Laozi's Health Preservation - Elixir Cultivation

In addition to preserving essence and following the "Way", Laozi also made extensive discussions on qigong for health preservation, which were particularly valued by later alchemists for health preservation. Summarizing his theories on the practice methods, there are approximately the following types: First, the Theory of Fetal breathing and Movement (1) "The spirit of the grain does not die, which is called the mysterious female." The gate of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. It lingers on and on, but is not frequently used." (6) (2) "Always have no desires to observe its subtleties; always have desires to observe its subtleties." (Chapter One) (3) "Returning to the root is stillness, which is called returning to one's order." To return to order is called regularity; to know regularity is called clarity. (Chapter 16) (4) "Can one give birth to a baby when one's energy is concentrated and gentle?" Chapter Ten: The above four sections are Laozi's discussions on fetal breathing, covering aspects such as location, methods, and effects. They are briefly described as follows: (1) Location: Navel. Before birth, it is called "mysterious female", but after birth, it is called "fate" and "orifices". "Gu Shen" refers to the driving force of fetal breathing. After the umbilical cord breaks, the fetal rest stops, which is called "the death of the grain god". The mysterious female is the gateway through which the fetus's breath enters and exits, and is called the root of heaven and earth. (2) Method: "Always have no desires to observe its subtleties; always have desires to observe its subtleties." The so-called "observation" means to look inward with one's mind. "Miao" refers to the realm of emptiness and tranquility. "Qiao" refers to the umbilical area being empty. When observing the wonders and the orifices, one should let things take their natural course. To "observe the wonderful without desire" is to use "gentle fire". "Having the desire to observe the orifices" refers to "intense fire". Its main purpose is to achieve both emptiness and tranquility. (3) The effects can be roughly divided into three types: ① The appearance of fetal breathing: "It is continuous and lingering, and is not used frequently (completely)." It means that when the fetal breath enters through the navel, it should exist or perish, leaving it to its natural course. "Can a baby be born with softness due to concentration?" " It is said that concentrating on cultivating qi can make the navel smooth and unobstructed, and the fetal breath of the baby will appear. ② Unity of life and nature: "Returning to the root means stillness." The "root" refers to the navel. When the fetal breath returns to the root, it must cease to exist, restoring its innate life. The innate destiny is clear and bright. Therefore, it is said: "This is called restoring the destiny. Restoring the destiny is called constancy, and knowing constancy is called clarity." "Chang" is the Dao, the Dao of the unity of life and nature. When the practice reached this point, one realized that there was no distinction between life and death, and thus cultivated a body of emptiness and clarity. ③ Refining the Spirit and Restoring emptiness: The appearance of fetal breath indicates the transformation of essence into qi. The unity of life and nature is the refinement of qi and spirit, transitioning from action to non-action. In stillness and stillness, always in a state of constant awareness, everything returns to nature, which can condense the spirit and spirit into a holy womb. At this stage of practice, one still needs to make further progress, that is, to refine the spirit and restore the void, to empty the essence and brighten the physical form, so that there is no empty person, achieving the ideal state of "non-action yet nothing is left undone", that is, no obstruction or hindrance, all things are clear and bright, one with heaven and earth, and one with the universe. At this point, one can greatly delay aging and enjoy a long life. However, this state of mind was merely an ideal and aspiration of ancient Taoist health preservation experts. Ii. The Qigong method of 籥 "Between heaven and earth, is it still like 籥?" Empty yet unyielding, moving yet increasingly expansive. "Gold is scarce; it's better to stick to the middle." " (Chapter Five) The qigong method, also known as the breathing and exhalation method in Taoism, originated from this. "Between heaven and earth" refers to the area between a person's head and feet, that is, the abdomen. Youdaoplaceholder0 is a bellows, so it refers to abdominal breathing. Wu Cheng said, "Tu represents the great void, and 籥 represents the primordial qi." When the human body is filled with vital energy, one will be healthy and in good health. The character "Xu" means emptiness. Here it refers to the dantian, which is a compartment in front of the rectum and behind the bladder. It opens when there is qi and closes when there is no qi. It is the meeting point of the Ren, Du and Chong meridians and the place where true qi converges. "Shouzhong" means to focus one's mind on the dantian. Ding Fubao said, "To keep the middle is to observe the key points." This exercise requires: sitting upright with your mouth closed and giving away all thoughts. His eyes widened slightly, revealing a hint of light. Then, observe its brightness at the entrance (dantian) of the orifice. This is what is called observing the orifice. Then perform abdominal breathing (either clockwise or counterclockwise), with each breath lasting for a long time and pauses between breaths. By frequently practicing this exercise, one can gradually and automatically push the true qi into the meridians, achieving