and so this state of heightened emotional activity must come to an end. The high turns into a low and so we experience the opposite of excitation, a low time where the more Yin emotions come to the surface.
Also contained within the range of the Shen’s emotional ‘bandwidth’ are the emotions of joy, happiness, pleasure, love, connection and even lust. All a natural part of human life, it is the Heart and its spirit of the Shen that produce the emotions upon which so many place great importance. Of course, there is nothing wrong with these emotions in themselves; ultimately, it is their transience that is more of an issue. Joy cannot be permanent by its nature, pleasure cannot be such for too long without ceasing to be pleasurable, lust is often easily sated and even love all too often fades away. This is the nature of emotions; they are fleeting experiences which we only register because of their comparison with their opposites. We require the entire range of emotions to register even one of them, and so no matter how much we seek to remain within the positive emotional highs of the Shen and the Heart, we will undoubtedly also be subject to the movement of the other spirits as well. Excessive, prolonged states of excitation cause the Qi of the Heart to flicker and ‘burn’. If this becomes a constant pattern, then it will cause the Qi of the Heart to become deficient.
The virtuous expression of the Shen is an experience of contentment. This is a more constant feeling of satisfaction with the situation you find yourself in. Unlike the flickering flames of the emotions of the Shen, contentment is more stable. This satisfaction begins to stir the Heart towards more extreme manifestations of connection and so this satisfaction pulls you into a more powerful relationship with your life. This is especially important for many women to move towards, as society has so often conditioned them to seek out love in their life. Countless times we hear from women students how the most important thing in their life when they were younger was finding the ‘right man’ to settle down with and marry. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being in love or being married, but it should be based on a stable loving connection between two people rather than a fleeting experience of heightened love and lust, as these will fade very quickly. Many people are subject to huge feelings of disappointment and hurt which touches them deep within their Shen once the initial magic of their relationship has faded away, to be replaced with more negative emotional aspects. It is an interesting facet of the spirit of the Heart that it also likes to connect with other people and so often fears being alone. For this reason many people will remain with a partner they don’t like very much rather than be on their own.
Anger to Patience and Understanding
The spirit of the Hun is rooted in the Liver. It is the spiritual manifestation of the element of Wood. Wood energy flows out of the Hun and through the body with a driving force that generates the potential for growth and energy. When directed into something positive, Wood energy can generate huge amounts of creative power. It is often the spiritual basis upon which a great number of ethical and political movements have been based. Wood energy gives us the power to stand up for rights and what we believe in. This potential for taking action is important for human existence, but unfortunately it also has the opposite characteristic of being responsible for all of the destructive aspects of human nature. In its most extreme or undirected manifestation, Wood energy produces outbursts of anger and rage along with feelings of jealousy, placing importance upon status, a need for power and a number of other negative personality traits. Although quick to flare up, often these feelings leave a stain upon the acquired nature that makes them easy to return to time and time again.
If Wood energy is not able to flow freely, it often has the opposite effect of moving inwards and becoming trapped inside a person. The result is a feeling of inner frustration which can cause a person to become angry at themselves. In the case of interactions with people who make you feel angry, if you cannot express this anger, it often contributes to these feelings of frustration which can be very self-destructive. Often the only way this energy can be expressed is through manipulative or passive-aggressive behaviour patterns.
When the spirit of the Hun is able to express itself in a virtuous state, it produces the quality of patience. Patience in this case is largely concerned with your ability to deal with others. It is the patience to interact with the rest of your life without allowing it to lead to anger or frustration. The other virtue often listed as being related to the Hun is understanding. A great deal of conflict in the world is related to people’s inability to relate to or understand each other. Confusion due to distorted information passing between two people has been the root of many conflicts throughout history. As the Hun starts to express itself in a virtuous manner, it increases a person’s ability to apply understanding to life’s situations.
Worry to Empathy and Compassion
The spirit of the Yi is rooted in the Spleen. It is the spiritual manifestation of the element of Earth. Classically connected to the emotion of worry as well as chronic overthinking, the spirit of the Yi is often overly concerned with possible future outcomes and perceived problems. In an increasingly fast-paced world which is set up to draw people’s awareness out of themselves towards external concerns, the Yi is often existing in a state of constant tension. For many people, a practice such as meditation would be the most positive activity they could introduce into their lives. Even if the lofty aims of enlightenment of immortality are stripped out of the practice, sitting with the awareness gently inside the body would help to calm the Yi.
