《学仙辨真诀》

To return to the root and restore simplicity, to bring the hun and po souls back to their original source and thereby secure the foundation of long life, no method surpasses the art of the Golden Liquid (a technique within Golden Elixir cultivation). Those who obtain it flourish; those who lose it decline. It is the most subtle method held by the Perfected Ones (zhenren) who have attained the Dao (the Way), and people cannot glimpse it in a hurried moment. Without long cultivation, accumulated good deeds, and a response born of utmost sincerity, one cannot obtain it.

The essentials of this art all lie in classics such as the Jinbi and the Cantong. Without a person who has attained the Dao to transmit their mysteries in person, one is left lost and bewildered, like trying to cross a dark sea without a boat. Master Zuo once met someone who had mastered this Dao and received a secret transmission from them. Only then did he understand that the highest principle is in fact utterly simple, and the most essential words are plain and brief. Yet this is a heavenly secret, and it was never meant to be openly revealed. Now I will briefly set down what I have received, in five essays titled Bianzhen Jue (Instructions on Discerning the Authentic), so as to distinguish right from wrong.

Discerning the Authentic

In former times, Xuanyuan (the Yellow Emperor) came to Mount Emei and sought instruction from the Perfected One of White Jade... [Note: the original text here is repetitive and incomplete, and after the phrase "the highest words are most essential" it returns to the earlier passage, so the meaning cannot be followed coherently.]

Long ago, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan came to Mount Emei to ask the Perfected White Jade (Baiyu Zhenren) about "the Dao (the Way) of True Unity" (Zhenyi). The Perfected said: "If you wish to live forever and ascend as an immortal, you must cultivate the Golden Elixir (Jindan). If you wish only to preserve the body and escape death, you must still cultivate True Unity. For this reason, the immortals of old kept it secret and would not speak of it.

"True Unity is lead. Outwardly it is black, receiving the Qi (vital energy) of the north and belonging to the Kan trigram. Kan belongs to water, and its number is one. Inwardly it is white, and white belongs to the Dui trigram of the west. Dui belongs to metal, and its number is four. If the cultivation is done properly, the Yin energy is exhausted and the Yang energy arises. This is the essence of metal transforming into the One, and the Azure Dragon receiving the talisman. The Azure Dragon dwells in the east, the position of the Zhen trigram. Zhen belongs to wood, and its number is three, so this is also called 'the Dao of the Three and the One.'

"Hence the Cantongqi says: 'When the original root is set right, the cultivation can be fitting; when the Qian trigram is first established, it cannot yet be held fast. The One is used to conceal and veil, and ordinary people cannot know it.' The Golden Liquid (Jinye) makes this clear, and in doing so it explains the method of refining the elixir. One must first set the root right. To set the root right is to seek what is real. If True Unity runs through the work from beginning to end, you can grasp its principle."

Discerning the Treasure

What is called "metal" is True Unity itself, the True Unity obtained from the work of creation and transformation. True Unity contains within it feeling and nature, and this feeling and nature is the white lead. Once transformed, it can be called cinnabar and mercury.

A respectful note: metal is the mother of water, and the mother lies hidden within the womb of her child. Water is the child of metal, concealed in the mother's womb. This means that metal and water conceive each other, as in gestation within the mother's belly. Only through creation and transformation can lead come into being, and its coming into being must also follow the seasons and the changes in Qi.

Discerning Mercury

The mercury spoken of here is not the mercury extracted from cinnabar today. It is white lead refined in the Water Palace, and it is also called "lead-mercury."

A respectful note, following Master Tao's Mercury...

The "mercury" (shuiyin) discussed here is not the mercury refined from cinnabar today. It refers to the essence that is refined from lead in the "Water Palace," and it is also called "lead-mercury." Master Tao's Huanjin shu (Techniques of Returning Gold) says: "Only the black kind is the mercury meant here, not the common mercury of the world." Therefore, whoever claims that ordinary mercury can be refined into the Golden Elixir, or that cinnabar can bring long life, is someone who does not understand the Dao and has made these claims up. Using such false teachings to mislead others only takes them further and further from the true Dao.

Distinguishing Mercury

"Mercury" is another name for the "Maiden" (chanü), and "cinnabar" is the most precious essence within lead. When the scriptures speak of "cinnabar and mercury," they mean this true secret of elixir refining. The scriptures also say that lead contains both cinnabar and mercury, just as the human body contains emotions and nature: emotions and nature are originally within a person and do not come from outside, and in the same way cinnabar and mercury are originally within the lead and are not foreign matter mixed into it.

