Daoist Internal Mastery

by

WANG Liping
]j3

Translated
Translated by Mark Bartosh
Edited by Livia Kohn
 Three Pes Press
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© 2019 by Mark Bartosh

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

me: W
W ,
, 949- t
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,  9-
9- tr
tr  K,
Lv
Lv 19-
19- ditr
ditr
Te Dis te mer / b WG  ; trad b rk 
eted b Lii h.
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Lin b tn hi n ni n h  Iclde ind
dee CC 01806107 I SB 9894839 ( e)
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299./444--c2
LC record aailble at htts//lccn.loc.go/2018061107
 Contents

Ackowledg ents V

Prece  vi

1. The Dragon
Dragon Gate Lineage of
of Immortals 1
Dragon Gate Transmission 1
Dao, Daoism, and Other Relons 3
Daoist Schools 8
The Patriarchs 13
The Arts of Immortalty 15
2 Niong shu vervew 18
The Nine Main Methods 19
The Nine Additional Methods 28
The Internal Landscape 29
3A. Internal Structure 35
The Heaveny Circuit 35
The Three Eneres in the Body 37
Spirit and the Li Force 47
Spirit Light 54
Emotions, Desires, and Senses 57
Te Three Perct Spaces 59
The Three Centers 63
3B Cultvation System 72
Forms of Breathng 72
Sittng Medtaon 78
Hand Seals and Gestures 82
Retreats and Fastng 86
The Three Forms of Qi and their Movements 98
How to Medtate 102
Elxir Concoction: External and Internal 105
Renement Procedures 109
4. ExchangingQ
ExchangingQwith
with Nature 112
The First Technique 113
Things to Note 116
Applcation 118
Cultivation Process 120
5. Ener Balancing  123
ionary T
Station ice
y Tree Practice 123
Workrkin g  w 
ing   M ov emet
 w ith Mo 129
y and Orig in
Theory a 139
6. Pacing and Ball Practice 137
Pacing the Seven Stars 137
Pacing the Eight Trigrams 140
Intention Ball Exercises 143
Level Two Practices 144
7. Opening Vessels and Meridians 147
8. Standing Practice 152
9. Sleep Practice 155
10. Capturing Solar Essence and Lunar Florescences 162
 Absorbing Lunar Florescence 163
 Absorbing Solar Essence 169
11 Attaining Wisdom and Potential 175
12. Rening the Internal Lines 177
13A. Attracting Immortality 179
Theory of Attracting Immortality 182
The Twelve Methods 184
1 Method: Focusing the Heart-and-ind in Sitting Medtation
st
184
2nd Method: Stabilizing the Body 193
3rd Method: No Seeing, No Hearing 199
4th Method: Containing Seeing and Reversing Hearing 203
5th Method: Steadying rdiary Respiration 206
6th Method: Calming Spirit in Three Steps 208
7th Method: Steadying Perct Breathing 210
8th Method: Stopping All Leakage 214
9th Method: Lookig Inward and Reversing Hearing 215
10t Metod: Concentrating Spirit in Serene Reection 216
11th Method:
Method: Listening
Liste ning to and Following the Breath 218
12th Method: Nurturing
Nurturing and Cleansing the Heartand-Mind 220
13B. Explanation of Attracting Immortality 223
Founation 223
Basic Steps 226
Perfect eess 230
he Lower Field 23
 Eects 241
The New Universe 245
14A. The Cultivation Methods of the Tafhua ngzhi 251
trongl Open the Heavenl Eye 252
Calm Spirit at the Ancestral rice 269
Focus Spirit in the Cavit of Qi 276
Turn Your Vision Inward 281
14B. Explanation of the Cultivation
Culti vation Methods 288
Spiritual Seeg 294
Ke Caverns in the Bod 299
The Spirit Light 304
Calming the Spirit 310
Cosmological Implicaons 315
Practical Application 321
15A. Aligment of the Five Phases 325
Single Aligment 326
 Aligment of All Five Phases, Part 1 328
 Aligment of All Five Phases, Part 2 333
 Aligment of All Five Phases, Part 3 335
The Five Phases in the Bo 337
The Structure of the Five Phases 346
15B Explanation of the Aligment of the Five Phases 353
Traditional Patterns 357
Organ Connections 362
16 Augmenting Yang Fire and Reducing Yin Impact 367
17 Was of Inner Obseation 374
18 Contemplating Teachers and Parents 382
19 idnight Practice 387
20 Essential Methods of Women's Alchemy 392
21. The Practice of the Three Immortals 398

Glossar 403
Index 413
 Acknowledgments

My deepest, heartlt gratitude goes rst of all to Master Wang r granting

permission and ving me encouragement to translate his work in ll. His sup-
port has been critical in ensuring the progress of the work and its nal comple-
tion. Flowing with Dao, his support has always been there, natural and eort-
ess. It began to bolster and enhance my work specically in December, 2016.
t the time on retreat in Hawaii, I brought along the one chapter I had trans-
ated lly. Master Wang asked several other disciples to scrutinize my work,
then asked me to pursue it more lly and aim r publicaton
Overal, the translation took over ve years to complete, requiring many
hours away om my wi and three daughters Without question, the most el-
ementary, rocksteady, and uniling care and support dung these years came
om my loving wi, Stephanie. Raised in Taiwan and uent in Mandarin, she
is also a student of Master Wang She helped me solve many questions and was
a source of ongoing conversation about the texta this while we were open-
ing the rst Mandarin Immersion Montessori
Montessori School in New York City. She
has been a constant pillar of strength, rever at my side, always having my
back, as I kept on struling with the translation. I am rtunate to have such
an amazing partner in life. Thank you so very, very much!
 Another
 Anothe r major source
sourc e of support
suppo rt was Livia Kohn who during
duri ng the nal
stages of this project
proj ect transrmed my oen disjointed renditon into a coherent
coherent
and readable book Without her taking on this huge project, the translation
 would not be here today, in its current rm. We all owe her a great debt of
gratit
gra titude
ude!! And let us not rget Richard V encu, who put me in touch with her
in the rst place Lots of thanks to him!
Many others helped in a variety of ways. Leong Kah Seng transcribed the
paper copy into a Word document using CR sotware. He also spent an inor-
dinate amount of time preparing rough translations r me in the beginning as I
learned to read Chinese My good iends Sandra Podhajsky, Manish Bhatt,
Richard Liao, Wee Xiao Ling, and Frank Butler all helped tremendously by
prooreading certain chapters. They were also unilingly present whenever I
needed support. So were, last but not least, Scotty Ellis and Nathan Brine I el
so deeply grate to them a!

Mark Bartosh
 Prefce

This book translates Master Wang's original practice instructions and discours
es. I originally obtained his work in December 2011, when I sat my rst retreat
 with him in Dalian, China. At the timet ime I could not read a single word of Chi-
nese, and so the book held many mysteries. As I delved into it, I would ask my
 wi,
 wi, Stephanie, to render some
some sectons r me, but she und
und it hard
hard since the
 work
 work is a technical manual, led wi with
th terms and ideas that
that are challenng
challenng to
translate. So she soon tired of my requests, and I set out to start my own rendi-
tion. I began very literally, ing word by word, then managed to read entire
sentences. Wow! That was great!
Since then, over ve years have passed, an ongoing and challenging jour-
ney that led to this version. It ls me with great joy to make it nally available
to the Enish speaking world. My hope is that the book will inspire readers to
commence or intensi their practice of Daoist culivation, thereby to enhance
 vibrant health
health and open spiriual awakening.
awakening.
I have endeavored to translate the work as closely as possible to the origi-
nal wle utizing the stadard terms used by scholars of Daoist studies. he
book presents a coherent system, but its practices should be undertaken under
the drection of a qualed master. Thus, during Master Wang's retreats, parc-
ipants spend almost all their time in medtation practice guided and mentored
by his drect instructions. The bulk of the learning happens in these sitngs
because the alchemical instructions are so many and so complex.
The mind plays a part at rst, seing to direct the process, but ltimately
the work happens through the body. The body has its own inherent wisdom: to
unock it, practioners undertake various sets of internal eercises. The process
then alows them to experience the ll uition of the medicine the system
provides. The book prvdes detailed explanations and explained theories on
these pracices; however, it does not give the tempo, the rhythm, the ring pro-
cess necessary to concoct the internal medicine. herere, it provides suppor
bt does not, and cannot, replace Master Wang's personal
personal gdance.
This book aims to elucidate and explcate the depth of Daoist practice. I
personaly spent over went years studying under the late Dr. Samuel Sagan,
nder of the Clairvision School of Meditation. I worked hard to open m
ener body and consciousness in those years, a feat that prepared me to re
om the book and its teachings, by all means, everyone should attend his sem-
inars and experience them rsthand.
To btain a bngual version of the book in Enlish and Chinese, pleas
visit .daoistinternalmastery.com r more inrmation.

Mark Bartosh New York, November 2018

 Chapter One

The Dragon Gate Lineage of Immortals

Dragon Gate Transmission

Qiu Chuji unded the Dragon Gate (Longmen) lneage during the Jin dynasty
(11481227). Also known as Brother Qiu, he was a native of Qixia in
Dengzhou (modern Shandon. A disciple of Wang Chongyang (11131170),
the under of the school of Complete Perfection or Reaty (Quanzhen), he
 was given the Daoist name Changchunzi (Master of Eternal Sprin.
Aer Wang's eath, he as well as the other leading sciples, Ma Yu, Tan
Chuxuan, and Liu Chuxuan gathered together r his neral. Following this,
Qiu practiced Daoist cultivaon in a grave r three years, then moved to a
cave in Panxi, where he continued his eorts r six years without sleeping.
From here, he moved to the Longmen range Shaanxi). He attracted many l-
lowers through his ascetc listyle whle also winning the admration of schol-
ars through his lterary work. His longterm practice gave him the appearance
and perseverance of an immortal. In his later years, Qiu gained the vor of
Genghis han who conferred a gold tablet and a royal seal upon him, in addi-
tion to granting taxexempt status to all Complete Perfecton llowers and
placing Qiu in charge of all relgions in China. Thus, the Dragon Gate lneage
 was unded. Qiu spent almost his entre life promoting ts rm of Daoism.
The Yuan emperor Kublai Khan bestowed on Qiu the title Perfected of
Eternal Spring, Daoist Preacher and Leader;" Kg Khan in additon named
him Perfected Lord of Eternal Spring, Master of Complete Virtue, Spirit
Transrmaton and Illuminated Response."
The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty had a quote of his rmay
inscribed: To lve an eternal life of a myriad years, there is no need to eat the
morning clouds or seek out ncy chants. Just stop a ng and you wi know
how to go beyond the world and attain miraculous achievements."
During his life, atriarch iu wrote numerous works, including the Pan
2 / Chapter I

eang Dao) and Xrouji Qourny to th Wst; DZ 1149). 2 Mastr u taht
many discipls, sponsord th stablshmnt of numrous Daost tps and
ft bhind th Dragon Gat nag pom, on whch all rious nams of l-
lowrs ar basd It gos: 3

Dao and virtu prvad mystrious stilnss.

Tru constancy guards supr clart
Th on yang coms and rturns to th sourc
Th unitd taching s rvr who and brght

Utmost prc s th ancstor of sncr and t.

Vnratd an ot, t transts t ourshn of t vn aw,
Th wor's lht s oursn an uttr sndd.
nauib an sut, t sras  ts natua acnss

Rst n an cutvat tu nvonc an rtousnss

n, on on a an ascn to t cous,
You can ac t ts.
As ou o t cnta ow  at won,
You sa o s cot a aos cnt.
 mtss an vastss, avn (an a at (Ku os
ta an woo  ac ot  ta co tot.

otas a sas, ao a t tact

 otus os a aas as a nw tas
 ou actc , t cnaa ook ro ota] ckons
 t oo s , a ascos t ass,
Fo a a as, otas as co,
  os a  a co a

Schipper and Pranciscus Verellen, eds., e Taot non: A Hl Coanion  the Dao z
3 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago ress, 2004)
 This work is in ct a record of his travels to meet Genghis Khan, b his disciple Yin Zhip-
 The Dragon Gate Lineage / 3

Dao, Daoism, and Other Religions

Dao is a aciet Chiese philosophical cocept. It ecompasses the myriad

phemea ad the atural uiverse is competely cotaied i Dao. Throuh
exploratio over thousads of years, our acestors i Chia discovered Dao.
Daosm ad Cociaism both derive om ths otio. The Daoist school, i
particular, eerated Daoism, Chia's idieous relio. The Cocia
school, o the other had, does ot teach relgio, but provides a ethical
teachi. Today, Chia embraces three doctries: Daoism, Cociaism ad
Buddhism.
Whie its teachi oes back to the thouht of Cocius (550479 BCE),
how ad whe exactly Cociasm was established as a paChiese system
is ot eirely clear, or who really was the leader i this process. What iu-
ece dd it have o the idividual Chiese? What impact dd it have o Chia
as a whole ad r how lo? Those are stil unaswered quesos, especialy
lso sice Cociaism was widely accepted i imperial Chia but sice the
beni of the Republic i 1912, has maifested i a much more arrow-
mided versio.
Daoist philosophy, o the other had, clearly eerated the Daoist re-
o ad both are widely appreciated as represeti the beliefs of the people,
so that the udaio of the aio is closely coected with Dao ad its sys
tem. Daoism is oe way to sudy Dao, usi your experiece as empirical evi-
dece. The Daoist relgio seres to help us uderstad Dao; it came ito bei
so we could properly uderstad Daoist thouht. For may years, virtue was a
key ctor i empiricaly sudy Dao, but evetually it became clear that virtue
 was ot the same as relo.
 Al over world, relgios teach about ci death. For example, Bud-
dism teaches that, as lo as we live carelly ad morally well, we will o to
the Wester Pure Lad. Simarly, Chrisaty teaches pople to live ethically
ad o to heave aer death. Daoism, however, does ot emphasize the aer-
lie but stroly cuses o life i the preset. It promotes loevity ad im-
mortalty, preseti a special ad hihly uque view of li. Daoists wat to
live a lo time, attai immortality ad reach eteral lfe. Althouh this oal
may ot seem asible, it has yet bee explored by umerous Daoists over the
aes. Is it possible r huma beis to coexist with the uiverse? Ca people
surve aer its destruco?
Quesios lke these determie the reaso r meditaio. They are ot
the same i dieret traditio ad reect various reliious ideas ad practices.
Dieret techques of meditatio, moreover, match deret basic questios
1 4 / Chapter I

Hao DatongHuashan lneage (Mount ua)

Sun Bu'er Qgjng lneage (Clarty and Stllness)
Qu Chuj Longmen lneage (Dragon _Gate)

Southern lineage: Zhong Quan L DongbnChen Tuan Lu Ha-

chanWang Chongyang, Zhang Boduan

Clear Cultivation: Zhag BoduanSh Ta Xue Dao gang Chen

NanBa Yuchan

Dual Cultivation: Zhang BoduanLu YongnanWeng Bao

gangRuo Yz

Easte lineage: Lu Xxng

Central neage: L Daochun
Western lineage: L Hanxu
Sanfeng lineage: Zhang Sanng

Dragon Gate neage: Patrarch Qu had many apprentces durng hs
lfeime, most mprtantly: Zhao Baoyuan (aka Daojan)Zhang Bzh (aka
Daochun)Chen Chongy (aka Tonge)Zhou Dazhuo (aka Xuan)
Zhang JngdnShen JngyuanZhao Zhensoang Changyueu
ShouyanSun Tag anGao Dongl (aka Qnu)Mn Yde.

Although the transmsson process wthn the Drago Gate lneage was
never nterrupted, o occason masters were n secluson and hard to nd Ex-
amples nclude Chen Tongwe, Zhou Xuanpu, Zhang Jngdng, Zhao Zhen
song ad others who medtated deeply and practced cultvation n deep seclu-
so, ever appearng n the world. Only when Wag Changyue receved the
transmsson om the sxthgeneraton master Zhao Zhensong and thus be-
came the leader of the seventh generation has the lneage been known publcly
n the world Smlarly, although t dvded nto many branches, each and every
one of them has been the drect nhertor of ZhongL arts and methods

The Arts of I mmortality

The arts of mmortalty used n the Dragon Gate lneage owe ther orgn to the
ve northern patrarchs Wang Shaoyang was the rst patrarch He taught
Zhongl Quan who, aer completed hs tranng n the mountans, transmtted
 The Dragon Gate Lineage / 1 5

Golden Flower; JH 9 4). 1 0 They present the main corpus of the arts of interir
mastery. Zongli Quan made an oath that he would never leave the mountains,
 which is why L Dongbin traveled through the world and lectured. Both Li
Haichan and Wang Chongyang obtained the teachings om L and cmpleted
al the erent levels of traing, in due course becoming the urth and h
of the early patriarchs.
Liu Haichan in his turn transmitted the Daoist teaching to Zhang Boduan,
Shi Xingng, Xue Daoguang, Chen Chuixu, and Bai Yuchan. These are jointly
kown as the ve Southern patriarchs. In addition also including Liu Yongping
and Peng Si, they became the Southern Seven Percted.
Wang Chongyang transmitted his teachings to spread to Ma Danyang, Sun
Bu'er, Hao Datong, Wang Chuyi, u Chuxuan, Tan Chuduan and Qiu Chuji.
They ere collectively known as the Northern Seven Perfected.
The ve orinal patriarchs together with the latter group of Seven Per-
fected rm the Northern School, while their southern counterparts became
the Southern Schoolal going back to the same ve original teachers.
Mastery of inner nature centers on the renement of spirt, mang it re-
turn to the self and _be active: spirit contains qi. Mastery of life cuses on the
renement of qi whie recognizing that qi contains spirit. In ct, the two can-
not be separated. Buddhists bein by cultivaing li, then move on work on
inner nature. Their practice is like yoga and tantrism, which both also begin by
cltivang l. In Chan, mastery divdes into internal and externalbenning
ith the external, which is a rm of martial arts while internal training is sup
plementar, cusing on critical examination and various arts of nurturing li.
The Southern and Northern schools originated om the same lineage, but
are derent in various ays. The Northern school was transmitted dominantly
in northern China and om the begnning has remained true to model as
taught in the orthodox transmission handed down by the under L Dongbin.
From the orinal ve patriarchs to the Seven Perfected �nd all the way to to-
da, the did not mix any Buddhism teachings or practices into theirs. The
Southern school was most popular in Jiangnan; its patriarchs integrated Chan
Buddhist ideas and methods, oen using Buddhist terminology to explain the
proress tward perction. For example, the third eye is called Heavenly Eye

 0 This goes back to a spirit-writin cult in Sichuan in the early Qin dynasty (1 7th c.) whoe
members received the text om L Donbin in a trance esion. It also contain a complete
outlne of the alchemical roces It title literally mean "undamental Intruction on the
Golden lower of the Great One. It rt translation in 1929 by the inoloit Richard
Wihelm in close cooperation with the py choloist Carl Jun etablished it Enlih title: Th
1 6 / Chapter I

or Mind Opening in the Northern schoo. The Southern schoo says that it
opens when the three colors red, green and white gather in the Hall of Yin
intan and that it can aso emit light and qi.  Actually their energy methods
are the same.
In ct, the Northern and Southern schools have the same orin and both
advocate the dual cultivation of inner nature and idestiny. However, they
spread in dierent regions. Eary unders were active north of the Yangtze
and cused on interna alchemy. They did not operate south of the Yangtze,
an area where operative alchemy was more prominent. The Northern schoo
thus spread mainly north of the Yangtze, whie the Southern schoo centered in
the south.
 As regards body cultivation, the two schoos dier geographicay. They
operate in dierent ranges of the earth's latitude, which rms part of the rea-
son why their practices are dierent The area north of the Yangtze has ur
disnct seasons (matching the li rce of the ve directions, including the
middle). Within the system of the ve phases, the north is classied as water
and matches the kidneys. Therere, teachers in the north rst work rst on
inner nature, then on lifedestiny. The south, on the other hand, beongs to the
phase re. Teachers here, the masters of the Southern school, concentrate rst
on lifedestiny, then on inner nature.
The two schools' methods r cutting the liferce root (sexual desire) al
so dier somewhat. The Northern school advocates using   practices
to completely extirpate it, while the Southern school retains it to some extent.
In addition, in southern China, Buddhism was highly popular. Since Daoism
had a long history in China, its classics and text rich and abundant, when Bud
dhism entered China it needed to adapt to local cultural and geographical fea-
tures and absorbed many Daoist practices and teachings.
During the process of scripture translation, Buddhists used large numbers
of Daoist terms and concepts to package their ideas. At the same time, some
Buddhists were also practicing Daoist exercises while Daoists learned to under-
take Buddhist techniques. This led to a thorough mix of teachings, ceary re-
ected in the later works of the Southern school. The Northern school, on the
other hand, was little aected by Buddhism. Later, Christianity, Islam, and oth-
er relions, as they entered China, similarly borrowed Daoist and Buddhist
terminolo. For this reason, these terms that appear rst in the Daoist classics,
reecting an ancient cultural heritage of China, also manist in the writings of
othr religions as they used them to illustrate their doctrines and teachings.
 As regards the overall goal of cutivation, all the dierent schools and lin-
eages of Daoists are in agreement. For them, the goal is to pursue life, attain
longevity and reach immortality Based on the theory of the Three Words, this
 The Dragon Gate Lin eage / 1 7

Upper: Comprehending Destiny

Middle: Kowing Destiny
Lower: Stabizing Destiny

This is the ndation of the Daoist system of cultivation and renement.

The Dragon Gate lineage has retained the original Zhong-L transmission
in its ness, remainng ee om the inuence of other relgions and main
taing its unque development.
32 / Chapter 2

navel and dneys, this 1.2 inch spot it also called Crescent Moon Frnace or
the Ocean of Qierent om the Cavity of Qi.

