《古书隐楼藏书》Vol. 11

The middle dantian is called Huangtang (Yellow Hall), also known as the Earth Cauldron. The Book of Changes calls it Huangzhong (Yellow Center); Daoism calls it the Mysterious Orifice. This is where the immortal embryo (the spiritual fetus formed within internal alchemy) coalesces and is nurtured; it must above all be kept free from intrusion by post-heaven jing, qi, and shen. The mud pill at the crown of the head is called Qianding (Heaven’s Summit), also named Tiangu (Heaven Valley) and the Inner Court. Once the infant—the immortal embryo condensed in neidan—has taken form, it ascends and dwells here. What the alchemical classics term the upper dantian is this place. (This passage follows Yamamoto’s emendations to the manuscript’s disorder.)

Asked again about the three posterior passes behind the body, the answer was: A person’s weilü lies at the third vertebra above the coccyx and sacrum; it is also called Changqiang, the Three-Fork Road, the River Cart path, and the Forbidden Gate. Below it is the mysterious pass; in front is the sea of qi—the place where yin and yang transform, and where the ren and du vessels meet. What the alchemical classics call the weilü pass is here. The spine has twenty-four vertebrae, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms; between the first and last of these twenty-four segments lies a pass called the paired pass, which runs straight to the crown gate—this is the jiaji pass. The occipital bone is also called Fengchi (Wind Pool); its aperture is the smallest and the hardest to open. To open it, the tongue presses the palate and the gaze is directed toward the crown gate; one relies entirely on the divine furnace gathering fire and successive upward surges before this pass will open. This pass is named Yuzhen (Jade Pillow), also called the Iron Wall. Such is the method for opening the three posterior passes. (The above follows Yamamoto’s emendations throughout.)

This passage answers whether human primordial Qi can keep generating without end. The answer is that primordial Qi is generated every day. At the zi period (around midnight), the one-yang qi arises with the hexagram Fu (Return); the qi reaches Weilü—the third vertebra above the coccyx. At chou, two-yang qi arises with Lin (Approach); the qi reaches the kidney hall, the seventh vertebra counting upward from below. At yin, three-yang qi arises with Tai (Peace); the qi reaches the yuan pivot, the eleventh vertebra from below. At mao, four-yang qi arises with Dazhuang (Great Strength); the qi reaches Jiaji, the twelfth vertebra from below. At chen, five-yang qi arises with Guai (Resolution); the qi reaches Taodao, the twenty-second vertebra from below. At si, all six lines are yang—the pure Qian (Heaven) qi—and it ascends to the Jade Pillow Pass at the occiput; yang has here reached its peak. When yang reaches its peak, yin is born—this is inevitable. At wu, one-yin qi arises with Gou (Encounter); the qi reaches the Mud Palace, that is, the Baihui point at the crown. At wei, two-yin qi arises with Dun (Retreat); the qi reaches Mingtang, one cun and two fen above the midpoint between the eyebrows. At shen, three-yin qi arises with Pi (Standstill); the qi reaches Danzhong, the region of the pericardium outside the heart. At you, four-yin qi arises with Guan (Contemplation); the qi reaches Zhongwan in the upper abdomen. At xu, five-yin qi arises with Bo (Splitting); the qi reaches Shenque at the navel. At hai the hexagram is pure Kun (Earth) with all six lines yin; yin reaches its extreme and yang will again be generated. From zi to si are the six yang phases: yang qi circulates through twenty-five degrees. From wu to hai are the six yin phases: yin qi circulates through twenty-five degrees. Qi flows through the five viscera and six bowels day and night; if qi is blocked, illness arises; if qi stops, death follows. If a person cultivates and can attain long life and remain in the world, it is always by guarding Jing to nourish Qi, closing the Ren meridian (the channel along the front midline of the body) and opening the Du meridian (the channel along the rear midline), so that these two vessels circulate without ceasing.

Someone asked what the principle of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) is. The master answered: Taiji is the human tianxin—the heavenly heart, the innate spiritual master within us. Buddhism calls it yuanjue (perfect, complete awakening); Daoism calls it the Golden Elixir; Confucianism calls it Taiji. The phrase “Wuji (the Limitless) and yet Taiji” means that in origin it cannot be traced to any furthest limit, yet from this very point it is established as the ultimate. When a person is first born, only this bit of numinous light rules the body—that is Taiji. Before my parents had begotten me, there was originally nothing but Taiji; what did not yet belong to the bodily form was Wuji—the formless, boundless source. To know one’s original face, before birth there is already a wheel of clear light. Taiji has two layers of meaning. In terms of movement and circulation, it is called shihou—the timing of the breath’s turn; heaven and earth likewise do not step outside this single breath. In terms of condensation and fixation, it is called the true seed (zhenzhong)—a single grain of millet can embrace heaven and earth. Hidden inward, returning to the root, resting quietly in the deep dark—that is Taiji as shihou. Gestation, ripening, yin and yang coupling to form the embryo (in internal alchemy, the two qi meet and congeal into the elixir fetus)—that is Taiji as true seed. If one can keep these two aspects whole and never lose them, one may attain long life, may remain unbroken and uncorrupted—not merely live out one’s allotted years and die at ease.

The so-called “fire dragon and water tiger”: the water tiger is black lead—that is, true lead—the root from which all things between heaven and earth arise; it has form but has not yet become qi. The fire dragon is red lead—that is, true mercury—the origin from which all things between heaven and earth arise; it has the action of qi but no fixed form.

True lead with form is the essence of great yin (the moon), the mother of all formed things between heaven and earth; true mercury without form is the brightness of the sun, the father from which the myriad things are born. The bodies of lead and mercury nourish each other in turn without cease—they are the ancestors that generate heaven and earth and transform the ten thousand things.

Sages who attained the Dao in past and present, knowing this numinous substance hidden within, modeled the images of the hexagram lines to gather the essence of great yin, set up the furnace and cauldron (in internal alchemy, a metaphor for the place where body and mind are refined) to connect and unite the qi of the sun, and brought both into the divine chamber (where the elixir coalesces), where they meet in primordial chaos, joining without pause and breeding without end. Then from wood arises the hun soul, from metal arises the po soul; they congeal and become the outline of the embryo (the first contour of the elixir fetus), forming every kind of treasure, called the golden fluid great returning elixir (jinye dahuandan). This answer holds principles that are extremely abstruse, secret, subtle, and vast.

In this reply lie teachings that are extremely deep, secret, subtle, and vast, yet whose substance and function are also utterly ordinary, singular, concise, and upright. In the end they do not go beyond my master Master Taixu’s two lines: inwardly, empty to the utmost and still to the point of solid sincerity; outwardly, blend with the world and hide your light among the dust (heguang tongchen). Act accordingly, and you must take Heaven and Earth as the medicinals and the Great Void as the furnace and crucible. Applied in the world, this is the Three Ni healing the age (using the ways of the sages of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism to heal the way of the world); drawn back into the spirit chamber within (the place in the body where spirit is settled and elixir is refined), it is the Golden Fluid Great Returning Elixir (the great elixir formed by yin and yang refining together and returning). To practice thus is to benefit both public and private—the world and body and mind gain together. The ancients said the methods in this book are enough to heal the world; that is well founded.

Question: What are the sun crow and moon rabbit?

Answer: The sun is yang; yang holds yin within, like cinnabar holding mercury. If yang had no yin, it could not shine by itself; its hun is called the feminine fire—yang concealing yin. There is a crow in the sun; its trigram is in the south and is called the Li maiden, hence the saying that the sun sits in the Li position yet is called the female. The moon is yin; yin holds yang within, like lead holding silver. If yin had no yang, it could not be clear and pure by itself; its po is called the masculine metal—yin concealing yang. There is a rabbit in the moon; its trigram is in the north and is called the Kan youth, hence the saying that Kan pairs with the toad palace yet is the male. Wuyinzi said: take the essence from the jade rabbit’s brain in lead, take the blood from the golden crow’s heart in mercury; only these two substances form the elixir—the supreme way is not complicated and does not require forced contrivance. These two were originally one body.

This section explains the arcane principle of the previous section; what matters is obtaining their essence. For healing the world, the principle is indeed so. Tracing its subtle use, it comes down to nothing beyond the two words “clear” and “harmonious”; the function must be like crow and rabbit mutually securing each other from afar (mutual support, sealed without leakage)—only then is the effect inexhaustible. The ancient sages said: use the sun like spring’s growth, use the moon like autumn’s gathering. That saying has a basis.

Someone asked: What are the great furnace-and-cauldron (da ludding) and the small furnace-and-cauldron (xiao ludding)? The master replied: For anyone who cultivates the Golden Liquid Great Reverting Elixir (Neidan refined from Jing, Qi, and Shen), one must first “establish the furnace and set the cauldron.” Here the cauldron is not a vessel cast from gold or iron, nor is the furnace one fashioned from jade or stone. The Yellow Court (Huangting)—where qi and blood meet inside the body—is the cauldron; the qi cavity (the lower Dantian, the place where life-qi arises) is the furnace. The Yellow Court lies just above the qi cavity; the two are linked by a single thread of connection—the place in the adept’s body where blood and qi intersect. What the Ding hexagram calls “holding the right position and consolidating life” (zheng wei ning ming) refers to this spot. This is called the small furnace-and-cauldron.

The Qian position (the upper, Heaven-associated place) is the cauldron; the Kun position (the lower, Earth-associated place) is the furnace. The mercury-like water within the cauldron—that is the fire dragon; the jade stamen of yang within the furnace—that is the water tiger. The tiger below is the pivot where fire is kindled; the dragon above stirs clouds and vapor to surge upward. When ascending yang and descending yin in the furnace proceed without error, then within the cauldron the heavenly soul and earthly soul cling to each other, the azure dragon and white tiger restrain each other, and the jade rabbit and golden crow embrace each other. With the firing times (huohou) evenly adjusted, the supreme treasure can be refined. Hence Qingxiazi said: “The cauldron is not a cauldron of metal; the furnace is not a furnace of jade. Fire rises from below the navel; water responds toward the crown of the head. Once the ‘three kin’ (Jing, Qi, and Shen) have united, the ‘two substances’ (Yin-Yang, dragon and tiger) naturally bind each other. When consolidation is tight and nothing leaks, transformation completes in an instant.” This is called the great furnace-and-cauldron.

The ancient sage Master Jing’an said: To heal the great thousand-fold world, one should use the great furnace-and-cauldron; to handle small matters as one would cook a small fish, only the small furnace-and-cauldron is needed. Master Taixu said: To regulate the fortune of the age requires the great furnace-and-cauldron; but to govern one’s own person—when the ailment is only within oneself—one need only constantly practice the small furnace-and-cauldron, and the body will not go awry nor the household fail to be well ordered.

Someone asked about the essential meaning of the internal elixir, the external elixir, and the fire phases. The master replied: Those who cultivate must first refine the external elixir, then the internal elixir. If one is a person of clear insight, endowed from birth with a spiritual root (linggen), then from the very start of refining the external elixir one is also refining the internal elixir at the same time. The internal elixir is Wuwei (non-action) yet also “non-action that leaves nothing undone”; the external elixir is deliberate action with definite effect. The internal elixir is formless and without substance, yet truly present; the external elixir has form and function, yet in the end is empty and without fixed grasp. The external elixir can cure illness and can prolong life and preserve clear sight; the internal elixir can transcend and ascend and can “exit the formed and enter the formless.” The external elixir is the coming and going of yin and yang outside the body; the internal elixir is the gathering and union within the body of Kan (kidney water) and Li (heart fire).

As for the external elixir: the post-heaven essence produced through sexual union must first not be leaked; breathing should be fine, soft, and slow; and the thinking spirit should above all be quiet. As for the internal elixir: refining Jing (essence) means refining original Jing—drawing out the yang hidden within Kan; when original Jing is firm, the essence of union will not leak. Refining Qi (vital energy) means refining original Qi, to replenish the original yin in Li; when original Qi is settled, the breath no longer surges in and out in disturbance. Refining Shen (spirit) means refining original Shen, so that Kan and Li merge into one and the primordial Qian (pure yang at the origin) is restored; when original Shen is concentrated and still, the thinking spirit naturally finds peace. Cultivate inner and outer together, and ascension to immortality is within reach.

Ziyang (Zhang Boduan) said: The internal elixir and the external elixir are originally one matter—when the inner is penetrated, the outer must also be penetrated; the principle of joining the “cinnabar head” is the same, yet warming and nurturing have two kinds of effect. Within the body there is naturally the true fire of heaven; the furnace within stays ever red. The fire phases of the outer furnace, by contrast, must be adjusted diligently, adding or reducing. That which is wondrous beyond measure is the true seed. The true seed is the human primal (ren yuan)—also the ultimate criterion for advancing or withdrawing the fire talismans (huofu).

The vast true seed comes from the three thousand great worlds; those who obtain the oral instructions and cultivate are as numerous as grains in a granary. The principle that at all times fills heaven and earth and pervades the void is treated in detail in the Shuangxiu Baofa (a work on inner and outer cultivation together). It is hard to come by chiefly because the heart cannot be empty, still, and free.

What is called inner medicine here is the xiantian (original, innate) aspect within the body; outer medicine is the houtian (postnatal, conditioned) aspect within the body.

My late master Master Taixu said: Changchun Zhenren (Qiu Chuji) said that, as far as the body is concerned, the lead in Kan is outer medicine and the mercury in Li is inner medicine—which is really just body and mind; as far as the world is concerned, the qi of Qian and Kun is outer medicine and the essence of Kan and Li is inner medicine—which is really just houtian and xiantian. Thus, speaking in terms of the Dao, the utmost of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) is outer medicine and the utmost of Wuji (Limitless) is inner medicine. If heaven and earth are “ill,” one takes Taiji to repair them; if that is still not enough, one further welcomes Wuji so that they live again. The work of the zhiren (one who has reached the highest attainment) is just this. This teaching is recorded in the Taishang Dajie Shuo; it was passed down through the generations by the lü patriarchs of our lineage and was cut off at Kunyang Wang Zu (Wang Changyue). The words remain, but the practical instructions that were shown have become empty talk of principle alone. This was not heaven taking it away—it was that human hearts were no longer as in antiquity. That I was able to hear it was because my master Niwan Zhenren (spirit name) spoke of it. He said that in traveling through the great thousand worlds, nothing he saw or heard in the highest mysteries surpassed this; he also said the great Dao will not stay hidden forever. That account was originally received and transmitted by Xu Jing Zhao-shi, the founding patriarch and first disciple of Changchun Zhenren.

This discussion by my late master is now preserved in the Sanyi Yinfu Jing. Moved by it, I append this note after the present reply.

