Voice of the Elders

by Greg Ripley

  “The four alignments are the body, the four limbs, the breath, and the mind. As it says in the Neiye, ‘Align the four limbs and keep your circulation and breathing tranquil. Unify your awareness and concentrate your mind, and your eyes and ears will not be over-stimulated. Do this and even the far-off will seem close at hand.’”

  “Traditionally we have interpreted this phrase, ‘the far-off’ to refer to the Dao, but we might also think of it in terms of traveling as the Elders do,” the Guanzi continued. “After all, it also says in the Neiye that, ‘The vital essence of the universe gives life to all beings below and connects the stars above. When flowing freely between heaven and earth we call them ghosts and spirits, those who can store it within we call sages.’ It also says, ‘Ghosts and spirits pervade the universe not through their own power, but due to the ultimate refinement of the vital essence.’”

  “It’s striking how similar that is to what my mentor said of these things,” Jane said.

  “There is also an instruction from He Xiangu which is very similar to the warning the Elders gave me in my meditation,” the Guanzi said.

  “He Xiangu, the woman from the Eight Immortals?” Rohini said.

  “That’s right. In the Nugong Zhengfa, a text on self-cultivation written especially for women, she said, ‘When the training is complete and the light is perfected, Earth Thunder resounds and the gates of heaven will open naturally. The Yang spirit may now leave and return. Initially it stays close at hand before venturing far-off, but one must take great care against getting lost at this stage. When the Yang Spirit is able to travel easily, visiting all the heavens, the true master comes, leading to final transformation as an Immortal. This is transcendence of the world.’”

  Rohini was struck by how closely these lines from an ancient text seemed to mirror what she knew of the Elders. Her mind was starting to swim a little with all of this new information.

  “I can see this has been enough for you to digest for the moment,” the Guanzi said. We will talk more later.”

  They took a break from the Guanzi’s teachings while Jingyi, the Guanzi’s assistant, showed them around the rest of the cave complex. Some of the chambers were wholly natural, full of stalactites and stalagmites, while others had obviously been shaped and expanded by human hands. After lunch they met again with the Guanzi, Jingyi once again escorting them to her chamber and bringing tea as they began.

  “This afternoon I would like to give you a brief teaching and then guide you through a meditation,” the Guanzi began. She held up the stick she had been holding across her lap. “Do you know what this is?” she asked.

  “The Jade Scepter,” Guangming said.

  “Yes,” the Guanzi said, “but do you know what it is?”

  “Only that it is a symbol of your authority as head of our society,” Guangming replied.

  “It is, yet it is also so much more,” the Guanzi said. “It is true that since it was recovered from Dunhuang it has been handed down by my predecessors, but it is more than a symbol, it is also a guide. It was left to us by Guanyin and Zhongkui. The head appears to be common jade, yet there is something special about it. I don’t know if it came from the Elders’ world or if it has simply been imbued somehow with power, but it is no ordinary piece of stone. It has an inscription in ancient seal script, which describes a meditation practice which I will guide you through. But there is something more. This stone has a peculiar energetic quality which I have been able to sense. I believe it is because of the Elders’ bloodline, which the four of us carry. What we call the bloodline of Zhongkui in our society.

  “The inscription itself describes a method which sounds very much like the celestial circulation practice I mentioned before. It is quite concise. The first words—usually considered a title—say Xingqi, which we have taken to mean ‘to circulate the vital breath’ as this is how it is commonly used in later Daoist texts. The rest of the text goes on to describe this process. It says:

  Circulating the Vital Breath

  Breathe deeply, so that it will collect.

  When it collects, then it expands.

  When it expands, then it will descend.

  When it descends, then it stabilizes.

  When it stabilizes, then it will solidify.

  When it solidifies, then it sprouts.

  When it sprouts, then it will grow.

  When it grows, it returns.

  When it returns, it becomes heavenly.

  The movement of Heaven is revealed in ascending.

