5.1

Five Animals’ Frolic

pp. 163-169

5.2

Seasonal & Immortal Practices

pp. 169-176

5.3

Inner Alchemy

pp. 177-180

5.4

Eight Brocades

pp. 180-183

5.5

Sleep Exercises

pp. 184-189

5.6

Tai-ji Quan & S^ao-lin Gon-fu

pp. 189-197

animal

cosmos

body-area

quality

crane

heaven

muscles

"lightness"

bear

earth

lower back

"rootedness"

monkey

humanity

joints & wrists

"agility"

deer

spirit

"calm mind"

"patience"

tigre

body

"whole body"

"strength"

"Bear Amble (#41)

... walking ... with arms swinging."

"Bird Stretch (#32)

... bending forward with hands on the floor and head raised".

"Gibbon Jump (#40)

... extending the arms diagonally up and down".

"Double Deer" (#34)

"raising both arms and pushing up, then bending forward as far as possible".

I myself have developed a series of exercises which I name the Five Animals’ Frolic. The five animals are tiger, deer, bear, monkey, and bird."

p.

Frolic

165

In descriptions of the Frolic from the Tan dynasty, "most are done from a squatting position, with only the first part of the bird executed while standing."

166

the bird involves a lifting motion".

__ Frolic

exercise

Tigre

"Move forward ... while raising the opposite leg back and up into the air."

Deer

"Extend the neck forward and look back over your shoulder".

Bear

"Look straight up, then lift your head while stomping down alternately with your feet".

Monkey

"Holding onto a horizontal bar, hang straight down by the arms ... . ... Next, drape the legs over the same bar, hang down".

Bird

"Stand up straight, place both hands on the floor, and lift up one leg at a time, letting it soar upward while stretching the shoulders and lifting the eyebrows."

C^F

__ Frolic

bodily stance

movement of qi

63

Tigre

"lift both hands as if you were supporting a thousand pounds of iron ... . ... .

... make the spirit energy descend from above. Do this until you become aware of a rumbling sound like thunder in the belly."

64

Bear

"lean slowly from side to side ... . ... .

... the qi enters deep into the sides of the body and resonates strongly in the waist and joints."

65

Deer

"turning back ... head ... . ... .

... the entire body, like an integrated heavenly pillar, shakes and trembles."

66

Monkey

"hold a tree branch in one hand and a piece of fruit in the other. ... .

... tighten the spirit energy and swallow it to guide in into your belly."

67

Bird

"raise both hands into the air and lean forward".

"move the qi up to the top of the head."

p.

FS^ #

Z^X Immortal

move

174

1.

Tai-qin Zon-s^i

rub belly

2.

Li Lao-jun

hands on knees

3.

Xu S^en-wen

hands to opposite shoulders, look L/R

4.

Li Tie-guai

extend arms fore and back

5.

He Xian-gu

hug knees into belly

6.

Bai Yu-c^an

on belly, lift limbs off ground

7.

Han Z^on-li

heavenly drum (click teeth)

8.

Cao Xian-gu

tongue up, eyen up

9.

Qiu C^an-c^un

extend legs R/L

10.

Ma Dan-yan

warm hands, rub eyen, hands on chest

11.

Z^an Zi-yan

raise arms to sky

12.

Huan Hua-gu

on side, rub abdomen, press legs

175

13.

Yin Qin-he

on back, leg over knee

14.

Li-c^an

rub one foot on other sole

15.

Z^an Z^en-mu

hands on knees

16.

Wei Bo-yan

one fist on chest, other on knee

17.

Xue Dao-guan

visualize qi in ailing area

18.

Ge Hon

hands at chest, push out/in

19.

Wan Yu-yan

up on toes, fists on belly

20.

Ma Gu

push weight R/L

21.

Z^an Guo-lao

rub belly and inner thighs

22.

C^en Zi-ran

on side, knees up, hands on legs

23.

S^i Xin-lin

warm hands, rub elixir field

24.

Han Xian-xi

bend forward, elbows over head

25.

Z^ao Lin-nu:

extend arm, massage elbow

26.

Lu: C^un-yan

hands over temples

27.

C^en Xi-yi

on side, press nostril and coccyx

28.

Fu-yu Di-jun

as if to shoot bow

29.

Xu S^en-zu

twist torso R/L

30.

C^en Ni-wan

hands behind ears, rub neck

31.

Cao Guo-qiu

hand on wall, raise leg

32.

Z^ao S^an-zao

hold toes, lift legs, move R/L

33.

Xu-jin Tian-s^i

on side, leg over knee, touch pubis

34.

Su Xuan-xu

grab toes, move feet up and down

35.

Gao Xian-xian

cross legs, arms front/back

36.

Fu Yuan-xu

warm hands, rub top of head

176

37.

Li Hon-z^i

cross legs, bend forward, cross arms

38.

Li Tie-guai

hands on stick, push up on toes

39.

Yu-z^en S^an-ren

warm hands, rub kidney area

40.

Li Ye-po

push on thighs, bend forward

41.

Lan Cai-he

hands in fists, bend forward

42.

Xia Yun-fen

crawl on all fours, twist R/L

43.

He Tai-gu

raise arms to sky {cf. #11}

44.

Liu Xi-gu

extend arms back/forth, twist

45.

Su Bu-er

hands on wall, push leg back {cf. #31}

46.

C^an Tian-yan

interlace hands, bend head to chest

47.

Don-fan S^uo

massage toes

48.

