There are two ways of practicing Daoist nei dan – the superficial and the profound. Most are quite happy with the superficial which involves general keep fit (such as walking, martial arts and other routines), together with a good diet and responsible lifestyle. The superficial can be quite sophisticated and achieve considerable results. Since a child I have been practicing Chinese (Hakka) martial arts – although I ceased all martial movement during a period of intense hua tou (Ch’an) practice (1989-1992). Indeed, I stopped ALL worldly interaction at this point so as to ‘freeze’ the mind. This effort came to fruition and when I finally picked up a book and read it much later – it was like the words were tumbling out of my eyes and onto the page (a sign that the mind had ‘turned’ at its deepest levels as stated in the Lankavatara Sutra). When I re-started martial movement, it was ‘new’ and yet ‘familiar’. Still, Richard Hunn remained ‘silent’ about Qianfeng Daoism and wasn’t keen on me reading Charles Luk’s ‘Taoist Yoga’. We had spent the last three years ‘putting down’ or ‘ignoring’ every mind or body sensation and manifestation and the next stage was understanding the removal of the false barrier between the subjective and the objective.
Although Charles Luk (1898-1978) had met with Zhao Bichen (1860-1942) in 1936 – and had promised to translate Zhao Bichen’s manual into English (receiving a nei dan transmission) - he did not accomplish this task until 1970, after he had fully ‘stilled’ and ‘expanded’ his mind, and fully understood the Qianfeng methodology. Without ‘stilling’ and ‘expanding’ the mind’s awareness through the mind, body and environment, there can be no profound grasping of the Qianfeng method. This is not a problem as many people never advance beyond this stage and are perfectly happy with their practice. This is as true in China as it is in the West – but the ‘superficial’ must not be presented as the ‘profound’ - as one or two claim in the world of international Daoism. My view is that if you do not discipline your mind and body over many years, and have not ‘stilled’ or ‘expanded’ the mind, you cannot practice ‘profound’ Qianfeng Daoism, although you can most certainly benefit from ‘superficial’ Qianfeng – you will not learn this from me unless in special circumstances.