For those of you who want to cut to the chase I will put this explanation of Taoist Alchemy and

how I succeeded at it first. A more detailed explanation can be found in appendix 1. ENJOY! THE TAOIST ALCHEMY OF 100 DAYS BUILDING THE FOUNDATION MY PREPARATION Diet- I ate no meat but I ate eggs, fish and dairy. Meditation- Emptiness 4 times a day 20min to 1hr until in July I was doing 8-12 hours of meditation a day which included several hours of taiji also. The Firing Process- After having gathered enough qi in the lower dan tien through a good diet, taiji practice and meditation you need to fire it so it moves upwards and transforms into shen. Normally the firing process happens naturally if you have enough desire or if your very young or going through puberty. If your older you will need an outside agent and this has been one of the greatest secrets of alchemy in the east and west. Three things fire the qi and that is pain which means ascetic practices such as selfflagellation, sexual arousal without ejaculation such as is found in Tantra and fasting. Any will work but use sexual stimulation only on days you do the breathwork, fasting should be extreme but dont kill yourself and if your going to use pain then do it every day. Breathwork- Bone breathing with closed eyes lasting 20 minutes once a day and I did this several times a week but not every day. This is done by- inhale 10 times into your belly and focus on pulling qi into your belly on each inhale and storing it on the exhale. Then with an inhale draw the qi from your dan tien to the bones of your left hand. Exhale and visualized compacting the qi all the way into the marrow. Do this same routine in all your bones starting next with your left forearm, upper arm, right hand, right forearm, right upper arm, left foot, left lower leg, left upper leg, right foot, left lower leg, left upper leg, pelvic bone, collar bone, spine, jaw bone and lastly cranium. Then 10 more deep breaths drawing qi into your dan tien and on both the inhale and exhale draw the qi up your spine and into your head to lead it to the pineal gland at the center of the brain. After the last ten breaths you should hold your focus on your pineal with your attention and it should feel like you are reverse gazing. My 100 Days Start: 24April1994 (Full Moon) Practiced the firing and then I practiced bone breathing with breathing energy up my spine and then in meditation and had a powerful vision of interior light. Every time my perineum would begin to pump furiously the interior light would blaze forth before my inner vision. 08June1994 (New Moon) I did the firing process and then the bone breathing. While breathing energy up my spine, the perineum began pumping with pressure/pain was felt in the third eye area. My testicles were also in pain. I was using forced will power to move the energy up the spine. I tried to relax but couldnt. I tried to leave my body several times unsuccessfully. Then I seemed to come out of my forehead. It was like I was like in a little body a couple of inches tall. I could only get out of my forehead up to my waist. 100 Days End: 27July1994 It was incredible. My normal vision was replaced with a new vision. Instead of seeing with my fleshly eyes, I became aware I was seeing from my spiritual center, my soul. This spiritual center within me was the same spiritual center within all things. This Unity filled me with awe and peace. I also seemed to be eternally caught up in the now. I wasnt thinking or feeling anymore. I was just being. Looking at the trees did not reveal leaves and bark. I saw an explosion of light. It began where the seed sprouted originally. The explosions then flowed upwards and downwards. I saw into the earth. It was a

golden hued transparency. The trees were like flowing golden fountains of living light that were continually being born anew every moment. It seemed purely accidental that water and dirt were carried along with the exploding fiery-light. It did not diminish the glory of it in any way though. I thought modern science was absurd because it studies the accidental shadow and not the actual substance. I knew everything from the beginning of time. I saw it all. At the same time I was so peace filled that I did not desire to know anything in particular. With this expanded perspective human understanding of everything, including metaphysics seemed worthless. All the books I had read paled miserably in comparison to this. All the spiritual anguish I had been experiencing for the past few weeks vanished. I felt desireless, completely free and at peace with all. It was as if I woke up and was seeing reality for the first time. I was released from this universe of light after a few minutes. In the beginning....... A note regarding the spelling of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is the American way of spelling Taiji whose full name is Taijiquan. Translating Chinese terms into English according to the Chinese government is the way I have done it throughout, except for the title because this is the way it is most known in the western world. FINDING TAIJI (Tai Chi) On December 12th in 1985 the 101st Airborne Company that I was assigned to was wiped out in a plane crash returning from a mission in the Middle East. I missed this flight because my father had died and I left the mission early. The guilt from surviving left me very disillusioned with life. I sought a spiritual meaning to my pain. The Chaplain taught me how to meditate and I went a little overboard. It was suggested that I practice twenty minutes a day and I practiced for several hours a day instead. After several months of this I began to have out-of-body-experiences. The Chaplain I told revealed he had no idea what was happening to me. I then confided in a Chinese friend. This friend, who was also a Taiwanese national Taiji champion, taught me the basics of Taiji to balance my inner energies. He told me, Taiji uses the breath synchronized with movement to put us in a meditative state of mind. When this is achieved we make contact with the source of energy in us called Qi. Qi is a living energy that fills us and surrounds us. With Taiji we gain greater and greater control over our inner Qi. The more control we have over our inner Qi the more control we gain over the more universal external Qi. This is first noticed as our outer circumstances affect us less, and we can affect them more. We then begin to live more and more in a state of deep inner calm. There is no limit to how far you can develop in Taiji. Chinese ancients often sought enlightened immortality. This is a state that is achieved when your personal Qi perfectly merges with the universal Qi. It is a total transformation and union with the universe that all great religions try to lead us to. Taiji has only thirteen simple physical skills to master. These are eight hand movements and five ways of stepping. With these thirteen simple techniques one may redirect an attack from any direction without harming the attacker. Taiji has no strikes or kicks. There are no grinding holds or chokes. It uses soft to overcome hard, yielding to overcome force, and calmness to overcome aggression. It is the enlightened persons martial art." He started me out with, Alright, feet parallel, weight mostly on the outsides of your feet, bend your knees, tuck your pelvis, straighten your spine, head suspended, arms up in front of your body palms facing each other and relax your shoulders. Now breathe deep into your belly, three fingers below your navel. Focus on your center, relax and sink your weight, slow deep breaths... I thought he was crazy but now I start every

