The Immortal Embryo

SPIRITUAL OR IMMORTAL EMBRYO.  In Chinese culture the Spiritual Embryo is the core energy in a human being, the original energy of the body’s conception. It is this energy, when led through various practices, to the center of the brain (the pineal gland, or nihuan point in the Chinese medical system) that results in full-realization enlightenment. Through various breathing techniques, one can return to the original embryonic breathing pattern, which is the union of yin and yang and the basis of the realization of the Tao. The cultivation of the Spiritual Embryo is the central metaphor for the evolution of mind and body in Chinese culture.

This idea of the Immortal Embryo (sheng tai) goes very far back in Taoist internal alchemy practices. The basic idea is that through continually practicing internal alchemy, one develops an immortal, spiritual embryo. Then, after further practice and refinement, this spiritual embryo actually emerges from the body of the practitioner, out through the crown or Heavenly Gate point at the top of the head. We can see illustrations from ancient China of the practitioner sitting in meditation with a small fetus floating above his head. The Immortal Embryo is also described as a form of pure yang spirit. Upon death thispure yang energy will live on outside the body.

 

In Taoism it is believed that not all people achieve reincarnation. For the vast majority of people who do no spiritual practice, upon their death their hun and po souls separate and they are basically “recycled back into the Tao.” But those who do cultivation have an opportunity to come back into the world again for further teaching or to help others along the Way.

Here is a description of the nine stages involved with creating the Immortal Embryo.

(1) the living ch’i circulates freely and unimpeded throughout the body; (2) the essence, the semen (ching), collects in the lower cinnabar field; (3) the sacred embryo begins to assume the form of a human embryo; (4) the two souls of the sacred embryo come into being; (5) the embryo is fully formed and has various supernatural powers; (6) inner and outer yin and yang reach their highest intensity and the embryo merges with the body of the adept; (7) the five internal organs are transformed by the power of ch’i into those of an immortal; (8) an umbilical cord develops, through which the breath is channeled during a practice known as embryonic breathing; (9) form and Tao combine and clouds form below the feet of the practitioner, on which he ascends toward Heaven thereby completing the metamorphosis.

- The Shambhala Dictionary of Taoism

Now whether this is an actual physical experience or if it is more of an inner spiritual or energetic one, the spiritual attainment is the same. There will be physical and energetic experiences connected with this. Just as with a mother carrying a child, much care must be taken to nourish and strengthen both the body and the spirit of the practitioner. It is only in this way that a successful birth of the Immortal Embryo can happen.

Is enlightenment elitist?

The concept of the chakras, or energy wheels within the body, is common to both Chinese and Indo-Tibetan subtle body theoretical frameworks. The Chinese describe the energy as moving in circular patterns in the body. The Indo-Tibetan systems describe a central channel with a solar and lunar set of parallel meridians, which must be united to fully open the central channel. When these energies are integrated, there is said to be realization. Similarly, the kundalini theory describes the energy as traveling from the base of the spine to the top of the head.

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The nihuan point, which corresponds with the pineal gland, represents the third, or wisdom eye. The human body is actually a universe which can be described in alchemical terms as "as above, so below" which sees the human body as both the microcosm of the multiverse and the fundamental source of the design of the cosmos.

According to Taoist alchemical theory, the pineal gland of the enlightened adept becomes equivalent to the North Star because everything between heaven and earth has become one being. The mind and body of the adept is identical to the mind and body of the universe simultaneously. This idea that the inner dimensions are actually more real than our conventional third-dimensional reality is based upon the ability of advanced practitioners who travel between inner worlds. The other basic idea is that the reproductive energy of the lower body can be taken to the head to activate the brain and increase the luminosity of the mind. 

Chinese alchemy is based on the idea that aging can be dramatically reduced if the original pre-birth energy of the body is restarted by natural breathing practices. The basis of Taoism is that embryonic breathing results in a kundalini activation, the Golden Flower, or the union of the individual with heaven and earth, the higher and lower dimensions of reality being unified into a single whole. This single whole is the Tao or universal void. 

The goal of meditation is for the individual to open the third eye by systematically cultivating the mind and body, using variations of heat yoga. All of these alchemical systems describe the human body as a crucible, which can be heated by specific practices, both internal and external, which greatly increase the overall luminosity of the mind/body continuum.

