Ming men and dan tien: clarification sought

suggestion here not to get caught up on some sort of pre-natal, post natal divide…

the real essence here is that the pre-birth and gestation realms (and a crossover back through them) are closer to the “energy” experienced as dreams, alpha-theta waves, etc…

the belly is important because it is a YIN center with hidden YANG…
the real gold of the lower dan tien and ming men is found in that yang battery power which is basically dormant…

this means the ming men point is part of firing a system centered in the double torus of the intestines….

to that end that “center” is in the exact middle of the intestines… this is part of a deep process during gestation where the chromosomes form an intestinal torus rotation as they nest a developing heart

in reality, the proof lies in the adrenals…
as has been pointed out endlessly by students of the great TAO, the elements are truly found by color in the body…

there is an area right where the adrenals connect with the kidneys which can be “felt” to spin horizontally as part of the whole lower system…

imho, that is part of a synchronized resonant pulsation between the genitals, belly, and entire kidney adrenal system…

it would be good to look into how adrenaline and the cns work if you have not, because it is the physical manifestation of that hidden yang…

again, imho, steaming is what really synchronizes all of this…

it is good not to get caught up on one thing…

I practiced all of this for many years and the orbit never fully opened until I had done lesser fire and water steaming, so a lot of time was wasted beforehand…

to that end, I and others have pointed out that there is a real process going on where the genitals and pelvis are direct polar parallels to the brain, to the point that it may be possible to show that entire system as its own “brain”..

so personally there is no reason to put an extreme weight on the enteric nervous system..

that system appears to be related to cannabinoids

many of us feel that it is a later reversal between upper brain and genitals which produces a critical CNS DNA-RNA uplink…

a link betwen the pineal/pituitary complex and gametes as polar offspring of the chromosomal nucleus

with the lower dan tien being an origin issue,
the pelvis being a manifest destination issue

there is a strong argument that the enteric and cannabinoid systems work the way they do because of the original chromosomal development torus

THE ROLE OF CANNABINOIDS AND CANNABINOID RECEPTORS IN ENTERIC NEURONAL SURVIVAL
Yan Li, Virginia Commonwealth University
http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1947/

there also appears to be an upwards synchrony related to the vagus nerve and vertical water fire reversal that has everything to do with how food digested through the lower torus is cycled upwards through the higher cardio-toroid…

the intestines simply compactified at a lower level…

this is an incredibly big deal because there is somethign there in how we take on energy form food and why we should or should not eat certain things… somewhere in that torus process, the entire cardio-toroid system takes on chemicals/essences

it is unclear how much of this becomes engrained into DNA/gamete and if detrimental aberrations are reversible…

there is a clear effect on the upper pole brain…

In much simpler terms, the lower dantian (“the dantian”) is the lower energy field, the ming men is basically the back door and the navel is the front door. I never really felt the full dimensionality of the dantian until the breathing exercises of QF 3 and dantian-ming men breathing on the QF 4 DVD.

The dantian (here: lower dantian) is simply an energy field inside the body that extends from the kidneys in the back, navel in the front, solar plexus above, and perineum below.

Inside the dantian, is an “energetic furnace” that converts the jing of the body into yuan qi (i.e. source qi) through a process called “cooking”. This energetic furnace is called the mingmen. The geometric location of the mingmen is an energetic space inside the body that spans the area occupied by the kidneys and is contained in the dantian.

Inside the mingmen, is a portal through which vitality enters the body from the formless, i.e. pre-natal, realm. This portal is called the “Door of Life”, and it feeds the mingmen. The geometric location of the “Door of Life” is an energetic space inside the body that is thought to be approximately between the two kidneys close to the back, and is contained inside the mingmen.

Thus the “Door of Life” is a proper subset of the mingmen, which in turn is a proper subset of the lower dantian. If you understand the English relationship: “bedroom door”, bedroom, apartment; then you understand the relationship: “Door of Life”, mingmen, dantian.

Thus if one says “vitality enters the body through the mingmen”, this is true (because the mingmen has the Door of Life inside it). Moreover, if one says “vitality enters the body through the dantian”, this is also true (because the dantian has the mingmen inside it, which in turn has itself the Door of Life within it). Due to the subset arrangement, these terms often get used interchangeably, and are not commonly distinguished . . . which often creates confusion.

All of these things are inside the body.

[Due to the geometric location around the kidneys] the lower back along the spine between the two kidneys is considered the portal into the mingmen . . . however, the actual mingmen is inside the body. This point on the lower back is a “false point” due to the inability to directly contact the true Door of Life which lies inside the body.

In the same way, if one wanted a surface point on the body to serve as a proxy for the lower dantian . . . then theoretically any point on the surface of the body that touches the boundary of the lower dantian (e.g. navel, perineum, kidneys) could serve this purpose. However, traditionally the navel area has been chosen due to its nature of slightly penetrating into the interior space of the lower abdomen, as well as its earlier function of feeding vitality to you when you were in the fetal state. This is, just like the mingmen surface “point” discussed in the previous paragraph, a false point. This is because the lower dantian extends through the whole range given, and has its geometric center on the interior to your body (somewhere halfway between the kidneys and navel, and halfway between the solar plexus and perineum).