This body of mine is also the body of heaven and earth. If one can exhaustively pursue return and restoration to the source, one may also cultivate deeply until Wuji; having reached Wuji, one can share one breath with Wuji. The zhiren of old were not beings with three heads and six arms. The ancients said: where there is will, there is a way. Whether one succeeds need not be pursued; whether one acts is up to oneself—only strive until death.

Someone asked: What is the aim of “fetching from Kan to fill Li”—drawing the true yang out of Kan to replenish the void within Li—and of restoring the innate body of Qian’s vigor? The master replied: Lead and mercury are the pre-heaven qi (xian tian zhi qi) from the very instant Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate) first split into yin and yang; that pre-heaven qi is the dragon-and-tiger “first-quarter moon” qi—the primordial breath when dragon and tiger have just arisen, like the thin crescent at month’s beginning.

The tiger dwells in northern Kan water; the yang line within it originally issued from Qian. Before the cycles of calamity and convergence have met, Qian, through inversion and ruin, runs wild and restless, and wrongly sinks into Kun; the middle line is thereby depleted and becomes Li. Li is where mercury naturally resides, so the Yellow Youth—the true yang within Kan—is called the ancestor of mercury. The dragon dwells in southern Li fire; the yin line within Li originally belongs to Kun. After primordial chaos topples and falls, Kun, through receiving and nurturing, pairs with Qian; the middle line is thereby filled and becomes Kan. Kan is originally lead metal, so the Mysterious Woman within Li—the true yin within fire—belongs by origin to the house of Kan. Thus man and woman each keep to a separate chamber, lead and mercury each sit in its own furnace, yin and yang do not join, and heaven and earth become Pi—blocked above and below, with no passage between.

The sage takes intent as the Yellow Matron—the go-between who brings yin and yang together—and leads the Yellow Youth out of Kan to mate with the Mysterious Woman in Li. Once husband and wife unite, they return to pure Qian. This is what is meant by fetching from Kan to fill Li and restoring the innate body of Qian’s vigor—the originally pure, yang, robust nature. Ziyang (Zhang Boduan) said, “Take the fullness from the heart of Kan and use it to transform the emptiness in the belly of the Li palace”—that is precisely this meaning.

There is no finer practical method for “drawing from Kan to fill Li”—taking the yang breath within Kan and using it to replenish the yin substance in Li, so that Water and Fire achieve mutual benefit (jiaoji)—than the practice set out in the “Chapter on the Union of Kan and Li” in The Secret of the Golden Flower (Jinhua Zongzhi). The patriarch says: whatever spirit leaks outward and, at the slightest movement, joins with outer things, is Li; whatever spirit-consciousness is gathered back and rests quietly hidden within, is Kan. What rushes outward through the seven apertures is Li; what returns inward toward the seven apertures is Kan. Yin chiefly chases forms and colors and follows sounds; yang arises when hearing and seeing are withdrawn. Kan and Li are Yin-Yang; Yin-Yang are nature and life (xing and ming); nature and life are body and mind; body and mind are Shen (spirit) and Qi (the primordial breath). Once you gather the breath and spirit is no longer dragged about by circumstances, that is true union; in silent sitting, this goes without saying. Practice accordingly, and the secret of “healing the world”—aligning one’s own cultivation with caring for the world—is also found here; application then stays whole rather than fragmented.

Someone asked: What counts as “subduing the dragon”? The master said: Li is the sun—that is, “mercury”—and within it is Ji Earth (the central earth), which we may loosely call the dragon. Its form is fierce; it holds power over life and death, and it also presides over the path to becoming an immortal or a buddha—awesome and transforming, responsive when touched. Clouds take shape, rain is bestowed, and the ten thousand things are born and circulate. This is the Qian hexagram, nine in the second place: “The dragon appears in the field; it furthers one to see the great person.” Confucius said: “This is one who has the virtue of the dragon and yet remains centered.” People who do not understand this dragon’s life-giving function often suffer harm from it instead. If one knows it, reveres it, and governs it with care, one can subdue this fierce dragon, and amassing the finest essence-mercury is not hard. The method of subduing is to restrain the true fire in the heart: when fire-nature does not fly upward, the dragon can be lowered—only then is there a time to “deliver the lead” (to meet mercury with lead). Without accumulating mercury, how can one take hold of lead? Without subduing the dragon, how can one subdue the tiger? True lead and true mercury are not easily joined; true dragon and true tiger are hard to master each other. If the student can see through the word “dragon,” everything else is secondary.

The essential secret of refining the elixir is none other than subduing the dragon; the dragon is not easy to win over, and the true dragon and true tiger are likewise hard to tame. If those who study the Way can thoroughly grasp what this word “dragon” means, everything else is secondary detail.

The secret of refining the elixir is subduing the dragon; in the work of healing the world (using the Way to set right the hearts of people and the temper of the age), the first step is to set the human heart straight. The sole knack is to let go of everything, welcome the infusion of Qian yuan (Heaven’s primordial qi) into the human realm (Jambudipa), and do this morning and evening—then the customs of the age will naturally be set right; further raise Kun yuan (Earth’s primordial qi) to assist, and thereby preserve a pure and genuine ethos. The earlier sage Master Shi’an once said that this responsive principle works as if by spirit, and that it is solid, practical learning. This remark appears in Han Jichou’s Record of the Three Mountains Hall. Han was a man of literary talent and moral standing in the Kangxi era; Master Shi’an was his relative or friend, and these were not empty words.

Question: What counts as subduing the tiger? The master answered: The moon within Kan (the Water trigram) is lead; it contains Wu earth (the central earth), which one may loosely call the tiger. By nature it is wild and unruly; though it can harm and kill people, it also bears the bearing of the Great Vehicle: its movements have authority, and when summoned it responds at once; it embraces and enlarges, and the myriad things rely on it for nurture. The Book of Changes says, “Treading on the tiger’s tail, it does not bite one—there is success”; Confucius said, “Going forward in plain sincerity, walking alone according to one’s vow” (to advance in simple integrity is to practice one’s resolve in solitude). If a person knows what to fear in it and holds it in reverence, then tames and disciplines it, they can subdue this wild tiger and thereby produce pre-heaven lead. After subduing the dragon one must go on to subdue the tiger, for only when the tiger is subdued is there no calamity of being bitten in return. That is why successive holy masters treat subduing the dragon as refining the self (lianji) and subduing the tiger as holding the heart-mind (chixin). Purple Yang (Zhang Boduan) said, “If you wish to complete the nine turnings of the elixir, you must first refine the self and hold the heart”—that is precisely this meaning.

The secret of the elixir is indeed so; applied to healing the world, the knack is simply to draw in Kun yuan so that things may be at peace. Why? “Without stable property yet still keeping a constant heart”—only “earth” can do that.

When someone asked what is meant by “heart seal and robe and bowl”—the inner confirmation passed heart to heart, and the robe and bowl that symbolize transmission of the dharma lineage—the reply was: Well asked! In Buddhism there are the Brahma Net Sūtra and the Dhāraṇī; in Heaven there are the Primordial Beginning Precepts and the Jade-Chapter Scripture. These alone are the true heart seal and the true robe and bowl. Their meaning is vast and deep, without limit—like heaven that leaves nothing uncovered and earth that leaves nothing unsupported. A master of the three baskets of scripture may translate only the words and never embody the intent of the dhāraṇī sūtras in practice; one as luminous as the Pure Yang Emperor (Lü Dongbin) may expound the principle yet not annotate a single word of the true text of the Jade-Chapter Scripture. The East Hua Emperor said: “The dharma body is firm and great, penetrating heaven and earth; mind-nature is perfectly round and bright, running through past and present. If you do not recognize that heaven, earth, and humanity were originally one, you merely leave mind-nature to shine alone in isolation.” The meaning is: this body is this world, this world is this mind—no inside or outside, no extinction or birth. Those who can cultivate and realize in this unity are bodhisattvas, are celestial immortals. Therefore in the learning of the Way and of Buddhism, only the Vinaya school truly receives transmission. The robe and bowl have been passed down for more than a thousand years, yet no one has opened their deep meaning to revive the school’s spirit; one must wait for the right person and for the right season—and such a person is not someone from beyond the sky: everyone may study, everyone may become such a person. When the work of nature and life (xing and ming—the heart’s nature and vital life) is complete, the meaning of the scriptures opens of itself, and the power of the scriptures naturally illumines the great thousand worlds, penetrating heaven and earth and operating in a single mind. This is the pivot of empty secrecy and pure subtle clarity, the substance that preserves, embraces, awakens, and extends to vast light: in the small, not a speck of dust; in the great, filling measureless worlds.

This refers to the pivot of the void—hidden, pure, and wondrously bright—and also to the substance that preserves and embraces, awakens and illuminates, and shines with vast light. In its small aspect it is untouched by a speck of dust; in its large aspect it fills countless worlds. The Buddhas of the ten directions all breathe through this same opening; the immortals of the three realms all establish their lives here. Breaking through to the Dao and realizing truth starts here; becoming a Buddha or a patriarch is also gathered and fused here. Heaven, earth, and humanity—the three powers—and the three treasures return to one treasure, one reality: neither being nor non-being, present right now in the center (what inner alchemy calls the central mysterious aperture). Its form is like the full moon, its shape like the legendary isle of immortals—yet it is neither mind nor kidneys, and does not belong to the viscera. Released, it fills the six directions; gathered in, it withdraws and hides in secrecy. Demon kings bow and submit; all sages come to take refuge. Like the red sun in the sky, yin demons shrink from sight; like the bright moon at zenith, its radiance must shine on everything. The pivot turns the stars; breath circles heaven and earth. Patriarch after patriarch has nothing extra to say; master after master is left speechless. This is the supreme, boundless true essence—the aim of boundless void and the special transmission outside the teaching (the mind-seal that does not rely on words or texts)—a secret chapter that a thousand perfected ones will not lightly reveal, a profound canon that ten thousand sages will not transmit outside the lineage. To explain it clearly and apply it in practice, one must cultivate until one directly sees original face and reaches thorough, authentic awakening; then, in order, perform the work of fire-and-water interplay and the methods of refining, until the three dantian (upper, middle, and lower energy centers) are full and the three realms are pure and harmonious—and further, through nine years of gentle nurturing, one completes the pure, vast dharma body. Those who can undertake practice in this way find nothing that fails to respond. The transmission of this path in our mysterious lineage began in the Jin dynasty with conferral of the Celestial Immortal precepts, handed down generation after generation, treasured and kept secret. Yet among the three thousand disciples of Changchun the Realized One (Qiu Changchun), only eighteen perfected ones truly heard the Dao. A verse says: It is not that the news of the mysterious gate is too deep—only that on high mountains and flowing water, kindred spirits are rare. If someone finds again the road by which they first came, the red child (innate true nature) was always one with the heart of heaven and earth.

This chapter differs greatly between the manuscript copy and the printed edition. Perhaps descendants of the disciplinary lineage (Longmen scholars who strictly keep the precepts) removed passages for fear of leaking secret texts, and those who peddle the Way then altered them further. Like high mountains and flowing water, those who truly understand are few. If someone finds the path back, they will know that the heart of the newborn was always one with heaven and earth.

A separate collation note: the manuscript and the printed text differ substantially—possibly because Longmen heirs who feared disclosure cut material, while traffickers in the Way added their own changes, stripping away the core aim and deeper meaning entirely. The present text follows the mountain-held original in its corrections.

Question: What is meant by gathering the elixir (cai yao)?

Answer: The method of gathering the elixir relies on mind-to-mind transmission and oral teaching; it is not lightly revealed. That you have asked this far shows discernment. At the boundary of Hai and the start of Zi (the hours around midnight, when yin reaches its limit and yang begins to rise), watch for the first stir of yang within. Achieve utmost emptiness and deep stillness (xuji jingdu); let mind and heaven align, and let spirit merge with breath. Pre-heaven Qi (yuan xian zhi qi—the primordial breath, not ordinary respiration) enters the Yellow Court (huang ting, the inner “middle palace”) with your breathing; when the circuit of heaven (zhou tian—the degrees of circulating true qi) is complete and the Dantian (energy center) grows hot as boiling water, that is genuine verification. The hundred vessels feel as if insects crawl within; the four limbs burn like fire. This is the secret of gathering the elixir and returning it to the “pot” (gui hu—collecting what is gathered back into the Dantian).

Someone asked: What does it mean to “turn consciousness into wisdom,” and how does one transform the nature shaped by constitutional endowment and habit (the xing shaped by qi-zhi and acquired tendencies) into Buddha-nature?

Answer: A person’s original nature of untainted innocence was never stained by dust or defilement and did not cling to anything—this is the nature of the great perfect mirror wisdom (dayuanjing zhi—the wisdom in which mind-consciousness, once transformed, mirrors all things like a great round mirror). Because a single stirring thought arose and merged with the ordinary body, and was further enticed by acquired knowledge, it turned into “consciousness” (shi). Now, to return to the root and recover the beginning, at any time of day, gather the spirit and settle the breath, let spirit and breath rely on each other, and embrace the “One” without leaving it. Sometimes use wholesome dharmas to support the mind; sometimes use Red Water (Chishui—the true fluid in inner alchemy used to moisten and nourish the mind) to nourish the mind; sometimes borrow circumstances to purify the mind; sometimes use forbearance to make the mind open and at ease. Sometimes use the insight of immortals and buddhas to develop the mind; sometimes use the equal mind of immortals and buddhas to expand the mind; and use the eye of the true dharma (zhengfa yan—the eye that sees the true teaching) to contemplate the subtle mind of nirvana. Persist in this over a long time, and when the dusty faculties are swept clean and the six consciousnesses lose their support, your original face will be like the bright sun in the sky. You recover the primordial substance and return to the creation of the limitless (wuji). From this, turning consciousness into wisdom and transforming the nature of constitutional habit into Buddha-nature is indeed reasonable.

They asked again: If sentient beings earnestly cultivate the Way, can they receive protection? If they cannot practice cultivation but only reverently make offerings to this scripture, is there merit and blessing?

Answer: If sentient beings earnestly uphold the practice, they are broadly accumulating hidden merit (yinde—merit accumulated in secret, without display).

