《陈虚白规中指南》

When Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) are abundant, one will not crave sexual desire; when primordial Qi is abundant, one will not crave food and drink.

Everyone is born endowed with the creative transformation of Heaven and Earth; no one is innately deficient. Only by seeking the “moon grotto” (yueku, a term of Neidan, or internal alchemy, referring to the stirring of Yin Qi or the Yin mechanism within the body) does one come to know the transformations of the myriad things; only by finding the “celestial root” (tiangen, referring to the stirring of Yang Qi or the Yang mechanism within the body) does one begin to recognize the root of the human being.

When the hexagram Qian meets the hexagram Xun, the moon grotto may be observed; where the great earth meets the place of thunder’s stirring, the celestial root may be discerned. As the celestial root and the moon grotto move back and forth within the body, every part of the body brims with vitality, as in spring.

The moment a thought arises, one must notice it at once; once it is noticed, the thought can disperse. The key to cultivation lies here. This method is not complicated, yet when teaching people to cultivate, if even a thread of thought has not yet ceased, where is one to look for any trace of the practice?

What is called “no-thought” is not a lack of awareness and feeling, as with earth, stone, grass, and trees. What is called “the thought of no-thought” refers to right mindfulness. When right mindfulness appears, one must turn awareness inward and illuminate within, gather the mind and Shen (spirit), regulate the breath, and cause Qi to return to Shen. When Shen condenses and Qi coalesces, there forms what Neidan calls “mercury and lead” (gong and qian, symbolic terms of elixir refining, often used for Shen, Qi, and other subtle substances within).

One must firmly restrain thoughts that run wild, draw in the scattered mind and Shen, and patiently devote effort to refining and nourishing mercury and lead. The Great Dao (the Way) teaches people to cultivate by first stopping stray thoughts; if thoughts still do not cease, the other work will be hard to bring to effect.

Gathering the Medicine, the Second

If thoughts in the mind are restless, Shen cannot enter Qi, so one must quietly nourish the inner heart; if the body moves recklessly, Qi cannot return into Shen, so one must concentrate Shen and forget the bodily form.

What is called “gathering the medicine” means gathering the medicines within one’s own body. The medicines in the body are Shen, Qi, and Jing. The method of gathering them is to collect body and mind, and to gather, store, and nourish Shen and Qi. Only when the mind does not move recklessly can Shen and Qi be complete; then one sets in place the “furnace and cauldron” (luding, a term of Neidan cultivation used as a metaphor for body and mind and the conditions of refining and nourishing) and cooks and refines the spirit elixir.

Recognizing the Furnace and Cauldron, the Third

The “Mysterious Female” (xuanpin, a Daoist term for the mysterious portal that conceives and brings forth transformation): the Perfected Person (zhenren) ferries the deep abyss….

In cultivation, let the intent of Shen (spirit) rest securely in the “regulated center” (the position where body and mind dwell in the middle).

The Mysterious Female (the subtle portal which, as Daoists say, generates the myriad things and nurtures life) is pure white like silk floss, continuous and joined like a ring. It measures about one cun and two fen in each direction and contains the quintessence of the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) of the whole body.

If one wishes the Valley Spirit (the subtle, unmanifest Shen within the body that can nourish life) to endure without decline, one must take the Mysterious Female as the foundation of cultivation.

After true Jing returns to the “Golden Chamber” (the inner place where Jing and Qi are refined and nurtured), it is like a bright pearl, coagulated for a long time and never scattered.

The Fourth: Introducing the Medicine and Raising the Fire

Only when Shen and Qi are abundant is the fire-timing sufficient; only when Jing and Qi are abundant is the medicine sufficient. Here “medicine” refers to the Jing and Qi used in internal refinement, and “fire” refers to the intention and the movement of Qi employed in cultivation.

Take the solid Yang Qi at the center of the Kan trigram (symbolizing Water, Yang contained within Yin) to transmute the Yin Qi within the belly of the Li palace (symbolizing Fire, Yin contained within Yang).

In this way one can gradually refine the firm and vigorous body symbolized by the Qian trigram. Whether concealed or manifest, rising or descending, all is governed by the mind and Shen.

The Fifth: The Conjunction of Kan and Li

Guide the two kinds of Qi along the Yellow Path—a Neidan (internal alchemy) term for the central, correct route of Qi movement within the body—so that they meet the three natures (usually Jing, Qi, and Shen) in the Primordial Palace (the place where primordial Qi gathers in cultivation).

The lead dragon ascends and the mercury tiger descends. Harness these two symbolic forces of internal refinement, and do not let them scatter.

The union of Kan and Li is also called the “Lesser Celestial Circuit” (the process in Neidan cultivation in which Qi moves along a specific route within the body). Within a hundred days after laying the foundation, if one sees the Qi of water and fire rising and falling in the Central Palace, Yin-Yang Qi mingling in the elixir cauldron (the symbolic place of internal refinement), and the movement of Qi gathering and dispersing like clouds and rain, until at last Qi coagulates and Shen settles, this may be regarded as the appearance of the corresponding signs.

The Perfected Ziyang said:

Once dragon and tiger conjoin, they cling to each other and do not part; when Kan and Li meet, embryonic breathing arises from this.

The essences of Qian and Kun fuse into a single mass; if one seeks it with a concentrated mind, one can gather it in.

The Sixth: The Conjunction of Qian and Kun

The diagram of the lower pass here is largely the same as another diagram.

When the inner movement of Qi conjoins, the outer movement of Qi conjoins with it. Once the Three Passes (the bodily apertures spoken of in cultivation) are opened through, there is no need to push with effort.

When the movement of Qi goes straight from the Dantian (energy center), the site of internal refinement below the navel, to the Muddy Pellet, the site of internal refinement at the crown, the River Cart (a metaphor for the route of Qi movement within the body) can circulate freely through many revolutions.

Master Langran said:

When the movement of Qi at the Jiaji (between the two shoulder blades on the back) and the Double Pass runs clear through to the crown gate, this is an important path of practice.

If one often swallows the Flower Pool (the fluids of the mouth), the Primordial Lord of the Purple Prefecture (a symbolic Neidan designation related to Shen and Qi) ascends directly.

