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WHAT IS IMMORTALITY?
What is this immortality of which we speak? Is it eternal youth in physical form? Is it eternal soul consciousness in spiritual form? Is it something altogether different? The translations and commentary that appear later in this book will provide in-depth exploration of attaining immortality, but first it might be helpful to get an overview of the general concepts.
The word immortal (hsien) is used rather freely in China. Indeed, it is used in so many variant descriptions that even a learned Taoist would find difficulty explaining it in a definitive manner. Old men are frequently called, in the honorific sense, Old Immortal. Taoist monks, whether accomplished or not, are usually referred to as immortal.
Ko Hung, who provides us with the first historical account of the alchemical process for attaining immortality, further categorized immortals through three separate levels of attainment of the alchemical process: corpse-freed, earthly, and heavenly. The lowest level is the corpse-freed immortal, and this is achieved primarily through special formulas of herbs and other ingredients. This method guarantees lengthening the life span and achieving optimum health. But more often than not, this type of immortal sheds the physical body to exist in spiritual realms, such as one of the various immortal paradises. Corpse-freed immortals tend to live a hundred years or more on Earth and then pass away calmly, leaving behind their remains for burial. But when their coffins are later exhumed, their bodies seemingly disappear and only some small article remains. These immortals achieve spirit flight, but their physical bodies do not.
THE THREE LEVELS OF IMMORTALITY
The middle level is that of the earthly immortal, and is achieved mainly through methods of internal alchemy—namely—the practice of meditation, which leads to tranquillity, and breathing exercises, which form the Elixir of Immortality and the Spiritual Fetus. This method immortalizes the spirit but not the physical body. The difference between the earthly immortal and the corpse-freed immortal is that the earthly immortal can create transformation bodies and exist wherever and as whomever he chooses. Again, these types of immortals usually live within the earthly realm high atop mountain ranges for a hundred years or more and then simply disappear. They do not, however, leave behind their bodies for burial. Because of their skills in creating transformation bodies, they usually reappear on certain occasions, sometimes hundreds of years later. These immortals can levitate but cannot take actual physical flight. They tend to rely more on spirit transformation to get from one place to another.
The highest level is that of a heavenly immortal, and is achieved by the use of a mineral formula, the “Pill of Immortality,” which immortalizes both the body and the spirit forever. These immortals never age. They have all the skills of the other two immortals but rarely use them, and they can also perform actual physical flight. They tend not to associate with mortals and prefer roaming about the Void. These immortals can go wherever and whenever they choose, normally making visits to the various immortal paradises and heavenly realms.
One of the concepts that is central to Taoist immortality, all forms of traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, and Taoism itself is the concept of qi, or ch’i. There is a great deal of confusion about qi today. Qi is a term thrown around so loosely that it is beginning to lose all meaning. Qi is frequently interpreted to mean “life force.” Those familiar with Indian mysticism will find a likely partner to qi in the term prana. Qi is both mystical and physical in nature. Ethereal qi is what we breathe in from the air and inherit from our parents. This is sometimes called Before Heaven Qi. Physical qi is what we gain from practices of Nourishing Life Arts and is sometimes called After Heaven Qi. In order to build and sustain their qi or life force, Taoists may engage in a series of techniques from what is known as the Nourishing Life Arts.
Nourishing Life Arts (yang sheng shu, literally translated as “methods that beget life”) are all the methods that lead to the benefits of health, longevity, and immortality through the proper cultivation of qi. In terms of the pursuit of immortality, these three benefits cannot be separated: A person must first establish good health, which leads to increased longevity, during which time the goal of immortality may be reached.
Nourishing Life Arts is a generic term and is normally viewed in Taoism under eight separate categories.
1) Meditation methods (ching tso)
2) Breathing/qi circulation methods (tao yin)
3) Breath purification methods (t’u na)
4) Herbal and medicinal remedies (fu erh)
5) Ching and Qi restoration methods (fu qi)
6) Breath regulation methods (lien qi)
7) Abstaining from starches and grain methods (pi ku)
8) Bedchamber methods (fang chung)
Any of these methods is capable of providing good health and increasing longevity. Most Taoists, however, practice several or all of these arts simultaneously to ensure the efficacy of their work.
Acquiring the Elixir or Pill of Immortality
There are two types of qi development and sensation that are experienced through the Nourishing Life Arts. The first is what is called free circulation of qi. The hallmarks of free circulation of qi are feeling heat in various parts of the body, feeling tingling sensations, and having mild experiences of energy surging from the lower abdomen. Most cultivators of qi can experience these sensations relatively quickly through most of the Nourishing Life Arts. The second type, forming the Elixir of Immortality, normally takes many years of diligent internal alchemical practice and a lifetime of diligent effort to master.