Pen-zu

cross legs, arms behind

the transformation of sexual and other gross energies essential to methods of qi-absorption".

p. 177

"the Zhenyuan ... (Perfect Prime) school of the late Tang, which focused mainly on ... ecstatic excursions while integrating ... the insight practice of inner observation".

"the Zhong-Lu: school of the tenth century, named after the two immortals Zhongli Quan ... and Lu: Dongbin ..., which focused [prae]dominantly on physiological practices, working with energy exercises and embryo respiration, and gaining fame mainly through the accomplishment of miracles".

"the so-called Southern school (Nanzong ...) ..., which sprang up in southern China in the eleventh century and placed great emphasis on cosmological speculation, also ... making heavy use of the newly arising thunder rites".

"the Quanzhen ... or Complete Perfection, founded in twelfth-century north China by Wang Chongyang ..., which was ascetic and monastic in organization and worked [prae]dominantly with interior voyages and the inherent transformation of the self into cosmic dimensions".

p. 178

"As the centuries passed, further schools created yet different forms of inner alchemical practice, including entire systems specifically for women".

[fn. 7 : "Later developments are documented in a large variety of texts ... . Prominent examples include ... Esposito 1998 ... . For ... women’s practice, see ... Valussi 2003."]

from spirit to the Dao,

consciously and actively reversing human gestation and cosmic creation (... Skar and Pregadio 2000, 488-490)."

{Such reversals are likewise characteristic of Tantrism.}

p.

#

stage

178

1^st

"They begin by focusing on essence, the tangible form of qi that sinks down periodically from its original center

in the Ocean of Qi in men and in the Cavern of Qi in women,

manifesting as semen and menstrual blood respectively.

To revert essence back to qi, men allow a feeling of arousal to occur, then guide the flowing energy back up the spine and into the head, thus "subduing the white tiger."

Women, when they feel menstrual blood sink down from the Cavern of Qi, ... visualize it rising upward and transforming into qi. ... this will cause menstruation to cease, the "decapitation of the red dragon" (Despeux and Kohn 2003, 221-223)."

They then circulate the newly purified qi in the Microcosmic Orbit, guiding it along the central channels of the torso and opening a series of passes along the way. ... this qi-circulation eventually leads to the manifestation of a concentrated pearl of primordial qi --

newly formed in men,

latently present from birth in women. ...

2^nd

The second stage is the same for men and women. It focused on the transformation of purified qi into spirit. The pearl of dew is developed into the golden flower .. . ...

179

As Zhang Boduan says in his ... Awakening to Perfection,

In the crescent-moon furnace, jade blossoms grow;

{A "green flower" (CGDSM 8:64) is carried by Isis, i.e. 3St, the goddess who is assisted by H.Q3t the magic frog-goddess : cf. the "spirits like frogs" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 16:13).}

Can you plant the central pearl to

gradually ripen. (Verse 4)

{"the harvest of the earth is ripe." (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 15:15)}

The lightning of true water ... thunders ...;

{"And there were ... lightnings" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 16:18) for her "that sittetth upon many waters" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 17:1).}

True fire arises from Mount Kunlun ... . {Mt. Kun-lun is the abode of goddess Hsi Wan-mu.}

{The "Whore" (goddess) of Babulon "shall be utterly burned with fire" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 18:8).}

Make the elixir ... pervade the body with its fragrance. (Verse 13)

... the pearl opens to give rise to the golden flower,

{cf. "pearls" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 18:12) "decked with gold" (Ibid., 18:16).}

the core of the immortal embryo in the lower cinnabar field. Once the embryo starts to grow, adepts ... nourish it for ten months with embryonic respiration. In addition to nurturing the embryo, this practice also makes the adept increasingly independent of ... air. ...

3^rd

Adepts then proceed to the third stage. The as yet semimaterial body of the embryo is transformed into the pure spirit body of the immortals ... . ... the embryo has to undergo several phases.

First it ... undergoes a spiritual bath

{This "bath" = the "many waters" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 19:6).}

by moving up along the spine and exiting through the Hundred Meeting (Baihui ...) point at the top of the head, which is now called Heavenly Gate (Tianguan ...).

{This Hundred Meeting = "they which are called unto the marriage supper" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 19:9).}

The first exiting of the spirit embryo ...

{"This is the First Resurrection." (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 20:5)}

is accompanied by the perception of a deep inner rumbling, like a clap of thunder {or rather, like unto rolling-thundre}.

{For this 1^st Resurrection, S`at.an is cast down (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 20:2-3) from heaven : "I beheld S`at.an as lightning fall from Heaven." (Euangelion according to Loukas 10:18)}

When the Heavenly Gate opens, a white smoky

{This "white smoky essence" = the "great white throne" (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 20:11) for the 2^nd Resurrection, which is akin to this [impliedly the 2^nd] exiting of the spirit embryo.}

180

essence can be seen hovering above the adept. The spirit passes through the top of the head

and begins to communicate with the celestials ... (Despeux and Kohn 2003, 237). Once the embryo has been born, it grows through a further ... "nursing for three years." Gradually getting used to its new powers, the embryo moves faster and travels farther away until it can go far and wide without any limitation. As the spirit enters into its cosmic ventures, the adept exhibits supernatural powers, including the ability to be in two place at once ..., to know past and future, to divine people’s thoughts ... . ... Eventually, ... the adept, whose body is ... transformed into pure light, overcomes life and death and melts into cosmic emptiness (Despeux and Kohn 2003, 243)."