With a purified vessel, the practitioner is now ready to engage in the core of the Practice stage: Daoist internal alchemy. This chapter details the methods of working directly with Qi to transform one's entire being. If the Foundation was about cleaning the cup, this stage is about filling it with a new, refined substance.
We move beyond foundational Qigong to more specific neidan (internal alchemy) techniques. The Microcosmic Orbit is introduced as the fundamental practice for circulating Qi through the Governing and Conception vessels, creating a self-contained circuit of energy that enhances health, calms the mind, and builds a reservoir of vitality. The practitioner learns to use intention (Yi) to guide Qi, understanding that the mind leads the energy, and the energy leads the body.
We delve into the alchemical process of transforming the "Three Treasures" (Jing, Qi, Shen). Jing (essential vitality) is conserved and refined into Qi (vital energy), and Qi is purified and ascended into Shen (spiritual spirit or consciousness). This is not theoretical; it is a practical process involving specific breathing techniques, visualizations, and postures. The Daoist practices of sound healing are placed here in their proper context: using specific vocalizations and resonant frequencies (like the Six Healing Sounds) to vibrate and purify the internal organs, balancing their associated emotions and elemental energies.
This chapter emphasizes the experiential nature of the Practice. The student is guided to feel the sensations of Qi—warmth, tingling, pressure, flow—and to understand these as signs of the ongoing inner transformation. This is the "integration" of wisdom into the very fabric of one's energetic being, making the Map from the first stage a tangible, felt reality.
