《女子丹经汇编》Vol. 7

Many people who set out to learn the Dao mostly fear that the path is too difficult and never truly try it. Since the Ming-dynasty masters Zhang Sanfeng and Shen Wansan, those who understand the female-alchemy (nüdan) line have become even fewer.

III. The Nanyue Lady Wei Lineage

This lineage emphasizes “refined contemplation” (jingsi) and “inner visualization” (cunxiang), with the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Scripture) as its root classic. After Lady Wei transmitted the Huangting Jing, many female adepts practiced accordingly—figures such as Lu Miaodian, Cui Shaoxuan, and Xue Tong. My Huangting Jing Lectures touches on this briefly; when you have time, you may skim it.

IV. The Immortal Aunt Xie Ziran Lineage

This lineage begins with “grain abstinence” (bigu) and “ingesting qi” (fuqi). One must read the Zhonghuang Jing (Central Yellow Scripture) as essential, and also consult various qi manuals and methods of bigu and “resting from grain.” It suits the young and robust; if the old and weak devote themselves only to this, it may not be appropriate. Xie Ziran began learning the Dao as a girl of just over ten—how many could match that in past or present?

V. The Perfected Cao Wenyi Lineage

This lineage starts with “purifying the heart and limiting desires,” “keeping the spirit from racing outward,” “concentrating qi until softness,” and “inner circulation of primordial harmony” (yuanhe neiyun)—from first to last it uses no other methods; it is the simplest and easiest. See “The Song of the Spiritual Source Great Dao” (Lingyuan Dadao Ge) in issue 77 of Yangshan Banyue Kan (Fortnight Journal of Propagating Good).

This lineage is the Taiyin Refining Form method (a path for women that takes yin softness as its root and “refines the form” of the physical body). Entry must begin with “slaying the Red Dragon”—in female elixir practice this usually means stopping the menstrual flow and transforming the Red Dragon (menstrual blood) into material for cultivation; only then does one truly enter the practical work of women’s practice. For the concrete steps, see the author’s Commentary on Sun Buer’s Female Elixir Poetry.

The six schools described above cover, in broad outline, the main methods of women’s cultivation from the Wei–Jin period down to the present—roughly seventeen hundred years. What each school gains or loses, and which paths are harder or easier, better or worse relative to one another, is something scholars ought to know, but it is not the most pressing matter here, so it is not expanded for now.

Besides these, there are teachings such as “harmonizing Xun and Gen” (formulas that speak of yin–yang harmony through the trigrams Xun and Gen), and legend has it that Xia Ji possessed “nourishing yin” techniques; in the line of “filling the flesh and muscles,” Zhao Feiyan is said to have practiced “inner contemplation” (inward gazing into the body). There are also secrets of bedchamber arts and texts like The Plain Girl’s Legacy—material that is often worded in ways that are not quite proper, and matters that are obscure and convoluted, so they cannot be spelled out openly here.

Further Discussion on Female Cultivation and Age

This section revisits the relationship between female cultivation and age.

Suwen: Discourse on the True in Antiquity records: The Yellow Emperor asked, “When people grow old and can no longer bear children, is it because their vital essence is exhausted, or because Heaven has ordained it so?” Qibo replied: At seven a girl’s kidney Qi flourishes; she loses her milk teeth and her hair grows long. At fourteen, tiangui arrives; the Conception Vessel opens, the Penetrating Vessel is full, menstruation comes at its proper times, and she can bear children. At twenty-one, kidney Qi is balanced and the permanent teeth are fully grown. At twenty-eight, sinews and bones are firm, hair reaches its fullness, and the body is at its strongest. At thirty-five, Yangming vessels decline; the face first withers and hair first falls. At forty-two, the three Yang vessels above weaken; the whole face withers and hair first turns white. At forty-nine, the Conception Vessel is empty, the Penetrating Vessel weakens, tiangui is exhausted, the earthly pass no longer flows, the form deteriorates, and there are no more children. (This describes the ordinary pattern of change with age.)

The Yellow Emperor asked again: “Some people are already old yet can still have children—why?” Qibo said: “That is because their allotted lifespan is exceptionally long, their Qi and vessels stay open, and kidney Qi still has surplus.” (This is a physiological exception.)

The Yellow Emperor asked further: “Can those who cultivate the Dao all live past a hundred and still have children?” Qibo answered: “Dao cultivators can turn back aging and preserve the whole form; though their years are already many, they can still beget offspring.” (This means those who cultivate the Dao can reverse the workings of creation.)

Read literally, Suwen seems to speak only of childbearing. Yet proceeding in the forward direction yields the ordinary person; reversing yields the quest for immortality—the principle is one, and only the direction of effort differs.

Therefore in female pursuit of immortality, differences between young and old are very great.

1. Cultivation by Unmarried Girls

This refers to girls of about ten-plus years who have not yet menstruated. At this time the original Qi in the body is full and undivided, the spirit is single-minded, and appetites and desires are not yet awakened. If by nature they have the root of wisdom and can enter the gate of the Dao, attainment still divides into higher and lower grades.

I. Cultivation for Prepubescent Girls

This refers to girls around ten years old who have not yet begun menstruation. At this time the original Qi (Yuanqi) within the body is ample and undifferentiated, the spirit is focused, and desires have not yet awakened. If one is endowed by nature with suhui (innate wisdom from prior cultivation) and can commit to the Way, attainment is often comparatively easy—frequently several times faster than for older women. Cultivation at this stage can skip the phase of foundation building (zhuji) and begin directly with bigu and fuqi (fasting and absorbing Qi), or with quietude, wuwei (non-action), calming the spirit, and seated meditation—as in the case of Xie Ziran.

II. Cultivation for Young Virgins

This refers to women from about fourteen or fifteen into their twenties who already menstruate but remain intact (have not engaged in sexual relations). They should first use established methods to refine and cease the menses, restoring a state akin to that of a prepubescent girl, and only then proceed with later stages of practice.

III. Cultivation for “Middle” Women

This refers to unmarried women from twenty-two to thirty-five. Physiologically, the person has reached the peak from which decline begins. Some have regular cycles, some irregular; some predictable timing, some not; some have leukorrhea, some flooding or spotting—or other disorders besides—troubles hard to put into words. One must first apply medical and nurturing methods to dispel stagnation and depression, harmonize Qi and blood, and unblock the spirit; only after that will cultivation yield results more readily. Compared with younger girls, the difficulty increases again.

IV. Cultivation for “Elder” Unmarried Women

This refers to chaste, unmarried women from thirty-five to forty-nine. Tianli (Heavenly Water—the menstrual essence) is nearing exhaustion; the generative Qi within the body weakens day by day. Though never married, bodily depletion differs little from that of women who have married—it is like a man who never takes a wife yet cannot escape aging; the principle is the same. Thus the first priority in beginning practice is to replenish and nurture what the body has lost; there is no need to rush “Severing the Red Dragon” (duan jing—stopping the menstrual flow, in alchemical metaphor).

V. Cultivation in the Old Yin Phase

(Under this heading the source text has no body; judging from the title alone:) This denotes practice for women around forty-nine, when yin essence has already declined. The emphasis falls even more on cultivation and regulation; the logic follows that for elder and middle unmarried women, and one must especially tend to form and Qi before discussing higher stages.

V. Cultivation for Elder Yin

This section concerns women from about forty-nine until their sixties or seventies. At this stage they should focus on nourishing and replenishing what the body has lost, rather than rushing into “slaying the red dragon” (stopping menstruation and refining the monthly flow).

VI. Cultivation for Young Married Women

This section concerns women from about sixteen or seventeen to twenty-six or twenty-seven who are already married. Desire is newly awakened and strong; marital affection runs deep; household duties weigh heavily—all of which make cultivation least suitable. Even if the wife wishes to pursue the Way, the husband often becomes an obstacle. As for women from poor families, one need hardly mention the ideal of “wealth at home and leisure in body.”

If she has no parents-in-law above to constrain her and no children below to tie her down, and if the household is prosperous and her body and mind are at ease; then even when the husband is unwilling to give up sexual relations entirely, as long as the wife has steadfast resolve and receives authentic transmission, she can still, during orthodox (natural, conventional) intercourse, secretly align with reverse (refining essence into qi, inward counter-flow) methods. Thus she neither breaks the normal bond between husband and wife nor hinders the path of immortality. She may not transcend the mundane at once, yet she will often retain a youthful appearance for a long time. Still, if “slaying the dragon” work (refining the monthly flow, slaying the red dragon) is not solidly established, talk of this level is premature.

Supplement (on the Elder Yin section, continuing section “V”)

From forty-nine until sixty or seventy refers to elderly women whose menstruation has ceased. They must work at it every day, gathering the vital qi of creation (drawing heaven-and-earth and bodily vitality to fill deficiency), to nourish vital qi within and gradually restore menstruation like that of middle age. Then they silently circulate esoteric practice (inner Neidan refinement in stillness, without outward display), step by step refining until the monthly flow ceases again, as in a maiden. Then the marrow is firm, blood and qi harmonized, the complexion ruddy, the voice soft and clear, white hair turns black, fallen teeth regrow—this is called returning from old age to youth. Such work sometimes takes twenty or thirty years to complete.

(In the Bagua (Eight Trigrams): Dui is the young maiden, Li the middle woman, Xun the elder maiden, Kun elder yin.)

VII. Cultivation for Married Women in Midlife

This section addresses women roughly twenty-six or twenty-seven through forty-six or forty-seven who are already married. At this stage they must manage the household and care for children, and often have no real chance to speak of “cultivation.” If the husband is opposed, prospects are even slimmer. If husband and wife share the same aim, they may agree to reduce or forgo bedroom activity (renshi, sexual relations) and each devote themselves to practice. If an infant still needs nursing, a wet nurse must be hired, or formula or mixed feeding used; the mother must not nurse with her own milk, lest it impede progress in gongfu (cultivation work).

VIII. Cultivation for Widows

This refers to women who were married and are now widowed: with no children, or with children already able to support themselves. This is a suitable time to take up the path of cultivation and pass the lonely years of later life. Under old ritual teaching, a widow’s chastity was tied to reputation and she was expected to remain widowed; since the Republic era that custom has weakened, yet remarried women may still be looked down on. Better to devote oneself to the study of immortality (xianxue): giving the spirit a focus and the body the joy of health. Success in cultivation is ideal; even without full attainment, one may still gain a solid outcome and avoid wasting heart and effort. Beginner’s practice is largely the same as for women who never married.

The various paths of women's cultivation discussed above have, for the most part, been covered in full. None of this was ever openly explained by predecessors. Yuandun (a Daoist master) has explained it to you today with the same intent as when he wrote Commentary on Women's Alchemy Poetry for Ms. Lu Bicheng twenty years ago. For reasons unknown, Ms. Lu later returned to the Buddhist path; what may happen in a future life is hard to foretell—one fears that in this incarnation she may no longer wish to seek deliverance in this very life.

Even so, had that karmic tie not existed, the book Commentary on Sun Buer's Women's Alchemy Poetry might never have been written. Since then, no fewer than two or three thousand people at home and abroad have seen the work. (Commentary on Women's Alchemy Poetry was first published in Yangshan Fortnightly, with about two thousand complimentary copies per issue; it was later cut as a woodblock edition in a separate volume and several hundred more copies were sold.) Among those readers, some surely attained deliverance through the book; traced to its root, the person who originally requested the commentary also deserves credit. Moreover, with the appearance of Thirty-Six Questions, the gates of women's cultivation advance another step, and readers should gain even more. Without having first delivered oneself, one has already delivered others—if Ms. Lu heard of this, she would surely be gratified.

Yuandun's hopes for you are greater than they were for Ms. Lu back then. Lu's merit lay chiefly in benefiting others; you, today, should seek benefit for both self and others—a more complete fulfillment. In supreme cultivation methods, attainment in this life is always essential. You must not slacken or delay, abandon what is near to chase what is far, and rest your hopes only on the "empty flower" of a future birth—this is the author's most earnest wish.

When Yizhu returned home last time, I learned that you are eager to… (the following repeats the same intent as above:) make achievement in this life the priority; do not drift in idleness, give up solid practice before you, and hang everything on some future life—this is what my sincere heart most deeply hopes for you.

Reply on Yuan Dun (Opening Section)

When Yizhu returned to her hometown last time, she brought me your full message—you are eager to begin actual cultivation, and that is good. Still, the principles and the finer points of the method are hard to set down completely in writing. When circumstances allow later, we can explain them section by section in person. For now this letter must suffice; I wish you peace and well-being.

Record of Leyu Hall · Essentials of Female Alchemy (by Huang Yuanji)

1. Shuduan Keeps Her Chastity

Shuduan, widowed and in hardship, yet still wishes to cultivate the Great Way—among women this is truly uncommon, and I feel both compassion and deep respect. There is nothing else to learning the Way but purifying the heart and cleansing thought; take empty-mindedness as the foundation—when empty, spirit awakens; when spirit awakens, the true heart appears and original nature arises. This is one gate to illuminating the mind and seeing nature. You must understand: illuminating the mind and seeing nature is not so difficult as people imagine.

In a single thought, draw intention back to the dantian and use intention to observe: the first stir of a thought—that is mind (xin); to illuminate, illuminate just this—there is no second “illuminate.” Before thought moves, a stretch of empty clarity, vague and undifferentiated, with nothing at all—that is nature (xing); to see, see just this—there is no second “see.”

At the moment when yin is massed and sealed, vague and undifferentiated with nothing present, suddenly the one yang first stirs—then return the light with force. What the ancients called yang arising at the winter solstice and the living zi hour at midnight is exactly this juncture. At that time, return the light to the breasts—here is the water source at its clearest, where one may refine the supreme elixir of immortals; first dispelling illness and extending life, and in the end attaining sagehood and true immortality—all must take this moment as the foundation.

The methods explained earlier sit at a very high level, and female disciples may find them hard to take in, so here is another layer of teaching that is simpler and easier to start with.

When you begin practice, sit upright and steady, calm and quiet, and keep urging and encouraging yourself. Understand this clearly: nothing under heaven truly lasts as something you can enjoy for good—children and spouse are gone in a flash. A human life is finally like a guest who stays one night at an inn; at dawn each goes their own way—you are you, I am me, and you part. Even this body of flesh and blood, once the eyes close and breath stops, becomes mere earth; what is left is only this heart-mind nature (the inner clarity and awareness, not the physical part).