So long as one regularly lets the movement of Qi surge through the joints and circulate freely, Jing and Qi will naturally be abundant, and the Valley Spirit will be able to endure.

Once one has realized the path that leads into the open sky, one ought to remember with gratitude the person who first pointed the way and gave instruction.

The union of Qian and Kun is also called the Greater Celestial Circuit (dazhoutian). It appears after the union of Kan and Li, for the medicinal substance has already been generated, and the process is then set in motion from this point. A mnemonic formula says: “Li rises from beneath Kan; Dui is born within the cauldron.” Li stands for fire, Kan for water, and Dui for metal; the “metal” here refers to the medicine of elixir refining. The meaning is that fire is stirred up from within water and used to refine the medicine in the cauldron.

Zhuangzi says: “Only when there is fire within water can the Great Clod take form.” Bai Yuchan says: “A single point of true Yang is born within Kan, filling the vacancy of the palace of Li.” The workings of creation proceed without a sound; fire rises out of water, as if occurring in the Xuwei cavity. The Perfected Danyang says: “When fire flares within water, the mind grows calm; when flowers bloom amid the snow, the sense of spring fades away.” All these sayings describe the corresponding signs of verification.

In the course of cultivation, one feels the jiaji turning like a cartwheel, the four limbs heavy as mountain stone, the two kidneys as if boiling in seething water, and the bladder as if heated by fire. At this moment, between one exhalation and one inhalation, the inner functions stir of themselves; the breath moves lightly and gently, the mind and Shen (spirit) are quiet, and with a faint intention one regulates the breathing, yielding to the pivot of the body’s transformations. In this way Metal and Wood mingle of themselves, and Water and Fire rise and descend of themselves.

Suddenly a single point, no larger than a grain of millet, falls into the Yellow Court (Huangting, a term of Daoist Neidan, internal alchemy, for the central region of cultivation within the body). Thereafter one must still employ the method of “gathering lead and casting it into mercury” (a Neidan term for gathering and refining true Yang so that Yin and Yang come into union). It is said that within a hundred days this can congeal into the elixir.

By this stage, body and mind are wholly one, resembling the void: one cannot tell whether the body belongs to the self or the self belongs to the body, nor whether Shen is Qi (vital energy) or Qi is Shen. This transformation does not come from deliberate visualization or forced effort; it arises of itself, and one does not even know why it is so.

The Fuming pian says: “At the bottom of the well a mud snake dances the zhezhi; at the window the bright moon shines on plum and pear. In the night, chaos suddenly falls; the ten thousand forms appear in profusion, yet the person knows nothing of it at all.”

Gathering and Clustering the Fire-Timing (huohou), Section Seven

What joins Heaven above and Earth below—this place is the tripod-vessel (in Neidan, or internal alchemy, a metaphor for the “furnace and cauldron” with which body and mind are refined and nurtured). Once one understands where to begin, cultivation becomes easy.

Keeping to One’s Post

The zi hour corresponds to the initial nine of the hexagram Fu (Return): “Hidden dragon: do not act.”

Do Not Act

When the first yang is newly born, it is fitting to abide in stillness. The heart’s intent must be sincere, and Shen (spirit) must be settled. At this time one is like a dragon lying hidden, and should not act rashly.

Advancing the Fire

The chou hour corresponds to the nine in the second place of the hexagram Lin (Approach): “The dragon is seen in the field.”

Gaining the Position

Rouse the wind of Xun (symbolizing the wind that helps the fire to move) and turn the fire-timing. In an instant the fire-timing within the cauldron is full, as though a red glow filled it; the dragon seen in the field seems to spread throughout the void.

Adding Fire

The yin hour corresponds to the nine in the third place of the hexagram Tai (Peace): “Creatively active all day long.”

Preserving the Achievement

Heaven and Earth join, and Yin-Yang stands in balance. Eight liang of mercury and half a jin of lead (Neidan terms, borrowed to indicate the medicinal agents in the transformations of Yin-Yang). The Lovely Maiden (a Neidan term, often indicating mercury or the yin partner) draws in her sleeves, and the Infant (often indicating lead or the yang partner) leans back and follows.

Bathing

The mao hour corresponds to the nine in the fourth place of the hexagram Dazhuang (Great Strength): “It may leap in the abyss.”

The Deep Abyss

The fire-timing harmonizes Yin-Yang. Eight liang of mercury and half a jin of lead. The Lovely Maiden draws in her sleeves, and the Infant leans back and follows.

Bathing

The mao hour corresponds to the nine in the fourth place of the hexagram Dazhuang (Great Strength): “It may leap in the abyss.”

The Deep Abyss

Control fire with fire, and overcome wood with metal. When this moment arrives, it is fitting to bathe (a Neidan term, meaning to pause the fire for a time so that the fire-timing is brought into harmony). Like a dragon that may leap into the deep abyss, one should keep the heart sincere and reverent, and guard oneself with care.

The chen hour corresponds to the nine in the fifth place of the hexagram Guai (Breakthrough): “The flying dragon is in the heavens.”

The si hour corresponds to the top nine of the hexagram Qian (The Creative): “The dragon that mounts too high will have regret.”

The wu hour corresponds to the initial six of the hexagram Gou (Coming to Meet).

The wei hour corresponds to the six in the second place of the hexagram Dun (Retreat).

The shen hour corresponds to the six in the third place of the hexagram Pi (Standstill).

The you hour corresponds to the six in the fourth place of the hexagram Guan (Contemplation).

Mercury seeks to fly upward, and lead must be set in motion. When this time comes, one should hold and guard with caution. Draw together the bag that has no bottom, and tie its mouth tight.

Withdrawing the Fire

The xu hour corresponds to the six in the fifth place of the hexagram Bo (Splitting Apart): “A yellow lower garment: supreme good fortune.”

Returning to Position

Make Shen empty and still, and make the abdomen full. It is fitting to keep stillness and wait for yang Qi (vital energy) to be born again. Circulate it for only an instant, and the count of the celestial circuit is already complete.

