《重阳真人金关玉锁诀》

Someone asked, “What is the subtle principle of cultivating the True?” The reply was: “First, remove ignorance and affliction; second, do not cling to wine, sex, wealth, and anger. This is the method of cultivation.

The human body inherently possesses the principles by which Heaven and Earth operate. Heaven and Earth embrace and nurture the myriad things, and the myriad things fill the space between Heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth are lofty, luminous, vast, and boundless, yet they are never obscured by the myriad things. In handling all affairs, the practitioner should likewise take Heaven and Earth as a model.

Someone raised an objection: “Heaven can grow dark, the earth can quake, mountains can collapse, seas can run dry, and the sun and moon wax and wane; moreover, people fall ill, and life is subject to accident and impermanence. How are these to be regulated and treated?”

The reply was: “If one wishes to regulate and treat them, there is no way except to master the method of the Most High (Taishang) for refining the Five Phases (wuxing; Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water)—the Daoist practice of cultivating and refining the Five Phases.”

The first step in the “method of the Five Phases” (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) is to uphold the precepts and keep the mind pure and still, so that one can endure humiliation, treat others with compassion, and be honest and inclined toward the good; to cut off the ten evils, practice goodness through skillful means, rescue living beings, and remain loyal to the ruler and filial and respectful toward parents and teachers. All of these are the foundation of cultivation. Only afterward does one train in the inner practice.

In cultivation, one must first recognize the “east and west” within the body, that is, “Geng, Jia, Mao, and You,” and next recognize the “south and north” within the body, that is, “Kan, Li, lead, and mercury.” These are technical terms of Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy). They use the orientations of the body, the solar terms, and the Qi (vital energy) of the viscera to describe the changes of body and mind with which cultivation is concerned.

“Geng, Jia, Mao, and You” correspond to day and night and to the Qi of the liver and the lungs. Jia and Mao belong to liver Qi, correspond to the Beginning of Spring and the Spring Equinox, and appear in the mouth as salivary fluids; Geng and You belong to lung Qi, correspond to the Beginning of Autumn and the Autumn Equinox, and appear in the mouth as fluid. “Kan and Li” correspond to cold and heat: “Li and lead” refers to the heart Qi at the center of the body, corresponds to the Beginning of Summer and the Summer Solstice, and manifests in the body as blood; “Kan and mercury” refers to the Qi within the kidneys, corresponds to the Beginning of Winter and the Winter Solstice, and manifests in the body as Jing (essence).

The scripture further says that Jing can generate the po (corporeal soul), and blood can generate the hun (ethereal soul); Jing concerns nature, and blood concerns life. Here “nature and life” is a common expression in Daoist cultivation, referring to a person’s spiritual nature and the root of life. Only one who understands the principle of nature and life can truly be said to understand cultivation. Jing and blood are the foundation of the physical body, while true Qi is the foundation of nature and life. The scripture holds that blood can transform and generate true Qi; when true Qi is full, life can endure, and Jing and blood can also gather and take form.

Someone asked: people are the same, so why do some die earlier and others later? The reply was that those who die earlier are often inwardly addicted to sensual pleasure and attached to external things. Men thereby deplete their Jing and Qi, and women thereby deplete their blood and Qi. By day they continually give rise to nameless afflictions, and by night they cannot remove the “yin ghosts of the Three Corpses” (in Daoist teaching, the inner impurities associated with desire and fault). In this way, whether man or woman, one hastens toward death.

What kind of person is able to escape death? What is called “not dying” means that a person’s body and mind are clear, still, and free of defilement; that the person cherishes and guards the true Qi (vital energy)—the qi that is the source of life—within the Dantian (energy center), the site in the abdomen especially valued in the cultivation of Neidan (internal alchemy); and that Jing (essence) and blood do not decline. Such a person is therefore able to live long.

Some raise an objection: one commonly sees the Three Corpses and yin ghosts—the yin spirits (Shen) of which Daoism speaks, which cause illness within the body, incite people to do wrong, or harm cultivation—working their mischief, so that men and women alike cannot in the end avoid death. Others ask: there are people today who live in clarity and stillness and with few desires, and who even set aside their wives; why are they still unable to attain the Dao (the Way)? The answer is that, although they are clear and still outwardly, they do not understand the true practice of clarity and stillness. The body may appear quiet, yet they cannot settle Jing and blood or nurture true Qi. This is a body that is clear while the mind is not clear, a body that is still while the intention is not still.

The Scripture of Clarity and Stillness (Qingjing Jing) says that the Dao has clarity and turbidity, movement and stillness; clarity is the source of turbidity, and movement is the basis of stillness. The scripture further says, “neither defiled nor pure.” True clarity and stillness means that there are no tears in the eyes, no pus in the nose, and no saliva in the mouth, and that one is no longer troubled by urination or defecation; that men nurture Jing and Qi, and women regulate menstrual blood, so that every kind of deviant qi is brought back to what is proper and illness does not arise. Only this deserves to be called clarity and stillness of the Dantian. The clarity and stillness of which people speak today is, for the most part, clarity and stillness in name alone.

Cultivation must bring the inner and the outer into correspondence. Before speaking of the Great Vehicle, one should first speak of the Small Vehicle. The Heart Sutra (Xinjing) says that one can cultivate the Small Vehicle and can also cultivate the Great Vehicle. Before discussing the past, begin from the present: the past is the result of cultivation, while the present is the stage of applying effort. Only after the work is complete and its fruition fully realized can one speak of what is true. What is said at the outset is merely a provisional way of speaking. Only numinous nature is true. The fleshly body is composed of the four great elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—and is temporary. Cultivation must borrow this temporary body in order to refine the real, so that the two join and become one.

An instructional formula says: the ease and well-being of this present body is the Small Vehicle, yet it is the foundation of the Great Vehicle; the initial arising of resolve is the Small Vehicle, and only the completed result of cultivation is the Great Vehicle. The Small Vehicle is like the root, and the Great Vehicle like the tip; root and tip depend upon each other, and the tip grows by relying on the root. Practitioners should understand that the body, and nature and life, both come from Yin-Yang, and cannot be separated from the two roots of life: the father’s Jing and the mother’s blood. Nowadays some people, in the course of cultivation, do not cherish the father’s Jing and the mother’s blood; they dissipate true Qi and damage original Yang, and thus grow old. After growing old they fall ill, and within illness there is in turn death. Since death comes in the end, why not seek a way to regulate and nourish oneself?

