《女子丹经汇编》Vol. 8

Upon seeing a scene, one knows. When cultivation reaches this level, one naturally perceives the outer world and others’ minds as if nothing stood in the way. One may then begin to refine the “body outside the body” (the second, spiritual body formed when inner alchemy succeeds, able to leave the physical form). However many strange visions or realms appear, do not cling and do not fear; only hold the center (fix attention on the true middle of the dantian, neither leaning nor straying), like Bodhidharma facing the wall in silence for nine years. When yin is spent and yang is pure, form and spirit merge in wonder and become one with the Dao, one may be summoned to ascend and forever serve as a companion of the Queen Mother, free of the wheel of rebirth in the dusty world. A few years of hardship can buy ease lasting countless ages. If women in the world understood this, why hesitate to cultivate?

Patriarch Lü (Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals and a major transmitter of inner alchemy) said:

It is laughable: people who call themselves students of the Dao talk of heaven’s way and practice every day, yet do not grasp the secret pivot of heaven’s mechanism (the core oral formulas of neidan), and cannot tell the “medicines” of the three houses (Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist—or essence, qi, and spirit).

Without refining true transformation in the furnace, one is doomed to sink in the sea of suffering. I now pass on to you the principle shared by the three teachings and one essential thread of practice:

First understand astronomy and geography; the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity must be clear.

Men in practice must subdue the White Tiger (restrain primordial yang and keep essence from leaking outward); women in practice must slay the Red Dragon (stop the monthly flow and refine the “red dragon”—menstruation—in the distinctive language of female alchemy).

Heaven and earth turn by fixed degrees; sun and moon cycle like cosmic transformation. “Five thousand forty-eight return to the yellow track” (a neidan phrase for fire timing and the degrees of the celestial circuit); metal, wood, water, and fire meet and turn in turn.

Women belong by nature to the great yin body; one must know that within great yin there is its own subtle transformation. Thirteen degrees of daily rotation to the right (in the movement of qi or in focused attention), two and a half days to pass one “palace” (one of the twelve palaces), and in one month the full circuit is done—then a woman’s qi mechanism resembles a man’s in kind.

To know the true formulas of the golden elixir, human and cosmic creation are one in root. Grasp the subtle pivot within, and study closely the dark moon, new moon, first and last quarter, and full moon (phases of the month as images of cycles of fire timing).

If One Discerns the Subtlety of Tianji…

If someone can grasp the subtlety of “Tianji” (Heaven’s mechanism)—the hidden mastery of firing times and the mysterious pass (xuanguan) in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice—there is no need to worry that the female alchemy (nüdan) path will be shallow or incomplete. What follows is a true “golden secret” (a transmitted teaching cast in alchemical metaphors), to be pondered in depth with an immortal who has attained the Dao.

The “Seven-Star Precious Sword” hangs in the southwest direction (a image for qi in a certain locus within the body, or a ritual icon); beneath the “Twin Forest Tree” the dharma wheel turns (in alchemical scriptures the Twin Forests often stand for the two kidneys or the circulation of qi around specific passes). Pearls appear one by one on the tray; a white ox pierces through Kunlun (white ox and Kunlun are inner-scape symbols: essence and qi rising and breaking through barriers).

At the top of a hundred-foot pole one must decisively let go (at the critical moment, clinging to names and forms must cease); riding the ox, chasing the moon, keeping company with the “old monk” (in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, staying with awakened nature and the state of concentration). Again the “golden bell” is struck, and one enters the Temple Without Shadow (“without shadow” and “without form” suggest empty concentration or a subtle, vacant awareness); in the sixth month a drop of water turns to ice (extreme yang within extreme yin, or the change that comes when mind is stilled to the utmost).

The stringless qin plays a threefold melody; the holeless flute sounds the eight tones (without external instruments, sound arises from within—qi and spirit moving of themselves, subtle awakening manifesting on its own). “Wood Mother” walks beside the wooden horse, and “Metal Lord” again follows the golden crow (Wood Mother and Metal Lord are Neidan names for yin-yang and Kan-Li, often body and mind or lead and mercury in cooperation; the golden crow stands for the sun and yang qi). The two churn sea and river; they are about to climb to Gaofeng Pavilion (yin and yang meet, water and fire achieve balance (jiji), and a higher realm is near).

A drop of true sweet dew is sprinkled, and suddenly the seven apertures blaze with light (essence and qi full, spirit-light outwardly visible). From here each step grows tighter; do not let the mind scatter, do not delay or drift. When that “single point” returns to the pot (“pot” stands for dantian or the mysterious pass), “two and five” congeal, and true round brilliance is first attained (“two and five” usually means the two qi of yin and yang harmonizing with the Five Phases (wuxing); congealing is the first sign of the golden elixir forming).

If you ask who composed this song: it passed mouth to mouth between two, to deliver female adepts (nüzhen, practitioners of female alchemy). The subtle principle is told as fully as may be; do not betray today’s earnest admonition.

Ten Principles of the Female Path of Correction Transmitted by Xiwangmu / Preface to the Female Path of Correction

(Title) The path of female alchemy correction transmitted by Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West)—ten essential principles.

(Preface heading) The path of female alchemy correction—preface.

(Preface note) Chunyangzi (a title in the Lü Dongbin line of Neidan, who vowed to deliver all beings) once made that vow; there is already the Jiuming (a work or title in the female alchemy or universal salvation line).

Pure Yang Master (Chunyangzi) Lü Dongbin vowed to deliver all beings. He already had his Commentary on the Nine Sovereigns Elixir Scripture, which served as a ladder for men entering the path of cultivation. He could not bear to see women who were born with the right endowment and had long wished to cultivate the Dao yet received no authentic transmission, went astray on crooked paths, and in the end fell into the ghostly realm.

So in the first day of the early winter of the jìwèi year (1619), at Huancai Tower, he received the true method that the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) had orally transmitted to Lady Wei (Wei Yuanjun)—the original title was Great Golden Elixir Formula for Women—and elucidated it further. He also arranged it into nine items on the “correct path of female cultivation,” still placing the three characters “Queen Mother of the West” at the head of the book title; and he requested promulgation of the “Nine Precepts for Female Adepts (Nüzhen Jiujie)” to rectify conduct in the Way. Together these made ten items in all, each granted for transmission through compassionate approval. He especially valued those who could embody the precepts in their own lives. The immortal exhorted the assembly: the efficacy of the Dao is boundless, yet the root of cultivation still begins with these ten. The above is the preface.

The Female True One Sun Zhenyi’s Own Account: Are there not already scriptures on female cultivation in the world? Yet most are mixed with false doctrines, leading reckless people to force strained interpretations that deceive themselves and mislead others. Some even use such texts to lure people into corruption, and the harm spreads. The Dao Ancestor deeply lamented this, sighing only that they had fallen into the ghostly path. Zhenyi has long felt this pain! Fortunately entrusted by the Dao Ancestor to edit and revise, I removed heterodox teachings and followed throughout the original text of the Western Queen Mother’s Female Golden Elixir Formula, adding the Great Dao’s Mysterious Reflection as orally transmitted by the Jade Purity Divine Mother, compiled into nine sections, submitted for examination and correction. The Dao cannot remain hidden forever; I humbly received instructions for revision, and the title was given as The Western Queen Mother’s Corrected Path, with the Female True Nine Precepts appended, making ten sections in all. I also asked that the hidden mysteries be clarified, so that women cultivating the Dao would know: though the earthly way has no “accomplishment,” it has fulfillment in each generation; there has always been a great Dao of assisting in nurturing and transforming, which one may fully embody. Unified in receiving compassionate approval, conveniently granted for transmission. From this, the women’s lineage will not only avoid wrong paths but also ascend directly to the heavenly gate. When the Dao’s fortune is to be revived, I respectfully set down joy and gratitude, writing this preface at the Huancai Tower in Wulin to record this good fortune. Sun Zhenyi of the Complete Perfection Orthodox Dao, one hundred bows, respectfully prefaces.

Re-titled by Patriarch Lü in rectification

Compiled and supplemented by Sun the Female True One following excision

Orally transmitted by Grand Void Elder Shen the Great Master

Annotated by disciple Min Yide

First Section: The Nine Precepts

(Xiwangmu) said: According to the method of cultivation for women, one should uphold the Nine Precepts. The precepts state that if one can hold them without backsliding, the benefit is great: when precept-practice is complete, one may escape the suffering of the underworld, be reborn into a household of the ten kinds of goodness, have one’s name entered on the rolls of the Purple Mansion (the registers of the immortal realm), and take one’s place among the ranks of immortals. The orthodox path of female refinement is now promulgated; the first section is to take the text of the Nine Precepts as its foundation. The text reads: Be filial and respectful toward both parents; keep a gentle disposition; be careful in speech and free of jealousy; remain chaste and quiet, guard the body, and stay far from every impure and vile act; cherish the lives of things, hold compassion in the heart, and do not kill; diligently practice ritual recitation and conduct affairs with caution, and cut off flesh-eating and wine-drinking; let clothing and utensils be plain only, without pursuing ornate decoration; regulate the temperament and do not give rise to afflictions; do not frequently rush to zhai assemblies; do not cruelly mistreat bondservants; do not conceal what is good while broadcasting what is evil. Only when these nine precepts can be kept may one receive and uphold the orthodox path. What is promulgated here is most precious; if one lightly grants or lightly receives without living by the precepts, that is to profane the treasure of Heaven—transmitter and recipient alike incur penalty. Be careful and stand in awe.

[Note: Where each section opens with the two words ruo yue (“if one says”), the recorder is writing as though reporting the golden mouth of Xiwangmu—analogous to Buddhist scriptures opening with “Thus I have heard” and Daoist scriptures with “The Dao says.” Also: the original text of the Nine Precepts in this section was formerly placed after the passages on purifying the body, purifying the mouth, and purifying the altar that precede the first section; when Patriarch Lü revised the complete text, he added explication to the precept text and compiled it as the main body of the first section—so the great meaning that “the Dao is not lightly transmitted” stands at the very threshold.]

Second Section, titled “Benming” (True Life)

This section explains that women have yin bodies, like the moon. Around thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen, pre-heaven yuan qi (original vitality) is still ample and true blood is full; at that point a thread of yang remains within yin, as when the moon is full and its light is strongest. Once tian gui (Heavenly Water) arrives, yuan qi is broken through and true blood begins to leak outward. Marriage and childbirth further drain yuan qi and deplete true blood. Menstruation may return every month, but each cycle again damages the root.

(Note: Tian gui is the phase when yang at its peak gives birth to yin and turbid yin stirs; males, females, and other living beings all have this “signal.” Tian gui can be read as how the whole hunyuan (undifferentiated wholeness) shows itself at the moment of “breaking the body” [poshen]. Alchemy seeks return and restoration and keeping the mean; in female elixir practice one often speaks of “slaying the Red Dragon”—that is the same idea.)

The difficulty of the female path turns on this point. To preserve life and return to the origin, a woman must obtain the oral formula; with the secret in hand, accomplishment often comes quickly. The title “Benming” is because her root still lies in tian gui: without transforming tian gui, how can life be preserved? With no set day for returning to the origin, treat the cultivation formula as the supreme treasure. The book therefore puts the “Nine Precepts” in the first section and “Benming” in the second—the order of “nature first, then life” (xian xing hou ming).

Read closely: what follows this section is “Xingyuan” (Origin of Nature)—cultivating nature is ultimately for preserving life.

Editorial note: The first section comes from Patriarch Lü’s original compilation; sections two through nine were revised and edited by Lady Buer Yuanjun. Right after “Benming” comes “Xingyuan”—cultivating nature is precisely for preserving life.

Editorial note

This compilation trims the material to essentials. The first section comes from Patriarch Lü’s original composition; sections two through nine were revised and compiled by the “Unique Primordial Sovereign” (Buer Yuanjun) and personally corrected by Patriarch Lü, with the aim of making the teaching clear—hence plain language, lest archaic wording hide the true meaning and mislead later generations. Readers should not doubt the text’s Daoist authorship merely because the style is not heavily archaic. The tenth section was entirely compiled by Patriarch Lü and continues to unfold the essentials of practice after the preceding guidelines.

Third section: Origin of Xing (nature)

The third guideline on the correct path of women’s cultivation is titled “Origin of Xing.”

Women belong to water and their constitution is like a flower. When youth first opens to awareness, they should restrain themselves: no unrestrained play, and no running or rough romping. At this time a trace of the first menses is held within the neipin (the seat of inner yin essence)—small as a star, fine as a pearl. This is the primordial inner chamber, stored above the kun belly and situated within the zhonghuang (the Dantian region).

If at this stage a woman knows how to guard purity of xing—avoiding lewd spectacles and lewd words, comporting herself with quiet grace, moving according to inner propriety, and in stillness keeping the mind as clear and settled as in Buddhist teaching—that substance can cling to the heaven of xing, become the “primordial one” (yuanyi), neither turning into the “red pearl” (chizhu) nor transforming into tiangui (menstrual essence).

Alas, ordinary women lack this knowledge; children are restless. Whether at play or in running and jumping, qi stirs, the heart wavers, spirit scatters within, and true Qi (zhenqi) cannot hold firm—then this star-like primordial treasure melts as if oiled, hot as fire, breaks the gate and rushes out; the world calls it tiangui. From then on, even if she keeps chastity and never marries, she remains an ordinary woman—simply because she did not know the “origin of xing.” Those who aspire to return in cultivation must begin from the next section.

【As carefully noted】

“Inner Pin” (neipin) is the same as the pin gate (pinhu); below it there is also the “spring gate” (quanfei), likewise called the pin gate. For this reason, the gate at the center of the Huangdao (Golden Path)—the “middle yellow” (zhonghuang) gate—is called “inner pin.”