Forming the Elixir of Immortality
Forming the Elixir of Immortality involves opening the tan-t’ien. The tan-t’ien is the spiritual center of a human being, located three inches below the navel and one inch back into the body. Whereas the navel is the connecting point for the umbilical cord to physical life, the tan-t’ien serves a similar purpose for spiritual life. Tan-t’ien literally means “field of elixir.” When it is fully formed, the energy contained is like the seed (or sperm and egg) that creates a spiritual fetus. Developing the tan-t’ien is the first and foremost aspect of the process for immortality.
Developing the tan-t’ien is the first and foremost aspect of the process for immortality.
Being able to mobilize the qi up along the spine and thus achieving tranquillity is followed by a refinement process that involves being able to fully circulate the qi throughout the body via qi channels known as the Eight Subtle Meridians. (These are not the same as those qi channels that are stimulated in acupuncture.) Once the cultivator is capable of circulating the qi through the Eight Subtle Meridians, the practice evolves to circulating the qi through the Lesser Heavenly Circuit—the subtle qi channels that run up the back of the spine and down the front of the body, beginning and ending in the tan-t’ien.1 Qi is circulated through the Lesser Heavenly Circuit nine times so that a drop of yang sheng (pure congealed essence of the refined Three Treasures—ching, qi, and shen) can be deposited in the tan-t’ien. At this point the cultivator can begin forming the Elixir and start his journey of creating the Immortal Fetus.
Cultivating Qi to Create the Elixir of Immortality
This is not a process that one begins lightly. Though a lot of modern Taoist books may present opening the tan-t’ien and the creation of yang sheng as if these acts were simple, they may be skipping over essential methods within the process. Older Taoist books show diagrams that represent the end goal of circulating qi and not the long, complicated journey necessary to arrive at the point of being prepared for those exercises. This indicates that a lot of Taoist material is really a map for those who are already well accomplished. Below I provide an overview of typical practices creating the Elixir of Immortality.
There are nine central practices to the alchemical process of immortality. These nine practices are classified into five primary methods that correspond to Fu Hsi’s Five Elements. Each of the five methods encourages the cultivation of eight minerals, which are essential for the alchemical process that creates the Elixir of Immortality. In addition, any of the five methods may require the use of one or more of the eight Nourishing Life Arts. If a Taoist says he is practicing the sexual arts, it is very likely that he is applying techniques found in the herbal, internal alchemy, and breathing methods as well. A particular Taoist or school, then, may consider one of the five methods as the central focus of practice, the eight Nourishing Life Arts as the more specific and separate mechanics to sustain and develop that practice, and the forming of the Pill of Immortality as the ultimate goal. No matter how the methods are mixed and matched according to the practices of a particular school, the goal is always the same: to form the Elixir or Pill of Immortality.
The five elements, however, should not be viewed as progressive stages, but rather as five means and nine specific techniques by which one may attain immortality, which is no other than forming the Elixir in the tan-t’ien. Below is a very brief summary of the five methods and of the nine practices they contain.
FIRST METHOD (WOOD ELEMENT)
1. Fu Erh Fa: Method for ingesting herbal and medicine formulas
2. Pi Ku Fa: Method for abstaining from grains and starches
These methods are effective for both males and females because the yin and yang forces are equally harmonized with each other.
SECOND METHOD (EARTH ELEMENT)
3. Ching Tso Fa: Meditation practices leading to tranquillity
4. Tao Yin: Method for accumulating, mobilizing, and guiding the flow of qi
These methods are effective for males and somewhat effective for females. This is because the attention is on acquiring the yin forces to harmonize with the yang forces. Males are yang and so need to cultivate their yin force, but females are yin and so need to cultivate their yang force.
THIRD METHOD (WATER ELEMENT)
5. Fang Chung Shu Fa: Method for transmuting ching into qi
This method is effective for both males and females. This is because the focus for the female is on acquiring the yang to harmonize with her yin forces. Males are yang so they need to cultivate their yin forces. Hence, in this method women use stimulation to absorb male (yang) energy to lessen the menstrual flow and males use stimulation but conserve semen dissipation to accumulate female (yin) energy.
FOURTH METHOD (FIRE ELEMENT)
6. Fu Qi Fa: Method for preservation of the breath and qi
7. T’u Na Fa: Method for purifying and refinement of the qi
8. Lien Qi Fa: Method for refining and transmuting the qi
These methods are effective for males if augmented with celibacy and no sexual stimulation, to keep the “fire” under control. In females these methods are effective if augmented with celibacy along with some sexual stimulation to keep the “fire” under control.