Is enlightenment elitist? To get good at something one must study and practice. There is more access to information about the various practices used to achieve enlightenment through the globalization of our information systems. The nirvana meme has gone into the advertising industry, as well as commercial sports, which use Zen concepts like the Zone or Peak Performance to enhance an athlete's psychological condition. The end result is that a spiritual, non-religious dimension is recognized in Western science as normal. What do you think?

 

 

The Three Treasures

A major practice of Taoist internal alchemy is the transformation of jing, chi and shen, often translated as essence, energy and spirit, also known as nadi, prana, and bindu in Sanskrit and tsa, lung, and thigle in Tibetan. It is in refining these three energetic areas of the body that the Taoists reached enlightenment or what they called Immortality.

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THREE TREASURES. In Taoist internal alchemy (nei dan) the Three Treasures are jing, said to reside in the kidneys and rule sexual and creative energy as well as the body constitution; chi or life energy, which has many functions in the body—circulation, digestion, breathing, holding the organs in their place, the immune system etc.; and shen or spiritual energy, which is said to reside in the heart and also regulates cognitive function as well as consciousness. The goal in internal alchemy is to transform the jing into chi, the chi into shen and then the shen back to wuji (primordial void) and then to Tao. This is done by a combination of meditation, visualization, breathwork and various chi gong practices, including sexual yoga.
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The first of the Three Treasures is jing. This is sometimes referred to as prenatal chi and is a combination of the chi of both of our parents at the moment of conception. Jing regulates our hormonal and reproductive systems, controls our growth throughout life, and regulates our central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and bone marrow. It also governs our constitution.

It is said that it takes seven mouthfuls of food to make one drop of blood. It then takes seven drops of blood to make one drop of jing. This is why it is called essence and considered extremely precious. This is one of the reasons that, in Taoist thought, sexual activity is not advised if both or even one of the parents is under the influence of alcohol, seriously unhealthy, or even emotionally overwrought. This will result in the baby being born with poor jing, and hence a poor constitution. Jing is said to reside in our kidneys and is also the repository of our creative and sexual energy. To the Chinese, sexual essence governs not only our sex drive and the reproductive system but our creative energy as well. Someone with strong jing will also have strong kidney energy, which translates to a solid energy body with lots of creative juices flowing.

The Eight Yoga of Naropa: Sexual Yoga with a Consort

There is a saying in the mahamudra system of meditation, based on the Six Yogas of Naropa, which goes, "There can be no mahamudra or nirvana without karmamudra or sexual yoga.” According to Himalayan meditation theory, sexual yoga is the central completion stage practice that results in nirvana, or the union of the Three Bodies. Both the Chinese and Tibetan civilizations have been heavily influenced by individuals who achieved whole-brain activation through the use of sexual yoga practices. These individuals include the Yellow Emperor, Lao Tzu, and Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava studied with Sri Simha on Wu Tai Shan in China, as well as with Indian masters.

According to the great historian of religion, Mircea Eliade, tantric theory was originally described in India as the “Chinese method.” Thomas Cleary felt that the descriptions of Padmasambhava practicing sexual yoga for longevity in caves throughout scholars have ignored the emphasis on sexual yoga as the completion stage of meditation in Himalayan yoga lineages. Jung pointed out that the majority of Asian and hermetic art points to the union of opposites, resulting in non-duality. He called this "the actualization of the self after the conscious and unconscious minds have united." However, he had no idea that the goal of sexual yoga is to activate the kundalini through the union of gross, subtle, and void levels of consciousness. This is the basis of both Western alchemy and Eastern medical science. Chinese Internal Alchemy is based on the idea that the lifespan of an individual can be greatly extended through the successful practice of sexual yoga.

As Joseph Campbell tells us:
In the Buddhists lamaseries of Tibet...the holy images and banners show the various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas joined with their Shaktis in embrace, in the yogic posture known as Yab-Yum, "Father-Mother." And the great prayer of the old prayer wheels of Tibet, OM mani padme HUM, "the jewel (mani) in the lotus (padme)," signifies, on one level: the immanence of nirvana (the jewel) in (samsara the lotus); another: the arrival of the mind (the jewel) in nirvana (the lotus); but also, as in the icon of the male and female joined: the lingam in the yoni. “Buddhatvam yosidyonisamsritam,” states a late Buddhist aphorism: "Buddhahood abides in the female organ."
Joseph Campbell, Oriental Mythology: The Masks of God