The true Dao has substance within emptiness, and emptiness within substance. A scripture says: “The Great Dao has no form, yet it gives birth to Heaven and Earth; the Great Dao has no name, yet it nurtures the ten thousand things.” A human being’s coming into life from true nature is just the same. In former times Lord Lao cultivated Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—the Five Phases—and left behind the wondrous methods of the Three Vehicles: each practice can eliminate karmic offenses, and each phrase can help a person attain long life. First, the Upper Vehicle is the divine immortal’s embracing of the One (holding fast to primordial Qi and cultivating with single-minded concentration). Second, the Middle Vehicle is enriching the state and bringing peace to the people. Third, the Lower Vehicle is strengthening the army and securing victory.

What is meant by the immortals’ “embracing the One” (baoyi)?

“Embracing the One” is the root of the human body, and it is also the root of the myriad things. The “One” is the Dao (the Way). What is called the very first “One” refers to True Water—a term of Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy), often used for the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) within the body, or for the root of life. From within water, Qi is born, and from within Qi, water is born again. The myriad things arise from the “One,” and from it they are also nourished.

“The One gives birth to the Two, the Two give birth to the Three, and the Three give birth to the myriad things.” From this the practitioner cultivates the Four Wisdoms and the Five Eyes (terms in Buddhist and Daoist classics for wisdom and the power of insight), mobilizes the Six Roots (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind), sweeps away the Seven Po (in the traditional account, the souls that constitute the vital activity of the human body), sets the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) turning, and, following the “Nine Reflections,” comes to an embodied realization of the true Dao. By not letting Jing and Qi leak away, and by bringing the merits and fruits of practice into perfect harmony, one returns the thoughts of the mind to one’s own Shen (spirit), long guards the Dantian (energy center)—the place of cultivation below the navel—and holds fast to the primordial Qi, the Qi that is the source of life, not allowing it to disperse. This is the method of “embracing the One.”

What is meant by “enriching the state and pacifying the people”?

In the bodies of men and women alike, each has the Nine Rivers and the Four Seas, and in the storehouse of the Dragon Palace are kept the Seven Treasures and the Eight Jewels. Do not let the “Six Thieves” (in Daoist cultivation, a name for the factors that deplete body and mind and cause Jing and Qi to leak outward) steal these treasures away. This is “enriching the state and pacifying the people.”

What is meant by “strengthening the army and winning victory”?

The principle of fighting and thereby gaining victory is understood by few in the world. Winning victory is a constant method. Someone objects, saying: if what is spoken of is governing the state through clarity and stillness and settling the people in peace……

Question: What is meant by “strengthening the army and winning victory”?

Answer: What is called “winning victory” is something very few people in the world truly understand. Some raise an objection: if one is speaking of the Dao (the Way) of clarity and stillness, why talk of combat and victory? It is because people today do not understand the method of “winning victory,” and so they cannot regulate illness or disorders of body and mind.

In cultivation, “winning victory” has three levels. The first is to overcome vexations that arise without cause. The second is, in the states encountered at night, to overcome the “yin ghosts of the Three Corpses”—the yin and malign beings of which Daoism speaks, which disturb cultivation and harm a person’s body and mind. The third is to overcome attachment to all things and affairs. This is the method of winning victory spoken of here. If one can grasp the three levels of cultivation—the Lesser Vehicle, the Middle Vehicle, and the Greater Vehicle—one can turn calamity and vexation into good fortune.

Cultivation takes the constant preservation of clarity and stillness as its foundation. One who wishes to cultivate the Greater Vehicle must begin from the Lesser Vehicle. The clear and the turbid are not sharply divided, and movement and stillness depend on each other: within stillness, movement can arise, and within the turbid, the clear can also be brought forth. Heaven and earth, sun and moon, water and fire, and Yin-Yang all embody this relation of mutual coordination; this alone is the true Dao. The scriptures (Jing) say that with Yang alone and no Yin, there can be no engendering; with Yin alone and no Yang, there can be no growth; only when Yin and Yang are in harmony can the myriad things be transformed and brought into being.

Some who cultivate the Dao today, however, have not practiced this true Dao. The Dao lies in thoroughly understanding fire and Yin-Yang, and also in understanding nature and life. The “nature and life” spoken of here is bound up with a person’s Jing (essence) and blood. Many human illnesses injure nature and life. These illnesses do not all arise from the five viscera themselves, but from the depletion of the three treasures—Jing, Qi (vital energy), and blood. One who wishes for peaceful joy and long life must hold to clarity and stillness.

Some who have not yet left household life, and who in their youth failed to keep to the Dao of clarity and stillness, may advance step by step from the Lesser Vehicle into the Middle Vehicle and the Greater Vehicle. An initial grasp of the principles of the teaching and the arising of the mind of cultivation is the Lesser Vehicle; a measure of awakening is the Middle Vehicle; the ability to penetrate through is the Greater Vehicle. It is like reaching first the Conjured City, then the Silver City, and finally the Golden City. It is also like a great tree: first there is the root, and only afterward the branches and tips. Daily cultivation should take clarity and stillness as essential; this alone is the correct Dao.

Someone asked, “If the whole body is pure and tranquil, yet one meets a day when celestial demons work their mischief, how should one respond? And if one meets the boxun of heterodox paths, how should one respond?”

The reply: “Boxun means boundaries and realms; every kind of realm will appear. One need only know how to advance and how to retreat, and clearly distinguish the Three Essentials (the three key points that must be grasped in cultivation) and the pure from the turbid. When Yin and Yang become crossed, use the method of ‘adding fire into water, so that turbid Qi (vital energy) withdraws and the two do not scorch each other.’”

The oral formula says, “If the demon army attacks, one must quickly prepare three thousand elite troops.” The “three thousand elite troops” here refer to Qi. Let Qi enter and not go out, store it in the Dantian (energy center—the cultivation site below the navel) by the count of a thousand breaths, and do not let it scatter; keep it only warm and never cold, and the embryonic immortal (the immortal embryo formed through internal refinement) will congeal of itself. This is a wondrous method. Those who have cultivated the skill above can long preserve true accomplishment; when practice and merit are complete, they enjoy peace, joy, and long life. All who cultivate, on days when danger comes, must prepare with care.

Someone asked, “How should one respond?”

The reply: “When peril is about to arrive, a person first shows the signs of death.”

Someone asked, “What are the signs of death?”

