《真元妙道要略》

The Dao (the Way, the fundamental law of the cosmos) manifests itself as the Yellow Path, the Red Qi, and the like. "Seven-Nine Returning the Essence" and "Three-in-One Maiden" are the key formulae within it, and the crux lies in gathering qi and returning the elixir (refining and nourishing essence and qi so that they return to their source). Only in this way can one become a sage and withdraw into the "Eight Plains" (a specialized term in Daoist texts or cultivation systems). The secret of the immortal path is hidden within lead and mercury. The oral formula says: "Recognize the true meaning of lead and mercury, and you can exhaust all manner of transformations." Once the "Eight Plains" are thoroughly understood, the true Dao is established. All of these are essential keys, and lacking any one of them, success cannot be achieved.

From my own private observation, some students of the Dao, having never met a true master, take filth and excrement as materials for cultivation, or mistake lead and mercury for other things and refine those instead. The result is harm to their lives and the ruin of their households, and such cases are too many to list one by one. I record a few briefly here and explain the terms "Eight Plains," "Maiden," "lead and mercury," and so on:

Some use ordinary cinnabar, mercury, lead, and silver, and also extract what they call "terrace mercury," naming it "Heaven-born Tusk." They took it and died.

Some stir-fry mercury with sulfur to make what they call "numinous cinnabar." They took it, and their heads split open and their backs cracked.

Some call litharge, yellow lead, yellow blossom, and the like the "Yellow Sprout."

Some stir-fry black lead into what they call "water lead," claiming that in refining the elixir one may use lead or do without it. They took it and fell ill with consumptive exhaustion.

Some burn mulberry wood, then leach the ash forty-eight times according to the number "six-eight," and boil down the ash frost, calling it "autumn mineral."

Some burn and refine metal scraps.

Some stir-fry black lead into what they call "water lead," claiming that in refining the elixir one may use lead or do without it. They took it and fell ill with consumptive exhaustion.

Some burn mulberry wood and leach it forty-eight times according to the number "six-eight," boiling down the ash frost and calling it "autumn mineral."

Some burn and refine cinnabar, tin, coins, and plants and trees, then extract a frost-like substance from the dung ash and call it "lead and mercury."

Some use the afterbirth (the placenta expelled after a child is born), calling it the "River Chariot," also known as "Purple Fragrance."

Some place niter that has been refined nine times into a gourd, then use a crystal jade ring to collect lunar water and solar fire, and call what this procedure produces the "Great Medicine."

Some burn and refine cinnabar, tin, and coins, extract lead pellets from them, and call these the "true lead within the elixir."

Some use a silver "chicken egg" (an egg-shaped vessel) to nurture cinnabar and mercury, then treat them with fire-subduing alum. Zhang Guolao said that the so-called "Dragon-Tiger Elixir" is simply mercury that has been subjected to fire-subduing and has lost its activity.

(Note: "lead and mercury," "Yellow Sprout," "River Chariot," and similar terms are often names of refining materials or medicines in Waidan (external alchemy). This passage lists, item by item, various materials and methods that were called elixirs, and records the harm suffered by those who consumed them. Two items that are repeated in the text are retained as in the original.)

Some people feed "salt-processed cinnabar" (a material prepared from salt and treated mineral grit) to boys and girls of sixteen, collect their urine and feces, then roast, filter, and extract a frost-like substance from it, which they call "lead and mercury" (a name used in alchemy for certain materials or products).

Some people combine the "four yellows and eight stones" (various yellow minerals and stone-based drugs) and roast them together, calling this the refining of the Great Medicine. Others refine the Great Medicine from eight kinds of mineral drugs.

Some people feed "tooth-blocking processed cinnabar" to boys and girls of sixteen, collect their urine and feces, then roast, filter, and extract a frost-like substance from it, which they call lead and mercury.

Some people combine the four yellows and eight stones and roast them together, calling this the refining of the Great Medicine. Others refine the Great Medicine from eight kinds of mineral drugs.

Some people take "tooth-blocking" soap pods (soap pods bearing the name "tooth-blocking"), gather them in the eleventh month, and roast them to obtain their ash and a frost-like substance. They also say that the tooth-like growths that form naturally on the pods can be used as well.

Some people turn gourds into saltpeter, then call white quartz "purple quartz," claiming this is a kind of "Dao (the Way) that contains the five colors."

Some people boil down frost, snow, and the dew from a hundred herbs, calling the result "divine water and flowery pond," and use it in their cultivation.

Some people roast ginger stone, mica, sulfur, and earth, and call these the supreme medicines.

Some people treat iron rust and verdigris as natural medicines, citing as proof a line from the Yin Zhenjun Jue (Formula of the Perfected Lord Yin): "Golden flowers are born of the treasures of Heaven and Earth."

Some people call mulberry-nest residue, flea-droppings sand, and ochre pebbles the "greater and lesser sacred stones," claiming they are natural cinnabar.

Some people roast indigo pigment and pine soot, and call what they obtain "the true black lead of the One Child."

Some people burn silk into fine ash, then filter and boil it down, calling the result the Great Medicine.

Some people roast saltpeter, water from the "two rivers," and blue washing-water for three years, intending to refine them into the supreme medicine.

Some people use a water-and-fire cauldron to roast red and white camphor-willow roots, calling them the "Mysterious Female" (the source from which Yin-Yang unite and give birth to all things).

Some people use azurite and chalcanthite to coagulate mercury, then roast it until it becomes fixed, calling what they obtain true gold.

Some people mix sulfur, realgar, saltpeter, and honey and roast them together, with the result that flames leap up, scorching their hands and faces and even burning down their houses.

Some people use chalcanthite to coagulate mercury, then roast it until it becomes fixed, calling what they obtain true gold.

Some people mix sulfur, realgar, saltpeter, and honey and roast them together, with the result that flames leap up, scorching their hands and faces and even burning down their houses.

Some people use a water-and-fire leaking-furnace cabinet (a type of alchemical apparatus) to roast mercury and blue cinnabar grains, repeating the process nine times, and call it the "numinous cinnabar of nine turnings and seven returns."

Some people burn huangdan (yellow lead, an oxide of lead), hufen (lead powder), and puxiao (a saltpeter-type mineral) together and claim to have refined a "supreme medicine."

Others burn realgar and orpiment together and say this is the way of "knowing the male while keeping to the female."

