There’s something I’d like you all to understand. What you are
practicing now is inner alchemy. The food you eat involves an outer
alchemy. Many people today believe that by simply eating correctly
the body will be brought to harmony. This is not true. If your body is
not prepared your organs will not work together properly and all
that good food will be wasted because it will not be utilized prop-
erly. It is common knowledge that under stress digestion and as-
similation are hampered and that under extreme stress v there
can be an overall emptying of food contents. Of greater impor-
tance, then, is the cultivation of the inner alchemy. With no exag-
geration, if the inner alchemy is balanced, the outer will take care
of itself. In the higher level, when our bodies are in perfect balance,
we can get along with little food, or no food at all.
Student: Is it important for a husband and wife to meditate to-
gether?
Master Chia: When you practice as a family you will all change,
becoming more harmonious. I have a student who told me that
whenever she concentrated on her navel in the morning and her
husband moved his leg she could feel the energy in her own leg go
into his. In a short time she observed that his overall health had
improved and he was no longer burdened with frequent headaches
and colds. Another of my students, Richard Wu, rid himself of his
allergies through Taoist Yoga. When his wife found herself simi-
larly afflicted she asked to learn the method so that she too could
find relief. It took her just one day to complete the micro orbit. Her
husband came to me pleased by her accomplishment but puzzled,
too, because it had taken him months to do the same thing. I ex-
plained that that was not unusual and that their energies flowed in
sympathy because they lived together and that being with a person
who practices can lead to such results.Chapter XII