Goal: Master qi circulation and form a nascent energy body, achieving emotional balance and readiness for spiritual cultivation.

How It Is Achieved: Across 15 days, three stages combine Po’s meditations (e.g., Five Elements Fusion) with Shugendo exercises (e.g., goma fire ritual). Stage 4 (Days 16–20) harmonizes elements, Stage 5 (Days 21–25) awakens shen via yinyang balance, and Stage 6 (Days 26–30) circulates qi, cycling through rebirth and cosmic connection to purify channels. Daily repetition deepens energetic stability.

How It Is Measured: Success is marked by stronger qi sensations (e.g., orbit flow), emotional equanimity, and subtle insights. Journaling over each fiveday stage notes energy stability and rebirth sensations, with the milestone confirmed by a sense of inner cohesion after 30 days.

Minor Feast (Day 16): Prepare a Shojin Ryori meal with seaweed and rice, honoring water’s life-giving essence.

  Feast/Nov 19: Internalizing the twofold oneness and mystery. Secret of the Golden Flower Neiden Inner Alchemy Schools of Taoism. Neidan_Master_Chen-Nine_Stages_of_Transformation

Mind:  Intro: Stage 4: Five Elements Fusion (Po Stage 4 – Substage: Five Elements Fusion)
   Meditation: Five Elements Fusion
    Sit, focusing on the middle dantian (heart). Visualize each organ’s qi (lungs: white, liver: green, heart: red, spleen: yellow, kidneys: blue) merging into a rainbow pearl in the middle dantian. Inhale, expanding the pearl; exhale, stabilizing it. Practice for 25–30 minutes.
   Purpose: Balances emotions and forms the embryonic energy body.
   Connection to Po: Reflects Po’s cultivation of the energy body via elemental harmony.
Body:  Earth+Water related practices. (daily 20" exercise)
Truths:  Nagoshi no harae Festival Shinto/Shugendo Misogi waterfall purification
History:  Zhang Daoling - Zhang Daoling (34–156 CE), founder of the Celestial Masters, established Taoist religious structure with the Five Pecks of Rice movement. Shugendo misogi waterfall purification internalized oneness, cleansing body and spirit. His distinctive spearwielding creation myth with Izanagi and Izanami bridged cosmology and practice.
Mythos:  Izanagi and Izanami create worlds with spear

16. Feeding Koi
    Basis: Zen folklore of koi becoming dragons; Shugendo’s reverence for water.
    Exercise: Feed koi in a pond (or visualize doing so), contemplating their ascent up a waterfall to become dragons, symbolizing your transformation.

17. Mindful Bathing
    Basis: Shinto’s misogi (water purification); Zen’s mindfulness in daily acts.
    Exercise: Wash your hands, face, or feet with cool water, feeling each drop cleanse impurities. Visualize your essence becoming pure.

18. Sweeping Water
    Basis: Zen’s extension of sweeping to all elements; Dogen’s respect for resources.
    Exercise: Wipe a wet surface (e.g., table) with a cloth, focusing on each motion. Contemplate Dogen’s words: “Water is not just water; it is the life of all things.”

19. Walking by a Stream
    Basis: Shugendo’s practice of meditating near water.
    Exercise: Walk slowly beside a stream or visualize one, matching your breath to the water’s flow, feeling your body align with its rhythm.

20. Folding Origami Boats
    Basis: Shinto’s use of paper in rituals; Zen’s mindful crafting.
    Exercise: Fold a paper boat, focusing on each crease. Float it in water, visualizing it carrying away attachments.

Mind:  Intro:  Stage 5: Lesser Kan and Li (Po Stage 5 – Substage: Lesser Kan and Li)
   5 day Neidan Meditation: Lesser Kan and Li Meditation
    Visualize heart (fire, red) and kidneys (water, blue) as cauldrons. Inhale, drawing kidney water to heart; exhale, sending heart fire to kidneys. Visualize steam (shen) rising to the upper dantian, illuminating the third eye. Practice for 30–35 minutes.
   Purpose: Awakens shen, balancing yinyang energies.
   Connection to Po: Aligns with Po’s upper dantian activation.
Body:  Earth+Water related practices. (daily 20" exercise)
Truths:  -
History: Southern Neidan - Southern Neidan, formalized by Zhang Boduan (c. 987–1082 CE) in the 11th century, developed inner alchemy, as in Wuzhen Pian. Shinto onsen bathing contained personal aspirations within universal mystery, promoting transformation. Its unique ninestage alchemy refined the personal into divine essence.
Mythos:  Izanami dies birthing fire god, Izanagi descends down to Yomi to retrieve rotting Izanami

21. Koan: Dogen’s Moon in Water
    Basis: Dogen’s Shobogenzo: “The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.”
    Exercise: Sit in Zazen, contemplating the moon’s reflection in water. Ask: “What is real, the moon or its reflection?”

