Taoistcultivation

The whole morning I had been thinking of the ancient stories where cultivators could absorb spirit energy (Ling Li) through their breathing and condense it. This I want to be clear is different than the reverse and abdominal breathing we have today where we intake air and yang qi into the Dantian. I thought to myself I am advanced enough in cultivation I should be able to figure it out.

I tried to pull in the nascent qi through my breathing. No sensation. I could not pull in the spirit energy through my breathing, I could only move it with my hands and mind. After around 30 minutes of doing my regular cultivation it dawned on me that it might be a two step process.

I brought the nascent qi close to my nose with my mind and held it there. Then I used my feeling-sense and tried to pull that nascent qi in to my dantian with my nose. It worked! Spirit energy entered me like a lightning bolt. I successfully absorbed spirit energy through my breathing for the first time. This was much different than regular qi one absorbs by breathing. I realized now that I could easily keep drawing in spirit energy through my nose.

In ancient cultivation this corresponds to the first level of the martial body realm. But did I want to just stay at the first level. Knowing me, I wanted to find a way to fast track myself. I did Guang Ming in the air around me and absorbed it through my nose. I knew through this method I would quicken my progress to the 2nd level.

As I walked home I could feel spirit energy everywhere.