The Chinese Neidan, or, Inner Alchemy
The impracticality and relative primitivity of outer alchemy (Waidan) [wai: exterior, dan: operations eg. elixir preparation] is such that we will not touch on it in this brief text. It is also such that many of these traditions, in our rush for freedom in the New World, were lost, and our understanding thus limited. But the theosophical doctrine of Inner alchemy, Neidan (內丹术) [Nei: inner, Dan: alchemy, elixir, cinnabar(mercury)] is rebirthing in the modern age: we preserve jing (in breathing exercises), we improve qi (in bodily postures), we practice shen (in self-compassion). We weave these elemental experiences into our most intimate moments; we iterate, dancing just outside of the teachings that alchemical processes like Neidan have taught us as they did in antiquity.
Though the term alchemy may bring up a crude image of medieval Christian experiment, superstition, something perhaps vile (regarding the understanding of alchemy as in the west, we can accept to be imported from ancient Egypt; Alchemy from the Arabic “al (definitive)-khimia”, “Kemet” the native Egyptian for Egypt*) we can see reference to alchemical systems in China predating the importation of the western tradition — certainly proceeding the Christian era:
“Chang Tao-Ling, the first Taoist pope, was born in A.D. 35 in the reign of the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti of the Hari dynasty. His birthplace is variously given as T’ien-mu Shan, Lin-an-Hsien in Chekiang, Feng-yang Fu in Anhui, and even in the “Eye of Heaven Mountain.” […] in the mountains of Western China where he persevered in the study of alchemy and in cultivating the virtues of purity and mental abstraction. From the hands of the alchemist Lao Tzu, he received supernaturally a mystical treatise, by following the instructions in which he was successful in his match for the Elixir of Life.”
*it should be mentioned that there exists a claim [Mahdihassan, 1988] that al-khemia itself has botanical origin, from the South Chinese “gold-making juice” attributed to the Chinese “kim-iya” root (kim: gold, yeh: juice). This remains a remote possibility and it is too meandering of a digression for out short text. As Jung found, though, the symbolism of alchemy was one of the most potent existing links between the psychics or herbalists of the east, to the psychologists of the west — ancient Gnostics to Taoist wise men to modern psychologists.
Neither alchemy as a whole, nor Waiden nor Neidan, constitue “schools” of Daoism, with a definite canonical corpus and a single line of transmission. On the contrary, the respective sources display wide differences in both doctrines and practices. However if one may attempt to formulate a broad statement that encompasses at least a large part of its different forms, Chinese alchemy is characterized by a foundation in doctrinal principles concerning the relation between the Dao 道 (way) and the world. The cosmos as we know it is deemed to be the last stage in a sequence of “transformations” leading from non-being (wu) to unity (yi -), duality (yin and yang), and multiplicity (wanwu: “ten thousand things”). Alchemists intend to trace this sequence backwards and return to its inception. In both Waidan and Neidan, the practice is variously said to grant transcendence (a state described by such expressions as “joining with the Dao,” hedao), “immortality” (mainly meant as a spiritual condition), longevity, healing (either in a broad sense or with regard to specific illnesses), and — especially in Waidan — communication with the deities of the celestial pantheon and protection from spirits, demons, and other malevolent entities.
It is a misconception that the term “inner” alchemy relates to something as crude as immortality in its most literal sense. Rather, it is a reference to the transcendence of the soul, the spirit, the consciousness (body) of the practioner, who seeks to transcend his earthly limitations and thus transitory life cycle of his physical body. To achieve this, he requires longevity. The emergence of Neidan as a complex spiritual practice (during the Song period (960–1279) seems to correspond with the reverse of primitive and antiquated beliefs of immortality in the literal sense — of turning dust into gold (abandoned in the Western and Egyptian schools by the 11th CE, possibly slightly earlier at some time during the Chinese Tang dynasty [618–907CE]. Instead, alchemy and transmutation became part of meditative practices.
History.
