《女丹合编选注》

Since the creation of Heaven and Earth, there have been men and women. Many men have cultivated themselves and attained immortality, but few women have done so. Why is this? Perhaps men can leave home to seek the Dao and find a teacher, while women find it difficult to leave home. Many alchemical texts discuss men’s cultivation, but works on women’s cultivation are scattered and scarce, with no dedicated books. Seven or eight out of ten men can read and understand the meaning of the scriptures, while very few women can do so.

If there were dedicated books on female alchemy—the methods by which women cultivate the internal elixir—and women could all read and understand them, as well as have the opportunity to leave home to seek teachers and inquire into the Dao, then women who attain immortality might be no fewer than men.

Still, women face many obstacles in cultivation. Here are a few examples: some people slander those who cultivate; some look down on cultivation itself; some grow weary as soon as they hear it discussed; some obstruct others’ cultivation; and some do not understand its benefits. Some know that cultivation is beneficial but find it hard to let go of worldly attachments. Others renounce worldly ties and enter the gate of emptiness—that is, leave home to cultivate—but are content with a peaceful, comfortable life and unwilling to advance with vigor.

Some people lose their support while young and have no one to care for them in old age. Burdened with household responsibilities and pressed by debt, they turn to Buddhism in search of a way to get by, hoping only to scrape together enough for food and clothing. Some act rashly and without understanding, failing to cultivate in the proper order. Some confuse the methods for men and women, unaware that female alchemy and male alchemy each have their own methods. Some have read texts on male alchemy but do not know that texts on female alchemy also exist. Some take refuge in Buddhism, recite the Buddha’s name, and cultivate the mind, yet do not know that female alchemy has its own methods for refining nature, since the alchemical methods for women and men differ. Others recite the Buddha’s name and cultivate the mind without knowing that female alchemy also has its own methods for cultivating life.

Some take refuge in Daoism but mistake the Qi cavity about one cun and three fen below a man’s navel for a woman’s Mysterious Pass—the crucial aperture spoken of in cultivation. Some enter charitable halls and know only to eat vegetarian food, honor the gods, recite scriptures, worship the Buddha, release animals, and perform good deeds, praying for blessings and protection from misfortune. They do not know that the key to women’s cultivation lies in “slaying the Red Dragon,” a female alchemy term for working with menstruation and transforming Yin blood. Some rush to begin cultivating life before repenting their wrongs, clearing away karmic entanglements, warding off calamities and subduing demons, establishing merit and De, investigating principles, and cultivating the mind and nature.

Some are kindhearted but so deeply entrenched in old habits and self-assurance that they attempt “slaying the Red Dragon” on their own, without seeking a true teacher to transmit the oral instructions. Some fixate on the Mysterious Pass, accumulate Qi until they fall ill, and even lose their lives as a result. Some slay the Red Dragon but do not understand the timing and sequence of effort in male alchemy. Some encounter trials by chance—war, floods or fires, epidemics, lawsuits, quarrels, or rumors; or their protecting teachers and fellow practitioners fall ill or die, deceive them, or part ways—and then lose their resolve to follow the Dao and abandon the path halfway.

Some know only a little and boast arrogantly, thinking they have already grasped the Dao. Some have yet to fulfill their family duties, making it difficult for them to cultivate in stillness. Some are full of distracting thoughts and hungry for profit, their hearts torn between Heaven’s principle and selfish desire; they appear to cultivate, but do not truly apply themselves. Some wish to remain chaste and cultivate, but are obstructed by relatives in their birth families. Some wish to remain faithful and cultivate, but are not accepted by their husbands’ families. Some admire the immortals and Buddhas but do not turn back in time, always putting off cultivation until next year. Others want to save up enough money to support their Daoist practice before they begin cultivating.

Some people are greedy and never satisfied, full of resentment, weighed down by desire, and constantly engaged in sexual relations. Entangled in love and unwilling to part with their children, they still imagine they can win an affinity with the immortals. Others have not yet brought their mind and Qi into harmony; their sorrow and worry have settled into illness, yet they think only of becoming immortal. Still others carry themselves without dignity and have no purity of heart. They spread gossip and willingly live in delusion, yet hope that the Celestial Immortals will come to guide them.

Some kill livestock, then claim that they have laid down the butcher’s knife and can become Buddhas at once. Others make no distinction between meat and fish or abstain from alcohol, excusing themselves with sayings such as “Wine and meat pass through the gut; the Dao is in the heart” or “Wine and meat pass through the gut; the Buddha sits within.” Some keep a vegetarian diet in word, but have hearts like jackals and treat their parents-in-law and sisters-in-law—the wives of their husbands’ brothers—as sworn enemies.

Some stray into heterodox paths and do not understand the orthodox Way. Others credulously follow the claims of the “three aunts and six matchmakers,” a traditional catchall for women in various folk occupations, as well as spirit-mediumship, carrying gods, traveling to the underworld, viewing flowers, viewing water, and other such practices. These leave them mentally disordered, or even lure them into places of sexual debauchery. Some secretly seduce respectable women and use them as “furnaces and cauldrons”—partners in another person’s cultivation—while casting themselves as the so-called “Yellow Matron,” a Neidan term for the agent who harmonizes Yin and Yang. In doing so, they ruin their own reputations. Some women, misled by practitioners of the art of controlling women, willingly serve as furnaces and cauldrons, believing this will make them immortal, only to lose their reputations.

When visiting sacred mountains and temples, some casually attach themselves to monks, Daoist priests, or male teachers in lay religious groups, and thereby become romantically involved with them. Some Buddhist nuns, Daoist nuns, and teachers in lay religious groups claim to have received heavenly grace and been appointed transmitters of the teachings. Using talismans and seals, incantations, sacred water and swords, spirit possession, star-stepping rites that imitate the constellations, alchemical furnaces, and medicinal preparations, they travel about preaching to women and using the opportunity to amass wealth.

Some receive oral instructions but, without considering their own cultivation, rush to help others. Some pass these instructions to people who should not receive them, disclose what they call Heaven’s secrets, and bring punishment upon themselves. Others receive the instructions but keep them secret, causing the transmission of the Way to break off.

Some believe wicked monks and Daoist priests who speak of “Southern Palace gold and silver”—methods for making gold and silver and practicing Waidan, or external alchemy. They spend money on alchemical rooms, implements, furnaces and cauldrons, lutes, and swords, then refine and ingest the so-called Three Primordial Great Elixir, dreaming of ascending to the heavenly palace. In the end, they accomplish nothing and are left heartbroken and bankrupt. Some recklessly gather the essences of the sun and moon, swallow clouds and exhale mist, breathe the air, take plants, wood, and minerals, or move their limbs and circulate Qi through the Dantian. As a result, they contract grave illnesses that are difficult to cure. Others believe that their bodies are already damaged and their vital energy depleted, and that cultivation is therefore hopeless; they give up on themselves.

Many kinds of error can make it difficult for people to attain realization. To attain a fruit of realization, one must understand the alchemical scriptures, the classics that describe Neidan cultivation: use the scriptures to verify one’s own experience in practice, and use that experience to verify what the scriptures say. Bring the principles in the books and the signs that appear in the body to a teacher for guidance and discuss them with fellow practitioners, so as to distinguish the orthodox from the deviant and decide what to accept or reject. Only then can one avoid being misled by ignorant, deluded teachers and misguided companions and falling into various errors. Those who have already fallen into such errors should correct themselves and repent as soon as possible; those who have not should be all the more careful to guard against them.

I sum it up in one sentence: “The Dao is not outside the body.” To explain the point further: “The Dao is within one’s own heart.” The principles by which the alchemical roots of Qian and Kun—symbols for male and female—move from separation to union especially need to be made clear to women. There are three essentials: first, innate disposition; second, bodily form; third, methods of cultivation.

As for innate disposition, the book says: men belong to Yang, and their Yang Qi is clear; women belong to Yin, and their Yin Qi is turbid. Men are firm, women gentle; men are emotionally impetuous, women emotionally calm; men’s thoughts are scattered, women’s minds are single; men tend toward activity, so their Qi is easily depleted in motion, while women tend toward stillness, so their Qi is easily gathered in stillness. This is a difference in the Qi with which men and women are endowed.

As for bodily form, the book says: men have a protrusion in the throat, while women do not; men’s breasts are small and produce no milk, while women’s breasts are larger and can produce milk; men’s external sexual organs protrude, while women’s are recessed. In men, the place of reproduction is called the “Jing chamber”; in women, it is called the “womb.” A man’s root of nature and life lies in the Qi cavity; a woman’s lies in the breasts. In men, the kidneys are associated with the lower back; in women, they are associated with blood. A man’s semen belongs to Jing, is white, and is called the “White Tiger”; a woman’s blood belongs to blood, is red, and is called the “Red Dragon.” Men’s Jing is said to contain Yin within Yang, while women’s blood is said to contain Yang within Yin. The Qi within men’s Jing is relatively abundant; the Qi within women’s blood is relatively subtle.

A man’s semen is white, so it is called the “White Tiger”; a woman’s body is governed by blood, which is red, so it is called the “Red Dragon.” A man’s Jing and Qi belong to Yang and contain Yin, while a woman’s menstrual blood belongs to Yin and contains Yang. Men have abundant Jing and Qi, while women’s blood and Qi are comparatively weaker. This is a difference in the physical constitution of men and women.

Men cultivate their original nature first, then their bodily form; women cultivate bodily form first, then their original nature. A man’s Yang Qi readily flows downward and is discharged, while a woman’s Yang Qi rises from the upper body. When a man’s cultivation succeeds, his semen no longer leaks out; this is called “subduing the White Tiger.” When a woman’s cultivation succeeds, her menstruation ceases; this is called “slaying the Red Dragon.” A man cultivates immortality by reversing the movement of Jing and Qi; a woman directs the Qi of menstrual blood upward, straight to the heart’s aperture. What is called the man’s “Seven Lotuses” is difficult to activate but easy to gather in; the woman’s “Seven Lotuses” are easier both to activate and to gather in. “Seven Lotuses” is a term for internal apertures or states of Qi movement in men’s and women’s Neidan cultivation.

A man’s cultivation is called “Taiyang Refining Qi,” and a woman’s is called “Taiyin Refining Form.” For men, the process is called “fetal formation”; for women, it is called “breath.” After a man subdues the White Tiger, his sexual organ contracts, becoming as it was in childhood. After a woman slays the Red Dragon, her breasts contract and take on a form resembling a man’s. Men are slower to bring forth the spirit and slower to attain the Dao; women bring forth the spirit sooner and attain the Dao sooner. “Bringing forth the spirit” refers to a state in cultivation in which consciousness leaves the body. A man can transform his own bodily form, while a woman must rely on a master to guide and transform her. Men must cultivate facing a wall, while women less often pass through the stage called “returning to emptiness.” “Returning to emptiness” refers to the process of bringing body and mind back to stillness and emptiness through cultivation.

A man who completes cultivation is called a Perfected Person; a woman who completes cultivation is called a Primordial Sovereign. These are differences in the methods of cultivation for men and women.

As for the fundamental principles of nature and life, men and women are no different. I tell women who cultivate: first seek the shared fundamental principles through the differences between men and women; then discern each person’s distinct methods of cultivation through what they share.

In the fundamental principles of cultivating nature and life, men and women do not differ. I tell women practitioners: first seek the principles they share by examining where men and women differ; then, within those shared principles, distinguish what is particular to each. The main difference concerns the “Red Dragon”—a woman’s menstruation—before it has ceased. What they share applies after it has ceased. This has been an unchanging principle since antiquity.

Thus, texts on female alchemy often say that after menstruation has ceased, women should consult texts on male alchemy for methods of refining the medicine, returning the Elixir, managing the firing process, and following the stages of cultivation. Especially important are Wu Shouyang’s Correct Principles of the Celestial Immortals and The Combined Lineage of Immortals and Buddhas, as well as Liu Huayang’s Treatise on Realizing the Golden Immortal and The Scripture of Wisdom and Life. If women truly understand these principles and cultivate according to the methods, progressing step by step and observing the proper measure, they will not cultivate blindly and thereby bring strange illnesses upon themselves. At first, however, I did not know that women’s cultivation could have such benefits and risks.

My father and elder brother both took an interest in Buddhism and Daoism. I remember my father once telling my mother, “When it comes to women’s cultivation, a young woman can transform Qi through practice; an older woman can dispel illness; and a widow can strengthen her resolve to remain faithful. Whether someone can become an immortal or a Buddha depends on the extent of her merits and the depth of her practice. It cannot be judged the same way for everyone.” This encouraged my mother to cultivate willingly, and she did not slacken for nearly thirty years. Later, my sister-in-law, nieces, maternal relatives, daughters, and other women among our clan and circle of friends also took up cultivation, one after another.

When it came to observing precepts and entering meditation, the teachings and cultivation methods of earlier masters were quite detailed. But when asked about practices for cultivating the root of life, they often spoke in vague terms. My mother was therefore concerned and told me to set aside distracting thoughts. Whenever I met practitioners of the three teachings—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism—I was to seek out texts on women’s alchemy and ask them about the secrets of women’s cultivation.

For several years I traveled widely to seek instruction, but never found what I hoped for. Later, from the Venerable Xuecen, I received a work called Collected Works by the Lamp of Mani in the Kun Realm, which contains more than seventy texts. Most discuss the cultivation of nature in detail, but speak obscurely about the cultivation of life; they are not easy to understand for those of dull innate capacity. I feared I would fail to fulfill my mother’s charge, and grew deeply anxious.

In the gengzi year, I withdrew to Mount Emei and worked day and night to gather Daoist texts. Whenever I found material on women’s alchemy, I excerpted it and compiled it into a collection of more than ten works, which I titled Collected Texts on Women’s Alchemy. I showed the manuscript to my mother. She was delighted and told me to keep it safe as a secret manual for the women of our family.

In the winter of the guimao year, I went to Erxian Monastery in Chengdu.

In the winter of the Guimao year, I went to Erxian Monastery in Chengdu to collate the Daoist Canon. There I saw The Path to Awakening Through Kunyuan, published by Messrs. Yan and Peng. Only two scriptures in it, Kun Yuan and Kun Ning, matched the secret copy preserved in my family. Daoist methods for women’s cultivation are by no means scarce, but few books on women’s inner alchemy have been published specifically for them. Messrs. Yan and Peng truly anticipated my own thoughts. Kindred spirits are hard to find, so I submitted A Collection of Women’s Inner Alchemy and respectfully asked them to read and correct it. As expected, they praised the book and urged me to have it printed. I do not dare withhold it from fellow seekers who might share in it; still, this is only my own limited view, and I am deeply ashamed. I only hope someone may send me a better edition to read, fulfilling my late mother’s wish. Better still, may this modest offering cast out a brick and bring in jade!

