《玄机直讲》

When one first sets to work in cultivation, one must not cling to intentional doing, for deliberate forcing belongs to the contrivance of the postnatal state. Nowadays many practitioners in the Daoist tradition easily fall into this fault, and so the world has few who truly attain the Dao (the Way). Yet one also must not pursue Wuwei (non-action) one-sidedly, or one will fall into hollow emptiness. Nowadays some in the Buddhist tradition commit this same fault, and so the world has few true disciples of the Buddha. The way of cultivation is hard to put into practice, and the root of this is that people have not understood it.

The preliminary work lies in calming emotional attachments and clearing stray thoughts. This is the foundation of cultivation and the first step in training body and mind. When selfish desires and miscellaneous thoughts in the human mind recede, the Heavenly Mind (the mind that is clear, still, and originally so) appears; when human desires are purified away, the principle of Heaven can long endure.

Each day, first sit quietly for a time. Once body and mind are settled and the breathing is peaceful, gently close the eyes and lower the lids, and place the mind and Shen (spirit) at a point about one cun and three fen below the heart and above the kidneys. Neither deliberately cling to this place nor leave it altogether. Do not forget it in the mind, and do not use force to make anything grow. Let every kind of thought gradually disappear, leaving only a clear awareness. This is called “correct mindfulness.”

At this time, thought remains agile and vivid, while the breath is easy, soft, and prolonged. On the exhalation, one feels the breath move upward, but it should not surge to the heart; on the inhalation, one feels the breath move downward, but it should not rush to the kidneys. The breath opens and closes, comes and goes. After practicing in this way for one or two weeks, the kidney region gradually grows warm, and the Dantian (energy center)—the place where, in the Neidan (internal alchemy) of the human body, the breath is said to gather—also becomes warm. Breathing grows naturally even without deliberate adjustment, and Qi (vital energy) gradually becomes full without deliberate refinement.

Once the breath is harmonized, the upper, middle, and lower places seem to have no breath going out or coming in. This is called “embryonic breathing,” and also “Shen-breath.” It is further called the “true bellows” (a metaphor for the bellows that stirs the mechanism of Qi), the “true cauldron and furnace” (a metaphor for the cauldron and furnace in which Jing (essence) and Qi are refined and nourished), and “returning to the root and restoring life”—that is, “the gate of the Mysterious Female, the root of Heaven and Earth.”

At this time, true Qi (the vital energy of life spoken of in Neidan) is like a flower just forming a bud, or a fetus just taking shape, and it naturally warms and nourishes the channels of the body. True Qi passes from the Weilü (near the lower end of the spine) through the Jiaji and rises to the Niwan (the site of cultivation at the crown of the head or in the brain); it then descends through the Magpie Bridge (the passage at the tongue), the Chonglou (the throat), and the Jianggong (the region of the heart and chest), and finally settles into the middle Dantian. This is called the “initial movement of the River Cart” (the early stage in which the mechanism of Qi travels along the route of the body). Yet at this point only the mechanism of Qi has arrived; Shen and Qi are not yet sufficient. It is not a true stirring, and one should not intervene deliberately. One need only gently gather the mind and Shen and keep watch over the Middle Palace (the site of cultivation at the center of the body), and inexhaustible vitality will arise of itself. This is what is called “nourishing the Ying’e” (cultivating the nascent foundation of Neidan).

Practicing in this way for one or two months, mind and Shen grow still quieter. When stillness has lasted a long time, Qi too gradually arises. This is the work of “Shen giving rise to Qi, and Qi giving rise to Shen.” After about a hundred days, or a little more, one’s spirit grows still more abundant, and true Qi gradually fills out. The firing process (one’s grasp, in the course of refining and nourishing, of the state of body and mind and of the progress of the work) is gentle, and the body’s Qi and blood have a surplus. Of itself there appears the state in which Kan and Li join and Qian and Kun meet (the hexagram images of the Book of Changes serving as a metaphor for the blending of Yin-Yang): Shen and Qi fuse and flow freely. Suddenly true Qi converges, as if a whirling force were surging upward through the hundred channels. This is called the “true movement of the River Cart.”

If at this time one senses a point of numinous light appearing in the Dantian, it is the “Mysterious Pearl at the bottom of the water” and the “Yellow Sprout within the earth” (both used as metaphors for the first signs of nascent Neidan). This is “the return of the single Yang,” like the red sun just rising and shining into the vast blue sea. The scene is like mist and smoke, now hidden and now apparent, and thereupon “lead-fire” arises. Lead-fire here is a term of Neidan, referring to a sign of Jing and Qi spoken of in the course of refinement.

Before Qian and Kun, and Kan and Li, have yet joined, one should remain empty, still, and silent, letting Shen condense and settle within, the work unbroken, so that body and mind, inside and outside, fuse into one. This is called the “matching of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water).” When water and fire have met, and one has passed through the “gathering of the two periods” (choosing the time to gather and refine, in the terminology of Neidan), the “reversal of the River Cart” (the mechanism of Qi moving along a set route), and the “obtaining of the medicine in the four periods” (obtaining, in the course of refinement, what Neidan calls the “medicine”), and when spirit and intention rest secure within the body and the light of the elixir does not depart, this is called the “Greater Celestial Circuit,” and also “performing the nine reversals of the great return.”

At this point, a single point of ultimate Yang Jing and Qi condenses within, lying hidden where desires have already been purified and the emotions are calm, and it manifests the form of which Neidan speaks. Reaching this stage, the breath seems to rest in the state of embryonic breathing and must be warmed and nourished without cease, with not the slightest error for even a moment. This is also called the “work of ten months.”

Within a single period of seated practice there are also contained the three stages of “refining Jing (essence) into Qi (vital energy), refining Qi into Shen (spirit), and refining Shen to return to emptiness.” It is not only a cultivation of ten months of entering stillness that proceeds in this way. Whether for one double-hour, one day, one month, or one year, one may cultivate according to this same process.

After one sits down and closes the eyes, concentrating the spirit and guarding it within, so that the mind grows quiet and the breath is regulated evenly—this is “refining Jing into Qi.” One then gathers in mind and spirit, turns the gaze back to illuminate within, and settles intention in the elixir cavity (the cultivation site in the region of the Dantian [energy center]), letting the true breath (the inner respiration spoken of in cultivation) come and go of itself. At this time the interior passes through the changes from extreme stillness into movement, and from movement at its extreme back into stillness, changes that hold all manner of mechanisms of cultivation. This is “refining Qi into Shen.”