Others refine one jin of black lead, then add one zhu (an ancient unit of weight) of silver. They call this "knowing the white while keeping to the black," claim that divine spirits will descend of their own accord, and name the product "true lead-silver."

Others, in the eleventh month, use a basin to collect the Yin (Yin-Yang) qi (Qi, vital energy) from the ground and take what they gather to be "true water."

Others burn dung ash, drench it with water from the twelfth month to extract a liquid, then boil it down until crystals form, and call the result the "great medicine."

Still others cast one liang of mercury into one jin of black lead and call the result the "True One Divine Talisman of White Snow."

The practices described above are the work of people who take error and delusion for the great Dao (the Way). They train year after year, and the result is often that they exhaust their family fortunes, damage their bodies, and even lose their lives, while also corrupting social customs and harming moral instruction. Such people are as numerous as the hairs on a body, yet not one of them has truly succeeded.

The Cantongqi (a classic of Daoist cultivation) says that this is like a blind man walking without a staff, or a deaf man trying to listen to music; like hunting pheasants and hares in the water, or looking for fish and dragons in the mountains. It also says: shut two women in a room together and ask Zhang Yi and Su Qin (Warring States persuaders famed for their eloquence) to arrange a marriage for them, and even when their hair has fallen out and their teeth have rotted, the two will never unite. It adds that using glue to mend a reed mat, smearing a prepared compound on a cooking pot, putting ice in a cool place and then using hot soup to drive out the heat, or wanting a tortoise to fly and a snake to dance, are all things that can never be accomplished. Why? Because things that are by nature of different kinds cannot be forced together.

Master Wei said that even if the Yellow Emperor himself guarded the cauldron and furnace, Taiyi (a venerated Daoist deity) tended the fire with his own hands, the Eight Elders (legendary immortals) carried out the refining, and the Prince of Huainan did the blending; even if a high altar were built, jade steps laid, the flesh and gall of the qilin and phoenix prepared, and one knelt long with register in hand, burning petitions and praying for the pity of gods and spirits, then bathed and fasted in full expectation, one would still not obtain what one sought.

Ordinary people do not understand what these terms mean. The "Young Maiden" is the symbol of the Dui trigram. The "Three-in-One" is the root of such cultivation images as lead and mercury. The "Yellow Path" is the beginning of the number ten in numerology. The "Red Qi" is the key to the Seven Primes (the Daoist conception of star deities). The Xuanwei Jue (Secret Instructions on the Profound and Subtle) by Master Bitong says that long whistling and guiding the breath (daoyin) are the keys to circulating Qi (vital energy) in the secret methods, and that visualizing the many spirits is the earliest method for cutting off outside entanglements. Qi gathers and takes form through resonance, while Jing (essence) is transformed into Qi by returning to its original source. Lead and mercury are called the mother of Heaven and Earth, and the "Young Maiden" is another name for the "Golden Blossom." To cherish life is the root of all good deeds, while to loathe life or treat it lightly is the source of all evil deeds.

In short, the subtle Dao is as easy to grasp as turning over one's hand when one understands it, but when one is confused it seems as distant as Heaven from Earth. Without a teacher's guidance, feeling one's way by the written words alone, one will hardly learn the truth once in ten thousand tries. The Perfected Man Chunyu said: "Though the scholars of this world are many, and not a few are of lofty talent and exceptional gifts, if by chance they fail to meet an enlightened teacher, the firing will merely waste their wealth. If they guess only from the words in books and act on their own ideas, they will find no thread to follow and will be unable to judge the heat and measure accurately."

This art must be transmitted by a teacher, and only by obtaining the true method can one be free of error. Master Zhang's Five Chapters says: "If one obtains the true method for lead and mercury, then even if the cultivation is not yet complete, one will gain long life by taking it. What matters is not how much money one has, but whether the method and its steps are complete." Master Wei said: "The sages of all ages were not born with foresight; they awakened through the guidance of teachers."

The Nanhua Lun, the Litong Li, the Xuangang Lun, the Sanxingzi Koujue, and other works also say that Fuxi received the River Chart, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan received the auspicious tokens, Gaoxin received the Heavenly Scripture, and Yu the Great received the Luo Writ. These transmissions were all taken up from the ancients. The oral formula left by the earlier sages says: "Five, three, and one are the most refined things between Heaven and Earth." Teachings of this kind can be passed from mouth to mind, but can hardly be written down in full in books.

I dare not reveal the workings of Heaven too plainly, and so I have set down only a brief account for those who love the Dao. I hope they will examine it carefully and study it earnestly, turn from evil to good, and not let their learning stagnate and be wasted, so that in the end they do not miss the light in vain.

Immortals and ordinary mortals dwell in different realms, and humans and ghosts follow different paths. The immortals and sages never study the ways of ordinary people, and exceptional individuals should not imitate the way of ghosts. Though the gulf between the immortal and the mundane is profound and subtle, those of superior capacity who take up the study of the Dao (the Way) must observe fasting and purification. The human path and the ghostly path are entirely distinct, yet people of middle and lower capacity often mix the two in their practice. For this reason, attaining the sacred Dao cannot be done without long cultivation, whereas becoming a dead ghost may be accomplished in an instant.

Why is this so? Because things of the same kind respond to one another, and identical sounds echo each other. The ancients said: "A thousand days of good deeds are still not enough, but a single evil act harms the self at once." An old text likewise says: "The blessings of good deeds are like the five grains: without sowing, they will not grow. Evil karma is like wild grass: even unplanted, it flourishes of its own accord."

This is because evil karma belongs to a dark, heavy, and harmful disposition, akin to the energy of autumn and winter. Autumn energy damages the myriad things, and winter energy withers and kills them; once they decay, they sink back down to their roots. Just as water naturally flows downward, so after death a person returns to the Yellow Springs of the underworld.

The blessings born of cultivating goodness, by contrast, belong to the qi (vital energy) of Yang, bright and animated. They resemble the spring, when all things sprout, and the summer, when all things grow: plants and trees flourish, emerging from the earth and turning toward the Yang energy, luminous as fire, and flames naturally rise upward. While alive, a person is suited to dwell in the bright position of Yang, which is why immortals ascend to the Nine Heavens above, like flames rising. If one cultivates lofty practices of the Dao, the blessings of Yang grow, as a fire burns ever brighter. Water, however, needs no effort to flow downward of its own accord, just as people so easily drift toward death. Here the original text contains a passage that repeats the earlier discussion of Yang energy, flames, and the cultivation of the higher Dao.

