Neidan (Internal Alchemy): a Living Practice

Lifestyle Versus Exercise

by Prof. Dr. Dan KJ Vercammen

Do you practice qigong? Do you think your qigong practice is neidan?¹ It is important to understand the difference between qigong and neidan. Neidan is internal alchemy, a very intense practice transmitted by traditional teachers in traditional ways. It is embedded in culture, e.g. Taoist culture, and is a multifaceted practice, connected with almost all facets of Chinese culture (medicine and health practices, martial arts, meditation, ethics, philosophy and religion, etc.).

Qigong is an invention of the 20th century and was created to make it possible to improve one’s health by doing (often simple) physical exercises. In many cases the qigong exercises derive from older sources, but typical of early qigong is that the cultural and especially religious backgrounds were removed. When China started to open up (from the early 1980s onwards), a search for the cultural origins was also allowed and that stimulated the renewed interest in practices such as neidan.

However, frequently so-called ancient qigong exercises are relatively modern inventions without much proof of results and because of the widespread practice of these qigong exercises and the lack of “control” over the spreading and the teachers, the quality and effectiveness are doubtful. Does your practice live up to the promises? Do you have proof that it works? These are all legal questions to ask when you integrate the practice of qigong or neidan in your life.

Personally, if asked these questions, I can answer them with a clear “yes”. One of the reasons for this “yes” is that I’ve been practicing qigong and neidan for more than forty-five years. However, about forty-three years ago my answer to the latter two questions would have been “no”. Why? Because I did practice (and a lot), but I didn’t know how to achieve what was promised, as my teachers didn’t know themselves.

Forty-three years ago two main things started to change. First, I started reading books and classical Chinese texts about qigong and neidan, which gave me insights and information from actual practitioners on how to practice and what to expect from this. The second change came from finding knowledgeable teachers in China. Combining these two factors made a huge difference.

"Jindan The Golden Cinnabar" book by Prof. Dr. Dan Vercammen

Being a responsible teacher and a representative of the Yinyangpai (Yinyang Branch) of the

Southern Internal Alchemy Tradition (Jindan Nanzong), I want those studying under me to obtain real results and not be disappointed by the practice. Therefore, in this second Golden Cinnabar Letter, I’ll try to give you some points to ponder and some advice on how to go about.

Take a look at the footnote. It explains part of the difference between qigong and neidan. But there is a more important difference. I usually tell my students this: you use qigong to improve the quality of your life and you use your life to improve the quality of neidan.

Let me clarify this. Most people practice certain qigong exercises to become more healthy or maintain their (own) health. This normally takes a certain amount of time (at best an hour or more per day). So, it is a limited and “free” practice. Not so with neidan.

Contrary to what most “experts” will tell you, you don’t practice neidan for your own cultivation; you do this for harmonizing with the universe and Dao. You are not the subject of the practice, you are a means for Dao to work its best and you are a transmission vessel, i.e. the rest of humankind and the universe should profit from your practice.

It is not a practice done on certain moments of the day, it is a permanent practice, taking up all your time. By this I don’t mean that you’re doing specific exercises all the time and have no time to do anything else. What I want you to understand is that once the alchemical process is active inside your body, it should be doing things all the time, during whatever you’re doing in your life. Most of the time you don’t need to mind, sometimes you’ll need to interfere using well-tested methods.

That’s why people like the Old Master (Laozi) and my famous Song dynasty predecessor Zhang Boduan referred to the practice as easy, but hard to perform. Don’t misunderstand neidan: it’s a wonderful practice, but it’s not a casual and irresponsible thing.

If your goal is to improve your health, you don’t necessarily require neidan; find yourself a knowledgeable qigong teacher with medical experience who can answer your questions and help you advance. If you want more than health, are more spiritually inclined and want to seriously reduce your ego and desires, neidan is a good road to follow.

Finding an experienced alchemist is a challenge … In fact, be sincere, practice for the right reasons and (s)he shall probably find her/his way to you. My direct predecessor, Dr. Fu, found me while I was practicing qigong with another teacher. So, don’t lose hope!