These false points on the surface of the body create much confusion as to what the dantian, mingmen, and “Door of Life” are. The actuality of the situation is outlined in the first four paragraphs.

Note:
In answer to your original question: if you are inside the dantian, you are inside a concentrated energy field. This field can store additional energy; it can feed energy to the mingmen to help support the cooking; it can act as an energetic space from which the elixir of immortality can be cultivated. Moreover, since the dantian contains within it the mingmen–and hence the Door of Life–it is a multi-dimensional space and is therefore boundless . . . a sea of infinite depth.

Qi,
Steven

unfortunately the best embryology site is down for now, but the process is surely vital knowledge for someone studying the system…

intestines as double, cube emphatic torus:
http://www.wpclipart.com/medical/anatomy/digestive/Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.png

abdominopelvic quadrants:

http://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/507/flashcards/974507/png/abdomial_quadrants1327009025868.png

the chromosomes and blastodisk open the chong mai during primal polarization long before the du mai and ren mai..

or any organogenesis…

at roughly 33 days, the homonid core digestive channel begins a clear cubical ortho-rotation as the cardio-genic field solidifies into a central four chambered heart..

the continues vertical polarization lowers and packs the intestines…

by the ~56th day:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Human_embryo.jpg

http://szimmunesystem.webstarts.com/uploads/hdc_0001_0001_0_img0010.jpg

>>>In ​the descriptions of Ocean Breathing I’ve come across,
>>>the portal’s always been described as ​the d​an tien.
>>>Thus, I’ve assumed that the portal’s location is at
>>>the geometric centre of the ​dan tien​.

Let’s be careful about the word “portal”.

The Door of Life is simply a spigot that feeds the mingmen. It is not the only “connection” to the prenatal. We are living in a multi-dimensional universe, and all realms are HERE NOW, occupying the same space, and completely accessible from any location. The Door of Life does not have a trademark on that. In other words, you can connect into the prenatal from any location in your body if you have enough multi-dimensional awareness. In fact, this is one of the purported goals of the alchemy line: to develop this awareness.

>>>However, you explain that its location is elsewhere
>>>- between the kidneys, close to the anterior surface
>>>of the spine. So is it the case that the Door of Life
>>>is located on the opposite side of the spine to DU-4?

In the classical Daoist literature, the most that is really ever said is that it is thought to be between the kidneys, inside the body, and close to the lower back. That’s about as specific as it gets. Anyone that claims they have a more precise location is just making stuff up. However, once you start to develop the multi-dimensional awareness I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it is hardly important.

>>>Can I just confirm ​that the purpose of Ocean Breathing
>>>is to open the Door of Life wider so that
>>>more pre-natal chi can pass through?

I wouldn’t say that that is the purpose.
I would say it is more just an aspect of the practice.
As you do Ocean Breathing, you bring in qi from many different sources . . . qi from the mingmen, but also qi from the air that you breathe, post-natal qi circulating in your body, some potentially stuck qi that breaks free, qi from the Earth, etc. All of this floods into the lower dantian and amplifies the whole energy field. This is all caused by the focus awareness on the lower dantian and the stronger yin-yang pulsation that you create in the region by doing the practice. This helps create a stronger vessel/container for handling higher spiritual vibrational energies as you progress through the alchemy line.

>>>If so, now that you’ve explained the location of the Door or Life,
>>>should this location be our focus during Ocean Breathing
>>>- as opposed to, say, focusing on the ​dan tien as whole
>>>(or on its geometric centre)?

No. You focus should be on the center of the dantian. This is the geometric still-point from which the yin-yang pulsation expands and contracts around. Because of this, because of it being the geometric center of the dantian, because of it being approximately the center of gravity of your whole body, it is the easiest location from which to first make a “connection” to the prenatal. By connection, I mean conscious awareness.

>>>You say that DU-4 cannot “directly contact” the Door of Life.
>>>Just wondering what it is then that DU-4 does directly contact?
>>>And is it only qigong/internal alchemy that can directly
>>>contact the Door of Life?

Du-4 is an acupuncture point that connects into the Du channel. The Du channel (i.e. Governor channel) is one of the 8 extraordinary channels of the body. The 8 extras are the deepest channels in the body; they mediate between the prenatal and postnatal; and, they form the energetic matrix of which your body is formed. So, like the other points on the Du channel, it is important in that regard. It is thought to be the closest point to the Door of Life, but if anyone is needling your back on Du-4–and they say they are directly accessing your Door of Life–they are full of BS. The only one that has access to that space is you. In particular, your last question is debatable, but the internal alchemist would say yes.

Qi,
Steven

There is not consistency in the classic literature.

The Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Chinese Medicine) does not single out the right kidney as the mingmen . . . the later different text–the Nanjing–does (which is where the quote Livia Kohn is using comes from). However, strangely enough the same Nanjing also puts the Door of Life between the kidneys! This is a big problem; it is already an internal inconsistency.

Moreover, Du-4 (i.e. GV-4) is on the spine. The right kidney does not lie on the spine! Both kidneys are symmetrically off of the spine. Thus to say right kidney and Du-4 at the same time is clearly incorrect. So this is another example of an inconsistency. In total, this right kidney view is highly contentious, and in disagreement with other Chinese medical texts and/or Daoist texts.

In my personal view, I think it makes more sense to say that the mingmen “spans an area occupied by the kidneys” and leave it at that. Trying to narrow it down further, I find highly speculative and inconsistent with other information.

S

>>>Setting out these various aspects is helpful.
>>>However, in QF1 (2008) Michael very much
>>>emphasizes opening the Door of Life saying
>>>that he created Ocean Breathing as a result
>>>of looking for the “simplest, no-brainer
>>>chi kung” that would “open up this portal
>>>here at my navel”.

>>>I take your point. But in QF3 (2008) Michael
>>>holds that the Door of Life – which he equates
>>>to the mingmen – is a pretty important spigot,
>>>saying that, in his view, it’s the “single most
>>>important point…in the entire body/mind field”
>>>- as it’s where we are creating ourselves from.

Ocean Breathing was originally a qigong form invented by Walter Beckley called “Radiant Hand Body Activation Method”. Michael borrowed it and renamed it Ocean Breathing [much better name], to which Walter agreed. Michael’s comments about Ocean Breathing’s “purpose”, are simply an opinion–no different than my opinion, except my opinion is different than his . . . well, different from his 2008 opinion anyway. I know from my many live hours with Michael that he learns and grows like the rest of us, so I wouldn’t necessarily hold him now to something he said 6 years ago.

In any case, from many Daoist practitioners I’ve studied with (not just Michael), and my own direct experience, I would disagree with the sales pitch about the Door of Life you are quoting from his 2008 course.

>>>But given (1) the importance (according to Michael)
>>>of the Door of Life (2) Michael’s emphasis on using
>>>Ocean Breathing to open the Door (3) that the Door
>>>is within the mingmen and (4) that the mingmen
>>>is located in the region of the kidneys, perhaps
>>>you can appreciate why I still find it a little surprising
>>>that the focus during Ocean Breathing is not on the
>>>location of the Door itself but, rather, on the
>>>centre of the dantian.

Because in my opinion, it is not the purpose of Ocean Breathing.
In my view, the purpose of Ocean Breathing is what I stated in my previous post.

If the Door of Life were the only source of additional qi, I might say yes . . . but that is not true. “Mingmen fire” is just one source; there are many others: qi from the air you breathe in, post-natal qi circulating in the body, qi from the Earth, cosmic qi . . . multiple locations. Qi is not limited to come in from just one location (e.g. mingmen). Certainly when I practice I don’t limit myself to only drawing in qi from just the mingmen! If you want to, that’s great. But for me, if qi is flooding in from the Earth and many other sources, I’m not going to ignore it and say “I’m not interested in you; I only want the qi from the Door of Life!”. 🙂 If you are just trying to just get more qi from the spigot, that’s very limiting.

To understand why you want to include qi from all sources, you have to understand what the dantian is. The dantian is an energy field that holds your vitality and from which the elixir of immortality can be cultivated. This is built right into the word “dantian” itself.

In Chinese, dantian is written in pinyin with tonal marks as: dāntián
This is composed of two words: dān and tián
Tián means field
Dān means red or cinnabar

Now what does “red” or “cinnabar” mean?

They are code words.

Red represents the energy of vitality, your life-force in the physical world.
Cinnabar is a red mineral containing mercury (known to be poisonous), but was originally associated with many external alchemical potions that people tried making for physical immortality. Thus the true meaning of cinnabar here is that of “elixir of immortality”, not the actual mineral of cinnabar. This latter bit is also true because Dān is the root word of Xiāndān, which is the Chinese word for elixir.

Thus the literal translation of dāntián is “red field”, “cinnabar field”, or even “elixir field”.

So, as I said, it is an energy field that holds your vitality and from which the elixir of immortality can be cultivated. In particular, that’s why we do alchemy: to cultivate the elixir of immortality. When you are doing Ocean Breathing, everything expands and contracts around the central still point. The breath expands and contracts around the central still point (not the mingmen), the expanding/contracting qi ball expands and contracts around the central still point (not the mingmen). SO THIS IS WHERE YOUR ATTENTION SHOULD BE. Not elsewhere. If you have your attention where the action is, it is amplified. If not, it is dispersive.

Bottom line: The mingmen (resp. Door of Life) is merely an aspect of the dantian. Let’s not get caught up analyzing one tree, when it is the forest that is important. 🙂

Qi,
Steven