The Mystery of Life

Life is a microcosm of the universe, a witness to all existence, and the most magnificent and wondrous flower in the vast and solitary sea of stars.

How did the process of life’s origin occur? What is the ultimate destination of life? Where does the consciousness of life originate? Is life an eternal reality representing the divinity of the universe, or a brief and accidental phenomenon? Why do the destinies of different living individuals vary so vastly? These questions still trouble contemporary philosophers.

Among all known forms of life, humanity is undoubtedly the most outstanding. Only humans possess the ability to explore and question the universe in which they live; and only humans bear the profound and multi-layered influences that their complex inner world brings to bear upon themselves.

In the cycle of returning to life, people gain memories yet lose everything. They create life, yet also deprive life. They labor and advance society, yet also propel their own lives toward their end. They explore the grand unified formula of the universe and the meaning of their own existence, only to find their doubts increasing. Thus, a very small number of people stop and turn their gaze inward upon the very foundation through which humans explore.

When the direction of exploration differs, different disciplines emerge.

Lifeology is the discipline formed through humanity’s inward reflection upon its own “Jing, Qi, and Shen” (精炁神).

Lifeology Is the Truest Care for Humanity

The laboratory of science is composed of external instruments and observation equipment; the laboratory of Lifeology, however, is primarily one’s own life and nature—an ultra-sophisticated precision instrument. Through the successive practices of countless generations, insights into life, death, and nature are obtained, leading to understanding by analogy, set down in writing, and thus forming a discipline.

Master Taiyi defines Lifeology as follows:

Lifeology is a body of knowledge and techniques that takes individual life as its basic unit, uses the faculty of mental awareness that transcends the conscious level as its tool, and through exploring, understanding, observing, and strengthening one’s “Jing, Qi, and Shen” (精炁神), transforms one’s own life, and by virtue of the commonality of “Jing, Qi, and Shen,” benefits all life.

The ultimate goal of Lifeology is to achieve the liberation of humanity and the liberation of life.

True “liberation of humanity” means not only freeing humans from the bonds of physical and mental labor and from the oppression of all classes, nations, countries, cultures, and religions—more importantly, it means liberating people from the influence of the deep-rooted negative traits left by the long process of evolution—this is the liberation of human nature. At the same time, it also means liberation from the birth, aging, sickness, and death that have troubled humanity for millennia—these two points are the true essence of “liberation.”

Therefore, Lifeology holds inestimable value for human civilization.

Master Taiyi has insightfully categorized Lifeology into ten major categories:

1. Guiding (导引) techniques;

2. Standing post (站桩) techniques;

3. Sitting meditation (静坐) techniques;

4. Breathing (吐纳) techniques;

5. Fasting (辟谷) techniques;

6. Sound (语音) techniques;

7. Sexual arts (房中) techniques;

8. Herbal ingestion (服食) techniques;

9. Zhu You (祝由) techniques;

10. Spirit-regulation (调神) techniques.

In ancient contexts, the higher levels of Lifeology were often referred to as the “Ultimate Dao” or the “Great Dao.”

Lifeology is a technology that helps life increase its autonomy and freedom. It is the truest and most profound care for life.

Lifeology is the core of the study of the Dao. The extended course of this article will teach the Da Cheng Jingtu Fa, which originates from Daoist studies. It combines sound-type, Zhu You-type, and spirit-regulation-type Lifeology techniques. It does not involve religious idol worship and is purely designed for exploring the origin of life, suitable for the general public.

Zhu You—A Lifeology Technology Combining Internal Practice and External Application

Zhu You is a technique that uses language tools—such as sound, symbols, body movements, and environmental cues—to trigger the core functions of the pineal gland region of the brain. Zhu You enables people to practice in a passive mode. The Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa is a representative of Zhu You-type techniques.

At its lower level, Zhu You is equivalent to hypnosis. Hypnosis is still in a state where conscious thought and discrimination remain in charge, meaning consciousness, either implicitly or explicitly, is at the helm.

