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Inside Chi Flows Naturally:
My Mother: I want to thank all of you that sent beautiful poems and thoughts about my mother’s passing. I deeply appreciate your loving concern. And I invite readers of future mewsletters to feel free to reply – I read every one, even if I cannot reply to all.
Here’s one letter that may be useful to all:
Hello Michael,
I’ve been enjoying your e-book on the Inner Smile immensely. I’d like to share one of my students’ experience with it.
Fran, whose favorite practice had always been “smiling down”, was lying in her bed very close to dying. Her friend and fellow student, Lucy, came by and realized that the time had arrived and said, “Fran, start smiling down. Let your eyes smile… let your mouth smile…’ And when she got to her heart, she said, “How does it feel, Fran?” Fran said, “Joyous!” and then she passed.
Marilyn M.
What a Way to go!
Now, for those of us still on this side of the veil, a large portal is opening:
Please join – physically or in spirit- at my Winter Solstice ceremony & meditation this Tuesday Dec. 21, 7 pm-midnite. One long time attendee of Solstice meditations at my home saw this photo, and commented, “Yep, that’s pretty much what it feels like by the time we get to the third sitting in darkness….”.
Dear Lovers of Celestial Orgasms,
I know it’s not conventional to use the language of sexual metaphor to describe a natural event. I’m not trying to sell you a celestial porn video, although there’s probably a market for it, as this is the biggest orgasm of the year. Nor am I a nerdy scientist who will get fired from his job if he spices up the dry facts of Nature’s celestial mechanics with the Inner Truth. My boss is the Nameless Tao, not Faceless Corporation.
The plain truth, known to Tao inner alchemy adepts, is that Nature is having multi-dimensional sex with itself continuously. That’s what creation is: the procreative act of spirit and matter coupling to produce the Multi-Verse. (You know that our cosmos’ Prime Creator is not alone, right?) Yin-yang is a theory about cosmic sexual process. If the Big Bang isn’t a cosmic orgasm that never stops radiating unconditional love for all it manifests, what is it?
Winter Solstice is a recurring annual echo of that primal orgasm. In this case, it is the sexual coupling of the energy
bodies of the Sun and Earth, when they get into bed and copulate at a particular angle, producing the longest, darkest night of the year. What a love-fest it is! This annual mini re-birthing orgasm on Earth lasts about three days. Are you sensitive enough to enjoy it? Or wise enough to ride the wave of Original Breath (yuan chi), the orgasmic explosion of neutral force that is generated from the core of Mother Earth into the core of Father Sun, and v.v.?
That is why I open my home up to a group meditation. Solstice a collective planetary re-birthing process, and thus more fun and more intense to share it with a group of friends. The northern hemisphere is having a Deep Yin orgasm, and the southern hemisphere is having a Deep Yang orgasm (summer solstice).
Even people who are totally new at meditation feel something when they sit in the darkness and do nothing but open their heart and Inner Smile. I suggest folks sit comfortably in chairs, feet plugged into the earth current. Cross-legged sitting is not as grounding and hard to do for three 1 hour sittings for most people.
This Solstice we are getting a DOUBLE CELESTIAL ORGASM. The full moon is jumping into the act, and causing an eclipse during the Solstice. The full eclipse happens in North America early Tuesday morning (Monday night) from 2:41am EST to 3:53am EST. A partial eclipse is visible over an hour longer on either end.
Eclipses are an entirely different kind of natural orgasm, caused by triple alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Energetically, it is the copulation of all three of their core essences – a cosmic menage a trois. Anytime a trinity shows up, I try to get inside it. Taoist Internal Alchemy I define as the skillful application of the three streams of Life Force (yin, yang, yuan, or negative-postive-neutral) to refine our awareness and evolve our soul’s journey.
The cosmic threesome is played here by Father Sun, Mother Earth, and daughter Moon. Their exact alignment during the eclipse creates an especially intense show for us by infusing their this triple force into the deep Yin Womb of Earth that opens up during Winter Solstice. The challenge is not to just witness the show, but capture its essence in our body, and thus speed our soul’s journey.
An eclipse is what I call a “post-natal void”. It is “emptiness manifested physically before our eyes”. Void spaces want to fill themselves, so they naturally and suddenly suck on any psychic forces in their path, a kind of subtle-body tornado. That’s why traditionally there was a lot of fear around eclipses. For those brave enough to whole-heartedly leap into this void space, it makes eclipses a fantastic opportunity to break out of old stuck patterns.
The psychic patterns literally get sucked into the post-natal void. IF we are aligned and willing, Nature pulls us iinto its temporary void at the same time that we push our stuff out. That moves stuff like nothing else you’ve tried by yourself, at other less auspicious times of the year.