The oral formula says, “The Pillar of Heaven shakes; trees fall and mountains collapse; the six Shen (spirit—a person’s spiritual activities) are all in disorder, and nature and life can hardly be preserved. The spirit is dazed, heaven and earth grow dim, and the sun and moon give no light. These are the signs that impermanence is about to come. A body with outflows (a body still bound by affliction and by birth and death) is like dwelling in hell, while the fruit without outflows (the fruit of cultivation that transcends affliction and birth and death) is like being in heaven. A person has a body with outflows and must realize the perfect fruit without outflows; only then, in the end, can the fruit of the Dao (the Way) be accomplished together.”

Someone asked, “If the white ox departs, how should one capture it?”

The oral formula says, “When the white ox departs, tightly seize the Mysterious Pass (the crucial aperture in internal refinement), firmly guard the Four Gates (the four portals spoken of in the body or in cultivation), quickly use the fishing method handed down by those who came before, and then apply the hand-seal of the Three Isles (the cultivation hand-formula associated with the Three Isles) to guide the Yellow River so that it flows backward, and thus accomplish the fruit of the Dao.”

Someone asked, “If the white ox departs, how should one capture it?”

The oral formula says: “When the white ox departs, one must tightly guard the Mysterious Pass (the site known in cultivation as the crucial aperture), firmly secure the Four Gates (the portals within the body regarded as the openings through which Qi (vital energy) enters and leaves), quickly employ the ‘fishing method’ handed down by earlier masters, and then form the Three Islands hand seal (the cultivation hand formula associated with the Three Islands). Imagine the Yellow River flowing upstream against its current, close the Golden Pass, and fasten the Jade Lock. Just as when a person suddenly blinks, the white ox will naturally not leave. This is called the method of ‘the mechanism emerging from the water and ascending to the other shore.’

There are also ten methods for stabilizing nature and life. The oral formula lists three of them: the first is called ‘Golden Pass and Jade Lock stabilization,’ the second ‘Three Islands returning-to-life and exchanging-death stabilization,’ and the third ‘nine-bend Yellow River reverse-flow stabilization.’ Those who have attained what is called the perfected fruit of non-leakage (cultivation brought to completion, so that Jing (essence) and Qi are no longer dissipated) can all thereby achieve the Way of immortality.

When cultivating the stabilization of the Three Treasures (Jing, Qi, and Shen (spirit)), do not allow the waist and legs to become stiff and stagnant, or the eyes to grow dim and blurred. This is the method of stabilizing the Three Treasures.”

Question: If someone gathers and stabilizes the Three Treasures—Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit)—to where should they then be transported and settled? One should first practice the method of “Reeds Piercing the Knees,” so that Qi grows abundant, surges into the furnace and cauldron and into the joints, and is then moved to the Yongquan point on the soles of the feet to nourish both feet. Only after that does one practice the “Seven Returns of the Elixir.” If Qi stagnates in the waist and legs, one practices the “Iron Cart and Black Ox” method, and then opens the Zaimen. If primordial Qi is full and robust, one may first practice the method of “Flying the Golden Crystal behind the Elbows.” If one does not train in this set of methods, one does not practice “Piercing the Knees” or the “Seven Returns to the Three Isles,” but instead practices “Moving Jing behind the Elbows to Replenish the Brain,” in the hope of attaining long life without aging.

Practitioners today often attend only to the upper body and neglect the lower, like a child building a pagoda on an unsteady base. The key to practice is to make the Qi of the middle region full and firm. One must also, in the Palace of Kan—the region associated with the water of the kidneys—employ the sheep cart, the deer cart, and the great ox cart to carry the treasure upward from Mount Jing. The oral instruction says that Mount Jing lies close at hand, and that there is a man surnamed Lao; what is really being told, however, is the story of Bian He.

While gathering firewood on Mount Jing, Bian He saw a phoenix alight on a stone and knew that a precious jade lay hidden within it. He took the stone and presented it to the ruler, who grew angry and had both of Bian He’s feet cut off. The instruction explains the figures this way: “Bian He” symbolizes discernment and intention; the “stubborn stone” symbolizes quintessence not yet revealed; the “phoenix” symbolizes true Qi condensing within the body; the “jade” symbolizes the marrow within the bones; and “the severing of both feet” symbolizes failure to practice the method of “Piercing the Knees.” One who can cultivate in clarity and stillness is said to have “brought the treasure of the Lower Origin to completion.”

The three carts are then used to carry the treasure up to the summit of Kunlun. A Perfected Person sighs that people today can talk of the work but cannot truly cultivate it, and can speak of it but do not understand the oral instructions. In practice the mind may be performing the work while intention fails to follow; many remain confused and do not cultivate the body.

Each cart has its own symbolism. The first is the great ox cart, drawn by an azure ox and representing the nature of Shen; the cart carries the treasure. The second is the deer cart, drawn by a white ox, and it too carries the treasure. The third is the sheep cart, drawn by a crimson ox, representing warm Qi. In their movement the three carts set out from the Weilü, near the lower end of the spine, enter the Earth Axis, pass the Heavenly Pass and the barrier-openings of the lower body, travel through the Shenshu points at the waist and through the legs, and enter the “Land of Caoxi.” They then reach the paired passes of Jiaji, and ascend by way of the “Watershed Ridge of the Upper Garden Cliff,” also called the Ridge of Tiantai. The text also calls this passage “the woman transporting the treasure,” and says that frankincense should be placed in front, with true fire frequently added.

Cultivated in this way for a year, the method can make a woman’s body like that of a young boy. One visualizes the two pearls of lead and mercury shooting toward Penglai; the back of the head opens, the Heavenly Gate opens of itself, and a red glow shines through. True Qi enters the Sea of Marrow, the Sea of Marrow grows warm, and white hair can turn black again. This is called the method of “Flying the Golden Crystal behind the Elbows.” The teacher also says that everyone sees the person drawing water from the well, but no one sees the rope he uses—meaning that one sees only the outward movements and not the method of circulating Qi within them. After the practice, Divine Water returns to the Dantian (energy center).

For practice one chooses the zi hour or the wu hour, sits cross-legged, and rubs the hands. If true Qi is felt heating the body as though simmering it, one lets the Qi pass through the “Heavenly Bridge” and the region near the forehead. Intention guides the true Qi to divide and circulate along both cheeks, then on to the teeth, and fluid is taken from the left and right corners of the mouth. This fluid is also called “Mysterious Pearl Sweet Dew.” With the tongue, the “Red Dragon,” one stirs the fluid until it is evenly mixed, then rinses the mouth; the fluid becomes clear and pale and takes on a sweet taste.

