Dantian
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Dantian or Tan t'ien (Chinese: Dāntián 丹田; Japanese: Tanden 丹田; Korean: 단전 DanJeon 丹田; Thai Dantian ตันเถียน) which literally means "cinnabar or red field" and is loosely translated as "elixir field". It is described as an important focal point for internal meditative techniques and refers specifically to the physical center of gravity located in the abdomen three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel.
The dantian is important in qigong, neigong, tao yin and other breathing techniques, as well as for traditional Chinese medicine and is also widely used throughout East Asian meditation and martial arts theory, especially the neijia school of Chinese martial arts.
The dantian is sometimes divided into sections. The lower dantian (at the navel as described above) is associated with physical energy and sometimes sexuality. The middle dantian (at the solar plexus) deals with respiration and the health of internal organs. The upper dantian (at the third eye) relates to the "mind monkey" (Chia 2005:16), consciousness or intent, spirit or shen, and the brain.
In speaking specifically of the lower of the three points, the term dantian is often used interchangeably with the Japanese word hara (腹; Chinese: fù) which literally means simply "belly". In Chinese and Japanese tradition, it is considered the physical center of gravity for the human body and by extension the seat of one's internal energy (qi). A master of calligraphy, swordsmanship, tea ceremony, martial arts or comparable disciplines is held in the Japanese tradition to be "acting from the hara".
Buddhist teachers often instruct their students to center their mind in dantian, held to aid control of thoughts and emotions. Therefore, 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 third chakra in yoga philosophy, thought to be the seat of prana that radiates outwards to the entire body.
[edit] References
- Chia, Mantak. Cosmic Orbit: Connect to the Universe from Within. Universal Tao Publications (2005). ISBN 974-85401-4-6
- Porkert, Manfred. The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine. MIT Press (1974). ISBN 0262160587
