MEDITATION (I): THEORY

ALCHEMIC TRANSFORMATION IN MEDITATION

(Foreword: This is meant to be a practical hand book to meditation which explains some basic ideas and detailed instruction of meditation. The first part offers a general introduction to meditation through the comparison between chakra meditation in the Hinduism tradition and the internal breathing meditation in the ancient Chinese Taoist tradition. The second part focuses on the detailed steps of meditation. The forthcoming third part will extend the focus of discussion to the third eye and the spirituality. Thank you for your reading. —— September 2018 updated)

ALCHEMY IN DISGUISE

Although alchemy has long been heralded as the prototype of modern chemistry, its science-proved errors have never been able to dismantle its mystic shroud. However, the oriental tradition of spirituality still retain evidences that this encrypted esotericism is closely related to the practice of meditation. In addition to that, the parallelism between alchemy and meditation may even imply the fact that the latter anteceded the former. If we pursue this further, we may even conclude that that alchemy had long served as encrypted knowledge for meditation before it was taken away from the encrypted context with its misinterpretation being materialized in a pseudo science. Nevertheless, at a time when meditation is becoming more and more prevalent a practice in our highly industrialized world, it is inspiring that the decrypted context of alchemy may feed back to its original source and provide more in-depth insights to restore those still veiled elements of meditation.

DECRYPTED ALCHEMY AND MEDITATION

In terms of physics, alchemy is a process of transformation to convert gross heavy metals, such as lead, into higher noble metal like gold. In terms of spirituality, alchemy is the self-transformation in ascension to higher consciousness in the light of divinity. But how? Let’s bring it back to the context of meditation.

The encryption comes from a very familiar activity in the household—a very common event in every culture—cooking. Cooking by fire is the analogy that alchemy draws for its encryption. The base elements or food materials were put in a cauldron or any similar container to be cooked or heated and turned into something beneficial. There is also such a cauldron inside our body. It is in the lower abdomen called the “elixir field”—dan(丹)-tian(田). The stove that the alchemist uses is called the stove of “dan.” It is generally believed that its location is three-finger wide below and two-finger deep behind the belly button, approximately in the lower abdomen between the belly button and the kidneys. This is the base of alchemy and meditation (also aliased as “internal alchemy” in Taoist tradition). In either Indian or Chinese tradition, meditation is basically practiced in the sitting position with two legs crossed in imitation of wood piled under the stove/cauldron to stabilize it for heating. That’s why it is usually advised to sit 1.5 to 2 inches from the ground surface to ensure the “wood piles” are placed lower than the bottom of the stove/cauldron. Otherwise, the seed of (kundalini) flame would be buried under and muffled by the wood logs (legs). It is more than coincidental that both the chakra theory and the Taoist tradition associate this base area of root chakra/lower dan-tian with the color of red. The seven chakras start from the red chakra at the base with each of the higher chakras corresponding respectively to the other colors of the rainbow. In addition to its reference to the cinnabar ball of elixir, the denotation of dan in Chinese is also red color. It’s quite a natural phenomenon that fire is always assigned the color of redness. The other coincidence is that both traditions portray this base as four-partitioned—four petals in the case of chakra image and four squares in the hieroglyphic character of tian, 田 (field). However, the differentiation between these two traditions spreads out also from here.

While in the Hinduist tradition, the seven chakras align along the central channel (sushumna), going up from the base chakra to the crown chakra approximately along the spine, the Chinese Taoist meditation practice envisions two channels forming a circle, the ren channel and the du channel, both of which are actually connected instead of two independent channels. The ren channel, or “following channel,” goes down from the nose along the chest and abdomen to the bottom. It pretty much follow the path of our deep breath. The du channel, or “governing channel,” starts from where the ren channel stops and goes up in our back along the spine to the top of our head, and then descends to the nose, where air enters our body, making a full cycle of the flow of qi or prana, the refined energy. Ostensibly, these two versions of the energy path have quite big differences, such as the one being a process of rising while the other of a circle. In actuality, they are just two templates for the one and the same human physical body. The ultimate function and goal of both are pretty much the same in the end—to cook the base elements inside our body and transform them into the highest form of energy for our existence.