I also urge fellow practitioners of women’s inner alchemy: all who study this book must cut off the seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire—remove the six desires, clear away the three minds, transcend the four forms, set down every attachment, and empty the Five Skandhas. However many setbacks you encounter, do not turn back; when you meet demonic obstacles, do not retreat. Cultivation proceeds through stages: refining blood into Qi, refining Qi into Shen, refining Shen until it returns to emptiness, and refining emptiness until it returns to nonbeing. If, in the end, you attain the state of a Golden Immortal, you can endure countless kalpas without destruction, ascend to pay court to the Queen Mother of the West, and descend to save living beings. I think that at the Peach Banquet, the female immortals should not let the male immortals steal all the limelight. Fellow women practitioners, cultivate diligently! This is what I hope for every day.

These are the words of the shepherd. They are written in plain, simple language; I respectfully ask the discerning reader to be understanding and not laugh at them.

Preface by He Longxiang of Jingyan, autumn of the Yisi year of the Guangxu reign.

Ten Chapters on Women’s Alchemy of the Fruit of Nature in the Pot-Heaven (one volume)

First Chapter: Nurturing the True and Transforming It into Qi

Men begin cultivation with the initial stage of laying the foundation, training and refining body and mind. Women follow a different method. Men’s Yang Qi flows downward and leaks out through the lower body, while women’s Yang Qi rises from the upper body. Men’s constitutions tend toward firmness; women’s tend toward softness. Men work with the Yang essence in the Dantian (energy center), guarding it constantly so it does not leak outward. After storing it up over a long period, they refine it through the proper firing process: essence becomes Qi (vital energy), Qi becomes Shen (spirit), and Shen becomes emptiness. Through this gradual cultivation, when their practice is complete, they can realize the Dao (the Way) and ascend.

Women have a different method of cultivation. The scripture calls women “bodies of Yin turbidity, vessels of blood,” and says that they can transform their constitution by means of the “numinous fat” in the breasts—here, a reference to the essence within the female body. Through prolonged training and refinement, red blood turns white and becomes Qi. Once the blood has become Qi, it can be refined with “fire talismans”—a term for the firing process and rhythms of circulation in cultivation—until the Qi, too, becomes pure Yang Qi. In this way, women can realize the Dao and return to the Real.

Women first refine the body, then the original root, the Qi at the foundation of life. Men, by contrast, first refine the original root and then the body. Because men and women have different constitutions, their methods and the order of cultivation also differ. Without distinct paths of cultivation, it is difficult to harmonize Yin-Yang and enable both men and women to practice.

When I once went before my master to seek the Dao, I made a point of asking about women’s cultivation. My master said, “Excellent! Your intention is to save people in the world and enable men and women to cultivate together.”

When I went before my master to seek instruction in the Dao, I asked him to teach me the practices for women. He said, “Good. You wish to help people in the world. I will explain these practices to you, and in time you can guide both men and women.” My master then explained, one by one, the Daoist instructions suited to women’s cultivation. Now that I have left the dust of the world behind, I have never abandoned my wish to help others. So I have recorded the formulas my master taught me at the end of this book, in the hope that women who sincerely cultivate in generations to come, along with Daoist nuns who have left home, may reach the other shore together—that is, leave behind affliction and the cycle of life and death—and find their way out of delusion. In this way, I can fulfill my master’s unfinished wish above and help women mired in the sea of suffering below. Why call this “Nourishing the True”? Women are generally prone to a forceful temperament, scattered thoughts, fading spirits, and restless Qi (vital energy); all kinds of worldly notions are difficult to master. How, then, can the body remain settled for long, or cultivation bear fruit? That is why the essential practice at the outset is nourishing the True.

Here, “True” does not mean “true” as opposed to “false.” Women’s thoughts are naturally prone to wavering and dispersing. If they are made to keep their attention fixed inside the body all the time, they may grow restless and weary. Once restlessness and weariness arise, distracting thoughts will pour in one after another. How, then, could they continue cultivating the Dao? So at the outset, women are first taught how to nourish the True. This naturally eases restlessness and brings calm and harmony to the body and limbs, allowing them to make further progress.

The word “True” here refers to a method of cultivation with tangible form and appearance. In cultivating the Dao, women must return every thought to the True; only then have they grasped the essentials of the practice.

Why speak again of a cultivation method that works with form and image? A woman’s cultivation must begin with training the body. When the work of this stage is complete, the “Red Dragon” (menstruation) will change. Only then does Yin turn into Yang, blood transform into Qi, and the practice of reversing the course of cultivation begin, leading to the refinement of Neidan (internal alchemy).

Cultivation through form and image means circulating the Qi mechanism while seated in stillness during the Upper Elixir stage (one phase of Neidan cultivation), or during everyday practice. Set the Qi mechanism in motion from the Blood Sea of the Dantian (the lower abdomen, associated with menstruation), and turn your attention to the inner chamber of the heart (the place within where the spirit is preserved). If you sense a thread of blue-green Qi rising from the Blood Sea, settle into stillness and wait for a while. When the Qi mechanism stirs, follow its movement and let it rise naturally until it surges to the Muddy Pellet (the region inside the crown of the head), then turns and descends. At this point, guide it only slightly with your intention, so that it descends from the Muddy Pellet to the “Nine-Storied Tower” (the area around the throat).

Once the Qi mechanism stirs, it will rise naturally again, surge to the Muddy Pellet, then turn and descend. Again, guide it only slightly, so that it descends from the Muddy Pellet to the Nine-Storied Tower. After this, do not guide it with your intention, for fear of harming the body. Simply follow the Qi mechanism’s natural course as it descends from the Nine-Storied Tower to the space between the breasts. There is an inner, empty aperture there; let the Qi gather in it for an extended time. If you feel the Qi mechanism stir again, practice as before.

After about forty or fifty days of practice, the Qi mechanism will flow through without obstruction, the blood will transform into Qi, and red will turn to white. At this point, the Elixir Source (the primordial Qi spoken of in Neidan cultivation) has appeared, and the Dao-heart is firm. If you continue to remain quietly attentive and persevere diligently, applying yourself without fail morning and evening and practicing at all times, you need not worry that the Great Elixir will fail to form or that a woman cannot become an immortal. This is the first stage of a woman’s cultivation, so it has been placed at the beginning of the volume to instruct women in later generations. If you cultivate this stage to a profound and wondrous level, it will provide the foundation for progress in all the practices that follow. Women who cultivate the Dao should strive diligently.

Ten Teachings on the Female Elixir of Hu Tian Xing Guo, Volume One: Second Teaching, “Refining the Body through Nine Turns.”

The human body is brought forth by Heaven and Earth and nurtured by one’s parents. It receives the Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and takes shape through the transformations of Yin-Yang. Even before birth, the body already responds to and develops together with one’s nature and life. Since the body belongs to oneself, why must it still be cultivated? The scripture holds that a woman’s body is inherently Yin and yielding. Without nurturing and refining it, she cannot transform blood into Qi, making it difficult to generate precelestial Qi and produce true Qi. Without true Qi, she remains a body of pure Yin, and it is difficult to cultivate the Returning Elixir—the elixir formed through Neidan (internal alchemy)—and the Great Dao. Women must therefore refine the body first before proceeding to further cultivation.

“Refining the body” here means caring for and cultivating the body. The scripture classifies blood as Yin, describing it as heavy and sluggish, stored in the “blood-sea womb,” its term for the place within the body where blood is held. It nourishes the body’s meridians and circulates continuously. After Qi and blood flow through the meridians, they are transformed into useless waste and expelled from the body. The scripture also describes a cycle as “two hundred and forty ke of the water clock, or thirty shichen.” At the cycle’s end, the essence reappears, and precelestial Qi generates the body, leaving what the body can use. The saying “clear Qi rises to the breasts, while turbid Qi flows downward and becomes stasis” means that cultivation requires distinguishing clear Qi from turbid Qi: clear Qi rises, while turbid Qi stagnates and forms stasis. The scripture therefore stresses that women must first distinguish the clear from the turbid in order to cultivate the true body.

How should the body be refined? Sit upright and use the mind and spirit to guide the movement of Qi. When the mouth is full of saliva, gently rinse it around a few times. Once it has become clear, inhale clean Qi through the nose and swallow it together with the Jade Fluid in the mouth—the scripture’s term for saliva. The fluid passes through the “tall tower” (the throat), enters the “heart chamber” (the place where the heart is), and descends to the “yellow chamber” (the Dantian region), where it comes to rest at the “Sea of Blood at Guanyuan” (the Guanyuan point in the lower abdomen and the area around it).

Let it gather briefly, then move it from the Sea of Blood to the Tailbone Gate (the lower end of the spine). Guide it upward along the Spinal Passage (the area around the spine), through the crown of the head and into the Muddy Pellet (an internal alchemy site in the head). Then guide it down from the Muddy Pellet and let it rest between the breasts. Allow it to gather for a while, transforming the fluid into Qi. This completes one circulation.

Do this three times. After the three circulations, massage the breasts with both hands, rotating inward thirty times. Then cup the area between the breasts with both hands and gently guide it down to the Sea of Blood. Next, repeat the practice described above: three circulations, three rounds, making nine circulations in all. This counts as one cycle of body refinement.

Repeat the whole process three times. After completing the three rounds, massage the breasts again with both hands, rotating inward thirty times. Then cup the area between the breasts with both hands and gently guide it down to the Sea of Blood. Repeat the practice as before: three circulations in each of three rounds, for nine circulations of body refinement.

If a woman is calm and steady, has a deep foundation, and is physically robust, she can refine the body in no more than one hundred days and set out on the path to longevity. Continued practice afterward may enable her to refine the Great Elixir.

It is a pity that women secluded in the inner quarters can scarcely meet a teacher of orthodox transmission and learn this supreme, true Dao. I urge women of later generations to seek a teacher’s instruction as early as they can, so that together they may realize bodhi (awakening).

One fascicle of Ten Instructions on the Female Elixir, Fruit of the Nature of the Pot in the Sky

Third Instruction: Applying the Fire Talisman

The methods of cultivation for female adepts are fundamentally very different from those for men: the way of men emphasizes nourishing Jing, while the way of women emphasizes refining the body. The medicine is…

The methods of women’s cultivation are fundamentally different from men’s: men focus on preserving Jing and Qi, while women focus on refining and transforming the body. The formulas described earlier explain the practice for this stage step by step. If one cultivates consistently morning and evening, with sincere dedication and steady effort, the blood in the body’s five viscera will gradually transform into Qi, and changes will arise naturally. Once true Qi—the inner breath spoken of in cultivation—begins to emerge, the Yin-turbid body transforms into a pure Yang body. Only when practice reaches this point can one apply “fire” and “talisman” methods, ways of regulating the breath and circulating Qi in Neidan cultivation; only then does women’s cultivation become the same as men’s. If the distinct stages of practice for men and women are not recognized, cultivation will be unlikely to bear fruit. Thus men refine the elixir first and the body afterward, while women refine the body first and the elixir afterward. Because their physical conditions differ, the order of cultivation differs as well. I now set out these methods to teach others, and must make the sequence clear so that those who study the Dao do not omit anything.

Women should devote themselves to the formulas explained earlier. When practice warms the Qi activity in the Dantian Blood Sea—the lower abdominal site of cultivation described in the text—a thread of clear Qi will naturally rise to the Heart Chamber, the place of the heart, and continue as far as the breasts. At this point, do not allow thoughts to arise. Simply continue circulating Qi according to the original method; the clear Qi will descend of its own accord and return to warmth. Later, clear Qi will again rise to the Heart Chamber and the breasts. Do not allow thoughts to arise then either. Continue practicing according to the original method, and the clear Qi will once again descend to the Blood Sea.

At this point, the Qi activity has stirred and true Qi has formed. The red blood, originally belonging to Yin, has transformed into white Qi belonging to Yang. If it is not refined with “fire” and guided with “talisman” methods, the Qi will turn back into red blood, and the white Qi will become red again, wasting all the work already done. At this stage, therefore, one must refine and transform it with true fire and guide it with a true talisman. When the fire’s timing and the talisman method are properly matched, the Qi will gather and coalesce. Another phenomenon will appear as it does so. Unless the circumstances are explained clearly, practitioners may fear they will use too much fire or apply the talisman method incorrectly, harming the Elixir’s Foundation—the root of Neidan cultivation. Those who reach this stage must remember it carefully and not lose sight of it. A mistake now would waste the work already done, make further practice difficult, and could also harm the body, even causing severe uterine bleeding that is hard to treat. Those who study the Dao should keep this firmly in mind.

But what, exactly, is this state like? When Qi returns to the Sea of Blood—the part of a woman’s body associated with blood—it has been transformed from blood, yet is no longer blood. The Sea of Blood therefore does not respond to it as before. It is like someone who leaves home and returns with a changed appearance: his wife and children no longer recognize him, so how could they be as close and attuned as they once were? Once blood has become Qi, it is no longer the same as blood, and it still cannot unite with the Sea of Blood when it returns there.

Thus, when Qi descends to the Sea of Blood, it must feel as though something within it were taking in water like a fish. At this point, the limbs seem almost intoxicated, the body can scarcely bear it, and the sensation resembles sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, beyond one’s power to restrain. At this stage, one must steady the spirit and maintain control; one must not give free rein to the sensation. Let the mind settle and remain in the Central Palace, the inner-cultivation area at the center of the body, for an extended time. Qi will then naturally surge upward through the passes and rise into the Muddy Pellet, the inner-cultivation area in the head, where it transforms into Jade Fluid, the saliva produced through inner cultivation. Then, guide it with intention down through the Double Tower, the passage in the throat, until it returns to the space between the breasts and comes to rest. Use the method of condensing Qi to bring it together and keep it from dispersing. With prolonged practice, one can return to the root and restore the origin, reaching Embryonic Breathing: a state in inner cultivation in which the breath grows deep and still, as if one breathed like an embryo. Once Embryonic Breathing is fully established, the path to becoming an immortal will soon be within reach. Those who practice female alchemy should strive together.

The Fruit of Nature in the Pot-Heaven, Ten Rules of Female Alchemy, Volume One

Rule Four: Silently Circulating Embryonic Breathing

The principles of female alchemy are not complicated, and its actual practice should not be muddled with distractions. Why do many alchemical scriptures not teach methods of cultivation for women? Perhaps in the past, they did not enable both men and women to be saved. I now pass down these methods with the sincere hope that both men and women may be saved. For that reason, I have added Ten Rules for Women’s Daoist Cultivation to the continuation of this alchemical text, to guide those who are destined to receive it.