When true Qi has gathered at the elixir source, and Yin-Yang has moved back and forth and joined, body and mind naturally grow calm by degrees. Keeping a rectified attention guarded at the Dantian at this point is “sealing and consolidating the firing process,” that is, holding the state of cultivation so that it is not lost. Long persistence in the work of these stages is not limited to ten months of entering the enclosure (closed retreat for quiet cultivation). The saying “each ke has the celestial circuit of that ke” means that every ke of cultivation has its corresponding cycle; a double-hour, a day, a month, and a year each likewise have their corresponding movement of the celestial circuit (zhoutian).

Within a single ke, the first half belongs to warmth, advancing the fire, the full moon, the waxing quarter, and morning Zhun, and also corresponds to spring and summer; the second half belongs to coolness, withdrawing the tally, the dark moon, the waning quarter, and evening Meng, and also corresponds to autumn and winter. One double-hour may be divided into the first four ke and the last four ke, and a day, a month, and a year may all be correlated in the same way. Concentrating the transformations of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) into the work of a single ke is called “gathering and clustering Yin-Yang and the Five Phases,” that is, using the cultivation of one ke to experience the climatic changes of a whole year.

Only when this point is reached can one be said to have attained “true emptiness and true stillness.” After one or two years, ten years, or an even longer course of cultivation, if one can break through the void and become one body with the Great Void, this is the work of “refining Shen to return to emptiness.”

After the preceding work has been completed over ten months, one must still constantly tend the “infant” (the name, in Neidan [internal alchemy], for the primordial spirit when it has just taken form). One lets it go out step by step, from ten paces and a hundred paces to a thousand li and ten thousand li; if it is left to move as it pleases, without restraint, it may lose its way and be unable to return. The immortal scriptures say: “When Shen enters Qi, the embryo is formed; when Qi returns to Shen, the elixir is bound.” This means that a single point of numinous impulse falls into the Yellow Court (a cultivation site within the body) and crystallizes into the elixir. Those with few distracting thoughts obtain the elixir earlier; those with many distracting thoughts obtain it later.

This method is simple to describe; the difficulty is that practitioners are unwilling to persist with courageous vigor. If one can maintain the practice for a long time, then, as the scriptural texts say, one will be able to “pass through metal and pierce stone, enter water and tread fire, link Heaven and reach Earth.” If one further accumulates merit and cultivates the divine elixir and the great medicine, one may reach the realm in which form and spirit are both wondrous, of ascent in broad daylight, even of the whole family rising together with the house; how far one attains depends on the depth of one’s merit. Even without ingesting the divine elixir, if one attends only to the Yang Spirit soaring upward, and looking back sees the former bodily frame as nothing more than a heap of dust, one can still ascend in broad daylight, endure through ten thousand kalpas, and share the springtime of the cosmos.

The cultivation of the “seven returns and nine reversions”—a Neidan (internal alchemy) account of the transformation of Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit)—begins by harmonizing the true Yin in the upper aperture with the true Yang in the lower aperture, so that Shen unites with Qi and the hun soul merges with the po soul. The original text calls the true Yin of the upper aperture “original Shen” and the true Yang of the lower aperture “original Qi.” When the two join, it is like Kan water and Li fire, trigrams of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), coming to each other’s aid, and they then condense into an elixir embryo. The practitioner must regulate the firing times so that water and fire remain in balance and the breath returns to the primordial sea. Sensations described in the text—the body growing warm and soft, with a breath seeming to rise and fall in the abdomen—are presented as signs of the “Small Celestial Circuit” and of “gathering Yin to replenish Yang.”

Cultivating the “Jade Liquid Returning Elixir,” that is, laying the foundation and refining the self while accumulating the Jing, Qi, and Shen within the body, is the initial stage of Neidan practice. The scripture uses diet to explain the nourishment of essence and energy: the five grains can sustain the body, yet if the spleen and stomach are weak they may also bring on illness. When the inner and outer movements of Qi are harmonized and Qi and blood circulate smoothly, food and drink can be transformed into Jing and Qi and used to nourish Shen. Only when Jing and Qi are abundant and Shen and Qi are complete does one enter the further stage of refining the elixir.

The author urges those who cultivate the Dao (the Way) to seek out a lineage master and obtain the essential instructions of practice, first tempering mind and nature in daily life and, when the time is ripe, choosing a quiet place and entering the chamber to cultivate. “Harmonizing one’s light with the dust” means that in ordinary dealings with the world one does not display one’s edge; upon entering the chamber, however, one must withdraw from noise and disturbance and devote oneself wholly to practice. The scripture stresses the need to set aside stray thoughts and attachments and to remain concentrated and steadfast. It describes the changes of body and mind in practice as the five viscera, the sinews and bones, and the Qi and blood transforming into azure Qi, the seven apertures giving off light, and the body becoming light and nimble, taking these phenomena as signs that Qi is sufficient and Shen complete, so that one may go on to cultivate the great elixir.

The original text next describes such Neidan terms as gathering the medicine, circulating the fire, and the conjunction of dragon and tiger. “Dragon and tiger” are commonly metaphors for the two forces of Yin-Yang within the body, while “true lead” and “true mercury” are symbolic expressions in Neidan for the Yin and Yang aspects of Jing and Qi. The scripture says that the practitioner must grasp the firing times so that the medicine rises and falls along the body’s channels, gathers at the Niwan—a Neidan term for a site in the upper head—and then descends into the Crystal Palace, often understood as the region of the lower Dantian (energy center), where it joins with another force. Intense heat, vibration, pain, or a surging of Qi and blood may arise in the process, and the author warns practitioners to regulate themselves with care and not to panic.

The scripture also mentions an increase of fluid in the mouth and a sweet, pleasant taste, interpreting these signs as the “elixir well” and the “stone spring” welling up with kidney water. During practice one may likewise behold dragon and tiger uniting, sun and moon meeting, or immortals appearing. The author especially cautions against taking these visionary scenes for real deities or for the final fruit of cultivation, lest one be misled by external deviant influences. According to the text, the practitioner should recognize the original Shen, bring lead and mercury into union, and remain calm amid every kind of illusion.