On top of this, the Yi is intimately connected to the rest of the five spirits, meaning that its health is a reflection of the whole spectrum of human emotions. Any emotional disturbances are going to throw a person’s Yi into a state of overthinking. This has the effect of draining a person’s acquired Qi, which will then affect the rest of a person’s health.
An interesting facet that appears within people with an imbalance in their Yi is their need either to receive support from others or to be overly sensitive to the idea of sympathy. Character traits such as neediness will appear in somebody with an imbalance in the Yi. The need for extreme amounts of sympathy from those in their life goes hand in hand with an oversensitivity to perceived insults from others. The Yi can also lead a person to being overly smothering when dealing with close family or friends. If none of these needs are met, then the Yi can feel undernourished and a deep sense of loneliness can set in.
The virtuous expression of the Yi is empathy and compassion towards all beings. These are virtues based in healthy levels of connection and awareness of the needs and inner nature of those around them. Possibly the most important of the virtues with regard to dealing with others, the Yi constructs compassion from the combined spiritual information of the other virtues.
Sadness to Bravery and Conviction
The spirit of the Po resides in the Lungs. It is the spiritual manifestation of the element of Metal. The emotions resulting from the movement of the Po are almost heavy in nature. When they move into a state of extreme imbalance, they can cause a person to feel as if they have a tight ball constricting their insides. These are the emotions of sadness, grief, an awareness of loss or depression. These emotions are heavy and binding. A person who has suffered for a long time with them will generally start to develop a very closed-up posture in their body. The chest will close up as if the Heart itself is attempting to hide itself away from the world. This is particularly unhealthy for women, as it will have a detrimental effect upon the Jing stored within the chest region as well as the strength of the middle Dan Tien. In extreme cases of emotional hurt derived from the spirit of the Po, the Metal elemental energy will actually begin to separate a person from the outside world. This results in feelings of emotional numbness or symptoms of shock. Rather unfairly, to the outside world this can appear as if this person is emotionally cold or aloof, when in actual fact their Po is simply seeking to protect them from any more emotional damage.
The virtuous expression of the Po spirit is classically listed as bravery, although in modern times perhaps conviction is a more appropriate term. Like the finely forged blade of a steel sword, the virtues that develop from within the heart of the spirit of Metal serve to enable a person to cut through any feelings of sadness and grief, as well as many perceived problems in life. The virtue of courage is important for those walking the internal path of Daoism as there are always many challenges put in a person’s way. Daoism long recognised this, which is why such importance is placed on this character trait in Daoist discussions of virtuous behaviour.
Fear to Wisdom and Clarity
The Zhi is the spirit that resides in the Kidneys. It is the spiritual manifestation of the element of Water and responsible for the emotions of fear and anxiety. In extreme cases this spirit will manifest through feelings of chronic perceived threats, a psychological trait that is practically crippling as it prevents a person from seeing any life event in an undistorted manner.
Fear is often a subtle emotion which, like water seeping through the cracks in a rock face, permeates into a person’s being. Although these small pockets of fear-based energy may go unnoticed for a while, they begin to increase in amount until they are the basis for almost all of a person’s thought processes. Just as the Kidneys are seen as the foundation of a person’s health in Chinese thought, so the emotion of fear is often seen as the foundation of all emotional imbalances.
In its virtuous state, the spirit of the Zhi has the potential to manifest in pure wisdom – the ability to see the nature of the world and its underlying phenomena with a high degree of clarity. The conversion of Zhi is often considered the most difficult of the spirits to convert into its higher state, which is why the virtue of wisdom was so highly prized in the Eastern traditions.
Emotions as the Glue of the Acquired Mind
What this all means is that the process of working with the middle Dan Tien is the first stage in learning to convert the emotions into the virtues. Since the middle Dan Tien and its associated organ, the Heart, are the portal through which all emotional movements are experienced, it is here that the real inner transformation takes place.
The emotions are produced in reaction to external events during the course of our daily lives, as well as through the actions of our mind. These then distort our perception of the world and build up layers around our consciousness, as depicted in Figure 8.2.
