“Li Dan Dao De Jing Correction” is the theoretical foundation of Dao & virtue cultivation. Dao & virtue cultivation is different from practicing Qigong. The cultivator does not need to have any pre-requisite knowledge, nor need to focus on body part or Qi movement. Do not focus on your illness area or symptom. You may choose to sit on the floor with legs crossed or on a chair depending on your body condition or environmental constraint. Relax the whole body naturally. Place your palms completely on your knees, move both hands from the knees on the body surface towards chest. Close your palms in the center area of your chest. Put the heels of hands towards the precordium to protect the heart. Point all ten fingers straight in front to receive the message from the Great Dao. Close eyes gently. Then start to recite Dao De Jing with a peaceful mind. The above commencing form is to close the forty-eight thousand Gates all around our body and shut down eighty-one Qi Doors, as quoted in Lesson Thirteen Achievable: Block the Body Gates. Close the Qi Doors. Prevent the Essence, Qi and Spirit from being released. Thus, through this recitation methodology, we can limit the releasing of received energy and Essence/Qi/Spirit and achieve all kinds of benefits accordingly. After reciting for minimum half an hour, re-place both hands back to the precordium, close and separate. Move back to the knees on the body surface. Then the Body Gates and Qi Doors will be re-opened automatically. It also marks the ending of one cultivation session.
It would be best to sit on the floor with legs crossed to practice “Human emulates the Earth.”. Thus, we can receive the message of Dao and energy better, as well as further explore the nature mysteries. So to achieve “The formation of an object is due to the formation of momentum.”, “Hence, Dao emerges. Virtue accumulates.”.
The best way to cultivate Dao & virtue is to do so naturally. During cultivation session, what is natural and what is not natural?
Vocalizing is better than silent recitation or reading of Dao De Jing. There are no particular requirements on the volume, or speed of recitation. Simply follow your natural recitation speed. This is called “natural”. During cultivation, follow your natural spontaneous movements if they appear. If you feel force pushing you lie down when sitting on floor with legs crossed, just follow it naturally. You may continue reciting the Dao De Jing after lying down. All these phenomena are normal. Never use your mind to control, resist or analyze the underlying meaning or reason for these movements. There is no need to feel scared at all. Follow the movements naturally. If you use your mind to control or resist those movements, it becomes “unnatural” and the natural outcomes cannot be achieved. Here, we wish to highlight that any movements should strictly follow the principles of not acting against ordinary living habits, nor harming oneself or affecting others. Otherwise, you should control the movements to avoid unnecessary disturbance.
Pay particular attention to the impact of our mind during cultivation. Concentrate on the words of Dao De Jing so as to reduce distractions to the mind. A patient should never think about his/her illness during practice. By doing so, the mind will issue negative message such that the harmful elements all over the body will gather at that particular area. Therefore, the more you think about your illness, the more illnesses you will have. When you forget about your illness and your mind enters into a natural, peaceful and relaxing state, you will obtain cosmic natural energy, eliminating the harmful elements as so to achieve good health. Therefore, the less you think of illness, the faster you will recover from it. When you are sick, your body circulation is congested and essential Qi is blocked. As the proverb goes: No blockage, no pain. Feeling pain when Qi circulates to the blocked area is normal. It means that cosmic natural energy has strengthened our blood circulation, adjusting our neural system and physiological functions. During Dao cultivation, different kinds of reactions may appear after receiving natural energy regardless of whether you have an illness or not. It is very common to have different reactions when natural energy circulates to a particular blocked acupoint or lesion. Different persons have different reactions which may or may not appear. There is nothing to feel afraid of. Please do not pursue such reactions as well.
You may consult a doctor if you feel uncomfortable (such as pain) during cultivation. But do not attach great attention to it or carry unnecessary psychological burden. The more unnecessary psychological burden you have, the more difficult the energy circulation can overcome the blocked area. The correct way is to adopt an indifferent attitude to it. Seek medical treatment if necessary and continue reciting the Dao De Jing. Some people discontinue Dao cultivation when they face pain or difficulties. As quoted in Dao De Jing Lesson Forty Three Easy Perseverance: People, when pursuing any undertaking, often fail when they nearly succeed. Handle as seriously when approaching the end as in the beginning. Hence, they will not fail. When experiencing difficulties and pain during Dao cultivation, overcome these difficulties by leveraging on the determination and courage that you have in the beginning. Once the pathogens are discharged from the body and meridian circulation is improved, you will naturally benefit from overcoming the difficulties. This is called “Redeem all of our faults. Assist myriads of lives to develop naturally.”