The mouth is likened to an eight-colored lapis lazuli channel, able to hold and store true Qi. True Qi is apportioned among the Bagua (Eight Trigrams): Gen corresponds to the Beginning of Spring, Zhen to the Spring Equinox, Xun to the Beginning of Summer, Li to the Summer Solstice, Kun to the Beginning of Autumn, Dui to the Autumn Equinox, Qian to the Beginning of Winter, and Kan to the Winter Solstice. Each of the Eight Trigrams has its Yin-Yang, and Yin-Yang is further divided into cold and heat. The instruction says that swallowing the fluid belongs to Yin, while the circulation of Qi that follows belongs to Yang; Yin-Yang and water and fire must all be regulated evenly. The fluid is divided into three portions: two are swallowed and one is kept back, so that it is not used up. The fluid must be cherished and not allowed to run dry like a river cut off at its source.

Asked what the “Seven Returns” are, the instruction says: when Divine Water is swallowed and the fluid reaches the lungs, it turns to liquid, which helps regulate coughing and gradually nourishes the po, the corporeal soul. Swallowed down to the heart, it opens the apertures of the heart and brings clear understanding. This is also called “Divine Water That Washes the Heart”; it can cleanse the heart and Shen and bring one’s innate nature forth. A verse says: “See the flower open in five petals; step by step one enters the immortals’ terrace.”

When Divine Water reaches the liver, the liver belongs to Wood and is figuratively called the “Azure Dragon.” When the dragon obtains water it flourishes, which helps regulate the eyes. When Divine Water reaches the spleen, the spleen belongs to Earth, and when Earth obtains water it can generate the “Yellow Sprout.” The large and small intestines wind through nine bends in the abdomen. One cun and three fen below the navel there is a space one cun square, the Dantian: azure on the left, white on the right, red in front, black behind, and yellow at the center, called wu and ji. Within the Dantian is a palace called the “Yellow Court”; within the palace is a furnace called the “elixir furnace”; and upon the furnace rests a golden cauldron. True fire must constantly be added, and Divine Water must constantly be added as well.

The water and fire spoken of here are Kan and Li. Water and fire are further divided into the ruler’s fire, the minister’s fire, and the people’s fire; only when the three are joined does the true savor arise, and they correspond as well to mind, innate nature, and intention. If these three levels are not grasped, the first true savor is not understood, the second cannot be awakened to, and the third—wisdom—cannot bring completion of the Way. If all three are penetrated, one can attain the “three illuminations and six penetrations.”

When the fire is advanced, one washes with water above and refines with fire below. The scripture (jing) says, “Fire issues from below the body, and water issues from upon the body,” so that above and below unite, and Qian and Kun unite. One then has the dragon coil about the golden cauldron and the tiger encircle the Dantian. This is called the wondrous method, also called the “furnace daogui.” Those who cultivate it can live in ease and attain long life.

Question: What is the “daogui,” and why is it distinguished as the “single-grain daogui,” the “self-imbibed daogui,” and the “iron-separated daogui”? The instruction says that all three kinds of daogui are treasures, referring to Jing, Qi, and blood. The “single-grain daogui” is the salivary fluid; the “self-imbibed daogui” is swallowing the fluid and ingesting Qi; the “iron-separated daogui” is true Qi. Cultivated without falling back, it can turn the various deviant forms of Qi back toward what is correct.

In practice, when hungry one eats “golden rice,” and when thirsty one drinks “jade broth”; when cold one adds fire, and when hot one adds water. Fire is true Yang, and water is true Yin. This is the method of “extracting and replenishing” and of “adding and subtracting.” Extracting means gathering true Qi from the upper region; replenishing means sending warm Qi from the lower region into the Dantian. If the kidney palace can be kept warm, the various illnesses can be dispelled.

Someone asked: Why do men and women sometimes fall suddenly ill, or even die an untimely death?

The reply was: If men and women set their hearts wholly on craving sensual pleasure and sink into strife over external things—tangled all day in vexations they cannot clearly name, and still unable, when night grows quiet, to cut off the “Three Corpses and yin demons” (sanshi yingui), which Daoism regards as the inner evil thoughts or yin spirits that obstruct cultivation of body and mind—then the body is depleted. Men exhaust their Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy); women exhaust their blood and Qi. The body’s “Three Treasures” (sanbao, usually Jing, Qi, and Shen, or spirit) drain away as well, and the primordial yang (yuanyang), the fundamental yang qi of the human body, is damaged in turn. They therefore fall ill easily and die young.

This is like a house long weathered and full of leaks: if the owner does not repair it, the chambers collapse and the beams and pillars are ruined. If a person does not care for body and mind, the same will follow.

Someone else asked: Why do small children also fall suddenly ill and die young? A child is by nature clear and still, and has not depleted the Three Treasures—how can this happen?

The reply was: It may be that the mother’s blood and Qi are deficient, so that the fetal qi received during the ten months in the womb is insufficient. Or the child may be assailed by wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, and the like, or by various disease-causing factors that gather and are not avoided. If such conditions are present when the child is conceived, illness or early death may also result.

Someone further asked: Why do people’s appearances differ in beauty and ugliness?

The reply was: The scripture holds that those of well-formed features are born when the two qi of the parents interact and correspond with the sun and moon. Those conceived before the wu hour or after the chou hour will have regular features, long lives, clothing, food, and emolument, and will readily win their parents’ affection. Those conceived after the wu hour and before the chou hour may have irregular features, or be deaf or unable to speak; their temperaments may also fail to please others, their fortunes may be straitened, they may lack clothing, food, and emolument, and their lives may not be long. The scripture calls this the root of creation and transformation.

Someone asked again: If one encounters grievance-bearing enemies or evil demons, how should one respond?

The reply was: One should maintain clarity and stillness.

Note: The latter part of the original contains repeated sentences, and of the final question and answer only the three characters meaning “one should remain clear and still” survive. The text that follows appears to be missing, so the translation follows what remains.

Someone asked, “If one encounters an enemy or a demonic obstruction, how should one respond?”

