《雲笈七籤》Vol. 83

In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor met with his assembled ministers at Mount Kongtong and asked Guangchengzi about the Dao (the Way). He asked: “How can people nurture life and preserve their true nature, roam in the Heavenly Court, dwell in the Cave Chamber (Dongfang), be in the company of the sages, and remain youthful without growing old? What is the most important method?”

Guangchengzi replied: “Human life is rooted in primordial Qi (yuanqi; vital energy). Primordial Qi transforms and generates Jing (essence), and Jing then changes to become the bodily form. Although the bodily form has an instinct to seek life, desires may exhaust Jing and Qi. Therefore, desires must not be indulged: indulgence causes life to be depleted, while restraint enables life to become full. When Jing and Qi are sufficient and primordial Qi is abundant, the hundred spirits (bai shen) can be complete.

“There is death, and there is birth; where there is birth, there will be depletion of the bodily form. Deficiency and fullness, flourishing and decline, are the constant principles of things. The sun begins to move west when it reaches noon; the moon wanes after it is full; when joy reaches its extreme, sorrow arrives; after things flourish, they also decline. Life and death are the constant principle followed by Heaven, Earth, and humans. The sage, through wisdom, comprehends all things, knows how to strengthen himself by methods that accord with principle, is skilled at nurturing life, and does not damage the root of the bodily form; thus he can unite with the source Dao that transforms and generates all things.”

Within the human body there are the hundred passes (bai guan) and nine joints (jiu jie). The hundred passes refer to the various spirits called the “Hundred Blessings spirits” (Bailu zhi Shen); the nine joints are the nine parts of the human body: the palm, the wrist, the arm, the upper arm below the shoulder, the shoulder and neck, the waist, the thigh, the lower leg and ankle, and the brain. Together these constitute the human bodily form.

The Cave Chamber, Jade Gate (Yuhu), Purple Palace (Zigong), Niwan (Mud Pill), and Dantian (energy center) are the places in the human body where Shen (spirit) and Qi are installed and dwell. The places such as the “Cave Chamber” mentioned here are where the spirits dwell securely in the Heavenly Court and the three Dantians. The hundred spirits guard the body, and the six spirits (liu ling) secretly protect it. The hundred spirits correspond to every part of the body; they can guard the bodily form, protect the hun and po souls, and safeguard the spirits of the five viscera. When the spirits of the five viscera are clear and bright, every part of the body has vitality; when the spirits of the five viscera are damaged, every part of the body weakens. Those whose Shen and Qi are clear and bright age slowly, while those whose Shen and Qi are damaged are prone to premature aging. The scripture says: “Greed and desire, and indulgence in flavors, injure the Shen and shorten life; even if gold and jade fill the hall, one may still not be able to keep them…”

(The original text breaks off here; the last sentence is incomplete.)

The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are collectively called the six consciousnesses. They always move along with thoughts: when a thought stirs, the six consciousnesses arise accordingly. Therefore, restraining thoughts brings the mind stability; employing thoughts allows affairs to be accomplished; observing thoughts may bring understanding; letting thoughts run loose leads one into dim confusion.

In addition, within the human body there are also the three hun-souls, while the seven po-souls are stored within the organs. Thus it is said that the liver stores the hun, the lungs store the po, the spleen stores zhi (intent), the heart stores Shen, and the kidneys store Jing. These are the roots that govern the hundred spirits and six numina. One should guard against turbidity, scatteredness, frivolity and impatience, and reckless, artificial activity of the heart-mind; to violate these principles and fail to uphold them will invite injury.

One must guard and preserve the Xuanguan (Mysterious Gate) and keep to the essential road of cultivation. (“Xuanguan” refers to the fundamental gate or orifice guarded in cultivation, explained here as “True One” (Zhenyi); the “essential road” refers to the key method of cultivation, explained here as single-minded sincerity and devotion.) Since people eat the five grains and various foods, evil demons arise, and the Three Worms (Sanchong) also gather. The “Three Worms” have three names; they are said to harm the three fundamental roots of human life, and are also called the Three Corpses (Sanshi).

The first is named Qinggu, styled the Upper Corpse. It damages people’s eyes, causing emptiness in the head, dim eyesight, a wrinkled face, bad breath, tooth loss, nasal congestion, deafness, hair loss, and sparse eyebrows; these are all said to be caused by Qinggu. Another edition writes “Qingshi” (Green Stone).