If you cultivate well in ordinary days, the heart stays clear, spirit bright and undimmed, never sunk in dullness; after death it is as if you rise to heaven. When you are born again, the heart is still this clear and nature still this lucid—who would then willingly fall among cattle and horses? So those who nurture heart-mind and nature well benefit themselves for ages without end. And with a bright heart and lucid nature, who would choose a poor, bitter household? One naturally seeks a better karmic birth—that is both principle and plain human feeling. Those who never cultivated, once the body dies, are dazed and confused in the heart, like a blind person stumbling without heed for slope or pit; if old debts and grievances pull them, they either sink into the three evil paths and six destinies of rebirth or are born into want— that is how things must go.

You who are devoted to this Way, such as Xianzhen, have lately been through danger and hardship; you surely know by now that worldly love is illusion and no longer wish to cling. Your master exhorts you: this is the road you must take in the end.

II. Advice to Virtuous Women Aspiring to the Great Dao

Virtuous women who aspire to the Great Dao have lately passed through danger and hardship; you surely understand by now that worldly feelings are all illusion and no longer wish to linger. Your master urges you: however much earthly wealth and affection you may have, it lasts at most fifty or sixty years, and in the end you must part. How much better to cultivate the Dao in your own person and enjoy countless ages without perishing? Seize this moment—see through the red dust, break free from the net of karmic ties, and with one strong step leap clear.

Day and night, fix your attention only within the breasts. Track the breath as it goes out and in: one ascent, one descent; let it move naturally on its own. When you breathe out, let the qi not rush upward to agitate the head; when you breathe in, let it not rush downward into the Shuifu (the lower dantian and the region around the central womb). Simply listen as it moves slowly and at ease, leisurely and free—whether for a hundred breaths or a thousand, let it go where it will; there is no need to count. Only gather your shen (spirit) in the breasts and tune your breath there; follow the ordinary rhythm of out and in, and you will grasp the essential point.

(The above is from the patriarch’s instructions to female practitioners in the Quanzhen Wenji [Collected Writings of Complete Perfection], in the words of Patriarch Ma Danyang.)

For Aunt Ma

The jade maiden and fairy maiden wear jade ladles on their girdles; amid the scent of lotus and water caltrop they ride the wind and surge. Within the Xijiang Yue (the inner landscape—the image of the moon within) they gather shoots of divine fungus.

When the nine-turn work is complete, the joy of long life; when the three fields are bound with treasure, you roam at will—welcoming immortal guests, you ascend together to the azure heights.

For Sun Gu

I urge Sun Gu to cultivate the Great Dao: at every moment simply sweep clean the field of the heart. Slay the Three Corpses (three kinds of corrupting thoughts lodged in the body) and the Six Exhaustions (six ways essence and qi are drained); without vexation, ever pure and clear, then you will know the profound mystery.

Do not fuss over odd names for “furnace” and “cauldron”; when Chonghe (harmonious blending) flows through above and below, the order is reversed. Lead and mercury naturally become the supreme treasure—utterly fine; haloes of rosy light cluster and escort you home to Penglai.

For All the Female Practitioners

Listen, sisters; listen, sisters: take Magu as your model—utterly pure, utterly clear—and act according to her subtle goodness.

Do not put on airs; do not put on airs: outwardly simple and dull, inwardly bright with spirit; when the work is done, you will go to the Jade Capital.

Excerpt from Collected Female Elixir Scriptures

To Priestess Cave-Cloud Wanderer Chen

The jade maiden and transcendent fairy wears a jade ladle; she sports in the wind amid the scent of caltrop and lotus, gathering spirit herbs within the glow of the West River moon.

When the ninefold transmutation is complete, one gains the joy of long life; when the three fields (upper, middle, and lower dantian) are filled with treasure, one roams freely at ease, welcoming immortal guests to ascend together to the azure heavens.

To Priestess Cave-Cloud Wanderer Chen (continued)

Pure and utterly still, seek the deepest mysterious principle; by observing Heaven one may know the root source. Spread and array the myriad threads—ten thousand images pass down with sun and moon.

Emulating Nüwa’s method of shaping humans from earth, gather the empty void, blend the five colors into fresh life. Apply the lower fire to refine; when the great work is done, there is neither lack nor excess (perfect fullness without loss).

Thus one obtains a person and a realm of clear tranquility. Acting through wuwei (non-action), naturally it continues without end. In the deepest obscurity and silence, one carries a pregnancy and gives birth to an embryo immortal—the body transformed by the inner elixir—this is one’s original face; and one knows clearly that without a mouth one can still speak. When the season arrives, a golden youth comes with tidings, and one may go to pay homage at the Origin (chaoyuan—ascending to witness Yuanshi Tianzun and complete the path to transcendence).

To Yang Wuyi of Lingkou

Priestess Yang awakened to the Dao; her resolve was fiercer than most—she smashed her mirror tower to pieces. Seeing through the stinking decay of the skin-bag, she vowed never again to adorn or groom herself.

With single-minded purpose she kept unkempt hair and a grimy face, wearing straw cloak, leaning on staff, crown under bamboo hat. She cut off cleverness and quenched the fires of unenlightened karma, constantly dulling her sharp edge.

How does restraining the “male” self compare? Like chasing the soul, seizing the spirit—like a demon that hunts life. Wealth, honor, and glory she cast away entirely, no longer heeding them.

She constantly guarded clarity and stillness, dwelling in the principle of natural wuwei. When merit and practice were complete, she took her place among the immortals of the Ten Isles and Three Islands.

To Priestess Li of Xiaohucun

Priestess, in your cultivation, hear my earnest counsel again: first cut off afflictions. Capture the heart-monkey and mind-horse; do not let them turn you backward.

(If later lines repeat themes such as “taking one’s seat among the immortals,” they echo the closing of the piece for Priestess Yang—both exhort one to keep the precepts and complete practice to earn the immortal’s place.)

Like a resolute man, act without hesitation—never be rash. Set to work at once with utmost resolve, lest you later face interrogation by the King of Hell.

Only when every worldly attachment is cut away can you know true joy; then you will gradually grasp profound mystery. Guarding wuwei (non-action) and quiet stillness is the natural Way.

Respond to things while the heart stays constant—serene and at ease. Qi and Shen fuse together and form the treasure of the inner elixir. When merit is complete, you may mount auspicious clouds and return to the Three Isles (Penglai and the other transcendent isles at sea).

To Wang Gu in Chang'an

Marvelous is the Wisdom Sword—formless, shadowless; pure steel that can cleave iron and shear nails. It shatters the mountain of kindness (the weight of emotional bonds) and cuts through the dust of love and desire.

It sweeps away the Three Corpses and Six Thieves (yin spirits that disturb the mind within and the six kinds of delusion)—without force of arms, spirits and ghosts submit in awe. Hold this sword steadily to subdue the turtle and snake (Kan and Li, essence and qi, and the like), and your footing will naturally be secure.

Everyone possesses this sword from the start; fix your heart on the Dao and its power will show itself. With constant clarity and stillness, wash the blade until it shines.

Then you naturally penetrate mystery and wonder—why worry that your nature is not clear? When practice is complete, you too must ride the clouds to Penglai.

To the Two Nügu of Jingyang County

Marvelous is the supreme principle: constant purity, constant clarity—easy to hear and easy to understand, yet hardest to practice. To become an immortal, you must take this as your foundation.

You need not seek elsewhere for deep or subtle teaching—only clarify the heart, release desire, and forget attachment. Without clinging, without hate or fondness, without strife or contention.

After awakening, you are unmoved in every situation; in the midst of nothingness, every inch of ground returns to peace. Sun and moon share one office (yin and yang in harmony); day and night gather as one light.

Do not strain to seek Shen—Shen appears of itself. Mount auspicious clouds and go to Penglai. Present your true merit before the Jade Emperor, and the Way of clarity is accomplished.

To Wang Gu, the Auspicious Recluse of Chang'an

Birth and death matter most—what are children and grandchildren worth fretting over? Step lightly out of the household gate. Wander beyond things in an idle, untroubled retreat.

Often clarify the heart and cut off anxious thought—that is what is called capturing the horse and binding the ape (subduing the heart-monkey and mind-horse). When worldly thoughts are exhausted, you are alert and free, and awaken to the subtle word.

When merit is complete, you too must ride the clouds to Penglai.

That realm of utmost wonder and subtlety lies right there when the clear wind and bright moon are one’s companions and both feet tread upon the cloud-root (where clouds rise in the deep mountains, a metaphor for a pure, quiet, and lofty state); only in stillness does one know “catching the ape in the cave” (gathering in the monkey-mind and subduing distracting thoughts), and when dust-like thoughts are utterly cut off, clear and free, one spontaneously awakens to mysterious and wondrous words. It is precisely in this stillness that one knows there is another heaven and earth within the cave. How could nature and life be entirely ruled by heaven and earth? Guard the numinous brightness, return to the root and restore the origin, and turn toward Peng Island (Penglai, the immortal isle, a metaphor for the realm of immortals and perfected ones); then there is no birth and no death, eternally abiding and indestructible.

To Aunt Wei, the Hai Feng Tongming Sanren of Lingkou: Though she was a woman, her resolve was like a man’s; after awakening to the Dao (the Way), she leaped beyond the thresholds of the mundane world. Searching along the path of cultivation, it will not do to still cling to beautiful women and darling children; the mind-nature must be like a lone cloud and a wild crane, untouched in the slightest by worldly dust and emotional ties. Only when truly free and unconstrained can one be said to surpass a great man. Having firmly recognized the original purity, why bother to identify the tiger-child and dragon-child (in alchemy, metaphors for Yin-Yang, lead, and mercury)? Nor is there any need to arrange Li and Kan, the maiden and the infant (alchemical terms, metaphors for water and fire, primordial Shen (spirit) and Jing (essence), and so on). When the great achievement of Wuwei (non-action) is accomplished, it gives birth to a formless person (the formless Dharma-body, the primordial Shen); when yang Qi (vital energy) is pure and whole, one can become a child of Taishang (the Supreme).

To the assembled female adepts: In the past they disliked the wind and feared the sun, cherished their appearance, dressed becomingly deep within painted halls, faced the mirror to comb and make up, and arranged gold-threaded silk garments. Because they heard of the Wind Immortal’s cicada-shedding (a metaphor for immortal transformation) and admired true cultivation, they resolved without doubt; thereupon they abandoned finery, with disheveled hair, dusty faces, and coarse cloth, and took refuge in the Daoist gate. The numinous root (innate root-nature, the foundation of life) had formerly been diseased; now they know they should personally take it in hand and heal it; they transport the sun and moon and Yin-Yang within the body, directly reaching the far horizon; naturally Wood and Metal become treasure, and the divine pearl appears, its radiance shining upon Clear Yi. Only then do they know that these matters are truly inconceivable.

To Aunt Lu: The lamp of wisdom surges straight to the Milky Way and shines brightly; the auspicious vapors of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) rise in dense mist; when the nine-times refined Golden Elixir (Jindan) perfects a nature pure as jade, one may walk calmly along the jade roads of the Ten Continents.

The title “To Songxi Sanren, Aunt Xue” makes clear that this piece is presented to Songxi Sanren (Pine Stream Scattered Person), Aunt Xue.

Poems Related to Compilation of Female Daoist Alchemical Scriptures (Plain-Language Commentary)

Opening line

The greatest taboo in practice is clinging to luxury; one should release attachment to outward appearances (such as excessive concern for food and clothing) and apply effort in simplicity. By repeatedly harmonizing yin and yang and aligning with heaven-and-earth’s creative transformation, achievement comes naturally. “Aunt Lu” in the text refers to a female master renowned for female alchemy; her attainment is likened to soaring upward with a bright lamp of wisdom.

To Songxi Sanren, Aunt Xue

The lamp of wisdom shines bright, as if piercing the heavens; auspicious smoke from the eight trigrams rises in mist. The nine-turn golden elixir refines true jade-nature; the jade paths of the ten isles may then be walked with ease. (“Nine-turn golden elixir” means internal elixir forged through repeated firing in inner practice; “ten isles” stands for the realms of the immortal lands.)

To Aunt Chai

Luxury is the great taboo in practice; break attachment to all outer things. Turn yin and yang again and again to connect with creation, and the great cinnabar sand (the sign of inner elixir fulfilled) will naturally form in the furnace.

To Shuangxi Sanren, Aunt Yan

With one mind entering the Way, never turning back; eight kinds of jade nectar nourish the great elixir (a metaphor for essence, qi, spirit, and other sustenance). The nine luminaries unite into true jade-nature; when the work is fully complete, one ascends the immortal altar.

To Aunt Liu of Hu County

“One grain” born is kept within the belly; the oral formula is personally transmitted to transform worldly habits. Fire generates and completes nature and life; nature and life are fully revealed—people call her Immortal Liu. (“Fire generating each other” often refers to kan and li, lead and mercury, and the coordination of firing to complete nature and life.)

Reply in the Same Rhyme to Wuwei Sanren, Wife of Cao the Presented Scholar of Fang Prefecture (Jia, styled “No Second”)

Fire in the same palace, the two interweaving; following the moon, light flashes forth. The Way is realized in truth, the dust of the world is shut out; at the right moment one does not sink into the desert. (“Fire in the same palace” is a neidan term, often meaning spirit and qi return to one place; “following the moon” and flashing light stand for the light of wisdom and moon-imagery in practice.)

To Old Aunt Zhang of Hu County and the Assembly of Female Masters

One who is extraordinary acts in ways unlike ordinary people, turning the Three Wonders and Six Xin (Three Wonders and Six Xin are emblems in qimen and alchemical method—here, grasping the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity and the messages of firing). The jade tree stays ever green through constant watering; the jade flower never fades—not because of any ordinary spring (a metaphor for inner scenery nourished without cease).

To Aunt Wang of Hu County and the Assembly of Female Masters

At ease and plain, nurturing the true person—no need for wine, meat, or pungent flavors. Three cups of ghee for a thousand-year span; one peach of immortality for ten thousand springs. (Ghee and the immortal peach stand for the true joy and long life gained from inner nurture—not worldly feasting.)

To Aunt Zhao of Hu County and the Assembly of Female Masters (Wuwei Female Master)

Same as above: at ease and plain, nurturing the true person—no need for wine, meat, or pungent flavors. Three cups of ghee for a thousand-year span; one peach of immortality for ten thousand springs.

To Aunt Zhao of Hu County and the Assembly of Female Masters (continued)

Wuwei—pure and still—is the person who refines elixir, spared the myriad hardships of the red dust. In the mysterious garden the non-leaking fruit ripens; the watery realm withers dry—no lingering spring. (“Mysterious garden” is the dantian realm within the body; “non-leaking fruit” is the fruit of attainment without leakage; “watery realm withered dry” means emotional consciousness dried up, no longer turned by circumstances.)