one of my classes the same way. He told me, "I have never met anybody who likes standing meditation, but I am telling you in all sincerity that it will accelerate your learning of Taiji faster than any other training method. Anyway there will come a time when you will find that while you are practicing Taiji you will be moving slower and slower. Your form will look great but you will start to understand that what you have been working on all this time has been your mind. Soon your form will be so slow that movement will barely be seen. Eventually you will just stop all movement and hold the postures individually. Then you will realize that all the postures were contained in that first exercise that you probably learned called Wuji, or embracing the Tree. Taiji is nothing more than a set of training principals that are designed to awaken perfect action in combat situations. While these principles have existed in every culture that has had warfare, it was the Chinese that turned training mystical warriors into an art form. The legendary master of Taijiquan, named Chang San-Feng, is credited with writing the following description of the art he taught. While almost unknown in the West, it is considered scripture within the Chinese Taiji community: In Taijiquan your body should move in smooth waves like a long river. What is Taijiquan? It is Ward Off (sky), Roll Back (ground), Press (river), Push Down (lightening), Split (thunder), Take (wind), Elbow (lake), and Shoulder (mountain). These are the eight energies. The five elements are Step Forward (metal), Step Backward (wood), Step Right (fire), Step Left (water), and Hold To The Center (earth). When these thirteen are combined it is called the original Taiji style. When moving your body, every part should be coordinated correctly. Your internal energy should be focused three fingers below the navel. Seek perfection in your movements. Moving too much or too little and your body will not be coordinated. The feet stick to the ground. Power comes from the legs, is controlled by the waist and extended through the fingers. Power starts from the feet, then goes up the legs through the waist and then out the fingers in one coordinated and perfectly timed wave-like movement. If everything is coordinated then you can move effortlessly in any direction. If not adjust your stance. Memorize the movements to make them instinctual. For every up there is down, go right then left, if you move forward you must go back. Clearly feel light and heavy in your body. This will allow you to sense light and heavy in your opponent. When you can do this, you will easily defeat your opponents. Taiji forms all move from the physical center of the body located about three fingers below the navel. Along with this is keeping the hands and feet, the elbows and knees, and the shoulders and hips all aligned, and it is this that creates a spherical rotation that is the foundation of all Taiji technique. The only thing that changes are the contact points that move steadily closer to the body and the direction of rotation. In the end, any part of the body that makes contact with an attacking force can roll it off itself. What this means is that by just mastering one technique such as the first one called Ward Off, you perfect all the others as well. This is one of the reasons Taiji is called the supreme ultimate martial art. It can actually be mastered in a very short period of time. The old Taiji masters sometimes called Taijiquan; Ward Off style, because of this principle. One of the first things people learn about Taiji is that there are many family styles with the most popular being Yang, Wu, Chen, and Sun. Chen is the oldest and most agree that all modern Taiji comes from the Chen family style. Something even advanced students usually never learn is that all the family styles are based on thirteen techniques. The family styles are hybrid kung-fu schools and although they contain Taiji principles they are not pure Taiji. The long slow forms that Taiji is associated with are very new, less than a hundred years old.

The traditional way of learning was through standing postures and the thirteen movements. It was only after a couple years that the old masters would teach their students to string two or three movements together. This was because Taiji was used mostly as a combat art unlike today where most people learn it for healing and spiritual development, so now the order of learning is reversed. Students now learn the long forms first and then the basics much later, if ever. In order for students to get the full health and spiritual benefits that Taiji has to offer, the instructor must have mastered Taiji enough to use it in self-defense. There is a separate spirit behind each and every one of the thirteen techniques that cant be memorized like math. They must be transferred like heat from teacher to student. Only a fully trained Taiji master can do this. There are two types of martial arts, internal and external. External martial arts like western boxing, wrestling, and karate work on the principle of the stronger, faster and more technically competent you are, the better fighter you are. External fighters always seek to learn more techniques, and get stronger and faster. Internal martial arts like Taiji work on the principles of yielding defeats force and soft overcomes hard. Internal practitioners seek to increase efficiency in movements. We seek to simplify our techniques. Where external fighters are always adding to the number of techniques they have, an internal one seeks to simplify the basics until we are left without techniques at all. From form to formlessness we say. These two martial art types are opposites in many respects. External fighters get better by fighting. Internal players get better through meditative solo practice. What further distinguishes internal arts is that aging Taiji masters get better, while aging external fighters get weaker. LEARNING TAIJI In 1998, one of my first private students was named Carol. In the beginning all I did was drill her in the basics and push hands for an hour three times a week until her 13 techniques looked almost as good as mine. To her credit she practiced every day on her own also. The third month I began to teach her the Beijing 24 Forms. She learned at what I now know to be an average rate. At the end of the third month she learned Brush Knee and Push step on a Friday. On the next Monday she came into the training hall all excited. It seems that on Sunday she went to a concert. While trying to find a bathroom she found herself quite alone. A man approached her from behind and grabbed her arm. She said she understood the danger she was in but she wasnt scared. Instead she told me she turned into her attacker, relaxed and pushed him just like I taught her during push hands practice actually using Brush Knee and Push. The man stumbled backwards and fell. At that point she said a group of people entered the hallway and the man hurriedly left. This story illustrates one of the big Taiji mistakes, which believes that Taiji takes ten or more years to learn to be effective as a self-defense art. This simply is not true. What is true is that Taiji students excel at the rate of their own stage of inner mental and spiritual development. NOTES FROM A TAIJI MASTER The following prose is some of the wisdom I have gained from my Taiji practice. It is my hope that you will find Taiji as fulfilling and transformative as I have. THE ART 1. The power of Taiji comes from truth. Truth flows from the realization of the self-existent, all-pervading, allknowing, and all-powerful living-light force. It is the progenitor of all the forces in the universe. Without it we are nothing. With it we are invincible.

