Embracing the One: Transformation Through Visualization

The Embracing the One (Bao Yi) visualization meditation method relies on the use of an illustration called "The Sexual Intercourse (or Marriage) of the Dragon and Tiger," which first appeared in the Ming dynasty text The Jade Tablet Decrees on Nature and Life, one of the most important Internal Alchemy works in all of Taoism. The Dragon represents Qi (vitality/breath), our spiritual energy; and the Tiger, the Jing (essence/the body), our sexual energy. Together they symbolize the two main aspects of the human consciousness and function, representing the ego (Dragon) and our instincts (Tiger). In Taoism, the Dragon is seen as what keeps us always in delusion of a self (ego) and the Tiger keeps us distracted by instincts (id). These two mental components are forever seeking to conquer the other. As long as the Dragon and Tiger battle in the mind (meaning, the ego attempting to overshadow the id, and the id overpowering the ego) we will remain in the state Taoism calls "perplexity and