The Six Lines

The Neong shu cses on six energy lines inside the body.
The Inner Nature Lne connects the eyebrows or the Heavenly Eye
 with the Jade Pilow at the back of the head. Its opening leads outside, but the
eye is within and heaven rms its internal structure. When a person is born,
there is a vertical gap in ont f the rehead, the ontal suture, with a dier-
ent length r everyone. As people ow older, this eventally grows together.
However inbetween there is an ' 
Niw;m
acupunctre point and ths it was
called "cavity in the old days. Called
traditionay the Hall of Light is one Heanl Ey .�
{oint)
inch inside the head. Further in, at
two inches, is the Cavern Chamber
and one more inch deeper is the Ni
 wan Palace. The Postnatal Mirror,
nally, is six inches inside om here.
The point opens naturally and can be
accessed by acpuncture and moxi-
bstion. Lke the third eye, it is the
door way of spirit light. The Niwan Palace is 1.2 inches in circumference, one
of the orices of life rce and the storehose of primordial spirit. It is also
known as the "Eye.
The Postnatal Mirror is located in the center of the brain, between the
cerebellm and the midbrain, where a small crack conceals it. Its shape is lke
that of an inclined plane; it connects to the spinal cord and this is where the
prenatal and postnatal existence, where the spirit light of the body connects to
that of heaven. Thus, it is also called "heaven.The Heavenly Eye looks like a
single entity, bt in ct it has three orices. Originally known as the Heavenly
Heart, its name was changed by the immortal L and it closely matches the
heavenly bodies of sun, moon and stars. The sn and moon are the le and
right eyes, whie the stars refer to Northern Dipper, also known as the Heaven-
ly Net and the Heavenly Stems. Old texts on secret elxir methods commonly
represent it with three dots.
Chapter 1 of the Tafijnhua zoni has L Dongbi say that the Heavey
Heart indicates the three points of the threedot opening. so described as the
Mysterious opening, it is present as a third eye in everyone. The virtuous an
 Neigong shu Overview / 33

The mdpont among the thee s located beeen the let and rgt ye
bros; ther le pont s stoed n the le eye and the rght pont n th ght
ee. Ideall ou use sprt lght to nternally look th both eyes to the mdpont
beeen them. The space beteen the eebos s the eavenly Eye, here
the lght o the thee heavenl bodes etuns Ancent texts on elxs say that
this s the pont here the sun and moon merge. The eavenl Eye s a pac-
ce center common to Daosts, Buddhsts and Concans.
   connects the center o the chest (xphod process)
th the Upper Narros 1 1 ). Used to strengthen the tendons n the body, t
s mal acvated n the practce o hard qgong and external ghtng. Wen
culvang the nternal lnes, there s no need to ork on t rght aa. Rather
cus on energzng the nner nature and destnycultvaton lnes above and
belo t.
  
bens at the navel and passes through
Inr Na e the center o the bod to the Gate o
L. The navel contans the Sprt
Toer, that s, the penatal orce o
brghtness and the perct place o
nurturng l. It s also the one place
here the postnatal energy passes on
ts a to prenatal potenc
  
Stgh L s the connecng lne between the
Ocean o Qi and the sacrum, located
1 .2 1 .5 nches belo the navel.
   ndcates
the connecton between the dd
Dsiny Pecon 
Mee u; 20) t at the top o
 Culv 
the head and the Mee Yn n;
1) t at the perneum. It s the
body's  . In medcne, t s caed
the Thrusng Vessel and also the Cen-
F G RE tral Vessel.
   ndcates the connecng lne beteen the Heavenly
ate ad e fot geitaa. The Heaveny Gate, also on as the Canop o
eaey Force, s located three nches above the Nan Palace. Here the org-
na and te yang srt come and go to commucate th us.
t te font genitaa e body's qud aste s dscharged, and e lose
34 I Chapter 2

The rst is underneath the space between the eyebrows and abve the
palate in the mouth. Inside the nostrils, there are two rices that are hidden
and secret One is empty, the other is ll The l or strong opening leads to
the road of internal q cultvation, while other is a place where ener easily
eaks out.
For this reason, the two orices are caled the Golden Bridge, also own
as the Upper Magpie Bridge In order to seal the leakage of the nostrils, a nose
clp should be used. To connect the Conceptual and Governing Vessels, the
tongue shoud push against the upper palate. If you wish to connect the large
or smal heavenly circuits, use the tongue to join them together. That is why the
tongue needs to be placed in this area, the Upper Magpie Bridge. theise it
is hard to rm the heavenly circuit. The second break in this lne is in the
throat area, which divides into twelve segments, traditionally known as the
Twelvestoried Tower

The F ou r Areas

The ur areas are points where the inner nature, strength, and destiny-
cultivaton intersect with the broken lne are the three elxr elds. They are
prime areas of cultivation, to be worked on in conjunction with the llowing
ur areas
 y  A is also known as the inner natre area or the
area of li rce. Found and established in the upper elxir eld, it opens up-
 ward to rm a gateway to heaven.
 R A is also called the cerebellum and is located in the
same place as the Postnatal Mirror It is used to control the angle om the
Heavenly Eye to aim r and circulate spirit light, thus to internaly obseve the
body.
   A is also known as the area of essence and blood
Men use it to keep, strengthen, recover and bring back essence into the body as
 wel as circulate the ve phases Women use it to increase their blood circula-
tion
 R  A is also called the area of lfe. It connects the is-
chium and perineum. Both the ont and rear genital areas have two orices,
one empty and one l. The  one opens to the path of moving internal qi,
 while the empty one is the place where internal q easily leaks out To activate
the heavenly circut, the leakage of the Magpie Bridge in the mouth should be
sealed as much as that of its lower counterpart in the rear genital area, also
called Magpie Bridge. This is best done by sitting on the perineum and mental
sealin the three lower enital orices
 Chapter Th ree A

I nternal Structu re

n ancient times, people observed astrological phenomena to determine yin and

yang with the purpose to create times based on the eight trigrams In the pro-
cess they und that the moon rotates around the earth, completing one cycle
per day, which is why it is caled the heavenly circuit. Wen ancient Daoists
started to train in exchanging their qi with that of the heaveny bodies, they
und that the internal qi of the body was also in motion and corresponded to
the eavenly circuit. They then named this internal circuit "one heaveny cir-
cut This laid the undation r the theory of oneness of heaven and earth
and also of the idea that humanity rms an integral part of nature. Thus the
teory of the heavenly circuit came about.

The H eavenly Ci rcuit

Daoists had an early theory about the heavenly circuit, namely that when the
earh revolves around the sun once, it completes one heaveny circuit The
body circulates in accordance with the sun and practices that open the twele
merans match this. The moon revolves around the earth r one unar
month Te body is like the earth, so that when we perrm practices to culti-
vate and rene yin, yang, water and re, we start our cmmunication at the
same time as the heavey bodies, i. e., in the morning and evening ({, 57 am.;
y S7 pm.). The earth's surce transrms and ives rise to planetary ibra-
tons As you match your body's vbrations to those of the earth, cultivation of
te secret body proceeds automatically.
From this we can see that there are various heavenly circuits, depending
on the route of the qi pathway. They can be subdivided according to mo
d  smal and arge. Each circuit, moreover, depends on the various
properties of movig qz eading to yet another division according to whether
36 / Chapter 3A

The circuit of the extraordinary vessels matches a single line,

While that moving along the elixir path is a single point.

The intentionbased heavenly circuit uses the imagination. Some socaled

heavenly circuit practices claim that it can be opened within a few hours, but
that is al based on imagination. When people create a circuit of this tye in
their body, they tend to generate harm rather than benet and easily suer
om energy disturbances and mental disorders.
A meridianbased circuit means that the heaveny circit is rmed by cir-
culatng qi through the meridians. It moves through a large area because it sim-
ultaneously opens the three yang meridians and also goes into the opposite
direction and opens the three n meridians. For this reason, it can easily devi-
ate om the intended path.
A circuit based on the extraordinary vessels is a heavenly circuit rmed
by circulating qi through the Conception and Governing vessels. Te move-
ment here is in a straight line. A circuit that llows the pathway of the elixir,
naly, uses a point in the center of the extraordinary vessels and om there
moves around, going back and rth.
Heavenly circuit practices should be undertaken during the correct hours
every mog d nin, practicing the smal and large circuits in progression,
because the rmer rms the basis of the latter. Prior to using the circuits, one
must lay the undation by cultivatin the dynamics of the ve phases. Only
aer the qi of the ve organs is completely l, should one combine the prac-
tice with the earthly circuit and complete the heavenly circuit in the morning
and evening.
Aer this, draw the inner nature, strength, and destinycultivation lnes
and tightly seal the three yin orices. This wil lay the undation r the Lower
Magpie Bridge. Then connect the tongue to the upper palate to build the Up-
per Magpie Bridge. Join the palms together and push your larynx aainst all ten
ngers, tilt your neck rward and make the hand seal called ying the gold
crystal om behind te elbows. This should touch the elvestoried Tower
of the throat. Next cus the qi of the ve organs in the lower eld. This auto-
maticaly opens the Conception and Governing Vessels. They, in turn, break
through the three barriers and help opening the Heavenly Gate and Heavenly
Eye. Moving down again to throug the three elxir elds, the small heavenly
circuit is complete. This is also known as major elixir circulation.
The heavenly circuit practices that have spread all over the world are an
activation of the small heavenly circuit. However, as a result of insucient pro
ciency, they oen cause problems and deviations as the ener goes just up
 I nternal Structure / 37

om leukorrhea or vainal dischare. Some people, never stoppin to pactic

hese useless circulaions, may even develop dney deciency, lower back pain,
or lack of vitalty. Then aain, others may il to open their barriers and orices,
whch leads to decapitated qi, i. e., qi that has not passed throuh the Jade Pil-
low but instead oes down to the shoulders. Yet others may nd their qi coau-
lates in he head without ever oin down, which can cause dizziness, head-
aches and more. Be very carel.
Each person's small heavenly circuit moves constantly every day, especial-
ly rouh the Concepion and Governin Vessels, but it is usually too slow.
We are ically unaware of the drection it moves, however, once it oves a
le ster, we can el it. There are three kinds of substances that circulate
throuh our vessels and meridians. It is essential that we know what is movin:
ener (qt), quid, or solid. It makes a bi dierence, however, the three sub-
stances should not be evaluated accordin to hih or low.
Complein one circuit, includn the hy t mo  ,
does not mean that all diseases will be cured. To complete a circuit in the cor-
rect ime and under the riht conditions, you must use the proper rin imes,
esablsh a solid and stron route, but do not let the various reions become
thck, raher keepin them slender. At rst the proper passae of the heavenly
crcut s not rmed; t takes shape only with connued practice.

The Three Energies in the Body

The body is never separate om ener. Reliion and modern science consier
t as merely a rm of temporary existence, like all thins we can see with our
eyes, mere appearances that radually dissolve and de away. If you zoo into
these thns to make the smallest unt visible, it becomes epty and is no lon-
er hat we see but can be anythin. The physical body takes shape and dis-
soes, enery transrms om one nd to another.
Geneic studies show that ordinary people have has 23 pairs or 46 chro-
mosomes, of which 22 pairs are autosomal and another pair deterines the
sex sigin male, whle XY indicate male.
 chromosome is a threadlike structure, made up of deoxyribonucleic ac-
ids, proteins and small amounts of ribonucleic acids. It is the biological carrier
of major eneic material. We can see the center of a cell by usin an alkaline
dye, hch is why it is called a chromosome. The main chemical inredient of
chromosomes is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) plus ve types of proteins called
hstone. Nucleosome s the most basic unt of the chromosome structure; its
core conssts of ur types of histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4). Two
38 / Chapter 3A

The DNA molecule has a typical double helix structure. Oe molecule
looks like a log double helical ribbo ad each chromosome has oe DNA
molecule. The double helix wraps aroud the surce of each eighthistoe pro
tei polymer r aroud 1.75 circles; its legth equals 140 base pairs. Together
the eighthistoe protei polymer ad the DNA molecule wrapped aroud its
surce rm the ucleosome. Betwee two eighborig ucleosomes, there is
a lker DNA of 50 to 60 base pairs. There is a group of the h histoe pro-
tei (H1) molecule i betwee the adjacet lker lies. Dese clusters of u-
cleosomes rm 100 angstrom ber i the ucleoplasm, this is the chromo-
some "primary structure. Here, the DNA molecule is compressed up to 7
times.
The geetic ctor i this cotext is the basic material of hereditary, the
general term r a specic ucleotide sequece of a DNA molecue that carries
geetic irmatio. It is a agmet of a DNA molecule that has geetic eect.
Gees pass geetic irmatio to the ext geeratio by replicatio, which
causes the childre osprig to have similar traits as their parets. Huma be
igs have about 20,000 proteicodig gees that store all irmatio regard-
ig life, reproductio, growth ad apoptosis. They do so via replicatio, expres-
sio ad repair to complete physiological processes, cel divisio, protei r-
matio ad so rth. Gees are the code of l, they record ad pass o geeic
irmatio. Al life pheomea, icludig birth, growth, disease, aging, death
ad so o, are closely related to the gees. Simultaeously, they also determine
the iternal ctors of health. Each pair of chromosomes has may gees ad
every gee occupies a site o a chromosome called "locus. Gees are made up
of deoxyriboucleic acid (DNA), whe the DNA structure is altered i a give
gee, diseases arise. Genetic diseases therere occur cliicaly.
The scietc community geerally believes that the dierece betwee
inividual huma beigs depeds o their chromosomes. The origi of chro
mosomes has bee caled "the book of life. Due to progress i gee sequec-
ig, the human geome project has bee clearly deed ad published i 2000.
Humans are the same i their geetic code to 99.99 percent; the dierece be
twee idividuals is only 1 part i 10,000. Research digs show that withi
"the book of lfe, certai complete "paragraphs ad eve etire "pages are
being repeated. Research also ud that every huma gee is ot the direct
product of reproductio that comes om ther ad the mother, but there may
be quite a large umber of replicas. This umber diers due to idividual d-
rences. A large umber of replicatio i some gees that costitute a give
chromosome determies the dierence betwee people. These digs suest
that huma characterisics are ot oly the result of simple DNA chages, but
 Internal Structure / 65

roug te pores unes tese tree; it is a remost prioty. ne cente here
remas elusive, thus there are tree centers but only o intentions. This is
rened by sgle mind and ued intention, increasingly becoming meca-
nzed in te process.
Te rst step to synchronize te tree centers is to create a straigt lne
conecg te tree spaces, alignng the way you tink about te head and the
abdomen. Daoist classics speak of practicing around midgt and speci ex-
acly wen to pracice wat. Tey in ct talk about matcing the activities of
e ead and abdominal brains. Te abdominal brain commands te one in te
ead, noting it wen te me is rigt. The cerebral brain in tu tels te
abdominal, "I am ready. Please tel me wat to do. Ony ten wi it take ac-
on. Tis sows tat te abdominal brain is very important, as is our sient
circuaon of te ve pases. Te practice makes te brain obey and pain dis-
solves.
Tere is one space is in te mide tat lnks te to brains. Te Daoist
classics cal it vaiously mide exir eld, Yelow Cout, Central Paace, or Hal
of igt, cangng te appelation wt eac stage of progress. They relate te
eow Court to the Heavenly Heart in te body and note tat the midde elixr
eld is not an empty space. Te eld eld not being empty means tat the Yelow
Cout must contain something and watever it is moves into te Central Palace.
Ts in u as wals, surrounding an empty space. The tree spaces when
armonzed become one staigt ine and then you can ear te sound of te
eart. Te
T e llowing table sows the matcing
matcing features.
features.

 L  

=  
= E  U
  K = A 
=

 S U S M S L S

      A 
S (  ) (
( 
  ) (
( 
  )

    E

 F U M L
B  

Tradtional Cnese pysicians palpate te three centers. Palpatg the

ead, tey know its pressue and can discen te sympoms of the organs; pal-
pag te ands, they know te thoracic pressure andand can discern the
the circula ·
66 / Chapter 3A

are the three regons and nine pulses. They appear rst in the Hua
Hua n
suwen. It says,
says,

There are three regons: lower, middle, and upper. Each has three pulses,
matching heaven, earth
eart h and humanity.
The pulse in the upper reon that matches heaven uns along two ar-
teries on the frehead. They are located on the le and right sides o the
frehead. Use your hands to eel them. The lesser yang meridian o the
fot also runs here.
The pulse in the upper region that matches earth runs along two arter-
ies on the cheeks. They are located on both sides o the nostris, near the
edges. Use your hands to el them. The yang brightness meridan o the
fot also runs here.
The pulse in the upper regon that matches humanity runs along two
arteries in ont o the ears. They are located at the ear notch. Use your
hands to eel them. The lesser yang meridian o the hand also runs here.
The pulse in the midde reon that matches heaven is the greater yn
meridian o the hand, i.e., the lung meridian. The best place to eel it with
your hands is below the palm, close to the wrist, at a point known as Pas
sage Canal Qingqu; LU8).
The pulse in the middle regon that matches earth is the yang bright-
ness meridan o the hand, i.e., the large intestine meridan. The best place
to el it with your hands is between the thumb and index nger at the
base
ba se o the palm, at a point
point known as Meeting
Meeting Valey Hegu; LUI4).
The pulse in the midde reon that matches humanty is the lesser
yang meridian o the hand, i.e., the heart meridian. The best place to el
it with your hands is at the end o the lower arm bone on the inside o the
 wrist, at a point known as Spirit Gate (Shenmen; HT7).
The pulse in the lower reon that matches heaven is the terminal yin
meridan o the fot, i.e., the ver meridan. The best place to eel it with
your hands is outside the edge o the pubic hair, in a depression 1.5 inch
es below the point Sheep Arrow angshi), now called Urgent Pulse
Qimai; LR12); another good location is the Five Mie point (Wuli; LR10),
 where the pulse
puls e can be obtained lying down. For women, the best place is
Great Thrust aichong; LR3) in a depression o inches below the big
toe.
The pulse in the lower regon that matches earth is the lesser yin me-
ridan o the ot, i.e., the kidney meridian. The best place to el it with
your hands is in a depression between the rear meal malleolus and the
 I nternal
nternal Struct
Structure
ure / 67

with your hands is above the Fishnet point u), better known as Sup-
porting
orting Mounta
Mountain in (Chengshan; BL57)
BL5 7)..
Another good place is on top of the muscle and below Five ile, at a
point known as Chess Grate Oimen; SP 1). This is big enough to be felt
through clothes, but you must push deep to feel it. This stomach pse is
best taken above the tarsus of the ot, at a point known as Thrusting
ang (Chonang; ST42).
Thus, in the lwer regon, the pulse that matches heaven connects to
the liver and also links to the terminal n meridian of the ot. The pulse
that matches earth connects to the kdnes and also ks to the lesser n
merdian of the ot. The pulse that matches humanit connects to the
stomach and also links to the geater yin meridian
meridian of
o f the ot.
o t.
How about the pulses in the middle region? They, too, match heaven,
eath, and humanity.
humanity. The pulse that matches heaven connects to the lungs.
The geater n median of the hand uns here. The pse that matches
earth connects to the chest. The n brightness merdian of the hand runs
here. The Classic sas, Intesnes and stomach have the same pulse; thus
ou can feel
feel it in the chest"
che st".. The pulse that matches humanit connects to
the heart. The lesser yin merdian of the hand runs here.
How about the pulses in the upper regon? The, too, match heaven,
earth, and huanit. The pse that matches heaven coects to the qi at
the corners of the head. The pulse that matches earth coects to the 
of mouth and teeth. The pulse that matches humaty connects to the 
of ears and eyes. You can el it in ont of the ears and on the outside of
the eyes.
eyes.
The three regons thus each match heaven, earth, and humat. Three
each establish the connection to heaven (viding into three each to make up a
total of nne organs); three establish the connection to earth; and three more
establish the connection to humat. Three times three m�kes nne. The nne
parts in turn match nine elds, whch in the bod appear as nine repositores
(match
(matching
ing the
the most complete number of o f the universe
universe)) . There are ve reposito-
reposi to-
es of spirit
spir it and ur of
o f the bod,
bod , making
making a total
total of
o f nine.
nine . Spirit
Spirit repositores
repositores are
are
the spirt soul in the liver, the spirit in the heart, the intention in the spleen, the
mat
materal soul in th
in thee lungs, and the wlwl in the kidn
kidneys. All th
these are resresidences of
of
spirt and qi. Thus
Thu s we say th there are
are ve repositori
rep ositories
es of spirt.
of  spirt. The bod
The  bod reposi
repo si--
toes a re containers
ontain ers,, wide on on   the out
o utside
side and
and empty o
empty on n   the insi
in side.
de. They
They   can
conta thngs
thngs  and are thus knowknown as reporepositories. More speci specicall, the
th e are
te h ead wth its
its coers, 
coer s,  the
  the ears
ears and eye
eye s, the mo
mouth and
and teeth, plusplus the chest
68 I Chapter 3A

as they circulate in the meridians. It is a method to diagnose ilness, known as

thorough examination. An ancient method of pulse diagnosis, it was the earliest
method of ll-body analysis. The meridians, then, divide according to the three
regions of body: upper (head), middle (hand) and lower (ot). Each has thre
pulses that match heaven, earth, and humanty, that is, the meridians of the
three areas: upper, middle, and lower. In total, there are nine pulses
Each of the regions of head, torso, and lower body has its set of pulses,
rmaly known the three reons and nine puses (see the table below). Later
generations simplied this system and started to take the pulse om the wrist
only, a ature called "solely choosing the wrist pulse. But that, too, divides
into three areas, called inch, bar, and cubit. Pressing down at dierent levels
caled oating, medium, and deep. In each region nger pressure is derent:
ght, medium, and heavy. This makes three posions plus three pressures,
yielding nine pulses altogether. Zhang Zhongjing in his Shaan fn (On Cold
Damage), too, mentions the pulses of the three regions, here caed "human
ce (the carotid artery beside the Adam's apple), "wrist pulse (the wrist radi
al arter, and "yang instep line (the anterior tibial artery at the back of the
ot).