Why is women’s cultivation of the Elixir method (female alchemy, or nüdan) said to be the simplest and least complicated? The text holds that women are naturally pure and whole, and that their bodies are settled. With only a little practice, they can achieve results, unlike men, who have more distracting thoughts and are more easily led astray. Women’s methods of cultivation should therefore be straightforward and clear.

In cultivation, there is originally a distinction between proceeding with the natural course and reversing it. If female practitioners of the Dao (women cultivating female alchemy) focus on practicing according to the formula explained earlier, their true Qi (vital energy circulating within the body) will gradually arise of its own accord. Once it does, the text says, blood transforms into fluid. This fluid flows from between the breasts through the body’s meridians, nourishing the whole body. Formed from blood, it must be continually nourished by the body’s “Jade Milk” so that the Middle Dantian (the energy center in the middle of the body) can become settled and serve as the foundation for transcending life and death.

“Jade Milk” refers to the breath Qi within the body. The breath Qi arises in the middle of the body and settles there as well. To return the Jade Fluid to its source, one must use this Qi to gather and hold it so that it does not disperse, then condense it into the “Reverted Elixir,” the elixir formed through internal alchemy.

The “breathing” spoken of here is the inner movement of breath during cultivation; it does not refer only to breathing through the mouth and nose. During cultivation, its movement is not visible at the mouth and nose, yet it remains coordinated with breathing through them. Though called “breathing,” it is not like ordinary respiration. Rather, mouth-and-nose breathing is used to explain how breath moves during cultivation.

Why is mouth-and-nose breathing used as an explanation? Because it is set in motion by precelestial Qi. At this stage, cultivation works with precelestial Qi, not postcelestial Qi. Though precelestial breathing has a name, it has no visible form; it rises and falls naturally in step with each inhalation and exhalation through the mouth and nose. Women cultivating this practice also circulate the breath through the central palace—the center within the body—and let it move in coordination with mouth-and-nose breathing, so that it flows in and out freely, without obstruction. With prolonged practice, the breath naturally returns to its root, and one gradually feels that it no longer enters and leaves through the mouth and nose. The scripture says that after one month of practice, “fetal breathing” forms: an inner breathing like that of a fetus in the womb. Once fetal breathing has formed, the Way of the female immortal may be within reach. Women should therefore devote themselves wholeheartedly to this method.

This stage of practice is extremely subtle. Before reaching it, women must first bring the earlier practices to maturity and stabilize their temperament through training. Attempting it before that work is complete may bring on serious illness and hinder cultivation. Practice with focused care, and examine yourself often.

Ten Precepts on the Female Elixir in the Pot of Heaven, Volume One: Fifth Precept, Broadly Accumulate Merit and Practice.

Women’s cultivation has always centered on inner stillness. When Yang Qi arises from stillness, that is what is called “movement.” Both movement and stillness depend on inner cultivation; they are not matters of outward circumstance. Cultivating oneself through a quiet mind is already the wondrous Way of ultimate truth. But if one clings only to stillness, with no outward practice to support it, how can that stillness endure? If a woman devotes herself to the Dao, has cultivated innate Qi, refined the Jade Liquids—the subtle fluids produced in Neidan cultivation—and preserved fetal breathing, the fine, steady breath that resembles a fetus’s breathing, then she has completed well over half of the initial work. Even after achieving modest progress, she must continue to nurture herself through outward practice. Only by avoiding inner depletion, gaining support from without, and cultivating both inner and outer aspects can she hope to become an immortal.

How, then, should outward practice be carried out? Women often remain in the inner chambers, spending their days within the household and seldom going out. How can they accumulate merit? It may seem that there is no way to establish an outward practice. In fact, there are ways to do good and build merit without leaving home. For example, while one’s parents-in-law are alive, one can honor them morning and evening, attend to their meals, and inquire after their well-being. Treating one’s parents-in-law with kindness is the highest form of merit and good conduct. If one can carry this out wholeheartedly, one can attain the Way of the immortals.

In dealing with others, be loyal, kind, and sincere. Never deceive yourself or act against your conscience. When you see people who are poor, lonely, or old, keep compassion and sympathy in your heart. Even if it means accepting some loss yourself, do your best to care for others. Do not be put off by the dirt and disorder beside the stove, and do not shout in the kitchen. Offer reverence to the spirits, respect your teachers, treat both elders and younger people with humility, and live in harmony with your neighbors, showing them care and consideration.

Do not behave frivolously or speak harshly and arrogantly. Let all your words and actions in daily life accord with reason and proper conduct. Keep this up over time, and your disposition will naturally become calm, and your conduct will grow reasonable. Do not deliberately pursue merit, and merit will gradually accumulate. Do not cling to displaying your cultivation, and its foundations will gradually take root. Handle affairs with a calm mind, and you will remain in the Dao. At the highest level of self-cultivation, even if you do not become a celestial official, you can become a woman of refined character in the human world. If you can do all this, what better path of cultivation could there be?

A woman who cultivates the Dao should keep watch over her inner self. She should not use cultivation as an excuse to go out and welcome the spirits or worship the Buddha. Acting this way, she will only end up depending on ghosts and spirits. How could she transcend life and death, bring her nature and life to completion, and become a perfected sage of a lofty realm? Women who cultivate the Dao should strive to improve themselves.

Though this section concerns outward conduct in daily life, it describes an indispensable first step in a woman’s cultivation. Once she has put this into practice, it will be easier to make progress in the work that follows.

Ten Rules for Female Elixir Cultivation from the Pot-Gourd Grotto, fascicle one, sixth rule: Self-Encouragement.

Though this section concerns outward conduct in daily life, it describes an indispensable first step in a woman’s cultivation. Once she has put this into practice, it will be easier to make progress in the work that follows.

Ten Rules for Female Elixir Cultivation from the Pot-Gourd Grotto, fascicle one, sixth rule: Firm Resolve and Perseverance.

If a woman who cultivates the Dao can find a wise teacher (one who understands the methods of cultivation), receive the oral instructions (the essential methods of practice), put her conduct in order, enter the Dao with devotion, set her resolve, and focus on cultivation—and if she persists over time without becoming lax—then she can be said to have truly received the essential methods of practice and grasped the key principles of self-cultivation. This is indeed how it should be.

However, women’s dispositions are prone to distraction and change. When they face disappointments or practices that do not suit them, they may lose their original resolve and be led astray by other paths, ultimately unable to persevere in cultivation and attain the fruits of the Dao. If the mind clings to its own biases, the path of cultivation cannot be sustained, and the efforts of a whole lifetime will come to nothing.

Alas, many women die and are buried beneath the earth; even those renowned for their beauty and talent within the inner chambers cannot escape entering the City of Unjust Death, where suffering spirits dwell in Daoist and popular belief. Only then do they learn that they are no longer masters of their fate, and that life is often filled with regret. Their sins and karma surge like waves across a sea, and the cycles of rebirth have no end. By the time they wish to escape, they may have lost their chance. I have visited the underworld offices many times to observe, and whenever I saw these men and women, I could not help but feel compassion for them. Few in the world encounter the Daoist teachings, and seeking the Dao is difficult. Many women, though sincere in their desire to seek the Dao, never receive true instruction. They pass their lives in ignorance, with no way of knowing when they may escape the cycle of rebirth after death. This is truly lamentable.

I now establish a method to instruct people, and so I set out the essential instructions for women’s alchemy—the methods by which women cultivate Neidan—plainly and clearly. I hope that those destined to encounter them will awaken at once, leave the path of delusion, and reach the farther shore of liberation from suffering.

In this way, I hope there will be no more cries of sorrow in the underworld, and that women in their inner chambers will also find a method of reviving the spirit: through cultivation, life can be renewed and vitality restored. If they hold to it steadfastly over time and do not lose the Way, they can enjoy endless bliss.

Yet though the essential instructions are easy to obtain, it is difficult for the human heart to remain constant. When a woman who truly seeks the Dao receives the highest and most subtle teachings, she can cultivate with unwavering focus and ultimately have no cause for regret. With her resolve pure and upright, she will not be led astray by heterodox paths, and if she sustains the Dao-centered heart over time, she can naturally cultivate herself to a state of transcendence beyond the world.

If some women are inconsistent in word and deed, agreeing outwardly while inwardly resisting, complying at first and then changing their minds; if they speak carelessly, casually revealing their unusual aspirations to female companions; if they fail to honor their commitments to their lineage and readily divulge subtle Daoist methods—such people act against their words and conduct themselves carelessly. Under the name of cultivation, they seek only long life. Their virtue is shallow and their practice weak, yet they expect to attain a strong body. Such people are burdened with grave karmic offenses: in life they must endure the calamities of the Five Sufferings, and after death they will face the punishments of the laws of the underworld. My school does not accept them.

In the future, when the time comes to teach widely to those who are truly destined to receive the teachings, examine them carefully before transmitting them. A woman who sincerely practices should devote herself to observing the rules of our school and cultivate according to its oral instructions. She should practice diligently day and night, morning and evening, and remain steadfast from beginning to end. When her practice is complete, her speech will be upright and her conduct honest; her body will be strong, her vital energy abundant, and her youthful vigor restored.

From then on, she should continue cultivating with ever greater diligence, and there will be hope of becoming an immortal. She must never betray her Daoist resolve and thereby damage her own foundation.

I have several precepts that female practitioners should keep firmly in mind.

They are as follows:

First precept: Be filial and care for your parents-in-law. If you have no parents-in-law, treat your clan’s relatives and those older or senior to you with humility and respect, observing proper courtesy. Honor the elderly and the virtuous.

Second precept: Be dignified and upright. Keep your everyday conduct and dress simple and proper; do not be extravagant.

Third precept: Guard your speech. Whether speaking with elders or younger people, be careful with your words. Be discreet when discussing other people’s faults, talking about one another, or sharing the subtle principles taught by your master, so as to avoid discord and misfortune.

Fourth precept: Practice with care. Choose a clean, quiet place for seated meditation and cultivation. Avoid, as far as possible, filthy places, roadsides, damp locations, and noisy places.

The fifth precept is to honor teachers and elders and respect the Dao and its methods. When you meet someone learned and accomplished in cultivation, you should ask questions humbly and listen attentively. Do not slander them, argue to prove your superiority, or answer back defiantly; nor should you be arrogant or self-important. Otherwise, you will gain no benefit from them.

The sixth precept is to remain steadfast in your aspiration and keep your thoughts upright. Once you begin cultivating the Dao, you should vow to persevere throughout your life, or resolve to cultivate over several lifetimes. Do not lose your firm faith or your determination to work hard, lest you hinder your progress in cultivation.

These six precepts are indeed important principles for women’s cultivation, and the fundamental practices for putting cultivation into effect. Anyone who does not observe them should be expelled from the school and left to abandon cultivation. These precepts are copied here for female cultivators to examine.

Ten Teachings on Female Alchemy: The Fruit of the Pot-Hewn Heaven (One Scroll)

Seventh Teaching: Nurturing the Original Shen

Women’s cultivation is more direct than men’s. From “nurturing the true” (cultivating true Qi and caring for body and mind) to “embryonic breathing” (a state in cultivation where the breath becomes so subtle that it resembles the inner breathing of an embryo), women have already completed two-thirds of the work. Men must undergo more stages of cultivation before they can reach the stage of regulating Shen. For this reason, texts on female alchemy typically finish describing the work from nurturing the true through embryonic breathing, then turn to practices and cultivation in the external realm. Only when these external practices have developed beyond what is needed may one advance to regulating Shen.

How does one nurture the Original Shen? This is because, in the preceding work of refining Qi and blood, blood has already been transformed into Qi, while Qi in turn relies on blood to settle.

How should Shen (spirit) be refined? In the earlier work of cultivating and refining Qi and blood, the blood has already been transformed into Qi. Qi moves by relying on the blood, and is then further transformed into Shen. At this stage, unless one tempers one’s character and supports the practice with the cultivation of everyday conduct, the results may not hold together in the future. One could instead lose what has been gained, leaving all the work done so far in vain.

So at this point in cultivation, one must follow the precepts and strictly observe the rules, tempering the mind and nature until they are as steadfast as hard stone. Repeatedly hammer and hone them until the Dao-heart—the resolve to follow and cultivate the Dao—awakens and one’s original nature shines with clarity. By then, one’s character has been nurtured to purity, and consciousness has entered a state of deep stillness. Inside and out are clear; inner and outer are transparent. It is like “the light of a ten-thousand-acre ice vessel shining into the eyes, a full moon reflected in a deep pool”: not a trace is stained by dust, and even attachment to the body and outward appearance has fallen away.

At this stage of cultivation, a subtle, numinous power of transformation will naturally emerge in the chest as the work proceeds. After remaining in meditation for a long time, one may become wholly like the dead: motionless, silent, neither eating nor feeling hunger. Someone must then attend and protect her. Do not startle her by suddenly shouting or calling out simply because she has entered meditation. Excessive disturbance may injure her spirit-body, or even lead her into a demonic state, causing serious harm.

When a woman’s cultivation reaches this point, she must be especially careful to avoid any mistake. After she enters meditation, if her breathing seems to have stopped and her complexion remains unchanged, let the natural process of gathering and dispersing take its course. Whether she remains in meditation for a day or two, five or seven days, or more than ten days, do not move her casually; someone must watch over her day and night. Only when her breath becomes faintly perceptible and her spiritual light begins to show should she be called softly.

After she emerges from meditation, arrange her everyday needs, including food and clothing, according to what she requires. From then on, continue to guard against danger at every step to prevent damage to the Dan-yuan—the refined vital energy formed through Neidan cultivation. The subsequent work must continue until she can bring forth the spirit; only then is the danger past. Practitioners should keep this firmly in mind and proceed with care. Do not take it lightly.

The path of a woman’s cultivation is to transform Yin into Yang. Only when Yang reaches its utmost fullness can the original Shen become complete. Even after alchemical practice reaches this stage, it must be sustained over a long period, so that the original Shen is tempered again and again and grows ever more settled, until the body is as clear as an ice vessel and the original Shen as limpid as autumn waters. Yet the original Shen must not remain inside the body indefinitely. When it is fully formed, it should depart, as a ripe melon naturally falls from the vine.

If the original Shen does not leave the body, it will ultimately be no more than a ghost clinging to its corpse. What would be remarkable about that?

At this point, one should use the method of spirit emergence to move the original Shen outside the body. If it emerges too quickly, it may become lost, with nowhere to return. So the Shen that has left the body must return to it, moving out and back repeatedly, first over a short distance and then farther away. Take care not to let it roam at will. Only after long practice in regulation and cultivation, when the work has become fully mastered, can the original Shen come and go freely. Once the practice is mature, there is no need for fear.