【Also noted】

When the first menstruation arrives and is named the Mingbao (Life Treasure), if one does not know cultivation, jing and qi disperse along with xingtian (Nature Heaven) and merge into yuanyi (Primordial One). In antiquity, holy women who walked this path—Guanyin, Tianfei, and others—are clear evidence. The world has no lack of women with keen spiritual roots, yet without an immortal guide within and without a clear teacher and good companions without, they often fall despite a thousand talents—a lamentable waste.

【As Xie notes】

Before yuexin (the monthly flow) begins, jing and qi originally belong to the innate primordial unity (xiantian hunyuan), stored and guarded at the “center” of the Huangdao. Though this jing-qi carries the yang of growth and a tendency to scatter outward, the cycle has not yet come and shen (spirit) has not flown forth, so jing and qi do not leak—this is called tongzhen (Preserved Youth). At this stage one need not lay the foundation (zhuji); one may directly practice the single step of “huashen huanxu” (refining spirit to return to emptiness), and the elixir can complete and the Dao be realized: using qi to transform shen and shen to transform qi—this is called qingjing xinggong (pure-quiet nature work).

Brief glosses (for first reading)

• Pin gate / spring gate / inner pin: Terms in nüdan (female alchemy); they denote corresponding body gates; here the emphasis is that the zhonghuang gate is the inner pin.
• Mingbao: First menstruation.
• Xingtian / yuanyi: As in the original—activation of nature and dispersal into primordial qi.
• Zhonghuang: The center within the Huangdao.
• Tongzhen: The body before yuexin, when jing-qi does not leak.
• Huashen huanxu / qingjing xinggong: In nüdan, a path of nature work that skips foundation-building and goes straight toward returning to emptiness.

Section Four · Cultivating the Menstrual Essence

This section explains that once a woman’s tiangui (menstruation) has begun, True Qi has already leaked outward, and true blood is already depleted, if she does not first “xiujing” (nurture and restore the root of menstruation), true blood will keep dwindling and True Qi will keep draining. Even if she wishes to refine further, what good will it do?

An old alchemical text says: “When bamboo is broken, you still have to mend it with bamboo.” (The image is that when a woman has lost yin essence, she must replenish it by yin-essence methods.) The key is this: a woman who still menstruates must first “zhan chilong” (slay the Red Dragon—stop menstruation); a woman who no longer menstruates must first “fujing” (bring menstruation back), and only then slay the dragon.

Note: “True blood” is true yin primal essence; alchemical texts call it “shenshui” (divine water). From the postnatal (after birth) perspective, “True Qi” is that bit of true yang within true blood; from the prenatal (before birth) perspective, “true blood” is the yin that “one cycle holds and nurtures” within the subtle operation of True Qi.

Further note: In the elderly, yin outweighs yang and True Qi is exhausted, so bu qi (replenishing Qi) should come first. When Qi is full, menstruation can naturally return—only then does bu blood have a foundation. In the young, Qi is still ample, so replenishing true yin should come first.

Whatever the starting method, all use the circuit method (xiaozhoutian—Small Heaven Circuit). At the Zi and Wu hours, sit straddling the crane (legs folded as if riding a crane), release all stray thoughts, click the teeth seventy-two times to open the two Feishu points on the Bladder channel; then breathe gently through both nostrils thirty-six times to connect the blood vessels through the body.

By then, Qi may leak from below; you must tighten the straddle and not slacken. Cross both hands below the navel and above the yimen (genital gate), and with intent push Qi backward and upward for about thirty-six breaths; then raise both hands in the heaven-supporting posture while keeping attention at Weilü (the tailbone gate), guiding Qi upward from behind, again for about thirty-six breaths; then do thirty-six slow lifts and thirty-six quick lifts, and you will feel movement at Weilü and a sense of Qi rising vigorously.

After completing the preceding steps, you may lower your hands while still crossing them and pressing them against both sides of the waist. At the same time, forcefully shrug both shoulders upward thirty-six times, and you will feel a response in the region along the spine (Jiaji). Then perform slow lifting thirty-six times and fast lifting thirty-six times, and you will sense qi activating at Weilü (the tailgate at the base of the spine), with an impulse to rise upward.

Thereafter, lower the hands again, cross the arms on the hips, and shrug both shoulders straight upward thirty-six times; then you will feel vital momentum surging upward at the Jiaji Pass, Feishu (Bladder-11), and related points. If blockage remains somewhere, bite the teeth tightly, place awareness on the back of the neck, and pull straight upward thirty-six times with intention—you will feel that Yuzhen (Jade Pillow, the occipital gate) and Niwan (Muddy Pellet, the head dantian) are fully opened.

At this point, cover the upper lip with the lower lip and apply slight pressure, and you will sense the qi of Niwan descending to a lower place in the nose. Now you need only touch the tongue to the upper palate (forming the “Heavenly Bridge”); do not use force—simply hold intention at the point where the tongue touches, and sweet dew (saliva in the mouth) will descend naturally. With a slight inward-gathering intention at the nose (it is best to hold awareness at the root of the nose, lest the qi scatter), use intention to send the sweet dew down the throat to Jiangque (the region below the heart and at the chest center). Rest there briefly, then guide with intention, dividing left and right as it retreats downward—it must reach both sides of the waist, each rotating thirty-six times. Again guide with intention to the navel wheel, thirty-six turns left and thirty-six turns right, and you will feel the whole abdomen open and unobstructed.

At this time the hands remain crossed over the “gate” below the navel. Guide with intention left and right simultaneously, lifting together thirty-six times, and you will feel a trace of qi entering the uterus (the lower dantian emphasized in women’s practice); here one should only hold it as if present, as if absent, for a brief moment. The above is the gist of cultivating unobstructed flow (or what the scripture calls cultivation reaching smooth passage).

(The text continues: at this point the hands remain crossed on the gate below the navel, lifting left and right together thirty-six times, qi entering the uterus, held as if present, as if absent for a moment—the same meaning as above.)

The above is the general outline of cultivating the scripture; within it there are still higher, more flexible methods, not yet suitable to explain in detail, yet all never depart from the phrase “be still and empty, and regard.”

(Note: This method of practice leans toward deliberate contrivance and is not truly suited to beginners.)

The crux of this method lies in naturalness: guide the practice in step with the moment when qi stirs, rather than forcing it with deliberate intent. Hence the closing remark that it “comes down to nothing beyond contemplative observation within still emptiness”—that is precisely the point. Phrases in the text such as “rotate several times” or “lift several times” must not be taken as fixed numbers; they should be understood flexibly. In substance, one relies on the mutual entwining of essence and breath, using Wu huo (a more vigorous, concentrated form of intentional guarding and breath regulation) for contemplative observation; in the end, it never departs from the single word “single-minded concentration.”

【Commentary on Location】 The “palace of the womb” (zigong) spoken of here is the inner pin (female principle); in men the corresponding site is called the Xuan cavity (Xuankou). The Dan shu (alchemical writings) say: yang is termed xuan, yin is termed pin. Taken together, this is the “Gate of the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin zhi men)” in the Laozi, and the “extraordinary vessel (qiqi)” spoken of in the Huangdi yinfu jing (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of the Hidden Talisman). Whether one names it the extraordinary vessel, the Xuan cavity, the pin opening, or the palace of the womb, the labels differ but all point to the same pass. Here “palace of the womb” is used as a metaphor drawn from ordinary human affairs to clarify the principle; from this one can also see that whether “sacred embryo” or “child embryo,” in the logic of the alchemical path both correspond to this aperture.

【Xie’s note】 “This aperture” is a living pass (huoqiao): only when qi stirs and activates does its “form” appear; it is not merely the fixed, visible yin orifice on the physical body.

【Further note】 The line “it comes down to nothing beyond…” means that within it there are signs and messages one can follow and actually cultivate—one must be cautious and must not treat it lightly.

If in practice you feel a spell of heat circling in the region of the palace of the womb, at that time the spring gate (Quanfei)—here a metaphor for the barrier of that pass—must be held all the more tightly closed; slackness must not be allowed, so that the subtle delight can be preserved. Above all, stray thoughts must be avoided; the slightest stirring of emotional or desirous intent easily brings a melting numbness through the whole body. Then one must at once settle the mind and fix the feelings (collect the heart, stop wandering thoughts, and not follow desire); moreover, the line between immortal and ordinary is often decided in this single thought.

This passage explains that during cultivation the “passes and locks” must be held strictly tight, with not the slightest carelessness. If the gate leaves are not closed firmly enough, true qi will leak out through the cracks. If one is negligent afterward, the danger is even greater. At that stage, inside the gate unusual trembling and itching often arise; if one also applies lifting and closing techniques, extremely intense pleasurable comfort easily arises in the yin region. If at this moment one cannot settle the spirit (per Xie’s commentary: here one should keep the heart unmoved, and apply the method of “heart and breath mutually dependent, entering into emptiness,” forgetting form and forgetting appearance), the whole body easily goes numb and tingling (per Xie’s commentary: true qi will disperse through the skin) and flows into the “sea of passion.” Even if one then tries to suppress the passionate thought, it may already be too late. Hence the saying: “Immortal and ordinary person part ways here.” Master Taixu Weng said: “The dharma gate lies solely in guarding the Gen position at the back; only then can passionate thought be stabilized.” (Per Xie’s commentary: place and rest the heart on the Jiaji aperture. But in daily practice one must refine and nourish this aperture until it is fully mature, with the work on nature (xing gong) solid and thick, so that one can be sure of not failing. Otherwise, if one clings to the physical body, one often sees harm before benefit.) Otherwise the gate leaves will surely swing wide open, and refined essence will leak outward like water from a broken vessel. Alas, what a pity!

At such a critical juncture, one must immediately let heart and breath stay quiet for a long while, waiting quietly until calm returns within the “palace of origin”—this is what Lady Wei Yuanjun called “the treasure returns to the Northern Sea, safe and secure.” That said, this is still only the expedient of “using a yellow leaf to stop a child’s crying”; one must not mistake it for having already “formed the embryo.”

According to the scripture’s meaning: the Sea of Awareness (Juehai) is the Southern Sea. The “Palace of the Child” (zigong) spoken of here actually refers to the Northern Sea, whose position lies north of the “Central Pole and Central Yellow” (zhongji, zhonghuang)—taking the body’s front and back as south and north, not up and down as south and north. (The route governed by the Ren vessel is called the Southern Sea, rooted in the heart; the route governed by the Du vessel is called the Northern Sea, rooted in the Yin Qiao orifice and the lower dantian.) The words of Wei Yuanjun (a female immortal) are enough to confirm this, so one must wait quietly until the “Palace of the Child” is still before stopping the work.

What “the Palace of the Child is still” means is that heart fire has already descended, the Sea of Awareness is without ripples, and everything returns to the Northern Sea.

Further: this passage speaks of cultivating while the Red Dragon (monthly flow) is present; after “severing the dragon” (duanchilong) and the practices that follow, it is fitting to proceed slowly within stillness and fixed absorption; if one acts rashly, the entire effort is ruined—hence “immortal and ordinary person part ways here.”

Again: this section treats the whole “circular image” (yuanying)—what is called returning to the origin and reverting to the root (huanyuan fanben). When embryo formation is achieved and the mysterious inner landscape (xuanjing) is complete, this is the supreme treasure refined from and returned through the Five Phases of heaven and earth within the single body; it still belongs to small return (xiao huan, xiao fan). For the most part it can be practiced and obtained within a single day, within a single hour. What the Elixir Scriptures call “one grain after another grain” (yili fu yili) refers precisely to this kind of treasure. (Here it indicates the effect of foundation-building (zhuji) work: entering through the inner mysterious aperture (nei xuanqiao), accumulating essence and gathering qi—“one grain after another grain” is accumulation; there is a time of yang arising every day.)

Therefore the scripture uses “yellow leaves” (huangye) as a teaching metaphor; as for the essentials of gathering and refining, and the steps of drawing it back and settling it in place, these belong to the complete mysterious image (xuan ying) of “great return” (da huan)—worth pondering carefully; do not skim it casually.

(Note: though this passage discusses small return, the formulas for great return later are largely of the same kind; hence it is called “mysterious image (xuan ying),” the “shadow” of great return.)

Lesson 5: Restoration

This lesson is the fifth topic on the orthodox path of female elixir (nüdan), entitled “Restoration.” The meaning is: among women in the world, some are already old yet the body is not fully purified (menstruation has not truly ceased), and some see the “dragon” cut off as early as forty-five or forty-six (menses stopping prematurely). All should cultivate so that essence and qi return to the source and the body is restored to something like a maiden’s state. The work and methods are the inner practices from the first four lessons; only the former pattern of “lifting upward and pouring back” must be changed to “pouring forward and down, flowing to the stream and sea” (meaning directing qi to the lower Dantian and the region of the uterus palace).

The “sweet dew” (saliva or fluid formed in inner vision) that should be swallowed may only be swallowed and held at the Pass (Que—the gate at the throat or near the upper Dantian); it must not be sent further down. Also, massage the “breast stream” (Ruxi—the area at the breast root related to the Ren meridian): thirty-six turns left, thirty-six right, until Pass and stream feel a warm, melting quality. Then massage both breasts separately: thirty-six slow strokes, thirty-six fast, light first then heavy, thirty-six each way, one hundred forty-four in all. You will feel true qi misting in both breasts and the stream; cool fluid like a spring wells from the Double Passes (Shuangguan—gates on the spine or at the sides) and gathers toward the Southern Sea (Nanhai—the lower Dantian and uterus palace). Settle the breath and wait quietly; do not afterward divide attention and pour to both kidneys—only in the central palace (Zhonggong) drop all other concerns. Never use the man’s kind of pulling and guiding or forced mental steering; let qi spread naturally and feel the whole body extremely clear and harmonious.

Doing this daily without break, weakness gradually strengthens, decline gradually fills out; even the aged slowly return toward youth, the face gains luster, both breasts gradually draw in like a maiden’s, and in the belly something gradually forms like a peach pit. Within a hundred days, celestial dew (Tian gui—menstrual fluid) may appear the color of rouge water; three days later, still practice the fourth lesson’s inner work unchanged, and the Red Dragon (Chìlóng—menstruation) will again cease of itself. You must see in inner vision the sun and moon like twin rings—that is truly obtaining this gong.