At its intermediate level, Zhu You is a technique that allows the Yuan Shen to emerge and take command, characterized by the practitioner being free of thoughts yet possessing spiritual awareness and perception. Its main application is Chinese medical psychology.

At its highest level, Zhu You is self-applied Zhu You. Actively practiced methods can be understood as techniques for achieving self-Zhu You through practice. Self-Zhu You is the universal inner core of all Lifeology practice techniques.

Zhu You requires the use of language.

When language is articulated as sound, it possesses specific wavelengths and audio frequencies. Using particular sound waves to resonate with the body’s acupoints and organs is widely known in the “Six-Character Formula” (六字诀), a health Qigong certified by China’s General Administration of Sport. Less well known is the Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa, which uses sound as a lever and Zhu You as its central technology, allowing consciousness to step back and the Yuan Shen to emerge, guiding individuals and even all life to reach the ultimate Shenzhou Jing Tu—this is the ultimate expression of “human liberation.”

The art of Zhu You is not mysterious; it is an essential component of traditional Chinese medicine and constitutes its psychotherapeutic techniques. Chinese medicine holds that emotions are the root of disease. How can emotions be regulated? Those with spiritual roots may certainly be taught Lifeology for self-cultivation, but how should those without such roots or the willingness to cultivate themselves be handled? Zhu You is the solution for them.

Poor emotional states lead to wrong behavioral habits, which in turn create physical illness. Only by resolving emotional problems can the root cause of disease be treated.

The great masters of ancient times who truly mastered the complete methods of medical Dao understood the extreme importance of Zhu You. Therefore, they listed Zhu You as the culminating subject among the various major categories of Chinese medicine, calling it the “Thirteen Departments of Zhu You.”

Over time, Zhu You declined and evolved into the various magical practices within religions that involve trickery to attract followers. Practices such as talismans, planchette writing, spirit possession, and the like are merely passive applications of the automatic writing function and heightened sensitivity to suggestion that occur when a person is in a Zhu You state—a passive use of Yuan Shen functions.

The transmission of Zhu You to the West prompted the integration of hypnosis into psychology, indirectly influencing the true founder of modern psychology—Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theory of pan-sexualism is nothing but a lower-level version of the Daoist principle that “desire is the first driving force of the cycle of life and death.” Freud’s analysis of dreams is vaguely a modern version of the Duke of Zhou’s dream interpretation. Later, Carl Jung absorbed the essence of the I Ching and The Secret of the Golden Flower (Tai Yi Jin Hua Zong Zhi), proposing the collective unconscious, complexes, the principle of synchronicity, and other concepts, further developing Freud’s theories and powerfully influencing the trajectory of Western psychology.

Since ancient times, Zhu You has always occupied half of Chinese medicine. Whether in internal or external treatments, without Zhu You it is difficult for therapies to achieve their full effect. The authentic tradition of Zhu You must flourish for Chinese medicine to truly thrive.

The Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa is inseparable from Zhu You. Along with teaching the Lifeology techniques of the Da Cheng Jingtu Fa, this course also provides an overview of some of the healing techniques of Zhu You.

Jing Tu—The Same Underlying Faith of Ancient Peoples and Modern People

In ancient times, sage-kings had the custom of worshipping heaven and earth. Oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty already contain records of sacrifices to the soil (social altars) and numerous records of sacrifices to mountains and rivers. When worshipping the land, specific “land-purifying” incantations were used. Some of these incantations evolved into the incantations of Zhu You and magical arts. The Daoist Wenshi Sect’s “Land-Purifying Incantation” (also known in other sects as the “Land-Pacifying Incantation”) states: “The Valley Spirit pacifies and calms, announcing to all spirits; true officers of mountains and rivers, land spirits and earth gods; left altars and right shrines, be not alarmed.” This faintly depicts the ancient kings’ rituals of “purifying the land.” The earliest cultural appearance of the term “Jing Tu” in the world occurs in this very “Land-Purifying Incantation.”

