Sealing of the Five Senses

The Greatest Enlightenment of Kan and Li

Gathering the Cosmic Light

The purpose of Greatest Kan and Li practice is to mature the Immortal Fetus into an Immortal Spirit body that has the ability to merge back into the One—the Wu Wei—ending the cycle of reincarnation. Thus the ultimate goal of the practice is to achieve Taoist Immortality.

GETTING TO HEAVEN

The practice of the Greatest Enlightenment of Kan and Li is drawn from the observation of the cosmos as a macrocosm of the universe and the human body as its microcosm. The Greatest Kan and Li formulas examine the myriad connections between astronomical macrocosm and the biological microcosm, ultimately fusing them to attain cosmic wisdom.

The substance of the Greatest Kan and Li practice is the formation of the cauldron at the heart center. This is the middle tan tien or Cinnabar Palace, an additional cultivation of the soul and spirit. The pairing of the vitalities in the heart center, particularly those involving macrocosmic-microcosmic aspects, is the primary formula necessary for enlightenment. This enlightenment, when attained, takes the practitioner to a stage of Taoist Immortality.

At the level of the Greatest Kan and Li, the Immortal Fetus matures into a spirit body that unifies with the Eternal Tao. During this process, the adept identifies and fuses many aspects of the microcosm to their mirror-aspects in the macrocosm. The cranial and sacral pumps are energized, and the student gives “birth” to the inner child or Pill of Immortality.

Meditation as Transformation

During the Greatest Kan and Li meditation, the practitioner connects to the energy emanating from the North Star. This energy radiates down to the back of the crown of the head and activates the various organ energies. These are captured in the center of one’s being; then spiraled in the Crystal Room. The water and fire elements are coupled to create steam. As this is taking place, the practitioner can feel the three cauldrons and the power ascending from Mother Earth. The heart should be lightened while the cardio-respiratory power connects to the power of the North Star. The North Star, and consequently Being itself, connects to the entire universe. The universal force nourishes soul, spirit, and chi, and the body begins to feel very light. The practitioner can feel the earth force as the North Star pulls his or her essence upward (see fig. 4.1). This upward pulling is experienced as both lightness-of-being and joy.

Fig. 4.1. Energy emanates from the North Star and the earth.

THE ORIGINS OF ENERGY

In Taoist astronomy, as with contemporary Western astronomy, everything is connected to the beginning of the universe, known in Western astronomy as the Big Bang (fig. 4.2). An unbroken succession of cause and effect follows from that beginning, which shows the interrelationships between everything and everyone. The Chinese call this the Wu Chi: an event like a person’s birth or the beginning of a relationship, for example, has an immediate connection to the beginning of the universe itself, because all events are a part of what is seen as the space-time continuum.

Chinese astronomers many centuries ago detected that throughout the year, the movements of the Big Dipper around the North Star showed the development and decline cycles in nature. They connected these cycles to the interaction of yin and yang both internally and externally. While the vocabulary might be different, that does not mean that the Chinese Taoists were wrong in their assessment of human beings’ place in the cosmic scheme of things. Indeed, a substantial argument can be made for the fact that the Chinese were significantly ahead of their Western counterparts.

Fig. 4.2. Western science correlates cosmic events with the Big Bang.

For Taoist practitioners, the ultimate goal of immortality is facilitated by a recognition of the interconnectedness of all things; this deep knowing allows a return to the Wu Wei: the original undifferentiated state of being.

ELEMENTS OF THE GREATEST KAN AND LI FORMULAS

The fundamental elements of Greatest Kan and Li are similar to those of the Lesser and Greater Kan and Li practices. They are summarized briefly below.

Fire and Water

In Lesser Kan and Li practice, fire energy and water energy are drawn from within the body of the practitioner in the process of creating the soul body. In Greater and Greatest Kan and Li, fire energy and water energy are gathered from outside the body of the practitioner in the process of creating the spirit body.