Reions Heaven Humani Earth

Head Meridians
Meridians on both sides
sides Meridians on both sides Meridians on both
of the rehead reater of the ears (ear gates), qi sides of the cheeks
yan, qi of the corners of eyes and ear ranary, ce, qi of
of the head mouth and teeth)
and and greater yin lung and lesse yin meridian and yang bight
meridian (wist pulse), (Shenmen HE7), heart ness large intestine
lungs pulse pulse meridian (Hegu
LUI4, chest i
oot oot terminal yin liver oot greater yin spleen
spl een oot lesse yin d-
 d-
meridian (Wuli and meridian Gimen SP11), ney aixi
aixi KI3),
wome
women' n'ss great
reat meidi- spleen pul
pulse, st
stomach qi kidney pulse
an), live pulse joins ot yin brightness
in this meridian (at
Chonan, ST42
ST42

Pulse diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine serves to measure original

enery. Feelng the pulse beat is basicaly noting whether the heart beat is
strong, weak, deep, shallow, oating, or heavy. As the pulse passes through the
heart, so it also goes through the organs, thus, physicians analyze the heart to
determine the situaion of each organ, whether it is empty or ll of qi. They get
diagnostc results based on the relationship between the heart and each of the
 Internal Structure / 69

nvdual part. From there, they can agnose the actvty everyhere, carelly
lstenng whether the organs are active or at rest, movng or stil.
When orgnal energy enters an ndvdual body, t s derent o the
ndvdual's energy, openng to mmedate diagnoss. There are yet other meth-
ods that allow conclusons to be drawn wthout even havng direct contact th
peope. For one, you can compare the ndvdual's nrmation wth your body,
thereby making pulse diagnoss unnecessary. You can also perrm nner ob-
seaton as recorded n the medtaton manual Huaj (ellow Court
Scrpture).
Whe sttng n medtaton, use your ears to lsten carelly to your heart.
At rst you may not hear anythng, but soon you el the heart beatng and can
count the number of beats. Look r the best place and way to do sonot
everyone s ake and hears n the same manner. In the same way, your ntes-
nes also have ther rhythm or pattern. Eventually you synchronze the three
centers. Although we speak of the heart as the most promnent center, a three
really have to nction together, synchronized wthn themselves, nsde the
body and outsde wth nature. By becomng aware of the rhythmc beang of
the heart, you can listen to the actvtes of all the organs. But start wth the
heart; t takes te to learn.
It s best to lsten around mdght, even better rght at the end of the  hai
and the begnnng of the  hours (11 p.m.). As already the J .ngbao b notes,

At the
the  hour
hour (11
(11 p.m.  1 a.m.), qi arses n the dneys. t the mao hour
(57 a.m.), t reaches the lver, then gets to the heart around noon, at the
 w hour (11 a.m.  1 p.m
p .m.).)..

The nature of the heart beng yang, t urgently needs to absorb somethng
 wth of a yang nature,
natu re, but late at nght
n ght the qi producton phase s at the bottom,
n the dneys. Kdney
Kdney qi tres to move up, but s to do so, causng the heart's
need to grow stronger and mang t work harder. So, practce stting medta-
ton durng the  hai hour (911 p.m.) and make sure your heartandmnd and
breath are steady. Then, once the  hour arrves, you can start to hear your
heartbeat.
As you listen to the heartbeat, you can also el other actives n the body
At ths tme, once agan listen to the moton of the percardum. As the heart
stats to break open, you can feel somethng that wraps around the heart, notc-
ng how t moves and how often t beats. You notce how the beats of the per-
cardum and the heart are n mulples to each other. At ths pont, the pores
j on n to
t o match the heartbeat and they al cooperate comp!etely.
cooperate comp
70 I Chapter 3A

Count the euency o the heartbeat while inhaling, fr example, eight

times; then again, when you exhale, the heart should also beat eight times. Keep
on counting and mae sure they are both synchronized. Once there is synchro-
nization, you can eel
eel the pores
p ores open
op en and close
clo se simutaneously, totaly
totaly matching
the rhythm o the heart. This cultivation method is required according to the
I ngbao bi. The above illustration has no words. Having words changes the
pattern, their addition making this the heart o ordinary people, a heart that
does not now good and evil. Keeping it ee om addition and words maes it
a heart o nonbeing or nomind. While there still is the heartandmind, there is
desire; once there is desire, there is evil.

Master L said that the unity o three primes is hard to achieve. In the il
lustration above, the picture on the let in its upper part shows three pure enti
ties appearing, indicating the nosel heart, nosel appearance and no more
personal heartandmind. The lower part has two circles, showing empty hearts .
None are le, neither the heart with the universe, the heart o nature, nor the
 Internal Structure
Structure / 7 1

l change Each changing space of connection shows a derent energy, so

Daoists sa that every space has one person in charge and that is Laozi.
Turn our vision inward and look down at the lower eld; turn your hear-
ng in ward to lsten to the sounds withn your body Synchronize the three cen-
ers by rst cusing on the physical heart Based on the three centers, the
phsical heat supports the uty of the three
thre e primes.
primes. This is shown in the mid
e picure, where
 wher e the three pure entitie
enti tiess create
crea te a unty
unt y deep within.
with in. The picture
on e right, nally shows the unty of the three primes in ll realzation
 C h a p ter
 te r T h re
reee B

Cultivation System

Forms of Breathing

Breathing
Breathing can be natural, through the nostrils, through the body pores,
por es, internal,
steady, and embronic.
N  g comes in two rms, conscious and unconscious. Un-
conscious natural breathing occurs eely; without any control, it naturally
steadies the breath. Moving on om there, if someone wants to adjust their
breathing to be subtle and long, we speak of conscious natural breathing. Ex-
haling and steadying the breath are dierent. Any elings of sucation while
practicing the natural way of exchanging qi are due to issues with this. Just in-
haling and exhaling is not enough r this, but conscious exhalation of breath
 will provide good results.
resul ts.
If you are vigorously striving to inhale and exhale, it is because your abii-
ties are limited. Aer several cycles, you may el the desire to exhale aer in-
haling to the maximum but cannot release the breath. Alternatively, you may
feel that you want to inhale aer a long exhalation but cannot catch the breath.
In this case, go back to the rst step of the natural way of exchanging qi and
adjust your breathing. Aer this, regulate the exhalation and then steady the
breath. Holding the breath does not stop qi, nor is it a complete stopping of
breath, but only giving it a short rest.
Daoists have many technical terms r breathing practice. They believe
that people have three spaces: upper, middle and lower. Adjusting inhalation
and exhalation through nostri breathing serves to regulate the upper space. Qi
can to pass into the body via breath in three ways:
1) The rst route is straight: breath enters into the throat and is exhaled.
 Aer cultivating up to a certain level, it is important to seal the throat. To reach
this level, you can neither inhale nor exhale: this is called sealig the throat, a
rm of breathing needed under certain circumstances.
 Cultivation System / 73

ently take in a small breath, envision the Crown Gate, inhale and look up, the
pl the intention down and cus it on the nose.
3) Te third route goes down bere comin up, so that inhaled qi reaches
the orans. The rst step here is to make the inhaled and exhaled qi eter the
troat. The entire upper space is the place where spirit is stored, the entr hall
of spirit, also called the residence of spirit. To adjust this space, adjust the
breathin of the pores in the head. These pores squeeze in during inhalation
and release out during exhalation, causig them to contract and expand in ac-
cordance with the breath. They breathe to reduce cranial pressure and if you
practice riht, cranial and abdominal pressure will be in balance. This method is
ced reguatin the upper and lower halmoon spheres. 1 Part of the practices
of t mortali, it causes the pressure in the upper and lower spaces to
remain balanced. Without this balance, the three elds cannot operate.
Once the resience of spirit is properly adjusted, you can "contain the
 ight of your eyes, condense the tones of your ears, seal the qi of your tonue,
and listen with your heart breathin. Al these belong to the upper space. Aer
it has been set up rmly, let your intenion move down slowly, reachin the
lower space by pssing through the midde space. At this time, the lower space
also inales and exhales soly. Tihten the lower abdomen slightly durn inha-
laon, since the lower torso contains two spaces: the thoracic and abdominal
cavties, representg heaven and earth in this sphere.
Tihten the lower abdomen slightly, then slowly increase rce and even-
tay you can reach the lower space wth your qi. There may be no change in
te mide area, but this does not matter. It is because people's thoracic pres-
sre is neave and thus the middle space is orinally empty. In ct, the luns
are ornally empty and if not they were not empty, people would be sick or
dead.
 g is next. Inhale and guide he qi down below the navel;
exhale, an let it rise but not beyond the heart. Adjust it _until you feel your
pores are breahin and the body is moving synchronously. When the pores
become larger, stop and hold the breath, then see whether there is breathin
 within the body. If the pores are sll inhaling and exhali, i.e., openin and
closin, we say tat the body is empty. Aer feelin the body becoming empty,
medatey hold the breath. If there is stl breathin within, this is called in-
ternal breathing. It is the rst step and also the critical one. When adjusng the
breath throuh the nose, the upper part of the head is empty, and we speak of
an empty head. The second step, then, is when the pores are breathing. Alt-
hough you hold the breath, they are sl opening and closing. At this point we
speak of an empty body. Only when the body is empty can we trn our vision
74 / Chapter 3B

Daoists beleve that the skin is the largest organ of the body: it can release
turbid qi and breathe in esh air. It is also the body's largest barrier to the out
side world and its largest metabolc organ, able to release many substances.
Overall, the skin is a key reglatory organ, controlling, r example, the body
temperature. The practice of pore breathing, then, serves to activate and waken
the pores.
The main reason the skin cannot move is that breathing not suciently
so, even, and long. Pore breathing means to adjust inhalation and exhalation
through the nose, makng them soer, more even, and longer. At the same
me, if you cus on yoursel, your body, and the unverse, the pores too will
slowly come into cus. But don't make them cus with a lot of rce. Allow it
to happen naturally, always keeping the three centers unied. Let the universe
cus in the body while also alowing the body to become its own unverse.
Focusing it in the body means storing spirit and qi in the physical organism.
Breathing through mouth and nose so, even, and long allows essence and qi
to gather there, too, and be stored in the organs. At rst, cus conscious spirit,
then gather primordial spirit, and naly contain the life rce. You can oly
accomplsh this by making the three centers into one.
The purpose of pore breathing is to transrm the three nds of q. It is
necessary to make sure they can be transrmed. I they are not transrmed,
then the body's energy is not balanced and physical energy wi gradualy de-
crease, rst causing sickess and death, then disappearing completely.
Also, base qi (cosmic energ) is the primordial qi of heaven. As you inhale,
the qi om all ur sides and eight directons presses on the pores of the body
and enters it. Qi is the source of cosmic enery and when it starts to enter the
body, it ses with primordial enery to become stem q. Do this many times,
allowing clear stem qi to enter the body while turbid qi to leaks out. During
guided instructon, when the teacher does not breathe correctly, he or she can-
not match the practice of the students. This can make the students el uncom-
rtable, consed, dizzy, and even unwel. During cultivation, if clear qi does
not enter the body and turbid qi does not leak out, you wi el consed, un
cused, and sleepy.
Each of us is able to inhale qi into the body, but that does not mean that
 we manage to exhale it al. It is important to understand that we can release all
knds of body energy through the mouth and nose. Modern medicine beleves
that the alveol at the bottom of the lung only get active when we breathe deep
ly, otheise they just stay they are unmoving and remain unconscious. The
second thing is, we rarely use deep breathing, but we stil have to activate the
alveol, however dicult it may be. You may be able to match the length o
 Cultivation System / 75

need to pracce slowly, release the breath om the lungs completely as it
reaches nose and mouth. This signies a high level of attainment.
  The word used r respiration" is z� which has
t o meanings: rst, qi taken in and expelled during inhalation and exhalaon;
and second, to stop" or rest." The word sometimes means to stop," but it
also rers to respiration. en reading the classics, pay atention to the con-
text, looking closely at the sentences bere and aer to determine which
meaning the term has at the time. Sometimes steadying respiraon means hold-
ing the breath and pang attention to the response the body has to this holding
There are also expressions that refer to settng, stopping, obseing respiration,
and the like.
In terms of the exchangng qi wth nature, breathing pracce must bring
about a steadyng of respiration. Inhalaton of 60 to 70 percent is good enough.
From there, steady your respiration by holng the breath in r a while, i.e.,
stop bere you exhale. It is natural to pause r a moment anway aer inhal-
g and bere exhaling, as well as aer exhaling and bere inhaling again. It is
best to make ihalations and exhalations completely smooth and continuous,
neer haing to stop and intentionally steady them.
Breathing coninuously, there is no pause beteen ihalation and exhala-
on If you can't quite do this, thnk of ways to obsee and examne the pro-
cess, reect on the time you take beteen inhalation and exhalation, see how
long it stops and how soon you inhale again aer you exhale. This will help you
achieve the purpose of steadyng respiration, to make it subtler and longer.
Whle you examine the me of stopping, make sure it does not grow too long,
lest you start stopping it.
Next, hold the breath r a moment aer you inhale, then exhale very
sbly; hold it r a moment aer you exhale, then inhale again. This way we
intentonally practice stopping respiration r a litle while. From here we can
reduce the gap beeen no inhalation and no exhalation. en it nally sap-
pears, respiraton becomes continuous and seamless.
Durng guided instrucon, if there is a p at inhalation and one at exhala
on they must be balanced, lest chaos arises. Unless no gaps are le, through
the process of steadying respiration, people cannot avance. At this me,
steadyng respiraon is the main thing. Bere you even start steadyng respira-
on, adjust your breathing. Let it become regular and subtle, then practice. The
key concern at ths time is the moment of pause, when there is neither inhala-
on nor exhalation. Inhang and exhaling are not dict, since they come
narally to all. We can inhale and exhale even wthout practice; thus, the gap,
e moment of pause is critical.
76 / Chapter 3 B

out, you have to pause  r a moment, otheise you cannot pull it back. That is,
you must stop the belows bere pulling it. As you are puling back, you may
think the air goes out the top, but the top does not move, so you must drop te
bellows rst bere you can push it again. Once your pull is smooth, you can
increase your speed slightly. Breathing practice works the same way. Adjsting
inhalation and exhalaton into a harmonious rhythm is te main point of stead
ng respiration. Its central key cus is exhalaton; there is no problem with
inhalation. Te key is exhalation, because it is ve r dicult to exhale all te qi
aer inalation, always a bit of breath remaining.
As you adjust your breathng when sitting in meditation, you can see
whether steadying respiration is good or bad as reected in the body, it is mir-
rored here. This body" contains and is yet above the body as pysical rm,
which in turn contains and is yet above the q. Once qi is balanced, it manifests
in your complexion. Thus, the second technique of attracing immortalty is
caled steadying the body."
   does not mean that you have a mother and have
been, at some point, a breathing emb ro. For a womb to exist, there must be a
mother plus a separate entit and this entty's breating is caled emb ro respi-
raton. During pregancy, the mother provides the host body while the emb ro
inside her womb is the separate entit; its li nction is caled emb ro respira-
on. Without a womb, rtiized or not, this does not happen. nce fertlzed,
the womb can contain a male or male emb ro or both. If the latter, they re-
side in the Cavern Chamber of the rtie womb, put there by husband and wi.
Without the intercourse of husband and wi, the emb ro does not rm and
there is no emb ro respiration.
Husband and ife are yin and yang. Wen yin and yang intermingle, they
become husband and wife. The couple enter the [ridal Cavern Chamber and a
child is conceived. The womb aer concepion is rtiized and rms the pre-
condition r emb ro respiration. Yin and yang ow beween heaven and earth;
in the body the heart matches heaven whie the kdneys correspond to earth. So,
where are husband and wi? Were is the Cavern Chamber? Where do they
come together? ere is the emb ro rmed? What needs to be done aer its
rmation? When is emb ro respiraton happenng? Wat makes it good? Even
if the womb is ferzed, the chid does not necessarily suive. If te emb ro
dies or there is a miscarriage, emb ro respiraton does not happen. The practice
is part of the larger process of makng a person, qute like concocing an exter-
nal elxir or makng the pi of immortalt.
Activating the midle eld requres pore breathing. The lower eld works
through the lower abdomen, and the upper eld is driven by the operaton in
 Cultivation System / 77

Buddhists cus rst on hair and skin, then deal with bone. Overa, thre are
hree levels of eld activation.
 According to the Wn ln!en, Master Chongyang said: "You inhale qi
and exhale spirit. Wen spirit arrives, qi gathers. One way of reading this is
that upon ialation, you guide the qi to below the navel; upon exhalaon, you
let it rise but not beyond the heart. Inhaling to below the navel is perfectly do-
able; as you tighten the lower abdomen during inhalation, the qi reaches the
area. To "exhale spirit, just imagine one area, think of a certain place, breathe
out and call upon spirit. nce spirit arrives, qi llows. Just think of a place
durng exhalaon to practice this to make sure that "when spirit arrives, qi
gters. In other words, spirit comes rst, qi second.
During inhalation, to make sure the qi moves below the navel, tighten the
lower abdomen with some rce. During exhalation, to make sure it does not
se above the heart, imagine it movng up with vigor, but it may not actually do
so. If it does indeed rise, this is like reducing lead and augmenting mercury dur
g exir concoction, but here it is just q So, imane a place above where it
should g and once it gets there, release it. Exhaled qi is spirit, which disperses
upon exhalationand coagulates upon inhalaion.
Inhalation means coagulation; exhalaon means spersion. During inha-
laon, you certainy can think of an area or place plus a specic path r the
breath to get there, but ths is dicult to do during exhalation. If a male
rcelly makes the qi ise during exhalation, she soon will feel chest tghtness.
"Spirt exhales, qi cuses means that spirit expands during exhalation, while
"cus means gather or revert. The nose is simar: you inhale through it, but it
is hard to thnk of it during exhalation. This is because there is no qi le in the
nostrs at this te; it has dispersed outside. This method is also very good r
absorbng cosmic energy.
The Dadan zhizhi (ointers to the Great Elxir; DZ 244) says, 'i is the
medcine that adds to the years and the hear can turn it into spirit. Know the
ornal ancestor of spirit and qi and you become an immoral.
'" here rers to the culvaion of the great Dao of prenatal being. This
prenatal qi is the great Dao of prenatal being. "Heart is not the physical orn
of the heart or "heart in the sense of the main center, but refers to the three
centers that are located in head, chest and abdomen. Inhalation moves qi wile
exalaon activates spirit in these three centers. This is key to becoming im
mortal. Get the three centers y synchronzed and qi and spirit merged into
one Tis leads to immortality.
"Ancestor means the ancestral home plus its particular q. This indicates
te upper, middle, and lower elds. The word r "immqrtals, moreover, con-
78 I Chapter 3B

People are partly immortal and partly ghost: this i s what makes them mor
tals To one hal, they are the result of previous generations; their other half
rms the cause of later generations Doctors believe that people rm a bridge
between past and ture We inherit essence, bones, and esh om our parents,
then we pass them on to the next generation Both the result of past lves and
the cause of ture lives rest within our body The dominant tendency is r
people to de and become ghosts, but they better reverse direction and start
cultivating and rening themselves toward immoralty The purpose of our
practice is to hold on al good results om the past and get away om al po-
tential causes toward the ture Doing so, we can pass these things on to the
next generation And some of us have already seen the next generation in the
boes of our children
To elmiate old karma, we need to identi the channel that everyone has
which connects him or her to past lves and the passage that leads to uture
lives  The X  sh is  Most people move along the passage shown
in its lower section, passing through birth, aging, sickess, and death W a
hope to receive great karma, obtain the best of our ancestors' karma (their spir-
it and qt), but wil not pass it on Becoming an immortal means cutting the
karmic thread: no more passing on
Since our ancestors and rebears have huge pies of karmic uits, but we
have only smal mouths, we cannot eat them al, no matter what. We want to
become immortals and attain Dao, we want to cultivate renement and become
buddhas, but the karmic uits in both Buddhism and Daoism are too many
while our mouths are so very small, so we cannot eat them all Daoists and
Buddhists have a saying: Fruit, uit, uit, and more uit" This means that
most people cannot eat a ton of karmic uits, they stick to only the ones that
hang lowest and who knows whether they are bitter or potent This is how we
come to be what we are now

Sitting Meditation

Daoists belive that there are three stages of human li: bere birth, during
life and aer death People today think, we are very clear about l, we already
have done exhaustive research on how we came to the world However, people
really ony know that their parents ve birth to a baby and have no clue who
they were bere takng birth nor who they wi be aer death Also, they oen
ask the question of why they were born and r this reason turn to relion ,
such as Daoism and Buddhism
Religion is essentialy the teaching of how to be a moral person and ho
 Cultivation System / 79

hese prolems on the ndamental level, which can only e done thrugh cul-
vation, using specic practices and methods of renement. In ancient times,
the meanig of religious practice was und around the world, ut just by u-
derstanding this we cannot change our lidestiny.
hen people inquire where they came om, they are in ct looking into
the queson of where they go aer death. Such quesons can only be answered
 whie ving in the lower of the three realms. Here, we are not concerned with
the relaonship among people, ut with that etween humanit and the uni-
verse The earh level among the three realms rers to connecting with human
iy, mountains, and rivers Since people came orignally om nature, as we pur-
sue the place of reirth, we must just seek help om heaven and earth Hee
heaven signies the ther whe earth is the mother We, therere, are the
chdren of Planet Earth Daoists discovered that the lidestiny of humanity
an e changed  eliminating the liferce root of sexual desire or y rening
it through cultivation practie
The purpose of cultivation is the close study of  and death. In order to
know our li, we have to practice sitting meditaion In old times, Daoists e-
eved that sitting meitation had two components, imitating the prenatal stae
and retug to it The rst step, then, is to imitate the prenatal state, wle the
second step is to return to it Since we cannot return to our prenatal state since
 we have taken irth, we must start y itating it Returning to it is a wonderl
idea, while imitating it means that we imagne eing ack in the womb This
practie omes in twelve parts.
We usuay perrm sitting meditation in the elly of Mother Earth, one
 wa of imitang the prenatal state To return to the prenatal state does not
ean to go ack into mother's ell, ut rather to nd another ther and
mother r new reirth Planet Earth is our mother. More cosmolocay,
heaven signies the ther while earth is the mother Eac has its cvation
ethods The purpose of returning to the prenatal state is to search r a good
place of reirth; ce versa, cultivaon at the place of reirth ctates the re-
turn to the prenatal state. At this time Mother Earth must gve permission r
us to enter it, whih will preven outside people om seeing us. his is when
 we sa that we are in the wom. he method of returning to the prenatal state
anot e perrmed aove the earth.
In order to get into the ey of Mother Earth, we have to nd a mounain
ave, that is, a place of reirth The loaion of reirth is its mother. One a
nw mother is und, we must also nd a ther, otheise rebirh cannot take
plae his means, you need to nd a place where yin and yang qi ombie
Nowadays we know that the Suanglong dong ouble Dragon Cave) on
80 I Chapter 3 B

Why did Patiach L go to the Shuanglong dong thee times? Why is it

one of the thitysix Daoist otto heavens? Daoists believe thee ae two pu
poses of pacticing hee. One is to imitate the penatal state, the othe is to
etun to it. Mount Jinhua is whee Huang Chuping (ang Taisin) and his
bothe Huang Chuqi undetook thei cultivation. To this day, thee is a holy
place on the mountain whee he shouted at a piece of ock and it tuned into a
sheep He liteally shouted "sheep, and the ock tansmed. Wang Taisin
 was a pionee of cave cltivation, so hs place was stange and special.
On the eath, the line that uns at about 30 degrees of the nothen lati
tude (a little above 29 deees) is highly mysteious ost of the wold's eli-
ons come om this egon. Ancient Daoists believed that the eath contains
thitysix undegound oices usel to the body plus ten majo otto heav
ens that match the body's ten oices of bightness. Zhejiang povince alone
has ten grotto heavens, ight at 30 degees latitude. They ae close to the
Shuanglong dong. Similaly in the eion south of the Yangtse, thee ae many
caves; we ae und in othe places such as Liaonng, Guangdong, and moe.
It is eally very stange.
The Taohua yuan Peach Blossom Sping, a scenic aea in Hunan), is
numbe 35 among the Daoist grotto heavens In the old days it was called "the
heaven of the white hose with mysteious light. It is very beautil. ve the
cose of history, many highankng Daoists have pacticed hee, most notably
L Dongbin, Bai Yuchan, Huang Dongan, and Qu Baitng. Patiach L also
 wote a numbe of scenery poems about the place, such as the Taochua xt
(Immotal Recluse of the Peach Rive). The poem goes,

Becoming a spiit immotal does not happen by chance;

The name of a spiit immortal name is not tansmitted in vain.
The boulde gateway to the stone caven is stil thee today
Wate owing and blossoms dopping ove how many yeas?