2. Taiji is a practice, not a study it can only be tested in combat against lies, violence, hate and cruelty. Hold no hatred in your heart, cling to truth. Be prepared to die, love life. All things are one within you. 3. You may only master Taiji to the extent that you have mastered yourself. While practicing the how, dont forget the why. 4. Every movement should flow into the next without hesitation. All movement comes from the waist and you entire body is centered there. If your center isnt moving, no part of your body should be moving. When your center moves, everything should be in motion. Clearly sense light and heavy in your own body and you will be able to lead you opponent easily into emptiness. 5. Practice often, when you were first learning you practiced the form to get the physical movements right. If you persisted this was not enough and you learned meditative movements. If you persisted meditative movements also fell short, and you learned to contemplate the movements and from this you discovered stillness in motion. Only contemplation is a bottomless well that you will never outgrow. This is because it is the universes answer to us, and not our questions to it. 6. An old Taiji saying is, Health, Self-defense, and Immortality. This means most people enter Taiji for health, some progress into self-defense and only a few attain the supreme summit and become immortal. Taiji is a very subtle art and it is hard for most to believe that its slow moving graceful movements are good for health. Those farsighted enough to see this, begin its practice for health. Even fewer can understand how Taiji can be good for self-defense when it is so soft, yielding, calm and peaceful. Persevering hard work brings all who practice to the martial level. Direct experience with the eternal itself leads to Taiji for immortality. 7. Look upon the examples of the ancient masters. They practiced their Art all-day and long into the night, with fasting and abstinences. They sought trials and sufferings in their training. They renounced riches, honors, friends and family. Eating and drinking was tiresome to them so consumed were they for the Art. Such as these walk in the Way. The world saw them as poor, but they held inner riches. The world saw them as fools, but only they were enlightened with the light that can never be put out. The ancient masters were strangers to the world because they realized their true home was in the uncreated light. 8. Daily training in Taiji refines your mind and purifies your body. Day by day it allows your inner light to shine brighter. Train sincerely and you will make great progress. Always seek to improve your technique. Maintain mindfulness and body alignment. Keep your spine straight and your hands with your feet, elbows with your knees and your shoulders with your hips. Unify your body with your mind and you will unify your essential being with all things everywhere. 9. Masters can only teach so much; the rest is up to the sincere student. A sincere student with a poor teacher will accomplish more than a poor student with the greatest master. 10. Correct posture and a stable stance indicate the right state of mind. Be calm and at peace. The mind is more important than the body in Taiji, but without the body the mind has nothing to work through. In the beginning practice the moving form to master the physical principles of Taiji, afterwards you will naturally begin motionless form standing to master the mental principles. All things in their own time and place. Dont rush your training.

11. The mind must be set at the Dan Tien, three fingers below the navel. This is the physical center of the body. Where the attention is your chi will follow. Above the dan tien be like water and below be like rock. Your left side is yin, balanced with the yang of your right; these will guide your opponent into the eight directions. Make your foundation with the five elements. 12. The techniques of Taiji are thirteen in number. Five techniques to move the feet they are step forward, step backward, step right, step left and hold to the center. Eight techniques to answer the eight angles of attack. They are ward off, roll back, press, push down, split, take, elbow and shoulder. Follow your opponents to lead them. Surrender to them to gain victory. A paradox often contains more spiritual truth than a statement of fact. 13. Meet the straight with the circle, enter in when your opponent advances. Take their energy and lead it further by the curved path while your mind stays on the point. Breath pulls in and draws universal energy with it, breath goes out and the whole universe becomes one within you. Between the breaths all things are in balance and Taiji happens. 14. Be grateful for harsh trials for they test us. Extreme circumstances such as great wealth and power dont corrupt; they merely reveal and exaggerate what is already in the heart. Guard your heart without making it hard. Love without attachment. Live and learn, perfect your life through your training. Mistakes instruct, maintain peace through them, successes instruct, maintain your peace though them. 15. Your Taiji practice is a reflection of your life. When you can peacefully let your thoughts and feelings flow through your mind without attachment, you are doing very well. When you can recover your calm after being startled you are advancing. When you rarely get startled during practice you are nearing perfection. When what used to startle you now leads you deeper into yourself and deeper into your practice this is perfection. In life this is reflected by not being attached to people or situations. It is in direct proportion to your persistence and calmness in practice that you are persistent and calm in life. If you can keep a tight bridle on your mouth, then you are nearing perfection in living your life. 16. In true Taiji there is no attack, only defense. Let attacks come as they will, and join your energy to theirs. Redirect but cause no harm. Know your opponent, but do not let them know you. When they rise you should appear taller. When they retreat, stick to them. By knowing ourselves we know others and this is the eternal truth. You may only master another through Taiji to the degree that you have mastered yourself. 17. There are no secret techniques in Taiji. Daily training is the only method to mastery. Train continually and the inner light will shine forth from your technique and then from all things for you alone. This is the lesser enlightenment and it is only temporary. The greater enlightenment happens later and this light shines forth from you for others to see. Here more or less, continual conscious union with the source of all life is experienced. What is conscious union with the source of all life everywhere? It is knowing when a fly lands on a tree in a forest on the opposite side of the planet. 18. Master the form until it is formless. Practice until your mind is clear and centered in the void. Centered in the void and you will become the void. Perfectly void you will be impossible to attack. The true master need never defend because there is never an attack. Attacking a master is like punching the wind. 19. Dont listen to those who say that practicing Taiji and following the Way is a waste of time better spent

making money and having fun. They will invite you to all sorts of evils thinking what they propose is good. Do not judge them. Practice Taiji and follow the Way in silence and without reproof. Offer wisdom only to those who ask in sincerity. Correct the arrogant and you will get insulted. Correct the violent and you will get assaulted. Correct the just and they will thank you. Correct the wise and you both will be the wiser. Praise in public, correct in private. 20. Drink deeply the words of wisdom from the past masters of our Art. They werent writing to just pass the time. Seek fellowship only with those who seek to follow the Way as you do, even better if they practice our Art also. 21. It is often said of wealth that quickly gained is quickly lost. It is the same with Taiji. A quickly learned skill or principle is often quickly lost. It is in the slow day-by-day growth that is found the skill that endures long. Learn slowly and digest the teachings that took thousands of years to collect into what we call modern Taiji. 22. How much should you practice? If you are seeking advanced level spirituality you need advanced level training. Think of how long a professional athlete trains every day? Some Olympic athletes train four hours in the morning, two hours around noon and two hours in the evening for years. If little girls and boys can train that much for temporary gain, how much more should we train for eternal gain. 23. The soul is a spark of the divine. Taiji practice fans that spark into a golden flame and it burns in his blood from long meditation and a vision of the golden fire is seen within the belly. The soul then travels through the temple of the body and sees in the spine a light as of illuminated quicksilver. When it enters the brain a terrifying sound like ten thousand thunders is heard. Next the soul enters a showering of red sparks in the center of the brain. When the soul makes its home there it sets the brain on fire. The Pineal flames out into a flaming cross and the ventricles become swirling yin/yang like discs and all around a rainbow. Each light is a purification and empowerment and the process takes many years. Last the master is that golden fire within and without for all to see. Consumed by that flame they set others on fire. You will know them by their students. 24. In regards to seated meditation find a comfortable place, quiet and alone. Calmly breathe deep and slow, relax. Gaze peacefully with your eyes closed, but set your intention towards God. When a thought or feeling intrudes, calmly return to your intention towards God. If it helps, say a simple word like God or Tao, to beat back your thoughts. Do not develop your thoughts, or your thoughts on your word. Just do it and persist every day always at the same time for an hour or more. Some do this and make a great show by demanding that they be left alone or by having many accessories like candles and incense. When you pray do it in secret sincerity or it will be to no effect. This is contemplation and if you persist, it will undoubtedly lead you to a direct experience of the all-powerful living light very soon. 25. The first level is the physical level and the key here is to practice the form until it becomes formless and this formlessness leads to the mental level. Remember to keep you knees bent, pelvis tucked, spine straight, shoulders relaxed, chest hollow, head suspended from the crown, and elbows down. Be very careful of your knees. Never over-extend your knees past your toes, or put your knees on either side of you foot. You will hurt them that way. Always keep you knees centered over the foot. 26. The ancient mystics and masters should not be looked at as abnormal, or as something that you only could become before these modern times. Everything that they did or became is available to us today. What is required is that we choose immortality as absolutely as they did, and to refuse the world as resolutely as they did. Just continually think of your reward in eternity, and the death that all the pleasures of this world leads to.

