《玉清金笥青华秘文金宝内炼丹诀》

Jade Purity Golden Casket: The Secret Writings of Qinghua on the Golden Treasure of Internal Refining and the Elixir Formula, Volume One

Composed by the Perfected Ziyang, Zhang Pingshu

Memorial Presented to the Throne

Your servant, heedless of the risk of thunderous punishment, ventures to set out his humble views. Throughout my life I have endured many hardships, and my undertakings have often failed. Now past the age of thirty, I alone have been fated to encounter the great Dao (the Way). Looking back, I see that Heaven's earlier frustration of all my efforts was meant to preserve me so that I might accomplish something today. Such kindness is profound; your servant holds it in his heart and will never forget it.

Of late I have come to see clearly that among all the people under Heaven, none lacks the capacity for cultivating the Way. Yet they hurry about in the dusty world, wearing down their true origin (the vital Qi and Jing, essence, that life inherently holds), sinking ever deeper; they cast themselves aside to chase after external things, and by the time they wish to turn back and seek themselves, it is already hard to recover. External things cannot cultivate the Way and remain forever a different kind of being, which is truly lamentable. Yet I, who cannot free myself, pity others instead, like a frog in the mud mocking a chicken on the fence.

Recently I received the transmission of the Golden Treasure of Internal Refining and Elixir Formula for Long Life and Delivering the World, from the Golden Casket of Jade Purity, by the Perfected Qinghua. This method of internal refining (a form of alchemy focused on inner cultivation of body and mind), is simple and easy to practice, explained thoroughly without being cumbersome. It takes one's own body as the pivot of the transformations of Yin-Yang, and establishes the crucial points of the Four Images (the four states of Yin-Yang change) within the body as a vessel. One constantly guards the "Three Centers" (the three central places or key points referred to in internal refining) as the essential means of application, with the Shen (spirit) focused on one point, never departing from the method while carrying it out. In practice, one appears to be applying techniques, yet in truth is not attached to the application; in stillness, the essential Qi endures.

Any discerning person need only read it to grasp its essential meaning, as though holding the work of creation in the palm of the hand. Now I wish to fast and bathe, concentrate my thoughts, and set down the formula in diagrams and explanations, revealing its ultimate and most profound meaning without concealment, selecting what is fit for transmission so that the lamp of the Dao and its methods may be passed on and handed down for ten thousand generations. This would truly be a fine undertaking.

Yet when this method was first transmitted to me, the oaths were exceedingly severe, and my master repeatedly cautioned that it must not be carelessly divulged, lest punishment be incurred. Many times I have wished to take up the brush, only to hesitate, and I do not know how many times I have wavered back and forth until now. Your servant respectfully entreats…

The Supreme One (Taishang, the Daoist honorific for the highest deity) cherishes life and values above all the salvation of humankind. So I prostrate myself in the dusty world and gaze quietly toward the heavens, hoping the Celestial Court will compassionately understand my intent. If it is not permitted, may a subtle and manifest punishment be shown at once. If I am pardoned and allowed, let me be calmed, so that I may dare to carry out what I have said above.

I petition the Celestial Court once more. Your servant is filled with trepidation, bows a hundred times with forehead to the ground, and is endlessly grateful. Not long ago I submitted a memorial to the Court, wishing to illustrate and explain the principles of the Secret Instructions of the Golden Treasure for Internal Refining and Salvation of the World, from the Jade Pure Golden Casket of the Perfected One of Qinghua, which sets out the secrets of Neidan (internal alchemy), and to transmit them to those who possess the Dao (the Way). I waited in my thatched hut for heaven's punishment. More than thirty days passed and none descended. Only then did I dare to fast, bathe, burn incense, and compose my spirit to write. After three days the work was complete, and I stored it in a fa si (a casket for keeping Daoist ritual texts) to await a worthy person. Now I respectfully copy it out and submit it, begging the Court's compassion and pardon. I also hope that everyone will follow this method to refine the Golden Elixir and transcend the mortal world, passing it down through the generations without leaking the secret method or treating it lightly. With trepidation I bow a hundred times and respectfully submit this memorial.

Preface to the Treatise on the Diagrams of the Golden Elixir

Ever since I learned the secret of the Golden Elixir, I repeatedly offended against heaven's will without realizing it. I also wrote profound Daoist books, including the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Perfection), and these have circulated in the world. I thought I had given them my full effort.

Suddenly a guest came to visit, of extraordinary appearance and bearing, and I received the visitor with respect. Someone asked: "You have taught the way of the Golden Elixir, and you have certainly given it your full effort. But the principles are not yet clear from beginning to end, and the key points remain obscure. How are later students to understand?"

Hearing this, I felt the same and had no choice but to explain further. The workings of heaven are of the greatest weight, and the precepts of the Mysterious Gate are very strict. Yet what you say is right, and how could I dare not comply? The guest said: "Simply write a single book and explain the contents thoroughly. If heaven's rebuke comes of it, I will bear it myself." However, at this point the original text turns to phrases such as "some pass remains obscure; how can later students recognize it?", and the connection of meaning is unclear. The general sense of the surviving text is that the guest pointed out that the key points remain obscure and hard for later students to discern, and that the author was therefore obliged to explain further.

The celestial mechanism (tianji, the profound secret teachings of the Dao) is of the utmost importance, and the mysterious statutes (xuanlü, the precepts and prohibitions of Daoism) are equally solemn. "What you say is truly subtle and profound; how could I dare not obey?" The person replied, "Simply write all of this down as a book and transmit it without holding anything back. If punishment should come as a result, I will bear it myself." I bowed once more and respectfully accepted his words, whereupon he vanished without a trace. I pondered his words again and again, and so I wrote this book. Now that the celestial mechanism has already been revealed, let it be passed on! Those who receive the transmission should treat it as a supreme treasure and accept it with reverence; the mysterious statutes will bind them in this matter.

Anyone who treats the secret methods with disrespect or divulges them will fall into hell, and the calamity will also extend to seven generations of their ancestors.

On the Heart-Mind as Sovereign.

The heart-mind is the dwelling place of Shen (神, spirit), meaning the human spirit and its numinous quality. It is also where many subtle principles converge, and the root that governs all things. A person's nature (xing) and life (ming), the fundamental root of existence, both reside in the heart-mind. Those who study the Dao (道, the Way) must first understand this one word, "heart-mind"; everything else comes afterward. For this reason, I am passing these teachings on to you.

Zhang Ziye, the "wild man" (here referring to Zhang Pingshu, a cultivator who lived in seclusion in the mountains), returned from Chengdu to the mountains of his homeland in a patched robe and built a dwelling amid green hills and clear waters. The place was quiet and open, and Zhang was at ease there, as though he had attained some insight. Someone in the marketplace said, "The disgraced Zhang Pingshu has come back to the mountains!" The scholars who had followed Zhang hurried over, stood in the courtyard, and bowed before Zhang in tears. They said, "Master, have you been well all this time? We have crossed mountains and rivers and passed through dangerous places, wandering for ten years now. Yet our faces show no obvious aging, and our bodies feel no fatigue. Is there some method behind this?"

Master Zhang said, "Ah, let me tell you. Why do people become haggard and withered? What makes them so? It is the heart-mind. Affairs rush in one after another; one thought is not yet finished before another follows, and there is not a moment's rest all day long. At night, when one sleeps, it seems the mind has no thoughts, but in truth Shen is simply not in a state of clarity. I have no other secret; I am only able to settle my heart-mind. Ghosts and spirits can fathom a person's thoughts because there are thoughts in that person's heart-mind. When the heart-mind holds no thoughts, the spirit's luminous perception has nothing to work upon. It is not that the spirits fail to know my heart-mind; rather, I myself no longer cling to the notion that 'this is my heart-mind.' That is the root of stability."

A disciple asked, "Then should those who cultivate the Golden Elixir quiet the heart-mind or not?" Master Zhang replied, "As for the word 'stillness,' if one can truly achieve it, the Golden Elixir can be completed in peace. But it is very difficult." The disciple said, "If you say it this way, Master, I fear later students will be misled." Master Zhang then asked the disciple to explain the reasoning.

The disciple said, "When you ordinarily discuss the way of the Golden Elixir, Master, you often lead people to give rise to thoughts and to treat intention as the master of creation and transformation. How can the heart-mind be still like that?" Master Zhang said, "You see only one side; it is not that my words mislead people. Look at what stirs your own heart-mind in ordinary life. The heart-mind is originally silent and unmoving, yet it responds when stirred; this is its function. Your wandering to the ends of the earth without a fixed home is also the heart-mind at work.

"Polaris, the North Star, does not move itself, yet the surrounding stars appear to revolve around it; it acts as a pivot that turns the stars. The alchemist uses the heart-mind in the same way: there is application within non-movement, and within movement the root of non-movement is still preserved. The benevolent person applies intention by holding to stillness within stillness. To be as insensible as earth or wood is merely to be stagnant and inert. The two are not the same.

"The heart-mind sits at the center of the body. The eyes, the two kidneys, and the three apertures (the bodily openings spoken of in cultivation) are all connected to it, but these are not enough to explain its subtle function. The true subtle function lies in this: Shen obeys the heart-mind's command, Qi (气, vital energy) returns to its corresponding aperture, and Jing (精, essence) follows the heart-mind's summons. When the heart-mind does not chase after outer things, Shen is stored within. When the heart-mind is balanced, Qi is balanced; when Qi is balanced, the body is harmonized, and it then resonates with the Qi of heaven and earth. Excessive joy or anger throws the movement of Qi into disorder, because joy and anger arise from the heart-mind. When Jing stirs during sexual union, that too is set off by the intention of the heart-mind. When the heart-mind is clear and still, thoughts are clear and still; when thoughts are clear and still, Jing is settled.

"Ah, only when the heart-mind becomes still can the body be harmonized. When it is still, it does not race outward, and it can remain balanced and clear. To sum it up in one word, it is 'stillness.' In this way Jing, Qi, and Shen can be put to use. This use of Jing, Qi, and Shen is an inner activity that arises after stillness reaches its utmost; it is not the restlessness of ordinary speech. It is the employment of Jing, Qi, and Shen in inward cultivation. Jing is Jing, Qi is Qi, and Shen may also be called the foundation of nature (xing). Why is Shen the foundation of nature? Because when the heart-mind is still, Shen is whole; when Shen is whole, one's original nature manifests.

"To sum it up once more in a single word, it is still 'stillness.' Stillness has its own principle. Imagine sailing downstream: the boat goes swiftly, and one travels onward, wishing to roam to the islands of the sea without feeling bodily fatigue. Then suddenly one remembers home and longs for peace, and hurriedly turns the sail to head back against the wind. Returning home is precisely the principle of seeking stillness. But if a person has long been far from tranquility, and only after losing it begins to search for it again, how could one possibly become still in a single day? One should first reflect on how to return to tranquility, and only then can one truly be at peace. Having understood past errors, one should pursue what is right in the present. If past errors are still constantly being committed, where is the right to be found? A poem says:

Long ago I fell from the golden ladder into the emerald green of the mountain cliffs. Looking back now on Langyuan (the legendary realm of the immortals), I wonder how many flowers have bloomed there. Where is the Great Dao (the Way) that I once sought? If the weeds are not pulled, the brambles will only pile up thicker.

