Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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A beginner’s deep-dive into Taoist alchemy by exploring the Greater Mandala of Heaven. Companion blog post to this lecture: wp.me/p32or0-bY1

You’ll want to start with Part I on the Lesser Mandala of Heaven: benebellwen.com/2025/09/07/a-taoist-secret-to-cultivating-personal-power

Timestamps:
00:30 Alchemy: Definition and Scope
01:40 Inner Alchemy vs. Outer Alchemy
02:42 Revisiting Taoist Cosmology
04:43 The Alchemical Process: Jing → Qi → Shen → Xu
07:04 Significance of the Numbers
07:50 Taoist Numerology: Alchemical Symbols
09:56 On the Mysterious Gate 玄關
10:20 Greater Mandala of Heaven 大周天
10:50 Attainment is One with the Process
12:18 Revisiting the Lesser Mandala of Heaven
13:13 Charting the Greater Mandala
14:51 Harmonizing the Duality with the Lemniscate
18:05 Lesser is a Method (Fǎ 法); Greater is a Merit (Gōng 功)
19:44 Elements of Alchemy in Review
21:32 Taoist Theism
23:10 Rationalism in Taoist Alchemy; East vs. West

PLAYLIST, Introduction to Taoist & Buddhist Mysticism: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0x6BzLuplwZuQpc3ubW97MwPXb1mk9hE&si=1PIzdR51hFZvOhk7