Daoist Nei Gong Notes

Week 15 – Quality of Ting

 This week involves seated exercises to develop the key quality of Ting – listening in Daoism
 We will use a particular handshape – a mudra
o Place your left thumb inside the center of your right hand palm.
o Then, lightly clasp your right hand’s fingers
around your left thumb.
o Finish by closing the fingers of your left hand
around your right.
o The hands will end up sealed
o This is called the Taiji Mudra – because of the
fact that the shape in the hands represents the S-
curve you see in the Yin-Yang symbol.
 Let the hands relax down onto the lap in the Taiji Mudra.
o This will help to anchor the mind and qi and
create more density on the base of the body.
 Sit and breathe through the nose, letting the mind and
breathe sink inside the abdomen down to the Dan Tien.
o Spine upwards
o Bones floating – not collapsed down under the
weight of gravity
o Head is suspended – legs are based into the floor
 The quality of Ting – listening – is a vital part of the internal arts.
o This is a part of our practice we must develop to a high quality if we wish to progress
past an early stage in our practice.
o This quality takes time to develop.
o It develops in stages
 Beginner level Ting are not the same as advanced level Ting – listening at a
higher level is much more complex.
 There are subdivisions of Ting.
 There is a reason that we use the term listening in the Chinese arts
o Essentially it is akin to mindfulness.
o It is a passive sense function.
o We do not use other sense because senses such as vision (observing or looking) or
touch will have the tendency to generate “sensations”
 Vision – if we are told to ‘look or observe inside’ – will produce visual
imagery within the mind
 There is a risk of mistaking this imagery for something pertinent to
the practice rather than a fabrication of the mind.
 Feel/touch will have a tendency to create psychosomatic tactile phenomena.
 Smell or taste would be odd.
o Discernment is one of the most challenging aspects of the arts, which is why we want
to refrain from practices which will create delusions.
o Listen implies the need to be quiet.
 It is passive.
 We cannot listen if there is noise.
 If we are speaking, we cannot listen.

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  Thoughts are consider un-vocalized speech. So we must also quiet our mind
in order to listen.
o This is the basis of Ting.
 Here are other qualities associated with listening
o The first of this is Ting – stabilisation.
 This means to stabilize the mind onto the object you are listening to.
 Whatever the object of my attention is – the DT, the breath or the
body – I must be able to stabilize my mind into that form/object
while sustaining the passive quality of listening.
 Maintaining quietude in the mind and allowing the shape of your
awareness to reside on the object of your practice and stabilize into
that form is not simple.
 Within the arts, there is very little doing.
 Very little, if any, visualization.
 No imagination – this is a modernism.
o When imagining, the mind is not still/passive.
o A visualized object is a mental construct = a form of ‘inner
talking’ -> not listening.
 The idea is that when we apply listening to an object, we enable that thing to
grow.
 When we listen to something, we give this our quiet, humble and
passive attention, this will flourish.
o Similar to bringing up a child. We do not want to be overly
controlling, neither can we ignore the child. Key is gentle,
nourishing, constant, passive attention, listening to it, which
will enable it to grow and flourish in the right way.
o Almost every deficiency in our body or mind are the results
of either not paying enough attention, or being too
controlling.
 This is the basis for the Eastern arts of transformation.
 That which we can listen to, we will absorb into.
 That which we absorb and stabilize into, will grow and flourish in the
correct direction.
 This will enable transformation towards the point we are aiming for
in our practice.
 This is the basis for Wu Wei – non-governing. Just listening.
o Exercise: stabilizing the mind into the form of the body
 We breathe in and out through the nose – let everything relax.
 The body will be our object/subject of listening.
 The quality of listening will be our practice.
 Begin by bringing your awareness to the head. Listen to the head.
 The classical instruction is listen.
 Damo says it is as if the head is a porous sponge and the fluid of your
mind and awareness soaks into the sponge.
 The head must fill with the awareness.
 The fluid of the mind’s awareness must fill the head.
 We listen to the head by absorbing the fluid of the mind into it’s
shape.
 Stay with this practice. Everything else must fade away.