Oral Formula

As soon as a stray thought arises, recall whatever ordinarily keeps your Shen (spirit) from settling. That is precisely the obstacle that hinders cultivation, and you should let it go at once. Only through long practice of this will you become proficient. Jing (essence) depends on Qi (vital energy) for its birth. When Jing fills the kidney palace, Qi then causes it to fuse, so Jing rises with Qi and is transformed into the Yang "lead." If Jing is full but primordial Qi has not been stirred, and primordial Yang does not appear, what benefit is that to me? When the primordial Shen manifests, primordial Qi is stirred; when primordial Qi is stirred, primordial Jing is produced.

On Intent as Go-Between

Is "intent" (yi) merely a go-between? From the beginning of the Golden Elixir's cultivation to its end, nothing can be done without the work of intent. Intent arises from the heart, but it is enough that the heart does not run after intent. If the heart is led around by intent, that is not right.

On Kan and Li

Kan refers to the kidney palace, and Li to the heart-field. When Kan is still it belongs to water, and when it moves it belongs to fire; when Li moves it belongs to fire, and when it is still it belongs to water. At the moment of their meeting, the heart-field is quiet while the kidney region is stirring. Is this not true Yang below and true Yin above? Moreover, intent is born of the heart and descends straight to the kidneys, while Yang Qi rises from within the kidneys and ascends directly to the Yellow Court (the central region in internal cultivation). This is why it is said that the positions and movements of Kan and Li must be inverted. If they are not inverted and instead follow their ordinary course, the heart's fire cannot be stilled, and it will be as though the whole earth had become a pit of fire. See the "Diagram of Union."

First I will explain how to guard the mind, and then turn to the practical methods for getting started. At the outset, one may wish to quiet the mind, yet stray thoughts have still not ceased. These thoughts arise from the "temperamental nature" (qizhi zhi xing, the acquired nature shaped by one's bodily endowment and habits). It binds the original, true nature, and it most easily begins through the eyes and ears. If a cultivator of the elixir has nothing weighing on the mind, external things have no opportunity to bind them. Things can drive the Shen (spirit) only because they have first stirred a person's heart-mind.

When sitting in stillness, one first practices closing the breath. By closing the breath, I mean that when one breath is about to end and the next is about to follow, one lets the following breath wait a moment before it continues. With gradual practice, the breathing settles. Even if one holds back the breath a thousand or ten thousand times, one should not let the mind be stirred by it. Once the mind stirs, thought chases after the breath, and before the breath has settled, the mind is already in disorder.

Someone nearby laughed and said, "This method is far too clumsy! You tell people to hold back the breath yet forbid them to stir the mind. Isn't that like making them carry a load of a thousand jun and then forbidding them to use any strength?" The reply was: "Listen to me first. If, while closing the breath, you can still keep hold of your thoughts, the mind does not stir, and the breath settles of itself." Another asked, "How can closing the breath guarantee that stray thoughts will not arise?" The answer was: "Once stray thoughts have already arisen, it is too late. They appear only when external things move us. When you are in stillness and notice that the eyes have seen something, the Shen has been drawn away by the eyes, and you should at once call the mind back. If the ears have heard something, the Shen has been drawn away by the ears, and you should at once turn to listen inwardly. The other senses are the same."

The questioner said, "Hearing one point from you, I understand much more. If I simply withdraw my Shen and guard my mind, the Shen will be gathered in and the mind will become still." The reply was: "Guarding the mind is for nourishing the nature. The beginning of nourishing the nature lies in not letting the Shen scatter; if it is not nourished, one will in the end lose the nature. Guarding the mind in fact begins with gathering the mind. What we call gathering the Shen is nothing more than the function that emerges when the mind is gathered."

Practicing in this way over a long time, one can reach a state in which one sees as though not seeing and hears as though not hearing, forgetting the distinction between body and consciousness and uniting with the supreme Dao. At that point the "original nature" (yuanxing, the primordial nature) will manifest, and the "original Qi" (yuanqi, the primal vital energy) will arise.

On Essence and Spirit

"Shen" (神, spirit) refers to a person's original nature, the fundamental mind-nature. I have already discussed at some length the principle that spirit is the master. Now it occurs to me that those who cultivate the alchemical method must understand how to concentrate the spirit, and that this concentration should be neither hurried nor attempted prematurely. For this reason I write this further discussion, and later I will draw a diagram of the "Chamber of Spirit" (the inner place where spirit is settled and preserved) with an explanation.

To concentrate the spirit means to let Shen merge into Jing (精, essence) and Qi (气, vital energy). Jing and Qi depend on one another by nature, and Shen, too, clings to them. Why place such special weight on Shen here? Because Shen is the master of Jing and Qi. From the union of the practitioners, through the gathering of the medicine, and on to the application of fire (the regulation of heat according to the alchemical method), it is Shen that directs Jing and Qi. If one forcibly fixes Shen within Qi at the very start, before the Qi has settled, Shen will not rest peacefully in it, and the medicine (the Jing, Qi and related substances of Neidan, 内丹, internal alchemy) will be harmed instead.

Moreover, Shen is the original nature. When that nature has only just been found, it is not yet stable. It still wavers, advancing and retreating, present one moment and gone the next. At such a time it must be made to settle, but how could nature settle of its own accord? What settles it is the existing foundation of body and mind, upon which nature is gradually steadied. At the outset we were told to seek the original nature within physical form, so how could one cling to form in order to chase after nature?

Students today are often misled by the teaching of "concentrating the spirit." Why? Because the immortals' tradition contains the saying "at the start, first concentrate the spirit," and some people quote it carelessly and lead others astray. They do not realize that concentrating the spirit really means stilling stray thoughts so that Shen returns to the heart. When Shen returns to the heart, the whole substance of nature (xing, 性, one's inherent mind-nature) appears. Once that substance appears, every action in its use is governed by Shen, and each thought stays with the Golden Elixir (the central aim of Neidan practice). Therefore, once the elixir is formed, Shen naturally returns to it. What need is there to concentrate it deliberately?

Thus it is said that concentrating the spirit means merging Shen into Jing and Qi, so that Jing, Qi and Shen become one, and from this the Yang Spirit (the purely yang spirit of Neidan) is born. Only at that point does this body become something that can be cast aside. Who would say otherwise? I heard these principles from my teacher Du; Master Du heard them from Master Yuan; and Master Yuan heard them from Heaven.

On the Illusory Elixir

The Elixir (Dan) condenses out of emptiness and illusion into a single whole, and the Yang Spirit (Yang Shen, the pure-yang spiritual form that practitioners speak of) comes into being. Only at this point does the physical body begin to become a useless thing. Who could say otherwise? I heard this from my Teacher of Deliverance (the master who transmits the methods of the Dao), who heard it from the Teacher of Distance, who in turn heard it from Heaven.

On the Illusory Elixir

The "illusory elixir" refers to the elixir formed when students of the Dao, not understanding the true Way, recklessly gather, refine, and unite their energies, producing a false and insubstantial Dan. It is called illusory because the mind has not yet settled, yet the practitioner is already eager to seize the so-called "one Yang" (the first stirring of Yang qi in internal alchemy, or Neidan). This "one Yang" is not the true, pre-Heaven Yang. It is merely the breath. The so-called "Jing" (essence) is not the primordial pre-Heaven essence but the semen produced by sexual desire, and the so-called "Shen" (spirit) is not the primordial pre-Heaven spirit but the thoughts of lust and craving. A person who has only just begun to study the Dao and is already rushing to become an immortal is surely driven by desire. When desire sets the union in motion, Yang qi (vital energy) appears in response, and the illusory elixir is formed from it.

Jing is stored in the kidneys. If it is drawn upward to the area above the navel but has no place to settle, it follows the breath and lodges on the right side of the qi cavity (the place in Neidan where qi gathers). The meridians and breath between the navel and the kidneys bind together and linger there, and people call this the "Dan." Since the elixir is formed in this way, and the Jing and Shen used in it are all post-Heaven things, where then is the pre-Heaven? The so-called Yellow Court (Huangting), inner furnace, outer furnace, Niwan, and other sites only become manifest after the pre-Heaven has been established. Before that, they do not in fact exist.

This kind of practice is no more than catching shadows by listening to the wind, searching the sea for the toad, standing by a tree stump waiting for a hare, or climbing a tree to look for fish. One day it will be exposed, the Jing and Qi will be scattered, and the pre-Heaven qi will lose its support. Alas, this is not an alchemical method for long life but a practice that shortens it. There are also those who draw qi upward and meet the qi of the heart's blood, so that the blood congeals into a solid mass, which is likewise called an illusory elixir. Cases of this kind are many, so I have singled them out here to dispel the confusion.

On Catching the Elixir

Can the Golden Elixir (Jindan) also be lost from within the body? Answer: it can. Is there a way to retrieve it? Answer: there is. Yet it is not that the elixir has truly run away. It is only that the gate was not secure, so it seemed to slip out. An elixir fabricated by the imagination can indeed be lost, but the true Golden Elixir carries no such danger.

How can one tell that the Golden Elixir has left the cauldron? When the elixir is in the cauldron, it holds the pure Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). When the Qi of one's own Five Phases draws near the furnace, the two resonate and stir one another. If one suddenly feels Qi dispersing upward and outward, but there is no corresponding resonance within the body, this shows that the elixir is no longer in its original place.

At this moment one must quickly put down everything and enter a state of profound stillness. The furnace, the cauldron, and whether the elixir is still there should all be set aside for the time being, in a realm of non-being. After a day or a night, one will perceive where it is hidden. It may be in the heart, liver, spleen, or kidneys, or it may be hidden in the orifices throughout the body. Once one knows where it lies, one should keep watch over it continuously and gently, not letting it scatter. After this, one moves on to another place, and after about a day, gathers it in with the intention. It will then descend directly to the Yang Palace. Once it reaches the Yang Palace, one uses the intention again just as in the gathering, and it will rise back along its original path into the Yang Cauldron. When the mystery of creation and transformation reaches this point, who can say it is not real? If anyone has another explanation, that person is my teacher.

On the Divine Water and the Flowery Pool

The Divine Water is the Wood fluid; the Flowery Pool refers to an orifice below the Qi point within the navel, between the two kidneys. It closely resembles the Yellow Court (Huangting, an important region within the body in Daoist inner cultivation). Here, grain Qi is transformed into Jing (essence) and Qi, and what physicians call the "essence point" is this very place. In the young and strong, this orifice...

The Divine Water (Shenshui) is the Wood-fluid. The Flower Pool (Huachi, an inner-cultivation term for the place in the body where essence is generated) is an orifice located below the qi point at the navel, between the two kidneys, and it closely resembles the Yellow Court (Huangting, a Daoist neidan term for the central region of the body). Here the grain-qi (the refined qi transformed from food and drink) produces Jing (essence), which physicians call the "essence point."

In the young and strong, Yang qi is abundant and the breath is harmonious. The essence produced by the Divine Water and the Flower Pool serves only to irrigate the furnace and cauldron and nourish the spleen and stomach, circulating within the body and moistening the qi point. In those whose original qi is weak and whose essence is exhausted, this place must be relied upon as the very foundation of refining the elixir. By "weak original qi" I do not mean that the innate original qi itself has diminished, but that the temperament received after birth has been badly depleted. When perverse desires never cease, the innate qi cannot manifest, and the postnatal qi is insufficient to do its work. This is probably the root of bodily weakness.

The Flower Pool orifice generates essence, and the essence then descends to the external kidneys (the genitals). When qi is abundant, essence is plentiful; when essence is plentiful, the vitality of the Flower Pool flourishes, and there is more than enough to draw upon. In those with depleted qi, the original essence has already withered, and wherever the grain-qi arrives it produces only a thin watery fluid that flows into the kidney chamber and nothing more.