27. Those who want to find the Supreme Ultimate need discipline. There is no substitute for persistence. Unrelenting, single-minded focus is the only way that you will make progress. Those with two-minds go nowhere. Once unified, trials will come, as if the universe cannot stand to see strength. How often is willpower and courage seen today? How much less do you find compassion? As often as you find them together, you will find a servant of the light. 28. At the end when we look back on our lives our best days will be those when we have given the most, suffered the most, denied ourselves the most, and worked the hardest. 29. Taiji is our living Art, passed down to us from more than six thousand years ago. We should be grateful to those who came before and work hard for those who will follow us. Try to learn too many things and you will learn nothing. To master Taiji make it your sole practice, and practice. Taiji was almost lost until Chang San Feng. Born on April 9th, 1247 he began the study of Taiji in 1314 at the age of 67, under the master Ho Lung and achieved immortality at the age of 85 he is said to have lived over two hundred years more before his ascension. He is considered the greatest teacher of our Art and is honored as the founder of Taijiquan. 30. Tao gave birth to Wuji and from Wuji emanated Yin and Yang. From Yin and Yang came the Three Forces. From the Three Forces comes the Five Elements. From the Five Elements comes the Eight Energies and from the Eight Energies comes the Thirteen Forms. Penetrate to the essence of the Thirteen to find the Eight. Penetrate to the essence of the Eight to find the Five. Penetrate to the essence of the Five to find the Three. Circulate the Three to find Yin and Yang and this leads to the discovery of Taiji. Master Taiji to return to Wu Chi. Entering Wu Chi is the Way. 31. Talk to every Taiji teacher you can find. Read all you can about Taiji. Study the animals and the land, watch the storm cloud and the tree, dance with the river and the ocean, and sing with the universe. All things will lead you to the source, when the source itself calls you. All things will teach you Taiji, when you are ready. THE WAY 32. The Spirit of the unnamable flows through the universe, its source in unfathomable, its destination is unknowable. It has breathed itself within us. As it flows within us also, our source is unfathomable, our destination is unknowable. Therefore, to the degree that we know ourselves, we know the source. To the degree that we have mastered ourselves, we can control the Spirit and everything it flows through. Spirit is at the center of our being. We however are not at the center of Spirit. Spirit may become our friend, never our slave. 33. When following the Way and practicing Taiji, do not look back and do not watch those around you, focus totally on eternity, let the world take care of world. Obstacles are what you see, when you take your eyes off your goal. 34. The microcosmic orbit is the jen mo and the tu mo. Tu mo starts at the base of the spine and runs up the back in a straight line to the pineal gland. The jen mo starts at the pineal gland and runs the return route to the base of the spine on the front of the body. Breathing in move chi through the jen mo, exhaling breath the chi through the tu mo. Reverse gaze on the pineal the whole time. When the energy moves relax and trust. The power to become immortal lies at the base of the spine. Difficult to awaken and even more difficult to control. It magnifies what the heart tries to hide.

35. What value do you place on things of this world? Work your whole life for things that pass away and your life will pass away. Work your entire life for things eternal, and your life will be eternal. Those who seek knowledge add more and more to their minds, and find only madness. Those who seek wisdom seek to simplify and penetrate to the essence of all things; because of this they find truth and peace. 36. The virtue of Taiji is non-violence. Non-violence in a person is in direct proportion to the individuals ability to inflict violence. Do not mistake it for impotence and cowardice. Conventional armies are created for stability, by a societies fear. Guerrilla armies are created for change, by a small groups lust for power. Terrorist armies are created for destruction by the despair of individuals. Non-violent armies are created for peace by the love of life. All things change by cycling through their opposites this is the nature of all things in a dualistic universe. Conventional armies inevitably take control by force of the society that created it and freedom and liberty are lost. Guerilla armies inevitably become that which the initially began to fight against until another guerilla army overthrows it. Terrorist armies destroy themselves and the cause they tried to promote. Violent means will always have a violent end. Only the non-violent soldier stands balanced victorious in the end as in the beginning. The reason there are so few non-violent soldiers is that there is little glory in this world for them. 37. All you need to travel the Way is all you already have. Ultimately there is no excuse. We are all given the same time, Mahatma Gandhi, Hitler, you and I. 38. Act true in all situations and consistently purify yourself of passion. Begin in your own home, and then go into the world. If you cannot remain calm and at peace in your own home stay there until you can. 39. Only the soul contains the truth. Know yourself and you will know the truth. Know yourself through meditation. Meditation is quietly stilling your mind and emotions to achieve a deeper communion with the eternal source that also resides within you but is hidden by the internal noise of a busy mind and tumultuous emotions. That is meditations only purpose. Psychic abilities arise naturally but are never to be sought for themselves. Stress relief, greater calmness and intuition are also side effects of meditation. Seek the source because that is lifes purpose, not for the gifts that flow from it. Human beings should seek the eternal source just as flowers seek the sun and wolves seek prey. 40. There are four levels of mystics. Initiates know the Way, but have not yet walked it very far, usually only until a little after a few visions and some conversion of character. Illuminates have experienced the uncreated light which is the source of life but do not fully understand its mysteries. Adepts know, understand and seek to pass on the mysteries to others. Masters are those who are ascending by grades to one day ascend physically into the higher planes when their tasks are complete. 41. Shortly before the vision of the uncreated light you will feel an almost constant rage inside of you and a terrible separation from the everything. It is horrible. At times there is a terrible brightness when you close your eyes. You will want to cry out in pain and anguish except you cannot. It is always being on the edge of exploding. But you hold it together. The only thing stronger than this trial is your desire for union. But here you only feel your distance from the eternal, not your nearness. 42. The most common internal vision is that of white or golden light that signifies the presence of the eternal source springing up within. The most common external vision is the sight of a beautiful lady in a white robe sometimes holding a chalice. She is the manifestation of all life everywhere created by a communication from the eternal source to us. Do not confuse the communication with the communicator. She is not real. She is only the vision and voice of the real.