The oral formula says: one ought to preserve clarity and stillness. In the midst of bustle, set aside a moment of leisure, and in that leisure let the mind grow quiet. When danger comes, one should quickly withdraw. The mind and spirit should use the method of “infused visualization,” swiftly guiding spiritual intent into the upper Mud Pill (the cultivation site above the head) and letting that intent sit at rest in the Spirit Palace (the place where spirit, Shen, is stored). Visualize immortal youths and immortal maidens appearing before the eyes, each playing celestial music. Then click the teeth and settle the mind, visualizing the scenery of Mount Kunlun, together with oxen, sheep, deer, horses, a jade rabbit, and the like. Next visualize oneself gathering these images and setting them in place. Suddenly conceive of a precious tree above, flowering and bearing fruit; visualize picking the fruit and swallowing it. It is said that once this fruit is eaten, one may enjoy lasting peace and long life. This is an orthodox method of cultivation, and its meaning can be made plain in a single sentence.

The formula “The Great Prison Secures the Four Gates” says: settle the Qi (vital energy) at the Sea of Blood and the Gate of Life; do not let the portals open and close, so that essence (Jing) and Qi remain settled; do not think on external things, so that the spirit remains settled. If essence-Qi and blood-Qi scatter and are lost, nature and life are injured. Single-minded concentration is the true master within cultivation.

The teeth are called the Mysterious Pass; closing and guarding the Dantian (energy center) is called the Lower Mysterious Pass; drawing golden essence upward to the mysterious place is called the Golden Pass; clicking the teeth firmly is called the Jade Lock. When the six faculties do not stir—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind all unmoved by the outside world—this is called the Six Crossings, also the All-Encompassing Pass. Drawing Qi downward is called reining the Yang Pass; tightening the upper jaw is called pressing the Yang Pass; the nose is called the Gate of Heaven; clamping the two cheeks is called the Double Pass. When the practice is performed, these passes and apertures open together. For the spirit not to move means that mind and intent are not disordered; “intent” refers to thoughts that are hazy and unsettled. This is the method of cultivation in clarity and stillness.

In spring, summer, autumn, and winter alike, if a small child’s urine is yellow, the Dantian is weak and in decline, and the lower origin (the fundamental essence-Qi stored in the lower body) has been lost. One should promptly use the method of “threading the nine bends,” also called “nine revolutions through the small intestine,” so that true Qi courses through nine times and enters the Kidney Hall. In this way the urine will naturally become clear, and the whole person can be at peace.

Question: What is the Dharma of the Three Vehicles?

Answer: The lower vehicle is like a newborn infant, the middle vehicle like a child sitting on the ground, and the upper vehicle like a child who has already learned to walk. Once these three levels of cultivation are understood, one can transcend the Three Realms. The Three Realms are the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm. What is spoken of here are the three bodies manifested by mind, nature, and intention: the pure Dharma-body, the perfect Reward-body, and the samādhi Transformation-body. The Dharma-body is the pure original substance; the Reward-body is the bodily form revealed when cultivation is brought to completion; the Transformation-body is the bodily form that appears according to conditions in order to teach and transform living beings.

Each of the Three Teachings has its own manifested miracles. In the first assembly, the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun, the revered deity of Daoism) refined the Wood of the stems Jia and Yi; this belongs to the Xutan Assembly, the Assembly of the Empty and Level. Lord Lao wore azure robes and delivered three thousand azure-robed Daoist priests, transmitting the Yellow Scrolls of the Azure Spirit, thirty-six sections of the venerable Lingbao scriptures, together with methods of cultivation such as the Nine-Transmutation Elixir and yellow sprouts piercing the knees. In the second assembly, Śākyamuni Buddha refined the southern Fire of the stems Bing and Ding. Draped in a robe of blazing flame, he delivered three thousand crimson-robed bhikṣu monks and left twelve sections of Mahāyāna scriptures, along with methods such as shooting through nine layers of iron drums and reed sprouts piercing the knees. The third assembly is called the Three Dragon-Flower Assemblies. Confucius, in the hall of practice and study in the state of Lu, refined the western Metal of the stems Geng and Xin, delivered three thousand white-robed lay practitioners, and left the Analects in ten scrolls, together with methods such as threading the nine-bend luminous pearl and reed sprouts piercing the knees.

The Three Teachings are like the three legs of a tripod; in the end they return to one and are without distinction. None of the Three Teachings departs from the true great Dao (the Way). By way of comparison, they are like three branches growing from the trunk of a single tree.

Question: Within the great Dao, into how many ranks are immortals divided?

Answer: According to the Chuandao Ji (Collection on the Transmission of the Dao), immortals are of five ranks. The first rank consists of those who keep no precepts, abstain neither from wine and meat nor from taking life, and give no thought to goodness, just like a tree that puts forth three branches.

Someone asked, “In the cultivation of the Great Dao (the Way), into how many ranks are the immortals divided?” The reply states that the Chuandao Ji (Collection on Transmitting the Dao) says immortals are of five ranks. Those of the first rank keep no precepts, abstain neither from wine and meat nor from killing, and give no thought to doing good; they belong to the class of ghost immortals (guixian). Those of the second rank cultivate true Qi (vital energy) and prolong their lives; they are called earth immortals (dixian). Those of the third rank delight in strife and combat; they are called sword immortals (jianxian). Those of the fourth rank cultivate through seated meditation; they are called divine immortals (shenxian). Those of the fifth rank are filial and respectful toward teachers, elders, and parents, broadly cultivate the six perfections (six methods of practice) and the myriad practices (all kinds of good deeds), and seek ways to rescue all sentient beings. They cut off the ten evils: they do not kill, do not consume wine or meat, and do not commit sexual misconduct, theft, and the like. Their minds accord with the mind of Heaven, and they conduct themselves with uprightness and without selfishness. Such people are called celestial immortals (tianxian). From the place where a good thought first arises, there is already auspicious ground. Such people are practitioners who broadly cultivate wholesome methods.

What follows also concerns prohibitions. An oral instruction says that men and women should remain pure and still in the fifth and sixth months, and that particular care is needed, for the eleventh and twelfth months are likewise suited to purity and stillness. In the fifth and sixth months, a man should avoid approaching women. The scripture holds that violating these prohibitions leads to the “five labors and seven injuries” (various forms of depletion of the body). A man will damage his nature and life, while a woman will damage Jing (essence), blood, and Qi. Such damage may cause paralysis on the left or the right side, and may also produce red or white vaginal discharge (abnormal gynecological discharge). If the true Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) is damaged, this is called “labor”; if the seven treasures are damaged, this is called “injury.” Every illness has its own source.

Someone else asked, “From where do illnesses arise?” The oral instruction says that all illnesses are caused by irregular Qi within the eight nodes (the eight seasonal junctures associated with the turning of the seasons).

