《邱祖秘传大丹直指》

On the Three Treasures and the Three Essentials

Cultivation involves the “Three Treasures” and the “Three Essentials.”

The “Three Treasures” are Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit). The Jing spoken of here is the one point of primordial yang with which a person is innately endowed; Qi is the original energy from before birth; and Shen is human nature, bestowed by Heaven. Jing, Qi, and Shen are called three superior medicines. The aim of cultivation is to refine Jing and transform it into Qi, refine Qi and transform it into Shen, and then refine Shen and unite it with the Dao (the Way).

The “Three Essentials” are the cauldron and furnace, the medicines, and the firing phases. Although the cauldron and furnace have many different names, they in fact refer to the “One Aperture of the Mysterious Pass” (the aperture used in cultivation as a metaphor for the crucial point). The medicines likewise have many other names, but in fact refer to the one pre-heaven Qi. Accounts of the firing phases are equally numerous, yet in fact refer to the marvelous functioning of the primordial spirit.

On the Three Passes and the Three Fields

On the back of the human body, the Tail Gate (weilü), the Spinal Pass (jiaji), and the Jade Pillow (yuzhen) are together called the “Three Passes.” They belong to the Governing Vessel and, in Yin-Yang theory, are yang. On the front of the body, the upper Dantian (energy center), the middle Dantian, and the lower Dantian are together called the “Three Fields.” They belong to the Conception Vessel and, in Yin-Yang theory, are yin. The scripture (Jing) calls the rising and falling circulation of Qi in the body the path of Yin-Yang ascent and descent: Qi ascends along the Governing Vessel of the back, corresponding to zi, and descends along the Conception Vessel of the front, corresponding to wu. “Extraction and replenishment at zi and wu” means regulating the advance and retreat of cultivation in concert with these two movements—that is, the so-called firing phases of the celestial circuit.

The Weilü Pass lies on the back, below the Jiaji and near the end of the spine. The scripture says that it communicates with the aperture of the internal kidneys. Ascending along the back to the place opposite the internal kidneys, one reaches what is called the Jiaji Double Pass; continuing upward to the back of the head, one reaches the Yuzhen Pass. The scripture calls the channel connecting these three passes the “Caoxi,” also known as the “Yellow River,” and regards it as the road along which yang Qi rises.

Turning next to the three Dantians (energy centers)—the sites, in Neidan (internal alchemy), where Shen (spirit) is preserved, Qi (vital energy) is refined, and Jing (essence) is stored—the Mud Pellet (Niwan), that is, the upper Dantian, lies three cun inward from the midpoint between the eyebrows. The space here measures one cun and two fen square; within the emptiness there is an aperture, and this is the place where Shen is stored.

The place three cun and six fen below the heart is called the Earth Cauldron (Tufu), also known as the Palace of the Yellow Court (Huangting Gong); this is the middle Dantian. It too measures one cun and two fen square, and within the emptiness there is likewise an aperture: the cauldron and furnace for storing Qi and refining the elixir. Measuring downward to the position opposite the navel gate, the distance is about three cun and six fen, which is why it is said, “thirty-six in heaven above, thirty-six on earth below.” From heaven to earth is eighty-four thousand li; from the heart to the kidneys is eight cun and four fen. Of this, the heart, corresponding to heaven, occupies three cun and six fen, the kidneys, corresponding to earth, occupy three cun and six fen, and the middle Dantian occupies one cun and two fen—together exactly eight cun and four fen.

The place behind the navel and in front of the kidneys is called the Crescent Moon Furnace (Yanyue Lu), also known as the Sea of Qi (Qihai). One cun and three fen farther down is what is called the Flower Pool (Huachi), also known as the lower Dantian. This place likewise measures one cun and two fen square, and within the emptiness there is again an aperture: the site where Jing is stored and the medicine is gathered. There are two openings here: the one that leads upward communicates with the inner kidneys, and the one that leads downward communicates with the Weilü (the region at the lower end of the spine). The opening in the middle is an aperture through which the substantial arises out of emptiness; it is only provisionally called the “Mysterious Pass” (Xuanguan). When the Qi of “direct unity” (the original text’s own wording) arises, the Mysterious Pass opens of itself.