(Note: This method is heart-and-breath united, holding the center and embracing unity (shouzhong baoyi): cultivation begins from the woman’s upper Dantian—using spirit to generate qi, qi to transform blood, so that menses may flow again. Spirit generating qi means when spirit returns within the body, qi naturally turns back; when qi returns into the “heart” and emptiness and stillness are added, blood self-transforms.)

Section Six: “The Breasts”

This section explains the place of the breasts in female cultivation: above they connect with the fluids governed by the heart and lungs; below they reach the true essence in the sea of blood. When the breasts are refined until they resemble those of a prepubescent girl or boy, in elixir practice this is called “a woman’s body exchanged for a man’s.” The method cannot be separated from the fourth and fifth sections—for women take blood as their root, while the theme here is refining the red to return to the white (turning the “red” qi of menstrual blood back into the “white” of prenatal essence). So there must first be a step of refining liquid to transform it into blood: turning fluid into blood depends on holding the pass (fixing attention on the relevant gate) and infusing spirit into the dual passes (concentrating spirit and qi in the twin gates). The muddy fluid accumulated within the pass melts and flows like a stream into the sea of blood; when the sea of blood flourishes, the finer meaning is spelled out most fully in the fifth section.

To return from blood to white, it is best to fix attention on the stream-and-chamber (the gates corresponding to stream and chamber), clench the teeth, and add a thought of empty stillness—then qi will naturally return through the stream and reach the chamber; the essence is again in the fifth section. At the same time, rub both breasts with the palms of both hands: first slow then fast, first light then heavy, for a full one thousand four hundred and four rounds, until qi gathers and doubles in vigor. Then intend for qi to withdraw backward and pour into both kidneys; and lead qi with the gaze to rotate left and right for seventy-two breaths, until you feel inner heat like moxibustion. Again guide qi with intention around the lower wheel (the dantian region below the navel), as many times as needed, until the lower pole (the perineum and “sea bottom”) feels like boiling. At that point the red has become fresh white and must again become qi, piercing the weilu (tail gate), ascending the spine, passing the pillow, and penetrating the niwan (upper gate at the crown).

At this point inner visions may show fairy realms such as the “three mountains and mysterious garden”—better to rest in a pure realm; engage in layered forgetting (letting go again and again), suddenly entering a deep dark like endless night, yet still quietly guarding the One. After long practice you may feel as if lightning and thunder strike, sweet dew pours down, the huachi (the upper pool of saliva in the mouth) overflows so you cannot swallow enough; it flows smoothly down through the gate to the navel, and the whole body feels clear and harmonious. Still sit in quiet observation. Thus without interruption for a hundred days: those whose breasts were full become flat like a boy’s; those that were sunken become firm like walnuts, just like a maiden’s.

As for the principle: breasts flat like a boy’s means the work of transforming to white is sufficient; breasts firm like a maiden’s means the work along the path from refining the red is sufficient. Many in this lineage who practice accordingly obtain verification; one who wrote poetry as proof was named Fenggu. Her poem runs: “Left sun, right moon—one yin and yang; within the nose, inner circulation is called ‘moving the gang.’ If you wish yin and yang to return to sun and moon, hold true fire in the hands and rub both chambers.” Those who receive the teaching should encourage themselves.

[Verse of Verification]

“Left is the sun, right is the moon, together forming one yin and one yang; within the pass, the breath is moved through the nose—this is called ‘operating the Gang.’ If you wish yin and yang to return to the positions of sun and moon, you must hold true fire in both hands and knead the twin chambers.”

[Commentary: Twin Passes]

The Twin Passes lie between the spine in front and the palace behind; inside the pass are two openings where the body’s “mud-fluid” gathers: the left is called Gao, the right Huang. Ordinary medicinals rarely reach there, and true Qi cannot arrive on its own. Though mud-fluid is a kind of affliction within the body, in creating human life nature also placed this pass to protect the heart—hence the name Twin Passes. The phrase “fluid called mud” refers to something that looks like fluid but is not truly fluid; it comes from what food becomes and belongs to the class of jin-ye (bodily fluids). What enters the lungs with the breath and spreads through the body to moisten the channels is this substance. When true Qi within is vigorous, it transforms as it circulates and its use is inexhaustible; when true Qi declines, it may not transform as it moves, and though it may pour into the zang-fu and channels, harm is not inevitable. Only when the utmost yin qi is at work does it turn into mud-fluid—something like essence but not essence, blocking the qi pathways; where it stays most is at the Twin Passes and the lower pole, and the greatest harm is especially at the Twin Passes, because true Qi cannot reach there on its own. Where it accumulates it is like yin snow and ice of Kun; even through the height of summer it is hard to melt. Though there is the protective “jitu heart Gang,” when spirit is strong one is safe, when spirit weak one is in danger. Ancient sages knew this, hence the formula “gather spirit to warm the passes,” yet the world seldom hears of it. Among those who knew, practiced, verified, and set it in verse, only Feng Zhen; therefore this is taken as evidence here. Yet when one examines how Feng Zhen followed the practice and obtained verification, he still relied beforehand on the single key of “empty tranquility of mind and thought”: only by emptying and quieting mind and thought can spirit return and qi flourish; then, with the added work of focusing on the stream and kneading the chambers, mud-fluid can melt and surge out of the pass, reach the Sea of Qi to be refined, and only then obtain the wondrous use of mutual complement between being and non-being.

[Further commentary: breasts, stream, and mind-method]

The left chamber of the breast connects to the liver, the right to the lungs; the stream connects to heart, kidney, and spleen as well—therefore one should observe and hold them with attention from time to time. In ordinary times it is enough to maintain them with intentional yet non-forcing awareness. For women, the root of life is rooted in the heart: from the middle line of the Kun trigram one forms Li, with true fire hidden within; yet blood thrives because it is born in coolness, and when blood is strong spirit is at peace—so empty tranquility should be added—this region is originally a crucial place for healing, nurturing life, restoring vitality, and completing the Dao. In practice it is excellent to recite the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness and use the method of the three contemplations.

Section Seven: Jade Liquid

This section treats Jade Liquid. For men, one begins from clarity and stillness; when practice reaches maturity, the River Cart (a metaphor for qi ascending in the microcosmic circuit) stirs, true essence is preserved, and nothing leaks from the Mysterious Pass (the qi gate). “Not leaking from the Mysterious Pass” means the Yang Pass is closed and life turns inward—once the Yang Pass closes, the Mysterious Pass opens of itself, and pre-heaven qi no longer becomes post-heaven semen. Qi surges upward to the crown like dew falling on the heavenly valley, then pours abundantly down into the Flower Pool (the mouth); this is Jade Liquid. Yet for a man to count it as the true Small Return of Jade Liquid, the Yin Spirit must also appear: the hun soul roams the Jade Palace, the po soul pays homage to the Imperial True One, a round light enfolds the crown, tides surge in the Mysterious Sea (the brain), and resonance fills Jade Clarity (the clear void of the upper dantian)—only then is it the true Jade Liquid elixir return, which ancient adepts called “sweet dew poured over the head.” Within the Small Return of Jade Liquid there is still a step of “harmonizing the spirit”: after the River Cart runs smoothly, the Yang Pass is firmly locked, and the Yin Spirit has appeared, one further harmonizes and refines the spirit until it is pure and ripe, radiates light to summon the primordial One, and true yang is full; only when the heart-mind is bright day and night may one undertake the Great Return of Golden Liquid. Most people in the world do not know this work of harmonizing the spirit, warming and nurturing, and bathing; if at this stage one declares that the Yang Spirit has emerged, that is a grave error—the primordial spirit has only just formed, and one has only entered the return to the Mud Pill (upper dantian).

For women, “Jade Liquid” is the Red Dragon (menstrual blood and yin essence) transformed into White Phoenix Marrow. Only when marrow is sufficient may one perform the reverse flow; otherwise it is empty form without substance. Women still follow the sequence shown in the earlier four sections, but the subtle meaning must be carried out according to the sixth section; only then is use upon use inexhaustible, as the former sages said: “Grain upon grain recovered—how could use ever be exhausted? Once you obtain the true seed, you must still apply steady effort.” As for how marrow becomes full and the seed is obtained, it all comes down to restraining the self, empty stillness, and holding pure intent—students should urge themselves onward.

Commentary

Here it is fitting to cite a self-account by Lady Jade-Moon Immortal as annotation. The immortal said:

I formerly practiced huandan (returning the elixir—the work of gathering jing, qi, and shen inward to forge the inner elixir). The key to effort was: within the method, “forget the person”; within the practice, “forget the method.” Once one has entered, when the moment arrives practice proceeds of itself, so one can move from “having a self” to “no self.” But from today onward, from tomorrow onward, day by day forget even “today,” moment by moment forget even “the present”; over time, even heaven and earth seem not to exist.

I was at once as if awake and as if enlightened, only listening in silence and watching in silence, unable to say clearly what I was doing. I only felt as if my inner body were scorched by fire; then something like grease, like oil appeared—(“after” refers to what follows the northern pole; “grease like oil like” is the image of the red dragon liquefying and the white phoenix becoming marrow.) Without bound; sometimes with sound, sometimes without; sometimes rushing, sometimes still; sometimes surging, sometimes gushing; sometimes like white silk hanging in the void, sometimes like an ice lake utterly clear. The time was not one fixed moment, the place not one fixed spot; my eyes did not swim, my spirit did not tire.

Suddenly within this, what was seen and heard piled another layer of seeing and hearing, enough in turn to bewilder the heart-mind. At that time I could still warn myself: do not be enticed by outer appearances. Then suddenly I understood: heaven, earth, and I are originally one body; if I turned inward to look within, my own body was probably the same—if the principle is thus outside, it should be thus inside; then one must seek proof within.

So I turned back to examine myself. At first I felt “no self”; I abode long in silent stillness before “I” appeared again. (Xie’s note: “wu” is the I of acquired spirit [shishen]; “wo” is primordial spirit [yuanshen] and true intent [zhenyi].) But when I wished to look inward again more deeply, I could not find the path. Suddenly it was as if waking from a dream: I noticed that at the utmost lower and lower reaches of this body it was hot as if cauterized; thunder rolled greatly; wind and tide-sounds rose from the dantian; in an instant they pierced weilü, ascended the spine, passed the back of the head, reached niwan—like sweet dew pouring in, then falling again from the tip of the nose. The huachi (the place in the mouth where saliva gathers) was full; one could not finish swallowing. In less than half a shichen, saliva already surged like the southern seas; then it flowed around the waist and navel, using it to smelt and to refine—same body as heaven and earth, outside thus and inside thus, truly so. At that time I still followed the usual sequence and only gathered the work when it was complete.”

And so on. What the immortal described is purely the realm of huagong (transformative accomplishment); one may infer that in daily life she first devoted herself to guarding emptiness and stillness in the earlier stage, then later advanced on the path of “forgetting even forgetting.” Because she obtained one verification, it is recorded to corroborate: this is a factual account of practice.

Brief gloss of terms (those already explained in parentheses above are omitted):

• Huandan: Inner refinement of jing, qi, and shen so that essence returns to qi, qi returns to spirit, and the original root is restored.
• Red dragon / white phoenix: Common images in female alchemy (nüdan); they often stand for yin essence, original blood, and the “marrow” phase after yang refinement—not ordinary physiology taken literally.
• Pierce weilü, ascend the spine, pass the pillow and reach the valley: Usual description of ascent along the governing vessel (dumai) through weilü, jiaji, and niwan.
• Huachi: The “pool” name linked to swallowed saliva in the mouth, the conception vessel (renmai), and elixir work.
• Acquired spirit / primordial spirit: The former is the everyday discriminating, thinking “I”; the latter is innate true intent, the unmoved spirit.

Section Eight: Embryonic Breathing (Taixi)

The eighth section of the Correct Path of Female Alchemy is titled “Embryonic Breathing.” Embryonic breathing is the supreme Way and the ladder to ascension. After a woman completes the return of the elixir (huandan), essence and qi are full; her body is the same as a man’s, and she need not rely on embryonic breathing to seek the day of returning to emptiness.

This single breath has boundless efficacy, yet its oral formula is utterly simple. Still, not everyone attains the same degree of accomplishment—the gaps among people are very great. This is not because the Creator decides alone; creation also completes things according to what each thing is.

One borrows emptiness and stillness and, within the breath at the nose, seeks that one breath: no thought, no worry. Morning and evening one does this; on a certain day one touches the ancestral aperture (zuqiao), and the aperture opens of itself—neither beckoning nor rejecting. The breath at the nose naturally merges—this method belongs to the path of golden fluid (jinye). At first one practices with mind and breath mutually relying on the empty void outside the body (not the void of air filling space outside the flesh). When breath at the nose and heartbeat both cease, the outer mysterious pass (wai xuanguan) opens of itself; essence transforms into qi, qi into spirit, spirit returns to emptiness—naturally complete. One remains long awake and long luminous; within the body there is inexhaustible celestial mechanism; inside and outside the body become one whole; heaven and human share one qi—hence it is called embryonic breathing, also called returning the elixir. One begins from the outer dantian (wai dantian), then inner and outer dantian unite, and finally heaven, earth, and human merge in chaos as one.

Vast without shore, dark and unfathomable—one no longer knows whether the ancestor is oneself or oneself is the ancestor; a single breath through the nose—ancient sages called this embryonic breathing. Within this aperture, yin-yang, the five phases, heaven, earth, and the myriad things all arise from here.

Breath responds as conditions arise and the subtle mechanism answers in kind—one’s level of cultivation naturally falls among the six grades of “immortal kin”: heaven, water, earth, human, spirit, and ghost. The key is emptiness, stillness, extinction, and guarding to the utmost.

