It could be worthwhile for those who cultivate Tao or practise neidan to spend some time to read the Taobums forum. Especially on threads started by those taught by real masters in China, and where readers may pick up some knowledge on what cultivation or neidan entails. At times, although rare, what is written therein can provide a confirmation of various minor signposts of the Way.
For example, in a recent questions and answers session in Nov / Dec 2010 between Wang LiPing and some students in the West, he was asked what the first signs of success were for an average normal practitioner of his practice. Wang LiPing of Quanzhen is a real neidan teacher recognized by the Chinese government and has gained quite a number of students in China and recently in the West.
According to his official website in English and copied over to the Taobums forum by his students, this was what he said (extracts):
“The first thing following this practice is health improvement. Your energy level increases steadily. This sign is important but is not the most important.
The most important thing is when you transform your XIN LING, when you change your soul, so that you have more wisdom and more faith.....
In a next phase the practice will change your body internals, your organs and internal functions so that your immunity will increase. You'll never get the flu again. “
While it is good that a well respected teacher like Wang Liping confirms in public that a neidan practitioner will have his or her immunity increased in the next phase; from experience, it could be circumspect to say that never to get the flu again is conditional upon continual meditation practice.
Of course if neidan practitioners still have 24/7 Qi flows even without continual meditation over a period of time, they can cure the oncoming flu with heat from their palms before the flu gets full blown. Those so interested can refer to my older entries on Thermal healing [in 2005]; and on how the Shi (masters) can help cure Swine Flu or H1N1 posted both in this blog and in the Taobums forum in 2009, to gain a better perspective on the matter.
Even if we managed to get our immunity up in this next phase and not likely to get flu again one way or other, it can be considered only a minor achievement for neidan practitioners since the ancient classics, the great masters and the Zhen Ren did not mention the immunity to Flu in their teachings. But how would I know?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Friends come (Peng Lai) (2)
It is always good to have friends whether we live in the mountains, the valleys, the countryside, towns, or cities. Even if we happen to be hermits, we may need some help from friends now and then.
So would a cultivator of Tao, and sometimes his or her friends could be special in the spiritual sense. These special or true friends may come to help if the need arises.
If we understand certain layers of meaning in Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction, we may know why in the midst of the greatest obstructions, friends come. (Refer to previous entry and study the entire hexagram in detail, if interested)
In case scholars and cultivators think otherwise, take at look at what the Judgment of Hexagram 24 Fu / Return say about friends:
Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the Way. (Tao)
The questions, we may need to ask are: why do these friends come, and without blame; who are these friends; and what has the occasion anything to do with Tao?
Perhaps cultivators of Tao or neidan practitioners who read this blog may know the real answer. How would I know?
Cheerio!
So would a cultivator of Tao, and sometimes his or her friends could be special in the spiritual sense. These special or true friends may come to help if the need arises.
If we understand certain layers of meaning in Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction, we may know why in the midst of the greatest obstructions, friends come. (Refer to previous entry and study the entire hexagram in detail, if interested)
In case scholars and cultivators think otherwise, take at look at what the Judgment of Hexagram 24 Fu / Return say about friends:
Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the Way. (Tao)
The questions, we may need to ask are: why do these friends come, and without blame; who are these friends; and what has the occasion anything to do with Tao?
Perhaps cultivators of Tao or neidan practitioners who read this blog may know the real answer. How would I know?
Cheerio!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Friends come (Peng Lai)
The West has an adage that says, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” The Phrase Thesaurus if you Google for the proverb, indicates that a version, “a sure friend is known when in difficulty” translated from Latin was known by the 3rd BC.
True friends come to help when we are in need, sometimes even without asking.
The ancients also knew about this, if not more, and embedded this adage in the fifth line of Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction in the Book of Changes for posterity:
In the midst of the greatest obstructions, Friends come. [W/B]
The pinyin for this line reads and I like it when it jumped at me at Yijing Dao before reading the Chinese characters: Da Jian Peng Lai.
No, the great did not see the mythical Peng Lai Island of the celestial immortals (Xian) as I had initially thought. And the Chinese character for the first name of the island differs from that of a friend (Peng). Therefore the W/B translation is correct.