Therefore Laojun (Lord Lao) said: "Habits accumulated over a long time become the norm." He also said: "A tree of many armspans grows from a tiny sprout; a nine-story terrace is raised from baskets of earth; a journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet." The principle here is plain.

Therefore, even if the gateway into the Dao (道) seems like a small matter, the basic essentials should first be made clear, and one should advance step by step, so that there is hope of reaching the realm of the Perfected.

The key to the first step is to put the preservation of Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and the nurturing of life above all else. The methods for preserving Jing include: cutting off wicked thoughts; taking so-called medicines that secure Jing; enduring little toil; sleeping with the knees bent; sleeping little; not letting the will and mind be drained to excess; being cautious about sorrow and worry; harmonizing joy and anger; avoiding drunkenness and overeating; abstaining from the five pungent vegetables (usually meaning scallions, garlic, chives, rakkyo, xingqu, and other pungent foods); and keeping one's temperament balanced and upright. These are the starting point from which practice gradually advances.

Next comes the matter of "benefit," that is, the efficacy of cultivation. The Dongyuan and the Yuanjing Jing (Scripture of Primordial Essence) say that one should benefit both oneself and others, so that cause and effect interconnect. Those of superior capacity combine these merits and gain deep and abundant benefit; those of middling capacity achieve a penetrating unity of Shen (spirit) and body; those of lesser capacity separate body from life. Those of superior capacity may ascend to the supreme realm; those of middling capacity can attain the immortal realm of rank within the body; and those of lesser capacity become numinous ghosts after death. These are three kinds of people, differing in aspiration and level of practice.

Students of the Way should not be ashamed to seek instruction from those of lower station. They should read widely in the essential methods and secrets, and nourish and steep themselves with a pure and sincere heart, so that the principles gradually become clear to them. When a teacher points out the subtle key, many matters will be understood as a connected whole.

Speaking of the efficacy of cultivation, one should not think only of seeking blessings or becoming an immortal, but should also pursue freedom and carefree wandering, and avoid creating evil karma. One should also practice and compound good medicines, give away wealth and proclaim the good Way, teach others by every means, make precious things that benefit the world, and help the poor and weak. Good deeds should be done quietly, while faults will inevitably come to light. This is the fundamental principle the sages and worthies followed in their cultivation, and students of the Way may practice it as well.

However, if one wishes to refine medicines that benefit the world, one must truly understand the principle of "true mercury" (a term from Daoist alchemy, here referring to the genuine materials or key ingredient required for alchemical refining) before undertaking the work. Refining with false materials will surely bring disaster, so special caution is called for.

If copper, iron, and tin are to be transformed into silver, do not attempt it unless you have mastered the essential method. A "cabinet" (gui, the refining process in alchemy by which substances are made to change) compounded from zengqing (azurite and similar minerals), shidan (chalcanthite), and sand can also refine superior gold, and its effect far surpasses transmutation by other substances.

To refine zengqing and bind the sand, first grind the zengqing extremely fine, then wash it in water to remove the stone grit mixed into it. Then use it to "bind" mercury (that is, to make the mercury coagulate into a solid). Cold water must be avoided throughout the process. One liang of fine zengqing can bind four liang of mercury. Once bound, leave it overnight. If it hardens like stone and takes on a golden color, the zengqing is of good quality.

If the "cabinet" has not yet been completed, take one liang, grind it to powder, and grind it together with three zhu of realgar, one fen of powdered frost (fenshuang), and cold water. Use this to transmute two jin of white stone powder and black lead, which is said to yield two and a half jin of "Full Red Jade." If three zhu of fudu is added, the result is so-called "elixir jade," that is, the white imitation jade sold in the markets. Here the instruction is to remove the sand powder.

If the "cabinet" is well refined, the sands such as zengqing become superior metals once they are produced. Those that emerge red and resembling yellow earth become superior gold when smelted. Those that are bluish-black become red silver. Those that are pale in color cannot be successfully refined; such material is unusable and, once smelted, becomes only copper. If sands of gold, silver, and the like are well refined, each is said to become the corresponding true metal according to the nature of its raw material.

When iron silver and tin silver have been successfully made, they are called "Sage Mercury" (an alchemical substance regarded as possessing a special power of transmutation). It is said to transmute the five metals and hard minerals, turning them into true treasures. The scripture illustrates the potency of the refining materials through a series of comparisons: a jin of ordinary Eight Minerals is not as good as one liang of fire-subdued cannon stone; a jin of fire-subdued cannon is not as good as one liang of fire-subdued niter; a jin of fire-subdued niter is not as good as one liang of fire-subdued Four Yellows; a jin of fire-subdued Four Yellows is not as good as one liang of freshly mined Purple Radiance Fragrant Cinnabar; a jin of Purple Radiance Fragrant Cinnabar is not as good as one liang of Dragon-Tiger Sage Cinnabar; and a jin of Dragon-Tiger Sage Cinnabar is still not as good as one zhu of Great Nine-Cycle Cinnabar. At the end, the text repeats and stresses the relative ranking of Purple Radiance Fragrant Cinnabar, Dragon-Tiger Sage Cinnabar, and Great Nine-Cycle Cinnabar.

As for what people call "True Seven-Spirit Cinnabar," the author does not know how potent it really is. The author surmises that perhaps the correct method was never obtained, and says they have only heard their teacher speak of it in this way.

The oral instructions of Taishang Laojun (the Supreme Lord Lao) are said to have been passed on to only two people, Yin Xi and Zhang Daoling, who obtained this method. In private, I have seen many ordinary people take common mercury and sulfur, refine them into a blue-green sand, and then burn it seven times in a water-and-fire cauldron. They then consume it and call it "Seven-Times-Returned Numinous Cinnabar." This often causes grave harm, and it is truly lamentable. I urge those who study the Dao (the Way) to take great care in identifying the genuine secret instructions, not to risk their lives lightly, and above all to be cautious.

In refining the "Four Yellows and Eight Minerals" (a category of mineral substances used in Daoist alchemy), if one uses plant ash or similar materials without refining them for a long time, until they melt into a liquid, they are of no use. The reason is that the ingredients have been combined improperly. They may appear subdued for a time, but they will change again and again. If one keeps smelting them for a fifth time, the substance gradually dwindles and withers. Once it shows any withering, it cannot be used. One must verify by testing whether it has truly undergone fire-subduing (fuhuo, being refined until its nature is stable), and the result must be exact and unmistakable.