• Cultivating in union with De and “True One” yields a celestial immortal;
• Union with “Mysterious One” yields a water immortal;
• Union with “Constant One” yields an earth immortal;
• Union with “Essence One” yields a human immortal.

In the two lower vehicles, cultivation in union with “Emotional One”: predominantly Yang becomes a spirit; predominantly Yin becomes a ghost. What ordinary people call a good person or one who has “attained fruition” still cannot be called a true immortal. The difference lies in this: the seed is in the karmic encounter of stimulus and response.

(Xie’s note) Plant melon, get melon; plant bean, get bean—cultivation in the end comes down to “zhi” (aspiration, vow-power). Though innate endowment exists, is it not still what you yourself cultivated and took for yourself? Those who obtain the method should urge themselves on.

(Xie’s note) Stimulus through True One yields a celestial immortal; through Mysterious One, a water immortal—and so on. The “single nostril” spoken of here means the outer mystery aperture (the Mysterious Female of creation)—not the human nostril; it is called “nostril” because one enters through breath. First mind and breath mutually depend, spirit and Qi unite; then spirit and breath mutually depend, nature and life unite—all within the mystery aperture, hence “single-nostril” breathing: heaven, earth, person, and self share one Qi, one spirit, one mystery aperture.

Careful reflection puts it this way: The gate of embryonic breathing may be called the supreme Dao, the ladder to heaven; how dare one not strive to practice it.

Sixth teaching · Nanwu (Homage to the South)

The ninth teaching on the orthodox path of female cultivation is titled “Nanwu.” For women to reach great completion, nothing surpasses the Great Bodhisattva (Guanyin)—through austere practice and gradual refinement to the rank of Buddha-bodhisattva; the place of real strength there too lies in daring not to slacken (in one line with the earlier talk of embryonic breath and supreme Dao—both turn on self-urging in practice).

Section 9: “Namo”

For women who wish to follow the correct path of cultivation and reach full accomplishment, there is no better model than Guanyin Bodhisattva. The Great Being attained the rank of bodhisattva and buddha through arduous ascetic cultivation and sustained inner refinement; the most crucial practice in that path lies in the two characters namo—they hold a deep doctrine of cultivation.

The cultivator must inwardly grasp and hold to “this very body is Buddha”: regard the self as Buddha, like a luminous seven-tiered pagoda, firmly seated upon the rock of Putuo. Before the seat stands the “Red Boy,” who represents the chief of shishen—the discriminating, grasping aspect of mind. The Great Being lets him go east and west seeking instruction, through fifty-three such visits until every koan is resolved and delusion is broken through. Then, by the “Dragon Girl of the Southern Sea” presenting the “Pearl of Self-Mastery,” outer distractions are shut out with the Purple Bamboo Grove; the white parrot is allowed to fly up and down at will; holding the pure water vase, natural dew is gathered with a willow branch; seated firmly on the Putuo rock, by the method of “duo luo” one settles the single character/word in the place of “true-truth,” gathers the supreme treasure into the fish basket, and recites “jia la fa duo,” placing the entire Saha world into the Southern Sea—while waves roll in the ocean, one simply rests in “observing self-mastery.”

This great dharma cannot do without the internal work of Section 4; above all, breath after breath must rise from the previous section, step by step returning to true emptiness and true stillness. Only when merit and practice are complete can one meet the Great Being with a shared smile—serene, as if released.

Annotation: This section uses accomplished power to resolve accomplished mechanism; it is meant for intuitive realization, not lengthy explanation—yet one must earnestly and constantly hold namo, embody and guard “this body is Buddha,” lively and present everywhere one goes.

Section 10: “Careful Ending”

Having embodied and guarded on namo that “this body is Buddha,” lively and unbounded in all directions, one must still “be careful at the end”—a good beginning demands an equally good conclusion; what has been gained must be guarded all the way to completion, without slackening halfway.

Tenth Section: “Prudent Completion”

This section teaches that women embody Kun virtue and the way of Kun (Earth). In the traditional reading, the Kun trigram stands for bearing and nurturing; though it is not cast as “pioneering,” it often finishes what others begin and transforms and nurtures the ten thousand things behind the scenes. Women, too, should take part in supporting and completing this work of transformation and nurture in broad daylight.

Practice still begins in emptiness and stillness: no money spent, no strain expended—sitting in stillness alone can bring fulfillment, though outsiders may not know it. Virtue can then join with zaohua (creation and transformation), as if using the Way within oneself to heal the world and transform the world.

The pivot of the work is to use mind-regulation and emptiness-stillness as the method:

• When the mind is regulated, the breast is clear and still, and Tiandu (the court, the pivot of all under Heaven) is naturally settled;
• When the belly is regulated, the Kun belly (the lower dantian region in women) is open and at ease, and villages and towns naturally prosper;
• When the four limbs are regulated, the limbs are unobstructed, and the four quarters (border regions) are naturally peaceful.

When the body is regulated, the person is at ease; when the person is at ease, the age is well governed—such is the correspondence. Thus each moment of clarity and harmony is a moment of real de (virtue/power); though effects may not show at once, the efficacy is there. The fear is only that what one learns day to day is not pure and the three dantians (upper, middle, and lower) are not connected—that without first completing the work in one’s own body, one cannot truly have talent to benefit the world. (Xie’s note: Confucians say “cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to all under Heaven”—how apt.)

The secret is simply to practice morning and evening: where others do one part, you do ten; where others do ten, you do a thousand—then even the slow may become clear. Those who receive the teaching should urge themselves on.

Respectful note: This section is the solemn reissue of the complete book by the Queen Mother of the West; the Unique Primordial Lady (Buer Yuanjun), following the oral transmission of the Jade Pure Divine Mother on the great Way of healing the world, also compiled the final section transmitted in former days to close the book. It is trusted as an unprecedented canon since the opening of the world. Patriarch Lü (Lü Dongbin) called it a blessing of zaohua; the Primordial Lady said the fortune of the Way was due to be revived. Such is the hope for later students. May all who see this book exhort one another.

Master Li of Niwan’s Treasure Raft for Dual Cultivation in the Female Lineage

Narrated and annotated by Master Shen of Great Void (Taixu Weng); revised by disciple Min Yide, who received the transmission

First Section

Niwan Shi says: In women’s cultivation, the path ascends. The first step is to still stray thoughts; the second is to harmonize mind and intent. Only when thoughts can be stilled and the heart-mind regulated may one practice massage techniques. What must be avoided is clinging exclusively to coolness and shunning warmth. Because in women blood is the root and the constitution tends toward Yin, Yin by nature favors coolness. Without massage to gently stir Qi, one easily falls into a purely Yin track—when Yin prevails one feels cold, and at extreme coldness it is like ice. If dynamic practices are not added to transform and circulate, conditions such as phlegm congealing and blood stasis may arise, and cultivation becomes hard to advance. All of this still must begin with ceasing thoughts and regulating the heart. Women correspond to the Kun trigram in the Yijing; within Kun lies hidden true fire: when fire is stored it is auspicious; when fire flares without restraint it consumes metal. To rush into dynamic practice without regulating the heart is like metal forced by fire—hence the flaw of “Han sound ascending to heaven” (premature, explosive Yang stirring). Therefore the oral instructions for women’s practice begin solely with ceasing thoughts and regulating the heart. In ceasing thoughts and regulating the heart, there is no harm in much practice, nor any taboo against long sustained application—that is where stillness itself holds movement within.

Taixu Shi says: When thoughts cease, Qi becomes pure; when the heart is regulated, Qi becomes harmonious. Only then, in practicing massage, is there an opening for Yang Qi to stir. Yet one also fears that the opening may be blocked and not flow, or that agitation may bring change—so it is stressed again: there is movement within stillness.

According to Master Taixu

Only when thoughts can be stilled does Qi become pure; only when the heart-mind is harmonized does Qi become balanced. Only then, if one goes on with massage (the guiding and acupoint work common in female elixir practice), is there a chance for “yang Qi to stir and rise.” Yet one worries that at times Qi may be blocked and the heart-mind grows restless—hence this further admonition.

As a rule, women tend to prefer coolness and fear heat. In early practice, right when one has just achieved stopping thoughts, harmonizing the mind, and balanced Qi, one often hits spells of stagnant Qi, inner agitation, and various visions—and then it is easy to form ideas such as “I must lift true yin upward and pour it downward.” That is precisely when pure yin gathers and piles up together. Long stillness makes yin congeal; long inactivity makes yang stagnate—beginners almost always face this.

If, instead of asking “why am I restless and vexed,” one rushes after momentary coolness, that is a mistake. One must add effort and use methods that “move Qi and activate the meridian flow”; once Qi moves, agitation naturally subsides. Those who do not grasp this yet force results only add illness to illness—also why phlegm congealing and blood stasis often arise from this path—so one must be strictly on guard.

The method’s insistence on continuing massage is precisely to block such stagnation and blockage. Yet because people often crave quick progress, massage may be done too forcefully; fire in the lower dantian (earth fire) flares upward, ordinary fire (fan huo) follows, and there is the harm of “scorching metal”—injury to essence, blood, and inner Qi—hence the warning phrase “Han sound ascends to heaven.” “Han sound” refers to the bird of the you hour—the rooster; pushed to the extreme, one shoots upward like a cock in flight. Therefore the subtlety of stopping thoughts and harmonizing the mind is explained again.

In sum, these are the essentials that female elixir practice must uphold from start to finish.

Niwan Shi said: For women cultivating Neidan (internal alchemy), the work must begin with yang qi flourishing first and end with yin qi returning to storage; this method is extremely secret, and those who truly know it are few. The muddled follow men’s elixir methods; the clever take only the Chan (Zen) path and may still attain a certain fruition—even instant transformation or death in seated meditation—yet not know they may still fall into the ghost path, far from the Great Dao. In women, blood is the root; when blood is strong, jing (essence) is full. Only when the heart is cool and clear can blood be generated. The ancients spoke of “refining fluid and blood, transforming blood into essence,” which also depends on spirit and intent being clear and bright. If blood cannot turn into clear fluid, and that fluid lacks the warm nurture of spirit and intent, it will congeal like mud into phlegm, pour into the spleen and stomach, rise and attach to the lungs, scatter through the channels—and myriad illnesses arise, the five viscera suffer, the six bowels are stricken. Therefore ancient elixir formulas always begin by settling heart and breath. When heart and breath are settled, spirit is clear and the heart grows cool. So one must wait until the heart is cool and fluid wells up, then fix intent on the “Ruxi” (breast stream) and rotate-massage with the hands until qi must fill and overflow; then raise both hands and separately rotate-massage both breasts until the same dense qi circulates all around and a warm current rises more strongly from the back, at the double passes like smoke and flame, forcing passage through the passes until the interior fills with muddy fluid that splits and pours into the breast streams like springs; then with true intent guide it into the “Nanyang,” silently holding for about thirty-six breaths; then release intent and relax, feeling a stream of qi naturally descend and split to both loins, circling left and right about thirty-six breaths each; then gather with single intent deep in the navel wheel, slow rotation forty-nine times, fast rotation forty-nine times, and observe the Weilu (tail gate)—whether warm qi pierces backward; if the momentum is slow, use methods of swinging, lifting, and contracting the two lower orifices, and it will naturally pierce the tail, ascend the spine, pass Kunlun (the crown), and descend again into the Mud Pill (Niwan).

Perceiving the Mud Pill Palace (niwan, the crown energy center) at the top of the head as vast as the sea, one may rest, nourish, and gestate there; then intent and qi descend through Huachi and Jiangque (passes at the throat and heart region), and settle in the place symbolized by “Great Earth and Jambudvipa,” like dew falling in abundance. At this point the myriad concerns are forgotten in oneness; one hardly knows what one is doing, only a sense of dim vagueness: without forcing, breathing, gathering, and swallowing seem to happen of themselves; the mouth tastes sweet fragrance, qi and spirit harmonize, and the upper, middle, and lower dantian connect in one breath.

Next the mysterious realm closes in on all sides; one must at once look inward and, in order, release every wandering thought; soon the body feels empty as a valley, even the image of “great earth” dissolves, and a faint coolness seems to enter the body, mist spreading in all directions. Suddenly mist clears and clouds part; below appears the “Sea of Nature,” green waves limpid and still; the mind holds to one thought without stirring, forgetting both realm and emotion. Suddenly golden light streams in myriad rays, fine pearls like rain, following the light downward; they turn left and right and become a bright moon, floating and sinking in a crystalline sea—then one wakes as if from a dream.

Master Niwan said: Reaching this point one must urgently turn inward and examine this body. At this stage, clarity of qi, clarity of spirit, and ease throughout the body mark correct practice; after that, let the whole body be illumined and held in stillness for a moment, then direct intent to the “female gate” (pinmen, the lower aperture emphasized in women’s practice); when it feels peaceful and at ease, that is right. Then again rub the face with the hands, circulate spirit around the abdomen, and double-shrug the shoulders as if turning a windlass (drawing qi up and down), each for forty-nine breaths; then slowly twist the waist and sway knees and legs; when sitting, point the toes and perform each movement for twenty-four breaths before stopping. Thus for a hundred days, three sessions daily without break, the foundation of the celestial immortal can be laid.

Master Taixu said: The above is only a general outline; in antiquity it was called “upper breath” (shangxi).

Commentary by Master Taixu

What has been said above is only a rough outline. The ancients called this whole approach the “Ladder to Heaven”; the essential keys to refining the elixir on the Great Way lie within it, though the final, most critical stage of “closing work” is still missing here. Later students of the Way must first read the full text until they know it well, weighing every character, gathering the mind and quieting the breath to ponder it inwardly, and reciting it again and again each day—dozens or even hundreds of times. Then, when they truly practice, it is like walking a familiar road: they will not be misled by various states and visions; even if occasional appearances differ slightly, the stages and steps of cultivation remain clear. Be on guard: do not treat the scripture like Journey to the West and flip through it as mere story.