Although this is the method of spirit emergence, the practice must be understood in stages. Before the Shen has truly emerged, the original Shen should remain in a state of utmost stillness, and one’s practice should continue to follow the principles of nurturing the true—that is, cultivating what is genuine within. Only when the original Shen is complete may this stage of practice come to an end.

Once the spirit has left the body, the practice enters an active stage. The methods now differ from those used earlier. One should nourish and cultivate the spirit through “letting the spirit roam,” so that it becomes subtle, free-flowing, and unobstructed. Only after spiritual powers have been cultivated to the point where they reach far and become manifest may one rest for a time.

Afterward, care well for the Original Spirit. You may wander among mountains and waters, or sit quietly playing the qin; often do things that bring delight and let your heart feel completely at ease. When something beneficial to cultivation presents itself, do it promptly; when action is called for, act. The use of spiritual powers and the subtle principles of the Dao are without end. If you complete eight hundred meritorious deeds and fulfill three thousand good works, an edict written in golden characters will descend. A Dragon Maiden will come, and perfected immortals will protect and nurture you as you await their summons to ascend. Then you may roam freely in the ninth heaven and live joyfully in the immortal realm of Penglai. This is just as the saying goes: “Cast off the womb garment of the mundane world and become a female immortal.” How beautiful and exhilarating! Why should women who believe in the Dao be afraid to undertake cultivation?

Ten Precepts on the Nature and Fruition of the Pot in the Sky: Female Elixir (Volume One), Ninth Precept: Awaiting the Summons to Ascend

The cultivation of the Female Elixir is complete. One has cultivated a pure-Yang body—that is, a state of body and mind in Daoist practice in which Yin and Yang have transformed and tend toward pure Yang—and can come and go freely, without restraint.

At this point, one should widely perform meritorious deeds and sow many good causes. Never set aside the aims of Daoist cultivation just because the spirit can leave the body and roam freely. Nor should one reveal Heaven’s secrets recklessly on the strength of one’s own ideas, attempt to overturn the order of the world, or turn instead to chasing worldly affairs. Still less should one speak too freely and divulge the mysteries of creation, or act against the principles of Heaven. Such reckless conduct will bring down Heaven’s punishment.

Having reached this stage of cultivation, one should only proclaim Heaven’s teachings and protect the state and aid the people. Once one’s merits are complete, exalted sages and perfected beings will come to summon one, enabling one to transcend the mundane world and ascend to the immortal realms. Then one may attend court at the Golden Palace of Heaven, receive an imperial investiture, and dwell in the heavenly palace from then on, enjoying endless bliss.

After women adepts (those who cultivate female alchemy) have succeeded in their practice, why must they still wait for a High Sage—a deity of elevated rank—to come and deliver them? It is because women’s constitutions are weaker, so they must rely on internal cultivation to refine themselves into a Yang body. Although their constitutions have become Yang, their Yin-condensed nature has not yet been completely refined away. Women therefore devote less time to the stage of “returning to emptiness”—the practice of bringing body and mind to stillness and emptiness, in harmony with the Dao—and their methods of cultivation cannot fully attain the wondrous state of Heaven and Earth’s creative transformation. They cannot ascend beyond the world because their physical form is not yet sufficiently strong.

Men are different: their bodies have already been refined into indestructible bodies, firm as vajra. Through the practice of returning to emptiness, they nurture a divine radiance that fills Heaven and Earth. Thus they need not wait for someone else to deliver them; they can realize the Dao and become perfected beings, personally pay audience to the Emperor of Heaven, and wander, rest, and feast in the immortal realm of Penglai.

After women have cultivated the female Golden Elixir, they must widely perform meritorious deeds. When their merit is complete, a High Sage may take pity on them and, after seeing their efforts, petition the Emperor of Heaven on their behalf. Only then can they receive an imperial decree and a golden edict of selection issued from the lower realm, certifying that they have attained the supreme fruit of the Dao in both the human and celestial realms. Otherwise, they can become only wandering immortals, unable to live as long as Heaven and Earth, and will ultimately return to transformation and extinction.

When women adepts practice this method, even after reaching the stage of emerging spirit—the state in which consciousness leaves the body—they must still await a High Sage’s deliverance and return to the True before their cultivation is complete. If their practice and merit are complete, they can enjoy human offerings and worship for a long time. Above, they can help the Celestial Emperor make up for what is incomplete in the work of creation; below, they can relieve people’s suffering and misfortune. Once their merit is complete, they can live as long as Heaven and Earth, shine alongside the sun and moon, escape the cycle of rebirth, transcend the ordeals of the kalpas, and attain a state beyond birth and death. Only then can they be called refined women of the inner chambers and adepts of the inner household. May women in the world who aspire to cultivate the Dao never give up on themselves.

One scroll of Ten Sections on the Nature and Fruit of the Gourd-Heaven: Female Alchemy

Section Ten: Realizing the Dao and Becoming Perfected.

For women who cultivate the Dao, the most important goal is to become a perfected being and realize the Great Dao. If cultivation does not reach this state, it is like a frog in a field still stuck in the mud: one remains a living being bound by karmic forces, unable to escape the cycle of rebirth, transcend calamities, or return to one’s original, pre-heavenly state.

These principles are easy to state; the difficulty lies in putting them into practice without giving up. If one sets a firm aim, steadies the heart, never abandons the intention to cultivate the Dao, and follows the proper principles diligently throughout life, it is said that three to five years of practice can bring one to a superior attainment and entry into the Penglai Grotto-Heaven, the Daoist legendary realm of the immortals, where one is free and at ease. Then life and death are one’s own to command, and the transformations of Heaven and Earth seem to lie in one’s hands. This is what is meant by “when one person becomes perfected, the nine generations of ancestors are all delivered”: when one person completes the cultivation, their ancestors and clan may also be delivered through it.

At that time, one’s virtue extends throughout Heaven and Earth, and one’s merit reaches deep into the Nine Springs. The Lord on High looks with favor, the celestial immortals rejoice, the spirits stand in awe, and the people benefit. One endures through ten thousand kalpas and remains for a thousand ages, still receiving offerings. One enjoys all the pleasures of the human world and the freedom of Heaven: in the morning, one may roam beyond the seas; at night, dwell on Mount Kunlun, as if governing Heaven and Earth and extending blessings in every direction.

Whatever ordinary people may say, their opinions cannot compare with the work of cultivation. If one abandons cultivation and seeks some other path, one takes the way of heresy. How then could one be freed from life and death and realize the fruit of the Dao in the future? Women of later generations should take this as a warning.

The verse says: Although the methods for cultivating the Elixir have already been recorded in books, their principles remain profound and mysterious. Grasp the essentials through the ten steps of cultivation, and seek the true formula within the nine revolutions of the Returned Elixir.

If you have no true understanding, do not reveal it lightly. If there is no destined meeting, do not explain or display it to others.

I have labored over this subject for many years, and leave what I have learned to later generations, awaiting people of virtue and insight who can understand it.

Preface to the Female Golden Elixir

The Great Dao makes no distinction between men and women; both can cultivate and attain success. A man who succeeds in cultivating the Dao is called a “Perfected One”; a woman who succeeds is called a “Primordial Lady.” Since ancient times, Elixir scriptures have discussed men’s cultivation in great detail, while saying little about women’s. When they do mention it, they offer only a few hints.

This does not mean that women’s cultivation is held in lesser regard. Some believe that everyone shares the same roots of nature and life, and therefore the methods of cultivation are also the same. Since men’s cultivation has been explained, they reason, there is no need to explain women’s methods separately. But they have failed to recognize that men are outwardly Yang and inwardly Yin, while women are outwardly Yin and inwardly Yang. Men and women differ in their inherent nature and in the forms of their bodies. Thus, though the roots of nature and life in cultivation are the same, the actual methods of practice differ greatly.

The Discerning Difficulties in Cultivating the Real says: “For men, the essential first step in cultivation is refining Qi; for women, it is refining the body.” Patriarch Xu says: “A man’s success in cultivation is verified by no longer leaking Jing; a woman’s, by no longer having menstrual flow.” Here, “flow” refers to a woman’s menstruation. This shows that men’s and women’s cultivation differ distinctly from the very beginning. As for refining the self, obtaining the medicine, returning the Elixir, nurturing it with warmth, forming the embryo, and emerging in spirit, the processes are broadly similar for men and women, yet many details and stages still differ.

In the spring of the Renchen year, a woman happened to come to ask about the Dao. I taught her to read more ancient books so she could compare them with the methods I had transmitted. But Elixir scriptures contain few passages on women’s cultivation, making it difficult to examine the similarities and differences between men’s and women’s practice.

Therefore, heedless of the charge of divulging Heaven’s secrets, I have written down what men’s and women’s cultivation share, how they differ, and the specific sequence of each stage.

So, disregarding the sin of divulging Heaven’s secrets, I have set down on paper, one by one, what the two have in common, how they differ, and the sequence of their sections. This offers a path for beginners seeking the Dao, enabling readers to understand the scriptures from their words and keeping them from mistaking a fish’s eye for a pearl. If they can grasp the teachings deeply and put them into practice, perhaps they will be able to refine the mercury elixir in a golden crucible and attain the supreme Great Dao. By then, joining the gathering at the Jade Pool and paying homage alongside the male immortals to Lord Wood and the Golden Mother will be no difficult matter.

Preface written by Zhongzheng Yizi in the Western Studio of Reclining Clouds at Yudai Creek, in the Zhonghe month of the renchen year of the Guangxu reign of the Great Qing (1892).

First Volume: Precepts and Regulations

Resolve to Enter the Dao

Yin and Yang give rise to one another through their opposition in the world between Heaven and Earth. Qian (symbolizing Heaven and Yang) is firm and vigorous; Kun (symbolizing Earth and Yin) is yielding and receptive. Yin cannot grow without Yang, and Yang cannot come into being without Yin. Only when firmness and softness reach harmony can Water and Fire support one another; only when Yin and Yang unite can the myriad things and humankind be brought forth. Qian and Kun each receive the original Qi of Heaven and Earth, and women and men alike possess the innate nature through which they can cultivate themselves into immortals. Qian governs growth and can be cultivated to true awakening; Kun governs abundant generation and can attain the rank of Primordial Lady.

If women find it difficult to enter the immortal path, why has the Queen Mother of the West dwelt on Kunlun for so long? Chang’e stole Hou Yi’s elixir and became the immortal queen of the lunar palace. Some have leisurely studied lacquered writings and claimed to be immortals banished from the Jade Pool to the human world. The Goddess of the Luo River and the Wu maiden have been renowned figures since antiquity; legends of Zigu and the Xiang River princesses still circulate today. These accounts appear in the histories and are indeed recorded. Women inherit Kun’s De: how could they be unable to cultivate the Dao?

The problem is that some people indulge their desires and feel no wish to seek the Dao. How can they escape the wrong path and become immortals soaring above the clouds? Human nature is originally inclined toward Yin and softness. If one has narrow understanding, knows nothing of women’s virtue, and does not understand the “Three Obediences” (the old expectation that women obey their fathers, husbands, and sons), then one may fail to correct one’s faults and neglect the cultivation of merit and virtue. In that case, indulging one’s desires only causes one to lose one’s innate nature, abandon oneself further, and sink into ever worse circumstances. The affairs of the world are like floating clouds, and the human realm is a net of karmic entanglements. Rather than let oneself fall into the cycle of rebirth, one should turn back to cultivation and make for the farther shore of liberation.

There truly is a road to the immortal realm at Penglai, and it is right before us. The Jade Capital, the Daoist celestial city of immortals, is not without a stairway; what matters is inward understanding. The Buddha is within the mind, and the mind itself is the Buddha. If immortals can transcend the self, then I, too, can cultivate myself into an immortal. Jade Mercury and Golden Lead, the Yin-Yang substances of internal alchemy, are vital means of saving living beings. The Elixir scriptures and Buddhist texts are indeed stairways into the path of cultivation. Yet the secrets of this practice cannot be revealed lightly, so the scriptures often speak in veiled and obscure terms. Even if one reads the texts thoroughly and recites them again and again, one must still seek out teachers and fellow practitioners. Understand one oral formula, and one will grasp that formula; advance one level, and another stretch of the path lies ahead. If one can truly set aside worldly entanglements, pay respects to a wise teacher, and seek the transmission of the heart method, it will not be difficult to ascend to the immortal palace, pay homage to the Golden Mother (the Queen Mother of the West), and join the ranks of the immortals. One must set one’s resolve and each strive in earnest.

The first volume discusses precepts and rules, listing twelve for beginners: refrain from the proliferation of deluded thoughts, indulgence in lust and sexual desire, harshness and cruelty, vexation and anger, worry and fear, letting the eyes wander freely, listening indiscriminately, excessive and arrogant speech, stinginess and hoarding wealth, killing living beings, eating too much meat and rich food, and showing disrespect toward the Dao and its teachings or neglecting one’s teachers and elders. Women are expected to observe more precepts than these twelve; if one can keep these twelve, one is already close to becoming an immortal.

The first precept is to refrain from the proliferation of deluded thoughts.

Thoughts that arise in the heart-mind are called “thoughts.” When thoughts are upright, one’s actions will generally be upright as well; when thoughts are distorted, one’s actions can easily go astray. The heart-mind is like the celestial ruler governing the whole body, while thoughts are like attendants who follow its commands. When the heart-mind, the master, is settled, every part of the body follows its direction.

Deluded thoughts are the many confused and improper thoughts that arise. What the ancients called “the thought of no-thought” is the true thought; it is also the true intent, the focused and clear awareness cultivated in practice. This true intent is essential to cultivation. Only when it is present can one follow the methods of the Elixir, refine lead and seek mercury, gather the spirit, and nurture the embryo. In the Elixir scriptures, the phrase “in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, never depart from this” refers to the true intent.

Deluded thoughts are tangled and countless, difficult to describe fully. At first they seem to arise from nowhere; then, stirred by external circumstances, they give rise to all kinds of fantasies. Before one thought has subsided, another follows. The mind jumps from one thing to the next and is stirred by whatever it encounters. When thinking of something that went well, one cannot help congratulating oneself and feeling satisfied; when thinking of something that went badly, one falls into self-reproach and sadness. In this way, the mind and spirit remain unsettled throughout the day, and even at night, when one goes to sleep, the spirit cannot find peace.