The second is named Baigu, styled the Middle Corpse. It damages the abdomen, injuring the organs and viscera, leaving the heart-spirit unsettled and thoughts disordered, the lung Qi distended and the stomach Qi weak, so that Qi mechanisms injure one another; it also causes loss of appetite, excessive hunger, skin tinea and sores, and emaciation of the muscles. These are all said to be caused by Baigu. Another edition writes “Baishi” (White Stone).

The third is named Xueshi, styled the Lower Corpse. It damages the kidneys, depleting essence and marrow, causing lumbar pain, spinal tension, numbness of the legs, sluggishness of the buttocks, pain in the wrists, and weakness of the calves, and leading to impotence, exhaustion of essence, depletion of blood, and weakening of the bones; these are all said to be caused by Xueshi. Another edition writes “Xuegu.”

These Three Corpses are said to spread poison, devour people’s fetal hun-souls, and lure people to desire death single-mindedly; this is what is meant by “evil demons arise.” After a person dies, the corpse becomes a ghost, wandering in the dark underworld and unable to enjoy the joys of the heavenly court. The Three Corpses constantly move within people’s consciousness, causing them always to do evil, to crave lust, to have excessive joy and anger, to relish the rank and filthy while despising the good; they confuse and disturb people’s consciousness, plunging them into stupor and danger. Therefore, within a single day and between every thought, one should not indulge these evil thoughts.

Daoist texts also say that the Three Corpses often on the days jia-yin and geng-shen report upward to the celestial bureaucracy and lodge complaints downward with the underworld administration, reporting people’s sins and evil deeds. The inspectors of the ten directions receive these accusations, and the lords of the Nine Springs have them present their statements. Thereupon the Supreme Lord on High sometimes believes their words and sends down punishments upon people; the lighter punishment is…

People in the world are often beset by hardship, and what they seek is hard to obtain as they wish; in severe cases they may even die suddenly and be reborn in a changed bodily form.

The calamities that appear after death, and folk sayings such as “after death, blowing the zhifu” and “male and female misfortunes pouring out and breaking,” all arise from thoughts of killing and attacking in people’s minds. Tracing this to its root, it is because people cannot cut off the five grains or abstain from the five flavors; they truly indulge in desire, greed, and deluded imagining, and thus bring injury and death upon themselves. The Neijing Yushu (Jade Book of the Inner Landscape) says: “The fruits of the hundred grains are the essence of the earth; the five flavors are superficially fresh and delicious, but in reality they are rank, foul, evil, and turbid, and they disturb people’s spirit.”

Whether the fetal Qi is clear and bright, and whether the three hun (souls) are settled and the seven po (bodily souls) are scattered or skewed—all of this is connected to the above. One should know that the Three Worms (sanchong)—the worm deities described in Daoism as lodging in the body and draining Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy)—breed because of eating the five grains. They travel through the five viscera, erode the six bowels, and prevent the Dantian (energy center) from becoming full; the bodily fluids cannot circulate, the blood vessels are not smooth, and the essence and marrow cannot coalesce. Thus the fetal hun cannot guard its palace chamber, and the yin po cannot close and store itself. As a result, people sink into the five flavors, greed increases, the body ages, the spirit withers, the skin wrinkles, and the hair falls out.

If one does not eliminate grain food, cut off flavors, and abstain from cravings and sexual desire, the corpse worms will remain, and the physical body will in the end inevitably die. If one wishes to destroy the Three Worms, pacify the corpse ghosts, stabilize the hun and po, nourish the essence, consolidate the form and spirit, and preserve life and body, one must cultivate Qi techniques—methods centered on nurturing and directing yuan Qi (primordial Qi)—and cannot rely on any other path. The Neijing Yushu also says that to restrain emotions and desires, eliminate the worm corpses, and keep the form and spirit from withering away, one must ingest and nourish spirit and Qi and return to the original source; apart from this, nothing can be relied upon.