Works on the elixir path for men fill libraries; complete volumes on the path for women are rare in the world. To obtain something as secret as the eighteen sections of Direct Pointing to the Golden Flower is already an untransmitted treasure; add a compilation as a guide for cross-checking and inquiry, and the secret of the Kun Way (female cultivation) to attain a Heavenly Immortal is complete. If one has only the husband’s-house Direct Pointing, at most one reaches an Earth Immortal or Human Immortal—no further.

Third Section

Master Niwan says:

If a man pursues dual cultivation, he need not rely on the “cauldron” (taking a partner or external condition as the furnace); if he depends on the cauldron alone, in the end he cannot become a true adept of the Way. Practices such as “adding oil” are minor arts, not the true secret; the true secret is to unite the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—within this single body. If a woman follows only the husband’s-house Direct Pointing, Earth Immortal and Human Immortal are the limit.

Niwan Shi said: For men practicing dual cultivation, there is no need to rely on the “cauldron” (the use of a woman as a vessel in bedroom arts); if one clings to “using the cauldron,” one will in the end find it hard to become a person who has attained the Way. What is called “adding oil” is only a minor method, not the true secret; the real key is to merge the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—or essence, qi, and spirit) into one body.

For women practicing dual cultivation, the principle is largely the same: one need not “contain the three” (certain teachings on holding the three primordials), but should focus on “nurturing and bearing” so as to form the elixir (Dan); therein, Suchness (Zhenru—the unmoving essence of one’s nature) is like grain in a storehouse, and Creation (Zaohua—the work of natural generation) is the furnace; when ripe, one may “feast” (take and enjoy—metaphor for consummating the refinement).

He also said: Know that in the world there may be assemblies without concealment (Wuzhehui), where the seed (the seed of the Way, Buddha-nature, or affinity for the Way) already fills the great thousand worlds; yet some set up altars and treat them as furnace and cauldron, and after Lu Neng (Sixth Patriarch Huineng, here perhaps standing for a lineage founder), true transmission often lost its truth.

He also said: I compose this verse so that the Eight Classes of Supernatural Beings (Tian, Long, and the other six ranks of protectors) should all be startled; some may say I talk too much and fear mysterious retribution (Xuanfa—punishment from the unseen). I dare speak plainly because I received the command of the Jade Pure Divine Mother (Yuqing Shenmu): lamenting that the Great Way was about to die out, she once charged the Unique Holy Maiden (Bu’er Shenggu) to proclaim it solemnly and transmit it orally to me; the intent is to speak directly, no longer borrowing titles and changing faces, lest later generations be misled again.

The teaching says: Cultivating alone is not the ultimate Way; one needs kindred fellows (tonglei—co-practitioners, partners, or those of the same virtue) to assist each other. What is meant by “a body outside the body” is that form may be forgotten before one can accomplish the work (of cultivation).

The formula says: “The yang primordial (Qianyuan—Heaven, yang, the head) is obtained from the crown (the Mud Pill, Niwan, at the head); the yin primordial (Kunyuan—Earth, yin) is lost from the female opening (below). The human primordial (Renyuan) pervades the great thousand worlds; the three primordials (Sanyuan) are governed by the one heart. Nothing beyond the heart must be still and empty; nothing beyond the body must be without obstruction (geng). Movement and stillness accord with true constancy (Zhenchang); if I lack the primordial (yuan), I will naturally merge (bing—return to one). When the primordial merges, the One merges too; the one primordial (yiyuan) is both feeling (qing) and nature (xing). Feeling is the root of nature; nature and capacity (cai—talent, function) share the same endowment. If one can avoid misreading and clinging through the primordial and the One, one may surpass the supreme grade (wushang pin—the highest attainment).”

This is the command of the Jade Pure Divine Mother and the oral transmission of the Unique Holy Maiden; those with ability and affinity may follow it.

Taixu shi said: Things of the same kind need one another and fit together—this is the principle of Taiji (the root principle of chaos before heaven and earth divided, in which yin and yang are mutually contained), what is meant by “the essences of the Two and Five, wondrously unite and congeal”—the yin-yang breath and the essences of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) respond to each other, wondrously merge, and condense into the elixir. Both the inner and outer Wuzhen Pian and the whole Cantong qi take this as their core teaching. When people misunderstand, practices like the so-called “Sanfeng” line appear, treating male-female union as cultivation—filthy conduct. Now, with the master’s oral transmission and mind-to-mind instruction, a thousand years of heart-method can be stated plainly. Bing (a name in the Taixu lineage) is how fortunate to receive this transmission; the world is how fortunate to see such clear instruction—this is a great summation of male and female lineages of elixir method in the final age.

Yet without considerable wisdom-power, few can carry the practice through to the end. Bing grasps its aim: the gate lies in “no self,” so that there can be “no thing”; when thing and self are both forgotten, Zhenyi (the pre-heaven single breath, the oneness of the root) appears. Once Zhenyi appears, hold to it along this single thought; the one self melts and blends, transforming and begetting without end. The “imperial way” (the upright path) within it most resembles the spirit of a wuzhe Buddhist assembly (a great dharma gathering that admits all without distinction); what elixir scriptures call “dragons and tigers arise, filling empty space”—Bing has seen this in such mutual penetration. But one must follow the ancient rites in every respect, or there will be disgrace and regret.

This kind of assembly has the densest meaning yet the most open outward form—do not mistake it. “Dense” means dense in one mind: gain and loss are known to no outsider; “open” means open like a market fair—every move without concealment. Because the rules are thus, it is not taboo in the world. Alas! Those who awaken to the Dao suffer in heart and see far ahead!

Niwan Clan says: The ancient sages said: If ordinary human substance is not refined and transformed, there is no hope of fully attaining the Way; if merit and practice are not complete, the day of realizing the fruit is endlessly deferred. Leaping ahead out of turn only leads one onto side paths and into delusion; seeking the fruit before practice is rounded yields at best a low-grade, minor fruit. Students should keep this teaching firmly in mind: one must first refine until the Dharma Body (the “body of the Way” beyond the flesh) is solid—only then is there a foundation that can withstand the firing; without that foundation, there is no talk of the higher “upper path.” What the upper path cultivates is entirely work of refining and transforming, and yet each step still begins from the form body (this visible, tangible flesh)—the so-called lodging the empty in the real, passing from the real to reach the empty. The methods of the celestial immortal path are broadly of this kind.

Taixu Clan says: The Dharma Body is the “body outside the body.” This layer of body cannot be obtained by visualization alone, nor can it be achieved solely by external alchemy methods. The essential secret lies in borrowing the false to cultivate the true—using this borrowed body to cultivate what is real. Added cultivation never departs from the form body; the secret is to refine this very form body until inner and outer are lucid and pure white— it is body yet not body, not body yet body. When practice is active it is as if there is no body; when practice rests, the body appears again. At that “no-body” state, cold and warmth are not taken as “me,” pain and itch are not taken as “me”—that is, one is aware yet without clinging. How can this be done? The method is to let Shen (consciousness, spiritual nature) abide in emptiness, not treating the body as the true body—and then it can be done; if one can recognize Zhenyi (the pre-heaven single breath, the root unity), knowing that beyond the One all is illusion, one can go deeper still. Refine thus until there is no far or near, no inside or outside, then advance further; if one can further refine until there is no going or coming, no entering or leaving, one truly reaches no far or near, no inside or outside; if one can still further refine until there is no arising or ceasing, no movement or stillness, one truly reaches no coming or going, no entering or leaving. In this way, one already possesses the pure realm of the Dharma Body. Yet all of this still does not depart from working within the form body.

Niwan Shi said: What is said about “True Yang” is correct. (True Yang was the sobriquet of Taixu Shi, bestowed by Niwan Shi.) If you refine yourself in this way, the Dharma body will naturally be complete; if you cultivate without backsliding in this way, you can attain “a body outside the body.” You should understand: since ancient times, those who achieved the Dao often relied on that final, greatly expedient stroke to close the work—and in the path of accomplishment this is in fact a shortcut. For within one person the amounts of true Yin and true Yang are limited; refining again and again, it is nothing more than pre-heaven and post-heaven tempering each other. Practicing according to this secret formula in daily life is not without effects that accumulate day by day and month by month; yet the mundane entanglements of post-heaven within one person also increase day by day and month by month. Even if one cultivates with fierce diligence, not a few in past and present have met great calamity and seen their earlier work entirely wasted—a matter truly pitiable. There is no other reason: the genuine pre-heaven substance in one person can still be roughly gauged, but the growth of post-heaven falsity and delusion is hard to measure. Moreover, unless one begins cultivation from uncorrupted childhood innocence, contact with corruption and decay is unavoidable for everyone. When one thinks of this, one truly ought to worry for the people of the world.

Taixu Shi says: Only you can truly know whether your drink is hot or cold. If the fǎshēn (the inner, authentic body formed through cultivation) is already complete, the essentials of regulating, protecting, gathering, and releasing need not be sought outside—you have sufficient confirmation within. Even if the fǎshēn is not yet perfect, regulation, gathering, and release should still be felt only inside the body, like sensing whether food and drink are warm or cold. To find “signs” in the body, nothing goes beyond blockage and flow, ascent and descent, cold and warm, dry and moist. The rule in practice is simply: where flow is needed, let it flow; where warmth is needed, warm; where moistening is needed, moisten—cycling, inverting, and transforming among these. The great point is single-mindedness and gentleness, not being drawn off by outer things, adjusting the root xīn (heart-mind) and qì (vital energy) so that qì and intent unite, and seeing clearly that this body is only a temporary loan. What ordinary people use—massage, lifting and contracting, and all sorts of visualization, circulating qì, and piling on effort—is only to make the qì mechanism nimble. Once qì is already lively and active, the method should still chiefly be zhuān (focused) and róu (soft): when a thought arises, dissolve it; one gathering, then stop. You must never “ride the ox while looking for the ox” (having it already yet searching outward); gathering without stopping is what is called “putting a head on top of a head” (something redundant piled on something already there). Even if you already have inner proof of fullness, ascent and descent, warmth and coolness, balance and moistness, you still guard against stickiness—this is the same principle as “when you gather, know when to stop.” Cultivate by this, and there is no fear of collapse or failure. That is the principle.

Section Six

Níwán Shi says: Yes, you are right. A woman’s “spirit flying” and a man’s “essence turning to mud” (jīng like sludge) both come from committing “putting a head on top of a head”—working on the self yet clinging outward, or mishandling gathering and release. What spirit clings to is jīng (essence); when shén (spirit) is concentrated and jīng is level, there is stability; when jīng is exhausted, shén is alone and flies. Those who do not understand this mistake it for “tuìhuà” (forms of liberation such as shījiě, leaving the corpse behind to become an immortal)—that is a misreading.

The Niwan (Mud Pill Palace) adept says: Yes, you are right. When a woman experiences “spirit flight” (shen fei) and a man experiences “essence turning to mud” (jing ni), both come from an extra head atop the head—layering fantasy and clinging on a mind that was already clear. Spirit then clings only to essence (in men) or to blood (in women). When spirit can gather and essence and blood stay balanced, one is stable; when essence is exhausted and spirit is isolated, spirit will fly wildly. Those who do not understand mistake this for “shedding the body and becoming an immortal”—a truly pitiable error. From this we know that overdoing massage, visualization, and fixed attention is wrong.

Why? A woman is yin within and yang without; in the trigram (gua) symbolism she corresponds to Li (☲, the Fire trigram). True yin is often lost with the monthly flow (yuexin, menstruation). Thus stillness overcoming movement is auspicious; movement overcoming stillness is inauspicious. Men take Jing (essence) as root; women take blood as root. Essence should be warmed and nourished to flourish; blood should be kept cool and clear to generate. Understand this and you know how to cultivate.

Women’s elixir practice does not entirely discard massage and fixed attention; it has two purposes: first, to open the qi mechanism so the meridians flow freely; second, to refine the fluids (jin ye) so they do not stagnate into phlegm but can transform into blood. The ancients spoke of taking quiet preservation as the foundation—also in two senses: like ruler and minister each in their place, spirit stays clear and does not fly wildly; and stillness begets wisdom, so one is not stirred by desire and ming (the root of life) can be secured. This is the essential method of dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu) within a single person.

Once the qi mechanism is smooth and the mind is pure, add harmonious blending (chonghe) qi, guard zhenbai (pure, upright awareness), and though daily progress seems small, monthly accumulation grows. With sustained effort, one can verify a body like empty space, the Three Fields (santian—the upper, middle, and lower dantian) threaded as one, feeling the four limbs and every joint and orifice lit with clarity. At this stage of work, one’s own body and the “outer body” (the form-and-spirit body of subtle perfection) are already present. If one can truly continue without retreat, spirit full and qi replete, thoughts not racing outward, then spirit does not run with thoughts, blood generation must flourish, true yin is also sufficient, and qi and essence can naturally fill a realm as vast as heaven and earth. But if one flies off with wandering thoughts, one falls into the second vehicle (ercheng—a lesser, more yin-biased attainment); what elixir scriptures call the yin spirit leaving the shell (yinshen chu ke) is exactly this fault. Students must guard against it.

Taixu shi said: I once heard my teacher explain that what is called “shen” refers to the mind-spirit; that it can be held fast and does not scatter is because it cherishes and guards jing (essence). Once jing is exhausted, shen flies away. Here “jing” means kidney essence; if jing is not “muddied,” it is because shen steers it. Yet jing that has been muddied is still not primordial jing—it is merely a kind of bodily fluid, a state of the body before cultivation is complete. Once true shen leaves the body, jing congeals like mud.

