《天乐集》Vol. 8

Someone asked what “advancing fire” and “retreating the sign (fu)” mean. The answer: Fire is spirit-fire—I have long known that. Then what is the “yin sign (fu)”? Is there really a separate doctrine about it? The answer: I heard the immortal master speak of “seven returns and nine restorations”: seven is the number of fire, nine is the number of metal; refining metal with fire to form the elixir is the same as using spirit to govern qi to accomplish the Way. Seen this way, the subtle use of making the elixir, from start to finish, is nothing but “one fire.” Advance is fire; retreat is the sign (fu). The sign (fu) means “harmonize (he)”—it speaks of ascent and descent, advance and retreat, inner and outer all being in mutual accord. When operating fire, spirit and qi embrace each other, guarding the One without leaving, continuous as if present—that too is just this one fire. Where would you need any “yin sign (fu)”? Therefore in the Zhouyi Cantong Qi, at the hexagrams Gou, Dun, Bo, Kun, Pi, Guan, it speaks of guest submission, leaving the throne, injury and ruin, loss and extinction, returning to the origin—all referring to yin’s retreat. It is like after the full moon, yin qi gradually wanes and the bright glory itself diminishes; the more it wanes the darker it grows, until the last day of the month; then it revives again as the new moon—that is speaking of yang’s advance, not discussing yin. If one were discussing yin, one ought to say “advancing the sign (fu).” Seen this way, what “yin sign (fu)” is there in our body that could be used?

In the Huofu Lun it is asked again: Are the advance and retreat of fire and sign (fu) the same in aim as the teaching of “Zhao Tun at dawn, Mu Meng at dusk,” or different? The answer: Before I had the master’s pointer, I felt the fire phases were hard to clarify; I also once calculated according to the celestial circuit, hexagram qi, and dividing the night into watches and clepsydra drops—wasted effort in vain. Later I suddenly understood: the myriad volumes of elixir scriptures and the six hundred entries of fire records can all be set aside in a single word. The so-called true fire has no schedule, the great medicine has no weight measure—that is indeed so.

This passage discusses two ways of understanding “yang advancing and yin retreating” in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice, and then explains common formulas for “starting the fire” and “stopping the fire.”

First view: As Master Wang said, for each increment of innate true Yang, Yin naturally recedes by the same measure, fitting together as tightly as the two halves of a tally. That is one way of putting it.

Second view: Taking “heart and breath mutually relying” as advancing the fire mainly serves refining and smelting; persisting in this until one enters deep samadhi and reaches “forgetting both spirit and breath” counts as retreating the talisman, mainly for warm nurturing—Hermit of Hidden Void (Qianxu Zhenren) explained it the same way. Movement belongs to Yang and stillness to Yin; movement chiefly means advance and stillness chiefly means retreat. That is the other way of putting it.

Starting the fire and stopping the fire

In alchemical method, “heart and breath mutually relying” is usually taken as starting the fire, and “forgetting both spirit and breath, settling calmly into samadhi” as stopping the fire—that is the usual formula.

The fire-stopping methods my late master transmitted include three further essentials:

First, fire stopping in the stage of refining essence (jing). Without knowing this secret, one easily “fixes on the body” (zhuo shen) and invites the mishap of seminal emission. Whenever practice reaches the point where yang qi rises and the external yang stirs erect, only to be followed by emission, it is because fire stopping is not understood.

Second, fire stopping in the stage of refining qi. Without knowing this secret, the change called “elixir loss” (zou dan)—leaking qi—often occurs, and prior effort is wiped away. Ancient perfected ones such as Bai Yuchan still did not escape this ordeal; hence the line about “re-rigging the fishing pole and again cutting autumn bamboo,”—how much more ordinary people? Again: without the elementary fire-stopping essentials, the yang pass cannot be held closed, and the elixir foundation cannot be laid; without the essentials of the second segment of fire stopping, even when qi is full one cannot form the elixir, and if an elixir forms it cannot be kept; still less can one, after the elixir is full, run the great heavenly circuit, and thus one cannot “reset the furnace, raise the cauldron anew, and stride the tiger and mount the dragon to leave the mundane realm.”

Third, fire stopping in the stage of refining spirit (shen). Without knowing this secret, the heart-nature can hardly become pure and unified; heart-light cannot round out completely, and one cannot avoid the affliction of “leakage,” so that one slips back and stalls at small fruition. What ancients called the three leakages (seeing-leak, emotional-leak, speech-leak), and “manifesting dignity and bearing without leaving still absorption,” are all touchstones for testing whether nature is settled and spirit is complete. Fire stopping in this stage is the most critical and the most hidden; otherwise one cannot refine nature to the subtle, or have nothing obstructed in all affairs (shi shi wu ai).

I followed Master Wang in study for four years. On fire stopping in the initial refining of essence, he had spoken—it was not kept secret; as for the oral lines for fire stopping in the latter two segments, only in the final part of the fourth year, at the point of “nothing obstructed in all affairs,” did he break it open.

This passage comes from cultivation insights passed down in the Daoist internal alchemy (neidan) Western School (Xipai) lineage. It explains how the “stopping fire” (zhihuo) oral formulas were taught in stages, and why beginners who experience yang arising (yangsheng) easily fall into the fault of essence leakage (xiejing)—and why they need a qualified master to point out the key.

I studied under Master Wang for four years. Regarding the initial-stage refining essence and stopping fire (lian jing zhihuo), he spoke of it openly in daily teaching and did not withhold it. Only the final two stages of the stopping-fire formulas did he reveal on my last visit in the fourth year. Those four years of effort were something I had to realize step by step on my own; he was unwilling to put them lightly into writing, so he kept them secret and treasured them. Students need only know this: the Western School line is unbroken, and there truly are three stages of stopping-fire essentials—enough to guard against danger and anticipate peril until one attains full verification and transcendence.

When a student first applies effort, once yang arises (yangsheng—the inner yang stirs and one feels impulse), it is easy for desire to arise and essence to leak (xiejing, seminal emission). At that moment there must be a clear-sighted master to disclose the essential method, used to stop the post-heaven ministerial fire (xianghuo—the “ministerial fire” stirred by lust and wandering thoughts, as opposed to the pure “true fire,” zhenhuo). Only then can body and mind stay steady and one avoid the fault of involuntary leakage.

Regrettably, many blind teachers today (those without true transmission who do not understand fire phases) do not even know how to treat leakage after a student’s yang has risen. They cannot explain the first stage of refining essence and stopping fire, let alone the second and third, deeper secret stages of stopping fire—those meant for verifying entry into shattering the void (fensui xukong) and gaining great liberation.

Plain-Language Reading of Tianle ji (Collection of Heavenly Joy)

During the second stage of refining Qi, what is called “walking the elixir” (zoudan) is, in effect, leaking Qi. In the trance-like stillness of deep absorption, Yang Qi surges up like blazing fire, yet it slips out through the Weilu (the pass near the coccyx, often treated in inner practice as the gateway where refined essence tends to descend). There is no holding it back—the situation closely parallels leaking essence (xiejing) in the stage of refining essence: one fails at an earlier gate, the other at a later one. After “stopping fire” (zhihuo), the “Yang Pass” (Yangguan)—the checkpoint where essence rises—has already been closed; the upward route is blocked, so the discharge shifts and escapes through the anal region instead.

Bai Yuchan puts it vividly in Poem on the Elixir Not Forming: gathered into the jade gourd, kept secret and unreleased—who expected wind and thunder at midnight, smoke filling heaven and earth? The feeling is like a mute biting through his own tongue: bitterness with no way to speak it. One can only hold the belly and laugh, so the heart does not burn with vexation; then rig the fishing rod again and cut a fresh autumn bamboo for a pole. That is what leaking Qi is really like. Because one does not know how to stop fire, one meets this great setback. If, on a second round of practice, Qi fills again and leaks once more, progress from then on is very hard to recover. For this reason, the oral formulas for stopping fire at this step have always been extremely secret.

Someone asked: in that final checkpoint, what fire is being stopped? Answer: what is stopped is the fire of “unenlightenment” (wuming)—not some outer flame. Until subtle unenlightenment and the last impurity are cleared, nature (xing) cannot be complete. Only when unenlightenment is exhausted and defilement is purified can one realize “knowledge of the exhaustion of outflows” (loujin zhi)—the wisdom ascribed to an Arhat, who no longer leaks into birth and death—penetrate the non-leaking, and move freely beyond the worldly and the world-transcending. Otherwise one may at most attain the “five penetrations” (wutong), not the “six penetrations” (liutong); and this is precisely the secret of the final return to emptiness and completion of the Dao (mohou huanxu, liaodao).

From Lü Dongbin it passed to Li, from Li to the True Person of Xiyuan, from him to Master Wang, and from Wang to me. In between there were only four generations, less than a hundred years. As the Hidden Void Elder (Qianxu Weng) said, it is truly an encounter “fortunate across three lifetimes, rare in a thousand years.”

104. The Geng Moon and the Full Moon

The Geng moon means the moon on the third day of the lunar month; the full moon means the moon on the fifteenth.

The Cantong qi (Unity of the Three) says: “On the third day the sun rises in clarity; geng is received in the west through Zhen.” The Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality) says: “When only half the moon is bright at heaven’s edge, the dragon’s roar and tiger’s cry have already sounded.” Patriarch Lu said to Master Qianxu: “Snow mirrors a cold pool, plum tips hold the new moon—only then can the medicine arise.” Master Qianxu wrote in his Odes on the Daode jing: “A maiden first opens the northern flower; I rise and see the Geng moon, one hook slanting.” All of these explain what the Geng moon means.

The Wuzhen pian also says: “On the fifteenth of the eighth month one plays with the toad’s radiance—that is exactly when metal essence (jin jing) is at its peak.” Shi Xinglin said: “Ten thousand sounds—wind just rising; a thousand peaks—the moon suddenly round. Hurry to execute the command, and you can circulate the celestial circuit.” Chen Cuixu said: “In the moonlit night one can gather within the gaze; heaven soul and earth soul congeal into the spirit elixir.” Zhang Sanfeng said: “The roundness of the moon rests in the oral formula; the wonder of the hour zi is transmitted heart to heart.” He also said: “When the moon is round, the jade pistil is born.” All of these explain what the full moon means.

So which should one take as the standard? Answer: Masters Qianxu and Hanxu have already made this clear. Qianxu wrote in his Short Preface to the Wuzhen pian: “Someone asked: You speak both of the fifteenth of the eighth month and of the third day when geng appears—what is the rationale? Answer: The fifteenth stands for when the qi of metal and water is already full; the third day stands for when the medicine of metal and water is still fresh. When qi is insufficient, water cannot be generated. Read the two together and the meaning is self-evident.” Master Hanxu said: “When yang light newly appears—that is the night of the third day; when metal and water are ample—that is the night of the fifteenth. In the alchemical tradition one speaks both of the third day and of the fifteenth: the third day likens the qi of metal and water to what is still new; the fifteenth likens the qi of metal and water to what is already full. When qi is insufficient, water cannot be generated. The third day and the fifteenth should be thought of as the same moment and as one continuous stretch of practice—not calculated mechanically by numbers.”

Plain-Language Commentary

The verse says: When a practitioner’s work reaches da ding—great stillness—forgetting the body and forgetting outer appearances, with nothing in the mind but emptiness and silence—pre-heaven qi rises vigorously, like a full moon; this is what people mean by “when the source is clear, qi is full.”

In that great stillness, when yang suddenly stirs, one must align with the natural seasons; forgetting images and only guarding empty stillness, pre-heaven qi still flourishes like a full moon, the source clear and qi ample. That single awakening to yang arising in stillness outwardly follows nature alone; inwardly not a single thought moves, and the yang qi stays fresh and tender—not aged but young—like the crescent on the third day of the month. So references to the “geng month” and to the “full moon” both point to medicine at peak vigor while the sprout is still new; the meaning is one thread, not a contradiction.

When concentration is sufficient, qi is strong; when spirit (shen) leaves the body swiftly, the medicine is fresh—sent back thus into the earthen cauldron, then entering great stillness again, the counts and phases of the celestial circuit will not err, and gathering and warming will accord with the method. Proof of the returned elixir can be seen within days—is this not the heart of fan huan (return and reversion)?

In the Wuzhen Pian “Small Preface,” Master Qianxu asks: why can tender medicine be used? Answer: the qi of creation—what is complete must retreat, what is new must advance. Like brewing wine: leaven only three days into fermentation, skimmed off while still floating, can turn a thousand jars. At that stage the flavor is thin, yet the vital impulse is strong. Once it has become wine, it can no longer serve as leaven. Gathering medicine means taking what is tender—that is the point. This appendix is offered for reference.

The Cantong Qi states: “On the third day the sun emerges with clarity; the Zhen trigram matches the geng position and receives qi from the west. On the eighth day the Dui trigram receives the ding position; at first quarter the moon is level like a cord. On the fifteenth the Qian body is complete, full in the jia position in the east. The cinnabar toad and the rabbit’s soul—the two qi of sun and moon shine together. The toad watches the hexagram nodes; the rabbit spews forth and gives birth to light.”

In the Cantong Qi, the images of the cinnabar toad and the rabbit’s soul are among the most marvelous. The Purple Yang Real Person’s Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) inherits this method, and so says: “On the fifteenth of the eighth month, when one enjoys the toad’s radiance, that is precisely when the golden essence is at its strongest.” It also says: “If you ask what true lead is, it is the toad’s light shining on the western river until the end of days.” Master Xu Shen said: “The brilliant golden flower is the essence of sun and moon; the melting jade liquid is the marrow of heaven and earth. Deep in the night the vault of heaven is far and without dust; only the toad’s light illumines the divine water.” An ancient worthy’s verse runs: “On the bank of the western river, lift your head and look— a stream of toad-light dyes the green waves. Then it is right to work diligently on refining the ‘two-eight’; earnestly and carefully entrust it to the Yellow Dame.” All of these follow the Cantong Qi’s image of the cinnabar toad.

The Hidden Void Real Person’s Ce Shu says: “What we now call the moon has more than one name—some call it the cinnabar toad, some the rabbit’s soul. Yet toad and rabbit’s soul ought to be distinguished. The cinnabar toad is the moon’s essence; the rabbit’s soul is the moon’s body. The moon’s light today is borrowed from the sun, so the qi of sun and moon must wait for mutual pairing before brightness arises—this is the natural principle of Yin and Yang conceiving and nurturing. Yet yang grows by degrees, so the toad’s arising depends solely on watching the hexagram nodes: as yang below the hexagram gradually lengthens, the toad’s essence gradually forms; only then does the rabbit spew it forth to produce radiant light.”

