Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Chapter Five Problems That Arise in Cultivating Meditative Concentration
Section One Bodily Problems during Quiet Sitting
1. Why Does the Face Itch Easily in Meditative Concentration?
Question: When sitting in meditation cultivating samādhi and observing the breath, when the mind is fairly concentrated, I feel the breathing is extremely faint; then gradually, after some time, the area around the nose—both sides of the nostrils and the lips—becomes terribly itchy, unbearably so. What is the reason for this?
Answer: When the mind is fairly concentrated, because the mind consciousness's attention is focused, resting on a single object, it also draws the manas to attend to that dharma-object, attending little or not at all to other dharma-objects; its power of control over the body faculty weakens, and the qi channels within the body begin to circulate. Where the meridians are blocked and obstructed, hindrances appear and some pathological signs manifest; once the qi channels pass through, they are gone. If, while observing the breath, the mind consciousness's attention is around the nostrils, the qi channels are also drawn there; because there is a trouble spot there, an obstruction, the qi channels cannot pass through for a while, and one feels itching. When the mind consciousness is concentrated on one spot and the manas is drawn along with it, it no longer grasps at the body; one can then obtain tranquility and comfort of body and mind, various sublime states appear, and the mood is very joyful.
2. Why Is the Back Perfectly Straight in Meditative Concentration?
Question: When we sit in meditation cultivating samādhi, the neck does not tilt and the waist is held straight; but if we are not in samādhi and instead fall asleep, the body slumps. The seventh consciousness (manas) is present both in samādhi and in sleep; the difference is that in samādhi the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna) is present, whereas in sleep the sixth consciousness may perhaps be suspended. This shows that the body and the other five sense faculties are still controlled by the sixth consciousness and not by the seventh consciousness—if the seventh consciousness still controlled them, the body should remain perfectly straight even in sleep. Is that so?
Answer: In meditative concentration the qi channels circulate smoothly; when they circulate to the Du channel along the back, they push the back straight, pulling the body upright, and the head too remains erect without drooping. When the qi channels do not circulate smoothly, these phenomena do not occur; when there is no meditative concentration, still less do they occur. Therefore, in meditative concentration, as long as one's meditative skill is good and the qi channels flow freely, the body is perfectly straight and the whole body upright—whether or not the six consciousnesses sustain the body, it is so. This is the function of the manas sustaining the body through the qi channels.
The eighth consciousness has the function of sustaining the body; the manas has the function of controlling the physical body; and the six consciousnesses also have the function of sustaining the body. If the six consciousnesses vanish, they cannot sustain the body or keep it upright, so the body slumps this way and that. The manas cannot control the body entirely on its own; it needs the cooperation of the six consciousnesses, which are the manas's tools. With the six consciousnesses present or absent, the degree of the manas's control over the body differs. When the six consciousnesses are present, the manas can direct the bodily actions of the six consciousnesses and, together with them, control the body faculty, and the body can be kept perfectly straight. In sleep this is not possible: the manas must certainly let the six consciousnesses cease so that the physical body can rest fully; at that time the manas cannot direct the six consciousnesses to keep the body straight, and the body slumps this way and that.
In the attainment of no-perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti) there are likewise no six consciousnesses, and in the attainment of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti) there are no six consciousnesses either, yet the body does not slump—this shows that it is the manas that sustains the body. If the manas did not sustain the body, the eighth consciousness would depart and the sentient being would die. The body slumping in sleep is because the manas wants the body to rest, does not let the six consciousnesses sustain it, and itself clings to fewer objects; in samādhi, with concentration as support, it is different. Hence, if a person remains in samādhi for a long time without sleeping, the body cannot endure it either.
Question: These past two days while sitting in meditation doing recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), previously as I recited along, the thought would vanish right before my eyes and I could not bring the recollection out; since yesterday I feel the thought vanishing below the navel. If this continues, will it go awry?
Answer: This is merely a matter of attention: wherever the attention is, one feels the thought to be there. When the mind guards the dantian, the qi arrives at the dantian, the body's qi channels are open, and the mind is pure, thoughts do not arise easily. So it will not go awry.
