Modern Taoist and Zen Practices

When Buddhism arrived in China, Taoism had been established there for a long time, with a tradition of spiritual practices somehow similar to the yogic meditative practices of India. The similarities between the 2 great traditions helped the spread of Buddhism in China. It was also the reason why Taoism greatly influenced the practices of Buddhism in general, and of Chan (that branch of Buddhism mostly interested in sitting meditation) in particular.

A clear example of this influence is to be found in the healing techniques  (So Cream method) described by 17th century Japanese Zen Master Hakuin in his Yasenkana. What Hakuin used to heal himself from what he called « Meditation disease » are classical Qi Gong techniques.

Unfortunately the influence of Taoism in Japanese Zen slowly decreased. There might be several reasons for this.

• Taoism was usually not interested in being spread to the general population, so its higher teachings are usually recorded in very esoteric language that only initiates can understand.
• Although there are clearly very valuable practices in Taoism, there are also lots of magical and superstitious practices detrimental to Meditation practices.
• It may not have been easy to find qualified teachers.

This is unfortunate for us, who mostly have learned Zen through the Japanese influence, for some techniques developed by Taoists are very valuable to Zen practice.

Techniques that request the total participation of our bodies to harness the mind.

Even if harnessing the mind is not the goal, but a tool of Zen practice, it is an important one. The ability to quiet the mind – to harness the Monkey - can bring lots of relief to people who need that before they can concentrate on anything else. After all, most of us came to Zen because of a suffering induced by our inability to control our wandering mind.

Today, I see a strong intellectual current in Zen, people want to understand everything, they read complicated books about everything, and do not spend enough time practicing. I am not sure this is going in the right direction. There are limits to what can be achieved through intellectual understanding. Intellectual, analytical understanding uses systems of words and ideas to explain them. These ideas or words are just symbols, they point to the moon, they are not the moon, but we tend to believe they are the real thing, and we get lost. We are like some food critic who know everything about French cheeses, who could not taste the difference between a Camembert and a Roquefort. There is a time where you need to quit asking questions about this or that, and start doing it. Taoist techniques are here for that.

Most of Taoist practices are related to Qi Gong – a term that can be translated as «Exercises in Energy or Vital Force). Tai Chi – practiced for health purposes – is a Qi Gong. Our Karate Sanchin Kata is also a Qi Gong.

Taoists have developed coherent theories and terminologies to guide the practitioner and describe what is happening during practice. Some of these theories use are highly esoteric and possibly misleading. Fortunately, some of them are easier to use, and their understanding makes practice easier. So they are a good tool to achieve a goal. It does not mean that they are «true». They simply are a description of reality. Once again, the Map is not the Territory, but it can be useful to deal with it.

Note: The practice of the "So Cream" or "Soft Butter" described by Master Hakuin in Yasenkana is inspired from the basic Small Circulation practice of Taoist Yoga.

The Eight Main Psychic Channels

The 8 Main Psychic Channels - or Vessels - are important to know, because they are much easier to visualize than the 26 channels or Meridians of traditional acupuncture.

Basically, there are : 

• 3 channels on the Torso : One vertical in the Back, one vertical in the Front, one horizontal around the waist; 
• one vertical channel inside the Torso, 
• one channel on the outside, and one on the inside of each Limb. 

This is quite easy to remember.

• Tu Mo follows the middle line of the back.
• Jen Mo follows the middle line of the front.
• Tai Mo is a circle at the waist.
• Chung Mo raises inside the body from the perineum up to the Heart.
• Yang Yao runs along the outside of the arms.
• Yin Yao runs along the Inside of the arm.
• Yang Chiao runs along the outside of the leg.
• Yin Chiao runs on the inside of the leg. 
  
  
  
  
  MIDDLE LINE OF THE BODY 
   

Du Mo - Governor Vessel

Ren Mo - Conception Vessel

Knowledge of these 2 Tu Mo and Jen Mo vessels can be very profitable to the actual PRACTICE of  Zen and Budo to help improve health and ability to focus. We will in later posts describe a few exercises to this effect. In Karate, Sanchin Kata should be performed while keeping in mind the path of these Governor and Conception vessels. 