What is similar in both qigong and neidan is that in order to see progress, you have to look at your practice in a critical way and take the right steps. A few tips.

When you start practicing, set goals. In some circles it is said that Taoists don’t set goals. That is nonsense. Without goals you’ll get nowhere. If that is your (non-)goal, that is fine. But if you ultimately want to get more healthy or unite with the Dao, you’ll need goals. Don’t be too strict about your goals, though. There is a lot along the Way that you might not notice if you’re too obsessed with a precise goal.

Be clear about what you want and look for someone who can help you with exactly that. Don’t ask an ordinary qigong practitioner to be your neidan teacher. That is a recipe for not succeeding. Ask your teacher what her/his backgrounds are. Can (s)he answer your questions clearly? Does (s)he mystify the practice? That is often a sign that (s)he doesn’t know or wants to lead you on.

All practices require steps. It’s a gradual process. You start with preparing yourself and with the most fundamental step, not with the highest level. Be modest, lower your desire. A good teacher will stress this and teach you in this way.

One of my martial arts teachers in China offered to teach me his skills in exchange for English lessons. He didn’t know any English but didn’t want to start from the basics. His idea was to use a handbook for advanced students. I advised him to get a very basic handbook, but his ego wouldn’t allow that. He never learned English …

Another martial arts teacher agreed to teach me baguazhang (the palm techniques of the eight trigrams). He wanted to know what kind of set I wanted to learn (he had other foreign students who always asked him to teach them a certain set). I answered I wanted to start from the basics and it was up to him to decide what he wanted to teach me. He smiled and said that he would teach me for free.

Don’t combine too many (different) things. Study something thoroughly before moving on to the next. Study zealously if you experience you have found a good teacher. Don’t waste your time with teachers who don’t know their stuff. Older fellow students can tell you why they study with a certain teacher and what they have achieved.

What you learn of neidan should be applied as much as possible in your life, which will help you evolve more quickly. However, don’t get disappointed if during some periods not much happens. Your body might need some time to adapt or to integrate the teaching.

Never be afraid to ask your teacher questions that matter. (S)he should be able to answer them. The answers might not be what you expect. For instance, sometimes a student would ask me about certain developments or phases of the practice. If the student wasn’t ready to understand the answer, I still gave him/her a correct answer, but in some cases it took the student years to come back to me and then say: “Now I have understood what you meant all these years ago.” You have to be ready to grasp the meaning and sometimes you just aren’t …

Neidan is not about spectacular things. You might get spectacular effects, though. But be warned: if those are what you are looking for, don’t practice neidan! Your goal in that respect is to reach utter tranquillity and a stage where all is quiet and peaceful. Look at whatever happens during the practice as a temporary thing in your process, not as something to aim for. Then you will be safe; otherwise, it can lead you astray.

As a teacher in the Southern Taoist Alchemy Tradition I therefore continue to do what my predecessors have always done: help students to obtain realistic, stable and lasting results and warn them about problematic approaches or illusionary results. Of course, presenting students with all kinds of wonderful yet unrealistic expectations is very attractive but in the end they’ll experience nothing but illusions.

Footnote

It is important to understand the difference between qigong and neidan. Neidan is internal alchemy, a very intense practice transmitted by traditional teachers in traditional ways. It is embedded in culture, e.g. Taoist culture, and is a multifaceted practice, connected with almost all facets of Chinese culture (medicine and health practices, martial arts, meditation, ethics, philosophy and religion, etc.). Qigong is an invention of the 20th century and was created to make it possible to improve one’s health by doing (often simple) physical exercises. In many cases the qigong exercises derive from older sources, but typical of early qigong is that the cultural and especially religious backgrounds were removed. When China started to open up (from the early 1980s onwards), a search for the cultural origins was also allowed and that stimulated the renewed interest in practices such as neidan. However, frequently so-called ancient qigong exercises are relatively modern inventions without much proof of results and because of the widespread practice of these qigong exercises and the lack of “control” over the spreading and the teachers, the quality and effectiveness are doubtful.