Of students and masters

Daoist students have always been fascinated by wonderful stories of skills possessed by Chinese masters and adepts in martial arts or in inner alchemy. Invariably some of these skills colored by their own imaginations and exaggerations get overblown from time to time. And more often than not, the imaginary superhuman skills are exploited to mislead unsuspecting Daoist students.

There are now quite a number of inner alchemy (neidan) practices offered in the West by masters trained in China by so claimed high spiritual masters. Apparently the higher the claimed spiritual level or the number of titles their master’s masters held in China, the more authentic and impressive it would sound to Western students. (This brings to mind, the maiden who loses possession of herself when she sees a man of bronze as depicted in line 3 of Hexagram 4 / Youthful Folly.)

It actually depends on what these masters brought over from China to teach. After all there is a marked difference between authentic and deviant practices in inner alchemy. And a real danger in the practice of breath control. As even in China, there were students who have gone mad or had committed suicide after practising perhaps the wrong neidan or qigong techniques (as reported in a Qi journal in the www).

Having read recently a 1994 interview on such a master by the name of Kumar Frantzis who had spent a few years in China learning from a so claimed high master of an unnamed Daoist sect; one ventured to ask my Daoist friend what were the ‘water’ and ‘fire’ methods of the Tao. Not recognizing the names, I was asked to explain what Kumar had meant by these two methods. With the clarification, he said and I quote:

“There are two methods in neidan practice. One is called the ‘stillness’ technique as practised by Quanzhen where breathing is natural and the other is the ‘active’ technique which uses force. They are not known as the ‘water’ and ‘fire’ methods of Tao, but as ‘stillness’ and ‘active’ techniques respectively.”

When I mentioned that Kumar also teaches sexual meditation techniques**, we came to the same conclusion that it is a deviant practice. ‘How can a neidan adept ever become an immortal if he does not abstain from sex?’ my friend asked. Perhaps neidan practitioners who teach sexual meditation techniques in the West can provide an answer to that.

If masters promote the lineage and high profile of their masters, and yet not name the sect or school of thought, it depicts a surprising lack of knowledge in Chinese culture. Or perhaps they really feel ashamed of the sect. Therefore Western students should keep a look out for such tell-tale signs in their search for authentic masters and teachings.

The 1994 interview is available at this website:
energyarts.com/lores/library/
media/qisummer94.html

On another master in China who is eighty or more years old. He has practised meditation for sixty of those years and has recently send some students to Malaysia to teach breath control akin to the ‘Circulation of the Light’ meditation or what is better known in the West as ‘Micro Cosmic Orbit’ meditation. The meditation is taught over a 12 days session for a small fee of USD 70 or 40 pound sterling. If students are not able to achieve a break through in the breath circulation, they can attend further sessions for free. Some students achieved the break through within a matter of days, before proceeding to the ‘Macro Cosmic Orbit’ where qi circulates to the arms and legs. It is easy, simple and effective. There are safeguards provided and also advanced courses available. The only minor drawbacks, if any, could be that the meditation starts with exhalation, instead of (the usual) inhalation; and that they accept young adults as students.

This old master made no claims on lineages, sects or titles, except that the meditation was ‘developed’ by him for purposes of health.

Notes:

1) In the interview, it was strange that Kumar did not mention his master’s sect in China. Nor did he name it in his book. According to him at the interview, he spent a total of ten years in China, of which 7 ½ years were spent in Taiwan and Hong Kong where he learned the ‘fire’ method and the sexual meditation techniques. His master in China who had abstained from sex after performing his filial duties as a son, taught Kumar the so-called ‘water’ method.

2) According to someone in a forum who kindly provided the additional information where one enquired about the sect’s name, Kumar in his book referred to his master as an immortal who was also accorded an enlightenment status by a Buddhist sect. (And that his master’s sect can only be revealed to Kumar’s own students.) Of course, it remains specious, as not many neidan adepts and sages have attained immortality or the Tao.

3) ** For comments on the practice of sexual meditation techniques in China, refer to entries on ‘Hua Hu Ching’ – April 27 and ‘The Center’ (Note 2) – June 17. In addition, the Book of the Elixir also says: ‘The fool wastes the most precious jewel of his body in uncontrolled lust…. The holy and the wise men have no other way of cultivating their lives except by destroying lusts and safeguarding the seed.’ Yet masters who teach sexual meditation techniques in the West unashamedly and unethically continue to claim otherwise to mislead naïve students.