《神气养形论》

When primordial chaos first divided, Heaven and Earth each came to rest in their proper places, and human beings and the myriad things each received a single Qi (vital energy)—the primordial breath that constitutes all things—and thereby took on bodily form. Moving things inherit the character of Heaven; still things emulate Earth. Between Heaven and Earth, human beings are the most spiritually refined; what can nourish the human form is only Qi and Shen (spirit). Shen is that by which the subtle and mysterious transformations of the myriad things are made known; Qi exerts its function by relying on empty, harmonious void. In the discourse of the ancients who attained the Dao (the Way), nothing is more fundamental than Qi; in their application, nothing is more subtle than Shen.

My master obtained the methods of the Dao from the Utmost Persons (those who have attained the Dao) and discerned the crucial hinge of the transformations of life and death. He constantly tastes the flavor that has no flavor, employs the use of the useless, practices the action of Wuwei (non-action), and undertakes the affairs of non-affair. Knowing that Shen and Qi can cause the bodily form to endure, he therefore holds fast to the empty and still original source in order to nourish Shen and Qi; knowing further that genuine realization can be obtained in the deep and mysteriously remote, he enters the realm of dark stillness and contemplates the most subtle nature. Seen thus, is not the space between Heaven and Earth like a great bellows? And is not the reason the Utmost Person does not die like the emptiness of a deep valley, which generates life without cease?

My master said: “Within the empty and still original source there is something called Shen; within the deep and mysteriously remote there is something called ‘acting.’ Qi is the marvelous functioning that coagulates from the empty and still original source.” Therefore the Perfected One of the Great Cavern (a Daoist honorific title) said: “If one practices inner contemplation continuously for three months, concentrating the mind-spirit within, the spiritual light will be generated and will flow and spread throughout the five viscera.” The principle in this can thus be seen.

Qi is the mother of Shen; Shen is the child of Qi. To make the child appear, one must first cultivate its mother. If Shen does not greedily seek the sensations that Qi brings, Qi can penetrate to spiritual marvel; if the child does not demand nourishment from the mother, the mother can attain harmony and smoothness. The Daodejing says: “Having obtained the mother, hold to the child; having obtained the child, hold again to the mother.” The Jade Book of Eastern Floriate says: “Hold to the child and preserve it long, and the heart will be at peace.” These are all essential secrets of cultivating authenticity.

The ears and eyes are the gates through which Shen enters and exits; Yin-Yang are the interacting forces of Qi. The ability to close the gates and still the forces depends entirely on the silent inner functioning of Shen and Qi. If Qi has that to which it returns and habituates, and Shen has that in which it takes refuge, then the apertures will have no way of opening and the cords that bind Shen and Qi will have no way of coming undone; the myriad things will each obtain their proper rectitude, clear and well-ordered, together following the wordless teaching and allowing themselves to transform in natural Wuwei.

The Daodejing says: “Looked at, it cannot be seen; listened to, it cannot be heard; grasped, it cannot be touched.” I still my inner heart and enter the realm of empty stillness and profundity, contemplating the form that cannot be seen, the sound that cannot be heard, the object that cannot be touched. When all three can be apprehended, one knows that “my destiny lies in me, not in Heaven.” The Perfected Yin said: “In inner contemplation of the spiritual light, one cannot say it is entirely without brightness; in reverse listening to the spiritual sound, one cannot say it is entirely without sound; in gathering and concentrating Jing (essence) and Shen, one cannot say it is entirely without trace.” Therefore those who cultivate the Dao can see something in looking, hear something in listening, and obtain something in grasping.

The ancient Perfected Ones did not dream when they slept and had no anxiety when they awoke. My master said: “I too do not dream; this is called the roaming of Shen. My Shen constantly wanders, unrestricted by day or night, alone in a realm of unfettered freedom, a garden that depends upon nothing—this is the joy of gathering true nature.”

I wish to take form as the newborn infant, and the newborn takes form from the Qi-mother; I wish to take form as the infant, and the infant takes on substance from the Qi-mother; I wish to take form as the Perfected One, and the Perfected One obtains numinous nature from the Qi-mother. These three cannot be separated, and so they merge into one; this one is my Shen, and Shen is within my body.

Alas for those who cultivate blindly: some visualize, some hold fast, yet they do not understand why they cling to the elixir, cling to the color azure. The heart loses what is genuine, and the eyes throw the form into disorder. Those who do not understand the bodily form cannot be spoken with about Qi; those who do not understand Qi cannot be spoken with about Shen. Only those who understand form and Shen are qualified to cultivate by relying on the Great Dao.

If Qi cannot circulate, the pure Jing-Qi cannot respond; if Shen cannot function, the genuine scene cannot become manifest. Therefore only when Shen is luminous can it command Qi, and only when Qi is concentrated can it respond to Shen. From this one knows that without cultivation Shen cannot become bright, and if Qi is not concentrated it cannot become supple. The Daodejing says: “In concentrating Qi to bring about softness, can one be like an infant?” The Huangting Jing says: “Immortals and Daoist adepts are not born with spiritual powers; it is by accumulating Jing-Qi that they succeed in becoming authentic.” This is precisely the principle.

Among later students of the Dao, some practice exhaling and inhaling the Qi of the four seasons and five directions; some ingest and guide the essences of the seven lunar lodges and of the sun and moon; still others clench the fists to symbolize the fetal form and hold the breath to practice embryonic breathing. All these practices deviate from the subtle purport of the Perfected Ones; they are merely leftover techniques already present in antiquity. To proceed in this way will on the contrary disturb the original Qi and harm the bodily form and Jing-Shen.

The Utmost Person lets the mind-spirit wander in blandness and lets Qi merge into silent vastness, as if rinsing the mouth with the mysterious spring (symbolizing the pure inner fluids), regulating the breath by taking the flavorless as nourishment. Thereupon the spiritual light shines inward, the five viscera generate numinous Qi, and naturally purple vapors rise while jade-colored radiance intermingles and shines. Reverently transmitting my master’s intent: causing white to turn to vermilion, accumulating Jing-Qi to coagulate into form, holding lingzhi in the mouth, descending into the bodily form to serve as the guardians of the true immortals. Hold to the central harmony, embrace unity, and do not lose it, and one can endure together with Heaven and Earth.