Yet I have already entered stillness. The original qi has neither increased nor decreased, but the Flower Pool no longer produces essence, and so one of the three great medicines needed for refining the elixir is missing. Therefore, when Yang qi has only just begun to arise and the time for gathering the medicine directly has not yet come, one must use intention to guide the breath back to the Weilu (the coccyx gate at the end of the spine), then straight up along the Jiaji (the passage within the spine) to the Niwan (the Mud Pellet, an inner-cultivation site in the head). In this way, the essence in the essence point rises naturally with the breath. When it reaches the Wu palace (the location of the heart), and is blended with the Yang qi of the whole body, the essence can be taken. It is then made to descend to the heart, where mercury is drawn from the heart (mercury being a neidan term for the heart's spirit or qi), and then it goes down in sequence to the Yellow Court and settles there. After that, it is sealed with intention and tended continuously and without interruption.

Essence and mercury blend and combine within the body, and only then is the elixir refined. Recently there is a school in western Zhejiang that uses this method to form the elixir even for the young and strong, which is like abandoning what is near to seek what is far. Still, each person merely holds fast to their own doctrine.

On the Hundred Orifices

The human body has a total of eighty-four thousand pores (maoqiao) and three hundred eighty-four qi palaces (qigong). The pores are distributed throughout the body, and all of them connect to the qi point (qixue) at the navel; this point is the central pivot of the three hundred eighty-four qi palaces. The Yang palaces are all transformed into Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy). The heart is the middle Dantian (energy center), and the crown of the head is the upper Dantian. Beneath the tongue lies the "Mysterious Breast" (xuanying, the key passage of the qi channel under the tongue), and within the eyes lies the "Silver Sea" (yinhai, an inner-landscape name for the eye region). Orifices and cavities are also found at the center of the forehead, between the eyebrows, at the junction of mouth and nose, around the ears and eyes, on both sides of the throat, and between the waist and flanks.

The places I have described as the entering and exiting points of the cinnabar qi (Danqi) can all store it, as these various cavities do. How could one say that the human body has only one or two such cavities? The one or two cavities that are spoken of are merely the pivots of the many; how could one suppose that the cavities are limited to these? What has been said above concerns their form; their specific functions will be explained separately in the later text.

End of the first volume of the Yuqing Jinsi Qinghua Miwen Jinbao Neilian Dan Jue (Jing, scripture).

Yuqing Jinsi Qinghua Miwen Jinbao Neilian Dan Jue, Middle Volume

Composed by the Perfected Zhang Pingshu, Master of Purple Yang (Ziyang Zhenren)

Illustrated Explanation of Gathering the Medicine and Refining the Elixir

To "gather" is to gather the "true Yang" in the kidney palace; to "take" is to take the "true mercury" in the field of the heart. One may gather only when the moment is right, and only then does the gathering take effect. If one gathers before the time has come, the result is what is called "the dragon does not descend and the tiger does not rise." Even when one feels blood and Qi rushing about and surging up and down, a deluded person mistakes this for the union of Yin-Yang. Such a person does not know that Li and Kan each remain Li and Kan: within Yin lies true Yang, within Yang lies true Yin, and each rests quietly in its own place.

If the Qi channels are blocked by a single thought, the Qi rushes into the meridians in haste and injures the "lead and mercury" (a Neidan term, here referring to the Yin-Yang essence and Qi within the body) in the midst of Li and Kan. Though one claims to be nourishing Qi, one may in fact be depleting primordial Qi. Primordial Qi within the body appears only in utmost stillness, and that is pre-heaven Qi. Post-heaven Qi circulates at every moment, but people, disturbed by desires, cannot discern it carefully. Only when one is slightly settled and free of other thoughts does one notice the rising and falling of Qi. If one mistakes this post-heaven Qi for pre-heaven Qi and gathers it, one harms the body. This is why practitioners in recent times so often suffer strange illnesses.

Illness in the human body is, in the end, a matter of blocked Qi channels. Qi harmonizes itself by nature. If one forcibly drives it upward, one damages the spleen, stomach, lungs and liver, as well as the ears, eyes, mouth and nose. If one forcibly drives it downward, it is like releasing water from a long embankment: it rushes out in a torrent that cannot be stopped. How could such a method preserve the most true and genuine thing?

I pity those who speak of the methods of the elixir, and so I have placed the "Diagram of Gathering and Taking" first. Although this directly reveals the secrets of Heaven, there are those who set their hearts on the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and instead harm their lives because of it, so I use correct principles to set them right. Taishang (the Supreme One, an honorific for the highest deity or the great Dao) loves to protect life and will surely not blame me. Therefore this chapter uses metaphors such as the knife-measure (daogui), the dark and yellow, the infant, and the maiden to sweep away all manner of misunderstanding. Those with insight may draw on it to comprehend, and the deluded may suddenly awaken, as a precious mirror reflects a form so that even the finest details appear clearly.

Those who cultivate the Golden Elixir should first accumulate hidden virtue and fulfill their human duties, and then practice according to the principles set out earlier. Only then will the great medicine arise and the diagrams of the elixir method become clear. The method of gathering and taking arises from the heart. The heart is the pivot of the transformation of all things, so one must first forget the heart in order to find it. The "forgetting" spoken of here means forgetting the ordinary heart that discriminates and calculates; the "seeking" means seeking the true heart. When, within forgetfulness, a trace of intent to seek arises, that is the true heart. Only in a state of trance-like stillness does one see the true heart. Once it appears, true intent arises from it, and one turns the inner light of Shen (spirit) back to illuminate the body. Then one can perceive every part of the body, and the primordial Jing (essence) shows signs of life. The essential point is to generate something from nothing and nothing from something. When one reaches this stage, even the true heart must be forgotten, with no further clinging.

If one does not deliberately seek anything, the true breath will continue unbroken. When the true breath is steady, post-heaven Qi also settles; when post-heaven Qi recedes, pre-heaven Qi appears, and this is "the arising of Yang." The arising of Yang means that pre-heaven Qi flows out from the Qi cavity (a Neidan term for the place where the movement of Qi begins in the body) and enters the kidneys, feeling like bubbles welling up. Between the two kidneys runs a fine channel leading to the Qi cavity, said to be a pathway that began to form only after one's parents united and conceived. When pre-heaven Qi moves through it and one truly feels the Qi surging, the meridians of the whole body open up like all things sprouting in spring and gradually grow full. Only then is pre-heaven Qi established, and once it is established, post-heaven Qi withdraws still further. After this, one may begin to raise a slight intent of gathering and taking.

The "intent" spoken of here means letting the gaze rest downward on the heart, then relaxing the heart and sending it into the Yang palace (a Neidan term for the place where Yang Qi stirs), slowly drawing in and releasing, so that Yang Qi rises. The author holds that the intent to gather arises from the heart, and the heart is moved by the gaze, hence the saying "the eyes watch the heart, the heart gives rise to intent, and intent gathers the lead." When the true breath is steady, the inner brightness becomes the light of Shen. This heart is the true heart; the true heart gives rise to intent, and the light of Shen illuminates the inner heart.

If Yang Qi has not yet fully blended and grown strong, and one hastily tries to gather it, then as soon as the thought of gathering arises, post-heaven Qi stirs again. Therefore the key to refining Jing into Qi, to cultivating life, lies in cultivating nature. "Nature" here means that all forms that can be seen and grasped are illusory; when one does not cling to form, illusion is dispelled and truth appears. When truth has only just become clear, if a clinging thought arises again, does one not fall back into illusion? So one must wait until Yang Qi has been fully nurtured before gathering. Then Yang Qi will rise with great strength, pre-heaven Qi will be abundant, and post-heaven Qi will have no chance to disturb it.

The movement of Qi during gathering also varies. It travels upward gently and pauses briefly at the navel; it then rises slowly and comes to rest above the navel, and only then is it called "lead-metal." Metal generates water, hence the saying "mercury is born of the heart." Expressions such as "clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger" likewise use metaphor to describe signs of the interaction of Qi. After the wind calms, rain falls, and lead and mercury naturally join, as if swallowing one another. Metal generates water, water generates wood, and wood in turn generates fire; between wood and metal there is both affection and conquest, and this is the way of union. Metal conquers wood yet seems to both love and hate it, which is the original nature of metal and wood. The author borrows the natures of the Five Phases (Wuxing) to explain pre-heaven principle; the Five Phases are not truly located anywhere, and these metaphors are used only to illuminate the principle.

Having explained the method of gathering and taking and the principle of union, I must add a special warning: the gathering must not be too late. If it is too late, Yang Qi grows old and is no longer usable, and post-heaven Qi mixes in as well. Students may consult the "Diagram of Union," and they will grasp most of it.

The poem says: The gentle breath between Heaven and Earth seems to brew the spring breeze, and a single spark of yang qi (气) stirs into being amid the dim and indistinct. Something arises from nothing, and emptiness surpasses fullness; form appears out of the void and in the end returns to the void. When yang qi rises to above the navel, it takes on the appearance of "lead"; it begins at the source of the heart, allowing the nature of "mercury" to flow freely. In stillness one sees the real, and within the real one returns again to stillness; when Kan and Li meet, it is as though a fine rain were drifting in a mist. Here "lead" and "mercury" are terms of Neidan (内丹, internal alchemy), referring respectively to the yin and yang essences and qi that work together in cultivation; "Kan" and "Li" stand figuratively for water and fire, and for Yin-Yang.

Another poem says: Wood is the dragon, and metal is the tiger; within the Kan position a "male" is born, who draws forth the "female" of the Li position. To grasp the root of creation and transformation, one must not depart from true fire, and true fire is born at the hour of Zi. The "dragon" and "tiger," as well as the "male" and "female," are all symbols in Neidan, used to explain the transformation and union of the yin and yang essences and qi.

Discourse on the Diagram of Union

Within the dim and indistinct there are images; within the deep and obscure there is substance. The sages of old often used this line to admonish those who cultivate the Dao (道, the Way), for it speaks of a state that is dim, obscure, and yet settled. Only when one is settled can the elixir be refined; if the heart and spirit (Shen, 神) are unsettled, yang qi will not stir; and if, once yang qi has arisen, one is still not settled, the elixir cannot coalesce.

Therefore, as soon as one has gathered "lead" with the intent, one must at once halt the intent. Halting the intent depends on timing, and yang qi rises at a fixed moment, because at its first stirring it is no more than a breath of qi. When it rises to the navel it is called "lead," and from then on the mind need no longer interfere. Lead will naturally draw forth mercury, and mercury will naturally seek out lead; in the dim and obscure, the principle of yin-yang union is accomplished.

I received the master's oral instructions and the oral formulas, and I have transmitted them here as well. These teachings should be guarded with care and not lightly disclosed; contemplate them in silence, and do not recite them aloud. If someone who understands the great Dao and has good karmic affinity encounters this subtle and precious way of cultivation, let them keep it in the heart and not write it down; and even if they write it, let them not allow others to see it. If they can do so, I will be deeply grateful. I followed my master for ten years, and everything I came to understand I have set forth in full, in the hope of sharing it as a treasure with those of like mind.

This is the Precious Instructions on Inner Refining of the Golden Elixir, Supreme Grade for Longevity and Deliverance from the World, of the Jade Purity Golden Casket and Eastern Pole Azure Florescence (《玉清金笥东极青华长生度世上品内炼金丹宝诀》).

