Sheng Zheng Gong

Traditionally, the transmission of the Sheng Zheng Gong can be traced back to Guan Cheng Zi, one of the masters of Huang Di during the third millennium BCE (Before the Common Era). Most recently, it appears in the texts of Early Zhou and Han Dynasties and in other forms of contextual evidence. It is also within the collection of the Ma Wang Dui texts (approximately second century BCE), even if we consider its presentation within these texts in a veiled or even incomplete manner.

The method also has direct relation to the famous Nei Jing Tu Diagram which serves the well trained student as a guide to the various processes which must take place in the body-mind of the successful Daoist initiate. The original diagram was found engraved on a rock during the Jin Dynasty in the third century CE. When it was actually carved, we cannot know until carbon dating or similar methods are applied. We can say with confidence that the popular modern interpretations of its meaning have little to do with the intent of its creator. The transmission that is given by David to his students is pure and undiluted, the way it was received from David’s masters. He received the same transmission from all of them, although there are scholastic differences which David either minimizes or emphasizes when needed.  David makes a point to convey openly that any failure to convey the fathomless depth of this methodology to the beginning student is due only to his own limitation and is not a reflection of the method or the masters David represents.

This system belongs to the Zhu Ji stage, or foundation stage, and it is mostly used in the Jin Dan Dao (alchemical path) within its various Pai, or branch schools. It’s also used in certain Pai of the Lei Shan Dao. It is definitely a Xian Tian method in approach, although it belongs to the Xing Ming Shuang Xiu, or double cultivation of Xing and Ming.

Sheng Zheng Gong (the gong that brings the Zheng Qi), as the term implies, refers to one specific Gong to be developed within the context of a much larger system. For example, within the received transmission of Wang Liping this would cover 12 out of the 24 Yin Xian Fa, the second stage of the Zhi Neng Fa and one method from the Ling Bao Bi Fa.

The name Sheng Zheng Gong is used because it is the specific Gong that David is authorized to teach.  It is a perfectly concise name that refers not only the actual foundation work, but also the completion of the Huang Dan which is the major goal of the 3 goals in the Yin Xian Fa.

Wang Li Ping has not given anyone official permission to teach the Yin Xian Fa, with the exception of one Chinese student living in China. This student received formal permission to teach the method with the 'Seal of Authority' from Liping himself, so whoever else claims to be teaching in accordance with Wang Li Ping’s blessings is in fact doing so without any authorization.

In order to respect the wishes of his masters and in order to acknowledge the three major lines of transmission he received, David chooses to teach only what he is authorized to teach. This also requires retaining the name that represents one of the many Gong to be developed in the practice which is especially suited to beginners, pointing them in the direction that should be their first and foremost priority.

The transmission taught by David was passed down by three highly accomplished masters, Wang Li Ping, Da Zhen and Li Ming. The lines of teaching received from these three masters are different in approach. Logically, they are influenced by the Pai which they are transmitted in, though similar in principle and result. In the course of his research, David was also fortunate enough to meet one of the successful students of Zhao Bi Chen, the master who wrote the famous text that has been translated under the title Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality by Charles Luk the well known scholar and author.  David was able to make a careful study and comparison of his own notes through this process, confirming a well grounded understanding of the methods and principles that can be found therein.

The major goal of the Sheng Zheng Gong and the practices belonging to the Zhu Ji stage can be summarized using the terminology of the Jin Dan Dao. This is referred to as creating the Dan Tian, gathering the ingredients for the Great Work and merging them to create the Dan Yao.

In this process there are some stepping stones and landmarks of achievement; the Fa Xin and the manifestation of the Clear Light arises. It is this Clear Light that the Daoists refer to as the Xian Tian Guan Xin. The attainment of stillness, the arising of the true self and the luminous empty nature of the uncreated unborn original mind (a manifestation of certain aspects of the Shen) can even lead to Ru Ding, the condition that allows the process of conscious death. Ru Ding refers to a process where, for fairly long periods of time, the body is clinically dead and the Shen undergoes the first of the Seven Bian Hua. And, these steps are but Zhu Ji, the foundation to actually begin real Daoist cultivation.

Of course the achievement of these levels is far from easy to realize; yet within one year of dedicated practice most people experience An-Jing and some even Ru Ding stages. This is also when the stage of inner silence is actually reached and the mind reverts back to its non-conceptual state, before the arising of thoughts. This is the direct experience of the inherent flaw in Descartes’ axiom “Cogito Ergo Sum” or “I think therefore I am,” for in truth it is only when the Cogito or idea-thought disappears that the true self can arise.

The experience that the self exists only when there are no more arising thoughts is, for most practitioners of meditation, an achievement of a lifetime.

David’s masters constantly reiterate that, “Everybody can move their mind around to play with their Qi, but few can keep their mind still and eventually dissolve it. This is Gong Fu, This is where the Dao begins.”

Note that in general, it is necessary to accomplish a minimum of forty minutes within the condition where no thoughts are arising.  Only when two hours of real non-thinking, non-conceptual mind and complete empty stillness are achieved can anyone actually speak of Gong Fu and consider one’s Zhu Ji to be worthy the attention of a Xian, an Immortal.  Most masters will not even look at you or simply will not reveal themselves or the true practices if these conditions are not rooted in the body-mind of the potential apprentice.

In order to reach this stage, four months of celibacy is required within the first year of practice. This should be coupled with at least three hours of practice of the Zhen Fa every day; which is needed to reach a good level of San Jing Ji Lei, or the gathering of the first ingredient. This will eventually lead to the ability to reverse the direction of the current in the body-mind and collect the second ingredient.

Within two years or less, the ingredients are gathered and the so-called Xiao Kan Li or Lesser Kan Li actually takes place ( the term Lesser Kan and Li, as it is used here, bears no relationship to what has been written in modern books on Daoist Cultivation).  The result of this is the creation of the Dan Yao or the Zhu, the inner medicine of the body-mind to dispel ignorance and disease and replenish the Yang.  It is this stage that requires the introduction of Nei Gong in order to open the Dan Tian and fill it up with Yang Qi.

Sheng Zheng Gong is considered to be a Zhu Ji Fa, or a ‘foundation method,’ it is found in different forms in both Hou Tian and Xian Tian approaches. It is not the only method to develop the Dan, but after many years it is what David selected and practiced because he found it to be the most effective and complete method available.