Patriarch Wang Chongyang (Aunt Zhang’s Inquiry)

This line is a title note: what follows or what was asked is answered and recorded in the line of Patriarch Wang Chongyang. Aunt Zhang asked the master about the meaning of female alchemy, so the patriarch’s name is given to mark transmission.

“Nine-leaf golden flowers” often stand for the spiritual blossoms that open in stages during inner refinement; “eight channels of jade water” stand for the clear qi flowing through the eight vessels or various orifices, each supporting the other. When the “seven gates” open in order, the “four images” (or the qi of the four seasons and four symbols) become distinct in still emptiness without stagnation. When one “spirit elixir” returns to the right path, two “silver threads” (often the ren and du vessels or the yin-yang pair) link at primordial origin; once radiance is full, one knows how to entrust body and mind—the fruit of realization is complete and yet “medicine” still remains, meaning cultivation continues after attainment rather than stopping at a single breakthrough.

On Sun Ergu (Background)

Sun Ergu was the wife of Ma Yu (Ma Danyang). The patriarch twice split a pear and had the couple eat it together, urging them to go out together on begging rounds and enter the Way together. Ma Yu left home first and begged for about a year; Sun later also left the world to follow the Dao.

“Splitting the Pear, Ten Transformations” Was the Year Before Last…

“Splitting the pear, ten transformations” happened the year before last, when heaven’s timing and opportunity naturally aligned. Why did she not leave home for the Way at once? She had to wait until the “golden lotus” formed—whether in inner refinement or in dao affinity, another maturation—before formally leaving home.

To Sun Gu (Clinging to Household Affairs)

The “second wife” still clung to household affairs, not seeing that the household was already like broken cash—name only, no real support. If she stayed home as before, Master Ma could hardly walk the immortal path together with her—urging her to let go of attachment to property.

To Sun Gu (“Second Wife” and “Immortal Lady”)

At home she was only called “second wife”; once she left home, she need not live the lay life around the kitchen fire. If she could practice by the formula and endure the forge, people would forever call her “immortal lady.”

Búsuanzi: Jiaogu’s Request

Hearing that opening the “gate” (a pass in practice) requires first extinguishing the “three corpse insects” and whatever else disturbs the mind, so the “furnace” (dantian, the alchemical vessel) can settle firm. Essence kept, purity without mixture—gazing from outside emptiness, seeing through to clarity; heart and breath still, no stray thought. Frequent forgetting can hold down wandering ties; the golden elixir forms and penetrates the “bright hall” (upper dantian and similar)—as with axe and steel sword as images, straight toward “Penglai,” the path to immortality.

Patriarch Tan Chuduan · To Daoist Yang

Daoist Yang, eighty years old, who entered the profound Way: like a jade flower still fragrant after autumn. A jade cup full of clear water; a golden censer must burn incense of wisdom. She already holds future blessing; from now on need not doubt past karmic hindrance. The empty hall deep and still, heart without attachment—naturally like a precious cauldron showing rosy light, the inner scene bright.

(The line “Now, straight toward the road to Penglai” in the text is a remnant from the same lyric—meaning now advance straight on the path to immortality.)

To the Three Daoist Aunts at Commander Wang the Third’s Residence

(This section title in the collection marks a dedication to the three aunts at Commander Wang the Third’s house; if the full text has further verses, they should be added from the complete edition. As the title stands, it belongs to the same genre as Tan Chuduan’s addresses to Daoist Yang and Sun Gu—urging leaving home, cultivation, and release from worldly ties.)

Patriarch Wang Chuyi—one of the Northern Seven Perfected of Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, with the sobriquet Yuyangzi—discusses cultivation within the secular world: first one must erase distinctions between self and others, uphold softness and humble poverty, and keep one’s resolve firm and unchanging. What is called true goodness is to benefit others at one’s own expense and to give others convenience.

The same poem is cited in connection with the wife of the Surveillance Commissioner (an official title), who fell ill and sought recovery, and in “Presented to the Lady Mother of the Weizhou Temple Master”; its general meaning is this: cultivate in accord with the natural Dao (the Way) of heavenly birth and growth, and do not cling to the mortal body of flesh and blood. How can this body, falsely assembled from the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, pay audience at the immortal palaces? How can the Three Corpses in the body—the three corpse-spirits that cause trouble, according to Daoism—journey to the immortal mountain of Yingzhou? Rather, in awakening to the truth one should practice inner observation and reverse illumination, forget recent contaminating contacts, return to the root and source, extinguish deluded thoughts to remove old grief, transcend form and emptiness to reach the other shore, and steadily board the great ship of freedom.

Another poem presented to the Lady Mother of the Weizhou Temple Master says: Who has ever met a living immortal? One must nurture the numinous brightness so that it penetrates the azure sky; in the Jade Store—the treasure-store of the Dantian (energy center) within the body—draw out and add the true water and fire; in the Jade Palace (a metaphor for the Dantian) congeal auspicious clouds and smoke. When form and Shen (spirit) are both wondrous, ordinary people find it hard to comprehend; the principle of eliminating both emptiness and form is difficult to put into words. Throughout the four seas, those who return the light and reverse illumination all practice this teaching; naturally the three thousand merits and virtues are perfected.

Sent to My Mother: Mother and son together cultivate the truth and renounce the household, taking the embodying of Heaven and the modeling of the Dao as their life; wherever they beg for alms, divine beings assist them, and exhorting others to goodness again and again increases blessing and longevity. They no longer calculate the debts of affection owed to worldly family dependents, and the Dao and De (Virtue/Power) of the Mysterious Gate never deviate; inner spirituality ascends and takes refuge in the true Dao, and one day when their work is accomplished they will be praised on the immortal island of Penglai.

When the parents-in-law ask about cultivation: They say that if the heart for cultivating the Dao is strong, one must not waste life in luxury and end up empty; awaken to true cultivation, forget other and self, and do not seek outwardly and run east and west. Let Qi (vital energy) and Shen return toward the Origin Sea (the Dantian energy sea), and lock the monkey-mind and horse-thoughts in the Crimson Palace (the heart palace in Daoism); command all demons without obstruction, roam free and at ease, and accomplish immortal merit.

Liu Zhimiao, a female Daoist (nüguan) from Huang County (a place name), asks about daily practice: one must carefully investigate one’s daily effort, work hard and study deeply, and when encountering circumstances return the light and reverse illumination so that all kinds of actions are brought to completeness; harm oneself to refine the truth and promote the great Dao, and then naturally one’s future course can eliminate all transgressions.

“Presented to Liu Ku of Renshou Bao, Fushan” is a word of encouragement inscribed and presented to Liu Ku (a personal name or Daoist name) of Fushan Renshou; the title itself conveys a blessing for his cultivation. The whole piece takes cultivating the mind amid the ordinary world as essential, emphasizing the removal of distinctions, the upholding of softness and humble poverty, inner observation and returning to the root, the harmonizing of water and fire, the locking of the monkey-mind and horse-thoughts, the accumulation of goodness by harming oneself to benefit others, and ultimately reaching the wondrousness of both form and Shen (spirit) and the perfection of merits and virtues.

From antiquity to the present, truly compassionate cultivation has always meant establishing great merit and virtue. When faith and karmic ties are first formed within the Three Heavens (in Daoist usage, often the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, or the upper clarity heavens), the meeting may seem hurried—yet one must not treat it lightly. If one has truly refined and nurtured the True One and broadly upheld the Great Dao, the path ahead can gradually dissolve various faults and shortcomings.

For Fushan: Ren Shou, Protecting the Withered Willow

From antiquity to the present, true compassion establishes great merit; in the Three Heavens, the first meeting of faith and affinity is swift. Joy and flourishing gradually open the mysterious subtlety; gaining one corner of understanding, one aligns with the Dao.

Fushan: Elder Sister Jiang Asks about Cultivation

Learning the Dao is like refining gold with fire: when true gold is complete, deep purple radiance and Qi naturally appear. Within the Mysterious Palace (the Dantian and the seat of spirit and Qi in the body), one works the body’s Three Treasures (Jing, Qi, and Shen); a single pearl of perfect round brilliance holds the principle clear through past and present.

Following an Elder Sister: Asking about the Heart-King

The heart is the great dharma-king among all dusts and defilements; do not turn things upside down or drift with every circumstance. Naturally, inner and outer void condense; then one returns to Penglai (the immortal realm, the original source) and recognizes the homeland.

Sending the Record of the Clouds and Presenting It to the Lady of Gold and Purple

Clear sound and wondrous conduct, without selfish crookedness; the grace of a single drop of water is not soon forgotten. Secretly one moves toward the immortal palace and the purple thoroughfare; the name is entered in advance upon the Record of the Clouds.

The Surveillance Commissioner’s Wife Seeks Instruction Because of Illness

From antiquity, bearing and nurturing children has been the natural way—yet how many people turn away from this correct path. If one does not cherish the originally pure sovereign (the heart-nature, the original spirit), how can the physical body long remain healthy and at ease?

For the Women of the Hall of True Cultivation

Whether old or young, all engage in true cultivation; each unfolds clear leisure and boards together the boat that reaches the shore. Light fills the ten directions, leaving suffering and calamity; dwelling forever beyond heaven, one attains the greatest ease (freedom and grace).

For Gaoyang Elder Sister Gao

The heart is the great dharma-king of bodhi; do not become inverted and chase the busy waves. Naturally a point of numinous void condenses; then one returns to Penglai and enters the homeland.

Zhangzhou Elder Sister Zhang Seeks Instruction

Give birth to the Great Dao—naturally fragrant; with a true master, measure carefully. On the road, immortal tidings open; only when the “ash” (in breath and firing, the stillness of quiet absorption or the “living midnight” and the like) is right does nature relax and lengthen.

Female Alchemy Section of Heart Talk of the Two Lazy Ones

(This section belongs with the same genre as “Zhangzhou Elder Sister Zhang Seeks Instruction” and the pieces for Gaoyang, the Hall of True Cultivation, and related passages: female alchemy Q&A and dedicatory verses. The gist is the same as above—rely on the master, guard the heart, refine the Three Treasures, return to the root, with clear leisure reaching the shore and nature relaxed and extended as the goal.)

Note by Xie: The essential method of “using the eyes, retention, forgetting, and advancing the fire” in this section is a secret that alchemical classics have rarely spelled out plainly. First retain, then forget—retain at “a certain place,” then immediately forget at “that place”—and only then does true fire arise naturally at “that place.” Once true fire arises, turbid yin and morbid qi dissolve on their own. But the bellows and valve (the gate of breath and qi’s exit and entry) must be open first; only then does practice avoid empty turning and reckless action. The concrete method: first use intention to fix attention on a place to still the mind; when stillness becomes gentle, gentleness becomes release, release reaches forgetting, forgetting upon forgetting—then true fire blazes up as if ignited.

Preface

These two masters’ origins and names are unknown. Reading their “heart words,” they seem to be longevity practitioners aiming to follow the Southern School path. I copied them down because I was pleased that their words are plain yet deep in meaning, rough in appearance yet refined in principle; their intent seems pointed, yet they do not read like ordinary reclusive dullards—their taste is close to mine. So I removed what was unsound and kept what was commonly discussed, and titled it Heart Words of the Two Lazies. One styled himself Lazy Old Man, the other Great Lazy. The character lan (lazy) is written with “heart” not “woman”—taking the sense of relying on the heart to learn—perhaps in the line of Su Lazy Old Man. Those who can work at the heart of Heaven and the heart of Dao. Recorded and noted by Xiao Gen on the full moon of the eleventh month, wuyin year of the Jiaqing reign.

Plain-Language Explanation

You live in the south of heaven, I in the north of earth; we met by chance this autumn, yet rejoiced like old friends reunited—truly karmic affinity! Your master is Li Chijiao (Barefoot Li); mine is Taixuweng (Old Man of Great Emptiness). We had no prior tie, yet we were brought together because our two masters secretly aligned in purpose. You have lately also met Chengbigong—Chengbigong is a Daoist who received transmission from the Shizhao Mountain Man; you may not know: his patriarch Jin Huaihuai, whose Daoist name was Wang Erqing, is also a patriarch in your line. So your master Chi Weng and my Shizhao Mountain Man were fellow disciples under the same lineage. I too once took Jin Huaihuai as master, having met him through Taixuweng. You and I could count as fellow disciples of the same school; at first meeting we felt like old friends, shared the same aim, and practiced one method together—our tastes naturally matched. What Dao did Chengbigigong teach you?

Second Lazy’s Heartfelt Words

Answer: What I heard was nothing beyond recognizing the single aperture of the Mysterious Pass (xuan guan) and the coupling of heart and kidney.

Question: Whether the Mysterious Pass is open or not, recognizing it is not hard; opening it has its own method. If that gate is not yet open, how do you perform the coupling?

Answer: I wish to receive instruction.

Question: We are one family—how could I sit by and not ask? For now we are still like drifting duckweed meeting on water; another day we can together probe the deepest mysteries.

A Fine Question

Great Lazy said: The ancients said “the secret mechanism is in the eyes (xuanji zai mu).” I want to get to the bottom of that subtlety.

Lazy Old Man rose solemnly and said: Well asked! In the human body, every part belongs to yin; what can transform yin and return it to yang is the pair of eyes. This is the first oral formula for entering the Dao. Since you already know this, from now on use “inward illumination (neizhao),” then everywhere is the Dao, and the Mysterious Pass also has hope of opening.

Question: Where does one begin with inward illumination?

Plain-Language Explanation

Closing the Eyes and Regulating the Breath

First gently close both eyes, even out the breath, and sit quietly for a while. When the breathing is steady, use your mind to gather your spirit in the head.

(Xie’s note: This is a general label for a progression from shallow to deep. Those whose skill is still shallow may first practice the “Brahma Heavenly Yi-character Formula,” then use the mind to envelop the whole surface of the head, taking Shangen (between the eyebrows, above the bridge of the nose) as the root. Those with deeper skill may visualize inside the brain; at a still deeper level, inner and outer merge and the five senses become one whole.)

Drawing Light to Wash the Marrow

Look slightly upward toward the crown of the head; you may sense a thread of faint brightness, like moonlight in the dark night. Then, with intention, draw this light down to illuminate Niwang (the center of the crown, in the region corresponding to Baihui).

(Xie’s note: This means joining the generative Qi at the crown gate with spirit-intent—the so-called “intention pearl” and “Heavenly Gang star anchored in the person”—as explained in detail in Xie Tianji [Revealing Heaven’s Secrets].)