Battle in the Wild

The hai hour corresponds to the top six of the hexagram Kun (The Receptive): “Dragons battle in the wild.”

Guarding Stillness

The host of yang withdraws, and the elixir’s light is about to fail; Jing (essence) and Qi gather, and the primordial Qi (the Qi that is the source of life) subsides. To draw it in and settle it in the center is “a yellow lower garment: supreme good fortune.”

Nourishing the Fire

Once yin Qi has already gone into hiding, yang Qi rises once more. Here one must be especially on guard. If one meets with the “battle in the wild,” there will appear the condition in which “their blood is black and yellow” (language borrowed from the Classic of Changes to symbolize the clash of Yin-Yang and a transformation of great intensity).

The Yang Shen Emerges from the Embryo, Section Eight

Nurturing the Fire

After Yin Qi (vital energy) has been stored away, Yang Qi begins once more to arise and put forth growth. At this point one must be especially cautious and on guard. If Yin and Yang (Yin-Yang) meet in conflict, the danger signified by “its blood dark and yellow” appears (that is, Yin and Yang contending with each other, and the movement of Qi thrown into disorder).

Eighth: The Yang Shen (Spirit) Emerges from the Womb

Topple the cauldron and overturn the furnace; when the work is brought to completion, the Mysterious Pearl is formed (a numinous object in the cultivation of Neidan (internal alchemy) that symbolizes the condensation of Jing (essence) and Qi). Return to the root and restore life, embrace and guard the foundation, and return to emptiness.

○

After three hundred days of refining the fire and ten days of nurturing the embryo, the Yang Shen is able to leave the body, now departing and now returning. Looking back at the fleshly body of former days, one sees only a heap of dung and soil. Even when one has gone ten paces or a hundred paces away, one must constantly turn back and watch over it.

The child is still young and has not yet grown to maturity; it must depend on its father and mother to raise it.

After nine years and three years have passed, the affairs of the world are all brought to an end; thereafter one may range freely through heaven and earth, no longer bound by ties of kinship.

Ninth: Forgetting the Shen and Merging with Emptiness

To have yet another Shen outside the body is not yet anything extraordinary. Only when empty space is shattered through and through does the original face reveal itself in its wholeness.

○

In the Mysterious Gate of the Most High (the subtle and profound teachings of Daoism), those who truly understand are few; the realm of mystery upon mystery is, from the beginning, no different from “suchness” (the true, unchanging, originally so state).

Draw the sun and moon in and return them to the image of the primordial beginning; leap beyond the limits of skill and clever artifice, and one can then behold the Great Void (the vast and boundless emptiness).

Only when cultivation brings both form and Shen to a subtle and marvelous state does one know the original face from before one’s father and mother were born: empty space shatters, and the original face is revealed in its wholeness.

○

In the Mysterious Gate of the Most High, those who truly understand are few; the realm of mystery upon mystery is, from the beginning, no different from “suchness.”

Draw the sun and moon in and return them to the image of the primordial beginning; leap beyond the limits of skill and clever artifice, and one can then behold the Great Void.

Only when cultivation brings both form and Shen to a subtle and marvelous state does one know the original face from before one’s father and mother were born.

Who transmitted these essential instructions of cultivation? They were passed on to me by the Wordless Master (a teacher who transmits without relying on speech).

Perfected Zhang, “Jiepei Ling” (Unfastening the Pendants)

After the Yang Shen leaves the body, it enters a realm deep, secluded, and hard to fathom, and in the blink of an eye it can roam unseen among the Three Isles (the legendary immortal mountains of the sea). Coming and going have become thoroughly practiced, so that one can gather and hold the Yang Shen, and then seek out yet another mysterious realm. United with True Emptiness, the work of the void is brought to completion.

End of the Upper Scroll of Chen Xubai’s Guizhong Zhinan (Guide to Regulating the Center)

Lower Scroll of Chen Xubai’s Guizhong Zhinan

The Three Essentials of Neidan

The essentials of Neidan (internal alchemy) practice are three: the Xuanpin (Mysterious Female), the medicinal substances, and huohou (fire timing). The alchemical classics (Jing) say that what is crucial is often expressed in cryptic language; a riddle such as the character “挤” is intimated by way of “yellow silk, a young woman.” The reader must ponder this with care. Today I will simply speak more plainly and tell it directly to the world. Although the account is piecemeal, its aim is to make the meaning clear; every word is an essential of cultivation, as if we were opening our hearts to one another. The secrets of Heaven and Earth’s creative transformation, the root of Yin-Yang change, and what has been secretly transmitted from ancient times to the present are all here. It is like a whale swallowing the sea dry, so that every coral branch on the ocean floor stands fully revealed.

Diagram of the Xuanpin

The poem says:

Before Heaven and Earth had yet taken form, primordial chaos was originally an undivided, perfectly rounded whole. The intimation within it was never lightly passed on to others.

To open the aperture within the aperture is, in cultivation, to press further in search of the inner crux; to break through the heaven within heaven means to pass beyond the level known to ordinary people.

Only when the handle of the Northern Dipper turns in reverse do the signs of cultivation appear; only when Taiguang (the inner light) shines back upon oneself does one begin to accomplish the Way (Dao) of the immortals.

One day, when at last a moon is drawn up from the heart of the pool, one sees through the realm sought by the foreign monk who faced the wall in Chan meditation.

Diagram of the Medicinal Substances

The poem says:

On the Mountain of the Five Aggregates (a figure for a person’s body and mind) there is much white snow, and deep amid the white clouds the medicinal sprouts are fragrant. The “medicine” here is the medicinal substance of Neidan cultivation, not an ordinary herb.

The Buddha King of Majestic Sound sows in keeping with the time, and Yuanshi Tianzun (the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning) tills in person: the figures of the honored deities of Buddhism and the Dao are all used to depict the generation and nurturing of the medicinal substance.

A stone woman rides a dragon and obtains two substantial things from the depths; a wooden man drives a tiger and plucks the frostlike yun herb. All of these use strange images to express, by metaphor, the gathering and refining of the medicine in cultivation.

Rich or poor, everyone possesses the root that cultivation requires; if one can seek it out and bring it back, one can compound a full jin of the medicine.