  The movement of Earth is revealed in descending.

  Follow this method and live.

  Go against this method and die.

  “So, as you can see, it sounds very much like the celestial circulation. We breathe in and retain the breath, descending it to the abdomen, the lower dantian, and when we build a stable base, the qi ascends up the spine toward heaven with the inhalation, and then the qi descends from the head back down to the lower dantian with the exhalation. Following this method leads to health and longevity, breathing poorly and shallowly leads to ill health and premature death. This is how we would usually interpret these instructions, and it is quite true, as the experience of many Daoists has shown throughout history.

  “But there is another way this inscription can be read—and, in light of the Elders’ existence—I believe it is quite illuminating. The title for instance, could also be read as ‘To Travel Energetically.’

  “You mean it describes how to travel as the Elders do?” Jane said.

  “Yes, I believe so. But I also believe that this method will not work for everyone, or at least not without many years of self-cultivation. As I said, I believe this stone itself holds a key. After the first time I followed the Elders in spirit to their world, I had trouble finding it again initially. In my meditations that followed, I was able to travel around the earth again, as I had before, but couldn’t manage to find my way beyond.

  “Then, in a flash of insight, I recalled the Jade Scepter, and a line of verse from an old legend of the Jade Maiden, who is sometimes associated with Guanyin. It reads,

  Flying high above

  I wander over rocks and clouds;

  The heavenly sprout grows without nourishment

  And its great virtue lasts forever.

  Immortals do not descend to earth for nothing,

  But to help humans according to their fate.

  “The heavenly sprout reminded me of the Jade inscription and the rocks and clouds sounded like she could have been referring to different types of planets. I had not read the Jade inscription for quite some time, but as I read it again in this new light, its meaning changed completely. It was then that I sensed that the stone itself might also be part of the key.

  “In my next meditation I sat with the scepter and held the jade in my hands. I sensed an energy there, subtly at first, with a different quality than I had ever felt before. I began my meditation and I left my body much more quickly and effortlessly than I ever had before. I was immediately drawn in a direction and when I followed that pull, I traveled immediately to the Elders’ world. So, in addition to the method described by the inscription, I believe the energy of the stone acts as an aid to accomplishing the pure Yang spirit—and traveling as the Elders do—perhaps even directing the consciousness to their world like a homing device.”

  The Jade Scepter took on a new significance to Rohini. It seemed to shine brighter in her eyes. What before she had simply thought of as a cane topped with a jade knob now appeared almost like a magic wand. It’s amazing how much our perception shapes our reality. The thought reminded her of a story her aunt Shanti told her.

  One day in India, a man was walking home in the twilight when he saw a snake crossing the path ahead of him. Thinking it might be venomous, he jerked back suddenly. His heart began to race as adrenaline surged through his body, his se
nses now on full alert. He noticed the snake was not moving, so curious, he stepped closer. Looking around, he found a stick and used it to poke at the snake. Maybe it is dead, he thought to himself. As he poked at the snake, he realized it was just a piece of rope. He breathed a great sigh of relief and laughed at his own foolishness, then continued down the path toward his home.

  But in this case the rope is actually a snake, Rohini thought.

  “Yes, Rohini,” the Guanzi said. The sound of her name brought Rohini’s attention back to the present. “We also have a saying like this. We say, ‘Bitten by a snake one morning, afraid of the rope by the well for ten years.’”

  Rohini sat up straight. She could hardly believe her own ears. “But, how could you know what I was thinking?” she said.

  “The Dao is mysterious,” the Guanzi replied. “Come, let us begin.”

  They stood and followed the Guanzi to another doorway, on the opposite side of the room from the one they had come in. Her assistant Jingyi held the curtain open for them as they left the chamber, before following behind.

  “Where are we going?” Rohini said as they began their ascent up another flight of stone steps.