43. As great as your Illumination experience was, so will be your Dark Night. They are in direct proportion to each other because it is the illuminating power of the eternal that causes the Dark Night. The Dark Night is the adjustment period of the whole self to a new plane of living in the radiant presence of the divine. The Dark Night is a horror beyond anything else because after once, even for the shortest moment being in the presence of the uncreated light, to be without it is a living hell. Whether you feel a profound sense of imperfection or abandonment, nothing will bring you comfort anymore. Not your Taiji practice or reading, not music or company. All things become tiresome and what once was easy, now is torture. All this to the end of perfect abandonment to the Way. 44. A clear conscience is the testimony of the just and it brings great peace and strength of purpose. Always do what is right according to your conscience. Never allow an evil to pass unhindered. Stand against it with all your might, and be willing to die. Such a death ensures eventual victory no matter how it appears in the present. 45. Following the Way is not about following a set of rules. Perfecting Taiji is not about practicing Taiji. They are both interdependent upon each other. This is where many silly mistakes are made. Rules are only for building character and discipline, but this is required for gaining a fully formed conscience. A properly formed conscience and a well-developed intuition will lead you to the Way and keep you from straying too far. In all truth it is this that is the sole prerequisite. Many teaching Taiji and the Way forget this. 46. There is an illusion that things other than the eternal uncreated light can make us happy. Self-discipline, practice at set times, charity and detachment, help us to lead a life that brings us to self-knowledge. We can never merit the gifts that flow from the eternal. But we can prepare ourselves for those gifts by learning selfcontrol. Obedience to our inner light and taking lifes trials with a spirit of thankfulness without complaining is a sure and safe way to discipline the flesh and increase our moral virtues. 47. If you lack the ability to defend another with non-violent actions, then use violence with extreme discretion. If you cannot even use violence you are a coward and a burden to your family and society. 48. Violence guards the material. Non-violence will protect your soul. Which is greater? Execution of prisoners is also to be avoided. Nobody is beyond the power of divine redemption. Execution is a crime against humanity and the divine. 49. How do you overcome hate, anger and the passions within yourself? Dont develop them and they will die from disuse. Seek to be calm and at peace in all things. 50. The Way has existed since the beginning of time and it is eternal. Every desire is an obstacle to the Way. Every thought is an obstacle to the Way. Every sensation is an obstacle to the Way. Free yourself from desire, thoughts and sense impressions and you will realize the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth leads to complete liberation. 51. A person does not choose to be non-violent. Non-violence flows like a force from the realization of the unity of all through the uncreated light. Non-violence is not a means to an end. Non-violence is the end. 52. By seeking justice and truth for our neighbor, we find it for ourselves. The spiritual life of one person cannot

be separated from the whole collective spirit of humanity. 53. Have patience and get rid of your habitual craving and the other animal impulses such anger, fear, attraction and aversion, ego and passion, will fall away naturally. People crave strange foods and drinks thinking that this is natural, it is not. Craving comes from imbalances in nutrition and living in a chaotic environment. 54. Any society that undertakes violent actions is a society that is based on the lie that all people are separate from each other instead of the truth that all people are one through the all embracing living light. Such a society is doomed to destroy itself. 55. The realization of the oneness of all life should be the primary aim in the life of everyone, and to know, love and serve the One is the sole purpose of all life. We may ask is God and the all powerful, all knowing, all embracing living-light, the same thing. It must be understood that the creator of the universe transcends all understanding and description. Often we refer to an aspect of the divine as being God, but God is beyond all comprehension so all questions such as Is this God? are nonsense and to be avoided. Seek instead to serve with humility than to know from curiosity or to love from self-interest. 56. Redemption is the greatest gift of the spirit. The irreversibility of evil is the greatest lie. Anyone, no matter what the crime, may be redeemed. Everything is possible for the eternal, all-knowing, all-loving, allpowerful, and all-embracing living light. True freedom rests in both the tyrant and the tyrannized being liberated. 57. To walk in the Way is to walk in the light, all other paths lead into eternal darkness. Profound talk doesnt make you good, only an upright life. I would rather be humble than to understand all things on earth. Withdraw yourself from worldly ambitions and know peace. A pure, simple, humble spirit knows peace and is enlightened with understanding and wisdom that is eternal. Day by day overcome yourself and know yourself to be little in the eyes of the universe. Long suffering peace is with the humble. 58. Your every action can become perfect. It is a pure and simple intent without seeking personal gain in any form that is the secret to this. Perfection in this life is possible. Often those who feel the weakest and farthest from the eternal source of all life are actually the closest to it. 59. Bathe yourself daily in the life giving presence of the eternal truth. In this greatest mystery many have found healing and immortality. As often as you are drawn above yourself by the life giving stream, the more light you will bring into yourself and the world. Communion with the uncreated light transfigures from within and transforms everything without. This transcends all understanding. 60. All life in all its forms is sacred and should be protected. With regards to our eating animals, everyone should follow his or her own conscience. It is best to refrain from eating animals but how many of us can eat only fruits and vegetables that harvesting didnt kill or damage the plant in any way. There is always some harm caused, so we who eat meat should seek greater service to all life everywhere. 61. Extremes on the spiritual paths are to be avoided. That is why obedience to a qualified spiritual master is to be desired. A man who is his own spiritual advisor has a fool for a spiritual advisor. On the right hand path love is the way. On the left hand path willpower is the way. Both are dead ends. Taken to extremes love destroys others and will destroy the self. The middle path is the path of humble service and a balance of love and will.

