How to Refine Essence into Qi to Transform the Physical Body?

Ru Chun: Not long after sitting down, a crisp crackling sound came from inside my head, like footsteps stepping on ice shards. With these crackling sounds, the structure of my head seemed to be collapsing. At the same time, I saw my chest cavity seemingly transformed into a lily-like structure, large and deep, accompanied by a sense of comfort. When the breath reached the chest cavity, it was as if it had entered empty space, vanishing in the blink of an eye. A stream of qi suddenly gathered in my two palms held in the meditation mudrā, gradually growing larger, and my palms seemed to enlarge along with it, as if my two palms were embracing a big balloon, swollen full. I thought I had only been meditating for a dozen or so minutes, but when I got up from the seat and looked, an hour had passed.

Comment: This is a phenomenon of the qi channels passing through the head and breaking through the skull. Because bone is relatively hard, when material qi touches the bone, crackling sounds occur; and because the location where the skull produces sound is very close to the supreme faculty of the ear faculty (indriya), the sound seems very loud. This is an ascending qi, rising from the root chakra through the navel chakra and heart chakra, and then surging up to the head. When it passed through the heart chakra, the qi in the chest cavity became very subtle, as if it had been vaporized, making the chest cavity very broad and deep; the coarse, heavy breath from external breathing was vaporized upon arriving here, so the breathing could no longer be felt. From then on, this makes a person open-minded, magnanimous, and very tolerant. The subtle vaporized qi circulating in the chest cavity makes the chest feel extremely comfortable.

The qi in the palms growing larger shows that through meditative concentration (samādhi), the four great elements within the originally condensed qi were transformed and became light and subtle — this is the phenomenon of vaporization, which is also the principle of the Daoist practice of refining essence into qi. After being transformed into qi, the four great elements of the qi become subtle, giving one a feeling of swelling and expansion, making the palms seem larger, puffed up with qi. If the whole body were vaporized, the entire body would become larger and taller, feeling light, agile, and comfortable, similar to the physical body of a deva. The physical body of a deva is composed of subtle four great elements, without any sense of heaviness, light and agile enough to fly, free of illness, and possessing fragrance. Once a person's body is cultivated to the point of vaporization, there will be no more illness; it becomes light, agile, and comfortable, and one feels tall and large.

How can one transform essence into qi? Through continuous cultivation of meditative concentration (samādhi), cutting off the emotions and cravings within the mind so that qi does not leak outward, the mind becomes tranquil, the body follows the mind's transformation, and the essence, qi, and spirit within the body will undergo transformation, gradually being refined and vaporized, becoming subtle; the body is transformed and also acquires fragrance. Ordinary people's bodies generally have blockages; the qi in the body is condensed and does not circulate, so there is an unpleasant odor. Once everything is vaporized, the foul smell disappears and is replaced by fragrance.