With all Kan and Li meditation, the fire, which is inclined to rise, is put under the water. This creates a stove for the cauldron that is utilized for the steaming process. Simultaneously, the water, which is inclined to sink, is elevated into the cauldron. This cauldron can be seen as a pot for cooking—a container placed on the fire. The water in the cauldron is stirred as it steams.

The Lesser, Greater, and Greatest Kan and Li meditations draw their water and fire energies from different cosmic sources and combine them in different locations: Lesser Kan and Li uses fire from the heart and water from the sex organs. The cauldron in the Lesser Kan and Li is at the level of the navel. Greater Kan and Li practice uses fire from the sun and water from the earth. The cauldron is at the point of the solar plexus. With the Greatest Kan and Li, fire energy is drawn from the North Star and water energy is drawn from the moon; the cauldron here is at the level of the heart (fig. 4.3).

Fig. 4.3. Greatest Kan and Li practice establishes the cauldron at the heart center.

Spiraling

The ancient Taoist masters understood that the nature of cosmic energy is to spin. They discovered that practitioners could learn to tap into cosmic energy in part by attuning themselves to the continuous spiraling around and within them. Practically, what this means is not just that time and space are relative, as Albert Einstein pointed out, but that everything has significance only in relationship to something else.

For the ancient Taoists, the spinning of the cosmos was readily seen in the movement of the Big Dipper around the North Star.

The North Star

The North Star is located almost directly above the North Pole. It is a particularly noteworthy star to navigators, but for most people, it is indistinguishable from the countless other stars. However, the Taoist masters recognized the North Star as the center point of the heavens around which all the other stars revolve. In this way, it was considered a gateway to heaven and a vital part of metaphysical practice.

When meditating, the first thing to recognize is the force of the North Star (fig. 4.4). That is because it is an unchangeable force—the tip of the pole around which the entire cosmos spins. In viewing the human body as a microcosm of the universe, the inner North Star—the central axis of the body—is the lower tan tien. One enters the center of the heavens via the North Star and enters the center of the body via the tan tien. Both are entryways to the heart of the true Tao or Wu Chi, from which Heaven and Earth are born. Another way to think of this is that Heaven is connected to Earth by way of the North Star and consequently human beings are connected to it too.

These aspects of Kan and Li are outward manifestations, but one can also go inward to explore the spinning protons and neutrons. This inward journey shows a pattern that is directly related to that of the solar system and, indeed, the entire universe. This approach reveals the monistic nature of reality and highlights the Oneness of the Eternal Tao (fig. 4.5).

Fig. 4.4. Connecting to the North Star

Fig. 4.5. We spiral inside and out.

The Reversal of Energy Flow

In the Kan and Li proper it is necessary to rejuvenate the body via the reversal of energy flow. This entails reversal of the hot/fiery energy and the cold/watery energy (fig. 4.6). Accomplishing this task permits a fundamental transformation. While notions like hot, cold, energy, and matter can be understood in concrete or scientific ways, there is a deeper and more esoteric way to approach them.

Fig. 4.6. Reversal of hot and cold energy is fundamental to Kan and Li practice.

Chi can be interpreted as energy, but that simple translation misses the point that fire and water energy flow can be reversed and combined. This reversal dissolves the dualistic energy pattern that stunts spiritual advancement and enlightenment. This is especially important in the Western world where a dualistic mindset is part of virtually all cultures. This dualism arises from the fact that Western thought uses distinctions between things as a primary tool of understanding, while the Taoists approach things from the perspective of unity. The latter viewpoint is kinder in terms of an individual’s relationships to other people and the world, and it also facilitates a deeper understanding of the self.

Fig. 4.7. Kan and Li practice emphasizes unity.

In the everyday life of most people, there often seem to be insurmountable polarities, which show themselves as dilemmas. However, all people have a connection to the Tao that gives them the power to dissolve the polar thinking that establishes the very framework of those things that appear to be blocking the path toward realization. There is no need to acquire special tools from others to deal with blockages because everyone already is the Tao itself—the unified, undifferentiated, and singular Tao. Whenever a person experiences the sensation of awe, they have a special realization of the fundamental unity of everything (fig. 4.7).