CHAKRA TEMPLATE AND INTERNAL BREATHING TEMPLATE

Internal Breathing Meditation: It’s easy to map out the template by tracing the route of breathing because it is the most basic activity of life in everyone. The Chinese character of ren means “follow.” In the channel of ren, we just let it follow where the air, or qi, goes in breathing. When it goes down to the nadir and rises along the du channel, you start to govern it and guide it along the spine until it reach the zenith. The advantage of the Taoist internal breathing template goes further that once this so-called “micro-celestial cycle” is achieved, it can further connect to the 12 ordinary meridians, each of which spreads out along its own route to channel the energy to congruent organs and systems inside our body, with many portals (acu-points) along its route. These portals work like micro-chakras as a nexus subject to the energy from within and without the body. If they are blocked, the energy flow will be weakened or disrupted and the biological functions in correspond to the congruent organs or systems will be impaired. In addition to these 12 involuntary and physically-oriented circulation meridians, the Taoist template also envisages 8 extraordinary channels which are voluntary and controllable energy routes and are spiritually oriented. In addition to the ren channel and du channel, there is also the central channel, the 4 limb channels as well as the belt channel. The micro-celestial cycle can be extended to these six extraordinary channels and achieve some other auxiliary spiritual capabilities. For example, the right and left foot channels may activate the sole portals called “fountain gurgle acu-point,” which may pulsate when stepping on energy-charged spots, and connect them all the way to the crown portal allowing the energy to come through from the roof of the head and exit from the soles. The portal in the center of the palm, called “labor-chamber acu-point,” also does the same work as the foot sole portals. The palm center can also work like scanner to sense and evaluate energy fields. In addition to the palms, the ten finger tips, “ten outlet” acu-points, can also be used as energy transmitters. The energy beam thus transmitted can be as concentrated as laser beams and visible even to naked eyes. The mudra (hand gesture) actually provides a template for the energy field of the hand and fingers to perform a particular energy function.That’s why in standard meditation, either the chakra meditation or the Taoist internal breathing meditation, hands and fingers are joined and legs crossed so that the inner energy may flow in closed circulations within the body instead of leaking out from these hand and foot portals. The complete circulation throughout this framework which is mapped out by the channels and meridians is called the “macro-celestial cycle,” which is believed to culminate in immortality, i.e. the elixir (dan) for immortality.

Chakra Meditation: At first look, the internal breathing meditation is very quite different from chakra meditation, for the template of chakra meditation seems relatively simple and postulates seven energy centers or nexuses along the central channel, each of which corresponds not only to the biological functions of certain anatomical organs and endocrine systems in reciprocal area but also to the psychosomatic development in progressive phases. In general, the chakra meditation follows the alignment of the seven chakras along the central channel. Each of the seven chakras corresponds to a phase of psychological development and some physical functions. The first energy nexus is the root of existence. Its corresponding psychosomatic function is the survival and preservation of the existence itself. If the energy field in this chakra is weak or too strong, the person will show no will or unaggressive will to fight for the basic need of survival. The second chakra corresponds to a person’s growth of emotional self. After the safety of existence is secured, emotional desires flow out in positive or negative proportion to the relationship with the object of desires. Weak energy field in this chakra is manifested in dependency or inability to establish relationships, while overly strong energy field may lead to impulsiveness and ignorant passions regardless of the feeling of the other people involved. The energy field of solar plexus witnesses the rise of reason (the solar power of the sun) in the horizon of ocean of emotions. Weak energy in this chakra features low-confidence and indecision, while immoderate energy leads to control freaks and self-centered mentality. While the intellectual ego is fully developed in the solar chakra, both the existential ego in the root chakra and the emotional ego in the second chakra are suppressed below the horizon into the ocean of subconsciousness and unconsciousness. The heart chakra in the midway of the channel is the culmination of an mature ego not in terms of self-center fortification but in terms of transpersonal empathy. It is the crucial point between the lower three chakras and the upper three ones. The first three chakras are basically concerned with the introverted development within one’s own existence. They are autistic and featured by self-absorption, while the heart chakra is capable of expansion, opening up its energy field for unconditional communication and non-egocentric interaction with the world outside. The pivotal significance of this midway chakra lies in the fact that the more progressively expanded is its energy field, the more encompassing it is to fulfill the spirituality of the higher chakras. In other words, it is the foundation for the three higher chakras in the head. The underdevelopment of the heart chakra not only falls short of transpersonal empathy but also falls back to the lower chakras and forms fixations in the overactive functions of those three chakras. The worse scenario is the vacuum effect caused by the absence of the energy to be supplied from the solar chakra, which may turn one to absorb the heart energy from other people in contact. Such a person may passively receive other people’s energy from the heart chakra and feel other people’s emotions or feelings without resistance. In contrast, telepathy functions on the basis of expanded energy field of the heart, which works like the radar to imprint the condition of the other person’s heart energy. It is powered by the active energy already processed by the solar chakra so that the sense data such a mind picks up can be processed by a rational ego without being lost in the emotion passively received.

