Melting the Five Elements (Part 1)

“Smelting the Five Elements” refers to the Taoist “third treasure” exercises, collectively called “inner alchemy.” In the remaining weeks of classes, I will teach you the secrets of this practice.

Initially, the exercise is associated with the accumulation of energy within the body in the form of the five elements. The five elements are accumulated at the corresponding “gathering points” and then mixed in a kind of energy collector in the lower tan-tian region. Throughout the description I will refer to this center as the “cauldron.”

This week you will learn how to create similar energy collectors inside the body. There are two forms of their designation. The first, known as the "bagua" (pakua), is a traditional Taoist symbol indicating the place where energy is collected and stored in the process of "smelting". It is an octagon with three levels and the symbol of tai chi (the indissoluble unity of yin-yang) in the center. Most of you are familiar with this sign. In its classical version, it consists of eight trigrams of the I Ching (Book of Changes), forming a kind of energy network around the symbol of tai chi (Great Limit).

Some of you will find it difficult to create such a complex mental image. So I'll introduce you to a simpler form that represents two triangles intersecting to form a six-pointed star. This symbol is also known to many, although it belongs to a different tradition. The book contains a drawing borrowed from an authentic Taoist source. When referring to this symbolism, we will refer to it as a “star in a circle” or simply “star”.
Both "bagua" and "star in a circle" serve the same purpose to collect, increase density, purify, transform and store energy coming from the internal and external organs, glands and senses. The first formula of the "smelting" process involves the creation of two "bagua" or stars in the body. The bagua or star is mentally imagined as some kind of sphere with a diameter of 7.5 cm. As already mentioned, you will have to create two such centers. The first front is inside the body behind the navel, the second back is in front of the spine, at the ming-men point (“gate of life”).

The energy then spirals from the front and back “bagua” (or star) into the central “cauldron”, where a “pearl” is created, which is a concentrated clot of vital energy (qi). Taoists call it the “inner pill.”

For a better understanding by readers of the technical side of the process, let me dwell on some theoretical aspects. Dan-tian can be translated as “elixir” or “cinnabar fields.” The lower area of ​​the tan tien is associated with the furnace for “smelting” the “inner pill”. If you heat this area using bellows breathing, the process is called "heating the furnace." An exercise with the same name activates the lower “cinnabar field” and is the first stage of the process of internal alchemy.

At the next stage, the medicine is “manufactured” - the “pearl”. It is prepared within the lower "cinnabar field" and is known as the "inner pill." During all subsequent classes we will grow and strengthen this “pearl”.
Making an “inner pill” has no analogues in Western medicine, since the medicine is prepared not just anywhere, but inside the human body. I can offer the meticulous reader my own interpretation of this process.
You may be surprised to learn that two nervous systems coexist in the human body. The first one you know is the central nervous system. The second is called the abdominal nervous system, which is often referred to as the “gut brain.” Both systems evolved during embryonic development.

The plexus of nerve endings, known as the neural crest, divides into two branches. From one nerve process the central nervous system was formed, and the second was transformed into the abdominal nervous system during embryonic development. Later, both nervous systems were connected through the vagus nerve, which is directly connected to all major organs.

The abdominal nervous system, that is, the “gut brain,” is located in the tissue membranes adjacent to the esophagus, stomach, large and small intestines. It is known that the “gut brain” is influenced by the central nervous system. The most typical example of such an influence is indigestion in traumatic situations. In turn, the “gut brain” influences the central nervous system (the brain itself). For example, when there is pain in the stomach, a person experiences emotional discomfort.

While we arrogantly believe that we can control the activity of our brain (which is essentially the main part of the central nervous system), it never occurs to anyone to control the activity of the “gut brain.” However, the above has nothing to do with Taoists. According to ancient sources, they always knew how to “educate” the abdominal nervous system. Based on this, we can say that the Taoists identified another area of ​​medical research. The “pearl” or “inner pill” is the first medicine created in the area of ​​the lower “cinnabar field”, which we called the “cauldron”, that is, the place where the medicine is “prepared”. At more advanced levels of internal alchemy, another type of “elixir” is prepared, namely “healing steam”.

The human body has the ability to produce healing elixirs that prolong life. At one time, this Taoist secret was known as the “secret of the golden flower.” In the 21st century Western medicine will undoubtedly adopt this remedy. As for the Taoists, they have known about it for thousands of years.

Before I begin the practical instructions, I would like to teach you how to create the mental images of “bagua” and “stars in a circle.” The “bagua” symbol must be “drawn” mentally. As already mentioned, the sign is an octagon with three
levels and the tai chi symbol in the center. Start from the outer level. It doesn’t matter which edge comes first. Personally, I prefer to start on the left, and that's the order I draw in my mind. However, you are not obliged to follow my example. It is very likely that some of you will be able to mentally recreate the entire symbol in the blink of an eye. Well, I'll be happy for them.

So let's start with the left side. Remember that the entire symbol must be 7.5cm in diameter. To the left of the navel, mentally draw a vertical line 2.5 cm long. Connect it with a second one going up at an angle of 45°. Draw the top edge, then a third line going down and to the right from it, also at a 45° angle. This is followed by a vertical line, etc., until the outer contour of the octagon is formed. Similarly, “draw” two inner contours.

At the next stage of visualization, divide the contours with eight lines running from the intersection points of the contour lines to the center of the bagua. In the center, imagine the Tai Chi symbol. Thus, you have designated an energy network or Taoist collector for energy storage.
I first learned of Taoist associations with the six-pointed star from Chi Su's book The Chinese Art of Kai-Men, which states that this is the symbol that a modern Taoist should wear. Here is what the author of the book writes about the symbol: “Intersecting triangles embody the yin and yang of all phenomena in the universe (in the circle). The six rays symbolize the five elements and spiritual or microcosmic energy. The sign shows the direction of this flow from heaven to earth and vice versa. The symbol itself represents everything that exists in the universe and outside it - earth and sky, nature and humanity, that is, all phenomena, known and unknown. All in one". According to him, the circle symbolizes Tao.