When subduing any of these substances with fire, one need only know the proportions of the principal and auxiliary ingredients. Refine them until the substance melts into a thick, oily liquid, then take a portion the size of a bean and burn it over red-hot charcoal. If it turns to oil and flows into the fire, without producing smoke or flame, then regardless of its color it can be used to prepare the so-called "Transformation for Worldly Benefit" medicines, and it may also be taken to treat illness. One should not take much of it, however, since taking too much does harm instead.

Note: The passage beginning "Whenever the various substances are fire-subdued…" appears twice in the original text. The sentences before and after the phrase "one bean in size" are incomplete, and the rendering above has been made coherent on the basis of context.

After sulfur has undergone "fuhuo" (伏火, subduing with fire: in Daoist alchemy, a method of treating substances by heating and similar means so that their properties become stable), it can be used to prepare medicines, but it cannot be used alone to transmute metals. Realgar, orpiment, and "pihuang" (毗黄) each have their own uses once they have been subdued with fire. Cinnabar, after "ruler-minister fire-subduing" (君臣伏火, a refining method in which principal and auxiliary substances are combined and treated together), can likewise be used in combination with other substances.

Certain substances can themselves be refined into red silver. Each liang of red silver can transmute three zhu of fire-subdued orpiment into gold of the highest grade. Fire-subdued "pishuang" (毗霜) can also be used to make white copper brittle. When the five metals encounter fire-subdued mercury, "powder frost" (粉霜, calomel or a similar mercury preparation), or "blasting cinnabar" (炮砂), they become soft and turn into malleable substances.

Although fire-subdued blasting cinnabar can soften substances, it also scorches them and causes them to wither and decay. In small amounts it enhances the action of the four yellows; in excess it damages the five metals. One may take a piece of fire-subdued blasting cinnabar the size of a bean, place it on a copper sheet, and heat it three times; if the copper sheet turns scorched and black, this shows it has this property.

Pishuang, pihuang, mercury, powder frost, and the like can mostly feign a temporary loss of potency, lying hidden within the "three yellows." Once they obtain a good "gui" (柜, a term in the original for a vessel used to hold or refine substances; its exact referent is unclear), they can remain hidden permanently. All of them have the power to transform the five metals swiftly. Only saltpeter, even after being subdued with fire, cannot alone transmute the five metals, nor can it transmute stone sulfur; it should be used in combination with other substances. Saltpeter is suited to assisting other substances, and too much of it will ruin them. Raw saltpeter must not be burned and refined together with the three yellows and the like, or danger will quickly arise.

After saltpeter has been fire-subdued, it can be tested on red-hot charcoal: if it turns oily and undergoes no further change when put into the fire, it is considered subdued; if it burns to a liquid in a flask, the process is not yet complete. The text says that in this way one can tell whether saltpeter is raw or cooked. Green saltpeter is very difficult to subdue with fire; when tested on charcoal, if it bursts into flame as soon as it is placed there, it has not yet been subdued.

Once alum has been subdued by fire (fuhuo), its taste remains the same as before treatment. Place it in a vessel and heat it until it glows red and melts into liquid. After cooling, its color resembles burnished silver, though it may also be a bluish white. When struck, it rings like gold or jade. Only alum of this kind is fit to be taken.

Cinnabar and mercury are the hardest substances to subdue by fire and must be treated separately, by special methods. If they are mixed with other substances during the process, they lose their original flavor and also spoil the other ingredients, so this must not be done.

Each substance has its own method of fire-subduing. Some require taming a stubborn, hard nature, some a molten fluid, and some a dry, withered nature. There are also counterfeit substances, and these too must each be examined separately.

Among sulfur, there is a counterfeit that looks like large lumps of borax, dyed with pihuang to pass for sulfur that has been subdued by fire and can melt into liquid. Taking this false sulfur harms the body. Others fashion imitations to resemble native copper and pass them off as cinnabar that has been subdued by fire and made hard and solid. Still others embed stones in sulfur and then fire it with a vapor fire to pass it off as fire-subdued sulfur. All of these are useless. I mention them only briefly here so that students of the Dao (the Way) may discern them.

Should someone obtain "Void-Nothingness Purple Light Sacred Sand" (an alchemical material known as Sacred Sand), all of the Four Yellows and Eight Minerals can be subdued with it. As for the Twenty-Four Transformative Liquids, the Golden Sū Paste, Jinhua, and other elixirs, none can be completed without genuine lead and mercury as raw materials. Since ancient times, the sages have kept the secrets of lead and mercury hidden, never writing them down and transmitting them only by word of mouth.

The so-called "First-Stage Sacred Sand," when used to transmute iron, turns the iron silver-white at once, though it does not yet fully become a usable treasure. The original text says it can be used to test whether cinnabar is genuine or false. The medicinal substances circulating in the world have already been discussed above, so I will not repeat them here. A little testing will make the difference plain.

I have set down these accounts of the various substances and of Sacred Sand because I saw that the additions made by Li Ji to the Shennong Jade and Mineral Materia Medica contain many errors. I therefore record these oral instructions, explain the many transformations of the substances, and share them with fellow practitioners. I also hope readers will study widely, will not squander their days or waste their lives, and will examine carefully and verify matters for themselves.

Chapter Two: Verifying the Authentic

The sun and moon wax and wane, so how could ordinary people be without times of fortune and adversity? This is because a person's virtue (De) has not yet become pure and undivided, and the Qi of Yin-Yang remains mixed and out of balance. For this reason one cannot immediately reach the true realm of the Dao (the Way); one may still have to undergo the smelting and casting of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), that is, the tempering and transformation of the Qi (vital energy) of the Five Phases.

At that time, the Primordial Venerable of Origin (Yuanshi Tianzun), Mother of the Law of the Great Dao, taught the method of returning Yin-Yang to the Five Phases and restoring the original Jing (essence). Together with the Supreme Lord of the Dao (Taishang Daojun), he transmitted these methods to beings who study the Dao through the long kalpas. One gathers the primordial Qi (the original Qi from which heaven, earth, and all things arise) of the sun and moon, of heaven and earth, and of the Five Phases, then cultivates it and condenses it into the Golden Elixir. When the cultivation is complete, one takes the Golden Elixir and is no longer harmed by the Five Phases. One comes and goes freely, rides cranes and mounts dragons, and travels to and dwells in the Purple Palace (the celestial abode of immortals). Through ten thousand kalpas one remains pure and uncorrupted, untouched by the dust of the kalpas (the defilements and calamities of times of catastrophe). All these powers come from the spiritual force of the original Jing.