The upper three chakras are very closely related with each other. They are basically spiritually oriented. The throat chakra actually covers not only our vocal organs but also our audible organs. This bilateral function elevates the expansive nature of the heart chakra to a higher level of reciprocity in nature. We need a mirror in order to see ourselves, but we can talk and hear ourselves simultaneously because vocalization is the only function made by our organ that can be perceived by another organ of ours. This can happen not only in external environment but also inside of ourselves, which deepens the function of the heart chakra in an inner reciprocal mode of dialogue by internalizing the outside, and further expands the empathetic interpersonal dimension of the heart chakra in its inner arc. More than that, since the ear is located at the same level of the eye chakra, the vibrations that it receives will also be reflected in the energy field of the eye chakra. For example, we don’t always recognize an old friend by hearing his voice. We pretty much recognize him by the image that his voice strikes up in our mind. Due to the overlapped energy field, the spiritual sense of hearing always forecasts or accompanies the opening of the third eye. The eye chakra also carries this reciprocality further into the metaphysical level. While the reciprocity of the throat chakra is employed in the mental dimension where the inner dialogue is held between the subject of ourselves and the object that we internalize, the eye chakra serves to externalize the spirituality that is innate in our souls—the third eye vision. We will talk about this exclusively in Part III. In short, while the lower chakras work their respective functions in a linear process, the upper three chakras work as a clustered core on the shared energy field in the sphere of the head, where most of our sense organs are located. That’s why in darkness where our sight fails to work, we count more on our reaction to sound, we greet people by calling out their names immediately after we see them, and a shrew person will speedily and skillfully dodge a ball flying to his head through the instant reaction from his integrated senses in the head. These three upper chakras not only constitute our intelligence and command our physicality, but also incubate our spirituality, such as the third eye, spiritual hearing, the sixth sense and other ESPs as well as astra projection, and the like. The crown chakra is the portal where the soul enters and exits the human body. Once the subtle energy reaches the the crown chakra, the communication with alternative dimensions becomes possible. Basically, the crown portal is the spiritual mechanism related to the soul, astral body, and life and death.

