Dan Tian 丹田 there is a term that’s often heard and misunderstood either by ignorance or a limited knowledge of the subject, which brings us to losing the value it might have, making it important to clarify the deeper meaning of that word.
Dian Tian, a word Akuzawa Sensei often employs during in his work. Dian Tian is often translated into center, the problem of the word “center” is that it sure will allow us to localize an area but will it talk the same way to everyone? Visibly not.
丹, dān = cinnabar, red, vermilion, remedy
Taoists used cinnabar as a drug in order to access a blissful state. It was recognized as the most performant natural substance to obtain immortality, the dan then represents a form of energy, more intense, refined, concentrated.
田, tián = field
Then :
丹田, dān tián = cinnabar field, the field, the place (田, tián)
where we cultivate red, vermillion, the remedy (丹, dān).
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| 丹田, dān tián |
The cauldron : Often representated on chinese prints is the cauldron used by Taoists for alchemy, namely external.
But how did we go from External to Internal ? The transition is done with the Neidan 內丹 internal cinnabar or internal alchemy.
Neidan 內丹 : A form of ascetic meditation practised by taoists, its goal is to act on the three essential components of one’s being (the three jewels or sanbao 三寶 the essence (jing 精), the energy (qi 氣) the spirit (shen 神) to transmute the natural process of differenciation of which the outcome is corruption and death, to unite the yin and yang and acquire longevity and immortality.
It is interesting to make a parallel with Shintoism in which we have the (Three Sacred Treasures of Japan 三種の神器, Sanshu no Jingi )
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| 三種の神器 |
The sword, Kusanagi no tsurugi (草薙剣), which represents the value and the faculty of Sharing
The magatam, Yasakani no magatama (八尺瓊曲玉) , which illustrates benevolence and the faculty to Learn
The bronze mirror, Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡) symbolizes wisdom and the faculty to Understand.
Let’s take the 3 Dian Tian of the pattern :
The inferior dantian (下丹田, xià dān tián) is a place of transformation of the essence, the root of our vitality (精, jīng) in energies-breath qi (氣). It is compared to a cauldron in which the elixir of long life is purified and distillated.
The median dantian (下丹田, xià dān tián) receives the qi and represents the organism’ storage place for mental and emotional vibrations of the energy. In the cauldron of dantian median, the qi (氣) is transformed into mind (神, shén)
The superior dantian (上丹田, shàng dān tián) is considered as the place of transformation of then shén (神) into pure consciousness. It receives the qi (氣) of the sky and represents the spiritual aspect of the man and his link with the divine.
In Aunkai we have Tanren that puts this vision of the 3 Dian Tian to work : Tenchijin (天地人)
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| Tenchijin ( 天地人) |
Ten = The Sky = Spirit (神, shén) superior Dantian (上丹田, shàng dān tián)
Chi = The Earth = The esence (jing 精) inferior Dantian (下丹田, xià dān tián)
Jin = The Man = the energy (qi 氣) median Dantian (中丹田, zhōng dān tián)
Warning : often at the martial level, Qi (氣) is translated into “Energies-breath” by giving breath the meaning of breathing and to qi (氣) in the meaning of the energy. Qi 氣 must be heard as creative Breath, creative Energy, both are linked, the breath is energy.
In Hebrew, Neshamah, the Breath means : breath of God, breathing of man, everything that breathes, the Spirit.
The beath of origins (Genesis 2-7):
“The Eternal God formed man from dust of the earth, he breathed into his nostrils a breath (Neshamah) of life and man became a living being.”
In Aïkido there is a well known exercise for practioners Ame no Tori Fune 天の鳥船
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| O Senseï Moriheï Ueshiba |
Ame no Tori Fune, the celestial boat bird, appears in the Kojiki, a Shinto book. It refers to some kind of boat flying from Earth to the Sky in order to carry away souls (the kami).
In this exercice, there is the notion of crossing a river in three steps, with three different rythms. The practioner is the roawer that goes to heaven.
The arms go from the inferior Dantian 下丹田, xià dān tián) towards the sky and come back, each movement is accompagnied by the Kiai.
The idea is to go collect the energy around us, in order to bring it inside to help us cross.
First step: it is the “start-up’. The bark leaves the riverbank with Kiai “El Ho”, corresponds to the sound “O” of the Kototama
Second step : it is the struggle against the flows with the Kiaï : “El SA”, corresponds to the sound “A”
Third step: it is the arrival to the riverbank with enthousiasm. It is then the notion of the passage “from life to after-life”, of the body to the mind. The Kiaï : “El El”, corresponds to the sound “I” which symbolizes the union between the earth and the sky.
The langage ceases to be hermetic once you decode it. A friend of mine once taught me that in order to understand things you must put them apart in order to see their structure. I would add that by doing so, we find the common denominator between them. This common denominator is the energy. The link between Ten, Chi and Jin is the energy. The matter of Tenchijin (天地人) is the energy.
"What’s essential is invisible to the eyes"
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