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Interpreting the Ancient Codes of Taoist Alchemy

Shawn Cartwright — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:37:45 +0000

“Studying the classic Taoist texts is important for every serious student of Nei Dan. Our teachers transmit the methods of cultivating Ming (命) or Life, but it is up to us to cultivate our own Xing (性) or Nature. The classics not only connect us to our lineage, their richly layered imagery, symbolism, and seeming inherent contradictions assist us in cultivating both Xing and Ming. Through our efforts in personal transformation and diligent practice of the cultivation methods of our schools we transcend the mundane and progress ever closer to immortality (仙, Xian).”

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.

Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio

Shawn Cartwright — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:14:45 +0000

Fabrizio Pregadio, one of the foremost translators of Taoist Alchemy classics, answers several question about his work translating some of the most important texts of Nei Dan. Here is a selection of questions and his answers from the interview. The full interview can be found in the paper Interpreting the Ancient Codes available as a free download from TCCII.

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.

Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi Book Review

Shawn Cartwright — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:08:05 +0000

The Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi is one of the most important texts in the practice of Nei Dan, or Internal Alchemy. It correlates the three major classics of ancient China: The Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic), Yi Jing (I Ching or Book of Changes), and the Dao De Jing. This short text is richly layered with symbolic imagery which serves to conceal its meaning from the uninitiated. Fabrizio Pregadio presents a guide to deciphering this coded language in his The Seal of the Unity of Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong Qi, the Source of the Taoist Way of the Golden Elixir published by Golden Elixir Press (2011). He intends the work to be useful for anyone with an interest in the study of the Golden Elixir. This includes both specialists in the field of Taoist studies and non-specialist readers.

Zhouyi cantong qi zhujie 周易參同契注解 (Commentary and Explication of the Cantong qi), by Chen Zhixu 陳致虛 (1290-ca. 1368), composed in ca. 1330 — Jinling shufang 金陵書坊 edition, printed in 1484 — Exemplar kept at the Shanghai Library. Image courtesy of Fabrizio Pregadio. Used with permission.

Pregadio’s book consists of three major parts. The first part places the Can Tong Qi in its historical context, addresses issues of dating and authorship, and introduces concepts critical to understanding the coded language in the text. The second and most important part of the book renders a full translation of the classic text. The third part provides detailed commentary on the symbolic language and images used throughout the text. The book concludes with a few textual notes and series of useful tables and charts which summarize many of the key correspondences and symbols used in the text.

In the first part of the book, Pregadio challenges some of the long held views about composition and authorship of the text. This section of the book will be of interest to scholars and historians; however, anyone interested in the practice of Internal Alchemy would do well to read it. Readers will find that familiarity with the historical context of the classics aids greatly in understanding the text itself. He also offers a glimpse of the painstaking detective work required to produce a high quality translation. The first section concludes with an overview of the major themes and images found in the text. This section will be of special interest to those who read the text from the perspective of Internal Alchemy.

The complete book review can be found in the paper Interpreting the Ancient Codes available as a free download from TCCII.

Day 7: Wudang Qigong and Purple Cloud Temple

Shawn Cartwright — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:32:34 +0000

Turtle and Snake, symbols of Wudang Mountain Taoism. From TCCII Journey to China

Today our group began their studies with Master Wang Li Sheng, a Longmen Daoist Priest and Xin Yi master who lives on Wu Dang Shan (武當山). He taught the original Wudang Daoist version of the Eight Pieces of Brocade called Shen Gong Ba Duan Jin. He taught the internal aspects of it well as it relevance to Yang Sheng (Life nourishing). Throughout the day he discussed Taoist beliefs, practices and history.

Lunch at our hotel was fabulous. The food was very simple, but all the ingredients were sourced locally, from local farmers using organic farming practices. We have had more elaborate meals in China, but this was one of the best in terms pure simplicity and quality.