Anothe poem, entitled Qr g (Qin Man's Cave), has,

The cave's entance is deep and sealed with cloud;

The ed cli in nine sections has how many layes?
Having asked about the mountains  six decades,
The man of Qin has exhausted his days seaching.

Mount Chande (Constant Vitue) is numbe 53 amon the seventytw o

auspicious sites of taditional Daoism. In ancient times, the hemit Shan Juan
 Cultivation System / 8 1

Golden Dipper. That is, the city is surrounded by seven small peaks tat lok
le the constellation, however, it did not have a perfect dragon. Thus, rather
han a grotto heaven, it was considered an auspicious site, also known as te
ive Hills Texts in the Daoist canon describe it as a good place r cultiatio,
but not r becoming an ocial. It is maybe a Golden Dipper, but not havig a
valley r rice cultivation makes it useless r that purpose.
When you look at the map of China, the country looks like a chicken. It is
quite obvious. The chicken is a rooster, with the islands of Hainan and Taiwan
serving as its feet. Mount Jinhua in Zhejiang is a place with eat fengshui, just
about at 30 degees northern latitude. It is easy to nd. Both the Shuanglong
dong and the Chaozhen dong (Honoring Percon Cave) are located 
Mount Jinxing, an open space than shrinks inward. The mountain contains a
cve which in itself has an empty space within. The top part of the Shuanglong
dong matches heaven; its lower part is earth. Thus, the cave is a great place to
practice; the qi of the ve phases can enter it easiy and it contains a separate
heaven and earth: the land of rebirth.
The cave also contains a green dragon on the le side and a white tiger on
he right. The ancients caled it Mingtai (Bright Terrace), where the ve phases
could expand and coagulate. Here it becomes obvious that there are three levels
of heaven and three of earth. The key cultivation in the cve is returning to the
prenatal state, a practice you cannot perrm in a park. When practicing in the
Shuanglong dong, rst listen to its heartbeat and breathing. The Chaozhen
dong is a hollow that contains yang within yin, similarly a place of rebirth. It
also oers a place to cleanse, matching a woman's womb. It has ve orices,
one that alows you to hear the vibraon sound of the earth's ley nes. When
 we enter either of the two cves, we are as it were moving into the belly of the
rooster that is China.
Siting meditation is done in several positios: loose, natural, half lotus
and  lotus. Pick one accorg to your preference.
It has two components, imitating the prenatal state and returning to it.
or the latter, you must sit in the ll lotus position; you cannot do it in half
lotus or natural sle. Similarly, when you enter the cave to cultivate returning
to the prenatal state, there is only one method. However, we ornarily cus
more on imitatig it. Always during meditaon, it is important to synchronize
the three centers of heaven, earth, and humanity.
Sitting meditation is ndamental, it is the prime method is to build the
undation of all cultvation. Many classics discuss how many days it takes to
buid the undation in various ways, which is also correct. However, the rst
step is to do proper sitting Matching n and yang is· also ndamental as is
82 / Chapter 3 

ground; second, the spine must be straiht; third, the three centers must be
synchronized.
Three situations may arise with reard to the undation. First, you build a
stron base and do so very we; second, you are careless in the constructio n;
third, you do not buid any base at all, but remain twisted, slanted, and oklte r.
Under the latter circumstances, the staiay to heaven cannot be cmbed, your
erts are in vain and il to be wondrous. Sitin meditation has three main
purposes.
First, it enags the meridians in the les. Second, it increases blood circu
lation (rate of ow), especially in the lower body, under the p bones and
throuhout the les. The les may o numb and, especiay when sittin in ll
lotus, and may even wil turn purple, losin all elin. This shows that the
pressure is very hih. The benet of increasin pressure is strenthen the lower
eld, since the abdominal pressure is naturally weak. Even then, the lower eld
is weak durin sittin meditation as lon as the spine is not straiht. The shoul-
ders hurt mainly because they are not relaxed.
Third, it imitates the prenatal state, that is, to reenact the circumstances
bere birth. We imitate the state (and attitude) of bein in the mother's womb
bere bein born. At that tie, the lowest point of the body was the tailbone
(sciaic nee), whereas the hihest was the head. Ony in sitin meditation can
you make the tailbone be at the lowest point aain. Modern scientic research
has und that the tailbone has a hidden secret of lenthenin and shortenin
the li of human beins; the enes, too, orinate here.
The Neiong shu speaks of cin the wall r nine years, completin the
trainin in the tenth year (which is like bein pregnant r nine months and
vn birth in the tenth), then cleansin r two years. The purpose of return-
in to the prenatal state is to nd the land of rebirth. The Shuanlon don is
like the belly of the rooster that is China, so that enterin it is equivalent to
enterin its belly, with its inner part matchin the womb of a hen. We can nev-
er enter aain the womb of our mother r rebirth, but we only squeeze into
the belly of Mother Earth. As we practice in the cave, a new consciousness
arises om the unconscious and as we reconize that, our human conscious-
ness is no loner subject to the control of the body.

Hand Seals and Gestures

Let us start by disinguishin hand seals (mudras) om hand estures. Hand
seals are not used in cultivaion, but serve in exorcism and to ward o evil ,
such as when you nd yourself under attack. They rm part of the banishin g
 Cultivation System I 83

in techniques, diding them according to ve powers of thunder plus those
of heaven and earth. Buddhists classi them according to what they open: air,
earth, eaven, water, and re. They speak of the hand seals of the ve spaces.
Hand gestures in cultivation serve to inteate the meridians, vessels, and
bone pathways. You can practice r a long time thout causing issues. and
seals are not like this at al. An old saying has, "Internal practices and cultiva-
on attainments require many hand techniques: they are everchanng. This
means that every time you change your hand technique, you open yourself to a
dierent internal achievement, undergoing changes in body and heartand-
nd. The Neiong shu presents thirtysix major hand gestures. Let us look at
some of them.
1 "Peace: With the ngers of both spread, place them on your knees.
With both legs crossed, the meridians of the ngers are open, allowing the en
ery to ow eely through the upper body, each circulation perfect. Thus the
body organism is rm and stable, properly manisting n and yang.

2. "Heaven, Earth, and Humani: Stack the hands with palms cing up,
one hand above the other. Join the thumbs to signify the division of heaven,
earth, and humanity. The thumbs being joined siges humanity. Now see
hich hand is the less strong and place it on top so that yang is wthin yn and
 is within yang. This gesture nurtures  but it has one shortcoming: it dis
likes vbration. Once there is a vibration, the heart wil be aected. So it is best
to ony use it when your home is extremely quiet.
84 / Chapter 3B

hand beow. Let the thumb of the e hand bend to touch the tip of the midde
nger, whch matches the position wu. Now push the right thumb om the top
nto the rng made by the thumb and midde nr of the e hand and have it
touch the root of the e ring nger, which matches the position z The right
midde ngr curves around the outside cosing the right hand rng so that both
hands are embraced.

This hand gesture is aso known as Taiji" (Gt Ua), since it divides
into to spheres, yin and yang. Aer the hands are combined, the to tiger's
mouths should touch. The right hand is outside, the e hand is inside: yin em-
braces yang. The tip of the e midde nger touching the thumb of the e
hand engenders wu The thumb of the right hand inserted next to the ti gr's
mouth of the e hand and pressing the ring nger engenders . The remainng
ur ngers of the rght hand compete the crce om the outside.
This hand gesture was deveoped to prevent ar of vibration, and anyone
hoding it wl be very stabe. Snce the to meridans that run through the
heart are aready seaed, once the to hands has joined they contro the hear t
meridan. Hoding it a removes ar of vibraton, so that the heart wi remain
steady even f the body shakes It s hghy suitabe r the edery, but youn g
 Cultivation System / 85

4. "Hands Joined: With both hand casped together, pams strongy con-
nected, the hand meridians are seaed and the hands carry out the circuit of
ener. This hand gesture, too, sikes vibraon. The moment there is even a
bit of vbration, you wil immediatey get up, reacting to changes in interna
movement. In order to prevent this, its best hod the "Eight Tri gams Zwt' or
use it as an aternative.
In addition, hooking the thumb over the index nger changes this to
"Guiding q." Pace this on your knees during pracce. Aso, you can hooking
the ltte ngers together to rm "Seaed Meridians. This seas especiay the
heat merian. Most peope use these. If the i does not rse, press your index
gers on your knees. That shod take care of it.

5. "Fists: Bend the thumbs into the pams an cover them with the other
ur ngers to make sts. Pace them in the thigh gap on the side of the goin.
Dung seep pracce, pace them on the sides of the body or on the abdomen,
deay cing down.
86 / Chapter 3 B

Retreats and Fasting

The Daoist term r retreat, teral closed gates" (biuan, goes back to the Jin
dynasty (3 d c. CE) Such retreats come in large and small rmats, small ones
r

being held at a local temple while large ones take place deep in the mountains
Individual seclusion does not qua, rather retreats inole group practice
Not talkng, participants yet impact each other as they train together in oint
eort A retreat is a period when we have little or no contact with other people
and the outside world, only relating to our brethren in Dao. From this perspec
tive, retreats can be done in groups, single, or solitary
They require certain contions and circumstances During a retreat, ener
gy transrms When it does not transrm, it is not a proper retreat In other
 words, if you cannot transrm essence into qi and spirit, and revert it back
om spirit into qi and essence, you have not undergone a retreat. Depending
on the level, retreats are categorized as cusing mainly on essence, q, or spirit
Daoists believe that retreats have rules and regulations as well as particu-
lar methods or techniques The purpose is to let parcipants attain these Never
mind whether Daoist or Buddhist, they all agree that only practitioners above
aerage and sages of high wisdom are qualied to enter a retreat This is be-
cause what they do can harm ordinary people, who are t to repent and join
rituals but not qualied to take a retreat. In a similar way, someone suering
om liver disease, when sng, literally abstaining om grain" (b, should
not eat common od but can have something that will nourish the liver.
Someone with a weak heart when sting should practice single palm scing,
 while a person with a weak liver and stomach should work on pushing along
the paired meridians
Daoists classi retreats according to selimposed, led by a master, and
requiring intense ert During those led by a master, participants must llow
three rules
The rst is called sacred image." It means that the venue must have a
picture or statue of the ancestral patriarch (in Hunan, they are mainly the Per
ct Warrior and Zhang Sanfen and all participants must silently bow to it.
The second is ultmate speech." This means not talking or engaging in
other rms of communication
The third is known as the master's instructions." Any training guidance
iven by the master concerns mainly the Daoist classics and the technques of
internal alchemy Question and answer sessions occur aer each rmal lecture.
Thus, on the second day, each practtoner has to ask three questions, writin g
them on a piece of paper, which he then places in a box. The master randoml y
 Cultivation System / 87

 According to Daoist rules, pure nourishment (Daoist vegetarian od) is

to be taken in the refectory. Daoists believe it is best, bere sting completely,
tat one should not eat rice but take only uit as a rm of purication. This
purication can lasts r ten, eight, or seven days. It, too, comes with specic
es, purposes, and methods. Aer this period of purication, if you want to
abstain om al od, you ben to st completely Chan Buddhists believe that
e perct way of sting lets you rise through the various heavens: eighteen
eavens of he World of Desire, six heavens of the World of Form, and ur of
te World of Formlessness28 heavens altogether. Daoists, too, subscribe to
ts system and speak of transcending the 28 eavens of the Three Worlds.
Essenialy, sting dides into three types.
Fasting through spirit. Daoists believe, if you cut out all od and just
ive by absorbing qi but are not successl in retrieving spirit, you are not rey
doing a retreat. One of the most accomplished practitioners of a retreat r
spirt retrieval was Master Zhang Sanng. Its key objective is to make spirt to
revert to the body at wil The Daode J speaks of the "spirit valey grain,
notng tat it "does not die (c. 6), Spirt dides into conscious and primor-
al tpesloosely translated as postnatal and primordial or prenatal spirit. More
precisely, we want to sl or seal o conscious spirit so that primordial spirit is
brougt out. Wen the Lbao b speaks of "yang spirit emerng, it means
tat conscious spirit is completely sealed o Only when this is sealed o can
ang spirit emerge In order to completely seal o conscious spirit and the yang
spirt emerge, you need to interchange and transrm the tree eneres at wil
Fasting through qi If you cut out all od but cannot absorb i, you are
not realy doing a retreat. Also mentioned in the Dao this was best culti-
vated by Master Zang Ziyang who worked dominantly on lidestiny and
rened hs qi while on retreat. He is te ancestral teacher of al rms of sng
trough qi and was te rst to use lifedestiny to enance inner nature and re-
ne qi to cease eating ordinary od. Focusing spirit and i om open space, he
succeeded in the great enterprise of ascending to immortality. Qi vdes into
tree types not oen mentioned in the classics. Patriarch L spoke of liferce
q. Te various types occur interchangeably in te classics, but in nction they
al rer to qi and its transrmative nature. Thus, we speak of sting through
 Sealing o qi is a way of sting through cosmic enery; its purpose is to
aow cosmic energy to enter the body. Sealing o stem qi is anoter way of
receivng cosmic energy: once the stem qi in the body is dead, there is no more
need r cosmic or internal q At this time, you can realy do something. Make
sure during practice to work systematically with the three rms of , never
omitting a single one.
98 / Chap ter 3B

The Three Forms of Qi and Thei r M ovements

Maste L's Neiongf (apsody on Intenal Tainin has the lowin lines:

Cosmic qi (�) is the natual espiation of the univese

Stem qi (�) is the secet potency of the body univese.
Fie qi () is the secet powe of cltivatin pection and
eachin immotality.
Pound, wondous and etenal: the thee ms of q

Cosmic qi is the qi of natue and heaven, of the souce and oiin of all.
Fomless, it does not llow ela pattes and has no xed path of move
ment. Everyone (includin copses and cemains) inhales and exhales this qi of
the univese, matching the espiation of natue. The classics typicaly bein by
witin about the ceation of the vese and the many tansmaons of q
It existed even bee human beins o the eath came into bein; it is the lag
est ene of the univese Without qi thee is no wate; without its tans
mations even if thee was wate we would not exist. Thus, qi is the souce and
oin of all, all beins and substances depend on it includin human beins
and all matte, even the tends of ou changing times.
Cosmic qi is hihly spiitual and maelous. The tem occus ony once in
the DaodJng, which descibes it as subtle and wondous in its tansmations,
combinations, and coodinations. The stuctue of qi contains oxygen (used by
human beins and plants); thus, it matches natue. We al use it equally, caling
it the pimodial qi of heaven As ou poes beathe, they too use q binin it
into the body and eliminating it om thee.
Stem qi is qi ceated om nonbein and manifests in the body's ene
ow. Moving aound the intenal levels of the body, it is invisible and intangi-
ble to onay people, howeve, it has m and consists of paticles that can
be measued by instuments. This is what people talk about as pect q.  A
skil pactitione can see, feel, and touch it As we inhale and exhale cosmic
i, what is le in the body is stem q, the souce of pect q.
Fie qi simply put, is a s that is dischaged om the body It has light
and heat, just like the body's ne ow with its paticles. People can see it
when it is schaged; it can also be emitted intentionally to poduce an elec
tomagnetic wave, which in tun ms a manetic eld eective in healing A
sl pactitione can send out highquaty e q, made up of ne paticles
Its paticles can penetate walls, match the inaed spectum of the eath o be
black in colo A this is consideed highquaty and most pecious, but had to
 Cultivation System / 99

racice, it allows ractitioners to see troug was, ave good gt vision,
and contro evil.
Huan beings and anials eit re qi o teir body as do other organ-
ss. It coes in two tyes: one has a regular patte, the oter does not. For
exale, in orary eople it does not ave a reular attern, thus they con-
sue a lot of calories while running and engaging in excanges wit te outside
 world. To kee ordinary eole alive, a lot as to be consued and coen-
sated. Practioners rarely consue re qi but conserve and coaulate it. If they
eer eit it, it rs a ne or a oint that can be used roductively.
Peole today widely believe that discharged qi is arl, but Daoists s-
aree. ode scientist siilarly tink that car exhaust causes air ollution,
resulting in te deletion of the ozone layer. Daoists dsaree. Tey believe tat
these ases do not enlarge te ozone hole. Te aount of car exhaust is no-
 where near as uch as tat eitted o a big ciney. Daoist tink tat car
exhaust should be recycled and puried, ten released into te atospere.
Aer practicing to a certain level, cosic qi transrs into ste ,  whic
i tu canges into re q At ts tie, you ave to take a good look at your
ractice, since it will be necessary to abstain o ains and eat, stop sok-
ig and drinking alcool, coee and tea. Witout doing so, you cannot enter
the stage of re q. Te ost iortant ractice ere is stillness, altoug you
can also do soe oveents. But you cannot control others o a distance,
snce oveent practice depends largely on ste qi. As you graduate om
ste qi to re q you need to seal o te tree yin orices and close te nose
 wit a clip.
These to nds of qi ave to be able to convert into eac oter as well as
enter and leave eely. Te ster you ove wen practicing te excanging qi
 wh nare, te reater your staa gets and te ster te two rms of q
rans. To kee and retain ste qi in te body, use internal iding of
breat, not the nose and out. Let it ow eely, owing te ethod de-
scribed in te Hua neing as "transporting essence and transrming it into
ste qi." To let ste qi ow a troug te body, irculate it troug the ve
hases and ve organs. Tis is one way of transring essence into q
It is a soewhat ecanical job. Te qi in te ve organs does not move
of itsel, so we ave to nd a way to get it going. Mecanical exercise ows a
reular pattern but sould not be d. Ideally we sould let it ove spontane-
ously, atcing tie and space. Ste qi can also dscarge re i, retaing its
good parts and expelling te bad. Aer dscarging and we sting, you ur-
gently need cosic qi to enter te body. Inaling cosic qi is easy; expeing
re qi is ard.
I 00 / Chapter 3 B

ener in te bod. Wen te meet, we speak of orinal energy nce all
tree rs of qi rise and combine original ener can be revived. How to re
ne all tree is described in ancient documents like te Hetu (River Cart and
I.uoshu (Writ of te Luo ver) To properly understand tese metods rst
appreciate te nature and application of te tree rs of .
People of old moved stem qi om te stomac and intestines up to expel
it troug te mout or down to excrete it. Te would rst work on stomach
q, also kown as soil or eart . Moving om te duodenum to te liver and
gallbladder, t was known as wood q. Tus, te gadual discovered te pat
of its movements. Aer a long and carel exploration of te meridians, tey
understood tat te q moving troug te bod was tis pe of stem q
Ordinary practitioners tend to cus mostl on perct stem q, also
knon as primordial . Tey take in cosmic q troug te mout, absorb it
into teir bod as breat and troug te skin. Once tere, it transrms into
stem , wic in turn canges into re qi as it is discarged troug te mout.
Discarng tis qi om te mout wit a strong mental cus, ou can cure
various ailments. To do so, coagulate te stem q of te matcing organ, ten
blow it out as re q In ancient times, medical practitioners were not permitted
to smoke or drink bere treating peopl, especiall rls. If you put sometin
(e.g., tea) in your mout, re q mixes wit te tea juice and wen it enters
someone's organs, it as anti-inammatory and analgesic eects
l tese practices work to transrm and rene te tree q matcig te
nteraction of essence, q and spirit to eect transrmaons in te material
world. Tus, tese tree rm one of te tree big treasures
Te uman bod ves troug te continuous transrmaton and inter
cange of te tree qosmic, stem and re In te old das, teir practce
was known as expellng te old and absorbing te new." Toda, we undertake
some practices tat ave canged since te old das and a few tat haven't. For
example, openng te urteen merdians wit te ve pases onl uses stem qi
tat is never released to the outside. Similarly, opening te eigt extraordinar
vessels wit te ve pases works dominantl wit sitting meditation and u
lizes stem q. The intention ball exercises of te eigt tri gams, too, renes stem
i, but ener balancing pracces work most strongl wt releasing it. Always
during practice, imagine ow the tree rms of q cange and transrm 
Wen engaging a dierent rm of q, use a dierent metod. Only wen in
aling lunar q can ou use eiter one.
To transrm the tree rms of qi, cange tem om not llowing an y
regular pattern to aving a clear rythm Natural breating does not llow an y
regular, so you must gradually establis a rytm whle making te brea th
 Cultivation System I IOI

Common parlance has it that cosmic qi is prenatal and stem qi is postnatal.