Foolish people do not understand the essential meaning of the Great Dao in its perfect truth. They suppose that when the three great calamities (the vast disasters spoken of in Daoism) arrive, one who has attained the Dao must leave this place and flee beyond the Three Realms to hide. How foolish this is! They do not know that the truly perfected body belongs by nature to the category of original Jing. Master Bitong said, "After attaining the Dao, the body can pass through hundreds of millions of great kalpas without feeling pain or weariness, remaining pure and ever present." If one still had to evade the calamities when they come, escaping this heaven and earth to take refuge in another realm, one would not yet be free from running about and toil, so how could that count as truly attaining the Dao? Moreover, if even the Five Phases cannot harm one who has attained the Dao, how could the three calamities injure such a person? Why do people not think about this carefully?

The Primordial Essence of the Three Unities (the original, primal Jing and Qi in which Heaven, Earth, and the human being merge into one) is the root of Heaven and Earth, the source of the Returned Elixir (huandan, the immortal medicine refined in Neidan, or internal alchemy), the mother of the myriad things, and the quintessence of the seven treasures. It is also the very substance of the Dao (the Way), the parent of the sun and moon and the sovereign of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). At the beginning it was called the "True One."

Thus the De Jing says: "Heaven attains the One and becomes clear; Earth attains the One and becomes tranquil; the myriad things attain the One and are able to grow." Heaven, Earth, and humanity, the three powers, merge into a single body, and for this reason it is called the "Three Unities."

"Three" also refers to Wood, Earth, and Water, which are further divided into three levels: in Heaven they are the three luminaries, on Earth the three treasures, and within the human body the three brilliances. The Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Classic) says: "The three brilliances emit radiance and can deliver beings across life and death." The original text is repetitive and damaged at this point; the gist of the following statements about Wood, Dragon, Water, and Tiger is that Wood belongs to the Dragon and corresponds to Chou, Yin, and Mao, while the "One" belongs to the Water Tiger and corresponds to Zi, Hai, Xu, and You.

When these two images transform, they correspond to seven things: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, You, Xu, and Hai, which all return to the position of the Chen Star. In Heaven they correspond to the seven stars, on Earth to the seven treasures, and in the human body to the seven apertures. When three is paired with five, the eight elements are formed; when they converge with the six directions, the Three and Five become manifest. The precise positions of the Three and Five were already explained in the third fascicle.

The scripture says that the Three and Five can accord with all kinds of things, harmonize the myriad beings, govern and transform Yin-Yang, cover and bear up Heaven and Earth, and bring light to the four seas. Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, the alternation of the seasons, warmth and cold, and the clear and turbid Qi all depend on the Three and Five. They are the pivot of Heaven and Earth, the critical meeting point of the six, and the regulator of how Qi moves through the Nine Palaces.

Therefore the Shengji (Sacred Records) says: "The Way of Heaven is not distant; the Three and Five revolve and return." What is meant by "return" is the Returned Elixir. Primordial Qi congeals into the elixir, and after one full cycle of circulation, it sheds its embryonic form. If one can set the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) in motion, causing them to transform and give rise to one another, then after one year the Returned Elixir can be completed. Within the Dantian (energy center) lies the number of two eights, and when the elixir reaches one catty, the body is considered complete; upon taking it, one can become an immortal.

Ordinary people have bodies formed from primordial Qi (yuanqi), the fundamental energy that constitutes heaven, earth, and all things. When this body is further nourished by the essential Qi of the "Spiritual Origin" (lingyuan), one can attain longevity, unite the body with pure Yang energy, and forever transcend the realm of Yin. This is called "Returning Elixir" (huandan). The word "elixir" (dan) draws on the Yang number of nine times nine, and also refers to the color red. Red belongs to Fire, so once the elixir is taken it rises to the nine heavens, just as flames must ascend, and through resonance a Yang spirit (yangshen) is formed. Any gentleman who aspires to longevity and obtains it will have all that cultivation requires, and will grasp the essentials of the Dao (the Way).

Yet although the earlier sages left behind many scriptures (Jing) and oral formulas, they concealed the crucial points, so that later students mistook lead and mercury for the foundation of alchemy and in the end failed in their practice. Why say this? Because the lead and mercury commonly spoken of lack the complete Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and the full Four Images; they are merely substances thin in Qi and heavy in sluggishness, and can never help a person prolong life. If students of the Dao wish to understand the source of the alchemical way, they need only reflect on where their own selves and all things come from, and they will grasp the principle of the sages. This is why Laozi said, "The named is the mother of the myriad things." This is precisely what he meant.

If one can gather this medicine that comes from emptiness and nothingness, and let it nurture the essence of sun and moon within the Dantian (energy center), refining it into the Golden Elixir, that is sufficient. If one does not encounter this essential path, one cannot verify the attainment of the living Dao, and in the end can only achieve "release from the corpse" (shijie), leaving the physical remains behind, unable to make the body endure. This matter is profoundly deep and subtle; without meeting an enlightened teacher, there is no way to understand it thoroughly.

I have also seen that among students of the Dao, there are often those who overhear a few teachings and then, in confusion, pass them on to one another. For this reason I have deliberately recorded this oral formula, so that like-minded gentlemen may discern its general meaning and be spared doubt. Although the text does not directly state names such as Dragon and Tiger, it in fact reveals the workings of Yin-Yang. These workings are the foundation of the Golden Elixir: the Dragon and Tiger join essence and Qi, Metal and Wood overcome one another, Water and Fire restrain one another, and the manifestations of the Five Spirits appear from this as well.

An ancient song says: the sage comprehends and masters the mysteries of creation, as though holding the sun and moon in the palm of the hand and setting them within the furnace. Through subtle turning and harmonizing, the essential Qi (vital energy) of Heaven and Earth flows within it; the Qi of Yin-Yang gathers and blends, and spirits and ghosts move along with it. The soul of the sun, the essence of the moon: who can understand the secret within them?