If something external is taken for the emotions, it cannot unite with one's original nature. If ordinary mercury is substituted for the "mercury" spoken of here, it cannot unite with the lead. The scripture also says: "The Red Marrow flows out and becomes mercury." This shows that mercury is not added from outside but is a transformation of the essence within the lead.

According to the teachings of alchemy, mercury is born from the union of Heaven and Earth and the mutual stimulation of Yin-Yang. For this reason the scripture says: "The sages did not appear out of nothing; they looked up to observe the celestial signs and examined the omens of the Dao's movement." The "celestial tally" mentioned here is the proof of Heaven and Earth in union: the qi of Heaven descends, the qi of Earth responds, Yin and Yang join, and so the "Flowing Pearl" is born. The "Flowing Pearl" is also another name for mercury.

The scripture further says: "Cinnabar gives forth the father of mercury, and Wu and Ji are the mother of yellow gold." From this, the mercury refined from cinnabar cannot be called the "mercury" meant here. The "Red Marrow" of which students of the Dao speak is the essence within lead. Those who have achieved success in cultivation call mercury "quicksilver" only by borrowing a similar name. Later people, not understanding this, mistook the mercury from cinnabar for the true mercury, which is a serious misunderstanding.

From this it can be seen that "lead-mercury" is also called the "Old Maiden" (muny). The phrase "the Old Maiden by the river" refers to the everyday mercury seen in common use, not the mercury refined from cinnabar.

Master Tao said: The ancients used the hexagram images of the Yijing to compose scriptures because the Great Dao (Way) corresponds to the movement of Heaven and Earth. At the beginning, the Supreme One (Taishang) divided the single Qi (vital energy) into the two Qi of Yin-Yang. Only after Yin and Yang separated did the three powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity come to exist. Thereupon Qian and Kun turned in their courses and the myriad things each found their place; Kan and Li interacted, and Metal and Water joined together. This is the pivot of the Dao's operation.

Men and women differ, yet like male and female joining, their Qi interact and their forms respond to each other, so that transformation is without end. This is the function of the Dao. The sun and moon travel, cold and heat alternate, and fluids moisten, nurture, and circulate; these are the signs by which the Dao manifests. Yin Qi extends while Yang Qi contracts; when Yang is active, Yin lies hidden. In this going and coming, one seeks out emotion (qing) and nature (xing) and brings them into union. This is the process of the Dao's return.

These statements aim to explain how the one Qi differentiates, and to model the practice on Heaven and Earth: moving from effortful cultivation (youwei) to union with Wuwei (non-action). Does this require anything else to be accomplished? From this we know that when a single thing undergoes change, it appears under different names: female and male, return, Metal and Water, Earth and Wood, emotion and nature, dragon and tiger. Although they come from one source and bear different names, they must still be joined according to their proper categories; if they are matched wrongly, they cannot communicate with one another.

Thus the Cantong qi says: "To plant millet, one must use millet seed; to hatch a parrot, one must use its own egg." This means that lead and mercury each have their own nature and cannot be carelessly mixed and used as one. Emotion divides from nature, and nature in turn is established upon emotion; emotion and nature depend on each other and return to naturalness. This is the principle that transformation arises from true nature, and that beginning and end are mutually conditioned.

From this we know that the so-called "true mercury" is the emotion and nature contained within lead, and that primordial Qi is the root of the human being. In practicing the Way of the "Three-in-One," one harmonizes emotion and nature, and so can return to the root and revert to simplicity. The Golden Liquid method, which speaks of nourishing mercury with metal, uses this to return Shen (spirit) and Jing (essence) and restore the original source. Therefore the two functions referred to by dragon and tiger fundamentally arise from one and the same thing.

Mercury does not occupy a proper position among the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and cinnabar is not the counterpart that pairs with the dragon and tiger. Hence the scripture says: "Of different kinds and different species, how can they be joined together?" It is clear that what is discussed here is not the ordinary cinnabar and mercury of the world.

The scripture further says: "Some say to use lead, some say to use mercury." It then asks in return: if mercury is taken as primary, how are Qian and Kun to be established? How are the firm and the yielding to be distinguished? If lead must necessarily be mixed in to refine it, then from where do Metal and Water arise, and how does the process of return proceed? How then can one say that transformation comes from true nature? The phrase "to plant millet, use millet seed" precisely emphasizes using what accords with the original source.