The Yijing says: one yin and one yang—that is alignment with the Dao. A verse also says: half a pound and eight taels (yin and yang in equal measure) can yield the true; it also says: solitary yin does not generate, solitary yang does not grow—Qian and Kun, Kan and Li, Zhen and Xun, Dui and Gen, earth and heaven, sun and moon, xing and ming, female and male—all are one yin and one yang, cycling without end; this is the constant Dao. If cultivation takes only one side, or fixates on one partial aspect, it becomes a skewed path and greatly harms the Way. It also says: when people first cultivate, most seek yin-yang pairing within this single body—but there is an order of priority: what comes first is true, what comes later is false. The false arises from the true; the true may also be called false; when the false returns to the true, it is then called “yuan” (primordial). If gathering and refining miss the timing, or cling to appearances, one enters side paths and mundane illusions—harm is no small matter, yet remedies still exist. Most perilous is solitary cultivation (cultivating only oneself, without yin-yang pairing): when skill is nearly complete, one sinks into deep trance; a single biased thought makes what is sensed and united biased as well. Though one wishes to stop, it is often too late—in women shen flies away; in men jing turns to mud. How can one not be cautious!

Understand that in Master Cui’s Mirror for Compounding the Medicine, the line “it is xing and ming, not shen and jing”—to speak of shen and jing in isolation is like using yellow leaves to hush a crying child: expedient teaching. Without recognizing true gold, how can one tell yellow leaves from it? Patriarch Zhong said: the four [elements] and the whole body are all yin—who knows what is yang essence? Those with karmic affinity who meet an enlightened master learn that the immortal who attains the Dao is cultivated within the body alone. He also said: the intercourse of being and non-being is the root of the elixir; hidden and manifest supporting each other—that is water and metal; do not insist this body alone is the Dao—solitary cultivation without pairing is solitary yin. Read in light of the master’s intent, the so-called “true seed” should lie here—and not be sought outside this body; the meaning is already profoundly subtle.

Niwan-shi said: Exactly so.

The Daode Jing says: There is something blended into one, existing before heaven and earth; still and empty, standing alone unchanged, turning in cycles without rest—that true seed, is that not what it means? If you insist on seeking it only in this body, the teaching runs very deep indeed.

This single reality is sealed inside Xingshan (the “mountain of form”—the human body as a mountain of flesh). The ancients put it this way: Do not seek within the body, do not gather outside the body—it seems to dwell in empty obscurity, yet it never leaves Xuanguan yiqiao (the one aperture of the Pass of Mystery—in alchemical texts, the vital point in the body where spirit and Qi meet, where the mysterious pass is said to sit).

That aperture is so vast it has no outer limit, so fine it has no inner limit; you cannot reason it through, you cannot pry it open by effort. There is only one way to practice: align the body with emptiness and void, drop every myriad attachment, forget even “emptiness,” forget even “stillness”—then Shen (spirit) will naturally enter the proper track, Qi (vital energy) will naturally well up from within. When the Qi is hazy and boundless, with neither head nor tail, that is this thing showing itself, the first stirrings of shenwai shen (the body beyond the body—the early sign of what spirit and Qi give rise to, beyond the ordinary form).

If that aperture never opens, then even if you can duan long (stop leakage, tame desire, and the like) and achieve shenhua (transformation of spirit), you are still caught in the phantom being and non-being of huangye (yellow leaves—a figure for hollow methods and hollow visions). How could that be called jietai (forming the embryo—in Neidan, the condensing of spirit and Qi as if gestating a fetus)? How could it be called rumen (entering the gate)? What was laid out earlier is still yellow leaves, not real gold (true lead and true mercury, the real sense of the true seed).

Commentary by Master Taixu

Massage may look like a heterodox side path, yet if you never do it at all, the qi meridians clog. Visualization and daoyin (guiding qi) may seem like idle fancy, yet if you abandon them entirely, Qi and Jing cannot be replenished. Even if you cultivate all the way to where form and formlessness blur and what seems solid and what seems empty merge, the master still does not call that the ultimate—for in the end it all still belongs on “this side.”

That said, when the path on “this side” is walked through, “that side” is easier to connect; if that side is not yet open, it is as if lofty mountains stand between, and the qi cannot pass. Once it opens, guiding with intention, fullness and smooth flow come gradually, and responses from all directions arrive on their own. So even across mountains and lakes, when qi connects it is like meeting face to face.

How is it done in practice? The master said: use “emitting light” to draw the qi over, and gather the mind to await it. If you only “when it rises there I lower, when it retreats there I return,” you merely meet for a moment and gain nothing deeper. The key is to remain in a state that is not dead stillness, while the heart stays utterly still—empty enough to hold, skilled at receiving.

When the qi arrives, you first feel a kind of harmonious ease; still keep the heart unmoved, wrap and gather it with intention, and refine it hidden within. From the Kun position it reaches the Gen position; “riding a raft into Han” (a metaphor for qi ascending to the brain)—you may feel golden light flash like lightning, cool qi filling empty space, like clouds or mist, circling inside and outside the body.

At this point you must not let stray thoughts arise: envy, doubt—whatever appears, cast it off at once. Then you may feel qi suddenly brim through the body, with no inside or outside, no edge in sight; in an instant, transformations layer upon one another, beyond count, beyond drawing, beyond words. Sometimes there is stillness without light, black as long night—all of this is called “mysterious shadow,” also “round image of the other shore.” In truth it is the round aspect of both self and other, corresponding to the realms symbolized in the Avatamsaka, Surangama, and Lotus sutras, and to the subtle scenes of the three mountains and ten isles; at bottom it is still the alchemical working of qi between self and other—the so-called other shore is not necessarily elsewhere, and realizing that shore does not leave this state.

The master said: I once asked the Pure Original Lord (Qingjing Yuanjun), and the Lord replied: Exactly so. I asked again: Is the path for men not the same?

Nidan (Mud-Pill Palace) Master said: The verse has already put it this way—turning over and turning back, it is all a matter within Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth); when the two kinds of Qi meet and exchange, essence joins with “Gen metal.” It also says: like an eagle seizing a sparrow or a goshawk pouncing on a cold crow—in what is subtle there is something still more subtle, in what is wondrous something still more wondrous; none of this departs from “know the white, keep to the black; know the masculine, keep to the feminine,” nor from “preserve non-being, guard being.”

〔Taixu Master said: The Daodejing and the Zhuangzi (Nanhua jing) are not scriptures women can ordinarily recite in daily life; the Qingjing jing (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness) is suitable for thorough reading, and the heart should constantly uphold it. I especially commend the Kun Ning jing and the Zhenyi jing. If the principle of nature (xing) is not thoroughly understood, life (ming) cannot be fully preserved; if precepts are not strictly kept, practice lacks a solid foundation. Contemplating the verse the master quoted, its meaning is deeply hidden and not easy to fathom; though one may receive instruction in the supreme method, how could ordinary women understand it—they mostly remain perplexed, and broadly speaking the world is much the same. Within it is in fact contained the whole “fire regimen” (the secret essentials of firing timing). One must read thoroughly the Yellow Emperor’s Yin Talisman Classic (Huangdi Yinfu jing), and consult the Dragon-Tiger Classic, the Cantong qi (Triplex Unity), and the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality)—only then can one discuss this section.

Bing offered a brief opening, saying: Over and over, the affair moves in cycles; recognize the “one within one,” and every turning of the cogwheel lies before the One. In the end it is only the two Qi; when essence commingles, images multiply without limit. Only when there is “no one” in the body does it appear, able to embrace that great thousand worlds. The myriad images of the great thousand shine brilliantly; that brilliance is precisely that “origin.” Do not be led astray by that “origin”—Yuanshi (Primordial Beginning) is our own origin. Origin upon origin is not a unity of ones; each one and each one likewise has no completeness. In still silence do not loosen your grip—then the work of cultivation is no small matter. Let sparrows and swallows go their way as swallows; let the crow’s cold be cold if it will. Until the moment of true hunger, when the time comes eat as you please. This is wonder within wonder, mystery upon mystery still deeper. Knowing the white, therefore keep to the black; in primordial chaos one may hope to grasp the great whole. Ask why it is so—at the utmost of non-being lies the utmost of being. The master’s essential meaning is roughly this. Even so, being and non-being arise from each other by nature; in choosing and discarding one must follow the one. If the physical form is not transformed, nothing in the hundred affairs succeeds.〕

Niwan Shi said: Well said. The principle is stated thus—

To transcend the ordinary in cultivation, first cleanse the mind of worldly distractions, then gradually release attachment to the three realms (desire, form, and formless). At the same time, do not violate the inner norms of womanly virtue; do not seek shortcuts through flattering spirits or ghosts; honor elders and treat others with kindness; do not transgress the human relationships Confucius taught; be yielding, preserve what is beneficial, and hold to constancy; do not violate the Kun way (the conduct proper to women). In activity, act according to reason; in stillness, let the heart be empty and light, as if a burden were lifted.

Hide the subtlety of the Dao in daily chores such as sweeping and wielding the broom; realize “fire phases” (huo hou—the grasp of qi and mind in practice) in ordinary tasks like lighting the fire and cooking.

The scripture also says (quoting the Book of Odes): “Dignified and at ease, steady and grand as mountains and rivers”—stressing that if a woman does not keep modest virtue, how can she explain herself clearly or govern herself? The warning intended, lies precisely here.

Taixu Shi comments: The master’s teaching in this section runs very deep. Many who take refuge in the Daoist or Buddhist paths fail to observe inner discipline and do not understand the nature school (the root teaching on mind-nature); when they should yield and serve teachers, they cannot, and instead grow harsh and violate human relations—teacher and disciple both become despised by the moral order, and may even cast themselves into Tiebi or Avici (hell realms)—is that not lamentable?

Min Yide said: My master Tai Xu Weng inherited the supreme Dao from our patriarch Niwan Shi; nine or ten parts of it can be found in this book. The commentary adds: Such core transmission is not merely the ferry and treasure of the female neidan (women’s internal alchemy) line alone. Among those in the male-lineage dual cultivation (xingming shuangxiu) who have grasped its depth through pillow secrets, quite a few exist. The original text, passed hand to hand, had many copyist errors, so it has been carefully corrected and arranged. It is a pity that Male Lineage Dual Cultivation Treasure Raft was taken away by the Yuan family of Changshan; once it is found again, it should not yet be lost. Male-lineage books also mention Female Lineage Precious Secret, and that copied version has many omissions and mistakes; if it can be obtained and corrected, and published together with this book, they would form a complete pair, each illuminating the other—a great service in saving people. This is hereby announced to gentlemen who obtain male-lineage texts. Destroying good books brings punishment from the nether offices; the classics record this often—one must take warning. Jingai Shanren Min Yide respectfully wrote this postface. Dated the full-moon day of mid-autumn in the tenth year of Daoguang (Gengyin).

Essentials of Female Neidan

Compiled by Jiyi Zi, Fu Jinquan of Jinxi

Lu Zu (Lu Dongbin) says in the lyric Buce Gong: Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui (four of the eight trigrams, often standing in neidan for water and fire, body and mind, and related pairings) occupy positions such as zi and wu; you must recognize the root ancestor of your own practice. Like thunder moving in the earth and rain falling on the mountain crest, washing clean so that Huangya (the first sprout of refined qi) rises from Kuntu (often the lower dantian or the body’s foundation); seize Jinjing (golden essence) and hold it fast in closure, and only by refining Geng and Jia (working metal and wood by seasonal and Five-Phase timing to advance inner refinement) can Dragon and Tiger (in neidan, the meeting of yin and yang, lead and mercury, and kindred unions) be produced. If someone asks who your teacher is, say only that it was transmitted by Master Lü.

Summary of Shangyao Lingjing · Sanming Pian (Upper Medicine Spirit Mirror — Chapter on the Three Destinies)

The layer of ming (life-destiny) is subtle and hard to exhaust in words; within it, signs and transformations shift without end.

Human umbilicus is called Mingmen (Gate of Life). Within lies Huangting (Yellow Court); behind is Youque (Hidden Tower); above is Queyuan; below is Qihai (Sea of Qi). Left like the sun, right like the moon—both tied to light. Light of ming also divides into three kinds: yellow light in the Dantian (energy center), white light in the taiyuan (fetal origin), purple light in the xueyuan (blood origin).

Xueyuan lies at the breasts—one cun and two fen along the midline, not the breasts on either side themselves. A man’s ming rests in the Dantian; the Dantian is the true soil where the elixir forms. A woman’s ming rests in the breasts; the breasts are where muqi (mother-qi) and jing of wood gather. Taiyuan knots the embryo, xueyuan generates blood, Dantian generates the elixir.

Practice centers on the Zi and Wu hours: hold the mind and contemplate the empty aperture at the breasts; breathe long and fine, exhaling little and inhaling much. When the monthly signal is about to arrive, lift from the Dantian and carry upward to the breasts.

Here monthly signal does not mean menstruation has already come—that alone counts as the signal. Signal is like someone still away while word from home arrives first: on the day the signal comes, she knows it herself—perhaps sore waist and legs, discomfort in head and eyes, no appetite. That is the signal arrived while blood is still forming, still on the level of Qi. One should begin focused practice two and a half days before the period.

If flow has already started, the Red Dragon and yin essence must not be grasped or forced; reckless circulation harms many. Wait until two and a half days after the period, test with white silk: a golden-yellow stain is the sign that flow has ended. Again carry upward by the former method and “cut” it. After months like this, the flow first turns yellow, then white, finally vanishes entirely—this is the way of returning from being to non-being.

For women, blood stands in for kidney—originally an empty aperture. After about forty-nine, the waist dries and blood seems spent, as if life were gone; long nourishment brings xueyuan again, like a maiden—wonder of creating being from non-being. When that phase appears, one cut and it transforms, and ming is born; then dual cultivation of nature and life matches the man’s method.

Wind in the navel like thunder and lightning is transformation of wood spirit; clouds and mist, flowers and birds in flight are birth of earth origin—its marvel cannot be fully told.

The Lazy Daoist Master explains: Why must women's cultivation be divided into three locations—upper, middle, and lower? The upper is the yang cavity; the middle is the Huangfang (in female elixir methods this often means the middle palace, focused intent, or the place of refinement); the lower is the Dantian (lower dantian). When one is young and essence-Qi is still ample, practice usually begins from the upper region; when the body declines and essence-Qi wanes, work shifts to the middle; if one is near completion, or as certain lineages prescribe, emphasis falls on the lower region.