Xuanjing said: The toad is a metaphor for inborn true Yang Qi. When a cultivator’s practice reaches Great Samadhi (profound stillness), Qian and Kun naturally interact—stillness gives rise to movement; when true Yang arrives, it is like toad moonlight appearing. At that moment one must immediately apply the crucial method “outside the body,” with the mind unmoved, so that true Yang does not dissipate and can be returned to the earthen cauldron (the Dantian / furnace-and-vessel image) and sealed firmly.

The toad hiding at the bottom of the water stands for gold in water (in Neidan, often true lead or primordial Yang); rabbit soul (the essence of the moon, a image of yin substance) shining when touched by sunlight stands for spirit and Qi intersecting, after which one can produce the elixir (refine the inner “medicine” of the elixir).

106. Divine Water and the Flower Pool

(This section title. The following echoes Elder Jade Toad’s Can Tong Qi of the Elixir Method: true Yang is not leaked but sealed in the cauldron; the toad in water images gold in water; rabbit soul receiving sunlight images spirit and Qi meeting to produce the elixir.)

Jade Toad Elder says in *Elixir Methods and Joining in Sameness: “The root of mind-nature and the sea of nature are called Huachi (Flowery Pool); nature is like water, and is called divine water.” This is the method of the supreme vehicle of the elixir.

Master Ziyang writes in Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir: “In Huachi the lotus blooms; in divine water the golden ripples are still. Deep in the night the moon shines bright—heaven and earth are one round mirror.” These four lines use intimate imagery and can be read together with Jade Toad Elder’s words.

“Huachi, the lotus blooms” — a metaphor for mind-nature opening and the light of nature appearing. Yuxi zi says: “Split open the bud of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate); reveal the heart of heaven and earth; the void is vast without bound, a faint moon illumines a lone peak.” That is the sense of “blooming.”

“In divine water, golden ripples are still” — a metaphor for the sea of nature clarified, winds of the outer world not rising, waves of consciousness not surging, resting in quiet stillness.

“The deep night, the moon shines bright” and “heaven and earth, one round mirror” speak of purity, clarity, stillness, and illumination: the ten thousand images merge in emptiness, as if heaven and earth were one bright mirror.

Zhuangzi says: “When the great space is settled, the light of heaven unfolds.” The Great Cavern Scripture says: “Spirit-light enters radiance, and the myriad spirits all arise”; it also says: “The black pearl shows its true form, inner and outer shine clear”; and again: “The deep source’s pure light—holding it has its merit. Settling and harmony, wondrous clear awakening—mysterious breath itself is long life.” All of this is the same layer of meaning.

Some take the mouth as Huachi and saliva as divine water—that is the lower grade of elixir method. Some take spirit joining qi as Huachi and spirit entering qi as divine water—that is the middle grade.

Jade Toad Elder’s account goes beyond form, qi, and spirit, so it is the supreme vehicle: the heaven of nature opens bright, round, clear, and subtle, beyond what thought can reach—deeply in accord with Laozi’s “constant De (Virtue/Power) without deviation.”

107 Heavenly Root and Moon Cave

The Song Confucian Shao Yong (Shao Yaofu) wrote a poem, Contemplating Things, whose gist is: with sharp ears and eyes and a man’s body, what heaven and earth bestow is not poverty; only by probing the “Moon Cave” can one understand the myriad things, and without gathering the “Heavenly Root” how can one know the person? When Qian meets Xun one may view the Moon Cave; where earth meets thunder one may see the Heavenly Root. When Heavenly Root and Moon Cave flow back and forth without obstruction, all thirty-six palaces are full of spring.

This poem holds much of the internal alchemy (Neidan) teaching on “transformation” and the subtlety of huohou (timing and intensity in practice). So-called shifting huohou cannot be separated from movement and stillness: stillness within movement, movement within stillness; when movement and stillness are one, quiescence and responsiveness are not split apart—and only then is the full wonder grasped.

Kun stands for earth and stillness; Zhen stands for thunder and movement. Thunder in the earth forms the Fu hexagram—this is what is called the Heavenly Root, corresponding to the moment of utmost emptiness and deep stillness when “one yang returns” (at the peak of yin, the first yang stirs). Then pre-heaven qi (xian tian yi qi) comes from nothingness; when the moment arrives, spirit and intent clarify of themselves. The “person” in “know the person” in the poem is the master of pure yang—the innate true second qi (zhen yi zhi qi).

Qian stands for heaven. When Qian meets Xun, the Gou hexagram forms—this is the Moon Cave, corresponding to the gentle, sustained “literary fire” stage of warming and nurturing after the elixir has been obtained and returned to the cauldron. Yang has already been aroused and yin has settled; then there is gathering the medicine and withdrawing to store it: Heavenly Root is the pivot of initiating transformation; Moon Cave is the meaning of retreat and storage. Once these two layers of Heavenly Root and Moon Cave are understood, steps such as gathering medicine, warming, bathing, and sealing can accord with proper measure.

Awakening to Reality (Wu Zhen Pian) says: “From Fu and Gou onward one can apply them; who says the Golden Elixir cannot succeed?” Broadly, creation’s marvel lies in the back-and-forth of yin and yang: Heavenly Root is established first, Moon Cave completed after—matching the sense of “what continues it is good; what completes it is nature.” “All thirty-six palaces are spring” means that when huohou is without error and yin and yang are in harmony, body and mind everywhere are like spring. Mirror for Entering the Medicine (Ru Yao Jing) also says: “Pre-heaven qi, post-heaven qi—whoever obtains them is often as if drunk”—again describing this state of fulfillment.

Returning to the Root and Returning to Nature

Laozi said: “Returning to the root is called stillness; stillness is called returning to destiny; returning to destiny is called the constant; knowing the constant is called clarity.” Zhuangzi speaks of “using the heart to restore the heart”—restoring the heart is restoring nature. The teaching of returning to destiny and returning to nature is a very deep layer in the Xuanzong path of cultivating nature and turning back toward De; it is also the subtle gate to fully awakening the “constant Dao.”

The key to returning to destiny is first to bring oneself back to empty stillness; only in emptiness can one connect and respond. The student begins from “heart and breath mutually relying,” and advances all the way to the state of “great stillness” (da ding). When stillness is prolonged, there is one vast silence—this is called “returning to the root.” Returning to the root is moving from activity back to stillness again. When stillness reaches its extreme, movement arises again: the pre-heaven single qi responds to stimulus, and the person meets it with movement. Outwardly it is still heart and breath mutually relying, spirit and breath as one—letting heart and breath settle together without straying; this is “seeking the mystery in the water palace,” raising the Xun wind and operating the Kun fire.

Again relying on heart and breath mutually relying, one gradually shifts from martial fire to civil fire, until spirit and breath are both forgotten and one enters great stillness once more. Then pre-heaven and post-heaven each return to their place; inner and outer harmonize, body and mind are at ease. The true yi qi obtained is sent back into the earthen cauldron, sealed and stored securely—only then is one cycle of work complete.

Thus the art of returning to destiny must pass through three turnings-back: from movement into stillness, stillness at the extreme returning to movement, movement then stillness again. Master Wang said to me: “Before yang arises one must settle; after yang arises one must still settle. The first settling is to await the medicine and sense the true yang; the second settling is for bathing, warming, sealing, and secure storage.” The “three turnings of day and night” in the Yinfu Jing refer precisely to this stretch of practice. The secret of returning to destiny in the Xuanzong tradition can only be accomplished through these “three turnings-back.”

Fuxing (restoring one’s true nature) is what the Xuanzong-era inner-alchemy line of Daoism calls “zhao che jian du”—when dawn breaks the mind is clear as a mirror and one sees only that solitary, real (from the Zhuangzi: awakening to original awareness, unmixed with outer things).

Zhang Boduan (Ziyang Zhenren) said: “Nothing is not my mind; nothing is not myself”—the outer realm and one’s own mind are originally one body. He also said: “Smash empty space to the full and see the whole body”—only when fixation on the “mark of emptiness” is shattered does one see the originally complete body.

Li Daochun said: “Smash empty space and become great awakening”—again, by breaking attachment and realizing emptiness one attains great awakening. He also said: “When you raise it, the whole body appears clearly; you must further break the heyuan shu”—when a single thought is raised, original awareness is plainly present, yet one must still break the “heyuan shu” (in inner alchemy, the hub that gathers all ends—the pivot that binds body and mind, movement and stillness, inner and outer) before one is thoroughly clear.

Zhang Sanfeng (Master Sanfeng) said: “Round and full, bright and blazing—through the ages the sages have not transmitted this one move”—that rounded, luminous moment of single correspondence is passed heart to mouth by the sages, yet hard to put fully into words.

Miaozheng Zhenren said: “The great round mirror shines brightly; self and things are all within its light; the subtle body is ever deep and still, its radiance gleaming through the six gates”—the heart-substance is like a great round mirror; self and other, things and self, are all in the mirror-light; the subtle body is always quiescent and deep, and light naturally appears through the six gates (the six faculties: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) without being stained.

If one can be thus vast and penetrating, spirit bright and undimmed, substance and function as one (“substance and function as suchness”), and walk this “path of direct ascent” (the way of pointing straight at original awareness, without detours), only then can one speak of great rest and great ease—not laziness, but the real stability that comes when all clinging has ceased. Abiding in Constant Still Light (in Buddhist usage, the light of original awareness, ever present and unmoving), arm in arm with all Buddhas and Tathāgatas (a metaphor for sharing the same realized state), one may say the fruit of Bodhi is full—enlightenment complete, in one line with “restoring nature.”

This passage discusses how Neidan (internal alchemy) treats youwei (deliberate, intentional practice) and wuwei (non-action) together, and reconciles two lines of teaching from Zhang Boduan and Lu Xisheng (Qianxu).

The Perfected Person Ziyang (Ziyang Zhenren) says in Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen Pian): “Cultivation often begins in youwei; at that stage the work is inward and others can hardly see it. Only when one enters wuwei do people feel ‘so this is how it is.’ People only see the subtlety of wuwei and do not know that youzuo (deliberate foundation-building) is the root.” This is the approach that accepts both the ‘having’ and ‘non-having’ sides: first establish the foundation through youwei, then enter wuwei.

Qianxu says in Mysterious View of the Dao De Jing (Daodejing Xuanlan): “All youwei is illusion; treat wuwei too as illusion, and illusion is not taken lightly. Let go of both the ‘having’ and ‘non-having’ sides—it is still illusion; when the clouds disperse, the moon in the sky is naturally bright.” This is the path of dispensing with both the ‘having’ and ‘non-having’ sides.

Someone asked: How do these two accounts fit together? The answer: xinxi xiangyi—bind mind and breath together and settle them in the void outside the body—neither clinging with intentional focus nor falling into blank emptiness and cutting off. Then having is non-having and non-having is having, and also neither having nor non-having, which matches the wonder of the Dao and realizes subtle efficacy. Hence Qianxu also has a verse: “Originally there is neither ‘having’ nor ‘non-having’; do not obsessively hunt ‘non-having’ and muddy the Great Void. Recognize the true subtle efficacy in ziran (naturalness); ten thousand streams reflect the same lone moon.” Reading this verse, one sees that the aim of the mysterious gate (xuanmen, the Daoist path) has another layer—not merely arguing over having and non-having in words.

Brief glossary: Ziyang refers to Zhang Boduan; youwei / youzuo means intentional work such as directing attention, regulating breath, and guarding the aperture; wuwei means non-clinging and letting nature take its course at a higher stage; xinxi xiangyi is the Neidan pairing of mind and breath; Qianxu is Lu Xisheng’s style name.

Someone asked: The Diamond Sutra says, “All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow.” Daoism also speaks of refining jing, refining qi, and refining shen—does that not fall entirely within “effortful action” (youwei)? If it counts as youwei, it is ultimately like a dream; if it counts as wuwei (non-action), why speak of “refining” at all?

The answer: You only split “having” and “not having,” and do not yet understand “acting without possessing.” True “acting without possessing” is like walking all day yet as if one had never walked—where would fault remain? The Diamond Sutra works the same way: it teaches emptiness throughout, without clinging to forms, yet without falling into blank nihilism. When the sutra says “give rise to a mind that abides nowhere,” is that not the same as spirit and qi together resting in empty stillness?

Again, the “Preface” section describes putting on robes, taking the bowl, going back and forth for alms, washing the feet, and spreading the seat. When the Venerable Purna saw this, he exclaimed: “Rare indeed, World-Honored One!” I ask: what is the Preface meant to convey? Where does Purna’s sigh of wonder come from? If you do not reject the World-Honored One’s putting on robes, taking the bowl, washing feet, and spreading the seat, why single out Daoist refining of jing, qi, and shen? The ancient immortals said: “The elixir is not refined by refining—yet it is refined in the midst of refining; the Dao is sought in wuwei, yet wuwei is found where there is action.” Only when wuwei is paired with “nothing left undone,” and “nothing left undone” with “nothing taken as fixed means,” does one align with the subtle Dao.

Master Sengzhao said: “Because of wuwei, though in motion one is constantly still; because of ‘nothing left undone,’ though still one is constantly in motion.” Thus things cannot be pinned to one extreme. Though in motion, with nothing left undone; with nothing left undone, without fixed means—only then does one accord with the subtle Dao.

Plain-Language Reading of Tianle Ji (Collection on Celestial Joy)

Section 1: On movement and stillness, action and non-action

Dharma Master Zhao said: “Because of wuwei (non-action), one can be in motion yet always dwell in stillness; because nothing is left undone, one can be in stillness yet always be in motion. Thus the myriad things cannot reduce it to a single category (you cannot call it only motion or only stillness). Though in motion, it is constantly still, so the myriad things also cannot split it into two (movement and stillness are originally one body). Hence the more it moves, the more still it is.” Because the myriad things cannot be reduced to one, the more still it is, the more it moves—this is what is meant by “precisely wuwei.” Movement and stillness differ, yet neither side can stand alone. How can one, because there is youwei (deliberate action), treat it as only youwei, or because there is wuwei, treat it as only wuwei? The bodhisattva abides in the dharma gate of “equality between exhausting and not exhausting”: neither exhausting oneself in youwei, nor clinging to wuwei—that is the point here. One may investigate along these lines.

Section 2: Dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow

Someone asked: “Then how should we understand what the scriptures call dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow?” The reply: “Who knows dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow? Who is it that speaks of dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow? Is that which ‘knows dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow’ still dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow?”—The aim is to show that whatever can see through these appearances cannot itself be folded back into “bubble and shadow.”

