Unicorn

The connection I believe them to have results from what I said about the "set of principles". That in turn however I need to rephrase I think. I believe that there are a set of principles describing how creation as an infinite cyclic process works, and both daoist alchemy and western alchemy are aiming to understand and integrate these principles, they just do so from a different vantage point. And thus I said that alchemy in its purest form is a set of principles because I think you can meditate in a cave or work in a lab and still acquire the same higher understanding of creation through these different means. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but to my knowledge the ancient Chinese practical alchemists also based their lab work on daoist principles, which means there is direct connection between daoist inner alchemy and practical alchemy. And Eastern alchemy is the grandfather of Western alchemy.

To add a little bit to this, we can also derive the four elements from Yin and Yang combining three parts instead of two: Yang + Yang + Yang = Fire Yang + Yang + Yin = Air Yang + Yin + Yin = Water Yin + Yin + Yin = Earth

Dividing reality into three planes or realms is a core concept that in itself is older than any of the traditions. Here is my take: The One first split into Two. Let's call these Yin and Yang for now. Then the Two split (or re-combined, based on how you look at it) into Three. These are the three main states of energy: - Yang + Yang = Static or dormant power. Mind. Knowledge. The mountain. - Yin + Yang = Volatile energy. Soul. Emotion. Action. Ego. The wind or river. - Yin + Yin = Dense energy. Lifeless without being moved. Matter. Body. The lake. The mind sets the goal. The soul sets it in motion. The body realizes it*. But in order for a perfect transmutation of idea to reality through controlled action the Three must be in harmony, and for the Three to be in harmony the Two must also be in harmony. *It appears this corresponds with Tibetan Buddhism's terms of Ground ( གཞི ), Path ( ལམ ) and Fruition ( འབྲས ).

In my opinion Qabalah and Alchemy should have never been mixed in the first place. Alchemy in its purest is simply a set of principles describing how the process of creation works. How one becomes all, and all becomes one. Everything else is foreign addition that in theory may serve as crutches but can also - and in my opinion most often it is - just serve as unnecessary bells and whistles that distract from the real point. If anything, Daoist internal alchemy seems to be far more pure and direct than any of the western traditions. Thank you, but not interested.

That's good news. And I admit I like the term "harmony" more. I associate to musical harmony from it, which I think is a nice analogy. Thank you!

We started from somewhat different definitions as I would have differentiated between static balance and dynamic balance. When you are riding a bicycle, you constantly have to "balance", to adjust yourself to stop yourself from falling, while you also move and turn. In the turns your center of gravity is even moved away from the line of the wheels to help the turn. That's what I would call a dynamic balance. So would you say that what I call dynamic balance is the same as what you call harmony?

Hmmm. Wouldn't you call a disk, spinning around its center of gravity balanced? Also, is harmony possible if the yin and yang are imbalanced?

Please excuse me for barging into this discussion as a newcomer on this forums, but I found some parts interesting, enough to make a registration here. I would be interested to hear your opinion on the following statement: Physical transmutation should be possible given the principles at play are the same, but as processes require the largest amount of energy on the physical plane, it would be impractically difficult - but that doesn't mean that physical experimentation could not yield knowledge applicable on all planes.

Thank you for the welcome. What is your definition of the difference between the two?

Greetings! We could say I had a spiritual approach to life since childhood. Over the years I have practiced meditation, martial arts and chi/prana related exercises, I touched upon Buddhism and Daoism and other disciplines and ways of thought. From all of these Daoism is the one I found most compatible with my experiences and views. I don't consider myself Daoist as based on my limited knowledge it has a few concepts I can't fully agree with, and it feels way too human centered - just like all other systems of thought I came across so far. But who knows, maybe by some others' definition of Daoism I could qualify. Doesn't matter though. Let me just say, that my rudimentary reading of the Daodejing gave me the impression that this text hits very close to the answers I seek, and the Daoist concept of "immortality" seems to be awfully similar to a concept I know under the same name from entirely different sources, which I could sum best up as "continuity of consciousness". Sadly, life's material challenges - such as earning a living - distracted me and I swayed from my previous path which focused much more on the spiritual side of life, so it's time I start working on fixing that. My goal is to seek balance in the opposing forces in every aspect of my life. I adopted the Taijitu as one of my personal symbols. And why am I here? Well, I came across this forum by mere chance - if I believed in accidents, that is - and found some discussions of particular interest to me. I can't promise if I'll stick around, only time will tell that, but this may be a good place to start learning more about Daoism and see how compatible it really is with me.