Interpreting the Ancient Codes Back Cover

Interpreting the Ancient Codes

Exploring the Classics of Taoist Alchemy
An Introduction to the Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi
TCCII Publications 2012

Contents
1)      Introduction
2)      Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio
3)      Book Review of the Can Tong Qi
4)      Essay on Interpreting the Ancient Codes
5)      Resources for Further Study

Interpreting the Ancient Codes paper is available as a free PDF download.

Q: How did you become interested in Taoism and Taoist alchemy?

A: I was, and I still am, delighted by how Taoism represents the relation between the absolute principle (the Dao) and its manifestation in the world in which we live, and by how clearly it formulates several ways to realize the “return to the Dao.” The essential features of these teachings are found in the Dao De Jing and are elaborated on (with some differences in emphasis) in the Zhuang Zi. Taoist Internal Alchemy (Nei Dan) is the main tradition that applies those teachings to the human being and offers a way to comprehend and realize them at the individual level.

Q: What benefit can internal alchemy practitioners derive from studying the classic texts?

A: What you call “classical texts” are signposts in the history of a tradition. By studying those texts, one can study the history of a tradition and how it has been transmitted and adapted to different circumstances.

Texts, moreover, are often the only sources we have to reconstruct the history of a tradition, and this is especially important with regard to Nei Dan. We often think of Nei Dan as a “school” of Taoism, but this is by no means correct. Nei Dan is best described as a tradition with Taoism, with its own branches, schools (or rather, lineages), and individual representatives. There are often major differences among the different Nei Dan lineages. Studying texts is virtually the only way to identify those differences.

There’s one more important thing. I can hardly imagine a Chinese — or Indian, Japanese, Tibetan, Persian, etc. — adept of a tradition who does not know, study, and often memorize the main texts of his or her tradition. Knowledge of the written records of a tradition should also be important for a Western follower. Without that knowledge, a Western follower could easily end up twisting and distorting the tradition that he or she claims to belong to, according to his or her own particular perspective. Any Eastern tradition teaches exactly the opposite attitude: until one reaches a truly advanced stage, one should follow the tradition “as is,” with no attempt to reinterpret it or adapt it to any contingent circumstance. The re-adaptation (or rather, re-codification) of a teaching to different historical or social circumstances is a very important and interesting phenomenon in the history of any traditional teaching.

Q: Who is the intended audience of your translation of the Can Tong Qi?

A: The intended audience is, generally, everyone who is interested for any reason in the doctrines of the Way of the Golden Elixir, as they are presented by the main textual source of this tradition.

Q: You mention in your translation of the Can Tong Qi that you began your work on it back in 1990. Why is this text so interesting to you?

An Introduction to the classics of Taoist Alchemy. Available for free download from TCCII.

A: Why is the Can Tong Qi so interesting to me? Well, first of all because, in 1990, after I finished my dissertation on Wai Dan, I told myself, “I’d like to work on the main text in Taoist alchemy” and less than one second later I thought, “This means I should translate the Can Tong Qi.” Second, because this text is crucial to understand Taoist alchemy in virtually all of its aspects. One important point here is that the Can Tong Qi talks almost exclusively of doctrine, but we (in the 21st century) should not think that the “doctrine” of a traditional teaching is equivalent to a “theory” in the modern sense of the term. A theory is something that requires proof, and is subject to change in the course of time. A doctrine is something from which a whole tradition develops, and from which the practices are devised. The concepts of “theory” and “proof” are entirely alien to traditional thought; you have, instead, a doctrine that requires personal comprehension and verification. This is why the Can Tong Qi is so important: it has provided the basic doctrine for virtually the entirely history of Chinese alchemy, in all of its forms, with the only exception of the Wai Dan texts written before it was composed, and of some later Wai Dan texts that are not related to it. Download the full interview now.

Although the reader is left with the impression that some of the theories are based upon superficial understanding of the classical sources, especially in the case of the Taoist theory, the authors do provide some interesting empirical research findings. Overall students with an interest in China, leadership, business, management, and inter-cultural communications will find the book worth reading.

Reply:

Your question gets to the very heart of the Taoist cultivation “Dao” (Way). We spend a good portion of the time on this very topic in our three day introductory Internal Alchemy course and only begin to scratch the surface. I don’t know if I can do it justice here:

First, the way you have stated it is somewhat problematic based on my understanding. I would not position “De” (Virtue) and “Yao” (Medicine) as directly related as you seem to imply in your statement. There are more than two Yao, but the Yao is topic for another time.

As I indicated in my earlier post, and undoubtedly you are familiar with this, there are two major lines of Taoist cultivation. The two basic approaches in each of these lines differ. They are called Dao Gong (Cultivating Dao) and Xian Gong (Cultivating Immortality). The “source” of these two approaches is credited to Chapter Three in the Dao De Jing: “The Sage empties the heart and fills the belly.”

How do you Cultivate Dao? Empty the Heart

How do you Cultivate Immortality? Fill the Belly

Which path should those who aspire to perfection choose?

Those of Superior Virtue can go directly to the Dao. They simply empty the heart.

What about those of Inferior Virtue? They have a method as well. They can fill the belly.

So Superior Virtue and Inferior Virtue refer the aspirant’s aptitude.