The Secret Scripture (Jing, scripture) says: "The will must be single-minded; the subtle principle cannot be twofold." This is precisely the point. One who understands these things is a true immortal. Such a person refines the workings of creation, draws the sun and moon into the furnace, and directs the essential Qi of Heaven and Earth, so that Yin-Yang join and spirits and ghosts move in their courses. The secret of the sun's soul and the moon's essence: who can understand it?

To cultivate and take this elixir for a thousand days is the practice of the "Great Nine-Turn Returned Elixir" (Da Jiuzhuan Huandan). When one has cultivated until all the Yin Qi within the body is eliminated, one will not die. This ancient song, as set out above, describes the whole course of the Returned Elixir practice from beginning to end.

When first learning to identify cinnabar (danshа, the cinnabar-type minerals used in alchemy), one may follow the master's oral formulas and recognize the Dragon and Tiger (terms of alchemical art referring to complementary Yin-Yang forces), yet still worry that the identification is not accurate. One may then go to a deep and quiet place and let the Dragon and Tiger meet and join their essence and qi (Jing and Qi). The dragon chants and the tiger roars, clouds and mist roll and surge, and malevolent spirits scatter. After a fragrant wind rises, the Dragon and Tiger withdraw, leaving behind a distilled essence at the place of union. This essence is the color of blood, bitter in taste, and sweetly fragrant; once in the mouth, it dissolves like melting ice. This is called the "Returned Elixir" (huandan). The superior immortals call it "Galloping Horse Cinnabar," saying that its fragrance can spread through ten households and that it can instantly turn iron into gold. In truth this is not so; such phenomena are merely signs that confirm the marvelous transformation of the cinnabar.

Take this cinnabar as the Dantian (energy center; here, the place where the elixir is conceived in Neidan, internal alchemy), and let it respond to the essences of the sun and moon, so that it is nurtured and congeals along with the movement of sun and moon and the turning of the years, until at last the elixir takes form. When the elixir is mature, it separates from the "womb field" (baotian). The womb field is like a mother's body: the Dantian is its mother, and it is also called the "furnace." The jade immortals consume the "empty child" (xuzi) within it and do not consume its mother; it can also transform the treasures of the world, changing them. This is done to relieve the poor and the frail. A ruler who possesses the Dao (the Way) may take it to prolong his years; and if one can abstain from sexual desire between man and woman while taking it, one may likewise attain long life. If a recluse cannot obtain the essences of sun and moon and the qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) within this Dantian, the elixir will in the end fail to congeal.

Without the miraculous signs described above, namely the union of Dragon and Tiger and the manifestation of essence and qi, what one has is merely ordinary medicine, or earth and stone, and it can never move the sacred and numinous. Nor is this cinnabar the only thing capable of marvelous transformation: a lodestone can attract iron across a distance, the two responding to each other unseen; crystal and mussel shells can likewise respond to one another across great depths. If even Water and Fire, things opposed in nature, can do so, why should it be hard for ordinary people and sages to respond to one another?

Wine and vinegar brewed on the La day (the day of sacrifice in the twelfth lunar month), and lard stored then, can last a full year without turning foul or spoiling. How much more so when one refines the Golden Elixir with primordial Jing (essence) and the seasonal rhythms of four thousand three hundred and twenty periods!

The Supreme Dao (道, Dao, the Way) has many gateways and is not hard to encounter. In cultivating the Great Elixir, one must first prolong and stabilize the potency of the reverted elixir; only then can one gradually attain the state of the Realized. When first taking this elixir, one must carefully recognize the body's reactions. Without understanding them, one may fall prey to doubt, lose confidence, and delay one's cultivation.

At the start of taking the elixir, you may feel a dullness of mind and oppression in the chest, or dream of inauspicious things. The text calls this the "Three Evils," saying that the Lingsha (spirit cinnabar, the cinnabar-type substance used in Daoist alchemy) is disturbing the Shen (神, spirit) and throwing the mind into confusion. This usually stops after about ten days. Some people also dream of vomiting rat droppings, tangled hair, thatch, or filth, or of large sores on the body from which spiders and lizards crawl out. They may also dream of their genitals rotting and falling away, or of discharging foul matter. The scripture says there is no need for fear: these are signs that the "Three Corpses" (in Daoist belief, impure entities that dwell in the body and hinder cultivation) are leaving the body.

After roughly one hundred days of taking the elixir, you may sometimes feel your back and waist as though scorched by the sun, and in your palms there seem to appear pearl-like glimmers that shine into the body's interior, so that it looks like the delicate skin of an infant. If touched carelessly it is easily broken, and only afterward does it gradually become firm. Reddened skin is explained in the text as a sign that the cinnabar is moving Qi (气, vital energy) and blood and clearing away old ailments. If small sores appear on the body, neither painful nor itchy, the pus and blood will slowly recede; once dry, they flake off like bran, and the skin beneath is smooth and bright.

In addition, eyesight gradually improves. In darkness, you may sometimes see a yellow band of light before your eyes, about three feet long and as thick as a sinew. Scars and hollows on the body slowly smooth out. If you often have a runny nose, with clear water flowing from it, or if you sneeze or shed tears frequently, do not be alarmed; the scripture regards these as signs of impure matter being expelled.

The limbs may feel light and nimble or taut; at times the legs and knees feel warmed as if by sunlight. If yellow pus or black blood appears in the stool, it will stop on its own after once or twice. The book says this is the expulsion of old ailments from the five viscera. The emotions of joy and anger gradually weaken, and labor does not easily tire you. There are also many other reactions that cannot be described one by one.

All these reactions belong to the oral formulas of recognition passed down within the master's lineage. The author, worried that fellow practitioners who take the elixir might be unable to observe their bodily changes closely, has written these formulas down. As for what remains unsaid, the reactions to taking the Longhu Dan (Dragon-Tiger Elixir, the name of a Daoist elixir) are already widely circulated through the oral formulas of the earlier sages and of the Elder Hui of Maiji Mountain, so they are not detailed here.

The sages of antiquity withheld the oral instructions (koujue) until the right moment to transmit them, using this delay to test the aspirations of ordinary people, and so very few ever truly received them. Only this set of instructions joins the true teachings with practical supporting methods. For that reason it must be kept secret and must not be passed on to those who are unsuited to it.

While taking the elixir, avoid scaleless fish, goat's blood, dog meat, turtle meat, the flesh of horses and oxen that have died naturally, monkey meat, ginger, garlic, coriander (cilantro), bitter greens, and rapeseed greens (rape). It is best to abstain from all of them entirely.