BEGINNING THE PRACTICE OF GREATEST KAN AND LI

The main focus of the Greatest Kan and Li is the coupling at the heart center. There are several prerequisites to this coupling that are needed to permit a movement toward a higher plane of existence; that is, a movement relatively closer to the Eternal Tao.

Releasing Negativity

Proper breathing and focused attention are essential for relaxing the body and releasing all negativity from the mind.

Breathing Exercises

1. While standing, inhale deeply and hold the breath. Then exhale totally. Continue this deep breathing for several minutes.

2. Next, continue deep breathing while placing the hands on the abdomen and moving them in a circular motion. Continue for several minutes.

3. Next, place one hand on the lower abdomen and the other hand on the small of the back. Rotate your hips as you continue to inhale, hold, and exhale.

4. Place both hands on the lumbar spine and rotate the hips again, first in one direction and then the other as you continue to breathe.

5. Sit down and rock on your tailbone as you inhale, hold, and exhale several times.

It is important that you allow your body and mind to relax while doing this exercise.

Releasing Negativity

The lower cauldron begins the steaming process. Repeat the exercise on pages 19–21 if you are starting the practice. The heart pulses as it breathes. Negativity goes downward as one exhales from the heart downward. Hatred, resentment, anger, and all antigrowth feelings go down into the ground. It can be useful to lie down on the floor or ground while one releases this negativity because it facilitates a closer connection with Mother Earth. One empties and then refills the emptiness with love, joy, and compassion. The more one releases and contacts the earth, the more healing takes place; the more connected one is with the Universe. The Inner Orbit conjoins with the Outer Orbit of the Universe.

Upon completion of this exercise, stretch thoroughly and then return your awareness to the center of your being. Regular practice of this technique is necessary.

Connecting to the Earth

At this stage, the practitioner should establish a transcendent connection to Mother Earth so that the earth forces can enter the body.

Reestablishing the Earth Cauldron

1. Connect to the cauldron that is the planet Earth. Let its steam enter your body through the Bubbling Spring points in the soles of your feet (fig. 4.8).

2. Feel the earth forces enter and wrap around the bones and then extend up to the perineum.

3. Spiral the perineum and the crown.

4. Feel the earth forces coming up and wrapping around the coccyx. Also be aware of a kind of tail extending from your coccyx down into the earth.

5. Activate the cranial and sacral pumps to open the crown.

Fig. 4.8. Connecting to the cauldron of the earth

When the crown is opened in this manner, the spirit can emerge. Good mental focus on the necessary steps is essential, but there needs to be a combination of relaxing and concentrating simultaneously. A similar approach is utilized with Alignment of the Three Triangle Forces. This alignment aids the practitioner in being more finely tuned mentally and spiritually.

Moving the Cauldron to the Heart Center

The next step is crucial and involves moving the cauldron from the navel region up to the heart center. This is the step that facilitates the Greatest Enlightenment of Kan and Li. The heart is viewed by the Taoist not merely as a part of the anatomy but as the home of the emotions as well. Therefore, the ability to control one’s heart signals a concomitant ability to control the emotions. In addition to its anatomical and physiological functions, the heart has an electromagnetic current that connects to the brain. Because of this connection, excess heart energy can disrupt the brain; the heart must therefore be carefully balanced and controlled to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Heart and Kidney Relationships: Balancing Fire and Water

The fire of the heart is balanced and controlled by the kidneys. Together, the heart and the kidneys can be thought of as the two poles of the body’s battery. This tandem soaks up the electromagnetic energy of the universe and uses it to power the body. The heart is the body’s primary engine in this regard.

Emptying the Heart

One of the initial steps in the process of establishing a cauldron at the heart center involves emptying the heart of negative feeling. Correct breath is essential in this process. The Taoist approach is gentle and soft like water, though water can, of course, be extremely powerful.