When the brain is full of light and the head feels as clear as crystal, that is the marrow-washing method. Over time, draw this light again through Zhonglou (the throat) to Jianggong (the heart region), hold it there briefly, and feel Jianggong as a field of pure white (this is the heart-washing method). Draw it further to Zhonghuang (the middle Dantian), hold the visualization the same way, and feel Zhonghuang as pure white (this is the pure-land method).

Light Descending

The light will naturally descend with the breath. The lower field (lower Dantian) will gradually feel more open and deep (this is the pure-sea method). As you look inward here, the longer you hold it, the brighter it becomes and the wider it feels. After still more time, you may sense Qi stirring in the middle (this is “the dragon appears from the bottom of the sea”).

At that moment, with one thought of purity, use a light touch of intention and let the inner gaze look back from the “sea bottom.” Before long you will feel this light has passed through Weilü (the tailbone pass) (this is “the tiger turns over from beneath the water”).

Note: The whole passage belongs to the Neidan (internal alchemy) sequence of visualization, drawing light, and washing marrow and heart, and uses “dragon” and “tiger” as images for the movement of Qi and light. Xie’s commentary distinguishes shallow and deep levels and points to correspondences with texts such as Xie Tianji.

Light gradually rises from below—this is the image of the “reverse flow of the Yellow River” (Huanghe shui niliu): vital energy (Qi) moving upward from the lower body. It penetrates all the way to the crown of the head—this is the method of “returning essence (Jing) to nourish the brain” (huan jing bu nao). At this stage I use the method of “coordinating head and tail” (shouwei zhaogu). How exactly? Fix the gaze of both eyes on the empty space before you, as if the sun and moon were shining down from above onto the crown, piercing the three passes (sanguan) and reaching the deepest “ocean floor” within—this is the formula “the sacred sun and sacred moon illuminate the golden court” (Shengri shengyue zhaoyao jinting). It is as if a disc of moonlight sinks to the ocean floor within, mirroring the moon wheel in the upper half of the void—this is the formula “water in the Yangtze, moon in the sky” (shui zai Changjiang yue zai tian). Then all sounds fall silent; I rely solely on the secret of “one intent rising upward while penetrating downward, the two directions proceeding together without conflict.” After long practice, you feel this clear light connecting the nine heavens above and the nine abysses below; at that point you almost cease to feel the physical body.

Inner illumination (neizhao) is roughly approached in this way. It is easy to describe and hard to do. The other person said: Though I am dull, I am willing to follow what you say. According to Master Xie’s commentary: this inner-illumination method is a secret rarely spelled out plainly in alchemical scriptures; the key lies in “naturalness” (ziran). At the start you must first empty the heart and quiet the heart—this is crucial, and it is also the first level of practice in the “three contemplations” (sanguan) method; the initial regulation of breath is equally important. If you combine this method with “mind and breath mutually depending” (xinxixiangyi), you have a supreme great method.

One day, after master and disciple had finished talking and gone their separate ways, the man soon returned and said: From then on I devoted myself to practicing "inner illumination" (neizhao)—drawing the mind inward to contemplate the interior of the body—and then to "formlessness" (wuxiang)—not clinging to any appearance and abiding in emptiness and stillness. Before long, my mind-ground grew clear and bright, and I gradually felt the region of the lower Dantian suddenly become as if empty—vast without bounds, deep beyond measure. This is a vision that appears only after long inward expansion and sustained effort, when the mind has reached the utmost depth of stillness and concentration. At the time I felt only warmth and ease throughout the body; later I no longer clung even to that vision, and felt as though breathing had stopped, while below there was a surge of heat. Just at the peak of that heat, suddenly several threads of cool qi descended—sometimes from chest and belly downward, sometimes flowing down in front of the spine from behind the abdomen—surging back and forth around the "male root" (in texts on female elixir this often stands for the lower pass and the perineum region). It felt as if something might leak, and I worried it was not a good sign—(in fact this is precisely a wondrous state). If one stops refining midway—(if one only pauses here and does not continue to refine and transform with "fire," harm can result)—I came out to respectfully ask my master for instruction.

The Master Lazy-Oak says: You ask well.

The yin essence of the lower body—once it meets Qi, it begins to change. Here, “yin essence” means the cool strands of qi that were described earlier, flowing downward from all sides. If true Qi is not strong enough, what has been transformed cannot be held in refinement (if you refine without clear inner heat, true Qi is too weak—and true Qi is the same as true fire). Then it mixes with ordinary qi (ordinary qi is ordinary fire; the ordinary fire that flares up at this stage is ministerial fire—fire stirred by desire and wandering thoughts). In that case it becomes sympathetic essence; if you do not go on advancing yang fire (closing the breath and keeping the mind fixed in one place is called advancing yang fire), this substance will burst through the passes and leak outward. There is only one remedy: gather spirit and intent, collect Qi at Haidi (the lower dantian region), and use the light of both eyes to press and drive inward, revolving as if turning a millstone. At this point, the quieter the heart, the better; when the heart is so still that breathing seems to stop, true Qi can settle steadily in the lower body—that is the great secret of advancing yang fire. The lower region then heats as if water were boiling in a cauldron (“boiling” means water and fire are both aroused), and only then does yin essence truly turn into qi.

(Note by Master Xie: This verse depends first on the spirit-light of the eyes together with breath retention, and then on forgetting the body in emptiness—only then does ordinary fire subside and true fire arise. Therefore, if one’s work on xing is not yet pure and the upper practice is not mature, at this step one cannot forget form and still the mechanism; desire easily arises. Once desire arises, essence does not become qi but turns into turbid fluid and leaks out—be extremely careful.)

Qi then rushes upward, passes Weilü, rises to Niwan, and becomes true fluid (this is the real basis of “returning essence to nourish the brain”). It descends again through Chonglou and moistens Jianggong (this is called postnatal sweet dew—a substance that can transform into blood).

(Note by Master Xie: The formless, clear portion enters the middle yellow within Niwan; the somewhat turbid portion enters Jianggong and the lower dantian.)

(Plain-language explanation)

During practice, direct your intentional focus from the heart along the front of the spine to reach the left and right kidneys respectively. (By then the sweet dew in the mouth has turned red, taking on the image of “blood.”) The cultivator sends the light of the eyes downward with intentional focus to both kidneys; rotate separately left and right, swiftly and tightly, until the heat feels like fire. (This is the stage of “refining blood to transform essence.”) The heat from both kidneys continues to the navel wheel (the area of the lower dantian below the navel). (This is the essential method of “refining the mundane to return to the true” and “refining qi to return to qi.”) At this layer the heat must be several times greater than before; the subtle essence within transforms from “true essence” into qi.

From here you must not stop (you absolutely must not pause even briefly). The heat descends further to the “haidi” (the perineum region), and you still apply the methods of visualization and infusion (this is an urgent instruction)—then, as described earlier, “yin essence” (at this stage it is inevitable and often abundant; it must be refined until it is exhausted only after the whole body is purely yang) can again transform into qi and rise. The method of refining yin to return yang is no more than this; effects can appear gradually (if you break off even briefly, they are hard to see—hence the warning against interruption); the crux is steadfast persistence over time (emphasized again and again).

If you cycle without gaps and practice according to the days (this is mandatory), why worry that you cannot achieve in months what the ancient sages promised? (This can be relied on; there is no doubt.)

(Xie’s note: To perform the preceding practice instructions is not easy. It is better first to open the bellows and valve (tuoyue) and establish true breath (zhenxi), then proceed—easier to grasp. This method suits middle-aged and elderly practitioners.)

Da Lan said: You are right—I wish to follow this method in my practice. But I have heard that in the practice regimen, the sequence of “descending from the heart and dividing down to the two kidneys” is precisely the essential knack for women’s cultivation. Women take blood as their foundation, so the Mysterious Pass (xuanguan yiqiao) opens from the Crimson Palace (the center of the chest, the region of the heart pit). During practice one must also massage between the two breasts—this is called the “breast stream” (ru xi); rubbing and massaging hundreds or even thousands of times, heat arises in the chest, one feels only oppressive fullness of qi, and a sensation like wooden boards tightening and stiffening appears—only then does the blood truly flourish. The method can only be this: use intention to withdraw from “behind the heart, in front of the spine” downward, then divide and pour into the two kidneys. If one descends straight from the heart to the abdomen as men do, there is the danger of flooding hemorrhage. (Xie’s note: This is a secret rarely transmitted outside in texts on the elixir.) This question arose because Da Lan’s wife was engaged in internal cultivation, and Lan Weng was instructing her in the usual way, so he raised it again—this is precisely the essential method of the elixir for women.

Therefore in actual application of effort, it is indeed as you say. What you spoke of just now concerned “qi”: qi rises to the brain, then returns and transforms into liquid—this is already quite extraordinary. Since it has already become liquid, what harm is there in descending straight to the lower Dantian? Why must it be like women’s practice—first descending to the Crimson Palace, withdrawing once, then opening through, passing via the two kidneys and turning up to the navel wheel, before transforming into Qi (qi)? I do not understand this reasoning. Moreover, Qi (qi) and breath (qi) are originally one substance; in nature both belong to fire—it is only that they are named separately as prenatal and postnatal. Hearing your discussion, several knots of doubt have loosened; do not block the path yourself—I beg you to instruct further.

Lan Weng said: Good. (Regarding your question) transforming into Qi only after turning up to the navel wheel—the reasoning is as follows: How much more so, since Qi (qi) and breath (qi), though the names differ, are in reality one substance, and in nature both belong to fire—only with the distinction of prenatal and postnatal. Now that I have heard what you have said, doubts may open; do not close yourself off—I shall explain.

The Lazy Old Man said: “Well asked! You are truly skilled at pressing for answers. What I teach is half from my master’s oral instruction and half from the classics; I will now give you the main drift. The other said: I wish to hear the subtle principle. The Lazy Old Man said: In a man, ‘yang’ resides in the belly; in a woman, ‘yang’ resides on the back—this is heaven-and-earth’s natural, unchanging pattern. What I call yin essence looks outwardly like seminal essence but is not seminal essence in the ordinary sense. It is fluid transformed from food and drink that has not yet become blood. When it lodges in the interstices of the body’s pores and orifices, it becomes something like phlegm; if it stagnates in the middle burner it becomes fluid-retention illness (watery drink disease); if it flows to the bladder it becomes slippery discharge.

In this body of mine, among the seams of the three hundred bone joints and the eighty-four thousand hair-fine openings, this substance cannot but occupy the gaps. When external pathogenic influences seize the opportunity to enter, they join forces with it—harm is no small matter. Now, because my true Qi (the inner energy sensed in practice) pervades and warms and nourishes everywhere, this substance is melted and activated. It is carried along with the Qi, escorted as the Qi streams into the lower field (the Dantian below the navel). Its nature is yin-cold, so when it flows you feel only coolness. If it accumulates long without being transformed, it can again turn into ‘fire’ and emerge—the so-called flowing-fire syndrome among people belongs to this category. That is why, when I sit in meditation, whenever true Qi circulates I feel a cool, breezy Qi issuing from within—also an effect of this substance being transformed and released.

Therefore, when this fluid is streaming into the lower field, one must intensify true fire refinement (this is an extremely crucial oral instruction). Then it turns into mist like clouds and, with the true Qi, ascends from the rear spine to the crown (the top of the head). Once it gathers and condenses, it becomes true liquid—like rain, like dew—dripping from beside the nostrils into the mouth (this is sweet dew, ganlu). It moistens the Crimson Palace (the inner chamber of the heart, roughly the region of the heart pit—here one must dwell on it in awareness and nourish it often). Then, baked once by heart-fire, it turns into blood. Hence it must descend in two streams from behind the heart and before the spine to the two kidneys; after refinement it follows the Qi to the region below the navel; only after further great refinement can it become Qi—this is the fixed order of qi-transformation. Men and women follow the same path; there is no difference.

Who does not eat and drink? Fluids produced from food and drink are replenished every day. If one does not grasp the essential method of “storing and refining qi from a single, centered mind,” few escape illness from this; hence nine out of ten people suffer from excess phlegm.

Practitioners often fear yixie (involuntary loss of essence or qi). Ordinary people cannot fathom the cause. Some blame stray thoughts, some blame heart–kidney non-communication, some blame the spleen and stomach for failing to transform food—all miss the point. The root lies in failing to store and refine qi from one centered mind: the fluids then flow in disorder, gather into phlegm, and sink downward. Some forcefully suppress and endure, which instead turns into outward manifestations and festers into abscesses and toxins. That is again a case of qi moving wrongly after “transformation into fire,” fluids flowing amiss, forming phlegm and draining down; then, if one forcibly blocks and constricts, the same outward symptoms and abscesses arise. The ailments born from this are too many to count—which is why I explain it in detail.

〈Editor’s note (Xie): This principle and this method are rarely stated in other Neidan (internal alchemy) scriptures; they are truly the most secret essentials. For practitioners, yixie is indeed tied to impurity in sexual cultivation; yet the muddy fluids produced from food, colluding with external disturbances, and entangled inwardly with desire—with inner and outer echoing each other—are also a major cause. Therefore those in cultivation should favor a light, plain diet. After refinement is achieved, the fluid of the Heavenly Pool must reach the level of nei huxi (inner breathing), or neizhao (inner illumination) must be fully mature—only then is it truly sound.〉

So-called true jing (essence): taken as a whole it seems to be there, yet if you reach out to grasp it, there is nothing to hold.

Essence of intercourse (the vital energy lost in sexual union) is still a material substance formed from Qi (vital energy). That is why it has shape and color; and because it arises from within the body, it can take part in reproduction. The fluids transformed from food and drink, by contrast, come from what is taken in from outside. Without the step of xin refining—transforming them inwardly through focused intent—blood has not yet been formed; they only look somewhat like jing, and again you cannot grasp them. They cannot truly become jing and blood, so how could they sustain life? They were never a supreme treasure to begin with. A single occasional emission need not be deeply regretted; if you brood and grow restless over it, are you not disturbing your own spirit and mind? Rather than relying on drugs to astringe jing and stop emissions, it is better to refine as I describe—this is fudi chouxin (acting at the root, not merely blocking the surface).

I have gone over this section again and again because, although this grade of substance is an ordinary thing, if you refine it by the method it can be turned into yin energy: rising to the brain and descending to the heart, it becomes blood—already a treasure; descending further to the kidneys and being refined upward again from the navel, once it harmonizes with Earth (here, true intent and true breath), it is no different from true Qi and is plainly a supreme treasure.

Great Lazy! Pre-heaven is yang and post-heaven is yin. Our practice is nothing other than the path of refining yin to restore yang—turning post-heaven yin substance back into pre-heaven yang vitality. The essentials are no more than this: forget the body to nourish Qi, forget Qi to nourish the heart.