FIGURE 8.2: THE HUMAN MIND
It is perhaps easiest to think of the emotions as the ‘glue’ that binds the layers of the acquired mind on to the outside of our true consciousness. Because of this, the majority of people never fully experience true consciousness or the potential for spiritual elevation that it contains. Self-identification generally lies with the acquired mind and all of the biases and conditioned thinking from which it is made. It is when working with the middle Dan Tien that we first experience the breakdown of the acquired mind. As this happens, the ‘glue’ of the emotions begins to be released and so we experience varying degrees of emotional release and shifts during our practice.
At the heart of the mind lies the potential for unification of the five spirits, which will result in perception of the white light of true Shen. This is a sign of healthy progress into the more advanced stages of Daoist inner work, and the point at which the virtues begin to become a part of our nature.
WORKING WITH THE MIDDLE DAN TIEN
When women reach the stage of working with the middle Dan Tien, they should change their practice so that it is based around the Hundun stance, as discussed in Chapter 6. It is generally the case that women who have been regularly training in Nei Gong will intuitively find themselves moving towards this posture after a few years of practice anyway. It becomes a natural posture for the body to enter into after the various ‘small water wheels’ have been opened and a healthy foundation has been built within the region of the lower Dan Tien.
When women begin to practise this posture, there is generally little work that they have to do to initiate the process. Just through observing the very nature of the energetic circulation taking place within their body, the stance begins to open up the next phase in their development and thus change begins to take place of its own accord. All women should do is continue with their training, and when entering into sessions of practising standing postures, they should adopt the Hundun stance. Try to ensure that all of its alignment principles are correct and then place your awareness gently on to the meridian point named Shan Zhong (膻中) (CV 17). This point is shown in Figure 8.3. It sits within the centre of the chest at the height of the heart.
FIGURE 8.3: THE SHAN ZHONG MERIDIAN POINT
Note that at this stage in the training we do not wish to place our awareness directly on to the middle Dan Tien itself. In actual fact, male practitioners can place their awareness here, but the middle Dan Tien in women has a different quality to it. For women, it is important to set up the awareness in such a manner that energetic expansion from the middle Dan Tien is encouraged. There is also the danger of allowing the mind to interact directly with the middle Dan Tien itself. If the focus is even a little too strong, then you will run the risk of sending your emotions into a hyperactive state. The Shan Zhong meridian point is the exit point for the middle Dan Tien, and so gently placing your awareness here will cause the energy of the Heart centre to expand outwards from the core.
Once the mind has been placed here, then simply observe what takes place and your body will begin to move through the next stages in the internal process of Nei Gong. If, after some time, you do not progress as expected, then the chances are you will need to return to the foundation practices for some time instead.
The first phenomenon that women should experience at this stage is that the Heart centre begins to expand outwards away from your body, as shown in Figure 8.4. This is a clear stage of development which can tangibly be felt.
FIGURE 8.4: EXPANSION OF THE MIDDLE DAN TIEN
As the energy from the middle Dan Tien begins to move outwards, it is common for women to go through the following stages in their practice:
•First, the middle Dan Tien starts to pull open the chest region. It is common for women in the Hundun posture to find that they are stretching open their chests automatically. This stretching power comes from within the body and is happening completely of its own accord. In some cases women throw open their chest with such power that they almost bend their spine backwards. Although this would appear to break many of the alignment principles of Nei Gong, it is a positive stage. The energy body is doing this of its own volition in order to establish a healthy connection with the outside environment.
•From here, once the chest has opened up, it is generally the case that the Shan Zhong meridian point begins to open up. This usually comes with a warm feeling that spreads across the chest region as well as the breasts. Those with a high degree of internal sensitivity will find that the meridian point itself is vibrating at a high frequency. With some practice, it is even possible to feel the clear line of energetic movement taking place from the middle Dan Tien outwards towards the surface of the body at this point.
•As the energy of the middle Dan Tien grows stronger, it will begin to expand the auric field, which will grow into a large bubble around you. This is the information from the Heart centre beginning to change the emotional information contained in the energy surrounding you. It is at this stage that the emotional stagnation within the body begins to shed itself, resulting in brief flashes of emotional release. Women will begin to cry, shout or laugh for short periods of time as the acquired layers of the mind begin to break down.
•As women move deeper into connection with their own spirit, they are left with a feeling that the entire body is opening up from the inside. The joints can feel gently pulled open through the body. It is clear to feel that this pulling motion is coming from the region of the chest. The epicentre of the stretch is coming from the middle Dan Tien.