the goal of qi flowing throughout the body. Iii. Discussion on the Practice of Stillness and Softness (I) : "Reach the ultimate void and remain steadfast in stillness." All things come together, and I observe them. (Chapter 16) It means to keep the mind as empty and quiet as possible and to truly adhere to tranquility. All things are growing and developing, and thus I observe the repetitive cycle of true qi. (2) "Heaviness is the root of lightness, and stillness is the ruler of restlessness." ... If one is too light, one will lose one's roots; if one is too impetuous, one will lose one's sovereign. (Chapter 26) The weight of the mind is the foundation of the lightness, and stillness is the master of movement. ... A rash act will surely lead to the loss of the foundation, and a rash move will surely result in the loss of control. (3) "Restlessness overcomes cold, stillness overcomes heat; tranquility is the right path for the world." (Chapter 45) It means that exercise can overcome the cold and tranquility can overcome the summer heat. Non-action and tranquility can make one the master of the world. (4) "The softest in the world can gallop the hardest in the world." "Nothing enters the void." " (Chapter 43) It means that the weakest thing in the world can weave through the hardest things. This invisible force can penetrate through things without any gaps. (5) "To see small is to be wise; to be gentle is to be strong." To use its light, to return to its clarity, and to eliminate one's own misfortunes, this is called practicing the constant. (Chapter 52) It means that being able to observe the minute details is "wisdom", and being able to remain weak is "strength". To exert the light of restraint (the divine light of inner vision), return to the subtle "clarity" of understanding, and not bring disaster to oneself, this is to be familiar with the constant way. (6) "To block the duality, close the door, blunt the sharpness, resolve the disputes, harmonize the light, and merge the dust, this is called profound unity." (Chapter 61) It means to cover one's ears, close one's eyes, not show one's sharpness, transcend disputes, hold onto brilliance, and blend in with dirt and dust. This is called "the Way". (7) "The female always surpasses the male with stillness; stillness is the lowest." (Chapter 61) It means that the reason why the female often overcomes the male with her quietness is that she quietly takes a lower position. (8) "A person is weak in life but strong in death." All living things, plants and trees, are tender and brittle when they are alive and wither when they die. Therefore, the strong will die, while the weak will live. (Chapter 76) It means that when a person is alive, the body is weak, and when a person dies, the corpse is stiff. All living things, plants and trees, have weak branches and leaves when they are alive, but wither and die. So hard things belong to the category of death, while weak things belong to the category of survival. (9) "Nothing in the world is weaker than water, and no one can overcome a tough challenge. It is impossible to change." The weak can overcome the strong, and the gentle can overcome the hard. No one in the world knows this and no one can do it. (Chapter 78) It means that there is nothing weaker than water in the world, and no force that attacks a strong force can overcome it, for nothing can replace it. The truth that the weak can overcome the strong and the gentle can overcome the hard is understood by everyone in the world, but no one is willing to follow it. The above discussion by Laozi on using stillness to control movement, weakness to overcome strength, and softness to overcome hardness has led to the creation of many types of exercises by later qigong practitioners and martial artists, such as sitting in meditation, gentle Qigong, and the Inner Strength Exercise in the "Yi Jin Jing". The softness, weakness and stillness mentioned by Laozi are not manifestations of a negative state, but rather they give birth to the generation of positive forces such as hardness, strength and movement. They are softness on the outside and hardness on the inside, weakness on the outside and strength on the inside, stillness on the outside and movement on the inside. They are softness within hardness, weakness within strength, stillness within movement. Only in this way can the gentle and ever-lasting energy of the human body be maintained, keeping life always in a state of movement. This is the fundamental way for the human body to achieve health and longevity. When the cultivation of Qigong reaches the supreme realm, it is called attaining the Tao. So, what exactly is the Dao? In Chapter 21, a vivid description is made: "The Dao as a thing is only vague and intangible." Hazy and indistinct, there is an image within. Hazy and indistinct, there is something within. Youdaoplaceholder0 Dark, there is spirit in it. Its essence is very true, and within it lies faith." In fact, the Dao is something invisible, intangible, hazy and formless, yet it does exist and contains the essence of human life - the essence. When one attains enlightenment in Qigong practice, their essence is abundant, their qi is full, and their spirit is strong, thus conveying to the outside world the message of eternal health. This is the elixir of immortality advocated by later alchemists for cultivation - the inner elixir. To sum up, maintaining essence and energy, following nature, and practicing Qigong are the three major contributions of Laozi to Chinese health preservation, which are extremely great achievements. He was not only the founder of the ancient Taoist school but also the founder of Qigong health preservation, and is the progenitor of Chinese health preservation.