3. Why Does the Phenomenon of an Enlarged Body Arise during Quiet Sitting?
When there is coarse and shallow meditative concentration, the body exhibits some sensations of swelling and expansion; this is a phenomenon that appears when the manas's grasping of the body lessens—the mind leaping out of the human realm, a response slightly corresponding to the desire-realm devas. As long as one abandons the states of the human realm and lightens one's attachment to the human five desires, the states of the devas will inevitably appear.
All samādhi prior to the form-realm first dhyāna belongs to samādhi that has not yet reached the first dhyāna; it divides into many levels—with different minds, the coarse or subtle levels of samādhi differ—but to a greater or lesser degree it all corresponds to the states of the desire-realm devas. The further one departs from the human five desires, the deeper the samādhi, the greater the bodily changes, and the more comfortable the physical and mental experiences. So we should know that leaving behind human desires brings greater ease, and every feeling is wonderful. How unwise it is to crave the six sense-object states and the five-desire life of the human world—how inferior and unbearable human life really is!
Countless people crave and delight in the human world's flowers and grasses, its mountains, rivers, and great earth, its human affairs and material things, taking pride and arrogance in possessing worldly power, status, wealth and sensual pleasures, family and relatives. In fact, compared with the sublime states of the devas these are lowly and crude, with nothing at all worth pride or arrogance—only the short-sighted who have never seen the wider world behave thus.
4. What Role Do the Qi Channels Play in Meditative Concentration?
The qi channels are a phenomenon of the body's qi mechanism activating after the mind has quieted down; they circulate through the body in regular patterns, dredging and clearing the sinews and bones, the vessels, the muscles, and the internal organs. They are like a disease-detecting instrument, more sensitive and more accurate than the various examination devices in hospitals. Instruments can only detect illnesses already present, and sometimes even that is inaccurate. The qi channels, however, can detect all kinds of hidden diseases in the body—diseases that would go undiscovered without quiet sitting and might only flare up or manifest years later, or in old age. When the qi channels reach a place where disease is hidden, they cannot get through because of the blockage, and the body will show pain; the qi channels can gradually adjust it, and with a little dredging they pass through, but the illness is not necessarily cured completely right away.
The circulation of the qi channels can probe out diseases: where disease blocks the body, the qi channels cannot pass; blocked there, that place hurts, and when the disease is gone the pain stops. Or, if the illness is not cured, when the mind is agitated the qi mechanism cannot activate; without the circulation of the qi channels the body no longer hurts, but the disease has not been eliminated. For serious illnesses, the qi channels must undergo repeated adjustments many times over, and no one knows how long it will take before the disease is completely eradicated. Because of karmic obstructions, the human physical body gradually ages as the years pass, and hidden diseases grow ever more numerous; often one does not notice them oneself and still believes oneself very healthy.
The human body has three channels and seven cakras, and the qi channels circulate along these pathways. The Ren channel runs from the crown of the head, past the five zang and six fu organs and the internal organs, all the way to the perineum. The Du channel runs from the perineum along the back to the crown of the head. One such circuit is the "small heavenly circuit" spoken of in qigong. Then the qi channels circulate to the perineum and pass through the central channel, traveling along the pathway in the middle of the body to the crown of the head; after exiting from the crown, the entire network of meridians and channels is opened, and all the body's illnesses vanish. The better the physical constitution, the quieter the mind, the smoother the circulation of the qi channels, and the healthier the body. The condition of the qi channels' circulation differs from person to person; during this period one must endure the torment of many ailments, but if appropriate counteractive measures are taken, the body can be brought back to health as quickly as possible.
5. States That Arise from Cultivating Profound Meditative Concentration
Question: These recent days when I go out, I cannot bear to hear any noise. For over half a month now, whether at home or out, if I am not careful I am badly startled by sounds. The first two days were especially severe: I felt as if this body were about to float away, unable to keep my balance, as if the body were out of control, and as if there were a hole at the crown of my head with wind drilling into it. Usually I dare not go out for fear of being frightened. My daughters say I ignore them now, and that I look as if my soul has wandered off, listless and spiritless. They even took me to the hospital for a check-up, but nothing was wrong. Sitting in meditation at home contemplating the Dharma principles is much better, but sometimes I feel flustered inside. This never happened before. Is something wrong with me?