Master Wang resides at the Purple Cloud Temple when he is not wandering the land. After lunch and a rest, we headed up to the temple for a visit. As his guests, we were well received and he personally guided our group around the temple complex.

Wudang Purple Cloud Temple. From TCCII Journey to China

The temple was calm and peaceful. It is one of only two temples left on the mountain that are fully staffed by Taoist priests. The silvery mist obscuring our view from the temple summit only made the atmosphere more sublime. It almost seemed like the Dragons and Immortals of old were about to materialize in front of us.

As Yinong and I enjoyed the peace of the temple, we ran into several Taoist priests and priestess that we know but have not seen in a few years. It was great to catch up with them. In the evening we participated in the evening ceremony and chanting.

Meditation and sleep came easily on the tranquil Taoist mountain.

Day 3: Taoist Immortality and Dragons in the Mosque

Shawn Cartwright — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:04:29 +0000

Bai Yun Guan, or White Cloud Temple (白云观) is one of the most important Taoist temples in China. This temple is the seat of the Long Men sect of Daoism. Our teacher, Chen Yang guided the group through the temple providing details on history and Taoism. The group was very interested in the philosophy and approach of Taoist cultivation, particularly the concept of Taoist Immortality (仙). Dr. Chen joined us on the way to the airport for an interesting Q&A session which compared Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity.

Our flight to Xian was uneventful, except that four of our party received a complimentary upgrade to first class. This is the first time I’ve travelled on a first class flight in China. It was a fascinating look at the seams of two cultures influencing each other. Unfortunately, Chinese aviation is modeled on the US. However, the service is definitively Asian in standard – by that I mean good. The stewardesses were quite nice – in stark contrast to many American flight attendants. The food was surprisingly good. We had a choice of three menus – all served in porcelain dishes with real silver ware. I choose the beef, which turned out to be a reasonably good filet mingon! They offered a Chilean red wine – a nod to the fact that even Chilean wine is better than most of the Chinese red wine production. Although it was interesting that they poured it into a tiny little snifter – obviously intended for their Bei Jiao (White liquor, aka Rocket Fuel). It took about four pours to equal one class of wine. The stewardess did not mind at all. In fact, they seemed to actually enjoy their job. After dinner they offered tea. While one was offering me a choice of Dragon Well (Long Jing, Long Ching) or Iron Buddha (Tie Guan Yin, Ti Kuan Yin) another decided I should have both!

The plane was brand new and had three rows of two seats. On my far left sat a westerner (Lao Wai, 老外) who spoke fluent Chinese. He spent the entire flight reading his Chinese book and skipped the meal. On my far right was a Chinese businessman. He was quite puzzled at what to do with the butter. Instead of putting it on the fresh baked garlic bread they served with the meal, he thought maybe it should go on the cheesecake desert. (Note: the Chinese do not traditionally have a concept of desert like we do in the West so this guy really didn’t know what to do with the cheesecake or the butter.)

Our bus driver in Xian was a very nice and skillful driver. The further you are from the central government, the more chaotic things seem to be in China. Traffic in Xian followed this pattern, so our driver earned his skill the hard way. He dropped us at the largest mosque in China, located in the Muslim market section of the city (or rather, the market grew up around the Mosque.) We had to wind our way through its narrow rows of merchants to get to the mosque. In what was perhaps a nod to religious respect, the merchants were not aggressive on the way into the temple. Even as we left they were persistent without being rude, a rare experience in most marketplaces in China.

Stone dragon carvings at the Islamic Mosque in Xian

This mosque is interesting because it is the only one built in the style of a traditional Chinese temple. Unlike most Islamic temples, which avoid depictions of people or animals for religious reasons, this one contains a few images of Dragons. Traditionally a temple in China will feature dragon motifs prominently in the art and architecture. Although the Dragons were hidden in comparison to the way they are featured in a Taoist or Buddhist temple, they were still there.

Chinese teachers of Nei Dan (Internal Alchemy)

Shawn Cartwright — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:03:55 +0000

Question: Could you tell us a little more about your Chinese Internal Alchemy teachers?