The rules of Heaven and its precepts are exceedingly severe, and I do not know how to evade or answer them, yet I have written this book regardless. Thirty days before putting brush to paper, I submitted a memorial to the celestial court; only after receiving a response did I dare to speak of these matters and set them down. As I wrote, my heart was uneasy, sweat dripped onto the page, and tears fell without cease. I only hope that those who aspire to cultivate the Dao (the Way), on obtaining this book, will not implicate me because of it. May we together achieve the great fruit and jointly attest to the rank of the immortals. Alas, those who understand me will say I am burdened with anxiety; those who do not will ask what on earth I am seeking. I only hope our hearts may be in accord. I pray with utmost sincerity, and beg the immortals to look upon this with clear discernment!

The Formula for Gathering and Union

Seek within forgetting, and forget within seeking; become aware from within forgetting, and forget again within awareness, and the yang qi (Qi, vital energy) will arise. Once the yang qi has arisen, gather it within forgetting, and after gathering, return it once more to forgetting. Let it rise within forgetting, become aware of it within its rising, and let it transform within awareness, and the lead is refined. Here "lead" and "mercury" are technical terms of Neidan (internal alchemy), referring respectively to the complementary yin and yang essence and qi that work together in cultivation. When stillness and concentration give rise to function, and the intention stirs and rises, apply it in a state of forgetting stray thoughts, and you can use lead to draw out mercury. When lead and mercury unite within the body, and Jing (essence) and Shen (spirit) meet outwardly, this is called "union." Then bring lead, mercury, Jing, and Shen together as one, and with a single thought guide them down into the "Yellow Court" (in Daoist inner cultivation, the region of the Dantian, the energy center, within the body), and return them to the "cauldron" (a metaphor for the inner place where body and mind are refined and nourished).

The Formula Within the Formula

To make lead and mercury unite, one must apply the intention with complete focus. To stir and gather the newly born single yang qi, one must nurture concentration through stillness and allow it to arise of its own accord.

Do not wonder why Zhang Pingshu (the Neidan master Zhang Boduan, styled Pingshu) spoke so repeatedly and at such length, for students of the Dao are so often confused and uncomprehending. Alas, everything has now been said! Ha! Before my eyes, heavenly flowers seem to scatter in profusion, and the sound of flowing water at the gate grows ever fainter. The Green Steed (Qingcong, a blue-green horse) carries the Green Maiden (Qing'e, a female immortal) away; moments later, the Green Steed returns alone.

The Green Maiden Is in Me

Clouds rise among the twelve peaks of the Wu Gorge, and the sound of pipes in the old palace has already faded into silence. The Star Bridge lies beyond the green mountains; one wishes to meet her, yet in the end cannot. She concerns both nature and life, both xing and ming.

Someone asked, "What is meant by jiaogou (the intercourse of Yin-Yang)?"

The answer: "The 'one aperture beneath the heart' mentioned in the Diagram of Gathering is the place where Yin-Yang meet. It cannot be sought as something with form, nor can it be used as something entirely formless. When lead rises, Yang qi (Qi) goes up with it: it descends from the qi cavity to the Palace of the One Yang, and I gather it in with my intent. When mercury descends, the two meet, and the qi descends along with it.

Once lead and mercury have been produced, the lead rises above the navel and is illuminated by the essential light, which is why it is called 'lead.' Lead is like the outward form and mercury like its shadow; when the form moves, the shadow follows, and so the mercury descends as well. The rising Yang lead cannot be called pure Yang, because it contains essential light and therefore has a Yin aspect too. The descending Yin mercury cannot be called pure Yin either: mercury is born of the heart, and the heart belongs to the spirit (Shen); the mercury holds its numinous nature and becomes active only after meeting the light of the spirit, so it also has a Yang aspect. There is Yang within Yin and Yin within Yang, and the two kinds of qi respond to each other and condense without dispersing, finally forming a mysterious pearl as small as a grain of millet (the subtle elixir body that coalesces in Neidan, or internal alchemy, practice).

Another person asked: "Lead is the One Yang, and the One Yang is the single qi of the Before Heaven. What, then, is mercury?"

The answer: "Lead and mercury are both things of the Before Heaven. Lead is the Before Heaven qi, and mercury is the Before Heaven numinous spirit. Qi is the root of life, and the numinous is what is born of nature. One may speak of lead and mercury, or of nature and life. Which of the great masters of past generations was willing to reveal these words so plainly?"

Another person asked: "What exactly is the aperture beneath the heart?"

The answer: "It is the chamber of chaotic spirit (the inner place where spirit and qi meet). It is transformed from essential light and the qi of the gaze: the essential light rises and the light of the eyes shines downward. Although Jing (essence) is the original essence of the Before Heaven, without the essence used in daily life, the original essence does not manifest. If you doubt this, consider water as an analogy: only when water vapor rises does white steam form; it has never been heard that white vapor can leave the water and rise from nothing. Water is like essence, and the white vapor is like its refined efflorescence.

Although Shen is the original spirit, the original spirit appears only when the everyday spirit is not driven by external things. It is like a bright moon in the sky: only after the clouds disperse does the moonlight shine down. What is called purity is simply the absence of clouds to block the light, so that, riding upon the brightness, one illuminates both inside and out. Essence is Yin by nature, but its efflorescence is Yang; the light of the eyes is Yang by nature, but when it looks inward it has a Yin aspect too. When the efflorescence and the light of the eyes meet, this aperture is formed, and through qi responding to qi, the two subtle things unite within it.

All things in being formed have essential qi and original qi. When one's work is complete, one becomes a True Person (one who has achieved success in cultivation). The meaning of ceaseless generation lies here, and it is from this that human beings come to be numinous, luminous, and wondrous."

Someone asked: "If that is so, after the union, how can the pearl be made to fall into the Yellow Court (the central palace of the human body) and return into the cauldron?"

The answer: "When the two subtle things come together, emotion and nature unite, and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) are complete. The tiger returns to the mountain and the dragon to the abyss, meaning that each settles into its proper place. When the light of the eyes is withdrawn and essence and qi return, the pearl falls into the Yellow Court and goes back into the cauldron. The key here is to quietly maintain that state of dim, hazy indistinctness, so that the qi throughout the body flows freely and is filled with vitality. The lines 'secret, secret, secret' are not from the original scripture (Jing) but were added by a learner on the basis of personal insight."

Someone asked: "When Yang qi arises from above, if one immediately stills the intent, how can one ensure that it will not descend again?"

The answer: "A good question! Beneath the Yellow Court lies the gateway of the elixir chamber. When the intent stirs, Yang qi rises; when the intent ceases and returns to singleness, Yang qi settles and no longer descends at will. The furnace and cauldron lie within this singleness, which corresponds precisely to Earth, and so it possesses the upright qi of the Five Phases and is able to form a complete body of Heaven and Earth."

Someone asked: "How is the furnace and cauldron to be cultivated?"

The answer: "The position of the Yellow Court within the body is the furnace and cauldron. The moment Yang qi rises and the mysterious pearl falls into it is the moment the furnace and cauldron take form. The Yellow Court belongs to Earth, and its deepest point is the Earth within Earth, so when the pearl falls there, it becomes the vessel of the cauldron. When each of the Five Phases secures its root, this means mother and child depend on one another: the mother seeks the child and the child longs for the mother. This is the law of refining the elixir. After the various kinds of qi return into the cauldron, they all cling to it, as children cling to their mother.

Therefore, in seated stillness, the light of the spirit shines downward and the efflorescence of essence rises upward, and both must return into the cauldron. While walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one should likewise be like a dragon nurturing its pearl or a hen brooding her egg, gathering the breath of the whole body to this one place. The channels of the entire body take part in this, and the key lies in maintaining awareness without forcing. Students of the Dao should understand this. The method of the elixir that I teach is precisely this."

Why trouble ourselves with "Chanü" (the Maiden) and "the Infant" (metaphors in Neidan, or internal alchemy, for Yin-Yang and the medicinal substances)? It is enough to explain the principle plainly: within the human body there is a place where Qian and Kun (symbolizing Yin-Yang, heaven and earth) are inverted and unite; and the sun and moon within the pot (a metaphor for the Yin-Yang and the movements of Qi in the body) also have their times of circulation.

Know that "the One" is the root from which Yang Qi does its work, and understand too that within "the One" lies the stirring of the Qi's dynamic. The Celestial Master Ziyang (an immortal who transmitted the Dao teachings) has already said all there is to say, so why should those who come after seek another teacher?

Having reached this stage and understood these principles, do not rejoice just yet. Hah! You still do not know how to reflect upon them.

A precious sword lies buried beside an ancient prison, yet its rainbow light pierces the sky every night. When the dragon and tiger have finished their battle, the three Dantian (upper, middle, and lower energy centers) grow still; where, then, will you search for mercury and lead (terms in Neidan for the Yin-Yang medicinal substances)? Ha ha ha, hee hee hee, do not mistake a deer for a horse yet: a single dark pearl (a metaphor for the internal elixir, or the Qi of True Unity) is still hidden beneath the mud.

The road by the bridge of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is no longer passable, and once the River Cart (a Neidan method of circulating Jing and Qi) has turned, it vanishes without a trace. Of whom can one ask for true tidings? One can only rely on the Xun wind (Xun represents wind, often used as a metaphor for breath or the force of wind and fire) to blow through the layered passes.

After the diagram of the Golden Elixir was drawn, I feared the heavenly secret remained too hidden, and so I went on to discuss the inversions and transformations of the Five Phases, the movement of Water and Fire, the advance and retreat of the medicinal ingredients, and the cycles of sun and moon. The three essays I wrote before have already said all of this: still, one must rely on the Xun wind to blow through the layered passes.

The diagram of Golden Elixir (Jindan) cultivation has now been drawn, but I fear the workings of heaven remain too hidden. So I will speak further about the inversion of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the movement of water and fire, the advance and retreat of the medicinal substances, and their relation to the cycles of the sun and moon. The three essays I wrote earlier are complete, yet I worry that students still do not understand, and so I have written this book. It may be said to reveal the workings of heaven directly and to explain every subtle point thoroughly. To say that it can transform stubborn stone into gold and turn broken tiles into jade would hardly be an exaggeration.

A person's two eyes are where the activity of the Shen (spirit-consciousness) comes to rest. When the eyes look about in every direction, the Shen constantly follows external things and can hardly settle. The two ears are the channels through which the Shen races outward; when a sound from a hundred li away reaches the ear, the Shen goes off after it. The nose, too, wearies the Shen: it is the Shen that distinguishes smells as the breath responds to changes in the world outside. Suppose the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose were all like the eyebrows, each performing no function of its own. Would the Shen not then be settled and whole? If this could be achieved, one would no longer be drawn along by the acquired senses, and one would not even need to labor at cultivation.

In general terms, when one gathers in the gaze, the Shen returns to the "cauldron" (ding, the place in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice where the spirit is held and the Qi refined) and illuminates inward. What is called "continuous, as if barely present" refers to the time when the breath is fine and faint, seeming both to be and not to be, yet unbroken; then the eyelids are lowered and the gaze looks inward and downward. When one gathers in the hearing, the Shen likewise returns to the cauldron and turns to listen inward. Again, while the breath is fine and unbroken, one lets the ears listen quietly to the stirrings in the lower part of the body. When one gathers in the breath of the nose, the Shen returns to the cauldron and the breathing is drawn inward. Once the true breath (zhenxi, the inner breath, gentle and subtle) has settled, the Qi returns to the Sea of Origin (yuanhai, where the Dantian (energy center) is located). In sum, when the senses of ear, eye, and nose are all gathered in and forgotten, Shen and Qi return together to the cauldron and unite inwardly. Besides this, what other oral teaching is there?

Oral teaching: When a hen is hatching her eggs, her mind and spirit are always listening.