Section 3: Attaining stillness and attaining harmony

The Da Tong Jing (Great Penetration Scripture) says: “When stillness is fully attained, there is no stirring; when harmony is fully attained, there is no shifting.” In his Brief Explication, Master Hanxu explains: stillness without stirring is ding (fixed absorption); harmony without shifting is an (settled peace). In terms of the arcane teaching (internal alchemy), heart-mind and breath must first harmonize and blend; then body and heart-mind both become still and sit in utter non-movement. The more still body and heart-mind become, the more harmonious the qi; this continues until outer breathing ceases and one calmly enters great ding. Within ding, the pre-heaven and post-heaven qi naturally unite and merge, entering true silence and stillness—only then does “supreme harmony (taihe) overflow and fill, bones open and cold jade clears” ( qi is full, the body warm, the joints transparent). Laozi said, “Stillness is the ruler of restlessness,” and “Though glory and splendor be on display, dwell in them as calmly as in autumn,” and also “To know harmony is called constancy.” Stillness and harmony are the master themes of the arcane teaching and the track along which sages cultivate the Dao.

In Zhuangzi, “The Great and Venerable Teacher” (Dazongshi), it is said that the Dao has responsiveness and authenticity; it acts through Wuwei (non-action) yet has no fixed form. It can be transmitted, yet not received as one would take hold of an object; it can be realized inwardly, yet its trace cannot be seen. Laozi says: “Deep and dark, within it there is essence; that essence is utterly real, and within it there is authenticity.”

Main idea of the explanation: The Dao, in essence, is true emptiness—not a blank nothingness, but an unfixed, luminous ground that does not cling to appearances. True emptiness is not “dead void,” so it can manifest as subtle being (marvelous presence): the various functions and realms of practice. Responsiveness and authenticity are the signs and confirmations when subtle being appears.

What is “responsiveness”? When stillness reaches its depth, a single stirring arises—perception follows and connects. This is what is often called the return of the first Yang. When pre-heaven Qi arrives and the moment is ripe, the heart-mind knows of itself—what is called “when the time comes, the spirit knows.” Qi arriving is the living Zi hour (the key node for gathering Qi and regulating breath); the spirit knowing is the living Wu hour (when spiritual mechanism stirs and firing times respond). Metal (standing for true essence and true nature) returns to nature; this side responds to that, in tune with the rhythms of heaven and earth.

If one only guards the physical body and mind and breath do not mutually support, it is hard to apply effort. One must work in mind and breath depending on each other, spirit and breath embracing each other, and let go of grasping at outer forms—only then does the work of gathering (collecting the “medicine,” gathering and holding essence and Qi) have a real footing.

On “Dao” and “Qing,” “Xin,” and “Jing”

In Fumo of the Zhuangzi (Nanhua jing fumo), the Hidden Void Elder (Qianxu Weng) writes: There is a single undifferentiated presence that existed before Heaven and Earth; the sage, with no other choice, reluctantly gave it the name “Dao.” It is formless and wuwei (non-action), yet the text also speaks of it as having “qing” and “xin”—why? Laozi says: Vague and indistinct—within it there is “wu” (thing/presence); dark and deep—within it there is jing (essence); the jing is utterly real—within it there is xin (trust/verification). These lines are the core secret of discourse on the Dao through the ages. Zhuangzi’s teaching takes Laozi as its root, yet speaks directly of “having qing and having xin.” What does “having qing and having xin” mean? It is spoken from the angle of “using desire to observe its boundary and manifestation” (you yu yi guan qi jiao). “Jing” is movement within stillness; “xin” is the matching verification within movement. The character xin is especially hidden: a thousand sages and myriad perfected ones all rely on this one key—it must be grasped through transmission from a master, hence it is said to be “transmittable”; it is also said to be “not receivable” in the ordinary sense, because in that sense it is “not visible.”

Author’s note: The “jing” in the Laozi is what the Zhuangzi calls “qing.” The Wuzhen Pian says: “In vagueness and indistinctness you meet; in obscurity and depth there is change; in an instant flame flies—and the perfected person (zhenren) appears of themselves.” The Xuanyao Pian says: “Where lightning flashes, seek the true seed (that is jing, and also qing); when the wind-message arrives (the verification of xin), find the root lineage.” A few lines exhaust the meaning.

Before Heaven (Xiantian) and After Heaven (Houtian)

The two layers of meaning in xiantian and houtian must be unpacked on two levels.

First level: the human body and cultivation

“Xiantian” (before Heaven) refers to the root qi and true nature received from one’s parents before birth, corresponding to the Dao-body; “houtian” (after Heaven) refers to the temperament and habits formed after birth through food, breath, thought, desire, and emotion. In cultivation one often says: return to xiantian, leave behind houtian—not as a denial of daily life, but in inner refinement first to recognize houtian (breath, thoughts, leakage of essence-qi), then step by step to restore that bit of “true seed” and “root lineage” that belongs to xiantian.

Second level: cosmos and Dao-method

“Xiantian” can mean the suchness before Heaven and Earth were divided and before the Dao-body was named; “houtian” means form, names, and function after Heaven and Earth stand and the ten thousand things are born. Neidan (internal alchemy) classics often describe the flash of “lightning” and the “wind-message” in “vagueness” and “obscurity” as xiantian news showing in houtian; jing, qing, xin, and zhenren all run through these two layers: only when houtian has verification (xin) do you know xiantian has a root (jing/qing).

Read with the preceding: jing (qing) is the point that stirs within stillness; xin is the seal that moves yet can be verified and matched; xiantian is the root of this point, houtian is its disclosure in the human body and on the path of daily cultivation.

Part One: Contrast Pairs (Using Opposites to Explain Precelestial and Postcelestial)

The first section treats contrast pairs—using paired opposites to clarify what counts as precelestial (xiantian) and what as postcelestial (houtian).

Take an analogy: the empty space outside the body, once taken as the object of contemplation and return, belongs to the precelestial; everything within the embodied form with shape and color belongs to the postcelestial. Again, originating Jing and originating Qi are formless in nature and are called precelestial; Jing from sexual union and Qi from ordinary breathing have already fallen into visible form and are called postcelestial. By setting such pairs side by side, the meaning of precelestial and postcelestial is made plain.

Part Two: Depth in Layers (Practice Ascending Step by Step)

The second section treats depth in layers—the order in which practice moves from shallow to deep, stage by stage.

For example: if mutual reliance of mind and breath is taken as “precelestial” at that moment, then ordinary times when one is not doing this work count as “postcelestial.” Advancing one layer from mutual reliance of mind and breath into dim obscurity (huanghu yaoming), one then takes dim obscurity as “precelestial” and mutual reliance of mind and breath as “postcelestial.” Advancing again from dim obscurity to great stillness (da ding)—breath seeming neither in nor out, mind seeming neither arising nor ceasing, inner and outer forgotten together, root and dust both extinguished—one then takes great stillness as “precelestial” and dim obscurity as “postcelestial.”

From great stillness one may reach dual emptiness without arising: not only body, mind, and the sense roots and dust are emptied, but even the mark of stillness is emptied—the so-called shattering of empty void, extinction of the measure of the dharma realm. At that point “shattering of empty void” is precelestial and great stillness is postcelestial. Each advance is like climbing a nine-tier terrace upward; whether one can learn below and reach above depends entirely on how deeply the student carries out the practice.

Section 113: Within the Body and Outside the Body

(Heading) This section discusses precelestial and postcelestial and the field of practice from two angles: within the body and outside the body.

Zhang Sanfeng said: Before those who study the Dao have met an enlightened teacher, they should be humble and careful and accumulate merit; when they meet demonic obstacles they should not shrink back, and when others slander them they should not give way to anger. Once they meet a true adept (zhenren), they should seek instruction with single-minded sincerity and penetrate the two crucial “true messages” within and without the self—only then will they not be led astray by heterodox teachings.

He also said: Only when the student has clearly grasped the two “true messages” inside and outside the body without any blockage may they undertake preservation and inner cultivation—eliminating selfish desires and restoring heavenly principle. Then the work of returning the elixir (huandan) becomes utterly simple and easy: all day one gathers the yellow sprout outside the body, and awaits the pre-heaven (xiantian) jade nectar. That is the subtle point of what people call “realizing long life while drinking wine and wearing flowers.”

The following expands on this. That layer of empty void outside the body corresponds, in the way of the Dao, to “the nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth” in the Daodejing; in the Yijing it corresponds to Fuxi’s pre-heaven hexagram arrangement. Gathering the external yellow sprout all day and awaiting pre-heaven jade nectar is precisely that kind of subtle realization.

To go further: this move of the void outside the body is, in Daoist terms, the nameless beginning of heaven and earth; in Yijing terms, Fuxi’s pre-heaven gua—Qian in the south, Kun in the north. Kan and Li within the body belong to King Wen’s post-heaven (houtian) Eight Trigrams (Bagua). Anyone learning the work of return and restoration must begin from the empty void outside the body, forgetting form and exhausting anxious thought—only then can they reach “acting before heaven so that heaven does not oppose.” If one seeks only within the physical body (se shen), at best one can only “acting after heaven and following heaven’s timing.” So Qian and Kun should be taken as host, Kan and Li as guest; the dharma body (fashen) as host, the physical body as guest. The Wuzhen Pian says, “Let it be host and I be guest”—that is exactly this. Who is guest and who is host within and without, and how pre-heaven and post-heaven are divided, must be understood clearly and trusted firmly; only then is there any point in speaking of the work of return. When great function stands forth, one will not be misled and dragged off course by the physical body.

In Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie symbolizes the human “corporeal body”—flesh and physical form. Many of the ordeals on the pilgrimage to fetch the scriptures arise because Tang Sanzang trusts Zhu Bajie’s words and is dragged down by attachment to the corporeal body. The story is making this point: if you cling to the physical body, trouble follows.

Shenxian Gangmu (Outline of Immortals) records that the Dark Heaven Emperor (Xuandi) cast off his body beneath She Shen Cliff and ascended—stating from the positive side that only by leaving the corporeal body behind can there be genuine verification.

“Casting off the body” means that when practice goes deep, one enters great samadhi and true emptiness, and body and mind do not move. Whether the corporeal body feels pain like knives and fire, drilling and sawing, dismembering—or pleasant ease, numbness, softness, tingling, jumping, and other strange sensations—the cultivator must remain fixed “outside,” not moving a hair, neither attending to these feelings nor getting stuck on them. The Yongjia Zhenggao Song says: “Even if an iron wheel spins atop your head, samadhi and wisdom, clear and round, are never lost.” Zhang Xujing also said: “Let it be—don’t mind it, don’t manage it; it is it”—here “it” means the corporeal body—“what can it do to me?” Only when you can truly leave the corporeal body behind and not cling to it at all do you touch what is genuinely “Pre-Heaven.” It is like Tang Sanzang: if at every step he listened to Sun Wukong and did not follow Zhu Bajie, the demons’ trials would never arise and the Western Paradise would be close at hand.

Tan Zixiao’s Huashu says: “Forget the form to nourish qi; forget qi to nourish shen; forget shen to nourish emptiness; emptiness and fullness interpenetrate—this is called great unity.” Xue Everbright said: “If a person empties this illusory transformation-body and personally receives the true track of the holy master.” The alchemical classics also say: “By going outside the body, the body is cultivated; by forgetting the form, the form remains.” All of these point to the same thing: taking “void” as your footing is the most crucial pivot in internal alchemy (Neidan) methods. The phrase “two true messages inside and outside the one body” means exactly this.

In alchemical texts old and new, the method of working with “void” (xu) is perhaps most skillfully set forth in Journey to the West.

Sun Wukong styles himself “Old Sun.” Consider this: whenever Tang Sanzang strays from Wukong, calamity from demons follows at once. When Wukong must go out, he often draws a circle on the ground and has the monk and his companions stay inside, warning them that stepping outside brings immediate danger. That circle is in fact Wukong’s seal and protection. The author feared readers might not grasp the point, so he used this episode to teach by example: from first to last, the Daoist path must be applied within “outer void” (wai xukong)—you must not let intention arise or fix attention on the physical body.

113 Preventing Peril and Considering Danger (continued)

In neidan discourse, what “preventing peril and considering danger” really targets is guarding against being unable to let go of the physical body, and worrying over being unable to forget the corporeal form. If at every step one can forget form and relinquish the body, and enter emptiness and natural spontaneity (xuwu ziran), then like the Dark Emperor (Xuan Di) ascending at the foot of Sacrifice Body Cliff (Sheshen Yan), what peril could remain? Again, in Journey to the West, whenever Sun Wukong goes into battle he first asks the demon: “Do you know Old Sun?” Yet such goblins only think of eating Tang Sanzang’s flesh to extend life for ten thousand years—mocking those who cling to the form body (se shen) in practice: opening gates and extending orifices, using post-heaven ascent and descent, moving and circulating blood and Qi to seek long life—most of them “do not recognize” who he is. Only the nine-headed lion pauses in thought and laughs: “So it’s him. My distant grandson—you’ve picked the wrong opponent.” Saying “him” twice points to grasping that “him” of the one decisive move in empty void (xukong); hence he is called patriarch (shizu)—the lion. Lion (shi zi) and “patriarch” (shi zu), Sun the maternal grandfather (sun waigong) and “work outside the body” (shen wai gong), are all puns. The meaning: if the teacher is genuine, he must teach starting from the void outside the body (shen wai xukong); only then can one return to the original root and align with the Way of the profound sect of the Dao (Xuanzong dadao zhi zong).

114 Internal Medicine and External Medicine

Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian), Xijiang yue, says: “Internal medicine is likewise external medicine; inner must connect and outer must connect too. The cinnabar head combines in the same category; nurturing warmth acts in two ways. Within is the natural true fire; in the furnace it blazes bright and long red. On the outer furnace, increase and decrease need diligent effort—nothing surpasses the marvelous true seed.” The names internal medicine (nei yao) and external medicine (wai yao) come from here. Commentators’ explanations diverge wildly, and students increasingly do not know whom to follow.

Internal medicine works by penetrating inward; it belongs to the practice stage known as the seven returns (qifan). Within the physical body, one yang returns (yiyang laifu)—what is commonly called the Kan-Li intersection (kanli xiangjiao) and the meeting of dragon and tiger (longhu xianghui). This happens because body and mind have both settled within the form, and one also responds to true yang (zhenyang) qi coming from outside; hence “at the Winter Solstice, one yang is born (dongzhi yiyang sheng)”: one may feel yang qi rising (the true yang in the Kan trigram turning upward—“metal in water (shuizhong jin)”) and the heart’s fluid descending (the true yin in the Li trigram descending—“water in fire (huozhong shui)”). When the four emblems of water, fire, metal, and wood unite, the Five Phases (wuxing) gather in one place, and body, mind, and intent—the “three families”—meet; this is what is aptly called internal medicine (neiyao).