The Cantong qi (The Kinship of the Three) is the earliest known book on theoretical alchemy in China, written by the alchemist Wei Boyang in 142 AD. This text influenced the formation of Neidan, whose earliest existing texts date from the first half of the 8th CE. The authors of several Neidan articles refer to their teachings as the Way of the Golden Elixir (jindan zhi dao). The majority of Chinese alchemical sources is found in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts.
The term was seldom used throughout the late Tang dynasty [618–907] and Five dynasties [907–960], until evolving into the highly complex system in theory and practice (Baldrian-Hussain 2008: 763) as we describe it in this text. During the Song period [960–1279], and the immergence of neo-Confucianism — Taoist syncretism became deeper and more widespread , mainly in Neidan and ritual. Many of the song schools [namely: Shenxiao, Qingwei, Tongchu] assimilated features from Taoist teachings of (the traditional, and authoritative) Neidan. Neidan, it’s synthesization of Taoist elements (breathing exercises, Waiden [outer alchemy] language, and visualisations), Buddhist speculations, Chan didactic methods, and a systematic use of the Yijing trigrams and hexagrams. Neidan sinified the Buddhist dialectic of Non-being and Being. Indeed, we can interpret Neidan and Waiden as this “being” and “non-being”, as Yin and Yang (light and dark, feminine and masculine). Such borrowings were more than conceptual or semantic, Neidan authors tended to equate the Three Teachings, although at times emphasizing their differences. They (the Neidan authors and spiritual teachers) claimed that the ultimate goal of the Three Teachings was the same, even though their language and methods differed, on the grounds that Ultimate Truth was beyond all differences and formulations, and that the Three Teachings had the same way to achieve it, namely, through quiescence. Language and Images [Xiang] had to be rejected to attain their ultimate meaning, so that the differences among the teachings pertained to the relative truth, not to the “ultimate” one. The Buddhist system of panjiao (classification of teachings) was applied to explain the differences of meaning carried by a single term; these differences occur within the framework of a didactic procedure that was present in both Neidan and other teachings. Every teaching is part of the whole unutterable truth. Thus Taoists equated terms pertaining to the Three Teachings, such as Great Ultimate [taiji], “full awakening” [yuanjuc], Chaos [hundun], and Golden Elixir [jindan], or nirvana and Dao, in the same way they had done earlier for Taoist alchemical, cosmological and physiological terms Taoist masters commented on Confucian as well as Buddhist texts for their disciples, and sometimes even explained Confucianism using Buddhist terms.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Neidan tradition divided itself into several schools. One of the greatest masters of this time was Liu Yiming (1734–1815), who in his works propounded an entirely spiritual interpretation of his tradition.
The Neidan view of the body is complex, and remarkable differences occur among various subtraditions and authors. In general, the main components of the inner elixir (essence, pneuma, and spirit, or the afforementioned jing-qi-shen), as well as the tripod and the furnace, are said to be found within the human being himself. Beyond this basic premise, Neidan shares some of the views outlined above and dismisses others — for instance, it inherits from traditional medicine the importance of the Control and Function channels that play a central role in the circulation of essence; on the other hand, the practice as it was codified during the Song period does not involve visualising the inner gods.
Neidan, however, is more than a technique, and the importance it gives to immaterial notions such as inner nature and vital force [(xing and ming), or inner nature and individual qualities (xing and qing)] shows that its focus is not the physical body. Li Daochun (fl. 1288–92) explains that the various notions and practices have multiple “points of application”/operation, and take on different meanings at different levels, from the physical to the spiritual and beyond this distinction.
Practice.
The human body becomes a couldron (“ding”) in which The Three Treasures of: Jing (“Essence” — based upon an idea that death was caused by a depletion of one’s Jing); Qi (“Breath” — the natural energy of the universe that manifests within us all, and the qi meridians** in the body can be opened through a practice of massage, acupuncture, or herbalism); and Shen (“Spirit” — which the practitioner can become conscious of through a meditation practice) are cultivated for the purpose of improving physical, emotional, mental health, the goal: to return to the primordial unity of the Tao (i.e., becoming immortal).