III. On the Eight Extraordinary Meridians

The Eight Extraordinary Meridians (the eight special meridians of Chinese medicine) are as follows: the Chong meridian lies below the Fengfu acupoint; the Du meridian lies behind the navel; the Ren meridian lies in front of the navel; the Dai meridian lies at the waist; the Yin Qiao meridian lies in front of the Weilü and below the scrotum; the Yang Qiao meridian lies at—and here the original text breaks off.

Among the Eight Vessels (the Eight Extraordinary Vessels), the Chong Vessel lies below the Fengfu point, the Du Vessel behind the navel, the Ren Vessel in front of the navel, and the Dai Vessel encircles the waist. The Yinqiao Vessel lies in front of the Weilü (the coccygeal pass) and below the scrotum; the Yangqiao Vessel is at the second segment behind the Weilü; the Yinwei Vessel is one cun and three fen (traditional units of length) in front of the crown of the head, and the Yangwei Vessel is one cun and three fen behind the crown. The scripture holds that everyone possesses these eight vessels, yet they all belong to yin Shen (spirit) and are ordinarily blocked and closed; only a cultivator of the Dao (the Way) who charges them open with yang Qi (vital energy) can attain the Dao. The Eight Vessels are the root of the primordial Great Dao and the source of original Qi.

In cultivation through gathering and refining, the Yinqiao Vessel comes first. Once this vessel stirs, the other channels open in succession. Next are the Du Vessel, the Ren Vessel, and the Chong Vessel, which together constitute the root of the channels’ circulation and transformation. The Yinqiao Vessel connects upward to the Niwan, the upper Dantian (energy center) in the head, and downward to Yongquan, the point on the sole of the foot. If one knows how to let true Qi gather and disperse by entering and leaving through this pivotal aperture, the Heavenly Gate (the portal at the crown of the head) can be kept constantly open and the Earthly Door (the portal below) constantly closed, so that the coccygeal vessel (the channels around the Weilü) circulates throughout the body and links above and below. Harmonious Qi then rises of itself; yang Qi grows and yin Qi recedes. This is the scene described in the lines, “At leisure one comes and goes between the root of Heaven and the cavern of the moon; all thirty-six palaces are spring.” One who has succeeded in cultivation feels the body grow light and vigorous, sees an aged appearance restored to youth, and enters a state of drowsy stillness, as if drunk or entranced. The scripture regards these as the verifying signs of practice.

4. On Kan and Li, Water and Fire

Before a person is born, the first point that gathers and takes form remains in a state of chaos not yet divided, and nature (xing) and life (ming) are united as one. At three months of gestation the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin, the fundamental portal through which life is conceived) is formed, and the navel connects the fetus like the stem of a melon; in the mother’s womb the fetus breathes with the mother’s breath.

After birth the umbilical cord is cut, as if Heaven and Earth had been overturned, and that point of true Yang condenses in the navel. Qian changes into Li, and Kun changes into Kan—this is how Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy) speaks of the transformations of Yin-Yang. Shen (spirit) therefore emerges from the womb, and Qi (vital energy) shifts along with it, no longer depending on the breathing proper to the fetus. Once the breath no longer holds to the root, the fire of the heart, which belongs to the Li trigram, scatters as readily as mercury; when anxious thought and delusive notions are added, it becomes still harder for this fire to meet the water of the kidneys. The water of the kidneys, which belongs to the Kan trigram, sinks as readily as lead; when desire is stirred and Jing (essence) and Qi slip from their guard, it becomes still harder for this water to meet the fire of the heart. Thus the kidneys return to the kidneys and the heart returns to the heart. Water and fire each remain in their own place and are left to rise and fall as they will, so that Kan and Li cannot join and reverse. Not only can the Neidan not be formed, but illness follows—what vitality is left to speak of?

As for embryonic breathing (taixi): if Shen does not govern the exhalation, that breath is not whole; if Shen does not govern the inhalation, that breath is not whole either. Every breath must be brought back to the root, so as to carry on the original Qi of Prior Heaven (xiantian). Shen is let into Qi, and Qi is wrapped around Shen. One then breathes as the fetus breathes in the mother’s womb, and this is embryonic breathing. Breathing belongs to Qi, and Shen belongs to the heart. Shen is used to govern Qi, and Qi is used to sustain the body. To govern Qi by means of Shen and thereby cultivate the Great Dao (the Way) is like using fire to refine the medicine and thereby form the Neidan.

