Seeing The Sacred In a New Way

As has happened to many of you, Kundalini rising came as a complete surprise for me. In the fall of 2005, while attending a forty-day contemplative retreat in Tucson, Arizona, I suddenly began to experience some bizarre physical, emotional, and spiritual symptoms that were very much out of the ordinary. 

After my return home to Canada in early December of that year, my concerned wife searched the internet for these symptoms and came up kundalini rising. Neither of us had ever heard of it. So at age fifty-nine, my life took an unexpected turn as the renovation process of kundalini continued its advance and I began a time of witnessing and exploring this very unusual phenomena. This exploration brought me to the writings of  Master Nan Huai-Chin and a tiny piece I would like to share here.

At one point in his book To Realize Enlightenment, Huai-Chin presents the Hundred Word Inscription, written many centuries before by Lu Ch’un-yang. He refers to it as one of the best essays available combining the three teachings of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. I found this Inscription and his further commentary meaningful as it resonated so closely with my own meditation and kundalini journey.

Hundred Word Inscription

To nurture the vital energy, the ch’i, keep watch without words. To subdue the mind, act without acting. Recognize the patriarch in movement and stillness. There is nothing to be concerned about; who else are you seeking? What’s true and eternal must respond to beings: To respond to being, you must not be deluded. If you are not deluded, real nature remains by itself. When real nature remains, vital energy returns by itself. When vital energy returns, the elixir spontaneously forms. In the vessel the fire (of conditioned awareness) and the water (of primordial awareness) are matched,Yin and yang are born in succession. Universal transformation rolls like thunder. White clouds cover the peak in the morning. Sweet due sprinkles down on Sumeru. Drink for yourself the wine of immortality as you roam free, no one will know. Sit and listen to the tune of the zither without strings: Clearly comprehend the working of creation.

Commentary

1. The true meditation work of cultivating the breath, as it moves in and out, watching without words, is the means by which we nurture the vital energy, the ch’i. Let our consciousness follow the breath. 
2. To subdue the mind, we do not try to stop our thoughts. They are already empty; the mere functioning of the mind, illusions. Thoughts are very numerous, and though we try to keep watch over them, we cannot hold them still. Let them pass by. As we observe them, they disappear. Act without acting. 
3. Movement and stillness are both unborn. If we do not attach to the movement of thoughts, or fall asleep, we can be the master over both the movement and stillness that enter awareness, and empty them out. Let the “patriarch” observe all that is going on. It is very important to recognize the patriarch in both motion and stillness. 
4. No need to seek any other method. 
5. To deal with people and handle situations, you must be able not to go against our fundamental nature. 
6. We do not have to do any work: mind and energy are joined together, and mind and things have one single source. 
7. When thoughts have truly been emptied out, vital energy returns by itself. 
8. The elixir forms by itself. It is something natural, something that is inherently present in our lives. 
9. The elixir, symbolically like the moon, is a round point within representing the point of perfect, inherently awake, spiritually illuminated, enlightened nature. The vessels represent the body, the transformative functioning of our own energy channels. Through cultivation of the breath, letting go of body awareness, letting go of thoughts, the energy channels spontaneously undergo a transformation. Yin and yang are born in succession. 
10. With a peal of thunder all the energy channels in our body are open. We move back and forth with the spirit of heaven and earth. We are one body with the universe. At this point, the central channel is really opened. 
11. White clouds cover the peak in the morning. We are anointed with the light of wisdom. Sumeru means our head. The great bliss chakra on the top of our head opens. 
12. The tune of the zither without strings stands for entering Samadhi by means of hearing, contemplating and cultivating practice.

~ Adapted from To Realize Enlightenment — Master Nan Huai-Chin

When reflecting on these ancient texts, it’s amazing how they have a way of speaking to our own personal experience of Meditation and Kundalini Rising and its subsequent development. The legitimacy of this Hundred Word Inscription is founded on the fact that it speaks to us, not just intellectually, but also as a confirmation of the spiritual path we are currently following, often not by choice. It legitimizes our own journey, and therefore, can represent a loyal guide for further spiritual development. Consider meditating on this work of wisdom to see if it resonates with your life’s experience as it did with mine.

I am a Christian and have been deeply immersed in it for many years. If read in their proper context, many passages in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, have a similar effect. To appreciate this, you must go below the literal reading and look for the underlining meaning the writer is expressing. When you do this, the words convey a meaning that is not only understandable, but which can be applied personally to your own journey of faith, thus providing a clear test of its legitimacy — something I generally do not question.

However, I also have to admit that many areas of Christianity, at least the sector in which I am involved, do not meet this test of legitimacy. Although I may understand it, where it originated from, and even why some may choose to believe it, in my mind their legitimacy has not been made real or proven. To be honest, my Christian faith would not change a bit if these things were to disappear suddenly. A lot of these things have to do with dogma and doctrine developed over the centuries and have very little to do with the primary Christian message. Others have to do with traditional practices that have been declared sacred, but, nevertheless, contradict the primary Christian message. Others, as mentioned before, have to do with paying too much attention to the literal word and completely missing the underlying message, thereby turning what might be considered sacred into the imaginary.