62. Hatred can be overcome by love because all are one. All respond to love because at our core we are love. Not realizing this, the individual separates themselves from their source, and they create unhappiness, anger and fear. Realizing this we respond to acts of hate with love, not violence. Quit fearing for your own safety, and truly love. Be prepared to die for love. Love for your neighbor is the only cause worth dying for. Not dying for love of your neighbor is a crime against the source of all life everywhere. Love is a duty, not a choice. 63. Unkind words, sabotage, speaking ill of others even if true are all forms of violence. Those who remain silent are often considered the wisest among us. Avoid idleness. Plant a garden and nurture your nature. 64. Taiji at its core is peaceful and nonviolent. It seems to me a natural vehicle through which to attain world peace. World peace is my life goal. Before that my entire life purpose was to achieve the vision of the divine. Once I achieved the vision, world peace became my mission. How could it be any different? 65. There was a prison camp filled with many people from a long forgotten war. In a nearby village a saint noticed the dirty water they were drinking and sold everything he owned to provide them with clean water. Upon seeing the example of the water giver a second saint saw how hungry the inmates were and sold everything he owned and bought them food. A third saint noticed how cold they were and sold everything he owned and bought them all blankets. Finally a mystic came along, stole the jail keys and freed all the prisoners in the night. 66. Absolute purity is needed for the vision of the uncreated light because the uncreated light is absolutely pure. It is impossible for us to attain such purity through our own efforts so the living light itself draws us nearer to it. This is the way it has always been. The source calls to us, we answer. The first purification is of the senses and is done through our own effort in cooperation with our inner light. We eliminate that in our life that is not in accordance with the eternal. The second purification is of the spirit when the vision of the uncreated, eternal, living-light purges all that is mortal from us from within. It is often called the dark night of the soul. 67. The search for the source of all is a search that takes place within you. There is no need to seek out far away shrines and famous teachers. Generations of spiritual seekers have been told this but few listen. Those who do seek the divine within will find the divine everywhere. 68. Avoid pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, sloth and avarice. These things weaken your character and drain away your power. It is in personal self-control that true power and fulfillment is found, not in giving it to the easier path of self-gratification. As humans we are one half human and one half divine. Through perseverance and hard work we can become wholly either. 69. What is gained by violence can be lost through violence. Seek those things that are eternal and cannot be stolen away or destroyed. What is gained by nonviolence may seem long in coming but its effects on the world and yourself are eternal. 70. If you stand idly by as your enemy is done to death you are no friend to the source of life. The spirit offers redemption to all and to get in the way of the spirits gifts to others is to stand against the spirit. That which stands against the spirit may die spiritually just like those who stand against physical things may die physically.

71. The Dark Night is not emotional depression, neither is it the way we feel because trials often find us. The Dark Night is what we experience after the vision of uncreated eternal light, when it is removed from us and we must rely on our own lights again. It is then that we realize how dark and lowly we really are without it. In the Dark Nights, this light still shines brightly in us, but our spiritual sight is blinded by it and we grope around blindly, as it strips us of all that is not in accordance with its eternal nature. 72. Once you gain the vision of the unity of all things, the physical world and your perishable body lose value. You realize all value rests in things divine and eternal and in doing the will of that which you have just seen. When serving do not be so arrogant to think that you will have all of your physical needs taken care of now. The universe says, I will give you food or I will give you the strength to endure hunger, either way you will receive what I deem best to conform you to better serve my will. 73. Clear discrimination is needed on this path. Those who hear of a miracle in a far off place and believe in it are just as blind as those who hear and automatically disbelieve. Take nothing at face value. Realize that all things conspire to deepen your awareness of the divine presence in your life. 74. Pride is death to those who follow the Way. Seek to place yourself in the lowest places in society. Never seek leadership or to be first in any way. The surest path to advance in the Way is with the humble and the poor. Many poor and humble never having heard of the Way follow it more perfectly than you ever will. 75. Take total personal responsibility for everything that happens around you. This will give you greater power in dealing with those circumstances that at first seem out of your control. Looking within should be your first response to evils. In the end you will be held responsible for everything. It is every persons responsibility to seek perfection. Because we fall short through our own weakness, we are at fault when our neighbor is in trouble. 76. Woe to those who seeking to set their souls free of the flesh, practice unclean methods and instead loose Leviathan because of their attachment to the flesh. Then their minds become inflamed with desires set free, and they begin to think themselves Gods. You see them in the cult leader who forbids marriage but has many wives. There are two ways to get close to God. We can imitate or emulate. Imitate and you obey. Emulate and you think there is no higher being than your self. God may be at the center of our being, but what is right for God is not right for us. The more we humble ourselves the more God deifies us. Why do so few gain a vision of God? It is because nobody wants to stoop so low to see Him. 77. Wise men say, Love the sinner, but hate the sin. Forgiving the sin another commits against us is our duty. But forgetting the crime is not. The sin and the crime are different things. Mercy is strength. The more mercy a person shows, the stronger that person is. Never let yourself think mercy is a weakness. Charity is the foundation of all these things. 78. Most men seek women first, next gold and then at the end of their lives if there is still time they try to store something up for eternity. I bless the tragedy of my youth that caused me to seek God early because I found Him. An ancient Chinese proverb says, If you do not seek God in the springtime of your life, you will not find Him in the wintertime. 79. The living light flees deceit and anger and tests those it deigns to use as vessels of change. The living light is found in faith and integrity. It is this living light that chastises the conscience, but it does not force its will.

In those who do not heed its gentle counsel, it leaves. This is the Way and in the time of vindication the souls that persevere will shine forth as beacons to lead others to the uncreated light. 80. All truth comes from the eternal, uncreated, living light. All untruths come from the temporal, created, passing world. This world is not evil in and of itself; rather it has just become an uncaring prison. Now usurped, there was a time long ago when it was a garden of untold delights and one day it will be again when enough people awake and see. Then there will be a general uprising against the forces that imprison us. Then paradise will return on earth. 81. It is only death that can free the soul from the bonds of the flesh. Deep meditation correctly practiced leads to death. Each dying last longer and longer. The heart stops and the soul is set free to fly to God and immerse itself in the living light that is the presence of God. This happens in gradual stages. First you are a bodiless ghost, roaming unseen. Then you pass through the tunnel into the lights of your inner being until you stand before the eternal source itself. 82. Practicing moral virtue weakens the ego and strengthens the will. Practicing immoral behavior strengthens the ego and weakens the will. This is the difference between a spiritual awakening and a psychotic breakdown. With an up rush of psychic energy from the soul the immoral person will see the walls are breathing and watching him. He will feel fear and sometimes become dangerous. The moral person will experience the same thing but will see the walls and indeed the entire universe breathing with him and experience an all-pervading consciousness. The difference is the ego. 83. We are born with a physical body created by the yin and yang of our parents we cultivate it with Taiji to create another body created by the yin and yang within us. This body is like a ghost and cannot interact with the physical world. This body is yin and it combines with the yang of the universe to create the body of immortality. The body then created is yang and can interact with the physical and be seen. This is the essence of the Art. 84. Touch no weapons and allow no violence to enter your heart. Remain modest and quench your passion. It is a hard path, but a holy one to eschew violence and lust. Some say nonviolence and purity is all good and well for holy men not really living in the world but for us real men violence and sex is common and uncontrollable and with this try to convince themselves that they are right and good. This attitude perpetuates all sorts of crimes against men and women. There is no middle ground in this. Only the peaceful and the pure may enter into that which is ultimate peace and purity. The unity of the uncreated light allows no darkness or duality to enter into it. 85. Seek eternity first and once attained the entire universe will be yours. Immortal, you will walk through the world and it will not restrain you. Immortal, you will live in the world but your home will be in the uncreated light. The uncreated light surrounds, fills and holds all things and events together. For the immortal it is an ever-present reality. For the common man all this sounds like foolishness. 86. The living light creates and supports us every moment. We are continually being re-created out of nothing. If it ceased to make us for a single moment we would cease to be forever. When we become one with the uncreated light we find that if we raise our awareness of a thing to it, it passes through nothing and in that nothing it becomes nothing and there we may change it into anything. 87. This entire book is about ascension. Ascension is the rising physically into the heavenly city sometimes called Shambala or the New Jerusalem. It is done in full consciousness and through the power of the all