Five. On Breathing

The oral formula says: “Qi is the medicine that adds years to life; the heart is the Shen that governs Qi. One who can understand the source of Shen and Qi is a person who has attained the Dao.”

Breathing arises from the root: exhalation receives the original Qi bestowed by one’s parents, and inhalation receives the proper Qi of Heaven and Earth. When Qi is joined with the bodily form and Shen is joined with Qi, life can be kept in one’s own hands. Ordinary people do not know the root at which the breath is gathered and stored. They only force shut the Qi that passes in and out, which is no different from dead stillness. If instead the breath is allowed to come and go in disorder, the original Qi leaks outward with the exhalation and is, on the contrary, seized by Heaven and Earth.

Therefore, in the methods of the elixir there is the notion of choutian (extracting and adding), whose purpose is to let the Qi (vital energy) of the breath penetrate deeply into the root—the fundamental seat of the vital energy of life. Inhalation moves from the outside inward, and exhalation should likewise return into the body; inhalation arrives at the jade cavern of the womb (a term of Neidan, or internal alchemy, referring to the deep interior of the body or the region of the Dantian, the energy center), while exhalation rises straight to the summit of Kunlun, that is, the crown of the head. As the breath circulates back and forth, it gradually unites into a single Qi and forms taixi, embryonic breathing—a state of respiration like that of a fetus in the mother’s womb. Yet how can a single Qi attain this state? After long practice of the breath, one only feels that each inhalation sinks deep into the body; with still longer practice, one no longer feels the breath to be hurried, as though one were a fetus in the mother’s womb—this is embryonic breathing. Ordinary people know only that inhalation is within the body, and do not know that exhalation can also return into the body. Once this is understood, one can gather the proper Qi of heaven and earth, and only then may it be called tiannian yao, the Neidan method of lengthening the years and benefiting life.

6. On the Mysterious Aperture

The scripture further says: if you wish the breath to return into the body, you should grasp “the One.” Master this essential point, and all other matters will be thoroughly understood as well. This thing called “the One” has two apertures; yet the two apertures, in the end, are only a single aperture. This aperture has no distinction of inside and outside, nor any boundary. Within it are contained the principles by which heaven and earth move; it regulates the Five Qi and gathers the hundred spirits. It is the root of life and the place where the embryo is formed. A person’s nature and life begin here, and Jing (essence), Qi, and Shen (spirit) all arise from it.

At the very beginning, when a person is just born and first receives primordial Qi, the union of father and mother forms an aperture. This aperture likewise has no distinction of inside and outside, nor any boundary. Within it are contained the principles by which heaven and earth move; it regulates the Five Qi and gathers the hundred spirits. It is the root of life and the place where the embryo is formed. A person’s nature and life begin here, and Jing, Qi, and Shen all arise from it.

When a human being first comes into being, at the moment the parents’ Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) conjoin, the activity of Qi streams along a single passage. Within it there seems to be a conduit running through, and so it is called the “flute without holes”: a flute that has no holes, and yet someone is playing it. Only with this passage do the kidneys and the various viscera gradually take form, and from it the channels of the whole body also arise. This passage is also called the “All-Holding Gate,” or the “essential route of the Three Passes.” While a person is still in the mother’s womb, inhalation enters through this aperture, in correspondence with the descent of Heaven, and exhalation leaves through this aperture, in correspondence with the ascent of Earth. It is also called the “tip of the turtle’s nose.” This aperture is the root of inner breathing. The original Qi of Prior Heaven circulates here, and the proper Qi of Heaven and Earth likewise enters through it.

Some people take the Gate of Life (mingmen) for the Mysterious (xuan) and the Kidney Hall for the Female (pin), and make that place the foundation of cultivation. This view is very far from the truth. They do not realize that the Mysterious Female (xuanpin) is the root of Heaven and Earth. It lies in the southwest, in the position of Kun, behind the navel and in front of the kidneys. It is neither the point one cun and three fen below the navel, nor the empty aperture between the two kidneys. Only this is the true aperture. Upward it opens to the Mud Pill (the region of the brain inside the crown of the head); downward it reaches the Bubbling Spring (the point on the sole of the foot); in the middle it links the heart and the kidneys, hollow within and continuous throughout. It cannot be sought by outward form, nor grasped by subjective intention. The true seed of Prior Heaven is hidden here. This aperture communicates with Heaven and Earth and with the sacred; gain it and one lives, lose it and one dies. The saying “the True Person breathes from the heels” refers precisely to this place. Celestial immortals begin their cultivation here; if one strays downward from this place, one falls into the Nine Darknesses of Fengdu (the shadowy underworld of which Daoism speaks).

