The practice of Neidan(內丹)

[ChiDragon]

5 minutes ago, stirling said:

“The truth” is a rare commodity. If you are convinced that it belongs to you, be prepared to find out that it doesn’t, eventually.

I will try to follow your logic. However, it might be difficult for me. It is because the truth is the truth. What else could it be. Anyway, thank you for your truthful advice.🙏

[Nintendao]

@ChiDragon, what would you say is the meaning of this line from the 悟真篇 Wuzhenpian?

人人盡有長生藥，自是愚迷枉擺拋。

[Nintendao]

3 hours ago, damdao said:

some neidan methods can be found from time to time in qigong systems

 

could you spare an example?

[Cobie]

24 pages more on neidan  https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/53700-what-exactly-is-neidaninternal-alchemy/?do=findComment&comment=983714

[ChiDragon]

Just now, damdao said:

the misinformation that qigong and neidan are the same has to be stopped. 

 

Just now, damdao said:

But neidan was not part of this process, although some neidan methods can be found from time to time in qigong systems.

Thank you for this little bit of information leading us to the right direction! Every little bit helps to find its way to the truth. 

[ChiDragon]

Just now, Nintendao said:

人人盡有長生藥，自是愚迷枉擺拋。

 Haha! Are you trying to tell me something? 

PS

I rather be a fool with my own wisdom. I will not try to make people smart again.

Edited 13 hours ago by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

Everyone possesses the elixir of immortality, yet foolishly squanders it. (Zhang Boduan, Song Dynasty).
But he wrote in Classical, so each will read in it what they expect to find. 
 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Cobie

[Nintendao]

11 hours ago, Antares said:

Destiny

Finally someone has mentioned xing. Or is that ming. I always mix them up. A slightly less obscure translation might be disposition 性, and direction 命.

 

[ChiDragon]

Just now, Nintendao said:

人人盡有長生藥，自是愚迷枉擺拋。

 

Just now, Cobie said:

Everyone possesses the elixir of immortality, yet foolishly squanders it. (Zhang Boduan, Song Dynasty).
But he wrote in Classical, so each will read in it what they expect to find. 

@Cobie

You did not put the 自 in your thought. It seems to be it was a humorous sciatic remark meant for me. It was hinting that I was wasting my time in explaining what Neidan is to everybody. 

Edited 13 hours ago by ChiDragon

[MIchael80]

18 minutes ago, Nintendao said:

Finally someone has mentioned xing. Or is that ming. I always mix them up. A slightly less obscure translation might be disposition 性, and direction 命.

 

Destiny is ming. In neidan this means yuanqi and yuanjing. 

Xing is yuanshen.

 

As Zhang boduan says ... everyone has it but squanders it. Golden elixir is merged xing and ming.

[ChiDragon]

Just now, Nintendao said:

Finally someone has mentioned xing. Or is that ming. I always mix them up. A slightly less obscure translation might be disposition 性, and direction 命.

 

性: xing; cultivation of the mind
命; ming; cultivation of the body.

It was known as 性命雙俢; the cultivation of xing and ming.

[Cobie]

 

 

14 minutes ago, MIchael80 said:

… Golden elixir is merged xing and ming.

all systems come down to that, integrating 性 sexuality & 命 morality

[Cobie]

Life is simple, it’s just not easy. 

[ChiDragon]

6 minutes ago, Cobie said:

all systems come down to that, integrating 性 sexuality & 命 morality

Did you learn this in Tao school? Which one was that? I want to go there too.

[Nintendao]

36 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

It seems to be it was a humorous sciatic remark meant for me. It was hinting that I was wasting my time in explaining what Neidan is to everybody. 

 

Nah man i genuinely wondered what it said! Google and Bing were giving me some subtle yet significant differences, and my own scrutinization was turning up even deeper.

[ChiDragon]

 

 

3 hours ago, Nintendao said:

@ChiDragon, what would you say is the meaning of this line from the 悟真篇 Wuzhenpian?