Direct steam from the lower cauldrons up to the heart center. Steam and cleanse the heart (fig. 4.9).
Spiral the heart center and release all anger, cruelty, resentment, fear, and impatience.
Release all other negative sentiments.
Now fill the heart with love, joy, happiness, appreciation, and peace.
Feel yourself becoming cool and calm. Stress dissolves, replaced by peace of mind and a realization of the connectedness of all things.

Fig. 4.9. Direct steam to the heart center to empty and cleanse the heart.

When the heart is emptied, it connects to the North Star. The practitioner also acquires powerful protection in the practice of emptying, cleansing, and then filling the heart with positive forces. This process is akin to building an internal temple, rather like Buddha, Jesus, and the other great teachers of history. These teachers never made buildings; they built their temples internally, using the forces of creation. When a practitioner of the Greatest Kan and Li extends an internal antenna, it reaches higher into the universe than any physical building could ever reach (see fig. 4.10).

Fig. 4.10. With an open heart, the practitioner of Greater Kan and Li extends an internal antenna into the universe.

CRANIUM AND PLANET PRACTICES

In the Greater Kan and Li the most important part is connecting to the earth. Following that, we extend up to the universe. The astronomical aspect of Taoism relates the various constellations to different organs in the human body. Thus we can see the mirror involved in the macrocosm and microcosm: what is external is also found internally.

Brain and Planet Correspondences

From a five-element perspective, each part of the brain corresponds both to an organ pair within the body and to a group of constellations in the sky. Individual parts of the brain also correspond to specific planets (fig. 4.11).

Fig. 4.11. Connecting with the planets and constellations

The occipital bone at the back of the skull connects internally to the kidneys and bladder and externally to the northern constellations and Mercury.
The frontal bone corresponds with the heart and small intestines, Mars, and the southern constellations.
The right side of the brain connects internally to the liver and gallbladder; externally to Jupiter and the Eastern constellations.
The left side of the brain corresponds with the lungs and large intestines, the planet Venus, and the western constellations.
At the center, the crown is associated with the spleen and stomach, Saturn, and the central constellations.

Additional Correspondences

Practitioners can also connect specific glands and brain organs to the individual stars of the Big Dipper, as shown in figure 4.12 below. These correspondences are described in detail in earlier Kan and Li books. See, for example, Greatest Kan and Li, pages 138–43, which includes correspondences to the stars of the Southern Cross as well.

1. Dubhe: The Pivot of the Sky, left mastoid, wood/Jupiter/Thursday (near west)

2. Merak: Revolver, right mastoid, water/ Mercury/Wednesday

3. Phecda: The Rotator of the Sky, right temple and cheekbone, earth/Saturn/Saturday

4. Megrez: Leveling Light, left temple and cheekbone, water/Mercury/Wednesday

5. Alioth: Balancing Light, chin, fire/Mars/ Tuesday (near north)

6. Mizar: Generating Light, base of the skull, metal/Venus/Friday

7. Alkaid: Harmonizing Light, crown G.P.M., water/Mercury/Wednesday

8. Polaris: Crystal Room (pineal, pituitary, thalamus)

Fig. 4.12. Craniofacial connections to the Big Dipper and Polaris

Macrocosmic and Constellation Meditation

In this meditation, the portions of the skull and brain are focused and directed toward their corresponding planets and constellations, using the associations described above. Spiraling gathers the good forces and brings them inward while cleansing and healing the organs. It is important to smile and decompress during this process (fig. 4.13).

Fig. 4.13. The Inner Smile is a way of decompressing.