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  Stabilize the mind into the head.
 Where the mind resides, the nerves will stimulate.
o There will be a feeling of tingling on the skin, maybe a
pressure increase on the head.
o There is a subtle somatic experience of the mind being
absorbed into the head.
o We acknowledge it.
 We must find the weight/mass of the mind.
 The mind has a form because the mind has a fluid.
 The fluid can react to gravity.
 In order to find this, relax and let the fluid of the mind start to move
down into the body.
 Do not move the mind down. This is an action – not Wu Wei.
 Simply relax and let the mind soak down into the body like the water
is filling the sponge of the rest of your form.
o Head, neck, shoulders, chest, ribcage, between the pelvis
and hips, through the arms and legs.
o If the fluid gets stuck, it is because the mind or the body is
not relaxed.
 Relax the muscles, relax the awareness.
 Let it move down past that which is blocked.
 Keep going in this way until your mind reaches the floor but includes
the whole of the form.
o This might take a while.
o Just relax and breathe.
o Your awareness must be soaked into the whole form.
o Everything else must fade way.
 Continue to breathe.
 When the mind is in the body, there is a sensation which will take
place within the nerves
o It will change and possibly thicken or feel bigger, possibly
there is warmth across the body
o A whole multitude of sensation might arise
o They do not matter
 Continue with the practice, soaking the mind through the body until
it fills everything from the top of your head all the way through your
whole form.
o From Bahui to the Perineum and everything in between.
o If the mind had a shape, it would be the same as the form of
your body.
o There must be no hollows or protrusions – no place where
the mind is not there in the body, no place where the mind is
outside of the body.
 This is our first listening exercise.
o If we lose the form, we must start again. Back to the top of the head and sinking.
o Practice day by day until the mind can sink into the object.
o Do not underestimate how useful this skill is or how tricky to develop.
o It will take time.

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 o As lessons go on, we will take the quality of listening further, but for now, practice
this.
o It is recommend to practice for at least 15 minutes.
 Conclude the practice as follows
o Release the hands
o Place them on your knees
o Twist the spine side to side
o Roll the shoulders backwards
o Come back to normality 

Week 16 – Developing Ting

 This week carries on from last week’s lesson.

 When we have a term such as Ting in the Chinese arts,
o There is a quality (like passivity, non judgement,) to it,
o There is also a stability (ding), the ability to remain in the object you are listening to
without having the mind wander.
o Thirdly, there is a mechanic to it.
 Listening means for the actual region that the mind is listening to – the shape
of the fluid of the mind’s awareness - to be stabilized into the structure,
from the center to the outside: all-encompassing throughout the object we
are listening to.
 This can take a while to develop.
 Now, we need to take it a step further: we must become aware of what happens when we
listen to the body.
 Once again, sit like before.
o On the floor or in a chair
o Hands clasped in Taiji Mudra as an energetic weight.
o Allow the body to breathe, settle into the posture.
o Spine upright, bones floating.
o Take some time.
 Begin to return the mind to the quality of Ting as before.
o Place the mind in the shape of the head, soak it from the outside to the center.
o Sink and relax the mind so that it moves under its own weight, until it has soaked to
the base of the floor into the entire body.
o Fill the sponge of the body with the fluid of the mind.
o No hollows or protrusions. If something is tight, relax that area more.
o We stabilize the mind by using the body as an object to stabilize the mind into.
 We use form so the mind has something to lock onto and interact with.
Stabilizing into space is more difficult and comes later.
 Now we have an exercise for stabilizing.
o You will notice that what appears still is no longer still when we give it our
awareness.
 The body may not move, but the sensation does change.
 The nervous system is not at rest. It never is, unless we are numb.
 Little transient, swirling sensations across the body.
 Hopefully, the skill of sitting has developed enough that the more extreme
sensations of itching pain or bruises have faded away. The brain no longer
creates these somatic attempts to pull you out of your practice.
 What we are left with is the sensation of things changing.

