Tranquil Sitting

by Yin Shih Tzu

  The goal of the Taoist practitioner is to become immortal. The average life span, called Yi Jia Zi (one circle) is about sixty years. With complete Taoist meditation training, a practitioner can live longer. Complete Taoist meditation training should include: Xiao Zho Tian (small heaven circulation), Da Zho Tian (large heaven circulation), and Dao He Che (reverse heaven circulation). The secret of Taoist meditation is to manipulate the Zhong Qi (ancestor Qi). The Zhong Qi is stored in the inner chest, in muscle fiber enclosing the internal organs, and in the organs themselves. Zhong Qi can nourish the internal organs, but if it cannot travel and circulate through to the crown of the head, and the four limbs, the human body slowly declines. Taoist meditation training releases the Zhong Qi into the twelve regular meridians and the six extraordinary meridians. This circulation will improve the practioner’s health, and naturally his life span will increase. If he lives respecting a healthy lifestyle and Taoist principles, he can live to be one hundred and twenty years. Then he can be called immortal.

  Master Jiang Wei Chiao (Yin Shi Zi) studied Xiao Zho Tian (small heaven circulation), which I also studied and practice. This is a Taoist art. He also studied two Buddhist arts, Zhi Kwen Fa (resting mind by visualization) and the Tantric art, Po Wa (breaking the tile, breaking the crown), which he describes in this book. Although he studied and used Buddhist practices, and did not have the opportunity to receive a complete Taoist training, he chose and adopted a Taoist name, Yin Shi Zi. With his Taoist name he wrote this very valuable writing, which is of great benefit to others. I experienced this myself, as I have explained.

  This book helped me begin my Taoist practice. For thirty years I have studied and practiced Taoism. It has changed my mind and my body. I have chosen a Taoist name. This book helped me begin.

  Shifu Hwang

  The Taoist Bronze in Bastrop, Texas, April, 2012

  A TAOIST JOURNAL

  On Meditation and Chinese Medical Qigong

  BY YIN SHI ZI

  PREFACE

  Chinese traditional medicine is noteworthy for its preventive benefits. I wanted to write a book that would show how Taoist meditation integrates into this system. Many ancient scriptures describe meditation in both preventive and curative terms, but most of them are written in terminology deriving from concepts not easily understood by the lay reader: terms relating to Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, K’an and Li, from the I Ching, or Lead and Mercury, from internal alchemy. Also, the theories behind these scriptures contained secrets which could not be shared with all, so they could not be widely disseminated.

  Many years ago I wished to write an easily understood book and present it to the world, but, having little time, I postponed this wish until 1914, when I was forty-one years old, and saw a Japanese method, Okada-Torajiro meditation, named after the man who created it. After this time I could no longer remain silent, so I wrote a book called Yin Shi Zi’s Meditation. “Meditation” in Chinese means “tranquil sitting,” and has been practiced for several centuries. During the Sung dynasty, Confucian scholars used meditation to regulate their conduct. During the Ming dynasty, Yuan Liao Fan wrote a book called The Secret of Tranquil Sitting and in it presented a method resembling the precepts of tranquility found in the Zen school of Buddhism. Since the phrase “tranquil sitting” is easily understood and remembered, I have also chosen it to be the title of my book. Human beings have four basic postures: walking, sitting, lying down, and relaxing. Of these four, only the sitting posture can make the whole body calm down and enter into the state of tranquility, so both the Taoists and the Buddhists chose this posture for meditation. Although it is true that the postures of lying down and walking can also be used for meditation, the practitioner will find that using these postures is more difficult than sitting.

  My first publication sold many copies. In 1918, when I was forty-five years old, I wrote another book called The Continuation of Yin Shi Zi’s Meditation, in which I interpreted my experiences based on the teachings of Zhi Kuan’s principles of the Tian Tai sect of Buddhism. These two books sold very fast and have been reprinted several dozen times. Now thirty-six years have elapsed, and I am eighty-one years old. I have accumulated more experience, and witnessed the existence of Extraordinary Acupoints and the related eight meridians, which I would like to submit as a reference for medical care. This book presents more material than the previous two books on the theory, method, and experience of tranquil sitting.

  PART I

  CHAPTER One

  The Theory of Tranquil Sitting

  YIN SHI ZI SITTING IN MEDITATION

  The meaning of tranquility

  Our earth rotates continuously. Compared with the size of the earth, human beings seem almost ant-like, yet we cannot sense the earth’s movement at all. We are ceaselessly active. Even when we sleep, our heartbeat never stops. Our universe is full of constant activity, without a moment’s stillness. For this reason, I say that the terms “stillness” and “activity” exist only as relative concepts. When the activity of our bodies and our minds is out of sync with the rhythm of the earth’s activity, we call both “action.” When we don’t act and our state synchronizes with the rhythm of the earth’s activity, we call this stillness.