Think of it as a Triple Whammy on your Most Vulnerable Day of the Year. Your inner self is dreamily sinking into the deep dark silent womb space of Solstice. Suddenly the Full Moon, Sun and Earth fuse their core beings to form a single powerful laser beam, a Dark Ecliptic Vortex that zaps you in the heart of your defenseless, surrendered stillness.
All you have to do is HAVE THE INTENTION to offer up your old psychic baggage, and the cosmic vacuum created by that Dark Beam will literally suck it right out of your hands and heart and disappear it – forever! The result is a fast re-birth, an opportunity to RAPIDLY CHANGE YOURSELF. But that is the most difficult thing in the world for humans in a physical body.
The secret is to align properly with these double dark forces and plant a seed intention at the right moment. So a more skilled adept is not just clearing out the old, but creating something new in this double void space.
Most of us have fears about entering into Darkness. But Winter Solstice exudes a special darkness. How is this night different from other nights of the year? Winter Solstice darkness is pregnant. It’s about to give birth to a shift in the planetary cycle, manifested as increased light. For six months the energy field of the northern hemisphere has been contracting. Now it will begin to expand, one photon at a time.
Some folks focus on the rebirth of light aspect. To me, it feels more true to focus on the dark cosmic womb that generates the light. It’s a play between the dark watery pre-natal underworld hidden inside Mother Earth/matter, and the fiery post-natal world lit by Father Sun/spirit. The Full Moon is their daughter. The Solstice Full Moon Eclipse sucks the two dimensions of matter and spirit together, as sun-moon embraces Earth. This alignment hasn’t happened for 382 years – since 1687!
And this Triple Whammy is just the beginning – there’s a new Moon eclipse on Jan. 4. So there is a continuous transformation between these eclipses, nicely framing what is known in the West as the 12 Nights of Christmas. This is a cultural overlay describing our soul’s mini-journey through the 12 signs of the Zodiac, followed by full enlightenment at Epiphany.
Milky Way Galaxy: a continuous orgasm of dark (pre-natal) light, gravity, and matter reflecting (post-natal) white light.
Winter Solstice is the annual three day shift from Yin to Yang. During that turnaround time, there is a kind of pause, a neutral moment, as the planetary gears shift, and the planet starts tilting the other way. Hidden inside that pause is neutral force. called yuan chi (Original Breath) by Taoists, the primordial clear light.
As that clear light is released, it infuses a special feeling into the air. It feels like solid planet earth exudes starlight for a few days.Galactic energy is attracted to the Earth’s “dark star” core and bathes us humans on the surface. What celestial bliss! It doesn’t really matter if you do your ceremony during the eclipse Tuesday morning or in the late evening on Monday, Tues, or Wed. The astral plane will wait for you to harvest whatever you need.
If you know how to capture the neutral force, the alignment propels you spiritually into the heart of the relationship between Mother Earth and Father Sun. That is what advances your own soul. Solstice is an energetically slow moving planetary event. There is plenty of leeway to do a powerful ceremony that will align you with this natural holy-day that is the inspiration for Christmas, Hanukah, and all the other religious festivities that are piggy-backing on its wonderful energy as the “rebirth of the light”.
The event at my home is free, and will start at 7 pm on Tuesday and go until whenever we are maxed out on diving into the deep, still, darkness. A ceremony to align, followed by three separate sittings at 8pm, 9:15 pm, and 10:30 pm. The first sitting is already pretty fully reserved, but you can come for the 2nd or 3rd sitting – just wait for the house lights to come on (at 9 pm or 10:15 pm). RSVP required! Email (hit reply) to ask for driving directions.
How to Create a Powerful Solstice Ceremony:
If you live far away, attend in spirit: chi flows beyond time/space limitations. Just having the intention to tune into others doing ceremony at the same time is very powerful. I enclose below a description of how I do my Winter Solstice ceremony, and suggest you adapt it (or any other) to suit your own need. The best time is midnight, outside if its warm enough, under the sparkle of stars emitting a sense of “primordial light” emerging from the inky blackness.
» China Dream Trip May 2011: For Spiritual Adventurers
» Summer Retreats 2011: Dates are CONFIRMED
» How to Create a Powerful Winter Solstice Ceremony
» Contact Info
Reminder: China Dream Trip May 2011 is beginning to fill with a wonderful group of Tao lovers and adepts, beginner to advanced, all are welcome. We have one lovely couple, the Phans from Geneva, coming for their 4th Dream Trip! A record.
Photo: Three Pures Ones Mountain is a well-hidden Taoist sanctuary in Eastern China that equals the primeval beauty of more well known holy mountains.