External medicine works by penetrating outward. In extreme emptiness and deep stillness (xuji jingdu), primordial one qi (xiantian yiqi) comes from within the void; with one’s own vacuum one responds to that wondrous existence. Alchemical scriptures call this “the meeting of Qian and Kun at Zi and Wu (qiankun zi wu jiao)”—the side of practice belonging to the nine returns (jiuhuan). Within the physical body, what is natural without forced contrivance is called the principle of xing (nature); hence the saying “within there is the natural true fire; in the furnace the blaze burns bright and red”—here the furnace means the inner furnace (neilu). As for working outward in empty space, with mind and breath mutually relying on each other, moving from gentle fire (wenhuo) to strong fire (wuhuo) and back again, advancing and retreating in season and movement and stillness in order, only then does the omen of “yellow lower garment, supreme good fortune (huangshang yuanji)” appear. The shifts in fire timing (huohou) are such that missing by a hair’s breadth leads a thousand miles astray—hence “the outer furnace’s increase and decrease demand diligent effort.” This is the natural within deliberate doing and non-doing; it is called ming (life) practice, the subtle mystery within wondrous existence (miaoyou).

True seed (zhenzhong) refers to primordial one qi (xiantian yiqi). Primordial ancestral qi (xiantian zuqi) gives rise to the myriad transformations, like the seed of a plant.

The true seed refers to primordial one qi (xian tian yi qi). Primordial ancestor qi gives rise to the myriad transformations, much as plants grow from a seed. In the elixir tradition, practitioners “form the pill” from this primordial qi and use “seed” as a metaphor—again borrowing images to speak (jie xiang li yan). Practice never strays from mutual reliance of mind and breath (xin xi xiang yi); when one reaches the state of great stillness and true emptiness (da ding zhen kong), inner and outer elixir (nei yao, wai yao) both open.

Outwardly there is the nine returns (jiu huan): primordial qi arrives of itself. Inwardly there is the seven reversals (qi fan): the Five Phases and Four Emblems (wu xing, si xiang) unite of themselves. The three approaches naturally meet; water and fire naturally achieve completion (ji ji)—signs and confirmations need not be forced; they come as if when the water comes, the channel forms (shui dao qu cheng). Hence the Ruyao Jing (Mirror for Compounding the Medicine) says: “With utmost sincerity, the method is natural”; the Cantong Qi (Triplex Unity) says: “What nature does—there is no crooked or false Way.”

Gist of the oral formula: Inner elixir opens within—this is the naturalness of non-artificial non-action (wu zuo wu wei), produced by Kan and Li (kan li) joining within the body. Outer elixir opens without—this is the naturalness of deliberate action (you zuo you wei), born from Qian and Kun (qian kun) joining outside the body. The wonder of the elixir method lies in non-artificial non-action, merging marvelous being within true emptiness (zhen kong zhi miao you), inner and outer in harmony.

115. Wu Earth and Ji Earth

Someone asked: In the elixir tradition there is talk of Wu Earth and Ji Earth (wu tu, ji tu)—refining Wu Earth yields Kan’s moon-lead (kan yue zhi qian); refining Ji Earth yields Li’s sun-mercury (li ri zhi gong); when Wu and Ji unite into daogui (the “knife-spoon” measure of elixir), Kan and Li, dragon and tiger, and the Four Emblems cross and the pill forms. This is roughly how the theory goes—but in actual practice how are Wu Earth and Ji Earth distinguished? Please explain.

(If the original book continues with an answer, it should follow; here the question ends at this point.)

I once heard Master Wang (the author’s teacher in the Dao of alchemy) say that the most essential point in the Dao of alchemy is to realize “true emptiness” (zhenkong). When one truly reaches the state of great samadhi and true emptiness, the two Earths, Wu and Ji (in alchemical practice, Wu and Ji stand for the true earth of the central palace; Wu is yang earth and Ji is yin earth), naturally harmonize and combine, without any need for deliberate arrangement. To distinguish them: when one realizes inner emptiness, one obtains Ji Earth; the central palace is empty and still, not a single thought arises and not a single intention moves, and the Five Phases and Four Images (which stand for the Yin-Yang and Five-Phase Qi within the body) naturally harmonize. This is called the inner medicine and belongs to the seven returns. When one realizes outer emptiness, one obtains Wu Earth; the pre-heaven one Qi (xiantian yiqi, pre-heaven life energy) naturally arrives, and this is called the outer medicine and belongs to the nine reversions. Seven returns and nine reversions are the stages of alchemical practice in which one returns to the root, restores the source, and refines repeatedly. The pre-heaven one Qi is called the true seed; a seed must have true earth before it can develop, and the Dao of alchemy is the same. Only when true emptiness ○ (the circle symbolizes the void and true emptiness) manifests before one, and one possesses this true earth, can one receive the true seed coming from outside and attain the wondrous function of returning to the womb and remaking heaven and earth. These two Earths, Wu and Ji, are precisely the inner and outer mysterious pass (the key aperture in cultivation), the inner and outer furnace and cauldron (the vessels for refining body and mind), and the inner and outer Yellow Woman (the medium that harmonizes Yin-Yang); through them the work of seven returns and nine reversions is accomplished. The Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) says: “The inner medicine is the same as the outer medicine; when the inner is penetrated, the outer must also be penetrated.” One should know that once true emptiness is reached, both inner and outer medicines are penetrated, and the inner and outer earths naturally unite; inside and outside blend, form and spirit merge in hidden union, and all alchemical methods are naturally accomplished. That is why it is called the wondrous Dao that is supremely simple and supremely easy.

I once said that with the alchemical methods of the ancient immortals, one need only investigate Patriarch Lü’s (Lü Dongbin’s) names and symbolic forms (faxiang, the alchemical images symbolized by these names) to glimpse their general outline. Patriarch Lü’s personal name was Yan, his courtesy name Dongbin, his sobriquet Chunyang; he called himself Huiweng and was also known as Wushan Daoren. In his names and symbolic forms one can also see the principle that alchemical practice is naturally accomplished and supremely simple and easy.

I have said before that in the alchemical methods of immortals of old, if you investigate Patriarch Lü’s name, style, and symbolic forms, you can already glimpse the doorway. Patriarch Lü’s given name was Yan, his style Dongbin, his sobriquet Chunyang; he called himself Huī Wēng (Returning Elder), also Wushan Daoren (Mountain-of-Self Daoist), or Mr. Wukou (Five Mouths). Read the characters for “Lü” and “Yan” together and you get “five mouths, one mountain.” “Chunyang” (pure yang) refers to the primordial dharma body; “Dongbin” (cave guest) refers to the acquired form body: the body compounded from the four aggregates is only a “guest” in the empty cave; the void’s pure qian (Heaven) is the true host. What the Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) means by “let him be host and I be guest” is exactly this. When practice reaches great stillness (da ding), inner and outer are both empty; then inner and outer merge in silence, form body and dharma body interpenetrate—neither one nor two—forming the image of the character for “return” (hui), which is why Patriarch Lü called himself Huī Wēng. The Sanzijue (Three-Character Formula) says “mouth to mouth, aperture to aperture”—pointing straight at inner and outer both empty, matching the image in the character “Lü.” When inner and outer unite and wu and ji blend, the image of “return” appears. In the Yijing (Book of Changes), Gen is mountain; mountain is stopping. When body and mind are utterly still and unmoving, until great stillness, then “east three, south two, north one, west four” meet in the palace of wu and ji—this is the secret of “five mouths, one mountain,” also the image of “return.” Look again at the character “Yan”: body, mind, and intent stand unmoving like a mountain—that is the utmost of great stillness.

Essential Meaning of Union of Nature and Life

Union of Nature and Life says: “To gather and unify Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit), the key lies in emptiness and stillness. When the heart can be empty, Shen can merge with Xing (nature); when the body can be still, Jing can settle with Qing (emotion/desire); when intention reaches great stillness (da ding—mind unmoved, as in deep meditative absorption), the three treasures of Jing, Qi, and Shen can blend into one. When Qing and Xing unite, this is called Jin and Mu united (a metaphor for Liver Wood and Lung Metal joining); when Jing and Shen unite, this is called Water and Fire interacting (Kidney water and Heart fire mutually nourishing); when intention reaches great stillness, this is called the Five Phases complete (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth all present). Jing transforms into Qi because the body does not move; Qi transforms into Shen because the heart does not move; Shen transforms into emptiness because intention does not move.”

This passage shows body, heart, and intention entering great stillness together—the foundation of the internal alchemy “three transformations”—and aligns with the Fa Xiang (symbolic image) associated with the character “Yan” (rock/cliff); it can be regarded as authentic transmission in the line of Qiu Zu (Eternal Spring Perfected Qiu Chuji).

Therefore the elixir formulas passed down by our predecessors take great stillness and true emptiness (mind empty and still, unmoved) as essential. Before reaching this state, neither inner medicine (Jing, Qi, and Shen within the body) nor outer medicine (external work such as gathering and firing) can be explained coherently; Wu Earth and Ji Earth (in Neidan, metaphors for Spleen earth, intentional earth, etc., presiding over the central palace and moving Water and Fire) cannot be seen; and the Five Phases and Four Images of Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal cannot be gathered and joined (clustered and “married” into the elixir).

116 Upper Closure and Lower Closure

The “Know the white, keep the black” chapter of Cantong Qi says: “When the upper closes, it is called ‘having’; when the lower closes, it is called ‘not having.’ ‘Not having’ serves what is above; above dwells spirit and De (Virtue/Power). These two orifices are the method; Metal Qi also mutually supports.” These lines are hard to understand. In brief: heart and breath harmonize in the Mysterious Orifice (between the brows or the ancestral aperture, etc.—schools differ slightly); upper and lower Qi meet in the central palace; Yin and Yang subtly unite and return to the state before the Image of the Emperor (before the Dao-body divides, in primordial chaos).

Note: “116” appears to be a section number; “Yan character Fa Xiang” may refer to a character formula or diagram symbol linked to “Yan”; the original does not expand on it, so it is retained here only at the literal level.

Here the commentary draws on the Eastern and Western lineages of masters to set out the full meaning.

Lu Zuxuan (Lu the Hidden Void) said: “What is meant by upper closure? ‘Upper’ refers to Yang, Kan, Wu, and qing (desire and emotion); ‘lower’ refers to Yin, Li, Ji, and xing (inner nature). ‘Closure’ means not to stir or activate. Upper closure is the pre-heaven lead in Kan that has not yet been disturbed—its signs have not yet appeared. Lower closure is the post-heaven mercury long accumulated in Li, firmly sealed so that it must not be released. Although the signs are not yet visible, something subtle already exists in the hidden depth, and within that there is its own confirmation—therefore upper closure is called ‘you’ (having). Inwardly one nourishes the self (ji) with it, resting quietly in emptiness and non-being—therefore lower closure is called ‘wu’ (non-being). ‘Wu’ is what serves and upholds what is above; above is where spirit and De (Virtue/Power) dwell. ‘To serve’ (feng) means to guard with care, reverence, and strict attention. Spirit and De is the De of spirit and numinosity—the true second Heavenly Stem (yi) qi— dwelling in the abode of Kan and Wu. When it arrives it is called ‘having,’ while the side of ‘non-being’ watches closely, receives it with bowed respect, like a minister serving a ruler, daring not the slightest lapse. Only then can one preserve non-being while guarding being, and in the end align qing with xing so that the work of deliberate cultivation (youwei) is complete. These two layers are both about how the aperture (kongxue) is applied; without a master’s transmission they cannot be understood.”

Laozi said: “Constantly keep the mind of desire to observe its aperture.” He also said: “The gate of the Mysterious Female (xuanpin)—this is called the root of Heaven and Earth.” Zhongli Quan said: “The gate that gives me life, the door that brings me death.” These are one aperture spoken of under two names—different names, one source. Here is the aperture where Metal-phase qi (jin qi) mutually depend and where they mutually sustain each other. Once you know they require one another, you can seek it through attentive investigation and guard it through steadfast holding.

Master Hanxu said: “Upper and lower refer to Heaven and Earth; bi (closure) means secret, dark mutual fitting; you wu (being and non-being) speaks of the wondrous aperture—that subtle opening; cheng (to name) means to give it a name and describe it. One above and one below are both hidden within this aperture; seeming to exist yet not, appearing and vanishing, all lie within this same opening.

When a person reaches zhixu shoujing—attaining emptiness and keeping still—and Heaven and Earth merge in darkness, one may use ‘being’ (you) to contemplate what is within: the wondrous that is, hard to name yet must be named, hence called ‘being.’ This is what Laozi meant by ‘in the deep and dark there is essence; within it there is trust.’

One may also use ‘non-being’ (wu) to contemplate the aperture within: the void aperture that can be hinted at yet never fully captured, hence called ‘non-being.’ That is the realm where ‘within it there is something; its essence is very real; within it there is trust’ turns into ‘things return to no-thing.’

Here ‘non-being’ is what is used for upward nurturing and upward union—not empty nothingness, but pre-heaven true lead (zhen qian). Laozi’s ‘shape without shape, image without image; meet it and you do not see its head; follow it and you do not see its tail’ describes exactly this.

In elixir practice, using ‘non-being’ to offer upward means refining ‘non-being’ back into ‘being.’ As for the word ‘offer’ (feng)—who reverently nurtures? Who unites with whom? Once shen (spirit) and de (virtue/power) dwell in peace, qi naturally returns; that return itself is the offering. What one fears is lacking shen and de above. ‘Above’ here means above the Yellow Court (huangting); ‘de’ means the virtue of humility and softness. Cantong qi says ‘the reversal is the proof of Dao; weakness is the handle of de’—that is the point: attaining emptiness relies on Dao; seeking lead relies on de. De is active (youwei); Dao is non-action (wuwei)—this must be understood clearly.

The two openings are the gate of the Mysterious Female (xuanpin zhi men)—where the golden elixir is born. Within this one aperture and two openings, if one knows the method of chasing and gathering (zhuishe), both doors will open. Then golden qi returns and the nature-body is restored—only then can it be called returning elixir (huandan). Hence ‘golden qi also mutually depends’—xiangxu means relying on one another through this chasing-and-gathering method.”

Zhongzi Zhizhi (Direct Pointing at the Character "Zhong") puts it this way: look again at what Cantong Qi (The Unity of the Three) says—“when the upper closes, it is called you (having); when the lower closes, it is called wu (non-being).” I take the words “upper” and “lower” both as folded into the character zhong (middle/center): yin and yang move back and forth within it, Kan and Li rise and fall within it; upper and lower close together and all return to this layer of “center.”