Those who aspire to longevity should eat little rice; after eating it, one may feel a heaviness in the body and experience sensations of cold and heat. This reaction to rice is not part of the oral instructions handed down by a master. I once spent a high summer tending a furnace fire, refining various minor elixirs. Ordinarily, when winter came, I did not feel cold or heat. Later, I ate a bowl of cooked rice, about one teacup in quantity, that had been rinsed in boiled water, and seven days afterward I felt feverish. I tried it several more times, and the result was the same. Those who are determined to cultivate themselves should also treat this matter with care.

Chapter Three: Refining the Body (the third chapter, on refining and nourishing the physical form)

The key to refining the form (lianxing, cultivating the physical body) lies in guarding the mystery of the "One." When the One manifests outward, it becomes the movement of jing and qi; when it is gathered inward, it becomes the mind and nature. It is the root by which Great Harmony and True Unity (the qi of Great Harmony and the Dao of True Unity) sustain the life of all beings. By cutting off procreation and letting the breath settle into stillness, one can in the end return to the original source.

The Zhuanzhi jue (Transmission of Aspirations) says: "First, nourish jing and qi and circulate the breath. Second, gather and refine the root of the named myriad things. Third, refine the form and transform its substance, so that the five organs become precious sinews and bones, and the skin and skeleton become like gold and jade. The hair turns green, the eyes turn blue-green, the skin becomes as fine and smooth as jade, and the body radiates the light of Shen (spirit). One can appear and one can vanish; the gaze reaches without limit, and the ears hear without end. This is called a Shen-zhen, a spirit-realized one (a true person who has attained the Dao). The body is united with the Dao; transformation cannot alter such a person, and ghosts and spirits cannot perceive them. The golden bones are equal to the numinous origin, and the jade flesh penetrates the six wisdoms (six faculties of spiritual perception)."

Another explanation holds that the six wisdoms are the six consciousnesses. In the body of an ordinary person, they are the six thieves and the six bowels; in the body of a sage, they are the six wisdoms, the six penetrations, and the Six Jia and Six Ding (divine generals in Daoism). Between Heaven and Earth, they correspond to the six directions, the six pitches, and the six female pitches (ancient classifications of cosmic space and musical tones). Thus, penetrating the six wisdoms is the rank of an immortal who has ascended to realization (one who has been perfected as an immortal). To go further and gain the immeasurable, countless fruits of the Great Dao, one must hold a firm and unretreating resolve and master Danhua (the essentials of Neidan, or internal alchemy). In this way one reaches a state that is lively and unobstructed, and finally goes beyond the Way of the High Perfected. The original text repeats itself in this passage, so the above has been combined in translation.

The so-called Way of the High Perfected contains principles of three grades. The highest grade is to refine golden bones and jade flesh, so that the body of life is united with the original source. When it appears as a vast body, it has no outer boundary; when it contracts into a minute body, it has no inner limit. When it appears, the body seems formless; when it withdraws, its substance returns to emptiness. Form and substance merge with the great void and penetrate the immeasurable, and this is called the highest grade. When the time comes to leave the mortal body, one can ascend to heaven in broad daylight.

Practitioners of the middle grade have attained openness in both body and nature, and their spiritual powers have reached a certain level, yet they cannot yet come and go freely. They have therefore only just realized the fruit of the Dao (Way). Having awakened late, while still ordinary people, they begin cultivation by adopting "corpse liberation" (shijie, departing the mortal body by leaving a corpse behind), using Fulu (talismans and registers) and medicines as substitutes for the physical body. The true body is transformed and ascends, leaving a corpse behind; having severed ties of kinship and affection, the practitioner rises to heaven at midnight. Others withdraw into seclusion to cultivate and become earthly immortals (those who dwell in the human world and cannot ascend to the higher realms). Although they pass through long ages and remain pure and still, they cannot dwell in the higher realms for long and can only travel back and forth between the realms. "Withdrawing into seclusion" means departing quietly and changing one's name. Middle-grade practitioners seek only their own accomplishment and cannot benefit others, which is why they are called "middle grade."

Again, according to the Dongzhen Yuanjing Jing (Scripture of the Original Essence of the Cavern of Perfection): practitioners of the highest grade seek their own accomplishment and also benefit others. Their bodies ascend and are transformed, and their nature is also brought to completion; their merit and virtue are vast, and they can bring deliverance both within and without. Middle-grade practitioners seek only their own benefit and withdraw far into remote and hidden realms; their aspiration is weaker and their virtue thinner.

Practitioners of the lowest grade lose Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) in the course of cultivation. Their bodies are not brought to completion, and their nature must also depart from the body. Their period of cultivation is short, their practice is one-sided, and their aspiration is weak. They pass through illusory states and believe that the physical body has been cut off; wishing to be free of the heavy, burdensome form, they nevertheless lament the emptiness and stillness, which is like the moon at night. Later, when they again unite with the harmonious Qi of Yang, they declare that they can take leave of life and death.

Those called lower-grade students can neither make body and nature endure together, nor refine the body and transform it into Qi over a long period so that its stagnant substance is changed and made continuous with the void. They are therefore called "ghosts of pure emptiness." Their forms seem to exist but in fact do not; they can only briefly transform illusory things and cannot transform real ones. When they endure for a long time, their functioning is no different from that of ordinary people, so they are also called "ghosts of lively spirit without a master." Preserving life whole is difficult, while moving toward death is easy; practitioners of this kind are therefore called "lower immortals."

Again, according to the Taiji Zhenren Jue (Instructions of the Perfected of the Taiji, the Supreme Ultimate): lower-grade practitioners shed the husk of the body and leave the physical form through corpse liberation and the "cicada's molting," and they are already somewhat different from ordinary people. If they practice methods such as the "Spiritual Kalpa of the Taiji," the "Five Phases in the Pillow," and the "Seven Transformations of the White Tiger," or if they borrow a corpse to feign a form, or depart into seclusion, they may also gradually draw near to the Exalted Perfected (Gaozhen, perfected ones of profound attainment). Methods below this level are not worth emulating by practitioners of the highest grade.

Shijie (尸解, "corpse liberation," the Daoist term for escaping the physical body and transforming the form to become an immortal) departs like a cicada shedding its husk, and in this it differs from the ordinary person's death. One who practices methods such as the "Supreme Ultimate Spirit Tribulation" (Taiji lingjie), the "Five Phases Within the Pillow" (zhenzhong wuxing), the "Seven Transformations of the White Tiger" (baihu qibian), and the "Corpse-Feigning Concealment" (shijia yindun) may also gradually draw near to the high realized ones (gaozhen, immortals of high rank). But the methods discussed from this point onward are not worth imitating for cultivators of the highest caliber.