I, this great immortal, place Qi techniques first, take yuan Qi as the root, take Taihe (Great Harmony) as the aim, and take Chongyuan as the foundation. When one arrives at wondrous stillness, enters mysterious transformation, reaches Wuwei (non-action), and accords with nature, one can then lighten the body and fly upward, enter the mysterious realm, and pass in and out without obstruction. Its Dao is tranquil and peaceful, communicating and uniting with the Dao (the Way); what trouble could there be? The Neijing says: “Do not let the seven generations of ancestors suffer calamity.” This means that one must not transmit Dao (the Way) methods to unsuitable people; otherwise the seven generations of ancestors will be harmed because of it. The phrase here, “what trouble could there be,” means that by cultivating according to the Dao, one can avoid calamity.

Upper immortals take yuan Qi as their principle, middle immortals take elixir techniques as their foundation, and lower immortals take medicinal techniques as their primary concern. Weighing these three modes of cultivation, if one wants longevity, what ultimately must one pay? They all require diligence and hardship, tax the spirit, involve ingesting mineral and metallic drugs, and consume great amounts of wealth, yet they do not return to the silent source; therefore they contravene the principles of nature and deviate from the true Dao. Formerly Dawei Weng said: “Living gives me a body, and having a body brings trouble; action and labor burden me; thought makes me…”

When hunger and thirst stir desire, and desire is indulged, faults and harms arise from this, and thus the mysterious way of creation is diminished. (This is the secret purport that Guang Chengzi obtained from his account of the essential instructions on cultivating the Dao given by the ancient great immortals.)

Thereupon Taihuang Dijun carefully gathered and restrained his mind and spirit and visualized primordial Qi (thereby opening the mysterious principle; first one must enter stillness and visualize the Danyuan—the Dantian where the mind and spirit reside—so that everything naturally merges and returns to a state of quiescence). His sincerity moved Taiyi Zhenjun, who then held in his hand a copy of the Xuan Yuan Neijing Qijue Miaojing and transmitted it to him. After this, the Emperor Lord descended to the Central Peak, where he again gathered the immortals and expounded this wondrous scripture; hence the scripture is named the Zhongshan Yugui Fu Shenqi Jing. (This is the scripture that Biyan received from his master, upheld, and practiced; only after his master transmitted it could he understand it clearly and know for certain that it was true and trustworthy, and so he took it as an admonition.)

Taiyi Zhenjun is the deity of the Great Harmony primordial Qi of the North Pole. With spiritual powers and transformations, he travels through heaven and earth from the Ziwei Palace at the North Pole (the celestial palace where the North Star is located and where the Heavenly Emperor resides), nourishing and transforming all things. In heaven, he makes the five images (celestial phenomena such as the sun, moon, and five planets) clear; on earth, he makes grasses and trees grow; dwelling in the human body, he makes spiritual consciousness bright and numinous; in a mirror, he can illuminate and inspect the Five Phases; in the north, he drives the cyclical changes of the four seasons. When listened for, he is not heard; when looked for, he is not seen; when grasped at, he cannot be seized. He has neither form nor appearance, yet he gives form and appearance to all things, and so he is called xuan and called xiang. Whenever there is a felt connection, there is no lack of response; whenever truth is sought, there is no failure to verify it; whenever the mind is concentrated, there is no effect it cannot exert; wherever sincere devotion arrives, there is none that is not moved. From this it can be known that in cultivating the Dao, one takes true authenticity as the Xuanguan (the key gate for entering the Dao) and single-minded sincerity as the essential road; relying on these two, there is nothing that cannot be penetrated. (After Biyan received this scripture, his master further revealed it to him in sequence, so that in the future he would not be blocked or confused.)

The scripture says: If one wishes to ingest Qi, one should take the ingestion of primordial Qi as the root and returning to stillness as the mystery. If one cannot find this gate and does not know the essential road of the Xuanguan, in the end one cannot accomplish merit and virtue. (These are the essential words in the scripture, and therefore they are not empty sayings.) Seeking immortality and attaining the Dao takes cutting off grain food (bigu) as its aim; the gate of cutting off grain food takes Qi ingestion as its root; the principle of Qi ingestion takes zhaijie (fasting and purification observances) as first. Therefore one should first maintain zhaijie, then choose a good day and set up a bed and mat in a quiet room. (What is called zhai means that the mind is clear and the intentions are pure, without various agitations; it need only last fourteen days.) If one does not first observe zhaijie, one cannot obtain the inner assistance of spirit and Qi; if one does not practice cunxiang (visualization), spirit and Qi cannot be replenished within the body. If one wishes to practice, one must also set aside an additional quiet room.