Therefore, when the upper closes downward, it is like tightening the subtle and merging with the great void—primordial Qi (yuanqi) turns on its own, so it is called “non-being”; this is also the meaning of “contemplating the subtle” (guan miao, attending to what cannot be named). When the lower closes upward, it stays hidden and does not show; yet in the dark there is essence (jing), and within that essence there is trustworthiness, so it is called “having”—this is also the meaning of “contemplating the aperture” (guan qiao, attending to the crucial place). Upper closure and lower closure both end in xuanpin (the dark female, the deep mother-source that begets the ten thousand things); without desire and with desire both dwell in the same subtle depth.

So the “single aperture of the mysterious pass” (xuanguan yiqiao, the one key opening in practice) is called by some the “aperture of being and non-being,” by others the “upper and lower cauldrons,” by others the “yin-yang tripod,” by others the “spirit-qi cave”—the names differ, but the root is here: all are gathered under the one word zhong (center).

I read the substance and function of the mysterious pass from Cantong Qi as follows: when the text speaks of the mysterious pass earlier, it mentions the yin-yang tripod and the spirit-qi cave; those come from this, all unified in the meaning of “center.”

According to the Cantong Qi, the Mysterious Pass (Xuan Guan) has both a “substance” (ti) and an “function” (yong). The earlier passages on the Mysterious Pass use phrases such as “square and round within an inch, blending and supporting each other, born before Heaven and Earth, lofty and supreme”—that is describing its substance; here the text explains its function. What is this function? It is the practice of heart-and-breath mutual reliance, and the aim of joint contemplation of the wondrous aperture.

“Closing” is like two doors meeting in the dark, or lid and vessel fitting tightly: the heart-mind belongs to wondrous emptiness, the breath to wondrous being. “Above and below” refer to heart and breath. When the heart joins with the breath, from non-being to being—hence “when the upper closes, it is called having.” When the breath joins with the heart, from being to non-being—hence “when the lower closes, it is called not-having.” Gathering above and below back to the center is the meeting of Yin-Yang’s two aspects and the return to Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate). When heart and breath wondrously unite and condense, nature and life of the whole person align; the purpose of returning to the root and restoring life is fulfilled here.

In utmost emptiness and deep stillness, when the single yang returns and the moment arrives with spirit knowing, one meets it from the lower body and must not miss the trigger of the moving yao. It is like the host welcoming the guest inside: the guest oddly takes the higher place while the host attends— utmost humility—so it says, “the non-being serves what is above; above, spirit-virtue dwells.” “Spirit-virtue” means pre-heaven primordial Qi (xian tian yi qi): the pre-heaven ancestral qi is subtly unfathomable, the gathering place of myriad virtues, hence praised as spirit-virtue dwelling above, while “non-being” serves below.

“Outer coming, inner passage—the zi-wu work” speaks of huohou (timing of the “fire”). This single aperture of the Mysterious Pass has the marvel of Yin-Yang opening and closing, movement and stillness coexisting, hence it is called “two hole-apertures,” also “Wuji Gate.” “Metal qi also mutually depends” means pre-heaven ancestral qi must return by way of this. In sum: spirit settled, qi returning, emptiness and being wondrously joined—Water and Fire mutually fulfilled (shui huo ji ji).

These lines in the Cantong Qi inherit Laozi’s “know the male, keep to the female; know the white, keep to the black; constant virtue does not depart, constant virtue is not faulty”—only swapping “white and black” for “above and below,” all describing the image of heart-and-breath mutual reliance. The Zhuangzi says “one down, one up, taking harmony as measure”; the above and below here likewise mean heart and breath.

117 Knowing Harmony and Knowing Constancy

The secret of refining the elixir lies in the single word he (harmony). Liezi says: “He means being broadly in accord and at one with the myriad things.” Zhuangzi says: “Whether descending or ascending, take harmony as the measure.” It also says: “De is harmony.” And again: “De is the sum of accomplishment and cultivation”; “In the midst of silence, one alone hears the sound of harmony”; “One who understands virtue from Heaven and Earth is called the great root and great ancestor—one who is in harmony with Heaven; therefore one can harmonize all under Heaven and be in harmony with people. Harmony with people is called human joy; harmony with Heaven is called heavenly joy.” “Embrace De and extend harmony, to follow the way of all under Heaven.” Guangchengzi said: “I hold to the One and dwell in harmony.” Laozi said: “The myriad things carry yin and embrace yang; they blend qi to make harmony.” He also said: “To know harmony is called constancy; to know constancy is called clarity.” “Ultimate yin is solemn; ultimate yang is blazing—solemnity arises from earth, blazing arises from heaven; when the two interact they achieve harmony and things are born.”

I hold that he is the image of heart and breath in mutual accord, yin and yang each in their place and following one another. When heart and breath rely on each other, the yin and yang of my body interact and achieve harmony; then, using the harmony of my body to resonate outward, “harmony is achieved and things are born.”

The author states that harmony (he) means a state in which heart-mind and breath work together and yin and yang each stay in their proper kind and follow one another. When heart-mind and breath are one, yin and yang within the body can interflow and form harmony; then, by letting one’s own harmony resonate with the harmony of Heaven and Earth, person and cosmos become one—Heaven and Earth’s harmony is one’s own harmony. This is what is meant by “uniting one’s De with Heaven and Earth.” When heart-mind and breath rely on each other, spirit (Shen) and Qi both settle and one can hold to what is truly constant. After long stillness, concentration (ding) naturally arises; at the utmost of concentration, clarity (ming) is born, and realm and insight merge—hence Laozi’s “knowing constancy is called clarity”: harmony, constancy, and clarity can be taken as one in their root meaning. Yet in practice there is an order of stages; one must not skip ahead rashly.

The Wuchu Jing (Scripture of the Five Kitchens) says: “One breath harmonizes the great harmony; obtaining the Dao, all is peace.” The Cantong Qi says: “When there is harmony, there is following,” and also: “Neither cold nor hot; advance and retreat match the season. Each attains its harmony, and both give forth the verification sign.” Master of Hidden Void (Qianxu Weng) stressed: “The single word harmony is the most crucial pivot,” and said that both the fulu (talisman) and the verification (zheng) arise from harmonious Qi—in elixir work, “when the medicine forms it is the sign; when the medicine is complete it is the verification,” all from this breath of harmony. The Cantong Qi also says: “When there is harmony, there is following; the road is level and not crooked.” Guangchengzi said to the Yellow Emperor: “I guard the One and dwell in harmony.” The Immortal Elder takes sun and moon as emblems and evenly adjusts fire and water, then closes with the word harmony—the meaning runs very deep. “Dwelling in harmony” means regulating yin and yang so that Qi moves in orderly harmony. The Cantong Qi speaks of “rewards and penalties answering to spring and autumn, dusk and dawn following cold and heat,” and of “observing with strict care, examining and adjusting cold and warm”—this is dwelling in harmony. Harmony, in the elixir tradition, is what is called huohou (the timing and measure of the “fire”): fine adjustment as the four seasons, cold and heat, and waxing and waning of yin and yang demand—neither scorching nor chilly, advance and retreat in season.

Harmony and True Constancy

When I examine the character for “elixir” (dan), it is originally the image of sun and moon joined; therefore in refining the elixir one always takes harmony (he) as essential. When heart-and-mind and breath secretly unite, that is harmony; when Kan and Li interpenetrate, that is harmony; when Qian and Kun meet, that is also harmony. Cuixu pian says: “When spirit and mind merge in darkness and qi (vital energy) returns to one place, flesh and bone melt together so that one no longer notices oneself.” Xinyin jing says: “When supreme harmony (tai he) fills and overflows, the bones feel clear and moist like cold jade.” The subtle efficacy of harmony can be seen from this. One may know that harmony is the key to long life and lasting vision; those who can attain harmony can also attain constancy (chang). Chang means true constancy (zhen chang). Qingjing jing says: “True constancy responds to things; true constancy obtains nature.” It also says: “The way of true constancy—those who awaken obtain it by themselves; those who obtain and awaken to the Dao are constantly pure and still.” From this one knows that true constancy is the spiritual clarity of human original nature—original nature’s spiritual clarity is the true self, unspoiled through kalpas, hence called true constancy.

118 Knowing the Male and Guarding the Female

Laozi said: “Know the male, guard the female, and be the ravine of the world. Being the ravine of the world, virtue/power (de) never leaves, and one returns to the infant.”

Here “male” and “female” broadly refer to mind, breath, spirit, and qi. To know the male and guard the female is to unite spirit with breath, spirit and breath depending on each other so that nature (xing) and life (ming) become one—from the Two Forms (liang yi) returning to Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). When stillness reaches the utmost and yang stirs, true yang does not depart, and one returns to the infant.

This discussion of “the masculine” (xiong) and “the feminine” (ci) concerns how heart, breath, spirit (Shen), and qi relate. Knowing the masculine and guarding the feminine means using Shen to harmonize with breath, so spirit and breath stay mutually dependent and nature and life unite (xingming heyi)—returning from the Yin-Yang pair to Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). When stillness reaches its depth, true Yang stirs on its own; respond by stirring it with Xun wind, and it breaks through the passes and pierces the crown—like the Yellow River’s waters surging upward against the current. In alchemical scripture this is called hec che (the “river cart”: the image of qi rising along the Governing Vessel).

Patriarch Lü said: “White clouds ascend toward the upper gate; sweet dew sprinkles Mount Sumeru.” Longmeizi said: “Sweet dew moistens all things throughout the void; one stream of the numinous spring spreads across a long river.” Wei Boyang said: “Cultivate without ceasing in cultivation; then vital qi moves like clouds and rain. It flows abundantly like spring rains, liquid as melting ice. From the head it runs down to the feet, and in the end rises again. Coming and going it penetrates the boundless; gentle and soft it wraps the form within.” The phrase “like the stream of all under heaven” truly describes such a state: from then on the prior heaven and posterior heaven naturally merge, never leaving zhenkong (the empty, luminous stillness that does not stir). When qi is full and Shen is settled, there is no thought and no worry—the “three minds” are extinguished and the “four marks” forget the body. In chaos and turbidity one becomes again like an infant: this is called returning to childhood (fanchong). The crux lies entirely in knowing the masculine and guarding the feminine.

Patriarch Hanxu, in Donglai Zhengyi, further opens two meanings to clarify this chapter: the masculine bestows, the feminine transforms, and the masculine returns, the feminine lies hidden. When masculine and feminine interact, gold hides within water, and water again begets gold; when metal-qi is sufficient the tidal surge arrives, forceful as canal-stream water reversing and rushing upward—that is the water of the world’s canal-stream. Cantong qi says: “The masculine Yang spreads the mysterious bestowal; the feminine Yin governs yellow transformation.” That is one sense of knowing the masculine and guarding the feminine.

Again: if we speak of producing the medicine (chanyao), when Yin reaches its limit Yang is born—the feminine carries the masculine within; if we speak of nourishing the elixir, when Yang reaches its limit Yin is born—the masculine carries the feminine within. The masculine carrying the feminine is precisely “the feminine Yin governs yellow transformation”—that too is one sense of knowing the masculine and guarding the feminine.

On the principle of how the ten thousand things come into being: when yin reaches its limit, yang is born—this is “yin within bears yang”: within the yin position the first yang is conceived. On nurturing the ten thousand things: when yang reaches its limit, yin is born—this is “yang within bears yin”: within the yang position yin is contained once again. “Yang within bears yin” means: once yang has returned to unite with the elixir, one must still let yin lie still to warm the elixir—like ravines and valleys, where water pours from above and settles into the hollow; thus the way of holding to the feminine is like the world’s streams and gullies: there is flow and there is return, return into the ravine, again like return to the Huangting (Yellow Court), then return to the inner infant, entering stillness to nourish the sagely embryo. The Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) says: “Within yang, yin is held; the holy embryo is formed.” From this one sees that yang holding yin is yet another layer of meaning.

The two layers above unfold the intent of the mysterious sages’ classics—depth made plain, what earlier people had not brought out; reduced to practice, they are simply transformations within mind and breath mutually relying. The first meaning reveals gathering and taking: the sun shifts into the moon’s light; spirit and breath mutually embrace, so that one yang returns—in the Yijing this belongs to the Fu hexagram; water generates metal, pointing to that single yang line in Fu. The second meaning reveals warm nurturing: when yang peaks, yin is born—in the Yijing this belongs to the Gou hexagram; after the elixir is obtained, one works it with spirit fire, so spirit and qi stay joined without parting, until spirit and qi both transform and the embryo is round—stillness within movement, hence the full work of nourishing the embryo; movement within stillness, hence the stirring of primordial yang. Dynamic and still are used together, and the way of the elixir is complete. The Wuzhen Pian says: “From Fu and Gou one can now apply them—who says the golden elixir does not succeed?” How apt those words are!

119 Knowing the white and holding the black.

Laozi says: “Understand the principle of ‘white,’ yet keep to the position of ‘black,’ and you may become the model for the world. As the world’s model, the constant virtue (changde) will not go astray, and you return to the limitless (wuji).”

The Cantong qi (Token for the Agreement of the Three) says: “Know the white, guard the black, and spirit-light (shenming) will come of itself. ‘White’ refers to metal essence (jinjing); ‘black’ refers to the water foundation (shuiji). Water occupies the utmost place in the Dao; its number is ‘one.’”

Lu Xixing says: The “spirit-light” (shenming) spoken of here is spirit virtue (shende). White is metal essence; metal essence is metal qi (jinqi). Among the qi of the Five Phases (wuxing), metal generates water; yet in the creating-and-transforming work of returning the elixir (huandan), the innate white metal is born within Kan water (kanshui). Therefore the alchemist must empty the heart and hold oneself in reverence, and from the Kan position seek lead (the one yang line within Kan). When the moment arrives and the mechanism stirs, spirit-light comes of itself—just as the saying goes, “Suddenly at midnight a clap of thunder; ten thousand doors and a thousand gates open in turn”—and the mutual dependence of their subtle function is revealed.

The Patriarch Hanxu says: White is metal essence; black is the water foundation. Metal essence is the male yang spreading into female yin and thus engendering… (The excerpted original text ends here.)

Hanxu Patriarch said: “White” refers to the refined qi of Metal; “black” refers to the root of Water. So-called golden essence is what arises when the dispersing qi of the male Yang enters the female Yin and generates. Before that refined qi has formed, the body of Kun (Yin) is originally empty; through exchanging light with Qian (Yang), Kun fills and transforms into the image of the Kan trigram. Once Kan’s form is complete, the moon at the Dui position sheds its radiance—this is called “gold within water.” Gold within water is in fact entirely nurtured by the Kun mother, hence it is called mother qi (mu qi). The Wuzhen pian says, “Take white from black as the elixir mother”—that is the meaning.