Diagram of Huohou

The poem says:

The True Person Without Position (the true nature unbound by form or station) refines the Great Elixir, holding a long sword across the void, and the sight brings a chill.

In the jade furnace the marrow of the Celestial Worthy is calcined; in the golden cauldron the liver of the Buddha is decocted. These sayings take the marrow and liver of divine beings as metaphors to describe the process of Neidan refinement.

Through the hundred intervals of the day, cold and heat keep changing, and the proper measure must be held amid the press of activity; the civil fire and martial fire of the six Yin-Yang lines must be discerned in quiet stability. “Huohou” means the mastery, in the course of cultivation, of advance and retreat, of strength and weakness, and of timing.

If someone should ask where the true furnace and cauldron are, they are in this very body of flesh and blood, here and now.

The Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality) says: “If one wishes the Valley Spirit, Shen (spirit), to endure and never die, one must take the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin) as the foundation. Once true Jing (essence) returns to the Golden Chamber, it can congeal into a bright pearl that never scatters.”

Within the human body there is an aperture called the Mysterious Female, an important term in Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy). It receives primordial Qi (vital energy)—the Qi of Prior Heaven—and thereby brings life into being. It is also regarded as the mansion where the divine spirit dwells, the place where the Three Origins, the Qi of Heaven, Earth, and the human being, converge. A person’s spirit and the hun and po souls all gather there. It is the foundation of the Golden Elixir’s return, and the place where immortals congeal the sacred embryo.

The ancients also called it the stalk of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), the handle of Prior Heaven, the ancestor of emptiness, the root of chaos, the valley of the Great Void, the source of creative transformation, the aperture of returning to the root, the pass of returning to one’s mandate, the gate of wu and ji, the chamber of geng and xin, the door of jia and yi, the southwest quarter, the place of True Unity, the chamber of the Central Yellow, the mansion of the Elixir Origin, the altar of guarding the One, the crescent-moon furnace, the cinnabar cauldron, the dragon-and-tiger cavity, the dwelling of the Yellow Dame, the lead furnace and earthen cauldron, the flowery pool of divine water, the spirit chamber of the Sovereign One, and the Numinous Terrace and the Crimson Palace, among other names. All these names refer to one and the same place.

Yet if one looks for it in the body, it is not the mouth or the nose; not the heart or the kidneys, the liver or the lungs, the spleen or the stomach; not the navel wheel, the caudal gate, the bladder, or the place of excretion. Nor is it some aperture between the two kidneys, a spot a little more than a cun below the navel, the Bright Hall and the Muddy Pellet, or the Gate of Origin and the Sea of Qi. Where, then, does it actually lie?

My secret method is called “Guizhong” (holding to the center of body and mind so that thoughts do not scatter). When mind and intention are concentrated and do not scatter outward, they can congeal into the “Taixian” (the immortal embryo formed in cultivation). The Cantong qi (a classic of Daoist Neidan, or internal alchemy) says: “The True Person submerges into the deep abyss and floats at ease within the Guizhong.” This is exactly what is meant. Laozi says: “Speak too much, and in the end one comes to a stop; better to hold to the central way.”

The “center” spoken of here lies below the station of Qian and above the station of Kun, west of Zhen and east of Dui. It is the place where Kan and Li (water and fire) conjoin. One may also say that it is the center at which the human body corresponds to Heaven and Earth. Where the eight vessels, the nine orifices, and the meridian channels gather, there is a cavity of empty stillness and clear luminosity, like a grain of millet suspended in space. Yet it does not depend on any concrete bodily form; it arises solely from the substance of the Dao (the Way). It seems to exist and yet not to exist, as if present and as if gone. It admits of no inside or outside, and yet Qian and Kun are contained within it. Set in the center, it penetrates the principles of things and rests upright within body and mind. The Shangshu (Book of Documents) says: “Be single-minded and pure, and sincerely hold to the central way.” The Duren jing (Scripture of Universal Salvation) says: “Harmonize the five Qi (vital energy; five kinds of primordial energy), and bring the hundred Shen (spirits) into accord.”

Master Cui says that it runs through from the Weilu (the pass at the lower end of the spine) to the Niwan (a Neidan term for a center in the head). Lü Chunyang calls it “the starting point for seeking out the primordial Qi with which a person is endowed when life is received.” Zhang Boduan likewise says: “I urge you to inquire into the place where life is received.” Primordial Qi is born from here, and true breath (the deep, natural respiration of cultivation) arises from here. Bai Yuchan therefore also calls it “the place where a thought first stirs.” If those who cultivate Neidan do not understand this aperture, true breath cannot settle, and the pursuit of immortality has no foundation.

This aperture is born of the pre-heaven and also joins the post-heaven. When the two Qi of pre-heaven and post-heaven come together, they return to the undivided state of chaos. The Laozi says: “Within the dark and profound there is Jing (essence); within the vague and unsettled there is a thing.” The “thing” here is no ordinary thing, and this Jing is not ordinary essence. Heaven obtains it and is clear; Earth obtains it and is at peace; the human being obtains it and is numinous. The True Person Tan says: “Only by finding the gateway of the flood-like primordial Qi can one return to the root; only by knowing where the primordial Shen is stored can one draw in its light.” It is like an oyster guarding its pearl, or jade hidden in stone, and so it may be called the place where pearl and jade are nurtured. All of this sets forth the true meaning of cultivation.

Yet this aperture has no boundary and is not divided into inner and outer. To look for it in bodily form, color, or outward appearance is to go badly astray. One must not cling to Wuwei (non-action), must not deliberately contrive, must not be bound by visualization, and must not cling to guarding some particular spot.

The elixir classics sometimes compare it to a lofty mountain of the immortals, shaped like Penghu (a legendary immortal mountain), its gateway shut and hidden, with Shen and Qi circulating within. Sometimes they compare it to an egg, black and white complementing each other, about one inch each way, as an image of the beginning of life: after ten months the fetus leaves the womb. Sometimes they say it is white as a length of silk, joined into a ring, one inch and two tenths in its square and round extent, enclosing the essential flowering of the whole body. These sayings borrow images to reveal the Xuanguan (the crucial aperture of Neidan cultivation) and the way creation operates. If students do not seek the deeper meaning, and in practice only guard and visualize it as Penghu, an egg, or a linked ring, clinging to these shapes, they will take visualization for reality, fall into delusive thoughts, and have truly misunderstood.