Decorate the cultivation chamber with good-quality earth and fragrant clay; the interior should be bright, tightly enclosed, high, and spacious. The bed should be thick and warm, and the quilts and pillows should be clean as new. Do not let idle or miscellaneous people enter, lest the room be defiled. The floor should be dug down two chi, the stones and debris sifted out of the soil, impurities removed, and good soil then filled back in, tamped firm, and patted level. Then spread a layer of fine soil, tread it down firmly, and make the floor level and solid. Sweep and sprinkle it regularly; be sure to keep it clean. In the room place only a desk and a scripture cabinet.

Before each cultivation session, burn incense and recite “Xuan Yuan Wushang Tianzun,” then recite “Taiyi Zhenjun” (a Daoist deity). One may also call upon Sanyi, Sanyuan, and the spirits of the five viscera and six bowels, concentrate the mind, click the teeth, and meditate quietly.

Taiyi Zhenjun has five precepts; if observed sincerely, one will obtain spiritual response.

The first precept is: do not chat or laugh with women, or remain in their company, lest corpse ghosts bewilder you and disturb your spirit.

The second is: do not eat meat, greasy foods, the five pungent vegetables, or cold, cool, slippery, and greasy things. Eating these will cause the Three Corpses (Sanshi, deities believed in Daoism to dwell in the human body, incite people to do evil, and report them to Heaven) to be invaded by turbid Qi, and will also pollute the spirits of the five viscera.

The third is: do not enter polluted or evil places. Attending funerals, visiting the sick, and occasions of killing or punishment can all cause fright and great anger, leading to scattering of the spirit; contact with corpses is especially taboo, for a corpse is regarded as extremely polluted. If one inadvertently encounters or collides with a corpse, one should first bathe in water boiled with peach bark and bamboo leaves, then enter the cultivation chamber and lie flat, visualizing fire arising in the heart, its flames spreading through the whole body and burning the body until it is luminous, as if everything has been burned away. After that, hold the breath, then swallow fresh Qi and drive out the impure Qi in the abdomen, causing it to be expelled downward; be sure to expel it completely, after which one may return to normal.

The fourth is: do not argue with others over right and wrong, quarrel, or contend in anger, and do not hold other people’s children; these actions shorten one’s lifespan and injure the mind and spirit.

The fifth is: do not deceive anyone. Yin deities (spirits that secretly inspect people) will not protect the deceitful. Speak cautiously and conduct yourself with restraint; do not turn to face north to urinate, otherwise you will offend Taiyi and Ziwei (Daoist deities), and the disasters that descend will not be light.

If you violate these five precepts, within fourteen days you will naturally be startled awake and warned in dreams. After awakening, you should cultivate goodness. This matter must be kept secret; do not disclose it to others. The scripture called the Neijing Qijue Miaojing (Wondrous Scripture of Inner Qi Formulas) speaks precisely of inner secret cultivation; only the cultivator understands it inwardly, so it must not be disclosed to others.

The Perfected Person (Zhenren) says: The upper corpse is named Peng Ju and delights in treasures; the middle corpse is named Peng Zhi and delights in the five flavors; the lower corpse is named Peng Jiao and delights in sexual desire. The Three Corpses (sanshi) constantly reside in a person’s spleen. On nights when one cultivates this method, one should lie prone and turn to the right, so that the spleen cannot become active; if the spleen cannot become active, the Three Corpses cannot cause mischief. This practice is said also to have some auxiliary benefit.

On this night, recite silently in the mind: “Three Corpses and Nine Worms (jiuchong), I already know what you are capable of.” If in sleep or a dream one hears a call and inadvertently answers, one should immediately rise, sit upright, tap the teeth together twelve times, and then silently recite: “I know that you are the Three Corpses and Nine Worms. You need only rectify your conduct and be subject to my command; in dreams, I must not respond to you.” At ordinary times, one should also repeatedly ponder this in advance and warn oneself. In this way, they cannot transform and cause mischief.

