For many people Taoist Internal Alchemy is a kind of meditation, during which the practitioner imagines certain actions and transformations in the body. But is this really what a Taoist alchemist is supposed to do? Actually the answer should be: “no”. Taoist Alchemy is a way of life, not limited to the practice of meditation. Also, “imagining” is not what the practice is about, because this usually leads to what we call “huandan” or illusionary cinnabar (fake alchemy). Is it a kind of spirituality then? If that mainly focuses on the mind, then it is certainly not this.

Taoist Alchemy, as it was originally developed in Southeast China about one thousand years ago, is a practice that combines the transformation (through practice) of the workings of the (internal and external) body with a deliberate liberation of the limitations of the human existence and human consciousness. To realize this, the alchemist…