One should know that the single aperture of the Xuanguan, that is, the “gate of the mysterious female” (the portal through which the Dao generates and transforms), is only a way of speaking by which the immortals point out the root of creation. Bai Yuchan says: “It seems to exist, and yet it is not a solid thing; apart from one’s own person, where else could it be placed?” Still, its substance and its function, its regulation and its movement, are originally without difference. Just as Neidan likens Qian and Kun to Heaven and Earth, and Li and Kan to the sun and moon, all of these borrow images to explain the foundation.

The Cantong qi says: “Where chaos meets, establish the initial foundation of the myriad things; tend and nourish its bounds, and congeal Shen and Qi so as to form a body.” In this way Shen and Qi have a place to rest, and the hun and po souls do not scatter. With the light turned back to shine within, mind and Shen naturally gather in one place, and even in haste one does not leave it. The verse says: “Tend that empty foundation, and let the primordial Shen dwell at ease within it. Let the breath come and go without cease, so that the embryo is brought to completion and returns to the beginning.” The essential meaning of the mysterious female lies entirely here.

To go a step further, the Yaolin says: “There is a mysterious aperture, the vital passageway of the Three Passes. The moment it begins to turn, ever so lightly, spirit water flows forth of itself.” It also says: “It lies below the heart and above the kidneys, at the center to the west of the liver and to the left of the lungs. It is neither intestine nor stomach, but the place where a current of primordial Qi (vital energy)—the qi that is the source of life—circulates of its own accord.”

What is now called the “single aperture of the Mysterious Pass” (xuanguan) is none other than the “Gate of the Mysterious Female” (xuanpin zhi men), the mysterious gate at which Yin and Yang conjoin. It lies at the true center within the human body, where Heaven and Earth correspond; the pattern by which Heaven and Earth bring things into being accords with this as well. I have carefully pondered these statements:

On the whole they are subtle and clear, yet they still cannot be said to point directly to the Mysterious Pass. The Dao (the Way) of Heaven is not stingy in its teaching, and it has come down into the human world; the Taishang (the supreme deity revered in Daoism), in compassion, does not cling to the secret either. I make bold to disclose the heavenly secret in full, to indicate the general sense of the Mysterious Pass, and, at the risk of transgressing a taboo, to transmit it to you, so that those who are close may verify it with one another. Once a cultivator of immortality sees it, understanding opens at once and the meaning is grasped in the heart; if one cultivates quietly in accordance with it, every line will accord.

Wherever this book resides, spirits will guard and uphold it. But if a person is heavy with karmic offense, thin in blessing, and without affinity for the Dao, then even should they chance upon this oral formula and see it with their own eyes, they will disbelieve it in the blink of an eye. It is like setting a blind person to look at a text, or a deaf person to listen to bells and drums. The principle is mysterious and more mysterious still—how could they understand it? The hidden oral formula within it is:

A place no larger than a square inch contains the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and humanity. It lies above the kidneys and below the heart, as though within the body; this is called the Xuanguan (the crucial site in Neidan [internal alchemy] cultivation where the Qi [vital energy] mechanisms of body and mind are set in motion).

Guarding the Xuanguan cannot be done by deliberately applying the mind to guard it, nor by doing nothing and merely waiting for it to appear. If one clings to guarding it with intention, one will in the end never succeed; if one seeks it with no thought at all, one will only feel that it does not exist. What, then, should one do? One should concentrate without scattering, so that the spirit coheres. One need only keep the mind clear and still, cut off stray thoughts, regulate the breathing until it is even and harmonious, remain quiet while maintaining awareness, and not allow oneself to grow drowsy or mentally scattered. Once the breath has settled into harmony and one has entered a state of meditative absorption, one contemplates, within that absorption, the inner scenery of the body.

When intention arrives ever so slightly, the signs begin to stir; one then senses a single breath arising from within the Xuanguan, continuous and unbroken, flowing as one undifferentiated whole. Holding it with sincere intention and listening quietly with the mind, one settles the six roots—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—until embryonic breathing (taixi, the state in Neidan cultivation in which the breath is so deep and still that it resembles that of a fetus) gradually congeals and stabilizes. Do not deliberately hold the breath or count it; let the breathing proceed naturally. At the extreme of stillness one naturally exhales, like fish in a springtime pond; at the extreme of movement one naturally inhales, like the hundred insects in hibernation. Qi drifts and circulates through the body in a dense mist, opening and closing, its subtlety inexhaustible.

After practicing in this way for a time, one must forget one’s attachment to the breath, so that Shen (spirit) and Qi unite and return to primordial chaos. One reaches the utmost of emptiness and stillness: no thought arises in the mind, there is neither coming nor going, neither entering nor leaving, and one abides constantly in clarity and calm. This is called “the True Person’s breathing reaches to the heels” (the True Person’s breathing is deep, as if it entered and left through the heels); “heels” means that the breathing is profound and far-reaching.

The mutual resonance of Shen and Qi is precisely the sign of this stage. The original Qi spoken of earlier issues from here, and the true breath likewise arises from here. Wherever intention arrives, the workings of creation can manifest; where the true breath arises is the Xuanguan. It is neither high nor low, neither left nor right, neither in front nor behind, nor does it incline to any one side. The true center in the human body, where the upright Qi of Heaven and Earth resides, is precisely this place. In Neidan cultivation, gathering the medicine, coupling, firing and refining, bathing, warm nurturing, forming the embryo, and shedding the embryo in spiritual transformation all take place here.

If the matter is not explained clearly, students will certainly guess at random, either reading too much into it or falling short of the meaning. The Perfected Ziyang said: “Even if your intelligence surpasses that of Yan Hui and Min Ziqian (disciples of Confucius), if you have not met an illumined teacher, do not force a guess. If the elixir scriptures (Jing) are not transmitted together with oral instructions, you will have no way to coalesce the spiritual embryo.”