Answer: You may not understand the principle of how the body's qi channels circulate, nor know whether the qi channels have passed through the Ren channel in front of the body and the Du channel along the back, and finally, after circling around the body front and back, entered the central channel, with the qi about to surge out through the crown of the head. When the Baihui point at the crown is about to open, the crown is very soft and sensitive to cold, and one feels wind pouring into the crown of the head. The feeling of lightness in the body is because meditative concentration has altered the coarse and heavy four great elements of the human body, making them subtler, approaching the physical bodies of the desire-realm devas. After the first dhyāna is attained, the body's four great elements become even subtler and the body lighter, approaching the physical bodies of the form-realm devas. When cultivation reaches the fourth dhyāna, because the body's four great elements have become extremely subtle and the feeling is one of exceptional lightness, one can fly up to the heavens and down into the earth, possessing the supernormal power of unimpeded bodily action (ṛddhi); at the same time the mind becomes extremely subtle, and the knowledge of others' minds (para-citta-jñāna) appears.
Your present condition is a state of extreme inner stillness, with no attention whatsoever to the outside world; you can no longer attend to realms outside the mind or outside the body, abiding only in the inner mental world. Therefore any stir outside startles you. At this time avoid going out as much as possible and keep away from people, so as not to be frightened. After the crown has opened, there are still some matters that require keeping away from people; at such times be careful to protect yourself from being startled, and let others handle errands whenever possible.
Your meditative concentration (samādhi) is already very deep and will deepen further in the future. As long as you know that these are all states of meditative concentration and the mind does not attach to marks, simply abide in samādhi in accordance with conditions, take nothing to heart, and there will be no problem. Because you are unclear about these matters and lack inner assurance, you feel flustered.
6. How to Deal with Tinnitus and Other Phenomena Arising in Sitting Meditation?
Question: Recently during sitting meditation I have had sharp tinnitus. If I ignore it and pay it no heed, will it pass on its own?
Answer: This is a phenomenon that appears when the qi channels reach the ear's supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the head but cannot pass through, indicating a blockage at the ear faculty. You may ignore it and let it pass through by itself, but this may be rather slow. To be quicker, you must apply corresponding counteractive methods, such as tapping and massaging the back of the head, which helps the qi channels pass through sooner; then thinking will be clear.
You can also use visualization so the qi channels pass more quickly: visualize the Buddha's light entering the back of the head and black qi being expelled from the Baihui point at the crown; the qi channels pass through the entire head, the mind becomes clear, and the spirit joyful. The golden Buddha-light shines on the afflicted area, and the diseased qi and karmic-obstruction qi are expelled near the site of the illness. If there are blockages elsewhere in the body, visualize them being expelled from the Baihui point as well. When the power of concentration is insufficient, the diseased qi may stall midway, unable to move, and settle there, causing pain in other parts of the body.
The qi channels are material form (rūpa-dharma) and can be driven by the conscious mind. As long as the mind possesses meditative concentration, it has the power to regulate the circulation of the qi channels, thereby achieving the aim of regulating the body; once the body is regulated, the mind can be regulated. Eye ailments, too, are caused by qi blocked at the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the head, unable to pass; treat them in the same way. One can also treat them by regulating the liver, and the ears by regulating the kidneys. In some people the root cause is poor liver and kidneys, giving rise to problems in the eyes and ears. For opening the qi channels of the internal organs there is also a dietary aid: boil and drink plenty of radish soup, which makes the qi channels ample and their circulation forceful. Drinking more radish soup in winter keeps the body healthy. When the qi channels are ample, the sensation of qi is good, the body is comfortable, the mind is settled and concentrated, and sitting meditation works extremely well.
7. How to Reduce Demonic Ordeals?
Question: In meditative concentration one has already broken free of the bondage of the flesh, quietly contemplating the illusory nature of all dharmas, letting go of space and consciousness, free from the two objects of inner and outer, and taking the sphere of nothingness as object; within the mind there is empty nothingness with nothing to rely on, no perceptions arise, stable and tranquil—this is the typical absorption of nothingness among the four formless absorptions, the seventh level of meditative concentration. How unfathomable! Who has already reached such a sage's state?