powerful, living light. There are many inhabitants in that city. Some are very ancient. In that city the light is the light of the eternal source and there are no shadows there. It is a white city with a white throne at its center. Four rivers flow from the throne and twelve gates surround it. Here are the heavenly academys of the highest spiritual teachings. Only those who have come down from this city, may return to it, in this is a great mystery that I am not allowed to explain. 88. Those on the spiritual path generally mistake their place in it. Beginners often have a couple awakenings, or visions of light and take on disciples and call themselves a master. Adepts have a better view of their place and but will often overextend themselves working in the world and easily backslide. How do you recognize a master? They avoid disciples as a deadly trap, and they put themselves in the lowest places. 89. Three in one man, body, mind, and spirit. Three stages in the realization of Spirit, sense, communicate, and cooperate. Three conversions preceded by three dark nights each to purify and then transform each part of man. Ecstasy, rapture and ascension. Poverty, chastity and obedience. Three kinds of people, actives, contemplatives, and mystics. Three kinds of mystics, Heart, Mind and Power and three subsets of each. To actives, divinity is the transcendent. To contemplatives, divinity is a lover. To mystics, divinity is within. All are right and one path is not higher than another. 90. There is an eternal order of workers in the service of the light who fight in the war against the darkness. The disciples of which wear black robes, the adepts wear red robes, and the masters wear white robes. This is reflected in the worlds great religions and hinted at in countless mythologies. As above, so below. Two in this world, and two in the spirit world always perform initiation into this order. Ascend the mountain. Walk through the black and white pillars. Overcome your personal demon through love to gain the red robe. The white robe is gained with ascension when you enter the hidden academys of the immortal masters and learn things that cannot be put down on paper. Ascension is the beginning of your true learning, not the end. 91. When you feel neither sadness nor joy, when you no longer have habitual desires, when you no longer have likes or dislikes, when you are no longer attached to situations. Then you are ready for enlightenment because you have attained inner purity. 92. Masters practice the Art and follow the Way. The Way can be followed by anybody. Everyone who lives in simplicity and non-violence, seeking Truth with all their being lives in the Way. The Art is discovered by very few. Some have even corrupted it and turned it into the many dark arts. Masters are one in a million. 93. After a vision or an awakening it is best to keep silent about it for a week. The rush of knowledge and energy from the divine is intoxicating and the mind will easily fool itself with false things. At first the revealed knowledge will be true and exact, but when we try to force things it easily distorts through the lens of our ego. Our hopes and fears feed it and our faith forms it, but once the floodgates of the collective unconscious are opened all sorts of garbage can be released. At most tell your spiritual advisor, but absolutely nobody else until a week has passed. 94. The one true comfort I have had all these years is that I saw that everything that has happened, everything that is happening, and everything that is going to happen is exactly how it should be according to the living and loving uncreated light. I saw reflected in the uncreated light that everything is going to be alright in the end. 95. A single person with a vision began all great changes in the world. All great movements are the extension of the will of single individuals. Great leaders build up those who follow, weak leaders tear down their followers. Watch what happens when the leader dies to see what kind of leader they were. Spiritual leaders

who are also mystics have the potential to do the most good, and the most harm. There is an old Hindu saying, Mystics who fall, are the worst monsters of all. Remember always point the way to the divine, and not to yourself. 96. During the inner union (rapture-samadhi) with the eternal light, the outward senses of sight, hearing and touch fade like you are entering a tunnel. Next an incredible inhale begins. This is the source of the gale force wind sound. Instead of an expanding abdomen with the intake of air, the abdomen is sucked in and the perineum pumps furiously. The tongue curls impossibly far back in the mouth to touch the palate. Tingling vibrations fill the body as a powerful current of what feels like electricity and passes up the spine. Extreme vertigo, and in the beginning sometimes fear, then the feeling of being on the edge of a precipice follows when the current enters the head. Sensations of a headlong high-speed flight erupt. After a short time the feeling of movement stops and brilliant light radiates before your inner eye. As long as you can remain calm, non-thinking, non-feeling and unattached to the sensations, it lasts. 97. Everybody experience the same things in the same way on their mystical journey. Natural born lovers will call these experiences sweet, delectable, and use many other terms of affectionate endearment. These mystics will report differently than say an ex-soldier, who might actually feel uncomfortable reading anything that refers to God as a lover. These other mystics feel God to be more of an internal power. Of course both are right, God manifests to our souls and this causes accidental impressions on our physical senses and our senses are governed according to our temperaments. 98. Do you really want to ascend? Practice Taiji four or more hours a day. Dont eat meat, dont have sex, and dont get angry. Give away all your possessions except what you need to stay alive and hold your job if you must. No TV, video games, phone calls, radio or newspapers. Engage in volunteer work at least one day a week. When you can let go of everything that holds you to this world there will be nothing to hold you back from ascension. No, it is not a mental attitude. No, great love does not make up for your faults. No, you cannot have sex or possessions and say they do not have a hold on you. This is the path of total commitment or no commitment. Quit wasting time and LET GO! A FINAL NOTE ON MYSTICISM A young novice once reverently asked his wise old abbot how long it would take until he was one with God. The abbot said, Follow me. The abbot led the young novice over to the large baptismal font and told him to look into it. Curious, the novice bent over and peered into the clear, calm water. Whereupon the abbot grabbed his head and shoved it under water. After a time the abbot let go and the novice straitened up and gasped for air looking very distraught. The abbot calmly stated, When you desire God as much as you were just desiring air, you will become one with God. Appendix 1 Requirements: There are requirements to Taoist Alchemy. Already I was an intermittent vegetarian but now because the Alchemy required it, I decided to rid meat from my diet, forever. Next, and much more difficult was sexual abstinence. The sperm, which is actualized positive psychic energy, must be retained at all cost. That means no sex or masturbation. Taoist Alchemists say it is the sexual fluid that is transformed internally through movement syncronized with the breathing into a mystical force called Chi, or nowadays, Bioelectricity. Everyone has Bioelectricity. But, the more sexual energy you retain the more internal power you will be able to generate. Wanting to retain Vital Essence, the sperm, must be so overwhelming that even so called wet dreams cease. If you are unable to control it as in some meditations, tighten up the anal muscles, push the hips