Dalan said: What is pre-heaven belongs to Yang; what is post-heaven belongs to Yin. Our practice is nothing other than the path of refining Yin to restore Yang. The essentials come down to this: forget the body to nourish Qi (vital energy), forget Qi to nourish Shen (spirit), forget Shen to nourish emptiness (Xu). Why must one reach a state of “forgetting”? Because the Jing (essence), Qi, and Shen that are gathered must truly belong to pre-heaven—only then are there no drawbacks. Above all, the body must be refined constantly; the whole application turns on Fire (Huo)—when Fire is full, things flourish; when Fire wanes, they fail. If you do not forget, you do not gather; when you can forget, Fire is sufficient. That is the most vital formula in true cultivation.

(Xie’s note: “Forgetting” means forgetting while something is still there—it is not a blank, empty forgetting. Hence they say first preserve, then forget. “Preserve” means preserving Shen.)

That is how Dalan understood it.

The disciple said: How could I dare not obey your instruction?

Later Dalan also asked: I have heard the phrase “the heart has three”—what does it mean?

Plain-language explanation

Answer: Yes. Although we speak of the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth, and the Human Heart, in truth they are one and the same. Do the classics not say: “The heart is where spirit resides; the principle of change arises from here”? The whole body moves and rests only by this single breath of heart-qi, as a fish cannot leave water. The ancients said: “Where the body is solid belongs to earth; where it is empty belongs to heaven; bending and stretching, speech, sight, and hearing all belong to the human.” They also said: “The heart of heaven is in the brain, the heart of earth is in the abdomen, the human heart is in the Jianggong (Middle Dantian, roughly at the heart region).” That heart at the Jianggong is one cluster yet empty, numinous yet not dimmed—one heart containing the threefold heaven, earth, and human. The hearts in the brain and in the abdomen are without form or substance; only through the central one, shaped like a hanging lotus, at the Jianggong—whose numinous quality and Qi (pre-heaven qi, the life energy cultivated in practice) penetrate upward and descend downward—do they truly exist. So I say there is really only one heart.

(Xie’s note: Only through the human heart can the subtle function of the Heart of Heaven and the Heart of Earth appear; therefore we know there are a Heart of Heaven and a Heart of Earth. The Heart of Heaven and the Heart of Earth are lodged in the human heart before their function shows. Without the human heart, there would be no Heart of Heaven or Heart of Earth to speak of—hence the three hearts are originally one. In advanced Neidan (internal alchemy), what is called the human heart is true intent.)

Lazy Elder said: Great Lazy understands this—intent is what the heart sends forth; it is the expression of using the heart.

Lazy Old Man said: “Big Lazy, you must understand—yi (intention) is what the heart-mind sends forth. The heart-mind itself has no sound, breath, or scent; when a thought stirs and goes out, that is called yi. Nian (thought) means ‘this very thought of the mind right now’—much like saying ‘it is the mind.’ Yi is also the ‘sound’ of the mind: the meaning is that a thought has already been set in motion. In Buddhism, the sacred name ‘Guanyin’ (Contemplating the Sounds of the World) is in fact a great secret for cultivating the body and governing the mind; you should ponder it carefully. I follow the Buddhist scriptures in saying that the character shi (world) is sometimes read as shen (body)—that is, examine closely the movements and flow of qi in this body of mine, and do not go down a crooked path. Patriarch Lü said: ‘The Great Dao teaches people first to stop thoughts; if thoughts do not stop, all effort is in vain.’ He also said: ‘Do not fear that a thought arises; fear only that awareness comes late.’ Master Qingyunzi said: ‘While a thought has not yet left the inner chamber (the heart, the center within the body), removing it is easiest; once it has been let out, removing it is somewhat harder.’ So the ancients said: ‘Remove a thought the moment it rises, and even immortals will grant your wish.’ Big Lazy, you must remember all this.”

Big Lazy asked with a smile: “Does the secret of cultivating immortality stop here? I have heard it said that ‘cultivating life (ming) without cultivating nature (xing) is the first great illness in practice,’ and also that ‘cultivating nature without cultivating life—through ten thousand kalpas the yin soul cannot enter sagehood.’ What do these mean?”

Lazy Elder said: Alas! If life (ming) lacks nature (xing), it will not work; if nature lacks life, it cannot show itself—hence one must practice dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu). In my view, for every measure of nature you cultivate, you preserve a measure of life, because “xing” and “ming” were never two things to begin with. Sometimes the emphasis is on nature, yet life is already there; sometimes on life, yet nature is there too—like body and shadow: how could you split them apart? In any path of cultivation, first set a single-minded resolve—that is the root of work on nature; cherish the body as you would fine jade—that is the root of work on life. Going further: stopping thoughts and clearing delusion belong to nature-work; regulating breath, holding breath, circulation, and ascent and descent belong to life-work. Reflect and investigate: if thoughts do not stop, breath is not regulated, and delusion is not cleared, practice cannot advance. Ordinary people’s methods of regulating and holding breath, circulation and ascent-descent, even mixing and joining—must all fall in moments of no thought, no worry, and only open in a state where all sounds are still and not a speck of dust remains. That is why I say: “Cultivate one measure of nature, preserve one measure of life.” Da Lan, am I right?

Answer: Yes. You have already tried it. Only in elixir teachings the human body has four seas: the heart is called the sea of blood; the stomach the sea of grain; the kidneys the sea of qi; the brain the sea of marrow. I do not yet fully grasp their subtleties—please instruct me.

This passage responds to the questioner: a good question. This human body of ours depends entirely on the natural qi of heaven and earth for its birth and growth. Only the stomach is like a vast sea, relying on acquired nourishment from food taken in from the outside world for digestion and transformation, to supplement what the body’s life-qi may lack—something everyone understands, so there is no need to say more.

Dalianzi understands why, when health-preservation masters set out their doctrine, they almost always begin with the layer of “ming xin” (stillness of the heart). It is because the heart is called the “sea of blood”: when the heart is cool, blood is generated; when the heart is stilled (ming), the heart becomes cool. The essential point of ming xin is to use intention lightly to draw the heart’s qi back and settle it before the Jiaji point, so that one feels the body’s warm, vital qi gathering and sustaining, in a misty way, in front of and behind, to the left and right, above and below, and at the center of the crimson palace (Jianggong—the region of the heart). (Xie’s note: The crux of this practice lies in the word “forgetting.” If cultivation does not reach the stage of “forgetting the body,” one often suffers harm before seeing benefit—symptoms such as restlessness and blood heat. At such times one should retreat and guard the Jiaji aperture, withdrawing fire as in bathing.) In this way, whenever warm, vital qi approaches the crimson palace, it naturally melts into blood like oil dissolving; that blood then permeates, in a misty way, the spaces between the muscles and the collateral vessels. The finest part of it withdraws and descends into the two kidneys, and that ruddy, flowing state transforms into pure essence and Tianyi qi (the qi of the Unity of Heaven).

Dalianzi also understands that before one has achieved ming xin, when the masters speak only of “closing the eyes,” the meaning is very deep and the aim very refined. First, the heart’s spiritual aperture opens at the eyes. Second, the two eyes also hold the refined qi of the zang organs—liver hun, lung po, spleen yi, and kidney jing. Third, if one closes the eyes before ming xin, the vital qi of the zang-fu, the four limbs, and the inner and outer body will naturally come to pay homage at the crimson gate (Jiangque, the heart palace). Fourth, whatever qi comes to pay homage will spontaneously transform into pure blood, and the subtle wonder of this too lies in the two eyes. Fifth, this can further cause pure blood to follow its qi and spread, moistening the vessels and the interstices of the flesh—because our two eyes are like the sun and moon suspended in illumination, shining through inside and outside, high and low, near and far—seemingly intentional yet seemingly not, as if guiding yet as if not guiding. (Xie’s note: This is the initial work of “one body, one view; inner and outer blended transformation.”) You once said “its mechanism is in the eyes”; from this one can trust that the ancients did not deceive us.

Lazy Old Man says: The kidneys belong to Water; in cultivation they are also called the “Sea of Qi.” If you are unsure, you may think and discriminate at length—but you must grasp this: calling the kidney the Water organ does not mean filthy water sitting in the bladder. It means the place where the breath and qi of the body gather—post-heaven qi—with yin and yang within it: the yang portion is called qi, the yin portion fluid. Without the body’s “fire of the sun” (the warming, generating yang qi within) to cook and refine them, they stagnate and fail to transform, harm is great, and the names of the illnesses that arise are beyond counting.

How is it refined? In essence, never apart from using the two eyes to lead true yang and store it at the “sea bottom” (the lower dantian region). Keep one thought undivided; let the qi mechanism flow freely; do not split inner and outer; forget even the five viscera, six bowels, four limbs, and heaven and earth—only constantly sink your intention at the sea bottom and visualize a red sun sunk there. This is an utterly vital secret formula: if you forget, at once resume the visualization; in visualizing, you must also be able to forget (that is how the practice becomes subtle); when awareness slips, store again—cycle this (a crucial instruction)—and only then can this “sea” settle and be free of fault.

Lazy Old Man sighs: Those who cultivate the Dao are as many as hairs on an ox, yet those who attain the Dao are as rare as horns on a rabbit—why? Because those who neglect this gate of the Sea of Qi are everywhere. If you truly aspire, you must persevere. Perseverance that is not firm or not long-lasting is useless (a stern warning). You must strive with all your might (a thousand-fold exhortation).

(Note by Xie: This passage shows how critically important the “single aperture at the sea bottom” is in female alchemical cultivation.)

Lazy Old Man said: Great Lazy, you must remember—what I have said above only highlights “this gate of refining the Sea of Qi.” Within this gate the scenes that appear are far too many to write out completely. Myriad words, the classics of the Three Teachings, the hundred schools of thought piled like mountains—all, in the end, come down to one method of “governing the mind.” Great Lazy, you must recognize this point.

When things go well, do not be wildly joyful; when they go badly, do not be anxious. Every scene, whether good or bad, may look real, but all are illusions. Do not let the mind be pulled by them, do not let thoughts be shaken by them, do not let your practice be blocked by them. What appears always falls into two kinds—“alarm” and “delight”—yet between them the changes are endless and often beyond expectation; always take “unmoving” as your root principle. You must understand: these are all demonic illusions, or tests sent by higher perfected ones. Only when you are not moved by demons do you show the true face of a great person. Therefore whenever demonic disturbance comes, you must be all the more steadfast and all the more bold—that is right.

Great Lazy, Great Lazy! The reason I cry out so loudly is that the deviant and the upright cannot coexist, and the demonic path often walks beside the path of cultivation. Why? Without demons, the Dao would not be revealed; if you do not retreat when you meet demons, the Dao can be accomplished. Great Lazy, strive on.

(Note from Xie: Whether you gain or lose, treat it as ordinary—only plow, do not ask about the harvest—this point matters most.)

Lazy Old Man said: The ancients called the brain the “Marrow Sea”—that idea is clear enough and needs little explanation. Yet in worldly teachings this “sea” is put to countless uses, most of them belonging to methods of the earthly immortal and ghost immortal lines. They are not the supreme Way, and you must not follow them blindly. Since you are learning from me the celestial immortal lineage, whose ultimate is to purify and return to the primordial, you cannot afford to be careless about which methods you cultivate.

Great Lazy One! You must grasp the ultimate of celestial immortality and the pure wonder of primordial Qi (Yuanqi): its substance is utmost clear and soft, yet also utmost hard and sharp—neither gold nor iron can block it. Where it passes, things manifest; where it abides, spirit takes form. (Xie’s note: When Qi is concealed, that is its most wondrous state; when Qi stirs and manifests, all kinds of changes appear.) The domain spanned by the great heavenly circuit can shrink to the finest motes of dust or expand to embrace three thousand great thousand worlds and worlds as numerous as sands in the Ganges. In manifestation it can coalesce into billions of people, mountains and waters, palaces, cities, and temples. Realms of this sort are not hard to obtain; what one must fear is spirit fixation—fixating the mind on these visions. Why? Once a single thought moves, such realms keep transforming without end, each more strange than the last. Once you “grasp appearances”—treating illusions as real and craving forms—you enter the demonic path: at best you become a demon; at worst you die on the spot. Many cultivators in the world have lost their lives this way. Often they themselves never know what happened, while family and fellow practitioners assume someone has attained the Way and departed—a serious delusion. That is why celestial immortal schools never take these as signs of attainment and treat them all as demonic disturbance.

If such states appear during quiet sitting, you must not use intent to drive them away. The moment you repel with intent, you create another kind of battling realm, with unpredictable shifting disturbances and assaults—you will go mad and die, or be seized by demons and die.

Sometimes cultivators fall straight into the snares of the demonic path. If by luck they seem to “win,” their spiritual powers and abilities then swell without further practice, and they foolishly take this as proof of enlightenment—never realizing the demon is luring them into a trap. When life ends they go no further than becoming hangers-on of the asuras.

Or, because they lose in such contests, their primordial spirit (yuanshen) leaves the bodily shell while the corpse is taken over by a demon. Outsiders cannot tell; they think the person has become an immortal and test their powers—they match the ancient immortals in every outward way. Once the demon occupies the shell, it practices its own demonic way and gathers followers like clouds; what it teaches treats lust, anger, greed, and deceit as no obstacle to the true Way, and everyone who follows is drawn into the demonic realm and becomes part of the demonic host. Leaders of the White Lotus heterodox movements, past and present, often arose just this way: cultivation gone wrong, a demon seated in the shell, and a sect born from that mistake. This is something every practitioner must understand.

Therefore those who cultivate should above all treat “see yet do not see, hear yet do not hear” as the great secret for subduing demons—what is meant by “however high the waves, I do not open my sail.” That is the essential teaching of not stirring the mind. Anyone refining the marrow sea must take this as a warning. (When gathered it forms a body, when scattered it becomes Qi (vital energy); it is one with the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) without duality, and unites the Three Teachings into one—this means guarding the single thought of empty clarity without abiding, letting presence and absence, green, yellow, red, or white be as they may; students must not fixate on gathering and dispersing, mixing, or colors and forms.) This is the ultimate attainment of the celestial immortal, and also the subtle working of pre-heaven primordial Qi (xiantian yiqi). We who are resolved can cultivate to this level—it is not empty talk; where the will is, the work follows.

The ancient immortals said: “To learn immortality you must learn the way of the celestial immortal; only the Golden Elixir is truly to the point.” So your aspiration must be set by yourself. To refine this marrow sea, what is the method?

This passage describes the inner landscape that may appear when a woman (or, more broadly, any practitioner) first takes up cultivation, and how one ought to respond.