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  Transience within the body.
o At first, these sensations will appear at the level of the skin.
 Just breathe and take note of them.
o The movements of sensation across the skin, body, nerves, are largely created by the
movements of mind.
 As thoughts come and go, they send little impulses or movements down
through the body.
 The listening of the body (the movements of qi) gives us a window to the
movements of mind.
o Our next skill or quality (a thing we need to be qualitatively aware of) is how the
mind is affected by the movements we are listening to.
 At first it is just mentally taking note.
 Are there certain sensations that appear that tend to draw your
mind towards them? Are there certain qualities?
o Maybe, maybe not.
 Are there certain regions your mind tends to get pulled to?
o Is the shape of the mind tugging towards your shoulders, or
your head, or anywhere else?
 Is it difficult to stabilize the mind in the whole structure because
sensations are pulling you somewhere in particular?
 If the sensations arise, simply let your mind take note. Is the sensation
pleasant, or unpleasant?
 All of this is food for the mind, a form of stimulation.
 What is the relationship between the mind, the somatic experiences in the
body generated in the mind and the feedback loop from that experience
back into the mind?
 Essentially, the lack of stillness in the mind is generating sensations
across the body as the qi moves and the mind is using its own
generated sensations as a form of stimulation back to the mind.
 This self-generated loop is creating the stimulation that forms the
acquired mind - which we do not necessarily look to eradicate but
wish to see beyond.
 These are the mechanisms of the fluid of the mind that pulls us away
from our quality of stabilisation of the quality of listening.
 Our priority is simply to take note of and listen to this process between the
body and the mind.
 Do not aim to change it.
 When we understand how something works, it sometimes begins to
break down.
 Theoretical understanding does not suffice. You must touch upon
this experientially in order to understand for yourself how this
happens.
 Listen to this process without getting drawn into it.
 It is as if you are casually listening to a conversation at a restaurant
without getting sucked into it, while remaining stabilized on your
own conversation.
 There is now a two-part process.
o Stabilizing the awareness through sinking and soaking the mind through the body
and stabilizing it into the form of your structure.

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 o Gently analyzing the fluctuations that are pulling you away from stabilisation and
recognizing the feedback loop between mind – body and back to the mind.
 The self-generating delusion of mind taking place within the qi of the body.
 At first this is hard to feel.
 Not analysis, not intellectual exploration but gentle self-inquiry (less
intense).
 Stay with this process – listening.
 This is not a simple exercise – it is a very important process.
o The quality of listening will later lead to the quality of discernment.
o We must spend time with this practice until the learning and understanding from
self-enquiry comes.
o The self-generating factors of mind are the main influencing factors upon our qi,
body, emotions, and mental state.
o If the body does not receive stimulation from the sense faculties (outside world), it
will instead generate its own stimulation in the fascia.
o When the classics talk of sealing the senses, they are also referring to the internal
sense faculties.
 We do not really use discipline. We use awareness of, comprehension of,
inquiry into and then return to the stabilisation of the mind into the object.
 Continue with this practice – ongoing.
o Drop it into your life.
o Short bursts.
o Allow this quality to arise in you.
o It will develop quality and discernment.
 When done, just breathe, move the body and return to normal.

Week 17 – Stabilisation of Awareness

 Stabilisation onto any object is a key quality we wish to develop.

o Qi (from Qi Gong), DT building, … all these things can be developed without much
high quality stabilisation of mind because the movements are still helping to build
something.
o However, the efficiency of practice is highly dependent on the qualities we have and
ultimately those are largely within the mind.
o So in improving our quality of stabilisation of awareness we will greatly improve the
efficiency of our practice.
o What separates those who reach a high level in the internal arts and those who do
not, is the quality of their mind.
 How stable was the mind?
 How much could they absorb into the object of their practice?
 What level of clarity and discernment did they have?
 Many other related qualities – essentially, meditation.
 This is why, even in this relatively early stage in training, while not teaching meditation
proper yet, we still wish to develop certain mental qualities.
o If these can be developed to a high level early on in training, your practice is super
charged.
 More qi can be built.
 The mind can listen more effectively to a mechanism due to the qualities of
listening and stabilisation which lets this mechanism function at a more
efficient rate – a far higher level.

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 o Ultimately if the organs themselves and the channels can be connected to with a
correctly listening mind, then the stimulation and attention that that organ system is
receiving from your mind, will mean that organ system will start to repair itself.
o If the mind is not stably listening to something, is either
 Intending: forcing the mind, too assertive/aggressive.
 This will transform the qi, giving intention rather than attention.
 Ignoring: not stabilized into the object
o Correct attention will start to nourishment to an object so it can evolve.
o This is the basis of what we are trying to do.
 For our next skill, we need to be able to switch/change between objects.
o Can we change our mind between different objects while maintain the quality of
stabilisation of awareness/listening? Or are we stuck in the object?
o The objects we listen to will transform as time goes on.
 In the beginning, the body is an object, the DT is an object.
 Later, thought patterns, cognitive qualities, mental constructions will
become objects as well.
 Anything that the fluid of the mind can absorb into, is an object.
 Not just the physical. In the realm of consciousness, a thought has
form.
 In order to be able to do this, we must be able to absorb into different
objects.
 Exercise: using the Bao Yuan Mudra 抱圆.
o

Place one hand on top of the other.

