Taiyin Qigong Practice

The Supreme Feminine Cultivation of Vitality & Harmony Ho Hsien Ku:

The only female of the eight immortals, Ho Hsien Ku lived about 700 C.E., sometime during the reign of Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty. When she was about 14 years old, the immortal Lu Ting Pin gave her a magical lotus blossom, the flower of the giving heart and divine brilliance. The flower gave her lucid visionary dreams, in one of which she flew to Pearl Mountain. There she was instructed to grind up and swallow a very precious stone. Upon taking the potion she achieved immortality.

Ho Hsien Ku is virtuous and innocent. She is the patron of housewives and unwed maidens and her symbol is the lotus blossom.

The word Taiyin, 'supreme yin' means 'Moon' in Chinese.

Taiyin Qigong is a healing practice for women. Originating in the Kunlun Mountain region on the border of China, it was transmitted along the ancient Silk Route. Taiyin traces its roots back to the times of the early Persians and their priestess temple ritualistic dances. Later on, the woman Taoist master Sun Bei Er laid down the foundations of Taiyin Qigong in her canonical writings Songs of the Inner Elixir.

The Taiyin movements were created by the Taoist masters to take into account their knowledge of the difference between a woman's pelvic motion and a man's tight hip gait. Its stances are wider and, therefore, its movements have more of a swing than the average Qigong practice.

Taiyin Qigong was refined by generations of women to enhance their feminine qualities and rejuvenate their life force.

The gentle therapeutic movements of Taiyin Qigong work in close harmony with the woman's endocrine cycles, slowing down bone density reduction during menopause.

Taiyin Qigong was secretly passed down generation after generation from women Taoist masters to their daughters. Only recently has the practice been taught to both men and women.

A good example of a modern master, Madame Yang Mei Zhuang is 103 years old and lives in China.She can project Qi to heal the sick and is the 13th heiress of a Taiyin Qigong style called Dai Yan Qigong, the Great Wild Goose Qigong.

To give just a taste of what the ancient masters practiced, here is a poem by the Immortal sister, Sun Bei Er, with a commentary by Master Sat Chuen Hon, who is passing down the precious inheritance of Taiyin Qigong to his wife and three daughters.

The following is a translation of the verses by Taoist master Sun Bei Er on Taiyin Transformation cultivation. This text serves as a road map to guide the novice into the mystery of the organic alchemy of immortality.

Taiyin Qigong: Master Sun Be ER fourteen Songs of Inner Elixir

Gathering in the Heart

Beforethe body's existence, its Qi has already been established.
Likeconstantly polished jade, it will get smoother; it will be like gold further
purified by fire.
Sweeping away the ocean of birth and death, one must hold firm to the gate of mystery.
Original, it grows from non-doing, before the fall into the post natal.
Once sound is emitted from the mouth, the turning of the mechanism has already produced a three inch movement.

Before the body's existence, its Qi has already been established.

Even before one is born, the innate qualities of one's essence have already been established. After we are born, this innate Qi essence gradually develops and unfolds, influencing us in our daily actions, health and sickness. This prenatal Qi comes from the theory of the transformation of life. From the Emptiness of the void arises numinous consciousness; from this numinous consciousness Qi is derived.

Qi is then transformed into blood; from blood comes the body; the body develops into the fetus and the fetus develops into the child. From childhood to youth, from youth to old age and from old age to death. This flow of events, moving with the inertia of the pattern, becomes the normal cycle of life and death. The Taoist reverses this flow by transforming the blood into Qi, Qi into Numinous Consciousness and by then transforming this consciousness to merge with the emptiness of the great void, thus arriving at immortality.

Like constantly polished jade, it will get smoother; it will be like gold further purified by fire.

Sweeping away the ocean of birth and death, one must hold firm to the gate of mystery.

These two verses describe the initial stages of correctly beginning practice. The ocean of life and death is symbolized by the rising and disappearing of thoughts. The birth and death of a single thought is like the cycle of life. In a single day we thus die many thousands of times.

To sweep away such a rising and falling of thoughts is not easy. To do so, one must find the gate of mystery. The beginner's practice, however, should not consist of concentration on thoughts alone. On the contrary, such a fixation on the thoughtless coma like state is harmful.

The gate of mystery is where the half kernel of corn resides. Half a kernel of corn residing in emptiness, that is where the fire's warmth enraptures. Half a kernel of corn is the representation of the Shen entering into the Qi cavity. The Shen is then wrapped inside the Qi and the Qi embraces it on the outside, bringing it within the mystery. Such an event is extremely subtle and small.

This guideline for the visualization process means that the thought effort should be no bigger than half a kernel of corn. Have a thought intention and then let the inner vision appear. Accept whatever comes of it. Remain effortless and natural. Slowly, from the deepest recesses of the body, a golden half kernel of corn will emerge, nourishing the heart.

Original, it grows from non-doing, before the fall into the post natal.

To follow what is natural, this is the essence of non-doing, or as the British say, of non-a-do. It is, in fact, the Tao of the prenatal process. When one tries to achieve certain results, one goes into the effort of becoming. This effort, the need to achieve, obliterates the state of non-doing and creates the conflict between what is natural and what is artificial.

Once sound is emitted from the mouth, the turning of the mechanism has already produced a three inch movement.

This text describes the birth process of the baby which produces a switch from pre-natal embryonic breathing to post-natal lung breathing.

The stage and condition of life can be identified by observing the breathing process. When we are first born our inhalation is much longer than our exhalation. In our maturity, inhalation and exhalation are approximately equal in length. In old age, there is a longer exhalation than inhalation. The length of exhalation becomes proportionally longer as we increase in age.

special thanks to Donald White for his correction and contribution.
updated 4/23/1999

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