Internal Alchemy in Daoism 

As a practitioner of internal alchemy I would like to provide some insight to the poem at 18:00. To those also behind the door, please forgive my candor but I believe these things should be put bluntly. This poem is basically a teaching of a basic mental/breath technique to develop focus and vitality. While doing the meditation the student holds their body in certain postures to activate different parts of the fascia so you can be working your whole body and mind while seemingly sitting still. As far as the poem itself is concerned I'll just summarize the main take aways from each paragraph: 1. Harmonizing mercury and lead essentially refers to developing a healthy mind and body. The body practices are a kind of yoga that works and strengthens the fascia, giving one a gentle strength that to the untrained eye can appear as magic or superhuman skill. The mind practices are meditations and focusing exercises to awaken the awareness that there is a space between thoughts and emotions the one experiencing the thoughts and emotions. 2. In the beginning of training do not rush to become a monk or an extreme training program. Consistency is key so just have a small practice and just make sure to do it everyday. 3. If you stop practicing just start up again. Do not try to add to the practice with additional elements to "spice " it up. Do it as it was taught and struggle through the process of maintaining the habit. 4.When you have developed your mind and body (represented by the tiger and dragon) you will create the proper environment in yourself for inner peace/harmony. This is seen as the true base nature of all humans and everything you do in life should come from this space. 5 &6. This is an esoteric explanation for the exercise called the microcosmic orbit. Where you focus the mind on the breath and feel it flow from your tailbone up your back to your brain and down the front of your body This is a fundamental practice almost all daoist schools teach in some form. While not the exact same, it operates in a similar fashion to Kundalini yoga/meditation. The "fetus" referred to is the awareness of yourself as a non physical being. It's first manifests as attention or Yi but through practice it develops into a full awareness that extends outside of your body. This is not theoretical, you can and will experience this if you stick to your practice. This is why I like daoism, they dint ask you to believe in anything, just do the practices and you'll see for yourself.

As a Chinese, I think the separation between Taoist philosophy and religion has more to do with the fact that Chinese people are mostly agnostic. The philosophical part will appeal to people from a Confucian education; while the religious aspect is more for common folks that practice rituals and customs that reflect Taoist concepts. Also, even though Taoism originated from China, it was based on the observation of nature and the I-Ching; which makes it universally applicable anywhere else. The closest Western parallel would be Stoicism.

Absolutely frustratingly fascinating and intriguing, please do much more on this. Love it.

I love your pronunciation. Thank you so much for making the effort for correctness. Even most comparative religion enthusiasts butcher this.

"What does all this mean?.. I have no idea." You are awesome, brother!😉

Master mantak chia is good read to understand step by step process of internal alchemy and other aspects of Chinese traditional medicine. He is also on RU-vid but books are much more subtle than videos.

Ótimo programa. Obrigado pelo esclarecimento e a oportunidade de aprender.

家 (Jia) is the word we use to call the schools of thought in Chinese Axial Age, when philosophy was most diverse and unrestricted. We group all of them as 諸子百家 (Hundread of Schools of thought and their masters). They include but are not limited to Confucianism(儒家), Legalism(法家), Daoism(道家), School of Yin-yang(陰陽家), Mohism(墨家), School of Names(名家), School of Physician(醫家), and School of Medicine/Alchemy(方技家), just to copy from the wikipedia's list. Each schools had their own important historical figures too with their separate lineage. The writers in ancient times wrote this list because they find their thoughts distinctive. The names are quite straight forward and we can already see the later Daoism is influenced by schools of Yin-yang and Medicine. I don't know why the two terms Dao Jiao and Dao Jia is contested but just know this is why we think there's a difference. However the later Daoists would think they are the same of course.

when I was about 23 and up I had the lucky pleasure to work with a man that was a master in internal alchemy aka Neidan , the only reference I had was Dr Stephen t chang and Mantak Chia. which is nothing, the moment I met this man I realized how chi was a real thing and not in the mind,. I wish I was better at explaining the experain I had with this man in internal alchemy, its a real thing, not only did he know understand chinese and he had to have his daughter translate, but I had to learn a very important thing. anyway, the man was cool as hell, and he was able to move the chi inside me, without ever touching men, from my head to my sea of chi ( dontian ). All Im saying is the internal alchemy is real, and its worth the journey, for some reason I was chosen to experience what was possible. maybe I was just lucky living in California idk., anyway Its hard to get back to how I felt before, but meditation will never ever be the same, its like I had the chance of sparing floyd mayweather and then later trying to put together what happened.