Mother qi carries white light and is termed yang light. Once yang light appears, one must move the mercury of one’s own body to meet it—this is what is meant by “seeking the medicine at the second watch.” When the two match, eight and eight of the same kind, at one moment they are seized and fused; refining yields the yang elixir, which is the elixir mother. Yet because this creation occurs externally, the elixir mother counts only as outer medicine. The student uses outer medicine to cultivate inner medicine, using mother qi to subdue child qi. From within the elixir mother, yang lead is again produced; then one drives the river chariot to convey it, reversing it back to the natal palace, where it lies hidden in the earthen cauldron—four watches harmonize, three qi unite in joy. That one round of true delight yields long life.

But though the method is thus, one must know that “white” must first “guard black”; guarding black enables knowing white; after knowing white one must again guard black. Within this are three layers of subtle use, which may serve as the form and pattern for all under heaven. If people act accordingly, the constant Dao of nature will not go astray; without straying, one can return to witness the Wuji and refine spirit to return to emptiness.

“To know white one must first guard black” is yang entering within yin; “guarding black enables knowing white” is yang qi produced from within yin; “knowing white one must still guard black” is spirit returning to qi and qi hiding within. The principle of heaven, earth, and the myriad things is all like this—hence it is called the form and pattern for all under heaven.

Xuanjing says: The two patriarchs who spoke earlier, from the Eastern and Western lineages, expounded the essential points of the elixir path (Neidan) with such precision and clarity that little remains to add. What they revealed belongs mostly to the level of principle and meaning; in terms of actual cultivation practice, it is a subtle union of heart-and-mind (xin) with breath (xi), the sprouting of yang qi within stillness and samadhi (jingding), using “vacuity” (zhenkong) to awaken “wondrous being” (miaoyou), then returning “wondrous being” to “vacuity.” Only when spirit (shen) and breath fuse into one, and nature (xing) and life (ming) secretly join and become a single whole, can the Dao embryo (daotai) form. The terms “black” and “white” are also metaphors for yin and yang, never straying from body, heart, spirit, and qi.

At first one uses spirit to govern qi: the coming and going of breath can be faintly sensed outwardly—neither clinging to it on purpose nor treating it with total indifference. One simply nourishes it in accord with nature, then in accord with nature lets it go, gradually sinking into obscure trance and entering the realm of harmonious stillness. When yin and yang first meet, the subtle point lies right here—this is the first stage of the practice of “knowing the white and guarding the black” (zhi bai shou hei).

Spirit and breath are first stabilized outwardly: when outer breathing has ceased, it is like sun and moon joining in one disk, at the juncture between the hexagrams Bo (Stripping) and Fu (Return), the gate between the dark of the month and the new moon. One then enters the utterly still, unmoving state of the “Diwen” samadhi of Master Huizi. The person returns to pure Kun; inner and outer are both still; breath and thought both vanish. When the inner forms “jitu” and the outer “wutu”—the image of the empty circle—pure Qian in the void must respond and come. At the first stir of the one yang, when the moment arrives spirit knows it by itself and matches the natural rhythm in subtle union. In a single instant of awakening, one leaves the physical form and heart and breath depend on each other outwardly (originally there was no breath; because spirit moves, qi also moves, hence breath appears). “Raise the Xun wind, move the Kun fire, lift gently, circulate in silence”—that is the second stage of “knowing the white and guarding the black.”

When spirit and breath merge again and one gradually enters true samadhi (zhending), inner and outer are both forgotten, mind and environment are utterly still, self and dharmas are both forgotten, and one returns to the limitless (wuji). The innate true yang that is felt will not slip away; one can “send it back to the earthen cauldron and seal it firm”—this is the third stage of “knowing the white and guarding the black.”

Practitioners must understand one point above all: the methods of Neidan (internal alchemy) must not be clung to in the slightest on the level of the physical body. Once there is clinging, essence and Qi leak, the elixir work scatters, and all sorts of disorders arise.

In practice one must enter a state of chaos and return to Wuji (the Limitless)—like a “living corpse” who even forgets the signs and images of the samādhi state experienced in deep stillness. Only after reaching the level where “there is no ‘nothing,’ and no ‘not-nothing’ either,” and remaining clear, serene, and constantly still, can Qi truly gather and the elixir coalesce, so that the full course of Six Dragons transformation can appear.

From the first stage of refining Jing (essence) to transform Qi (vital energy), through to the final stages of refining Shen (spirit) to return to emptiness, then forgetting emptiness to unite with the Dao, each phase must follow the same rule: forget even the signs of stillness, until there is no “nothing” and no “not-nothing,” remaining clear and constantly still—then advance straight through in one continuous movement.

That is why those who truly understand find the path simpler and easier the further they go, while the confused make it more elaborate and harder the more they try. The supreme elixir teaching takes “true emptiness” as the master thread of practice. The longer one abides in great samādhi and true emptiness, the faster the results come. When not a single moment in the twelve double-hours of the day falls outside that great stillness—when one can no longer even find the breath—the spiritual fetus completes and the spirit emerges naturally: the spirit body can separate from the physical body.

The preceding text focuses specifically on where to begin in practice—the true oral formula of “knowing white and guarding black.”

At the beginning: Yang enters into yin—gathering spirit and entering the qi cavity is like the sun moving into the moon’s wheel of light; therefore one must “seek lead” at this stage. Patriarch Li said: “If you wish to know white, you must first guard black.”

In the middle: Yang is reborn within yin; when stillness reaches its limit, movement arises again—this is “only by guarding black can one know white.”

At the end: Spirit returns and qi subsides; one subtly enters great stillness, the realm of “silent oblivion”; the two days (prior and posterior) naturally merge and harmonize, gradually gathering and gradually condensing, until the elixir forms—this is “having known white, one must still guard black.”

The Yinfu Jing says: “Three reversals of day and night—employ the host, and the effect is multiplied ten thousandfold.” Day and night signify movement and stillness; “host” refers to the multitude of qi; “employ” refers to the work of spirit-function. Wen cooking, wu refining, stopping fire and warm nurturing—after three rounds of reversal the work is complete, matching the principle that Patriarch Hanxu revealed. Is this not the hidden mechanism of returning to life and the bridge of returning to the origin!

120. Nourishing the Mother and Guarding the Mother

Laozi said: “There is something confusedly complete, born before Heaven and Earth. Silent and void, it stands alone and does not change, goes round and does not weary—it can serve as the mother of the world. I do not know its name; I style it Dao.”

Vernacular Explanation

Commentary: The virtue of huncheng (undifferentiated completion) is the great ocean of perfect enlightenment-nature: in movement it becomes one Qi—the zhenyi (true one) breath—and upon this the Daoist art of liaoming (fulfilling life, refining the form) is established; in stillness it pervades and embraces all, like the Tathāgatagarbha and the wondrous zhenru mind, and upon this the Buddhist art of cultivating nature is established. Before movement and stillness are divided, nature and life are originally one body. This is the body of primordial truth: empty, still, vast, pure, and all-pervading—it originally had no name, so we call it the Dao only by necessity. All supramundane teachings arise from here; all worldly teachings are also established here—hence it is also called “the mother of the world.” Fu Dashi said: “There is something prior to Heaven and Earth, formless yet originally silent and empty, able to be master of the myriad forms, not withering with the four seasons.” The meaning is the same as Laozi’s.

The Daodejing also says: “All people have something they rely on; only I am dull and lowly; only I differ from others, and value ‘nourishing the Mother.’” It also says: “The world has an origin; take it as the mother of the world. Having obtained the mother, one can know her children; having known the children, one must still guard the mother, and to the end of life there will be no danger.” This learning of “nourishing the Mother” and “guarding the Mother” is what the profound teaching of the Xuan (mysterious) exalts and what Daoists constantly practice—the essential method of returning to the root.

Nourishing the Mother means seeking nourishment from the “Mother”: it refers to heart and breath depending on each other, achieving vagueness and obscurity, emptiness and chaos, so that one communes with the primordial one Qi, which steams and irrigates, nourishing both the dharma body and the physical body, making original Qi daily stronger and true nature daily restored, the foundation of life forever firm and the body of nature perfectly bright. This is the main import of nourishing the Mother. The Cantong qi says: “The loving mother nurtures; the filial child repays—thus they connect throat to throat, chewing and swallowing each other.” That is precisely this way.

Section One

When Original Qi grows stronger day by day, true nature is restored day by day, the foundation of life stands firm without wavering, and the body of nature is bright and complete—this is the gist of “nourishing the Mother.” The Cantong qi (Joining the Triplex Unity) says: “The loving mother nurtures; the filial child repays her kindness. They take turns swallowing and chewing, each devouring the other.” That is exactly this principle.

After Obtaining the Elixir

After the elixir is obtained, one must embrace unity and guard the One, quietly nurturing the Dao embryo—this is called “guarding the Mother.” To guard is to warm and nurture with gentle fire (wenhuo). Guarding the Mother is the work of nurturing the embryo; nourishing the Mother is the work of gathering and refining. When both nourishing the Mother and guarding the Mother are present, warm nurturing and gathering-refining are complete.

Master Hanxu’s Teaching

Master Hanxu (a Neidan scholar) said: Take Yang lead as the Mother and Yin mercury as the child. Yin mercury is the post-heaven child-qi; Yang lead is the pre-heaven Mother-Qi. Use external Yang lead to subdue internal Yin mercury; when Mother and child meet, it is said that one “knows the child.” But for Yang lead to rise, one must rely on firing times (huohou). Lead is born in the Kan palace (the kidneys) and sinks without rising; to make it control the true mercury of the Li palace (the heart), one must apply vigorous fire (wuhuo) in intense refinement so that it can soar upward. After it joins with true mercury, Mother and child meet—hence “knowing the child.” The arrival of Yang lead likewise cannot do without firing times. Lead in the Kan palace sinks and does not rise; to make it control the true mercury of the Li palace, vigorous fire must be applied in strong cooking before it can fly upward. After meeting true mercury, one should hold the fortress and bathe (muyu)—one must not add vigorous fire again. At first the Mother comes out of longing for the child; then the child stays out of longing for the Mother. Hence “having known the child, return to guard the Mother.” When Mother and child cling to each other, one is never endangered, and the great elixir is complete.

Perfected One Qianxu’s Teaching

Perfected One Qianxu said: The art of guarding the Mother is also called nourishing the Mother; its meaning runs very deep. Sages of the three teachings share this single lifeline. Confucians who grasp it unfold the transmission of “refined singleness”; Buddhists who grasp it open the gate of “nonduality”; Laozi who grasped it cultivated the learning of “embracing the One.” In the end, it is all one and the same Way.

What Is Meant by “Keeping to the Mother”?

What is meant by “keeping to the Mother”? Blocking the openings that face outward and shutting the gates of coming and going is keeping to the Mother. Being able to see what is fine and subtle and to hold to softness is keeping to the Mother. Borrowing light without flaunting it, and gathering that light back into clarity, is also keeping to the Mother.

The art of keeping to the Mother is the crucial secret within fuming—returning to the root of life. Only when one can truly fuming can one carry the Great Dao forward from generation to generation, unite with the Dao, and come home to what is real.

121 Embracing the One and Obtaining the One

Laozi said: “The sage embraces the One as the standard for the world.” He also said: “In antiquity, those who obtained the One: Heaven obtained it and became clear; Earth obtained it and became still; spirit obtained it and became numinous; the valley obtained it and became full; the ten thousand things obtained it and came to life; lords and kings obtained it and became upright rulers of the world—their attainment was one.”

Zhuangzi says: “Penetrate the One, and the myriad affairs are accomplished.” Baopuzi says: “The Dao dwells with the One; in dignity it is unique. Look for it and you do not see it; listen for it and you do not hear it. Keep it and it is there; neglect it and it seems gone. Turn toward it and there is good fortune; turn away and there is misfortune. Preserve it and blessing lasts long; lose it and form withers and breath fails.”

Laozi also said: “Dim, it seems to be there; indistinct, within it is a form. Indistinct, it seems to be there; dim, within it is a thing.” He was speaking of this “One.”

Immortal scriptures say: If you wish to seek long life, in guarding the One you must understand its principle. When you think of the One, in hunger the One becomes grain; when you think of the One, in thirst the One becomes drink. The One can generate and transform yin and yang, and shift cold and heat. In spring, obtaining the One brings forth growth; in summer, obtaining the One brings maturity; in autumn, obtaining the One brings gathering in; in winter, obtaining the One brings storage. So great that heaven, earth, and the six directions cannot be used as a ladder to measure it; so small that it cannot be compared to the finest hair.

Master Baizhen said: This is the True One Qi (Zhenyi zhi qi)—prior to the myriad forms, dwelling in supreme emptiness, supreme nothingness, supreme void, and supreme origin. Remote and indistinct, it cannot be grasped by measure or quantity; vast and boundless, it cannot be fathomed by any shore or limit. As large as can be, nothing lies outside it; as small as can be, nothing lies within it. In the large it embraces heaven and earth; in the small it enters the finest hair. Above, no color can name it; below, no abyss can be its bottom. One thing completes in a circle, revealed through the ages. It cannot be forced into a name; the sage accords with it in the heart, and only when there is no alternative is it called the Dao (the Way).

It is also said: One can concentrate qi until it is soft, hold the light in silence; nurture what is upright and keep fullness, guard the feminine and embrace the One. With the one heart unmoved, the ten thousand concerns all fall still. Ten thousand volumes of alchemical scriptures are not equal to guarding the One. Guard this One well, and the ten thousand methods all return to the One. Obtain this One, and though the form of the later heaven dies, the true self does not perish; lose this One, and you rot together with the ten thousand things. For laying the foundation, the One is the foundation; for gathering the medicine, the One is the medicine; for refining and transforming, the One is the fire; for forming the elixir, the One is the elixir; for nurturing the embryo, the One is the sacred embryo; for circulating the work, the One is the drawing and adding; for holding fast, the One is the securing and bridging; for clarifying, the One is the bathing.

Xuanjing said: What is meant here by “the One” is Miaoyou zhi qi (the vital energy arising from the subtle functioning of the Dao-body, not yet differentiated)—also called xiantian zu qi (congenital ancestral qi) and zhenyi zhi qi (true yi qi). Speaking of “qi” refers to its circulation and movement; speaking of “shen” (spirit) refers to its luminous functioning; speaking of “jing” (essence) refers to its condensing into form—in essence they are one and the same.

