History
The history of the Microcosmic orbit dates back to prehistoric times in China, and the underlying principles can be found in the I Ching which was written by the Emperor Fu Xi approximately five thousand years ago or at least two centuries before the time of the Yellow Emperor Huang Ti. For example the Chinese character for the I ching hexagram number 5. Waiting depicts a person sitting in meditation and the commentary pertains to the flow of energy from one of the psychic energy channels to another during meditation.
The commentary on the Image for hexagram 5 reveals the entire process of meditation. "The clouds rise up to heaven" symbolizes the meditator's energy rising upward as it evaporates into the head, where it is distilled into a saliva like nectar (referred to in the phrase "the superior man eats and drinks"), which returns to the abdomen. " It furthers one to cross the great water" alludes to crossing the great water of the abdomen and mouth.
Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu have also alluded to the technique of meditation and encouraging circulation of energy through the psychic meridians in their writings.
For example Chuang Tzu's chapter entitled Yang Sheng Chu or "Principles of Health and Longevity" states: "Use your mind to carry the vital energy along your Tu Mo upward constantly"
A stone carving in the White Cloud Temple in Beijing which bears an inscription "the sixth month of the year Ping-hsu of the Kuang-hsu era" (1886) contains a pictorial representation of some of the symbols which describe the processes involved in the microcosmic orbit meditation technique. These particular techniques are derived from the Taoist Patriarch Lu tung pin who was born in 798 AD. Lu tung pin was one of the Eight Immortals.
Lu tung pin and his teacher, Chung-li Ch'üan, were two of the "Eight Immortals”, pa-hsien. While a fugitive after an abortive Chinese military expedition against Tibet, Chung-li Ch'uan encountered Master Tung-hua. He "earnestly begged for the secrets of immortality. Master Tung-hua thereupon imparted to him not only an infallible magic process for attaining longevity, but also the method to produce the Philosopher's Stone."
Read more about this topic: Microcosmic Orbit
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History takes time.... History makes memory.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible to the young.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The principal office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)