Full China itinerary May 13 – 27 see: http://www.healingdao.com/chinatrip2011.html
Photo: Cherry Li, long time dream trip guide, assumes the role of Chinese cowgirl in China’s Wild Wild East. Three Pures Ones mountain.
You only need $600. to reserve your place on the May 2011 trip. Extended payment plans are available to those whose dreams are bigger than their pocketbook. I encourage dreamers to allow me to financially co-dream the trip with you – we can make it happen! Armchair Taoists, arise and travel!
Good news – I’ve confirmed the dates and location of the 2011 summer retreats at Mars Hill, 30 minutes from Asheville, N.C. I’ve actually slightly lowered the cost from last year! I keep the prices at bargain basement levels so folks can afford to take several retreats.
Photo: Taoist inner alchemy retreats create a “cauldron” around an Earth Altar.
To view the 2011 summer Tao Retreats schedule near Asheville, N.C., please go to:
http://www.healingtaoretreats.com/index.html#c
Mantak Chia is coming to Asheville for the first time ever, and will be teaching some shorter day seminars (Mon-Wed) June 13, 14, and 15, 2011. Those details, not yet on the web, will be posted shortly.
Photo: Tina Zhang, tai chi champion in many touraments, leads a Northern Wu Style class. This is the same form that I practice everyday, along with different qigong sets, which I change seasonally. She also teaches a Three Treasures medical qigong retreat.
From a previous newsletter, practical suggestions for a Winter Solstice Ceremony you can do at home:
A Winter Solstice ceremony is designed to get us to surrender into the yielding, mysterious arms of the Dark Goddess, who alchemically impregnates herself and rebirths the Light God of the Sun. The six month Great Cycle of Yin magically turns into the six month Great Cycle of Yang.
This solstice event has been recognized by many major religions as expressing
some divine power, and they have aligned their major holy-day celebrations
around it. Its interesting that they chose winter solstice over summer solstice
– perhaps the need of patriarchal religions to honor their yin side and the process
of maternal birthing. The Romans had to declare that Jesus was born around
Solstice, as part of a campaign to get believers to switch from similar Old Religion holidays (Mithraism’s holy child of a Sun God) to the new state religion of Christianity.
The Taoists simply stuck to the natural facts, since that suited their natural
cosmology – no need to dress it up with a humanized divinity. Why not just have
each human being BE that divinity? Well, if you are like the typical excess-yang
Westerner, who is stuck in a dominant head mode, it may seem safer to experience
that divinity-in-the-sky than it does to feel into the dark depths of your own body.
I found that it took me quite a while to get out of my head being the exclusive controller of my psyche. It was only after doing a lot of qigong and other body-centered meditation like Tao inner alchemy was I able to get deeply in touch with my own inner Dark Goddess. Woman don’t own the yin side, they are just born closer to it.
I suggest doing a Winter Solstice ceremony at the darkest moment – midnight – on Dec. 20, 21, or 22. The timing is so we can plant our seed-intention deep into the womb of darkness, at a moment when Mother Earth is most fertile and fecund. Farmers know well that if you plant by the new moon, the earth chi is stronger and your crops grow much bigger. (It’s not a superstition, but a fact supported by numerous studies).
Similarly, if like the farmer we plant a seed using ceremonial movement, a focused thought, a strong feeling, a color seen within and our breath released without – the Life Force will more
powerfully respond to our request. The Life Force will hear us more clearly,
because our intention has penetrated so deeply into the womb of Nature.
The Power of Physical Movement in Ritual
I feel the most powerful ceremony includes a ritual qigong (chi kung)
form. The movement of the physical body invokes your deepest soul essence
(jing) if you are deeply centered while moving. When you combine a
movement ritual with specific intention, it becomes nei kung
(neigong), or “internal skill in cultivating the life force”.
My favorite ceremonial form is one developed by the Taoist sage Chang
San Feng, the creator of the original tai chi form. This is tai chi’s esoteric
sister, wuji gong. Wuji gong I translate as Primordial Qigong or Tai
Chi for Enlightenment. (For more about its origins and efficacy, see
http;//www.taichi-enlightenment.com. Its available in dvd, and has
an optional audio training as well).
The Yang family tai chi qigong 8 movements/5 directions form taught
by Mantak Chia is also a lovely ceremonial form, and very grounded. It
circles left and right and interacts with the chi of all five directions. But it doesn’t evoke as much heaven chi as wuji gong does.
The Deep Healing Qigong form (available on dvd) is also very
ceremonial in nature. It faces all the directions and harmonizes the
center of the Sun with the deep center of the Earth Being. Doing just
one of its six movements – the three part mandala of Sun-Earth exchange
– transports me into an altered state. It’s called medical qigong
simply because it was developed with that intention. But it could be
directed to any other goal, or used to add power to a solstice
ceremony.