Release everything into the earth below while feeling the earth force come back up.
Feel the earth energy slowly entering your being primarily at the spinal column.
Spiral energy at the perineum; feel your crown spinning as well.
Put your mind into the central spiral and experience the fire burning in the kidneys.
Feel the energy at the base of your skull where a tall antenna extends upward to Mercury. Visualize the color blue.
Extend the antenna further upward to the Big Dipper, North Star, and the northern constellations (fig. 4.14).
Spiral the energy from these stars, then bring it back down into your body.
Spiral the energy in your kidneys while maintaining awareness of the heart and the steaming.
Next, spiral the heart energy up to the frontal bone and upward to the universe via Mars. Extend this energy also to the Big Dipper, then to the southern constellations.
Spiral the energy from these stars and bring it back into your body where it wraps around the heart and small intestines, protecting and strengthening them. Such energy is both healing and sustaining.
Repeat the brain-to-planet-to-stars connection for each part of the brain. Spiral the energy in the heavens; then bring it back into your body where it wraps around the associated organs. From there it expands back to the universe and back to you again.

In advanced Kan and Li, connecting to and absorbing the energies of the Southern Cross constellation—in addition to those of the Big Dipper—allows for an additional dimension of union between yin and yang energy. This additional aspect helps to create the Immortal Child and furthers the goal of connecting to the universe in its totality.

Fig. 4.14. An antenna extends upward from the base of the skull to the Big Dipper and the northern stars.

ACHIEVING THE GREATEST ENLIGHTENMENT

At this stage of practice, the retroversion of yang and yin has taken place and the cauldron has moved from the lower tan tien to the abdominal nerve plexus to the heart. The brain reaches out and connects to the stars by utilizing the cranial bones as tools for alignment. At this point, both the North Pole and the South Pole have been united in the practitioner. Yin and yang, the fundamental aspects of the Eternal Tao, are in place and one is prepared to get into Heaven.

Loosen, Soften, and Experience the Love

On a physical level, the transformations of Greatest Kan and Li can be facilitated in the following way.

1. Use the Crane Neck. Stand with your feet apart and your knees slightly bent. Place your hands on your thighs.

2. Keeping your back straight, extend your chin forward (fig. 4.15).

Fig. 4.15. Crane Neck

3. Bring your chin down toward your chest as you hinge forward from the hips and waist. Tuck your tailbone under, gently press your hips forward, and roll up from the lower back. This should feel like a wave flowing from the lower body and moving up the spine through the upper back and neck.

4. Then begin again by extending the chin forward and repeat the sequence 9 to 18 times. Your head leads with the chin, tracing a big circle in the air. It’s important to relax and flow with this exercise, moving the spine like water.

5. Rock the hips from side to side, feeling each lumbar vertebra rocking one by one and reaching toward the heavens. Remember to smile.

6. Shake the spine. The process entails shaking and loosening the spine from top to bottom while smiling. Then reverse the process and go from the tailbone back up to the head.

7. With your hands in a prayer position, touch your heart and begin to smile. The tan tien and the heart should begin to spin and spiral.

8. Feel your heart softening as you sense the love, joy, and happiness; continue to spiral as you fill all the organs with these positive spiritual components.

9. Feel the experience of gratitude, kindness, and generosity while spiraling. Radiate this good energy out to others (fig. 4.16). Relatives, friends, and neighbors should all experience a sensation of this love. Any and all negativity, hatred, and vengefulness from inside will be removed and replaced by love, compassion, and joy.

Fig. 4.16. Positive feelings should be beamed to others.

The Union of Sexuality and Love

The sexual organs, including the ovaries or testicles, are vital to the Kan and Li practices, as they provide the water energy that balances the heart and thereby facilitate the coupling.

Maintain your inner and outer smile.
Take the loving energy generated by the previous practice to the sexual organs and begin to spiral them. This is experienced as completely erotic sexuality, in which love and sex are united.
Use testicle/ovarian breathing or the Power Lock to build up energy in the sexual organs.
Upon undergoing the orgasm, extend compassion to the entire universe. This activates and multiplies as it grows and expands throughout the cosmos.

The practice then takes assorted steps into the universe and culminates with self-intercourse and cosmic orgasm. While the details of these steps have been discussed elsewhere, the overall experience is to have a vision of Being itself while recognizing the Oneness of the Eternal Tao (fig. 4.17). The fundamental, total, and united oneness of everything is recognized and deeply felt.

Fig. 4.17. The Oneness of the Eternal Tao