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8 Taoist Secrets Of Love

machines have inadvertently become instruments of our own destruction; a tv programmed mind is not a free mind. Too few devote even one second to entering deeply the great current of life hidden within ourselves. Yet all the technological energy is eagerly sought is an apish imitation of the electrifying ecstasies found hidden within the body and mind.

There are positive signs; in Taoist thinking, any excess eventually leads to its opposite. Despite the current mediocrity of most popular culture, there are tremendous forces driving the race into expanded consciousness. It is clear that the reason for the chaotic state of planetary affairs is the revolutionary advance in human consciousness. In simplest terms, hydrogen bombs hover above us only because we are clever enough to conjure them up. Hatred contains the seeds of love. We have created a crisis in order to force a solution demanding that we restore our balance with one another and nature.

Among the most important implications of this soaring up of consciousness is that the ordinary man will be admitted to secrets of life and mind that were formerly reserved for the chosen few. The French scientist Schwaller de Lubicz elucidated this idea: "It is certain that such a revolution in thought . . . is not the result of whim. It is in fact a question of cosmic influence to which the earth, along with everything in it, is subjected. A phase in the gestation of the planetary particle of our solar system is completed

. . . A new period must begin, and this is heralded by seismic movement, climatic changes, and finally, above all, by the spirit that animates man." Not only do troubles press consciousness to evolve, but changing consciousness bursts the constraints of existing order.

I hope that the Taoist practices of cultivating male energy presented here will attain higher perfection when subject to the shock of opposing ideas, scientific study and personal experiment, and the whole race's inventive genius. Today in China, it is formally prohibited to keep secret beneficial practices: one must reveal all knowledge that may improve the general welfare. Henceforth, closely-guarded preparations of medicinal herbs, roots, mineral waters, barks, muds, flowers, gems, venoms, as well as yogic and meditation practices will reach perfection more quickly by serving all.

So the revelation of the Taoist secrets of sex is a contribution

to human culture that may take time to manifest its real influence. Where a few great minds once acted, the full race of human genius must now struggle to save our world from the dangers of its own excess.

CHAPTER 2

WHAT IS "CHI" ENERGY?

"Essence, chi, and spirit are the three jewels of life!'

—Book of Changes and The Unchanging Truth, Master Ni Hua Ching

Taoist cultivation of sexual energy cannot be understood until the Chinese concept of "chi" is clear. Chi, also known as prana, the warm current, Kundalini power, or the electro-magnetic life force, is very difficult to describe because this life energy is invisible and cannot be seen. However, we can feel it. "Chi" is simply the Chinese word for "breath." On the physical level it is the raw air we breathe in and out, revitalizing us and keeping us alive. Our life hangs by this thin thread of breath every second of our lives, and that thread is seemingly empty air.

We transform that raw air by mixing it with other nutrients and refining it into a different kind of energy, one that takes a solid form. It becomes our blood, flesh and bones, but never loses an inner rhythm of pulsation that flows through each cell. Our vital organs—heart, liver, kidney, and glands—in turn refine this energy and send chi power to the higher functions of our brain, thus creating our thoughts, dreams, and emotions. From this emerges the human will to live and die, the power to love and ponder this breathing planet suspended in the vacuum of space. As this "chi"

CHI: ELECTRICITY OF THE HUMAN BODY

Modern scientists are beginning to describe the world in much the same fashion that the ancient Taoists described it—as an interplay of positively (yang) and negatively (yin) charged "chi" energies. Here is a recent description of electricity in Time-Life's science magazine:

"Electricity is almost certainly the most elusive of everyday things: It lives in the walls of our houses, and regulates the lives of our cells. It bolts from the sky as lightning, and sparks from your finger if you touch a metal doorknob after shuffling across the rug. It shapes the structure of matter—making plastic pliable, oil slick, and glue sticky. It runs electric trains and human brains . . . Light is electromagnetic radiation—and that includes everything from visible light to x-rays, microwaves, and radio waves. The magnetism in iron magnets is caused by the spinning of countless electrons twirling in unison, just as the magnetic field of the earth is most probably created by the swirling of electric currents in its molten metal core.

"Your entire body is a giant electric machine: body chemistry (like all chemistry) is based on electrical bonds. It even runs on electricity. The energy you need to see these words comes from the egg you ate for breakfast; the egg got its energy from the corn consumed by the hen; the corn extracted that energy directly from the electromagnetic light of the sun through photosynthesis.

"When you think about it, the universe is positively (and negatively) electrifying. But because of the usually perfect balance between positive and negative forces, most of the electrical power around you is neutralized—and therefore unnervingly invisible, at least in the normal sense . . . Essentially, everything around us is electrically charged empty space."

K. C. COLE,

Discover Magazine, Feb. 1984

What is curious is that even in China today, ordinary people take for granted that the universe is made up of these charged energies. If asked, they would say a garlic has a very hot (chi) energy. It warms the body: therefore the essence of garlic "chi" is hot, or yang. In the early centuries of China, chi was expressed in written Chinese as a blank in the top portion of the Chinese pictogram and as fire in the lower part. This was done so that no "fire"—no single creative energy might be conceived of as defining chi.