As the layers of the acquired mind begin to transform, it is completely normal for emotional releases to be present. These are nothing to worry about. As information contained within emotional energy moves out of us, it triggers a reaction. If these releases continue for any length of time or they are too strong, simply relax, practise some deep breathing and walk around briskly for ten minutes or so. If you feel that each time you practise you are entering into emotional releases that you don’t feel ready to have, then you should return to the previous levels of Nei Gong training. The more solid your foundation, the smoother the later stages in training will be. While it is good to cleanse the body of negative emotional information, there is also no need to suffer during your practice! We have had some students who really seem to want to drive their way through their emotions. Their practice becomes a form of self-flagellation, which is really not healthy. The body should only really release emotional energies when it is ready to do so. If it is forced, then you run the risk of over-stressing the energy body, which can be damaging. Instead, keep working on more basic practices and wait until the time is right to go deeper into your art.
THE LIGHT OF TRUE SHEN
If the energy of the middle Dan Tien is allowed to expand outwards to a large enough degree, it will begin to give women access to the innate stillness that exists at the centre of their consciousness. During periods of standing, if you go deep enough into work with the middle Dan Tien, it is possible to touch upon a state of unification of the five spirits. As this happens, a brilliant white light can appear in front of your mind’s eye. This white light is the mind translating the information contained within true Shen, the state of human consciousness prior to its refraction into the five spirits. This light starts as a small point of light, which is often compared to the full moon on a clear night. From here it generally expands to engulf your entire vision. There is no mistaking this light for anything else. It is not subtle; it is as though somebody has shone a high-powered torch beam right into your eyes.
When this light appears, it is a positive sign of progress, a sign that conversion is taking place within the deeper parts of your being. While experiencing the light, it is normal for women to find that their minds have become incredibly still. The incessant chatter of the acquired mind grows still and this is what enables a brief glimpse into a state of true congenital being.
There is nothing to be done when this light appears in front of your vision. It is simply a sign of progress like any other. It should be enjoyed but not focused upon or strived for in your practice. It will come and go; some people will experience it once and then never see it again for years on end. The state of human consciousness is complex. It is beyond our understanding, and so its rhythms and manifestations will often be a mystery to us in our practice. During Nei Gong practice, this light often manifests, but we can do nothing with it as Nei Gong is not a deep enough training method to stabilise it into anything useful for us. Those who progress on to the stage of working with the white light of true consciousness require the more advanced alchemical training of Nei Dan. It is only through sitting practice of this sort that a person will ever be able to access the deeper parts of Daoist training. Nei Gong is simply a bridge that can lead us there.
THE OPENING OF THE THRUSTING MERIDIAN
There are several benefits to women of opening up the middle Dan Tien. First, they require this practice to nourish their health; this is accomplished because of the connection of the chest region of the body to a woman’s Jing. The second benefit is that they begin to enter into the process of shedding emotional pathogens as well as the layers of the acquired mind. The third benefit is to do with the Nei Gong process itself, as it unlocks the major blockage that prevents a woman from opening up the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian.
The process of opening up the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian is shown in Figure 8.5.
FIGURE 8.5: OPENING THE VERTICAL BRANCH OF THE THRUSTING MERIDIAN
Generally, this has to be accomplished while in a sitting posture as shown in the diagram. Since this practice is not specifically meditation but rather a form of energy work, the exact sitting posture is not that important. As long as the spine is upright and the practitioner is seated near to the floor with her legs crossed, any meditation pose will suffice. It is fine to prop the hips up with a small cushion in order to ensure that your legs don’t go numb after sitting for some time.
When you begin this practice, it is wise to place your hands into your lap in the position shown in Figure 8.6. This is a hand shape known as the Taiji Mudra in Daoism.
FIGURE 8.6: THE TAIJI MUDRA
Place the thumb of one hand in the centre of the opposite palm and then lightly close your fingers so that both hands are gently clasped together as shown in Figure 8.6. In many schools of internal arts, it is stated that there is a difference between the way in which men and women should use Mudras. This is true for more advanced practices such as meditation, but for an exercise such as this it really does not matter. Simply make this posture with either the left or right hand being the one that clasps the other’s thumb. Go with whichever hand feels the most natural to you. The fact is that when the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian opens up, you will not be able to hold this hand shape anyway; this is discussed below.
