THEESSENCEOFTAOISM-INNERALCHEMYJOURNEY

MtHuashanChina–SacredtemplesandTaoistMasters

1/12May2020

Youmighthavenoticed thatourChina tripused tobeaLeadership training. Becauseof theuniquedepthofthisjourneyandtheneedforthisinthe‘InnerAlchemy’work,Idecidedtotransformitfrom2020on,intoanInnerAlchemyjourney,openforanymotivatedalchemystudent.This journey will be a unique experience for those of you who want to experience the essence ofTaoism.TherearemoreandmoreTaoistteachingsintheWest,andasalifelongpractitionerIamtrulyhappywith that. I also remember as if it was yesterday,my first experience onMt Huashan. It hasdeeplymovedmeandcompletelychangedmyunderstandingandapproachofTaoism.This happened because during my stay in some of the temples and during the meetings with themasters, although subtle, I started to experience and re-alignwith the essence of Taoism.With ‘theessence’Imeantheoriginalpureintelligence.BasedonmyexperienceIbelievethatthisiswhatmanymodernpractitionersof‘theway’aremissing.LongbeforeTaoismbecamea religion, therewherepeople inChina (knownas theWupeople)whopracticed‘theway’inaverypure,natural,shamanicform.Thesepeopleusedthenarrowtrailstomovethroughthesteepmountainsandoftenlivedinnaturalcaves.Theylivedasimplelifeandsomeoftheminadirectunitywiththesource.ItisthissimpleandconsciousexperienceofonenesswithnatureandthesourceoflifethatformsthefoundationofTaoism.ItistheloveforthispureexperienceofalchemythatIsharewiththemastersofMtHuashan.ThespiritoftheirteachingsandtheessenceofTaoismisverypresentintheplaceswearegoingtovisit.

Wewillvisit2areasaroundXian.Thefirst isLouguantai,anareathat iscompletelydedicatedtoLaoTzu. Just like in the case ofMerlin, chances are high that Lao Tzuwas not 1 person but a fusion ofdifferentsagesmeltedtogetherintooneperson.Thatdoesnotmakeitlessvaluable.Theenergyhereisstrong, but rather yin, which is ideal for arriving, cleansing the body andmind and opening up theenergychannels.AfterthatwecontinuetoMtHuashan,oneofthe5sacredTaoistmountainsinChina.Itisalsocalledthe“flowermountain”,because ithas theshapeofa flower. It is thehomeof theWesternbranchof the“TaoistCompleteRealitySchool”thatwasdeeply influencedbytheteachingsofthefamousimmortal“LuDongbin”.It is one of themost powerful energy vortexes on this planet and our focus point for this trip. Theenergy here is rather Yang and vertical. I experience the whole mountain as a giant vortex shapedcrystal rising fromtheearth,blendingwitha strongviolet/purplevortexcomingdown fromheaven.Andluckyus,wewillberightinthemiddle!Inthisandotherlives,IhavevisitedMtHuashanmanytimes.Iknowmywayaroundandseveralofthemasterstreatmelikeanoldfriend,whichopensdoorsthat fortheregularChinese,andcertainlytheforeignvisitor,stayclosed.OneofthemisMasterChengYuMingwhohasbeentheviceabbotofJadeSpringTempleandisthelineageholderofthissect.Althoughheleftthemonasterysomeyearsago,heiswillingtoteachusduringthefirstpartofourtrip.AuniquechanceIcantellyou!MeetingChengandKwekwehadadeepeffectonme.Lookatthiscliptopickuphissilenceandenergy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uffGeD755eg

UniqueaboutMtHuashanisthatthereare5peaks,shapedinthecrossliketheTaoistrepresentationofthe5elements.Eachofthesepeakshavetheiruniqueenergy.Longagothemonkscarvedandchoppedapathinthegraniterocksthatrunsoverthe5peaks.Nowthesepathsarebroadenedandsecuredforthe thousandsofChinesepeoplewhohaveHuashanontheirbucket listandwant tovisit thissacredplaceatleastonceintheirlife.So,wewon’tbealonethere,butthat’spartoftheexperience.Foreignersarelessthen1%ofthepeoplewewillmeet.Eachofthechosenstoppingplacesonthistriphasauniquequalityandwilltakeyousimultaneouslytodifferentplacesinyourbodyandyourconsciousness.Asmentioned,LouguantaiwillopentheYinandtheintelligencefield.Huashanisliterallyaverticalwalkup,intoyourself.Themaintempleislikethedantienorbellycenter,theoldtemplehigherupistheheartcenterandoncewecometothe5peakswehavearrivedinthe5elementsandcosmicportalsoftheskull(Chrystalchamber).Planning:1MAYFlightBRU(or..?)toXi’an.2MAYArrivingearly inXi’an. Bus trip toLouguantai. TaoistMasterChengYuMingwillgiveusawelcomelectureandintroduction intoHuashan ‘NeiDanGong’or InternalAlchemy.Wewillregularlypracticewithhimduringthenext3days.Rest,getusedtotheChinavibesandcatchuponsomesleep.Hoteltobedecided.3MAYAfter our morning practice we visit Louguantai Monastary. This place is seen as the birthplace ofTaoism.It’salsotheascensionplaceofLaoTzuandwherehetransmittedthefamous5000character‘TaoTeChing’.Thereisauniqueenergyallaroundthisplace.4MAYNextdaywealsovisit theYinXianTemple and theamazingnaturalplatformabove the temple.Theviewhereisexceptional.