The original text then describes the practitioner passing through several days of difficult junctures, as if ghosts and spirits were crying out on every side and a killing aura filled the air. Only after this has been endured does the “flowing pearl of the sun” enter the mouth, symbolizing the ripening of the medicine of true Yang. The text further speaks of this stage as “a great death, and then ten thousand lives,” meaning that the former condition of body and mind seems to perish completely and new life follows. Thereafter, if one can continue to hold to emptiness and nourish vacuity, one may reach the realm in which the Yang spirit leaves the body and transformation is free and unhindered.

Finally, following the discourse of Neidan practice, the author sets out stages of one hundred days, six months, ten months, and twelve months, describing such changes as the mysterious pass opening of itself, the infant manifesting its form, and the Yang spirit going out and coming in, and states that at the utmost of cultivation one is unharmed by water, fire, or weapons and becomes a True Person. The whole piece sums these teachings up as according with the Yin-Yang transformations of Heaven and Earth and grasping the subtle firing times. Although the work takes a long time, the crucial condensation and transformation are said to be capable of occurring in a very brief moment.

The emoluments of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the three highest deities venerated in Daoism) are bestowed by the Jade Emperor. If one were not a sage or lofty adept of former generations, how could one be equal to receiving this grace? More than a hundred immortals, including Xu Jingyang, Immortal Elder Ge, and Perfected Lord Yin, refined and ingested the elixir only after attaining the Dao (the Way), using it to deliver those lost in delusion.

The ancient immortals said, “When Neidan (internal alchemy) is completed, Waidan (external alchemy) is thereby also at hand.” This is what the ancients said after receiving the orthodox transmission. Practitioners must first accumulate Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), and gather and store the inner and outer “dharma wealth” (the bodily and mental provisions required for cultivation). Only when Qi is abundant and Shen (spirit) is complete, when golden light appears within the body and remains bright and unobscured day and night, can the Neidan be counted complete; only then does it also become possible to complete the elixir outside the body.

Reading and cultivation cannot be carried out by a rigid, literal application of the words. Practitioners must wait until day and night are bright and the medicinal sprouts have arisen before they may gather the medicine outside the body, join it with the female and the male within themselves (the two forces of Yin-Yang), and bring the Golden Elixir into the mouth. At this moment the fire-timing of the celestial circuit (the firing process turned according to the rhythm of cultivation) appears. In an instant the mind becomes clear and limpid; one sets everything down and is not obstructed. Only this is called “the golden cicada shedding its shell.” One then silently pays court to the Lord on High, meets the carriages of immortals along the way, and receives the emolument and destiny bestowed by Heaven. The gods come to pay homage, and one can then mend Heaven and establish Earth, pluck the stars and grasp the moon, drive thunder and turn the Dipper, and summon wind and call rain. At a single stirring of the mind, the myriad spirits obey the command, and Heaven and Earth seem like something held in the palm. Such blessings and De (Virtue/Power) surpass those of an emperor across three generations, and such wisdom surpasses that of a top examination laureate across seven generations. Only upon reaching this realm may one refine and ingest the Golden Elixir.

This elixir is only the size of a grain of millet, yet when it falls to the ground it emits a golden light that illuminates the sky; only then does it deserve to be called a “divine elixir.” If one cannot commune with spirit, how dare one call it a Waidan that may be ingested? The principle within it is subtle, and the celestial mystery runs deep. The saying “gold seeds gold, and silver seeds silver” means that there is no other numinous spirit outside. The “art of yellow and white” spoken of here is not the gold and silver of the ordinary world. Only one who has received the orthodox transmission, and who understands how to use the “mother” to govern and condense the vital breath, can produce the great medicine of the Prior Heaven. Only one who recognizes “yellow sprouts and white snow” (coded language in Neidan cultivation) can be said to understand the art of yellow and white meant here, and can then go on to condense Qi and refine the divine elixir. As for gold, silver, mercury, and similar substances, all belong to the Posterior Heaven. If, moreover, one does not understand how true Yin and true Yang come together, then even repeated refining will hardly succeed.

Alas, students of the Dao in the world cannot tell the true from the false and, never having met an upright person to guide them, often cultivate blindly. Those who sincerely cultivate nature and life, if for the time being they have not yet met an enlightened teacher, may as well quiet the mind and read. The elixir writings of the sages do not speak at random; every character in them has its purpose. It is only that later people cannot distinguish the deviant from the orthodox, do not understand that much of the books is coded language and metaphor, and, meeting mediocre teachers, cling to side paths, mistake harmful things for wondrous formulas, and do not know how to adapt. Such people regard themselves as right, and their manner is arrogant; they keep others at a great distance. Lofty persons will then depart—how much more so the immortals and sages?

Before students of the Dao have met an upright person, they should be cautious and humble, accumulating merit and De. Meeting hardship, they should not draw back; suffering slander, they should not grow angry. They should value the Dao and righteousness and think little of wealth. Once they meet an upright person, they should seek instruction with a sincere heart, so that the other may reveal the two essentials of cultivation within and without their own person. Only when they suddenly awaken to the meaning of the elixir writings of the various schools will they no longer be misled by others.

Those with aspiration, if they sincerely cultivate nature and life, should sweep away side paths and forked roads, set their thoughts right, renew and steady their resolve, seek instruction with humility, pass through hardships, search painstakingly for an enlightened teacher, and inquire deeply into the Qi a person receives at birth. What is called “the beginning” is the primordial ancestral Qi (the source Qi from before Heaven and Earth were opened). This single Qi contains a point of true Yang and true Yin. True Yin and true Yang arise before Heaven and Earth take form, at the inception of primordial undifferentiation. That numinous bright pearl, the size of a grain of millet, hangs in the void, clear and luminous. Those for whom no enlightened teacher has laid this bare still seem to be in a drunken dream. Depart from this essential point, and all falls into side paths.

This numinous bright pearl, in the void, embraces the myriad forms, holds latent all that exists, and brings the myriad things to life and growth. Everything between Heaven and Earth comes from it.

In the Daoist tradition, “a single grain of millet” is used as a figure for true lead and true mercury—that is, terms in Neidan (internal alchemy) that symbolize the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) of Yin and Yang. The “attainment” spoken of here cannot be understood only in terms of heaven and earth, the sun and moon, or the union of man and woman. One must work both within and outside oneself: set up the furnace and establish the cauldron (taking the body as the furnace and cauldron of cultivation), refine the self and hold the mind, and, while clarifying principle and seeing one’s nature, concentrate the spirit and set the firing times in motion. In less than half a double-hour, a mysterious pearl the size of a grain of millet can form and appear above the “Qujiang.” “Qujiang” is a Neidan term for a site spoken of in cultivation within the body. Once the “daogui” is taken (a figure for a small amount of elixir, or for what internal refinement yields), it is in an instant as if one aperture opened and the hundred channels were freed; sinews and bones, the five viscera, and flesh and blood all turn into Qi, like the mercury spoken of in Waidan (external alchemy). Even then one must go on warming and nurturing it with a hundred days of firing before its numinous subtlety appears. After “true water” is obtained, it is not lost again. One can preserve the form and remain in the world, refine Shen (spirit) and return to emptiness, and at last become one with the Dao (the Way).