What is called the form-body (the physical body)—whenever it is tranquil and at peace for even a moment, the common people gain benefit for that moment; how much more when one can remain so all day and all month! My late master Master Taixu said: “Master Niwan once said: ‘If you practice for three double-hours a day (about six hours in modern reckoning), within three months there will be signs of verification.’ We wanderers in clouds and water, without rank or wealth—when will our three thousand meritorious acts and eight hundred virtuous deeds (the tallies of full merit) ever be complete? The Supreme Lord (Taishang), in compassion, therefore transmitted this scripture. Alas, people in the world lack constancy; they cannot even keep their minds steady—how can they speak of putting it into practice! If one can practice continuously without interruption, in three years the embryo is fully formed; this embryo is called the embryo of immeasurable merit (a dharma-fetus formed from accumulated merit). Guardian deities of the Way patrol day and night, like eyelashes protecting the eyes—how could merit and practice fail to reach completion! Yet the precepts contain articles on substitution accounting (ji dui dai: knowing but not acting still counts as offense): to know and not do—the offense cannot be pardoned! One day counts as one major offense—can one not fear this? Later disciples of our lineage who keep the precepts often meet with setbacks in cultivation, mostly because they neglect this point. If each day one holds to the practice even for a brief while, in nine years one will surely attain the Dao; if there is interruption midway, the tally is reduced—this is administered by the Examination of Merit Office of the Three Yuan (Sanguan kaogong si) in heaven. Every year at the five La festivals (five La sacrificial days in Daoism), the Official of Upper Origin who bestows blessings submits a summary report to the Jade Palace (Yuqiao, the celestial emperor’s court)—this is the standing rule. Popular prayer and Buddhist-Daoist recitation likewise fall under the law of healing the world (yishi, saving the world through the Way); the people have never heard of it.” What my late master said is as above; I dare not withhold it and respectfully inform fellow practitioners. Compared with what is shown later, the meaning is the same—it is not deliberate marvel-mongering. Explanation, copying, and offering support belong to the same category as prayer and recitation; doing so accordingly will also bring efficacious response. This is the earnest hardship of the Realized One (dedao xianzhen), to save those who cannot persist in practice. His great vow still rests on earnest practice.

The Jade Emperor (Yuhuang Dadi) decreed that the ten-direction celestial immortals and flying divine kings attend on left and right, guarding the correct Way as they guard the Jade Emperor himself, so that all demons dare not harm; those who refine truth (xiuzhen)—nine mysterious and seven ancestral generations (jiu xuan qi zu, lineages of ancestors) ascend to the immortal realm. If one is bound by worldly ties and cannot cultivate—

The Jade Emperor issued an edict commanding the celestial immortals of the ten directions and the flying divine kings to attend on his left and right as guardians of the right path, so that no evil demon might dare to harm it. The nine mysteries and seven ancestors of those who cultivate the Dao could also ascend to the immortal realm. If one were bound by worldly affairs and unable to cultivate in person, simply explaining this true scripture to others and teaching them to follow it would yield inconceivable merit. If sentient beings reverently and cleanly copied the true scripture, combining the upper, middle, and lower scrolls into one complete work, and enshrined it in a pure chamber with incense and lamps burning morning and evening without interruption, auspicious stars would shine upon them, their dwelling would be filled with light, all Buddhas would protect them, and all sages would bestow blessings—dispelling disasters and curing illness, with never-failing efficacy. Even those who were dull, deaf, or mute, so long as they devoutly made offerings and bowed before the true scripture and persisted over time, would find their inner nature become spiritually responsive and their temperament suddenly transformed.

At this point the question-and-answer session had ended, and a wondrous fragrance filled the assembly. Those present each came to understand the principle of nature and life, and were suddenly awakened. Among the disciples of Master Hui'an sat one named Jingji, who rose, approached the True Person, prostrated himself, and intoned this praise:

Great is this supreme Dao! It opens heaven and earth, establishes the cosmic order, and arranges the divine and true. It is the ancestor of heaven and earth and the root of the ten thousand things. In primordial chaos, vast and formless, in profound darkness and obscurity, heaven thundered and earth split apart, and Yuanshi (the primordial source) was born. Opening and closing flowed freely, and spirit and Qi (vital energy) surged through the six gates of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. It neither arises nor perishes, has neither scent nor sound, its luminosity never dims, and it endures from antiquity to the present. Reaching upward to the clear heaven above, shining downward upon the tranquil earth below, and standing at the center to establish the supreme pole—this is the supreme Yuanshi. The Three Sovereigns assist at his side, summoning the myriad spirits, governing the Five Qi's (vital energies of the five directions), and blending the hundred deities. It is the root of nature and life, and the balance of opening and closing. Myriad spirits attend as guards, and even demon kings come to welcome and protect. Those with karmic affinity who encounter this scripture can sever craving and desire, extinguish the seven emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire), cultivate according to the text, return life to its original root, continuously strengthen the foundation, and keep the spirit dwelling in the life courtyard (the seat of one's vital root).

When the Three Treasures (Jing, Qi, and Shen) in the Dantian are refined by calcination, they become solid and condensed. Shen operates within the body, revolving Qian and Kun—the circulation of Yin-Yang and Heaven-and-Earth qi within.

This is the classic of inner cultivation. One can sever attachment and desire and extinguish the seven emotions (joy, anger, worry, thought, grief, fear, and shock).

Cultivating according to the classic returns nature and life to their root; breath flows on without ceasing, strengthening the foundation, while Shen guards the life court—the seat where nature and life are secure.

The Three Treasures in the Dantian, refined until firm and condensed; Shen turns within, revolving Qian and Kun.

Inner and outer accord, together returning to the heart of the Dao. The Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity) and the Six Directions (above, below, and the four quarters) are vast, level, and upright.

When the sacred embryo of inner refinement ascends to fruition, one is called a True Person (Zhenren). One expounds the orthodox teaching and widely saves those lost on the path.

Scriptures in myriad volumes are spread abroad, reaching up to the truth of Heaven. This is the orthodox lineage transmitted from Donghua (the Eastern Huahua Emperor), the true writing of the Imperial Ultimate (Huangji).

My master realized and taught it to guide those who come after. When the Dao is perfected and one ascends, nine generations of ancestors rise together.

Cherish it and keep it secret; the myriad sages all hold it in reverence.

When the disciple of Jijing had finished reciting this eulogy, everyone present rejoiced and leaped with faith, received it in trust, practiced accordingly, bowed in respect, and withdrew.

[The Qingyang manuscript copy omits seven lines after “refined until firm and condensed”; here they are restored from the Shan version.]

Master Yin Zhenren said: With one inhalation, lift upward; with each breath, let the qi return to the navel; with one lift, swallow it down—fire meets fire. Shan Ben notes that other versions read “one exhalation” instead of “lift,” but “lift” here is not a slip of the pen; it follows the secret text of the Lü school (the Buddhist Vinaya lineage). This is the immortal’s sixteen-word formula for preserving life, so precious that it is called the “Sixteen Ingots of Gold.” It describes how one inhalation and one exhalation open the Ren and Du meridians—the two central channels running down the front and up the back of the body—and how the breath settles at the navel.

The back of the body belongs to Yang and the front to Yin: the Du meridian on the back is Yang, the Ren meridian on the chest and belly is Yin. The Du meridian has three passes: Weilü (tail gate), Jiaji (spine gate), and Niwan (mud pill). The Ren meridian has two sections: from the root of the yin (the area of the genitals and perineum) up to the navel, and from the crown down to the navel. Breathing should follow its natural course; the whole art lies in the two words “lift.” In stillness, use a light touch of intention and gaze to lift—too much deliberate effort does harm. When qi is drawn into the belly, use a slight intention and gaze to lift from the root of yin and gather it into the navel. “Lift at once” means taking the qi of that one inhalation along the lower half of the Ren meridian into the navel—“one inhalation, lift at once; breath by breath, return to the navel.” One lift is one exhalation: in that exhalation, with a light intention and gaze, lift the qi into the Du meridian from Weilü along the spine to the crown. In ordinary people the Du is blocked, so Weilü is also called a pass; when qi is lifted into the Du, Weilü opens through to the waist. Jiaji is another pass. Weilü and Jiaji are easier to open; the crown is hardest, hence Niwan (mud pill). With long practice, Niwan opens by itself. When it opens, the joy is beyond words; ancients compared it to heavenly ghee (the sweetest divine fluid) and to union in love. Once Niwan is open, swallow the qi into the upper half of the Ren and gather it at the navel. This “swallow” is neither swallowing essence nor forcing the breath: qi falls from the crown to the throat, a slight gathering, and it returns to the navel. Before Niwan is open, the work is only in the two “lifts”; “swallow at once” comes after the pass is cleared. One Yin and one Yang make the Dao; one exhalation and one inhalation make the breath. When both breaths return to the navel, Yin and Yang mutually hold and support each other—that is what is meant by fire meeting fire. One inch and three tenths inside the navel is the Dantian (where qi gathers and is refined); returning to the navel is returning to the Dantian. Before birth, fetal breathing was here; immortals refine the elixir here—it is truly the hub of breath in and out, the Taiji of the whole body. When Ren and Du connect and water and fire aid each other, every breath fills the whole body—where could illness arise?

Yamamoto’s note: This discussion is an old teaching; some in our lineage also follow it. First regulate the Ren meridian (the channel running down the front of the body), then the Du meridian (the channel running up the back), and finally devote yourself to tai xi (embryo breathing, breath so fine it is like a fetus in the womb): turbid qi afterward settles at the navel, while clear qi is first lodged in the brain.

There is another shortcut for nurturing life: release the myriad concerns to nourish yin, and ju huo kai guan (gather fire to open the body’s passes) to assist yang. On inhalation, qi rises from wei lu (the gate at the base of the spine); on exhalation, it descends from ni wan (the upper gate at the crown). As it rises, the yang inside and outside the back ascends in harmony throughout; as it descends, from the forehead through the chest, inside and outside, it flows smoothly through the chest, belly, and waist so that the five viscera and six bowels are all unobstructed. Gradually gather intention and bring it all to the lower pole (the lowest point of the body); fix spirit on twenty-four breaths until it is as if present yet forgotten—then stop with ease. Practice this without break day after day, and you will not only dispel illness but also extend your years.

This note came from ninth-generation collateral ancestor Xuesuo Weng; later student Min Yide revised it to this point, hence this careful supplement. The third chapter is the chapter on laying the foundation.

Master Yin said: To cultivate the Dao, one must take seeing one’s nature (xing—the recognition of one’s inherent mind-nature) as the first foundation. (The preceding lines follow the supplement added by Yamamoto.)

Human xing dwells in the two eyes by day, stored in Nirwan (the upper Dantian in the head); at night it rests in the two kidneys, stored in the Dantian (lower energy center). The ancients said: “The heart is the trigger mechanism (like the release of a crossbow); the eyes are thieves. To gather the heart, first gather the eyes.” A crossbow fires through its mechanism; the heart is pulled by external things through the eyes. When the mechanism does not move, the crossbow stops; when the eyes do not move, the heart settles.

The Yinfu Jing says “the mechanism is in the eyes”; the Daode Jing says “not looking at what stirs desire, the heart is not disordered”; Laozi speaks of “constantly observing the subtle in wúwèi (non-action)” and “constantly observing the aperture in desire”—what is observed is always this one point. The Yellow Emperor practiced inner observation for three months, observing this same point. Thus by observing the heart one attains the Dao; thoughts naturally cease and wandering ideas vanish. Long life and clear vision, and the heart’s union with breath, all depend on these two eyes: where the eyes go, the heart goes; where the heart goes, Qi goes.

The lower Dantian is the root of ming (life); the upper Dantian is the source of xing. Cultivating from below upward is the gradual method (step-by-step practice); starting from above while also tending the middle and below is the sudden method (the direct shortcut). The Huangting Jing says: “Within the jade chamber is the gate of the Shen (spirit); if you wish not to die, cultivate Kunlun.” Kunlun refers to the head and the Nirwan region.

Before this body existed, there was first this one breath. At the beginning of life one breathes with the mother. That thread of Qi connects to the mother’s body: forward it reaches the navel, backward the kidneys, upward the Jiaji (the pass in the spine) and Nirwan; at Shangen (the root of the nose between the eyes) two nostrils open—hence the breath is called the “original ancestor.” Then one’s Qi joined the mother’s Qi, and the mother’s Qi joined the Qi of Heaven and Earth. Once the womb is broken and one is born, a point of original Yang falls to the place where ming is established (the lower Dantian where life is anchored); from then on post-heaven Qi holds sway. Breath still comes and goes, but it can no longer connect with pre-heaven ancestral Qi—simply because one cannot find the old path from birth.

The Supreme One (the highest sage of the Daoist tradition) established methods to teach people to cultivate long life and draw the upright Qi of Heaven and Earth; what they rely on is the breathing of the two nostrils. Today people regulate breath, count breath, and suppress breath, yet never reach the Original Pass, that one crucial mysterious aperture—always because they do not find the gate to enter.

At birth, when the one aperture first condenses, the two kidneys appear first, then the heart. Heart and kidneys are eight cun and four fen apart; between them remains one cun and two fen—the path of exchange between heart and kidneys, the place where water and fire achieve mutual benefit (water–fire jiji, harmonious blending). To open this aperture depends entirely on visualizing Shangen; then the breath of respiration goes straight to Mingtang (the center of the nose connected with Shangen). Thereupon the nine apertures, eight vessels, twelve meridians, and fifteen collaterals of the whole body circulate without obstruction—like grasping the net’s cord while the stars wheel around the pole, or ten thousand streams returning to the sea. How could one grasp it once and not hold it forever? The subtlety of the Elixir path has its first foundation right here.

Shianzi said: The shangen—the place between the eyes at the root of the nose—is also called the Xuanpin (the mysterious gateway of generation in Daoist teaching). If you fix the spirit there in contemplation and cultivate until not a single thought arises, the inner gate will suddenly open of itself. The spirit then follows the Yellow Path (the central, upright passage) straight to the Middle Yellow (the body’s central region). You will feel it vast, deep, and without boundary—this is the inner Xuanpin. From there the silent foundation is as it was at the beginning; you can penetrate deeply into the Xuanpin of creation and transformation, and then issue from the same breath as the Yuan Shi ancestral aperture (the orifice of the primordial source). Everywhere is the Dao—not merely locating the ancestral aperture of your own body. Therefore it is said that the root of the elixir path’s subtlety begins here.

Chapter Four (the “Shenshi” [Divine Chamber] chapter).

Yin Zhenren said: What is meant by “initial foundation” (shiji) is that one has already “entered the hall”—stepped through the doorway and gained a preliminary footing. What follows explains in finer detail the subtleties of “entering the chamber”—going deeper in inner cultivation.

At that time a disciple asked quietly: “Are primordial nature (yuanxing) and primordial spirit (yuanshen) different from each other?” The answer was: Primordial nature is primordial spirit; there is no difference. Because it is lucid, penetrating, and hard to fathom, and can respond wondrously to events without fixed location, it is called “spirit” (shen); it is called “yuan” (primordial) to distinguish it from the acquired mind of later deliberation.

