In this episode I am once again joined by Mattias Daly, Taoist practitioner and translator of ‘Taoist Inner Alchemy’, published by Shambala.

Mattias recounts the unusual circumstances that saw him travel to a remote monastery to meet Abbess Liu Yuanhui, under whom he would begin intensive training in meditation.

Mattias discusses Taoist meditation and its relationship to magical powers, psychic abilities, and other unusual meditation experiences.

Mattias then pulls back the veil to reveal the history and evolution of Taoist inner alchemy, referencing classical texts to contextualise and explain the Golden Elixir, differing ideas of the goal of alchemy, and the various ways in which the practice was undertaken.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep251-taoist-inner-alchemy-mattias-daly-2

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro

00:54 - Meeting Abbess Liu Yuanhui

03:23 - Recruited to rescue a wealthy son

08:10 - Miraculous cure through Buddhist ritual

11:38 - First visit to Abbess Liu’s monastery

13:05 - Initial intensive training with Abbess Liu

16:19 - Attachment to unusual meditation experiences

19:05 - Siddhi and magical power in Taoism

24:00 - Influence of Kung Fu novels

26:06 - Ge Guolong’s commentary Huang Yuanji’s The Oral Record of the Hall of Joyous Teaching

30:30 - History and evolution of Taoist inner alchemy

34:58 - Sexual interpretations of Taoist inner alchemy

36:30 - Disagreement about the goal of inner alchemy

39:29 - What about physical immortality?

42:08 - Mechanism of alchemy

45:43 - The Nameless Master and physical secretions

48:26 - Text alteration and philological considerations

52:02 - Achieving the Goku moment

52:53 - Why close reading of classical texts is a necessity for practitioners

56:34 - How to read early texts

58:24 - Is facility in Classical Chinese necessary?

01:00:50 - What is the Golden Elixir?

01:03:48 - Mattias shares some of his translations about Golden Elixir

01:06:07 - Decoding alchemical symbols and metaphors

01:10:08 - Confusion about sex

01:12:09 - How to go about practicing?

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Watch the previous episode with Mattias Daly:

- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep244-taoist-adventures-mattias-daly

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To find our more about Mattias Daly, visit:

- https://www.shambhala.com/authors/a-f/mattias-daly.html

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For more interviews, videos, and more visit:

- www.guruviking.com

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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James