The obvious question here is: When should a woman progress from the Hundun posture into this seated exercise? It would be nice if it was easy to answer this question, but it is not possible to give such structured guidelines at this stage in a woman’s internal development. What generally takes place is that a woman will be practising the Hundun posture. This will normally be the case for the first several months of her reaching this stage. After this time she will begin to find that she is naturally drawn downwards towards the floor by a combination of the planet’s energy and her own intuition. When this happens, she should simply follow her instincts and progress into the sitting practice. The challenge here is actually recognising when this is the case. Many students cannot feel the difference between the correct time to move on and a desire to sit down because their legs are tired from standing! Our guidance on this is that if it happens after only a few weeks of reaching the Hundun stage, then you should ask yourself if it is really time to progress. You should also try resisting the urge to go to the floor on the first few occasions. If it is the right time for you and your energy body wants to move on, then you will find the instinct to sit down overpowering. You will find it very difficult to resist what it wants to do, because your energy body knows the correct time to move on in your practice.
It is interesting to note that male practitioners of Nei Gong often have to engage in a specific practice to open up the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian while female practitioners do not. Men are working primarily with the driving force of the lower Dan Tien and as such are spiritually a manifestation of the will of this energy centre. Once they reach the stage of working with the Thrusting meridian, they should engage in seated exercise and it can take them quite some time to accomplish this task. Women, on the other hand, are connected to the middle Dan Tien, which is more concerned with spontaneous creativity than will and effort. This means that once they have successfully opened up their Heart centre, they will generally move naturally into the further stages of training. The vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian is one of those stages that should open up automatically for them after some time, and on our courses we have had women reach this stage at the strangest of moments, during completely unrelated internal exercises! The fact is that no practice in Nei Gong is very difficult as long as you ensure the foundation has been built in the prior stages of your training. It is the preparation that really dictates how well you do in your practice.
As the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian begins to open up, you will become aware of a deep internal vibration moving from the base of your body right up to the crown of the head. As shown in Figure 8.5, this line must move through the region of the middle Dan Tien. In order to develop past this region of the body, there has to be a relative degree of stillness in a practitioner’s mind. If much energy is being lost through the emotional activities of the mind, then the energy of the Thrusting meridian will become dispersed. If, however, the mind is still, then the energy will continue unimpeded through the body.
ADDICTION TO INTERNAL SENSATION
There is a pitfall at this stage in the training into which many practitioners of Nei Gong may fall. This is an addiction to the sensations that accompany the opening of the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian. As this channel opens, there is an increase in vibrational information which spreads throughout the whole of the energy body. This is the internal vibration that Nei Gong practitioners seek because it generates a powerful connection between the mind and body; it is a level of internal integration that can only be achieved by working at this deep stage with the congenital energy body. This information generally brings with it waves of euphoria or bliss. In many cases it can bring with it very sexual sensations which can feel somewhat akin to whole-body orgasms. These sensations come in waves during this stage in the practice and it is important that a practitioner does not become mentally attached to them.
It is a fact of how humans function on an energetic level that where the mind goes, energy follows. What this means with regard to our practice is that if we allow the mind to attach itself too closely to any experiences, then it will begin to fuel these experiences. Energy will be led there and so these experiences will become stabilised within the realm of our attention. When we reach a stage such as this whole-body euphoria, which develops out of the Thrusting meridian, we should simply try to sit back and observe what is taking place within us. If our mind begins to subconsciously place too much importance on the sensations, then we will actually become stuck there. It will be a long time before we ever manage to progress past this stage – in fact, some people never will.
It is interesting to note that many of the sensations that can arise from training in the internal arts are often related to sexual experiences. As soon as a person’s Jing begins to stir, then it is normal for there to be an increase in sex drive, and many of the movements of energy that take place are similar to sensations only experienced before or during orgasm. It is these sensations that trap so many practitioners in their base desires and are the reason many contemporary schools of Qi Gong seem to be focused heavily on sexual practices – practices that may be good for your health and relationship but will never assist in the conversion of your spiritual state.
THE DIVISION OF THE TWO POLES
If you manage to remain mentally centred during the development of the internal vibration, then you will not be drawn into addiction to the sensations that arise. In this case the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian will continue to extend upwards until it reaches the crown of the head. At this stage the two poles of Yin and Yang will begin to divide within your energy system. When this happens, you will feel as though your head is being raised upwards into the sky and your hips are being drawn downwards towards the planet. A spontaneous physical stretch often begins to manifest within your body and it is normal to shake quite violently for a few weeks in your practice. Do not worry; just continue with your training and you will swiftly progress past this stage.