The Buddhist tradition uses language of the same kind, calling this “true emptiness and true marvel” and “true nature.” Practice must be taken up correctly: subdue the demons of the mind and let original nature appear. In a moment one kindles the “true fire of samādhi” (a Buddhist term for the fire of wisdom born of concentrated cultivation), returns to the root and reverts to the origin, and regards the myriad things as one body. The scripture also says that the bodily form can be preserved, Shen refined and returned to emptiness, and union with the Dao attained; and that the great earth can be transformed into a jeweled realm, ten thousand rays of rosy light made to appear, the “true eye and the six penetrations” fully possessed, an indestructible diamond body forged, and a wondrous realm realized that even ghosts and spirits can scarcely fathom.

The Confucian tradition explains it as “Wuji and yet Taiji” (the Limitless, and yet the Supreme Ultimate). Speaking of the transformations of heaven and earth, Wuji is the chaotic state before heaven and earth had separated and before the sun and moon had appeared—the four directions, above and below, one undifferentiated whole, like dark mist and watery vapor. When the workings of Qi are full and stir against one another, Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) takes form. The sun and moon then arise, and clear Qi separates from turbid Qi: the clear rises to become heaven, and the turbid sinks to become earth. The clear Qi of heaven is pure Yang; the turbid Qi of earth is pure Yin. Rain and dew descend from heaven, showing that Yang can give birth to Yin; the myriad things arise from the earth, showing that Yin can give birth to Yang. Heaven and earth seem empty, yet they contain things without end. The stars and constellations and the deities of heaven each have their places and move without cease; the myriad things on earth grow of themselves according to the four seasons and the eight nodal periods. In the end, all these changes take place within emptiness.

The sun and moon are the essential brilliance of heaven and earth. Upward they illuminate the thirty-three heavens; downward their light reaches the nine extremities and the myriad springs. Traveling east and west and rising and falling, they bring the alternation of cold and heat. The sun is pure Yang and contains within it one point of the Jing of true Yin, called by such names as the ancient dragon, the lovely maiden, jia wood, mercury, the golden horse, and the three hun souls. The moon is pure Yin and contains within it one point of the Qi of true Yang, called by such names as the white tiger, the infant, geng metal, cinnabar, the jade rabbit, and the seven po souls. All of these are symbolic names borrowed by the art of Neidan. Human creative transformation is the same as that of heaven and earth, so within the human body there are also a true sun and a true moon. The Dao is not far away; one need not seek it outside.

The three hun souls belong to “nature” (xing) and are said to lie at the edge of heaven; the seven po souls belong to “life” (ming) and are said to lie at the bottom of the sea. When the inner and outer principles are joined, one can understand the two words “nature and life,” and thereby grasp the essentials of ten thousand scrolls of elixir texts. Here nature is said to belong to Shen and to be Yin, while life belongs to Qi and is Yang—hence the saying, “One Yin and one Yang is what is called the Dao.” Many names in the classics differ, yet what they point to may correspond. Still, true nature and life, and the various symbols, remain hard to understand without genuine transmission.

The ancient immortals said: “The four great elements of the whole body all belong to Yin; one does not know what the true Yang Jing is.” They also said that the seven bodily substances—nasal mucus, saliva, Jing, thin fluid, Qi, blood, and thick fluid—all belong to the turbid Yin formed after birth, and are not the true Yin of which cultivation speaks. True Yin stands opposite true Yang. If one does not even understand true Yin, how can one understand true Yang? Practitioners of the Dao today understand neither true Yang nor true Yin. If one truly understands true Yin, one will necessarily understand true Yang as well. Without an enlightened teacher to point the way, it is very hard to get clear by guesswork.

Those who cultivate the Dao should inquire deeply into the mystery, within themselves, of the Three Powers—heaven, earth, and the human being—and clarify the true furnace and cauldron inside and outside the body, together with the real mechanism of Yin-Yang transformation. If one has not grasped the essential point, then, on meeting the differing names in various books, one easily lacks a settled view, clings to side paths, and cannot tell the principles apart. If principle is not clear, the mind is not clear; if the mind is not clear, one cannot see one’s nature; and if one cannot see one’s nature, how can the work of life be brought to completion? The ancients said: “It is only because the Golden Elixir (Jindan) has no oral instructions—where, then, are you to go to form the numinous embryo?”

Dao (the Way) is the root from which heaven and earth are born and the myriad things nourished. Unfold it, and it fills all of empty space; gather it in, and it hides in the most subtle and obscure place. Yin-Yang, sun and moon, and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) are all transformations of the Dao. Every single thing possesses its own Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), which is the Dao itself, and within every person's heart there is likewise the Dao of the Prior Heaven.

When the Five Phases move in their ordinary course, they produce human beings and all things; when they are cultivated in reverse, one may become an immortal or a buddha. Hence the old saying: "When the Five Phases move forward, the Dharma realm is a pit of fire; when the Five Phases move in reverse, the great earth becomes the seven treasures." The essence of the Five Phases lies hidden within the Four Great Elements of the human body, in a secret place that is neither inside nor outside. Ordinary people use it every day without knowing it exists. "The people can be made to follow the Way, but cannot be made to understand it" speaks precisely of this difference between forward and reverse movement.

A person in water does not know that water has the power to buoy; a person living amid the movement of breath does not know what Qi (vital energy) does. One should reflect on this analogy, turn the gaze inward, and "illuminate the mind and see one's nature" (recognize one's original mind and nature). What difficulty would there be, in the end, in attaining the state of immortals and buddhas?

Today, those who study the Dao often think themselves clever and quick, claim to understand cultivation, and yet never truly awaken. There are also people of shallow capacity who, seeing the ancient sages speak of external Yin-Yang, furnaces, cauldrons, and medicinal substances, cling to the notion that women are the "cauldrons" for refining the elixir. This is truly lamentable. I have seen many who were devoted to refining elixirs over furnace fires, and hardly one succeeded. Others, hearing that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan cast nine cauldrons and attained the Dao, conclude that elixir-making requires nine women as cauldrons; this understanding is utterly absurd. Some have tried five or six so-called "cauldrons" in succession and still achieved nothing.