The "emptying of the mind" and "abiding of the mind" mentioned earlier mean the following. When the mind is emptied and settled, one loses the bodily form and departs from the physical body; when the mind abides and settles, one instead refines and nourishes the body. If one rests the mind in the Crimson Palace (jianggong, the place where the heart-spirit dwells, in Daoist terms), the very thought of seeking the Dao is forgotten, and the Dao in turn settles naturally. If one empties the mind and then forgets even the "emptiness," one's original source comes into accord with the natural order. This is the method of mind-cultivation in question.

The "Mother of Methods" says: "My method has no fixed method, and my mystery has no fixed mystery." The principle in this is profoundly subtle. The Neiguan Jing (Scripture of Inner Observation) says: "The method of inner observation is to quiet the spirit and settle the mind; no stray thoughts arise, and no deviant or false notions can intrude. When contemplating oneself and external things, close the eyes and reflect in stillness." This is offered as counsel to gentlemen who study the Dao: in learning, they should value long life and not pursue release from the body and immortality through shijie. There are five reasons. First, the practice is not clearly distinguishable from ordinary death. Second, it harms the teachings of the scriptures. Third, it contradicts the meaning of the scriptures and damages the very root of cultivation. Fourth, it easily gives rise to delusive thoughts in beings of shallow capacity. Fifth, even if one succeeds, if one cannot lodge in the human world, one may be reborn as a celestial being and still risk falling back in the end; and if one cannot become a celestial being, one dies forever and is never reborn. Though one is thus spared the cycle of birth and death, how is this different from being dead? Nor is it certain that one has truly attained the Dao.

One should therefore firm up one's resolve. Nevertheless, methods for leaving the physical body also appear in the scriptures and instructions. These are gradual paths that the sages established for students of duller capacity, so that their minds might become calm and level; once the mind is at peace, the principles are easily understood.

Hence Laojun (Lord Lao) said: "After death one is not born again, so why cling to the old constancy?" Master Yang (Yang zhenren, the Realized One Yang) also said: "How lamentable, you fools, who prize reputation and wealth yet make light of life itself, who cherish the fleeting floating life yet despise the true Dao." He further said that when a person dies, their vital breath is buried in the earth, and even ceremonial caps and swords turn to dust; once the eyes close, the form dissolves, one dies in solitude and cannot be born again, so why cling to the old constancy? After death, one is dim and without awareness, subject to external things according to one's own endowment, and is born again by following the images one perceives, like the dregs left by grain, which become the burial mounds of the world. Descendants set up markers before the grave and make offerings of food; since the spirit-consciousness has already been transformed after death, the tomb becomes one's body. In brief, this is how matters stand.

Master Yanluo (Yanluozi) said: "The very substance of the Dao (the Way) is complete and real, and it lies in this present life. Yet those who have lost the right path wait until after death to cultivate the Dao and seek a new life. If the karmic ties and affairs of this life remain unresolved, from where could a new life be obtained after death?"

The Sanyuan Jing (Scripture of the Three Primes) says: "Who can guard the primordial Qi (vital energy) of the Mysterious Pearl (the inner true nature and luminous essence, in Daoist usage) with a brightness like that of the sun and moon? When its radiance shines forth and appears within form, this is the root of immortality and long life. Worldly people forcibly suppress their breath, and the act of suppression only wastes their Shen (spirit) in vain. The cultivation of the great Dao lies in preserving emptiness and non-being; when the perfect spiritual light shines, this is true practice. The true instruction speaks of the way of long life: between heaven and earth, the light is bright and clear. If one guards this light in every thought, form and spirit will endure without perishing. If you call it difficult, nothing is more difficult than the great Dao; if you call it easy, who can truly hold fast to it? When the light appears outwardly, I will share the lifespan of heaven. The sun rises ever from the Eastern Sea, and its light nourishes all things. The immortals enjoy eternal life and pass down this art of long life."

Laozi and Zhuangzi say: "Live long and be able to preserve life for a long time; the Valley Spirit (the Dao's body, empty and still yet endlessly generative) does not perish, and the body endures for ten thousand years without decay." The text below repeats: "If you call it difficult, nothing is more difficult than the great Dao; if you call it easy, who can truly hold fast to it? When the light appears outwardly, I will share the lifespan of heaven. The sun rises ever from the Eastern Sea, and its light nourishes all things. The immortals enjoy eternal life and pass down this art of long life." Laozi and Zhuangzi also say: "The Valley Spirit does not perish." They say further: "If one can attain long life without death, how could one still be bound by methods and restrictions of practice?" And: "After a thousand years, weary of the world, one departs to become an immortal, rides the white clouds, and goes to the abode of the Celestial Emperor." And: "After cultivating the body for twelve hundred years, the form has never aged." And: "Riding white clouds and driving flying dragons, one roams beyond the four seas." And: "All people die in the end; only I alone endure." And: "When the Shen guards the body, the body can live long."

They also say: "Long life means not dying; stillness (extinction) means neither being born nor dying. Neither birth nor death is true long life, and it is also true stillness. Dwelling within stillness, one can live long; dying outside of stillness is eternal death." The Daojing (Scripture of the Dao) says: "To live in accord with the Dao is called constancy; for the mind to drive the breath is called forcing."

The Xuanmiao Neipian (Inner Chapters of the Mysterious and Subtle) says: "If you wish to live long, you should make the Three Ones (in Daoist inner cultivation, the teaching of the body's Jing, Qi, and Shen, or of the deities within the body) bright and manifest." With this, the foregoing words are complete. If students of the Dao can penetrate this principle, the Three Essentials (the key points of Daoist practice) will naturally become clear. The true Three Essentials can be illuminated from a single point; once they are understood, they will manifest of themselves. I hope that practitioners of firm resolve will verify and understand these principles for themselves.

If you have not yet met a teacher, take cherishing life as your root and forgetting death as your source, and read carefully the scriptures on the secrets of inner cultivation, such as the Neidan (internal alchemy) texts. Then you will understand that the ten thousand transformations all come from one source. I have also examined many scriptures and medicinal substances, and so I have written down these essential instructions to leave for those who study.