Highly recommend anyone interested in this read "Immortal Sisters" and the poetry of Sun Bu'er

When I took a class on East Asian history in my undergrad, the TA (who was not East Asian) talked about how later Daoists "misunderstood" the "real" philosophy of Daoism and bastardised it into a tradition of rural superstitions. As someone who's interest is largely popular religion I thought this sounded very biased and unfair a judgement. I'm always glad to see people contesting such notions and taking a more complex look at the topic.

18:08-19:36 I bow down in awe before the legend! Such poetry, deeply steeped in meaning! This makes Shakespeare look like nursery rhyme by comparison! I stand in awe in front of what we as a species have achieved!

I am 10 minutes into this video and I LOVE it.

Finally an english video that is correctly explain about this.

This is an amazing video. Your explanation of these very intricate topics is informative and clear. Looking forward to more!

Excited for more content on this topic!

Looking forward to this. Thank you for all that you do, Filip. Your videos are incredibly insightful

Yes I'm really enjoyed your series on Taoism I hope there are some more thank you very much

The legalist(法家 fajia) classic Hanfeizi(韓非子) also has two chapters that contain daoism ideas. The one mainly explained his interpretation of Tao Te Ching, the other explained how daoism ideas influenced his legalism ideas. Also, there are daoism classics selected in Jin dynasty, that are called 三玄(the three classics of the Dao). It includes three books: Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi and Zhouyi(周易). So, these three are the essence of classical daoism.

Thank you.

That passage from Zhang Buodan is very similar to the language used in tantra to describe the male and female essence drops coming together (which is usually represented by a couple in sexual union). In tantra, we use colors and deity imagery, but it looks like in Daoism, it's a combination of colors and animals. The "tiger's roar" is a reference to the sound of your consciousness, which is a subtle sound that can be heard with practice and purification. The physical practices are also really similar to kundalini yoga and Tibetan Tummo, in which you force your prana into the central channel to go up the spine and out of the crown of your head. I can see why a lot of Daoists have no problem accepting Buddhism and vice versa--The physical practices are nearly identical; they just use different language to describe the techniques.

This is great! You should do one on neo-Confucianism as well to round out the presentation of Chinese traditions.

Great video, thank you.

Cross reference this with the work of Nikola Tesla to refine understanding of the mechanism and methods.

I had a friend at uni (20+yrs ago) who was born on Christmas Island (Chinese) and whose family practiced an Animist form of daosim. I lost track of him and never again heard of animist daosism.

Thank you for this video; I'm very excited for more! Its so interesting seeing the roots of the worldbuilding in Chinese fantasy webnovels and dramas. LOTS of Tianren influence.

Yes, I am also grateful for your presentation good sir...

Wonderful to have you discuss this part of Daoism. Always good to hear from you.

A wonderful Video thank you very much. I love the chinese, korean and japanese Culture and Civilization.

Another great exploration of religious tradition Filip! I feel at one with the Dao now.

this is an excellent video, thanks for making it! One (unsolicited) suggestion I have is that in the future it might be cool to add the chinese/arabic/etc text/translations of terms when you put them on the screen (for example, jing means vital essence and the chinese character for it is 精)

I use this internal technique to stay in balance. It looks complicated but it's actually easy once you try it a few times. Good luck! Separate your feet but keep them placed squarely on the floor. Sit erect and allow your hands to lie loosely in your lap or on your knees without touching each other. The index and middle finger and the thumb of each hand must be held touching each other in a sort of triangle composed of the first two fingers and thumb. When you are finally relaxed, take a deep breath, hold it for a count of seven and then release it easily. After a short rest, repeat this, taking another deep breath and holding it for the count of seven. Then rest and repeat this until you have done it seven times, after which change your position and put the whole procedure out of your mind. This exercise is normally adequate to counterbalance the average negative condition. However, in cases of deep-seated or chronic ailments it will need repeating. Always wait at least two hours between treatments because it usually takes that long for results to become apparent. The earlier you treat yourself when falling out of balance, the easier it is to come back to normal. So be aware of yourself and when you feel the least bit out of sorts give yourself a treatment to regain your positive-negative balance. To Counterbalance an Over-Positive Condition Sit comfortably as in the previous treatment. This time your feet should be touching each other, squarely on the floor but touching. Your hands must also be touching at the fingers. Hold them in front of your body at the chest level, thumb touching thumb and each finger touching the tip of its corresponding finger on the other hand. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Exhale slowly and when the air is all out of your lungs, hold it out for the count of five. Then breathe in and out easily and slowly for about five or six breaths until you are once again relaxed. Then repeat, holding the breath out for the count of five. Repeat the entire procedure five times, then stop, breathe normally and put the entire exercise out of mind. Oh and it's the cure for the common cold.

