
The Dao is not hidden from humanity, but that humanity has hidden itself from the Dao.
Buffy’s Dalian Experience learning from Master Wang Liping in Dec. 2009
-----Written by Buffy Marie, submitted by Richard Liao to Lao Zi Academy
Feb. 2010
I have never had that much
experience with sitting meditation, apart from the most basic clearing-the-mind
and deep-breathing techniques, so when my teacher (Richard Liao) from
acupuncture school invited me to meet his teacher, Master Wang Liping, I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn
some more meditation techniques, and to possibly bring my martial and healing
arts to a new level.
Knowing Master Wang’s lineage from the book < Opening
the Dragon Gate>
I had no idea Master Wang
was a lineage holder of the Dragon Gate Sect of the Taoist School of Complete
Reality, I just knew that I trusted and respected Richard Liao and wanted to
take the opportunity to broaden my own personal training. After I bought my
plane tickets, and after talking to a friend with whom I go to acupuncture
school, who is also a student of Master Wang, I discovered and read the
biography Opening the Dragon Gate: The Making of a
Modern Taoist Wizard and was astonished to learn the history of Master
Wang's life. This made me feel much honored to meet the Taoist master and to
have the opportunity to attend a meditation retreat with Master Wang and to
possibly learn some of the meditation techniques of his lineage.
Tears pouring down my face
When the retreat was underway, we began by doing some
meditation techniques that seemed very simple but had profound effects on my
being in general. After the first session, it felt that my whole body had
opened up, and with the guided visualization techniques (the Secrete of Golden
Flower) Master Wang was leading us through, I began to see some very amazing
images inside of my head. The first notable thing was that whenever we would
meditate, as we began to move the Qi, tears
would start to pour down my face. There were no emotions attached to the tears,
it was just like some kind of release would happen and my eyes would pour
tears. Richard said that my liver was opening up. This made sense to me because
I had learned about the connection between the liver and the eyes in
Seeing my Soul (灵,Ling)
At some point in our
training, Master Wang told us to look inside and see what we could of our
bodies. I looked inside and my entire body was illuminated as if it was
outlined by a bright sparkling light. I could move this outlined body without
moving my physical body, simply by the command if my will. I was able to make
my hands and legs do whatever I wished. I felt as if this body could step away
from my corporeal body and travel into the universe without depending on my
physical body for breath and food and etc. It was like a reflection of my soul
which is attached to, yet independent from this body, and through my will, was
able to disengage, making this body seem as if it is unnecessary to exist. Of
course, knowing that I am a very inexperienced practitioner, I was timid and
decided I had better not mess around with this phenomenon until after talking
to someone who could advise me on whether or not I should be doing this at all.
After talking to Richard,
I found out that I had been seeing my Ling. In other words, I had made
contact with the material aspect of my soul which is linked to the body but
which can be separated and used to travel apart from the body, but also
continue to live after the death of the physical body as long as the
practitioner is able to control and utilize it. I was amazed. The biggest reason being that I am a relatively inexperienced
practitioner and have almost no experience with such things as astral
projection or anything even similar to it. After ruminating on the
matter, I came to realize that Master Wang is very powerful and he is able to
infuse his students' experiences in order to bring them to levels that would be
far more advanced than they could possibly achieve on their own.
Refining Jing into Qi –
undesirable sensation of my inside body
Another noteworthy
experience came a couple of days later during the same
part of the meditation when Master Wang had us look into our bodies and see
what we could. This time, it was as if I was inside of myself looking around,
and my body was a gigantic Buddha. It was made of a crystaline substance somewhat similar to amber, and was illuminated with a soft warm
reddish/yellow glowing light. The sensations I was having at that point are
really hard to describe because I had never felt anything similar in this body.
It was as if nothing else even mattered. The weight of daily life was nonexistant. I felt as if the beat of my heart were
irrelevant to this, as if my vitality were not dependant upon my breath. Later
Richard told me that this is a part of the process of refining Jing into Qi, one of the first steps in achieving the
Internal Alchemy of the Golden Pill Theory.
Master Wang is a true gem
I strongly believe that
there is no way I could have possibly achieved this level of meditation without
the help of Master Wang. Because of these and other experiences I had in
----------Written by Kwane Yankson, submitted by Richard Liao to Lao Zi Academy
Feb. 2011
After a long period of travel and spending a night in Peking we finally arrived at our training ground to begin ten days of hard work. On the very first evening, Master Wang was available to greet us. I shook his hand and it felt surreal, yet this was a reminder that I had travelled a long way to receive teachings from a real spiritual master. The first thought that popped in my mind as we met was, “wow, he is really friendly!” Indeed, this is a sentiment that remained unchanged throughout the seminar. At this point I still had no idea what was in store for me and for the rest of the group in the coming days.
In my view, the training can best be described as “challenging”, but
also as fascinating, energizing and after all the pain and deep dream
experiences, one’s spirit is left wanting more. This is the “real deal”
training of an authentic system.
Master Wang’s instruction was challenging for me because although I had
been earnestly practicing daoist foundation training methods for over
three years prior to meeting Master Wang, I felt like beginner once
again. Master Wang was gentle and careful in directing us during the
meditation, however the presence of the strong energy field generated by
him both accelerated our training and was the cause of discomfort in
our muscles, tendons, bones, ligaments and energies as we sat
cross-legged during meditation. I kept thinking to myself that it would
be such a big pity to have to go through this training and not continue
practicing upon returning home.
Yet in spite of the challenges associated with the practice, I felt I
reached a new level in my practice after spending only a few days
training with Master Wang. After only the fifth day I had a spontaneous
activation of the “Small Heavenly Orbit” and for the rest of the time
with Master Wang, this event occurred several times, often with more
stability. My ability to “see” also improved a bit, so that on some
occasions I was able to perceive objects with near crystal clear ability
and even on some occasions with colour. Not to mention the deep dream
experiences that resulted from the sleep practices. So for me these were
reminders of the importance of continuing the training so as to
continue building a strong foundation to possibly improve my capacity in
future.
Of great significance to me was the personal energy work Master Wang
carried out on all of us while we were meditating. This for me was the
key difference between studying with an individual who is familiar with a
system and studying with another individual who has realized the
system. Master Wang’s energy assistance is real, sometimes subtle yet
powerful, at times almost feeling overwhelming but always what was
needed to improve my being. For this I am truly grateful.
Meals were supplied in generous quantities! I took advantage of this and
was at times the last person to leave our dining room because there was
so much left over, yet having reached my limit I had to leave. After
training really hard with all of us struggling to even stretch our legs,
Master Wang’s regular advice to us was, “Eat more rice!” We would laugh
it off, knowing that he had our best interests at heart. He really
meant for us to eat well so we could have enough energy to train.
Alas, ten days went by so quickly and before we knew it, the seminar had
reached its end and it was time to return home. The last night was
spent at a hotel close to the airport in Dalian. Once again, Master Wang
showed up at our Dalian hotel on our last night and personally made
sure that all arrangements were in order. He even went to the extent of
ordering our dinner for us from their menu selection.
Then came the moment of departure: with his ever radiant face, he shook
our hands and bid us goodbye, some of us ensuring him that we hopefully
meet again soon. As he walked away I realized what an important event
this seminar has been for me and why it was essential that I made all
efforts to continue practicing what I learnt at the seminar once I
returned home. I came to this seminar trying to have as few expectations
as possible and left a happy individual.
I had a great seminar where I met a real master and also made some new friends.
