Chapter 50 Three Flowers Gathering on the Top and Five Qi Chaoyuan

What is the so-called "refinement and transformation of qi" in Taoism?Are the so-called "qi and blood" in Chinese medicine and the wind in "stroke" the same as the word "qi" in Taoism?These are important questions.In Chinese medicine after the Han Dynasty, most of the airflow wind and the breath of the human body are mixed together, which is also problematic.However, these issues are separate monographs, and now we will discuss them within the scope of this topic, and we will not be able to finish them for a while.As mentioned earlier, let us borrow the term "life energy" from modern science to explain the concept of qi.In other words, people who want to learn meditation and practice health and longevity techniques should not regard the air breathed by the human body's mouth and nose, as well as the air in the atmosphere, as the so-called air in Taoism or Tantric Buddhism.Otherwise, it is a serious misunderstanding to fall into the scope of physiological feeling and mistakenly regard the response of nerves and muscles as the prevalence of "Zhen Qi".

In other words, if only the breathing and physiological reactions of the lungs are regarded as the result of qi refining, then there are at least dozens or even dozens of qi refining methods in Taoism, Tantra, yoga, etc. There are as many as one hundred kinds.Although it is undeniable that the breathing through the mouth, nose, and some other organs and skin are the basic movements and tools of cultivation, but they should not be mistaken for the true meaning of meditation or Taoist alchemy. According to the practice method of Taoist health preservation, what is it like to truly reach the level of "refinement and transformation of qi"?This requires attention to two terms popular in Taoism, the so-called "three flowers gather at the top" and "five qi towards the yuan". "Three flowers" and "five qi" are synonymous with metaphor.Three flowers are "essence", "qi" and "shen". The "five qi" are the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney or another code name of the five elements, namely gold, wood, water, fire, earth, etc.; , middle-moving qi, left-moving qi, and right-moving qi are called five qi.The nouns are different, but in fact they are all common.The top of Juding, of course, refers to the "Gonghui acupoint" on the top of the head, which is the so-called "Nihuan Palace" in Taoism, and the joint relationship between the so-called "crown chakra" and "Vatican acupoint chakra" in Tantric Buddhism.However, the "Yuan" of the Chaoyuan Dynasty has different opinions: some people say that this "Yuan" refers to the part of the "Guanyuan Point" according to the concept of medical meridians and acupoints, which is generally called "Xia Dantian". However, they think that this "Yuan" refers to the "Huiyin Point", which is the so-called "seabed" in Tantra and Yoga.There has never been any conclusive proof of who is right and who is wrong, unless a god who has cultivated well is willing to come forward and testify on the spot, perhaps this dispute can be settled.However, from the interpretation of academic theory and Chinese philology, as well as empirical verification.We believe that this "Yuan" character is common to the source character of Benyuan.In other words, the so-called "Yuan" refers to the original standard phenomenon. The so-called "five qi towards the Yuan" means that the qi in the internal organs of the human body return to their original standard, full, harmonious, balanced and not suffocated. stuffed.After briefly explaining the meaning of these two sentences theoretically, we will explain them from empirical phenomena.

The scene of "three flowers gathering on the top": meditation has reached the stage where refinement turns into qi.The smoothness of the eight extra meridians, as mentioned before, has been verified step by step.From then on, I gradually achieved the feeling of forgetting my body, and my whole body was as soft and soft as a baby, very comfortable and snug, as if alive.At this moment, the only thing that still feels is the reaction of the mind.Gradually calm down, the eyes in front of you will have a flashback phenomenon.At this point, you will suddenly enter a state of complete ecstasy, only the "Nihuan Palace" and "Baihui Point" above your head feel like the opening of a skylight, like the transmission of sunlight, suddenly enlightening and presenting an incomparably cool feeling.It's like taking advantage of the void to descend a stream of clear air, descending and spreading all over the body.The so-called "enlightenment" in the Taoist Danjing describes this state.However, to this extent, the most fearful thing is that the academic theory is not clear, the concept is not clear, if there is the slightest fantasy in the heart, or there is a strong religious consciousness in the subconscious, the mind may go out of the body; if it is combined with other hallucinations; There are many scenes that resemble mysticism.All kinds of situations must be eliminated one by one, so as not to fall into the trap.

The scene of "five qi towards Yuan": due to the appearance of the above-mentioned "three flowers gathering on the top", either at the same time or after a short rest, one suddenly feels that the breathing qi naturally stops completely, and the whole body is soft, not borrowed from the day after tomorrow. The so-called internal breathing (the breathing of the pubic region) naturally stopped at this time. It was just that after a long period of time, I occasionally needed to take a very slight breath. At this time, it is like a sunny day In the scene, the breeze does not move, the water waves do not move, the body and mind, the world and the people, all are content with the standard of "neutralization", let alone the existence of self-body or no-self-body, these ordinary feelings And thoughts, all naturally disappeared without a trace.

In the actual practice of sitting in meditation or cultivating the Tao, if you can really achieve the situation of "three flowers gathering on the top" and "five qi in the Yuan" as mentioned above.Then, the basic work of refining gas can be said to have come to an end.However, this kind of foundation can’t just stop once in a while. It must be “maintaining profit and maintaining prosperity”, which is always the case, and it only counts if it is free to make decisions.If in the process of meditation, one happens to have a similar experience, a blind cat bumps into a dead mouse, and never sees it again, it is not enough.But from then on, if one wants to enter the realm of "refining Qi and transforming spirit", one must combine with the concept of "Tao", which is not just within the scope of meditation.