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The Aura of Wisdom
- Book 154: The Aura of Wisdom
- Chapter 58: The Key Instructions to Cultivating Chi
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated and edited by True Buddha Foundation
- Translation Team (Cheng Yew Chung, Victor Hazen, Dance Smith)
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Seated either in the crossed-legged vajra position (full lotus) or half lotus position, with the dignified demeanor of a Buddha, hands forming Amitabha`s Dhyana Mudra, hold your spine erect, shoulders straight, slightly bend the neck and hold the chin slightly inwards, tongue pressed against the upper pallet, and look to the ground about two feet in front of you. When you sit in this way, your body and mind settles down and maintains its stability.
Inhale a breath of air down to the dan-tian (lower abdomen, navel chakra), pressing the air firmly downwards. Contract the pelvic muscles and bring up the lower air, holding the upper and lower air united as if they were in a vase. Hold your breath as long as you can manage, and at the point that you can no longer hold your breath, a vital key is to inhale another breath of air and press the remaining air into the central channel, reaching the heart center and absorbing into the other chakras, eventually traveling to every pore and being released through them.
The unabsorbed chi or air is exhaled through the nostrils, shooting up like an arrow.
The secret keys to cultivating chi are as follows:
The spine must remain straight and erect - only then is the central channel straight.
Chin pressing slightly down and inward - The upper airs shall be pressed downwards.
Tighten the pelvic muscles - the lower airs will be drawn upward.
Tongue against the upper pallet - only then can the central channel be linked to the crown chakra.
Pressing the upper airs downward and drawing the lower airs upward - only then can the chi or breath enter the central channel.
The practice of vase breathing aims to direct chi or breath into the central channel. As soon as chi enters the central channel, it will produce an effect. The chi that enters into the central channel is defined as the ?isdom chi?
When one practices the vase breathing meditation long enough, one? body of meridians and channels shall remain clear and open, with a smooth circulation of chi. One? capacity of chi shall be full. This is known in the Taoist teaching as the macro and microcosmic circulation.
The Tantric practitioner must know about the upper region moving chi, the middle region moving chi, the lower region moving chi, the side regions moving chi, and the heart region chi. From the exerdise of the chi, one ignites the inner fire, through which the clear and pure drops are formed. When the non-leakage drops are developed, one gains great bliss, clear light, and emptiness.
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