Answer: This is purely the realm of the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, not the state of a sage, because it does not involve the wisdom of liberation: there is neither the wisdom that eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) nor the wisdom of seeing the mind and seeing the nature. Pure meditative concentration still lies outside the gate of Buddhism, which is why it is called non-Buddhist samādhi. In the Buddha's time, many non-Buddhists had this samādhi; meditative concentration was not rare at all back then. Non-Buddhists today can no longer cultivate even moderately deep meditative concentration; that is why this age is called the Dharma-ending age. In the Dharma-ending age even the non-Buddhists are no longer professional—how could the Buddha-Dharma flourish? The reason the Buddha descended in India two thousand years ago is that sentient beings' good roots had matured. Many people sought liberation but did not know how to attain it, and all believed that only meditative concentration could free one from the suffering of birth and death. So they cultivated samādhi diligently without cease, becoming non-Buddhists outside the Buddha-Dharma. Out of compassion for the world, the Buddha was born into the world, sprinkling nectar (amṛta) to eliminate sentient beings' suffering.
If today someone attained the four formless absorptions of the formless realm and displayed supernormal powers, sentient beings who learned of it would worship him madly. And if that person had ulterior motives, wanting to dominate Buddhism, doing other things and winning people over, ordinary people truly could not resist; they would be helpless, unable even to see through him, let alone have the ability to refute him. If in later ages such a Māra comes to disturb the Buddha-Dharma, only a bodhisattva endowed with the four dhyānas and eight absorptions and great supernormal powers can refute him, protecting sentient beings from entering the path of Māra. The Buddha said in the sūtras that all non-Buddhists cannot be defeated except by great bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis: an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva can defeat all non-Buddhists, while bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi up to below the eighth can only defeat some non-Buddhists. Ordinary beings can only bow down and worship the non-Buddhists and Māras, lacking the wisdom to see through them.
8. The Relationship between Afflictions and Meditative Concentration
Question: Is it that when one cultivates to a certain level, one becomes more sensitive to the external world, easily perceiving others' subtle ill will, and thus easily loses one's temper?
Answer: Because your own body's qi mechanism is not smooth and your qi and blood are stagnant and blocked, your emotions are constrained, giving rise to negative emotions; when you look at others you mistakenly assume they have ill will. In fact this is not necessarily so—it is the projection and reflection of your own inner emotions. Because your emotions are constrained, when you meet people or events you cannot help wanting to vent, so you easily lose your temper. For some people at some times, temperament is easily affected by physical health; when the body is healthy and the mood is comfortable, all bad moods and afflictions disappear.
By the same principle, only in happiness can a person be open-hearted and eradicate afflictions, and meditative concentration precisely produces happiness, making body and mind comfortable and joyful, and thus it can sever afflictions. Different depths of samādhi produce different degrees of happiness, and the levels of afflictions severed differ accordingly. Preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) and the first dhyāna are samādhi of different levels: one is attained in the desire realm, the other in the form realm. The happiness attained in the desire-realm preparatory concentration is low, so the afflictions severed are shallow; the happiness attained in the form-realm first dhyāna is high, so the afflictions severed are deep.
Why is it that only after sentient beings attain realization and cultivate to the first dhyāna can they sever the fundamental afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion? This is because the first dhyāna is a samādhi of single-minded rapture and bliss. When a person abides in this samādhi, the mind is extremely joyful and happy; because of that bliss transcending the greed of the desire-realm human world, the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion of the human world are all abandoned and severed—thus one attains the third fruit (anāgāmin).
Although preparatory concentration cannot sever the fundamental afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, it can sever part of the afflictive delusions of views and thoughts within the desire realm, can eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), and one can attain the first and second fruits. Therefore the fruits of the Small Vehicle are related not only to the wisdom of no-self but also to meditative concentration and the severing of afflictions. Having both samādhi and wisdom determines that afflictions can certainly be severed. Afflictions are closely related to whether one has samādhi and wisdom: with samādhi and wisdom there are no afflictions; without samādhi and wisdom, delusion gives rise to afflictions. Thus, once the view of self is eradicated and the fruit attained, those afflictive delusions of views and thoughts are eliminated, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions become pure, and one no longer commits relatively great unwholesome karma, much less grave unwholesome karma.