The Dwellings of the Three Corpses

The upper corpse Peng Ju dwells in a person’s head, in the Niwan Palace (niwan gong, the inner palace of the head in Daoist teaching), which is also called the upper Dantian. It is located about three cun behind the eyebrows; there are its own palaces and pavilions.

The middle corpse Peng Zhi dwells about three cun and three fen behind the heart; it is called the middle Niwan and also the middle Dantian, where there are its own palaces and pavilions.

The lower corpse Peng Jiao dwells in a person’s lower Dantian, also called the lower Niwan. It is located in the lower abdomen, three cun below the navel and then three cun and seven fen deep within the abdomen; there are its own palaces and pavilions.

Methods for Observing the Three Corpses

If one suddenly dreams of building houses, fences, or screens, it means that the corpse-worms (shichong) in the abdomen are attaching to one another and gathering. If one dreams of sexual union with a woman, it means the corpse-worms are assembling; in severe cases, this will cause illness.

If cinnabar (dansha) is taken and produces an effect, one should dream of a great fire burning one’s own house. If other medicines produce an effect, one should dream of one’s parents dying, one’s wife and children being killed, or sisters, brothers, and other relatives meeting misfortune; one may also dream of women, tombs being destroyed, coffins being lost, or someone being put to death under the Five Punishments (wuxing). These dream images are said to be signs that the corpse-worms are about to be eliminated.

Master Zhao’s Transmitted Method of Incantation to the Corpse-Worms (Three Kinds in Total)

Master Zhao transmitted: If one wishes to make offerings to the Three Corpses and Nine Worms, one should, at midnight on the month-establishing day (yuejian ri, the day corresponding to the current month’s earthly branch), quietly go to the center of the courtyard, stand facing east, relax the body, regulate the breath, and tap the teeth together thirty times. After tapping the teeth, first slightly raise the head, then slightly lower it…

Then swallow saliva twenty times, and afterward lean forward with the body raised, swinging both hands back and forth fourteen times. While leaning, slowly wave the hands and silently pray:

“Lord Nanchang (Nanchang Jun), the five officer-generals, and the one hundred and twenty officers and soldiers, please remove for So-and-so the Three Worms and the corpse-lying General So-and-so. May I roam the world and eliminate calamities and misfortunes.”

After the prayer, slowly turn to the left, then lie down and continue the practice. Cultivating in this way for three years, the corpse worms will be destroyed. If they recur in the middle of the month, one must repeat the cultivation. In practicing this method one should observe ritual fasting and purity, live alone, and avoid mixing with people; all affairs should be arranged quietly, and others should not be allowed to know. Domestic animals, birds, and beasts should not hear the sounds either. This method is easy to practice and will not cause mental confusion or loss of spirit.

Another Method

The Master said: If you wish to remove the corpse worms, in spring choose a Jia or Yi day, observe at night the position of Suixing (Jupiter), bow twice toward it at dawn, and then concentrate and silently pray:

“May the Lord of the Bright Star of the East support my hun-soul and guide my po-soul, making my lifespan as long as pine and cypress, so that I live ten thousand years without decline. May he remove for Jia the Three Corpses and Nine Worms within the body, causing them all to flee and be destroyed.”

One should always choose clean and quiet places and practice this method continuously; doing so is good. This lord deity, who symbolizes benevolence and loves life, belongs to Wood; Wood can overcome Earth, so the Earth Corpse will depart. This is a subtle oral formula; keep it secret.

Another Method

The method for removing the Three Corpses and Nine Worms orally transmitted by the Master is this: On the last day of each month, at sunrise when the sky is just bright, face the east where the sun rises, walk in the Yu Step (Daoist stepping pattern), and pray three times:

“Nuo-gao!” (“Gao” is a calling sound, like a loud shout.)

“In the moon there are worms, a rabbit, and a toad; in the sun there is a three-legged worm; in water there are snakes and fish; in earth there are moths and mole crickets; in the belly there are roundworms and white worms.”

Stop after praying three times. This method must be kept secret and not transmitted.

Master Dongfang’s Method for Controlling the Three Corpses

On every Gengshen day, visualize two perfected beings in the head: Taishang Laojun and the Niwan Perfected. They sit side by side, wearing Far-Roaming caps and black robes, seated in the tent of hidden radiance, looking downward. The mouth, eyes, ears, and nose are all clear and pure; the Shen (spirit) and Qi are bright and clear. This is called the “Upper One” (Shangyi), used to restrain the hun-souls of the face.