  “The Guanzi is taking us to the Guanyin Grottos to meditate,” Guangming replied. Reaching the top of the stairs, they entered another chamber. It was much smaller than the Guanzi’s chamber, slightly larger than the rooms they each stayed in below. A single candle set into a niche in the wall, provided the only light in the cave. As her eyes adjusted to the dimly-lit chamber, Rohini realized what she had initially taken for a table was actually a stalagmite rising from the floor of the grotto. Instead of coming to a point, the top formed a basin about a foot across, which was full of water. The floor of the chamber was highly irregular, with a pathway through it, curving around the basin. The basin was located in the center of the chamber, surrounded by smooth mineral deposits which were worn smooth on top from the many generations which had sat and meditated here before them. As she looked around the chamber in the flickering candlelight, she noticed what appeared to be ancient petroglyphs carved into the walls. In the dim light they were hard to make out completely, but they looked like faces or masks, and geometric patterns. There were also images of animals. In the dancing candlelight they almost appeared to be moving.

  “Please, be seated,” the Guanzi said, taking a seat. The rest followed suit with the exception of Jingyi, who remained standing near the entrance to the chamber, as there was only room for the four of them to sit. “As you can see, this place has been visited since ancient times. The prehistoric peoples of this area must have sensed its sacred character long before the Nine Scions of the Dragon ever existed, and even before the time of Laozi and Zhuangzi.

  “This is called the Lower Guanyin Grotto. The other two chambers are above, each progressively smaller. We will begin our practice here. Please make yourselves comfortable, take a few deep breaths, and begin to relax your body and mind. Breathe in slowly and smoothly. Use your intention to guide the breath deep into the abdomen to the lower dantian, below the navel. Try to sense something there. The dantian can absorb energy continuously, it will never fill up, but eventually it will spread throughout the rest of your system. Keep the breath slow and smooth and keep the intention focused on the lower dantian.”

  They sat this way for quite some time before the Guanzi spoke again. “In the Daoist tradition we often speak of meditation in terms of setting up the cauldron and stoking the furnace. The cauldron refers to the lower dantian. Stoking the furnace can be as simple as turning the mind’s intent toward the lower dantian, or it can be an elaborate visualization. The symbolism refers to turning the yang fire of the mind’s intent associated with the heart and the middle dantian, combined with the breath to cook the elixir in the cauldron of the lower dantian associated with the water element. When you practice this for a while you will begin to feel a heat building up in the body and a sensation of movement. We compare this to steam rising from the cauldron, or say that jing is being refined or transformed into qi.

  “I told you before that this chamber and those above are special, that is because they act as an external representation of what we visualize happening inside ourselves. I believe it may be due to the electromagnetic field here. The walls of the chamber contain a great deal of magnetite. We believe this allows for a certain degree of resonance between ourselves and the chamber. The water you see in the stalagmite is heated from below. The same is true of the lake below in the valley, although it only remains warm enough to prevent it from freezing in the winter.

  “The mountain is still geologically active? Is there any danger it will erupt?” Jane asked, always ready to assess the potential risks in any situation.

  “I suppose there is always that chance, dear,” the Guanzi said, smiling. “But I don’t believe it will happen anytime soon. While the valley below was formed by an old caldera, it is becoming less active as the years pass, not more. There used to be many vents which released gases in the past, but most no longer do. There has not been an eruption of any kind for several thousand years. Perhaps we are due? Wouldn’t that be exciting!” she said laughing.

  Rohini had to hand it to her; the Guanzi certainly knew how to keep a sense of humor. She had a way of making everything feel light and easy, like she just flowed through life in an effortless way. The Guanzi resumed her instruction.

  “Now we will return to our meditation, but this time we will focus on becoming aware of the celestial circulation. Now, if we are successful in our meditations, we will be able to see it reflected in our surroundings.

  “Close your eyes and return to your meditation. This time imagine your lower dantian like a cauldron of water. Imagine there is a flame below, which grows ever so slightly as you inhale. Just like a real fire, you must not blow on it too strongly, or too weakly. Let the breath be smooth and even in order to stoke the flames.”

