The essence of Daoist Alchemy (daojia neidan)
Form cannot be considered the essence of substance, although some sources try to assert this. Essence is manifested in the laws of the prenatal, but not in the laws of the postnatal, where the form interferes. However, as essence is expressed by the form, form also depends on essence. This means that the form should be changed so that it does not interfere with the essence even if it does not depend on it. Moreover, such a form, in which the essence is not oppressed, must have the appropriate proportions.
This leads us to the question: Why do thing exists? Human nature, or man’s essence, can be examined either externally or internally. To do this however we need to penetrate into the mother’s womb and rebuild our true nature. Rebuilding our nature is easier than knowing it. The next question we face is: How can we delineate the boundaries of reality?
The boundaries of reality
The boundaries of reality are set by the conditions for penetrating into our primary essence, this is why it is important to create one’s own conditions. When we talk about proportions, we talk about a conditional womb that can give birth to a new self. The Chinese term dong means womb, cave, it also refers to a mysterious process; simply put, it refers to depth, which ignorant people perceive as a transcendental concept. But for those who are immersed in the practice, this is a special reality.
Alchemists use special techniques so as to obtain the “correct body” – a body endowed with an essence, or a body dominated by the spirit. In order to obtain the power that allows one to transform the body into spirit, or to subjugate the body to the spirit, one should change the energy properties of the form, i.e. undergo a transformation associated with the concept of initiation.
Transmutation, bodily immortality, and the means to achieve these ends, are a matter of knowledge and practical diligence. On this path, the body goes through a long process, becoming an Alchemical body, then a Mercury body, and then it starts producing alchemical gold, achieving material or alchemical luminosity. However, to achieve this, first we need to understand elixirs, as they are the most important component of the alchemical science.
The boundaries of reality give us that primary matter that cannot be decomposed, but can only be dissolved and assimilated. Note that understanding the difference between decomposition and dissolution is vital.
Medicines or elixirs that will prolong human life can be prepared with the help of botanical, mineralogical or chemical knowledge, however what is important here is the question: Can we assimilate these? We can rejuvenate the body and the spirit only if we change the energy frequency. This, of course, can be achieved externally, however it will not be considered eternal life.
The Daoist concept of material immortality is harmonious, reasonable and consistent. But if Daoists (or any Asian culture) are unprejudiced towards this concept, the Western mind faces great difficulties here, as Western people are psychologically unprepared and lack the mental focus needed to grasp even the basic principles of this concept. Thus, the weak mind is detrimental to the alchemical model, but a one-sided obstinate mind, which violates the rhythm of the practice, is equally dangerous. Both result in the adept waiting or hasting.
Naturally, alchemy has its pharmaceutical, dietary, respiratory, fitness and even sexual aspects, however its fundamental concepts are the compass and the square, or the circle and the square, where the circle is consciousness, and the square is the body. Without a hammer and anvil, it is impossible not only to create something, but also to start working, start the process. How can you turn lead into gold? Or how can you improve yourself?
Unless we define the centre (the Yellow source) and learn how to measure, we cannot implement the alchemical doctrine, i.e. we cannot cultivate the immortal embryo. Our goal is aurifaction, that is, we must not imitate alchemy, but we must achieve real results.
Alchemical science consists of thirteen operations (processes), and its main focus are all the stages that lead to the creation of the Mercury body and the Alchemical body. The primary task of alchemy is self-improvement, which relies first on prenatal nature, and then on postnatal nature, when the already purified and enhanced mercury (spiritualized jing energy) penetrates into the depths of the body and absorbs qi. The very concept of mercury in alchemy is multi-layered: it is both a process, and a certain state of the body; internal fluidity, which leads to the concentration of energy.
Gold in alchemy refers to the state when we have built the proportions and have the perfect energy. Note that there is a difference between having built the proportions when the qi energy is dominant, and a proportionate state when jing and even shen are dominant – in the latter case the conditional mercury itself disappears, and only gold (or perfect connections in the body) remains. Then the body itself becomes partially or completely immortal and can never be transformed back into mercury.
However, one should not confuse the processes associated with the transmutation of the essence (or the soul) with bodily transformation, or else the shen energy will be disrupted. It is risky for the adept to get carried away in the restoration of qi or even its transformation, as this can cause decay rather than improvement, and it can also prevent the adept from improving the shen energy.
If we rely on qi, we cannot extract the finer jing energy, which means that we cannot form the middle and upper cinnabar fields, and we cannot extract enough mercury from the lower field. Mercury is activated in the cinnabar fields through qi (lower), jing (middle) and shen (upper), but it is extracted through the jing energy. Therefore, our focus is qi-jing, jing-jing and shen-jing.
