Chan/Bodhidharma/Baizhung
Fall - Fortnight 18 (Earth+Fire)

3rd Fortnight of Winter:  Spiritual Awakening (Stages 7–9, Days 31–45)
3. Coming from within the Universal:
The inconceivable mind comes compellingly to the forefront introducing, the new world of unity of the Personal and Universal. The Universal is reflected within the Personal.

Introduction: The third cycle, days 31–45, crystallizes shen and dissolves ego, aligning with the Adept degree and the chambers of Endurance, Illumination, and Rebirth. Drawing from Po’s advanced stages (Greater and Greatest Kan and Li, emotional balancing), it integrates Shugendo’s waterfall meditations and cave visualizations to foster profound insight.

Goal: Awaken spiritual clarity, forming a stable immortal fetus and releasing attachments, preparing for cosmic integration.

How It Is Achieved: Over 15 days, three stages pair Po’s meditations (e.g., Greater Kan and Li) with Shugendo exercises (e.g., cave visualization). Stage 7 (Days 31–35) nurtures the fetus, Stage 8 (Days 36–40) dissolves ego into the void, and Stage 9 (Days 41–45) clears emotions, mirroring the cave’s trialtoenlightenment arc. Daily practice builds spiritual depth.

How It Is Measured: Progress is evaluated by vivid meditative experiences (e.g., fetus visions), reduced egodriven thoughts, and emotional lightness. Reflections over each fiveday stage note nonattachment, with the milestone confirmed by inner stillness and insight after 45 days.

Cycle 3: Spiritual Awakening (Stages 7–9)
Focus: Crystallize shen, nurture the immortal fetus, and approach emptiness.

Minor Feast (Day 31): Prepare a Shojin Ryori meal with grilled vegetables, honoring fire’s transformative power.

Feast/Dec 4: China, Chan's transition to "Agricultural Chan" under Baizhang (720-814). Bodhidharma, and Baizhang who began the tradition of self sustaining farming in Buddhist communities. "Agricultural Chan" in China with self sustaining monasteries. Patience sitting, facing walls.  Farming as meditation.
 
 

31. Learning from Bamboo
    Basis: Zen’s metaphor of bamboo’s resilience; Neidan’s inner strength.
    Exercise: Sit near bamboo (or visualize it), moving your body gently like its sway. Contemplate its flexibility as a model for your essence.

32. Mindful Fire-Gazing
    Basis: Shugendo’s fire contemplation; Zen’s focus on the present.
    Exercise: Light a candle and gaze at the flame, letting its dance anchor your attention. Visualize your essence burning away impurities.

33. Sweeping Ashes
    Basis: Zen’s respect for remnants; Dogen’s Tenzo Kyokun on using all resources.
    Exercise: Sweep a small pile of ash (or dust), contemplating Dogen’s words: “Even ashes are the Buddha’s body.”

34. Raku Pottery Contemplation
    Basis: Zen’s raku pottery as a metaphor for transformation by fire.
    Exercise: Hold a piece of pottery (or visualize raku’s cracked glaze). Contemplate your inner fire shaping your spirit.

35. Walking in Sunlight
    Basis: Shugendo’s reverence for natural elements; Neidan’s solar energy.
    Exercise: Walk slowly in sunlight, feeling its warmth. Visualize it igniting your inner fire, fueling transformation.
 

36. Koan: Dogen’s Fire in the Hearth
    Basis: Dogen’s Shobogenzo: “Fire is not hidden; it is always burning.”
    Exercise: Sit in Zazen, contemplating: “Where is the fire of my true self?” Let the question burn through distractions.

37. Breathing the Inner Flame
    Basis: Neidan’s use of fire to refine Qi.
    Exercise: Sit, inhaling as if fanning a flame in your heart, exhaling to spread its warmth. Visualize Qi as a radiant fire.

38. Chanting Fudo Myo-o’s Mantra
    Basis: Shingon’s Fudo Myo-o, associated with fire and determination.
    Exercise: Chant Fudo’s mantra (as above), visualizing his fiery rope binding delusions.

39. Koan: The Moon in Fire
    Basis: Zen’s use of paradoxical imagery; Neidan’s alchemical fire.
    Exercise: Contemplate the moon burning in a fire. Ask: “How does the moon burn without being consumed?”

40. Contemplating Raku’s Imperfection
    Basis: Zen’s wabi-sabi; Neidan’s embrace of transformation.
    Exercise: Visualize a raku pot emerging from fire, its cracks glowing. Contemplate: “My imperfections are my perfection.”
 

 5 day Neidan Meditation: Six Healing Sounds Meditation
    Sit quietly. Perform the six healing sounds (e.g., “ssss” for lungs, “haaa” for heart), coordinating each with an exhale and visualizing colored light cleansing the organ. Focus on emotional release. Practice for 20 minutes.
   Purpose: Clears residual emotions to support spiritual clarity.
   Connection to Po: Reinforces Po’s emotional purification for spiritual work.
   Milestone (Spiritual Awakening): The practitioner forms a stable immortal fetus, dissolves ego into emptiness, and clears emotional obstacles, awakening profound spiritual insight.

41. Fire Offering on Altar
    Basis: Shugendo and Shingon fire rituals; Neidan’s alchemical fire.
    Exercise: Light a candle on your altar, offering its flame to Fudo Myo-o. Meditate, visualizing your spirit as a purified flame.

42. Visualizing the Golden Elixir
    Basis: Neidan’s formation of the Golden Elixir.
    Exercise: Sit, visualizing a molten golden orb in your heart, radiating light. Each breath refines it, preparing for immortality.

43. Moon-Gazing Meditation
    Basis: Zen’s moon as enlightenment; Neidan’s reflective fire.
    Exercise: Gaze at the moon directly, then in water, then churn the water to dissolve its reflection. Contemplate impermanence.

44. Goma Fire Purification (Fast Day) Nika Danjiki* Fast
    Basis: Shingon’s Goma fire ritual for purification.
    Exercise: Light a small fire (or candle) and burn a piece of paper with written distractions. Meditate on your spirit ascending as smoke, preparing for bodhisattvahood.

45. Offering to Ancestors (Fast Day) Nika Danjiki* Fast
    Basis: Buddhist ancestor veneration; Neidan’s transcendence.
    Exercise: Place incense on your altar, dedicating it to ancestors. Meditate on life after death, visualizing yourself guiding souls as a bodhisattva.
 
 

*Nika Danjiki (Two-Day Ascetic Fast): "Danjiki" (cutting food) is a Buddhist term for fasting, used in Shugendo’s ascetic practices like mountain pilgrimages or waterfall meditation (takigyo). "Nika" specifies the duration. This name reflects Shugendo’s blend of Buddhism, Shinto, and nature-based austerity.