It is wise when entering into this aspect of Nei Gong training to take yourself away from your normal life for a short while so that there are no distractions for you. Some of the changes you will go through during this practice are best done with no outside concerns getting in the way. You will also find that by this stage, in order for this process to take place, you will have to be sitting for an hour and a half to two hours at a time. If all of the ‘small water wheels’ have opened up, then your legs will not go numb, so sitting for a couple of hours will not be difficult. You will also find that this is no chore; rather, you will want to sit for this length of time for several sessions each day. This is a sign of the consciousness body knowing how you should progress in your development. If you are not at this stage with your sitting practice, then you may need to return to the previous stages in the Nei Gong process.
THE SPIRITUAL ANTENNA
Though obviously not a classical name, the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian is most easily understood as a kind of ‘spiritual antenna’ which has the potential to connect a person into increasingly high states of awareness. As it extends upwards through a high-level practitioner’s crown, it serves to bring information back down from the realm of pure consciousness into the energy body. This is a very advanced stage which generally takes a minimum of several years of daily, dedicated practice to reach. On the whole, women seem to reach this stage much faster than men, who require almost twice the amount of practice from what we have seen. This is most likely due to the challenge of the lower Dan Tien for men, as well as women’s natural centripetal movement of energy which assists in the vertical raising of information along the Thrusting meridian.
As women reach this stage in their practice, they begin to externally manifest one of the most fascinating and beautiful reactions that can come out of Nei Gong training. Down through the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian comes a torrent of spiritual information which begins to make major shifts in the nature of women’s energy body. This then begins to transform their nature on a large scale. It is a deep and powerful stage in a woman’s Nei Gong journey.
As this information moves through them, women begin to make complex Mudras and spiralling, dance-like movements which are in equal parts complex and graceful. Many of these movements are reminiscent of the dances we have seen women performing throughout India and the Far East. Figure 8.7 shows a female student spontaneously producing some of these effects in her practice. Sadly, a still image does nothing to capture the beauty of these reactions.
FIGURE 8.7: STUDENT REACTING TO SPIRITUAL INFORMATION
The majority of women at this stage in their training are pulled to their feet completely against their will. They enter into these movements often in the middle of an advanced class of Nei Gong even if the rest of the class is quietly sitting or practising standing exercises. The movements are always spiralling in nature; each twist reflects a movement of energy within the congenital meridians. The Mudras produced each carry with them an individual piece of spiritual information which begins to filter into the practitioner’s consciousness. Often the women entering into this state also begin to sing or make sounds spontaneously. These sounds each serve to repattern different energetic frequencies within the body. In many cases these spontaneously produced sounds take the form of pleasant-sounding chanting.
Throughout all of this spontaneous spiritual activity, female practitioners enter into a mental state of deep inner peace and stillness. There is generally a large smile across their face as they go through the movements, movements they can almost never recreate on purpose afterwards. At this stage it is normal to feel the sounds and activity originating from deep within the region of the Heart. These movements often feel as if they spread out through the meridians of the body – like a surge of fluid running along their length. This has the feel of purifying the energy body and is a powerful stage in the practice.
This stage generally lasts for a few months but, again, if a person wishes to move on with their practice, then they should not attach themselves to the experiences. Attachment of the mind to these reactions will prevent the practitioner from ever progressing further into Nei Gong.
SPIRITUAL SKILLS
It is never a good idea to write extensively on the abilities that can come out of this kind of internal practice. Many Daoist lineages placed great importance upon neither demonstrating internal skills nor attaching significance to them. Many of these skills were kept secret in order to prevent people from striving for them in their training. In recent years we have come across students of the Daoist arts who are actively striving to achieve almost superhuman skills through the study of a practice such as Nei Gong. The nature of Ming is that it serves some kind of strange justice and so these people obsessed with developing such skills rarely have any success.
That being said, it is not abnormal, or that rare, for students who reach the stage of opening the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian to start manifesting various internal skills. These skills range from the ability to consciously transmit mental information, heightened mental sensitivity and intuition through to spontaneous hands-on healing skill and countless other abilities. This is all just a reaction to the connection of consciousness to higher frequencies of spiritual information. As already stated, these abilities should neither be sought after nor focused upon. They are healthy signs of development and nothing more; simply continue with your training.