  After a person has worked for some time, he has to rest. After working for several hours, a factory worker must have time to rest. In schools, teachers strain their brains during a fifty minute class and have ten minutes afterwards to rest. This rest is a state of stillness. However, this state of stillness may not be complete physically and mentally. Sometimes the body is resting, but the mind remains active, and we cannot sense the true meaning of stillness.

  The conflicting states of the body and the mind

  The mind and body are always in conflict. Until we become aware of this conflict, we cannot sense it. For example, if a person behaves badly, he will face a struggle with his conscience, whether he is good or ill-natured. Prompted by his desires, a person behaves badly and later regrets his behavior. This is the conflict between the mind and the body. The ancients called this “the struggle between conscience and desire.” A man who can use his conscience to subdue his desire is called a good man. When his conscience overpowers his desire, this conflict is resolved.

  Why is there so much conflict? Because no element in the universe exists without another, conflicting element, which is its complement. When each element is confronted with its complement, the two become opposites. The directions are East, West, South, and North. The sizes are small and large, high and low, long and short. Shapes are round and square. Time is ancient or modern, going or coming, morning or evening, winter or summer. Men’s affairs bring happiness or calamity, joy or anger, love or hatred, righteousness or sinfulness, kindness or evil. Witnessing these polarities, we know that each of our activities will eventually produce its opposite. Activity brings contradiction into being. A man who has a high level of cultivation has a placid and quiet mind. He does not allow the self to exist, and thus achieves selflessness. When he meets with conflicting situations, he can rely on his consciousness to guide him and so reconcile the conflict. Tranquil sitting is the practice that allows this process to be effective.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Physiological Features of Meditation

  The relationship between tranquil sitting and normal physical function

  Tranquil sitting can influence the entire physical body, including the arms and legs externally and the organs internally. No part of the body remains unaffected by meditation. I do not, however, intend to give a discourse on physiology, so I won’t give detailed illustrations of these effects. I will just try to give a general description of the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, and regenerative systems.

  In the past, people preferred to regard mind and body as two separate entities. Recently, though, the physiologist Pavlov discovered that the cerebral cortex dominates both the external and internal aspects of the body’s equilibrium, and generates all of its reflexes. We can therefore affi
rm now that the human spirit and physical body are not two different things and cannot be separated—they are a unified system.

  There are both conditioned and non-conditioned reflexes. Non-conditioned reflexes are innate, instinctive rather than learned behavior, and are the simpler type of reflex. For example, the eyes close abruptly upon contact with an object. The nose sniffs in reaction to the stimulus of a smell. The throat coughs or vomits upon contact with an unpleasant stimulus. The hands withdraw abruptly upon contact with a hot object. All these are non-conditioned reflexes.

  There are never enough such reflexes to deal with the changing environment of daily life. However, when similar non-conditioned reflexes accumulate sufficiently, the cerebral cortex is able to link them and transform these into a conditioned reflex. For example, the plum has a sour flavor; eat a plum, and the mouth waters. This is a non-conditioned reflex. Later, you can see a plum and, without putting it into your mouth, produce saliva, quenching your thirst. What was previously unconditioned has become conditioned. Through such association and reaction, which may cause physical transformation, people can free themselves from the restrictions of unconditioned reactions by consciously guiding them into conditioned reactions.

  Just as our thoughts may be replicated in written and verbal language, a second type of stimulus signal can be generated by our thoughts, to replicate the first type of signals, those produced by real physical stimulation. By practicing this method, the limits of the conditioned reflex are eliminated. Physical reflexes have two features: excitation and suppression. When a nerve is stimulated, the entire body, as well as the site of the stimulus, will be excited by the brain. When the excitation reaches a certain threshold, this reaction will be suppressed by the brain.

  What has tranquil sitting to do with the nervous system? When the brain simply reacts to stimuli, this state may be called, in religious terms, random thinking. When random thinking arises, or diminishes, there is not a moment’s stability. This can disturb the mind, making it uneasy, and furthermore it can influence the health of the physical body.

  When someone is caught in the middle of a secretive act, he will blush. If a person meets with a sudden shock, his face will appear greenish white. This indicates that emotional reactions influence the activity of the blood vessels. When you feel ashamed, your arteries expand; if you feel shock or a sudden surprise, your veins expand. If you feel happy, you will have a good appetite. If you feel sad, you can look at food, but cannot bring yourself to eat it. This indicates that emotional reactions can also influence the function of the stomach and the digestive system.

  There are many such illustrations, which indicate that our spirit should be calmed down, so that the function of our reflexes will return to normal. The autonomic nervous system, which includes the sympathetic nervous system and the sub-sympathetic nervous system can maintain balance, so that our bodies and minds may remain in harmony. However, random thinking is difficult to control. A practitioner could devote himself to meditation and continue practicing for a long time before his entire body could be unified, and he would be able to control all parts of his body. The ancients say that when you can sit tranquilly your power over the body is like that of a king surrounded by a hundred subjects who await your command. So we can see the close relationship between meditation and the central nervous system.

