Meditation
Sitting Meditation and Stillness Cultivation
Introduction to Meditation
Meditation also called Sitting meditation and stillness cultivation. ‘Taoism gives rise to one; one generates two; two generates three; three generates everything’, ‘Everything is originated from three; three combining to two; two combining to one; one becomes nothing’.
Survival is the most primitive need of human beings. The question of how to improve quality of life, improve health and pro-long life has been of central interest to us through-out time. Achieving good health has been a central part of the culture of Daoism. With its long history and development, the way for improving health has been developed and modified through the centuries by the ancestors. This is due to their continued research and practice, in particular, the training in inner alchemy and spiritual awareness. Such training includes stillness and movement. No matter whether it is in the active or the still (calm) mode, both are of high value.
Doing it correctly would achieve good results; any deviation could result in disaster. Benefit can only be achieved through practice with proper guidance and understanding. Otherwise, not only no benefit would be gained, it might cause harm.
The practice of Meditation
Therefore after the tiring process of every day work has come to and end and before going to sleep, grasp thirty minutes to accommodate for sitting meditation and stillness cultivation. You only must persevere for a certain time period and you will discover the influence that these practices exert on your body. Below is a summary of the introduction to training in Sitting meditation and stillness cultivation.
Turn ‘essence’ into ‘Qi’; Turn ‘Qi’ into ‘shen (spirit of vitality)’; Turn ‘shen’ into ’emptiness’; Turn ’emptiness’ into ‘Daoism’. Concentrate in the basic. Develop and improve the 3 vital elements of the body. This would in turn lead to good mental conditions and wisdom. Those who reach such a stage would achieve abilities beyond the scope of others. In Daoism, training in inner alchemy is to manage the three natural vital elements: ‘Jing’, ‘Qi’ and ‘Shen’. Such training leads to good health and long life. The training can be classified into four stages: 1) Fundamental, 2) Turn ‘Jing’ into ‘Qi’, 3) Turn ‘Qi’ into ‘Shen (spirit of vitality)'(4) Turn ‘Shen’ into ’Emptiness’.