Images in the Inner Landscape

During practice, awareness may seem to open upward to heaven and penetrate downward into the earth; in every direction there is boundlessness and deep stillness. Ordinary mountains, rivers, towns, and cities are no longer seen; instead, reddish light spreads like a golden world, and a bright moon hangs in the clear sky. The commentary calls this the true sign of the “live noon” (huo wuzi)—in Daoist usage, the midday hour is treated like the peak yang moment associated with the “live midnight,” an auspicious time to begin earnest work. This is the first layer of the secret for entering the gate.

When You See Scenery, Do Not Cling

If visions appear—jade terraces and jade chambers, the fairy isles of the ten continents and three islands, and other such paradisiacal scenes—do not fix your gaze on them or crave them. This accords with upper De and wuwei (non-action): “having, yet not having”—you know the images are there, but you do not take them as real and do not sink into them.

When You See Terror, Do Not Investigate

If frightening scenes appear—iron enclosures and endless hell, mountains of swords and forests of blades, boiling pools and seas of flame—likewise do not use investigative “discernment” (cha) to pick them apart or pursue them. This is not seeking by means of discernment—the more you scrutinize, the more you stick to them, and the spirit is disturbed.

Passing the Barrier of the Marrow Sea

In sum, hold only one thought of right mindfulness, attached to nothing, and quiet the stirring mind and grasping at objects. This is the essential method for passing the barrier of the marrow sea (sui hai—in Daoism often the brain, the root of intention, or the region of the upper dantian; it governs whether spirit and intention stay settled).

The core of the whole passage: seeing light and moon at the outset is a good sign; neither fairy nor demonic scenes should be followed; guard only one thought of empty clarity and pass the marrow-sea gate.

The practice at the Guhai pass (the gate linking the “valley” and “sea” of the belly) consists mainly of massaging the abdomen with the hands, using yang energy to disperse, guide, and transform what stagnates. In antiquity, people often did this after meals: first, with one hand, they stroked from Zhongwan (the center of the upper abdomen) down to the base of the belly, slowly walking about a hundred steps; then they placed the hand at the edge of the abdomen and circled outward from within, as if polishing a mirror, for about three hundred steps. When the left hand tired, they switched to the right, then sat quietly and felt the qi until it seemed unobstructed before stopping.

When they had leisure to sit, they continued with the method of “quieting the mind, closing the eyes, and keeping the spirit at the Jianggong (the crimson palace around the heart pit).” Then the valley qi of the middle palace could transform into blood and reach the kidneys. Those who practiced this regularly generally did not suffer from essences turning into phlegm, nor did they easily lose jing (essence) into yin depletion. Outwardly it is youwei (deliberate action), but in essence it assists Wuwei (non-action)—the sort of approach where “lower De employs the purposeful, yet its effect does not cease.” Dalian understood, bowed with folded hands, and said: Very well; I shall follow your teaching respectfully.

Before long, Dalian straightened his robes and cap and spoke with great reverence: I have heard that if the xuanguan (mysterious pass) does not open, the sacred embryo cannot form; if suckling and nurturing are wrong, the holy infant develops inner illness; if tuohuan ( shedding the old body) and qianhua (transformation and ascension) are not done properly, even a zhenren (realized person) may die young. I am therefore deeply afraid and beg you to instruct me: for someone like me, is it possible for the xuanguan to open? Is it possible for the sacred embryo to form?

Lazy Old Man listened, smiled calmly, and stepped forward. “You’ve got it wrong—or perhaps this is exactly what you’ve been going through yourself. Your xuanguan (mysterious pass, the critical gate in the qi channels) actually opened the night before. Those records about the ‘lower region’ are precisely the clear signs that should appear after you pass that gate. As for whether the shengtai (sacred embryo of internal alchemy) has formed, you must ask yourself plainly: Are all your qi channels unobstructed? Is there that blended, transforming qi (vital energy) like mist mingling together? Can you reach the state where self and things are both forgotten? These are the most essential points of practice; only diligent cultivation will bring them.”

Answer: “I’ve had all of that at times—just not steadily.” (Having it more often would be better.)

Question: “Have you reached a state where the ten thousand sounds fall silent and only a single spark of spirit-awareness shines alone?”

Answer: “I’ve tasted that too, but couldn’t stay there long—that’s my regret.” (If you could abide there, you wouldn’t be far from forming the embryo.)

Question: “What signs do you notice in your kun fu (the lower abdomen and womb region emphasized in women’s practice)?”

Answer: “Whenever I sit in stillness, I often feel true zhenqi (pre-heaven vital breath) like fine threads moving down from the heart region. Before long it’s as if something inside opens wide—large without outer limit, small without inner limit—with every kind of true qi blending and pouring inward. That place feels bottomless, only warmly gentle. Sometimes it seems like fire, sometimes like no fire at all, yet a kind of warm qi rises slowly and lightly from below, spreading upward all around. I feel it go straight up the back, warm and dense, reaching the spine and the crown. Below feels heated; above, up to below the throat—at the jiangque (crimson palace at the heart diaphragm) it suddenly turns into cool liquid dripping down. Past xinkan (the region below the heart) it suddenly feels like hot broth rushing downward; the whole belly is afire and the whole body feels thoroughly open.”

Lazy Old Man said: “If it’s really like this, you’re not far from forming the embryo.”

Lazy Old Man also said: To practice “great laziness” (in cultivation: releasing stray thoughts and not grasping or forcing) one must understand that immortal embryo formation (tianxian jie tai) is not what ordinary hearsay makes it out to be. Read Xianxiu Bianhuo Lun (Discourse Clarifying Doubts about Immortal Cultivation) carefully, and make clear how to refine, how to form the embryo, how to gather and apply, how to hold the fire phases (huohou), how to guard and protect, how to warm and nourish, how to “bathe,” how to operate, how to subdue, how to move the spirit and shift the cauldron (yishen huanding), and how to emerge from the shell and bring the work to completion (tuotai liaodang)—nearly all of this is covered in that one text.

What matters most is “thought within no-thought” (nian zhong wu nian): the mind may still have thoughts, yet is not dragged along by them—like a brooding hen, single-minded and not restless. Take sitting upright in settled meditation as gathering; not deliberately cutting or interrupting the breath as guarding; ordinary walking, standing, sitting, and lying in daily life as the fire phases.

He also said: If you cultivate diligently but never meet a clear teacher, in the end you may still encounter a true person; if you meet a clear teacher but do not cultivate diligently, you will finally sink to being a low ghost. Use these four lines often to examine yourself.

Question: Besides Xianxiu Bianhuo Lun, what other books should one read?

Answer: Such as Helin Wendao Pian, Xuanguan Xianmi Lun, and Xingming Shuo; further out, Jinhua Zongzhi, Xianfo Hezong, Tianxian Zhengli, and Ranxi Pian; looking upward, Cantong Qi and Wuzhen Pian; more broadly, Patriarch Bai’s commentaries on the Daode Jing, Diamond Sutra, Surangama Sutra, Complete Enlightenment Sutra, and the like. Patriarch Bai said: “One phrase, half a sentence, and you penetrate the subtle; what need for millions of pages of elixir books? If one is not enslaved by the body, the Great Void Heaven (daluo tian) is right before one’s eyes.”

Note: This section may be read together with the Suoyan Xu (Miscellaneous Sayings, Continued). The “Lazy Old Man” named in the book is Min Yide himself.

Huixin Ji: Methods of Female Inner Alchemy (Nüdan Fa)

Author: Liu Yiming

(Source: Cangdao Waishu, eight fascicles)

Source Note

This text comes from the Huixin Ji (Collection of Mutual Understanding) in the eight-volume Cangdao Waishu (Outer Writings on the Hidden Dao); it has not yet been formally proofread.

Immortal Master Liu Yiming

The immortal master’s surname was Liu, his given name Yiming, and his style name Wuyuanzi; he was also known as Supu Sanren and Pihe Sanren. He was originally from Quwo County, Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi (roughly the area northeast of present-day Wenxi County, Shanxi). From childhood he cared about nourishing life and cultivation, but for a long time he could not obtain true transmission. His family once possessed great wealth; later he left home to study the Dao, traveling through Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, and other regions for many years to visit renowned teachers. He then met Elder Kangu, who enabled him to distinguish the perverse from the correct; he also met the immortal elder Xianliu, after which his various doubts were entirely cleared, and he finally penetrated the subtleties of the elixir path. Thereafter he lived in reclusion on Qiyun Mountain and Xinglong Mountain in Yuzhong County, Lanzhou, Gansu, cultivating the Dao, establishing altars to transmit the teaching, and writing books to expound the doctrine. In his lifetime he wrote a great many Daoist works; in the early Republican era these were collected as the Twelve Kinds of Daoist Books.

Among the song-and-verse pieces in the Huixin Ji, the immortal master also composed one poem on the Female Elixir Method (Nüdan Fa).

Opening of Female Elchemy Method (Paraphrased Meaning)

Through thousands of scriptures and myriad scrolls, the principles of elixir methods have already been fully stated; the patriarchs, in compassion, opened the teaching to deliver sentient beings in the dusty world. Cultivation of the Great Dao does not distinguish male and female—the fundamental principles of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases are the same.

The difference lies solely in the true oral formula at the moment of practice: the methods applied by men and women are as far apart as heaven and earth. For men the principle is “refining Qi with the solar aspect” (leaning toward greater Yang and Qi); for women the entry is “refining form with the lunar aspect” (leaning toward Yin and form). Quan originally meant a bamboo fish-trap; here it stands for the initial practice gate and expedient path.

Women’s practice is often easier than men’s; in three or five years one can lay the foundation for immortality. If I do not reveal this crucial pass, where will people find the boat that carries them to the upper teaching?

At the outset one must first “cut the Red Dragon” (referring to the image of menstruation and related yin-blood phenomena in female alchemy); once it is cut, this obstacle is largely removed. Celestial Ren and earthly Gui meet (both belong to Water, symbolizing the woman’s yin essence and menstruation-related Qi); yin breath at the “sea bottom” turns upward and downward. The Three Corpses and Six Thieves would steal the supreme treasure; the seven emotions and five aggregates again pull one back toward the Dantian. One must raise the sharp edge of a Moye-like sword (Moye, an ancient sword name, here the sword of decisive wisdom), so that a lotus can be planted in muddy filth.

Brief gloss on terms (those already explained in parentheses above are omitted): Red Dragon / cutting the Red Dragon—common female-alchemy metaphor for menstruation; Celestial Ren and earthly Gui—Water imagery and yin essence; Three Corpses and Six Thieves—obstacles that disturb the mind and steal Qi; Moye—metaphor for the sword of wisdom.

Plain Language Interpretation

Seize the true One Qi from creation and gather spirit at the upper and lower “moons.”

One must wrest from heaven and earth’s creative process that mouthful of true Qi, gather scattered Shen (spirit), and circulate it between the upper and lower “moons” (a metaphor for lunar phases and the rise and fall of Yin-Yang within the body).

Let turbid blood return to the realm of nothingness; draw the breasts inward, reverse the chest-and-belly Qi, as if the trigrams were inverted.

Let turbid blood and turbid Qi dissolve into the domain of “non-being”; with the breasts drawn inward and the Qi in chest and belly reversed, it is as when the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) are “turned upside down” (in female alchemy reversal is essential, unlike the more forward course in male practice).

Though the female form differs from the male body, once the foundation in the Dantian is firm, it will not shift lightly.

Women differ in appearance from men, but once the Dantian (energy center) foundation is solid, it will not easily be shaken.

From here one enters the straight path of Yang; on chosen sacred ground one completes the great return.

From this point one can walk the Yang “highway of the straight gate” (the path of correct cultivation) and, on suitable spirit ground, finish the great return (returning the elixir, attainment).

Set cauldron and vessel in the Great Void; at the meeting of Qian and Kun refine true lead.

In the Great Void, establish cauldron and vessel (inner-scape implements for inner refinement); where Qian and Kun unite, refine true lead (the root substance in inner work—not external-alchemy lead).

Overturn the Bagua so there is no birth-and-death; seal the Three Treasures and cut off myriad threads.

Break through the cycle of birth and death symbolized by the Bagua; seal the Three Treasures (in different lineages: Jing, Qi, Shen, or eyes, ears, nose, etc.) and sever tangled ties with outer distractions.

The ten directions are like a grain of millet; the sands of the Ganges like the tip of a hair.

The worlds of the ten directions are as small as a grain of millet; the sands of the Ganges as fine as a hair’s tip—describing realization in which macro and micro are one and the mind’s scope is vast.

Less upon less, the Way daily diminishes; more upon more, merit links stage to stage.

Less upon less (as in the Daodejing)—on the side of the Dao, fixations daily fall away; in practice, more upon more, each level linked to the next.

Until nothing can be added or subtracted, guard being from non-being—the holy embryo is firm.

Until neither increase nor decrease applies, guarding “being” from “non-being,” the holy embryo (inner elixir maturity) becomes solid and ripe.

At mao and you, bathing is fitting; hexagrams Dun and Meng—follow nature.

At the mao and you hours, bathing (gentle nurturing, washing the heart—not ordinary washing) is appropriate; as Dun, Meng, and related hexagrams indicate, cultivate in accord with nature, without force.

The heart must be pure and the intent calm; water fears drying, fire fears being fanned.

The heart must be clear, the intent settled; water (Yin, essence) fears drying up, fire (Yang, spirit) fears blazing—guard against imbalance.

The slightest leak breeds change; the medicine in the cauldron flies off like smoke.

Any leakage (loss of essence, Qi, or spirit) lets the medicine (gathered Qi in inner work) scatter like rising smoke.

Carefully nurture for ten months; at a clap of thunder— heaven beyond heaven.

Like gestation, carefully nurture for about ten months; when the work is full, a thunderclap opens awareness from heaven beyond heaven (a higher realm).

Still protect it—do not let it wander far; the mature adept roams the shores of the four seas.

After attainment, still protect the work—do not indulge or let it drift; the fully ripened one may move freely in the world, as if traveling the four seas.

Only then is the work truly settled; the Queen Mother rides a colored phoenix to the Jasper Pool.

Only then is the practice truly complete, like the Queen Mother of the West riding a colored phoenix to the Jasper Pool—a figure for female alchemy fulfilled and standing in the true realm.

I now compose this female-alchemy method; heroines within the inner quarters should study it for themselves.

I now write this female alchemy method; heroes among women in the inner quarters should delve into it themselves.

Burning incense, tending fire, empty affairs; keeping vegetarian diet and chanting sutras—words on the lips.