He also says: Women are inherently “yang within, yin without”—yang is stored inside while the outer form belongs to yin. Cultivation must first slay the Red Dragon (through regulated breathing, focused intent, and related methods, so that menses cease and blood is no longer lost with the cycle—this is called “completing the body”). Only then can the water-yin symbolized by the Kan trigram turn into the pure yang of the Qian trigram. After that one may borrow the internal alchemy methods used by men; it is said that after a full year of practice the Golden Elixir can form within the body—and that is the principle involved.

The Taiyin (Lunar/Feminine) Cultivation Method states that a woman’s refinement of form (lianxing) largely follows that of a man’s Taiyang (Solar/Masculine) Refinement of Form, with only minor differences in detail.

At entry, one first closes the eyes and gathers the Shen (spirit), then fully relaxes and rests until the mind is quiet and the breath is regulated. One then fixes attention and sends the spirit into the Qi cavity—the spot between the two breasts, above the pit of the heart.

Cross the hands to support the breasts and gently knead and massage them three hundred and sixty times. Next, from the lower Dantian (energy center), draw the Qi upward slightly in twenty-four breaths. Still using the hands to support the breasts, perform inner reflection (fanzhao) to regulate the breath. Over time, true breathing (zhenxi) comes and goes naturally, opening and closing, until an inner landscape forms—the yine (inner chamber, womb palace) of the inner scene—with Shen and Qi full, true Yang flourishing on its own, menstrual flow ceasing on its own, and the breasts shrinking like a man’s. This is called Slaying the Red Dragon (zhan chilong)—cutting off the Red Dragon and stopping menstruation.

Persisting in this way, one need no longer support the breasts and draw breath; one only fixes the Shen in the Qi cavity and turns the light inward (huiguang fanzhao)—what is meant by the Gate of the Mysterious Female (xuanpin zhi men). When true breath is long and deep, and one reaches emptiness to the utmost and still sincerity (xuji jingdu), Yang Qi steams and rises; the River Chariot (heche) reverses its course, like purple clouds facing the palace and a white channel piercing the crown. One feels a point of numinous light (lingguang) neither inside nor outside, ascending from the lower field to the Crimson Palace (jiangong), the Mud Pill (niwan), then passing the Multi-storied Tower (chonglou) to return to the Golden Embryo Spirit Chamber (jintai shenshi). When the ten-month work is complete, the Yang Spirit (yangshen) appears—the same final outcome as in men’s practice, with no essential difference.

The Xian Tian Xuan Wei states: Before a girl’s spirit takes birth in a human body, when her parents unite in intercourse it is usually the father’s jing (essence) that arrives first and the mother’s blood that comes after; the blood wraps the essence, and a female body is formed.

At the moment she is conceived, she first receives a measure or two of Lead Qi (qian qi)—innate primordial yang breath—from the mother. On the right side the kidneys first take shape; a single “thread” is drawn upward and the two eyes are formed, and a single “thread” is drawn downward and the Golden Elixir appears (here meaning the embryo’s first congenital root in the womb, not the finished elixir spoken of in later qi cultivation). From that point on, every twelve days one zhu of Gui Water (the innate yin water that corresponds to menses and yin essence) is generated; after one hundred eighty days one liang of Gui Water has accumulated. Thereafter the rhythm changes to one zhu every fifteen days, one liang per year; by the age of fourteen, fourteen liang of Gui Water have gathered in the Blood Sea (the womb and the Chong and Ren region), plus the two liang brought from the womb, making the full “one jin” measure. One jin equals three hundred eighty-four zhu, matching the three hundred eighty-four degrees of the celestial circuit, the three hundred eighty-four days of the year, and the three hundred eighty-four lines of the Book of Changes (Yijing)—the reckoning of Yin–Yang in Heaven and Earth: when yin reaches its limit, yang is born; when Gui Water is exhausted, lead appears. Hence at “double seven” (fourteen years) Tian Gui (Heavenly Gui, menstruation) descends.

After Tian Gui begins at fourteen, roughly every twenty-six months and seven and a half days one liang of Gui Water is spent; by forty-nine, Gui Water is used up. There are also mnemonic formulas and secret methods that cannot be fully set out here.

Discerning Difficulties in Cultivation

Question: When men and women begin practice, how do the places where they first apply effort differ?

Answer: For men, refining Qi is essential; for women, refining the form is essential. Refining Qi means gathering and subduing Qi; when Qi is subdued enough to turn inward, one reaches extreme emptiness and deep stillness, returning to the root and restoring life—then the White Tiger descends (in male practice, meaning primordial essence no longer leaks outward). Refining the form means concealing and stabilizing the body; when the form is concealed to the point of complete dissolution, the four great elements empty out and the limbs shed away—then the Red Channel is severed (in female practice, meaning menstruation ceases).

After the White Tiger descends in a man, the body is like a child’s again; postnatal essence no longer leaks, and one may form the elixir and extend life. After the Red Channel is severed in a woman, the form transforms toward the male pattern, turbid blood no longer flows downward, and one may leave death and enter life. Hence men’s practice is called Yang Sun refining Qi, and women’s Yin Moon refining form.

Further question: Do women who refine the form not subdue Qi at all?

Answer: Women’s nature is Yin, so Qi is relatively easier to subdue; but the Red Channel is what most obstructs the Great Way—the crux is there. From the start one must apply force at the vital point: once the Red Channel is severed, Qi naturally becomes tractable, unlike men whose Yang nature makes Qi hard to subdue. For example, a man may need three years to subdue Qi; a woman may hope to do so in one. If a woman is a true adept who receives the master’s oral instructions and practices Yin Moon form-refinement, she may attain the Way in three to five years—less effort than a man. Yet such women are hardest to meet—they must be more resolute and fierce than men by a hundredfold; if they are only equal to men, they absolutely cannot succeed.

Further question: The Great Way does not distinguish male and female—why are the initial methods different?

Answer: The body of the Way is the same; the methods differ. Innate nature and physical form differ, so the same path of nature-and-life cultivation is carried out in very different ways.

Question: How is the Red Channel severed?

Answer: The Red Channel is originally transformed from postnatal Yin qi; when Yin qi stirs, turbid blood flows. To transform blood, refine Qi first; when Qi is transformed, blood rises instead into the breasts, turning from red to white and circulating through the whole body—then there is no fire of desire or agitation. When desire-fire subsides, true fire appears. From then on, steady and smooth progress makes preserving life and completing the form no longer difficult.

Xuantian Shangdi (Supreme Deity of the Mysterious Heaven) said:

The Book of Changes treats Qian as father and Kun as mother, so the logic of Yin and Yang is plain enough. Once heaven and earth exist, male and female exist as well; the way of Yin and Yang needs little explanation—where heaven and earth are present, male and female ought to be present too. Men take form from the transformations of Qian and Kun; women likewise receive their bodies from the union of Qian and Kun. Whoever has such a body carries the breath of Qian and Kun and shares the same cosmos.

Now is the time of the compassionate ferrying of all beings, when everyone should help steady the precious raft. Men have no lack of cultivation methods, yet the Kun Way—Nüdan (female alchemy)—is often set aside. Books that expound subtle doctrines for men pile up like fodder in a cattle shed, while models and norms for delivering women are pitifully few. I therefore vowed in compassion to speak of this matter alone. In this compilation the words are many but a single master thread is lacking, so it is hard to carry one thread through all the subtleties.

A woman’s body belongs to the Yin image—so where does the Yang go? The body is Yin; Qi (vital energy) is Yang. If you divide Yin and Yang only by bodily form, Yin and Yang become hard to pin down; if you speak in terms of Qi and blood, Yin and Yang finally have a place to stand. Blood is inherently Yin (of the same kind as sweat); without Qi, blood cannot circulate. Within Qi is Qi in the sense of prenatal vital breath—purity and turbidity are distinguished thereby. Blood is again Yin; without the Yang Qi stored within Yin, Qi cannot flow. At this point one must break through and reveal the true pivot in a single breath:

The Qihai (Sea of Qi) belongs to Yang, and within Yang there is Yin; the Xuehai (Sea of Blood) belongs to Yin, and within Yin Yang is hidden. These two openings and the septum (ge) between them—in the twelve double-hours there should never be stagnation. (Qihai and Xuehai lie opposite each other below the navel; the septum is one cun and three fen below it.)

When Yang reaches its extreme, Yin grows; when Yin reaches its extreme, Yang is born—the two turn, meet, and exchange. Between these openings and the septum, through all twelve double-hours, passage should be unobstructed and unblocked.

Location and the Principle of Mutual Exchange

The Sea of Qi and the Sea of Blood lie about one inch and three fen below the navel, opposite each other across the diaphragm. When Yang is full, Yin lengthens; when Yin reaches its limit, Yang is born—Yin and Yang turn and meet like a wheel in motion. Around “thirty” (often the menstrual cycle or a stage of firing) the monthly flow arises naturally. What meets here is Yin and Yang; in substance it is Qi that meets. This aperture is first one, then divides into two. When the monthly flow stops, Qi surges inward; when it flows outward, Qi leaks outward—so when the monthly flow moves, practice should stop. If Qi has already leaked and one does not stop, turbid Qi will assault xiezi (the deep dantian, the mysterious pass, and similar vital points)—this must be guarded against.

Difference in Function Between Male and Female Bodies

The man uses the Qi within Jing to penetrate xiezi; the woman uses the Qi within the blood to steam and warm xiezi. When xiezi is full, the lotus aperture (a metaphor for inner passes) is also full; when the lotus aperture is full, extraction and addition (raising and lowering the firing, advancing Yang and retreating Yin) begin to turn. Only when extraction and addition are in motion do phrases like “sweet dew descending” apply.

Those who do not know this think the man’s Jing is abundant and Qi strong while the woman’s blood-Qi is weak, hence “male Yang, female Yin.” For those who cultivate the Way, if severing the seven emotions and cutting off the six desires is the foundation, then that fine thread of Qi in the woman is often fuller than in the man. Why? The man’s heart stirs easily; the woman’s thoughts are comparatively still. Stirring, Qi leaks easily; stillness, Qi grows easily. One easy to lengthen, one easy to leak—the gap is not merely a thousand li. The man’s seven lotuses (seven passes or seven apertures) are easy to gather and hard to release; the woman’s seven lotuses are easy to release and easy to gather. With sincere effort without slackening, one need not wait until the “three fives”; sweet dew descends often and the seven lotuses open often. Once opening is easy, why speak of the difficulty of “gathering and taking”? Male and female difference becomes clear here.

Sorting Same from Different

If one only talks emptiness, void, mystery, wonder, spirit, and transformation in a lump, that is the great common ground in male and female practice. Go further and distinguish what is true: are you willing to look up from this and discriminate? (The closing question urges real cultivation and verification—not getting stuck in empty talk.)

In male cultivation, the character for “embryo” (tai) is often used to name a certain stage; on the women’s side, they deliberately avoid “embryo” and use only the single character xi (breath/rest) for that stage, lest later generations misunderstand “embryo” and invite undeserved blame. Alas! This one xi for women—if it is not formed, so be it; once formed it seals and holds fast; formed again, one can guard oneself; at the third formation the root is firm. When these three layers of practice grow strong, release comes more easily and gathering back comes more easily too. Can a chaste woman’s resolve fail to awaken urgently to this subtle point?

Further: a woman’s breath-energy is naturally soft; when it is not soft, it is mostly later habits of “hardness” that harm her. Anyone who aspires to leave the dust of the world need only guard against the word “hard” and constantly hold to “soft.” If one can always keep gentle warmth and unbroken xi, then emptiness, wonder, void, and mystery can all be stored within “soft,” embracing the ten thousand things.

Moreover: when a man’s shen emerges, true qi must be utterly pure and yang before there is a chance to shed the shell—yang still holds yin within. When a woman’s shen emerges, her shen is not the same as a man’s—why? When a woman has cultivated to the three-yang stage, she can transform and depart a hundred li away; when she has cultivated to the meeting of pure old and two yang, then one emergence is forever—no more risk of dying halfway. In sum: in men, yang holds yin; in women, yin holds yang. In men, yin is inside and yang outside; in women, yin is outside and yang inside. When yang prevails, all yin tends to retreat. I do not spare words here to lay bare the true pulse, only because I earnestly hope more will soon attain the real.

Commentary of the Mysterious Heaven Emperor: Can you understand the woman’s elixir now? What I have distinguished is exact and true. As for other methods and formulas, they are fundamentally the same as for men. What differs is precisely this secret key in the teaching.

Commentary attributed to Guangyuan Fo says:

Forming the elixir, spirit transformation, and shedding the shell were always matters of emptiness and naturalness—there is no fixed method you can “work at” on purpose.

Commentary attributed to Jinsha Gufo says:

Call your fellow cultivators together and listen closely. You have practiced for many years and your hearts are sincere enough.

Yet the gongfu rarely truly takes hold in the body—surely something is wrong? Sometimes there is a method, sometimes not; you often need someone to point it out directly.

Whether there is thought or no thought must also be explained carefully. Too many people fall into “being rigid and literal,” and the trouble starts right there.

And what fault is “clinging”? Mostly it is mixing worldly thoughts with the order of post-heaven and pre-heaven.

“Post” means the six desires (post-heaven); “pre” means the spiritual source (pre-heaven). Using pre- and post-heaven together or reversing their order blocks the turning of spiritual Qi.

Pre-heaven Qi is like a single thread holding everything. The three passes and the nine apertures—each aperture follows this same principle.

Once post-heaven stray thoughts arise, they cut off the mystery gate (xuanguan); pre-heaven Qi is obstructed and none of the nine apertures is at ease.

After a session of sitting, joints often ache and the whole body feels stiff and bound, because Qi has not truly cleared the passes.

If even one aperture is not reached, trouble will cling to you. Of those who cultivate, how many know it will be like this?

