With the prosperity of Taoism in the last century, Longmen Dangong was widely circulated among the people. Because it is mainly sitting, it is called "sitting" and "meditation" Practitioners often practice boxing in order to keep fit, so it is also called "internal strength" to distinguish it from "external strength" of boxing. Because the existing Dan Shu rarely teaches the practice of Dan Gong directly, and the part of the theory of Dan Gong is often mysterious, especially the specific steps, which are rarely discussed, this paper intends to make a brief introduction on personal knowledge, focusing on practicality and no longer involving works.
Although Dan Gong is known as "sitting", there is nothing special about the posture of sitting while practicing. Although you need to sit cross-legged, you can sit in a dish, a single dish or a scattered dish, and you can adhere to the purpose of "being natural", even if you just sit in a chair (you must rely on it).
Although this kind of achievement method belongs to the category of life work, it actually requires sexual work. Because first of all, we must cultivate the concentration of practitioners. That is, when you sit down, you must have patience and endurance, and at least sit calmly for a quarter of an hour to an hour. When sitting cross-legged, stick to it no matter how numb your legs and feet are. Therefore, people who are impetuous and can't calm down, it's best to start from external exercises and cultivate their concentration in advance, without having to learn to sit still first.
The practice environment should be a quiet place, the surroundings should be kept clean, and the room is better. You can practice at any time except for half an hour after dinner. The so-called "twelve o'clock a day, suit yourself."
The most important thing is the mentality when practicing. You must keep a high degree of calm, not be emotional, and not have a strong interest in practice. Don't force yourself if you don't want to do nothing. Now that you are seated, you should put aside all external chores and put down all the ideological burdens in your heart. The ideology at this time should have only one goal, that is, to seek clarity and not to pursue anything else.
The most important thing in meditation is to try to get rid of other thoughts and think nothing, so the first level is this "don't think" kung fu. This is simple to say, but difficult to do. To achieve inner peace and achieve the basic concentration required by Dan Gong requires great efforts and cannot be anxious.
Dan's book introduces several ways to start, which can not only effectively stop thinking, but also increase your skills:
1, keep your eyes open when you shine-when you sit quietly, your eyelids droop, only a ray of light is opened, and you can vaguely see your nose tip. I don't open my eyes or sleep. The heart focuses on the part of the brain just between the eyebrows. This part is uncertain and there is no need to seriously consider it. I only vaguely know that there is such a place. This practice is called "back lighting". After calming down, you can gradually transfer consciousness from the brain to the abdomen (the junction of chest and abdomen) and lower abdomen (navel). If you have a little feeling somewhere there, you can fix your mind on that part, which is called "keeping a clear head" The location of the orifices mentioned here is rather vague, so it doesn't need to be determined carefully. Probably right here. When your kung fu reaches a deeper level, you will naturally feel the exact position of that move. Don't pursue it very carefully from the beginning. By keeping your mind open with the method of returning to the light, you can basically avoid the interference of other ideas by focusing on practicing your mind open.
2, adjust the breath, swallow body fluid-close your mouth when meditating, extend your tongue to the palate, and breathe air only through your nostrils. At this time, listen carefully to the sound of your breathing with your ears, and patiently let your breathing gradually become lighter and thinner so that you can't hear any sound. At this point, you still have to listen carefully and concentrate on the news, so that you can put aside all other thoughts, the so-called "heart and interest depend on each other." The ideal way to breathe is to use "internal breathing". In other words, practice reverse (abdominal) breathing: the lower abdomen contracts when inhaling and relaxes when exhaling. There are two ways to get into this state quickly. One is that the anus lifts and contracts at the same time when inhaling, so the lower abdomen naturally contracts; As soon as breathing is relaxed, the lower abdomen and anus relax at the same time. If you relax for nine times, your breathing can be adjusted to abdominal breathing, so you don't have to mention the anus any more. As soon as you breathe, you will mention it, and your breath will return to your navel. Another way is to imagine the belly button inhaling inward at the same time when inhaling, so the lower abdomen naturally contracts. After practicing reverse breathing quite skillfully, you can add an idea slightly, that is, imagine that while exhaling, you will fill the external vitality into the lower abdomen and inject it into the lower abdomen to become a medicine vaccine. In this way, when you inhale, you will feel that energy and rise slightly. Inhale and exhale in this way, and several internal forces also fluctuate between the middle abdomen and the lower abdomen. This is internal breathing. The so-called "real people dive into the abyss, hidden rules swim." Of course, this kind of ups and downs must not be deliberately conceived, but naturally realized, nor can it happen in two days, but it takes a long time of practice. In the process of pranayama, the saliva in the mouth will gradually increase, so we must swallow it lightly to a certain extent, not too fast or too fierce. The so-called "swallow it three times, and the dragon will run."
3, the whole body to relax-just sit down, first shake the body at will, so that the joints are loose, after sitting steady, keep the most posture, fixed, it will fall and relax. Generally, loosen your shoulders first and don't shrug. Then relax the back and neck; So other parts, also effortlessly relax. When you calm down, your internal organs will naturally relax. This is very relaxing. This relaxation process is carried out in coordination with the above-mentioned light return and pranayama, without much thinking.
According to the above method, gradually achieve quiet. In the whole process of practicing martial arts, we should always take care of it. The so-called "don't forget and help". It is neither completely forgotten to keep the move, nor forever forgotten to keep the move, but only concentrated in the abdomen (middle and lower parts, no need to fix). Others, such as relaxation and pranayama, don't worry about those things when they are relaxed and reconciled.