If deluded thoughts have already arisen, they will inevitably find expression in deluded actions. How could such a person be fit to speak of the Dao of the immortals? Even when deluded thoughts have not become actions, but remain as baseless fantasies in the mind, they cannot escape the spirits’ penetrating gaze and strict scrutiny. All the more so because the cycle of birth and death is set in motion by a single thought: what the mind clings to most deeply and holds most dear determines where one will be reborn in the next life. Alas, a single thought can draw one into the cycle of rebirth and plant the seeds of boundless causes and effects in life and death. How, then, can people fail to treat the thoughts that arise within them with care?

Those who have attained the Dao understand that baseless delusions bind their nature and draw them toward the Six Paths—the six realms of rebirth in Buddhist teaching. They therefore observe their minds attentively and remain diligent in awareness: Where does a thought arise, and where does it disappear? What is its state before it arises, and what is it like after it has arisen? The moment they notice a thought emerging, they cut it down as if wielding a sword of wisdom, rooting it out completely before it can take hold and grow unseen in the subtlest places. They quiet the mind until its nature is empty, clear, and still, letting every thought subside while leaving only an awareness that is bright and undeluded. Then the mind becomes free, at ease, lively, and responsive. Selfish desires are cleansed away, and the natural order flows of its own accord; the Dao of the immortals is no longer far off. Beginners in the Dao must first guard this threshold with care and never take it lightly. This is what makes a woman resolute and steadfast, fit to undertake cultivation.

The Second Prohibition: Indulging desire and craving sexual pleasure.

The most difficult obstacle for people to overcome is sexual desire. Why are people born? The scripture says it is because the root of lust has not been pulled out. When a person sees sexual relations between men and women, their spiritual nature enters the reproductive body of a man or woman and is thereby conceived and born. Why do people have bodies? Because their parents’ union formed them. Since people come from sexual desire, the habits associated with it take deep root, and the root of desire is not easily removed.

People depend entirely on this small store of Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) to live. Indulging in sexual desire depletes Jing and Qi. When they are depleted, the Yang Gate—the orifice that contains and preserves Jing and Qi—becomes insecure, and various illnesses follow one after another. The ancients said, “Taking a hundred pills is not as good as spending one night alone.” This means that Jing and Qi should be cherished. Preserving some of them can extend one’s life by several years. If cultivation reaches the stage of “no leakage,” where Jing and Qi are no longer lost, and the Yang Gate is firmly sealed, one can attain long life.

The scripture also says that women’s emotions are readily stirred by desire. Once they become attached to sexual pleasure, the fire of desire can blaze fiercely and become difficult to control. If no husband satisfies their desires, they may commit acts that violate fidelity. Even without losing their chastity, once lustful thoughts arise, the fire of desire torments the whole body and has already damaged its Jing and Qi.

When Wei Shiyiniang was studying the Dao, her master transformed into a tall, powerfully built man and tried every means to seduce her, even forcing her into humiliation. She remained unmoved, and only then did her master teach her the arts of immortality. The scripture uses this story to explain that people who have not uprooted desire often lose their chance to cultivate immortality. Even if they are fortunate enough to hear the methods of cultivation, they cannot truly practice them, because these methods involve the body and the interaction of Yin-Yang. Even if they force themselves to cultivate, what they form will be only a fetus of lust. Later, when they leave the body in a spiritual excursion, they will be reborn if they encounter scenes of sexual desire, and all their previous cultivation will come to nothing.

Among the celestial maidens in the Heavenly Palace, many have also been banished to the human world. The scripture says that they, too, are unable to complete this path of cultivation.

The female immortals in the celestial palace who are often banished to the mortal world are those whose romantic attachments have not yet been severed. Should we not be on our guard against this? The key to keeping the precepts is neither to think about it nor to look. By not thinking, one can stop the thought before desire arises; by not looking, one can cut off the thought when temptation appears. The Wenchang Emperor says, “Before you see it, do not think of it; when you see it, do not let your mind become unsettled; after you have seen it, do not keep recalling it.” These are indeed wise words for overcoming lust.

Yet it is not enough merely to avoid thinking, becoming unsettled, and remembering. One must also uproot desire at its source and understand that forms are empty in their very nature, while emptiness is never separate from form. When faced with temptation, forget thoughts of desire; even amid sensual enticements, keep the heart free of desire. Only then can one speak of the path to becoming an immortal. I have never heard of anyone achieving the way of the High Perfected—an advanced path of immortality—while harboring lustful thoughts.

Precepts of the Upper Volume

Supplementary Examination (appendix and textual notes)

Wei Shiyiniang was a poor woman from Chang’an during the Song dynasty. She married the son of the Zheng family, who came from the same hometown. The Zheng man liked to associate with wandering warriors and roam from place to place. Wei Shiyiniang urged him to change many times, and the couple grew estranged. During the Zhenghe era, he went to serve in the army at a frontier town and was gone for a long time without sending word. Her elder brother-in-law behaved badly and often made suggestive remarks to her, but Wei Shiyiniang firmly rebuffed him. She thought of the Daoist nun Zhao, who had been close to her since childhood—and who could teach her Daoist arts—so she went to seek refuge with her. Zhao welcomed her into the convent and taught her magic arts.

At dusk, Zhao went down the mountain, leaving Wei Shiyiniang to spend the night alone. She warned her, “Do not drink wine, and do not go near anything licentious or wicked.” Wei Shiyiniang thought that in the depths of the mountains, how could either of those things happen? Late that night, a man climbed over the wall and came in. Wei Shiyiniang immediately rose and asked who he was, but he did not answer. He came forward and tried to embrace her. She resisted with all her strength. When he pressed her more fiercely, she drew her sword to stab him; he drew his sword in turn, and his swordsmanship was remarkably skillful. Realizing she was no match for him, Wei Shiyiniang lowered her sword and pleaded, “My life is humble and my lot is poor. I have long renounced worldly desires. How can you bear to disturb me? Besides, my master gave me a clear command, and I swear I would not dare disobey!” The man held his sword to her neck and forced her to submit. Wei Shiyiniang stretched out her neck, preferring to die. He put away his sword and said with a smile, “I can see that your resolve has not changed.” Only then did Wei Shiyiniang realize that the man was Zhao herself. From then on, Zhao passed all her Daoist arts on to her.

The Three Admonitions: Strength Can Turn into Violence, Cruelty, and Harshness

Strength is a virtue in itself. Without it, a person becomes weak and timid, unable to rouse themselves; whatever they undertake is hard to accomplish. Strength is therefore indispensable. But when strength is not restrained by propriety and discipline, it can turn into violence: a perverse temperament, doing whatever one pleases, refusing to yield, disregarding right and wrong, and ignoring other people’s advice. Such a person is rude to her parents-in-law, quarrels with her sisters-in-law, shows her husband no respect, bullies her nieces and nephews, and treats servants harshly. She is called a “shrew.” Once strength has developed into violence, it often becomes cruelty and mercilessness as well, along with harshness and a lack of kindness.

A person must have a benevolent heart to be broad-minded and regard all living beings as one family. The Holy Mother Primordial Sovereign, a goddess revered in Daoism, regards all under Heaven as one family and the Chinese people as one whole. She cherishes every kind of life, above and below the heavens, as if each were her own child. How could she feel hatred and become cruel and harsh?

The Great Bodhisattva Guanyin is honored as the Compassionate Boat because of her naturally benevolent nature and her universal rescue of living beings. She is a divine mother who remains compassionate toward all beings through countless calamities. Her divine spirit has, for this reason, endured through every tribulation without perishing. A person who is forceful and violent has lost the virtue of Kun Yin, which symbolizes the Earth, gentleness, and receptivity. A person who is cruel and callous likewise lacks the Earth’s deep and expansive power to nurture life. What use would Heaven have for such a person, and what benefit would there be in keeping them on Earth? They might as well die sooner; how could they hope for long life?

Therefore, these faults must be overcome. Those with irritable tempers should cultivate gentleness and patience, treating others with the warmth of a spring breeze and living in harmony with all things. Those who are cruel and callous should instead treat others with kindness and generosity, like timely rain nourishing all things, so that everyone may benefit. When this is expressed outwardly, the heart, too, becomes clear, free, lively, and open, always containing inexhaustible vitality. Only by doing so can one hope to be received and guided by Guanyin, the Compassionate Boat.

The Fourth Prohibition: Refrain from Anxiety and Anger

Anxiety means becoming worn out and troubled by what one has to do, and then giving rise to resentment. Who goes through life without things to take care of? They should be completed gradually, one step at a time. Only by not dwelling on credit or blame, and by neither fearing hardship nor recoiling from tedious effort, can things be accomplished. If becoming worn out and troubled leads to resentment, what task in the world could ever be completed?

In cultivating the mind and nature, patience is most important. The mind and spirit have been unruly for a long time. When you first try to gather them in, they may be as vigorous and untamed as a dragon or tiger: you want to subdue them, but they will not obey. If forcing them into submission has no effect, then nurture them calmly and patiently. Do not deliberately restrain them, but do not forget your practice or demand quick results. Let things proceed naturally. If you cultivate yourself a little today, you will gain a little; cultivate yourself a little more tomorrow, and you will build on that gain. Keep at it until you have made ten parts’ progress, and in time your mind and nature will become complete, clear, and luminous.

If you fret endlessly because your mind and nature are difficult to purify, how could they ever become completely clear and radiant?

Anger arises when things do not go as you wish, giving rise to resentment and rage. Consider the affairs of the world: how could every one of them go according to your wishes? Getting angry cannot make things turn out as you want. Why not think carefully about this? When something happens, all you can do is accept it calmly.

Moreover, those whose anger runs deep are often cruel at heart. It is said that after death they are often reborn in the belly of a venomous snake. The stories of Xia La, who became a snake through anger, and Lady Xi, who became a python through anger, are told as warnings to the world. Yet anger can sometimes arise from distress, and distress can sometimes arise from anger. Both burden the mind and spirit, and should be cast off without delay.

Five: Refrain from Worry and Fear

Worry and excessive thought harm the spleen: when they become excessive, they cause Qi to stagnate and flow poorly. Shock and fear harm the kidneys: panic and dread scatter the spirit, preventing it from settling and being stored. One worries incessantly about things that have not yet happened, then becomes fearful and restless when they are about to arrive. These states cloud the mind and nature and deplete Jing, Qi, and Shen. If they are not cast off, they can easily lead to illnesses that damage the body internally.

To restrain fear, the key is to keep the heart-mind calm and clear, without letting distracting thoughts linger. When worry arises, try to reason it through. If you still cannot dispel it, let it follow its natural course—what good is worrying? People are afraid because they fear calamity will befall them. If, in daily life, you have nothing to reproach yourself for before Heaven or before other people, and have wronged no one, then others have no reason to harm you. What is there to fear? Even if sudden disaster strikes, life and death have their allotted course; all you can do is accept what comes. The sages remain unshaken even as Mount Tai collapses before them, and feel no fear with a knife or saw at their necks, because their heart-mind and Shen (spirit) are settled.

In the past, Wanchiu tested Qingniao Gong with sensory stimuli—color, sound, scent, taste, and touch—as well as the emotions of joy, anger, worry, thought, grief, fear, and alarm. Two emotional traces still remained in Qingniao Gong, so he attained only the status of an “earthly immortal,” one of the levels of immortality in Daoism. If practitioners do not work on these matters, they remain ordinary people. How can they expect to achieve anything?

Six: Guard Against Looking Carelessly

The eyes are the foremost of the six thieves, a Buddhist and Daoist metaphor for the six senses and their external objects. When the eyes see things outside, the heart-mind is easily stirred by them, and the Hun (soul) can dissipate outward through the eyes. This kind of harm is associated with the liver. At night, a person’s Hun rests in the liver; during the day, it dwells in the eyes. If one looks about carelessly, the Hun leaks out through the eyes, and one is more likely to dream at night. Sages dream little because they gather in their gaze and turn their attention inward. They do not let the Hun race outward all day or allow the heart-mind to be pulled along by external things. Therefore, to gather the mind, begin by keeping the eyes in check.

The specific practice is to draw the gaze inward often and attend to the “one opening of the Mysterious Pass,” a Neidan (internal alchemy) term for an inner opening of body and mind. Keep one’s innate nature clear and undimmed, and cultivate the unmoving Shen—the spirit that is settled and undisturbed. In this way, one naturally avoids looking about carelessly and acting rashly. The Hun no longer wanders outward, Shen no longer scatters outward, and precelestial Qi (vital energy) returns to the self.

Seven: Guard Against Listening Carelessly

The kidneys’ opening is in the ears. Listening carelessly to sounds from the outside world can disturb the heart-mind, and Jing (essence) can dissipate through the ear openings. This kind of harm is associated with the kidneys. The kidneys are regarded as the precelestial True Unity Water, which nourishes the body’s Ying and Wei Qi—the vital energy that protects the body and sustains its functioning.

The kidneys are connected to the ears; the ears are the kidneys’ openings on the outside of the body. If one listens carelessly all the time, the mind is easily stirred by sounds, and Jing and Qi can be depleted through the ear openings, harming the kidneys. The kidneys are the body’s innate True Unity Water, which nourishes the Qi of the nutritive and defensive systems throughout the body—the Qi that circulates inside and outside the vessels and sustains the body’s defenses and circulation of Qi and blood. When the kidneys are damaged, the skin becomes haggard and Jing and Qi are depleted; in severe cases, deafness may result.

If one can regularly gather and still the mind and listen inwardly with the ears, the mind will not be stirred by sounds from the outside, and the spirit will be nourished, with Jing and Qi continually gathering in the kidneys. With continued practice, one will be not far from attaining immortality.

The Eighth Prohibition: Avoid Excessive and Reckless Speech

Words can easily bring trouble. Nan Rong, a disciple of Confucius, repeatedly recited: “A flaw in white jade can still be polished away; a flaw in one’s words cannot be undone.” Confucius praised him for speaking with care. If one speaks too much, it becomes difficult to nurture benevolence within. When Sima Niu asked Confucius what benevolence was, Confucius answered in terms of careful speech, teaching people to restrain their outward words and actions and nurture the heart within. Speech expresses the mind, and the mind holds the Shen; excessive speech depletes the spirit.

If one can keep one’s mouth shut like a sealed bottle, the Shen can remain settled in the heart, and one’s inner nature will not be disturbed by speech. In conversation, one will then be less likely to say the wrong thing.

The Ninth Prohibition: Avoid Stinginess and Hoarding Wealth

Money and possessions meet the needs of daily life; no one in the world can do entirely without them. The key is not to be deluded by wealth. If one is so miserly that one will not give away even a single coin, then even if gold and silver pile up like a mountain, can they buy freedom from death and the ravages of impermanence? Rather than amassing wealth to enrich oneself and becoming a miser to one’s own family, one should give wealth away and build merit, thereby forming wholesome ties with the Dao.