In the afternoon we make the bus trip to Mt Huashan. We will sleep in a hotel at the foot of themountain,closetotheentranceoftheJadeSpringTemple.

5/6/7MAYVisittotheJadeSpringTemple.ThisistheoldmainentrancetothemountainandthemaintempleofMtHuashan. There isabeautifulsymphonytherebetweentemples,oldtreesandrocks, thesmellofincenseandmusic.Youliterallystepintoanotherworldhere.Thecommunistpartyhas,intheattemptto control the Taoist community, built a high speed train straight through the temple grounds. Itdisturbs some visitors, but remarkably enough, it leaves the Taoist monks completely undisturbed.HerewewillbewelcomedandguidedbylocalTaoistMasters.

Climbingupto“QingKePingTemple”.Itliesatthefootofthesteepclimbtothetop.Thisoldtempleisaverypowerfulplace formeditation. Itbreathes thespiritofMtHuashan,of theoldTaoist lineageofwisdom. In this area there are less visitors then on the top. But during the nightmany pass by themonasteryontheirwaytoseethesunriseontheEastPeak.Itistheirhabittoscreamontheirwaytoscare away evil spirits. So earplugs are needed.Wewill live, eat and sleepwith themonks. A greatexperience!NoticethebeautifulBaguadoor.

Apart fromthetemple, thereare3uniquecaves intheneighborhood,available formeditation.Thesecavesaremadebyhandinthegraniteduringthe13thcentury.Stayinginoneofthesecavesforafewdayshasmadeadeep impressiononme.Many,manymonkshavebeenmeditatingonthismountainandinthesecavesforoveraperiodofmorethan800years.Ithascreatedastillnessanddepthofspirityoujustneedtosurrenderto.

8/9MAYClimbinguptotheSouthpeakofMtHuashan.RightbehindthetemplethesteepestpartoftheMtHuashanclimbbegins.Atsomeplaces,thestairshaveanangleof60°.Theymakeitpossibletogetonthealmostverticalwallthatbringsyoutothetoplevel.

Whenarrivetothetop,youreallyenteranotherworld.Thousandsofexitedpeoplecrawlinglikeantsonthenarrowpaths(theycamebycablecar).Wehavearrivedtothepeakofourjourney.Thecrowdthereissymbolicforthebusinessofourheadandtheconstantflowofthoughts.BynowIamsureyoucanenjoyit.WewillstayattheSouthPeaktemple,“JingTianGong”.ThelocalMasterChenisagoodfriendandhewillbeourhost.Wewillmeditatewithhim.TheSouthpeakisthehighestpointonMtHuashanandauniqueplaceformeditation,watchingthesunsetandsunrise.FromherewecanexploretheotherpeaksofMountHuashan.

10 MAY WatchingtheSunrisefromtheSouthpeak.ThousandsofChinesepeoplewillhavegatheredtoseethesunrise.Forusitwillbeamomenttoconsciouslystartournewlife.

Intheafternoonwewilltakethespectacularcablecarridedownandheadbacktothehotelatthebaseofthemountainwherewestarted.Timefora good shower, massage, rest, some shopping,… 11 MAY Morning meditation together and sharing our experiences. DrivetoairportXi'an.FlighttoBrussels(or…?) 12MAYArrivalflightXi’an-Brussels(or…..?)Accommodation:Thefirst3nightsandthelastnightwesillsleepinhotels.Theothernightswesleepinsleepingbagsinthemonasteriesindifferentgroupchamberswithmenandwomenseparated.Incasewewouldsleepinacaveyoumustprovideasmallinflatablemattress.Whocanparticipate?ItisopenforLifeProjectsstudentswithalchemymeditationexperience,whoarealsopracticing.Sinceyouwillbeintroducedintrulyholyplaces,aseriouscommitmentoftheparticipantsisrequired.Thisisnotavacationorasightseeingtrip!Bereadyforalifechangingexperience.Ifyouknowpeoplewhohavenotworkedwithourmethodandaresincerelyopentolearnlettheme-mailus.Practical:

• pleaseregisterbefore16/12.Thisisbecauseittakesalotoftimetoprepareyourpassport,andespeciallyyourvisa

• thetripwillhappenifwehaveatleast10participants,sodonotbookaflightyet,wewilldothisafter16/12whentheregistrationsarecomplete

• youwillthanalsoreceivemoreinformationaboutwhattotakewithyou.