Someone asked: "In the Way of the Golden Elixir, the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose can certainly all be heard of in some measure, and the function of the heart need hardly be mentioned. But are the liver, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, and lungs of no use at all? Can they also serve a function in places where they seem useless?" I answered: "This principle can only be understood once one has personally cultivated to the corresponding stage. I swear I will conceal nothing, and what is there to conceal? When I first followed my master in studying the Dao, I pressed him with the same question. My master then gave me a poem, saying:"

I did not understand this principle at first. Only after my practice had reached this stage did I believe that my master had not deceived me. Now I will also explain the parts my master left unsaid.

The functions of the Five Phases (Wuxing) are all indispensable. When the breath is continuous and faint, as if present and absent at once, Spleen Qi joins with Stomach Qi and enters the channels of the Heart. Liver Qi joins with Gallbladder Qi, and then the Qi of the large and small intestines connects into the channels of the Kidneys. Lung Qi sinks down, merges with Heart Qi, and opens toward the nose. The Qi described here is all in the state of circulating primordial Qi after one has entered stillness through seated meditation: it moves from east to west and from south to north. The southwest is where Qi gathers and unites, and from there it passes through the Jiaji (the middle of the spine) straight up to the upper and middle Dantian (in Daoist inner cultivation, the places in the body where Qi gathers), and then descends into the Kidneys.

Between the two Kidneys lies a passage bound up with nature and life, called the "Bridge of Governing Life." This is what Hanshan Zi meant by "Above is the cave that receives spirit; across lies the bridge that governs life." When Qi descends to this place, the Yang Qi and Jing (essence) swell and surge upward, and joining with this Qi, they settle firmly around the outside of the furnace and cauldron. With daily use, they grow steadily stronger. Continued effort begins to form the Yin'e (a term in Neidan for the foundation of the elixir or the structure around the furnace and cauldron). Suddenly something appears, transcendent, neither inside the body nor outside it. At this point, the principle of cultivating the Golden Elixir becomes self-evident.

What is the meaning of the "half" in "mystery upon mystery"? The answer: when a cultivator of the Golden Elixir reaches this point, half the work is done. What appears transcendent is the "Mysterious Pass, the One Aperture" (in Neidan, the crucial point where nature and life meet and the movement of Qi becomes manifest). It is so vast that it has no boundary, and so small that it cannot be divided. It exists within form and within formlessness alike. To seek the formless within form is to perceive nature through life; to seek form within the formless is to perceive life through nature. Cultivating nature first is difficult, while cultivating life first offers a concrete place to begin. It is like a journey of ten thousand li: though the distance is great, there is at least a road to walk, whereas cultivating nature first is like trying to scoop up the moon from the water. Still, both approaches can succeed in the end, and cultivating nature first is sometimes even superior. Those who cultivate nature use nature to regulate life, and those who cultivate life use life to regulate nature, so one should not hastily judge which is higher. If your practice has not yet reached this point, do not force it to be identified as some specific thing, lest you cling to appearances.

Someone asks: "Why do the diagrams you drew show so many apertures?" The answer: these apertures are not the ones spoken of in the diagrams of gathering the medicine and of union. The interaction of Yin and Yang is itself the Dao. They come and go without cease, and when they act, they fill the whole body. When this action stops, it is stored beside the field of the heart, without any form. So what is it, then? It is the root that governs the turning back of thought. The left belongs to Yang and the right to Yin. The mystery lies hidden within, and only upon reaching this place does one return to Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate).

The scripture also says that one returns from the Great Change to Taiji, from Taiji to the Great Harmony, and from the Great Harmony to the beginning of Yin and Yang. When Yin and Yang are in harmony, wind and rain arrive in their seasons and fine grain grows. This is a metaphor for the transformations of inner cultivation.

The numbers of the Great Expansion mentioned in the Commentary on the Changes pair the heavenly numbers with the earthly numbers. The heavenly numbers are one, three, five, seven, and nine, totaling twenty-five. The earthly numbers are two, four, six, eight, and ten, totaling thirty. Together they make fifty-five. The Great Expansion takes fifty to symbolize the Five Phases. From these fifty, five are subtracted to represent the arrangements inside and outside the cauldron. One more is subtracted to represent Taiji, which remains unmoving, leaving forty-nine in actual use. One further is subtracted for the Yin'e, leaving forty-eight in actual use.

The method of tending the furnace and cauldron and mastering the fire phases takes the four trigrams Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li as its foundation. It uses the sixty hexagrams to explain transformation, while one visualizes Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li. If one then uses the diagram of the Great Expansion to investigate the symbolism of the Yin'e, the principle of cyclical transformation becomes clear, and the method of the celestial cycle is made plain as well. For details, see the Treatise on the Diagrams of the Furnace and Cauldron.

A ray of toad-moon light illuminates the Great Void (the vast, boundless emptiness), and the Golden Toad (here a metaphor for the aperture where true Yang arises) draws in and breathes out within the water. High or low, the body is still pure Yin at this point. Why, then, do we say that Yang Qi is born and brings fullness?

Commentary

The Great Void is vast and distant, the bright moon shines, white waves surge, and the Golden Toad spits out radiance. People see the moon give off light and say it is because the golden essence is abundant. But who knows that the root from which the Golden Elixir (Jindan) arises lies in "nature" (the original nature)?

"Water" stands for the Kan palace (a place symbolizing water and Yin). The Golden Toad stands for the aperture where true Yang first arises, and the original nature stands for the function of nature as embodied in the moon. When the original nature first appears, it is about the size of a star, perfectly round and bright. Yet this cannot yet be counted as truly seeing one's nature. It is only that the nature of temperament has quieted slightly and the original nature has begun to show, like the moon appearing when the clouds part. When the clouds close, the moon vanishes with them. If one cannot guard it at all times, it disappears, no different from never having seen it.

Therefore, when a cultivator of the Golden Elixir clearly perceives this, original Qi has begun to arise, and one should put it to use at once. It is like seeing a thief and seizing him immediately, not letting him escape again. Gather it into the cauldron (the vessel in which the elixir is refined, symbolizing the place that holds body and mind), and this point of true original Qi will not be lost. Take the Dantian as the sun and the original nature in the heart as the moon, as if sunlight were reflected back onto the moon. Only after the two have met will the precious body of the elixir take form.

The moon receives the sun's Qi, and so on the third day one Yang appears. Once the elixir rests in the cauldron, the practitioner senses a point of spiritual light constantly shining in the heart, day and night without interruption. By the eighth day of the month, a second Yang is born after the first. When the second Yang arises, the golden Qi in the elixir grows somewhat stronger, and the original nature appears again. On the day of the full moon, all three Yang are complete. Having all three Yang complete means the original nature is fully manifest, which is what was said earlier: it appears within the formless.

When the first Yang is born, one feels only that there is something in the body, now hidden, now visible. When the second Yang is born, one feels that light pervades the whole body. When the third Yang is born, the light is neither inside the body nor outside it, and one feels oneself to be in the void, with no body, no void, and no sun or moon. If one can maintain this state constantly, it is meditative absorption (chan ding).

However, if a practitioner of the elixir clings to "being" and cannot gather true emptiness and use "non-being" as function, then even having reached this point, the Golden Elixir is only half complete. Why? Because although the original Shen has appeared, it has not yet returned into the elixir, and Jing and Qi have not yet merged into one, so it counts as only half. Next comes the principle of the other half: after the moon passes fullness, on the sixteenth day it begins to give birth to one Yin. One Yin means that nature begins to return to life.

From the first birth of Yin, by the twenty-third day of the moon, a second Yin is born. Two Yin signifies that nature's return to life has reached two thirds. By the thirtieth day at the month's end, all three Yin are complete, signifying that nature has returned fully to life. Once the whole of nature has appeared, that unbroken, faintly present original nature returns to life at all times. At first, life takes in the complete nature; afterward, nature in turn steadies life. This is the crux of the union of nature and life, and what is called the dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu) refers precisely to this principle. The hidden workings of Heaven have now been fully explained, and when this stage is reached, the Golden Elixir is complete.

Elixir refining begins with the regulation of fire. Each day one nourishes it with the corresponding practice for a day, and when the work of a hundred days has accumulated, an "infant" is born (referring to the result formed through internal elixir cultivation). The moon is used as a metaphor in order to illustrate the principle of Yin and Yang meeting and illuminating each other.

The brightness of the moon in truth has its source in metal, and the nature of metal in truth comes forth from the moon. After a hundred refinements it grows ever harder, and it is not destroyed through ten thousand kalpas. Here "metal" refers to the appearance of sunlight, "moon" refers to the original nature, and "fire" refers to Qi. When metal enters the fire, it can return to the truth of the original nature and be refined into a supreme treasure, called the "Golden Liquid Returned Elixir."

Therefore, the cultivator of the Golden Elixir at first takes metal to generate water, brings out the medicinal substances through the principle of Yin-Yang union, and then relies on "earth" to complete and stabilize it, like building city walls and foundations, using the true-gold medicine as an embankment to secure it. In the end pure gold is refined, and so it is called the "Golden Elixir."

The forms and meanings of the cauldron and furnace (dinglu) are now clear. The Eight Trigrams (Bagua) cross vertically and horizontally, each answering the others when put to use. The Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) are perfected entirely through Earth's harmonizing power, and true Earth is then transformed into true Metal.

The so-called cauldron is not a vessel forged from metal or iron, and the furnace is not an implement carved from jade or stone. Within the human body, the Yellow Court (Huangting, the central region of spleen and stomach in Neidan practice) is the cauldron, and the Qi chamber (the place where Qi gathers) is the furnace. The Yellow Court lies above the Qi chamber, and the meridians and Qi pathways of the two are joined, so together they are called the furnace and cauldron. The Qi of Yin-Yang serves as charcoal fire, used to refine and cook the medicinal ingredients.

The Yellow Court lies at the center of the body. When Yin and Yang meet, it is the very moment when primordial Qi is established and stirs into motion. The Yellow Court then opens, the elixir falls into it, and it is sealed shut. The ancients used the image of "filling a gourd with mercury, stopping its mouth, and placing it in deep water" to describe this process. Mercury stands for lead and mercury, the gourd for the Yellow Court, and the deep water for Qi. One closes the Yellow Court, hides the mother of the elixir (the root from which the internal elixir is born), and settles it in the place where Qi gathers. Those who understand the principle will grasp it for themselves.

When the tiger roars, wind arises; when the dragon chants, clouds form. The cricket sings in autumn, and the clam reveals its Yin nature. These images speak of the mutual resonance of Yin and Yang Qi: when all Qi returns into the cauldron, the more tightly it is sealed, the more firmly the refining holds. This is the purpose of setting up the furnace and cauldron.

The essential teachings of tens of thousands of scrolls of alchemical scriptures (Jing) are conveyed through diagrams and symbols, meant to let people grasp the images without clinging to the words. Later scholars, however, fixated on the diagrams and hunted for so-called true secrets, each putting forward strange doctrines. How could they know that the Supreme Dao is not complicated, and that its key lies solely in regulating Yin-Yang! Explaining it through numerology such as "Heaven's One gives birth to Water" amounts to describing the movement of Water and Fire. Explaining it through the four seasons and eight festivals is only a metaphor for the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang between Heaven and Earth. They hide the root and speak only of the branches, and so few truly understand.

In writing this book, I mean to cast aside the branches and speak directly of the root. Once the root is complete, the branches and leaves will naturally flourish. The ancients were unwilling to speak plainly, but I now have done so. Those who cultivate the Dao should appreciate the intent behind it and not regard it as a shallow, minor art. By practicing accordingly, one may swiftly reach the realm of the immortals.

