Neidan Fundamentals: Timing the Fire
Course 3: Neidan Fundamentals: Timing the Fire:
TLDR: timing the fire is the main skill of developing and building Qi in Neidan, it is also how the Spirit is directed in practice to cause the positive effects of meditation. Without fire timing it is impossible to develop true Pre-Heaven Qi and the deep energetic body. This class will teach the core concepts of fire timing according to two models (Wu Liu school and Middle School), each having their own relative strong points. Students can expect to learn how to generate the burner and cauldron, cause the Qi to be generated, collect the Qi, and ultimately cause it to move in the meridians and collect in the three Dantian. This class is a great partner to the meridians class also running this month.
When: Tuesday evenings from 5-6 PM starting June 4 and ending June 25,
Where: ZOOM meetings and recordings,
What is included: lectures and PDF documents explaining theory and practice of timing the fire,
How much: $100 for the series,
Have you ever heard of timing the fire? This is the most important practice in Neidan and is composed of multiple discrete aspects which can’t be learned without direct instruction from an experienced practitioner. In this course you will learn how to use the spirit fire to congeal the true mind, generate the medicine, collect the medicine, and cause it to travel the meridians and collect in the three Dantian.
The art of timing the fire is about how and when you apply different kinds of intent to generate, nurture, move, collect, and store Qi, as well as how the Qi is grown over time to gradually transform into spirit and later emptiness.
In this course we will be looking at two understandings of timing the fire:
1: The Wu Liu School approach: this approach is especially concerned with developing Qi from Jing Essence and emphasizes the relationship between the “sexual root” and the formation of pre-heaven Qi in the lower Dantian which can then be liberated and travel in the meridian system, first generating the small heavenly orbit, then the large orbit. This approach is step by step, logically laid out and is often viewed as one of the easier methods of cultivating the medicine in Neidan. It includes features such as generating the medicine, collecting the medicine, advancing fire, ritual bathing, and hiding the talisman among other things. These stages refer to what actions need to be taken at different times as the Qi develops, moves, rests in place and is stored. This method is especially useful to beginners who want to learn a Neidan method that is step by step and works, as well as intermediate students who want to understand subtle elements of practice which are often obscured in other schools.
2: Middle School approach: this approach especially emphasizes the relationship of the inner Yin line of the fire trigram and inner Yang line of the water trigram, as well as non-being and being, the two swords and the single opening of the mystery gate. This method uses more philosophical concepts and is considered to be part of the Yin Xi transmission of Neidan in which the refining the Essence Stage may be partly skipped in favor of “Spirit and Qi merged as one,” a special feature of the Middle School.
Students can expect to learn directly from representative documents such as Tian Xian Zheng Li Lun (The Heavenly Immortal Verification Principle Discussion) by Wu Chongxu, the Hui Ming Jing (Wisdom Life Classic), and Xing Ming Gui Zhi (The Doctrinal Tablet of Nature and Life). This course will be a great primer in core principles of Neidan which are often obscure in the original texts of the tradition, but can be easily understood through clear teaching, the course is good for anyone from beginner to intermediate levels.