 You can choose which one you place on top.
 You will find one hand feels more comfortable on top of the other.
 The majority of time, for men, the right hand on top will be comfortable. For
women, the left hand on top.
 Hand positions are not truly gender specific, it has to do with the
energetic effect (expansion or contraction) in much later stages.
o For men more associated with energetic expansion, women
more associated with energy pulling into the center.
 Go with which one feels right to you.

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 o Fingers are kept together.
o Tips of the thumb touch each other in an
upwards arch as shown.
o This creates an upwards circle.
o Ba means to encompass, enwrap and circle.
 This is a common position, used a lot in
Daoist meditative work.
o The position must not be collapsed – like the
spine must not be collapsed.
o Apply and maintain a certain degree of pressure
so that it is as if you are holding a piece of
paper between your fingers and your thumbs
which can only be pulled away with some
effort.
o Rest the mudra at the base of the torso.
o Hold the power. Do not let it go slack.
o This mudra grasps the mind low down.
 The qi will be caught, the mind will be
caught.
 In order for this to happen, the mind must go to this area.
 Without the hand shape, the mind will come back up.
 With enough practice using Bao Yuan, even if we release the mind, it will
continue to reside in the abdomen,
held there by the mudra.
 This is why this position is used a lot
in meditation.
 Consider it a keyboard short-cut such
as control-alt-delete.
 This mudra shortcut enables us to
keep the mind stabilized in the form
of the DT.
 To train this hand position for later use, please follow
the following exercise.
o Begin by placing the hands on the knees so
we do not have this hand shape.
o Breathe through the nose, establish posture,
qualities of breathing, settle into your
practice.
o Go back into your listening exercise of the
last two weeks.
o Become aware of the form of the mind in the
head, soak the mind’s fluid from outside to inside, then relax and let it sink and
spread throughout the whole body, from top to bottom.
 Remain in this state for some time.
o Once you have filled the body, we will begin changing the object.
o Slowly change the object from the body to the DT.
 Gradually pull your awareness in to the location of the DT (where the
crosshairs meet), as if it is shrinking in towards this central point in the lower
abdomen.

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  We do this slowly as to not disturb the mind more than necessary.
 Stabilize the mind there into the DT.
 Breathe.
 Remain here for some time.
o Then let the mind move back out into the body again.
 Relax, let it spread.
 Changing the object back to the form of the body.
 This transition might be difficult, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as it
indicates you have effectively anchored your mind in the DT with a good
quality of at ease.
 Stabilize into the body once more.
 Breathe.
 Remain here for some time.
o Again, bring the mind back in towards the DT, but this time accompany the mind
with the Bao Yuan Mudra.
 The mudra, with a bit of power between the palms and hands, will guard the
mind within the DT, holding it in place.
 This is training the transition of the mind from one object to another, with a
little bit of governance.
 With time, the mind and body will get used to this, establishing the Bao Yuan
Mudra as a little keyboard shortcut.
 When wishing to stabilize the mind in the DT in our practice, we can then use
this Mudra to lock the mind in the DT.
 The subject and object become connected, anchored through the use of the
hand shape
 Breathe.
 See if you can relax your mind away from the exercise while using the mudra
to keep your awareness in the abdomen.
o The result, with practice:
 Anchored mind in the lower abdomen
 Anchored breath in the lower abdomen
 A feeling of density and pressure on the inside of the abdominal cavity
because of the qi in the DT, the form of the DT and the stabilized awareness
unto the point because of the mudra.
o Remain like this and breathe for some time, getting used to the stabilisation of mind
and qi on this point. Maintain the assertive power in the mudra.
o Conclude your practice by placing the hands back on the knees, twisting and
stretching the spine, rolling the shoulders, letting the mind return to interaction with
outside world. Back to the physical.
o Use the video a few times as guide, until you are used to the practice sequence, then
practice without.
o Remember, we are learning to establish the qualities of transitioning your awareness
from object to object and creates the qualities to improve the efficiency of our work
and lives.