7. On Sealing the Opening and Lowering the Curtain

“Sealing the opening” means that if the mouth is left open, Shen (spirit) and Qi scatter and are lost, so the mouth should be gently closed. “Lowering the curtain” means that if the eyes are fully open, Shen and Qi leak outward, while if they are shut completely one easily sinks into drowsiness; one need only lower the eyelids and open the eyes slightly. Between the two eyes is the “Heavenly Root,” which is what is called the “pass of nature and life.” Its source lies in the eyes: the eyes belong to the heart, and the heart is able to generate and transform, so the principle here is exceedingly profound. Daoists call it the “Gate of the Mysterious Female.” The sun and moon within the heart and the kidneys join inside the body, and the sun and moon outside the two eyes join outside the body. Bring water and fire together so that they do not scatter, and the breath will of itself come into harmony.

8. On Turning the Light Around and Regulating the Breath

To understand the principle of “turning the light around and regulating the breath” (gathering in the mind-spirit and settling the respiration), one must first understand the “Gate of the Mysterious Female.” This is the name used by the immortals’ tradition for a crucial point within body and mind. The heart and the kidneys are like the sun and moon inside the body, meeting within; the two eyes are like the sun and moon outside the body, meeting without. Gather the Qi (vital energy) of water and fire represented by the heart and the kidneys, and do not let it scatter; the breath will then naturally grow calm by degrees.

8. On Turning the Light Around and Regulating the Breath

To understand the subtle efficacy of turning the light around and regulating the breath, one must first know the function of the “Guanyin Chang.” What is the “Guanyin Tang”? “Guan” refers to the eyes, and “yin” to the ears; the eyes correspond to the heart, and the ears correspond to the kidneys. The place where heart and kidneys join is called the “Guanyin Tang,” the seat that governs the Shen (spirit) and Qi of the whole body.

The method is as follows. First draw the mind-spirit in from the corners of the two eyes to a single place, then gather it between the eyes, concentrating the mind-spirit of the entire body there. This is what is meant by “gathering heaven, earth, and the myriad things all together.” Once the mind has settled, let the gaze look down at the tip of the nose, then follow the midline of the body downward in contemplation to the area below the navel. Let the gaze rest there constantly, quiet and still. Allow the breath through the nose to come and go of itself, so that the respiration is fine, slow, and continuous, as if present and yet as if absent. Do not apply deliberate force, and the true inner breath will naturally come into harmony. This is the meaning of “the breath does not rush and scatter beyond the nose, and thought comes to rest within the body.”

The scripture further says: “The toad-light shines all day upon the western stream; this is the root of the medicine.” Here “toad-light” means the light of the eyes, and “western stream” means the region below the navel that belongs to Kun. Continually drawing the gaze back and contemplating the area below the navel, and thereby harmonizing the inner breath, is “Shen entering the cavity of Qi”—that is, letting the spirit abide where the breath gathers within the body. Practiced in this way over a long time, a single point of true Yang Qi in the kidneys rises upward and unites with the mind-spirit, so that the mind-spirit comes to depend upon the breath. Here “inner breath” means the breath. When mind and breath rest upon each other, this is called “water and fire already in communion,” that is, the harmonious union of the Qi of the heart and the kidneys.

Turning the light around and regulating the breath may be practiced in times of quiet. One need not be bound to the zi hour or the wu hour; it may be done in any of the twelve double-hours of the day. If during practice the mind-spirit wanders, draw it back. The saying “sent forth and gathered in again—the crux lies entirely in this” means precisely that.

After this practice has been cultivated for a long time, understanding naturally arises within: first bring the “five thieves” to rest, and only then begin the work. Cultivation need not be confined to the zi hour or the wu hour; it may be carried on through any of the twelve double-hours of the day. During the practice, if the mind wanders off, draw it back. This is what is meant by “let it go out, then draw it back in—from beginning to end it is always the same.”