Only burning incense and tending fire, keeping diet and reciting scriptures with the lips moving—much of it is empty attachment (hollow, without real substance).

If one says that after death one goes to the Buddha’s realm, it is like quenching thirst by thinking of plums—all vain hope.

If one only says that after death one reaches the Buddha’s land, it is gazing at plums to stop thirst—entirely hollow expectation.

If this body is not liberated in this life, it is hard to avoid being pulled into evil destinies in the next.

If this body is not freed in this very life, one can hardly escape being dragged into evil destinies (wretched rebirths) in the next.

Truly turn the head and hurry to verify the Way—true women in the Way can pass it down generation after generation.

If one truly turns back and urgently verifies the Way, true women of the Way can transmit it from generation to generation.

Those who still delude themselves and others may forever fall into hell in the yellow springs.

Those who remain in vain delusion may forever fall into hell in the yellow springs.

Qiaoyang Jing · Female Practice

Transmitted by Pure Yang Patriarch Lü; narrated by Jiyi Zi Fu Jinquan.

This was transmitted by Patriarch Lü of Pure Yang (Lü Dongbin) and set down by Jiyi Zi Fu Jinquan.

(The lines “If this body is not liberated in this life… forever fall into hell in the yellow springs” repeat in the original with the same meaning: stress that without practice in this life, the next life is unsafe; turn back and cultivate urgently and female alchemy masters can transmit the lineage; the deluded risk the lower realms.)

Plain-Language Explanation

Tai Yin Lian Xing (cultivation of the body rooted in the yin/female constitution) follows the same broad path as men’s practice, with only minor differences in detail.

Starting the work: First close the eyes, hold the spirit in place, and fully relax and rest until the mind is quiet and the breath even. Then gather awareness in the Qi acupoint (between the breasts, above the heart pit). Cross the hands to support the breasts and gently massage them twenty times; then draw a slight breath from the lower Dantian thirty-six times, still supporting the breasts with the hands, using luminous intent to turn light inward and regulate the breath. Over time, true Qi moves back and forth naturally, opening and closing; within, Yin E (the inner “city wall” of the inner landscape, where essence and Qi gather) takes shape. When spirit and Qi are full, true Yang flourishes on its own, menstrual flow ceases, and the breasts gradually resemble a man’s—this is Zhan Chi Long (slaying the Red Dragon: stopping the menses).

After that, there is no need to hold the breasts and draw breath; only fix awareness on the Qi acupoint and return the light inward—that is the Gate of the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin) (what Laozi calls the “gate of all wonders”; here, the pass where inner work enters and exits and where spirit and Qi unite). True breath grows long; emptiness reaches its depth and stillness is firm. Yang Qi steams and warms; the River Chariot (He Che) (Qi moving along the Ren–Du or the microcosmic orbit) turns, like purple clouds veiling a jade hall and blood and meridians threading Niwan (the upper Dantian within the crown). One feels a point of spirit-light, neither inside nor outside, rising from the lower field to the Crimson Palace (Jiang Gong) (the heart palace), to Niwan, down through the Multi-storied Tower (Chong Lou) (throat and chest) to the Golden Fetus Spirit Chamber (Jin Tai Shen Shi) (the fetal storehouse in the middle palace). Return the light and concentrate spirit; true breath rests in the cauldron of the middle palace—this is spirit entering the chamber; it is also Xuanpin, the Embryonic Immortal (Tai Xian), a single point settling in Huangting (the middle palace and middle Dantian region).

What follows is the “ten months” of work (like carrying a child for ten months): the Yang spirit appears and shatters empty space. The rest of the path to true realization is the same as for men, with no distinction between female and male.

The study of nature and life (xìngmìng zhī xué—the art of cultivating nature to nurture life and dual cultivation of nature and life) applies equally to men and women; there is no difference in principle. Everything turns on putting effort into four words: utmost sincerity and focused attentiveness. The Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean) says that only the utmost sincerity under heaven can transform and nurture the ten thousand things; the Shangshu, in the “Lord Chen” chapter, says that when the mind is focused to the utmost, one can receive heaven’s command. For those first entering the gate, the most important first step is still refining the self (liànjǐ—first refining mind-nature and subduing the restless heart). Know that refining the self is mutual reliance of heart and breath (xīnxī xiāngyī—heart and respiration cling to each other and advance or retreat together): the heart relies on the breath, and the breath on the heart.

Here the word harmony (hé) matters most. The Zhouyi Cantongqi (Token for the Agreement of the Three According to the Book of Changes) says that in harmony they follow each other, and that each attains its harmony. Harmony never leaves center (zhōng), and center never leaves harmony—are center and harmony one or two? When center and harmony unite, this is Huangpo (the “Yellow Woman”—the mediator that harmonizes yin-yang and links heart and breath). When Huangpo harmonizes, love, attachment, mutual taking-in and mutual release arise naturally—continuous, neither forgetting nor forcing. Laozi asks: “Can you concentrate the breath until you are soft, like an infant?” That is the height of true center and harmony. Bai Yuchan says: “When husband and wife meet again in old age, affection naturally lingers.” The classics also speak of twisting into one lump, blending in one place, beating into one piece, refining in one furnace; the Ox and the Maiden meeting, female and male following each other, the crow and the rabbit in one burrow, sun and moon in one palace, hun and po merging, metal and fire intermingling—pushed to their root, these images all mean that spirit does not leave qi and qi does not leave spirit—that is, heart does not leave breath and breath does not leave heart. Shen (spirit) is xing (nature, the original spirit); qi (vital energy) is mìng (life, the root of vitality). The classics say: the root of xing is in the heart, the stem of mìng is in the breath. Only when you know the two as one does the work of creation and transformation come about.

The Meaning of Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life

When nature (xing) and life (ming) are united as one, the Two Modes return to the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji). Dual cultivation of nature and life means teaching people to let heart-mind and breath hold each other and not separate for even a moment. Patriarch Bai said: refining the medicine with fire until it becomes the elixir is using spirit (shen) to govern qi (vital energy) until one attains the Way (Dao). In daily practice you must firmly let heart-mind embrace breath and breath embrace heart-mind. After a while, once things become even and natural and great stillness appears, you enter a dim, obscure state—vague and indistinct—without heaven or earth, forgetting things and forgetting form.

The Concord Scripture says: “The length continues the father’s body; through the mother the foundation is laid.” It also says: “Know the white, guard the black, and numinous clarity comes of itself.” That is exactly this moment. You may feel body and mind grow soft and supple, unusually refreshed and at ease. As Zhang Sanfeng put it, it is like a mute tasting honey—nothing can be said. Master Shao Yong wrote: From within vagueness yin and yang first change; heaven and earth in their intertwining suddenly turn; amid it appear those fine vistas—how could there be time to put them into words? The Scripture again says: “Gold sand enters the five viscera; mist scatters like wind and rain; steaming warmth reaches the four limbs; the complexion grows lustrous and fair.” At this time it is precisely when pre-heaven primordial qi comes from within emptiness.

Master Shao also said: “At the half of the zi hour at winter solstice, the heart of heaven does not shift; where the one yang first stirs, the myriad things are not yet born.” Alchemical texts call this the living zi hour; Purple Yang (Ziyang) calls it the urgent gathering when gui is born. Master Shangyang said: “What is gathering? Gathering by non-gathering. What is non-gathering gathering? Splitting open Hongmeng (Primordial Chaos).” What is splitting open Hongmeng? At the instant when one yang first stirs and the myriad things are not yet born, to gather by not gathering, to open the gate as chaos first divides—drawing pre-heaven primordial qi back into the body—that is the moment for urgent gathering.

Xuji jingdu—emptiness to the utmost, stillness to the point of sincerity—is returning to Kun (the receptive, carrying quality symbolized by the Kun hexagram). Kun lies in the southwest: the land where the elixir arises, the realm of hundun (primordial chaos), and the gateway of the xuanpin (the pre-heaven womb of generation in Daoist teaching). Miaoyuanzi said: “To find the true seed of the pre-heaven, you must seek chaos and establish the root.” Zhang Ziyang said: “For the valley spirit to endure without dying, you must rely on the xuanpin to set the foundation.” Once the foundation is set and the valley spirit does not die, how could a person die? Up to here—refining the self, laying the foundation, and gathering the pre-heaven great medicine—the principles are the same for men and women, hence: “The great Dao does not divide male and female; yin-yang and the five phases are one and the same.” Only below does the text speak of differences in where later-heaven practice begins.

Liu Wuyuan’s Nüdan Jue (Female Elixir Instructions) says: “Only the true oral formulas for starting differ; in application they are separated by a heaven-wide gulf—taiyang refining qi is the logic for men; taiyin refining form is the method for women.” Men belong to yang and their number is odd; the Yijing says “Heaven generates water at one”—what men receive—so they work at the Kan palace, one cun three fen below the navel. Women belong to yin and their number is even—“Earth generates fire at two”—what women receive—so they begin at Li, between the two breasts. This is a fixed, unchanging principle. What medical books call the breast stream and elixir classics call the breast gate refer to this aperture. Long ago, when Patriarch Lü (Lu Dongbin) guided Immortal Aunt Zhang, he composed a song: “After zi and before wu, sit in fixed breath; pass the Jiaji barrier and Kunlun; when qi arrives, think of me.”

This passage quotes another rhymed formula: “Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui—four trigrams—must be clearly distinguished in their roles at positions such as Zi and Wu; first you must recognize your own root: the congenital ancestral Qi (xiantian zuqi). Like earth-thunder shaking and rain on the mountain peak, wait until the yellow sprout is washed clean and emerges from the soil; seize the golden essence and seal it firmly; only then can refining Geng and Jia give birth to the dragon and tiger. If someone asks whom you learned from, say only that it was transmitted by Master Lü.” (Master Lü refers to Lü Dongbin.) The gist is: you must bring “refining the self” (lian ji)—refining heart-nature and the person—to full maturity before the mind has a true master; you must also daily borrow the yang qi of heaven and earth, constantly warming and nurturing as if by steaming and bathing, before results appear. Quickly, one or two months; slowly, three or four months—depending on the depth of effort.

Sometimes while practicing, you may feel qi in the aperture split into two streams rushing up both sides to the breasts, running all the way until the nipples grow hard—what alchemical classics call “medicine arising” and the “Living Zi Hour” (huo zi shi). Shao Yong’s poem says: “Suddenly at midnight a clap of thunder; ten thousand doors, a thousand gates, open in turn. If you know that within nothing there is form, I allow you to meet Fuxi face to face.” When skill reaches this stage, the hundred vessels harmonize, the passes and orifices open together, and there is truly the feeling that “the whole breast is spring.” So-called “after Zi, before Wu” is that interval where “between Hai and Zi is most true”; dingxi means regulating and evening out the breath.

“Sitting—two people divide left and right” compares the left and right currents of qi to left and right armies; “one earth stands in the center” means both return to the true earth of the central palace; when true earth returns to the center, one qi circulates. Hence the immediate “Jiaji Pass, passing Kunlun” is exactly when the Yellow River meridian turns and opens. Then “having obtained qi, think of me”—“me” stands for pure yang qi, and also for oneself as the Taiyi Golden Immortal already cultivated (Taiyi containing true qi). Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui first fix the four cardinal positions, then subdivide into the four seasonal positions of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You. “Recognize your own lineage ancestor” means tracing back to the very first breath received at birth, recognizing that one point of congenital ancestral qi. “Earth-thunder shakes, rain on the mountain peak” is like white clouds at dawn over the heavenly gate, sweet dew filling empty space.

Plain-language explanation

What does “wait until the yellow sprout breaks soil, then wash it again” mean? Wait means waiting for the right moment; wash and cleanse refers to bathing, purifying the mind, refining oneself, and practices such as steaming and fumigation.

Yellow is the color of Earth; sprout is the impulse of new growth. Breaking soil is a metaphor for the three months of spring, when everything sprouts and mountains and rivers are made new. At this time yang qi connects with Heaven; its force is like fierce fire or scorching wind—you must gather it quickly and send it into the central palace (the dantian). Hence the scripture says: “Seize the golden essence, shut it firmly closed.” Zhang Sanfeng also said: “Seize the golden essence and lead it carefully; send it into the dantian to refine geng and jia.”

To give birth to dragon and tiger means geng gives rise to jia and jia gives rise to geng—the Dao’s mechanism first stirs. If someone asks “Who transmitted this?” answer only: “The master’s surname is Lü.” Lü is Patriarch Lü (Lü Dongbin), standing for mouth to mouth, aperture to aperture—heart-to-heart transmission, mouth-to-mouth passing of the golden elixir essentials. The whole point is simply to teach one to draw the fire, drive the golden dragon through the microcosmic circuit, and let the two mysterious qi of dragon and tiger rise and fall in mutual exchange.

Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng said: “Wait until that single point naturally submits; within the body it turns into spring through the four seasons—a stretch of white cloud, a whiff of fragrance; one shower passes and all is new again. All day long, dazed as a drunkard, idly guarding the spring within the cave. When every trace of yin essence in the body is stripped away, it becomes one block of pure yang gold.” From here onward, the later stages of practice are the same as in men’s cultivation.

Among the instructions for women’s elixir, this passage alone is the most direct shortcut. In a single day Patriarch Lü poured out the great treasure—yet the world could not recognize it. This explanation makes it clear: one inch and three tenths below the navel and the acupoint between the two breasts are both literal pointers; do not mechanically fix on visible parts of the body.

The scripture says: To cling to this physical body as if it were the Dao is wrong; to cast the body aside and neglect it is also one-sided. It also says: Inside and out, the body in the context of cultivation mostly belongs to the “Yin” side. And: What you see before you and feel in the body is often plain truth, yet people fail to recognize what is real. The stages of practice and the timing and intensity (when to push, when to ease) are extremely fine; only through oral transmission from an authentic master, grasping it with the heart, is there a place to begin. Shangyangzi (a master of inner alchemy) said: How can a secret formula be understood just by writing it on paper?—do not force guesses or fumble in the dark and ruin your own path.

If you work at this steadily over time, Yang Qi will naturally stir; the whole body grows strong and vital, surpassing the usual pleasures of hoarding gold, jade, and wealth or the joys of spouse and children. Even when this is only faint Yang stirring, you must still gather it back into the furnace (hold the intention at the Dantian, neither leaking nor wasting it). Do not leave the mat to chat about household matters or handle outside affairs; day by day, accumulation brings great effect.

Illustrated Explanations on Female Practice: Refining the Self and Returning the Elixir

As related by Ermishanren (Master of the Second Emei)

The holy master said: In women’s cultivation, the supreme (Taiji) point is to gather back into the furnace—not to leave the mat for household talk or outside business; over days and months, the results are great.