Since ancient times, the immortals and perfected beings who attained the Dao have all cultivated fields of blessing through generous acts and the accumulation of virtue. As the ancients said, “If you cling to wealth and treasure your possessions, not even the myriad spirits and immortals will come near.” Those who attain the Dao regard wealth and honor as floating clouds, and gold and jade as no better than dirt; their hearts cling to and covet nothing. One cannot even say that one’s own body belongs entirely to oneself, so how much less can one claim possessions outside the body? For this reason, those who cultivate the Dao should especially see through this attachment and avoid being blinded by wealth.

The Tenth Prohibition: Avoid Killing and Taking Life

The purpose of Heaven and Earth is to nourish life, while the sage holds all things dear. Heaven and Earth allow all things to grow, yet I go and kill them, gravely violating the harmony that is their intent. The sage cherishes all things, yet I harm them, greatly contradicting the sage’s benevolent heart.

Moreover, humans and all other beings share the same nature of life: they cherish survival and fear death. When people are alive, they dread being harmed. Since other beings are alive too, do they not also fear death? If we extend our own feelings to other living beings, we cannot bear to kill them.

The ancients said, “If you wish to prolong your life, you should set living creatures free.” Since I wish to study the Dao and seek long life, I should extend care from myself to all things and cherish the lives of other beings. Although the lives and deaths of all things are in human hands, those who delight in killing and harming life often suffer tragic retribution. In ancient tales, one person was chosen as the top scholar for saving ants, while another received a luminous pearl for releasing sparrows. Throughout history, there have been many accounts of people gaining blessings by setting living creatures free. How could people fail to cherish living beings with compassion and cultivate a benevolent heart that values life?

The Eleventh Precept: Do not eat or drink without restraint, or crave meat and pungent foods.

Although meat and pungent foods can nourish people, no one has heard of those who fast and abstain from them being harmed as a result. This shows that health does not depend entirely on eating meat. In ancient times, people wore clothes of grass and ate wild greens and grains, and most lived long lives. Since the rise of cooking with fire, people have begun eating animal flesh, yet their lifespans have shortened. Why might this be? Perhaps rich, fatty foods readily stoke internal heat, and eating too much can lead to indulgence in desire and deplete Jing. Grains, by contrast, contain the balanced Qi of Heaven and Earth; they are light and pure, and better support health. Besides, eating animals in order to nourish one’s own body with their flesh can stir compassion in the heart. Buddhism forbids meat and pungent foods because it rejects attachment to the pleasures of the palate, so as not to add to the karmic burden of taking life.

Lady of Mount Heng, a Daoist female immortal, warned Yang Xi: “Do not look upon blood and flesh. Seeing them and then turning away is not as good as never looking in the first place. What remains after an animal dies carries the energy of a corpse, and contact with it is especially harmful to Daoist cultivation.” For this reason, those who enter the Dao and practice are expected to restrain their consumption of meat and pungent foods—that is, to eat less of them or avoid them altogether.

The Twelfth Prohibition: Do Not Treat the Great Dao or Your Teachers with Contempt

Nothing in heaven and earth is more precious than the Great Way of the Golden Elixir, the Daoist path of internal alchemy. It can free people from the ordinary world and release them from the cycle of life and death; it can also help their ancestors attain deliverance. In ancient times, people might wait many years before they had the chance to encounter the Great Way. How could this be an ordinary matter?

Even Emperor Wen of Han, though an emperor, lowered himself to seek instruction from the Lord of the Yellow River. Ma Danyang, though wealthy, humbly accepted Wang Chongyang as his teacher. Zhongli Quan, though a master of martial arts, bowed his head to receive instruction from Wang Xuanfu. Bao Puzi, though learned, once knelt before Zheng Siyuan to seek the Dao. What, then, of everyone else? Those who seek the Dao must not rely on their wealth, power, or learning. Even the intelligent must seek instruction with humility and sincerity. Wu Chongxu swept and did other menial work for his teacher, and earnestly sought instruction for twenty years before he was able to learn the Daoist teachings.

Those who transmit the Daoist teachings, too, must not rely on their wealth, power, or learning. Even the intelligent should seek instruction with humility and sincerity. Wu Chongxu swept and did other menial work for his teacher, and earnestly sought instruction for twenty years before he was able to learn the Daoist teachings.

Those who transmit the true Dao do not act carelessly. The Baopuzi says: “Anyone who receives the oral instructions for ‘True Unity’—the essential methods of Daoist cultivation—must first take part in an oath ceremony. The oath is sworn over the blood of a white animal. The transmission takes place on an auspicious day, and silver and white silk are offered as tokens. A metal covenant is engraved and divided between the two parties for safekeeping. If the instructions are carelessly disclosed or passed on indiscriminately, the gods will not protect the offender.” Master Chongxu says: “Since ancient times, perfected immortals who transmit the true Dao have followed the liturgy. They purify themselves through quietude and fasting, set up an altar and perform a Zhaijiao purification ritual, prepare tokens, and swear an oath to Heaven with their own blood. They then submit a petition to the divine offices of the Supreme Emperor, the Three Terraces, the Northern Dipper, the Southern Dipper, the Three Officials, the Four Sages, the Five Emperors, and the Director of Destinies, asking their approval. Only then may the transmission take place.”

Each time the teachings are transmitted to someone, the gods and holy beings of Heaven and Earth must be informed. If a person of poor character tries to buy the teachings with money or obtains them in secret through deception, both teacher and student will be punished by the gods. How could anyone treat this lightly? If those who transmit the teachings do not do so carelessly, how could those who receive them be negligent or disrespectful? The Baopuzi says: “The kindness of a wise teacher truly surpasses Heaven and Earth and outweighs that of one’s parents. How could it not be honored and revered?” From this we can see that when seekers of the Dao meet a true teacher, they should show respect, study diligently, ask sincere questions, and persevere over the long term. Only then may they eventually hear the teaching of the heart and set out on the path to ascend to Heaven and become an immortal.

Oral Instructions, Volume Two

Gathering the Mind

The principles of Golden Elixir cultivation are exceedingly profound;

at every step, the work must be examined with care.

If you ask where to begin,

sweep away deluded thoughts and gather the mind and spirit.

The Great Way of the Golden Elixir is supremely sacred and wondrous, mysterious and subtle. It encompasses both inner cultivation and external practice, and has both a beginning and an end. Every fine detail must be understood for cultivation to proceed correctly. Without focused, practical effort, one may understand the inner work but not the outer, and in the end accomplish nothing. If one knows only the beginning and not the end, one can attain only limited results.

The first step in practice is to gather back the scattered mind. Mencius said, “There is no other way to pursue learning: simply find the mind that has wandered off and bring it back.” If the mind races outward every day, like a wild horse or a mountain ape, never still for even a moment and always pulled along by private desires, the true nature will gradually be obscured by material cravings. Once a person’s good nature is trapped, it becomes difficult to preserve the clear, quiet breath of the night. Naturally, it is then hard to condense desire into the “fetal immortal” (the immortal embryo spoken of in cultivation). So at the outset, set aside every kind of concern. Let the mind be free of impediments and untouched by worldly thoughts; let it rest without attachment, in stillness and emptiness. With long practice, scattered thoughts will naturally quiet down. When the deluded mind grows still, the spirit can come forth. Even if you do not yet attain immortality, you will already be close to the immortal Way.

Instructions in Verse, Lower Scroll

Nurturing Nature

Why is a Mani pearl, clear as crystal—a metaphor for a pure, radiant mind and nature—covered over by dust?

Simply gather the spirit and turn inward in quiet sitting, and the Heavenly Heart will still shine brightly like the moon at night.

A person’s true nature is inherently numinous and clear. It is only bound and obscured by inborn endowment and material desires, and so sometimes grows dim; its original brightness has never truly vanished. If you diligently wipe away the dust of thoughts from the heart and nurture it with care, true nature can appear again, like the bright moon in the sky illuminating all things.

The method of nurturing it is this: sit quietly each day. First set aside every kind of concern, then gather the spirit and turn inward. Let the mind be like the moon hanging high in the heavens, or a gentle breeze passing over the water—at ease, flowing, and alive, seeming both present and absent. Do not forget your practice, but do not force it either. When things happen or objects appear, keep the mind settled while remaining clearly aware and understanding. If you are entirely unaware, you will fall into the error of becoming dull and inert like wood or stone.

During inner contemplation, turning the mind and spirit back toward oneself, remain calm and comfortable, at ease and natural. If you feel uneasy, the method is not yet right; do not continue, lest the flow of Qi (vital energy) become blocked. The ancients said that at the beginning one must learn both to relax and to gather the mind. With long practice, as the skill gradually matures, there is no need to relax or gather deliberately. When gathering and relaxing are properly balanced and cultivated over time, a vision may suddenly appear, like sparks bursting from stone or a flash of lightning. This is said to be a sign that one’s true nature—the inborn nature of a person—has begun to emerge. Continue the practice, and in time the mind and spirit will naturally become complete and clear.

However, this practice of inner contemplation should not be used for long stretches. The ancients said that before attaining the “Great Medicine,” a term in Neidan (internal alchemy) for an important achievement, one must not contemplate for too long, lest an Yin spirit arise during cultivation and lead one astray into demonic paths. Of the twelve double-hours in a day, use only one for inner contemplation; spend the rest of the time relaxed and at ease. The practice must never be interrupted. Once it has matured, wisdom-light will naturally appear, shining across the Nine Provinces, and wisdom will reach into the future. One must also know without clinging to what one knows. Keep forgetting until there is nothing left to forget—not even forgetting itself—and one may reach the state of transformation.

Formula for the Lower Volume

Nourishing Qi

Even if you can settle your thoughts, you have only just entered the first meditation. Only when your breathing is harmonized and unobstructed have you begun to glimpse the workings of Heaven.

There is no special secret to nourishing Qi: cultivate through sharing daily life—walking together, sitting together, and sleeping together.

In Buddhism, the first dhyana is when thoughts come to rest and the mind no longer rises and falls with arising and passing away. The second dhyana is when the breath comes to rest, with no noticeable inhalation or exhalation. Once the breath is settled, Qi (vital energy) can be nourished. The “breath” spoken of here is not the breathing that passes through the mouth and nose.

At first, a person forms in the womb by following the mother’s breathing. After birth, this inner “breath” is stored in the Ancestral Aperture, an inner bodily orifice described in Daoism. Although it connects with breathing through the mouth and nose, ordinary people breathe only through the mouth and nose; their breath cannot reach deep into the Ancestral Aperture and return to its source. For a perfected person who has attained the Way, every breath returns to its root. Thus the Zhuangzi says, “The breath of ordinary people comes from the throat; the breath of the perfected person comes from the heels.” This means that ordinary people breathe through the throat, while the perfected person’s breathing is so deep that it seems to enter and leave through the heels.

To find the breath of the perfected person, one must first regulate the acquired breathing of the mouth and nose. The true breath returns to the Ancestral Aperture, and Qi is stored there as well. Thus, when breathing is harmonized, Qi becomes calm; when breathing comes to rest, Qi does not scatter. This is the principle behind the saying of ancient immortals: “When Qi returns to the Primordial Sea, life is without end.” Only when breathing has been brought to a state of balanced harmony can one gather the elixir ingredients—a term in Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy) for collecting and drawing in vital essence—and nurture the embryo, a term for nourishing the inner elixir. Hence the saying: “Only through balanced harmony does Heaven first appear.”

Liu Changsheng said, “Balanced harmony joins Kan and Li,” and also, “Balanced harmony nourishes spirit and Qi.” What is meant by “balanced harmony”? Wuzi said, “Neither leaning to one side nor the other, neither hurried nor slow, neither present nor absent.” How can one attain it? Wuzi also said, “Husband and wife walk side by side, Yin and Yang united; by day they travel together, neither ahead nor behind; by night they dwell together, neither pressing close nor keeping apart.” The companionship of husband and wife is a metaphor for mind and breath following one another, never separated by day or night. Zhongli said, “When a person can keep the mind and breath together for a long time, the whole body is transformed, and jade liquid flows.” In other words, when mind and breath remain together and are regulated to balanced harmony, the work of nourishing Qi is complete.

The formula for the next volume: Coalescing the spirit (gathering the spirit and settling the mind).

Spirit is the husband, and the breath is the wife. Do not let them take separate paths or drift too far apart. They must work together and return to the place of the root; then they can ascend the stages of cultivation together. Here, “spirit” refers to Fire, and “breath” to wind: alchemical work depends on wind to fan the Fire, then uses Fire to refine essence. During cultivation, spirit and breath must depend on each other and remain inseparable, like husband and wife. Spirit must therefore be gathered within the qi cavity—the place where breath is stored and nurtured in cultivation—so that spirit guards Qi and intention binds the breath. Neither forcing this deliberately nor letting it slip from awareness allows spirit and breath to truly unite.

Zhu Yuanyu says, “To seek the true seed of the precelestial, one must establish the foundation in primordial chaos.” “Primordial chaos” here refers to returning to the root and restoring life, back to the original source. The phrases “the numinous bird roosts on the cassia branch” and “the sun moves into the bright moon,” used by Patriarch Haichan and Patriarch Jingyang, likewise use metaphor to describe spirit entering the qi cavity. Zhang Sanfeng says that in seated meditation, spirit should guard Qi and intention should bind the breath, allowing them to circulate and gather without dispersing in the Dantian (energy center). In this way, the Qi within the body meets the breath from outside in the Dantian, gradually grows full, and spreads through the limbs and the body’s channels. It then opens the two passes at the spinal gate—the two cultivation apertures along the back—rises to the Mudball Palace, the cultivation site in the head, enters the Crimson Palace, the cultivation site in the heart, and then descends through the Tower of Layers, the cultivation site in the throat. When spirit and Qi guard one another and breath depends on breath, the River Cart, the path along which internal Qi circulates, becomes unobstructed. At this point, half the work of establishing the foundation has been accomplished. This shows that whether a person is strong or gentle, the practice of gathering the spirit is essential.

Secret Instructions of the Lower Volume: The Three Life Energies

Women are endowed from the beginning with three kinds of life energy, appearing as radiances of purple, white, and yellow, unlike those of men.

Women undergo three stages of physiological change. In youth, menstrual blood arises from the upper region. In old age and decline, it gradually dries up in the middle region. When cultivation succeeds, it begins from the lower region. The key to this process must be understood deeply.

Women’s menstrual blood appears in three colors: purple, white, and yellow. Yellow corresponds to the Dantian (the lower abdomen, where Neidan cultivation takes place), the place where the elixir is generated. White corresponds to the place where the embryo’s origin forms the embryo. Purple corresponds to the Sea of Blood, where blood is generated. In terms of location, the upper region is called the Yang Cavity, the middle region the Yellow Chamber, and the lower region the Dantian.