Cracking work lad!

Another fascinating video, thank you!

To the Great Work! Thank you so much for this amazing analysis

I sometimes wonder who Lao Tzu was referring to when he tales about “the masters of old” who were apparently by his own words much more wise then him.

A game of Weiqi right at the beginning, nice

wake up babe filip posted a new exploration of daoism

awesome stuff once again

Thank you

Neidan sounds similar / parallel to like kriya yoga and meditation. Spiritual, internal practices carried out while maintaining certain dietary , social and lifestyle disciplines. Aimed at eventually moving towards dissolution.

Ciao, I just wanted to greet and thank you for your interesting videos.

Another great vid. I learned a lot from this and many preconceived notion of Daoism have been done away with. Hoping that I can find a way to incorporate it into my own spiritual journey. Keep up the good work! :)

It's easy to understand it like this. Animal and Cultivator can create a "ball-like core" that's kinda the core of their power after cultivating. That's neidan (internal dan/alchemist), the "Chinese Alchemy" (dan-making techniques) fan be understand really well because it basically the same as an attempt to create an artifical "golden core" that allow the user to instantly become a Xian without years of training, kinda like the Stone of Philosopher. That's what i know.

Your emphasis on the colonial and orientalist separation of philosophical and religious Daoism is very much appreciated. Eliminating that false duality is ironically very Daoist itself.

Thank you for another Taoist video.

very well explained about internal alchemy

Filip, you get some of the weirdest fundamentalist religious ads I've seen on RU-vid

The teachings of Western esotericism have basis in the esoteric teachings of Taoism, particularly in transcendental alchemy.

Every arrival is a new point of departure.

Some supplement Jing is the morpheme in Sperm-related term. Qi is the morpheme for air/gas terms Shen is the morpheme for neuro and mind. As a linguist I believe terms can be better translated/understood with these connotations.

The goal of internal alchmey is not to turn jing into Qi and then Qi into shen. The goal is to transform jing into the jin dan and then draw it into the heart. One then attains the golden elixir body also called the diamond body, this is the goal

Very interesting, thank you.

Interesting that you have made the video just today 13 march and beautifull art by the way.

🙏🙏🙏

will you talk about the more ritualistic and theological aspect of daoism ? that a branch of this religion that we don't hear much about and that would be very interesting to talk about it I think ps : very great video ☺️👍!!!

What is your definition of "apophatic meditation"? Or did you mean to say "apathetic"? Either way, what do you mean by it?

I've heard Qi described as the exchange of internal an external in a rithem

The usage of the concept of "qi" in the god-awful remake of Mulan (which doesn't only turn its back on the original animation but also completely and utterly on the very same Chinese traditions and morals that its supposed to be "representing"), is actually used in a similar way to ... well ... farts. "Mulan, use your qi!" So ... yeah. I legitimately wonder if anybody Chinese actually worked on the film. Hollywood's prejudices aside, fantastic video, as always. I wish you well!

This is contemporary to ancient greece

Hey. Could you possibly do a video on Thelema?

Like the wise Guru Laghima said, "Enter the void, alone, and become wind"

Hi Philip since you focus on Sufism & almost every Sufi order traces its lineage through Ali's teachings,, can you make more content explaining the philosophy of ali,, his books like Nahj al-Balagha. Thank you

Interesting stuff

I wonder if perhaps Qi would better be understood with the word “composition”? With everything containing Qi, sort of in an atomic sense, it’s really the qualities of substances and materials that makes them different, which aligns with your descriptions of subtlety and substantialness. The use of “composition” would also invoke imagery of the tao itself, since everything is united in the composition of the tao, and the tao has been described using imagery such as wind and breath before. Not a scholarly translation or anything, just a thought.

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) - Dzogchen (Great Perfection). Some influence from Oddiyana tradition, perhaps.

Thank you!

The" Elixir Field"....."The scarlet" palace....@ 14:09. Those are concepts I can relate to and get behind. 😊 love that bit

Thanks for your series on Daoism, it is really helpfull for my thesis. One thing though, I do think that the Daojia/Daojiao divission is somewhat accurate considering the fact that the earliest Daoist texts didn't contain religious elements per se.

