The “Bear” Necessities of Neidan:
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
All You Need for a Successful Trip through the Jungle
GOLDEN CINNABAR LETTERS
Issue 6
by Prof. Dr. Dan KJ Vercammen
In 1967 life was very different from now. Going to the movies was a rarity for me, something that happened once every few years. Television was also too expensive for my parents. So, when my Dad took me to the local movie theater to see Disney’s Jungle Book, I felt really delighted.
Especially Baloo the bear made a lasting impression on me. His teaching of a carpe diem lifestyle (you don’t need much to enjoy life) and joyous singing struck a chord, as it did with Mowgli, who likewise felt like he was a bear, too. It is one of the reasons why I love bears (teddy bears included).
One of Baloo’s songs is about the bare necessities of life, which in his case are, of course, bear necessities. When you enter the jungle of Neidan practice, it is essential that you know what is necessary. I bear the responsibility to make your experience bearable and want to make sure that you find the honey jar and that your head doesn’t get stuck in it. Mmm, but that’s about another bear, I think… And come to think of it, isn’t that a Taoist bear?¹
But… why talk about bears? Actually, Taoist alchemists admire bears and feel related to these magnificent creatures. Bears hibernate and, as I know from practice, this condition is similar to something alchemists go through in their practice. A bear is also a powerful yet “soft” animal. The power is hidden inside a relaxed, supple body. The Old Master, Laozi, teaches us that we should aim for softness. Hence the Taoist love of bears.
Traditionally, danshi 丹士, Taoist alchemists, speak of four bare necessities. They are: a method (fa 法), money (cai 財), companions (lü 侶), and a place (di 地). These used to mean and necessitate different things in old China as compared to modern China and the rest of the world.
A brief description of their meaning could be that you need to learn the way to practice safely and effectively, have sufficient means to support your practice and friends that can help you, and find a good spot to practice without being disturbed.
In the past, when a person (it would probably be a man, as things were a lot more difficult for women, though not impossible) in China wanted to learn Neidan or Waidan (the experimental external version of alchemy), he would have heard of it from a family member or acquaintance or read about it in a book.
The first thing to do would then be to go looking for a teacher. Most of the time it wouldn’t be someone close, although some people did learn from their relatives. In this case the access was relatively easy, but generally speaking it was hard to find a competent teacher.
Stories mentioned hermits living in the mountains and masters hiding in seclusion, so the would-be alchemist prepared himself for a long journey to a remote Taoist mountain. He would need a horse or mule, provisions for maybe months, money, and all that is needed to live in the open air. It could cost quite a bit, hence the need for financial means (cai).
If the purpose was to learn Waidan, that would be even more expensive, because one needed to acquire precious minerals, herbs, medicines, tools and instruments (vessels, stove, etc.), and rare books with recipes. So, it helped if one came from a wealthy background. That’s one reason why the alchemists were not common folk but literate persons from families of means.
Because practitioners often wanted to keep nosy people far away, they sometimes had high walls built around their premises, which also led to extra expenses.
When the searcher found an experienced alchemist, it was not necessarily so that he wanted to transmit his knowledge. He might put the candidate to the test and let him suffer for a while. After all, the student should prove his mettle. Determination and the ability to withstand hardship were required qualities.
Once the transmission started, the pupil would not only learn the practical methods the teacher was willing to teach, but he would also be instructed in the reading and understanding of the alchemical texts belonging to the tradition that was being transmitted. Different traditions use different methods and have different manuals, even if the paths usually offer similar steps.
The pupil would evolve and learn the way under the teacher’s supervision until he was ready to go his own way. All this can be called the method or collection of techniques of alchemical practice: the fa.
One might think that Neidan and Waidan are individual practices that don’t require the presence of anyone else, as that seems to be the general idea of so-called practitioners. In fact, this is mostly not true, except for recluses.
You normally don’t practice on your own. The internal practice itself and the evolution are evidently individual matters, but you would have a teacher guiding you, one or more partners to practice with in some traditions, and family or friends looking after you and your needs. These are your companions on the alchemical path: the lü.
The traditional practice of the Southern Tradition, for instance, requires at least one partner, sharing the practice and supplying essential “ingredients” for what the practitioner lacks.
Last but certainly not least, it was quite important to have an appropriate place for your practice. Waidan could be practiced in a temple, but preferably in the open air, in case one concocted an explosive preparation. After all, the ancient manuals warn against “blowing off the temple’s roof.”
For Neidan, the practitioner looked for a quiet, secluded place so that one could practice undisturbed. A cave or a room in a temple were common di (places), or else a quiet part of the practitioner’s house could suffice.
In our days, the necessities have somewhat changed, because the circumstances of the modern world are quite different. Yet, the four necessities are still essential.
Contrary to the situation in old China, we can now travel faster and more easily. Searching for and finding a teacher seems simpler, but appearances can deceive. Online courses don’t replace personal instruction, and without guidance it is hard to succeed.
As for fa, the method and techniques, most alchemical manuals are now available as published books. Yet without deep knowledge and proper transmission, they remain incomplete. The centerpiece is still the one who transmits.
Fellow practitioners remain important, and the right environment—di—is still necessary. A quiet, warm, and undisturbed place remains ideal, especially in the beginning.
To be honest, I would like to add a fifth necessity: luck. Sometimes you do all that is required and still do not succeed. Time, place, and circumstance—what we call huohou 火候 (the timing of the fire phases)—play a crucial role.
Lastly, don’t forget: you must put in the effort yourself once you have the “bear” necessities.
Keep your bearings, dear reader!
Winnie the Pooh was made a “Taoist” in Benjamin Hoff’s 1982 book The Tao of Pooh. Winnie was the bear that got his head stuck in a honey jar in A.A. Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh stories.
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