The Formula of the Golden Pass and Jade Lock of Perfected Chongyang (Chongyang Zhenren Jinguang Yusuo Jue) says:

Question: What are the “eight evils”?

Answer: They concern a disordered circulation of the Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang within the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), and are connected with climatic change in eight of the solar terms of the year. Hunger or overeating, excessive toil, and the effects of wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, and the like may all throw the body out of order. When one is in pain from hunger, uncomfortable from having eaten too much, anxious in extreme cold, weary after a long journey, or when cold and heat alternate and the body feels as if intoxicated, one should not practice at any of these times, lest the illness grow worse. One ought to cultivate when mind and body are quiet and one’s physical condition is suitable.

In practice, one gathers on the tongue the “Jade Liquid Elixir” (a technical term of Daoist internal cultivation, referring to the saliva in the mouth), gathers in the nose the “Original Yang Elixir” (a term of internal cultivation, referring to the Qi of original yang that is refined and nourished), and gathers in the kidney hall the “Golden Liquid Elixir” (a term of internal cultivation, referring to the Jing (essence) and Qi in the kidneys). If Jing and marrow are abundant and the bones are firm, then even a hundred years after death the sinews and bones will not loosen. This is called “linked-seed rings that anchor the bones.”

The formula further says:

Among the twenty-four solar terms of the year, the cultivation of the Great Elixir has twenty-four prohibitions. One who wishes to seek the wondrous formula from a master should first still the thoughts of the mind and be willing to bring out precious goods to offer in reverence. One must also practice three kinds of giving: first, the giving of one’s own body; second, the offering of flowers to the master; third, the preparation of food to provide for the master.

What is called “giving of the body” means that when one’s teacher or parents meet with danger, one is willing to give one’s life to save them. “Offering flowers to the master” means that even if the master beats or scolds one, one should receive it with joy and show no anger on one’s face. “Preparing food as an offering” means that when there is something good to eat, one should first present it to the master. These three practices are called the “three givings.”

An immortal said: “Only by holding fast can one realize the Dao (the Way). Joy and reverence are supportive conditions for cultivating the Dao. If one who seeks a teacher is not diligent, how can one attain the Dao?” Elder Lü said: “Without a master’s instruction, this matter is very hard to understand.” The scripture (Jing) further says that to study and yet not understand is the same as never having studied, and that to study and yet not follow the master is called “stolen learning,” which is a thief within cultivation. If one conceals one’s lineage and falsely claims a patriarch, one will shorten one’s own lifespan and remain no different from an ordinary person. If one boasts of the attainment one has received as one’s own achievement, this is to turn against the correct Dao and to fabricate on one’s own. How could such a person realize the Dao?

Those who slight the master and look down on the gate of the teaching are not fit to be masters. If one has not yet learned how to cultivate and already thinks of saving others, one should first rely on merit to save oneself. Practitioners each acknowledge the names and titles of their own lineages: they take the Most High as patriarch, Śākyamuni as their school, and the Master as their kepai (a marker of religious transmission or identity).

Since the sages of the Three Teachings departed from the world, men and women among living beings still suffer in the “river of love” and drift and sink in the “sea of suffering,” enduring every kind of affliction and sinking into the six paths of rebirth (the six realms of life through which beings transmigrate according to karma). In birth and death, in going and remaining, there is no liberation. The holy lords of the Three Teachings and the Holy Mother of the Three Realms therefore came to save living beings, and caused the names and titles of their sons and daughters to appear clearly, using the seal of lifespan as a credential of verification.

The scripture explains: one who has received the precepts takes one’s own person as a complete token; when the mind awakens and fully penetrates, it is like the light of fire illuminating. The Suqiu Jing says that the wish-fulfilling precious seal appears from within the heart and becomes a name and title. To possess ten kinds of names and titles is called the “ten goods,” while the “ten titles” belong to a person of ability. The ten names and titles, in order, are Original Cultivation, Turning to Clarity, Penetrating the Three Realms, Longevity, Manifestation of Light, Penetration of Intention, Master of the Whole Body, Increase of Blessing and Emolument, Cultivation of Heaven’s Origin, and Able Person. When the ten titles inherent in one’s original nature are added to these, the merit free of outflow is naturally accomplished.

What are called the “Three Teachings” give instruction and guide through transformation in response to the needs of living beings, yet none of them departs from the Dao. The ancients said that what matters most in the world is the matter of nature and life. What practitioners face are the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Nowadays many people do not understand the true Dao and often cling to names and titles. Even if one single-mindedly pursues emptiness, one may fall into attachment to “emptiness.” If the problem before one’s eyes has not yet been resolved, how can one speak of matters of the past?

It is further said that the Damo Jing states: “Matters of the past cannot be taken as real merely on the strength of words, nor can the future be affirmed as true.” The Most High refined the nine-times-reverted Reverted Elixir so that people might dispel illness and be liberated from birth and death. The Master taught humaneness, righteousness, ritual propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, fearing that people would create karma that entangles them. Cultivating these can also regulate and treat disease.

Question: How does one regulate and treat illness?

Answer: Joy is an excellent medicine.

The explanation says: Constantly maintaining joy is the root of good medicine; frequent vexation is the source of all kinds of disease. Being able to remain clear and still is the beginning of progress toward the great Dao (the Way).

Yet why is it that some practitioners today—whether Buddhist monks, Daoist priests, or men and women who uphold the Five Precepts—still fall ill and even die? It is because certain men and women deplete their Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) in married life: the “numinous turtle” in the Dantian (energy center)—here a cultivation term connected with Jing and Qi—loses its hold, true Qi disperses, the lower body grows weak and cold, and over time all manner of illnesses arise.

If a man cultivates in clarity and stillness for sixty-four days, his Jing and Qi become full; if a woman cultivates in clarity and stillness for forty-nine days, her blood and Qi become full. But when a process reaches its extreme, it turns toward its opposite: the clear becomes turbid, and stillness turns to movement. When the mind is scattered, true Qi leaks away through the body’s nine orifices (the openings of the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and the like). When Qi grows turbid, a woman’s menses increase; a man dreams at night of yin realms and depletes the “seven treasures and eight jewels” (a term in Neidan, or internal alchemy, for the body’s precious Jing and Qi). People therefore fall ill.

In the original text, the passage from “a man in clarity and stillness for sixty-four days” onward contains a repeated section; it is here combined and interpreted according to the sense.