The moment a thought stirs in a person, the simple, unadorned Qi of the Prior Heaven is dissipated. Once the Prior Heaven is lost, what benefit is there to body and mind even if the Qi of the Posterior Heaven remains? It merely holds the Four Great Elements (earth, water, fire, and wind, which compose the human body) together by force. How could such shallow people understand the wonder that heaven and earth are silent, yet the four seasons still turn and the myriad things still grow?

The human body, like heaven and earth, has its own creative transformations. Yet people do not know by what heaven attains "the One" and becomes clear, by what earth attains "the One" and becomes settled, or what it is that truly governs these transformations. If one takes stillness as the substance and steadiness as the foundation, makes the Heart of Heaven the ruler and the Original Shen (spirit) (the innate spirit of the Prior Heaven) the function, skillfully employs the generative mechanism between heaven and earth, returns to original purity, and goes back to the root to restore one's destiny, why worry about failing to reach the state of a sage?

As for using an external, ornamental cauldron to refine the elixir, there is no reason in it whatsoever. If one is fortunate enough to meet a true teacher, one should first cultivate the Jade Liquid Returned Elixir (a stage of cultivation centered on nourishing inner Jing (essence) and Qi): refine the mind and remove desire, nurture and preserve, and turn the gaze inward. This is the work of illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature. After seeing one's nature, one proceeds to cultivate the Golden Liquid Returned Elixir (a deeper stage of Neidan (internal alchemy), emphasizing the joint refinement of nature and life), so that emotion returns to nature, until one reaches the realm of true emptiness, where the wondrous function appears. The saying "the Dragon Girl presents a precious pearl, and golden light appears" refers to this moment. Only when one reaches this point has one accomplished something, and can maintain it for the long term.

At the turning of the Hai hour into the Zi hour, when the moon's phase shifts from Stripping to Return, one begins the work as the sun first stirs. In the terms of Neidan, this is "the hand gropes at the Moon Cave, the foot treads on the Heavenly Root," by which the movement of Qi is turned back and Yin and Yang are blended. From this arises the wonder of completing the work in a hundred days. This Golden Liquid Returned Elixir concerns the great Dao of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. Apart from the correct path of the Jade Liquid and the Golden Liquid, the dual cultivation of nature and life (xing ming shuang xiu), and purity and naturalness, the rest is mostly minor, side-door methods.

I once studied all the details of setting up the furnace and cauldron within and without the body, the oral formulas for gathering and combining, the medicinal substances, and the regulation of the fire, but I did not understand the rules that govern emptiness. I rushed into the meditation chamber, wanting to accomplish the great task of "the external medicine entering the belly." After I set the fire in motion, at the secret threshold, there appeared the so-called scenes of ten thousand spirits paying homage in the void and celestial music playing above my head. But I had not refined my mind in the world of dust, nor accumulated practice in the life of the marketplace. My Qi channels were not yet settled, and my foundation was incomplete. Although the principles seemed clear, my nature had not truly manifested. So all manner of strange visions appeared, my mind became dazed and beyond my control, and with no knowledgeable companion outside to protect me, when I was stirred by sights and sounds, my Original Shen was startled and scattered. My intentions ran out of control, the Shen could not keep to its dwelling, the Qi could not return to its source, and in the end I was attacked by Yin demons.

As for the Yin demons, I will not describe them in detail, lest later students misunderstand. They refer here to the terrifying illusions that appear in body and mind after true Yang is lost and Yin Qi takes charge: by day and night one feels ghosts and spirits coming and going, seeing them with eyes open or closed, and hearing them clamor in one's ears. By day one can just about endure it, but at night it is especially unbearable, and one dares not sit in stillness even for a moment. The blood and Qi in the body turn rebellious, and the blood and Qi of the five organs rush upward together, so that one feels lifted off the ground, and one may even die. This is truly the practice of a heterodox path.

Afterward, I set aside my earlier practice for a time, followed my teacher's instruction, and lived in seclusion within the marketplace, accumulating work in daily life, returning emotion to nature, and reversing my old habit of squandering myself. From youth to old age, the naturalness that had been taken from me by heaven, earth, the myriad things, and worldly life had to be recovered anew between emptiness and the dust of the world, restoring my original nature, so that the Original Jing, Original Qi, and Original Shen could all be made complete. Only then, with the mind clear and principle penetrated, and with principle penetrated and nature seen, with body and mind settled and the Five Phases gathered together, could I go on to cultivate the higher-level work and complete the Great Dao.

Among the worthies and sages of earlier ages, many stopped halfway in their cultivation. It was because they had not first refined the mind and held to their thoughts, returning the Metal Qi to their nature. And when it came to the second phase of obtaining the medicine and the four phases of advancing the fire, they did not understand the rules that govern emptiness and acted carelessly. This is why Bai Yuchan (a Daoist Neidan master) sighed, "Once more the autumn bamboo's joints are cut." The signs within emptiness are extremely subtle and may also bring danger; if one cannot master them, the consequences will not easily let the practitioner go.

If those who study the Dao can clarify the two kinds of true Qi transformation, within and outside the body, they will be able to hold fast and nurture, overcome selfish desire, and restore the principle of heaven. Cultivating the Returned Elixir in this way, the work will seem simple and easy. All day long they gather and nourish the "Yellow Sprout" (a Neidan term for the newly rising Yang Qi) from outside themselves, waiting for the Prior Heaven's "jade nectar" to appear; this is the wonder that the saying "drinking wine and wearing flowers, one awakens to long life" uses as its metaphor.

As for the state of "Primordial Unity," it speaks of having no presumption, no insistence, no rigidity, and no self: not clinging to life and death, and forgetting both people and things. If a practitioner wanders the streets all day, seeking pleasure, going in and out of wine shops and brothels, and sits silent, others will naturally be alarmed and suspicious; and if one takes in outer circumstances and accumulates the provisions of cultivation within the secular world, ordinary people will mock and slander. Therefore one must rely on a large town with good communications, and on a well-resourced household, as external protection, while in daily life keeping the Dao in the heart and concealing one's sharpness. An ancient immortal said: "If you want to obtain the treasure of heaven, you must borrow the wealth of the world." The "treasure of heaven" here does not mean something above the blue sky, but the place within the human body where the "Nine Yang Cauldron" resides, which is why it is said that the Yellow Emperor cast nine cauldrons and ascended.