The Holy Master said: In women’s cultivation, one must first refine the physical form on the “yin” side. At the very start of practice, settle the mind in the region of the breasts; whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, maintain this. After practicing thus for forty-nine days, while walking or standing continue to silently circulate through the “Heavenly Court” (raising the intention to the crown of the head); when sitting or lying down, guard the “Central Pole” (Zhongji) and the “Sea of Blood” (Xuehai)—Zhongji lies below the heart aperture and Xuehai above it, with a void between them as if a cavity hung in mid-air; be as single-minded as a hen brooding an egg, without a single stray thought, letting all idle thoughts go.

If one stops at this step alone, before true yin stirs and the meridians open, one will often feel especially sleepy; at such times one should apply the method of “pointing the brain downward.” “Pointing the brain downward” means “turning the light inward and reflecting it back”: gaze at the tip of the nose, establish the “Magpie Bridge” (tongue touching the upper palate), lead the intention through Xuanying and Chonglou, return to Zhongji, then enter Xuehai, joining water with fire; if drowsiness comes in a moment, this method will rouse you—that is the way to regulate the medicine and refine the heart. If wandering thoughts arise, still guard only Zhongji.

If a young woman practices for about a hundred days without being disturbed by outer conditions, the Sea of Blood will of itself rise in tidal signs and true yin will stir on its own—“stirring” here does not mean the body moving restlessly, but the blood-qi like a tide, with an almost unbearable ease and joy, indescribable; this happens naturally in a state without deliberate thought. At this moment one must on no account stir up intention; a single thought scatters the qi—only steady the original spirit and “gather” according to the method. This is the arising of the “lesser medicine”; one must perform the gathering method two or three times (until the “moment ceases”—that impulse naturally subsides), then again guard Zhongji.

The gathering method: gaze at the nose, cross the Magpie Bridge, descend through Xuanying to Chonglou, enter the breasts, circulate through Zhongji, return to Xuehai, pass the “water divider,” pierce Jade Pillow, ascend to Baihui, descend to Mud Pill, enter Bright Hall, then drop again to Zhongji and return to Xuehai; keep the true intention guarding Zhongji and Xuehai, enter stillness and fixed absorption.

Whenever the true yin within the body stirs, perform the “gathering” method again: when the qi mechanism stills, keep the mind on Zhongji, Xuehai, and Baihui; guide the qi through the lower mud pill, into the Bright Hall (Mingtang), then down again to Zhongji and back to Xuehai. Steady true intent (zhenyi) at Zhongji and Xuehai, and enter stillness and fixed absorption. When yin stirs again, gather again; when the mechanism rests again, still guard Zhongji and Xuehai.

While practicing, avoid violent anger, wind-cold and damp-heat, raw and cold fruit, and strongly heating fried foods. At this stage you must be especially careful: if wind-cold enters through the orifices, medicine often cannot cure it. In short, let go of all worldly ties and keep the mind free of a single speck of dust.

If you follow the method faithfully, the true yin qi can move two or three times in one day. (This “movement” must be distinguished as genuine or false: there is movement from the qi mechanism itself, and movement from thoughts and desires. Only when it arises spontaneously with no thought, no worry, and no desire does it count as true yin stirring.)

After one hundred and seven days, menstrual blood is fully transformed into Qi (vital energy), the “Red Dragon” (the flow of monthly blood and yin blood) cuts off by itself, the body turns into the pure yang Qian (Heaven) body, the foundation is complete—what difficulty remains in returning the elixir (huandan)?

(Note: Many nüdan (female elixir) texts say that when a woman practices, she must stop whenever her monthly period comes. That view is wrong…)

(…all because the principle was not clearly distinguished, and people were misled.)

When the Red Dragon is cut off and the body becomes the Qian form, the foundation is established—what difficulty is there in huandan? (Note: Many nüdan texts say women must stop practice when the period arrives; that is mistaken, entirely from failing to separate the principles clearly and thus misleading people.)

What female practice values most is the qi mechanism (qiji); within it there is a distinction between Renshui and Guishui.

When Renshui first arrives and Guishui has not yet come, that is “xin dao” (the signal has arrived). The practitioner knows it herself—perhaps dizziness or lower-back ache. The signal has come but the tide of blood has not; this is exactly the time for returning the light inward (huiguang fanzhao), silently guarding the breasts and Xuehai, and using the gathering method to nourish the brain and lay the foundation—what you gather then is Renshui, not Guishui.

Once Guishui (menstrual blood) has arrived, you should stop practice. You must wait thirty double-hours (about two and a half days) until the Guishui is exhausted, then resume gathering.

On which day gathering should cease holds a great secret formula (tianji koujue); you must receive it mouth-to-ear and heart-to-heart from a true master—do not guess. With authentic transmission, a young woman can complete the foundation in one hundred days.)

When cultivation reaches this stage, trials naturally arise: menses cease on their own, the nipples shrink, the body’s form shifts toward a masculine pattern, and the true yin qi within transforms into true yang. From this point one must receive oral, heart-to-heart instruction from a qualified master—one must not guess on one’s own. With genuine transmission, a young practitioner can often complete foundation building (zhuji) within roughly a hundred days.

At this stage there are signs to verify. The “red dragon” (menstrual flow) stops by itself; the nipples shrink until the chest resembles a man’s; true yin becomes true yang. Here a cultivation partner (daolü) must guard and support in shared intent, waiting until the true signs appear to gather the minor medicine and pass the gate (passing that gate also has its corresponding visions). If foundation building truly succeeds and the medicine appears, a fire pearl races within the dantian (energy center), the xuehai (the lower dantian region tied to reproduction and menstrual blood) feels like boiling broth, the nose twitches and the body trembles—do not panic. There are secret formulas for this as well; only when the master transmits them can danger be avoided. Otherwise true fire may turn into ordinary fire: one must guard against burning the body, and against madness.

If a true master teaches, once the medicine enters the cauldron one must know the method of refining it (the concrete method awaits oral transmission). Without knowing refinement, one cannot form the elixir (dan); one may gain the medicine and lose it again. Because it is called minor medicine, one uses small circulation firing (xiaozhou tianhuo—small-orbit timing also has its formulas): advancing yang fire and retreating the yin talisman in smelting (the signs and counts of talisman fire each have their rules). After refining for about a month, when the small-orbit cycles are complete, the authenticity of the medicine and whether the elixir has truly formed will be tested. If the minor elixir has indeed formed, whenever you sit in stillness in the chamber, heat spreads through the body like steam from a steamer—you should only silently guard the central palace (zhonggong, the body’s middle center), keep the mouth closed and speak no words, and let the changes run their course. In an instant you may see a bean-sized fire pearl shoot out from the mingtang (the corresponding region at the forehead or above the dantian), rising about ten feet like lightning—this is the genuine realm of foundation building and obtaining the medicine.

Plain-Language Commentary

At this stage, although one already has the secret methods for refining the medicine, the crux still lies in this: let no single thought arise, and regard the five aggregates as empty—no matter how heaven and earth may turn upside down outside, once you see a “fire pearl” about the size of a bean shoot out from the Mingtang (the important aperture at the brow or in the region of the upper Dantian), rising to about one zhang in height like a flash of lightning, that is the genuine state of successful foundation-laying and of the medicine having arrived.

Even then, though the secret methods for refining the medicine are at hand, you must still let no thought arise and keep the five aggregates empty. Let heaven and earth overturn and thunder and lightning crash—only settle the Original Spirit (Yuanshen) firmly in the Central Palace at the center of the Dantian, without fear, like a hen brooding an egg or like a divine dragon guarding its pearl. When it is time to advance the fire, advance the fire; when it is time to withdraw the talisman (fu), withdraw the talisman—advancing fire and withdrawing the talisman each follow their own timing and oral formulas and must not be applied at random. You must refine until there is great stillness and great fixation, until Qi is full and Shen is complete, until the fire pearl no longer appears and the minor elixir has condensed—only then is this phase complete. The above are the oral instructions for the three stages of laying the foundation, obtaining the medicine, and forming the elixir. There are four further layers beyond this; the celestial mechanism cannot be revealed all at once, and immortals have always transmitted the teaching step by step. If you can truly cultivate to this point, the fruit of the Human Immortal is already within reach; afterward, practice differs little from that of men. But because women belong to the still (yin) constitution, although the last four layers follow the same application as the male elixir, achievement is often faster.

The True Master’s General Comment: For widows, chaste women, and women of fierce integrity, only if they can establish true resolve and hold to it from beginning to end—meeting demons without retreating, unchanged until death, unmoved by poverty or wealth, steadfast without wavering—may the three wonderful methods above be transmitted. Progress step by step, and in secret the immortals themselves will protect you; inner and outer demons will not dare to harm you, and in the end you can attain the great completion. As for women who still have husbands, their worldly affairs are not yet settled; do not transmit the teaching rashly—only advise them to nurture their nature, reduce desires, honor their mothers-in-law, and respect their husbands, and transmit when the time is ripe. If you transmit lightly, there must be solid grounds for it; do not speak empty fantasies or vague talk—this is truly celestial mechanism and must not be lightly disclosed. Those who receive the transmission are all bound by prior affinity; handle it with care and treasure it.

Plain-Language Explanation

The noon hour (Wu shi) is where Yin qi takes root; the midnight hour (Zi shi) is where Yang qi first sprouts. Outwardly men belong to Yang and inwardly to Yin; outwardly women belong to Yin and inwardly to Yang. In men’s practice, one borrows outer Yang qi to refine the elixir within; in women’s practice, one borrows inner Yin qi to refine the elixir outside the body (in nüdan, blood and Shen are essential). For women, the first priority is to understand how to gather Yin from within the body to replenish Yang within the body. Here “Yang” means Jing and Qi; “Yin” means Shen and blood.

When should one gather Yin? One must seize the time before the monthly signal (menstruation) is about to arrive, and after the flow has fully cleared. What is meant by “xin” (the signal)? It is like someone not yet home while word of their arrival comes first—it refers to the premonitory signs that the tide is coming but blood has not yet appeared. When the signal has arrived but the tide has not, one should practice diligently: either full lotus sitting, or Guanyin half-lotus (one leg folded, the other hanging down). When Shen and Qi within stir, turn the light inward and hold awareness at the breast points and the Sea of Blood (below the navel); regulate breath through the nose, and with true intent (Huangpo—the intent that harmonizes Yin and Yang) guide the stirred Shen and Qi from the Sea of Blood along the Ren vessel up to the fontanelle at the crown, then descend through the breasts and return to the central pole (the navel center). This method must not be applied carelessly: it is only for when the signal has come but the tide has not, or about two and a half days after the tide when it has fully stopped. If one rashly performs gathering while blood is not clean, the body will be harmed and life may be lost—this must be kept firmly in mind.

Young women with vigorous blood and a quiet mind who persist in this method for about three months may “cut the Red Dragon” (menstrual flow ceases, the red dragon is severed), recovering a childlike body with a peach-bloom complexion. When gong reaches this stage, one may feel drowsy and dull outwardly, while inwardly a bright light never disperses day or night; continuing for another year, the foundation can be firm, and the verification of the first rank of human immortality is at hand.

For women in midlife who undertake cultivation, the method to adopt is Taiyin Lianxing (the practice of refining the physical body with yin-natured vital energy). Those who follow this method must first clear stray thoughts, release desire, and cut off emotional entanglements and worry; only then may they begin the practice.

One must calculate in advance on which day and at which hour yuexin (menstruation) will arrive. Two or three days before it comes, one should rest quietly and regulate the breath. When menstruation begins, sit upright in a still room regulating the breath, place both hands on the knees before one, press the index fingers on the zi and wu positions and form fists, close the eyes and hold the spirit inward, regulate the breath and look within, and intend the flow from the breasts to the xuehai (in Kun-dao practice, regarded as where true yin and original essence gather). When true yin qi stirs, one may begin the refining.

In this phase of work, one must distinguish true from false and clear from turbid. If one mistakenly treats false yin or turbid qi as genuine and refines it, illness will arise and medicine will hardly help. If true yin truly stirs, the whole body feels soft and limp, like a drunk; then in the xuehai it is as if swimming fish draw water—a joy beyond words. That is the authentic sign of true yin appearing.

When this scene arrives, use zhenyi (single-minded, pure intention free of scattered thought) to lead the qi past jiaji, up to yuzhen, through niban, over queqiao, down zhonglou, into the breasts, and again return to zhongji xuehai.

If the body is weak and the qi depleted, and true yin still does not stir after two or three months, auxiliary methods may be used: first rotate the right breast twelve times, then the left twelve times, rub the navel and abdomen thirty-six times, and swallow saliva three times in the mouth; when finished, still as before return the light and look inward, guarding with xuji jingdu (extreme emptiness and profound stillness, holding to oneness). Thus at the zi and wu hours each day without lapse, within a month there will naturally be a moment of stirring, and one may gather and refine. When true yin is fully transformed into yang qi, the nipples retract inward and the Chilong (menstrual blood and yin blood) is permanently cut off, and the bodily form shifts toward the male pattern—then the work of Taiyin Lianxing is complete.

The verse says: “The face like peach blossom, the skin like snow—at this point the Chilong is forever severed. The pure, still dharma-body is originally without dust; when merit is full, one ascends in flight to the jade gate.”

With the foundations of the elixir path firmly laid, one may look forward to the stage of “returning the elixir” (huan dan). Once the “Red Dragon” is cut off—the woman’s menses cease and yin blood no longer flows outward—all of that yin blood is fully transformed and refined. Yang Qi cannot linger long in the Dantian and the Sea of Blood; it must surge through each gate and pass before the immortal body can be completed. At this point the body burns like fire and Qi rises like pearls; only then does one apply the method of returning the elixir, which differs little from men’s practice.

After the elixir is returned to the Dantian and the Ancestral Aperture (zuxue), one proceeds with the work of refining the medicine through the heavenly circuit (zhoutian). The Mysterious Pass (xuanguan) is the place to which myriad spirits and myriad streams of Qi return; within it innate ancestral Qi meets and condenses. One should breathe long and soft, guarding it with single-minded intent so it does not scatter; the two Qi will unite on their own, the eight extraordinary vessels will open by themselves, and the immortal embryo (xiantai) will form of itself. Continuing upward, after three years of refining the self (lianji), the great return (da huan) is achieved and the sacred embryo (shengtai) is complete. Once the immortal embryo is formed and the ten-month fire-tempering is sufficient, the “infant” appears of its own accord. One may hear the sounds of strings and pipes, or see white light in a dark room; future events and others’ thoughts no longer feel blocked or distant.