Someone asks: "The form of the furnace and cauldron is understood. I would also like to hear how they are put to use." The plants, trees, and living creatures between Heaven and Earth are all different, yet after the winter solstice, Yang Qi stirs from below. Withered trees grow again, the hundred grasses sprout, hibernating insects stir, and all things flourish. It is not that Heaven and Earth intend to bring forth the myriad things, nor that the myriad things hope for the creative work of Heaven and Earth. Once the movement of Qi begins, things respond to it, and so it naturally comes to be. Between Heaven and Earth and the myriad things, who harbors any deliberate intent?

When the hundred flowers bloom and bear fruit, this is an apt image of the medicine circulating through its course. When flowers and leaves fall and their splendor fades, it is an apt image of the medicine returning to its root and restoring its life. The ancients used these as fitting metaphors for how the medicine is produced, descends, and condenses into the elixir. Yet one must not cling to "no intention" and let the medicine drift up and down on its own, nor cling to "intention" and rush after the fire phasing, forcing the refinement. Practice should be continuous and unbroken, as though present and yet not present: understand the aspect of "nothing" while still holding to "something," know the black while still keeping to the white. Apply the fire phasing in stillness, form the returned elixir in settled calm, and let the Way of balance and harmony run through it all.

The spirit chamber (Shenshi) takes a great deal of effort to build. When one turns the light around and observes within, the scene appears clearly. The master has not yet arrived, so who could hide it? It is said that the numinous light comes riding on the Red City.

The spirit chamber is the dwelling place of the primordial spirit (Shen), and it is also the yin'e, a term from cultivation practice that serves as a metaphor for the structure where the elixir embryo congeals. Those who understand the process of creation by which the yin'e is established can see it distinctly. But if there is only a house and no master, what use is the house? Although the master has not yet arrived, the master's embryo is already gestating inside the chamber, much like a pregnancy. For ten months, when the mother exhales, the child exhales with her, and when she inhales, the child inhales with her, though the child's Qi is not yet full. Once the Qi is full and the body complete, a spark of numinous light enters, and the infant suddenly cries out, revealing a fully formed person. This is the moment when the yin'e has taken shape and the Shen returns to the chamber. When the Shen returns to its chamber, this is what is meant by "grasp the One, and all affairs are complete."

After the union of male and female, the radiance of the Shen follows and illuminates the dark pearl, a term in Neidan (internal alchemy) for the elixir body that symbolizes the gathering of essence and Qi, and the refined essence also rises and collects within it. True lead refers to primordial Qi, and Jing (essence), Qi, and Shen have already begun to sprout as an embryo within it. When the firing process is sufficient and the primordial Qi is full, primordial Jing, primordial Qi, and primordial Shen merge into one, and the infant is born. Yet "giving birth to the infant" does not mean an immediate delivery. Only when the firing process has refined away the last traces of grass-like yin, the murky residue that hinders the congealing of pure Yang, does the embryo drop away. This is the true birth of the infant.

I once said that the alchemical diagrams drawn by the ancients were, in fact, diagrams of the yin'e, and that the single dot in the diagram is the numinous light placed within it. Later students knew only that the yin'e must come first and that a spark of numinous light must then be placed inside, but they did not understand how to place it. As a result, the elixir embryo congeals for a time but is in the end lost, the fierce fire burns in vain, and the Qi of Li and Kan, the trigrams symbolizing Yin-Yang, fire and water, scatters and escapes.

If this single point is produced outward, following the changes of the postnatal world, it becomes the process by which one gives birth to two, two to three, and three to the myriad things, and ordinary people all act in this direction. Cultivation reverses this usual course and causes the point to be produced inward, so that the Way of long life and enduring vision is preserved. Is this not "returning to the root and restoring one's destiny"? To restore one's destiny and return to the root, one must sink the roots deep and fasten the stem firmly. To sink the roots deep and fasten the stem firmly, one begins by clearing the mind of thoughts and removing desires. The method for clearing the mind is to gather in one's seeing and hearing. Confucius said, "Do not look at what is contrary to ritual, do not listen to what is contrary to ritual, do not speak what is contrary to ritual, do not act contrary to ritual," and this is precisely the principle at work. Confucianism aims to carry out moral teaching in the world, and so it uses ritual propriety to restrain conduct.

The deluded mind consists of emotional thoughts such as joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, whereas loyalty, reciprocity, kindness, compliance, compassion, reverence, and caution belong to the true mind. Practitioners of the elixir take in the true mind and the deluded mind together, return the mind to its seamless original state, and then trace life back to its source. Afterward, within a mind free of delusion, they bring forth a single genuine thought, act within the space between heaven and earth, and finally return to Wuwei (non-action).

The true mind spoken of in Buddhism is somewhat different. One lets go of the six emotions until not a single thought remains, the nature becomes empty, luminous, and open, and the true origin naturally appears. At the moment of its appearance, one comes and goes freely. When stillness reaches its utmost, one must attain the utmost within that utmost, and after seeing the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), one must still pass through a transformation that resembles dying and being reborn, in order to arrive at the crux of creation and become the root of neither birth nor death. How easy could it be to see through the gateway to all this?

End of the middle fascicle of the Yuqing Jinsi Qinghua Miwen Jinbao Neilian Dan Jue (Secret Texts of Qinghua from the Jade Pure Golden Casket: Instructions on the Internal Refining of the Elixir).

Lower fascicle of the Yuqing Jinsi Qinghua Miwen Jinbao Neilian Dan Jue.

Composed by the Perfected Ziyang, Zhang Pingshu.

In the first half of the month the moon's phase is short; in the second half of the month it is long. A lamp hidden in water can still shine of its own accord; day and night, the Xun wind (symbolizing the continuously circulating breath) blows upon it yet cannot extinguish it. If one further stirs it with the intention of the heart, the flame grows even brighter.

Diagram and explanation of the fire phases.

The Yijing (Book of Changes) contains a total of three hundred and eighty-four lines. Zhang Pingshu, in discussing the timing of the fire in alchemical refining, said:

In the first half of the month the moon's phase is short; in the second half of the month it is long. A lamp hidden in water can still shine of its own accord; day and night, the Xun wind blows upon it yet cannot extinguish it. If one further stirs it with the intention of the heart, the flame grows even brighter.

Diagram and explanation of the fire phases.

The Yijing (Classic of Changes) has 384 lines, and the firing phases (huohou) are likewise counted in 384 zhu. For this reason, in cultivation Qian and Kun symbolize the cauldron, while Kan and Li symbolize the medicinal ingredients. The firing phases correspond in sequence to the hexagram images of the Yijing. Beginning on the first day of the month, one works through Zhun and Meng, then Xu and Song, then Shi and Bi, and so on. When one reaches Sui and Gu on the eighth day, the count of Metal has reached half a jin. Continuing through the hexagrams, when one reaches Ge and Ding on the twenty-third day, the count of Water has also reached half a jin. One then proceeds in order through Zhen and Gen, Jian and Guimei, until reaching Jiji and Weiji. The whole process completes and begins anew in the space of a moment, circling without end.

The sun and moon revolve, cold and heat alternate, and the qi of Heaven and Earth unite, so that the myriad things are born and transformed. Through this, the practitioner grasps the laws by which creation and Yin-Yang turn. Only one who truly comprehends this principle may speak of this method of alchemy.

Someone asks: What do Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li each represent? And when is the firing of the full celestial cycle (zhoutian huohou) applied? The answer: when Kan and Li intermingle, Qian and Kun come together. The Way of Heaven descending and the Way of Earth ascending is how Qian and Kun operate. Kan represents the qi of Qian joining with the qi of Kun, and Li represents the qi of Kun joining with the qi of Qian. The other hexagram images merely illustrate the stages of cultivation; one must not cling to the hexagram images and line positions. Once this is understood, the method of the firing phases will reveal itself.

Another asks: If so, then cultivation merely imitates Heaven and Earth and sets the sun and moon in motion. Why, then, does the Diagram of the Furnace and Cauldron draw the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) inside the cauldron? And why does the Diagram of the Firing Phases move the Wu position to the Niwan (the cultivation site within the head) and place level bridges at the Mao and You positions? The answer: The workings of Heaven are not lightly revealed, but since we have come this far, there is no need to conceal them further. A dragon-horse bearing a chart emerged from the River, and a divine tortoise bearing a writing emerged from the Luo; if Heaven and Earth themselves have made such disclosures, how much more should humans? Someone urged the speaker to stop, saying that revealing Heaven's secrets would bring calamity upon nine generations of ancestors. The speaker replied that transmitting the Dao to a single person brings blessings that extend to nine generations as well. The speaker is willing to pass on the methods of alchemy without reservation to those who have affinity and sincere faith; if even one trustworthy person could attain the Dao and become an immortal, that would count as merit for the speaker too.

The explanation continues: What is said of the furnace and cauldron concerns the principle of advancing fire and advancing water. Water and fire are ultimately one qi. When the qi rises and one receives it with the heart-mind (shen), it is called fire; when the qi descends and one keeps hold of it through stillness, it is called water. This state of qi, continuous and unbroken, as though present and yet absent, is the work of applying the firing phases at the Zi and Wu positions. This is also the very moment when the "Reclining Moon Furnace" (the stage at which the inner furnace and cauldron first take shape) is formed.

When nature (xing) manifests, qi is born; when qi is born, Metal is born. Here "Metal" refers to the essence-qi condensed in inner alchemy. As Metal and qi increase, Metal grows ever more vigorous, and nature and qi act upon each other. When Metal-qi flourishes within, it is as though it pierces through drifting clouds to reveal a crescent moon of true nature; this is the Reclining Moon Furnace. After long nourishing, Metal-qi grows full and bright as a round moon, symbolizing the complete manifestation of one's original nature. Having seen one's nature, one returns again to the Metal nature, so that the entire body is governed by true nature and life (ming), and one then enters the stage of refining and nurturing with fire. When nature and qi have not yet merged into one, the firing phases must be used to forge them into pure gold. By cultivating nature and life in this way, the yang qi throughout the body becomes abundant and rises and descends freely, and the shen-qi reaches up to the crown gate. When the time is ripe and the work of the Dao is complete, one can burst forth and transcend, as if at a single clap of thunder, the body no longer bound by itself. Everyone can cultivate and achieve something, yet people often abandon themselves, which is truly a pity.

The general discussion also states that once the nine turnings of cultivation are complete and the bathing and warm nourishment are finished, the firing is nearly spent but a single spark remains, so a thread of wind must be introduced to stir it. The Xun wind (symbolizing wind, breath, and the movement of qi) is like a wisp of breath beneath the cauldron: when closed it represents Qian, and when open it represents Xun; closing is like exhaling, and opening is like inhaling. The changes of opening and closing all result from the guidance of the mind's intent.

Someone asks: Xun is in the west, so why is it also said to be in the central palace? The answer: The west refers to the function of Xun, while the central palace refers to the substance of Xun. When a thought arises in the mind and leads the qi to the Xun position, and the qi shifts from closing to opening, this is precisely what is meant by the substance and function of Xun.

The text next uses images such as Qian-Metal and Kan-Water to explain how the rise and fall of the fire is regulated. When the fire flares up, it must be restrained with Kan; if it cannot be restrained, there is danger of the fire counterattacking the lower body, and so Gen is used to halt it, and then Xun-qi is used to regulate the breath. The top line of the Xun hexagram is yang, so halting the fire also requires yang qi. Meeting Zhen, the fire rises slightly; meeting Li, it flares again, and Kun-water is then used to harmonize it. When the fire passes into the Dui position, it gradually ascends from the Weilü (the area near the base of the spine), passes through the Niwan, and reaches the Heavenly Gate at the crown. Wu belongs to fire, so the fire is stronger here, and it is again received with the heart-mind (shen). The heart belongs to fire, so receiving it with shen yields the fire of spirit.