This aperture appears as Yang Qi (vital energy) unfolds and Yin Qi draws inward—the movement of Yin-Yang—and it has no fixed form to begin with. When intention is concentrated there, it opens, and its opening and closing have their proper time. After a foundation has been laid over a hundred days and the Mother of Qi (the root that gestates primordial Qi) has been nurtured, light arises of itself within the empty, still inner chamber and can be seen. In antiquity the Yellow Emperor devoted three months to inner contemplation (turning the gaze inward upon body and mind); what he described is precisely this principle.

The region below the navel, between the intestines and the stomach, is called the “Household of Fengdu,” “Hell,” and “the Directorate of the Nine Darknesses.” It is a place where yin filth accumulates and true Yang cannot remain. For this reason, in methods such as the refinement and deliverance of the Lingbao tradition, visualization calls this place the “Dark Pass.” How could it be a site of cultivation? Students ought to consider this carefully.

The Medicines

An ancient song says: “Ask of what this body of mine is made: it cannot be separated from Jing (essence), Qi, and primordial Shen (spirit). Now I set forth the fundamental principle by which life is generated: a single mysterious pearl is the most intimate and most tangible root.”

Shen, Qi, and Jing are the three superior medicines. Refining Jing so that it transforms into Qi, refining Qi so that it becomes Shen, and refining Shen so that it unites with the Dao (the Way) are the essentials of the “seven reversions and nine returns,” that is, the successive transformations sought in the practice of Neidan (internal alchemy).

Red lead, black mercury, the sap of wood, the essence of metal, cinnabar, quicksilver, white gold, black tin, the Metal Elder, the Yellow Matron, the Girl of Li, the Boy of Kan, the azure tortoise, the red snake, the fire dragon, the water tiger, white snow, the yellow sprout, union-pears, fire-jujubes, the golden crow, the jade rabbit, the horse of Qian, the ox of Kun, the essence of the sun, the radiance of the moon, the heavenly hun-soul, the earthly po-soul, lead of the watery region, mercury of the metal cauldron, metal within water, wood within fire, Yang within Yin, Yin within Yang, white within black, the male enveloping the female—though these names are many, all of them are used as metaphors. What, then, is the so-called “medicine” in fact?

Answer: The key to cultivating Neidan lies in the Mysterious Female (the portal that conceives and circulates the Qi of life). To establish the Mysterious Female, one must first secure the root; and the root of all roots is primordial Jing. Jing comes into being through the transformation of primordial Qi; therefore Jing and Qi….

The key to cultivating Neidan (internal alchemy) lies in establishing the “Xuanpin” (the Mysterious Female—the inner root, in Daoist Neidan, that gestates Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and transforms Shen (spirit) and Qi). To make the Xuanpin stand firm, one must first consolidate the foundation; and the foundation of all foundations is “Yuanjing” (primordial Jing, the innate essence). Yuanjing is generated by transformation from “Yuanqi” (primordial Qi, the innate vital energy), so Jing and Qi are originally one. When “Yuanshen” (primordial Shen, the innately authentic spirit) is then settled within them, Jing, Qi, and Shen can return to unity.

Xinglin said: “The myriad things are born and then die; primordial Shen dies and then is born again. Return Shen into Qi, and the way of the elixir will naturally be accomplished.” Shi Jianwu said: “Qi is the medicine that lengthens one’s years; the heart-mind is the master that regulates Qi and Shen. One who understands how to circulate Qi may already be counted as a person who has attained the Dao (the Way).” If Jing is depleted, Qi will fail; when Qi fails, Shen will wander and scatter. The Yijing (Classic of Changes) says: “Jing, turning back, becomes something with form; the wandering soul then undergoes change.” To return once more to the root—how could that not be difficult? Yuxizi said: “Use the Yuanqi in which Yuanjing has not yet dispersed to catalyze the supreme Shen, and Shen will shine forth, changing beyond all measure; this is what is called Shen.” All of these refer to the medicinal substances of cultivation within the human body, not to anything borrowed from outside.

The arising of the medicine, however, has its source; gathering it requires the proper moment; refining it follows a definite method; its entry into the body brings corresponding changes; and its nurturing likewise depends on the work of fire-timing.

I once heard my teacher say: “In the region of the southwest, the soil is named the Yellow Court (Huangting—in Daoist Neidan, the central palace within the body). In the vague and indistinct there seems to be something; in the deep darkness there seems to be essence. It is clearly nothing other than the single ingredient, gold within water; one need only seek it with undivided attention in the Flowery Pool (Huachi—a Neidan term for the place where the body’s fluids gather).” This speaks of the source from which the medicine arises.

“Lower the eyelids, gather in the outer senses, and even the breath; let go of attachment to distinctions of bodily form and clever intellect, nearly reaching sitting in forgetfulness (zuowang—the still state in which the body and external things are forgotten). I urge you to remain silent all day, as if dull-witted, and refine a single wish-fulfilling pearl.” This speaks of the moment for gathering the medicine.

“The rootless numinous herb that existed before Heaven and Earth took form must be tended with single-minded care before it can be refined into the supreme treasure. The great Dao does not leave the space of a square inch; the work must be fine, close, and sustained without cease.” This speaks of the method for preparing the medicine.

Let no discriminating mind arise in the heart, and let no stray thoughts remain in one’s thinking. Concentrate on the “Guizhong” (a Neidan term for the place where body and mind are harmonized and Jing, Qi, and Shen gather), so that the one Qi blends in harmony. It is also said: “The breath is long, continuous, and never broken; in walking, sitting, and lying down, the work becomes ever clearer.” This speaks of the spontaneous changes that occur when the medicine enters the process of cultivation.

Take clarity and stillness as the medicinal material, and with a single, finely sustained intention condense it into an elixir pellet. Through all twelve double-hours, let the fire of no-thought continuously warm and nourish it. Keep the “golden cauldron” always warm; do not let the “jade furnace” grow cold. This speaks of the fire-timing for refining the medicine.