I must show compassion; below I explain it in detail so you can guard against it—do not blame the immortals.

It is not that methods are used to harm you; I fear you will each be scared out of your wits! Pre- and post-heaven Qi often differ by no more than a hair’s breadth of thought.

Thoughts are hard to purify by nature; you must let them be as they are. Do not forcibly fix on one thought—once you fix, the passes are blocked.

The single Qi in the middle field gathers the whole body here. In the immortals’ teaching, “gathering” means gathering the pre-heaven.

When post-heaven thought is exhausted, pre-heaven appears of itself; merged into one, the three passes are filled.

Matching Yin and Yang, each pair linked; as Yin wanes and Yang waxes, they can solidify and bind into one ball.

From here the elixir grows; from here the sprout emerges. I see sentient beings constantly entangled in affliction.

All because the boundary between pre- and post-heaven was never drawn. I point out this one thing in hope that everyone will strive.

Before you take your seat, first let the heart scatter and the intent grow light… (If more follows, it continues in the same vein: first dissolve the post-heaven, then preserve the pre-heaven; only when Yin wanes and Yang waxes can there be solid consolidation.)

From here the elixir is gradually nurtured, and the spiritual sprout is nourished. Yet when we look at people today, many are constantly tied down by illness. That usually means the two kinds of qi—“prior” and “posterior”—still have not been clearly separated. I spell this out so each of you can think it through and take it seriously.

Before you even sit down to practice, let body and mind be loose and easy: not stiff, not tense, alive and natural. When you do sit, do not tie yourself in knots. Let thoughts come when they come, and let them go when they go. Let them change on their own while you simply keep your spirit gathered. Even if thoughts pile up, do not wrestle with them. Close your eyes as if you were asleep; feel the body melt away while the form stays whole—no “me,” no “other,” like a lump of still flesh. Work in this way and illness will settle by itself; you are less likely to pick up new sickness, and the whole body feels open and at ease.

If you grip your thoughts, qi blocks and the inner fire scorches the root of life. If you force intent, qi scatters and stray fire burns hotter. That is how illness starts and how true vitality dries up. In women there is the “sea of blood”: qi turns into blood and flows outward. When stray fire moves, it steams through the root of life; blood withers and doctors often cannot fix it. When blood is active, stay relaxed and open—no impatience, no anger. Keep thoughts quiet and spirit calm. Wait until scattered thoughts have faded on their own, then sit again and things will feel natural. Impatience and anger disturb the middle field—the dantian and qi sea. Then day and night the chest feels hot, the mouth bitter, the tongue dry—all from this one mistake. Who sees it clearly? Practitioners must not slip even a little. Touch worldly dust and you damage true vitality without knowing it; sickness is already at the door. Chills and fevers come from leaning one way or another. Do not assume practice always drives off illness and lengthens life. Without constant self-checking the harm is huge: every moment, every thought, watch yourself. Do not violate, do not touch—and the spiritual elixir grows easily. Do not hanker after emptiness; mystery is mystery on its own. Do not grind for “skill,” do not force the elixir through nine revolutions, do not torture yourself on the cushion—there is no time that is not meditation.

If the method is not correct or not genuine, why fix your hopes only on the Pure Land of the West? I come to guide and transform you so that the golden body may be exchanged for fulfillment. Each of you should measure yourself, hold yourself precious, and guard your single focus.

My words may seem plain, yet their subtlety must be pondered in depth. From beginning to end, the great method has been stated in full.

The Ancient Buddha of Golden Sand said:

If the method and secret instructions are not subtle, the first subtlety lies in huohou—the grasp of timing, tightness and looseness, and ascent and descent in cultivation. The Dao arises from Wuji (Limitless); within Wuji is originally contained that one aperture. Jing issues from here, Qi first stirs here, the medicine is born here, and the embryo is preserved here. Look closely and the mechanism leaps of itself—lively, vast and deep—all issuing from this root aperture. Speaking broadly, the hundred vessels all take form from Wuji; speaking finely, it belongs to the formless and imageless, yet embraces the myriad transformations. Men and women alike possess this treasure, but the paths divide into blood and essence: the man reverses jing to become an immortal; the woman raises blood upward to return to the heart aperture. Therefore each has its own method of practice and its own way of contemplation. Though female practice uses the method of “gathering,” do not clamp the mind shut; if the mind-horse will not be tethered and a single thought stirs, the Sea of Blood surges like a tide.

The Sea of Blood and the Sea of Qi must be distinguished below: what was formerly called the Sea of Blood occupies only seven parts; here is the Sea-of-Qi aperture—the aperture in that wondrous place neither above nor below, neither left nor right. Blood transforms into breath, breath condenses into Qi; the subtlety lies here. Post-heaven breath must be transformed into pre-heaven; once human desire mixes in, the connection is cut—there is post-heaven without pre-heaven, and one becomes ordinary seed. Immortal and ordinary differ; you must know this principle.

If the Dao stops at this layer it is not yet the Dao; Qi must return to the root at the Wuji aperture before it can condense into the spiritual sprout, form the elixir, and reach the fire phase. How are before and after divided? Once divided, huohou must not be neglected. If Guishui (the yin water phase) has not yet arrived, you must still cultivate diligently without slackening—lively morning and evening, yet harmonious. Too loose and the spirit scatters; too tight and the Qi aperture closes. You need neither loose nor tight, neither late nor early. “Not dwelling is dwelling”—that is good; “not gathering is gathering, not illuminating yet self-illuminating.” This point of huohou is extremely fine; women must examine it all the more carefully. Without knowing this point, it does not count as practice; yet if you grasp the two characters “cultivation and refinement” too rigidly, you should instead set down the character “refinement”—to cling too much to “refining” is to fix on appearances, and once you fix on them, affliction from the root of disease stirs.

Section One

Once this affliction takes hold, medicine can scarcely remove it. People commonly say the root of illness lies in the organs, yet the root of this condition is lodged deep in the marrow—how can medicinal power reach it? Only when a single point of pure Yang penetrates the inner aperture can this disease be uprooted.

Section Two

When Qi surges upward, it must be guided back into the aperture; in movement one must not cling to stillness—stillness alone gives birth to life. Let yourself be unaware, without seeing or hearing; after returning to the root, a single movement brings nature and life, Yin and Yang, into union—water and fire achieve mutual completion, from Wuji (the limitless) to Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), embracing transformation and primordial chaos.

Section Three

When you sit, refine only briefly—this is formless refinement; you must not hold any image in mind; a slight settling is enough (the word “slight” deserves careful attention). Once stillness stirs, do not grasp at it; let stillness come of itself—do not rashly involve the discriminating mind (the post-heaven faculty of distinction). Release everything; sleep if sleep comes, dullness if dullness comes—not the slightest startle of error. Few recognize this kind of firing method (the timing and intensity of practice). Most see stillness and move rashly; once the body moves, Qi scatters and turns into demonic obstruction, with thoughts in endless turmoil.

Section Four

At this point, leave the seat, walk for a while, wait about a quarter-hour, then go to bed and nurture stillness again—stillness will naturally return to the root more easily. If you force yourself to sit, the illness takes root within. If wandering thoughts are many, sleep first, then use “gathering the spirit”; if there are no wandering thoughts, do not use it—if there are, refine the heart. Read the word “refine” flexibly: a faint gathering in the hazy obscurity beyond perception—that is the method of refinement and the first vehicle of entering stillness; this is the firing method for sitting.

Section Five

In movement, the firing method must be clearly distinguished—when moving, you must be aware; in awareness, do not mix in worldly thoughts. Here the celestial human and the ordinary human part ways; here immortal and mortal separate. It is like the body of an infant not yet awakened—the pre-heaven body is already awake; post-heaven arises at this boundary.

This passage concerns practice in the first thought upon waking: one should observe finely—right after waking, the mind is often still dazed; as soon as thought turns, all sorts of idle ideas pile on. The words “first” and “again” are like a flash of lightning: in that instant, if you can gather the mind, it is as if myriad thoughts do not stir. At this time you should hold correct mind and correct thought, and discern and listen to the Qi within; if delusive thoughts intrude and hinder concentrated refinement and nurturing, you must go one step further—still relying on “listening to Qi” to restore yin and yang; when both sides are restored, continue the circuit of the heavens (zhou tian). This work cannot slacken for a single day; abandon this path and it cannot count as a supreme method.

What follows states that this is a truly subtle secret: men and women alike should keep it in mind. Unless one refines with true seed and true heart, lightly revealing heaven’s secrets—by traditional reckoning—may invite the “thunderbolt” penalty. The method looks shallow and ordinary on the surface, yet on reflection is extremely refined: before the Golden Elixir is fully formed, every day one must guard this single gate.

White Lotus Immortal (Bailian Zhenren) says:

Resolve must be firm and pure; do not let worldly dust and breath cling to you. The method is plain and easy to practice; when it circulates, do not stall. Sometimes a certain technique is called for, yet one must not be self-congratulatory; sometimes one should drop elaborate forms and silently guard the original true nature (benlai zhenxing). Stillness and activity support each other; moment by moment align with the Heart of Heaven (Tianxin). Chaste women need no separate arcane system—here is only a light touch of guidance.

Blood and qi have their waxing and waning; the work of nurturing should go deeper. Over time blood transforms into Qi; the white, creamy breath pervades the body; naturally yin becomes yang; amid the red dust the heart is unmoved—only then can one achieve the pure yang body (qian ti) and only then realize supreme authenticity (shang zhen). If even a slight thought of deceit arises, one still fears falling into a deep pit.

White Lotus Immortal also says:

Restraint (jie) is the ladder of practice; chastity, stillness, and freedom from dust are the first stage of meditation (chu chan). Add further refinement and nurture of true Qi: yin descends, yang rises, and the Pass (xuanguan) appears. The Pass is not sought outside; seek the Great Elixir (da dan) in the inch-field (cun tian)—usually the dantian region. When the heart is truly still and the spirit truly at ease, one can circulate the circuit of the heavens in lively freedom: Qi returns to its source, blood returns to its source, and is finely cooked in the furnace. Then summer is not hot and winter is not cold; gently, gently one nurtures this true beauty. When the ten-month work is full, then three more years of nurturing (ru bu)—let it be natural; naturally one ascends to the Great Canopy Heaven (daluo tian)—the supreme realm.

White Lotus Immortal again says (in verse, same meaning):

Restraint is the ladder of practice; chastity, stillness, and freedom from dust are the first meditation. Add refinement and nurture of true Qi; yin descends, yang rises, and the Pass is revealed. The Pass is not sought outside the body; seek the Great Elixir in the inch-field. When the heart is still and the spirit at ease, circulate the circuit of the heavens in lively freedom. Qi returns to source, blood returns to source—finely cooked in the furnace between. Summer not hot, winter not cold; gently nurture this true beauty. The elixir complete in ten months, then three years of nurturing—let nature take its course; naturally ascend to daluo heaven.

(The closing line about “a little deceit, merely adding a dot to the eye” matches the earlier “deceit”: in practice there must be no deception or slack compromise.)

The ancient Buddha of Jinsha said:

Where does female elixir cultivation come from? Men and women are different by nature, and female practice differs greatly from male practice. In male cultivation, jing transforms into qi, qi into shen, and shen into emptiness; when emptiness reaches its depth and stillness is solid and real, the elixir forms of itself. In female cultivation, blood transforms into qi, qi into shen, and shen into emptiness; in wuwei and naturalness the elixir completes on its own. Yet “qi arising from blood” has two layers of meaning. If the mind is unsettled, thoughts impure, the body restless, and qi not flowing smoothly, blood cannot become qi—blood stays blood and qi never appears as qi; then blood grows turbid and exhausted, and xin (xin shui, menstrual “faith water”) shows itself fully. Xin is inherently impure matter—how can it become qi? In fact what transforms into qi is blood; what truly drives that transformation is the yuanqi (original qi) within the blood. What is yuanqi? Blood is what the body’s jing and qi depend on; with blood, jing and qi have a dwelling; without blood, qi has nowhere to rest. Blood is like the sea: when water condenses, qi condenses; when it rises to heaven it falls like rain and dew. If a person’s blood is like the sea, blood can transform into qi and ascend through the whole body, then penetrate the hundred vessels—when the hundred vessels are connected, a point settles downward and forms a knot, and from that one may hope to form the elixir. Otherwise, if the belly is full of worldly passion, outer affairs entangle one, temperament is restless and vain, splendor pulls one in every direction, worry and thought knot up, and wandering thoughts disturb—all day without a moment’s quiet—then turbid qi blocks true qi, heaven and earth do not meet, yin and yang are not tuned, cold and heat are not regulated, and the cosmic circuit (zhoutian) does not close. Fewer than one or two in a hundred succeed. This is not the Dao’s fault but the person’s.

I now instruct you all: each should reflect carefully. Do not say the Dao is untrue—fear only that your heart is untrue. If the heart is truly sincere, sweep away floating thoughts and cast off worldly glitter, soften the temperament and leave no violence, release worry so spirit is calm and mind joyful, and cut off outer business—then heavenly qi descends and earthly qi rises, and innate true qi flows out naturally, filling like the sea; qi will connect with spirit-qi of its own accord. When you do not sit, so be it; once you sit, it is utterly natural, with wordless subtle delight—compared with everything in the human world, another realm entirely—then you know the Dao is not empty, immortality is not false, and the formula does not mislead, but one must awaken through one’s own nature.

I add another verse on the elixir: Some say the chi long (Red Dragon, menstruation, xin shui) must be “cut off” or the elixir and the Dao cannot be achieved—yet they do not know that when blood is exhausted, qi is exhausted too. It is like a man whose jing is spent: the elixir is hard to complete—the principle is the same. For both, male jing and female blood must not be recklessly cut off: qi separated from blood has no source; when blood transforms into qi, the refined essence (in female practice, the qi transformed from blood) begins to circulate. If one insists that blood must be fully gone before refining the elixir, why do youths with dried blood fall ill instead? In the end it always comes back to blood as the root.