Another asked: “Does spirit have a dwelling place in the human body?” The answer was: I heard the Purple Clarity immortal master (the Neidan master Bai Yuchuan) say: “The human being has three valleys (gu)—they are the dwelling of primordial spirit and the seat of nature and spirit. They are empty like valleys, hence also called valley spirit (gu shen). Where spirit is present, there is life; where spirit departs, there is death. By day spirit goes out to meet outer things; by night it goes out again to meet dreams—it cannot rest securely in its home.” The Ling Shu (Spiritual Pivot) says: “The primordial spirit of the heavenly valley—guard it, and truth comes of itself.” In the body, the upper is the heavenly valley, namely the mud pill (niwan, the head); the middle is the responding valley (ying gu), namely the crimson palace (jiang gong, the heart region); the lower is the spirit valley (ling gu), namely guanyuan (the lower abdomen). These three valleys are all places where spirit dwells, and are called the three fields (san tian).

To expand: The mud pill is the root palace where spirit rests; the crimson palace is the bright hall from which orders issue; the spirit valley is the hidden chamber where spirit is stored in retreat. When primordial spirit dwells in the crimson palace, the ears hear and the eyes see, the five senses each fulfill their office, and the whole body obeys command; when primordial spirit dwells in the spirit valley, sight turns inward and hearing is gathered within—spirit and qi guard each other, and ying and po (soul and corporeal soul) are embraced as one. Yangzi (Yang Xiong) said: “Hide the heart in the deep abyss and make the spirit root fine.” The abyss is what is deep, dark, and unfathomable—the spirit valley, which is also the qi cavity (qi xue). What Liao Chanhui meant by “facing the navel wheel in front and the two kidneys behind, with a true golden cauldron in the center” refers precisely to this chamber where spirit is stored.

This passage only speaks in general terms of the primordial spirit (Yuanshen) as primordial nature (Yuanxing); it has not yet reached the stage of “forming the embryo,” though it does single out the chamber where the spirit dwells—the place where Yuanshen is settled.

The fifth chapter is the River Chariot (He Che) chapter.

“The true golden cauldron” is precisely the place where spirit is stored. The text above still speaks generally of Yuanshen as Yuanxing and has not yet described forming the embryo; it only marks out the chamber where the spirit dwells.

The fifth chapter is the River Chariot chapter.

Master Yin Zhen said: Once spirit is stored, this is called returning to the root (guigen); returning to the root is called stillness, and stillness is called returning to life (fuming). At this point spirit and qi guard each other, embracing unity (baoyi) without parting. When stillness reaches its extreme and movement arises, spirit rides upon the turning of qi and ascends to the Mud Pill (Niwan—the upper dantian in the head). Only then does the path of the River Chariot open. The River Chariot path is the Ren meridian in front of the body and the Du meridian behind; inner qi rises and falls along these two vessels, like water driving a wheel.

When qi first rises, it surges vigorously and steams upward, pooling between the two kidneys, vast as a tide swelling, melting like ice and snow thawing, spreading above the five Shu (transport points on the back where channel qi infuses)—as if water floods everywhere and has not yet been guided into channels. At once gather spirit back to Weilü (the base of the spine at the coccyx), and let it ascend from Weilü, pass the Jiaji double passes (gateways in the mid-spine), go up through Fengfu, and reach the Mud Pill. Spirit and qi meet here; their free flow and fusion need hardly be spelled out. Before long they turn into fresh, fine vital fluid (jinye), which descends from the multistoried tower (Chonglou—the throat) through the Crimson Palace (Jianggong—the heart region) into the qi cavity, then returns to the original place of storage to rest. The scripture here again follows Jiaji and Fengfu up to the Mud Pill; spirit and qi meet and melt once more, then again become vital fluid, entering the qi cavity via Chonglou and Jianggong and returning to the place of storage—where the cycle stops for that round.

Such cyclic pouring and filling, continued until pure and ripe, fills qi in the three dantians (upper, middle, and lower); when upper and lower interconnect, this is what is meant by “constantly let qi penetrate the joints; naturally essence fills and the valley spirit (gushen) endures.” When creation reaches this stage, the inner alchemical reality appears. Unless one has cultivated deeply to the utmost, how could one know these words are truly verifiable?

The sixth chapter is the Secret Transmission chapter.

Before sitting in meditation, first settle the heart-mind so it is empty, still, and at peace. When affairs arise, handle them; when they are done, let them go. Success or failure need not concern you—only do your part with full sincerity. Next, regulate the breath (Qi) so it becomes full and expansive: when it should rise, let it rise; when it should sink, let it sink. Do not force or stir it deliberately; only wait until the right moment ripens on its own. For Qi arises from the heart-mind—when the heart-mind is well adjusted, Qi naturally follows. Cultivation of this kind depends above all on continuity without break. Without break, body and mind naturally find stability and ease. Therefore you need not fix meditation to the zi and wu hours (zi is roughly midnight, wu roughly noon); whenever you have genuine leisure, you may sit. Do not take “leisure” merely as spare time—enter into the character itself and you will find its subtle use. When sitting, you need not adopt full lotus posture, but the hands must employ the secret method called wogong (“firm grip”): press the thumbnail into the crease between the hai and zi lines on the palm, wrap the other four fingers around, and use the flat of the middle joint of the middle finger to press the tip of the thumbnail. If sudden fright arises, grip more tightly and the alarm will settle of itself. This method is called wogong; it is an essential gate for quelling shock. Once the body is quiet, first stop scattered thoughts. Constantly turn the light inward and look within: begin from the empty space at the forehead, and visualize a red-yellow light like the moon, suspended and shining upon the root of the mountain (shangen—the point between the eyebrows at the upper bridge of the nose); whether you see light or not, let it be. From here heart-mind and breath rely on each other; thoughts no longer race outward. You will feel the upper, middle, and lower Dantian (the three loci where Qi gathers in practice) as one continuous thread. The various forms and colors seen by ordinary people, and the subtle visions in empty space, are not your true face. Whether they hide or appear, let them all be natural—do not be drawn away to new thoughts. This is the root—what the Book of Changes calls the supreme Way of “thought that does not step outside its place” (si bu chu wei). Yet the human heart-mind is extremely quick; how can a beginner do this at once? The secret text says: “Do not fear that a thought arises; fear only that awareness comes late.” It also says: “A rising thought is the illness; not following it is the medicine.” Hence the meaning: “extinguish only the restless stirring mind, not the mind that observes inward.” When body and mind are already settled, inward turning must still have a place to rest (“place” means a locus).

This passage explains how to use oneness to embrace and unify all transformations. At the outset, gather the spirit back into the inner chamber—this chamber is the spirit chamber, the empty, luminous place where the mind-spirit is settled. When you observe and reflect in this way, you feel an emptiness and stillness within, yet also clarity; when things unfold naturally of themselves, you no longer need to sustain the practice through deliberate visualization and inner watching—only then have you truly seen the root-nature of your own mind. How could a beginner reach this at once? Only after the body of stillness is maintained for a long time does this state appear. If you wish to preserve it and advance further, you must neither forget nor cling as if you had forgotten; then what lies between naturally expands without bound, and clarity and stillness are the same. Practice in this way: constantly still thoughts and turn the gaze inward. Do this at every moment. After seven full days, you may shift the inner gaze downward within this vision to the area inside the navel—here “eye” means the light of inner vision, not the physical eye looking outward—and it will naturally enter straight into the lower field, the lower Dantian below the navel. Warm breath will follow the gaze as it flows downward. Then let the inner gaze rotate within: first from the center outward, turning again and again until the lower field feels gradually wider; then from the outside back to the center, turning the same way, until it feels deep within. Warm breath arises from inside and gradually seems to boil. If the heart remains like still water, a little cool fluid will naturally seep out bit by bit from the Crimson Palace (the region of the heart)—this is the true sign of “withdrawing the talisman,” the moment when the firing shifts from advance to retreat. At this time warm breath must rise from the cavity below to meet it, reaching beneath the stomach, circling left and right, surging upward as if waiting. The practitioner then fixes intention in one place, guards with the inner gaze, and meets it with the heart-mind. Respond to it in this way. Before long cool fluid will surge out from behind the heart and join with the warm breath in the kidneys; there will be a scene of swallowing and spitting, hard to release, and an indescribable ease. You must not indulge in it; you must immediately gather and hold it in.

Gradually use both eyes to look inward and contemplate the deep abyss in the abdomen, then guide with intention so that this stream of qi rotates in the belly: first expanding from small to large, then gathering and shrinking again, still leading the two qi (the qi of Kan water and Li fire) back into one and returning to the qi sea (lower dantian). This is Kan-Li exchange, also called the small heavenly circuit; in essence it is the main work of “withdrawing the talisman” (the fire phase shifting from full heat to gathering), not what the uninformed mistake for “advancing the fire” (driving the fire upward to heat). The moment for advancing the fire is precisely what grows out of this.

With each inhalation and exhalation at this stage, the mouth fills with saliva sweet as malt sugar; you should immediately refine it: keep it in the crimson palace (heart region), or send it into the meridians, or pour it from behind the heart into both kidneys—each has its use. Therefore you must swallow in succession, storing the heart fire to warm and bake; when the transforming mechanism overflows, you may apply it as needed, and in the end still lead it back to the qi sea and use fire to press it inward. This is what is meant by: saliva transforms into blood, blood into jing, jing into qi, and qi again pierces the passes and penetrates to the back. Saliva becoming blood must occur in the crimson palace; blood becoming jing must occur in both kidneys; jing becoming qi must occur in the qi sea. Through such transformation and nurturing, the three treasures in the lower dantian (jing, qi, and the treasure they become) fill until there is nowhere left to go, and they naturally burst open the weilu (the lower end of the governing vessel at the coccyx), surging upward through the Taiyuan pass; you may faintly feel two streams of warm qi rising to the kidney hall, passing through the jiaji (mid-spine), traversing the twenty-four vertebrae.

The Guizhi says: “Fire drives metal to move in reverse; naturally within the cauldron the great elixir congeals.” It points to this principle. But when qi reaches the jiaji, the student’s practice is still shallow and inner treasure insufficient—how could it pierce straight through in one go? Do not be impatient for speed; only practice thus day after day. In intention, let heart and eyes escort it all the way, lightly using the method of lifting and gathering the valley pass (a subtle lift and contraction of the anus), like a windlass in a loop. Where mind and will arrive, qi naturally follows; when the time comes, in an instant the jiaji opens by itself, the double passes are crossed in peace, and you ascend straight to the yuzhen (the occiput behind the head).

The Jade Pillow pass is called the Iron Barrier. It lies in the depression at the back of the head, where a prominent ridge of bone makes breakthrough especially difficult. One must close the eyes, gaze upward within, and lower the head with focused intent, piercing straight through this barrier until one reaches the Mud Pill (Niwan)—the upper dantian in the brain—and merges with Shen. At this stage the inner scenery may seem like thunder, lightning, boiling water and fire—sights and sounds that feel both real and illusory. You must hold body and mind steady: neither startled nor elated, letting things gradually settle. A clear bell-like tone may seem to enter both ears; between the Mud Pill and Kunlun (the crown), something like a fiery pearl may whirl without rest, now hidden, now visible at the brow. You may also feel it descend from within the nose toward Yuanying (the region between the upper palate and the throat), drop into the windpipe, pass Huagai (the lungs) and Jiangong (the heart), and arrive directly at the dantian in the lower abdomen. Joy of body and mind at this point is hard to put into words—this is what is meant by “When the union of Qian and Kun is complete, a single point falls into the Huangting (Central Yellow Court).”

If the true fire is still weak, one may gently fan it again—adding Xun wind to stir it (Xun wind here is the breath through the nose), with slight “drawing and adding,” still rising from behind as before and descending from the front, cycling without end. This is the River Chariot (He Che) turning on its own—the vital current revolving along the Du and Ren pathways. After this, ascent and descent travel inside the bone structure, not under the skin. A verse says: “From the dantian straight through to the Mud Pill crown—the River Chariot turns on its own, hundreds of rounds.” When lead is exhausted and mercury is dry, the firing of the Grand Heavenly Circuit is complete. Once this is thoroughly practiced, one must promptly cultivate the Mao-You Heavenly Circuit. People know only the union of Qian and Kun and not the Mao-You circuit—then there is south and north but no east and west, like a cart without wheels or a boat without a rudder; how could one travel far?

Before beginning practice, make preparations: clear the mind, let thoughts be empty and without attachment, let the vital impulse be quiet and still, and let the heart-mind be clear, smooth, and supple as oil. Externally, use some object to press against the Taiyuan Pass (an internal pass within the body). When the season arrives and qi stirs into motion, follow it with a body of still silence, without mixing in post-heaven intention or exertion. Use the eyes to guard the Mud Pill (the upper dantian within the crown), and look downward to the Kun Navel (the navel).

After guarding in stillness for a long while, a bead of fire will emerge from within the qi cavity, rising on the left side to the left of the navel, then to the Crimson Palace (the region of the heart). From the left side of the Crimson Palace it suddenly turns inward beneath the left flank, then passes through the left shoulder, ascends to the left ear root, enters the left eye, and reaches the Root of the Mountain (the bridge of the nose between the eyes). After a brief pause, it turns to the right eye, descends from behind the right ear root, passes the right shoulder, circles forward, then again passes through the left shoulder, ascends the left ear root, enters the left eye, and reaches the Root of the Mountain; after another brief pause it turns to the right eye, descends from behind the right ear to the right shoulder, circles forward to the right side of the heart, descends to the navel, and returns again to the dantian. Doing this thirty-six times is “advancing the yang fire.” Then, rising on the right and descending on the left, do it twenty-four times—this is “retreating the yin talisman.” Advancing the yang fire and retreating the yin talisman are expressions in neidan (internal alchemy) that use counts to symbolize yang rising and yin descending and to grasp the firing process.

At first one cannot avoid using a little intentional effort; once fully adept, left and right both rise naturally on their own, and sometimes the path also passes separately from front and back of the Bridge of Ordering Life (zhiming qiao)—all of this is accomplished naturally without knowing how or why. The whole body is yin; only the eyes are yang, because the eyes are the yang orifice. Where the eyes go, the mind goes; where the mind goes, qi goes—this is the subtle art of gathering the inner medicine (the self-generated true-qi elixir within the body).

The Bridge of Ordering Life is not mentioned in other alchemical classics; only the Jinsi Baolu (Golden Casket Precious Record) says: “Within there is a cavern where the spirit dwells; horizontally placed is the Bridge of Ordering Life.” It states this very clearly. When skill is fully mature, the original qi in the qi cavity rises naturally, like bubbling spray, enters the navel wheel, and crosses horizontally over the Bridge of Ordering Life. This bridge connects forward; when skill is fully refined, the original qi in the qi cavity still rises naturally like bubbles, enters the navel wheel, and crosses over the Bridge of Ordering Life.