When a woman is young, Tiangui (physiological essence associated with menstruation and reproductive function) is abundant, and the Dantian’s True Original Qi is vigorous, able to rise and bring forth blood. When Yin-Yang change reaches its peak, Yang turns into Yin, transforms into menstrual blood, and is discharged outward. Thus, in youth, menstrual blood arises from the upper region.

In old age, Tiangui is depleted, and Qi can no longer rise to generate blood. The waist is deprived of nourishment and the blood dries up, so menstruation ceases. This is why the changes of old age occur in the middle region. To cultivate the body into a “dry form” (a state in which menstrual blood no longer flows outward), one must guide Qi upward from the lower Dantian to the Yang Cavity and use the Shen Fire (the inner-alchemical fire applied through visualization and control of its stages) to warm and refine it. This causes menstrual blood to change from yellow to white, then from white to nothing, while the physical form also gradually vanishes. Thus, successful cultivation must begin from the lower region. This method for women differs from that for men; without understanding this key, one cannot refine the Neidan.

Lower Volume Instructions: The Qi Cavity

The Qi Cavity is nowhere else: it is the breasts. Do not mistake the area below the navel for the Qi Cavity.

If you do not understand where Yin-Blood arises, how can you cause the “poison dragon” (here, an image of Yin-Blood that must be subdued) to lie dormant of its own accord?

The Qi Cavity is the Blood Origin—that is, the breasts. It lies one cun and three fen inward at the center, not in the left or right breast itself. A man’s Qi Cavity is in the Dantian, so the lower Dantian is called the Qi Cavity. A woman’s Qi Cavity is in the breasts, so the breasts are called the Qi Cavity. When Yang Qi reaches its peak and turns into Yin, Yin-Blood is generated from the Qi Cavity and flows outward. Therefore, to “slay the Red Dragon” (a Daoist women’s alchemical term for cultivating until menstruation ceases), one must work at the place where Yin-Blood arises. After prolonged cultivation, the physical form gradually vanishes of its own accord. Applying to women the location of a man’s Qi Cavity—one cun and three fen below the navel—is a mistake.

Lower Volume Instructions: Knowing the Time

Whenever menstruation begins, it is like a ram trying to charge through a fence: the Yin-Yang Qi within the body is undergoing change.

I urge you, when the moment arrives, not to hesitate and let it pass. Do not wait until the “Red Dragon”—a reference to menstrual blood—has already flowed down to the water’s edge before you begin to act.

The Xiantian Xuanwei says: Before a woman is born, her parents have intercourse. The father’s Jing arrives first, followed by the movement of the mother’s blood. The blood envelops the Jing, forming a female fetus.

At conception, a woman first receives from her mother one liang of “Lead Qi,” a Neidan term for the innate essence she inherits. This Qi first forms the right kidney, then draws a line upward to form the two eyes and a line downward to form the Golden Elixir, the central symbol of Neidan cultivation. Thereafter, according to the text, twelve days of accumulation make one zhu of “Gui Water”—here, a reference to menstrual blood—and 180 days make one liang. From then on, one zhu accumulates every fifteen days, and one liang in a year. By the age of fourteen, fourteen liang of Gui Water have accumulated in the “sea of blood,” the place where menstrual blood gathers according to traditional medicine. Add the one liang carried from the womb, and the total is one jin, or 384 zhu. The author correlates this number with the 384 degrees of the celestial circuit, the 384 days of a year, and the 384 lines in the Yijing. The author holds that when Yin-Yang in Heaven and Earth reaches its extreme in Yin, Yang Qi begins to return; when Gui Water is depleted, Lead Qi becomes manifest. At around fourteen, a woman’s Heavenly Gui—menstruation—begins. Thereafter, every twenty-six months and seven and a half days, one liang of Gui Water is used up; by the age of forty-nine, it is exhausted.

A woman usually begins menstruating around the age of fourteen. The cycle recurs once each month without interruption, corresponding to the Moon’s passage from darkness to the new moon, and arriving on schedule. If its timing becomes irregular, illness may follow. That is why the scripture speaks of the “flower opening” month after month: it refers to menstruation arriving on time. Menstrual blood moves because Yang Qi transforms into Yin Qi. Once Yang Qi has become Yin Qi, it cannot continue to move in its former way. If it moves recklessly and turns without restraint, serious harm may result.

Work must begin before “the ram has not yet struck the hedge.” Here, the ram striking a hedge is a metaphor for menstruation not yet having begun; “the Sign” refers to the indications that menstruation is near. The Threefold Destiny Chapter of the Numinous Mirror of the Supreme Medicine says: “The monthly sign” does not simply mean that menstruation has begun. Like news arriving before someone who is away has returned home, it refers to the signs that appear before menstruation starts. When these signs appear, the person will notice them herself. They may include pain in the lower back and legs, dizziness or blurred vision, restlessness of mind and spirit, and loss of appetite.

The scripture holds that this “sign,” which is about to transform into menstrual blood, is in essence Qi. Focused practice should begin two and a half days before menstruation starts. If menstruation has already begun, the scripture says, the “Red Dragon’s Yin Essence” (a Daoist term for menstruation) is difficult to control; practicing carelessly may cause serious harm. It also says to wait until two and a half days after menstruation ends, then test with white silk. If the silk turns golden yellow, this indicates that menstruation has ended. At that point, practice the method described earlier to “sever it.” These instructions are intended to tell practitioners to time their practice carefully.

Oral Instructions of the Lower Scroll

Severing the Dragon

When Yang Qi is about to transform into Yin Qi and flow out through the Jade Ravine (here referring to the female reproductive tract),

immediately set the Fire Wheel turning (a metaphor for the fire circulating within the body during Neidan practice), and do not pause.

Use Xun Wind (a method of circulating Qi described through the image of wind) to send it upward to the Red Origin Palace (the internal site of practice referred to in the scripture),

sever the Red Cycle (menstruation), and make it cease flowing forever.

“Yang is about to transform into Yin” here means the time when menstruation is near but has not yet begun. The scripture instructs practitioners to quickly stir the “Xun Wind” and set the “Fire Wheel” turning, moving it upward from the Dantian (the abdominal center where Qi gathers in Daoist internal cultivation) to the Red Origin Palace, in order to “sever it.”

The Method of Refining the Form of Great Yin says that at the beginning of practice, one should close the eyes, gather the Shen and quiet the mind, and regulate the breath thoroughly.

The Method for Refining the Form of Great Yin says: When you first begin cultivation, close your eyes and focus on guarding your heart and spirit. First rest fully, quiet your thoughts, and regulate your breathing. Then gather your spirit into the Qi cavity, the place used in cultivation for visualization and breath regulation. Cross your hands over your breasts and massage gently 360 times. Next, draw in a faint breath from the lower Dantian, the site of Neidan cultivation in the lower abdomen, 24 times. Then keep your hands over your breasts, turn your awareness inward, and regulate your breathing. After practicing for a while, the true breath—the deep, long, natural breath described in cultivation—will move of its own accord. The Qi mechanism will open and close, gradually forming the yin’e, the hub of Qi movement that develops in cultivation.

When Shen and Qi are abundant and true Yang is flourishing, menstrual flow, referred to here as “water of the channels,” will stop of its own accord, and the breasts will shrink as a man’s do. This is called “severing the Red Dragon,” a term in female alchemy for the cessation of menstruation as a sign of progress.

After cultivating in this way for a long time, there is no need to cup the breasts or draw in breath. Simply concentrate the spirit in the Qi cavity and turn the light of awareness back inward, gathering the spirit and observing within. This is what is called the Gate of the Mysterious Female, the opening that symbolizes the generation of life and the coming and going of Qi. The true breath becomes long, gentle, and continuous, reaching a state of utmost emptiness and stillness. Yang Qi warms and nourishes the body, and the River Chariot, a metaphor in Neidan for the movement of Qi, runs in reverse. Myriad purple clouds turn toward the Jade Palace, while the Qi of a thousand channels and vessels gathers at the Mudball, a site of cultivation in the head. This, it is said, is how the effects of severing the Red Dragon become manifest; hence, severing the Red Dragon is essential to women’s cultivation.

The instructions in the lower volume say: Reach a state of utmost emptiness and stillness; let Yang Qi warm and nourish the body, and let the River Chariot run in reverse. Myriad purple clouds turn toward the Jade Palace, while the Qi of a thousand channels and vessels gathers at the Mudball. Severing the Red Dragon is said to bring such results; hence, it is essential to women’s cultivation.

The Form Concealed

“Nothing harms more than this demon spirit; when the seven cycles of seven are complete, life itself is imperiled”: Nothing is more harmful than this demon spirit. Once the sevenfold count of seven—forty-nine days—has run its course, life and destiny are in danger.

“When cultivation has concealed the form of Great Yin, arrange to dwell in the Purple Palace and celebrate long life”: Once cultivation has made the form of Great Yin disappear, one may take one’s place in the Purple Palace, the dwelling of immortals in Daoist tradition, and celebrate long life.

The Patriarch Xu said, “When a man’s cultivation succeeds, his semen no longer leaks out; when a woman’s cultivation succeeds, her menstrual blood no longer leaks out.” A woman’s menstrual blood is a sign of life in its beginning. In cultivation, menstrual blood is transformed into Qi; the breasts shrink as a man’s do, and menstrual bleeding ceases. A man, by refining Jing into Qi, causes his genitals to contract until they are like a child’s, and his semen naturally ceases to leak out. Only when semen or menstrual blood no longer leaks out can there be hope of extending life.

If this “demon essence”—the blood and essence that need to be transformed—is not refined, then when a woman reaches forty-nine, her blood dries up and menstruation ends, and she loses her vitality. A man, by refining Jing into Qi, causes his genitals to contract until they are like a child’s, and his semen no longer leaks out. Only when semen no longer leaks out can there be hope of extending life. If this “demon essence” is not refined, then when a woman reaches forty-nine, her blood dries up and menstruation ends, and she loses her vitality. Once vitality is cut off, life itself declines.

The Three Destinies Chapter of the Numinous Mirror of the Supreme Medicine says: “For a woman, blood serves as the kidneys; blood is a substance held in the body’s empty apertures. After forty-nine, the lower back loses nourishment and the blood dries up, leaving no vitality. If she can nourish herself over a long period, blood essence like that of a maiden will arise again. This is the wonder of bringing something forth from nothing. See it and grasp it; once it is severed and refined, life can be reborn.” How can one nourish oneself so that blood essence arises again? It is simply a matter of gathering in the mind, nurturing one’s nature, regulating the breath, and concentrating the spirit.

The Primordial Lady of Nonduality said: “In the beginning, there was originally Wuwei; how, then, did it later fall into the postcelestial state? With the first cry it retreated to the gate of the womb; at three inches, it had already taken command. And when it is further disturbed by the toil and turmoil of the dusty world, how can it withstand illness besetting the body? If the child is nourished to strength, it can replenish the mother—do not think there is no way to turn back.” There is another method of replenishment here, which cannot be disclosed lightly. This is what Sun Bu’er meant by “binding the tiger and returning it to the true aperture, leading the dragon and cutting off the elixir’s loss”—the tiger and dragon are metaphors for the body’s and mind’s Jing and Qi, which must be gathered and refined so they return to the Dantian and form the Neidan. Once a woman’s cultivation has brought an end to menstrual bleeding, the work of dual cultivation of nature and life is broadly similar to that for men. Yet few transmit the oral instructions that reveal its mysteries.

Instructions of the Lower Scroll

Seeking the Elixir

Refining the body and transforming it into Qi is the work of building the foundation; the cultivation of a celestial immortal of the highest rank is different.

If one asks where the Golden Elixir truly is: sunlight shines upon the moon, illuminating the great swan…

Sunlight illuminates the moon, and only then can the moon shine. This principle has remained true since ancient times. From this, we can understand that cultivating the Dao of the Elixir is not beyond our reach.

Oral Instructions of the Lower Volume

Refining the Self

The lively, vigorous Dragon and Tiger struggle within the lotus chamber; what they most fear is the wild abandon of the heart-monkey and the will-horse.

If refining the self—cultivating and disciplining one’s mind and nature—has not yet reached maturity, how can one cross the sea and set sail?

In his “Song of the Palace of the Toad’s Steps,” Ancestor Lü says, “Refine Geng and Jia, and the Dragon and Tiger will arise.” Understand that the Dragon and Tiger are not things outside the body. When Dragon and Tiger give rise to one another, the moment for beginning cultivation has arrived: one must guide the lively Tiger to draw near the living Dragon. What one most fears is that the heart-monkey will run wild and the will-horse will assert its power, while one does not know how to discipline them. How, then, can one cross the sea to obtain the scriptures and bring cultivation to completion? One must therefore refine the self until the practice is mature, so that the spirit is full and the original Qi is abundant; the seven emotions are not stirred, the Five Thieves—the five forces that disturb body and mind—do not cause disorder, and the six senses—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are settled. Only after letting go of attachment to appearances can one enter the lotus chamber, the inner realm of Elixir cultivation, to seek the Neidan.

The Correct Principles of Celestial Immortality says: “Refining the self means striving to do what ought to be done; this is called refining. Repeatedly doing what ought to be done until it becomes second nature is also called refining. Cutting off what ought not to be done is called refining. Exerting oneself with dedication and resolving to succeed is called refining. Letting go of greed and attachment, leaving no lingering concerns, is called refining. Restraining old habits so that they no longer taint oneself is also called refining. ‘Self’ refers to my true nature in stillness and my true intention in action; it is also another name for the original spirit.”

The ancients said, “Before refining the returned Elixir, first refine one’s nature; before cultivating the Great Medicine, first cultivate the heart.” This is what is meant by the Way of refining the self.

Oral Instructions of the Lower Volume

Following and Reversing

Following nature gives rise to ordinary people; reversing the usual course makes one an immortal. When Kun and Qian unite to form the Tai hexagram, the true oral instruction is revealed.

When refining the Elixir at the furnace, do not be surprised if it is difficult to form. If you can turn the sheep-cart around—a symbol of the reverse course in internal cultivation—you will naturally behold the Way of Heaven.

The Nondual Perfected Lady said, “Once you have grasped the essentials, pay close attention to the forward and reverse courses of cultivation.” The Rootless Tree says, “Following ordinary human nature makes one a mortal; going against it can make one an immortal. The key is to reverse the movement at the center.” In the Book of Changes, the image of the Tai hexagram has Kun above and Qian below. Thus, the Qi of Heaven and Earth meet, and all things flow freely. If you do not know how to reverse the “sheep cart” (a Neidan metaphor for circulating the movement of Qi), Yin Qi will become blocked, and you will be unable to dispel turbid Yin and reveal the Celestial Mind (the clear, lucid nature). Therefore, cultivating immortality need not be bound by distinctions between men and women; what matters is understanding the principles of forward and reverse movement.