To achieve the ideal result of Dao & virtue cultivation, the key factor is integrity and uprightness of our mind. In other words, our mind should conform to the Dao De Jing doctrines, meaning follow the natural laws. An important principle in Cultivating Dao & virtue is: keep a peaceful mind, no subjective actions (wú wéi) and no pursuit of achievement. The reason is simply because the more you pursue in Dao cultivation, the less you will achieve. Without pursuit, achievements in Dao cultivation come naturally. The elimination of the pursuit of selfish desires has been emphasized repeatedly in the Dao De Jing. Only through minimizing selfish desires without pursuit of unachievable expectation, can we reach a truly peaceful mind. As a result, our natural instinct (soul) can progressively conform to the natural Dao, natural laws/principles, or the virtue guidelines. The more a cultivator’s selfish desires are eliminated, the more peaceful the mind will be, thus the more significant the Dao cultivation results will be achieved. The benefits of Dao & virtue cultivation are all obtained in a state of peace and no objective actions (wú wéi). Dao cultivation relies on self-discipline. Keep peaceful mind naturally. Dao & virtue emerges and accumulates in a state of extremely peaceful mind. Keep the whole body in a natural state during cultivation. The soul calms with uprightness of our heart. This enables the Essence and Qi to concentrate to Spirit.
Applying these principles in our daily lives is a fundamental requirement. The cultivator must strive to internalize Dao De Jing doctrines, follow the objective principles of Dao De Jing in dealing with daily social and interpersonal matters. Obey the social ethics and do not carry out abnormal behaviors which are against social norms. Do more good and be compassionate. Be tolerant and avoid conflict in dealing with daily matters. Always keep a peaceful, harmonious and tranquil mind.
The laudable thing about Dao & virtue cultivation is perseverance. As quoted in Dao De Jing Lesson Three The Well-doer: Although not every single request is satisfied, some benefits can be achieved eventually. Anyone who preserves in Dao cultivation will achieve varying degree of benefits.
The detailed cultivation methodology for non-Mandarin speakers is described below:
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Place the book “Li Dan Dao De Jing Correction” in front for each cultivation session. Other Dao De Jing books compiled by Professor Sun Xianglin may be placed in front as well for the ease of receiving Dao message.
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When reciting the Dao De Jing, start from the first Chinese character of the lesson title (Pin Yin: dì) in Mandarin. The lesson title must be recited otherwise only half the benefits will be achieved.
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Those who do not know Mandarin only need to recite Lesson One Dao in Mandarin repeatedly.
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All the characters in the lesson title and text must be recited and pronounced correctly in Mandarin. The cultivator shall ensure no single mistake of pronunciation. If you encounter any mistake, repeat that particular sentence and continue. There is no need to repeat the whole lesson. If you have issue in memorizing the whole text, you may refer to the Pin Yin to read accordingly. Concentrate on the Dao De Jing text during recitation. Always remind yourself to recite with a focused mind if your mind get distracted.
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A cultivator benefits from Dao cultivation by reciting more than twice a day and keeps his/her current state by practicing only once a day. The best is to practice four times a day and the below timings are the best cultivation timings:
Mid-night: 11PM-1AM, facing north (when you are in Northern Hemisphere) or facing south (when you are in Southern Hemisphere);
Morning: 5AM-7AM, facing east;
Noon: 11AM-1PM, facing south (when you are in Northern Hemisphere) or facing north (when you are in Southern Hemisphere);
Afternoon: 5PM-7PM, facing west.
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The effective duration for each cultivation session is minimum half an hour and it would be the best to end the session naturally. If you miss the above cultivation timings, you may makeup the practice in other available timing. Do remember to perform the closing form for each cultivation session in order to open the closed Body Gates and Qi Doors. Closing form is: put both hands back to the precordium, close and separate. Move back to the knees on the body surface. Without performing the closing form, the benefit of Dao cultivation would be affected.
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If it is not convenient to sit on the floor to recite the Dao De Jing, you may choose a simple cultivation method: put both hands on top of the lower abdomen (no need to sit on floor with legs crossed). For male cultivator, place right hand on top of left hand. For female cultivator, place left hand on top of right hand. Then start reciting the Dao De Jing quietly. Follow the closing form: open both hands and move to the knees on the body surface.