For more information on Deep Healing Qigong ceremony:
https://healingtaousa.com/deep_healing_qigong.html
You don’t have to know a qigong form. You can just face each direction, and make up your own movement. But I’ve found that doing the same qigong form
every solstice/equinox is more powerful. Using the same form
“programs” and empowers your energy body to contact the yuan chi at
those times. It helps to capture/embody the elusive yuan chi, which
our polarized egos don’t want to notice because it threatens our
illusory belief that our “self” is a separate island. Original Chi is boundary-less,
so it challenges our belief that the energy we feel is uniquely
‘mine”, under “my” control.
The key is to have a clear intention of what seed you want to plant deep within the Energy Body of Mother Earth for the upcoming year. Your request must be FOR YOURSELF ONLY, or your role within some larger or collective/group process. You cannot ask for someone else – that violates their free will. So ask for whatever it is YOU sincerely NEED (no superficial “wants”). You can ask for something very material and very specific (new car, house, job, partner, medical healing). You can also ask to birth some energetic healing process or a spiritual quality that will then grow throughout the entire year, supported by additional ceremonies at the other equinoxes and summer solstice.
Get clear on your intention BEFORE you practice your qigong ceremony, which is most powerful just before midnight on the night BEFORE the actual Solstice time. It’s a big event, so the ceremony will still be powerful the a day before or after, don’t sweat it. State your intention either out loud or mentally, send it to the four horizontal directions and to Heaven above and Earth below, and to the heart of Humanity within. I use toning of the Seven Sacred Vowels to intensify this transmission.
Phrase your intent in the “present tense”: say “My heart opens wide to love my partner more deeply”. If you say “My heart will open wide…”, you are postponing your intent into the indefinite future. Change always happens in the present moment. Important: Be Prepared to Accept the Consequences of Your Request! it may entail unexpected and unwelcome changes in your old psycic structure….which is often in the way of what you are asking for!
Then perform your qigong ceremony, holding the intention that the Life Force will help you birth that seed intention over the next year. For winter ceremony using improvised movements, I suggest you start facing East and rotate clockwise until you get the North, where you finish. If you are doing Primordial Tai Chi, start facing North as it will then end facing North. North is where you want to finally release your intention – the Dark Goddess of Birthing.
At the end of the movement ceremony, you can step into the center of your ceremonial space, still facing North, and call forth the Golden Dragon of the Center Direction of Earth (its dark core). Again release your intention, ask the Life Force or its agent, the Golden Dragon, to ascend from Earth to Heaven with your request.
If you want to make the ceremony even more powerful, prick your finger with a sewing needle to get a drop of blood at the end of your qigong ceremony. Blood carries the vibration of your deepest essence and that of all your ancestors. Dissolve the blood into a small bowl of spring water, re-state your intention while holding the bowl in front of your heart, and then (go outside if you ar e inside) pour the water onto the earth or into the sea or a stream, again mentally repeating your intention and releasing it to the larger chi field.
It’s very important that you RELEASE your intention to the larger field. You are surrendering to its power to make the change you’ve requested. You still have to do anything and everything possible “on the ground” to also make it happen; but now you will be supported by the Life Force in overcoming your resistance to it happening. Pouring your blood infused water signals to the Life Force that you are very serious about birthing your intent.
The truth is no one owns the chi field, and it is not controlled by
any one deity or external agent/God. It just IS. It is self-generating
and self-regulating. Everyone can use its abundance if we have the
skill to do it. We use it unconsciously all the time. But if we ask our genuineneeds to be met, and
consciously use it to promote harmony and balance in our life, the Tao
will give us more chi to play with. If we abuse it or over-control for
selfish ends or focus on superficial “wants”, a natural contraction occurs. We will face increased
resistance in our life and chi flow, resulting possibly in suffering, disease, or death.
For more good reading about Winter Solstice:
Information about the energetics and history of Winter Solstice (from 2005 Tao News):
http://www.healingdao.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=73
(to get onto articles page, your computer needs a cookie, so you may have to sign in)
Wishing you a powerful Solstice ceremony and the successful birthing of your intent,
Michael Winn
Surrendering my soul to the Double Celestial Orgasm,
Michael Winn
“Who takes Heaven as his ancestor, Virtue as his home,
the Tao as his door, and who becomes change — is a
Sage.” — Chuang Tzu, Inner Chapters
“The Tao is very close, but everyone looks far away.
Life is very simple, but everyone seeks difficulty.”
— Taoist Sage, 200 B.C
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