Next, visualize two perfected beings in the heart: Taiyi Taidi and the Crimson Palace Perfected. They sit side by side, wearing Nine Yang crowns and robes of Cinnabar South and Restful Radiance, seated in the Crimson Mound tent, looking down over the whole body. Cause the liver, lungs, gallbladder, and kidneys all to be pure and clean like five-colored fine jade. This is called the “Middle One” (Zhongyi), used to restrain the Jing (essence) of the four limbs and all parts…

Next, visualize within the navel the Great Yellow Lord Lao (Taihuang Laojun) and the Perfected Person of the Yellow Court (Huangting Zhenren), seated side by side, wearing Ten Numinous Crowns and yellow silk gauze robes, seated within a yellow brocade canopy. They look downward at the orifices below the spleen and abdomen, making them clear and bright, like white silk. This is called “restraining the skeletal po from below” (xiayi juzhi haipo), meaning to restrain and control the body and po-soul from below. In this way, the Three Corpses (sanshi) have no means to act.

The Most High’s Method for Removing the Three Corpses, Transmitted by the Purple Tenuity Palace (Ziwei Gong)

Within the human body there are invariably the Three Corpses and Nine Worms (jiuchong). When a person is born, the body is entrusted to the mother’s womb and is nourished by the essence-Qi of the five grains; therefore, corpse-worms are stored in the abdomen and cause great harm to people. The corpse-worms often ascend to Heaven on the night of a Gengshen day to report to the Heavenly Emperor, recording people’s transgressions and seeking to cut off their register of life and bring about early death. Then a person’s hun-soul rises to the blue sky, the po-soul falls into the Yellow Springs, and only the corpse-worms remain wandering on earth, becoming what are called ghosts.

If the three sacrificial animals (san sheng) used in sacrifices at the four seasons and eight festivals are not pure and clean, the corpse-worms will take the opportunity to bring disaster upon people, causing heart pain, bodily discomfort, and even harm to life.

The upper corpse is named Peng Ju and dwells in the human head; it damages the eyes and makes people delight in doing evil and devouring sentient beings. Sometimes it also causes bad breath and tooth loss. The middle corpse is named Peng Zhi and dwells in the human abdomen; it damages the five viscera, causes lack of Qi and forgetfulness, and also makes people delight in doing evil and devouring sentient beings. Sometimes it also causes nightmares and frightened unease. The lower corpse is named Peng Jiao and dwells in the human feet; it disturbs the lower joints and the five emotions, making the emotions agitated and difficult to control. If the corpse-worms work mischief and become spirits, they will also harm descendants and cause disasters to continue without end.

Another account says that the upper corpse Peng Ju is also called Qingfu, the middle corpse Peng Zhi is also called Baifu, and the lower corpse Peng Jiao is also called Chikou. The Three Corpses look like small children, sometimes like horses; all have beards and hair, with hair about three or four cun long. After a person dies, they emerge and transform into ghosts. Their appearance, clothing, and height all resemble the person as they were in life, so relatives and friends may think the deceased has returned home; in fact, that is not the soul of the dead.

The Three Corpses and Nine Worms in the human body have many varieties. Those who study the Dao and cultivate long life, if they do not first remove the Three Corpses and Nine Worms, will be unable to seek immortality even if they laboriously take medicines and abstain from grains. Later people regard the scriptures and methods left by the former sages as absurd and unfounded because they have not yet investigated the root of the harm. This is the teaching of the highest sages and the secret words of the Perfected; one should earnestly and diligently practice it. The method of removal and control is: on every night of a Gengshen day, do not sleep; by keeping vigil, prevent the Three Corpses from ascending to Heaven to accuse people of their transgressions. Five...

If the Three Corpses (sanshi — in Daoism, spirits said to lodge in the human body, incite people to do evil, and harm life) accumulate to a hundred [offenses], the person will certainly die. If one observes three consecutive Gengshen days, the Three Corpses will hide and remain motionless; if one observes seven consecutive Gengshen days, the Three Corpses will be forever cut off, and after death they will be thrown into the boiling cauldron of Taixuan (the Great Mystery) and boiled to death. In this way, the person’s Shen (spirit) becomes settled, the five viscera are harmonious, and one is no longer disturbed by the Three Corpses.