Complementary Practice:The most general misconception about chakras is taking each chakras as an independent energy center and focusing on solving its blockage. As a matter of fact, no chakra is really blocked as long as a person is alive. Each chakra is an energy nexus which functions to process the energy in its corresponding psychosomatic domain. However, the dynamics of the seven chakras consists in the subtle energy flows among these chakras in the central channel. The chakras are not isolated from each other. Instead, they are interconnected by the central channel like seven different flowers on the same branch drawing the water they need through the same channel. The energy flow itself from the root to the top is the very basis for chakra functions. When the energy flows from one chakra to the next higher one, it doesn’t displace or hollow out the preceding chakra. Instead, the refined energy fulfills and stabilizes the preceding chakra’s physical and psychological functions while flowing in rise to the next higher chakra. If a chakra is overcharged with the energy, it will become overactive in its functioning in the corresponding psychosomatic field, with less refined energy available to flow further into the next chakra; on the other hand, if the chakra is undercharged, the energy will not only become too weak to fully activate the chakra spinning and carry out the psychosomatic balance of the chakra, but also bypass to the next higher chakra making it overactive. That’s why in many cases, the cause of the imbalance of a certain chakra might not be in itself but in the insufficient or overcharged energy in the preceding or following chakra or chakras. As a matter of fact, the seven chakras make up an ecosystem of subtle energy. Any issue of any chakra bear effects on the other chakras as well as the entire energy system. That’s why kundalini rise is so important and necessary in yogic meditation. Kundalini is usually depicted in a metaphor of serpent-like heat rising up from the root chakra rising awake from slumber. Again, it is encrypted in the metaphor of spiritual snake, but the concept of kundalini is somewhat shrouded with such mystified effects that more often than not it leads to confusion rather than clarification. To put it back to the deciphered context of alchemy, the base elements that our body has absorbed are processed in the cauldron of the lower abdomen where the energy is refined and transformed into refined energy and rise along the central channel. Since each person’s physical temperament is different, the experience of awakened kundalini also differs in accordance with the person’s general health condition. If a person’s congenital energy is flimsy and tenuous, the streaming of this awakened subtle energy may become a powerful and vibrant experience as it is passing through the channel and breaking through each under-developed chakra. Once it is broken through, the energy will fluently flow to each chakra to be further refined until it reaches the crown chakra. On the other hand, in the case of an athletic person whose physical vitality is already highly active in the central channel due to regular exercises and training, the kundalini experience may feel no more than a gush of heat rising from the root chakra. The correct and safe way to arouse kundalini is through the practice of meditation so that the refined energy can be sensed rising like an uncoiling snake winding up through the central channel to spin each watermill-like chakra while passing through and fulfill the corresponding physical and mental functions of each chakra until it has thus reached the crown and bring about the comprehensive spiritual transformation of the person. In Chinese internal breathing tradition, the process is analogized as water mill in reverse direction. The underlying theory behind this process of spiritual transformation is that each living being is the offspring from the origin of universal energy, Tao, Brahman, God, or the Supreme Being, whatever the honored name is used for naming, which descends from the ultimate transcendental realm of numinous world through a process of differentiation and materialization like the light going through a prism and breaking down into a spectrum of varied colors. In Taoist ideas, this transcendental spiritual light is materialized into three different levels or manifestations in the human existence: the spiritual level where the soul is manifested in shen 神 (divinity or spirituality), the mental level where human mental and emotional fluctuations reside in the manifestation of qi 氣 (the primal energy), and the physical level where the human body works and functions in the element of jing 精 (essence). The essential foundation of the Taoist meditation consists in this delicate reverse engineering “to refine the material essence into subtle energy and then convert the subtle energy back to the spirituality.” The converter of the material essence is located in the lower dantian (lower abdomen), the refiner of the subtle energy is in the middle dantian (the heart) and the transformer of the spirituality is located in the upper dantian (the third eye). In the final analysis, we can see that the Taoist energy transformation process is basically parallel to the kundalini transformation. Both the yogic tradition and the taoist school start from the seed of “fire” in the lower abdomen. While the flame is kindled, the base element in our body is cooked in the cauldron and converted into sublimation form of subtle energy, qi or prana. When this sublimated air or qi is condensed in the upper dantian, it is transformed into spiritual light in the third eye.

Tantric tradition of meditation generally follows the theory of chakras and channels and proposes three seed flames, called bindu (light spots), in the similar locations of the three dantian. In addition to that, it carries the alchemic analogy of cooking further to the point of comparing the crown (chakra) to the cover of the caldron, where the steam (transformed kundalini heat) from the cooking meets the cool air outside the cover and condenses into dew drops to shower on the heated body as a spiritual baptism. Although all of these three meditation practices preach pretty much the same spiritual transformation process inside our body, each has different descriptions about the transcendental experience beyond the crown (chakra) and tapers to their respective religious contexts in their historical development. However, it is Jesus Christ who most precisely and succinctly concluded this spiritual transformation when he referred to it as the “baptism with fire and Holy Spirit.”

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