Instructions from the Lower Volume

The Elixir Is Born

Thought and awareness are hazy and indistinct, the mind seeming dazed. When the breath and Qi merge harmoniously, the medicine is coming into being.

When signs appear in the Dantian (the place where Jing and Qi are refined and nurtured in Neidan cultivation) and the time has arrived, promptly set the firing process in motion and gather the Jade Mushroom (a Neidan term for the medicine of Jing and Qi).

This Elixir comes from one’s parents and is stored in the Qi cavity. When a person is young and strong, Jing and Qi tend to surge outward, breaking through barriers and transforming. The cultivator seizes this moment of change, reverses its course, and returns it to the Yellow Center (the region in the middle of the body where inner cultivation takes place); hence it is called the “Elixir.”

When the Elixir is born, signs can be perceived. The Dao De Jing says, “In the hazy and indistinct, there is something; in the dim and obscure, there is essence.” Niwan (a Neidan term referring here to a related Perfected One or lineage) says, “When spirit and essence unite in obscurity and the breath gathers and returns, flesh and bone become harmonious, yet one remains wholly unaware.” Perfected Yin said, “In an instant, the movement of Qi stirs in the tiniest apertures; the limbs grow soft as cotton, and the mind and spirit feel hazy. This is the scene at the moment the Elixir is born.”

There are also perceptible signals when the Elixir is born. Shaozi said, “Suddenly, at midnight, a thunderclap sounds, and households by the thousands open their doors in turn.” Hunranzi said, “When the moment arrives, Qi changes with it; the mechanism is set in motion, and a sound follows. This is the signal that the time has come.” When the signal arrives, it is the “Living Zi hour” (the moment in Neidan when the movement of Qi begins and is fit for gathering and refining). As soon as you hear this signal, prepare to apply the firing process and do not miss the moment; if you let it pass right before you, how could you gather the Jade Mushroom in an instant?

Gathering the Medicine

Suddenly, one sees a single innate Golden Elixir, bright and dazzling like a golden pill. Without stirring the flute with Xun wind (a metaphor for the breath), even if one wishes to guide it through the passes, it is difficult to do so.

The Golden Elixir is perfectly rounded and full, radiant with light. Without using Xun wind to stir the breath, how can it pass beyond the Tail Gate (a pass in the lower back), the two gates of the Spinal Clamp (two passes along the back), and the Muddy Pellet (an internal alchemy site in the head), and then enter the Dantian (energy center)?

The Mirror for Entering the Medicine says, “Raise the Xun wind and set the Kun fire in motion.” Xiao Zixu says, “The use of the Qian-Kun flute and drum has its own measure.” Here, Xun wind is a metaphor for the breath, while the flute refers to the directing of the breath. Breath is needed to stir the qi, allowing the medicine to rise and descend, to move back and forth, and to complete one orbit of the microcosmic circuit—the circulation of qi through a full cycle in internal alchemy practice.

Liu Huayang says that in cultivating the Golden Elixir, when Yang qi first arises, one should gather the spirit and enter the qi cavity, using Xun wind to stir the breath. With each inhalation and exhalation, one blows into the furnace, like a blacksmith working the bellows. When the wind rises, flames appear; the flames transform Jing (essence). Once Jing has transformed into Qi (vital energy), one gathers this newly arising qi and sets it rising and descending, moving back and forth. This is called the microcosmic circuit.

Raising the Origin

The sun rises from the eastern Fusang, its fiery orb swiftly crossing the sky; one must not slacken one’s practice. Use the deer cart (a metaphor in internal alchemy for transporting qi) to carry it to the summit of Kunlun (a cultivation site in the head), and the Wood Mercury (an internal alchemy term for the mind spirit or qi associated with cultivation) will naturally return to the spirit chamber (a site for preserving the spirit and cultivating vitality).

The red sun of Fusang seems to travel from west to east; the true medicine, by contrast, is like a brilliant red sun coming from the east to the west. At this point, swiftly set the fiery orb in motion and fly across the vast, surging sea of qi, ascending from the Tail Gate and passing over the two gates of the Spinal Clamp.

Lü Chunyang says, “After the Zi hour and before the Wu hour, settle the breath and sit, allowing the spirit to return to the spirit chamber.”

The Patriarch Chunyang says: Sit quietly and regulate the breath sometime after the hour of Zi and before the hour of Wu—a broad span of time considered suitable for practice. Let the breath pass through the two vital gates at the Jiaji, then reach Kunlun, which here refers to the head. He also says: Observe during this span, and you will find a channel at the top of the spine leading to Tianjin, a Neidan term for a place associated with saliva and the pathways of Qi. Xiao Zixu says: “I often smile as I point to the road to Kunshan.” There truly is a passage between the Jiaji. But this passage must be traveled in reverse; without the Deer Cart, it cannot be made to move through. The Deer Cart is a metaphor for true intention, the focused awareness and direction of mind used in practice. Only with true intention can one cross the obstacles, pass through the paired gates, ascend to Kunlun, then descend through the Magpie Bridge, the place that connects above and below and allows Qi to circulate. This lets living mercury, a Neidan term for the refined essence and Qi, enter the Golden Cauldron and Spirit Chamber, the place within body and mind where Neidan is refined and nurtured, becoming a treasure that remains within the body for long ages.

Lower Volume: Oral Instructions

Combining the Elixir

The man of Gen, a metaphor for the medicinal substance arising from the Gen trigram, first returns to the primal chaos hollow, the ancestral Qi center where the fundamental flow of Qi in Neidan practice resides. From then on, he and his “wife” are bound together like silken threads, joining as one.

The six gates, meaning the apertures of body and mind, must be kept firmly closed and diligently warmed. Only when the Qi within the cauldron and furnace is in harmony can a life force of union arise.

The medicine of the man of Gen comes from the Gen Palace, the northeast direction in the Bagua, and enters the ancestral Qi center. There it combines with true lead, a Neidan term for the original essence that forms the basis of the medicine, just as husband and wife become one. When the medicine first returns to the center, it cannot yet solidify into an elixir. One must therefore gather in body and mind, keep the breath soft and continuous, and use the spirit fire—the warming action of intention—to steam and refine the medicine until it unites.

The fire phase used to combine the elixir should be gentle and sustained, unlike the fierce fire used to gather the medicine. Only when Yin-Yang Qi is harmoniously joined can the elixir take shape.

Lower Volume: Oral Instructions

Fire Phase

Although six hundred texts discuss the fire phase, none puts the true fire phase down on paper. The clearest explanation is that of Chongxu: once the principles of breathing are understood, one can realize the Way of becoming an immortal.

Zixian says: “The sages transmit the medicine, but not the fire phase. Since ancient times, few have understood the fire phase.” Though the classics on the Golden Elixir fill ten thousand volumes, the true fire phase cannot be fully expressed in writing. Chongxu says: “Though the fire phase is said to be untransmittable, it can be applied silently in keeping with the moment, entering the realm of mystery. Observe the cultivation methods of the sages of past ages with clear understanding, and you will see that the principles of breathing are enough to let a person realize the Way of becoming an immortal.”

Zixian said, “Sages pass down the elixir, but not the firing times. Since ancient times, few have truly understood the firing times.” Though there are ten thousand volumes of writings on the Golden Elixir, few explain the firing times clearly. Chongxu, however, said, “Although the firing times cannot be taught, one must adapt to circumstances and, through silent application, enter the wondrous realm. Looking across all the sages of past and present, when the principles within each breath are clear, one can awaken to the Way of becoming an immortal.” From this we can see that the key to the firing times must be understood through the true breath—the naturally deep, unforced breathing cultivated in practice. Breath arises from the heart-mind. When the heart-mind and spirit are quiet, breathing naturally comes into harmony; each breath returns to its root. This is the foundation on which the true elixir forms.

The firing times differ, and the ancients divided them into inner and outer methods. The outer firing times emphasize deliberate action and belong to the work of laying the foundation, the initial stage of cultivation. The inner firing times, by contrast, let the elixir operate naturally once it has been refined; this is the work of Wuwei (non-action). In general, the firing times cannot be separated from breathing. If the breath is not properly regulated in the outer method, the elixir cannot be set in motion; if it is not properly regulated in the inner method, the elixir cannot be gently nurtured. Thus Liu Huayang said, “The fire of breathing transforms the grain essence—the subtle energy produced from food—and replenishes original Jing (essence). The fire of Shen (spirit), formed through the application of intention, transforms original Jing into original Qi (vital energy). The fire of original Qi transforms breathing into original Shen. The fire of original Shen then returns the body to emptiness and assists the Dao (the Way). From the beginning of cultivation to its completion, one must rely on the power of the firing times to ascend to Daluo, the highest celestial realm in Daoism, and become an immortal.”

It must also be understood that fire and timing cannot be separated: fire must accord with the right moment, and when the moment arrives, the firing times arrive with it. The term “firing times” therefore encompasses the specific methods for each stage. Without a teacher’s instruction, it is ultimately difficult to grasp them fully. One should cultivate virtue and discern the Way of Heaven in order to receive a teacher’s transmission.

Instructions in Verse for the Second Volume

Gentle Nurturing

You have already seen blue sand planted in the white snow. The balance of cold and warmth must be just right, without error.

When spring fills the thirty-six palaces, a path will appear of its own accord. Board the immortal raft and sail away on a leisurely voyage.

“Planting sand in the white snow” is the verse for gentle nurturing:

You have already seen blue sand planted in the white snow. The balance of cold and warmth must be just right, without error.

When spring fills the thirty-six palaces, a path will appear of its own accord. Board the immortal raft and sail away on a leisurely voyage.

“White Snow” is planted in “Sand” so that “Metal Lead” and “Wood Mercury” can be joined. Cold and heat must be brought into balance, allowing the Green Sand to receive gentle warmth and nourishment. The “warmth” spoken of here must not become excessive. If it is too cold, the water Qi is chilly and the Elixir will struggle to congeal; if it is too hot, the fire Qi grows fierce and dry, and the Elixir is easily depleted. So it must be nurtured patiently and gently, allowing it to change of itself: like rain and dew descending from Heaven to nourish all things, with rain arriving at the proper time; like a mother carrying a child, keeping a regular routine; like a dragon lying still to guard its pearl; and like a hen brooding over her eggs, its warmth unbroken.

Advance the fire before the Zi hour, and withdraw the talisman after the Wu hour. At other times, regulate the breath continuously and gently, until breathing seems both present and absent. Set aside distracting thoughts and remain simple and quiet; speak little and do not act rashly. An old saying goes, “Gathering the medicine takes only a moment; joining Mercury requires ten months.” Another says, “When the embryo is complete after ten months, the foundation for becoming a sage is established.” If one cannot nurture it well, how can the embryo of the Neidan ever reach completion?

The “Thirty-Six Palaces” refers to the three hundred and sixty degrees of the celestial cycle. After each complete circuit, one must rest. The celestial cycle follows a set order, and nurturing has its own prescribed duration. Only with sufficient care can the “Sacred Embryo”—a metaphor in Neidan cultivation for the ripening of its achievement—take shape.

The specific stages and degrees dare not be written on bamboo or silk, for fear of disclosing Heaven’s secrets.

Alas, the road to the realm of immortals is not far away. What people should worry about is that they have not cultivated De, have not sworn an oath to Heaven, and cannot seek the Dao with an open and sincere heart.

Essential Instructions of the Lower Volume

Embryonic Breathing

At this stage of cultivation, one must take great care and allow no negligence. Shen and the breath join continuously and gently, merging into the Great Void—the vast emptiness spoken of in Daoism.

What is the nurturing of the embryo like? It is like returning to the state before one was born of one’s parents.

After the Golden Elixir is formed, Shen gathers by relying on Qi, and Qi moves in accordance with Shen. This is like a person’s pregnancy, which is why it is called a “fetus.” But there is no actual fetus: Shen and breath (mind and respiration) simply come to rest within the body. The “fetus” is where Shen is stored; “breath” is the source from which the fetus takes shape. The fetus arises from breath, and breath is settled by the fetus. Without breath, the fetus cannot form; without Shen, breath has no governing presence. Only when Shen and breath depend on one another is there true fetal breathing—the state in Neidan practice in which Shen and respiration unite.

At this stage, you must not be careless. Forget appearances and do not cling to the body; let body and mind seem to merge with the Great Void, the boundless expanse of emptiness. The true breath flows continuously, seeming both present and absent, both forgotten and still there—like fish in a spring pond or insects dormant through winter. The exhalation seems to reach the root, and the inhalation seems to reach the tip. Throughout the day, remain in a state of undifferentiated stillness, as though still in the womb, not yet born. The phrase “with each breath returning to the beginning of Qian” from the Undivided Primordial Lord refers to this state. When the breath settles at the root and the Qi channels cease to move, Shen becomes stable. Only after Shen has stabilized can one emerge from concentration; then the sacred embryo—the inner embryonic form spoken of in Neidan practice—is complete.

Instructions for the Lower Volume

Measure

The gathering of the medicine and the refining of the Elixir have their proper sequence. Kan, Li, Gen, and Xun—directions and symbols in the Yijing tradition and Neidan practice—must be reversed so they return to their source.

When the practice is complete and the count of nine times nine cycles of the celestial circuit has been fulfilled, how could one fail to become an immortal who transcends the mundane world?

The cultivation process of those who follow the way of softness differs from that of those who follow the way of firmness, yet it is easier to attain completion. Those who follow the way of firmness subdue the Qi for three years, while those who follow the way of softness can do so in one year, because the Elixir is already within the body.

Although breath is relatively easy to bring under control, the “red flow”—a term for women’s menstruation—is the greatest obstacle to cultivating the Dao. If a woman can cultivate with the same resolve as a man and bring her menstruation to a stop, she can reach a state in which menstrual blood no longer leaks away. The foundation for cultivation will then have been established.

After laying this foundation, one cultivates “refining Jing into Qi”: the two Yang lines on the outside of the Li trigram are used to eliminate the two Yin lines on the outside of the Kan trigram, transforming it into the form of the Qian trigram. Once cultivation of the Kan and Li trigrams is complete, the Qian form has taken shape, but Qi has not yet been fully transformed and Shen is not yet fully luminous. One must therefore continue with “refining Qi into Shen”: the single Yang line above the Gen trigram transforms the single Yin line below the Xun trigram, melting away all external Yin Qi so that Shen becomes pure Yang.

Next comes the practice of circulating the circuit of Heaven. When this circulation reaches the count of nine times nine, Shen…