The “five thieves” spoken of here are the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, and the mind. When the eyes do not look outward but turn inward in contemplation, the hun rests secure in the liver and does not leak out through the eyes. When the ears do not chase the sounds of the outer world but turn their hearing back inward, Jing (essence) rests secure in the kidneys and does not leak out through the ears. When the nose does not pursue scents but evens and regulates the breath, the po rests secure in the lungs and does not leak out through the nose. When the mouth does not speak at random but holds speech in check, intention rests secure in the spleen and does not leak out through the mouth. When the mind does not indulge in idle thoughts but silently keeps its watch, Shen (spirit) rests secure in the heart and does not leak out through the mind. In this way Jing, Shen, hun, po, and intention gather at the “kun position” (a direction or locus in the practice of Neidan [internal alchemy]), and one may cultivate alone without letting Jing, Qi (vital energy), and Shen leak outward.

Nine. On Gathering the Medicine

What is the so-called “medicine”? It is the primordial Qi within our body—the fundamental Qi inherent in life itself. Primordial Qi circulates within the blood and Qi, and for this reason the ears can hear, the eyes can see, the hands can take hold of things, and the feet can walk.

Human life issues forth from primordial Qi, and so this Qi is provisionally called “life”; within the heart there is spirit-illumination, provisionally called “nature.” When Shen and Qi join with one another, and nature and life come together, this is called the dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu). The key to cultivation lies in this word “dual”: if the fire of the heart flares upward and the water of the kidneys drains away downward, nature and life cannot unite. Therefore, when one cultivates nature, one must also cultivate life. What is called dual cultivation has no other secret; it is nothing more than uniting the Qi in the kidneys with the Shen in the heart.

The method of gathering Qi (vital energy) is as follows. The spine has twenty-one segments in all; counting upward from the bottom, the two kidneys lie on either side of the seventh segment. According to Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy), “Heaven One generates Water.” After midnight, from the zi hour onward, Yang Qi begins to arise, and the primordial Qi within the body moves upward from the Weilü point (an acupoint near the lower end of the spine) until it reaches the two kidneys. Between the two kidneys there is an aperture directly opposite the seventh segment of the spine. Primordial Qi issues from here and stirs the Yang Pass (here referring to the pass associated with reproductive function). Thus, after a person has slept past midnight into the zi hour, the external kidney (here referring to the male genitals) becomes erect. This erection is not set in motion by the external kidney itself, but is caused when the inner Qi between the two kidneys is stirred.

When the Yang Qi of the inner kidneys is about to move toward the external kidney, one may put on clothing, rise, and sit, lower the eyelids and close the mouth, slowly regulate the breath, and visualize as though Qi were issuing from between the two kidneys. This Qi is called “lead,” and is also called “Metal within Water” or the “White Tiger”—all symbolic names in Neidan. Each night one practices in this way, sitting for about one watch before returning to sleep.

The connecting vessels of the kidneys join them to the heart: when the lower region is stirred, the upper region responds as well. After about a month of practice, if one perceives Qi stirring between the two kidneys, one should rise and sit quietly, making body and mind utterly still. If at this moment one is again drawn by sexual desire and uses intention to gather this Qi, one will be unable to stop and will find it hard to grow calm; the Qi will be unable to descend along its original direction and will instead turn into a reverse movement. The key to cultivating the Way of the elixir lies in the single word “reverse”: if it follows the ordinary path of procreation, a fetus is formed; if it moves in reverse and one receives the “Numinous Mother” (a Neidan name for the root of internal refinement), the elixir can be formed.

That the external kidney does not become erect is a sign that Yang Qi has not circulated. What is called “gathering without gathering” means not deliberately seizing it out of desire, but collecting it naturally within stillness and concentration. What Neidan calls “refining Jing (essence) into Qi” refers precisely to this process.

After a person eats the five grains and various foods, the turbid portion turns into waste and dregs, while the clear portion turns into bodily fluids. These fluids are in turn transformed into yin Jing (essence). If this yin Jing is not refined, it readily gives rise to disordered thoughts and sexual desire. In cultivation, one need only draw on the breath that circulates naturally in the Dantian (energy center) to stir the true fire within it. With fire below and water above, the water, steamed and refined by the fire, naturally turns into Qi (vital energy) and rises, moving through the whole body and linking the passes and apertures throughout. This is called “refining yin Jing and transforming it into true Qi.”