Question: How should yin ghosts—yin-natured baleful spirits, or the malign Qi (vital energy) of yin—be regulated and treated?

Answer: One should use the method of the daogui. What is the daogui? The mnemonic formula says that the daogui is “one,” that is, the union of Yin and Yang (Yin-Yang). It partakes of both water and Qi and can transform and generate the myriad things: Qi may be compared to clouds, and water to rain. One may also say that Qi issuing outward is called dao, while Qi gathered and drawn back inward is called gui. When this method is applied in cultivation and gives rise to all manner of efficacious results, it is called the daogui. This is the method of reversing old age and returning to youth.

The scriptures (Jing) say: “Fire comes forth from the lower body, and water comes forth from the upper body.” When water and fire join, they become the medicine. The mnemonic formula further says that reed shoots pass through the knees and the river chariot courses up and down; setting the furnace and stove in place is the “purple river chariot” (here referring to the mechanism of cultivation within the body that transports Jing and Qi). Carrying Jing (essence) and Qi upward to replenish the brain is like riding a chariot upward. When fire is advanced, the water grows warm; when water is advanced, the fire turns cool. Water and fire moving together is warm nurturing within the lead cauldron.

Once Qi enters the cauldron and is set in motion, it travels along the river chariot. When the firing times are activated, Qi spreads through the hundred vessels of the whole body, moistening the skin and giving the body a luster. This is the method of cultivating the river chariot and regulating and nourishing the body.

Question: Why is it that obese people, on the contrary, tend to age first?

Answer: Obese people cultivate only the exterior and not the interior. Their bones lack marrow, and the true Qi in the Dantian (energy center) has also drained away, so they readily age and fall ill. The way of cultivating the interior is the root and sprout of peace, contentment, and long life.

The mnemonic formula says: One should constantly have the dragon coil about the golden cauldron and the tiger encircle the Dantian; the Zhen trigram of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) raises thunder, and the Xun trigram raises wind. In practice, first hold and rinse a large mouthful of saliva, swallow it in three portions, then guide the breath downward three times. In this way one will naturally hear sounds like the dragon’s chant and the tiger’s roar, and can also dispel the various ailments in the abdomen. It sounds like thunder striking a painted drum. Moving upward is called ascent; moving downward is called descent.

The verse says: The wondrous principle of true emptiness is known to no one. Sitting quietly beside the Qu River, one watches the crow fly past. The thunder that shakes the earth startles ghosts and specters—this is precisely the moment when the creative transformations of Yin and Yang are at work. After the zi hour (11 p.m.–1 a.m.) and before the wu hour (11 a.m.–1 p.m.), one must carefully weigh and regulate the practice. When water and fire are cooked and refined, dragon and tiger move in accord. The Metal Duke (a term of Neidan, or internal alchemy, often standing for lead or the yang medicinal agent) is flushed with wine, and the Yellow Dame (a Neidan term, often referring to the intermediary that harmonizes Yin and Yang) is drunk. Seize Lord Wang and ask him who, after all, he is.

Question: In the text, “Jingong,” the Metal Lord, refers to Shen (spirit); “Huangpo,” the Yellow Dame, refers to Qi (vital energy); the “infant” refers to Yang Qi, and the “chanü,” the lovely maiden, refers to Yin Qi. The “Azure Dragon” refers to liver Qi, and the “White Tiger” to lung Qi; “Kan and Li” refer to Jing (essence) and blood.

In cultivation one should sit as steady as Mount Tai and stand as upright as a precious pagoda, draw in the four gates (the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth), click the teeth, rinse the mouth with saliva and swallow it in three portions, then lead the Qi past the lige (a bodily site, or a pass of the Qi mechanism, as referred to in the text). This is done three times. In ordinary walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, one should restrain speech, close the eyes and gaze inward, refuse to listen to sounds outside, and place attention within the body: visualize the Dantian (energy center; the site of cultivation inside the abdomen); on the out-breath, intend the Qi to move downward, and on the in-breath, intend it to move upward, but do not let the Qi rush into the face. After the six kinds of Qi have converged at the Middle Origin (the middle of the body), clear Qi travels to the right and turbid Qi to the left, each turning nine circuits. The Qi does not leak upward, downward, or outward, but knots together on the left and right, forming the configuration of a furnace and stove. This is called “the dragon coils and the tiger encircles,” and the Qi is then naturally harmonized.

The matching of the infant and the lovely maiden means gathering Qi upon the spleen and setting the furnace and stove in place. It is called “the matching brought about by the Yellow Dame,” and also “the harmonious union of Heaven and Earth” or “the congress of Kan and Li.” What is spoken of here is the accord of the body with the mechanism of Qi, while spirit and intention remain clear and still; through repeated practice, the body does not sway.

People of the world mostly cultivate external methods and do not understand inner cultivation. Before the practitioner there seems to be a road. After three li, one meets three deep ravines, bottomless, and does not know how to cross. The mnemonic text explains that the three ravines symbolize the Three Teachings and the Three Vehicles, and are also connected with the Three Corpses, the Three Treasures, and passing beyond the Three Realms. After another three li, one meets six deep ditches, symbolizing the six perfections and the myriad practices, the purification of the six sense-roots, the cutting off of the six thieves, and the restraining of the six desires; “six ladders” serve as a metaphor for the stages of cultivation.

Going on, one meets three chanfang (the wording is thus in the original; the meaning is unclear), and then sees an orchard compound. An old man watches the garden gate, and those who have the affinity may pass through empty-handed. Farther on, one sees a great tree with a golden ox tethered to it. Along the river are various terraces: the Golden Terrace for men, the Phoenix Terrace for women, the Fishing Terrace for immortals, the Thousand-Blossom Terrace of peace and ease, and also the Terrace of Gazing toward One’s Homeland, which symbolizes death. At the river mouth three women guard the ferry; they are called demon-maidens, and the company crosses by boat.

After the crossing, another three li bring one to Mount Sumeru. On the eastern slope is an azure sheep, symbolizing the Qi of Lord Lao; on the western slope a white sheep, symbolizing the Qi of Confucius; to the south a yellow sheep, symbolizing the Qi of the Greatly Awakened Golden Immortal. The three sheep lead the company into the mountain, which is called “Cauldron Mountain, where the Three Yang gather.”