  

One of the major obstacles that I experience in Christianity is its failure to acknowledge and benefit from the legitimate and informed wisdom found in the texts such as Lu Ch’un-yang’s Hundred Word Inscription.

Every Christian who has experienced Kundalini Rising faces the tension of being in a community which has declared the very thing that makes that person a more true and loving Christian a heresy.

So that we may all see what is sacred in a new way and without judgement, it is my hope that science will eventually affirm the existence of the subtle body system, the hidden (kundalini) energy system, along with a path to revolutionize and evolve consciousness.

Ah! But even these are thoughts, illusions, to be passed by, emptied out:

"Sweet due sprinkles down on Sumeru.
"Drink for yourself the wine of immortality as you roam free, no one will know."

Tying Consciousness to Breath - Anapana

In the Ekottara-Agama Sutra, Buddha teaches his son, Rahula. The first question Rahula asks is: "How can I practice anapana in order to get rid of my sadness and worries and be free of all thoughts?"

Straighten out your body and make it correct. Straighten out your mind and make it correct. Straightening out one’s body has to do with putting it in a comfortable position for meditating. Straightening out one’s mind involves breathing. Controlling the bird of thought is a matter of breath. If you cannot get hold of thoughts, they will run in confusion. If you cannot concentrate your thoughts, it is because one’s breath is scattering. When the breath scatters in confusion, then the mind scatters in confusion as well.

The Buddha advises his son “tie your consciousness to your nose.” Imitate the white crane. When the crane stops and rests, its nose faces its anus, and the two breaths circulate together. The phrase “tie your consciousness to your nose” does not mean to observe the nose. It means to pay attention to your breath as you breathe in and out. Make your consciousness follow your breath. Be aware of everything in respect to your breath. How long is the inhalation? How long is the exhalation? Is it a cold exhalation or inhalation? Is it a warm exhalation or inhalation? Observe in full detail as your body breathes in and out, and be aware of it all. The results will be that the power of memory will be very good and your brain will be especially alert.
~ Master Nan Huai-Chin - Adapted from Working Towards Enlightenment

Belly Action in the Breathing Cycle

JJ Semple in his book Deciphering The Golden Flower One Secret At A Time, writes:

“Observing my breath as I sit one morning, I am aware that it has the property of direction. At each inhalation the hitherto imperceptible wind in my belly appears to eddy slightly at the bottom of my abdomen as it descends before taking an upward circular course. Or so it appears to me: Down the back, then up the front, in a circular motion. Something clicks. I remember the words ‘backward-flowing method’ in The Secret of the Golden Flower, words I’ve passed over a hundred times, never having a clue as to what they meant, never imagining they might be important. I break off to look for the passage. In two quick flips, I‘ve located the text: “At this time one works at the energy with the purpose of making it flow backward and rise, flow down to fall like the upward spinning of the sun-wheel…in this way one succeeds in bringing the true energy to its original place. This is the backward-flowing method.”

This is a good example of “tying ones consciousness to the breath.” In fact, by the mind alone, (by directing one's intention) consciousness can change the direction of the breath to facilitate the rise of Kundalini and the opening the energy channels as explained in JJ Semple's book.

My own beginning experience with kundalini is a little different but had the same result. During a period of intense meditation, I suddenly became aware of a spontaneous change in my breathing patterns. It started with deep inhaling and holding, and then a release of breath. It was as if the breath from the pressured inhale was being directed towards various areas of my body, particularly the diaphragm, to open up these places previously devoid of air flow.

A short time later, I began to notice further changes. I became conscious of my breath rotating in a circular fashion in the abdomen area. I felt compelled to encourage this circular flow of breathing as it gave rise to bliss and a sense of being moved deeper into meditative absorption. Along with this change in breathing pattern, in my mind’s eye I visualized a wheel rotating in the same direction with my breath. It was as if my consciousness and breath were working together to keep this wheel turning in a smooth consistent rotation.

This is another example of “tying consciousness to the breath." Both cases, cited above, resulted in the rise of Kundalini and the opening of the energy channels and chakras.

Dhyana is a Sanskrit word which means an absorption into a state of mind brought about by meditation. In particular, dhyana refers to the four stages of absorption, sometimes called the "four dhyanas."

Anapana, or “tying consciousness to the breath,” is the beginning of the first stage of dhyana. It is a cultivation practice that begins the process of eliminating worries, vexations, and confused thoughts as one develops an inward awareness of all that is happening in the body and a concentration centered on the breath.

In a future post, I will give a brief explanation of the four stages of dhyana as described by Master Nan Huai-Chin in his book Working Towards Enlightenment.