A Buddhist-Taoist Alchemy Practicum (Mahayana Buddhist Influences)
benebell.wen
This is a $40 online independent study course for mastering the Mandalas of Heaven cultivation work in the Taoist inner alchemy canon, keyed in alignment with the Way of Heaven, a guiding ethical principle from the Tao Te Ching.
You can learn more about the course (a cultivation practicum) here: https://benebellwen.com/2026/02/09/taoist-alchemy-course/
The material is presented in a 200+ page course textbook with workbook pages to guide your learning and reflections. You’re going to learn about the Lesser Mandala of Heaven and the Greater Mandala of Heaven, practiced in adherence with the Way of Heaven, and come away with foundational knowledge and understanding of Taoist inner alchemy (neidan) basics.
You’re getting the digital file (PDF) only, with an external link to a third-party print-on-demand site (Lulu.com) for the option to order a physical copy at-cost from Lulu (I set my earnings at $0, so I’m not getting anything from the physical print orders).
To order, PayPal $40 to abelld...@gmail.com and make sure in the notes section you identify that you’re ordering the Taoist Alchemy (or) Mandalas of Heaven course and (!!) so important (!!) provide the email address you want the course materials delivered to.
First, it’s super important for you to realize that the majority and substantive bulk of the course content is already free and publicly accessible to all. That aspect to how I share my work is really important to me. Meaning, if $40 is a bit much at this time, you’re not priced out of learning or receiving this knowledge. It may take more work to organize the content and be disciplined about how to approach learning it all, but you can 100% learn the course materials without this paid course.
What the paid course does, however, is curate the content into a living, systematized practice that anybody from any walk of life can integrate, in part or in whole, into their spiritual path in a way that amplifies their core health and the strength of their abilities.
The course is intentionally not guru or master centered, though is very much still in alignment with Mahayana Buddhist and canonical Taoist traditions. This is source-text centered, and may upon first impression feel like it’s a bit “academic,” but it’s wholly practice-oriented, I assure you.
Instead of learning from a guru or master who is interpreting (if even that…but I’ll stop here and not derail into a critical rant…) the tradition for you, I am presenting the primary source texts to you, and hand in hand, together, side by side, we will interpret those primary source texts together, glean our own insights from them, and apply our own insights to establishing a practice.
Which is a reminder to say, sure, in many places I share my thoughts and perspectives, how I interpret the source material, but it’s in the form of a conversation, not a dictation. I’m not saying it from a position of authority; I’m saying it as a friend and colleague, but maybe one who’s super-nerdy and has spent an inordinate amount of time deep-diving into these texts, commentaries on these texts, practiced the methodologies taught in these texts since early childhood, learning from multiple lineaged masters and renowned spiritual teachers in both Taoism and Buddhism, and who was born and raised in the cultural tradition these practices come from who will happily be your English-speaking guide.
I’ve spent almost a full year mulling over how best to curate this content in a way that will be highly effective for you, and is also spiritually responsible for me. And this was what I came up with.
It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’re coming from. I’ve designed this course for anyone to be able to utilize the methodology and use it to improve their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
No matter what type of occultist you are, these are core-building practices that will strengthen your baseline psychic and mediumship abilities by strengthening your inner reservoir of energy bodies.
Full course description and ordering details here: https://benebellwen.com/2026/02/09/taoist-alchemy-course/
If you’re already familiar with my process, the course is $40, send to abelld...@gmail.com via PayPal or Zelle, and note that it’s for the Taoist Alchemy or Mandala course and we’ll know what to do from there. (Be sure to include the email address you want delivery to!)
Maybe You've Got Questions About the Course Content?
If you're kinda interested, but maybe have questions, please feel free to reply to this e-mail and ask me. I will try to answer all the questions I receive, but please forgive me if I don't. I'm not ignoring you -- sometimes the email inbox just gets a bit inundated and things slip through the cracks unintentionally. Nevertheless, I'll try.
I want you to understand what the scope and objectives of such an inner alchemy course is, and I also want you to feel comfortable working with it. So please, feel free to ask me your questions.
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While I have you here, figured I’d include some related rambles…
Syncretism in Taoism (and Buddhism)
My first early childhood introduction to these Mandala practices was through the presentation of Buddhist meditation. While being taught Buddhist meditation, we were also taught by the shi fu (or masters) to focus on our inner energy bodies, carried through our breathwork, and how to guide those energy bodies within while we did mantra meditations.
Likewise, the primary source text that Taoists point to that contains the most comprehensive description we have of the Lesser Mandala (microcosmic orbit) and Greater Mandala (macrocosmic orbit) of Heaven is from a text rooted in a specific Taoist tradition that very much is a syncretism of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoist alchemy.
Not to mention the rich history in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, all across the South Pacific of merging Taoism with either more local/regional folk practices of magic or mysticism, further merged with Buddhism.
And so the people on the internet who freak out about preserving some form of purebred Taoism and are rah-rah anti-syncretism…freak me out. First, have you simply never traveled across Asia and interacted with, um, Asians who are native practitioners of these traditions born and bred?
Yes, there are lineaged traditions in Taoism that are very…trying to find nice words, trying to find nice words…they prioritize purity and go through all sorts of extraordinary exercises in an effort to preserve purity.
And then there are lineaged traditions in Taoism even older than those purity traditions that blend Buddhism with classical Taoism, depending on which regions, Hinduism or Vedic traditions with Taoism, and some from the Ming and Qing dynasties, syncretizing Christianity and Taoism. While the last one mentioned might not be my flavor, I’m certainly not going to dismiss or invalidate them.
This brings us to present day and you, yes, you. Pulling bits and pieces from either Taoism or Buddhism that enriches your spiritual life and integrating it with your preexisting practice or Path is about as “authentic” to these traditions as you can get.
You can do that and be sensitive to cultural appropriation, honoring the perspectives and platform the voices of native practitioners. They are not mutually exclusive.
Your Personal Updates & Reflections
If this isn’t your first newsletter from me, then you already know—I love hearing from you! I apologize in advance for probably not replying back to you, but rest assured I definitely read your email to me. If you were mean, you made me cry, so are you happy? If you were kind, you made smile, so thank you.
Also, my favorite emails to get are about YOU. How have you been doing? What’s going on? How’s life? Sometimes I feel like I don’t really have access to most of the world and truly getting to hear what’s going on in different necks of the woods. And I find that this newsletter can serve as a great opportunity to connect. I’ll find a weekend morning, brew my coffee or tea, and snuggle up on a comfy armchair and just read all of the messages from you all, taking pause in between each to sit and reflect, or form these thorough replies in my mind but never end up typing out and sending (sigh).
ALSO, how am I doing? Is there something specific, maybe in terms of content, or sharing of personal perspectives, that you would like to see from me that I haven’t put out there yet? These types of notes have always been super helpful to me in figuring out what works and what doesn’t. So if you’re willing to share, please tell me what Stuff you’d like to see from my platform. =)