Mantak.Chia.-.Awaken.Healing.Energy

The thyroid gland is highly vascularized and receives many times more blood in proportion to its size. It is noted for its high degree of functional activity. It is heavier in the female than in the male and becomes enlarged during sexual excitement, menstruation, and pregnancy.

The thyroid gland’s secretion is called thyroxin, which contains iodine.

The thyroid is an energy gland and its secretion is the controller of the speed of living. It affects the metabolism of practically all the tissues of the body. The principal function of the hormone is to regulate the rate of oxygen consumption, which is tantamount to the body’s metabolic rate, which can be thought of as one’s “rate of living”. This hormone is required for normal growth and development of the brian, muscle and bones and it indirectly affects the activity of other glands of internal secretion as well. Too little thyroid hormone produces a condition of sluggishness. With too much, there will be marked apprehension, alertness, nervousness, loss of weight, increased thirst, frequent urination, profuse perspiration, intolerance of heat, insomnia, frequent stools, rapid heartbeat and palpitations.

In the Taoist Approach, the energy center at the thyroid is considered to be one of the most important centers in the body because it controls the growth of the dense vehicle and mental development and it is very closely related to all of the other six energy centers under consideration. It is the great link between the brain and the organs of generation (reproductive organs). In the Taoist Esoteric System, the thyroid energy center is called Hsuan-Chi (the twelve story) and is used as an energy Center only to draw in power. It is not ordinarily included in alchemy because when it is open it is hard to protect. However, in the greater and the greatest enlightenment of the Kan & Li, we draw enormous stores of power from this energy center to alchemically mix with the power of other energy centers in order to produce an ever greater source of power.

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Pituitary Gland

The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea, situated almost exactly in the center of the head at the base of the brain and just behind the root of the nose. It hangs suspended from the underside of the brain like a cherry from the limb of a tree. It is grayish yellow in color. In the adult it weighs about five grains, or 1/1400 of a pound.

Its name is derived from the Latin word, “pituita”, because it was supposed to secret a fluid which lubricated the throat. It was believed that the secretion filtered through the porous ethnoid bone that intervenes between the pituitary body and the nasal cavity.

Tongue touches the Palate

Embryologically, the pituitary begins by manifesting as an outgrowth of the mouth cavity. This outgrowth takes the form of a pouch, which gradually extends toward the brain. By the end of the fourth week this protrusion contacts a downgrowth from the brain called the infundibulum. The pouch then develops into the anterior lobe of the pituitary, whereas the infundibulum, representing an outgrowth of the oldest part of the nervous system, develops into the posterior lobe of the gland. There is a space between the walls of the anterior and posterior parts of the gland, which persists throughout life as the cleft of the gland. The pituitary gland is divided into an anterior or front portion, which is composed of glandular tissue and a posterior or back portion, which is composed of nerve-like tissue. The anterior portion produces several hormones which stimulate distant structures such as: a growth hormone, a hormone which stimulates the adrenal cortex, a thyroid stimulating hormone and also a hormone which stimulates breast milk production and another which influences pigment production by certain cells of the skin.

The posterior part of the gland is an extension of the hypothalamus, that portion of the brain to which the pituitary is attached.

The posterior lobe of the pituitary body secretes several important hormones, two of which deserve special attention. One of them, called pitocin, has a powerful stimulating effect on the pregnant

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uterus and is frequently used in cases where labor is slow and ineffective. The other, called antidiuretic hormone, controls the salt and water content of the blood.

In animal studies, an active pituitary produces alertness. A tired or dull pituitary produces sleepiness and general dullness. During hibernation or winter sleep, an animal in cold weather passes into a cataleptic state in which it continues to breathe, more deeply but more slowly than when awake. The internal secretions of all of the glands of hibernating animals show changes during this period but the most marked effect is found in the pituitary in which the cells shrink as if they too were asleep or resting. When the spring comes, the pituitary gland cells again become normally active.

In the Taoist System, special attention is given to properly stimulate and harmonize the energy center related to this gland. Attempts have been made to mix pituitary gland energy with sources of cooler energy such as sperm and earth power. This constitutes a cauldron for cultivating the spirit in the practice called the sealing of the five sense organs.

Pineal Gland

(Human Compass)

The pineal gland is a cone-shaped body, reddish in color, about half an inch in length, and not much larger than a grain of wheat. It is attached to, and situated over, the third ventricle of the brain, weighing about two grains. It is composed, in part, of nerve cells containing a pigment similar to that present in the cells of the retina. This strengthens the argument for its function as an eye in earlier animal species.

In the Taoist terminology, the Niwan-Kung corresponds to this gland. In the cauldron, it is considered to cultivate the highest level of the spirit in the practice: Congress of Heaven. When the gland is fully developed it will tell us where our destination is.

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Yin-Tang CL-1

(Third Eye)

Pituitary Gland

Fig.B.2 Endocrine Glands

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