Deluded people in the world, the moment they hear "treasure of heaven," take the sun and moon in the sky for water and fire. When the moon rises in the Geng direction, they use both eyes to gather moonlight at the proper hour, believing it to be true water and true lead; when the sun rises at the Mao hour, they gather the sun with both eyes, believing it to be true fire and true mercury. In fact, heaven and earth, Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li (terms symbolizing Yin and Yang), male and female, and the inner and outer furnaces and cauldrons are all metaphors for the transformations of Yin and Yang within and outside the human body, and have nothing to do with actual relations between men and women. The ancient immortal said: "Whatever clings to form and appearance is not real." The Returned Elixir has no concrete form to begin with, and this one sentence has said all there is to say.

One who truly loves the Dao will not do anything that harms others for his own benefit. What men and women in the world rely on to live and to continue life is precisely this Yang essence. How could a student of immortality take a woman's essence and Qi to benefit himself? How is that different from killing someone? When the ancient sages spoke of "that household's man and woman," "two households and two kingdoms," and of inner and outer furnaces and cauldrons, without a correct transmission nearly everyone is liable to misunderstand.

I once met an enlightened teacher and received instruction face to face, and so came to understand the secrets of the two kinds of true Qi transformation, within and outside the body. I dare not keep what I have learned to myself; at the risk of breaking a taboo, I pass it on to those who come after: the creative transformations of heaven, earth, and human within the body; the principles in the scriptures of the Three Teachings; and the medicinal substances, the regulation of fire, and the order of the sun and moon joining and waxing to fullness. I disclose all of it point by point, without being bound by the letter, speaking only of the true meaning of cultivation, so that students of the Dao will not mistake or misapply it. Wherever this book resides, spirits protect it; if someone without the affinity sees it, they will take it as no more than the words of a blind man's song.

The Great Dao of the Golden Elixir is hard to meet in ten thousand kalpas, just as one may wear out iron sandals searching everywhere without finding it, yet when it is truly obtained, it seems to cost no effort at all. If students of the Dao can nurture body and mind amid haste, hardship, and displacement, and hold on to their original mind without losing it, the principle of heaven will be restored. Once it is restored, if one then seeks the higher work of "the external medicine entering the belly," in an instant one will become clear and settled, shed the mortal husk and change the bones, and be wholly transformed into a single ray of golden light, making the great earth a land of treasure. One can also generate a body beyond the body, with the Yang Shen leaving the physical form (a description in Neidan practice of the spirit's transcendence), and hold fast to emptiness. This is called the "Five Dragons Great Hibernation Method" (a Daoist practice term for deep concealment and nurturing). Once it is accomplished, one is free and unfettered, passes beyond the three calamities of wind, water, and fire, and is no longer bound by birth, aging, sickness, death, and suffering.

Now there are those who are unwilling to cultivate the mind and nurture emptiness, but instead covet refining external elixirs (Waidan) and swallowing elixir pills. This is truly a deeper delusion.

The Lord of the Dao (Dao, the Way), discussing the extraction and replenishment of dragon and tiger, lead and mercury, hopes precisely that people of later generations who have a foundation and a destined affinity may begin from here. It is often said that “an immortal must still be made by an immortal,” yet I would rather say: “An ordinary person can also cultivate into an immortal.” The only fear is that someone may fail to understand the principle of the Golden Elixir (Jindan, the core of Neidan, internal alchemy), take the wrong path, and instead fall into hell and sink to the level of beasts.

The dragon belongs to Yang, but once Yang Qi (vital energy) is lost, it becomes entirely Yin; the tiger belongs to Yin, yet a treasure is hidden within Yin, and within it there is a single Yang. The “dragon” spoken of here is the Mysterious Pass (Xuanguan, the crucial point where Yin and Yang meet in Neidan cultivation) within my own body; the “tiger” is the partner’s Mysterious Male (Xuanmu, the wondrous gate symbolizing the root of Yin). The dragon is like a craving for sensual desire, yet this must not be allowed to leak and scatter; water added to earth forms the character yao (瑶), an image of refining jade fluid, the supreme treasure. The tiger is like a craving for food, yet this likewise must not be allowed to drain away; “zhen-da” added to “jian” forms the character lian (炼), an image of gathering and refining golden fluid, the supreme treasure.

Tiger, O tiger—however you open your mouth and bare your teeth, striking fear into people, I have my own way to subdue you: see through the mutual dependence of “form” and “emptiness,” and with the “dragon” playfully join dragon and tiger so that they meet. In this way one can take the tiger cub from the tiger’s den and gather it into the Three Fields within my body (the upper, middle, and lower Dantian, energy centers).

Dragon, O dragon—even though you are a creature of lust, transforming without end, I too have a way to subdue the dragon. I bind you with Nezha’s vajra ring, draw out your sinews, and make them into a golden belt that nourishes nature and prolongs life, keeping it fastened at all times; thus you will come before the Perfected One of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), seek the “dharma gate of true unity and non-duality” (the method of cultivation that returns to pure oneness, in which Yin and Yang are not two), and join with me in completing the Great Dao.

Lead is the lead of the two bowstrings; mercury is the mercury of heaven and earth within my body. Only when lead and mercury shine as bright as the sun and moon can heaven and earth conjoin, forming the image that the Classic of Changes calls “Earth and Heaven, Tai” (Peace), rather than falling into the obstructed image of “Heaven and Earth, Pi” (Standstill). Born of one’s parents, a human being inherently possesses mercury and lead, and also the principle that male and female unite and thereby transform and generate the myriad things. Hence it is said: “Qian is the father, Kun is the mother; male and female couple, and the myriad things are transformed and brought to fullness.” The Classic of Changes is the Jing (scripture/classic) that explains the pre-heaven Taiji. If a person does not understand this principle, and only casts mercury toward lead in order to beget sons and daughters, but does not cast lead toward mercury in order to cultivate into an immortal or a Buddha, then, once this “iron steamed bun” (a metaphor for a crucial pass that is hard to penetrate) is broken open, why fear that one cannot become a Zhang Sanfeng even more accomplished among the Sanfeng?

