The Dan-Tien is a source of primal wisdom and vital energy that resides within each of us. For thousands of years people in the East have learned to gather life energy (ch'i) in this center to promote wellbeing and longevity. Now, Christopher Markert reveals the secrets of the DanTien to Westerners in this friendly guide. When you think or act in a way that disagrees with who you really are, you may experience an unpleasant sensation in your Dan-Tien center. When your behavior is in tune with your emotions, you experience a sense of physical wellbeing. You have an "inner compass" that functions as a sensor (or an indicator); your compass communicates if you listen. Learning to use your Dan-Tien in everyday life is easy and the benefits are immediate. When you engage the energy of your Dan-Tien, your daily tasks become artful activities in which you joyfully engage yourself. Markert says that listening to your DanTien can bring you "millions of happy minutes" in all that you do and in all of your relationships. With the author's examples and visualizations, you can learn to let your DanTien bring you self confidence, love, and happiness.

CHAPTER 1

Subtle Signals

Good Feelings are Guiding Us

The secret of good health, happiness, and success lies in the Dan-Tien,according to ancient Chinese texts. Dan-Tien is the source of vitality and joy.We all possess this source, but we are seldom aware of it. We all have an innercompass that leads us to the good life and keeps us in tune with the cosmos.When we listen to its subtle signals we can look forward to a life that is richand rewarding and blessed with loving relationships.

This compass is so simple and foolproof that we tend to ignore it. Most of ushave even been taught to ignore it and to rely instead on complex theories,artificial rules, or belief systems. The concept of Dan-Tien reminds us that allgreat truths are simple and easily practiced in daily life.

East Asians have known for thousands of years that the core of our vitality andunconscious wisdom lies in our very center. In this area we can spontaneouslysense whether we are in tune with life at any given moment. When we think or dosomething that does not agree with our deepest feelings, we immediately get anunpleasant sensation in our center, in the Dan-Tien. This is a signal that tellsus that the way we think or act at this time is not quite right. If we fail tolisten to the signal, it will become stronger, to the point where we get a"knot" in the stomach. If we habitually ignore the message, we may end up with astomach ulcer or other psychosomatic complications.

But if we think and act in tune with the Dan-Tien, we notice a pleasantsensation in the belly area. We feel happy and enjoy inner harmony. In time wecan learn to cultivate this state, so that it becomes a pleasant habit. Mind andbody can thus function optimally and avoid needless stress.

Millions of Happy Minutes

There is a deeper reason why Dan-Tien makes us happy and successful: it connectsus with the cosmic life force. When we listen to the signals in our center andact accordingly, we harmonize with the primal force that is called divine. Wecan find true happiness only when we live in tune with our divine self.

Dan-Tien offers no philosophical systems, moral precepts, psychologicalanalyses, or intellectual explanations. Instead we receive helpful impulses frommoment to moment. Just like a child searching for Easter eggs is guided by callsof "warm" or "cold," so we can rely on the hints from our center in our searchfor happiness and success.

Through Dan-Tien we appreciate and enjoy the "here and now." When we can behappy here and now, when we can enjoy the next minute and the next minute, too,and so on, then we can enjoy the whole day. When we do this all week and throughthe months, we enjoy millions of happy minutes over the years. It is thatsimple.

Of course there will be minutes when we notice that something is wrong. Then wefeel unhappy until we remember our inner compass and follow its messages.Usually it turns out that we got lost in useless and aimless trains of thought,or perhaps we were doing something that did not fulfill the need of the moment.Instead of living here and now we worried about the past or the future. Insteadof sweeping in front of our own door we got involved in other people's problems.

But as soon as we realize that we are on the wrong track, we can change courseand restore the good feeling, usually in a matter of seconds or minutes. Ourgreatest source of happiness is the feeling of being on the right track, hereand now. We also feel good when we reach a goal, of course, but we do not reachgoals every day.

Divine Impulses

With our inborn Dan-Tien we have a proven system that has been refined overmillions of years. It connects us "on-line" with the great cosmic computer. Noman-made system can ever match its ingenuity and perfection.

The idea that divine impulses can be relayed through a nerve center in the bodydoes not agree with our Western concepts. We have been taught that the divinecan only come from above, through the head, the soul, or the conscience. We havebeen trained not to trust our "gut feelings" and to suppress our "lower animalinstincts." Many people still consider the body below the belt "dirty,"unspeakable, or the source of sinful urges.

But in such Western beliefs lies the root of our inability to enjoy day-to-daylife. People who reject their body and their emotions are called neurotic. Theymay get used to their split condition and endure life, but they cannot find realhappiness. They can harmonize with themselves and the cosmic whole onlyoccasionally and coincidentally.

They can console themselves with theories or religions that accept suffering asnormal, or they can deaden the pain through legal or illegal drugs. They can tryto divert themselves with ceaseless activity or noise, but they cannot findaccess to the secret that their remote ancestors still knew before they were"civilized" through unnatural teachings.

It is possible to drop unnatural habits. We can find our inner center and we canrediscover our ability to enjoy each minute. To do this we need no strenuousexercises or lengthy and costly analyses. All we need to do is trust our innerimpulses again and follow them.

In the following chapters we will see how we can practice the secret of Dan-Tienin daily life. But first let us take a look at its ancient origins.

CHAPTER 2

The Ancient Origins of Dan-Tien

The Best Place in the Body

The word Dan-Tien means "belly area," and ancient Chinese texts describe it as"the best place in the body." Sometimes it is also called the One-Point. InJapan it is known as Hara, which simply means "belly."

Taoist teachings reaching back four to five thousand years tell in great detailhow to be in touch with the center of vitality and joy, and how to use it as alink with the cosmic power Chi. Taoism is the Chinese folk religion that teachesthe "right way," the word Tao meaning "way" or "path." This is not a "fatherreligion" in the Western sense, but a practical philosophy of life withreligious roots.

The One-Point is said to be located just below the navel and about an inchinside the body. This point also happens to be just above the womb, the warm andprotected place where life originates. Here is the best place for the embryo togrow, where it is safely resting in the gravity center of the mother's body. Itis also surrounded by vital organs and has a good, dependable blood supply. Evenin the male anatomy, in the absence of a womb, this is the central core ofvitality. While the head, the sense organs, and other external organs areexposed and vulnerable, the One-Point in the belly is a sanctuary, a...