If at Mao and You the qi were to go straight up and straight down, the balance of Yin-Yang, punishment and virtue, might be lost, which would be very dangerous. For this reason it is divided to travel along two separate paths. The "civil fire" and "martial fire" are different terms for firing phases of differing strength: civil fire is gentle and rises through the Three Passes (the several barriers through which qi travels in cultivation) to the crown of the head; martial fire is stronger, setting out from the Wu position and the heart fire, and then descending by way of the You position. You belongs to Metal, and Metal produces water, so the qi transforms into true water and returns to the cauldron.

Civil fire is gentle and refines slowly; martial fire is forceful and refines quickly. Of this entire system of firing phases, this stage is the most dangerous, and the practitioner should master it in a single stroke, like winning a battle, whereupon the situation is secured. The ordinary firing of the celestial cycle should not be mechanically treated as a fixed standard; no single formulation should be clung to.

After the auspicious clouds part, a vast and profound heaven and earth are revealed; it is as though one glimpses the ancestors in the sky. The wind has stilled, yet the Big Dipper's seven stars still shimmer in the water; faintly, the last strains of music linger in the air.

Discourse on the Diagram of Yin Exhausted

One day Master Zhang sat alone in a quiet room, forgetting his body, his breath seeming to merge with heaven and earth. Suddenly he heard wind rising between his two ears, and only then did he notice a sound like the chirring of autumn cicadas. From the green willows on the far bank, it seemed that flute music drifted down from the highest of the nine heavens.

In a trance, he saw a person standing beside him. The figure's ears, eyes, mouth, and nose were just like Master Zhang's own, and it pointed at him and scolded: "Ever since the Great Simplicity (Taiyi, the primordial state before heaven and earth divided and the myriad things took form), I have been driven by you and have never had a moment's peace. Have I ever wronged you in some way?"

Master Zhang could not help smiling soundlessly, and said to it in silence: "Come, let us talk. What you say is indeed reasonable. But which is it: are you toiling under my command, or am I burdened by you? Sit down first, and we will speak slowly."

The figure said: "From the very beginning I was free of troubles. Since I came to dwell with you, waking or sleeping I have been bound by you, and through long years I have never been at ease. You left me in a desolate place swept by wind and frost, now sending me east, now west, while endless thoughts disturbed me. Only recently have I received some enlightenment, found a place to settle, and gained the nourishment of regulated breathing. This is certainly good, but it has come too late."

Master Zhang said: "This is not my fault, but the doing of those bandits, the six desires (the six kinds of human desire). You are subtle and hidden, while they are conspicuous and flaunting. I knew only of their existence and did not know you were there. It is like a blind man traveling by boat, who knows only that the boat covers a thousand li a day, and not that the boatman is utterly exhausted. If he did not wish the boat to move, the boatman would naturally be able to rest."

The figure, the embodied form and spirit (xing and Shen) of Master Zhang, replied joyfully: "I almost missed you! I have a sturdy blade tempered a hundred times, and together we can cut down these bandits and pull out their roots. After this, we will travel in the same boat, and when we reach the Center of the Circle (guizhong, the central point of focus in inner cultivation), we will walk alone in the Golden Palace (Jinque, the celestial palace of Daoist heaven)."

Master Zhang answered, "Good, good." At that moment, yellow light radiated in all directions and the five colors shone brilliantly. Onlookers heard someone say: "In eliminating the bandits, one must not be too hasty; haste invites their counterattack. If your strength is insufficient at first, disaster will surely follow. Let the mind unfold naturally, while guarding and nurturing it over the long term. Even if they conjure up cunning forms, always regard them as nothing. Once a single battle decides the matter, the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the three highest deities honored in Daoism) will be pure and tranquil, and the ten thousand demons will all be driven away."

Alas!

In the past, dust and turmoil of war arose in vain. Now the winds are calm and the seas are still, an omen that great peace is drawing near. It is lamentable that those who do not understand how fortunes rise and decline still brandish their weapons and spy on my city walls.

Alas!

The formless fire has neither bright flame nor smoke. With gentle power it refines true gold, and its radiance lights up the vast sky. Suddenly a thunderclap sounds, and the perfectly rounded, lively Elixir Embryo (the embryo formed through internal cultivation, or Neidan) appears, rises into the heavens, and pays homage three times to the Jade Emperor.

"Treatise on the Diagram of Pure Yang"

There are no words here either, so what can one make out? One sees only graceful immortal youths arriving with a decree in hand. How wondrous!

A General Discussion of the Essentials of Golden Elixir Cultivation

Although the human body cannot simply be compared to heaven and earth, it contains all things, changes in unfathomable ways, and is subtle and profound. Ordinary people make use of these principles every day without knowing it, which is why so few understand the Way of the Golden Elixir (Jindan).

Golden Elixir cultivation centers on the medicines, and the medicines concern Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit). Shen works through its radiant light, Jing through its refined essence, and Qi is the original energy. Without Qi, Jing cannot be full, and without Qi, Shen cannot be substantial. Jing is harmonized by Qi, and Qi takes effect through Jing. Qi in turn becomes manifest through Shen, and Shen is put to use through Qi.

Take the human body as an example. After the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) divides, the two forms of Yin-Yang appear, the two forms give rise to the four images, and the four images give rise to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). Once the Bagua are established, the principles of heaven, earth, and humanity are complete. Heaven takes movement as its root, while earth takes stillness and stability as its root. The Qi of heaven and earth comes and goes without rest, and the sun and moon travel within it. Only after one's parents have formed the body do the vessels and channels gradually develop, and once the body is complete, the finest channels grow as well. This is like original nature, which is empty and void at the start, while the grain passage and the sinews and vessels gradually become apparent, just as plants grow lush and flourishing. This is the Qi of the Prior Heaven (the Primordial Qi), and it is also the Dao (the Way) of the Prior Heaven.

In cultivation one should hold to the central position so that the pathways within the body remain open. Humans are born by receiving the harmonious Qi of heaven and earth, and this is Life (Ming). Since one takes one's own body as heaven and earth, one should likewise hold its central position as the pivot of transformation. What are called the "three centers" are the intent in the heart, the cauldron in the navel, and the furnace in the kidneys. Of these, the intent in the heart is the most crucial, the cauldron in the navel comes next, and the furnace in the kidneys follows. From the beginning of Golden Elixir practice until its completion, none of the three may be left for even a moment.

In cultivating the Golden Elixir, if one pursues only the surface correspondences of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), one will miss the root. At the time of union, the scene is dim and obscure. The pores that nourish life are the root of Metal, while ease, harmony, and suppleness of the limbs are the root of Wood. Lead takes fire as its substance and metal as its temperament, while mercury takes water as its substance and wood as its temperament. Water and fire are the substance of lead and mercury, and metal and wood are their function. That lead and mercury coagulate and their radiance unites depends on intent, and intent belongs to Earth. The Five Phases are complete within the cauldron, and they are also arrayed around it on the outside. When inner and outer respond to each other, the elixir begins to take form. It is about the size of a millet grain, and its color is neither blue-green, nor yellow, nor black, nor white, so that it is hard to describe.

At this point, one should remain continuous yet barely perceptible, keeping to stillness and Wuwei (non-action), and all kinds of wondrous scenes will appear naturally. The kidney water joins with the water of Jing and flows down from the Mysterious Breast (the passage at the throat), and this is called the divine water of the Flower Pool. Within emptiness and void, white snow arises and yellow sprouts grow. All these transformations take place in the state of unbroken, barely perceptible continuity, and they return into the cauldron.

The great medicine cannot do without Jing, Qi, and Shen, but one must distinguish carefully: Jing, Qi, and Shen are the source of the medicinal materials, not something to be used directly as the medicine. Practitioners of side paths, sure of their own opinions, wear out their Jing, Qi, and Shen with futile effort, so how could the medicine ever be produced? Which of Jing, Qi, and Shen is the most important? The answer is that Shen is the most important. Golden Elixir practice first uses Shen to direct Jing and Qi, which is why Shen is said to be the most important. Shen is another name for "nature" (Xing). In the deepest stillness, when original Qi is about to arise, Shen is also easily stirred, and one should immediately settle the mind and wait. Otherwise Shen will scatter and lose its support.

If one boasts only that Shen can go in and out and takes this to be the great Dao, then anyone could achieve it. The wondrous function of Shen is everywhere, yet it has its limits. Having attained the Dao, Shen can go in and out, but it must never be given free rein. It is fitting to gather Shen inward, so how could one let it disperse outward? If Shen attaches itself to trees and woods and shows a form, this shows that Yin Qi has not yet been fully exhausted. When Shen is about to go out, unusual signs may appear: a light like moonlight shows in the eyes, the breath seems to pass in and out through the nose, and clear, ringing sounds are heard beside the ears. Why can Shen not be allowed to go out through the mouth in particular? Because the mouth is where the Qi of the five organs gathers, and Shen leaving Jing and Qi to go out would be to avoid the place where Qi is strong. Yet Shen, Qi, and Jing should cling to one another. Once Shen goes out, Jing and Qi lose what they rely on. For this reason, the going out of Shen brings harm and no benefit.

The sun and moon shine upon the earth, but the practitioner of the elixir must reverse their usual course in order to use them. When they run in the ordinary direction they become fire, and this fire circulates again and again, passing through the nine turns within the ninefold turning.

The nine turns of cultivation begin with the first turn, when yang qi is at its strongest. Only when the yin qi has been exhausted does one proceed to the second turn, and the remaining turns follow in the same way. When all nine turns are complete, one arrives at the critical stage of the elixir cauldron (dingdan). Here one must apply the technique of advancing the fire (jinhuo) described earlier, which means letting true yang contend with whatever yin qi remains.

To put it plainly: the whole human body belongs to yin, with only a single point of yang qi. With this one point of yang, I draw it gradually from afar to near, circulating it again and again, so that it overcomes and drives back the yin qi. In this way the yang qi slowly grows and the yin qi slowly recedes. Hence the Book of Changes (Yijing) says, "Dragons battle in the wilderness; their blood is dark and yellow." This describes the Yin-Yang conflict. Only when the yin qi is completely spent and the yang qi is pure and undivided can the elixir rise to Niwan (the cultivation site within the crown of the head). At that point the practitioner becomes invigorated and advances with vigor, and the Perfected Person (Zhenren, one who has attained accomplishment in cultivation) is revealed through this process. Such is the principle of Golden Elixir (Jindan) cultivation, though there is more that is difficult to express fully.

When the Golden Elixir (Jindan) first begins to coalesce, the Yin and Yang Qi (vital energy) must still join and intermingle, and it is only by relying on them that the elixir can come into being. Afterward, it is gradually warmed and nourished with Yang fire until it is refined into a body of pure Yang. For this reason it can strengthen itself without ceasing, and this is the Way of Qian. Once the elixir has been initially refined, one gathers the Jing (essence) and Shen (spirit) once more and lets them knit into form. This, in broad outline, is the first stage of cultivating the immortal elixir.

The elixir also draws on the Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) to do its work. After that, it is gradually nourished with true gold until it becomes a body of pure gold. The whole body gives off a golden radiance, because the color and light of gold are like those of the sun. Gold symbolizes the nature of the sun, and so it is strong and unyielding. For this reason it is called the "Golden Elixir," and also the "Golden Immortal."