owever, the classical masterpieces of Masters L and Wang Chongyang state
hat stem qi is prenatal and cosmic qi is postnatal. Why would that be? Cosmic
i and stem qi are at the root of the uversal division into prenatal ad postna-
 l. Stem qi as prenatal is thus the main rce of being bere material existence,
e csmic qi is a power aer life came into being. y would they describe
 ke this?
Prenatal indicates the realm of emptiness and nonbeing. As long as we
le, breathe, and take nourishment (postnatal nutrition), the body exists. Any-
me we are doing things, therere, we are in a postnatal state. Aer death,
coses do not change, speak, or act, and that, too, is pat of being postnatal, of
resing in a postnatal state. As long as we have not passed y through the
osnatal state, we cannot cultivate prenatal being. When the classics speak of
s, they are really talking about the dalogue we engage in with ancestors, mas-
ers and rebears. They refer to the teachings the elders handed down when
hey say, "We must by all means cultivate the great way of prenatal beig.
The are not referring to a dalogue among ourseles.
The dalogue among us is physical; anything you can actually say is post-
aal. Thus, our cultivaion, too, is postnatal, a way of expressing our desire to
oe toward the prenatal. We want to rene prenatal being, but we cannot do
o because we do not know what the realm of emptiness and nonbeing looks
ke, what prenatal being reay is. The only things we can express in words are
ostnatal. Laozi used the word "Dao to rer to this, but even he does not
ow what exactly it is. He, too, is a postnatal person using words to talk about
renatal phenomena, using postnatal images to express prenatal condtions.
To cultivate internal renement, practitioners must change their move-
ens om external to internal, then go om internal motion to usig q. Qi
racce here dvides into three typesmovements of cosmic , stem , and
he body.
oements of cosmic q: During sitting medtation, pay close atenion to
he various sensaons near you, ont and back, right and left, above and below.
Dong so, notice the interchange and drection of cosmic qi and see whether it
s movng. People of old called this external movement. Modern usage speaks
bout payg attention to the uctuations in the eld.
ovements of stem qi rer to movement deep inside the body, internal
od moton. Movements of the body indcate external movements of the
od, the physical body in acon.
The body is the uiverse of the sel, the unverse of the person. The self is
conaed in the body. Taking this one step rther, we can also say that
I 02 / Chapter 3 B

bec aus e when one pers on moves, his o r  her movement will inuence all te

Moe m e n t of
people around hi. Thi s , in ct, i s a movement of qi.
t e m c an eu e d t o c o nt r o l ot h e r pe o pl e . Wi t h i t
ycouoontu moercoalnotcmohnteernrpeot l,oyploouret,haaetlfmoemaanld,motanehdnetrpls of.anMoetco. Themimcenthtrepontofalthoaenmaebodyounilycslatninloewpontutheeadente
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How to Medite

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     c o me wi t h t  o opt
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s i o n . Ei t h e r put s

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   eupper legr, otpre prineg tehe aBubblgain tintgheSpirpingjoipoint noft, twhihe lelowethe
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 Cu ltivation System / I 03

  also has two options Either put your rght

ot on your le leg, then your le ot on top of the
right leg, or vce versa. This style uses the two feet to
press against the hp joints of the opposite legs. The soles
of both feet ce up. Here o points touch the ground
the two hip bones. In addton, it is best if praconers sit
on a hard surce. Without ll lotus sitting, you cannot
complete the lowig methods: ve hearts salung the
emperor, gatheng the three owers at the top of the
head, and emb ro respiration.
No matter whether you are Daoist or Buddhist, sitting in l lotus is the
sg point r al midde vehicle pracce. You cannot possibly reach the
hghest level without it. In any posture, when sittg in medtation, pul the et
side as much as possible. The closer and tighter they are, the better T r not
to have any gaps.
For al knds of medtation, you ultimately want to be able to work n ll
lotus. It is better to use this than any other posture. There is no greater positon
to acheve than l lotus, sice it shrinks and tightens the body to the maxi-
mum, causing it to condense and compress. The purpose of compression is to
make people denser and increasingly saturated. en the mass is big and the
volume is smal, energy is produced, with euption at the mamum Full lotus
pracce has yet another characterstic. The three yn orces (anus, gentaia,
ad perneum) are open at the bottom of the pelvs, which also means that this
ste of sitting makes it easy r people to be troubled. The body internaly
heats up and cools down st, oen making it unbearable.
The alternative way of practice is loose sitng. It is ve r comrtable, but
there is lttle density. In natural sitting, the three yn orices are sealed o com-
pletely. The buttocks move together and seal them o, so that ony the external
gtala are open. In  lotus, on the other hand, al three are open.
Lookng at the classics, it becomes clear that ancient Daoist masters did
not emphasize any specic postures or standards r ·sitting metation. So,
utmately it is best to start the practice in your own way and be comrtable.
Do not worr about your sitng position. Each individual is dierent. Some
people's legs are exible and they can push themselves into half or l lotus,
but most cannot do it. Just get there slowly, working within your comrt zone.
Be happy when you do sitting meditation, make sure to be relatively table
(matainng a balance of le and rght, upper and lower and ont and back)
and rest comrtably.
Once you have unblocked the body, ittle by lttle move your cus inward
I 04 / Chapter 3 B

lotus. If you rce it, you may get injured. Also, trying to achieve the hig hest
level wil get you into trouble. Just learn to sit on top of the perineum ad
eventualy the legs w begn to loosen. If the qi does not rse along the prope
lines, it is because you only are only using half lotus. At all times, it is important
to relax and let it naturally go out and come back.
The transition om natural sittng to half and ll lotus is gradual. Chil
dren can sit in l lotus with ease because their meridians are unblocked; it
does not hurt. Just be aware how you sit naturally, what makes you comrtable
and reaze whenever your body is not straight. That is good enough. However,
in all rms of medtation, you want the spine to be absolutely straight. Without
that, you cannot even do loose sitting.
For an embro inside the mother's womb, the lowest points are the to
hp bones and the highest point is the head. As you think of moving om a
postnatal to a prenatal state, your rst step is to imitate the prenatal state in
your sitting posture, closely llowed by the second step of returning to the
prenatal state.
Sittng in meditaton is hard. "Even iron men nd it unbearable. It is
tougher than any other suering. The purpose of enduring this level of suer
ing is the realization that al human aairs in this world are essentialy suering
and that all transcendence of the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanit
must come through suering. We need to experience sering and endure pain
so that we realize how much we can tolerate In the end, we have to practice
down to the bones and their marrow, where things can move around. People
are actually capable to endure a lot of pain, it just depends on their wil. Sittng
in medtation means to pursue happiness om suering, learning to enjoy the
moment. Only meditaton practoners can taste the pain and joy it oers.

Rnnc
Repentance is an extended rm of sittng meditaton. Practice it once or tice
on the day bere New Year's and bere your parents' birth and death days. It
does not matter in which sle you sit, the more relaxed the better.
Set yourself up properly, then turn your attention inward r inner obser
vation. Sit like this r a long time and some emotions-joy, anger, sadness, or
happiness-may appear. When the heart and body cannot contain them, the y
need to be expressed. Thus, you may feel sadness, aravaton, good cheer, or
happiness, but in a cases make sure to look r the depth of sorrow behind
them. If you cannot nd it, there is a way: imane listening to your ther and
remember some scenes with your mother. If your heart is not clear, you cannot
do this. Idealy you start having a dialogue with your parents, but if that does
 Cultivation System I I 05

Aer stting lke ths r ur or ve hours, our legs wl be very panl
f you keep sttng at ths pont, there wil be even more pan, even multples of
an The more you st, the shorter the tme of persstence. s soon as o
oen your ees and want to st agan, you cannot do it Ths s becuse yo do
ot et yoursef to do t (our nner self does not let you do t)
There s another stuaton when you feel ke talkng wthout restrcton
d even talk about your most personal ars. At ths time, your legs hurt ter-
by, but you must endure. If you move, you w not be abe to start om
ere you left o, thus mssng a gret oportunty There s a lot of mystery
ere. You w experence the relatonshp between body and sprt and that
eeen sprt and soul, to the pont where sprt s no onger attaced to your
ody. At ths te, ou won't even pay attenton to your cothes, not even f
you ost the. You have no tme or sense to dwel on anyhng, t s alost as f
you cannot see any prtcuars nymore, everythng just looks so beautl. Pus
you are competely ee om a elngs of hunger and thrst. You may el lke
soutng or cryng, whch s ne. You can cry r sadness, jealousy, pan, suer-
g, and more. The utmate cry s usuay, Mother!" and that may feel realy
strange. But once you got through ths phase, you wll never be sad or hungry
gan. You can recover a state of nonexerton.
n the past, ths dmenson of practce was known as locng n the l
rce," a nae Daosts st use. It s  tranng method to control the lfe rce
nd the sprt soul n your body. Key rules r practcing repentance nclude,
st, never to speak about the personal experences of others om what yo
ear or see, and second, never to speak about the ugly airs of others.

Elixir Concoction: External and Internal

Fundaently Daosts used the terms and descrp-

ons of externa or operatve alchemy to expln
e workngs of nternal ctvaton The Daost
cnon contains the symbol _ which shows the 
constructon of a undaton. In ancent tmes,
teal achemy mtated external alchemy, whle
extea achemy shed ght on nternal alchemy. In
oher words, adepts used external concocon
ethods to ustrate the nterna process, so people

•
coud understand t better. The core concept of
tea achemy s that transrmaton takes place
teay, but the ay it s practced now llows
1 06 / Chapter 3 B

a cauldron. As we transrm inteally, this becomes obvious in our appearance

and eventualy the enre body becomes an elixir. The llowing shows the
 wor n of both modes.

1. Install the Fuace and Set up the Cauldron

Exteal: Create the undation. Make sure the ground is at and even ,
then erect an alchemical rnace with eight holes. Toward its top set up a hook
so the cauldron can hang by a rope in its center, making sure it is equidistant
om all ur sides.
Inteal Take a hundred days to set up the undation inside the body.
First you make sure to sit properly on a secure, at surce, then you seal the
lower three yin orices. The body should be in a vercal position as if hanging
by a thread, properly alged with the navel. Breathe in and out through the
nose, mang sure the breathing is soft, even, and long.

2. Adjust the Water Level

External: To adjust the water level, ali g the opening of the rnace, so
that it is level and the bottom is at.
Internal: The spine has to be upright and the body's center straight. The
spine being upright means that the three long nes in the body (the broken,
reection, and conception nes) are aged. They should all be on the same
plane, matching the spine. Breathe in and out through the nose to straighten
the spine.

3. Clean the Fuace

External: Make sure the rnace is completely clean.
Internal: This takes a lot of ert. Once the spine is upright, start to emp-
ty your mind. First clean the head, using pore breathing on the head until it is
empty. As you do so, to make sure the head is straight, adjust the breathing
through both ears. Find a line beteen the ears and al g it with the central line.
It is not easy to clean the head, as the pressure here is highest among three
spaces in the body. If the pressure in the cranial cavity cannot be reduced, send
it down to the lower eld, then adjust the pressure in the abdomen. You have
to nd a way to increase abdominal pressure to reduce craal pressure. This is
called adjusting the upper and lower halmoon spheres.

4. Ready the Fuace

External: To start concocting the elixir, cover the rnace with a d. Light
a re to warm the rnace and cauldron. There is nothing in the rnace at ths
 Cultivation System /  07

Internal: Adjust both the lower and upper elds to establish upper and
lower halmoon spheres in the body. Start to pracce pore breathing, thereby
o seal the rnace and cauldron.

5. Heat the Furnace

Exteal: Increase the temperature in the rnace to a certain level. The
degee of heating depends on whether you can see a certain yang quality in the
i of the rnace. Aer sealng it, identi its center and make sure the cauldron
is right there. No matter how clean the rnace is, if there is even a tiny open-
g in the lid, the qi wi rise and escape and something will appear at the bot-
om of te caudron. I, after the rnace is warm, you can see somethig at the
ottom of the cauldron, his is the qi of perect yang.
Inteal: Move the qi om the top down, letting it sink through the torso
o its lowest part (at Meeting Yin near the perineum). Then very gadually bring
i up into the lower eld. I there is even a tiny amount of perfect yang, the
ody can get warm at this time. Actually, just look and see whether the body
as the abiity to nurture perct yang in the lower eld. Seal the body tightly
and cus on its center, located at the lower eld in the abdomen. Once the qi
reaches the lower eld, exhale slowly cusing on the lower abdomen, then
slowly cus it in the lower eld. Use a warming re to noursh every little bit
of perct yang.

6. Gather the Ingredients

Exteal: Aer rnace and cauldron have been set up well, start to add
gedients. There are at least seven things to be added, including lead, mercury,
pink powder, geen powder, and more. Lead and mercury are essential; aer
em, add at least ve more things to complement them.
Inteal: The body essentially contains ve kinds of exir in gedients (the
i of the ve phases in the organs). The qi enters om the mouth and nose into
e lower eld where it converges with the qi om the bottom. These are the
o qi of yn and yang combinng with the ve phases.

7. Refne the Ingredients

Exteal: Start to add heat until the mercury no longer vaporizes and the
lead no longer sinks down. It is hard to control the ring process and stabilize
he incoming airthere is nothing you can do about that. The process has to
be continued unti a cinnabar ost collects on the wal (ths ost can be white
r red, possibly representing oxidized mercury, which has a sedative eect.
Cnabar particles wil rm at te bottom: this is the elixr.
I 08 / Chapter 3 B

strogly apply yor itetio ad carelly cotrol the rig process If do e
right, yo w deitely feel sometig movig i the lower abdomen At thi s
poit, qickly allow it to tr ito i ad see whether it rises up or siks dow 
If it rises p, practice calig spirit at the Acestral rice; if it siks dow ,
agmet yag re ad redce yi impact. Yo ca also rotate it oce i th e
lower eld ad om there let it eter ito the orgas to siletly circlat e
trogh them i te geratg cycle of the ve phases.

8. Disp erse the Fire

Exteral: To ope the d, make sre to get the timig right, as it is very
particlar. We cococted correctly, the elixir wil be hot ad cold coapse
o yo as yo ope the lid. First redce the re. Yo mst ot ope the lid at
radom, as this will brig heavely, primordial i ito the race If that hap
pes, the elixir powder wil chage istatly ad show p i a dieret color
Iteal: The best way to disperse the re is throgh pore breathig
There are several ways. Oe is, aer siletly circlatig the ve phases, se
pore breathig to move it throgh the body. Aother is to remov the re i
the cadro by ihag throgh the pores, gidig i ito the lower eld, the
exhale om the lower eld agai throgh the pores. This releases . A yet di-
ret way is by ihalig ito the lower eld, but istead of exhalig throgh
the pores, let the breathig be iteral ad obsee what happes.

9. Explanation
Exteral: The height of the cauldro is sch that the compoets ca rise
or sik dow; it ca be adjsted to cococt dieret elxirs. The race height
also eeds to be adjusted sice it mst coect with the i that peades heave
Aer some time, the height of race ca be icreased i order to achieve yi
withi yag ad yag withi yi
Iteral: The caldro here is the lower abdome, with a tedecy toward
ascedig It is best if it rises al the way to the head: this rms the golde
cauldro. Here we ree the qi that peades of heave ad eath. Cltivatig
to a certai level, we will l o the groud (sing a partclar trainig method),
while or body takes o the shape ad power of te Taiji (its upper part clear,
the lower part trbid) .

10. Inspection
Exteral: The prodctio of herbal remedies ad the cococtio of exter
al elixirs have much in commo. Yo add a lttle somethig to the igrediets
ad a potent remedy emerges, the you add some starch accordig to the cor
 Cultivation System /  09

take them themseves. In the rocess of concoction, the elixir ca easy be-
come poisonous. Also, if touched, its coor can change There are many kinds
of external eixirs.
Intea: Proof that the ractice was success, accorng to the eixir
manuals, apears in severa sigs. ne is that, when the er of the ve hases
s nctionng in the body, the skin becomes decate and so. Another is that
sprt comes and goes with ease, behavig just ike a smal chid, havng a
grudge one moment and rgettig it the next. A third is the abity to sense
extea energy drecty throug the body. The Qinining says, Sensing the qi
of the externa unverse through the qi of our body unverse, we can comre-
hend other eope." Aso, qi now can make essence transrm into tem i. If
ever you feel sick or have an aiment, qi w accumuate in that artcular area.
Durng this stage of culvation, you w appear very comrtable.

11. Efects
Externa: Elxirs come in nne types. Durig rst concoction, the best you
can aceve is one that is orange n color and rather hard in consistency. You
canot consume it directy, but only together with something ese. Taking it
plan voates the rues. It is aso useess, because it w be excreted immediatey.

Inteal: en the internal process is compete, the resuts are invisibe
ad intangible. We can only kow its eects within ourseves: they are unique
to the ndvdua. In the bennng, whether we are aware of any changes de
pends on how sensitive we are to our nner states. We can enjoy what we fee
 wthn, but others cannot. Internal ractice is not r show, but converts into a
m of interna energy. Daoists beieve that when we reach the hghest eve,
nobody can see our mastery. Once we transrm into pure q, there is nothing
le. For Buddhists, on the other hand, the body contnues to exst as a subject,
but some also transrm it into pure z

Refnement Procedures

In renng the exir, you set up the rnace and cauldron on a patrm and
assembe your inedients in the rnace. The body itsef contains the necessary
edents, the energy of the ve organs matching the ve hases. In addition,
many other ingredents come om the outside as we inhae and exhae. Resi-
aon s the ongoing interchange of rimordia qi as we as the absortion of
the o qi of n and yang. This makes seven basic ineients. In adtion, the
body om top to bottom contains vast stores of energies you can use to con-
I I O / Chapter 38

chronzed, heat the re and start concoctng. You concoct and rene your e 
erges wthn yourself and your enre body becomes one bg rnace. The body
set up correcty s caed the rnace. No matter what sze the body s, t st l
encloses the cauldron.
The cauldron n te body s located n the lower abdomen, whch s wh y
 we tu both eyes nard and obsee the lower eld. Our ntenton and
thougts are y centered on the lower eld. We nhale and cus the qi there;
 we exhale and release t om there. The purpose s to let the cauldron unld
throughout the body, openg t to certan technques of renement. For ths,
by all means make sure the three centers are synchronzed.
Beyond ths, the rng process must be approprate. he ancents trans
mtted the overall technque but not the partculars of the rng process). The
rst way of rng s through our breathng n close coordnation wth the body
pores, whch n turn connect to nternal movements. You must not move too
st or too slow but work carelly wth nternal essence and stem q, transrm
 t and spread t throughout the body. Also, you must llow the rules that gov-
ern the movement of the nternal n gedents. For example, there should be
mutual moton patterns, each breath matchng one move. The body cannot seal
the rnace and cauldron by tsel. Therere, you need to rely on pore breath-
 ng to accomplsh ths. Usng pore breathng you can seal the body. Use a w
breaths to seal yourself and your body unverse. Then the rnace s sealed.
The prmary purpose of sealng the rnace s to obtan the key nternal
 ngedent, whch may be the hardest to transrm, the most senstve, or the
easest organ to dssolve. Generally, start by looking at the heart, snce ts ener-
g transrms best, and to transrm t conscously n the rnace s a good
method of selrenement. Therere, slently crculating the energy of the ve
phases s also caed establshng mnor elxr crculaon. After completng ts
renement n the rnace, crculate ths elxr to the lower eld and noursh t.
If you complete ths process and open the ld but nd nothng there, nothng
has seled at the bottom of the rnace or collected on the walls, you cannot
call t an elxr, because t has escaped. In ancent tmes, they called ths keepng
the bath warm, referrng to the process of external alchemy.
en renng an external elxr, whatever collects at the bottom of the
rnace s called the elxr; whatever accumulates on the walls s called the elxi r
powder. Both are potent remedes. They can appear as whte, red, or black ost,
each wth ts partcular name.
When renng the external elxir, the lower part of the rnace needs to be
sealed. It has eght holes, arranged accordng to the eght tr gams and placed n
the eght drectons (not lke the eght derent kinds of wnd). It s mportant
 Cultivation System / I I I

rect the heaveny q, the qi of Qian and Kun, i.e., heaven and earth, cannot
onnect.
The problem here is not the drecton. If the re is eled om o direc
ions, it gets too hot, which means it attracts the heaveny qi to st. Always,
oncocng the elxr needs to be undertaken in close connection with the time
of day, matching the hour to the posiion of the triams and their connections.
here are many dierent methods r this. The size and dmension of each
ole, moreover, should be desiged in accordance with the size of the rnace
nd cauldron. Their main nction is to let air in (not guiding it into any direc-
on). For example, when air comes om the east, the south gate is opened;
hen heat needs to be added, we use the southeast gate. All other gates open to
urure the re.
Listen to your heart: it is in the torso, whose inner space rms your per
oal heaven and earth. In this, the heart matches heaven and the kdneys cor
respond to earth. We rene the heart above because it is the easiest to trans-
rm We call it mercury. Once it sinks down, we speak of lead. Mercury is
ood at yng, but it gets lost easy because of its nature. Thus, it is necessary
o seal the body's pores. Since there are heaven and earth in the torso, there
must also be a head. The rst step is to synchronze the three centers, which
uses e three regons to lne up. In the same way, try to alig the thoughts in
our cerebral and abdominal brains.
 Chapter Four

Exchanging Qi with Nature

Exchangng qi wth nature appears n a specal part of the Nong shu. To prac
tce t, our posture should be "natural and relaxed, havng the potental to
move, whe our ntentonal thnng should be along the lnes o: "I am the
unverse, the unverse s constanl channg, everthng s movng, and so fe
bens. Also, "Keep the bod movng, cus and release the mnd. Wth ths
method ou expand our bod unversethe bologcal electrc eldat an
tme. You can also use our bolocal electromagnetc eld to dagnose and
treat dseases as we as gude our q
There s an essental derence between exchangng qi wth nature and
unconscous movng and nstnctual walkng. There are no rule r unconscous
movng, walkng, and breathng. The bran has no specc ntention to cus on.
Therere, people who move unconscousl, cannot snchronze ther breath-
 ng, walkng, and thnking nto oneness.
When exchanng qi  wh nature, breathe and walk conscousl. Whe
movng, low strct gudelnes, our mnd concentrated, and our breathg
and walkng snchronzng nto oneness. Move and breathe n close accordance
 wth the guidelnes, our ntention on cusng and releasng the human bo
electrc eld. In ths wa, ou can stead the breath, restore energ, enhance
 ntelgence, reduce dseases, and ncrease longevty.
Exchangng qi wth nature s a great echnque r everone: nellecuals,
manual workers, the elderl, and anone phscal weak. t restores men tal
ener and bod srength, and s especal good r women aer menopause ,
snce t helps hem regan he balance of her energ, blood, and nner organs.
The method has no lmts wth regard o tme and place, but  s best practce
 n places that have owers, rees, and esh ar.
Exchangng qi wth nature n the old das was caed "absorbng qi o
nature. It starts wth walng whle breathng, llowed b holdng the breath
1 80 / Chapter I 3A

56, the liver qi is weak and the tendons no longer mve smoothly. At 64,
the sperm is ehausted, essence s lacng, the kidneys decle, the body is
bent, and teeth and hair are lng out. The dneys govern water; the 
receive and store the essence of the ve organs and si viscera, which
causes organs to be vigorous and ow out swly. But today the ve or
gans are weak, tendons and bones dissolve and degenerate, semen s ex
hausted. Thus the hair at the temples turns white, the body els hea,
 when walking the steps are not straight, and the ability to produce chil
dren is lost
The Emperor asked: "Still, there are some old people who can st
have children. How is this possible?
Qibo replied: These people eceed their heaven-ven lfe epectanc
because their qi meridians are always open and their kidney qi is in abun
dance. But even though they may have chidren, their productive age is lim
ited to 64 in males and 49 in males. This is because the essence and qi o
heaven and earth are ehausted.
The Emperor asked: "A practioner of Dao who has reached an age of
over a hundred years, can he s have chidren?
Qbo replied: "A practitioner of Dao might be able to deat old age
and keep the body intact. Then, even if hs body is very old, he can st
have children.

