Daoism Series 16: 道門七技 The Seven Skills of the Gate of the Dao

Daoism Series 16

道門七技

The Seven Skills of the Gate of the Dao
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Transcribed from teachings by Li Shi Fu

 

诀法咒符禁炁术。
Hand Seals, Rituals, Incantations,
Talismans, Prohibitions, Qi and Arts.
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Originally the Seven Skills were all transmitted directly by teachers. Any Daoist healer lacking the content of the Seven Skills does not count as a genuine Daoist Healer, which also includes the Six Ones [1]. Daoist rituals in a Daoist space are too troublesome, as there are so many invisible aspects to it. It is possible to see representations in Wudang’s Purple Heaven Temple. The Six Ones and the Seven Skills are the inner characteristics necessarily to be possessed by a Daoist doctor . If you want to become a shaman, it is not done in a few days. Slowly cultivate the ego and elevate your Self according to the requirements, and then you can enter deeply and study more. These are not things for the society in China, which are only receptive to minor methods, and minor skills. It is not because you get a graduation certificate, that you can become a doctor in the hospital. Entering a Daoist ritual and its stipulations are entirely fixed; Who are the ceremonies determined by? Not by people. Seven thousand years ago nobody fixed them:

与道合一。
They were unified with the Dao.

After religions were created, many rules were decided on. And organizations founded by a few people set in stone the teachings. They admonished people to do one thing and to refrain from doing another. The ones outside of the organisation were considered to be without the Dao and unable to cultivate the Dao. So there are lots of issues stemming from religion, because people need to conform to their rules, otherwise you are not the Dao and not the teachings within. It is the control of the fixing of thoughts and is the biggest issue of religion still existing until now.
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(一) 诀
(1) Hand-Seals
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The Hand-Symbols, or hand seals, are secrets to accomplishment. They are also called ‘The Hand-Symbol Orifices’. They are the key to a problem or the trick of a trade. They are the key to open a door, a key to connect and communicate. Everyone has encountered many hand-symbols unknowingly. The most seen is the world leaders ‘Rock on’ sign. They are representing numbers like algebra. There are many in Hinduism, Buddhism and Daoism; one, two, three fingers and even two hands unified. Via this symbol you could establish a connection. Via the hand symbol you can accumulate energies [hui ju汇聚]. In Daoism and Buddhism they are most commonly used. Press one finger and have others open like Guan Yin, the pad of the thumb can rest on both joints of the middle finger in this hand seal. Ponder about the questions inside of hand symbols.
There is the hand seal for carrying offerings and there are also the sword fingers. Every power emission hand-symbol is different. In the Eight Step [ba bu 八步] there are two; the Thunder Hand-Symbol and the fifth step, the so-called Dragon Hand-Symbol , also referred to as Chen Jue:

诀中无言。
Within a hand-symbol,
there is no language.

Any expression through language is un-necessary. Like seeing a person, do not say that the Heart, Lungs, and all organs are in that body or that people have meridians, a brain, nerves since you can see them. Thus, there is no need to speak about them. Just say the name. My name is Xing De [兴德].
This is the principle of the sword fingers; this is the Thunder Hand-Symbol. And it is over. You must study how to use it like the pinching hand seal. When you pinch symbol and recite the mantra, you are connected. It has its compound words, its composed words. It has its own language and cognition:

沟通能量合一。
When you connect, the powers are unified.

[1] See three posts on the Six Ones on Purple Cloud Institute:
https://purplecloudinstitute.com/?s=six+ones
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Post-Scriptum: This article will be published in full as part of a forthcoming book called ‘Arts of Daoism’ [dao shu道术]. It will deal with meditation, stillness cultivation, abstention from grains [bi gu辟谷], sleeping gong [shui gong睡功], dreams, vegetarianism and diet in Daoism, formulae for fasting and meditation incense, including several chapters from the alchemical classic The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement [da cheng jie yao 大成捷要]. It will be a mixture of anecdotal and oral transmissions from my teacher Li Shi Fu and translations of a number of chapters from ancient texts.