Tranquility

Cultivating tranquility allows you to cultivate inner alchemy. The practice of tranquility is a simple but powerful Daoist practice. According to the Meriam Webster dictionary the definition of tranquil means free from agitation of mind or spirit.

The definition of alchemy is the process of taking something ordinary and turning it into something extra ordinary. Sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.

 Tai Chi is a physical practice; when you add the practice of Daoist cultivation, you are practicing internal alchemy.

There are three parts to Daoist cultivation:

1. Regard the Way of the Dao as an ancestor; you are a descendant of the Dao.
2. Regard tranquility as the root of all things.
3. Regard Non-action (Wu Wei) as the fundamental way of living life.

On the Social stage life is busy and at high speed. Sometimes we feel lost in that hustle and bustle of modern life.

In the Daoist world, you are a cultivator. Through your tranquility practice you connect with the heaven and the earth.

Cultivating tranquility leads you to a harmonious inner world.

Another way to put it:

Tranquility is the root and Wu Wei is the method. We are wizards and our bodies are the cauldrons.

Wudang is considered the home of the Dao. Today Daoism is not only practiced on the Wudang mountain. The Dao is everywhere and it is practiced by people around the world.

There are two methods to cultivate your body and follow the path towards immortality:

1. Do something to move your body. Coordinate the movements with the breath and with the Qi.
2. Don’t do something. Don’t burden your mind, don’t get angry, don’t get irritated etc. Tranquility leads to stability. When you practice tranquility, your emotions are not easily swayed when something happens. You bring your wizard’s cauldron wherever you go.

Of course, you must continue to work and fulfill your responsibilities but now you do it with the perception that you are a cultivator.

When Cultivating internal alchemy, we often speak of cultivating the elixir of immortality. According to the Oxford dictionary, an elixir is a magical or medicinal solution. The element of water is vital to building your internal elixir. In other words, according to Daoist thought, the kidneys are an important key to increasing your life force and vitality.

When we inhale the water the Qi rises up your spine like a stream. This flow of Qi is called the yellow river in Chinese.

Upon exhalation, water and Qi sink down to fill the dantien. As water moves in a circle it mixes with fire. Your body is a micro cosmos connected to the macro cosmos. When the water leaves the kidneys it rises up your back and as it descends the front of your body and mixes with your heart fire.

When you mix your kidney water and heart fire through this internal circle and circulate it with the Qi, this internal circulation is the secret to immortality or as I like to say;

live long and die short.