人人盡有長生藥，自是愚迷枉擺拋。

Ok sorry!
What it is saying, in general, was pertaining to Neidan. It was written in classic format. The esoteric Taoist interpretation is:
Since there are 精氣神(Jing chi shen) inside your body to make elixir already, then, why should one be wasting time to hunt for it externally. 

長生藥: Immortal herbs were implicating 精氣神(Jing chi shen). It is because they are the main ingredients or three treasures for Neidan. 

Edited 11 hours ago by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

 

43 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

Did you learn this in Tao school? …

I am only a ‘quarter Taoist’. 
 

 

[ChiDragon]

Just now, Cobie said:

I am only a ‘quarter Taoist’. 

Ah, yes! I forgot. Shame on me! 

[Cobie]

@ChiDragon  no need to. 
 

 

[Nintendao]

Anyway 😇 since this is meant to be a thread about practice, not theory, guess what is also a fantastic combination of body and mind (or even energy and spirit.) One that too often gets disregarded these days.

 

Chanting the scriptures

 

Rhythmic singing naturally creates its own kind of breathing exercise, and sound vibrations have known uses for cleansing and alignment. As well memorizing and contemplating the subject matter, has benefits for the mind in both an obvious and mysterious capacity.

 

https://archive.org/details/wudang-mountain-daoist-temple-chanting-morning-evening-liturgy

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Nintendao

[forestofclarity]

I don't think there is necessarily a "school" of neidan. It seems to have numerous commentators, some of whom merged into religious tradition and some who did not. Given that it tends to be secretive, I would imagine there are many different interpretations, as noted by Li Dachun. 

 

It seems to me that modern neidan is a fusion of various Daoist elements (yangshen, dao yin, shamanic elements) for cultivating ming and Chan for xing. 

 

5 hours ago, Nintendao said:

 

could you spare an example?

 

Some have said: https://www.cfolu.com/xiuxueyd/251zhenqiyunxingfa.html

 

 

[ChiDragon]

1 hour ago, forestofclarity said:

Some have said: https://www.cfolu.com/xiuxueyd/251zhenqiyunxingfa.html

Thank you! If this was translated into English, it's true meaning won't be the same. Somebody will translate 气(chi) as energy. Oh boy!

Edited 8 hours ago by ChiDragon

[DynamicEquilibrium]

7 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

 

all systems come down to that, integrating 性 sexuality & 命 morality

From 道醫學/道醫性命雙修功法 point of view :

 

性: Biological nature, male/female traits.

命: Biophysical nature (Yinyang five elements), individual temperament.

 

From same point of view 性+命= individual inborn nature 先天個性. 

 

AI translation of a short article from one of our practitioners: 

 

"The Daodejing says: "To know others is wisdom, to know oneself is enlightenment."

 

Conversely, not knowing others is a lack of wisdom, not knowing oneself is ignorance.

 

The way of perceiving, thinking and conceiving determines one's vision—where does it originate from?

Everything lies in the characteristics of one's inborn individual nature 先天個性.

 

The way of perceiving, thinking, conceiving and the vision that emanates from it determine the way of living, and consequently one's fate—this is the connection between inborn individual nature and destiny established in this Taoist study of human nature.

 

By stubbornly clinging to our opinions and acting arbitrarily through ignorance and lack of wisdom, destiny could develop into a sort of fatality, an entire lifetime of repeating the same mistakes again and again, in different ways, in different situations.

Health, relationships, family, work... it forms a whole.

 

How can one know this inborn individual nature without becoming trapped by the very patterns it produces?

This is the paradox of the mirror attempting to observe itself.

 

In this study, the mean for self-knowledge is the diagnosis of inborn individual nature.

The practical method for changing and improving is the "joint cultivation of Nature and Life" 性命雙修.

 

For physical and mental health, it is "setting the foundations" 筑基.

To break patterns, shatter fatality and reconstruct one's destiny, it is "cultivating the truth" 修真."

 

Edited 5 hours ago by DynamicEquilibrium

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

Imagine thinking that AI would know information passed down orally by humans