His Holiness the Vairocana Xing-Wu

19th September,2553 in the Buddhism Calendar (26th,October,2011in AD )

Now I will teach the fasting arcanum  of Hua Zang Dharma, and introduce relative considerations.

Now I will teach the fasting arcanum of Hua Zang Dharma, and introduce relative considerations.
Fasting is very important for a meditator. Our body accumulates lots of toxins from the food taken every month. Pure Qi and Meridians are vital for a meditator to enter deep meditation. If Qi and Meridians are not pure enough, it will interfere with meditation. Since the meditator cannot reach deep concentration, there is no way for him to improve in stage level of the practice, including wisdom and Siddhi (supernatural power). As for a Dharma practitioner, especially a Zen meditater, fasting for at least three days per month is a must, and through fasting one can eliminate toxins from the body, purify the Qi and meridians, so enabling us to obtain deep meditation. A secular person tends mainly to eat meat or fish, accumulating many more toxins hidden in the body. If one can fast one day a month, the hidden toxins will be cleared away and excreted, and the organs will stay away from the invasion of toxins. In this case, one will have a healthy life. This is the first significance of fasting.

The second significance: during the fasting period, people can avoid their emotional unbalance as well as man-made obstacles and diseases derived from the toxins in the food taken every day, which has an invaluable effect on preserving harmony between mind and body.

The third significance: Fasting can directly or indirectly avoid killing living creatures; therefore it brings significant effect on improving the global ecosystem. If 1/5 population of the world can fast one day each month, then on that day there will be much less killing, thus the ecology can be balanced.

The fourth significance: we can save energy and resources during the fasting period, and use our saved energy and resources to help those suffering in difficulties and disasters.

So, fasting will benefit not only ourselves, but also others, as well as society and the ecosystem. It has boundless merit!

People can fast for 1day, 3 days, 6 days, 9 days, even 49 days, and even for several months. How can people improve their health by fasting and not starve? How can the extremely thin person gain some weight and the overweight person lose weight? The reason is that during the fasting period, our body can automatically adjust itself, and achieve the overall balance both physically and mentally.

Now I will demonstrate the unique “Arcanum Of Fasting” in Hua Zhang Dharma：
1. You should drink as much water as possible during the fasting period, unless you are in a seclusion period. The water you drink helps to eliminate the toxins accumulated in the body, thus accelerating the detoxification process.
2. You may eat a few fruits.
3. During fasting, the stomach still functions. So people feel hungry and tired. There is a helpful method called “Arcanum of Fasting” as follows:

Firstly, Keep your feet parallel like the number “11”, with the feet at shoulder width. Put your hands naturally on the side of your body, with both palms facing each other. Gradually lift up the arms, at the same time, inhale deeply through your nose. The breath should be deep, long and slow.
Now I will show you.
During the first inhaling, lift both arms to shoulder height, — inhale deeply, slowly and lengthily, imagine Qi is lifted up from the Yongquan points.
Next, continue to inhale, stretching out the arms and extending the chest and abdomen.——
That is fine. Inhale fully until you can inhale no more, then take a little pause. ——
Pull your arms toward each other, exhaling through your mouth, instead of your nose.——
Back to the first action, then turn your palms facing the ground, drop the hands naturally. Exhale at the same time ——
It is emphasized that you should inhale from the Yongquan points very slowly, until the body is full; Don’t visualize while exhaling. And you should breathe out slowly through your mouth.
You should repeat this set of movements 6 times. After 6 times, the circulation of Qi and Blood will be vitalized, and you will feel energetic and refreshed. Your hunger will disappear accordingly.
Now, I will demonstrate one complete movement.
Points to note is that the movement I completed just now was one breath. If the beginner can not do the whole movment with one breath, you can divide it.

The first step, raise up the arms to the shoulder height, this is the first inhaling. The next step, extend the arms to both sides, this is the second inhaling.
Then pull your arms back during exhaling，tilt the palms little up. You will feel your palm, especially the fingertips tremble and tingle, as if a current is circulating. And then drop down the arms slowly.
When the hands are back to the original place, you may feel the Qi and blood circulation all over your body, especially the current running in the palms and soles. At the same time, no matter how cold the weather is, you can still feel warm and sweat after 6 sets of movement.

I hope the practitioners and the secular people follow this fasting method. It is emphasized that you should limit your desire and purify your mind during fasting period. This is not only good for your self-improvement and physical health, but also invaluable for the promotion of ecological balance and saving resources and energy.

(The text is based on the recording)

Before the movement starts, recite “Vairocana Heart Mantra” 3 times
The mantra is as follow:
ang shi wa ni hong bi ben ni lou

After the movement, recite” Vairocana abhiṣecana Mantra (prat 3) ”one time.
mo duo wa mi di lan di
rui wa mo ruo bo
shi ni suo lu na lou ong hong
duo po jie
bo fu lou nei ye