Reply:

Here is a partial list of our Chinese teachers.

They have all made important contributions in some way but in terms Taoism and Nei Dan, the following are most relevant to your question:

Li Laoshi: Technically from the southern Zhong-Lu school, he was also a synthesizer and a scholar. His knowledge was encyclopedic. He answered a lot of questions and filled in a lot of holes. His teaching is the probably the most significant influence on our cultivation.

He Laoshi: Longmen and Taijimen (a secretive Taoist sect, not to be confused with some modern groups that use that appellation). An iconoclast, despite being the abbot of a Taoist temple, he prided himself on never having worn Taoist robes. His use of Qigong for healing and foundation building was a strong influence on our teaching. He organized and explained the principles of using Qigong for healing very thoroughly and systematically.

Chen Laoshi: Wudang Longmen (a branch of the Northern Quanzhen School) He taught a great number of classical Qigong forms, but we had greatest affinity with the Taiyi Qigong material. He taught a system of Nei Dan that most closely resembles Zhao Bi Chen’s system.

We also learned a system of martial alchemy. You can read a little background on it here.

Best Techniques of Internal Alchemy

Shawn Cartwright — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:25:09 +0000

Question: Why are there so many different schools and techniques in Internal Alchemy? Which one is best?

Reply:

The Taoist say there are 3600 doors and 72 more side doors, but only one Elixir.

The Buddhists say there are 84,000 methods.

This is because each person is different and will have affinity for different types of practices.

The Internal Alchemy teachings usually consist of three parts. Collectively they serve as a guide to inform your understanding and practice.

1. Dao: Usually available to anyone who is interested.

2. Fa (Methods): Generally available to most students, although occasionally certain methods are considered secrets

3. Shu (Techniques): Rarely written down and when they are, certain key parts are usually omitted. These secrets are reserved for indoor students.

The question that is often asked is “Why are there secrets?” The most basic answer is for all the reasons anyone keeps secrets. But one of main reasons is because the specific techniques and methods can be varied by the teacher to suit the unique needs of the individual students.

For this reason, it is hard to say “there is only one best method/technique/school”. Not that it keeps people from saying that anyway…

Theory vs. Practice in Internal Alchemy

Shawn Cartwright — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:19:27 +0000

Question: I’ve read the theory of Internal Alchemy and Immortality. How can anyone prove it?

Reply:

Internal Alchemy does not rely on the theory-proof model as it is commonly understood in the West. It is accepted by its serious practitioners that the methods and practices of Nei Dan were empirically validated by previous masters. For this reason, the teacher’s role is not to prove, but rather to transmit. It is the student’s responsibility to validate the training for himself. That is, you are not required to believe it to be true, but to practice the methods and experience them for yourself. Neither belief not proof is required, only realization.

This is a key point. One of the things that can quickly alienate a traditional Chinese teacher is a student showing up expecting them to prove, for example, that it is possible to become a Tian Xian (Celestial Immortal.) For many teachers, they are not there to “prove” anything, but to transmit the principles and techniques. It is expected that the student has already decided that they accept, for example, that it is possible to become a Tian Xian, and simply wants to know how.

Most of the good teachers do not, however, expect you to accept what they say on blind faith. They expect you to be committed to your practice and thereby validate the method for yourself. There are levels of understanding which are based upon the student’s commitment/success in practice.

All a teacher can do is teach. You have to do your own practice.

How to start learning Internal Alchemy techniques

Shawn Cartwright — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:15:24 +0000

Question: How can I start practicing Nei Dan? I am very interested in the foundation building practices.

Reply:

I understand that you are inquiring about the specific techniques of the Building the Foundation stage. I appreciate that you limited your question to that part of the practice. It is probably the stage of the practice that could most readily be described in writing, although it would take at least a small book to do it justice. To put it in perspective, we take three days to introduce the first stage of Building the Foundation (Ju Ji) in our Internal Alchemy course. This is only after preparing them with three days of basics and nearly a year of personal practice!