Wu Wei and You Wei refer to the two the major methods (Fa) of cultivation. They are not, as is sometimes thought, related to the amount of “work” required of the cultivator.

What does “Fill the Belly” mean? It refers to 1) Build the foundation 2) Transmute Jing to Qi and 3) Transmute Qi to Shen. The cultivation method here is “You Wei”. It involves work, Gong.

What does “Empty the Heart” mean? It refers to Realizing Tao. Because Tao is not something separate from you (if it were it would not be Tao!) all you have to do is realize it and you are done. When you do realize it, it happens instantly! But practically speaking, how do you empty the heart and thereby realize Tao? The masters will tell you it is as easy as dropping a heavy load. But really, who can just do it? Who can really empty their heart in, well, a heartbeat? That is why even those of Superior Virtue have a cultivation method: “Wu Wei”

One of the common misconceptions is that “Do nothing” does not involve work. Unfortunately it does.

Mr. Hu was very excited when he called. He wanted us to come on over and meet Deepak Chopra. I asked what Deepak was doing in China, promoting a new book?

“No, selling his Indian herbal medicine” he replied.

“Are you joking? Deepak Chopra was in China selling Indian herbal medicine at your place!” Book sales must really be down.

“Yes, and he needs someone to translate from English to Chinese.”

“Okay, so let me get this straight, your friend, Deepak Chopra, is in China, selling Indian herbal medicine, and he doesn’t even have an interpreter.” I had my interpreter ask Mr. Hu.

“Yes,” he said.

“Does he have an entourage or at least an assistant or two?”

“No, I picked him up from the airport yesterday.”

So this is how Deepak rolls…? I thought.

“Okay, we’ll be right over.” It was going to be interesting.

We headed over to Mr. Hu’s place. We had to wade through a sea of people carrying live chickens under their arms to get into the building. Throngs of people are normal in China, but you don’t see live chickens that often in Beijing, at least in the lobbies of office buildings. This building was some sort of innovative live and work development, so I guess you get a little bit of everything. One of the three elevators was out of service, which meant we had to pack in even more tightly than usual.

Mr. Hu’s meditation garden is beautiful. He had one of the best Feng Shui masters in the city consult on the design and layout. It was very quite due to the second layer of windows he had installed – a sharp contrast to the sea of chaos at the entrance of the building.

When we arrived, Mr. Hu’s receptionist greeted us with tea and quickly ushered us into a side room. We walked in and saw Mr. Hu and one of his assistants sitting on cushions. Across from him sat an Indian man smoking a Hookah who I assumed was Deepak. He certainly looked different in person.

Mr. Hu started with introductions. Then he told us that Deepak had been telling him about his Zen philosophy. It must have been a great discussion as Mr. Hu’s English is pretty bad.

Deepak started to tell us about his herbs. They were traditional Ayurvedic medicine and could be inhaled directly. We politely declined his offer to try them. Then he handed us a brochure with a price list. It was put together pretty roughly.

Now, I had never met Deepak Chopra, but I didn’t think he’d be pedaling herbs and smoking a hookah in China. Still, sometimes celebrities fall on hard times…

I leaned over and quietly told my interpreter “This guy is not the ‘real’ Deepak Chopra, but let’s try to avoid embarrassing him and Mr. Hu in front of his staff.”

“Deepak, it’s nice to meet you. Sorry we are late, but could you tell us about your Zen philosophy, my colleague will translate into Chinese for you.” I said.

Deepak said in a high pitched Indian accent “My philosophy is not Zen. It’s much deeper.”

“Really? Okay, what is it then?”

“It is my own unique creation. I invented it myself.”

“That is great, but can you tell us about it”

“My philosophy is so deep there is no way to describe it.”

“Okay, this is also true about direct experience with Tao and Zen. But they still have 10,000 books to point you in the right direction. You have even written a number of books. Couldn’t you at least expound a few words on your philosophy?”

“I am much deeper than that! My philosophy cannot be explained!”

My interpreter couldn’t take it anymore “If you cannot even outline a few basic points for us, how do you expect me to interpret for you? Unless you can give direct mind transmission you will have to use conventional methods to communicate to those less enlightened than yourself!”

At this point, I produced my card and handed it to Deepak. Deepak handed his back in return. At it turns out, his name was Deepak Chopra – Deepak Chopra XXXXXXX. The XXXXXXX part was in small font, under his first and middle name. It looked like some sort of title. Native Chinese could hardly be expected to tell the difference. He simply used his first and middle name to make people in China think that he was the ‘real’ Deepak Chopra!

Copping a famous Guru’s identity and throwing in a few inane comments about Zen probably greatly helped the herb sales. In the US, Chinese Fakirs arrive and pretend to be real Reincarnated Taoist Bodhisattva or Kung Fu Supreme Grand Masters. The wheel turns full circle when an Indian poser shows up in China pretending to be a popular American Guru.

Later, in private, we told Mr. Hu. Ever the good Zen adept, he had a hearty laugh at himself. At lunch he proceeded to use the Koan technique to give Deepak XXXXXXX a lesson in authentic Zen.

“If you speak of Deepak Chopra, then that is not the true Deepak Chopra.”

Tao and Zen, everyone needs a lesson.