back and hold your breath. This is called the Root Lock, Mul Bhand, or the Bindu Lock in Kundalini Yoga. When in meditation or sleep an erection occurs this means that your life force is rising but it finds the easiest path of release out and down through the penis. It is the breathing exercises that make the spine the path of least resistance. The sperm must be led in and up the spine. This initiates all kundalini risings. Preperatory filling up with good qi: The best way to transform sexual energy into Bioelectricity is by practicing Taiji. Im sure everyone has heard of it by now. For internal power the fighting aspects may be ignored. If there are no available teachers in your area you may practice Mindful Walking. Choose a clean air area. A forest is best. Just walk at a slow pace. When practicing tuck your buttocks in and feel as though the crown of your head is suspended by a hook. Relax the shoulders and sink the chest. Focus and breath deep and slowly into your lower belly. Step like a cat, smoothly and carefully. Remember to breath and focus on your lower belly. You must retain your focus here the entire time you practice Taiji walking. About 1.5 inches below your belly button is your center of balance and power. Every chance you get during the day focus and breathe here. I was told this must become a daily practice of at least an hour. That you will get out of it what you put into it. There is a heating that happens. It seems as though it is actually sperm that is being heated and the steam is the internal power. This internal power is stored here in the lower belly. When your belly is full of this energy it will then permeate your body through the blood. It is felt strongest on the exhale. You will feel it first at an injury an old one if you have one. It may be painful at first. Most practice a lifetime and never feel their own internal power. When my attention wandered I would just gently bring it back to my centerpoint. After much practice the feeling of having a body faded. It felt as though I was just a pure mind. Bone Breathing: As for the breathwork as I practiced it. I began in a lying position. Next, I would breathe deeply into my lower abdomen with full attention focussed there for several breaths. Then on the inhale I shifted my attention to the bones in my left hand and would feel my life energy concentrate into the bone marrow of my hand. During the exhale the energy seemed to move from my lower abdomen to my hand. I did the same procedure on my forearm bones and upper arm bones followed by the other arm bones in the same sequence then my left and right legs bones in their divisions feet first. Then I did the spine and skull. Lastly, I breathed the fluid energy evenly as possible into all the limbs at once and tried to maintain evenness of the flowing. At this point I brought the fluid energy strait up my spine and into my brain as I gazed with closed eyes slightly upraised into the point slightly up and between my eyebrows. After which I would not move for at least an hour focusing on the forehead point. This was supposed to cause a total reversal in the way energy flows in the body according to Taiji theory. When a man stops fighting nature and ceases to have sex and masterbate he falls into a cycle of monthly emmissions that directly coincides with a womans natural lunar following menstral cycle. What is happening is the positive psychic force is leaking away every month down and out through the sexual organs as seminal and in women, menstral fluid. This is a flow down and out. For the common person this is the path of least resistance. What must be done is the path of least resistance must be changed. From down and out the sexual organ, to up and in the spinal column. This is

commonly called Kundalini Rising. It is meditation that allows us to conserve our psychic energy and keep it within our bodies. Our psychic energy follows our attention. Normally our attention flows continually outward with seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling. Meditation turns our attention inward and keeps our lifeforce from being wasted. Breathwork clears a channel up the spine for the psychic force to travel up through it. It does this because our breathing fills us with another type of much more manipulative psychic energy. This more universal type of psychic energy is also taken within through eating and drinking. This universal psychic energy can be manipulated with the breath. It is this which makes the breathwork effective. One is not stronger or better than the other. The personal psychic energy that we are born with is the divine spark and the coiled serpent of Kundalini. This energy is God imminent, so to speak. The universal psychic energy which we inhale and consume with our eating and drinking is God transcendent, so to speak. This whole process gradually removes the obstructions, that we have built from birth that lie between our personal psychic energy and the universal psychic energy. When this is accomplished we become beings of pure energy. Completely spiritualized and immortal. It is common knowledge now that we are surrounded by a bioelectric field. In fact all living things create such fields. What is not common knowledge is that this field of energy can be manipulated with concentrative thought and breathing. Another little known fact is that our bones are semi-conductors. Which means if you pass enough electric current through them, they will become conductors. This is what this breathwork does. It concentrates a bioelectric current of energy through the bone transforming it from semi-conductivity into a true conductor of electricity. When they have been transformed then the bones not only conduct electicity but act as capacitors. This increases the bioelectric charge to levels that can be felt by the self and others. It is a process the Chinese Taoists called bone switching. Sometimes this will take on a life of its own. One time I remember lying in bed and it felt like the pit of my gut was putting out high voltage pulses of electicity. The pulses were so powerful that when the power surged into my arms and legs they would cunvulse and jump off the bed. I had no control and it was a little painful. Emptiness Meditation After the vision of internal light I began the practice of emptiness meditation (contemplative meditation) of a book called THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING daily for almost three weeks, morning and night I felt an almost constant rage inside of me. I felt terrible seperation from the universe and not the oneness. It was horrible. The inner pain was unbearable. The only thing I did different than what the book said to do was stand in meditation instead of sit. I would pick a Taiji posture and just hold it. I started doing this on my own because as I practiced the form I started going slower and slower. Then one day I just started holding the postures as a standing contemplative meditation before I even heard this is a fundamental part of Taiji training. As an over simplification, I had the two types of meditation described to me this way. Imagine a wall covered with dots. Concentrative meditation focuses on only one dot to the exclusion of all else. This type of meditation leads to Samadhi, which is the unification of the knower and the known. Contemplative meditation seeks to gaze equally upon all the dots. This type of meditation opens us to Satori, which is a glimpse behind the material universe at the glory of the spirit. Focusing on the forehead is concentrative meditation. This is to be practiced solely when the aim is to raise the Kundalini. The main time for this is when you start the practice of meditation and are seeking to open yourself to being called back to your source.

Holding oneself calmly centered in passive awareness is contemplative meditation. This is most useful and should be practiced after the experience of the Kundalini pushing out of the forehead or completed samadhi. Which is the inner experience of flying through a tunnel and emerging into a great light. Before this you just dont have the level of awareness, or needed to actually be doing anything other than taking up space when you should be in contemplative meditation.