In the mountain stands a northern city. Its four gates are the Gate of Opening Light, the Gate of Long Life, the Gate of Golden Light, and the Gate of Great Submergence, corresponding respectively to the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Within the four gates are four grotto-residences: the Grotto of Heavenly Music, the Grotto of White Clouds, the Grotto of the Bamboo Realm, and the Grotto of Long Life. Entering farther, one sees four monasteries. Each is presided over by practitioners of a different fruit of attainment. The text lists such titles as Anashe, Situoshe, Xutuohuan, and Arhat, and calls them the “immortals of the four fruits.”

Farther ahead are five abbeys, associated respectively with rank and fame, medicine, Anyang, Suchness, and Tuṣita. Within the abbeys are five palaces, corresponding to the eyes, mouth, nose, ears, and heart. Inside the body there are also towers, together called the “Twelve-Story Tower”; the text names the Central Palace Tower, the Moon Palace Tower, the Heavenly Immortal Tower, and the Treasure-Fetching Tower, among twelve towers in all. It links these towers with the twelve channels of the human body and with the twelve branches and stems.

On the four sides there are, in addition, nine palaces, symbolizing the nine orifices of the body: to the east, the Palace of Wind and Thunder and the Palace of the Twin Groves; to the south, the Palace of Purple Tenuity and the Palace of Muni; to the west, the Palace of the Holy Mother and the Palace of Huiluo; to the north, the Brahma Palace and the Crystal Palace; and in the center, the Palace of Peace. The scripture further lists ten realms, called the “Ten Kingdoms,” and likens them to the “Ten Grounds.”

The human body is also compared to mountains and rivers: saliva and fluids are the Eastern Sea, blood the Southern Sea, bone marrow the Western Sea, and Qi the Northern Sea. The small intestine is likened to the Nine Provinces, while the body, Jing, sweet dew, the heart, and the small intestine are in turn likened to the Five Lakes. The wasting of sun, moon, and stars is used as a figure for the weakening of blood, Qi, and Jing; “mountains collapsing, seas running dry, and the earth splitting” symbolize the body’s decline.

If the practitioner can keep applying effort through all twelve double-hours of the day, then, once practice and merit are complete, a man may refine his form until it is like that of a virgin boy, and a woman may refine hers until it is like that of a virgin girl. The scripture sums up this state as “form and spirit both wondrous, joined in truth with the Dao (the Way),” and calls it the method of “drawing out the embryo and exchanging the bones”—that is, the cultivation of inverting Yin and Yang (Yin-Yang) and reversing the Five Phases (Wuxing). The Five Phases comprise Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, which overcome one another. The scripture further correlates the four seasons and the Five Phases with the body’s viscera, and notes that disorder among the inner Five Phases appears as corresponding illnesses.

The scripture holds that human illness comes in the end from damage to the Jing and blood received from one’s parents and from weakness of the Dantian, and it warns the practitioner to gather in mind and spirit and to settle the heart’s nature. The Scripture of the Nine Immortals says: “The Dao is the One; once a person obtains this One, all things can be accomplished.” In practice, spirit and Qi move with intention. One visualizes the yin spirits, the deities of the Six Jia, and other spirits turning the palaces within the body, then sets the furnace and stove in the Dantian, adds fire, and refines the medicine. One visualizes the furnace fire growing hot and the elixir medicine brought to completion, and imagines the Azure Dragon on the left, the White Tiger on the right, the Vermilion Bird in front, and the Dark Warrior behind, the spirits of the four quarters guarding the medicine furnace. The scripture says that repeated practice can disperse deviant Qi and bring forth true Qi.

In cultivation one must also lead Qi into the mouth, rinse thirty-six times, and swallow it into the Dantian; then one joins above with below and closes and guards inside and outside, so that true Qi becomes full. When the region of the spleen grows warm, it is like firing tiles in a stove. Cultivation must follow what is so of itself, like a hen brooding on eggs or a woman carrying a child; one need not count the days. When pain arises in the body, the text compares it to “an iron-black ox hauling a cart,” and says that this is the movement of “true unitary Qi” and “true unitary nature.” It also speaks of stool and urine respectively as the expulsion of different kinds of turbid Qi.

The scripture further teaches the method of “bringing down the Heavenly Pass and the Earth Axis”: one looks up toward the Yang Pass and the Mud-pill Palace at the crown, draws true Qi in a long breath from the nose into the mouth, and then gives six great exhalations on the sound “he.” In daily practice the cultivator is to harmonize Yin and Yang. At the winter solstice the first Yang is born; at the summer solstice the first Yin is born. The Qi of Heaven and Earth comes and goes, rises and falls, just as earthly Qi ascends and the rain of Heaven descends. The scripture likens wind and rain arriving in their season, and the people dwelling in peace, to the harmonizing of the body’s Qi mechanism, freedom from illness, and long continuance.

Every illness should be regulated by the practice that answers to it. The text lists such methods as the Ninefold Reverted Elixir, Yellow Sprout Piercing the Knees, Shooting the Ninefold Iron Drum, the Crown Prince Touring the Four Gates, the Golden Whip Pointing to the Wheel, Reed Sprout Piercing the Knees, Xuanyuan Straddling Fire, the Jade Maiden Stroking the Body, Zhongli Carrying a Sword on His Back, Old Lü Fishing, and Chen Xiyi’s Great Sleep, and it says that the inner methods of cultivation in the Three Teachings each have their own power to treat illness.

If one cultivates often, so that the Dantian is warmly nourished and full, one may at night dream of herding oxen on a mountain, of an azure ox or a red ox, of immortals and Daoist priests, of palaces, abbeys, and monasteries, of fine houses, high carriages, and trees, or of children and officials. The scripture takes these as signs that the Qi of the Dantian is abundant. If one dreams of desolate side paths, thorns, wicked people giving chase, ruined houses, stupas and tombs, trees falling, or difficulty in crossing a river, these are taken as signs that the Qi of the Dantian is failing and needs to be replenished.

The mnemonic text warns that the secret must not be told casually to three kinds of people: the unfilial, those who neither revere nor believe, and those who do not keep the precepts and whose conduct is improper. Apart from these, men and women, Buddhist monks and Daoists, and officials alike may all cultivate according to the scripture. The scripture also says that peace and ease belong to the methods of the Lesser Vehicle, yet they are the root of Greater Vehicle practice as well. Relieving suffering, treating the sick, and saving human lives are all fields of merit (ways of accumulating virtue and doing good). If one obtains this secret instruction, one should not spread it at random. To divulge the secret lightly will cause one’s ancestors to sink, forever confined in Fengdu. The close urges people to keep and observe it with care, to receive it in faith, and to carry it out.