The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao
The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao
The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao is an essential manual for cultivating and refining one’s Inner Nature and Inner Character.
As such, it is a revelatory guide to the fundamental basis of Internal Alchemy. In the first stage, a person’s Inner Nature, their conduct and character, should undergo a tempering process. This lays the foundation for refining one’s Life-Destiny, a transformation of one’s physical form and ultimately the sublimation of one’s body into a Golden Immortal. The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao walk the reader through the obstacles that emerge in this process and give detailed and invaluable advice on how to overcome them.
Originating from the Script for Penetrating Through the Barriers, written by Liu Yi Ming in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), this treatise has been edited and revised by the Daoist Master Xing De in order to extract and distill its most profound essence.
Accompanying each barrier is an extensive commentary by Xing De. These are frank, humorous, and replete with down to earth and lively examples to clarify the meaning and contemporary relevance of this ancient text. The commentaries are also deeply knowledgeable in Chinese tradition, bridging Daoism with Buddhism, Confucianism and even Christianity, and possess a rare mystical depth stemming from Xing De’s long-term practice.