Daoist Internal Mastery

This book translates Master Wang’s original practice instructions and discourses given during training seminars. His system of internal alchemy goes back to two ancient Daoist texts: the 13th-century Lingbao bifa, linked to the immortals Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin; and the 17th-century Taiyi jinhua zongzhi (Secret of the Golden Flower), also connected to Lü. Together they are known as the Lingbao tong zhineng neigong shu (Arts of Internal Mastery, Wisdom, and Potential, Based on Numinous Treasure). The texts outline the concoction of a golden elixir through the dual cultivation of inner nature and life-destiny. This book follows the classics and presents all different kinds of techniques—including walking, pacing, sleeping, circulating the five phases, absorbing tree energy, and capturing planetary essences—in a systematic format and with a great amount of instructional detail. It contains a wealth of information invaluable to anyone interested in genuine Daoist cultivation and elucidates numerous rather obscure concepts to contextualize each practice.

• Liping Wang, Author

  Wang Liping (b. 1949) is the most prominent teacher of Daoist internal alchemy in China today. As outlined in his spiritual biography Opening the Dragon Gate, translated by Thomas Cleary (1997), he grew up the far northeast and was trained three Daoist masters, including a martial artist, a senior physician, and a top-level acupuncturist. After the Cultural Revolution, when they went into hiding, he returned to ordinary life and began teaching in 1985, opening Daoist esoteric practices to the general populace and soon reaching large numbers of people. He reemerged in 2007 and has gained both national and international acclaim ever.

• Mark Bartosh, Translator

  Mark Bartosh (b. 1975) began his training as a teenager under the guidance of Master Lim and Master Buddhayano, representative of the Thai Forest traditions. After sixteen years training under Samuel Sagan, founder of the Clairvision Meditation School, he has been working with Master Wang since 2011.

• Livia Kohn, Editor

  Livia Kohn, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University. The author or editor of close to sixty books (including the annual Journal of Daoist Studies), she spent ten years in Kyoto doing research. She currently serves as the executive editor of Three Pines Press as well as the Journal of Daoist Studies, runs international conferences, and guides study tours to Japan.