10. On Conjunction

When one senses the kidney water rising, one brings the heart Qi down. Heart Qi is called “mercury,” because wood can generate fire; it is also called the “Green Dragon.” After the heart Qi descends, water and fire join, and the two Qi of the heart and the kidneys meet of their own accord. These are the “husband and wife” within the body. Using intention as the mediator, one guides the two Qi to unite. Intention belongs to the central earth, also called “wu-ji earth.”

The “conjunction” spoken of here means that the two Qi of the heart and kidneys circulate in the space below the heart and above the kidneys. The Daoist tradition calls this place the “bridal chamber.” After the two Qi have circulated a hundred times and their meetings have reached a certain number, they naturally gather and unite in the “Yellow Court” (the lower Dantian). The scripture speaks of meeting night after night and returning night after night to the Yellow Court in order to show that primordial Qi condenses night by night. Ordinary people rely on this to prolong life, while the Daoist tradition relies on it for cultivation; both take this Qi as the foundation for refining the elixir.

11. On the River Cart

After primordial Qi (vital energy) has gathered in the Dantian (energy center), it has no passage upward and can only move downward through the tailbone gate, then ascend along the spinal path, pass the jade pillow, and reach the niwan, the region within the crown of the head. In this way the Qi vessel along the back is opened. The farther the descending Qi in front is drawn downward, the higher the ascending Qi behind rises; after the Qi ascends it descends again, and after it descends it ascends once more. This is what the school of the Dao (the Way) calls the “turning of the river chariot,” the very path of circulation described in the lines, “The double pass of the spine penetrates the gate of the crown; among the paths of cultivation, this is supreme.” In sum, the Conception Vessel and the Governing Vessel are brought into communication.

The Conception Vessel begins below the Zhongji point and rises to the throat; it is called the sea of the Yin vessels. The Governing Vessel begins below the lower abdomen and rises to the upper magpie bridge; it is called the sea of the Yang vessels. Once the Conception and Governing vessels are open, the other meridians are all open as well. The scripture further says that the circulation is carried out entirely within the heart-mind. The “celestial meridians” refer to the Conception and Governing vessels, and if one visualizes and preserves them day and night, one may attain long life.

After this circulation, one leads the Qi back to the Yellow Court, the inner region near the Dantian, and then feels that Qi remains within the Yellow Court. To keep watch over it continuously with the mind is what is called “the mind and the breath resting upon each other,” also known as “gathering Shen (spirit) and entering the aperture of Qi.” Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one watches the Qi return to the Yellow Court and does not let the mind’s attention depart. In this way Shen and Qi naturally coalesce. Once the one Qi has returned to the center, the breath through the nose also naturally becomes fine and subtle. This is the meaning of the saying, “To regulate the breath, one must regulate the true breath.”

Section Twelve: On Gathering the Qi of True Yang

In cultivating the way of the elixir, one should take the time at night when primordial Qi has not yet dispersed, condense the spirit and gather Qi, and sit upright for a while. Before long, spirit and Qi return to the root. From what was originally without form, movement and stillness naturally arise and gradually gather into a mass of Yang Qi. The secret by which accomplished cultivators regulate the breath and nourish inner nature comes down, in the end, to letting Jing (essence) and Qi course through the whole body and refining away the Yin Qi of the entire body.

If, amid quiet stillness and immobility, signs of stirring again appear, one gathers this Qi according to the method. At this point one must further concentrate one’s inner gaze and condense the spirit, so as to assist the firing times of the cultivation. Here the “work of the fire” means the regulation of spiritual intent and breath in the course of practice. As for the final sentence—“then one need not wait the span of three months; or when sitting in stillness; or only the Yin Qi upon waking from sleep”—the sense of the original seems to contain omissions, and the surviving wording is incomplete. Its general meaning is that this condition need not require waiting a full three months, and may appear during quiet sitting or after one wakes from sleep.