When staying in Tiandan area, look at this area with your eyes, listen to this area with your ears, pay attention to this area, and don't think about anywhere else. This mentality is not difficult to achieve in the early stage of sitting, and it is not difficult to concentrate. But after a long time, the idea of intentional defense will gradually slack off, distractions will gradually hover in the brain, and attention will not start to be so concentrated. From now on, we should keep a vigilance in our thoughts, as the saying goes, "Only the temptation is extinguished, but the reflection is not extinguished." When your mind is distracted, you should immediately notice it and pull it back. The so-called "remembering is a disease, not continuing to be a medicine." It doesn't matter if you repeat this process. When you practice skillfully, your distractions will gradually decrease and the number of repeated stops will also decrease. If you are really confused, you can take reflective steps and check your eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body in turn:
1. Do you see Dantian in your eyes? If you don't continue watching, watch it again quickly.
2. Are your ears listening to breathing? If you don't continue listening, listen again quickly.
3. Is there breath in your nostrils? If you don't pay attention, make your breathing lighter and quieter.
4. Is your tongue against the upper jaw? If it is not good, correct it immediately.
5. Are you completely relaxed? If you are nervous, relax immediately.
After such a patrol, I then stopped thinking and kept my head clear, so the state of silence continued. In this way, the distractions will gradually decrease, the static state will gradually last, and the skills will gradually improve.
Having said that, the author would like to add a digression. The "skills" gained through hard work are real, and one point is one point, which really has the effect of getting rid of illness and prolonging life. There is another thing called "merit". Usually, doing more good things for others (which belongs to the scope of sexual practice) has a wonderful effect on the growth of your skills. It should be accumulated from time to time in daily life and cannot be ignored. Another thing is called "function", which belongs to an unknown energy type. Everyone has it, but most people can't develop it at any time, so it is difficult to hide it. However, some people are easy to develop, which can be revealed with a little practice, thus producing some magical effects, such as perspective on the human body, farsightedness, reverse understanding of the future and so on. People who consciously have this function should never be complacent and think that their technology has reached a profound level. In fact, they are not achieved by our own efforts and cannot be consolidated, which is not helpful to get rid of diseases and prolong life, let alone wise. Beginners must pay attention not to pursue the growth of "function" deliberately, but to focus on the growth of "skills"
In the process of silence, there will be a "groggy" problem. After I calmed down, I felt soft all over and seemed to be asleep. This situation, whether physical fatigue or mental fatigue, should be fundamentally solved. First of all, don't take a nap, open your eyes and rest for a minute or two before continuing to sit; You can also get up and move for a while and then continue to sit down. It is important to keep calm at all times.
According to this practice for many days, there will be a warm current in the abdomen, and the environment will be stronger with the vitality injected into the abdomen when exhaling. It is the initial basis for cultivating drug seedlings and forming "returning to the abdomen". If you sit with your eyes closed and suddenly there is light, or a piece of light, or a round of light, the part that appears is often in front of you. This is called "porch dew", which means that kung fu has reached a certain level and it is possible to go through customs further. These phenomena usually appear in about 0/00 days of practicing/kloc, so they are called "hundred-day foundation". But this process varies from person to person. Some people may be less than 100 days, others may be more than 100 days, or even as long as a year or so. In short, don't pursue it deliberately, and don't get too excited. Haste makes waste, and haste ruins great things. Because the whole process of Dan Gong is always based on the principle of "Taoism is natural", this is very important.
It should be noted that during the training period, men will have spontaneous erection of penis, which Taoism calls "while alive" or "producing medicine". At this time, it is necessary to prevent semen from leaking. In case of ejaculation, it is called "turning over the pot converter", just like practicing Dan medicine in the furnace, it is necessary to "prevent micro-duration", but it is not necessary to be too nervous. When sitting, the method of "inhaling and pinching" should be adopted, that is, inhaling through the nose, closing the top of the eye, gently pinching the anus, and appropriately closing the breath, so as to guide turbid sperm to pass through the perineum and coccygeal vertebra, rise along the spine, and reach the brain directly, which is called "filling essence and nourishing brain" or "taking small medicine". In this way, the erection phenomenon naturally disappears, and Dantian will feel energetic and comfortable. Over time, there will be hot air hovering in the navel, which is caused by big doctors. If you continue to practice, then this heat will rise along the spine, break through the three levels and get through the Du meridian, which is further efforts. Dan's book "Anshen Tibetan Cavity Collecting Medicine and Returning to Furnace" refers to this process. When I was alive, I often fell asleep at midnight. At this time, we should dress up and practice well, and we should not be careless at all. Because Dan Gong has been practicing for a long time, he is full of essence and needs to prevent leakage. Some people take the initiative to meditate in the middle of the night (12 to 1), which is called "observing prime time". If it becomes a habit and does not affect normal sleep, it is also a good idea. Living is a common situation in Dan Gong's practice. In the past, because it involved privacy, it was often not clear. Dan's books also use various argot and tortuous expressions. The so-called "ugliness and refinement" has been misinterpreted as house art. In fact, Longmen Dangong has always advocated pure cultivation and strongly disapproved of the so-called "double cultivation" in the room, which has been clearly stated throughout the ages. Because once you fall into the realm of lust, your heart will not be clear, and morality will not be easy to accumulate, that is, it will not be easy to fall into silence. "Double cultivation of life" can only be understood as sexual cultivation and life practice.
The Longmen School started with Dan Gong, which is roughly the case. I am willing to listen to the teacher's advice to my colleagues. Please correct me if there are any mistakes.