But that is not what this short discussion is about.
This discussion is something about true or special friends that come to help in the midst of the greatest obstructions.
For deep thinkers and cultivators, does this ninth in the fifth place of Jian have anything to do with Tao?
Cheerio!
True friends come to help when we are in need, sometimes even without asking.
The ancients also knew about this, if not more, and embedded this adage in the fifth line of Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction in the Book of Changes for posterity:
In the midst of the greatest obstructions, Friends come. [W/B]
The pinyin for this line reads and I like it when it jumped at me at Yijing Dao before reading the Chinese characters: Da Jian Peng Lai.
No, the great did not see the mythical Peng Lai Island of the celestial immortals (Xian) as I had initially thought. And the Chinese character for the first name of the island differs from that of a friend (Peng). Therefore the W/B translation is correct.
But that is not what this short discussion is about.
This discussion is something about true or special friends that come to help in the midst of the greatest obstructions.
For deep thinkers and cultivators, does this ninth in the fifth place of Jian have anything to do with Tao?
Cheerio!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Quieten your mind
Those who meditate often find that arising thoughts tend to disrupt their every effort to quickly reach a tranquil and quiet state of mind for meditation. The more they try to stop them, the more, thoughts will arise.
To quieten the mind, so to speak, is a basic and fundamental requisite for a fruitful meditation no matter what level we are at, or try to achieve.
Therefore let us turn to a real master of neidan, Lu Dongbin, a renowned Quanzhen celestial immortal, no less for the relevant advice on how to quieten the mind:
“Only one must not stay sitting rigidly if worldly thoughts come up, but one must examine where the thought is, where it began, and where it fades out.
Nothing is gained by pushing reflection further. One must be content to see where the thought arose, and not seek beyond the point of origin; for to find the heart (consciousness, to get behind consciousness with consciousness), that cannot be done.
Together we want to bring the states of the heart to rest, that is true contemplation. What contradicts it is false contemplation. That leads to no goal.
When the flight of thoughts keeps extending further, one should stop and begin contemplating."
[The Secret of the Golden Flower translated by Wilhelm / Baynes]
To quieten the mind, so to speak, is a basic and fundamental requisite for a fruitful meditation no matter what level we are at, or try to achieve.
Therefore let us turn to a real master of neidan, Lu Dongbin, a renowned Quanzhen celestial immortal, no less for the relevant advice on how to quieten the mind:
“Only one must not stay sitting rigidly if worldly thoughts come up, but one must examine where the thought is, where it began, and where it fades out.
Nothing is gained by pushing reflection further. One must be content to see where the thought arose, and not seek beyond the point of origin; for to find the heart (consciousness, to get behind consciousness with consciousness), that cannot be done.
Together we want to bring the states of the heart to rest, that is true contemplation. What contradicts it is false contemplation. That leads to no goal.
When the flight of thoughts keeps extending further, one should stop and begin contemplating."
[The Secret of the Golden Flower translated by Wilhelm / Baynes]
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A warm welcome to all readers
Over the past ten years, like many readers I have seen several changes happening on the World Wide Web.
Daoist and I Ching Forums come and go. Websites that used to advertise and sell Daoist or neidan meditations or secrets at USD 30 a pop have probably disappeared. It seems that people who like these topics are becoming wiser and more discerning. It is all for the good.
The reason the blog is titled, ‘A touch of ancients, buddhas, immortals, and the zhouyi’ is because of my limited knowledge and experience. But knowledge and experiences increases as the years past by if we continue to be earnest and sincere in our studies and practice. In that way we gain new insights and wisdom, so to speak.
New readers may ask why do I include buddhas and immortals in the title when most entries deal with the teachings of the ancients and the Zhouyi?
Regular readers over the past five and the half years may know why.
The earlier entries deal with my (again limited) experiences with buddhas, Daoist immortals and deities. Some of my knowledge on Yi divination and on neidan comes, directly or indirectly, from these divinities.