As long as a person still commits relatively great afflictive and unwholesome karma in the world, with defiled bodily, verbal, and mental actions, one can conclude that this person has not eradicated the view of self, has not attained the fruits of the Great or Small Vehicle, and still less could be a bodhisattva on the bhūmis. No matter how flowery and plausible his Dharma talks sound, as long as his words and deeds are deficient and his defilements somewhat heavy, one can conclude he is an ordinary being (pṛthagjana). Therefore refuting the false and revealing the true is not something ordinary people can do. The masses of beings lack the ability to refute the false and reveal the true; it is already quite good if they do not become accomplices. Only by broadening their knowledge and increasing their rationality, having fewer emotional reactions and less brainless worship, will there be fewer openings for Māra, and sentient beings will have fewer demonic ordeals.
9. How to Treat Problems of the Body's Qi Channels
When the qi channels are in the head, causing headaches, toothaches, and eye pain, how should this be resolved?
Yaoling's answer: If the qi truly will not sink, you can place your attention on the pit of the heart, or on the Mingmen point on the back at the lumbar vertebrae, visualize the white bones at the lumbar vertebrae, or place your attention on the big toe of the left foot. In fact, if you genuinely practice the white-bone contemplation, the mind naturally relaxes, and the qi will certainly be able to sink. Afterwards, it is best to hold only the right mindfulness of "All marks are false and illusory" and hold nothing else at all; naturally all conditions are let go and not a single thought arises, and the qi channels will open very quickly. When you let go of this body completely, it will quickly recover on its own.
If you harbor the desire "I want the body to feel a bit more comfortable," it shows you are clinging to the body's feelings, discriminating and grasping (upādāna). What you need to do is contemplate "All marks are false and illusory": this bodily feeling is empty and unobtainable. Then let go of the bodily feeling, no longer clinging to or discriminating it, and do not let the mind stick to the body's feelings. This is called letting go of the body's feelings. Likewise, with all other states, such as external sounds, let go in the same way; do not let the mind stick to them. At this point your own mind is still perfectly clear, knowing that it is not sticking to these objective marks and giving rise to discrimination. In this way the qi will quickly sink, and the body will quickly attain the harmony of water and fire.
Of course, it is best not to skip the contemplation of impurity and the white-bone contemplation; otherwise, if you cling to the people around you as truly existent, you will never be able to let go of your clinging to them. When the mind returns to the origin, the qi returns to the origin. If you take any state whatsoever as real, it will become a demonic obstruction that prevents you from returning to the origin. Therefore contemplate "all dharmas are without self" to break up inverted attachments.
10. The Principle of "When the Essence Is Full, One Does Not Think of Lust"
The disciple asked: One morning while doing walking meditation contemplating the four foundations of mindfulness, a thought suddenly arose saying to relax the dantian. When I relaxed the dantian, a warm current filled it, warm and hot, and to this day the dantian remains warm. With the appearance of the warm current, the disciple noticed something special: seeing the opposite sex no longer arouses thoughts, and I no longer use counteractive methods; it is just like looking at the same sex or ordinary objects, and the dantian area no longer sways. (Normally, seeing the opposite sex triggers uncontrollable improper attention (ayoniso-manasikāra); physiologically, the dantian area does sway, requiring a second thought to counteract it.) Please, Master, give guidance on your disciple's situation.
Answer: Through sitting meditation and walking meditation you have cultivated samādhi and opened the flow of qi and blood in the dantian area; the warm sign has manifested. With the dantian warm and the qi and blood of the whole body flowing freely, body and mind become soft and supple, so that the dantian is full of qi, full of spirit, and full of essence; external energy replenishment is no longer needed. Therefore physiological needs have diminished, to the point of eating less, sleeping less, and no longer needing lust. Only when essence, qi, and spirit are insufficient is external energy replenishment needed, and physiological needs are then relatively many.
These physiological needs all belong to the necessities of life in the human world of the desire realm. When cultivation transcends the human realm, the five hindrances (nīvaraṇa), such as the desires for food and sleep, are gradually removed, and one ascends to the states of the desire-realm and form-realm heavens; that is to say, the desire-realm preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) is complete, and the form-realm first dhyāna is close at hand. After a person's desires are subdued, meditative concentration rises to the first dhyāna, and within the first dhyāna lust is severed.
