Daoism Series 20: 道門七技 The Seven Skills of the Gate of the Dao [excerpt]

Daoism Series 20

道門七技

The Seven Skills of the Gate of the Dao [excerpt]
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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 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
[liu yi 六一]. Daoist ritual in a Daoist space are too troublesome, as there are so many invisible aspects to it. It is possible to see representations in Wudang. One should replenish one’s experience and knowledge. The Six Ones and the Seven Skills are the inner characteristics necessarily to be possessed by a Daoist doctor. It is not possible to reach this level of a Daoist doctor in two months, so it is a slow process. 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 of society in China, There are minor methods, and minor skills, that kind of type. 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 fixed. 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 control of the fixing thoughts. For a long time this sequence and program has been fixed; it 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 toaccomplishemt. They are also called the Hand-Symbol Orifices [jue qiao 诀窍]. They are the key to a problem or the trick of a trade [qiao men 窍门]. They are the key to open a door, a key to connect and communicate [tong da 通达]. 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 thumb can rest on both joints in this mudra. You could have the first second and ring finger stick up. How many fingers are up? Three fingers are up. There is also thumb and index sticking up. How many fingers do you have? Therefore you have two more. Ponder about the questions inside. In Daoism it is not like that, as the thumb is not sticking up. In ceremonial spaces [fa shi dao chang 法式道场] hand seals are all like this, which is also the carrying of offerings mudra. There are also the sword fingers. Every power emission hand-symbol is different [fa li jue 法力诀]. In the Eight Step [ba bu 八步] there are two; the Thunder Hand-Symbol [lei jue 雷诀] and the fifth step, the so-called Dragon Hand-Symbol [long jue 龙诀], also referred to as Chen Jue [辰诀]:

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 sword fingers, this is the Thunder Hand-Symbol. And it is over. This is called Da Jin Dao [mudra with thumb tucked in, other fingers straight]. You must study how to use it like the pinching mudra [qia jue 掐诀]. When you pinch the mudra and recite the mantra [qia jue nian zhou 掐诀念咒], you are connected. It has its compound words, its composed words. It has its own language and cognition [si wei 思维]:

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

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Post-Scriptum: This article will be published in full as part of a book, entitled ‘Arts of Daoism’ about 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. It is set to be released before Christmas 2020, and a first draft is already finalized.