In sum, the Xuanpin is the root of Yin-Yang and the dwelling place of Shen and Qi. Shen and Qi are the medicinal substances for the cultivation of nature and life, the foundation of embryonic breathing (taixi—the inner method modeled on the breathing of the fetus), the source of respiration, and the method of deepening the root and securing the stem. The embryo is the place where Shen is stored; the breath is the root that gestates and nurtures the embryo. The embryo comes into being through the breath, and the breath is settled through the embryo. Without the breath the embryo cannot be brought to completion; without Shen the breath has no master.

Before a person is born, one abides in the Great Void, in a state of undifferentiated unknowing. After the parents unite, the signs of life begin to appear; when the single point of life first condenses, nature and life are wholly one. After three months of chaotic gestation, the Xuanpin is established. Once the Xuanpin stands, it is like a melon joined to its stem. The infant in the mother’s womb secretly receives the mother’s Qi: when the mother exhales, the infant exhales; when the mother inhales, the infant inhales. Every movement and stillness brings mother and child into correspondence, inside and outside, yet the infant knows nothing at all and has no discriminating awareness. At that time the Qi of Heaven is chaotic and the Qi of Earth is turbid; only a single breath is maintained. When the moment of birth arrives, it is as if Heaven and Earth turn over. The infant is startled, the fetal membranes burst, like one who has climbed a high mountain and suddenly loses footing. Born head downward, braced by the feet, the infant gives a great cry and at once forgets this breath of the womb; thus original nature and affective consciousness are no longer an undivided whole.

Thereafter, disordered affairs disturb the heart-mind and spirit; artfully adorned external things draw the eyes; love and desire govern the feelings; craving alters original nature. The originally undifferentiated state of innate genuineness is lost, and human awareness gradually turns toward the myriad things. That single breath within the womb is never guarded again.

The immortals teach people to refine Jing in the hope that they will return to the root and recover the beginning, reestablish the five viscera and the bodily form, and, within the formless, once more condense form and substance, bringing to completion the “sacred embryo” (shengtai—in Neidan cultivation, the state symbolizing the formation of a new life). A cultivation formula says: “Concentrate on Qi until you reach softness—can you be like an infant?” One must remove mixed defilements, still deluded thoughts, quiet the mind, and guard the One; do not let thoughts from outside enter, nor let inner distractions scatter outward. All day long maintain a chaotic stillness, as if the body were still in the mother’s womb.

When Shen settles, it can meet with Qi; when Qi is harmonized, it can join with Shen. Shen coalesces by relying on Qi; Qi comes to rest by means of Shen. In the place of silent repose, in the realm of the vague where nothing is present, one darkly concentrates on a single aperture—like a hen incubating an egg, or a fish swimming in water. The breath passes from the head to the perineum; on inhalation it sinks deep into the root and reaches the root and stem, continuous and unbroken, as if present and as if absent. This is to guard once more that single breath within the womb.

Guard until there is nothing left to guard, and the true breath naturally comes to rest. Body and mind grow utterly still, as if nothing were there at all. Though one may say that the mind is using the mind, it clings to no place whatsoever. In the deep darkness, one only senses within the Great Void a single point of numinous brightness, serving as the master of creative transformation. When the moment ripens, the wondrous principle appears of itself; it moves gently and stirs in silence. With the most subtle intention one settles Qi and accords with the pivot of creation. Then Metal and Wood naturally intermingle, and Water and Fire naturally rise and descend. Suddenly a pearl the size of a grain of millet falls into the Yellow Court. This is the moment for gathering “lead and mercury” (qian and gong—in Neidan, a metaphor for the Yin-Yang of Jing and Qi), and it is the forming, within a single day, of one day’s elixir.

The Fuhe pian says: “In the chaos of the night, it is as if something falls from the void; the myriad forms stand in dense array, yet one knows nothing of them at all.” At this time the Qi within the body blends without obstruction and is one with empty space. One neither feels that Shen is Qi, nor that Qi is Shen. A transformation of this kind does not depend on deliberate visualization; it is the Dao occurring of itself. I, too, cannot explain why it is so; it is simply so of its own accord.

Once the medicine has been generated, the fire-timing appears along with it. The subtlety of the medicine’s generation is such that, on a small scale, it can match the transformations of Kan and Li (symbolizing water and fire, Yin and Yang), and on a large scale it can correspond to the movements of Qian and Kun (symbolizing Heaven and Earth). The essential purport of the Golden Elixir (Jindan) has here been stated with great thoroughness. How could the minor arts of side paths be compared with it?

If one does not trust this principle, abandons the Xuanpin to establish some other foundation, leaves Shen and Qi behind to seek the medicine elsewhere, fails to understand natural embryonic breathing, and yet recklessly applies fire-timing, this is to discard the root and chase the branches, pursuing the empty and false and losing the real. When that time comes, Heaven’s mandate will have taken away the opportunity for cultivation, and there will be nothing I can do.

An ancient song says: “The sage transmits the medicinal ingredients, but not the firing process (huohou); from of old, hardly anyone has known the firing process.” Why is it said that the firing process is not transmitted? Not because it is mysterious and therefore withheld, but because what is gathered and obtained is called the “medicine,” and the medicine already contains fire within it; when the medicine is being refined, this is called “fire,” and the fire likewise already contains the medicine. Understand the medicinal ingredients and be able to grasp the firing process, and the elixir (dan) will naturally be refined to completion within the body. The principle need not wait for someone else to transmit it; one can apprehend it oneself.

A poem says: “The medicinal ingredients are Yin contained within Yang; the firing process is Yang contained within Yin. Grasp the essential point of Yin-Yang, and in one and the same place the firing process becomes clear.” This is precisely the meaning.

Later generations, confused by the various formulations in the elixir texts, cannot grasp the essential point at once. Hearing of the twenty-four Qi (vital energy), the seventy-two pentads, the twenty-eight lunar lodges, the sixty-four hexagrams, and the twelve field-allotments, together with the conjunction of sun and moon, the rise and fall of the ocean tides, the “samādhi of eternal life,” Yang-civil and Yin-martial, and the like, they insist on determining which is the fire and which is the phase (hou). They rack their minds and cling to every kind of outward appearance; even when they have already obtained the true medicine, they are utterly at a loss as to how to refine and nurture it. They do not realize that true fire originally has no fixed moment, and that the great medicine cannot be measured in catties and ounces.