Devas of the form-realm first-dhyāna heaven and above, having no sexual desire between male and female, have no gender, no division into male and female; because they do not need food and drink, there is no nose consciousness smelling scents and no tongue consciousness tasting flavors—only eye consciousness, ear consciousness, body consciousness, mind consciousness, and manas. Thus consciousnesses are set up for the needs of sentient beings; without needs, the consciousnesses need not exist. For example, in the attainment of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti), only the manas exists, without the six consciousnesses, and the manas has also extinguished the two mental factors of feeling and perception.
That your dantian no longer sways shows the essence and qi are full; naturally lust is unnecessary and you have no interest in it. When essence and qi are not full, it is like a half-full bottle of water that always sloshes, needing more water poured in from outside; when the water is sufficient and full, it no longer sloshes. When the dantian's essence and qi are full, it no longer sways, and no replenishment through lust is needed. When the World-Honored One taught about the state of severed lust in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, He said that for a person who has severed lust, during sexual intercourse between man and woman it feels as tasteless as chewing wax, utterly without flavor—a sense of humiliation that must be endured, done only to complete a duty.
You are currently at the stage of severing the obscuration of the five hindrances; the preparatory concentration is complete and the first dhyāna is about to arise. In such samādhi, the meditative-concentration conditions for eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and for seeing the mind and realizing enlightenment are complete, while conditions such as merit and wisdom still await perfection. If, after eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind, one further has the foundation of first-dhyāna concentration power, one can sever the fundamental afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion and become a third-fruit person of the Small Vehicle (anāgāmin). The road ahead is bright—keep striving!
For people without lust or with little lust, part of it is a matter of their own physiology and psychology, and part is related to cultivation in past lives. Those who were third-fruit persons (anāgāmin) in past lives have already severed lust; in this life, whether or not they study Buddhism, they have no lust, or their desire is extremely faint, almost nonexistent, though they may have some worldly affection—not much. Those who in past lives were between the first fruit and the third fruit also have faint desires in this life, and their practice is easy and swift.
If meditative concentration cannot keep up, all this is merely control by the mind consciousness; afflictions subdued in samādhi will reappear as the samādhi regresses—how much less firm are afflictions subdued without samādhi. Only the severing of afflictions that follows the eradication of the view of self is permanently severed, never to reappear.
11. The Qi-Channel Circulation of the Ren and Du Channels in the Small Heavenly Circuit
The circulation of Lan Tian's qi channels during his cultivation of samādhi and observation of the breath: In the past few days while sitting in meditation observing the breath, the breath has forcefully struck the perineum; the heat in the perineum, the Weilü, the lower back, and the pelvis has markedly increased. Around February of last year, when the channels were opening the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the head, my left ear had already been ringing for more than five months; after the qi channels finished passing through the brain, the ringing in my left ear was cured. Last May, during sitting meditation, because the tip of my tongue was not fully pressed against the upper palate and the front teeth, when the qi channels passed between the right upper and right lower teeth, my entire upper gum became inflamed and three upper teeth were damaged.
This is a phenomenon of the qi channels entering the Du channel. As the qi channels circulate within the Du channel along the back, they also have a regulating effect on the five zang and six fu organs in front and on the whole body. The qi channels enter the back from the Weilü; when they surge to the back of the neck there is a certain obstruction. Breaking through this point, they enter the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the head; although the obstruction here may be somewhat greater, the faculties of eye, ear, nose, and tongue will be effectively regulated, one will become sharp of hearing and clear of sight, and eye diseases and ailments of the ear, nose, and tongue will be eliminated. Once the qi channels reach the back of the head, one must intensify sitting meditation so that the qi channels become more ample and can quickly pass through the Baihui point at the crown; the therapeutic effect will then be even better. When the qi channels are circulating at the back of the head, one can visualize the karmic-obstruction qi exiting from the Baihui point at the crown; this also helps eliminate disease, lets the qi channels pass through the back of the head as soon as possible, and enter the junction of the Ren and Du channels, so as to open the Ren and Du channels.
The gum inflammation occurred because the qi channels were forcibly blocked at the gums; the heat scorched the gums, and they became inflamed. If the Ren channel at the tip of the tongue connects well with the Du channel at the gums, the qi channels will smoothly pass through the gums into the tongue and thereby enter the Ren channel, completing one circuit of the small heavenly cycle—then such a thing will not happen. Among the three channels, the qi first opens the Ren channel and then the Du channel; after the circulation of the Ren and Du channels is open, it then enters the central channel. The central channel is the hardest to open, but once it is open, all illnesses are gone.