FIFTH METHOD (METAL ELEMENT)
9. Hsien Tan Wan Fa: Method for forming the Pill of Immortality
This method is effective for both males and females because the yin and yang forces are equally harmonized with each other.
In order to become a corpse-freed or earthly immortal, one must follow the first four element methods. The heavenly immortals, who are sometimes called the golden immortals, need only the fifth method.
In the first method, Wood Element, the Eight Minerals are defined as the disciplined use of the eight herbs that prolong life or the eight methods for preparing the Herb of Immortality (ling chi). The breath must also be regulated, and rituals must be performed to purify the herbs, the body, and the mind before ingesting the herbal formulas. The herbs must be tended carefully in their preparation, and in order to have the necessary time for these processes, one must awaken early in the morning and not go to sleep until late at night.
While practicing the herbal remedies, the cultivator would rid his diet of all starches and grains. As mentioned earlier, Taoists (and Buddhists as well) have long maintained that the reason people lose all their vitality and lightness of body is because of starches and grains.
Whether or not the cultivator is celibate makes little difference. However, excessive dissipation is not promoted; rather, moderation is advised.
In the second method, Earth Element, the Eight Minerals are defined as the Eight Subtle Qi Meridians. The goal of this process is to regulate the meridians through breathing exercises, purify them through ritual practices, and tend the furnace (the abdomen) to keep the qi low in order to develop the tan-t’ien. Again, one should practice from early morning until late in the evening.
The methods applied here are generally achieved through various breathing regimes, known as Tao Yin. These include exercises of the Eight Brocades (yogalike exercises) and Tranquil Sitting (meditation), which are complementary and sufficient for mobilizing qi and entering tranquillity.
Again, this method does not require the cultivator to be celibate, but moderation of sexual dissipation and activity is advised.
In the third method, Water Element, sexual methods are used to develop and transmute the ching and the qi. Within this sexual alchemical process the Eight Minerals are symbolically represented by the eight types of ching and qi developments (transmuting the refined essences within the eight subtle qi cavities of the interior body) through various sexual practices and stimulations.
Intense sexual stimulation is promoted. In men the idea is to make use of stimulation with infrequent dissipation in order to conserve the semen, and to retain the energy of the orgasm and thus cause it to be returned into the brain for illumination. In women the idea is also to make use of intense stimulation, but there are no requirements on the frequency of dissipation, as the female seeks to lessen the menstrual flow, and therefore absorb the male sexual energy and return it into the brain for illumination.
In the fourth method, Fire Element, there are three stages for internally forming the Elixir of Immortality through disciplined breathing and meditation regimens. These are very esoteric teachings of Taoism and require resolute celibacy and retirement from the world. Within this method we find the techniques of Nine-Year Wall-Gazing and the Nine Returnings of the Elixir. The Eight Minerals correspond to the process of opening all eight subtle qi cavities of the interior body.
In the fifth method, Metal Element, the Pill of Immortality for corporeal immortality is created by actually forging the Eight Minerals of Immortality (cinnabar, realgar, laminar malachite, sulfur, mica, salt, saltpeter, and orpiment). Purification rituals are conducted for each mineral, a steady flow of air is kept in the mixture, and the fires beneath the furnace are tended. Again, practice should be done from early in the morning until late in the evening.
This method is the biggest secret of Taoism and has preoccupied alchemists for centuries. Those who failed in using these methods died, and those who succeeded (as Ko Hung suggests) left the mortal world, so we are left with little explanation about this process.
For the average person the methods involving meditation practices are the safest and most effective techniques for self-cultivation. The majority of Taoists who enter the processes for attaining immortality usually adopt the methods of tranquillity offered through meditation. Methods such as those requiring sexual activity, herbs, minerals, and abstaining from starches and grains need greater supervision by an accomplished teacher. Thus, even though I mention all the various methods for attaining immortality in this book, I recommend the tranquillity methods first and foremost. I bring this up now as a backdrop for the next chapter, a translation of Ko Hung’s chapter “The Immortals,” in which he outlines his case for believing in immortals and immortality. It is within tranquillity that one truly sees, intuitively, the possibility of immortality or even of having encounters with actual immortals. Just as a Christian might claim that only within intense prayer can one experience God, the Taoist too saw the importance of absolute tranquillity to enter the immortal realms. Ko Hung, we must keep in mind, practiced the methods of tranquillity for many years and would therefore have seen more clearly the possibility of immortality and immortals, and his words should be read with this in mind.
