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The Art of Achieving Immortality
Introduction
Cultivation of the human being according to Dao, in the light of its concept of immortality, is based on the concepts of Yin and Yang or the Art of accumulation and change. The mastering of this knowledge will allow you to create the conditions needed for a transformation or reorganization which originates from the concept of cinnabar.
Cinnabar is the prerequisite for creating specific structures and changes in the energy within the human body, the energy that can free it from its dependency on time. Primary cinnabar is a condition for achieving highly charged cinnabar which is equivalent to the concept of ‘immortal fetus’ (Xian Tai).
Whether you accept the concept of immortality or not is absolutely irrelevant according to contemporary society, since society has learnt to react and not understand, it does not think in terms of acceptance or non-acceptance but rather in terms of reacting. The doctrine of immortality represents a methodological model and this is extremely important. It means that it is a science based on a set of laws and that only through studying these laws you can learn about the concepts of the doctrine.
Most importantly it is an absolutely adequate and accurate doctrine, unalloyed with the heresies and unnecessary metaphysics typically linked to the ignorant and narrow-minded. It has its own continuity and experience that are easily proven through the use of its method. Moreover many of its methods were developed by Zhang Boduan and form the basis of a number of differing Daoist schools. The doctrine of immortality is not based on beliefs but (and this is crucial) mainly on knowledge.
The Art of Achieving Immortality Program
This is a six-month course aimed at creating conditions for achieving The Primary, that which can grow and change. This very Primary is a proof that the human body can give rise to inner transformation and change. The Program is scheduled for 2011.
Terms of Participation in the Program
Certain personal qualities, education and a well-developed, well-focused psychological state are necessary for participating in this program. The price for participation is 10 000 Euro. In case a participant remains unconvinced that achieving immortality is possible he will receive a 70% refund. Cooperation from sponsors and mass-media for this project will be appreciated.
History
There is a mountain in China called Miaoguo where strange people live. There is an island in China inhabited by The Immortal – the Penglai Island. Their life is unique and their destiny - mysterious. They have met Hundun, the emperor of chaos. They know the seven causes leading to immortality:
- correct concentration
- correct nutrition
- correct feeling
- correct breathing
- correct motion
- correct hearing
- correct vision
The way to immortality is in sowing and harvesting the crop manually, a process where one sequence interchanges with another. While doing this, one should take pleasure not so much in the harvest but rather in the process of harvesting which brings about the true results.
It is difficult to indicate the moment when The Way to Immortality began but familiar sources testify that this happened at the time of Huang-di (the Yellow Emperor) who was fascinated by the desire to rule nature and the four seasons. But he knew that in order to rule these one had to understand the nature of one’s own body.
This led to the creation of the Inner Canon which presents the basic knowledge about the body in Daoist alchemy. Immortality in the Dao tradition should not be confused with the concept of longevity though.
The concept of longevity (shou) is not linked to the concept of immortality and often misleads the practitioners in the process of understanding the true tasks of development. For Achieving the State of Immortality (shensian) transformation related to the possibility of compressing time is of crucial importance.
Nine types of immortals
Dao tradition defines nine types of immortals subdivided into three levels: High-rank immortals, Middle-rank immortals and Low-rank immortals.
- High-rank immortals
1. Immortality that leads to complete transformation. These immortals know the Great Heavenly Axis connected to the Polar Star or The Great Bear.
2. Immortality that leads to a partial transformation – in case of necessity to remain linked to the Earth. These immortals live in the Sacred Mountains.
3. Immortals who have transformed yet cannot leave the place of transformation.
- Middle-rank Immortals
4. Immortals who create a mental energy structure of higher rank that can be materialized.
5. Immortals who create a mental energy structure of higher rank that cannot be materialized.
6. Immortals who create a mental energy structure of middle rank that depends on the place of residing.
- Low-rank Immortals
7. A group of bodies of energy which do not possess consciousness yet are capable of complete energy rebirth into higher life forms (human).
8. Not fully grouped bodies of energy which can collectively be reborn as higher life forms (human).
9. Partial bodies of energy that can partially be reborn as higher life forms (human).
Famous Immortals
History has preserved the names of a few people who were considered true Immortals.
Wei Huacun (252-334)
From a very early age Wei Huacun started reading the classical books about Dao, Confucius, etc. She led a quiet life practicing Dao-In and Tu Na (breathing), and taking special herbs. She wanted to devote her life to Dao yet at the age of 24 she was forcefully married.
After giving birth to two children Wei Huacun left her family and devoted her time to reading books and treatises related to the study of inner alchemy. Finally she found guidance and a master in the Huang Ting Canon. After years of practicing Wei Huacun was awarded the title ‘First Patriarch’ of the Shang Qing school (the school of Supreme Clarity).
Sun Bu’er (1119—1182)
Sun Bu’er was first introduced to Dao at the age of fifty. She followed the guidance of Wang Chongyang and spent seven years practicing in solitude and then attained the state of immortality. Thus she found and professed the concepts of Purity and Tranquility that are basic for the Quan Zhen School.
Sun Bu’er’s practices and cultivations became broadly familiar due to the fact that she managed to attain a specific high-rank state in a very short time (seven years) so writings describing her practices – such as Sun Bu’er’s secretes on internal alchemy - have always been extremely popular.
Zhang Sanfeng
This Taoist priest lived during the time of the Yuan and Ming dynasties (12-14 c.). It is believed that he was a descendant of Zhang Tian Shi (The Sacred Zhang Master).
Zhang Sanfeng was always, be it winter, be it summer, dressed in the same thin dirty robe and on rainy days he was seen wearing a garment made of straw. It is said that he sometimes found food just like wild animals, and sometimes he went without food for months.
Zhang Sanfeng could see and foretell people’s future. Once when he stopped at the Jintai Temple in the Shanxi province, he apparently died and then came back to life. All other Daoists then said he was a vessel for the appearance of the spirit of Yang.
He never stayed long in the same place and spent his days wandering around Shanxi, the Wudang and Qingcheng mountains. Nevertheless he sometimes stayed in a small hut in the Wudang mountain where he spent more time than any place else.
In later times Daoism flourished in these places and the emperor of the Ming dynasty spent 30 years building temple complexes and constructing paved roads using 300 000 skilled workers. Several Ming dynasty emperors repeatedly tried to find Zhang Sanfeng but alas, there was not a trace of the Dao priest. |