Furthermore, these once wise and learned humans became buddhas and immortals through their diligent study and sincere practice of ancient teachings which (may or may not) include the Zhouyi. From my experience, Buddhas know about the Yi, and Quanzhen celestial immortals know the Yi very well.
With the above explanations, hopefully you understand why buddhas and immortals are included in the title.
The way, the blog entries are written with the many hints and references given is for readers to explore them further, and extend their studies and practices of Tao and/or the Yi, thus hopefully gaining insights through their own experiences.
Even with a real master (including celestial immortals), students have to do that, otherwise how could they ever be learned and wise? If you doubt my words, ask those who learn from real masters of Tao and/or the Yi.
Therefore, even with the many hints and references given, you have to do the proverbial ‘learn how to fish’ by yourself, otherwise you may eventually ‘starve to death’ and dropout of your studies halfway. We do not really want that, do we?
Cheerio!
Daoist and I Ching Forums come and go. Websites that used to advertise and sell Daoist or neidan meditations or secrets at USD 30 a pop have probably disappeared. It seems that people who like these topics are becoming wiser and more discerning. It is all for the good.
The reason the blog is titled, ‘A touch of ancients, buddhas, immortals, and the zhouyi’ is because of my limited knowledge and experience. But knowledge and experiences increases as the years past by if we continue to be earnest and sincere in our studies and practice. In that way we gain new insights and wisdom, so to speak.
New readers may ask why do I include buddhas and immortals in the title when most entries deal with the teachings of the ancients and the Zhouyi?
Regular readers over the past five and the half years may know why.
The earlier entries deal with my (again limited) experiences with buddhas, Daoist immortals and deities. Some of my knowledge on Yi divination and on neidan comes, directly or indirectly, from these divinities.
Furthermore, these once wise and learned humans became buddhas and immortals through their diligent study and sincere practice of ancient teachings which (may or may not) include the Zhouyi. From my experience, Buddhas know about the Yi, and Quanzhen celestial immortals know the Yi very well.
With the above explanations, hopefully you understand why buddhas and immortals are included in the title.
The way, the blog entries are written with the many hints and references given is for readers to explore them further, and extend their studies and practices of Tao and/or the Yi, thus hopefully gaining insights through their own experiences.
Even with a real master (including celestial immortals), students have to do that, otherwise how could they ever be learned and wise? If you doubt my words, ask those who learn from real masters of Tao and/or the Yi.
Therefore, even with the many hints and references given, you have to do the proverbial ‘learn how to fish’ by yourself, otherwise you may eventually ‘starve to death’ and dropout of your studies halfway. We do not really want that, do we?
Cheerio!
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Remember this well
When people spend ten years or more of their lives studying and practising an art form, for example, martial arts, yoga and/or qigong exercises, they consider themselves masters of that art.
In comparison people who have spent decades in the study and cultivation of Tao and/or reading the Book of Changes still consider themselves, students. Why?
For the subjects of Tao and the Yi are vast and profound.
Grasping a meaning or two from the Confucian books and the ancient classics whether Confucian, Daoist, or Buddhist, does not mean we know much about Tao and the Yi.
We are often humbled by the new meanings that spring up from these books and classics upon further readings even after decades of studies and practice. Such is the case probably with Confucius, one of the ancient sages, who have had read the Yi.
Until we attain spiritual clarity through neidan (inner alchemy), there are still many hidden secrets or truths in these ancient books and classics waiting to be revealed to the right person(s) or the Junzi. (A note to translators of Daoist classics or texts, wisdom or zhi in pinyin is not spiritual clarity. Do not mix up the two different meanings.)
In the ‘Simple notes on Hexagram Fu / Return’ on May 1, 2006, I have written something for neidan practitioners and Yi aficionados.
It matters not if readers understand the significance of the hint or not, but it pays for neidan practitioners who have already progressed to see the various signposts of the Way as indicated in the ancient classics, sutras, and Daoist texts (of Zhong LiQuan, Lu Dongbin and Zhang Boduan in particular) to remember this well:
“Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the Way. On the seventh day comes return." This is the course of heaven.