However, it is also important to understand that there is no single answer to your question. That Westerners, as part of our general education and conditioning, expect a single answer to a question is one of the great cultural barriers that has to be crossed in order to understand these practices. You will likely find that each school has a slightly different approach and even within a school there would be variation among teachers and their students.

If you are serious about wanting to study Nei Dan, but do not have a teacher, then the best advice I can give without knowing you would be to establish a diligent Qigong practice of some sort. By diligent I mean daily and committed. A committed daily practice is essential to success in cultivation. There is a saying “Those who start the (Internal Alchemy) practice are as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Those who finish are as rare as the dragon’s horns and phoenix’s feathers.” That is, many people learn it, but few are committed enough to follow through with the practice. If you have a good practice, you will have a good foundation to learn Internal Alchemy when the time, place, and people are right.

It is important to note that I made no assumption about the level of your experience or of those reading this topic. The Foundation practices are where most everyone new to Nei Dan will start. Having prior experience with meditative and movement arts, as well as language skills are all very useful, but in Nei Dan, that is only the starting point.

If you are simply interested in learning about the general principles of this stage, you might take a look at Fabrizio Pregado’s translation of Wang Mu Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan

It provides a rather detailed discussion of the principles and terminology. Although the texts in question are from Nan Pai, other schools will use them as well. You will also find his translations of Zhang Boduan (張伯端) Awakening to Reality: The “Regulated Verses” of the Wuzhen pian, a Taoist Classic of Internal Alchemyuseful as well.

Virgins and Internal Alchemy

Shawn Cartwright — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:57:16 +0000

Question: I read Zhao Bi Chen’s book on Internal Alchemy and came across the idea of the Virgin Body. Does the term Virgin Body related to purely physiological activities? How is this related to virtue?

Reply:

The terms Superior Virtue and Inferior Virtue have, as do most other Alchemical terms, multi-variant meanings depending upon the context. Previously, we were talking about “Instant Realization” as it relates to Wu Wei and You Wei. Superior Virtue and Inferior Virtue have a specific meaning here as it relates to Xian Gong and Dao Gong.

When you take Superior Virtue and Inferior Virtue with regard to the early stages of Nei Dan, we are talking about the Virgin Body (Tong Zi) in contrast to the broken body. The key point is that in this context we are still using the terms to discuss the methods of Xian Gong.

Zhao Bi Chen and other authors of some of the Nei Dan texts use the Hexagram Qian and Kun to describe the normal process of life. Qian is made up of the Unbroken Yang bars and Kun of Yin bars (broken Yang bars). Aging is modeled in 8 year terms for men and 7 year terms for women.

The 8 year cycle (for males) is simply a heuristic. It varies greatly by the individual, but provides a relatively simple explanation for the process of growth, decline, and death and how it is reversed. When discussing the Virgin Body the key point to understand is that we were distinguishing between the youth with “unbroken Yang lines” and the adult with “broken Yang lines”.

Although I am not certain that it is fair, Zhao Bi Chen is sometimes criticized as having an overly physiological bias. The distinction between the virgin body and broken body implies more than just physiological processes. It can also refer to the overall constitution and nature. Therefore, sexual activity is not the only thing that can “break” the body, if you will. The 10 Excesses and the emotions (5, 6 or 7 thieves depending upon the school) can do the same thing. These factors generally become aggravated in puberty, as anyone who knows teenagers will confirm!

Second, remember that, while most of the alchemical texts were written from the male perspective, practically speaking it holds true for females as well, although the specific details will vary somewhat.

What this means is in application is there are probably few people, especially Westerners, who would qualify as Tongzi. Almost everyone will need to start with building the foundation. An exception could be the case of a child who has an affinity with cultivation (especially if the child has a calm, untroubled spirit, without a lot of emotional “pollution.”) In this case, if you can get them started in the practice before they become sexually active, they could progress faster.