Taoist alchemy* is a tool of self cultivation, it aims to develop the practitioner to their highest potential. This potential includes the ability to tap into the universal consciousness, which leads to extra sensory perception, precognition, the ability to control the chi energy and other such abilities. The other outgrowth of this type of meditative practice is the ability to astral travel and have other types of out-of-body experience (OBE). The Tao-Tsang or the Taoist Scriptures, which includes over 1600 separate works on self-cultivation, contains technical terms which describe various states encountered before and during OBE's. These various states are known in many traditions, both old and new, from various parts of the world. The 'hiss of the dragon and roar of the tiger' for example is the name given by the Taoists to the inner sounds heard by advanced meditators. Similar descriptions are given by researchers of Transcendental Meditation and Kundalini Yoga.
'Hui Feng' or 'union with the whirlwind' is the vibration of the energy body as it prepares to separate from the physical body. This is a feeling many people have experienced when deeply relaxed or on the verge of sleep. 'Hui Feng' is a feeling that starts like a light tingling (almost like pins and needles but enjoyable) then these vibrations speed up and become rhythmic. Then the practitioner will no longer feel the physical body and will have the sensation of floating in space. This type of experience has been described in various shamanic and mystical traditions, as well by Robert Monroe, the modern astral travel researcher and author.
Other common phenomenon include the appearance of a golden light behind the third eye, which the Taoist text 'The secret of the golden flower' tells us is a sign that we have almost reached the goal of enlightenment or "Reunion with the Tao". This golden light often occurs in conjunction with 'Hui Feng' and the 'hiss of the dragon and roar of the tiger' and often spreads all around us. This sensation becomes extremely blissful and it is the desire to feel this bliss, 'to know the love of the divine', that keeps many people meditating on a daily basis. In research done on these types of experiences by Sanella and Bentov, it was hypothesised that this type of experience helps to release stored stresses from the nervous system, extend our awareness (through ESP, 'the sixth sense') and is a method of personal cultivation and evolution.
However, in nearly every tradition that has this type of meditative practice, virtue and clarity/purity of thought are highly valued as essential tools of self cultivation. Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Complete Reality Taoism are two prime examples. These traditions emphasise that the individual striving for self realisation should come from the position of love and compassion, the opposite of greed, fear and selfishness.
You see our thoughts are largely responsible for shaping our reality, so naturally thoughts of love and goodness attract similar energies to them. Therefore the practitioner has a much nicer life, one of abundance, purpose and happiness. If, on the other hand our thoughts are of greed, this is because we fear poverty and therefore grab what we can, when we can and damn the consequences. However, no matter how much we have, we believe that poverty is just around the corner. And often we create the loss of the material goods we have accumulated through theft, fire, divorce settlements, etc. And most people blame some external force, person or being, never considering that they themselves are responsible, that their own thoughts created this 'disaster'.
Many people are able to realise that their thoughts have created their life circumstance, but instead of taking responsibility and empowering themselves, they blame it on their own subconscious which they believe they are unable to control. Unfortunately this is simply untrue, you are in full control of your conscious, subconscious and super conscious at all times. These are not separate from you they are the totality of you. Take the Yogi or mystic who is able to regulate supposedly 'involuntary, subconscious' functions of their body, such as extreme slowing of the heart rate and blood pressure, changing their brainwave patterns and resisting pain by controlling the release of certain brain chemicals. One hundred years ago , western science and rationalism believed such abilities to be superstition and fairy tales, however know they acknowledge such abilities and have renamed them 'biofeedback systems'. Many people though are basing their belief systems on other peoples outdated research, without ever testing their limitations for themselves.
Taoist alchemy is about becoming unlimited, about exploring and knowing yourself and about fulfilling your true potential. I ask that everybody who reads this examine their own thoughts and if you find some which hold you back decide to change and transcend them. If you spend fifteen minutes a day doing this I believe that you will greatly change your life for the better. Fifteen minutes a day is a small price to pay for abundance, love and happiness, don't you think.
*See my book, Flying without Wings, for more on Taoist energetics.
By Bryn Orr