The pain, oppression, and fear of death that life experiences during its existence also caused ancient peoples to involuntarily yearn for a beautiful world that transcends reality. In this world, there is no disease, no hunger, no unequal oppression, no aging, no death, no value conflicts, and not even gravitational pull...

Consider the Huaxu Kingdom described in the Liezi—a place “without leaders,” “without desires,” where people “do not drown in water,” “do not feel heat in fire,” and “walk through the air as if on solid ground.” Or the mythical islands of Penglai and Yingzhou in the sea, where “terraces and towers are all gold and jade,” the people “never age or die,” and “travel by flying to and fro.” In Western culture there is the Garden of Eden, where the ground is covered with gold, pearls, and red agate, food is abundant, trees delight the eye, and life exists without dualistic distinctions of good and evil—with a harmonious yin-yang existence as “Adam” and “Eve,” enjoying carefree ultimate bliss. In Islam, “Jannah” (Garden) is used to express the longing for a pure land—a garden “through which rivers flow,” “neither scorching heat nor bitter cold,” with “rivers of milk whose taste never changes” and “pure honey,” along with “fruits of every kind within easy reach.” Its inhabitants “wear bracelets of pearls and garments of fine silk,” eat “choice fruits and poultry,” and “those who enter Jannah enjoy bliss without suffering, live eternally without death, and remain youthful without aging.” As for the Confucian vision of a “Great Harmony” society—where “the elderly are cared for, the able-bodied are employed, the young are nurtured, and the widowed, orphaned, lonely, and disabled are all supported”—a society free from theft and chaos—and Laozi’s vision of a “small state with few people,” these all point to realizable, earthly versions of Jing Tu.

All of these reflect nothing more than humanity’s deep-seated longing for a peaceful and eternal life of happiness. This longing transcends race and time, forming a fundamental psychological structure common to all life.

In the land of China, the continuation of this psychological sediment gave rise to the Daoist belief in immortal realms. When this belief merged with the vestiges of Zhu You, the earliest Daoist Jing Tu lineage took shape. Representative works include the Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Jing Tu Sheng Shen Jing, the Daojiao Yishu—Jing Tu Yi, and the Taixuan Zhenyi Benji Jing—Jing Tu Pin.

In their exploration of life, these beliefs and practices mostly cling to virtual idol worship, never investigating the true origin of the illusory pure land or immortal realms, let alone thoroughly breaking through all images. Their believers, at the critical moment of life and death, are inevitably led by these images, first returning then falling back. It is difficult for them to simultaneously embody the three great testimonies: physical and mental health, foreknowledge of death, and a peaceful passing without illness. These Jing Tu methods have an indelible merit in caring for life, but they remain relatively elementary and thus belong to the small-achievement methods of Jing Tu.

Jing Tu Reaches Its Fullness with the Da Cheng Method

The Da Cheng method is primarily transmitted through the Daoist Wenshi Sect after the Song Dynasty. Da Cheng Jing Tu takes the He Tu (River Map) and the Eight Trigrams diagrams as its fundamental classics, with the realization of the Great Ultimate (Tai Ji) and the Realm of the Infinite (Wu Ji Zhi Ye) as the fundamental achievement of Jing Tu. It uses “Zhu You” as its main gradual practice method, “advancing in both Dao and virtue” as its worldly approach, “longevity and eternal vision” as its ultimate achievement, “mastery over life and death” as its fundamental achievement, and “health, happiness, and fulfillment in this life” as its auxiliary achievements.

The characteristic of the Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa is to use an ultimate materialist perspective to break through all religious images, establishing a thorough atheism, equating real life with the ideal Jing Tu world. It first seeks physical and mental health and harmony in practical society, then strives for foreknowledge of death and a peaceful passing without illness, attaining the ultimate perfection of life. Its realm is lofty, covering people of different faiths, and its care for life is genuine and practical. Therefore, it is the Da Cheng method within Jing Tu.