This spot is like a bridge: it connects forward to the Dantian (the lower abdomen where primordial qi gathers) and backward to the Mingmen (between the two kidneys), while the middle is hollow like a tube—the channel through which yuanqi (original qi) flows back and forth. Suddenly the two kidneys feel as if steeped in hot water; if yin fire is not yet fully cleared, there may be slight pain—this is the meaning of “the dragon battles in the wild,” the struggle of yin and yang; when yin fire is completely removed, there is no pain. Yuanqi slowly rolls upward to the Kunlun peak (the crown of the head). At this stage it does not pass through Weilu (the base of the spine) below or the twenty-four vertebral joints in between—more wonderfully still, it does not pass the Jade Pillow pass (at the back of the head) either. Instead it suddenly descends gently from the Palace of Primordial Beginning at both sides of the cheeks, enters the “root of the mountain” (the upper bridge of the nose), reaches the tip of the nose, and enters the philtrum; thick saliva congeals like a sparrow’s egg, passes from the Sparrow Bridge under the tongue, travels through the Twelve-story Tower (the throat), and is slowly swallowed into the Central Palace. Then the pre-heaven is established and the post-heaven withdraws and is stored away. Wherever the path passes, if yin qi still remains, there will inevitably be slight struggle and pain; only when all yin is fought through can the pre-heaven be fully realized. When upright qi arrives, a hundred evils cannot lodge; when one aperture opens, ten thousand pores feel like spring. Lead-qi rises and mercury-qi descends—in internal alchemy, lead and mercury stand for essence and spirit-mind—and the two merge in perfect roundness outside the alchemical cauldron. One can then dispel illness and extend life, becoming a “land immortal” (one who achieves long life in this world). The way of the Golden Elixir is thus largely clear. The Guizhi (Essential Principles of Life and Nature) says: the Great Dao lies in clearly discerning this yuan; the turning of the celestial pivot and the mao-you positions are all natural methods. From the center reaching the outside—when the center is whole, the outside is whole; pushing from behind to the front, the back is also the front. Yang fire enters and turns right; the yin tally withdraws and spins westward. In a moment the firing completes one circuit of heaven, refining a single luminous pearl, round as the bright moon. This pearl is the seed of the sacred embryo (the foundation of “forming the elixir” in neidan). To nurture the sacred fetus still requires separate effort—it is not easy.

After completing the Mao-Yu Zhouitian circulation, one uses fire to drive metal qi so that the bit of dry metal in Qian rises to the Qian palace. One gathers while accumulating, refining and melting day after day, reducing and reducing again until nothing further can be refined. Then the medicine no longer generates, the wheel no longer turns, the fluid no longer descends, and fire no longer blazes; the five qi all turn upward toward yang, and the three flowers all gather at the apex of Qian.

The scripture says: “The treasure in the cauldron is not yet the true treasure; the spirit embryo newly condensed is the sacred embryo.” Since the pearl rests at Kunlun, how can it descend? One must rely on the divine furnace, urging it with spiritual yang true fire and pressing it with solar true fire. When urging and pressing have lasted long enough, the spirit elixir naturally separates, becomes golden fluid, is taken into the mouth, and enters straight through the dan portal—this is the middle dantian. From then on one watches and attends constantly, never letting it slip from mind—muddled unity, neither clinging nor drifting. That is “constantly illuminating the dan portal, every moment guarding the Yellow Court.”

It also says: “There is no need to obsess over the medicine furnace watching the fire phases; simply settle spirit and breath and leave things to nature.” Chen Xubai said: “Do not let thought arise—when thought arises, fire turns dry; do not let intent scatter—when intent scatters, fire turns cold.” When no thought arises and intent does not scatter, holding light in silence with true breath flowing fine— that is the true fire phase for nurturing the sacred embryo. Hence Bai Yuzhan said: “Gather medicine in stillness; conduct the fire phases in wuwei (non-action).” In this way, over ten months the sacred embryo is complete.

When qi is full and the embryo round, it leaves the womb palace and spirit shifts to the upper palace—without any need for a thunderclap. Gold and stone can be penetrated; there is no need to force the crown gate open. This final recondensed embryo takes the primordial qi before heaven and earth as its dharma body and the “One” one has realized as its dharma mind; in subtle operation it uses the three powers as medicine and the great void as furnace and cauldron.

The final “refashioned embryo” he achieved took primordial qi from before heaven and earth were opened as his dharma body (the true body of accomplished cultivation), and took the “One” he had realized in himself (the undivided original mind) as his dharma heart (the mind aligned with the Dao). Probing its subtle operation: he used the three talents (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity) as medicine, took great void (vast empty space) as furnace and vessel (the place where refinement and nurturing are accomplished), and joined the true of limitless (Wuji—the boundless source) with his own dharma heart into one.

Therefore in his final stage of practice even ghosts and spirits could not fathom him—not merely coming and going at will and changing without limit.

Yet if one has not personally practiced the great Way that transforms and nourishes the ten thousand things, in the view of the Supreme One (Taishang—the highest Dao) one still counts only as a celestial subject—someone who merely seeks one’s own release. Only when one is one with Heaven in substance and one with Earth in function, with De (virtue/power) and the Dao’s teaching both complete, can one be called someone whose form and spirit are both wondrous and who is true to the Dao.

Students of the Way should know: humans can stand alongside Heaven and Earth as the third of the triad because Heaven and Earth are a great creation and transformation, and a human body is also a great creation and transformation. Human standing is that weighty—disciples, how can you not strive in practice?

Shianzi said: The fortune of the great Dao opened wide, and this book appeared. Ancient sages and true persons were not incapable of teaching these principles—only the time was not yet ripe. This true person may be said to have been good at accord with the times. Even so, if one reads without understanding, or understands without practicing, the true person can do nothing.

“Thus I have heard” (rushi wowen) means what follows was received as oral transmission. An anonymous master transmitted; Tianshuizi recorded it and kept it on his person; Min Yide (style Xiaogen) revised the text. “Thus” refers to the transmitted practice formulas; if one only reads without understanding, or understands without practicing, the true person is equally helpless.

“Thus” refers to the transmitted method’s oral formulas. “I” is how the author who withholds his name refers to himself. Saying “heard” indicates that these contents were received through oral transmission. To transmit the Dao yet conceal one’s name shows lofty character and humble intent. If one takes the still, silent root and reflects on it carefully, the distinction between the way of immortals and the way of ordinary humanity is explained with clarity. The compilation repeatedly cites “my ancestor Mud-pill Elder Li” (Elder Li of the mud-pill lineage), so one suspects this compilation came from the oral teaching of Elder Chen of Xichuan. On that reading, “Tianshui zi” may be a concealed name for the venerable Liu-Guo lineage, within which lies the refined meaning of “xi kan” (repeated cultivation in the sense of the Kan trigram in the Book of Changes). Moreover, the compilation records both this school’s Donghua line and instructions on purifying the mind and practicing xi kan, and explicitly says it follows the patriarch—so there is little doubt the compilation belongs to Elder Chen’s transmission. Regrettably, the fixed text was certainly not copied by Tianshui’s own hand, so there are many “fish and Lu” errors (mistakes from similar-looking characters). I therefore reflected quietly, corrected where needed, and set down this school’s distinctive view. On the mid-summer day of the guisi year of the Daoguang reign (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), the later student Min Yide respectfully appended this colophon at Shuyin Tower on Jingai Mountain.

Jin Dan Shuo (Discourse on the Golden Elixir) is a text that discusses the Golden Elixir (Neidan, internal alchemy).

The cultivation of the Golden Elixir depends entirely on calming and stabilizing the mind. If the mind is not still and settled, spirit and consciousness grow disordered and the true breath is hard to regulate evenly. When the breath cannot abide in place, the innate Qi (the primal vitality one is born with) stays hidden and does not appear. The true Qi of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity cannot return unless there is a matching correspondence among them; to practice under such conditions brings no benefit—how then could the “medicine” (the material from which the elixir forms) be produced?

Therefore one must restrain the mind in all affairs and let every action follow its natural course. Before something has arrived, do not stir the intention to act; once it has passed, release it as ice melts away. Keep the heart constantly as if it had nothing to do—only then is the mind truly quiet. In quietness, stability comes of itself.

With this settled mind, sit alone in a quiet room for a while: legs crossed, hands in the grip (thumb folded into the fist so spirit does not scatter outward), mouth closed (sai dui), eyelids lowered (chui lian). Gather the inner light and turn it back to illuminate the self; look inward at the heart and store it like an infant, sitting upright within the “heart-house.”

“Sitting upright” means nothing but stillness; “storing it like an infant” means inner and outer are harmoniously at rest, without discrimination or conceptual knowing; the “heart-house” is the void, luminous space within—like a dwelling one can only sense, not see. Cling to words and fixed images and one falls into delusion—that is not true quietude.

Only by inward gazing according to the method can one perceive this heart; when practice reaches the point of spontaneity, that is the heart’s true condition. “Condition” (kuang) here means substance (ti); that substance is the body of the Dao (daoti). Ni Wanshi said: the Dao is originally utmost emptiness; its substance is originally utmost non-being. Only when the learner grasps this may one speak of this heart with him—the essentials of inner observation are then obtained.

Before one has reached this true condition, if one simply does not raise thoughts, one will feel as though the breath at the nose has vanished while the breath gathers between heart and navel—only then has one reached the true condition. Once in that condition, one may direct intention toward the “sea”; the sea is the Yuan Sea (the sea of primal Qi in the lower Dantian region). When the intention toward the sea is pure and single, the fetal breath also ceases; only then may one raise intention and perform the great opening and great closing.

This is using one’s own true spirit (Zhenshen) to move one’s own true Qi (Zhenqi)—which gate or aperture would fail to open? The method is simply to send intention penetrating backward. Then the Kun Furnace (the furnace at the lower Dantian) kindles fire; the two kidneys seem to boil like a cauldron; heart-fluid pours downward; Yin within the sea turns to Yang and rises in steam, at once opening Weilü and the Jiaji double pass, then reaching Fengfu, and further upward paying homage to Kunlun (the crown of the head in alchemical terminology).

Yet the origin of this effect is only the spirit roaming in the Water Palace (the lower, water-associated region)—still employing intention to welcome the flourishing of Yuan Qi; this cannot yet be called Heaven and humanity acting together. Alchemical texts call it the “obscure shadow” (xuanying). To use it for suckling and warming, and then declare that spirit has congealed, the embryo has formed, and each revolution yields one grain—Ni Wanshi regarded that as self-deception.

Students must keep this firmly in mind: the distinction between the true and the illusory in the Golden Elixir turns on this point—how could one treat it lightly?

This section explains the idea of opening the body’s pass-orifices in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice. The body has three passes: Weilü (tailbone pass), Jiaji (spine-between pass), and Yuzhen (jade pillow pass). The Weilü pass sits at the base of the spine and opens inward toward the kidney orifices. A marrow channel rises from there, called Cao Creek, also known as the Yellow River. This is the human path, called the Du Mai (Governing Vessel—the channel that runs up the spine), and its orifice is named the Black Path. From there the route passes through the paired Jiaji passes and ascends straight to the back of the head—the Yuzhen pass, also called the Iron Wall, because the opening here is fine and the gate firm, hence the name. Passing through this orifice into the brain is called direct penetration. Some describe turning over the ridge and descending again as if that were also valid, but that belongs to the immortal path of “dual qi returning to the Central Yellow”—not a stage beginners should skip ahead to. Once violated, all sorts of stray qi and stray thoughts can enter, with endless harm; one must strictly guard against it.

On this immortal path ascending, the route lies between the front of Weilü and the back of the “sea,” with an orifice in between that rises straight to the crown, pierces the skull, and there rests and melts. After melting, it may descend straight to the Qihai (Sea of Qi, lower dantian), or split and run down along the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel—the channel along the midline of the front of the body), stopping separately at the Jiang Que (Crimson Palace, heart region) and Zhong Huang (Central Yellow, middle dantian), and in the end all gather back at the Qihai. Let everything follow nature—wuwang wuzhu (neither forgetting nor forcing). Ancient sages all called this the sacred work of return and transformation. Its subtlety cannot be exhausted in a few words.

If one takes the Black Path, the three passes must be opened. Within each pass is a “bridal chamber”—a place where Shen (spirit) dwells; every kind of birth and transformation is contained there, which is why there are names like upper field upper palace, middle field middle palace, and lower field lower palace. The upper field is Mud Pill (Niwan), the middle is Earth Cauldron (Tufu), the lower is Flower Pool (Huachi)—alternate names for the upper, middle, and lower dantians. The upper field is about one cun two fen in extent (by the old inch measure), with a hollow opening—a place to store spirit; this opening lies exactly three cun inward from the point between the eyebrows. The point between the eyebrows is called the Heavenly Gate.

Between the eyebrows lies the Heavenly Gate (Tianmen). One inch inward from here is the Bright Hall (Mingtang); another inch in is the Grotto Chamber (Dongfang); one inch further is the Mud Pill (Niwan). These three locations are the three palaces of the upper dantian.

Below the brow is the nasal bridge; within it runs the Golden Bridge. Beneath that are two openings that connect to the mouth and then to the throat—the region called the Magpie Bridge. The throat has inner and outer passages: the harder outer tube is the windpipe, which governs the flow of breath in and out; the softer inner tube is the esophagus, which carries food and drink past the diaphragm into the stomach. The windpipe has twelve segments, called the Layered Tower (Chonglou); it opens into the lungs and also reaches the heart.

Below the heart is an aperture called the Crimson Palace (Jianggong)—the place where the Dragon and Tiger meet. Dragon and Tiger refer to the yin and yang vital energies in inner cultivation. Straight down from here, three inches and six tenths of an inch, is the Earthen Cauldron (Tugu), also known as the Yellow Court (Huangting)—the middle dantian. To its left is the Bright Hall, to its right the Grotto Chamber; the Primordial Hero (Yuanying) dwells on the left, the White Primordial (Baiyuan) on the right. This too is a subtly opened cavity, about one inch and two tenths across—the place where Qi (the “pre-heaven” breath spoken of in inner practice) is stored and the elixir is nourished.

From here down to behind the navel is again about three inches and six tenths. Hence the saying: thirty-six above heaven, thirty-six below earth—from heaven to earth the total is eighty-four thousand li. In the human body, from heart to kidneys the span is eight inches and four tenths: the heart, belonging to heaven, accounts for three inches and six tenths; the kidneys, belonging to earth, for three inches and six tenths; the middle dantian for one inch and two tenths—together exactly eight inches and four tenths.

The navel gate is called the Gate of Life (Shengmen). Within it are seven openings that connect to the external kidneys (the reproductive region)—apertures where essential energy easily leaks. Directly behind the navel and in front of the kidneys is the Crouching Moon Furnace (Yanyue Lu), also called the Sea of Qi (Qihai). One inch and three tenths lower still is the Splendid Pool (Huachi)—the lower dantian, where essence is stored and the “medicine” is gathered. “Gathering the medicine” means taking in the refined vital energy that can be forged into the inner elixir. To its left is the Bright Hall, to its right the Grotto Chamber—again a subtly opened cavity of about one inch and two tenths.