If, in a state of quiet stillness without movement, one again perceives signs of stirring, one should gather it according to the method described above. At this time one must also concentrate one's contemplation and gather Shen (spirit), so as to assist the work of refining Qi (vital energy). This process need not wait a full three months: sometimes while sitting in stillness, sometimes after waking from sleep, if one feels a gentle, peaceful current of Qi welling up and pressing within the abdomen, shifting without fixed form, this is the true Yang Qi beginning to stir. At that moment one uses only a faint intention to guide it, sending it upward along the proper path to the crown of the head. This is what is called "reversing the course and going against the current, so as to be able to ascend to the crown." One then leads it from the crown back into the abdomen, and from the abdomen guides it into the Weilü Pass (the aperture at the base of the spine). Circulating back and forth in this way several times, within a short while, once the Qi moves freely and without obstruction, it can thereafter often circulate of its own accord.

13. On Uniting with the True Qi of the Sun and Moon

It is further said that one who can absorb the true Qi of heaven and earth may attain long life. The method is to sit in stillness at dawn in a high place, facing the sun, and to visualize the sun enveloping the whole body, so that oneself and the sun become one. With no stray thoughts or desires in the mind, remaining in undifferentiated stillness, the Qi of heaven and earth will gradually gather into oneself.

One may also face the sun at all times throughout the day: when the sun is in the east, the gaze turns eastward; when the sun is in the west, the gaze turns westward. One must always visualize oneself embracing the sun, with the breath circulating without cease, in order to obtain the Qi of the sun.

The method of absorbing the Qi of the moon is the same.

14. On Receiving the Qi of Heaven and Earth

When one has concentrated mind and spirit and guarded the One for a long time, Qi will once again circulate in a full cycle. Through the Qi of the nasal breath one draws in the Qi of heaven and earth, so that the Qi of heaven and earth enters through the nose, then joins the ancestral Qi in the kidneys (the innate, fundamental Qi) and moves together with it in mixture. In this way the Qi of the human body gradually unites with the Qi of heaven and earth, laying a foundation for the later cultivation of "refining Qi into Shen" (transforming Qi into spirit), and also replenishing the true Qi that has grown deficient through depletion. The saying "mend broken bamboo with bamboo" means using something of the same kind to restore what has been damaged.

One then uses this Qi to transform ordinary Jing (essence that has not yet been refined), causing it to give rise to true Qi. Once true Qi is abundant, it naturally transforms into Shen and fills the body within and without.

If one wishes to obtain the Elixir, one must temporarily set aside worldly affairs and enter deep stillness. Stillness is divided into a lesser stillness of three days, a middling stillness of five days, and a greater stillness of seven days. Within this stillness, the activities of life revive of themselves; this is what is called “the person dies and then lives of itself” (body and mind seem to sink into silence and then become active again). At this time one depends entirely on companions in the Dao (the Way) to remain at one’s side and give protection and support. “Primordial chaos, female and male following one another” means this: hongmeng is the state in which the myriad things have not yet been divided and Yin-Yang has not yet been distinguished; “female and male following one another” means that Yin and Yang intermingle within it and do not separate from each other.

When Yin and Yang have not yet separated, Jing (essence) and Shen (spirit) coalesce, Qi (vital energy) gathers, and body and mind merge into one: inwardly one does not sense the body, and outwardly one does not sense the cosmos, as if united with the Dao. All distracting thoughts disperse, and one abides in a deep, obscure, chaotic realm that is difficult to describe. One can only reluctantly call it “Taiyi Containing True Qi,” also known as “the Prior-Heaven One Qi,” which is the root of the Golden Elixir.

People today do not understand the root of the Great Dao. Some take “True Lead” to be the Prior Heaven; some take “Heaven One generates Water” to be the Prior Heaven; some take the numinous and luminous region between the two kidneys to be the Prior Heaven. None of these is the Prior Heaven of which the Great Dao speaks.

The scripture further says: “Gather and draw in the Qi of hongmeng before it has been distinguished; seize the Jing of the first coupling of dragon and tiger.” Dragon and tiger are metaphors in Neidan (internal alchemy) for the Qi of Yin and Yang. One collects them into the “Yellow Chamber” (a Neidan term for the place within the body where the elixir is refined) and refines them into the supreme treasure. When one is silent and unmoving, the mind can commune with the Dao of Heaven and thereby master the transformations of creation. It also says: “Do not seek the creative transformations in the kidneys; seek the work of cultivation in the heart-mind.”

Cultivate diligently, and one may stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin (legendary Daoist immortals, often jointly called “Zhong-Lü”).