The Daoist Da Cheng Jing Tu has a complete system, covering all stages of life with techniques such as end-of-life care, eugenics and optimal child-rearing, and medical Zhu You.

End-of-life care: The ultimate goal is to enable ordinary people to achieve the complete indicators of physical and mental health, a peaceful death without illness, and even foreknowledge of the time of death—this is also the minimum achievement of Lifeology practice.

Eugenics and optimal child-rearing: Intervention before pregnancy to fundamentally improve the quality of the human race, laying a solid foundation for the popularization of Lifeology techniques.

Medical Zhu You: Zhu You’s understanding of the human psyche reaches the depth of the Yuan Shen. Its methods for treating mental illness are far richer than those of Western psychology, and its therapeutic effects are far superior.

Thus, compared to the small-achievement Jing Tu that only concerns itself with seeing off the dead, the Da Cheng Jing Tu is fundamentally different in depth and breadth—hence it is called Da Cheng (Great Achievement).

Extended Content

The Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa mainly includes the following Lifeology techniques:

Tai Yi Xin Zhou (太乙心咒):

The Tai Yi Xin Zhou is a combination of Zhu You-type and sound-type techniques within Lifeology. It is the core of the Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa. It can be practiced gradually or lead to sudden enlightenment and union with the Dao. Using the body and mind as the cauldron and furnace, it can connect to the graduated Dan Dao method of the Three Vehicles and Nine Cycles. Using the Xuan Guan as the cauldron and furnace, it can connect to the highest Vehicle—the sudden enlightenment and sudden achievement method of Wu Wei Fa. If the practitioner has deep virtue and sweeps away the cauldron and furnace, revealing the universe directly, then sudden enlightenment and sudden achievement can be attained in an instant. Therefore, the Tai Yi Xin Zhou is a typical universal salvation method within Lifeology, combining gradual and sudden approaches.

The Tai Yi Xin Zhou consists of only six syllables, each requiring the correct mouth shape and pronunciation technique. When correctly pronounced, the Tai Yi Xin Zhou precisely corresponds to six regions along the central channel, massaging, vibrating, penetrating, and opening it. Therefore, the Tai Yi Xin Zhou has the characteristic of “simple method yet profound principles.” It does not discriminate based on spiritual aptitude, religious belief, occupation, foundation, age, or even literacy—even an illiterate elderly villager who receives this method and practices it correctly can enter the Great Dao.

The Expedient Dharma Gate of Tai Yi Xin Zhou

When beset by lustful thoughts, sexual reverie, anger, rage or other unregulated emotional impulses, gently press the base of your ring finger — the position of Zi shown on the palm diagram above — with the thumb of your left hand.

Then proceed to press in sequence: the base of the middle finger, the base of the index finger, followed by the third, second and first segments of the index finger. Continue along the contour of the hand until you reach the base of the little finger, completing one full cycle of twelve pressure points.

With each press, recite the Tai Yi Xin Zhou silently in your mind. This six-character mantra reads: Tai Yi Jiu Ku Tian Zun. For intense desires, recite it aloud; the stronger the impulse, the louder you should speak at the onset for optimal effect.

Repeat the full cycle continuously until the desire subsides. It typically takes effect within a few minutes.

Tai Yi Xi Sui Gong (太乙洗髓功):

The Tai Yi Xi Sui Gong focuses on generating, consolidating, nourishing, and transforming essence (Jing). It employs techniques such as stretching, opening, kneading, propping, lengthening, extending, pulling, swinging, forging, rubbing, twisting, and spreading the sinews as its means. Combined with the Tai Yi Xin Zhou, it transforms into the Female and Male Wisdom Swords to slay the Three Corpses and vanquish the Six Thieves. Externally, it forges sinews of gold and bones of jade; internally, it consolidates essence without leakage and activates embryonic breathing.