Based on this discussion of the process of human brth, growth, decline,

and ang, its stages of ferilty and classcaon of physiolo, Daoists divide
the development of the human organism into ve stages: young, seualy ma 
ture (lit., leang'), damaged, declining, and weak. Bere boys reach the age o
16 and girls turn 14, their organism s young, which means they do not need to
build a special undation r cultivation, but can immediately pracice the ma
jor methods of the eat vehicle.
Once boys reach the age of 16 and girls turn 14, they produce semen or
eggs, which means their organsm is now seualy mature. Seual activity leaks
energy om the body, so the body is no longer complete but must be repaired.
To do so, they must rst restore the body to its original state and build a un
dation r cutivation. ny then can they practice the major methods of the
great vehicle
When men and women engage in intercourse and ve birth to children ,
they have damaged organisms. To culivate perction under these condi ons,
the rst thing to do is strengthen essence and blood. This repairs the damae d
organsm, and om there you can restore t to its original state and buid a
 Attracting I mmortality / 1 8 1

en turn 42, their orgasms are declining. en men reach the age of 64 and
 women turn 49, they are weak.
To cultivate perfection wit a declining or weak organism, you must rst
aest twelveld qi power by capturing the essence and orescence of heav-
en and eath. These will repair the organsm. Store and nurture essence and �
ncrease and strengthen vitaty and vi gr. From here, supplement and stabilize
essence and blood, repair even the sexually active organism, and build a strong
undaion of cultivation. Oy then can you recover a young organism and
practice te great methods.
In men, eght is the main number; it is a number of yn witin yin. In
 women, seven s te man number; it s a number of yin withn yang. 8 x 8 = 64
and 7 x 7 49 So, wen a woman is 49 and a man is 64, they are considered
=

old. Human life is calculated as 7 x 8 x 5 = 280 (te yn and yang numbers
combined with the ve phases). This means that an innt shoud stay in the
mother's womb r 280 days. 280 is a minum, and anyting less tan 80
means a miscarriage. Being pregnant r nine months and ving birth in the
tent month matces te basic numbers r human beings.
Women develop in mulples of seven. 2 x 7 = 14, so women normaly
experence menstruaton bere te age of 14. 2 x 8 = 16, so when boys turn 16,
tey sould have experienced ejaculation once. These are ancient Chnese con
cepts. Brtdays should really oy be celebrated at the age of 49 r women
and 64 r men. For anyone younger than that, birthday celebrations are not
alowed. Old sayings speci what to do on the 1 st birtday, on the 2 nd birthday,
and so on, all the way to 100. There are several signcant numbers in human
 fe, notably 66, 73, and 84. Wen women get to be 49, and men 64, te num-
ber 280 becomes nvald.
Woen's enson atces e cycle of te moon, noy sp
8 to 30 das If te atual nuber of days n te cycle s beo or above ese
nubers, t s consdered abnoa. Te duron of mensuaon n Cna
sould ast r one cycle. Fve days s standar, oerse t s abnoal: s s
ow as one cyle. Men shol h e en's cs, b a m's c s com
p .
Te Daozanfao (Collected Essentials of te Daoist Canon) says, "If you
ant to cultivate the techniques described n the Inbao bi (also known as te
practice of the Three Immortals and the methods of women's alchemy), you
must rst practice ttracting immortaty.' Without this, you will not succeed in
any of the others. That means, attractng immortality is mandatory r every
step of te Ingbao bi. It serves as the undaion of a major Daoist great
vehicle metods, reparng leaks and recovering the source, thus perading eve-
1 82 / Chapter I 3A

Theory of Attracting Immortality

The heor works according o numbers. Thus, Wuji (zero) a is source is q; i
embodies he chaos prime of original oneness. Taiji (he one) is originaly wi
ou roo; in alernating embrace, i ives rise o he wo rces. The hree po
ers see heir original naure and are own as heaven, earh, and humanity.
Yin and yang ve rise o he ur main emblems. The Het deermine
eas and wes. The ve phases mach he wo qi, and he myriad beings come 
li hrough spiri and li rce. The riams Qian and Kun, alged in he si
direcions, allow sun, moon, and sars o move along heir course.
The seven sars se up rulership; he ur seasons divide and shine r.
The eigh riams are arranged in proper order; he JJoshu claries heir nu
bers The nine palaces srucure he world; he Y and is commenaries are
he classic of he sages.
 Aracting immoraly is he prerequisie r he pracice of he Three
Immorals. I includes mehods o repair leaks, esablsh a rm undaon, and
recover he source. Any rm of meaion requires rs he culivaion of a
racing immorality. Teachers lead he way and open he doors, bu you cann
ener hem and arac immoraly if you do no kno he way. Aracting i-
moraliy comes ih various mehods of wisdom and poential as well as hose
described in he Ingbao b. The mehods, moreover, come wih various ech
niques, which in urn cener on key principles. They in heir urn relae o par-
ticular mehods.
 Aracting immoraly is a rm of dual culivation of inner naure and
lifedesiny. I divides ino welve mehods or seps. The rs hree involve
healng exercises, especially walng pracices. Seps 4 hrough 12 see o re
solve any issues no deal wih in he rs seps. Each sep cuses on a paricu
lar question, o be answered in he 4th 5th 6th sep, and so on. Aracting i
, ,

moraliy is essenially jus one mehod, bu one mehod leads o wo, o lead
o hree, hree lead o ur, and so on. Still, he basic hree echniques combine
ino one, hey really are jus one, which means i does no maer where you
sar Any and al are good r culvaton. Once you have a good ip on he
basic culivaion sysem and horoughly seadied your breahing, you can prac
ice as you like Then, when you el your lower eld gting ho, immedaey
sar he silen circulaton of he ve phases. As he hea ows om he lower
eld, you can advance yang re and reduce yin impaci is especialy good r
he elderly.
Once women sar mensruaing and men begin ejaculaing, hey marr
and give bih o children. To recover om his, hey mus repair he leakae,
 Attracting  / 1 83

o seal he hree yin orices a the pelvic oor, repair he leakage and recover
he ource Men sar om he boom Oower abdomen), om he inside ou;
omen sar om he op, om he ouside in. Women rs cultivae life-
desy, hen rene inner naure; men rs culivae inner naure, hen rene
desiny. This is one rule. However, he orinal echnique is o rs work on
ier naure, then on desiny.
The pracice of clearing he orice of brighness ha lead oward he in-
ner organs is a special feaure of boh he pracce of he Three Immorals and
of aracing immoraliy. Wen here is a change in he secondary channels,
immedaely swch your cus o he primary meridans. en sense organs
reve he ow, imedaely swich o he inner organs. Aracg immoray
is mainly used o seal he nne orices of brighness. The anciens couned nine,
bu in our sysem we have added one more, he navel, and herere we speak
of en orices.
The cenral ature of aracing immoralty is renng the breah enty-
ur mes. This is basic. Exhale bu do no le he qi no rise above the hear,
hus ng i o he roo known as the prime of heaven Inhale and guide he
i down beyond he navel, hus lnng i o he roo known as he source of
eah Use ordnary respiraion o lead ino perc breahing, hereby eectg
e ransrmaon of cosmic qi ino sem q. Inhale beyond he navel; when
you exale, make sure i does no rise above he heart. Insead move he sem
i up and down beeen he midde and lower elds. In aniquiy, his was
caed "breah by breah recover he roo. The breah should be so, even,
and long
Do twenyur rounds of his, which should ake a leas half an hour. As
you breahe, keep your upper body immobie and avoid ling your shoulders.
Sa wih normal breahing, hen move on o reverse breahng. As you inhale,
send e qi down beyond he navel, bu do no le i go all he way o Meeng
Yin, les a leak rm a he boom, which is very dangerous. Usually durng
your wenyur rounds, you wil sart o el hea in your lower body, bu do
no move, no even if you el pain In hs way, you creae he elixir of immor
aliy Also, a his ime pay close aenion o he arising of spi ligh and
slowly rereve and gaher i, cusing i between he eyebrows Seady he
breah wel, si srongly in medaion, and guide he qi o cleanse your sysem.
1 84 / Chapter I 3A

The Twelve Methods

st
I Method : Focusing the Heart-and-Mind in Sitting Meditatio n

This is where you as the student o Daoist cultivation ben the great wor .
First fnd a meditation space, invite to or three close iends to eep yo
company and together practice while walng, resting, sitting, sleeping, and
standing, always with complete dedcation and never slacening. Deeply i 
merse yoursel in the meditation hall, meditate deep in the heart, concentrate
spirit to generate q, then concentrate qi to generate essence. Concentrate lie
this r many days, and your appetite gradually increases, your ur limbs be
come more exible, your lower feld becomes warm, and your outer genitals
glow vigorously.
Hencerth, as soon as you practice sitting meditaton and your lie rce
is aroused, cus your mind and organism to see them as the universe, so that
your body becomes lke the celestial bodes, your heart-andmind becomes le
heaven, your dneys become like earth, and you naturally become one with the
universe. Sit deeply in oblivion and relsh nonbeing, emptiness, and cosmic
 vastness.
Enter the meditation hall, sit with your body upright and your legs either
in loose, natural, hal lotus, or ll lotus posion. Keep your lips gently closed,
teeth lghtly touching, and the tongue pushed against the upper palate. Palms
cing down and fngers apart, place your hands on the nees. Close your eyes
and cus your heart-and-mind, steady your body and breathing, then calm
spirit in emptiness and nonbeing.
Let the heart-and-mind have no thoughts, make sure spirit is ee om a
irs. The myriad things rgotten, there is no seeing, no thining, no heari g,
nor considering, no giving, no receiving, no within, no without. U mind and
spirit to be utterly one and completely ee om all thinng, rest in vastness
 without even a single air to consider. Contain the lght o your eyes, con
dense the tones o your ears, seal the qi o your tongue, and lsten with your
heart breathing: these are the ur symbols o harmony. Be clear, empty, open,
and silent, rget all things in emptiness and nonbeing. Flow with the Wuji as
contained in the symbols, o along with naturalness, and merge completely
 with the divine law.

Explanation
 Attracting Imm orlity / 1 85

84,000 pores. As you inhale and exhale through these by cusing our mind
and body, you can discover a separate heaven and earth within and can proper
ly perceive heaven and earth outside: you become the universe. Within your
body unverse, then, you look r heaven nd earth, and thereby come to per-
ceive heaven and earth outside properly, seeing the Taiji emerge. The most
basic reqirement of ts practice is to be able to sit. However, we do not rce
everyone to practice this: those wing do it; those unwilng do not.
Focsing the heartandmnd in sitting meditation is also a process of
closing the eyes and repenting, ndng a way to se the n spirit with the yang
spirt. Going beyond ordnary perspectives, you are yet not engang in magcal
tnking. Durng practice, the highest ideal is to have no thoughts whatsoever,
so any rm of magcal thinking is ke, compromsing the ideal.
As mentioned above, many "non states wil appear, so think carey
 whether they are al just one. Under what circumstances is it best to practice
atacting immortaty? This is the rst question to address. For attractng im
ortaly, Daoists have one key rule: aer entering the medtation ha, rst pay
espect to heaven and earth, then to the ancestral teachers. Hang a picure of
the teacher(s) on the wa, representing major  gres such as Master L, Master
Zhonli, Wang Chongyang, or one of the Seven Percted, plus a ist that
presentes the names of the masters of all successive generations. Only start
praccing aer you have paid yor respect to the teachers. This is the Daoist
cstom, lest you rget the ancestors.
There are ur ways to sit crossleed, each with its own rmula: loose,
e a iry maiden among scattered owers: imagne many owers on the
ond and grls pickng them; the main purpose here is to open the hip; natu-
al, descbed as everythng being level and stable; half otus, also known as the
tree plars; and  lotus, called ascending the heavenly ladder. The heavey
ladder occurs equently in the classical texts; in ct, there is one in the head
and one in the torso. As mentioned above, in the han body, the head
atches heaven and the abdomen matches earth. This means the spine in the
back of the torso is the rst heaveny ladder. In addtion, the heart matches
heaen whie the kidneys match earth, so there is another heavenly ladder.
Daoists pick their terms very carey, which means each explanation can
be read on three levels. For example, natral sitting is called level on all ur
sdes and stable in the eight drections. Basically the word "level means: "not
oter or tited, not concave, like the surce of sti water; that is, be very
sll, vey even: the rst requrement r this is to keep your body unmoving.
ternatvey, the term is also used r "stable and sti as well as to indicate
the verb, "to atten. In a derent Dimension, it also means "ordinary: the
1 86 / Chapter I 3A

some sort of sound. If ou hear an unpleasant sound, it means that ou did not
stead ourself sucientl. You need to stead the entire space, so that when
ou make a sound, it is nice and beautil. Al inhalations and exhalations must
be in equal proporton, reaching proper understanding of the idea of "sound.
 As regards the word "stable, its basic meaning is "secure or "xed. As
a verb, it means o be stable, that is, everone must settle down and cannot
move. In addition, it also connotes "accurate and reliable, which means it is
required to be "accurate, which here means that the sitting base is stable and
the spine is upright. If the spine is not straight, it is o and therere unstable
en sitting naturall there is anoter requirement, whch is that the
Bubbling Spring point of both et must be sealed [ having something press
on the soles]. When siting in meditation and the soles of the feet el hot or
issue hot qi, it means that Bubblng Spring is not sealed. nly when it is sealed
can the qi rise up internal.
In the expression "meditate deep in the heart, "deep means: "dark and
obscure, "immersed and sunk, as wel as "the world aer death, which does
in ct exist.
The World Health Organzation put ard several requirements r
human l, summar caled ture medcal science: rst, it discusses qualt of
, wheter fe is good or not; second, it discusses what happens bere birt
and aer deat. With regard to either realm, Chinese Daoists have stued
them the most and to the deepest level. Wen cusing the heart-and-mind in
sitting meditation, medtatng deep in the heart means examing what happens
aer deat whie sti alive. How to understand this? You must "contain te
light of te ees during practice, therere, it is important to close your eyes
 As ou meitate deep in the heart, take a close look at both worlds of in and
ang, the dead and the living.
"Contain the lght of the ees means to close our ees, but even then,
are our ees rea closed? The word "contain has three meanings. First, it
indicates "to put something in our mouth, neither spit it out nor swalow it
just keep it in there.
"Contain the light of the ees accordingl means to hold on to spirit so
that it neither leaves the inside nor the outside of the bod but stas withn the
human bod universe. The methods of attracting immortalt serve to teach
ou what spirit is doing in the bod, but they do not start out that wa. Rather,
they begin b teling you to "contain the light of the ees. This means, aer
the ees are closed, the turn back and look inside.
Second, it means "to carr some kind of meaning, elng, and the lke,
 which is not  revealed, that is, hide and do not reveal oursel. The Chi
 Attracting I mm ortality / 1 87

 way, they are in ct already satised, because they have already seen the thing
and thought about it. y think about it? This is how the riua zoi
came to be. Daoists beee that what we see is not an object, nor is what we
conta and thnk about. The oy thing that exists is our prmoral sprit, and
by practicing this, the level of our primordial spirit improves.
Third, the word indicates that something exists within." This rers to
the eyes tung iward and looking nside the body: re there ve organs and
sx scera? Wat are they doing? Are there bones and what nd? What is the
er body thiking about? What is it doing? What is the bran thinking about?
What s t doing?
From a this it becomes clear that contain the light of the eyes" is not
supercial; its meaning is acually ery deep. er practicng this, there wil be
no leakage om the eyes. The eyes do not leak, and the sprt soul comes to
rest n he lier." Ths is important, and we wl come back to it. Snce the eyes
trans spirt and are in ct the place where it enters, they also make sure
tat t cannot leak.
t this tie it important to accomplish three thgs: rst, nourish sprit i
the body unverse; second, cherish or hold on to somethng you have a special
elng r, so that sprt can come back to it; third, make sure you el clearly
tat spt has returned to the body, that t is really there. en working on
attractng mmortaty, these three are hard to control and hard to achiee.
In the phrase, condense the tones of your ears," condense" rers to
tree cultiation methods. First, imeans congeal or coagulate, liquid tung
sod when ozen, as becong quid due to reduced temperature or in-
creased pressure." You condense essence and qi om all the erent parts of
te body. Wy use the ears? The ears see to hearan they see anythg?
Aren't the eyes the ony sense of seeing, whie the ears cannot see a thing? In
ct, te ears can also see things. If something lls to the ground and the eyes
do not see it, you still know om your ears that something has llen, so i the
end dd you see t or hear t? The eyes may not see it, but the ears know where
t as en. Through the ears you can generay know where the thng is and
oen you hae to use the ears rather than the eyes to nd it. Therere, to
condense essence, the ears are used.
Second, It also means to gather," that is, it can gather things. It gathers
sprt and l rce. Wy can't you see the li rce while practicing according
o the Tijhua zongt? Because you could not ther it. Third, there is the
cootation of to concentrate," most importantly essence, q, and spirit, gath-
ered together ito one. At this point, essence, q, and spirt wll manist. By
usg the ears as the prme sensory organs, all the transrmations of essence, q,
1 88 / Chapter I 3A

other tha cosoats, head vowels, ad ways of proncato that volve
lier souds" If someoe produces a swear word, o oe lkes to hear it;
if you produced strae souds, o oe ca medtate peacelly, so make oy
beautl souds
Toes" also rers  rhythmc sods" or melodes, souds that are
melodc ad beautl I addo, the word meas charm ad humorous,"
referr to the charm of ature ad the blow of the wd; we ste to the
d ad hear the breath of atre. Lste carey to everyoe's breath
dur practce, ote f everyoe s  syc, othese cotue to steady your
breath Oce everyoe's breath s  syc, it souds very beautl, just
lke wd blow Thus we speak of wd toes," the sesato of a atural
 wd melody
Lste wth your heart breath" rases the ssue whether  listeni
 you oly use your ears Yes, you have ears, but are you certa you hear oy
 with them? Apart om the ears, s there ayth else that could let you hear
ad see? For example, whe you are asleep or drunk, you canot hear ayone
talk to you. You should be able to hear, but  ct you caot. Daoists pre
r to lste wthout us the ears, istead us the heart-admd. Ths re
rs ether to the heart of the cardovascular system or to that of the etire
body Not ony ca the ears hear, but the head ca hear ad so ca the pores.
For example, place a pece of ce ear your back while stt  meditao, and
 you w know where t ets cold. People are ot actually lear throuh touch,
but by hear. Simlarly whe people el hot steam, Daosts call ths hear.
Thus, the ears are ot the oly seses used r ste
Seal the qi of your toue" lteraly volves sea I ths cotext, the
 word seal" meas that the toue ad ts qi should stay  the mouth; ey
clos the lps s cosdered sea,  e, clos the mouth ad seal the ps.
Aother mea s closed": keep the teeth closed, hav them touch hly.
Why do the ps ad teeth coect  the pracce of attract mmortaliy
 will be dscussed later But s do t that simple? Do ot assume that t s just
a matter of smply clos your ps Rather, clos meas that the eergy cir
culates alo a certa path, but where exactly does t o? What s the purpose
of hav the teeth touch? Ultmately what appears here s a rm of obe
 Sealed" meas be closed, oth there; t pots to a dvso to
outsde ad side Plus, there are toue" ad "q, the rmer to be pressed
aast the upper palate Whe we rst practce attract mmortaly, the
toue presses the upper palate to coect the Cocepto ad Govern
Vessels
Roll the toue u as hard as you ca Ths s qte like the Idia method
 Attracting Im mo rtality / 1 89

 whie women should know how to keep their yin orices closed. nly the can
the tongue rol up, which also alows the qi to rise. rdinary people cannot do
s. Pay close attention as to whether the tongue is just reacing to the upper
palate or actualy pressing against it. If the latter, which pat presses, top or
underside? These are important questions. As a benner, best suck up the
ont of the tongue, letting it slowly move up. We wil come back to this later.
Now, let us turn to "q, cusing on three ways of transrmation. To
contain the light of your eyes, condense the tones of your ears, seal the qi of
your tongue, and lsten to your heart breathing," rst breathe in and out
through the nose to realize these ur dimensions. We put these ur points
together, so they are uted in harmony, as already noted above.
Meditate deep in the heart, concentrate spirit to generate , then concen-
trate qi to generate essence. Concentrate like ts r many days, and your appe
te gradualy increases." Tis rers to placing spir rst. Daoist scrptures usu
ay place the highest level rst and the lowest last. A the mateals in the clas-
sics are of a very gh level, as is the practice of attracting immortalty. To ex-
plan thgs om a lowerlevel angle, essence sees as the residence of spirit,
 which means essence comes rst, then spirit. Without essence, there is no spirit.
By concentrating essence, you can make spirit whole, but if essence is
damaged, spirit has no place to go: this is caled ure to guard. If essence is
insucient, you lose the undation of spirt; if you are red and exhausted,
you lose its rtication. When the residence of spirit is gone, caling spirit at
the Ancestral Orce does not work. This is meant by the expression, essence
matches spit. We wil speak more of this below. Essence is the moter of q; if
it is decient, tere is no q, and without q, people die. Being without qi is due
to lac of essence: the cause of death.
Essence is the residence of spirit. If spirit is lost, essence weakens. For
s reason you must concentrate spirt to generate q, concentrate qi to gener-
ate essence." Essence, i, and spit should united as one, never to separate. If
essence is wasted, you die; if you lose spirit, you also die; being without qi
means death. That is, if any of the three is gone, your li is over. This is not to
say that the body w die, maybe it w, but our mai concer here is not body.
Rather, as the Ha ne says, essence, q, and spirit are keys to continued
exstence of human lfe and desny.
Daoists believe that the key thing the human body needs to grow is es-
sence: without it, people die. When you are on a vegetarian diet, pay attenton
 what exactly that means. The Daoist system has its own deon and its own
detary manuals. They cal vegetables grass od and maintain that eating a
strctly vegetarian diet can be dangerous, especially r the elderly. The elderly
1 90 / Chapter I 3A

ngi, ginseng, and more, things ordinary people never get to eat. Daoist hav e a
saying: Eating grass od shortens fe-destiny. Master L said that eaing onl
grass od and to is not good, and to live mostly on these tends to cause gall
or kidney stones. So the way of eating a vegetarian diet requires a carel stud.
Vetarian od is excelent, eaing vegetarian and rening an elixir equally do
not just involve a single thng but depend on the combinaion of muliple in
gredients that should never be less than ve tes (as in minor elixr circula
tion).
How, then, should you cus the heart-andmind in sitting medtation?
Once you sit properly, open your eyes and look straight ahead. Look r into
the distance and retrieve distant spirit light to your eyes; this is called "contain
ing the ght of the eyes. Focus it right between the eyebrows and gently close
your eyes. Aer closing your eyes, relax the entire body, releasing shoulders,
arms, elbows, wrists, and hands. This is not steadying the body, so just let your
self relax. Place the hands, palms down and ngers apart, genly on the ees.
This is the rst hand gesture used in attracting immortalty, known as "Peace.
 Aer you are properly steady, keep the spine straight, your lips genly closed,
your teeth lightly touching, your tongue pressed against the upper palate, and
your chn tucked in. Thus you harmonize the ur dimensions (eyes, nose,
mouth and ears). This is the undation of the rst method.
Now medtate r a whie and start to puri yoursel. Steadly breathe in
and out through the nose whie at the same ime nding a way to let ears,
mouth, and eyes breathe, too. In addition, the head shoud also be able to
breathe, especia with your intenion centered on the nose. People have three
open spaces in their bodes, the upper, middle, and lower. The purpose of
breathing steadiy through the nose is to stabilize the upper space, so you can
leap out om it. The upper space is where spirit rests and om whch it enters
into the body. It is kown as spirit chamber. To steady this open space, you
should let the head llow the breath by cusing inward and releasing outward.
nce the spirit chamber is a set, you can "contain the ight of your eyes, con
dense the tones of your ears, seal the qi of your tongue, and isten to your heart
breathing. All this is how to work with the upper space. Once you move down
om here, ou reach the mide space.
To work with the middle space, similarly breathe very soy. As you in
hale soly, you bring the qi into the lower abdomen, which you can do because
there are two open spaces here, the thoracic and abdominal cavities. They rep
resent another heaven and earth. Soy cus it in the lower abdomen, little by
litte increasg rce, until the lower area is empty. The middle space may not
move, but this does not matter. Do not worry about it. It does not have to
 Attracting Im morlity / 1 9 1

Once again, steady your breathing, then move on to internal breathing.