Two orifices here connect to the inner kidneys; a middle orifice connects to Weilü (the pass at the base of the spine). Every major gate and opening in the body that has a definite shape and place follows this pattern, yet none of them can be taken as Xuanpin—the mysterious meeting-place of yin and yang. The yang aspect is called xuan; the yin aspect is called pin. Together they form the profound pass: it is not fixed at any one spot on the body, yet it is never apart from the body; it is the root of being and non-being, the pivot between emptiness and fullness, the stem where yin and yang join. Confucians name it Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate); Daoists name it the Golden Elixir; Buddhists name it Complete Enlightenment. It appears only when emptiness is pushed to the limit and opens only when stillness is pushed to the depths. It is very hard to summon it by imagining or to open it by forcing the qi—the method is simply to nurture it directly and enter it directly. This can only be understood in the heart; it cannot be fully put into words.

Apart from this profound pass, everything else may follow the method given above: Wugong (clenching the fist and holding the fingers firm), with the mind quiet and settled, turning the light inward. When the breath has settled, follow the qi with intention straight down to Yongquan (the bubbling spring at the sole). When the qi rises, rise with it; when the breath stops, stop with it—then transformation can occur naturally. The path runs up to the external kidneys, where left and right meet; through the seven openings at the navel it enters the Qihai (sea of qi), descends through the lower field (lower Dantian), returns to the kidney palace, then turns toward Weilü, pierces the spine, bursts through the gates, breaks the barrier, and enters the brain. Ren and Du meet and descend together over the Golden Bridge into the mouth. One may also briefly hold at the brow and the bridge of the nose to welcome the gang (orthodox celestial qi), gather it, and send it into the mouth. The mouth is the upper pool; all of this should pause briefly in the upper pool. Then it passes through Chonglou (the throat) to Quepen—the chest and breast—and stays in Jianggong (the crimson palace at the heart), where breath seems there and yet not there and stillness reaches its extreme: that is the moment for refining fluid and transforming blood. What actually happens is a cool fullness in Jianggong; then two channels behind the heart pour separately into the two kidneys, and blood naturally becomes essence—yang arising within yin.

From the rear of the heart emerge two collateral branches (fine subdivisions of the meridians). When blood follows these collaterals to the kidneys, it naturally becomes Jing (essence)—this is yin giving birth to yang. Traced to its principle, heart-blood in meaning belongs to true yin (innate yin-nature); the method is only to become still to the utmost, so that fluid turns into blood. This step of sagely work must not be omitted; ancient sages did not clearly disclose it.

Some open the front and let it pour through the viscera to moisten the channels and harmonize the ying and wei (nutritive qi that nourishes the body and defensive qi that guards the surface)—this too is essential. Others pour and release both behind and before the heart, letting it gather on its own into the Qihai (the sea of qi in the lower abdomen), then apply further refining—this is refining Jing to transform Qi (vital energy). Once Qi is full, the passes open as if without obstruction. All of this happens naturally, so the sequence of practice is exact and nothing is confused or left out.

Strictly following the steps of practice means fully observing the human way. Qi rises along the Du meridian (the line along the spine) and descends along the Ren meridian (the midline of the front of the body). The Ren is called the red path; the Du, the black path. One must cultivate in this way, for Patriarch Lü (Lü Dongbin) said: “If you wish to cultivate the immortal way, first fulfill the human way.” He also said: “If the human way is not cultivated, the immortal way is far away.”

Therefore the three treasures of the body (Jing, Qi, Shen) all belong to post-heaven ordinary substance. Without returning and transforming them, they perish in the end. If one only forces guided ascent and descent, what is moved is nothing but turbid form with shape; once Shen (spirit) no longer governs and cannot gather in the elixir furnace (the place of refinement, often the lower Dantian), it often scatters and lodges in various passes, instead clogging Huangzhong (the central position in the body). Then if one tries to force a remedy, one fears harming the root; guiding and transforming have no starting point. Without transformation, extinction follows—a harm not small.

The method is only to lead Qi with intention, clear obstacles on the red and black paths, settle wandering passes, burn out the robbers’ nests, and destroy the chief and his band—“robbers” here mean desires and turbid qi that disturb body and mind. Hence there is both the human work of piercing alleys and breaking passes, and the sagely work of stilling the heart and stopping thoughts, to pacify violence and secure the good—precisely to transform the post-heaven and return it to the pre-heaven. Therefore there is the profound instruction: “If you wish to cultivate the immortal way, first fulfill the human way.”

From the moment the gate of feeling opens (when desire stirs), the passes of the mysterious gate (where innate spiritual mechanism resides) close and true origin hides; throughout the body’s passes robbers gather and clamor, and in Huangzhong and the yellow path (the central Huangting line) post-heaven ordinary substance lurks. One must first settle this “person.” Hence also the warning like a blow to the head: “If the human way is not cultivated, the immortal way is far away.”

Those who study the Way in the world often misunderstand. Niwan shi (the internal alchemy predecessor who elucidated the teaching of “opening the pass”) took pity on this situation: once the postnatal gates are opened, the mysterious pass gate (xuanguan qiao—the portal in Neidan where nature and life meet) closes instead, and the body of true primordial essence (zhen yuan) is hidden. Among the passes of the whole body, disruptive “bandits” gather and clamor; within the golden center and the yellow path (the upright course of cultivation in the body), postnatal ordinary qi still lurks—so one must first settle the person. Hence the sharp admonition: “If the human way is not cultivated, the immortal way is far off.” People still miss the point, and so Niwan shi explained as follows. This is the most crucial entry formula; students must examine it with care.

Yet the human way spoken of here has steps as clear as the lines on the palm—easy to follow in appearance—but it is entirely contrived (youwei): workable in principle yet unable to transform and return; it is not the ultimate of the Dao, and completion has no fixed date. Moreover it is cumbersome—what then?

Niwan shi said: In learning this Way, at first one must see each item clearly and ponder it carefully, omitting nothing. Then every pass of the body rises up clear at a glance; on entry one proceeds in order, on stopping it is as if dispersing—even “emptiness” returns to nothing; next one follows the body, follows contemplation, all the way to following nothing; finally it is as if one need no longer follow, until without deliberate following one is naturally following. This is a provisional method. Through such simulated following, when the moment arrives true mechanism suddenly appears, and one can move with it. The subtlety lies entirely in a clear mind—only then can one know what comes is not illusion and what is gathered is not empty; gathering it for preservation, there is birth and transformation, sinking and floating. How much more when it is no false realm—one should preserve through stillness and concentrate through forgetting. The working between Golden Elixir and the ordinary is no more than this.

This is a sacred formula the thousand sages never leaked. Niwan shi spoke it in the Treatise on Opening the Pass, pitying the world for losing the heart transmission and therefore breaking the taboo to reveal it. Those who receive it should treasure and keep it secret—not only being careful in transmission. To receive yet not practice, or practice without diligence, is profanation; the heavenly law is truly to be feared. Niwan shi also said: The passes cultivated have definite locations; the signs obtained have real circumstances.

When the moment arrives for qi to reach Qihai (the Sea of Qi, in the region of the lower dantian), one feels the lower dantian ablaze with fire, both kidneys as if simmering in hot broth, while dew seems to sprinkle down upon Kunlun (the crown of the head). Shangchi (the upper pool in the mouth) wells up like a spring; dew drips down and the region of the chest gate feels cool and clear. Jianggong (the Heart Palace) sends forth the heart’s fluid, which merges with Kun fire (the fire of the lower burner); harmony pervades the whole body, and the lower pool responds in turn, the golden waves clear and still. True qi passes through Weilu (the tail gate), coiling upward inside like a serpent; once it pierces the spine, the ascent is like a wheel turning. When it passes the pillow pass and reaches the brain, the sound is like the sea tide—boat songs in the yinai rhythm follow one after another, blending with the tones of bells and chimes. Then sweet dew falls everywhere, pouring into the pool as if from a full vessel; the flavor is fragrant and sweet. At the brow, one feels a tugging fullness and distension. At this point, gather shen back into the heart; the heavenly gate opens at once, and one feels all eighty-four thousand pores and orifices and three hundred sixty joints burst open together. This is what is meant by: when one aperture opens, a hundred apertures open together; when the great pass opens, all passes open together.

When the method has reached this stage, use intention to lead qi: enter through the nasal pillar, descend along the Golden Bridge (the tongue), and feel cool water fill the mouth pool. You must not swallow with deliberate intent; only follow the moment and swallow naturally, letting it flow on its own into the lungs. If qi reverses slightly, it is because you are used to the ordinary forward flow; once you change to the reverse flow, it does not obey at first. Still the mind and wait quietly—in a little while it will smooth out by itself. Then this refined essence naturally irrigates the five viscera; it reaches not only the stomach but also returns to the kidneys—hence it is called returning to the root (gui gen). From the kidneys it goes again to Weilu, from Weilu up to Niwan (the cinnabar field in the brain), and from Niwan down into Jianggong—hence it is called returning to life (fu ming). Practice this over time without forced effort; a single thought of mindful guarding completes one circuit of heaven (yi zhou tian)—this is precisely the wonder of intention arriving and qi moving of its own accord.

If one can quietly circulate the inner energy during walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, essence and qi will revolve and flow within the body without any risk of leakage. Once the inner qi begins to turn, nasal breathing naturally becomes subtle; the true qi of the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity) enters through the nose, descends to meet and blend with the ancestral qi in the kidneys, and is then circulated together—downward from above and upward from below—naturally replenishing the true qi. This is exactly the principle that “when bamboo is broken, bamboo must be used to mend it.” This single stream of true qi can melt the seminal fluid produced daily from the grain-energy of food and drink, transforming it into true essence. When essence is abundant it naturally transforms into true qi; when qi is abundant it naturally transforms into true spirit; when all three fill the body, the great medicine arises on its own. One may then continue gathering and even condense an elixir pill by oneself—but what is obtained is only the Jade Liquid (a elixir refined from the body’s fluids, inferior to the Golden Liquid).

The reason is this: when one begins purely with guided circulation, what is opened and generated is not the Mysterious Pass as the true gate, nor the Mysterious Orifice as the true aperture. What is produced comes from the form-body (the visible physical body), not from the Dharma-body (the body of innate nature before form). For the physical body it counts as “prior to form,” but for the Great Dao it still belongs to the “posterior” realm. Students in the world do not investigate this carefully; some wrongly point to the Gate of Life, some to the Mud Ball Palace, some to the mouth and nose, or to the Upper and Lower Pools, treating these as the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin). They do not realize that these gates and orifices are only the visible, fixed locations of the Mysterious Female on the form-body; the qi of Heaven and Earth obtained thereby is merely what can be seen as “being” and felt as “non-being” in the mundane world—counted as prior-heaven in ordinary terms, yet still posterior-heaven on the path of the Dao. To study the Dao one must obtain that single qi born from the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji) before one can stand alongside Heaven and Earth as the third. This true qi can only be found in non-intention (when the mind does not deliberate); it cannot be sought in a mind full of deliberate intent. Ancient sages also used staff and shout to awaken people, but few who heard could truly understand. Yet without passing through this “false” stage, one cannot arrive at the “true”—hence the preceding text laid out the stages of practice in detail; it was not concealing the true method while revealing a false one.

Essentials of the Golden Elixir

The entire human body belongs to yin; only this single stream of prior-heaven qi belongs to yang. Within one’s own single utterance of sound, it falls into the lower Dantian, the Sea of Qi. To the left of this Sea of Qi is yang; to the right is yin.

The entire human body belongs to yin; only this pre-heaven primordial Qi (the primordial yang true Qi received before birth) belongs to yang. When a person is born and lets out that first cry, this Qi settles in the qi sea of the lower dantian. That qi sea is yang on the left and yin on the right, already bearing the image of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the root of yin and yang), so it can also be called the Mysterious Female (xuannpin—the gate where yin and yang meet and life is generated). Yet it still belongs to the post-heaven realm—how can one say it is not merely an image? If it is only an image, how dare one call it the Golden Elixir?

Understand this: the five viscera and six bowels, along with jing, fluids, qi, and blood, are none of them true yang. This pre-heaven primordial Qi is not the breath of nose and mouth, nor does it have form or any perceptible sign; hence Master of Realizing Truth (Zhang Boduan) said: what can be seen cannot be used; what can be used cannot be seen.

Before this body receives post-heaven qi, it first receives this one thing in the womb; after receiving it, the two kidneys arise, then the two eyes, and from there the heart, liver, lungs, and spleen, the nine orifices, all the bones of the body and the four limbs—only then is the human form complete. From then on, generation after generation, it is like a small cosmos. Ordinary people only let it flow outward and do not know how to return it, hence birth, aging, sickness, and death.

The wise therefore take pity and transmit the formula of “purifying the heart and cultivating Kan”—that is, clarifying spirit and mind and cultivating the true water within Kan. The heart is Qian (Heaven), the body is Kun (Earth); Li (Fire) is in the heart, and cinnabar (the spiritual fluid of the heart) is produced there; Kan (Water) is in the kidneys, and lead (the primordial essence of the kidneys) arises from there. Among these is an aperture called the Life Gate; to the south is the Yellow Court, to the north is Guanyuan. Sages of old explained it clearly: the qi here is the great medicine. As far as the body is concerned, the Life Gate aperture is yang on the left and yin on the right, possessing the image of Taiji and the Mysterious Female; its qi not only governs the whole body but originally also connects with the Mysterious Female aperture of Heaven and Earth.

People often suffer because the flow of qi is blocked—usually for lack of true intention (a single-minded, sincere focus) and because thoughts are scattered. Therefore, in seeking longevity, one need only rest the heart quietly at the Mingmen (Gate of Life, at the waist)—without a second thought. When the season is right, qi will follow on its own: rising and falling, moving and stopping, entirely left to nature, in the spirit of “forget it not, yet do not force it” (wuwang wuzhu). After several such complete cycles, pre-heaven naturally returns to pre-heaven and post-heaven to post-heaven; without separate daoyin (using movement to lead qi), reversal happens by itself. If one keeps at this without slackening, post-heaven fully reverts to pre-heaven, and the rank of Water Immortal (shuixian, a fruit of the Way) can be attained.

Before the Mingmen lies the Qihai (Sea of Qi, below the navel); behind it is the Weilü (Tail Gate, at the sacrum). Within the tailbone is an opening—the main passage linking the Ren and Du meridians (the front and back central channels). When qi passes out through this opening toward the back, that is called “circulating the Du”: threading the spine, opening the passes, meeting at Fengfu (at the base of the skull), and ascending to the Niwan (upper dantian in the head). From the Niwan it descends through Mingtang and “opening the heavenly gate,” along the bridge of the nose, down via the Magpie Bridge (where tongue meets the palate), to unite with the Ren at the upper pool, then together through the Heavy Tower (the throat) to the Crimson Palace (jiangque, the heart region), where generation upon generation unfolds, released into the lower pool (lower dantian), so that “mercury” (the true mercury of inner refinement) merges into the furnace. All of this depends on the bellows-like opening and closing of qi within—called the great firing and great refining—the utmost that human effort can reach.

