THE FOURTH BROCADE
RUB THE COURT OF THE KIDNEYS
This chapter, as in the preceding, begins with my translation of the instructions, commentary, and correct method that were included in the Kao Lin engraving. Following the original text are Li Ching-yun’s commentary and my comments, and finally my instructions for practicing the Fourth Brocade.
The Original Text
Stop the breath and rub the hands until hot;
Breathe in pure air through the nose and then close it off for a short period. Afterward, rub the hands together rapidly numerous times until heat is produced. When this is achieved, let the air exit from the nose slowly.
On the back, massage the court of the kidneys.
The kidneys are on the back side of the waist, outward from the spine. In unison, rub them with the palms. When finished, withdraw the hands and firmly close them into fists.
Entirely exhaust one breath;
Again close off the breath.
Imagine the heat aflame at the Navel Wheel.
The nose and mouth close off the breath. Use the imagination to think the fire down from the heart, like a flame entering the lower abdomen. Be aware of the warmth and, when it becomes extreme, employ the following procedure.
The correct method: Stop the breath, rub the hands until warm, then rub the area of the kidneys the number of times mentioned. When finished, draw the hands back as before, closing the hands firmly, and again close off the breath. Imagine that the fire of the heart is sent downward into the lower abdomen to heat it. When experiencing extreme warmth, proceed to the next exercise.
Author’s Comments
Court of the kidneys here refers to the area of the kidneys. “Court” is used frequently in connection with the viscera so the practitioner will clearly distinguish between massaging the area (the court) and massaging a specific cavity (in this case, the Gates of Life cavity).
Li Ching-yun’s Commentary
Stop the breath means that the internal qi is preserved within and not dissipated externally. Rub the hands until hot means, in effect, that the pulses are united during the motions of both hands moving back and forth.
Stopping the breath and rubbing the hands results in the qi being collected and the pulses harmonized. Internal impurities can be driven off and external malignant spirits cannot encroach.
The proper procedure starts in a seated and cross-legged posture, with the two palms placed together. First, with the left hand on top and the right below, circularly rub in a leftward (counterclockwise) motion twenty-four times. Then both palms change positions, with the right on top and the left below. Circularly rub in a rightward (clockwise) motion twenty-four times. This concludes the procedure.
Author’s Comments
Closing off or stopping the breath the Taoists also call shutting the door of heaven (the nose) and closing the gate of earth (the mouth). Stopping the breath aids in directing the qi, in this particular case into the hands. This practice is used throughout the exercises and is highly developed in more esoteric Taoist practices.
On the back massage the Gates of Life means placing the hands on the back and massaging the kidney area. After having previously rubbed the hands together forty-eight times or to the point where the hands become very hot, place the hands securely over the Gates of Life. Perform the massaging motions simultaneously with both the right and left hands. Each hand circles outward and inward, twenty-four times.
Afterward, close the hands firmly, just like in the earlier procedure of the same name, and place the back of the hands on the knee areas.
Author’s Comments
The Chinese for kidneys, ching men, translates literally as “semen door.” Taoists believe that ching (sexual energy or force, whether male or female) is stored in the kidneys. Therefore, to properly stimulate this essence, the kidneys must be stimulated. Some contemporary writers have criticized this idea, taking ching literally as semen and then making a case that Taoists and Chinese physicians in general had no conception of anatomy and biological processes if they believed that semen was stored in the kidneys. Taoists believe that it is the energy of sex—a vital principle, regenerative force, biological sexual energy, and so forth—that resides in the kidneys, not the physical substance of sexual secretions.
The true master of a person is the breath. The explanation given for completely exhausting this one breath is “to exhaust is to accumulate the qi within yourself and is called gathering from within.”
To imagine the heat means that your own imagination produces the fire; the fire is given imaginary form, but it is not real fire.
To imagine the heat aflame at the Navel Wheel means that your imagination perceives that there is a fire burning below in the Navel Wheel region.
When the qi is concentrated, use the mind to concentrate on this fire. Circulate the true yang by fixing the intent downward into the lower abdomen and on the flame.
This, however, is still not the true fire (qi), for men’s eyes are incapable of seeing it. Nevertheless, in regard to circulation, the result will be a sustained awareness of warm qi in the lower abdomen as if there were a real fire burning. However, when the lower abdomen is first heated, there will be an overanxious attempt to accumulate more, but this will only cause it to dissipate. It can be restored again by “darkening the heart in a seated posture.”
Author’s Comments
The center of the Navel Wheel (ts’i lun) is the point in the human body where the umbilical cord attaches (the navel). The character used to represent ts’i (for navel) also represents the point at which a corn kernel attaches itself to the husk. This Navel Wheel is distinguished from the lower abdomen in that it encompasses the entire area below the lower abdomen to the pubic bone region and up to the area just below the “bright palace” (ming ku), or the area contained within the qi cavities of Yellow Court (huang ting) and Original Pass (kuan yuan). In kundalini yoga, this Navel Wheel area corresponds to the Manipura chakra.
Author’s Instructions
Accumulate the qi by putting both palms together tightly and rubbing them vigorously until the palm centers are hot. Always, when stopping the breath, remember to incorporate the Four Activities. Keep the eyes closed while rubbing the kidneys. It is essential that the palms are made hot before rubbing the kidneys.
Rubbing the palms over the kidney area
This brocade stimulates the kidneys.
Move on to the Fifth Brocade, meditate, or perform the Internally Opening the Eight Subtle Qi Cavities regime, or the Lesser Earthly, Human, or Heavenly circuits—depending on how advanced you are in your practice.