[Commentary on the Decision of Hexagram Fu - W/B]
Guess what? I would not be the one to reveal the secret or truth.
All I wish to add for Yi aficionados and neidan practitioners is that the hidden secret or truth could be related to the bottom and the top line(s) of hexagram Fu. But how would I know?
Cheerio!
In comparison people who have spent decades in the study and cultivation of Tao and/or reading the Book of Changes still consider themselves, students. Why?
For the subjects of Tao and the Yi are vast and profound.
Grasping a meaning or two from the Confucian books and the ancient classics whether Confucian, Daoist, or Buddhist, does not mean we know much about Tao and the Yi.
We are often humbled by the new meanings that spring up from these books and classics upon further readings even after decades of studies and practice. Such is the case probably with Confucius, one of the ancient sages, who have had read the Yi.
Until we attain spiritual clarity through neidan (inner alchemy), there are still many hidden secrets or truths in these ancient books and classics waiting to be revealed to the right person(s) or the Junzi. (A note to translators of Daoist classics or texts, wisdom or zhi in pinyin is not spiritual clarity. Do not mix up the two different meanings.)
In the ‘Simple notes on Hexagram Fu / Return’ on May 1, 2006, I have written something for neidan practitioners and Yi aficionados.
It matters not if readers understand the significance of the hint or not, but it pays for neidan practitioners who have already progressed to see the various signposts of the Way as indicated in the ancient classics, sutras, and Daoist texts (of Zhong LiQuan, Lu Dongbin and Zhang Boduan in particular) to remember this well:
“Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the Way. On the seventh day comes return." This is the course of heaven.
[Commentary on the Decision of Hexagram Fu - W/B]
Guess what? I would not be the one to reveal the secret or truth.
All I wish to add for Yi aficionados and neidan practitioners is that the hidden secret or truth could be related to the bottom and the top line(s) of hexagram Fu. But how would I know?
Cheerio!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Bypaths
“If I were possessed of austere knowledge, walking on the Main Path (Tao), I would avoid the by-paths.
The main path is easy to walk on, yet people love the small by-paths.”
[TTC 53 as translated by Lin Yutan]
Return to Tao is what Laozi had advocated in the Tao Te Ching. The road to Tao is broad and easy for travelers to walk on, yet down the millennia many still prefer the narrow and/or winding bypaths. Bypaths are practices that deviate from the Way.
If we return from a short distance, after a deviation from the Way, there is great good fortune. Misfortune will arise if we missed the return. (Refer to Hexagram Fu / Return)
There are more than sufficient warnings given in the teachings of Laozi, the Buddha, and the Zhen Ren (include Zhong LiQuan, Lu Dongbin, and Zhang Boduan) to cultivators of Tao not to stray onto the bypaths, yet many students and ‘masters’ still love doing just that, knowingly or unknowingly.
Take for instance, the practice of ‘Lucid Dreaming’ where a person is conscious of his or her dreaming.
According to a Western student of a Thai Buddhist monk, he has meditated for a year in a Buddhist temple in Thailand and has been able to visit the spirit world at will through his so-called ‘one pointedness’ meditation and ‘Lucid Dreaming’.
Apparently, ‘Lucid Dreaming’ is part of the practice taught by his teacher in the Thai Buddhist temple. (It is also taught by Tibetan Buddhists according to Wikipedia.)
He goes on to describe the differences between the spiritual and the physical worlds and the realms where the demons, ghosts, humans, gods, and the Buddhas are in.
For those interested, he has started a thread in the Tao Bums fielding questions on the spirit world and his experiences. Readers would be okay if they do not venture into the spirit world like him, since his teacher or the temple can possibly handle the consequential attacks by ghosts and demons. (No, it is not Halloween!)
The subject on ‘Lucid Dreams’ is also available in the Wikipedia. Readers can Google for it if they wish. While it is interesting to know that the phrase was coined in the West more than a century ago, and why, the author (s) of the Wiki article try to mislead readers that ‘Lucid Dreaming’ is very old by linking it up with Zhuangzi’s dream of a butterfly, and embedding a picture, displaying a non being floating out of the head of a being (‘the son of Buddha’), found in the Secret of the Golden Flower as translated by Richard Wilhelm / Cary Baynes.