  They sat with this image for several minutes, breathing quietly, before she spoke again, “Now I would like you to imagine that the water in the cauldron is starting to steam. It is not boiling, or even simmering, just imagine a steady vapor rising from the water. Imagine it rising up the spine as you inhale, up to the top of the head. As you exhale, imagine the energy falls down the front of the body. Each time it passes the lower dantian some of it gathers there before resuming the circulation.”

  They continued like this for quite some time. Rohini had lost all sense of time in the chamber. It was hard to tell whether it had been five minutes or an hour. At some point Rohini began to feel warm, then hot. Soon a light sweat began to bead on her skin. Then the Guanzi spoke again, “Open your eyes.”

  When she opened her eyes, Rohini saw steam rising from the water in the stalagmite. “It appears you were successful,” the Guanzi said. “Did any of you feel a stirring, a movement in your lower abdomens? This is laying the foundation.”

  45

  Later that evening after dinner, Rohini, Jane and Guangming sat at the large table in the lower chamber. “That was weird today, wasn’t it?” Rohini said.

  “You mean the Guanyin Grotto?” Jane said.

  “Yes, do you think we really made the water hot or do you think the mountain just heats it up enough to steam every so often, like the geysers at Yellowstone?” Rohini said.

  “I don’t think the Guanzi would try to trick us that way,” Guangming said. “And compared to what the Elders can do, heating up some water through meditation doesn’t seem so far-fetched.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Rohini replied, laughing. “It’s amazing how much our expectations can change. How do you suppose it worked? How could we have interacted with the cave like that?”

  “I was wondering that myself. The Guanzi said it contained a large amount of magnetite, didn’t she? Do you guys know how birds are able to navigate?” Jane said.

  “I would assume they use the sun and stars, just li
ke we do, or else they learn by following their parents or other birds, why?” Guangming said.

  “That may be partly right,” Jane said. “But it’s more complicated than that. Scientists made an interesting discovery years ago. They realized that birds could navigate in cloudy conditions as well, when neither the stars at night, nor the sun during the day were visible. They discovered that birds had an inborn compass, an ability to sense the electromagnetic field of the earth. This compass in their heads contains magnetite.”

  “So, we have magnets in our heads?” Guangming said skeptically.

  “Not exactly, but they’ve since found that many other animals have some magnetite in their bodies as well, from bacteria all the way up to humans,” Jane said. “The bacteria actually line up and move along the lines of the earth’s electromagnetic field. Humans don’t have the same types of structures as either birds or bacteria. From what I remember the magnetite is much more diffusely distributed throughout the brain, and potentially throughout the body. I don’t think they know yet.”

  “I wonder if the magnetite helps form our body’s electromagnetic field,” Rohini said.

  “It might, maybe that’s what allowed us to resonate with the magnetite in the cave,” Jane said.

  “The shape of the grotto may play a role as well,” Guangming said. “The human electromagnetic field and the electromagnetic field of the earth both form a torus. If the cave has its own field, I think it was probably toroidal as well.”

  “Isn’t our field just like a big sphere?” Rohini said.

  “Almost,” Guangming said. “A torus is like a sphere which has collapsed in on itself, forming a channel through the center. Earth’s electromagnetic field forms this shape. At the North Pole, it flows into the earth, and at the South Pole it flows outwards. The human field is the same; the top of the head is like the South Pole and the base of the spine is like the North Pole. The toroidal forms continue throughout the universe. The earth’s field is embedded in the sun’s electromagnetic field, the heliosphere, which is also toroidal and the heliosphere is in turn embedded in the larger field of the Milky Way Galaxy. Even the taiji symbol can be thought of this way, if we think of it three-dimensionally. If you imagine a channel connecting the two dots and the circle being a sphere, you get a torus.”