Ep251: Taoist Inner Alchemy - Mattias Daly 2 Guru Viking Podcast

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