  The circulatory system

  Blood is an element fundamental to human life, for it circulates throughout the body without a moment’s pause. The circulatory system includes two main parts, the heart and the blood vessels. The heart is the central device, pumping out red blood through the arteries to the whole body as it simultaneously receives the veins’ purple blood. Blood vessels are channels for transferring blood to all parts of the body. One type of channel is called an artery. The vein, another type of channel, returns blood to the heart. The task of the circulatory system is to maintain the blood’s balance in the body so that the activity of each part of the body can meet the requirements of the whole body and develop. In this process, each of the circulatory system’s tasks may be modified relative to the activity of the whole body. When a specific part of the body is especially active, blood circulation in this area will intensify, so more blood accumulates. For example, when you are full of food, the blood in the stomach will circulate more intensely. After exercising, the limbs will feel full because of the rapidly circulating blood. The opposite is also true; inactive limbs will feel the shortage of circulation. Thus, at all times, every part of a healthy body will receive an appropriate amount of blood, neither too much nor too little. The circulatory system can function normally.

  The circulation of the blood and the body’s continuous functioning do not depend solely on the expansion and contraction of the heart and blood vessels. The functions also rely on a generalized organization which regulates the entire system. It is the central nervous system which governs these activities, primarily the cerebral cortex. Pavlov said that the nerves of the blood vessels which connect the brain and spine to the heart have two functions: excitation and suppression.

  The first of these, excitation, will quicken the heartbeat, contracting the diameter of the blood vessels. The latter will weaken and slow down the heartbeat, and make the blood vessels dilate. These two functions are reciprocal, and are intrinsically related, for the adjustment of the activity of the circulatory system.

  When the circulatory system is inactive, a person becomes ill. Both Chinese and Western doctors check the pulse for diagnosis. Whenever the circulatory system is sluggish, there must be either an internal or external cause.

  The internal causes:

  Though the internal organs are in the domain of the central nervous system, they still take orders from the spinal nervous system and the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and sub-sympathetic systems), which connect indirectly with the brain. The onset of a disease causes the internal organs to have an abnormal reflex, and the flow of blood will become unstable.

  A person’s blood is mostly preserved in an area of the stomach where its muscles are powerless. Sometimes the muscles cannot expel the blood entirely, so the blood becomes stale. This condition leads to insufficient blood in some other part of the body.

  Since we cannot directly influence the activity of the internal organs, we cannot sense when the blood becomes sluggish. Even if we are aware of this situation, we can do nothing but wait until the disease occurs, and then consult a doctor.

  The arteries’ blood begins close to the heart, therefore it is powerful. The veins’ blood starts from the region of the head and the four limbs and then returns to the heart. It remains comparatively far from the heartbeat, so its power is much weaker, which is why the veins’ blood can easily be retained in the abdominal area.

  The external causes:

  Obvious effects are the seasonal changes from summer to winter, the flu, and external wounds of physical and chemical origin, all of which make the circulatory system lose functional properties.

  When you maintain a practice in which you focus on the abdomen as your center of gravity, your abdominal muscles will, after much practice, become powerful and flexible. You will be able to expel stale blood from the abdominal area, and let it return to the heart. You will also feel stronger sensations from the internal organs. If an internal organ functions improperly, you will be able to sense this situation earlier, and through meditation restore the circulatory system to perfect condition. You will not easily contract an illness. Practicing this preventive medical care is much better than contracting an illness and then consulting a doctor for a cure.

  Breathing

  Breathing plays an essential role in supporting human life. Everyone realizes the importance of eating to maintain life. If you stop eating, you will suffer hunger and thirst, and eventually die. However, breathing is more important than eating. If a man fasts for seven days he could die, but if his mouth and nose are covered and he doesn’t breathe, he cannot survive longer than half an
hour. This illustrates that breathing is more important than food. You need to exchange money for food, and acquiring money depends on your wages. For breathing, you can obtain air freely from the atmosphere, a process which requires neither money nor labor. That is the reason ordinary people realize the importance of food, but do not realize the importance of breathing.

  Energy and calories are necessary to human bodily functions, and are derived primarily from the oxygenation of foods. The stomach is like a steam engine. Digestion of food is just like the burning of a steam engine. In terms of physics, this burning requires oxygen and produces carbon dioxide. In the process of oxygenation, oxygen and carbon dioxide, which came from our atmosphere, return to it. This is an exchange of internal and external bodies, as is breathing. When oxygen is inhaled, it reaches the lungs, then the heart. It makes the blood travel from the veins to the arteries, and, through the arteries, the blood travels to other parts of the body. Then it leaves the blood vessels and begins its restorative role in cell production, during which the cells will generate carbon dioxide, a poison which must be expelled from the body. The carbon dioxide then retraces this route in reverse, from the veins to the heart, from the heart to the lungs, and finally to the mouth and nose, where it is exhaled.