22. Breathing the Ocean
    Basis: Neidan’s tidal breathing to circulate Qi.
    Exercise: Sit, inhaling as if drawing in an ocean wave, exhaling as it recedes. Visualize Qi flowing like water through your body.

23. Chanting Fudo Myo-o’s Mantra
    Basis: Shingon’s reverence for Fudo Myo-o, associated with water and purification.
    Exercise: Chant “Nomaku Sanmanda Bazaradan Senda Makaroshada Sowataya Un Tarata Kanman” softly, visualizing Fudo’s sword cutting through delusions.

24. Koan: The Water’s Sound
    Basis: Rinzai Zen’s use of natural sounds as koans.
    Exercise: Listen to flowing water (real or imagined), asking: “What is the sound of water’s silence?” Let the question dissolve your thoughts.

25. Contemplating the Womb Mandala
    Basis: Shingon’s Womb Mandala, symbolizing the fluid source of life.
    Exercise: Visualize a lotus blooming in a dark pool, its petals radiating compassion. Contemplate: “All beings arise from the same source.”

Mind:  Intro:  Stage 6: Microcosmic Orbit (Po Stage 2 – Substage: Orbit Circulation)
   Meditation: Microcosmic Orbit Meditation
    Sit with spine straight. Visualize qi as a golden pearl in the lower dantian. Inhale, guiding it up the spine (Du meridian) to the crown; exhale, letting it descend down the front (Ren meridian) to the dantian. Practice for 30 minutes.
   Purpose: Circulates refined qi, strengthening the energy body.
   Connection to Po: Reinforces Po’s orbit practice for energetic flow.
   Milestone (Energetic Mastery): The practitioner masters qi circulation, balances emotions via the five elements, and awakens shen, forming a nascent energy body capable of spiritual cultivation.
Body:  Earth+Water related practices. (daily 20" exercise)
Truths:  Zen matcha green tea ceremony
History: Northern Neidan - Northern Neidan, led by Wang Chongyang (1113–1170 CE) of the Quanzhen School, emphasized asceticism and meditation. Zen matcha tea ceremonies reflected universal containment, purifying Izanagi’s ascent. Its distinctive Golden Flower secret integrated personal and cosmic energies for immortality.
Mythos:  Izanagi reascends, purified in waterfall, gives birth to kami
 

26. Water Offering on Altar
    Basis: Buddhist and Shinto water offerings; Neidan’s symbolic purification.
    Exercise: Place a bowl of water on your altar. Meditate, visualizing it as the elixir of immortality, purifying your spirit.

27. Visualizing the Elixir Pool
    Basis: Neidan’s formation of the Golden Elixir.
    Exercise: Sit in meditation, visualizing a pool of golden liquid in your Dantian, rippling with each breath, nourishing your spirit.

28. Moon Reflection Meditation
    Basis: Zen’s use of the moon as a symbol of enlightenment; Neidan’s reflective clarity.
    Exercise: Gaze at the moon’s reflection in water (or visualize it). Contemplate its impermanence as your mind clears.

29. Tea Ceremony (Fast Day) Nika Danjiki* Fast
    Basis: Chan/Zen tea ceremony as meditation; Neidan’s focus on purity.
    Exercise: Perform a simple tea ceremony, sipping tea mindfully. Visualize each sip as a step toward bodhisattvahood, serving all beings.

30. Offering Tea to Spirits (Fast Day) Nika Danjiki* Fast
    Basis: Buddhist offerings for spirits; Neidan’s transcendence of death.
    Exercise: Pour tea into a bowl on your altar, dedicating it to spirits. Meditate on life after death, visualizing yourself as a bodhisattva aiding others.