Beyond Tantra: Healing Through Taoist Sacred Sex (30 page)

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Authors: Mieke Wik,Stephan Wik

Tags: #Sexual Instruction, #Hygiene; Sexual, #Sexuality & Gender Studies, #Taoism, #Findhorn Press, #Body; Mind & Spirit, #Religious aspects, #General, #Religion, #Self-Help, #ISBN-13: 9781844090631, #Healing, #Hygiene; Taoist, #Mysticism, #Sex

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You’ll probably find as many descriptions as there are practitioners but the end result is the same: more Qi flow and a fitter mind and body. Although it may be possible to learn Qi Gong and Tai Chi from books or videos, most people will find it easier to learn by attending a course given by a skilled practitioner.

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The most commonly taught version of Tai Chi is the ‘Yang Style Simplified Twenty-Four Movement Form’ and it might make sense to start with this since courses that teach it are widely available. Once you have learned the basics, you can continue on your own although there is something to be said for practising and learning with others. It generally takes three to four months to learn the basic set of twenty-four forms. It’s interesting to note that most Tai Chi Masters agree that five minutes of Qi Gong or Tai Chi a day is better for you than two hours once a week. The parallels with Dual Cultivation are clear.

Diet (Chang Ming)

Taoist Diet principles are simple and are based on ‘living in harmony with nature’. Many people practising Dual Cultivation and Qi-circulation techniques soon discover that they naturally start to eat in a more balanced fashion and pay greater regard to what they put into their bodies. Here are some of the guidelines from the ‘Chang Ming Diet Principles’ that you may find useful:

• Eat until your stomach is no more than two-thirds full. This gives your digestive system a chance to process your meals without being overloaded.

• Avoid eating after 7 o’clock in the evening as the body naturally slows down before going to sleep.

• Foods to eat more of: local, organic vegetables and fruit, herbs, whole rice and whole grains.

• Foods to eat less of: meat, fish, salt, strong spices, artificial colours and preservatives and heavily-processed foods.

Herbal Medicine

The use of plants for medicinal purposes has been well-documented by the Chinese for thousand of years. Western science is now realizing that there is a wealth of knowledge available from this tradition. An example of this is a new, recently-released, low-cost treatment for malaria using Oriental Wormwood (Yin Chen /
Artemisia capillaris
) combined with a Western drug. Yin Chen has been used by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for centuries to control fevers.

In TCM, healing herbs are grouped into three categories: inferior, middle and superior. Inferior herbs are used to treat specific ailments. Some inferior herbs are very powerful and can, if used incorrectly, have serious side-effects.

Middle category herbs are often used in conjunction with inferior herbs to distribute and assist their healing function. Middle herbs are also used on their own

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Beyond Tantra – Healing Through Taoist Sacred Sex to strengthen bodily functions. You probably will only want to use inferior or middle herbs if you have a particular ailment that needs treating and only under qualified medical supervision. The only exception to this are some ‘patent remedies’ which are pre-packaged formulas that are normally sold either as powders (san) or pills (wan). An example of such a formula is Free & Easy Wanderer Plus (Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan). This can be used as an ‘alternative aspirin’ and can also be very helpful when you are suffering from digestive system disturbances. These patent remedies are readily available at any Chinese pharmacy.

Superior herbs are potentially the most interesting from a Dual Cultivation point of view. Also known as Tonic Herbs, these herbs promote everyday good health and are traditionally used to enhance Qi, to regulate bodily and psychic functioning and as an aid to spiritual development. They are often taken in combinations known as Tonics. Interestingly enough, quite a few of these herbs are reputed to have aphrodisiac qualities. One of the most powerful is Yin Yang Huo (
Epimedium sagittatum
or Horny Goat Weed). This herb has been used for over two thousand years to replace sexual fire, boost erectile function and alleviate menopausal discomfort.

The study and use of Chinese tonic herbs is a vast subject and I’ve put some pointers to further sources of information in the reference section. However, I have done a great deal of personal, practical research over the last seven years and can attest to the power and efficacy of tonic herbs.

Acupuncture / Acupressure

TCM views body, mind and spirit as an integrated whole and believes that the origins of disease often lie in an imbalance of Yin and Yang in the body. The ancient Chinese healing art of acupuncture attempts to adjust the Yin / Yang balance of the body and re-create harmony by influencing the flow of Qi.

Acupuncturists use very fine steel needles, inserted into a selection of three-hun-dred-and-sixty-one points along twelve ‘primary’ Yin and Yang meridians and two of the eight ‘extraordinary’ Qi vessels. Moxibustion is a related technique that uses small burning cones of mugwort to heat acupuncture points.

Acupressure is the practice of stimulating these points manually through massage.

Acupuncture treatment would normally be preceded by a diagnostic procedure, called Zang Fu, that uses pulse-checking, tongue examination and a thor-ough patient interview. A Zang Fu diagnosis can provide the basis for the prescription of herbal remedies as well as acupuncture. The training period for a TCM doctor is usually five years, so it is not advisable to try either acupuncture or ‘inferior’ herbs on a self-diagnostic basis.

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Acupressure, on the other hand, is a safe and useful tool that anyone can learn. In Dual Cultivation, the Hui Yin point (the perineum) is used extensively to relax and assist in the flow of Sexual Qi, especially in men. There are other points that can be useful as well. The Lao Gong points on the hands and the Yong Quan points on the soles of the feet are excellent points to massage to open up and assist Qi flow. Try massaging these points as part of a warm-up massage.

You might also want to experiment with a smouldering Moxa stick held a cen-timetre or two away from the body as a wonderful relaxing tool, especially around the Lower Tan Tien.

Inner Alchemy (Nei Dan)

Taoist Inner Alchemy is based on an understanding that all the elements of immortality are found within the body and that the body is a microcosmic reflection of the universe or macrocosm. In Inner Alchemy, much attention is paid to learning how to direct Qi through the eight ‘extraordinary’ Qi vessels. The Small Orbit, for instance, directs Qi through two of these vessels – the Governing Vessel and the Conception Vessel. Inner Alchemy also contains the teachings of Dual Cultivation, where two loving individuals cultivate and direct Sexual Qi.

When you study Inner Alchemy, you learn to use meditative (Nei Gong) and energy (Qi Gong) exercises to lengthen your lifespan and create an immortal

‘spirit body’ that transcends the physical world and reunites with the Tao. Even if the creation of a ‘spirit body’ is not your primary goal in this life (and by all accounts this takes at least sixty years of dedicated work), the meditation and energy techniques of Inner Alchemy can help you create balance, centeredness, peace and a sense purpose in your life.