THE LARGE WATER WHEEL
One of the highest-level skills that can be obtained through Nei Gong is the development of the ‘large water wheel’ of Qi. This is the circulation of information that can take place out of the body, as shown in Figure 8.8. This circulation extends out of the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian and then rotates through the external environment back into your body. The exact size of this rotation will vary from person to person, depending upon the strength of their spirit.
FIGURE 8.8: THE LARGE WATER WHEEL
Generally, a practitioner who reaches this stage will have progressed on to the practice of Nei Dan, but on occasion some practitioners will have accomplished the ‘large water wheel’ without the need for alchemical sitting practice. Those practitioners are almost always women. This is because female energy naturally moves into the vertical branch of the Thrusting meridian when it is open, while men will have to reverse the natural outwards flow of their Qi before this can happen. This can only really be accomplished through prolonged sitting practice in order to change the nature of their natural consciousness.
When the ‘large water wheel’ opens, it enables a person to exchange information with their environment to a very high degree. There is a natural increase in sensitivity as well as a development of body awareness that is beyond what is possible without internal training. A person at this stage will know intuitively what is good for them to eat or drink. An awareness of the nature of environmental energetic fluxes is developed and you will generally find that they border on becoming ‘psychic’ with regard to their understanding of a situation or event. On top of this, the natural high-vibration energy that they circulate through the ‘large water wheel’ will begin to generate change around them. Practitioners who have opened up the ‘large water wheel’ will find that they naturally begin to draw people to them. This is the stage of becoming life’s natural spiritual teachers. Any words or teachings given by somebody at this stage in their internal development will have strong influences on those around them. This is the stage at which internal cultivation is required in order to stop the acquired mind over-attaching to the role of teacher that has naturally grown out of the practice. There is a fine line to be walked for teachers of this level, as it is all too easy for a group of internal practitioners to transform into a religion or cult – a situation that is good for nobody involved.
INTERNAL SKILL IS NOT ENLIGHTENMENT
This chapter has explored many of the intermediate and more advanced stages of Nei Gong training for women. It is easy to see how the foundation stages are based in regulation of Jing and Blood as well as the circulation of Qi through the ‘small water wheels’. Beyond this, the practice is based upon working with the middle Dan Tien, the cultivation of spirit and the circulation of energy outwards into the external environment. Beyond this, the concluding chapter of this book will briefly outline the highest of Daoist practices, Nei Dan.
By moving through this process, a person will undoubtedly experience a series of inner evolutions. This is the nature of intense Daoist inner practices. These changes can often be challenging because they can affect every aspect of a person’s life. The people in your life can find this difficult to observe, despite the fact that these changes are always a positive development for the Nei Gong practitioner. What we have witnessed is that often this process is quite difficult for a lot of women who come into Nei Gong training. This is generally due to the husbands and partners of these women. A constant development we see with women who practise Nei Gong for any length of time is that first they improve their health and then they begin to increase in confidence. There is often a glowing sense of self-assuredness that comes out of these women. Sadly, it is this that so often causes difficulty with regard to their daily life. Many husbands and partners seem to struggle with their wife or girlfriend becoming more confident. This is an issue that is rarely discussed in internal arts literature, but it is certainly an aspect of the training that women should be aware of before engaging with the practice.
As these changes take place, women find that they become more aware of their own inner being, the layers of the acquired mind begin to fall away and they change their emotional standpoint from which they observe life. This is when students gain glimpses of their innate virtues, although those virtues will never be the whole of a person’s spiritual makeup unless they become fully realised beings – the immortals of Daoist legend.
It is worth remembering that no matter how positive these changes are, how internally strong a person becomes and what internal abilities develop out of their practice, none of this is an indication of ‘enlightenment’. This is not really a term used in the Daoist tradition, but it has become commonplace in the alternative community. Although nobody can really agree on a definitive explanation of what enlightenment is, most agree that it is a state of high spiritual cultivation which few manage to attain. It is important to conclude this section of the book by reminding people that none of the signs or developments listed in this chapter relies on a person being enlightened, a Buddha, an immortal or even a saint. They are skills that can be developed by anybody prepared to put in the practice.