 Aer pracicing internal breathing, start to do pore breahing. Now you are
ready to understand the real meaning of "cus the heartandmind in siting
meditaion. It means to cus mind, body, orgasm, and universe. Here the
heart matches heaven and he kidneys match earth. This concludes the rst
mehod and siting starts to el much better.

Explanation
1. en cusing the heartandmind in sittng meditation, cus spirit light
between the eyebrows; when calming spirit at the Ancestral Orice, cus it in
ont of our eyesworking with a dierent distance om the rehead. As
r which is in ont and which behind, we wil explain later. Here, when we
speak of practicing "being stil, we refer to stillness in the metation hall as
 wel as in body, organism, heart, thoughts, and head Atogether, this means
that the heartandmind is completely sti. Master L said:

Sounds being quiet is not as good as the body being s; the body being
sti is not as good as the heart being stil. en the heart is sti, the mri
ad sounds are al rgotten. Wen it is agtated, even if you push the body
to sit sll, rce yourself to sit quiely, never allow your body to sten, be-
come like a withered tree, you wl never attain anything as long as you
live, just make your body sti and d r.

2. The purpose of using the "Peace hand gesture is to open the yang me-
rdans of the entire body and prevent catching a cold aer being exposed to
 wind and rain.
3. Master L said: Placing he hands correctly is a prme way to build the
undaon. Aer proper renement, the undation is complete, and whether
it is good or not you need to check r yoursel Is the spine straight or not?
at is the purpose of keeping the lips gently closed? Are the hands relaxed or
not? Ad so on.
4. The purpose of steadying the breath through the nose has to do with its
locaon above the ceical vertebra. Master L said: Steady he breath and calm
spirt above the narrow stars. For this, strongly center your intention on the
nose. This is because the nose is the reference point among the upper seven
orices; it is their median lie. The nose is aso located at the most dicut
place, where the Concepton and Governing Vessels intersect to rm the sma
heaveny circuit. Thus it is important to cus on the nose. This rst step is to
make sure ears, nose, eyes, and mouth al can breathe; the second step is to let
 I 92 / Chapter I 3A

sowy start shing your intention down, reaching a the way to th ower ed
area in the ower abdomen.
5. nce you breathe steadiy in and out through the nose and the upper
hafmoon sphere has started to move, steady the breath and cam spirit, then
sowy shi the intention down aong the centra ine, a the way to the owe
ed in the ower abdomen. Inhae and genty cus the qi in the ower abdo
men, with the goa of nurturig. Because the qi is ocated above, the inteno is
beow; since yang is above, yin is beow. Now as you keep breathing, the i i
the upper space starts to change, generating a tiny, minute rce, which is caled
perfect essence. Move this om the upper space to the ower ed. The Lbao
bi cas this the work of a hudred days. These so-caed days do not represet
a time ame, the text does not actuay refer of a hundred days in concrete
terms; it just means a major eort. As you do the pracce pay attention to
 whether it moves down aong the surce, through the Coception Vesse, or
aong the ine connecing the three eds. There are three eves and three s
tinct ways. Find out which is which r you.
6. As you inhae, genty cus the qi in the ower abdomen; as you exhae,
reease it out. Whie inhang into the ower abdomen, ttle by tte increase
rce. In ct, the moment you genty cus it in the ower abdomen, you are
starting to nurture a tte bit of perct essence. Now notice whether or not
you have a ower ed. Is there any perct essence coming down? Does it
reach the ower ed? If it does, make sure to nurture it. How can you make it
come down? The rst way is to have your eyes ook genty downward, ooking
at the tip of your nose. We aso do this as when we practice caming spirit at
the ncestra Orice: "The eyes observe the nose, the nose obsees the heart,
and the heart obsees the Cavity of Q."
Using the eyes as the representative of spirit, very gently send perct es
sence down into the Kun Paace ower ed). Doing this does not work the
same r everyone, and some peope require a ong time. The exir scriptures
say that it takes 300 days r it to come down, which is about one year. Ts
means that the movement om above to beow seems ke to take a whoe yea,
eorts worth one year of practice. It reay means that in the benning, the
process is reay sow. But the texts aso note that a year contains months, a
month contains days, a day contains hours, and an hour contains quarter hours,
meaning that there are peope who accomplish it very st.
7. Aer it has come down, once aain reathe into the ower ed, ttle by
litte icreasing rce. The purpose of increasing rce is to stabize the ower
ed. At this time you st may not know where exactly the ower ed is. For
the maority of men, it w go into the adder; in most women, it w enter the
 Attracting Immortality / 193

lower abdomen, become aware of sensatons n the ont gentals To enhance

those, cus t n the lower abdomen and smultaneously  up the anus and
contract the ont gental area. nce you have ths skl, perct essence wl
enter the lower eld. Focus t n the lower eld, lest t goes stray and ends up
under its edge. Conclude by once more practcng nternal and pore breathng.
The man purpose of cusng the heartandmnd n stng meditaton s
to correct the meditaton posture. To steady the external shape, rst you need
to be able to sit uprght. Regulate the upper and lower halfmoon spheres of
body and mnd, that s, make sure head, chest, and abdomen are n a straght
lne.
This method can be explaned much deeper when t s connected to the
pracce of the Three Immortals and then Ingbao bi. Ths method above
needs to be achieved or else you cannot move on. The Lbao bi requres the
 whole body to be sll, rather t only requres a small part to move. For example
it is not a smple movement when slently crculatng the ve phases.

2 nd Method: Stabilizing the Body

The rst thing in quiet siting is stabizing the body. Start by relaxg the entre
body, making each part feel loose and mp, but make sure the spne s straght.
rom here, you can just sit. Once settled in meditation, do not move your body,
maintang its natural straghtness. Most mportantly, make sure the chest is
open and at, the spine s straght and uprght; then close your eyes and look
strght rward. When stablzng the breath and calmng sprt, body and mnd
de into upper and lower haloon spheres. Sprt and qi are distnguished
according to winter and summer solsce; body and spt match the  gams Kn
and L, and the ve phases are represented as east, spirit soul, and wood; west,
mateal so, and metal; south, sprit, and re; north, essence, and water; and cen-
ter, intenon, and earth.

Explanation
1 e second method s much more dcult than the rst. Once you can sit
propery upright, ben to stabze the body. The reason why this method goes
back to the body is to see whether you are sttng correctly and whether the
three lower yin orces are sealed. It is mportant to seal the lower orces.
2 Stabizing the breath and calming spirit" means that as you stabilze
the breath, you must start to stabize spirit, whch s not easy to do. In order
r spirt to be quiet, rst calm; unless t s calm, it w never quet down. Calm-
g spirt recognzes to ndamental states of beng occuped wth airs"
1 94 / Chapter I 3A

pracice, the inention is to deal with distracing thoughts, since we tend to e

occpied with airs a the time. People have the seven emotions and six de
sires, which mkes it impossible r them to be calm. Now, why do we ae
seve emotions but only six desires?
3. "With reathing stabilzed and spirit calm, body and mind divde int
uppr and lower halfmoon spheres. Spirit and qi divde according to winter and
sm er solstic, while body and spirit match (some texts say "occup the p osi
tion o') the t igams Kan and Li. The llowing di aram explains this

Wint
Summr
ols
oce

Auu Equ x

In this chart representing the system of attracting immortalty, the ve

phasesood, re, earth, metal, and waterare in the inner circle. In the
I.ngbao bi, thy transrm to rest in the outer circle, matching the spring and
autmn equinoes as well as the winter and summer solstices. Combinng the
two, here are to circles, one outside, the other inside. In addiion, heaven (the
sky) is shown t the bottom, while earth is at the top. This is because bere
birt the em ro's head is down. Aer birth, no matter how the earth revolves,
ho the moo turns, or how the sun rotates, people's feet are stil on the
gond and thir head reaches toward the sky. It can be clearl seen that the
Chiese have etensively studied the time bere and aer birth.
Accordin to the practice of the Three Immortals, when practicing im-
motalty on the human level, "use the body as the rnace, qi as the medcine,
 Attracting I mmortali / 1 95

he immortality practice on the hman level within the practice of the Three
Immotals.
"Body and mind de into upper and lower haloon sphere. This
means that the heartandnd llows the breath to create the upper halfmoon
sphere, whie the body does not move and thus establshes the lower halfmoon
sphere. Using the haloon as a metaphor r the body does not rer to the
common division of the body into upper and lower sections, described as
halfmoon spheres, nor does the term "heart here rer to the organic heart of
he body. In the practice of the hree Immortals, the upper and lower
haoon spheres are the kdneys and the heart, which manfest durng the mao
(57am) and you (57pm) hours of the heaveny circuit. The heatandmind
tends to thin about the outside world, and when you inhale, thin of qi enter-
ing the body through the pores om al ur sides and eight drecons.
"Spit and qi are distinguished accordng to winter and summer sostice.
hese expressions rer to two extreme points. Inhale le an object eezing in
inter. Exhale le heat rising in summer. Spirit is ie somethng ozen in win-
ter; qi is le heat rising in summer heat. These are the two extremes.
"Body and spirt match the trams n and . The tri ams manfest in
ceain positions. When the external body is imobie, it matches yin and holds
the position of Kan  ater); when it moves, it matches yang. Once there is
inteal movement and a vita spirit, it matches yang and holds the posion of
i = (re). Whie sitting to practice attracng immortalty, internal movement
is most important; the externa body does not move and is supplementary.
Withi the hman world with its airs and things, the outer circle is described
ith the triam Water. Great qi does not move and belongs to yin. At this time
gather and colect the ve phases, begnning by merng Kan and Li, stabize
e body, and examine the drections, nding the correct position of prenatal
exstence.
You gather and colect the ve phases by combing wood ver), east,
nd spirit sou; metal 0ngs), west, and materal sou; re(heart), south, and
spit; water (kdneys), north, and essence; plus earth (spleen), center, and inten-
ton. his is the rst way to stabize the body and gather and colect e 
ses. To do this wor, you must change the order of the phases time and
agai unti eventually you stop at a certain position, which represents the wea-
est among your inner orgns (not necessarily indcang disease).
 Aer that, you can start your organ practice om here, it being the most
sensive position. The prenatal position, moreover, matches it: wood in the
east ith spirt soul matches the liver; metal in the west with the material sou
matches the lungs. Do not reveal your prenatal position to anyone.
I 96 / Chapter I 3A

phases, are your concentrating, assembling, concentrating, or storing the es

sence o fve phases? When pronounced zan, it has the meanng o cus,
collect," and assemble." Some people silently circulate the fve phases by
assembling them, but sometimes this is not enough. During the practice you
must pay attention to this.
A written variant o the word, moreover, that appears in some classical
texts is zan c , to divine." It, too, has two pronunciations. In the frst tone,
:dn means prediction." For example, in ancient times people used tortois e
shells, yarrow sticks, and other things, later generations used copper coins and
maybe ivory mahjong tiles to determine good or bad rtune." Make a predic
tion r yoursel: Can the fve phases circulate? Is it a true circulation or ke?
Predict again, i only one inner organ moves, wi there be any danger?
In the urth tone, zn means possess" or acquire with rce." In this
context, it means to rcelly capture the essence o the fve phases, which is
not easy. It is necessary to seize it, capture it with rce, and frmly possess it.
Another meaning is to be in a certain position or situation." Daoists tend to
have great selconfdence, but to gain the upper hand, you must be in a vor
able positon and encounter positive conditions. at are these positive condi-
tions? To ben, build a sold and good undation. If you circulate the fve
phases when the breath is stabilzed and the body quiet, you wil be successl.
You must have the upper hand. Wat does that mean? If spirt is not there, qi
 w not move. If the qi does not move, essence wil not ow. So what to do
about gather"? Accumulate or divine? It is important to analyze ths carey.
5. In attracting immortality, you keep stablizing breath and body unl the
end, and r ths you must gather the fve phases. To do so, and bere you si
lently circulate them, you must establish a strong undation, frmly stabzn
the breath. Use your breath to make the fve organs settle and sink down: this is
a rm o purifcation. Slowly settle them, makng sure each takes its proper
positon. From here, you can advance to the next step.
6. Another important queston in attractng imotat is the relatonshp
beteen essence, qi and spirt. The Qj contains a chart that shows it,
notng that supeor elxrs reque three ingredients: spirit, qi and essence.
Here spirit is the chie, qi is the mnster, and essence is the people. Ths means
that spirit comes frst, qi is next, and essence lows. In the chart, the upper cir
cle represents spirit; qi is on the le, and essence is on the rght. However, e
chart can be mofed. If so, who comes frst when you sienly circulate the ve
phases? Who appears frst when you stabize the breath? Who is frst when you
bd the undaton?
 Attracting Im mortality / 1 97

The second method deals with stabilizing the "body: this rers not only to
e human body but also to the larger organism d the uverse Ulmately,
ho leads this? What exactly is the process of pracce? The Q has an-
other chat, shown in the bottom le diagram Here we see an empty space that
is yet not empty, but extremely well balanced So, when  er the ve phases,
te ur eblems also match The human body must achieve this high level as
descrbed in the text

Keep on stabizing until

Heaven is heaven, earth is earth,
Humanity is humanity, the head is the head,
The abdomen is the abdomen,
The chest is the chest, the heart is the heart

As shown in the bottom right diagram, the second method of stabilizing

the body has been eective and it is all comlete However, this is hard to
acieve Attractig immortality is not easy In the past, adepts, once they en-
tered the hall, rst had to pay their respects to heaven and earth, then to the
ancestral teachers The purpose of this was to concentrate their minds on one
objective rather than think about many things. This, too, is not easy
The chat below shows the process that leads om the human to the ce-
lestial body After you get this r, you again transit om the celestial to the
human body For this, it is important to empty yoursel, thus the chart on the
le shows an empty space that is yet not empty, but extremely well balanced,
representing the e of the ve phases Stabize the body until your have
clear roots and branches, inner and outer dimension Make sure to meet this
1 98 / Chapter I 3A

This may feel like a very slight breathing thrugh the nose. Once th
pores move, the standard is accomplished. Ho wever, it is important to pay at-
tention and make sure that the pores of the  whole body are moving, rather than
just in one part: only one part moving is not good enough.
The llo wing chart sho ws the rhythm of ascent and descent. Descent
means birth; o w means completion; the root indicates death; the branches
represent nction. Once you get this r  with the second method, you are
done stabizing the body. No w you can move on to the third method,  wher
you  will revert the direction of the senses to look and listen inside in alignmn
 with ordinary respiration and once more bein to steady he breath.
 Attracting Imm ortality / 1 99

How to Stabize the Body

Stabilizing the body is a method that involves operating the entire bod:
we sitting, the ist ac as e axis on which it rotates. As you move your
waist, shoulders, arms, ebows, wrists, head, spine, and so on, relax and tighten
them in turns. First make a conscious eort to reax, and soon the entire body
reeases. Also, as you move, let the body become so, exibe, and loose, then
do not move a singe joint. The sitting base is stable, the spine is erect and
straight. Keep the upper body relaxed and the lower body tight. Make sure to
close both eyes peacely and look inside. Always steady the breath and cam
spit. As you ihale, envision the qi coming into the body through the pores
om the end of the earth, om al ur sides and eight direction. As you ex
hae, intend to reease the qi om the body's interior through the pores into al
ur sides and eight directions. Thus the Heavenly Net is set perfectly, and the
body is stable.
There is uch more to this method, since it conects to the pracce of
the Three Iortals and has close links with the Ingbao bi. But you have to
master it rst, otheise you cannot move on. This is because the text does not
require the entire body to move but ony a sal part, nor does the silent circu
laton of the ve phases.

3 rd Method: No Seeing, No Hearing

en cosing your eyes during pracce, you should perceive nothing in your
eyes we call this no seeing. You should not hear the sounds of the myriad be
ings, either. However, since the ears are the place where spit enters the body,
this is ipossible. Therere, you should be able to hear but not et it reach the
heart-and-mind, which remais motionless and as spirit stays cal this is no
hearng.

Explanation
1 . First listen to your own heartbeat; second, listen to the heart of Dao (empty
space); thir, listen to heart of heaven (the uverse) . Thus, you move om to
to three imensions. By no seeing and no hearing, you can control the ears.

hen the eyes do not see, spirit sou stays in the liver.
Wen the ears do not hear, essence stays in the kidneys.
en the tongue does not taste, spirit stays in the heart.
Wen the nose does not smel, the material soul stays  the
lungs.
200 / Chapter I 3A

Therere t s sad: "The ve qi move toward the prme. These words
are part of a chart n the Q.  All Daost practices start om here, never
departng om t. If they depart om t, they are not Daost practces. The
chart shows how durng practce the nner organs relate to wth the exteal
orices and how the latter match sprt and ntention.

Great Dao s rmless,

It ves brth to heaven and earth.
Great Dao s wthout feelngs,
It moves the sun and moon.
Great Dao s nameless,
It constantly ves brth to the myrad beings.

Il � .A I � m
I'

 •Qo r
0
)"
�@1 � : �
 l/ m w
 7
I
I \'
6;

 . ,
I •  
. 

_
,. @l I
l ®i
- p
m o ,r
. 1 m
-
i ; o O f
1 A �


Dao takes shape om nonbeng and has no materality, yet it changes and
mansts n three states: nameless, without feeling, and rmless. The terms
 Attracting Immortality / 0 

 (Chart of Emptiness and Nonbein and Xukong tu (Char of Emptiness and

Open Space).
The precedng diagram is the ultimate result of the methods of wisdom
and potential plus those of attracting immortality. It shows the cultivation pro-
cess om bottom to top. When yo start your pracice, close your eyes and
look toward the horizon, sg your intention to see. Aer looking r a long
me, you might see something bright or possibly an object. In ct, what you
see is only a scene in your nd, which in reality is a thig without a thing."
Simlarly, when you close your eyes and see an image, it is in ct, a 
wthout a rm." When your practce gets better, you can also look inside to see
what is in your heart. However, in realty, your eyes are not seeig anythng, so
we speak of a mind without a mind." However, when the heart you see is real-
ly a heart, the practice has at last born uit.

In nomd and nothings, there is also no .

Thus you can meet the old masters om bere.
However, one thing s remains:
It is the red sand (elixr) gathering in the numinous terrace (heart).

