Old Oak Taiji School (古栎太極學院)

Laozi ("Lao-dzuh", 老子) was a legendary sage of 4^th-century BCE China who compiled his teachings into the classic text known as the Dao De Jing as he was leaving the world behind.  The real Laozi may have actually been many people from various cultivation traditions.  In any case, Laozi teaches that all things arise from the same mysterious source and eventually return to the source.  He refers to this source, as well as its process of manifestation, as “Dao” (道).  Dao means way - the way thing are, the way things go.

Laozi says: "There is something, in the form of chaos, before the creation of Heaven and Earth.  Silent, vacant, standing alone and unchanging.  Revolving without rest, it mothers Heaven and Earth.  I do not know its name; if I must call it something, I call it Dao."  Dao is the great mystery; it is beyond conception, but it expresses itself in the rise and fall of the myriad things.  Laozi refers to this expression as "De" ("duh", 德).  De means virtue - the inherent virtue things have by simply being what they are.

The dominant question of Laozi's day was: how do we human beings find our way?  Laozi's answer is to simply be what we are - to let nature unfold.  This perspective opens up a relaxed way of living which is neither compulsively driven toward results nor disengaged in the world.  Letting ourselves be just as we are, with no need for improvement or transcendence - this is Laozi's revelation.  Laozi is not concerned with salvation or exhalted states, just an intimate experience and flawless expression of our original nature, Dao-De.

According to traditional Chinese cosmogony, originally there is nothing but an unmanifest state of undifferentiated unity, known as wuji (無極), which literally means "no extremity".  Wuji is traditionally symbolized with an empty circle indicating nothingness/infinity. 

Mysteriously, wuji gives birth to taiji (太極), which literally means "supreme extremity".  Taiji is the way of the manifest universe, which is characterized by yin & yang (阴阳), the negative and positive forces, the contracting and expanding energies which appear as darkness and light, empty and full, female and male, etc.  Taiji is traditionally symbolized with a double-fish symbol indicating a unified dynamic polarity.  Yin & yang combine in infinite variations to generate the myriad things in a process of continuous transformation.

The Chinese call the basic substance of the universe, "qi" (氣).  When wuji gives birth to taiji, the pure, undifferentiated qi separates.  The heavy, dense qi sinks downward and embodies as form; cosmically this is called earth (地), personally it is called substance (jing, 精).  The light, spacious qi rises upward and becomes awareness; cosmically this is called heaven (天); personally it is called spirit (shen, 伸).

Daoist practice is a process of cultivating jing, qi, and shen within ourselves, experiencing our substance and spirit as nothing other than the interplay of earth and heaven.  Steady, proper practice gives rise to a sense of stability (earth) and openness (heaven) and a modest, sustained sense of well-being.  Cultivating qi promotes health and longevity and many associate it with preparing for death.

Jing, qi, and shen are continuously arising from and returning to wuji.  Daoists consider arising to be an outward flow and returning to be an inward flow.  While this entire process is Dao-De, Daoists take particular interest in the inward flow - returning to the origin.  Cultivating the inward flow is referred to as neidan (内丹, "inner elixir") or "internal alchemy", as it involves a gradual process of refining our qi into a fine elixir.

Cultivating qi involves nourishing ourselves with a proper diet, getting restful sleep, avoiding exhaustion, and practicing methods of sitting and moving meditation.  Of key importance is aligning and relaxing the body, stabilizing the breath, and calming the heart-mind.  With proper practice, the "fire" of the heart descends into the lower dantian (丹田, "elixir field") in the belly, where it can heat the "water" of the kidneys.

This "union of fire and water" reunites jing and shen, revealing the undifferentiated qi (wuji), which rises as a subtle vapor to circulate throughout the body and open the higher dantians.  The undifferentiated qi thus continues to differeniate (taiji).  The outward flow of this refined qi may be expressed as artistic creativity, eloquence, healing ability or martial skill, according to the practitioner; the inward flow may be experienced as recovery of youth and a sublime sense of purity and brightness, which Laozi refers to as spirit-illumination (ming shen, 明伸).

The marrow of Laozi's philosophy is the principle of wuwei-ziran.  Wuwei (“woo-way”, 無為) literally means “non-action”.  This does not mean inaction or inertia, however.  Laozi says: "In Dao, daily lose.  Lose and again lose until wuwei.  Wuwei, but not buwei (無不為)." (Ch. 48).  Buwei is no-action, not doing anything.  Non-action can only really be known by its counterpart, ziran.  Ziran (“dzi-zhan”, 自然) literally means “self-so”, meaning “naturally so”, “of itself” or “spontaneously arising”.  When we have wuwei, ziran is natural action according to the situation - action arising of itself.

Zhuangzi tells a great story about wuwei-ziran in his Chapter 19.  Confucius is walking through the woods with his disciples, and they happen upon a grand waterfall.  To their dismay there is a raggedy old man writhing around in the roiling waters.  At the bottom of the falls, the old man disappears, subsumed by the current of the river.  The disciples run after the man, intending to save his life.  But suddenly the river spits him out and he laughs his way to the riverbank unharmed.  Amazed, Confucius asks the old man: “Sir, how do you do that?”  The old man responds: “Oh, I don’t do anything in particular, I just follow the water.  I don’t resist it and I don’t dare to make my own path, and somehow it always leaves me unharmed.” 

This story epitomizes wuwei-ziran: spontaneous and responsive, uncontrived and yielding to circumstances - not the result of cleverness, effort, or strength.  Action arising of itself.  Wuwei-ziran is also captured in the old Chan (Zen) saying: “Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.”  This principle is the foundation of all meditation and qi-cultivation taught at Old Oak Taiji School.