Compared to external practices such as Tai Chi, Ba Duan Jin, and Yi Jin Jing, this method exercises the body’s sinews, essence, and marrow more comprehensively and deeply. The principles of transforming sinews into essence, transforming essence into Qi, interchanging spirit and Qi, and adding oil to sustain life ensure the method’s miraculous efficiency and immediate results. The Tai Yi Xi Sui Gong can even train the brain, activating a fetal-like breathing of “the Zhen Ren’s breath reaching the heels,” thereby returning essence to the brain, gathering the medicine, and returning the elixir—effects that simple physical exercise regimens cannot match.

Tai Yi Gui Zhen Jue (太乙归真诀):

The Tai Yi Gui Zhen Jue has always been the ultimate technique within traditional Lifeology, holding value that cannot be exchanged for ten thousand pieces of gold. According to the descriptions of predecessors of the Da Cheng Jingtu Fa, this method “even if obtained by an ignorant and foolish person with absolutely no cultivation foundation, can still enable them to achieve accomplishment at the moment of death.”

The Tai Yi Gui Zhen Jue is aimed at practitioners who have not yet reached the ultimate realm or ordinary people without any foundational practice. Even those who have cultivated to extremely high levels can use this method to gain help in breaking through the mysteries of life and death and attaining the ultimate fruit of realization.

This method is used before and after the moment of death (with active and passive variants). It skillfully seizes the opportunity to allow the Yuan Shen to leave the body, penetrate the illusions of the Six Realms, instantly merge with the Dao itself, reach the state of “union with the Dao,” and return to the birthless and deathless land of the Origin’s pure yin at the homestead of the Great Dao!

At this point, the practitioner objectively receives the real-world blessings of foreknowledge of death, a peaceful death without illness, and auspicious signs at the end of life. If the practitioner possesses profound merit and superior spiritual roots, they may achieve Yang Shen Chengjiu, realizing the fruit of longevity and eternal vision—in which case the method is not limited to use at the time of death.

Master Taiyi has widely transmitted this method not only at the technical level but also from the height of Tian Dao Cheng Fu, revealing the secret of the cycle of life and clarifying the ultimate just law of the Great Dao. The method enables people to instantly obliterate the three lives and level the six paths in a state of sudden awakening. By then applying the Tai Yi Gui Zhen Jue, achieving accomplishment at death and roaming freely in transformation becomes as easy as turning one’s hand.

Course Features

This is a pure transmission of Lifeology techniques, free from religious overtones. The focus is on the following two aspects:

Transforming Destiny (Gai Ming):

Teach the techniques of achieving non-leakage of essence (Jing/blood), non-leakage of Qi, and non-leakage of Shen.

Non-leakage is the iron threshold for entering the Dao and the core of health preservation. Once the state of non-leakage is achieved, one can experience abundant energy, mental vitality, elimination of afflictions, and physical and mental well-being. Chronic illnesses and even incurable diseases can be cured without medication. The body’s self-healing, hunger-resistance, cold-resistance, and regenerative abilities become extremely strong.

The testimonies within Lifeology—regrowing teeth, turning white hair black, immunity to all diseases, immunity to heat and cold, living out one’s natural lifespan (120 years), and passing away peacefully without illness—are all attained through non-leakage. Those who truly achieve non-leakage can also regularly experience an inner joy and peace that arises from within. This joy is different from the transient stimulation brought by external material possessions, fame, profit, and sexual desire. It is lasting, independent of external conditions, and its quality surpasses any sensory stimulation—similar to the peak emotional experiences that psychologists often describe.

