Dantian

Dantian, dan t'ian, dan tien or tan t'ien (Chinese: 丹田 dāntián ; Japanese: 丹田 tanden; Korean: 단전 danjeon; Thai: ตันเถียน dantian literally "cinnabar or red field") is loosely translated as "elixir field". It is described as an important focal point for internal meditative techniques.

There are various points of dantian. There is one at the top of the skull^{[citation needed]} (top dantian), one at the forehead (up dantian), one below the heart (middle dantian), one down and beneath the navel (low dantian) and one at the soles of the feet^{[citation needed]} (bottom dantian). However, dantian usually refers to the physical center of gravity located in the abdomen (about three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel).

The dantian is important in neidan, qigong, neigong, tao yin and other breathing techniques, as well as in traditional Chinese medicine and meditation. In Eastern martial arts, the navel dantian is particularly important as it becomes the focal point of breathing technique as well as the center of balance and gravity.^[1]

Taoist and Buddhist teachers often instruct their students to center their mind in the dantian. This is believed to aid control of thoughts and emotions. Acting from the dantian is considered to be related to the state of samadhi.

The dantian also roughly corresponds to the Indian concept of the manipura, or navel chakra.^{[citation needed]} In yoga philosophy, it is thought to be the seat of prana that radiates outwards to the entire body.^[2]

Dantians

Different schools of thought categorise dantian in various manners. For example, according to principles of Chinese alchemy, there are three dantians in the body.

• The upper dantian is in the brain just behind a point directly between the eyebrows and corresponds to the third eye. In Western anatomy, this point corresponds to the pituitary gland.^[1][3] This is similar to the indian concept of chakras (central points through which prana is stored, see also nadis although dantian's are a Taoist concept (vs Buddhist or other).
• The middle dantian is in the heart and in Western anatomy is associated with the thymus gland.
• The lower dantian is located 1.3 inches, or 3 finger widths, below the navel and is also called the golden stove.^[4]

Lower dantian

In speaking of the lower of the three points, the term dantian is often used interchangeably with the Japanese word hara (腹; Chinese: fù) which means simply "belly". In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese tradition, it is considered the physical center of gravity of the human body and is the seat of one's internal energy (qi). A master of calligraphy, swordsmanship, tea ceremony, martial arts, among other arts, is held in the Japanese tradition to be "acting from the hara".

See also

• Aikido
• Jing (TCM)
• Kiai
• Kundalini
• Meditation
• Mindfulness (Buddhism)
• Misogi
• Pushing hands
• Secret of the Golden Flower
• Seppuku
• Silk reeling
• T'ai chi ch'uan
• Triple burner

References

1. ^ ^{a b} T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Meditation by Da Liu, page 92 - Routledge and Keegan Paul 1987 ISBN 0140192174
2. ^ T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Meditation by Da Liu, pages 91-92 - Routledge and Keegan Paul 1987 ISBN 0140192174
3. ^ The doctrine of the elixir by R. B. Jefferson Coombe Springs Press 1982 chapter 4. The Archaic Anatomy of Individual Organs
4. ^ Taoist Yoga by Lu K'uan Yu page 10. (Rider , 1970)

• Chia, Mantak. Cosmic Orbit: Connect to the Universe from Within. Universal Tao Publications, 2005. ISBN 974-85401-4-6.
• Jefferson, R.B. Doctrine of the Elixir. Coombe Springs Press, 1982. ISBN 0900306157. Full text here
• Lu K'uan Yu. Taoist Yoga. Rider, 1970. ISBN 0712617256.
• Porkert, Manfred. The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine. MIT Press, 1974. ISBN 0262160587.
• Rouselle, Irwin. ‘Spiritual Guidance in Contemporary Taoism’. In Spiritual Disciplines: Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks. Princeton University Press, 1960. ISBN 0691018634.
• Wang, Mu. Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan. Golden Elixir Press, 2011. ISBN 9780984308255.

External links

• Doctrine of the Elixir by R.B.Jefferson
• Secret of the Golden Flower
• Seiki tanden
• The Three Dantian, Hara and Seika Tanden
• Tai Chi Chuan Tao, The Dan Tian
• Cinnabar Fields, by Fabrizio Pregadio. [From The Encyclopedia of Taoism.]