The Xuanzong (Daoist tradition) attains the One and realizes truth; the Ruzong (Confucian tradition) attains the One and assists in transforming and nourishing; the Chanzong (Chan tradition) attains the One and illuminates the mind to see nature—thus all three teachings prize “attaining the One.” After attaining the One, one must hold fast to it as a hen broods an egg or a divine dragon nurtures a pearl—this is called bao yi (embracing the One), which is also the work of shiyue yangtai (the ten-month embryo nurturing—the stage in neidan cultivation where spirit and qi coalesce, likened to a fetus growing in the womb). Attaining the One is the verification of jiedan (forming the inner elixir); this “attaining” must be attained within an (settled heart and settled qi); this “embracing” must be embraced within ding (fixed, concentrated spirit). When body and mind together enter great concentration, the effects manifest of themselves.

Master Bai said: “Emptiness and wuwei (non-action)—from nothing, being is born; the ten thousand things return to the One, and the One’s value lies in guarding it. Huifeng hunhe (returning wind blending—internal qi circulating, spirit and qi merging)—all day long as if drunk. When the great dream awakens, it is like thunder crashing and lightning flashing. Clouds disperse and rain clears; heaven and earth endure.” He also said: “Like a dragon nurturing a pearl, the heart never forgets; like a chicken brooding an egg, the breath never breaks; again like a cold cicada drawing dawn wind, like an old clam holding the autumn moon.” On the subtleties of embracing the One, by the time of Ziqing Zhenren (Purple Clarity Immortal), it could be said to have been explained with utmost thoroughness.

(122) Forgetting the One and Transcending the One

Zhuangzi says: act without clinging to “the One”; he also says: as if you had forgotten that “One,” as if you had let go of that “One.” When you reach this point, you transcend the dusty world and leave ordinary life behind—even you yourself cannot say where you are.

Master Baizhen said: from guarding “the One” to guarding “the One” again, pushing all the way to the utmost, this is called “stripping off the shell” (tuotai)—arriving at the realm of Wuji (the Limitless); when even “the One” is no longer there, you merge with the Dao, rise above the mundane, and no longer know where you stop. He also said: enduring as long as Heaven—this is called “True One” (Zhenyi).

Cao Wenyi said: after becoming one blended whole, forget “the One” as well, and you can rise and fall together with the creating and transforming work of Heaven and Earth.

Concentrating spirit, guarding Qi, obtaining the One, embracing the One—Laozi and the sages spoke of these long ago. What is meant here is “forgetting the One”: dissolve even the mind’s habit of “holding the One and not letting go,” shatter even empty space, and penetrate to the side of Weiyin (that primordial horizon earlier and more original than the naming of Buddha). Then nets cannot hold you, calls cannot bring you back; sages and ordinary people cannot fathom you—you are free and transcendent. Chan Buddhism calls this “changing position” (zhuanwei)—turning from a One that still has attachment to a One that cannot be grasped.

Thus: obtaining the One lets you understand matters on the “dharma-body’s side” (still within form and method); forgetting the One alone lets you understand what lies “above the dharma-body” (pointing straight at the root substance). In Daoist cultivation you must pass this gate before you reach the field of great rest and great liberation; if the mind still embraces or guards something, you cannot yet be utterly without trace, and cannot enter the gate of “perfect penetration” (yuantong).

One, Two, Three: Minor Return and Great Return

The Cantong qi says: “When metal returns to its original nature, only then can it be called Return Elixir (Huandan).” Later alchemical lineages further distinguished Minor Return Elixir (Xiao Huandan) and Great Return Elixir (Da Huandan).

The Record of Marvels on Sea and Mountain relates that the hermit Li Qi of Huayang refined Minor Return Elixir, lived for several centuries, and did not age in appearance. Lü Dongbin, traveling in Jurong, met him and taught him to refine the Golden Fluid Great Return Elixir (Jinye Da Huandan). The elder rejoiced and took him as teacher. Patriarch Lü said: “Reset the furnace, raise the cauldron anew; stride the tiger and mount the dragon to leave the realm of the ordinary.” This is precisely Great Return—upon Minor Return, one must establish furnace and cauldron again, using the images of tiger and dragon (Kan and Li) to leave the ordinary realm and complete the higher stage of returning the elixir.

In the Tianle Ji (Collection of Heavenly Joy), a question runs through the tradition: where exactly is the line between the great return (da huan) and the small return (xiao huan)? Schools have never agreed. What follows is a brief account along the line of oral transmission from one’s master.

After a person “breaks the body”—slipping out of the pre-heaven (xiantian) condition and falling into the post-heaven (houtian) world—post-heaven Kan and Li (☵ and ☲) take charge: heart and kidney fail to meet, and essence and Qi drain away. The learner therefore begins with heart and breath resting together (xinxixiangyi), until ordinary breathing (fanxi) ceases, body and mind settle deeply, and inner and outer become empty and still. Only then can one feel pre-heaven primordial Qi (xiantian yi qi) arriving from emptiness—and only then can one practice gathering (caiqu).

Gathering means using the body’s own pure yin to resonate with pure yang elsewhere, reversing from post-heaven back toward pre-heaven. Each round of practice draws pre-heaven true yang once, from outside back into oneself. Hence the Cantong qi (Token for the Unity of the Three): “When metal returns to the root of nature, it may be called returning elixir.” The deeper the work, the more true yang accumulates, until Qi is full and the fire is stopped, the returning elixir forms—and that stage is the small return.

The small return is the first return: yin sensing yang, like the Yijing hexagram Tai (Peace)—“the small goes, the great comes”: the smaller (yin) departs, the greater (yang) arrives. At this stage the alchemical name for the process is “take from Kan to fill Li” (qu kan tian li)—lifting the single yang line from the middle of Kan (☵) into Li (☲), a image of true yang in the kidneys rising to replenish the heart.

The lines quoted at the head of the text—“raise the cauldron again, stride the tiger and ride the dragon, leaving the ordinary realm”—point toward the path of the great return, not the first return of the small return, but a further turn upward in the work of return.

When the innate Qi (pre-heaven vital energy refined in practice) is full and the Heart Palace (the heart aperture, often called the “heart” in alchemical texts) is saturated, the body again becomes the purely yang body symbolized by the Qian trigram. Alchemical classics call this stage “returning to youth” (Huantong)—as if one’s yang qi were restored as in reversing age.

After Huantong, the inner state is already the image of pure Qian. The practitioner must enter samadhi (deep meditative absorption) again, using this post-heaven cultivated Qian yang within to resonate with the pre-heaven Qian yang qi on the other side, so that the two layers of pre-heaven merge into one. Only then does the Great Medicine arise, called the Great Elixir (Great Return, “Da Huan”). The phrase “enter samadhi again… unite inner and outer pre-heaven to produce the Great Medicine” refers precisely to this Great Return. A common teaching holds that in about seven days one may complete one phase of the “Great Heavenly Circulation.” Great Return takes its image from “double Qian” (Qian upon Qian).

Master Lü has a verse on obtaining the Great Return elixir: “Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate until you reach pure Qian—then you are a drunken immortal among humans.” The Book of Changes says: “All day long, doubly Qian; turning and returning is the Dao.” The image of “Qian upon Qian” is exactly the point of Great Return. “Turning and returning” means first returning from post-heaven to pre-heaven, then from pre-heaven to “the pre-heaven of pre-heaven.” One must reach the realm of double Qian; only when the transformations of the six dragons are complete can one speak of commanding heaven and mastering heaven.

Therefore, the method of refining the elixir begins by using post-heaven Qi to resonate with pre-heaven Qi; the “medicine” obtained in this way is called the lesser medicine, the “elixir” formed is called the lesser elixir, and the circuit of circulation performed is called the lesser heavenly circuit (xiaozhoutian). One then uses one’s own pre-heaven pure yang to resonate with the pre-heaven pure yang “there,” merging inner and outer layers of pre-heaven into one; the medicine thus obtained is called the great medicine, the elixir formed is called the great elixir, and the circuit performed is called the great heavenly circuit (dazhoutian). In the Yijing, “Lesser Accumulation” (xiaoxu) and “Greater Accumulation” (daxu), and in the elixir path the lesser return and the greater return, follow the same principle. Though there is a distinction between lesser and greater, the sequence of practice still never departs from “mind and breath mutually depending” (xinxixiangyi—the mind and breathing coordinated and not scattered). Once one enters true emptiness and great stillness (vacuum and deep samadhi—the inner void and unmoving fixation), inner and outer harmonize; the lesser heavenly circuit is carried out within samadhi, and the great heavenly circuit is also carried out within samadhi. The lesser return elixir is formed in samadhi, and the greater return elixir is also formed in samadhi—only the depth of samadhi differs, so what is attained differs accordingly.

Furthermore, after the lesser return elixir is formed, one must still apply the “nourishing the elixir” firing so that elixir Qi is full before proceeding to the great heavenly circuit, obtaining the great medicine and completing the great return. After the great elixir is formed, one again applies the “nourishing the embryo” firing for ten months until the embryo is full and one “escapes the embryo”—this is called issuing the spirit (chushen). Above this there is still the work of warm nurturing, called suckling and nurturing (rubu). At this stage the great achievement of becoming an immortal is complete.

124 Guarding the Center and Nurturing the Center

Laozi said: “Many words easily exhaust themselves and invite loss—better to hold to the middle way.” The Zhuangzi says: “How much more when one accords with the ten thousand things and lets the mind wander outward, taking what cannot be avoided as the use of nurturing the center—that is the utmost.”

Guarding the center and nourishing the center are essentially the same thing. Chongxuzi said: “‘Center’ (zhong) does not mean the ‘middle’ in the ordinary sense, but the ‘center’ within emptiness; ‘guarding’ (shou) is not rigid, clinging guard, but guarding until one reaches the utmost void.” When the learner lets heart-mind and breath unite in the void outside the body, that is the practice of guarding the center. From heart-mind and breath as one, nature and life return to the root and condense into the Dao embryo. The Cantong qi says: “Tend and nourish the inner citadel; concentrate spirit to form the body.” It also says: “The three lights sink into stillness; gently warm the child pearl.” That is the work of nourishing the center. Put plainly, original spirit (yuanshen) and original qi (yuanqi) circulate together in the void; original spirit is nourished by original qi and grows ever brighter, until it breaks free of the shell, transforms into spirit, and the perfected one’s form appears. Thus, when heart-mind and breath unite in the void, it is called guarding the center; when spirit and qi merge and become one in the void, it is called nourishing the center.

Chongxuzi also said: “One who can preserve the substance of ‘center’ does not rest on any single thought, remains utterly still, and guards until eating and pulse both cease and all drowsiness is gone—yet never for an instant leaves stillness. One who can fulfill the function of ‘center’ keeps the numinous light undimmed and stands wholly apart from worldly roots, guarding until the two qi vanish and thoughts neither arise nor perish—yet never for an instant leaves clear awareness.” Hanxuzu said: “The wonder of the middle realm runs from nourishing oneself by concentrating spirit and entering the chamber to return the elixir, all the way to breaking the shell and spiritual transformation—nothing lies outside this. So those first entering the Way must recognize this ‘center’ before they have a path to advance. Long ago Wenshi Tianzun asked the Supreme Lord: ‘What chapter holds the essentials of cultivating the Dao?’ The Supreme Lord answered: ‘It lies in deepening the root and firming the stem—guarding the center and embracing the one, nothing more.’”

Tianle Ji, Section 125: Nourishing the Elixir and Nourishing the Embryo

I say: If shen and qi (spiritual consciousness and the body’s vital qi) can be united in xukong (a clear, empty samadhi free of clinging), then shouzhong (holding the center—often the dantian or central palace) and yangzhong (nourishing the center) are one path carried through to the end.

In danjia (the internal alchemy line), wenyang (gentle, sustained nurturing) work really falls into two parts: first yang dan (nourishing the elixir), second yang tai (nourishing the embryo).

When lianjing huaqi (refining essence to transform qi) has reached sufficient huohou (timing and intensity of practice), you must zhihuo (stop the “fire”—cease intentional holding and guiding) so as not to xieqi (lose qi). Only when stopping the fire is done correctly can jiedan (forming the elixir) occur.

Right after the elixir forms, if you look straight ahead by lamplight, a tiny black dot may appear before the eyes; by day it is not visible. Once that dot appears, you know the elixir has formed; next you wenyang huohou (apply gentle, steady fire phases) to nourish the elixir. The black dot gradually turns red, then yellow, until in sunlight it looks golden—that is when you know xiao huandan (the first stage of internal return: essence restored and form replenished) is achieved. Hai Shan Qi Yu records that the hermit Li Qi of Huayang, having attained the minor elixir of return, lived for centuries without aging; when Lüzu (Lü Dongbin) traveled to Jurong and met him at Jintan Dongtian (one of the Daoist grotto-heavens), what they spoke of was precisely this kind of minor elixir of return. The fire phases for nourishing the elixir have always been transmitted mouth-to-ear and heart-to-heart, never written in books; this book cannot break that rule—it only opens the introductory formulas for extending life and nurturing vitality; deeper secrets that not everyone can practice remain undisclosed.

When the minor elixir of return is fully nourished, one then practices the da zhouitian (the great circulation of qi along the ren and du and related channels) to seek transcendence and sagehood. The great heavenly circuit also has three kinds of fire phase that must be understood; likewise they are only taught orally, not in writing. At a certain stage of the great circuit there is also the work of “passing the great heavenly circuit in seven days,” obtaining the dayao (great medicine) and achieving da huan (the higher stage of internal return). After the great circuit, one enters shiyue yangtai (the ten-month “embryo” nurturing—an internal alchemy metaphor for quiet, warming samadhi), which is the second phase of wenyang; when in dading (deep samadhi) spirit and intent are complete, one reaches chushen (the stage where spirit emerges—or spirit operates freely, including out-of-body experience in some lineages).

In the cultivation of the Great Heavenly Circuit (Da Zhou Tian), when one has completed the work of the Great Circuit, at the corresponding stage there are also times when seven days suffice to finish one full round of Great Circuit practice; then one obtains the great medicine (dayao) and achieves the great return (dahuan). After the Great Circuit comes the work of ten-month embryo nurturing (shiyue yangtai), which belongs to the second stage of warming and nurturing (wenyang); with great concentration (dading) and spirit made whole (shen quan), one can leave the body in spirit (chushen).

From this we see: the first stage of warming and nurturing brings the elixir (dan) to fullness and belongs on the side of the small return (xiaohuan)—the path toward becoming an Earth Immortal (dixian). When a seeker’s practice reaches the stage of forming the elixir (jiedan), even if they die in disaster or hardship, one spark of spirit still has a master; they can freely choose rebirth (tousheng) or seizing a corpse (duoshe), far stronger than ordinary people.