Only after this may one ascend from the hollow point behind the Qihai and before the Weilü; this ascent is named “returning to yellow” (gui huang). That point is the heavenly pass of the Yellow Path (huangdao)—the master key to the rank of Heavenly Immortal (tianxian). From here, when the time comes, gathering and refining coalesce into the sage embryo; nursing, warming, and the rest follow established instructions. Practitioners must study these carefully to reach embryo fullness and the moment of emergence. Warnings are also given in the tradition: one must inquire into what they truly mean. If one rashly lets it exit by the outer route, the harm is no small matter.

The esoteric keys for beginning, continuing, and completing follow, in broad outline, the formula of “gathering years and clustering months” (zannian cu yue)—compressing long years of work into one concentrated span. Following that and passing through the stages in order, one walks a well-worn path. The learner has only to align single-mindedly with the body of the Dao: having without clinging to having, noticing without sticking—responding to the moment in stillness or movement. Passing each pass in this way, one naturally reaches “ mystery upon mystery”; how could further disturbance be mixed in afterward? Proceeding thus, steps and stages become a familiar road.

Xietianji (Revealing Heaven's Secret) was orally transmitted by the divine adept Li, the Elder of the Mud Pill (Niwan), recorded by an anonymous author, and recompiled by Min Yide. The chapter title is Direct Pointing to the Golden Fluid Great Return (Jinye Dahu Zhizhi)—a direct exposition of the golden-fluid return of the elixir.

Learning the Way consists in nothing but following the body of the Dao (daoti) in one steady key: though it is present, do not cling to presence; though you are aware, do not stick to awareness; whether still or active as the moment requires—and you will pass through the passes and acupoints (guanqiao) where qi moves, and naturally arrive at mystery upon mystery. What post-heaven element could then mix in? What worldly dross could fail to dissolve? Proceed thus, and the embryo you form will of itself be free of the worldly and the post-heaven; from the start there is no inauthenticity in it. When the infant (the sacred embryo within internal alchemy) goes in and out, how could there still be distinctions of direction, distance, height, or superiority over the ordinary?

The highest Dao uses as its “medicine” nothing other than the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity). The subtlety of how they generate does not go beyond “two and five”: Yin-Yang as the two, the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) as the five. When ordinary people begin cultivation, they always start from filling Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy). When Shen is full and Qi is abundant, true Jing (essence) can be produced; once true Jing arises, Qi and Shen can be preserved. For if Jing is exhausted, Shen disperses; if Shen is lost, Qi also scatters. Qi is generated from the heart-mind; Jing issues from the body. Understanding this, the sage’s work of return is nothing more than merging body and mind into one—what is called attaining the supreme Dao is no more than this.

Niwan Shi (Chen Nan, a Southern Song Daoist) said: Qi belongs to Heaven, Jing belongs to Earth, and Shen belongs to humanity. Human beings are formed by receiving the refined essence of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases; thus the human being is Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth are the human being. To complete the Way of Heaven and Earth, emulating Heaven and taking Earth as model—all come down to this single “self.” The method is: let the heart-mind be clear like Heaven, the body tranquil like Earth; being both clear and tranquil, one is Heaven and is Earth. From here one practices the Great Return (the inner alchemy work of reverting to the source)—which is simply learning to arrive at spontaneity. The secret at the utmost reach is nothing outside “ utmost sincerity without ceasing”—sincerity without ever breaking off. One can achieve non-ceasing because what one learns receives the refined essence of “two and five.” Hence Niwan Shi said: In learning, only through utmost sincerity without ceasing can one obtain the Golden Elixir Great Return (the highest achievement of returning to the prenatal state through golden-elixir reversion). This is neither sought within the body nor pursued outside it; the ancients said it comes from emptiness. For the Dao is originally utmost emptiness and the root-nature originally utmost non-being—thus one may know that Golden Elixir Great Return still returns from the root-body of the Dao. To learn by following the Dao-body in practice is what the Supreme One meant by “know the One, and the myriad affairs are complete.”

Min Xiaogen (Min Yide of the Qing dynasty) notes: The title and chapter headings of this book truly come from divine transmission; savoring the text, one can affirm it is grounded in the Dao-body. To learn by following the Dao-body is precisely the Supreme One’s “know the One, and the myriad affairs are complete.”

Min Xiaogen said: The title of this book and its chapter headings truly came from the oral transmission of a divine person (one who has attained the Dao); yet when one reads the main text, it is clearly not the original as spoken—it must have been mixed in with later additions, so jade and stone lie jumbled together. If it is not edited and trimmed, the harm to later students would be no small matter. I therefore arranged the chapters according to the orally transmitted Taixu Chengzhai Xuanlun (Discourse on the Mystery from the Sincere Studio of the Great Void), which I list below. Regrettably it has not yet been verified by earlier sages; I record it here and await correction by those of greater insight.

Foundation building (zhuji—the groundwork of neidan, internal alchemy) depends entirely on tuoyue—the opening and closing of the breath like a bellows, empty yet giving rise to qi.

The human Shen (spirit) arises from Jing (essence), and Jing in turn arises from Qi (vital energy). When the five Qi (the Qi of the five viscera) blend and fill abundantly, they become Ying and Wei (nutritive and defensive Qi that nourish and guard the body), supplement Yin and Yang, and then condense into the marrow of essence. Yet once the body leaks and dissipates, Jing is lost; if people do not know how to cherish and cultivate the body in the Way, once Jing departs, the marrow is also drained and gradually exhausted.

People today mostly begin practice only after the damage is done (after the pre-heaven original Yang has already leaked), so one must first establish a foundation. Establishing the foundation begins with regulating the heart-mind. When the heart-mind is evenly tuned, Qi becomes peaceful, and only then can one hope to cultivate true breath.

True breath is what the Nanhuajing (Zhuangzi) calls “heel breath” (breath so deep it seems to move from the heels); in Neidan (internal alchemy), this is considered the origin of Taixi (fetal breath—breathing as subtle and natural as a fetus). If one relies only on intentional guiding, it is not yet natural. Once Taixi is achieved, one shares virtue with Heaven and Earth, and the heart-mind no longer has room for private intent: exhale follows exhale, inhale follows inhale, like a bellows—one inhalation, one exhalation, cycling without cease. This is what is called true breath.

Once true breath is well tuned, it appears as soon as intent arrives; opening and closing are free, without needing to force it by intent. One need only follow the method to connect the upper and lower “magpie bridges” (the upper and lower passages where the Ren and Du vessels meet), gently expand the chest and diaphragm, and send the Qi of the heart-mind down to the lower abdomen, storing it in the Kun Palace and Zhongji (the lower Dantian, energy center). This is called “empty in the heart, full in the belly.” With both hands, cup and warm the penis and scrotum until they grow warm; if arousal arises, so much the better—let one’s Yang Qi show itself, and only then will the Yang Qi of Heaven and Earth respond and be drawn into the body. One must not fix the mind on that place or stir up desire. When desire-fire flares, the original Yang Qi stirs chaotically, and instead Heaven and Earth will consume and drain the Yang Qi from one’s body. Therefore it is enough for heart-mind and breath to rely on each other.

Niwan Shi said: When practice reaches this stage, use mind-intent to guard and nourish, allowing qi to descend only and not to rise. When the fire in the dantian (the lower abdominal energy center) burns strongly and the two kidneys feel like seething hot water, after about nine breaths guide with mind-intent from the weilu (the pass at the base of the spine) piercing backward; naturally the effect of “Five Dragons Upholding the Sage” appears—internal qi gathers as if five dragons escort the primordial spirit. One may then sense the back breaking open, passes burning through, barriers dispersing, and qi surging into the brain—do not be alarmed. Suddenly the inner grotto-realm (the subtle inner realm of the body) flashes open; one may hear what was never heard and see what was never seen—above all, do not cling. After long quiet guarding, sweet dew (clear, sweet saliva) pours down in abundance, more than one can swallow; it passes from the chonglou (the throat passage) to the jiangque, and a cool clarity enters the heart—a peace hard to put in words. Shortly after, one feels a sudden drop, as if hot water pouring; then qi throughout the body merges and flows freely. When skill reaches this point, the human path (the foundational work in the physical body) is complete; only then may one take up the immortal path without the fault of leaping ahead in haste.

What is the immortal path? When yang qi first stirs, use the tianmu (the divine light between the eyebrows) to attend to the yinjiao (the yinjiao aperture in the perineal region); simply follow the true breath as it opens and closes, lightly drawing the yinjiao with each subtle inhale so it rises and falls with the breath until the effort is nearly forgotten. One then feels a spiritual aperture open before the weilu, with a whirling sound within, like a magnet drawing a needle—drawing heaven-and-earth true qi into the yinjiao, then ascending through the narrow passage in front of the spine and behind the heart, straight to the niwan (the upper dantian in the brain). Let the qi remain there for about three to five breaths, then allow it to descend to the huachi (where saliva gathers in the mouth), pass the chonglou downward, and reach the jiangque and the lower dantian; at each of these two places likewise retain for about three to five breaths, then return to the yinjiao to receive the qi of the next in-breath—there is no need to count how much enters; simply guard fully for nine breaths before allowing ascent again. From then on, practice proceeds entirely according to nature, because ascent and descent are already entrusted to the opening and closing of the true breath.

Niwanshi says: Cultivate in this way without counting repetitions; keep practicing until qi cycles endlessly with no beginning or end. When yin and yang qi are evenly balanced and hold each other, you feel harmony and ease throughout the body. At this stage you may feel the limbs heavy as mountains or the body stiff as a wooden post—that is because hidden yin within the body is being pressed by advancing yang and is about to disperse, so there is both heaviness and clarity. In a moment yin is exhausted and the lightness is beyond words. From then on, each session of practice, when the firing is sufficient, brings a light body and joyful spirit; such beauty increases day by day. Primordial yang grows stronger, primordial qi becomes harmonious, yin residue in the body turns into the essence of primordial harmony, and vulgar desire-flames in the heart turn into true-oneness qi. Marrow and bone grow firm, essence and qi coalesce and hold—they never leak or dissipate wrongly. The foundation is solid, and what alchemists call the “outer gate”—first guarding essence and qi so they do not leak outward—is in place. This is “the body does not move.” Its meaning is not only that essence is firm: the seven fluids—tears, sweat, saliva, and the rest—also do not issue wrongly, and one’s heart does not stir at things that could stir desire. The scripture says “when essence is full, one does not think of lust”—all of that refers to the body not moving.

Min Xiaogen said: In the alchemical tradition, when speaking of regulating qi and principle, there are originally three paths, called the Red, the Black, and the Yellow.

The Red is the Renmai (Conception vessel). Its route lies along the front of the body; it is the channel through which heart-qi flows. The heart belongs to the color red, hence it is called the Red Path. The nature of the Red tends upward in fiery flaring; in cultivation one must restrain it and make it descend, so that the heart grows cool and the kidneys grow warm.

The Black is the Dumai (Governing vessel). Its route lies along the back of the body; it is the channel through which kidney-qi flows. The kidneys belong to the color black, hence it is called the Black Path. The nature of the Black tends downward in moist sinking; in cultivation one must restrain it and make it rise, so that the marrow moves and the shen (spirit) is settled.

These two paths are the routes by which essence and qi go outward; humans and other living beings rely on them to survive, so the alchemical method calls this the Human Path (rendao). Both alchemists and physicians have explained this in detail.

The Yellow is the Huangzhong (Yellow Center). Its route lies in the seam between the Red and Black paths, positioned in front of the spine and behind the heart. It governs these two qi and is the master of opening and closing. This place is extremely empty and still; what passes through and dwells there can only be pre-heaven qi (xian tian zhi qi). When ordinary people complete and round the immortal embryo, it is always here. Although the three dantian (energy centers) are distinguished, in truth one qi runs through them all, so the alchemical method calls this the Immortal Path (xian dao).

This was originally a secret method treasured by the sages of old. Therefore, although alchemical books piled up enough to fill a room, very few dared to write it out in full. From the Zhou and Qin dynasties down to the Ming, it was transmitted only by word of mouth, and only after swearing an oath at the third watch of the night.

My late master, Master Taixu, said: Putting oral transmission into writing began with the disheveled Master Yin. My teacher was the Mud-pellet True Person (Niwang Zhenren); he too revealed only a slight hint. For if the heart-nature is not yet clear, the post-heaven mundane body still holds sway, and one’s temperament is curious and impatient, while heterodox paths in the world abound and always use what is seen and heard to instruct people—this already clearly departs from the root of the Dao, to say nothing of the rest.

Now I reverently read this text: it sets aside the Red and Black and speaks directly of the Huangzhong; the secret of heaven is still not openly disclosed. How could I hide this and fail to supplement the explanation, thus failing the True Person? I therefore completed this chapter as a supplement, and ask those who read it to understand.

[Supplementary note by the compiler: “Ji” (the self/earth element) is earth; earth is intention (yi)—that is, utmost sincerity and genuine intention free of delusion. The heart belongs to fire, and idle thoughts readily leak outward; having understood this principle, how could one conceal it and not add this supplement? If this were not written out in full, one would fail both the spirits and the predecessors; hence it is completed here, and readers are asked for their indulgence.]

To refine the self (lian yi), one must use true lead (zhen qian) together with gold water (jin shui) to forge the sword, so as to gather what is pre-heaven (xian tian).

“Ji” is earth; earth is intention—that sincere intention without wandering thoughts. The heart belongs to fire; delusion and desire belong to the post-heaven realm and blaze like fire, hard to check. Only by obtaining that single point of true gold, primordial yang, and true essence (jing) within pre-heaven water can one extinguish ordinary flames and transform them into true intention. In the alchemical tradition this is called the yellow within (huang zhong) and the yellow court (huang ting)—the central palace of the dantian (energy center) in the middle of the body—and also the golden cauldron (jin ding) and spirit chamber (shen shi). Thus it seems to have a place yet has no fixed place; it has no form yet performs the work of form.

From the very start of foundation building (zhuji), refining the self is already in place; the two depend on each other and work together. Earlier, mercury was cast into lead and lead was refined to produce gold—within the person this is refining the body to nourish true essence. Only at this stage does lead enter mercury and water and fire become mutually regulated (shui huo ji ji)—within the person this is refining essence (jing) into qi (vital energy), thereby completing the spirit chamber of the golden elixir (jin dan).