Cultivating Inner Nature (Yang Xing):

Lifeology holds that humanity’s innate nature (self-nature) is the essence of Dao Qi, called “virtue” (De). This is the handle for realizing the Dao, as Laozi said: “When the Dao is lost, there is virtue.” Realizing the Dao includes seeing the unique (seeing one’s true nature), but it is not limited to the level of mind and nature. One must break through the Xuan Guan, expand the capacity of the mind, and then suddenly realize the Dao that is both immortal and ever-renewing.

The course reveals the “Seven Steps of Realizing the Dao through the Xuan Guan,” which has been secretly transmitted for over two thousand years. It covers superior mind-training techniques such as the Female and Male Wisdom Swords, the Method of Slaying the Three Corpses, and the Three Contemplations Method of the Supreme Lord.

A special psychological self-healing method suitable for modern people is also taught. This method starts from “desire and emotion” and uses procedural operations to effectively regulate symptoms of depression, low self-esteem, social anxiety, anxiety, and insomnia.

About the Author

Huang Zitan, styled Master Taiyi, is the founder of the disciplines of Lifeology and the study of the Dao; the great exponent of Chinese medical Zhu You; and the founder of the Great Dao Homeland Xiushen Hall.

Master Huang is a complete Dharma heir of the Daoist Wenshi Sect’s trinity of Yi (Changes), Dao (the Way), and Yi (Medicine). The lineage is: Laozi — Yin Xi — Heshang Gong — Wei Boyang — Zuo Yuan Taiji — the Hemp-Robe Daoist — Chen Tuan — Zhang Wumeng — Jia Desheng — Ning Daoshou — Ning Baoyu — Ning Kuoxu — Ning Wandu — Ning Xiangli. Master Huang received direct transmission from the Zhen Ren Ning Xiangli and authored the Wenshi Zhenjie Da Peifu.

There has always been a saying in Daoism: “Shaoyang is the largest; Wenshi is the highest.” Based on the Wenshi Sect, Master Huang has extensively absorbed the essence of various Daoist schools and the strengths of Western mathematics, physics, and other disciplines, synthesizing all schools into the study of the Dao, forming an academic system that bridges ancient and modern, East and West, with Daoism as the substance and science as the function.

At the age of 11, Huang Zitan began learning sitting meditation, internal exercises, and standing post from a local Chinese medicine practitioner. He now practices and validates his attainments long-term in the Zhongnan and Kunlun mountains, spending over 120 days each year in cave retreat for cultivation.

Huang Zitan’s Lifeology testimonies include: the opening of the Xuan Guan, the Yang Shen leaving the body, non-leakage of essence and Qi, complete Shen so no need for sleep, predicting the past and knowing the future, aiding the endangered and the dead, intervening across space through invisible force, clearing clouds to see the sun, immobilization and invisibility, and penetrating insight into the hidden subtleties of the human mind. However, Master Huang believes that even all supernatural powers and the Yang Shen itself are not fundamental testimonies. The fundamental purpose of Lifeology lies in the ultimate care for life.

Based on profound Lifeology practice, Master Huang has pointed out that the study of the Dao has Lifeology as its core. He has also delineated twelve major categories of Lifeology, ten observational research subjects, and fifteen sub-disciplines built upon them.

Huang Zitan’s Lifeology is primarily based on Wu Wei Fa, while also deeply studying the Daoist Da Cheng Jingtu Fa. Building upon this inheritance, he creatively applied the Zhu You techniques within the Da Cheng Jingtu Fa to psychological healing, end-of-life care, and eugenics, creating an extremely solid technical foundation for the universal salvation of Lifeology in the contemporary age.

Huang Zitan points out that although Zhu You has many applications, its essence is Chinese medical psychology. Master Huang has further used Zhu You to decode various supernatural powers, folk illusions, and Western hypnosis, integrating them with modern psychology. Huang Zitan subdivides Zhu You into: Zhu You language, the mind pagoda, personality factors, pattern differentiation, entering the Zhu You state, techniques, and application outlines—truly making Zhu You a teachable, learnable, and verifiable discipline.

Huang Zitan in the Kunlun Mountains↑