DAOIST MEDITATION
We live very limited by our mental horizon nowadays, led by our ego-mind, which is in charge of keeping us busy and distracted, looking to the ouside, conditioned by a social consciousness commited to keep us domesticated. We forget we are mind, body and Spirit, and we insist on relegating our Spirit and opress our mind of light with our ego.
Meditation, in very practical terms, consists on calming the mind, not paying attention to our thoughts, letting them flow without elaborating or building upon them. As we practice, we discover our silence, the silence of the universe, in stillness, and we begin to be truly present in ourselves, from our Spirit. We find and experience the infinite peace within us.
"Meditate is to unify with the universe"- Li Shifu.
Meditating at the Five Immortals Temple with Master Li Shifu
There are many methods to achieve a meditative state, regardless of your choosing, the only requirement is that it allows your brain to operate at a minimum level, as if you were not thinking at all, finding your true silence. Sometimes, when we start practicing stillness cultivation, we do not know where the thoughts have to go or what to do with them, but this does not matter. As thoughts continue to emerge, the moment you perceive the thought you must just cut it at the root, not elaborating on it and let it go. It is a simple exercise. As you masterize it, you will see how the flow intensity of thoughts decreases and you find peace, becoming the observer of this flow, the observer of your breathing, of your heart beat...identifying who is the true observer of it all.
It is within this silence where you can turn your gaze, your attention, inwards, and open the gate to your wisdom, as Master Li Shifu would say.
What emerges or what we learn during this process is brought to our daily lives, "outside" of the strict moment of meditation; it is about keeping a silent connection with ourselves on a daily basis, to observe ourselves, transform ourselves and our environment.
Anyone can practice meditation, not only those cultivating in a temple or doing spiritual practices. It is a matter of assinging 10-30-60 minutes everyday and persevere until you feel it, with no expectation as you practice, just letting peace be. There is not a minimum time to practice, what is important is to achieve an effective state of silence and connection. The time you decide to practice and the method you choose is entirely up to you. Obviously, as with any other discipline, the more you practice the more you will masterize it and the deeper you will go.
At the Five Immortals Temple, we learn the Daoist sitting meditation method for stillness cultivation (see picture above), which has specific requirements and instructions, very easy to apply. I usually share this method and/or its applications during Qi Gong classes and courses.
To read more about the practical aspects of these disciplines click here, and about their relation with Daoism, click here
To learn more about sitting meditation and cultivation of stillness visit the Five Immortals Temple's web site: Meditation
Photo meditating at the Five Immortals Temple by Christina Chandler.
What is the use of Daoist Meditation on a daily basis?
USEFUL FOR EVERYTHING! Ideal for:
Calming the mind, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression
Cultivating inner peaceRegulating emotionsTraining the mind, improving focus, cognition and intuition abilitiesIncreasing your energy levels
Preventing and catalyzing healing of physical, mental and emotional illnesses/disorders
Detoxifying, Improving Qi flow
Improving your postureImprove sleepFeeling empowerment, profundly connecting with yourself
Preventing and catalyzing healing of physical, mental and emotional illnesses/disorders
Detoxifying, Improving Qi flow
Improving your posture
What Daoist meditation practitioners say...
Thanks to the Daoist Meditation practice I could experience stillness. For a brief moment, I was One with the Universe- Yonatan.
My first experience with meditation was two years ago at the Five Immortals Temple in China. Since I had no experience in meditating at all, I found it very hard to sit still and concentrate on the breathing, not to speak about simultaneously circulating the Qi in my body. At the beginning, I just imagined a warm energy rushing up the spine to the highest point on my head. Next, I visualized how this energy would flow from my cranium all the way down to the perineum. My motto at that time was simple: "fake it until you make it". What I really appreciate about Daoist meditation is the inclusion of the body. The physical, energetic-emotional and mental- aspects are equally taken into account. This approach is based on the observation that the mentioned layers form an inseparable unit and therefore continuously influence and impact each other. So far, I can say that the outcome of this process has helped me already enormously to cleanse my energies and emotions. Moreover, I look forward to unfolding more hidden potentials with this unique meditative body work in order to cultivate deeper self love and therby be of best service to my community- Mika.
Before going to the Five Immortals Temple I had no experience meditating. The first weeks I "ate the ceiling" (as we would say in Spanish), my mind was so agitated that I couldn't sit still, but persevering I started to feel real peace, my silence, a connection to the infinite cosmos, I felt no separation between us. The feeling was so overwhelmingly marvelous that it hooked me, I wanted to explore it and feel it deeply. Little by little I started having different experiences that amplified my understanding about the potential of meditation. This meditation technique may be challenging at the beginning as there is no movement, no guiding thoughts, voices or mantras, no music...just you and the Dao...But this is exacly what makes it easy and pure at the same time. The gift of this practice cannot be described in words. On a daily basis it allows me to step back every time I feel lost, angry, frustrated, anxious...and return to a state of peace...It has given me perspective, brings me back to the present. It helps me to stay consciously connected to my Spirit, and to feel energized and motivated by such blessing. Even if I just do it for a few minutes...The more you practice the easier it becomes to find the path. When I sit, my being simply knows what it's seeking and finds it. It has also served as a solid foundation for other spiritual practices. This meditation method showed me the way to my true Self and I'm incredibly grateful to have learned it- Andrea.
Through the practice of Daoist Meditation I could experience silence and quietness. The kind of silence that allows you to see inside you and be part of everything around. For the forst time I could be one, together with my innerself and my surroundings. I could see the light coming from above and around me and feel inner peace. On different occasions I had visions coming from Heaven, where I was sitting on a platform above the clouds and infront of me was a statue of a huge dragon carved on stone, where a brown horse was standing near by. Everything had a silver and golden look, with a feeling of peace and stillness. Over time, my thoughts were more calm and I was more focused on my daily life, the noise in my head was turning down gradually into quietness, and I was experiencing a change on my behavior in a positive way - Yonatan.