126. Audience with the Origin (Chaoyuan) and Return to the Origin (Huanyuan)

Longmeizi’s Verses Verifying the Golden Elixir (Jindan yinzheng shi) speaks of chaoyuan thus: “Body and spirit both wondrous take the Dao (Way) as companion; dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu) merges with the Great Void. When the precious edict descends, ride the crane carriage; after reverencing the jade writ, drive the dragon chariot. Immortal officers shine forth—rank and worth are judged; the bitter world’s torments can be escaped. Accumulate merit and seek diligently—there is always a meeting; why do you alone hesitate?” On huanyuan it says: “South is not south, east is not east; one wondrous spirit inherently round and penetrating. Worthy and foolish were never divided; how could sage and common differ? Turning red into cinnabar is habit; calling mother ‘mother’ is sharp wit. All deliberate action is unreal; awaken to the true source—empty yet not empty.”

Xuanjing says: Chaoyuan is receiving immortal office—whether ascending in broad daylight (bairi feisheng), whole household rising (bozhai chongju), or the like—much as passing the examinations and then being assigned an official post. Settling that final move, the heart empty at graduation, is the utmost of forging the Dao; wonder exhausted, effort forgotten, in the Constant Still Light (chang jiguang) without attachment or obstruction—why fuss over whether a precious edict (baozhao) exists! Thus the profound teaching values huanyuan alone, not chaoyuan.

127. Sun (Taiyang) and Moon (Taiyin)

(This section’s title names Taiyang and Taiyin; in elixir scriptures they often denote yin–yang, sun and moon, or paired opposites such as heart and kidneys—the detailed meaning appears in that section’s main text.)

In the Nüdan Jue (Female Elixir Instructions), Liu Wuyuan writes: “Refining Qi with the Sun is the path for men; refining form with the Moon is the metaphor (a quan and snare—borrowed imagery) used for women.” My master often said these two lines cut through a thousand years of doubt and contributed greatly to the Nüdan (female elixir) lineages. Ancients often described men as “refining Qi” and women as “refining form,” as if the entry differed—so heterodox schools took “Sun refining Qi, Moon refining form” as a pretext and devised separate Sun-refining-Qi methods and Moon-refining-form methods. In truth, this speaks of post-heaven (houtian) practice; on the pre-heaven (xiantian) Great Way, men and women do not differ in how they begin.

My master said: “Sun refining Qi” means heart and breath rely on each other outwardly: the heart must be empty; when the heart is empty, heart-fire naturally sinks, and the Kan water below turns into Qi and rises—this is Kan-Li mutual accomplishment (jiji). It is like sunlight on the sea: seawater turns to vapor and ascends; “Sun refining Qi” is nothing but this principle.

The line “Moon refining form” is because the sun’s position in the Li trigram is labeled “female” in the imagery (inner Yin, outer Yang): inner Yin is real, outer Yang is provisional. In sum, “Moon” metaphorically stands for the heart; “form” means the body. What ancients called form-and-spirit, body-and-mind, never strays from Yin-Yang. Here “body” also means Qi—refining Qi with the heart is still heart and breath mutually relying, the same matter as the previous phrase, only different wording.

Wuyuanzi saw through this principle, hence he called it borrowed imagery (quan ti), not a separate concrete method—merely this layer of symbolic meaning. One sentence lays it bare; only a true practitioner can take it in.

Teacher Wang’s teaching above is exceptionally precise. The alchemical method turns entirely on cultivating the “void outside the body”; in principle there is no difference between men and women. Only because postnatal physiology differs do the signs on the physical body differ accordingly. For example, when yang qi stirs in stillness, a man may feel the outer yang swell and a surge of desire; a woman may feel both breasts grow hard and lift. When foundation work is complete, a man’s semen gate closes by itself and the outer yang shrinks like a child’s; a woman’s menses cease and the breasts withdraw to a flat chest—that is the pattern. As for the work of “fixing” (ding) and “forgetting” (wang), there is no difference between men and women.

Attaining Life and Relinquishing Life

Zhuangzi speaks of “attaining life” (dasheng) and “relinquishing life” (yisheng). Here is a brief explanation of their meaning: to attain life is to penetrate the principle of life and nurture it well; to relinquish life is to empty body and mind and forget oneself in the Dao.

The “Discourse on Attaining Life” chapter of the Zhuangzi says: “One who understands the truth of attaining life does not pursue what is of no use to sustaining life.” It also says: “When the body is whole and essence (jing) is restored, one is united with Heaven. When form and essence are not impaired, this is called being able to shift. Refine essence again and again, and return to assist Heaven.” It further quotes Master Guan: “Such a one stays within the measure of not being excessive, stores himself in the boundless thread of the beginning, and wanders where the myriad things end and begin. Unify your nature, nourish your qi, harmonize your de, and thereby penetrate what the myriad things rely upon for creation. One like this keeps Heaven’s guard intact, his spirit without flaw—how could things intrude upon him of themselves!”

Explanation: To grasp the key to dasheng (realizing life), one must nurture qi and store shen (spirit); the pivot of practice is xinxi xiangyi—heart and breath mutually relying, never parting. Only then can spirit settle and essence return, primordial qi (xian tian zhi qi) grow full and flow with heaven and earth, so one may he qi de—align with their virtue—as the classic says. The root of human life is tied to zhenxi (true breath), the breathing that is one with life itself. Therefore, by refining the breath until it seems to still (xizhu), one communes with heaven and earth’s true yang; this is the foundation of nurturing life. One must first realize life (dasheng); only then can one truly nourish life.

Lü Dongbin said: “Probe to the very first moment when the body received breath—do not wonder that the subtle mechanism has been fully revealed.” Zhang Boduan (Ziyang) said: “I urge you to seek thoroughly the place where life first arises—returning to the source is the king of medicines.” Both point to the heart of dasheng.

As for yisheng (relinquishing attachment to life), it is a deeper layer of practice: body and mind enter stillness, inner and outer are empty, and one realizes the wonder of wo kong—the emptiness of self. The Yellow Emperor said: “When spirit enters its gate and bones and marrow return to their root—what of ‘me’ remains?” Laozi said: “Return to the state of no-thing; return to the limitless.” Both indicate the subtle aim of yisheng.

Taken together: at the outset of the xuanzong (inner alchemical path), heart and breath must be mutually relied upon while sustained in the empty space outside the body—not clinging to the physical form. That is precisely yi qi sheng (releasing attachment to life). When heart and breath are fixed, primordial single qi comes of itself, the body is whole and essence restored—that is the fruit of dasheng.

What Laozi says aligns with the above: first to practice in empty space without grasping the body is yisheng; in settled communion with the primordial, form and essence both restored, is dasheng.

Laozi said: “By setting the self aside, one can in fact preserve the self.” Master Tan (Tan Qiao) said: “Forget the body to nourish qi; forget qi to nourish spirit; forget spirit to nourish emptiness. When emptiness and fullness interpenetrate, this is called ‘Great Unity.’” Bai Yuchan said: “Forgetting form to nourish qi belongs to the path of golden fluid; facing the outer world without a mind of grasping is great return; forgetting form to nourish qi until qi transforms into spirit is the great Dao penetrating the three passes.” What is meant here by “outer” and “forget”—is it not letting go of attachment to the physical frame? What is meant by “nourish” and “return”—is it not truly nurturing life and nature after that letting go?

Know this: when heart and breath rely on each other outwardly, one can enter great stillness (dading); when both body and mind are forgotten and environment and wisdom are extinguished together, the subtle point lies in obtaining “renewed life” within “relinquishing life” (releasing fixation on ordinary survival)—that is what Laozi meant by “without private ends, one’s private ends are fulfilled.” If you work only on this colored body, it is entirely postnatal contrivance; you will neither reach the principle of relinquishing life nor recognize the “lord of nurturing life” (the true nature’s master), and you will be far from the orthodox path of the Mysterious Teaching (internal alchemy / true constancy).

129. Mastering Life and Mastering Fate

The Zhuangzi, “Lie Yukou” chapter, says: “Cleverness and craft chase outward; bold rash action often draws resentment; the practice of benevolence and righteousness often imposes demands on others. One who penetrates the reality of life is broadly released; one who penetrates knowledge is like a son of Heaven in likeness to the Dao; one who penetrates great fate follows nature; one who penetrates small fate feels constrained everywhere.”

Lu Fanghu (Lu Xixing) said: Each of these can be taken as one “chamber” (one kind of orientation, one stance). The chamber of cleverness and craft: cleverness and craft mostly reach outward. The chamber of bold movement: bold rash action invites resentment. The chamber of benevolence and righteousness: practicing benevolence and righteousness brings many duties and demands. The chamber of mastering life: penetrating the reality of life, one settles in what is real and is grandly released—this chamber is supreme. The chamber of mastering knowledge: penetrating knowledge, one knows Heaven and knows humanity and becomes Heaven’s likeness. The chamber of mastering fate: at great penetration one says “I go along with it”; at small penetration one says “I am bound by it.” “Bound” carries the sense of entrusting oneself to fate and accepting it; “go along” means the mind holds nothing back and fully accords with what is—again, this is the higher mastery of fate.

Commentary (Mastering Life and Mastering Fate)

Mastering life and mastering fate are what those who study profound principle and cultivate nature and life ought to do by nature. “Mastering” (da) means penetrating through: first penetrate the principle of sheng (life), then speak of cultivating life; first penetrate the principle of ming (fate), then speak of clarifying fate. The crux of practice lies in xinxixiangyi—heart following breath and merging with breath; this is called “relying on breath” (yixi). From having breath, gradually return to near breathlessness; outwardly communing with the qi of heaven and earth, when tianji (heaven’s mechanism) stirs, the source flows without end, and only then can the foundation of fate be firm. “Kui” here takes the sense of “great”—being one with great nature. One who has mastered great fate: settles the spirit as breath moves, passes days as conditions arise, even to heart following freely with no obstruction. One who has mastered small fate: merely rests content with what meets them, without resentment—that is all.

130. Siqi and Siche

Laozi said: The sage holds the left contract but does not press people for debt; the person of de siqi (guards the contract, awaits union); the person without de siche (demands payment, forcibly enforces).

Secret commentary: A contract’s value lies in conformity. Heart and breath are originally a natural subtle match. The sage holds the left contract, waiting for the right to join—left contract stands for shen (spirit), right for xi (breath). Fix spirit at the qixue (breath cavity—the place in teachings on void outside the body for regulating breath and fixing spirit); quietly wait for breath to come to you; the heart need not chase breath—sincerity alone suffices. If the heart chases breath and breath does not respond, yet one still forces and grabs, breath stays coarse and hard to tune, clinging to form ignites fire—this is the image of siche. With utmost sincerity moving through, let breath naturally return and harmonize—like Emperor Shun’s feather dance on the two steps: in seventy days Miao came to submit—this is the wonder of siqi. What relies on forced execution and martial enforcement belongs to siche; the sage is not like that.

Modern Interpretations and Commentaries Cited in Tianle Ji (Plain Language)

Zhuangzi, “Nurturing Life” (Dacheng), says: Do not open Heaven with “what belongs to humans”; open Heaven with “the Way of Heaven.” When you open in accord with Heaven, De (Virtue/Power) can grow and be nourished; when you open in accord with human craft and private desire, you are harming your own original authenticity. Neither rejecting Heaven’s given nature nor slighting the human body’s proper share as a person—only then can one roughly preserve the “true.”

Lu Xixing explains: Those who cultivate the Way must grasp the subtlety of “no deliberate mind, trusting what is natural.” So they do not open “human heaven” (using cleverness, contrivance, and book knowledge to reshape everything); they open “heaven’s heaven”—emptiness, stillness, clarity about what is natural principle. To open “human heaven” is to rashly raise a discriminating mind and use knowledge to bore the one aperture of “Hundun” (Chaos)—a metaphor for spoiling the originally whole natural mind-heart. Therefore opening Heaven gives birth to De; opening the human gives birth to the thief: “De” means preserving the true nature Heaven endowed; “thief” means adding human damage on top. Heaven originally nourishes our life with this principle; if people ruin it themselves, they cut themselves off from Heaven; if people grasp this principle yet cannot preserve it, they also slight their own share as “human.” Neither despising Heaven nor neglecting the human—only then does one roughly return to the true.

Gui Zhenchuan says: Heaven is the natural; humans have knowing and desire. One-sidedly opening “human heaven” and boring holes oneself brings the death of Hundun (authenticity destroyed). Guard qi to complete the person, level emotion to complete Heaven—that is the gist of preserving life.

Xuan Jing says: The world mostly sinks into the “six dusts” (the toil stirred by the six external domains—form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and mental objects); knowing and desire flare up, and it is easy to open “human heaven” and ruin Hundun. If one can guard qi and level emotion, neither despising Heaven nor neglecting the human, one is close to “with their true”—the same line as Zhuangzi’s “almost with their true” and Gui Zhenchuan’s “gist of preserving life.”

Xuanjing said: Ordinary people, faced with the six external conditions of form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and mental objects, divide them into beautiful and ugly, pleasant and hateful; cleverness and discriminating mind grow ever stronger, deluded consciousness runs wild, and they call this “material enjoyment.” They do not know that once emotional consciousness stirs, wisdom is cut off and the danger of falling lies therein—the heart races outward, spirit follows the environment, essence wavers and qi scatters, gradually depletes until utterly exhausted, the great mandate teeters, and this is what is meant by “when the human opens, the thief is born.”

If a person cultivating the Dao can turn inward to see and turn the ear to hear, holding only to emptiness and only to stillness, body and mind equally quiet, they resonate with the innate true yang, nourish and guard the physical form, and nurture the dharma-body. Once the spring of life opens, it flows without end; before long spirit is full and qi abundant, the six roots are empty and still, and the virtue of nature within shines of itself—this is what is meant by “when heaven opens, De is born.” Opening heaven means letting the mind of heaven govern affairs: silent illumination never leaves the body, and the nature-heaven grows daily in clarity. Opening the human means letting the human mind govern affairs, with the six consciousnesses rising in tumult. This is the difference between drifting with the stream and turning back against the current.

132 Yanghe and Fenhe

Laozi upheld “Chonghe” (harmonious blending), Guangchengzi upheld “Chuhe” (dwelling in harmony), and Zhuangzi upheld “Yanghe” (nourishing harmony). The Zhuangzi, “Xu Wugui” chapter, says: “Embracing De and nourishing harmony, to accord with all under heaven—this is called the true person.” Here “he” refers to the innate primordial harmonious qi. “Yang” means warming with a gentle fire: using harmonious qi to warm and permeate the limbs and the hundred joints, empty to the utmost and deeply still, waxing and waning flowing together without gap, with beauty within—this is called yanghe. So the Huainanzi also says: “Embracing De and nourishing harmony, and the myriad things are richly mature.” “Richly mature” is the image of ripeness and fullness. The Xuanzong teaching of yanghe is extremely subtle; if students work only at extreme stillness,