Week 18 - Dan Tian Gong – Set 1

 This week puts together a lot of the previous work, combining the DT work to send the qi to
the lower abdomen and the work of stabilizing the mind into the Bao Yuan mudra.
 The exercises are called the Dan Tian Gong – elixir field skill building exercises.

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 Make sure you hold each position for an equal length of time: 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10
minutes, etc. It is important that the time is evenly spread across the exercises.
 Begin in Wuji, sink the kua and the breath.
o By now this position should be more comfortable.
 Move to Bao Yuan mudra.
o Bring the mind down to the DT, back and above the height of the perineum.
Maintain some pressure in the Bao Yuan mudra to capture the awareness in the DT
which will guide the Qi there. The mind should move to the DT easily enough
because of the 5 qualities of the breath.
o The heat, pressure and tugging inside the abdomen can get quite strong if you have
been training some time.
 Move with both hands to the sides of the abdominal cavity lao gong facing lao gong
o The mind remains sunk, residing on the object of the DT.
o Success in this exercise lies on the previously develop skills:
 Correct abdominal breathing qualities
 Opening Lao Gong to direct the qi
 Stabilisation of the mind onto the object of the DT
 Alignment of the body according to the principles of Wuji
o Allow the qi to build up
 Move back to Bao Yuan mudra.
o Try to capture and hold the qi in the abdomen.
 Move to a position with right hand on top of the abdomen (just below the diaphragm), left
hand on bottom (just below the DT), lao gong facing lao gong.
o Continue to listen.
 Move back to Bao Yuan mudra.
 Move to a position with left hand on top of the abdomen, right hand on bottom, lao gong
facing lao gong.
o Hands are not faced inward. Lao gong faces lao gong, separating the bones of the
palm.
 Move back to Bao Yuan mudra.
 Bring both hands up to just below the height of the diaphragm, with both palms/laogongs
facing down towards the floor. Elbows out.
o The body might gently move in a pulsating manner, opening and closing, but this is
not an active movement you made. Do not imitate this. If it happens of its own
accord, simply allow it to arise, but do not add to it.
o As the field builds and the qi thickens, it will affect the physical world and grab the
tissues, causing movement in the body.
o Lao Gong is relating to the ground.
 Move back to Bao Yuan mudra.
o Weight is equally spread across the feet, not on the front.
o Eyes closed, looking inside.
 Now, begin rolling the hands from bottom to top, circling by alternating left and hand on top
with lao gong facing each other
o The body can get very hot from this. This is fine.
o Sweating might use a bit qi, but it’s not really an issue.
 Move back to Bao Yuan mudra.
 Now, put the hands to the sides of the abdomen with lao gong facing each other and make
small forward circles, like the water element but with much smaller circles.
 Move back to Bao Yuan mudra.

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 Return to Wuji, just sink.
o If qi is moving in the DT, simply allow it but don’t add to it.
 When finished, stretch the legs, shake the hands and close down.
 This is the first half of the DT Sequence.
o It is essentially a summary of all the work from before.
 Lao gong guiding qi
 Building of the field
 Qualities of standing
 Lao gong leading everything in the right way
 Mental qualities of stabilization of mind led there by abdominal breathing
sinking the mind into its place.
 Bao Yuan holding the mind in the right place so qi can be guided in.
 Combination of center of gravity, breath and mind and the exercise itself will
start to lead and build this pattern increasingly stronger inside the abdomen.
o The total is quite long.
o Take your time practicing this first part of the set, making sure to give every part an
equal length of time.
 In summary:
o Wuji
o Bao Yuan
o Hands to the sides of the abdomen, lao gong facing lao gong in front of abdomen
o Bao Yuan
o Right hand on top, left hand on bottom, lao gong facing lao gong in front of abdomen
o Boa Yuan
o Left hand on top, right hand on bottom, lao gong facing lao gong in front of abdomen
o Bao Yuan
o Both hands just below the diaphragm, lao gong facing down, elbows out
o Bao Yuan
o Hands rotating, alternating left and hand on top with lao gong facing each other
o Bao Yuan
o Hands to the sides, lao gong facing lao gong in front of abdomen while making small
forward circles.
o Bao Yuan
o Finish in Wuji
o Shake hands, close down.

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