The ancient formulas praise only the efficacy of lead and say nothing of any subtlety in mercury. Judging from this, how could the worldly cinnabar and mercury be taken as materials for cultivation? If mercury were taken as primary, with only the Qi of lead used to bring about transformation, would that not be abandoning the root and keeping the branch? And how could one then say that the "treasure within the metal" has not been cultivated?

These words suffice to show that the "mercury" and "metal" in the scripture are not worldly mercury and ordinary gold, and that the "mercury" (gong) spoken of is not the common mercury of the world. Its meaning is profound and its calculations subtle. The principles of mutual generation and overcoming among the Five Phases were also not something ordinary students of that time could grasp.

The Jinbi and the Cantong qi draw on the sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouyi and use as their bases of correspondence the seasonal divisions of the calendar, the new moon, full moon, and quarter phases, the twelve double-hours, musical pitches and calendrical systems, stellar positions, and the movements of the sun and moon. Each has its correspondences, and the meanings are hidden and hard to grasp; without someone who truly understands transmitting them orally, it is difficult to exhaust their deeper meaning. The uses of the Yang cauldron and Yin cauldron, and names such as cinnabar sand and gold sand, are widely circulated in many accounts, yet are hard to investigate thoroughly. Therefore the Cantong qi says: "The three, the five, and the one are the utmost essence of Heaven and Earth; they can be transmitted by mouth, but are hard to set down in writing."

The "Heaven" spoken of here means naturalness. If cultivation can accord with naturalness, it is like the movement of Heaven and Earth. Outwardly one should be quiet and tranquil, practicing the Way of non-action; inwardly one should cultivate with diligence, practicing the Way of effortful action.

When a mother gives birth to two children, it is like the Dao (the Way) giving rise to Yin-Yang. One is a boy and one is a girl: the male belongs to the root of Yin, and when Yin develops to its extreme it generates Yang; the female belongs to the master of Yang, and when Yang develops to its extreme it generates Yin. Yin and Yang come and go, transforming into one another, yet never lose their respective roots. The two kinds of qi (vital energy) join in secret and change into one another, never departing from their original source.

When the spleen and stomach grind and transform food, the food is naturally digested and then returns to the Later Earth (the Earth of the Five Phases, which represents the center and corresponds to the spleen). The spleen belongs to the qi of the center, and when spleen qi circulates, food can be digested. Those who study and cultivate the Dao are as numerous as hemp plants, and from ancient times to the present many have lost their way. They see the dragon but do not recognize it, and meet the tiger but do not know it. The dragon is not in the east, nor the tiger in the west; one who understands finds clarity right before the eyes, while one who is confused remains a thousand li away. If one seeks from the single source, one can clearly recognize the internal organs; if one clings to the directions of east and west in the search, it is like having eyes yet being unable to see.

Yin lies within the womb of Yang, and Yang lies within the belly of Yin. The male is white and the female is red, and they naturally unite as husband and wife. The white of the male is the marrow and bone formed from Yin jing (essence); the red of the female is the blood and flesh formed from Yang jing. This is the natural order of things, and it is what is meant by "the Li woman and the Kan man" (borrowing Neidan, or internal alchemy, terminology, with Kan and Li symbolizing the union of Yin and Yang). Plant hemp and you harvest only hemp; plant millet and you harvest only millet. If one faces lead without recognizing lead, one's labor will be in vain. A sparrow cannot give birth to a phoenix, and foxes and hares cannot raise a horse. If one uses things that do not correspond to refine the returned elixir (the result sought in Neidan practice), one will never succeed.

In the midst of the indistinct and the dim, the two things are not hard to perceive; in the depths of obscurity and darkness, the three natures naturally draw close and unite. The Hunyuan says: "Within the indistinct there is a thing; within the obscure there is jing (essence). This essence is real and not false, and within it lies its own proof." The three natures are metal, water, and earth. The three are originally one family, issuing from a single source from beginning to end. They join with one another without needing many medicines, and without mixing in miscellaneous substances such as the eight minerals or five metals. When their qi unites, it does not depend on words; because their qi mechanisms are the same, they join of themselves, and not through sacrifice or prayer. If one can master the gathering and use of lead, it is like a wildcat crouching and waiting for a mouse. One who understands the principles of lead, mercury, water, and silver will refine without mixing in other things; "the wildcat crouching for the mouse" means that this matter is not difficult.