**The Eight Meridians, or Psychic Channels:
-Conception Vessel, jen mo (Ren Mai) — channel of control — rear cavities, base of genitals to brain, through spine
-Governing Vessel, tu mo (Du Mai) — channel of function — front cavities, base of genitals to brain, through spine
-Penetrating Vessel, chung mo (Chong Mai) — thrusting channel — central, between tu mo and jen mo, base to heart
-Girdle Vessel, tai mo (Dai Mai) — belt channel — navel level around waist
-Yang Linking Vessel, yang yao (Yang Wei Mai) — positive arm channels — outside of arms, shoulders to palms (middle fingers)
-Yin Linking Vessel, yin yao (Yin Wei Mai) — negative arm channels — inside of arms, chest to palms
-Yang Heel Vessel, yang chiao (Yang Qiao Mai) — positive leg channels — soles — outside of legs to base of genitals
-Yin Heel Vessel, yin chiao (Yin Qiao Mai) — negative leg channels — soles — inside of legs to base of genitals
The following framework adheres to the general schemata of the Daoist “Immortal” Zhao Bichen (1860–1942), unspecified in this short text.
The alchemist will have necessary means of living, and the social contacts with whom to practice the act of meditation. He will have a quiet place of practice, money for food, etc. He will walk in nature briefly before his beginning the meditation session. His goal: to return to the pure positive state of infancy, the ultimate psychological expression of wu-wei (non-action in the Taoist teaching). In returning to a state of infancy, following the depletion of his life-force through maturation, he fulfills the cycle of Taiji (the Grand Ultimate; yin and yang) in the span of his life.
The eyes are fixed at a Taijitu (the yin-yang symbol), or closed to visualise one in the Lower Elixir Field, the center of gravity is just below the navel, the tongue touching the palate in a closed mouth. Inhalation and exhalation of successive breaths are of equal length. Concentrating on the original cavity of spirit, the Mysterious Pass, or Third Eye — without strain or relaxation — in order to realise the Oneness of all things.
Inhale — tu mo base to brain: Exhale — jen mo
Inhale — jenmo up to tan tien and tai mo, up back to shoulders: Exhale — yang yu
Inhale — yin yu: Exhale — tai mo to base
Inhale — chung mo (to solar plexus): Exhale — yang chiao
Inhale — yin chiao to base to tan tien: Exhale to base.
A time will come when enough jing and Qi are gathered and the regulated breathing — the wheel of the law — is no longer necessary. The ultimate goal is to seem to stop breathing and stop the pulse, as well as stop eating and sleeping — perfect stillness — which is called Immortal Breathing. The skeptic will doubt this ideal state is possible and science will likely prove this to be true. The goal, however, remains important as an ideal, even though it is never to be reached.
The Bridge Between: Chinese Alchemy and Modern Psychotherapy, mental health, holistic wellbeing
It was the alchemical literature of China: notably, The Secret of the Golden Flower (Daoist technical manual of meditative teachings, introduced to Jung by his personal friend Richard Wilhelm), that inspired Carl Jung (1875–1961) and directly informed his psychoanalytical methods — relevant and revered in psychology and medical science into the twenty-first century.
Jung agrees that indeed the lunar Queen and solar King (represented in China by the symbols of the Yin and Yang) are living presences within us, heralding the promise of the Philosophers’ Stone or the Golden Flower which we are destined to become ourselves. “The Chinese Connection” thus revealed to Jung that alchemy is based upon universal archetypal principles which are of equal relevance to ancient Gnostics, Taoist wise men, and modern psychologists. It is thus that Jung found in the symbolism of alchemy one of the most potent connecting links between the psyches of Eastern and Western peoples. In the conclusion of his collaborative work with Wilhelm may be found the following words: “The purpose of my commentary is to attempt to build a bridge of psychological understanding between East and West.”
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” — Carl Jung