Hey!! Can you speak to the historicity of the theory that Lao tzu and the Buddha are the same man?? Thanks

Very informative, I been trying to learn more about Taoism and buddhism for a while but I struggle to find good texts that describe the practices properly.Can anyone provide me some good english literature about the phylosophies and practices of Neidan and Zen buddhism?

Read Eva Wong’s books

Outclass

As someone who studied under a Chan teacher for several years I can say this: the notion that Daoism directly influenced the Chan tradition is *not* universally accepted within the various schools of Chan, with my own teacher once stating that this was a misunderstanding by Western scholars.

Hi. Love your channel. I would be great if you could reference some books one could read to learn more on the discussion subjects. Regards.

Thank you for your work! For those interested in Qi and neidan, look up “John Chang” videos on RU-vid and book about him (“Magus of Java”). Mind blowing 🤯

“...and what does all this mean? I’ve got no idea, but it’s all very poetic stuff.” 😂😂😂😂

👍👍

What books on internal Alchemy do you recommend?

promises made, promises kept. let's talk religion for RU-vid president. is the James Legge translation/commentary of the tao te ching still well regarded? it's the only copy I've read, but I keep hearing about issues with translator's "westernizing" certain texts, and I am keen to get a more well rounded understanding on eastern texts in general, as I'm also interested in Buddhism and Hinduism

When do you plan on doing a video about Buddhism?

The green dragon is the elemental force of wood and the white tiger is the elemental force of metal…..I would explain more but as I was writing it it felt so wrong to uncover the secrets here to just anyone. If you are really interested I suggest find a good teacher and practice diligently friends

More alchemy!

This comment is likely to score many "thumbs down" here. I've witnessed many comments in spiritual practices which claim that this or that technique, expression, practice, samaya, or ritual is "secret." Oftentimes it's claimed that the thing in question could somehow hurt a practitioner or lead to evil results. Such declarations invariably seem like forms of crowd control--i.e., socialization and institutionalization techniques. Whatever "IT" is, is right in front of us, . . . all the time. IT can't be turned off like a light. IT is always on. How can there be anything secret about it? Every teacher lies because they can't tell the Truth. The Truth can't be said or taught. What teachers provide is guidance and pointers that they have come up with from their exhalted points of views. Sure, some teachers are better than others. But everyone can look, closely, carefully, systematically, honestly, for themselves.

When i look at daoism i see two separate things, i see a wise sage becoming tranquil and making logic jokes. And i see a different guy saying to the emperor: drink this mercury it will make you immortal trust me bro. Did he do it blindly or maliciously?

23:51 Tai Chi Chuan??

can someone please tell me the song that's playing in the background that starts at 3:42

I'm Chinese Muslim, I'm thinking that I translate your videos into Mandarin

rather, I'll see you next time! 😁

Can you also focus any influences in between islam and daoism or christianity and shia islam or budhism and ismailism. Christianity and new age movement.

Why do you choose to spell names and the Tao differently? Laozi instead of Lao Tzu and Daoism instead of Taoism?

what is the difference between a “earthly immortality” and reincarnation, and couldn’t either be seen as a “abstract spiritual post mortem existence”? religion is wild

Please do a video on the Islamic concept of the Mahdi! You are awesome at these videos :)

When you said the name Zhang Boduan I thought you said the french name Jean Beaudoin. It sound the same.

Well, I can see why you see daoism like this, because you are not studying taichi. I believe daoism isnt originated from qigong, but from the martial art of taichi instead. many of the philosophies are based on taichi movement. and taichi is made based on buddhism, but he change it into more chinese culture. For example, the yin yang symbol of taichi is based on taichi's silk reeling technique. this technique is made based on chinese culture of silkworm culturing. buddhism doesnt like this culture because they are killing silk worm. that is why the maker of taichi is making taichi and becoming daoism in the future Xianren, or immortal, are based on taichi people that live for more than 100 years. because of this political celestial master, nowadays people arent studying taichi completely, so no one practicing taichi can live more than 100 years old anymore.

The Secret of Neidan is to preserve semen, control lust and practice guarding the One (Contemplation). It is the way of the Tao.

though, I still would not refer to them as gods or deities.

Interesting, but confusing.

Whish the people in the Chinese government had any at all regard for the teaching

I get a lot out of listening to you, I wish I could hang out with you in real life.