Yuchan says: “Fire originally belongs to the Li trigram of the south and corresponds to the human heart. The heart is Shen (spirit); Shen is fire; Qi is the medicine. To refine the medicine with fire and thereby form the elixir is to govern Qi with Shen and thereby accomplish the Dao (the Way).” These words are plain and direct. If those without the innate capacity for cultivating immortality take them as empty talk, hearing them close at hand yet letting them pass by, it is truly a pity.

The key to the oral instructions on the firing process, however, should above all be realized in the “true breath” (zhenxi). The true breath is the natural, continuous respiration of internal refinement. Respiration arises from the heart; when the heart grows quiet, the breath becomes harmonious, and every exhalation and inhalation returns to the root. This is the foundation of the Golden Elixir (jindan). The Heart-Seal Scripture says, “The returning wind blends and unites; in a hundred days the work is numinous,” and this is what it means. The Mirror for Entering the Medicine says, “Raise the wind of Xun, circulate the fire of Kun, enter the Yellow Chamber, and form the supreme treasure,” which means the same. Elder Haichan says, “Opening and closing, one wields the creative power of Qian and Kun, smelting in a single furnace the true sun and moon,” speaking likewise of internal refinement.

What is called the True Person (zhenren) diving into the deep abyss and floating within the compass (guizhong) means governing Qi with Shen, and then using Qi to regulate and steady the breath. Respiration that opens and closes like a bellows, the rising and falling of Yin and Yang, and the going out and coming in of the breath are all left to proceed of themselves. One guards Qi with single-minded attention, making the breath gentle, and silently nurtures the inner light. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one lets this breath continue without cease, like a woman carrying a child or a young dragon nurturing its pearl. In this way one gradually gathers, refines, and condenses until the work is fully ripe and all fuses into one.

Between movement and stillness one must also take care to regulate. Thoughts must not arise recklessly: the moment a thought stirs, the fire easily grows too fierce. The mind must not scatter: once it scatters, the fire easily turns cold. So long as there is neither excess nor insufficiency, the heart’s Shen and Qi embrace one another, maintaining what is centered, upright, and harmonious, wrapped in the state of chaos (hundun) not yet divided. This is called the fire-seed never broken and the elixir cauldron (danding) kept always warm. The whole process continues without interruption and without the slightest deviation.

Refine in this way for one quarter-hour, and there is one quarter-hour of the celestial circuit (zhoutian); refine for one double-hour, and there is one double-hour of the celestial circuit; refine for one day, and there is one day of the celestial circuit. A hundred days of refining and nurturing is called “establishing the foundation” (liji); refining and nurturing through ten months is called the “embryonic immortal” (taixian). Thereafter, even when such changes appear as Yang Qi arising in the primordial sea, fire rising in the midst of water, the cycling of heaven and earth, or the reversal of Qian and Kun, none of them can leave a single exhalation and inhalation. As for the stages of bathing and warm nurturing, of advancing and retreating, of extracting and augmenting, these will of themselves accord with the celestial mechanism and secretly match the transformations of nature; they are not something human effort can forcibly arrange.

Thus, although the firing process has its pattern, one need not deliberately employ some device. There is no fixed method of zi, wu, mao, and you; no rhythm of the moon’s dark and brightness, its quarters and its new moon; no boundary of the winter and summer solstices; nor any distinction between Yin fire and the Yang tally. Still less is there a secret according to which only one of the twelve double-hours is fit for refining and nurturing, or according to which, of the three hundred days of the year, one applies effort only within half a day; nor need one force year, month, day, and hour into an artificial fit. If one speaks of the moment, then within the twelve double-hours one may refine and nurture wherever intention arrives; if one speaks of the subtlety within it, the work of a single quarter-hour itself holds changes like the seasonal nodes of a whole year. One need only let the heart’s Shen and the breath rest in what is natural (ziran)—this is the sure teaching of the former masters.

The alternation of Zhun and Meng through day and night already follows what is natural; why stare so anxiously at the firing process? These words of the former masters truly strike the essential point. Alas—the meaning of “the sage transmits the medicine but does not transmit the fire” has here been fully set forth.

A poem says: “Why should one who studies the Dao seek a teacher with such bitter toil? The celestial mechanism is already written in this book. What cannot be found though iron shoes be worn through is, once obtained, gained with no effort at all.”

Shen (spirit) has no fixed traces, and the Classic of Changes (Yijing) likewise has no fixed form. What is called the “one aperture of the Mysterious Pass” (Xuanguan yiqiao) is nothing more than a method of cultivation: one employs spiritual awareness to harmonize the breath, so that Qi (vital energy) returns to Shen, then turns the gaze back and looks inward, gathering in scattered thoughts. When Yuxizi says that rectifying the mind and making intention sincere should be taken as the center of cultivation, this is precisely what he means.

The so-called “medicine” (yaowu) and “firing times” (huohou) are likewise metaphors. In the essentials of the Great Dao (the Way), whatever is done by deliberate mental effort or by force of intention is unsuitable. The key lies in recognizing, within one’s own body, that fundamental which presides over and sets the creative transformations in motion. One must ask: at this moment, what, after all, is “I”? If this can be recognized, take clarity and stillness as the root and settled calm as the foundation. One need only set things gently turning for a moment, and the celestial mechanism (tianji) will activate of itself: without any deliberate regulation, one naturally accords with the “regulated center” (guizhong); without deliberately practicing embryonic breathing (taixi), one naturally enters embryonic breathing; without seeking the “medicine,” it arises of itself; without urging the “fire,” it appears of itself. All of these are the wondrous functioning of what comes about spontaneously.

What need is there to visualize on purpose, to cling and stand guard, wearying body and mind, and only then, by acting through thought and intention, to count as cultivating the Dao? When this realm is truly reached, words too may be forgotten. What do those of insight think?

Preface by Chen Chongsu, Xubaizi, the Daoist Zhenfang of the Shengzhen Xuanhua Grotto-Heaven at Wuyi.