Those who cultivate must first nourish Qi (vital energy). The method of nourishing Qi lies in forgetting speech and guarding the One: do not let words disturb the mind and spirit, but hold single-mindedly to the spirit. In this way Qi will not disperse, and Shen (spirit) will not race outward. The formula says: “Close the mouth and remain quiet; embrace Shen and hold it fast.”

“Subduing the mind and refraining from action” means that one must subdue the thoughts of the mind so that the mind does not move in vain. The human mind is forever wavering and unsettled. For the practitioner, the key to quieting the mind lies in gathering in both eyes. The eyes are the gateway through which mind and spirit go out and come in; one should lower the eyelids and draw the gaze inward. When meeting with all kinds of affairs, one should discern them with the mind; reflecting that worldly matters bring oneself no benefit, one must at once remove blazing desire and not cling to it in attachment. The formula says: “Let the eyes regard the nose, and the nose regard the navel; upper and lower look to one another, and mind and spirit rely on one another. Concentrate on the Mysterious Pass, the key site in the cultivation of Neidan (internal alchemy) where body and mind gather the spirit, and disordered thoughts can be subdued.”

“Knowing the ancestral source amid movement and stillness” means that one should realize the root of life within movement and stillness. Movement and stillness symbolize the transformations of Yin-Yang, and the “ancestral source” refers to the origin of life. The practitioner should experience the original state before father and mother were born—that is, the mysterious mechanism of transformative generation. Above and below, the human body seems to contain Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth), the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the Four Images. The place where they converge originates in a single spark of spiritual light from before Heaven and Earth had yet divided, and this is Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). Below the heart and above the kidneys, there seems to be a place where thought has not yet arisen and yet is about to arise; this is what is called the “ancestral source.”

What is called movement and stillness also refers to harmonizing true Qi and settling the true origin. Exhalation is like connecting with the root of Heaven, and inhalation like connecting with the root of Earth. The opening and closing of the breath correspond respectively to what the Classic of Changes calls “to open the door is Qian; to close the door is Kun.” On the exhalation, it is as when a dragon intones and clouds arise; on the inhalation, as when a tiger roars and wind is born. As the breath opens and closes, in its movement and stillness, one must keep mind and intention unmoved, letting the true breath—the inner respiration spoken of in cultivation—come and go of itself, continuous and unbroken, as if present and as if absent. Regulate the breath until one enters the “breath of no breath,” so that breathing and mind-spirit fuse into one; Shen can then coalesce, and there is hope of accomplishing the Neidan.

If one has already succeeded in nourishing Qi, in forgetting speech and guarding the One, in subduing the thoughts of the mind, and in regulating the breath to the “breath of no breath,” then Shen can coalesce, and there is hope of accomplishing the Neidan. At this point, there is nothing else that needs to be pursued.

One is able to nurture the original Qi (the vital energy of life inherent in the human body), speak little and abide in stillness, subdue body and mind, return the spirit to the Qi cavity (the place in internal cultivation where original Qi is preserved and nurtured), concentrate intention upon the Guizhong (the central point on which intention is focused during internal cultivation), and let body and mind merge as one with the original Qi. Just as a hen broods over her eggs or a dragon guards its precious pearl, the mind remains steadily concentrated and does not depart for a single moment. As time passes and the practice deepens, a pearl of Neidan (internal alchemy) the size of a grain of millet naturally appears, bright as the sun. It silently transforms and nurtures the original Shen (a person’s primordial spirit); its numinous subtlety and luminous clarity are difficult to fathom. This is precisely the state that is meant.

True and constant cultivation must be able to respond to external things; and in responding to them, mind and spirit must not fall into confusion.

This is the way of cultivation that is constant and true. Because one easily becomes muddled when handling affairs, one must not, in contact with the outer world, lose oneself in worldly business; yet if one responds to nothing at all, one falls into empty stillness and vacuity. One should respond fittingly when a matter comes, and not cling to it once it has passed. Only when the state of mind is bright and upright is one free of confusion; when true nature is pure and still, the original Shen can gather. An oral formula says: “If one pursues with deliberate effort, every matter easily goes wrong; if one clings only to Wuwei (non-action), one falls into emptiness.”

When mind and spirit are not confused, true nature naturally comes to rest; when true nature rests, the original Qi naturally returns.

The temperament of ordinary people flares as readily as fire. Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, love, aversion, desire, and hatred shift without constancy; the slightest stirring gives rise to delusive thoughts, and so it is very hard to quiet the mind and nature. Only when anger is truly restrained does the fire of the heart descend; only when desire is truly reduced does the water of the kidneys rise. For the body not to move recklessly is called the refining of Jing (essence); when Jing is refined, the tiger roars, and the original Shen is able to solidify. For the inner mind not to move recklessly is called the refining of Qi; when Qi is refined, the dragon chants, and the original Qi is able to be preserved. For intention not to move recklessly is called the refining of Shen (spirit); when Shen is refined, the two Qi of Yin-Yang intermingle, and the three primes—Jing, Qi, and Shen—blend together, so that the original Qi turns back of itself. Here the “three primes” refer to Jing, Qi, and Shen, and the “two Qi” refer to Yin-Yang. When the practitioner responds to external things without confusion, the original Shen returns and innate nature also comes to rest. When innate nature rests, the prenatal Qi within the body turns back and returns to the root of life—what difficulty is there in this? An oral formula says: “Turn the light of the mind back and gaze inward, making the mind one-pointed; thoughts within do not scatter outward, and thoughts from outside do not enter.”

When the original Qi turns back, the Neidan congeals; within this “pot” of the body, Kan and Li (water and fire, commonly used to indicate the Qi of Yin-Yang) are brought into harmony.

If the practitioner is not beguiled by worldly affairs, Qi (vital energy) returns of itself. One then feels two currents of breath rising and falling in the Central Palace (the central site in the imagery of internal cultivation within the human body), while Yin-Yang Qi works in mutual concert within the elixir cauldron (the bodily site that symbolizes refinement in Neidan (internal alchemy)).

Suddenly, one may feel a thread of warm Qi in the kidneys rushing upward to the heart chamber (the place where the heart resides). Desire then returns to original nature, as though husband and wife were uniting, leaving one as if dazed and intoxicated. The two currents intertwine and coil together, congealing into the substance of the elixir; within the elixir cavity, the Qi of water and fire moves in alternation and circulates without cease. In this way Shen (spirit) can be made to govern Qi, and Qi to remain and nourish the form, so that long life may be sought without resort to any other techniques.

