Taoist Alchemy and Breathing Practice (eBook)

Introduction

The Text and its Contents

Breathing and Taoist Alchemy
An Inseparable Couple

The translated text presented in this volume is clearly influenced by the three main traditions of China: (Neo-)Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. That is obvious for anyone who has some knowledge about these traditions. However, whereas Buddhism and Confucianism mainly serve the role of “supporting cast”, the main character is Taoist alchemy, and more precisely the use of breath in this practice.

Taoist alchemy has a long history and comes from several sources, including metallurgy, Chinese Medicine, Taoist health practices and rituals, and more. In Taoism, the practice of alchemy has always been regarded as a superior yet difficult way to reach Dao, the Way. It transforms the body of the alchemist and its potential in such a way that the alchemist who succeeds, transcends the worldly and human conditions and becomes a Xian, an “Immortal”. In order to make this happen, the alchemists of ancient times made good use of “medicinal” recipes that contained metals, minerals, and herbs. But, they also used their own body, and specifically made use of something that can be found inside the body, yet also outside of it: qi. Etymological dictionaries will explain qi as basically that which creates clouds, a vapor.7 In man, this is breath. Outside of man, it becomes that which permeates the entire universe and holds it together, while creating its transformations. If one wants to understand Taoist alchemy, one needs to know about qi. And the best way to do this may be to study and practice breathing. In that way, this text about the Five Breathings directly hits the mark.

Until our last breath, we all are breathing all the time. There is nothing we can do about it, it just happens. In fact, we do not actually breathe ourselves, but receive our breath from the cosmos and are forced to return it to its source. And then, one day, it is taken away from us. When left without, we die. Some people experience the “help” of other beings in taking away their breath, but most of us die a more peaceful death.

While we are alive and breathing, we usually don’t do much with it. It is much more common for people to injure their breath than to improve on it. Much breath is lost, does not reach the fullest extent of its power, because we, mostly unconscious of what we are doing, do not open up enough and resist the force of breath. Taoists and alchemists call this phenomenon “fanxi’ or “the breathing of the common people”. Through experiments with breathing they knew that more can be done with deeper breathing than most humans assume. They refer for evidence to the writings of, for instance, the early Taoist Zhuangzi (5th - 4th century BCE), who proclaims there exists something like a heel breathing, which is the breathing of the Authentic (Wo)man.8 This led/leads them to pursue this heel breathing and to reach the goal of Zhen or Authenticity, for one’s Authenticity is closely linked with using one’s full human potential.9

Millennia of Taoist and alchemical practice in China (and of other practices in other cultural regions) have provided the human world with countless ways of practicing different kinds of breathing. To keep things simple, let us just stay with the Chinese views and practices. Breath or qi is regarded as something that is not limited to human breath, but in fact permeates all and everything. The whole of the cosmos is full of qi and all changes and evolutions in the cosmos and in everything and everyone that exist in there, are due to it. All processes inside our body are driven by it. In order to perform these actions, qi, of course, changes all the time. These changes, i.e. the ordinary ones that we all share, happen spontaneously and enable us to live and display all the capacities that we have. But, since there must be more, according to the Chinese breath specialists, more subtle changes are also possible and should be realized. There are several ways to make these changes possible. Some insist that one should guide one’s breath by using focus and movements in order to create transformation; others say that things occur spontaneously, if one is able to not withstand the power of Heaven and Earth and let Nature do its work; still others do long and tedious workouts in order to achieve deeper breathing; and some combine all sorts of practices to make sure they get there.

From my own experience, I tend to support the “natural” or “spontaneous” evolution. When I was twelve, I started doing yoga and pranayana breathing techniques. It made me realize that breathing could indeed behave differently by changing body posture and forcing it to move in a different way. However, the results disappeared soon after I had stopped the exercise. Later, when I went to China and studied qigong, I found out that, by combining exercises that change the body posture and the way the body moves with a practice called “sitting and forgetting”10, my breathing went through many different transformations. Moreover, these transformations also created a lasting condition of deeper breathing. One day, I also experienced what heel breathing meant, when my heels literally felt like breathing (a similar sensation as breathing through the nostrils or mouth). A state of hibernation (hardly any breathing and heart beat) was another experience that was new to me then. All my experiences led me to believe that without interfering much with breathing, it can do many things that it does not do in an ordinary condition. I do not mean that one does not have to do much, on the contrary, long and diligent practice is of the utmost importance, but the changes in breathing should come by interfering less with breathing (and other things we try to control or think about too much) and not with more control based on thought or imagination. The moment we start to think that we should breathe in this or that way and we try to force our bodies to “help” breathing (by, for instance, leading qi along a real or imaginary path), we are, in my humble opinion, on the wrong track. What we should do is make our bodies ready to receive and return breath in the least interfering and humble way, meaning that we should learn that Heaven and Earth (i.e. the cosmos) know better and we should not resist what they have in mind for us. This may sound fatalistic, but, in fact, it is quite the opposite. By doing so, we can aim at becoming (an active part of) Heaven and Earth and sharing in their possibilities (such as long life). This is an implication of the process of what the Taoists and alchemists call “joining with the Way (hedao)”.

It is clear from the text that the transformation of breathing, leading to the five types of breathing mentioned, is considered (by the author of the text) to be the essence of Taoist alchemical practice. One should bear in mind that this means there can be no valuable results if these changes do not occur. To make them occur, in my view, two main roads are available. One is suggested in the text, namely: starting out from the practice of the counting of breath and then regulating it, one gradually enters the state of spontaneous breath transformations, leading to the spontaneous experience of heel breathing, embryonic breathing, and united primary breathing. Original breathing is also mentioned, but not clearly explained. The other way works by dropping the counting and regulating and immediately using the method of sitting and forgetting to have the breathing evolve spontaneously into the types mentioned. In this case, it is necessary to stress that the body still needs means to get into this state. To provide these means, other ways of practicing must be pursued first: internal martial arts, Taoist health practices, Taoist diets, and so on. The healthier the body is when doing sitting and forgetting, the less problems the practitioner shall experience when practicing tranquil sitting. As a person involved in the realization of Authenticity, I wish to stress that the mere practice of so-called internal martial arts or Taoist practices does not lead to the necessary results. Getting there is based on how you practice, not on what you practice, and unfortunately, very few people seem to know how to practice. The pursuit of illusions is more harmful than you can imagine, so, be careful when you choose a teacher. Results should be actually there and reveal themselves. Your body and the way it functions will be really different after going through the transformation of breath. You will think, feel and act differently. Your body will react differently to what you eat, what you do to or with it, and so on. This may have huge consequences that influence not only yourself, but also your surrounding, and especially the person(s) you share your life with. Be warned and do not engage in this practice recklessly. As the changes that one goes through are different for each and every individual, it is impossible to give you a general account of things. You need an experienced teacher to guide you.