Chi pre-existed before everything in the physical world as original chi, or pure energy. This neatly avoided disagreements about the metaphysical nature of original chi (eg. is God good or evil?) and focused attention on its functional manifestation in the ordinary world, as hot yang chi in fresh garlic or weak yin chi in a diseased liver. As a result, Taoist philosophy tends to be very pragmatic and grounded in observation of the natural organic world. Taoist cultivation of chi energy may extend into what may at first glance appear to be impossibly subtle spiritual realms, but it always begins with down-to-earth and in-the-body practices.

DIAGRAM 3

THE ANCIENT CHINESE CHARACTER FOR CHI ENERGY

derived from the root of fire above

and emptiness below to denote its original purity.

HOW DOES "CHING", OR

"SEXUAL ESSENCE" FUNCTION IN HUMANS?

For the Taoists, sexual energy is called "ching," or "essence." It can also be understood as a kind of "human electricity" because like "chi" it is an invisible energy that flows through the body. However in its raw physical form, it is stored in men in their sperm and women in their ovaries. Thus it is a kind of chi energy that has

been transformed by bodily process into a more potent form. It is raw matter distilled into a powerful essence that has the ability to recreate the entire human organism. For men, their sperm power is the essence of their "yang" or male energy.

When you feel sexually aroused, this is your "ching" essence expanding at a phenomenally powerful rate. Your whole being is suddenly charged with new energy, your body fired with passion and your heart transfixed with desire. It's like turning on the light switch. Your entire world of touch and feeling is dramatically changed from night to day within seconds. This happens in men when they feel attracted to a woman because their hundreds of millions of sperm cells begin vibrating and generating a larger field of sexual electro-magnetic energy. It also occurs spontaneously in the springtime. When trees are bursting with sap, man's ching is attuned to the cycles of nature and expands as well. What is the relationship of this sexual "ching" essence and the other types of chi energies that form your life force?

MAJOR PHASES OF CHI ENERGY

The following lists in simplified form some of the major phases of "chi" in humans and their relationship to "ching" essence as well as "shien," or spirit, the highest stage of refinement. These three: chi, ching and shien, are known as the "three treasures" because their proper cultivation leads one to enlightenment.

1.Prenatal Energy: Combines "chi" and "ching" inherited from mother and father, expressed in the gene code and visible as the innate vitality that people have.

2.Breath Energy: Body absorbs cosmic energy from the inhalation and exhalation of air. Those who breathe properly—relaxed, deep breaths to the abdomen—will receive more energy.

3.Food Energy: The purity of chi received from food will depend on quality of diet and ability of body to digest and assimilate nutrients.

4.Meridian Energy: Comes from different types of body cells that produce the energy. It courses through the acupuncture channels linking all the vital organs and glands.

5.Pulsation Energy: The deep rhythm of your body, felt especially in veins and arteries, also seen in biorhythm energy flue-

The goal of Taoists is to cultivate the life energy to the highest level possible, bringing good health and deep fulfillment of the human aspiration for wholeness. The early sages observed the natural process of the raw chi of the universal elements—sun and earth, food and air—being transformed into ching, or sex energy, and in the male stored as sperm. The next step is far more subtle and difficult to observe. The sperm energy is mixed with the chi of the human vital organs and refined into shien, or spirit. In short, sex energy offers a link between our biological and metaphysical identities, between the animal and the divine. Sexual ability gives man the divine power to re-create himself, but it also binds him to his animal body and that of his lover.*

The Taoists believe that you can use any substance or force that exists in the universe to feed the process of cultivating your spirit, and thereby free yourself of the limitations of your animal body. Everything has energy in it, and human consciousness can absorb that energy if it so desires. But some substances are easier for the human body to change into a useable form than others. For example, you can absorb the energy from eating a good hot meal more easily then you can from sitting on the beach under the sun. The solar energy is too raw and too powerful to be easily "digested" by the body. Sunlight will burn you severely if you try to absorb too much. But your body can easily assimilate a plate of food and function for a long time on the calories and nutrients digested.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUNGER AND SEXUAL DESIRE

What is the difference between food and sex as energies that our bodies crave to be fed? Many people confuse the hunger for food and sex as being similar biological desires that are both necessary for survival. Clearly they are connected, as many people feeling sexual frustration turn to food for gratification. An imbalance in

*If you are interested in a fuller elucidation of the working of chi energy in the spiritual realms, read two books by Taoist Master Ni, Hua Ching: "Tao: The Subtle Universal Law" and "The Taoist Inner View of the Universe and the Immortal Realm" (College of Tao, 117 Stonehaven Way, Los Angeles, CA 90049). There are many volumes in Chinese on this subject, but I feel these are the best translations and commentary on the Taoist canon available in English. Ni's translation of the I Ching is preferred over those of western scholars, who don't understand fully the esoteric aspects of these classic texts. His translation is titled "The Book of Changes and The Unchanging Truth."