Although the physical body is only a form temporarily assembled from various conditions, the one who cultivates the Golden Elixir must still rely on it to protect the foundation of the elixir, much as the earth bears a walled city: when the walls are firm, external pernicious Qi finds it hard to enter. When the breath is unbroken, seeming to exist and yet not to exist, the spleen and stomach join into a single channel that circles the left side of the elixir chamber, while the lung and liver join into another that circles its right side. Once the true Qi flows through, it moves along these channels, and in the place close to the elixir one can draw upon the true Qi and refine it into a supreme treasure. If one side is explained clearly, the other can be inferred. All of this, however, must follow its own course and be accomplished through Wuwei (non-action); here, one example is offered only by way of illustration.

By "Wuwei" is meant simply not acting with contrivance. The Qi of a person's whole body moves in accord with the thoughts. It is like holding a fist: the moment the thought arises to open it, the five fingers spread, with nothing else needing to be displayed. One who studies the Dao (the Way) and understands this principle needs only to stir a single sincere thought when gathering the primordial Qi of the prior heaven, drawing in the true Qi, and, following the diagram, visualizing it as it descends to the Yellow Court (Huangting, the place in the body where one refines Qi and preserves Shen). The underlying principle is the same.

In the bitter cold of winter, grass and trees wither. Only after Yin and Yang have joined and the workings of Qi have come into harmony do the myriad things grow and change. One who studies the Dao should understand that once Yin and Yang have met, there is no need to wait deliberately for something to be produced, for it will form of itself. Gold in water gleams brilliantly; gold buried in earth is concealed by the earth. The elixir too is formed in a hidden, secluded place, keeping its light within. The elixir rests in the cauldron like a ruler on his throne: when the hundred officials each keep to their duties, the state is naturally at peace and the people are naturally at ease. When the fire phases and the ingredients are each fitting, all the transformations can be completed.

What is meant by "each finding its proper place"? In the first turn, the ingredients rise from the east and then descend toward the west, with the heart serving as the handle of the Dipper, turning the pivot within. After twenty revolutions the lunar po-soul is full; after another twenty revolutions the lunar hun-soul is full as well. Thus the hun of fire and the po of water are each established, and the marvelous workings grow stronger. The other turns follow by analogy. Here the most essential and clearest point is raised first by way of explanation:

The handle of the Northern Dipper points to the four directions and marks the four seasons; the eight seasonal nodes of the year each take their order from it. The Dipper itself rests undisturbed, while its bowl and its handle seem to turn as time passes. In practice, keep both eyes bright and let the upper and lower points work together. Practice should be carried out in stillness, and you should never force the work when you are hurried. I will show you the formless diagram so that a single Qi (气) circulates and returns to its original dwelling. Only then can the Golden Elixir (金丹, jindan; the essence and Qi formed through inner cultivation) be accomplished.

The Great Dao (大道, Dao) is not complicated by nature; ordinary people add many matters to it themselves. When I met my master and received the transmission, he told me again and again to investigate its hidden essentials. Why, then, draw diagrams and set down explanations, exhausting every subtle detail, until even ghosts and spirits would be startled to hear it? Alas! Those who transmit the Way will not fall into hell for it, and those who teach others to preserve the scriptures (经, Jing) are also delivering the Three Masters (三师, the teachers who transmit the lineage).

Secret Instructions on the Sequence

Sit in stillness and settle into emptiness and quiet. Draw the breath upward and guard the original Qi you were born with.

Wait for the Qi of the vital mandate (命炁, the primordial Qi spoken of in inner cultivation) to become harmonious and blended. Once the movement of Qi has been aroused, circulate it and visualize its destination by the methods given below. Then guide your attention to the upper and lower orifices, so that the Qi rushes straight to the Five Stars (五星, an inner-cultivation term for five key passes in the practice). When bright light appears, grow still. Then turn your gaze inward and let your thoughts settle down one level. When the bright light appears again, the true Yang Qi of the Prior Heaven (先天一阳真炁) has been born.

Let breath and intention be unbroken, as if present and not present, and use only eight parts of your strength, never the full measure.

When a small light shines through, use the movement of Qi to send it out and in, opening the pathway once. Only then circulate through Zi and Wu (子午, running the Qi along the Zi and Wu directions).

When a large light shines through, again use the movement of Qi to send it out and in, and break through the crown of the head once.

What has been described so far is the Qi moving up the back and then down the front. After this, always connect the coccyx passage (尾闾, weilü, the pass at the base of the spine) with the Five Stars. On the thirtieth day, the going out and coming in of Qi begins to appear. At the first quarter moon, when the fifty days of practice are complete, the movement of Qi will generally appear three times. At the full moon, the movement of Qi can be seen on both the left and the right. At the last quarter, the count of days and the work are complete. After this, continue to connect the coccyx passage with the Five Stars. After thirty days, the going out and coming in of Qi appears. At the first quarter, the fifty days of practice are fulfilled, and the movement of Qi generally appears three times. At the full moon it is seen on both sides, and at the last quarter the count of days and the work are complete. At this point light and dark alternate, and the cauldron (鼎, ding) turns dim and obscure. You must still use the movement of Qi and then turn toward the Heavenly Path (天径, the ascending channel spoken of in inner cultivation).

Use the Qi of Supreme Harmony to return to the Taiji (太极, Supreme Ultimate), and from the Taiji return to the Wuji (无极, the Limitless).

Grasp the key to movement and stillness. When Qi is abundant, restrain it with stillness. When Qi is weak, support it with intention.

Secret Instructions on the Fire Phase

The elixir moves within the cauldron (ding, an inner symbol used in internal cultivation to gather qi and condense spirit), with water above and fire below. When the mind's thoughts are active, they belong to fire; when they are still, they belong to water. This is therefore the water cauldron. At the base of the cauldron, stillness belongs to water and movement to fire, so it is also the fire cauldron.

Yang qi lies beneath the cauldron and is called water; when the fire qi rises to the top of the cauldron, water and fire meet and join. Yang fire belongs to the outer furnace, and both the outer furnace and the fire are stored in the qi cavity (the place in the body where breath is nurtured and stored). The Yellow Court (Huangting, in Daoist internal cultivation the central region among the internal organs) lies just above the qi cavity, and the qi cavity is the inner furnace. Fire is stored in the inner furnace, and near the cauldron it is constantly refined. This is what is meant by "continuous, as if barely there" (breath and intention going on without interruption, yet without forced effort). When the fire gradually strengthens from below, one should not sit in stillness but practice according to the two double-hours of zi and wu: at wu one advances the fire, and at zi one advances the water. When yang qi arises, do not disturb it with the thinking mind; simply use intention to guide it to turn to the right, then descend to the lower left and be stored within the body. Running it in the reverse direction is advancing the fire.

Someone asked: "What is the practice of the Nine Turns?" The answer: visualization. When the fire gradually strengthens from below, one should not sit in stillness but practice according to the two double-hours of zi and wu: at wu one advances the fire, and at zi one advances the water. When yang qi arises, do not disturb it with the thinking mind; simply use intention to guide it to turn to the right, then descend to the lower left and be stored within the body. Running it in the reverse direction is advancing the fire.

Another asked: "What is the practice of the Nine Turns?" The answer: "Three months of fire timing is the Nine Turns."

First Turn: At the start, begin from between the two flanks and visualize a path of fire. The fire rises from the Yang Palace (an internal alchemy term for the place where yang qi is stirred), travels up the right side to the shoulder, crosses horizontally through the center of the body, and, once gathered, is sent down on the left side. Then continue to nurture it, as if present and yet absent. It should be still, not active; slow, not hurried. Activity is called "fanning the fire," and haste harms the elixir. This is the practice of the zi hour each day.

Second Turn: Advance inward one cun and two fen from the flank, practicing by the same method as before. This is the practice of the chou hour.

Third Turn: Advance inward five fen from the flank, using the same method as before. This is the practice of the yin hour.

Bathing: At the mao hour the fire rises and the elixir is taken, four cun in all, with two fine threads, which are precisely the fire path. The vessel's pulse-qi flows through the cauldron, so when the fire rises, one does not fix the eyes upon it or force it with the mind, but guides it with intention alone. Turn it to the right so that the horizontal course lies level with the cauldron; this is what is called "aligning the thread to the ground." Then enter deep stillness, and the fire transforms into water and returns to the elixir within the cauldron. Next comes "bathing" (in internal alchemy, the phase of easing the fire timing and quietly nurturing the elixir qi), continuing to nurture it as if present and yet absent. This is a heavenly secret; it must be kept confidential.

Fourth Turn: Advance another inch, using the same method as before, keeping the breath upright and steady. Then enter a state of utmost stillness, in which fire is transformed into water and returns to the cauldron elixir (dingdan; the site used in alchemical practice to gather the elixir fluid). Next, perform the method of bathing (muyu), so that the practice continues unbroken, as if present and yet not present. The essential key of this process must be guarded with care.

Fourth Turn: Advance another inch, using the same method as before. This is the practice for the Chen hour (7 to 9 a.m.).

Fifth Turn: Advance five fen, using the same method as before. This is the practice for the Si hour (9 to 11 a.m.).

Sixth Turn, Extraction and Addition: Advance five fen. Fire rises from below and flourishes together with the heart fire and the crown fire at the Wu hour (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.). For this reason, when Yang qi first arises it must be slightly restrained; this is called "extraction." When Yang qi arises again, the force of the fire diminishes. The fire then ascends along the left side and crosses horizontally, arriving precisely at the heart region, where meeting the heart fire it grows vigorous. This is "extraction and addition."

Seventh Turn: Advance five fen, following the method given above. This is the practice for the Wei hour (1 to 3 p.m.).

Eighth Turn, Bathing: Let the qi travel up the left side and then descend along the right, taking one inch of elixir fluid. During the Wei hour, the fire travels the fire path, and every place it passes belongs to the Yin path. After the fire has passed, it gradually wanes, and in the Shen hour (3 to 5 p.m.) what is traveled is likewise the Yin path. Here, the "path above the heart" is Yang and the "path below the heart" is Yin; in both the Wei and Shen hours, the fire passes through the Yin path. When the You hour (5 to 7 p.m.) arrives, the metal qi begins to flourish, so one must wait in stillness. The fire transforms into metal fluid and returns to the cauldron elixir, and bathing is performed again. Bathing at the Mao hour (5 to 7 a.m.) increases mercury, while bathing at the You hour increases lead. Mercury and lead are symbolic names in Neidan (internal alchemy) for the essences and qi of Yin and Yang.

Ninth Turn: Take only five fen of elixir fluid, and use it within a brief moment, so that it settles into stillness at once. The fire transforms into metal fluid and returns to the cauldron elixir, and bathing is performed again. Bathing at the Mao hour increases mercury, while bathing at the You hour increases lead.

Ninth Turn: Take only five fen of elixir fluid; after using it for a brief moment, let it settle and wait.

Tenth Turn, Hai: Kindle the fire with the Xun wind (symbolizing wind-qi, the dynamic that helps the fire circulate), and circulate it according to the method of moving the fire, for which see the "Diagram of Fire Phasing."

Discerning and Grasping the Fire Qi

Diagram of the Method of Gathering

The Way of Heaven differentiates creation and transformation within the One;

Human cultivation begins by arranging the circulation from the heart.

Yuqing jinsi qinghua miwen jinbao neilian danjue (Jade Pure Golden Casket Secret Text of Qinghua: Instructions on the Golden Treasure Internal Alchemy Elixir), Volume 2