12. The Relationship between Nurturing Qi and the Path
Nurturing qi is nurturing the Path. When qi is ample, the mind abides in samādhi; when the mind is in samādhi, wisdom arises, afflictions are subdued, and seeing the Path becomes easy. Nurturing qi involves, first, replenishment, and second, protection—not squandering it casually. Second, preventing leakage is the most important, because if one replenishes qi while simultaneously consuming and leaking it, the replenishment is meaningless and may even go wrong, giving rise to disease-obstructions.
In what ways does the qi in the human body easily leak away? First, urination and defecation are times of qi leakage, consuming liver qi, lung qi, spleen qi, stomach qi, and so forth; if these qi are insufficient, urination and defecation become difficult. The more frequent the urination and defecation, the more qi is leaked; people with weak bodies feel drained afterward. Therefore the Buddha instructed disciples to know moderation and contentment with food: one meal at midday, no food after noon—so as to avoid, first, depleting merit; second, wasting time for practice; third, fostering greed; and fourth, frequent urination and defecation. Thus the Buddha's precepts all have a certain scientific rationale and are also conducive to cultivating the Path.
The second easiest way to leak qi is lust, which also consumes much of the body's qi; those who indulge in lust frequently have poor physical constitution. Emperors of the past needed to take tonic medicines constantly, yet the replenishment could not keep up with what leaked out; taking too many tonics also harms the body, and in the end bodily depletion led to early death. Only emperors with restraint could possibly live long, but there were not many. The Buddha established the precept requiring the severance of lust because lust is the root of birth and death in saṃsāra; without lust and desire one can leave the desire realm. The Buddha said in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: 以淫心行道犹如蒸沙成饭，终不成就，因为沙非饭本，以淫欲心行道，则为魔行，终不成道 — therefore the Buddha established the precept to sever lust. Those who single-mindedly aspire to attain the Path should, for the sake of their own liberation, consciously subdue the affliction of lust.
The third easy leakage of qi is speech. Speaking consumes dantian qi. When the manas stirs a thought wanting to speak, dantian qi is activated and rises along the cakras, passing through the throat cakra to the root of the tongue; the mind consciousness and body consciousness arise, and speech is produced—and much qi from the various zang-fu organs runs out along with the words. Therefore people with qi deficiency speak feebly and may even be unable to produce a voice. Some people feel weak and prostrated after talking too much; those who must talk a lot every day consume too much qi. Such people generally have no meditative concentration, and even if they have it, it will regress. Therefore Buddhist disciples cultivating the Path generally like silence, not speaking unless there is something important; doing so first gathers qi and second keeps the mind from distraction.
The fourth easy depletion of qi is wild, unconstrained daydreaming. With too many mental thoughts, the spirit is drained internally and the qi is consumed away; then samādhi does not arise easily, and even if it arises it will vanish. As the saying goes, "When the mouth opens, spirit and qi scatter; when the mind stirs, the fire of the work grows cold." As soon as one speaks, the qi in the body disperses and vanishes; as soon as the manas stirs a thought, the fire that the body had cultivated dissipates, and after the warm sign disappears, the body grows cold. Thoughts also consume energy. People whose bodies are extremely weak cannot concentrate on thinking; the brain may go completely blank. Those who think too much tire easily and get hungry easily; those who use their brains often easily develop spleen deficiency and also get hungry easily. As the energy dissipates, the meditative concentration also disappears.
The above are the body's main channels of qi leakage and depletion. The nine apertures all easily deplete qi and blood: prolonged looking scatters liver qi, causing insufficiency of liver blood; prolonged listening scatters kidney qi, leading to kidney decline; prolonged smelling, tasting, and touching all cause the loss of qi and blood, making samādhi impossible to sustain. The pores on the body's surface also radiate energy; bathing too long or in water that is too hot both cause the loss of qi and blood. If one wants to cultivate the Path well, all worldly things must be moderated, stopping at the proper measure. Without craving form, sound, scent, flavor, touch, or dharma-objects, the Path is easily accomplished.