Taixu Zhenren’s Method for Eliminating the Three Corpses

Taixu Zhenren said: In spring choose the Jiayin day, in summer the Bingwu day, in autumn the Gengshen day, and in winter the Renzi day. On each of these days, when going to bed at night, first grind equal amounts of cinnabar, realgar, and orpiment into a fine powder, wrap it in cotton cloth, and make it the size of a jujube. Just before sleep, insert the medicine packets into both ears. This is a cultivation method for eliminating the Three Corpses and refining and nourishing the seven Po (the seven souls that make up the body’s spiritual activity).

At noon the next day, bathe in east-flowing water. After bathing, arrange the bed, change clothes, wash the old clothes; put on shoes, and clean up the bathing items that were used. Then sweep around the bed, making the room clean and peaceful. Then lie face upward, hold the breath, clasp the fists in wogu (a cultivation posture of tightly closing the hands and gathering the spirit) for a moment, and softly recite the incantation:

“The Dao (the Way) of Heaven moves with constancy, causing the old to be replaced and the new to renew. The High God bestows an auspicious day; I bathe in order to seek realization. The three Qi (vital energy) eliminate the Three Corpses; cinnabar and realgar stabilize the hun and po souls. I cherish and refine the seven Po, causing them to be intimate with me.”

This is a superior method for eliminating and transmuting corpse impurity, and an important oral formula for transforming the body and cultivating the true body. It suffices to perform it on one of the designated days in each season.

Recollecting the Dao’s Admonitions to Remove the Three Corpses

Lord Lao left admonitions teaching people to protect themselves: outwardly one should be like an empty city, not revealing one’s sharpness; inwardly one should be full like cinnabar-red. Externally one should always appear lacking, while inwardly one should be replete. Guard the Dao and the five viscera; do not recklessly disperse Jing (essence) and Qi. Act uprightly, keep the great Dao in mind, and constantly protect oneself with the Dao.

By thinking of the Dao and recollecting the Dao, one can sit peacefully and summon the traveling kitchen through spiritual resonance (xingchu — in Daoism, food that can be summoned through visualization). By thinking of the Dao and recollecting the Dao, one can be accompanied by the Dao at all times. Within, cherish the treasure; without, remain humble and unadorned. Guard Shen and cherish Yuan Qi, and all manner of evil influences cannot intrude. The way of long life lies in one’s own hands; the Three Corpses naturally depart, and the hundred illnesses and nine worms (a general term for disease-causing worms and evils within the body) will disappear of themselves. Even after undergoing a thousand calamities, the body can remain unharmed, approaching that of an immortal.

The Purple Writ of the Five Phases Method for Removing Corpse Worms, with Three Methods

The Purple Writ of the Five Phases says: On the new moon and full moon days (the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month), at noon, close the eyes and face west. Visualize green Qi issuing from both eyes, red Qi from the heart, and yellow Qi from the navel. Let these three Qi coil around one another and merge into one, and visualize them covering the whole body, making the body bright and translucent from outside to inside, as if glowing. After maintaining this for a while, click the teeth forty times and then swallow the saliva in the mouth. This is called the way of refining the form, and it is also a method for removing corpse worms. Long-term practice is beneficial.

There is another method.

On the sixteenth day of the seventh month each year, cut one’s fingernails, burn them to ashes, and ingest them; this will cause the Nine Worms (Jiuchong) to dissolve themselves and subdue the Three Corpses (Sanshi, the three corpse-spirits in the body according to Daoism).

There is another method: on Yin days, cut the fingernails; on Wu days, cut the toenails. This is called “cutting away the Three Corpses.”

Method of Visualizing Red Qi in the Heart to Expel the Three Corpses

The scripture says: Always visualize red Qi issuing from the heart and moving upward, directly reaching the throat; then, with the intention, seal it within the Niwan (the upper Dantian in the head according to Daoism). If one perseveres without slackening, the Three Corpses will depart of themselves, and the person will attain long life and enduring vision. Siming (the deity in charge of human lifespan and the register of life) will record one’s name in the purple register of the deathless.