THE UNIQUE BELT AND THRUSTING VESSELS

Tai Mo - Belt Vessel

 

Chong Mo - Thrusting Vessel

These 2 Belt and Thrusting vessels are not often mentioned in Classical Acupuncture (I know, if you are a genuine acupuncturist, you won't agree. Sorry,  this is not a blog about acupuncture...) 

THE ARMS VESSELS

Yang Yao - Yang Arm Vessel - runs along the outside of the Arm.

Yin Yao - Yin Arm Vessel, runs on the inside of the Arm.

THE LEGS VESSELS

Yang Chiao - Yang Leg Vessel - runs along the outside of the Leg.

Yin Chao -  Yin Leg Vessel - rus on the inside of the leg

These 6 vessels are important to memorize. We will use them for various exercises.

The following Notes are for Acupuncture Nerds

Note 1 : Correlation with the 12 organs Meridians :

Basically, for those of you familiar with traditional Chinese Acupuncture, the 2 new things are the Belt (Tai Mo) and Thrust (Chung Mo) Channels. You already are familiar with the Governor and Conception Channels, and the Positive and Negative Arm and Leg Vessels are a “compilation” of the Yang and Yin Meridians of the Arm and Legs. Yang Yao : Large and Small Intestines, Triple heater meridians; Yin Yao : Heart, Lungs and Pericadium meridians; Yang Chiao : Stomach, Gall Bladder and Urinary Bladder meridians; Yin Chiao : Kidneys, Liver and Spleen meridians.

Note 2 : Detailed description of the 8 Psychic Channels :

1. the Tu Mo or Governor channel rises from the perineum (between the genitals and anus) and passes through the coccyx up the backbone to the brain;
2. the Jen Mo or Conception channel rises from the perineum and goes up along the belly, passes through the navel, the pit of the stomach, the chest and throat before going up to the brain;
3. the Tai Mo or belt channel from both sides of the navel forms a belt which circles the belly;
4. the Ch'ung Mo or thrusting channel rises from the perineum, goes up between the tu mo and jen mo channels and ends in the heart;
5. the Yang Yao or positive arm channels in the outer sides of both arms link both shoulders with the centres of the palms after passing through the middle fingers;
6. the Yin Yao or negative arm channels in the inner sides of both arms link the centres of the palms with the chest;
7. the Yang Chiao or positive leg channels rise from the centres of the soles and turn along the outer sides of the ankles and legs before reaching the perineum where they connect with other channels; and
8. the Yin Chiao or negative leg channels rise from the centres of the soles and turn along the inner sides of the ankles and legs before reaching the perineum where they connect with other channels.

Note 3 : Terminology :

The names of these channels vary a lot, I suppose depending upon different ways to translate Chinese. This is not that important for our purpose. What matters to us is to be able to visualize the path of these channels.

Tu Mo is also known as Du Mo or Du Mai, Control Channel or Governor Channel.

Jen Mo is also known as Ren Mo or Ren Mai, Function or Conception Channel.

Tai Mo is also known as Dai Mo, Belt or Girdle Channel.

Chung Mo is also known as Chong Mo, Chang Mo, Chong Mai, Thrusting or  Penetrating vessel

Yang Yao is also known as Yang Wei Mo, or Positive Arm Channel.

Yin Yao is also known as Yin Wei Mo or Negative Arm Channel.

Yang Chiao is also known as Yang Jiao Mo, Yang Qiao Mo, or Positive Leg Channel.

Yin Chiao is also known as Yin Jiao Mo, Yin Jiao Mo or Negative Leg Channel.

World Tai Chi Day in Dothan

Yinglong, one of the famous dragons of Chinese Mythology said to be the god of rain spared us this morning while we celebrated World Tai Chi Day at Solomon Park in Dothan.

A small group of us braved the threatening clouds and practiced Qi Gong and Tai Chi on the lawn. Actually, the conditions were close to ideal with a temperature way below what we had experienced for this event on the previous years. We practiced together low intensity breathing exercises based on Sanchin kata as well as the 4 Winds Short Form.

An alternative way to practice Sanchin kata is by focusing one's attention on the 3 parts of the Torso : High (Chest), Medium (Stomach right under the solar plexus) and Lower (right above the groin).

Chi follows will, or attention. By focusing on these three parts one moves the Chi along the Conception Vessel - This is a first step on the path of Small Circulation Qi Gong.