The secret lies in the moment yang rises—the living midnight hour (huo zi shi), not by the clock but when the first stir of yang moves within the body—when one must hurry to gather it. The living midnight hour also divides into pre-heaven and post-heaven, what the Awakening to Reality (Wu Zhen Pian) calls the “two kinds of operation.” If one sees something desirable, is stirred, and a thought arises, that is the post-heaven human mind arising from desire. At such times use only the method of chasing and gathering: seal the upper and lower passes, settle the body and quiet the spirit, let the eyelids droop and look inward, direct intention to illuminate the yin wei (the pass at the perineum), turn upward from the weilu (tail gate), work the bellows (tuoyue) like a forge, and pierce straight through to emptiness—the thought will vanish of itself and desire will die out.

Though this is yang qi, inwardly it still carries the fire of desire. If it stops at the mud-pellet palace (ni wan, the upper dantian) without a method to transform it, later when it accumulates and fills, it may rush to the crown and cause “spraying the crown” and sitting in transformation. The remedy is to use the heavenly eye (tian mu—the place between the eyebrows where intention looks inward) to circle the mud-pellet palace: thirty-six turns to the left, twenty-four to the right, then pause briefly; that yang qi turns into a cold spring, descends into the crimson palace (jiang gong—the heart region, middle dantian), and then spreads through the channels of the whole body. Sit quietly a while longer and one may still gain a small measure of benefit.

The so-called pre-heaven “living zi hour” (huo zi shi) does not mean clinging to the clock: it may fall in the midnight zi period, or in chou or yin hours. When inner stillness reaches its depth, yang Qi arises of itself. The true yang within the body at this moment is stirred by resonance with heaven-and-earth yang; it is not triggered by desire, wandering thought, or external Qi, but is the true one-yuan yang Qi issued from the Heart of Heaven—the innate single true heart.

This timing follows a measure: it must neither come too early nor too late. Too early means the firing has not reached its peak and the Metal (pure yang essence) has not yet appeared; gathering then yields only fire—the “medicine” is melted away and useless. Too late means the Metal has already turned into Water and become a formed substance; gathering then yields water—turbid and harmful to the elixir work. Hence the classic says: “When lead meets gui-water’s birth, gather at once; when Metal is already far past, it must not be tasted.” Lead (a figure for pre-heaven true yang) has just met the sprouting of gui Water and must be taken immediately; once Metal is overdue and can only be seen from afar, it must not be used. One must discern the boundary where Metal and Water are each half: like the winter solstice at true midnight, before the Heart of Heaven shifts and before the ten thousand things sprout—yang Qi firm to the utmost—with a sensation like ants or worms creeping at the yin heel (where the Foot Shaoyin channel begins) and at the weilü (tailbone at the spine’s end)—that is the firing. Then urgently apply the hand seal, slowly lift the “grain path” (the anal region), and hold back as when stopping urination, pumping the bellows (the breath mechanism like a forge’s wind box). One’s own true Qi draws heaven-and-earth yang in through the weilü with a rushing entry, and with the Xun wind (breath-wind) that the bellows pumps, it rises to the Niwan (the upper Dantian within the crown). Fix spirit without stirring; the two streams of yin and yang Qi turn into jade dew and descend upon the Crimson Palace (the heart locus). When this single drop falls, ordinary fire is wholly extinguished, primordial Qi appears, mingles with it, enters the Yellow Center (the central earth position), and congeals into a “dead cinnabar” that is fixed and will not fly away—what adepts call “ji.”

The classic also says: “Clearly it is a single flavor—Metal within Water.” Thus from first to last the elixir path is only this one substance, this one affair. The earlier text spoke only of the bellows; here is the refining of lead-Metal and the birth of true Jing (essence): producing the water within lead-Metal to subdue fire and transform it into earth.

Skill still depends on mind-intent to sustain and direct it, hence it is called lianji—refining oneself and steadying the mind. After lianji, the true earth (the foundation of the central palace and true intent in neidan) is complete; one then gathers and absorbs the qi of heaven and earth, and from earth it transforms to generate metal, forming the golden elixir of qian yang. Thus the “medicine” has shallow and deep levels, each differing according to the realm one occupies.

Only when one has obtained the medicine does one apply cooking and refining, adjusting the fire timing (huohou) through chou-tian (drawing out and adding); when the fire timing is exact, one may be called a ludi xianren—a immortal perfected while still in the world.

Cooking means cooking with yang; refining means refining with yin. Obtaining the medicine must occur at the living zi hour (huo zi shi)—the moment when a single yang returns within the body—the great medicine gathered within those two hours. From the first steps of building the foundation and lianji onward, the work of gathering medicine is already present. Here it is stated again: the earlier gathering of medicine serves to repair and temper the dinglu (the body as the vessel for alchemy); the present gathering and refining serve to complete the return elixir (huandan).

One must wait until the clear, still zi hour at midnight, when the celestial mechanism moves of itself and the outer yang rises—this is called heaven and human activating together. At this moment one must not rush to gather; one still assists with intent, called advancing the yang fire, until the tortoise’s eyes are fully open and the dragon’s body stands straight—only then is it true huohou. Use only intent and the celestial eye to illuminate the lower field (xiatian, lower dantian): intent is true intent, the eye is the celestial eye. Then a millet-grain pearl (shuzhu, a dan-light fine as a grain of millet) must appear in the field; inner and outer qi feel mutually drawn and following, from subtle to manifest, and true qi is drawn in more and more. Between the passes and openings there is a sensation like ants crawling; in chest, belly, neck, and back, true light faintly appears. This is when true golden qi is full and tian gui (pre-heaven refined water) is being generated—one must gather quickly. Then apply martial fire: lift the lower orifice, contract the perineum, raise the lower abdomen, and open the tuoyue (the aperture that regulates breath). In a short while the medicine turns into true qi of itself; then use intent to guide it from behind—it will rise swiftly on its own, penetrate upward along the governing vessel (dumai) to the brain, and stop at the “zhen.” Zhen is the human zhen, the crown bone; after birth, this bone forms from the rising life-qi of the whole body and corresponds to the celestial zhen. The celestial zhen is the central star among the five stars, the star where the essence of the great earth rises and condenses, governing the tian gang of the chen position. Where light shines, life is born; where light is poured in, transformation occurs. Shining is universal illumination; pouring is deep, sustained infusion.

Heaven and earth rely on it to generate the myriad things; the perfected person also borrows it to shed the mortal shell. Now one borrows it to gather Gang qi (vital energy associated with the Big Dipper), unite with the Ren meridian, and descend forward: it branches from the Tianmu (the point between the eyebrows), passes through the Pool and the Pillar, and comes to rest at the Crimson Palace (the gate before the heart). The Pool is the upper pool—that is, the mouth; the Pillar is the nasal pillar—that is, the root of the nose (the upper end of the bridge). The method lies in “pressing against the Zhen”: using the brain to meet the Star—the Star being the Heavenly Zhen. Meeting the Star is for transforming away ordinary qi and returning to the pre-heaven state. This matter is of the utmost importance and must be done as instructed, hence one counts exactly nine breaths. It is not lingering out of attachment, but waiting for the pre-heaven yang qi to turn into sweet dew, which separates and follows the Gang and the Zhen, sprinkling down upon the Pool and the Palace.

This dew is cool, fragrant, and exquisite, with boundless subtle efficacy. As it descends with the Gang and the Zhen, there is further inner meaning. The Niwan adept says: the dew with form follows the Gang, drops into the Palace; the dew without form follows the Zhen and returns to the Central Yellow (the central earth position in the body). Ordinary dew that descends through the Magpie Bridge (the passage when the tongue touches the palate) and rests in the Crimson Palace is mostly swallowed on the pretext of drinking, so that it can pass the Tower (the throat) and reach the gates and openings, and separate into yin and yang, clear and turbid. The perfected person lets the yin and turbid remain, turn into blood, and circulate through the channels and collaterals; lets the clear yang melt and fall into the Central Yellow, and join with one’s own original qi. Then, following true intent, right in the central palace: upper left and lower right, from small to large, turning forward thirty-six revolutions; then at the right hip, upper right and lower lower, from large to small, turning backward twenty-four revolutions, stopping at the exact center of the central palace—this is called the mao-you weekly circulation (a horizontal circuit of one week). After that, sit quietly for a while; then rise or lie down as you wish. Act freely without chasing where it falls or where it stops; only feel it dissolving in emptiness and stillness, without clinging. This too is the truth of spirit and breath gestating true qi.

Just when the medicine is obtained and rises and falls, the whole body inevitably feels blissful ease—one must strictly avoid grasping at it. The slightest attachment at once turns it into ordinary post-heaven qi, with no small harm. Afterward, simply guard the true breath and let it drift within the Measure (inside the central palace); do not seek outside. Thus day by day gather and day by day refine, until the lines are full and the ounces balanced (fire-timings and medicinals are sufficient), the Three Fields (upper, middle, and lower dantian) are filled, and the two kidneys feel warm as hot water. If the qi again becomes ordinary post-heaven qi, the harm is equally great.

When the method is complete, simply guard the true breath and let it float naturally in the Gui Zhong—the place within the mid-body where inner elixir is held—without seeking anything outside. Day after day gather and refine in this way until the hexagram lines are full and the dose of medicine is sufficient, all three fields—the upper, middle, and lower dantian—are replete, both kidneys feel warm as hot water, the fire in the Qi Hai (lower abdomen energy sea) burns strong, jade liquid appears in the void, and the great medicine is about to form. At that point you must enter the Yuan Shi—the sealed chamber used for closed retreat—wait for the holy infant to coalesce and be “born,” and thereby attain the path of heavenly immortality. This must be kept in strict secrecy.

Seek again the great medicine, verify the firing times of the golden immortal, and cultivate the Nine Turns—the nine cycles of repeated refinement and transformation.

The great medicine is the golden fluid returning in full (Jinye Dahuan); it is the medicine of heavenly immortality. As the Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) says: “To learn immortality one must learn heavenly immortality; only the golden elixir is the most genuine root.” The medicine before this was outer true lead, called outer golden elixir, also named jade-liquid return elixir; it belongs to the medicine of earth immortals. Once jade liquid is full, you should at once enter the round chamber, quietly await the arising of golden fluid, use it to point-transform the original spirit and form the holy embryo, and also point-transform original qi to condense into the divine treasure.

You must choose a famous mountain or blessed land to build the Yuan Shi, with height, light, and shade all suitable, and three like-minded companions stationed outside as guardians. Inside the room place one level couch, hang curtains on all four sides, suspend a bright mirror above, set swords at left and right, spread three jin of realgar under the bed, place a meditation cushion on top, and prepare one set of Hunyuan robes and one “raising the hips” seat—nothing else before you. Arrange the eight trigrams around the room, choose an auspicious day, and report upward to Shangdi—the supreme deity revered in Daoism.

After entering the chamber, sit in stillness: do nothing and cling to nothing; with single-minded intent guard the Gui Zhong. The body stays motionless like dead wood; sit in full lotus day and night without cease, maintaining only fetal breath—breathing so fine it is like a fetus in the womb. Spirit and qi embrace each other, neither going out nor coming in, as if still inside the mother’s belly. To outsiders you seem to have lost consciousness. This is exactly the time of returning to the root and reviving destiny, when golden fluid forms—sometimes in seven days, sometimes fourteen, even twenty-one. The guarding companions must not leave for a moment; voices are strictly forbidden, and sudden loud noises are especially feared. At this stage the cultivator’s spirit is extremely empty and still, in resonance with an empty valley: the slightest sound can wake them, the slightest noise can startle them; once startled awake, they may fear leaving samadhi and the work of nurturing is lost. Startled, the spirit scatters—no calamity is greater. Chen Niwan of inner alchemy therefore said: the duty of outer protection concerns life and death.

When the practitioner reaches this stage, within the body a bright moon must appear suspended in the west, and a sun as if suspended in the east; you need only guard in silence.

When scholars reach this stage in their practice, a moon inevitably appears within the body, suspended in the west, and a sun appears suspended in the east. Quietly maintaining watch, the two orbs will mutually absorb and release each other; before long they merge into a single disc, suspended before the valley (the area in front of where the Valley Spirit resides). Changchun Zhenren (Qiu Chuching) said: At this moment one entirely relies upon a kindred spirit—a fellow practitioner who observes closely and maintains quiet watch at one's side. As soon as the learner emits light from between the eyebrows, the companion immediately perceives it; there is no need to speak aloud—only to signal with sound, and the learner will understand through the heart.

One should use the Heart Dipper Handle (Xin Gang—thought directed like the Big Dipper's handle to guide the process) to lead, and focus the Guarding Star (Zhen Xing—the stabilizing star) with devoted attention; then the spirit naturally settles in the valley. The Great Medicine (Nei Lian's internal elixir) is thereby generated, merging with the Dipper Handle and primordial qi into a single pearl.

Having reached this realm, one has already achieved spiritual communion with the Great Void (Taixu); the Three Realms (Desire Realm, Form Realm, Formless Realm) and the Six Directions (above, below, and the four quarters) can no longer be distinguished. This is what the elixir scriptures call the moment when "gold returns to the origin of nature" (Jin Gui Xing Chu); the pearl is the Divine Treasure (Shen Bao), and the Divine Treasure is the Golden Immortal (Jin Xian).

Once the Divine Treasure is obtained, one must still perform ten months of nurturing (Wen Yang—warming and nourishing, like carrying a fetus with gentle fire), carefully maintaining the Nine Turns, before the fetus becomes complete, the pearl transforms, and one attains certification as the Sacred Infant (Sheng Ying). The nurturing and fire phases at this stage differ from those before: previously there were distinctions of drawing out and adding, ascending and descending; now it is simply maintaining the center with single-minded intent, like fish in a spring pond or insects in winter dormancy—gathering primordial yang, not allowing spiritual qi to dissipate, drawing in the Great Void, cultivating primordial essence.

This step entirely depends upon the Dipper Handle and Guarding Star stars constantly watching over; the effort consists of nothing beyond "as if present yet absent, do not forget yet do not force" (Ruo Cun Ruo Wang, Wu Wang Wu Zhu—seemingly there yet not there, neither forgetting nor forcing growth). Niwan Shi (Mudball Chamber) said: Intent must not scatter—scattered intent makes the fire grow cold; thoughts must not arise—arisen thoughts make the fire blaze fiercely. Both harm the fetus, so one must be cautious. Thus one year passes, which in actual practice is nine months of effort—hence it is called the Nine Turns. Within that year, the second and eighth months require no fire work; this does not mean abandoning the practice or casting aside the effort.

Throughout the year, one suspends the fire work in the second and eighth months—the periods known as “bathing,” when the circulation of fire is paused. That is not letting go entirely or ceasing to care; it is more like tending without deliberate effort, no longer straining to direct the process.