Apparently some modern writers have had indicated that lucid dreaming is a gateway to spiritual enlightenment. Not only is this claim misleading, it is far from the truth.
Spiritual masters go into the spirit world for specific purposes, but it has nothing to do with neidan or the return to Tao. Since the Buddha and Lu Dongbin specifically warned cultivators of Tao against any dealings with the dark realms of the spirit world, but what do I know?
No wonder, a renowned late Abbot of a Thai Buddhist temple had written in his book on meditation, published a few decades ago, that he had visitations from angels from Germany and other parts of Europe who came to praise his well spoken Dharma. According to the book, he has many followers in Thailand and various parts of South East Asia.
To me, it is clearer now why he had seen such phenomena while fellow travelers, including the great masters and the Zhen Ren who have walked on the Way before us, did not.
Perhaps readers and cultivators understand a bit better what a bypath can lead to?
The main path is easy to walk on, yet people love the small by-paths.”
[TTC 53 as translated by Lin Yutan]
Return to Tao is what Laozi had advocated in the Tao Te Ching. The road to Tao is broad and easy for travelers to walk on, yet down the millennia many still prefer the narrow and/or winding bypaths. Bypaths are practices that deviate from the Way.
If we return from a short distance, after a deviation from the Way, there is great good fortune. Misfortune will arise if we missed the return. (Refer to Hexagram Fu / Return)
There are more than sufficient warnings given in the teachings of Laozi, the Buddha, and the Zhen Ren (include Zhong LiQuan, Lu Dongbin, and Zhang Boduan) to cultivators of Tao not to stray onto the bypaths, yet many students and ‘masters’ still love doing just that, knowingly or unknowingly.
Take for instance, the practice of ‘Lucid Dreaming’ where a person is conscious of his or her dreaming.
According to a Western student of a Thai Buddhist monk, he has meditated for a year in a Buddhist temple in Thailand and has been able to visit the spirit world at will through his so-called ‘one pointedness’ meditation and ‘Lucid Dreaming’.
Apparently, ‘Lucid Dreaming’ is part of the practice taught by his teacher in the Thai Buddhist temple. (It is also taught by Tibetan Buddhists according to Wikipedia.)
He goes on to describe the differences between the spiritual and the physical worlds and the realms where the demons, ghosts, humans, gods, and the Buddhas are in.
For those interested, he has started a thread in the Tao Bums fielding questions on the spirit world and his experiences. Readers would be okay if they do not venture into the spirit world like him, since his teacher or the temple can possibly handle the consequential attacks by ghosts and demons. (No, it is not Halloween!)
The subject on ‘Lucid Dreams’ is also available in the Wikipedia. Readers can Google for it if they wish. While it is interesting to know that the phrase was coined in the West more than a century ago, and why, the author (s) of the Wiki article try to mislead readers that ‘Lucid Dreaming’ is very old by linking it up with Zhuangzi’s dream of a butterfly, and embedding a picture, displaying a non being floating out of the head of a being (‘the son of Buddha’), found in the Secret of the Golden Flower as translated by Richard Wilhelm / Cary Baynes.
Apparently some modern writers have had indicated that lucid dreaming is a gateway to spiritual enlightenment. Not only is this claim misleading, it is far from the truth.
Spiritual masters go into the spirit world for specific purposes, but it has nothing to do with neidan or the return to Tao. Since the Buddha and Lu Dongbin specifically warned cultivators of Tao against any dealings with the dark realms of the spirit world, but what do I know?
No wonder, a renowned late Abbot of a Thai Buddhist temple had written in his book on meditation, published a few decades ago, that he had visitations from angels from Germany and other parts of Europe who came to praise his well spoken Dharma. According to the book, he has many followers in Thailand and various parts of South East Asia.
To me, it is clearer now why he had seen such phenomena while fellow travelers, including the great masters and the Zhen Ren who have walked on the Way before us, did not.
Perhaps readers and cultivators understand a bit better what a bypath can lead to?
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