The oral formula says: the three treasures—the ears, the eyes, and the mouth—must be drawn inward and kept sealed, and not allowed to dissipate outward. The True Person sinks into the depths of the abyss, drifting back and forth while guarding the compass center (the central place spoken of in Neidan practice). This continues until the Qi of the Dantian (energy center) is full and congeals into the “daogui” (the minute elixir body formed in internal alchemy).

As Yin-Yang Qi transforms in its going and returning, the sound of universal transformation rings out like thunder.

When cultivation reaches this stage, the spirit no longer scatters outward, and Qi (vital energy) is no longer drained away to the outside. Spiritual intent returns into the “Jiangxue”—the Crimson Cavity, an aperture in the region of the lower Dantian (energy center) in the practice of Neidan (internal alchemy)—and the two Qi of Kan and Li (Water and Fire) within the body have already joined. Thereafter one must concentrate with still greater diligence, bringing mind and spirit to the utmost of emptiness and stillness and guarding that stillness in its depth. The body rests quietly in a profound, dim, and hazy state; the thoughts of the mind grow clear and pure, as if one had entered a realm where nothing exists. In this way the breath naturally becomes fine, subtle, and settled, as if it had ceased, and the Qi channels throughout the body likewise seem to stand still.

At this time it is as if the sun and moon have halted and the heavenly bodies no longer revolve. Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) moves from stillness into activity, and Yang Qi arises at the Kun position in the southwest. Kun refers to the abdomen and is also called “Qujiang” (the Winding River). Suddenly a point of numinous light appears, the size of a grain of millet—the sign that the “medicine” is about to be born. Brightness then shows itself, as if shining out beyond the body. The two kidneys feel as though boiled in hot broth, and the bladder as though scorched by fire; within the abdomen it is as if a fierce wind were roaring, and as if thunder were shaking. All of these are experiences described in Neidan cultivation of Yang Qi stirring and the medicine first arising, also called “the manifestation of the Heavenly Root of the Fu hexagram.”

After the Heavenly Root appears, one guides it with mind and spirit so that the Qi circulates as fire refines metal: turning it gently, raising it in silence, ascending along the Dumai (Governing Vessel), passing through the Weilu (Caudal Gate), and rising to the Niwan (the site of internal refinement in the brain at the crown of the head). A mass of harmonious Qi rises like a clap of thunder, and the whole body is stirred with it; this is called the “Heaven-Wind Gou hexagram.” The Qi then travels from the “Yueku” (the Moon Cave, a term of internal cultivation for the place where Yin Qi is generated) to the Yintang between the eyebrows, and the light of the Yuanshen (original spirit) seems to show itself. This is Taiji giving birth to Yin out of movement. The Yin Qi transforms into sweet “divine water and sweet dew,” which seems to contain a pearl the size of a grain of millet. Falling into the Huangting (the Yellow Court, the region of internal refinement in the abdomen), it transmutes the numinous mercury of the Li hexagram and condenses into a form like the sacred embryo. One then circulates for a full round according to the fire timing of the celestial circuit and, through repeated warming, nurturing, and refining, brings the inner elixir to coagulation.

“White clouds rise to the crown of the head; sweet dew sprinkles upon Mount Sumeru.” When cultivation reaches this stage, one has “obtained the medicine.” The two Qi of Yin and Yang congeal into the elixir; the passes and apertures are unobstructed; fire Qi descends and water Qi ascends, and the movement of Qi courses through the whole body. From the stirring of Taiji, through the Heavenly Root and the Pass of the Mysterious Valley (Xuangu Guan), it ascends along the twenty-four joints of the spine to the Pass of the Heavenly Valley (Tiangu Guan). At the Moon Cave, Yin Qi begins to sprout and a fragrant sweetness appears; it then descends along the throat, as if sweet dew were continuously sprinkling upon Mount Sumeru.

The oral formula says: when the sweet dew fills the mouth, guide it with the gaze, receive it with intention, and deliver it into the elixir furnace (the region of the lower Dantian), so that it gathers and nourishes the original Qi.

Swallowing for oneself the saliva that is like sweet dew—who can truly experience this free and easy realm of nourishment? The essential point is to let the sweet dew fill the mouth, guide it inward with the gaze, receive it with the mind, and send it to the elixir cauldron (the site where Neidan (internal alchemy) is refined and nurtured), so that primordial Qi (vital energy) gathers and is nourished.

Drinking for oneself this wine of long life—who, then, can know the free and easy subtlety within it?

When the cultivation of primordial Qi reaches this stage, the joints have already eased and opened, and the spirit-water within the body (the saliva spoken of in practice) flows constantly up and down in ceaseless circulation. One must swallow it time and again; this is called the “wine of long life.” The verse of instruction says: “The flowing numinous pearl nourishes the numinous root and original nature—can the practitioner know the mystery within?”

In quiet sitting one seems to hear the music of a stringless qin, and thus comes to understand the hidden workings of Heaven and Earth’s creative transformation.

When practice reaches this point, the ears seem to hear immortal music, and also sounds like bells and drums; the five Qi return to the origin, and the three flowers gather at the crown (in Daoist Neidan cultivation, a state in which the breaths gather and Jing (essence), Qi, and Shen (spirit) condense). It is also like crows at dusk returning to the nest: the mind suddenly opens and clears, and wisdom arises of itself. One can thoroughly understand the scriptures and classics of the three teachings—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism—silently awaken to the root of former lives, and foresee good and ill fortune yet to come. The great earth, with its mountains and rivers, seems to lie entirely in the palm of the hand; the eyes can see across ten thousand li; and one obtains the wondrous function of the six penetrations (in Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, extraordinary capacities of cognition and perception). All of these are real states. I have indeed reached this point in my own cultivation. Were I to speak falsely and mislead later students, I would surely suffer Heaven’s punishment. To encounter these oral instructions and yet not practice them is likewise to incur guilt and penalty. Without meeting a teacher who transmits them, such things are hard to know.

Twenty lines in all, they are truly a ladder leading to the heavenly realm.

The twenty lines from “nourishing Qi and forgetting words” to this point are all the genuine oral instructions and methods of cultivation of Patriarch Lü (Lü Dongbin), without the slightest falsehood; they are the ladder by which practice ascends to Heaven. Those who comprehend these instructions and the commentary should hasten to cultivate them. Do not disclose them casually, and do not transmit them to unsuitable persons, lest one suffer Heaven’s punishment. They should be cherished and faithfully practiced; only then can one ascend to the gates of Heaven.