Things, shapes, and the mind are all empty, so there is nothng to seek. At
ts e, leap into the eater uverse, then take a look at people, airs, and
thgs. This is really interesng: al outer rms are empty. When you get to the
point of emptiness without emptiness," you can realy see throgh the world.
Ths is most excelent. The chart, om bottom to top, depicts the direcon of
l as one naturaly develops and grows. That is, om empess to lfedesy,
on to  existence through the ve phases, and nay to the last stage of decle
ad a retu to empness. Gog om top to bottom, it shows the stas of
pastakg pracce, how yo make the ag body graduay retu to lfe, reach
a sage when yyang and the ve phases are  of taty, then move on to
empess and nonbeing and attai the ate state of ee and easy wandeg.
2. The practices ulize al ten major body orices of brightness: the eyes,
ears, nostris, plus the mouth are the seven upper orices. In addtion, there are
e ont and rear genitals, i.e., the bottom orices, plus the navel in the mide.
Ths makes a total of ten. This number is xed and canot change. If there is
an extra oce, it is abnormal; and if one is lackg, the body is incomplete.
Women practicing alchemy have one more orices. To match the men, they
should seal the Iron wing Doors. Once this is done, the can also seal the
ower two orces, dvidng them into pper and lower haloon spheres and
atchg n and yang.
202 / Chapter I 3A

the kidnes become the rnace, serving to assist the mergng of water and re.
Thus the communicate with the heart. The heart itself opens through t he
tongue, and in practice it goes back and rth to the kidnes. The lungs op e
through the nose, and the spleen opens through the mouth. The acupuncture
points that open outward in the ur limbs do not leak when the limbs do not
move. At this point, the intention stas in the spleen and the ve phases recov
er their center. The orices that have the least positive relaion to the organs
are the ees and ears with the heart, plus the heart and tongue with the kdnes .
Water and re assist each other as the are located in the heart and kdnes .
Kidne qi rises, heart re sinks, going back and rth, to eventuall retu to
the Wuji posion above earth.
This represents one step of "ve qi moving toward the prime. Wen the
ve phases recover their center and the ur limbs do not move, the orices of
brightness are rm and stable. Once the have stabilzed, ou can use them to
stead the inner organs. That is, ou use a small section (the ancients called this
the subtle spot) to stead big movements. You onl need to stead a sma
piece of the orice to generate rather large movements in the inner organs, and
thereb achieve the purpose of stabilizing them. For example, in the trainng
process, when ou el the heart getting neous, immedatel check our
tongue to see whether its ip touches the upper palate. Also, if the heart is not
 well, shake the tongue and especiall its tp, wrige our ngers and especiall
their ps. This will ve ou relie. Also, in trainng make our adjustments
slowl, rst ndng the most suscepible orices, which matches the weak lnk
in our inner organs.
3. The three methods discussed so r are arts undertaken with guding in-
structions and praciced under specic gudance. Guding instrucons dvde
into three tpes. The rst is when a master leads his disciples, known as en
lightened gudance. owadas when we speak of "mous masters and superb
disciples, this goes back to this.) That is, a teacher explains to ou how to do it.
The second type is caed selguidance, which means ou direct our own prac
tce according to our circumstances. This is completel soundless. Everone's
situation is derent, so ou guide ourself according to our bod's needs,
making changes as appropriate. The third type is silent gudance, again idea
soundless, but without an pushing or applicaon of rce. You just work as
ou feel is right r ou within our bod. Since a recordng is not ou, nor are
ou a recording, it is best not to lsten to an audo durng practce, not use it to
determine the length of our sittng and what exactl to do.
4. During the rst method as ou cus the hertandmind in sitt g
meditation, it is important to deal with distractng thoughts in our head. At
 Attracting Im moality / 203

thoughts? In ct, all you need to do is to quiet down a bit, let yurself sink
down and submerge in the practice, and as you do so, each part of you sinks
and returns to its place. Aer dealng with distracng thoughts, you may not be
sitting as upright and your meditation cushion may el al wrong.
If you practice well, you may come to be extremely sensitive to the point
 where you can feel even one hair under your meditation cushion. You may feel
uncomrtable, as if somethng is pressing into you. Also, pay attention to the
area of the lower three yin: sometimes it may feel as if your buttocks are une-
ven, or the crack is huge as if puled apart. At this time be sure to move and
stabiize the two sides, so the perineum can be sealed. Once it is sealed, the
anus wil be sealed too, with only the ont genitals among the three lower yin
stl open. At this time, you can igore the ont gentals, because the entire
loer surce is sealed and a single part wil not leak. Ben to steady the breath.

4th Method: Containing Seeing and Reversing Hearing

In trainng, the ideal is r there to be no seeing, no hearing, no thinkng, no

considering, no ing, no receiving, no within, no without, no thoughts, no
desires. However, as you live in the world, the heartandmnd is acvated
through the eyes, which keep lookng at the myad things: this is a basic in-
snct. The eyes clearly see al sorts of things and a multiplcity of aairs. When
ou medtate deep in the heart, qute possibly you wil start thng and con-
sidering, become aware of within and without, have thoughts and desires. This
mentation reects common human emotions, but it is not good r pracce.
To resolve it, sit properly upright and medtate deep in the heart, contain your
seeing and reverse your hearg.
How do you do that? As the heartandmind gets active, thoughts arise in
the head, always drected outward: ideas and considerations, thoughts and de-
sires.  At this point contain your seeing and revese your hearing For this, rst
control your eyes. In the human body, the heartandmind gets active because
of the eyes, so by closing them you can bring their light inside. Look inside at
the orices of qi that rm the prime link to your body universe: the pores.
They are the rst and remost orices of q; they rm their own uverse.
The body's sn has 84,000 pores in constant communcation with heaven and
eath, continuous interaction with yin and yang, vital r al energy exchange.
Practice and think "stem qi, cosmc " reecting the postnatal and prena-
tal. As you ehale, see primordal qi go out, "stem qi cosmc q"  As you inhale,
prmordal i comes in, "stem q cosmic q." Inhale and cus it in the body,
rawng it into your body niverse. Exhale and release it outside, pushing it
204 / Chper I 3A

Exlanation
1. Containng seeing and reversing hearing" means to ook inside and gradua 
transrm ordinar respiraion into perct breathing b repeated stead ng
the breath. In ct, this is one wa to stead the breath. Once a is we steadie d,
practice pore breathing: as ou inhae through the pores, make the bod cus
on itsef so it contracts to be ver sma; as ou exhae, reease it so it expands.
However, make sure the bod remains immobie. Stead oursef unti ou e
the pores are breathing, then et the bod snchronize with their movement .
en the pores open wider, hod the breath, neither inhae nor exhae, and see
if there is an interna breathing. As the pores are inhaing and exhaing (open
ing and cosin, the bod becomes an open space: it is empt. At this ime, if
ou abrupt hod the breath and notice that the inside is si breathing, we
speak of the interna circuation of breath. This is the rst step, and aso a stage
in the ring process. To get to the rst step, stead the breath at the nostris,
eng the head empt above: this is caed the head space. The second step
happens during pore breathing as ou cose the pores om the inside: ths is
caed the bod space. Once the bod is empt, ou can turn our vision inward.
2. To contain our seeing, et the ees ook ahead, ten reverse drecon
and ook inside to see if the bod is empt. The situaion ou perceive on the
inside shoud be derent. At this me, aso reverse our hearing to listen inside.
Ths means rst, to sten to our heartbeat and te sounds in the bod, whch
pracca means the heartbeat. At mes, this happens natura. Second, it idi-
cates to isten to the sounds of Dao. Third, it rers to istening on to the
hearbeat: en the bod is empty, ou can hear movement on the inside. Lis
tening to the heart is ke perceiving it hanging in spacepening and cosing.
Daoists sa that it is lke a ower booming, rerring to the heart opening. n
the one hand, the heart is beaing; on the other hand, it is opening and cosing.
If it skips and jumps, there wi be an interna sound ke a pop, then something
ma appear and jump up. If ou are strong enough, it ma even jump as r as
the head; if ou are not so strong, it ma just make it to the mouth, whch
means ou notice something there. If this then moves down om the mouth,
make sure to take note. Aso, can ou stop it in the process?
You want to stop it because, if it continues down, it wi  to the bottom.
So, nd a wa to stop it and wait r something om beow to move up. Aer
it stops and if something does move up, we speak of in and ang intersecng .
At this time ou need to pa attenion, since two modes become possibe: de
sires and no feengs or desires and emotions. Wen n and ang intersect and
there are desires but no feelings, we speak of in and ang meeng; when er
are emotions and aso desires, we speak of the meeing of the pe rct husband
 Attracting Immortality / 205

it does in ct not do so. A large portion ends up either in the blader or in the
opening of li and death. If it gets to the latter, no matter your ag, ice prac-
tice to augment yang re and reduce yin tokens, then twice run the ccle (heav-
eny circuit). You have to control the heat. Younger peopl will have enough
strength to run the cycles oen, but the elderly can ony turn it o or three
mes.
4. Wen ordinary people close their eyes, they may not see anything, but
their eyes stil produce illusions, images that have rm but no substance. They
thnk that what appears to them are real people and objects, so it is very di-
cut to tell hem that they are not in ct seeing anything. Wat you see comes
om your thoughts, owing a specic process. Any time you conceive of a
scene, it oriinates om your body universe. Closing the eyes elinates your
abity to see outside, however, Daoists say you can sl see shapes and images
 withn the body, inclung those of people
So, in a state of no thinng, no considering, no within, no without, no
thoughts, no desires, if you st see things, they are constructed by yoursel For
example, "spirit is not comony in a state of inspiraon but rather one of
iusion, and naturaly manists scenes and things. If you want to see things,
and want to see them clearly, you cannot avoid illusionar perception. For ex-
ample, if you see your skeleton, try looking at it cleary, then see beyond it and
ask yourself what is at its root and what is le when you let go of ilusion. Do
not be aaid, ecause al these perceptions and unruly things just come om
your brain.
5. Wile undergoing purication during sitting in meditation, make sure to
lsten being very, very still he highest rm here is listeng to the sounds of
Dao. Dao ognally has no sound or echo, yet you can sl hear it. Dao most
dentely exists, it gave birth to the earth and generated humanity, so why
shouldn't you hear it? Therere, in the process of puricaion, it is most im
portant to listen r any sound Dao may make. Wile siting in meditaon, lis-
ten r anythg that seems to make sound while moving. Wat is it teing you?
Maybe as it moves, it sounds lovely. Gradualy you start to sme. So, if you
sten, listen r the sound of Dao; if you cannot hear it, it is because spirit is
aoping around outside: you can hear it ony as long as spirit is inside.
 Aer your body tus into its own universe, you can in ct hear a sorts
of sounds. Even if you cannot hear the sounds of Dao, you should be able to
ear someone else's breathing or the heat surrounding them. If you cannot hea
that, start by listenng to the people around you moving or to someone walking.
hese are also sounds of Dao, walng aout being one example. If you cannot
hear even that, try to listen r the sound of your heart, listen r it beating:
206 / Chapter 1 3A

Aer getting more adept in the rst w methods, the length of time yo
are able to sit will naturally increase and your legs will stop huring. If yor
breath is well steadied, there won't be any pain in the legs. So, rst steady the
relationship between the breath and the body, makng it rm and steady, the
your legs will no longer hurt and the qi will arrive.
6. To contai seeing is moving the eyes om the outside in. The rst step
is to retrieve spirit ght om the distance, placing it at the edge of your body
universe (about one arm's length in ont of you) The second step is to move it
om the outside in, cusing spirit lght in the body, and with its help look ng
inward at the rst great opening of your body universe, that is, the pores. Ever
moment, the pores are exchanging prenatal and postnatal qi with heaven and
earth, moving in perct aligment with yin and yang.
To contain seeing and reverse hearing you must control the eyes. Use the
pores of the enire body to breathe: inhale and bring primordial qi in and let it
transrm into stem q; exhale and let primordial qi go out, letting it complete
this transrmation. With each inhalaion, cus primordial qi in the body, let
ting it pervade your entire body universe. With each exhalaion, release stem qi
outside. Without any paricular intention, let it merge with the prenatal universe.
Do one round, then repeat untl it becomes your natural way of breathing.
The rst step to reverse hearing is stening to the human heart, that is, to
your own heartbeat. The second step is stening to the heart of Dao, that is, to
the vibrations of earth. The third step is listenng to the heart of heaven, that is,
to the vbrations of the universe.

5 th Method: Steadying Ordi nary Respi ration

In order to steady breathing and quet spirit, you must medtate deep in the
heart. The heart is the home of spirit, which is beyond any imanations and
the myriad karmic conditions. So make every eort to reach a state of no thik
ing, no considering, no thoughts, no desires, striing in your pracce to get to a
point where on the outside there are no things, on the inside there is no mnd.
Getting deep into the heart's breath serves to ve you stabiy in sitng. This is
the rst barrier, the barrier to sitting. As you work your way through this barr
er, there are no specic stlness pracices. Rather, you have to fow the guid
ed instructions.

Explanation
1. Working to steady ordinary respiraton means to breathe naturay and wih
ll concentration, so that on the outside there are no things, on the inside
238 / Chapter 1 3 B

center of the body. When a space appears here, pay close attenion hould you
cal it Central Yellow or Yellow Center? Are they the same?

Internal Space

er the lower space is rmed, the body matches the Taiji or Great Ultimate
diagram, clear above and turbid below. This happens because on the last breath
of qi being cused, cosmic energy ls the lower eld while the upper space is
empty. Do not move this, but keep your intention and conscious spirit contin
uously in the lower eld. Let the conscious spirit lead the primordial spirit there,
so that primordial essence and qi are there, too This means, the lower eld is
now l Once it is l, it is in ct turbid The upper space being empty, it is
acualy clear. At this time there are wo possibilties: it either ascends or de
scends. Wen the conscious spirit is biger than the primordial spirit, it de-
scends; vice versa, it ascends
Now that your have an upper and lower space, what about the midde?
Masters Wang Chonang and Qiu Changchun are among the top to study this
How to cus stem qi in the middle palace is a huge problem. If the stem qi is
not retued propely aboe, people caot breathe well and may even int Ts
is wy we have the word Tablet practice, however, without a Central Palace, you
cannot do it The Central Palace is rght in the midde of the Taii, on the center
ne of the upper halfmoon sphere: thus it can move How do you keep the Cen-
tral Palace on this e? is is a great mystery in Daoist alchemy, explained i
both the Ingao b and Tjnua zonh.
The purpose of pressing qi into the middle space is to elminate or reduce
transmitted energy. The classics note that everything our parents gave us is
transmitted enery. Not everyhing we keep in our body is good In other
 words, al the good things our parents gave we display on the outside, but
 whatever bad things came om them we do not reveal or put on display. Once
 we throw it al open, the transmitted energy wil leave, but we tend o keep the
bad things our parents gave us hidden and subconscious.
If the pressure in the midde space is large, you can allow these energes to
release They wil manifest in the seven emotions and six desires, which means
that if you sit and cannot generate any of them, you might as well not practice at
a That is, the seven emotions and six desires must open and release nce you
ave a mide space, transmitted ener wil appear at once, and as soon as that
happens, do not hold back but let it all come out It may be hard to connue
sitng, and you may feel rather annoyed but stck with it and nd a way to setle
down.
 Explanation of the Methods / 239

"heaven and earth mergd togthr. Let your mnd sete, then use yur eyes to
look at the tp of your nose. From here keep the vision moving straight down
unl you are looking below the navel. The eyes are always there, silent and mo
onless. Allow the nose to breathe, continuously steadyng the breathing: it feels
as if your life is about to be gne.
Next, eliminate the six rms of delement (sensory input), then start
breathing throug the body pores. As you inhale, let the qi om all ur sides
and eight directions press into the pores; as you exhale, let the qi ow out om
the pores to all ur sides and eight directions (lling up the entire practice
eld). What rms now is the sphere of your own universe; you breathe
through the pores to trans the three rms of q.
Sit crossled and be very sll to practice pore breatng. Once the
three rms of qi have transrmed, your body eld or body universe eld
rms. Now cus the heartandmnd in sitting medtation and pay attention:
are you in qi or is qi in you? This is the most award part of the process.
Through pore breathng, you gt the head and the abdomen to breathe
steadily, then make them move i sync. The problem here is the mutual exchang
among the three kinds of ener. In boys, the qi w rectly enter the lower eld
and n ard om there, wch leads to wet dreams. Usually at night, the
lower area moves, caled the acvaon of passion (or lust, in women). To deal
 wth this, combie a three eneres, ihale, and li the ont gtals. Close the
opening of life and death, so the spermac tract is sealed. Once that happens, wet
dreams become unlikely. However, without wet dreams you may also be uncom-
rtable, since there is sl movement inside.
The eldely can use pore breathng through head and abdomen as their
main meod, to eventually reach the lower eld. They may nurture the qi there,
but wth ten minutes it will start to se up to eye level. This is also documented
 the classics: "Withn three quarters of an hour, qi enters the heavenly palace.
In ct, these rtyve mnutes divide into three segments. If you cannot com-
plete any of them, the qi wll rse. Sl, if you are advanced · years, you have to
nurture it, so that you can live lonr. For this reason, chane the hand sture to
Eiht Trgrams z and pracce calming the spirit at the Ancestral Orice.
 After you nurture it r a while, it ascends by itsel, which is when you
calm the spirit at te Ancestral Oce and denitely start seeing a ght, which
is usually invisible. Once it has appeared, obsee it r a whle, then push it
ard to enlarge it. As it gets bi ger, it will undergo some changes, so keep
loong at it as if you were not lookin and wait until your body ener ds-
solves into the reater universe. Keep releasin and dissolvin it until there is
noing le: it will return by itsel. This is also documented in the classics. You
cannot see it, yet it colects in the body. So, keep on practicing pore breathng
240 / Chapter 1 3 B

ower ed, om there aer a whie it wi ascend by itsef to the midde ed.
There it tends to gt stck: yo want it to sink down, bt it won't go; yo want it
to ise, and it wil not bd g . At this time yor breathing reqires a great eot
and yo fee qite ncomrtabe. The is becase there is an open space in the
center, tradtionaly caled the Yeow Cort, abe to both move and be s. Once
yor qi gets here, se yor enre body to descend it, bt this wi not work unless
yo move yor hands down. Only with the hep of the hands wi it descend. If it
does not g on the rst attempt, try again. Once yo get it down to the perine-
m area,  it p again at once, raising it p the ower ed.
If it moves p and down eey, ths indcates the presence of the midde
ed. Ideay, aer it descnds something ke a soccer bal appears to ascend (ts
s is not Sword Tabet practice). It may wel chang drecon, so if yo cannot
contro it, push it down, then move it p. Yo mst not stop practicing at ths
point, bt vey sowy et it nd a pace to rest. In the event that it wants to roam
arond, et it ot or make it descend, then move p aong the back. From here,
yo can pracce agentng yang re and redcing yin impact.
There is another specia method: aer ths stem qi ascends to the ddle
ed, yo may fee ghtness  the chest. At this me, transmitted energy may
manfest, so se the pore breathing to drve the movement of the midde ed.
The same aso hods te r women's achemy. If you notice tightess in yor
chest, se pore breathng to drve the movement of the midde ed. As yo in
hale and the pores contract, so does the midde ed; as yo exhae and the
pores open, so does the midde ed.
Daoists say that the kdneys generate stem qi, beleving that the kdneys
rm the root of prenata potency. The qi ascending om the oer ed is d-
ferent om that rising om the kdneys or badder. Masters of od said that the
ower ed was next to the dneys, and the badder was aso ocated within this
nrtring triange. So, se body energy to nrtre them, as you inhae sowy
csing the qi in the ower abdomen. Focs it in the oer ed, lift the ont
genitas as we as the perineum and ans. As yo l them p, yo nrtre the
ower ed Do ths aways whenever yo work on nrtring.
Once the three spaces are we establshed, cosmic energy wi again con
centrate in the ower ed, which shod start eng warm. Observe interna
heat in the pper and ower hafmoon spheres; as they warm p, see how they
are derent. Now start to siently circulate the ve phases. Concde ths and
retrn to the ower ed, keeping it norished r the entire period of atractng
immortaty. The methods of attracting immortaty rm a copete system
bt they aso interconnect and cosey reate to a others: they are inseparabe.
Do not miss any of them.
 Explanation of the Methods / 24 1

or crtain dropped. The rst involves closing the eyes: jst allow yor lids to
cover yor ppis. The second involves darkening the eyes: turn yor vision
inward whie keeping yor intention on yor nose. As yo sit with darkened
eyes, yo feel as if yo are in the shadows between the worlds of yn and yang.
he ancients described this as being half ghost and half immortal.
The last rm is sittig ith crtain dropped, a good way to prevent and
avoid drowsiness, bt not easy. Aer yo sit with darkened eyes r 45 mintes,
yor microcirclation wil slow down and yor thinng and consciosness en-
ter an optimal state. Yo start to steady yorself atomatically, which is cond-
cive to longevity. The same also happens when yo are sleeping, bt metation
overal is best. One way of ptng this is to say that meditation is a conscios
rm of sleep, whie sleep is a rm of nconscios meditation.

Efects

The meditation period is very long, seving several prposes. Speakng om the
top don, it serves to pri yor heart, lfe rce, and body. Speak n om the
bottom p, it ses yor physical being (body oanism) to create a spontaneos
state of inteal stabiity, serng as a process of selrestoration. The purca-
on process involves steadying throgh movement. It acvates a reglatoy
mechansm n the hman body that nctions as a rm of selreglaton and
spontaneos restoration. The restoraon process mansts in two phenomena:
1 . As it comes and es, it ticay cases lightheadedness and trbidit
most to be dreaded. The reason is that as long as the three types of qi have not
transrmed completely, trbid q ithin the body caot dischar and esh qi
om the otside cannot enter. Yor drowsiness is not becase yo are actally
sleepy or red.
2 If yo cam te spit and meditate wel, sit n becomes smooth and
steady. Yo  be clearheaded, bt yo do not really ow what yo are doing.
At ths me, the clear and tbid are lly separate wihin: clear qi ascends, whe
trbid qi sinks down. Some classic chats draw two nes, one ascendin, the other
descending. They show how clear qi ascends to the top he trbid qi sinks to
the bottom. Daoist note that the conscios and prmordial spirt at this mo-
ment are empty and stable; Bddhists speak of them being rmless and invisi-
ble. However, this does not mean anything at al. Clear qi keeps on ascending,
hie trbid qi descends: both move continally. As long as there is a physical
body, there is no nothingness. At this time, yo wi be partclaly comrtable.
Yo do not know what to do and if yo sit wel, yo do not even know where
your ody is. The same nd of restoration also happens when yo sleep, bt
242 / Chapter 1 3 B

Second step: I am wth the myad bengs; among the myad bengs, thee
 no I (spt).
Thd step: mong people and the outsde wold, thee s an I; amon g
people and the outsde wold, thee s no I (use you body to el the wold).
Maste Zhang Zyang says n hs Qinghua miwen (Secet Document on
Clea Floescence; ZW 150), In stilness, gude the ng pocess, stablze the
nsde and establsh elx ccuaton."
Maste Ba Yuchan n hs Xuanguan xan ln (Secet Document on the
Manfestaton of the Mysteous Pass) notes, Colect essence and spt and use
them as alchemcal ngedents. Become stable n stless and actvate them as
e. Usng ·stness  e, ene the ngedents of essence and spt, then
tun them nto the golden udmajo elx cculaton."
The oute m s m and stable, whle the nsde s n constant moton.
Eveythng n the body s settled and stable, then on the nsde a small spot
appeas to m the emb ro. Snce you don't qute ealze yet what you ae do-
ng, do not actvate the ng pocess. Sttng n you  goance, t wl stat to
descend.
Stlness means that the conscous spt s n the heat whe the body stays
unmong. You seven uppe and vaous lowe oces ae not leang to the
outsde, thus you m s stable. When you m s stable and you nsde s sll,
you can be the g pocess (by steadying the beathn. Folowng the gud-
ed nstuctions, make sue everone medtates  a whe, thnkng about the
own nsde. Ths s called  sess actvate the e." Keep t ve r steady, and
note that the lowe eld slowly vbates o bes to move. Geneally when we
speak of beathng, we efe to ntentonal espaton whch s arcal,  by
the conscous srt. When the beath ushes the lowe eld to move, t s called
usn odna r espaton leadng to pefect beathng (a secet method n the
old days).
Once the lowe eld moves, we do not speak of beathn, but cal t
movement. Fom hee, the beathn lows the movement of the lowe eld,
so that you nhale when you feel the lowe eld contactn and exhale as you
el t expandn. Thee usualy s a tme lmt to these movements: the lowe
eld wl move  a whle, then sto. As lon as t moves, you o alon wth t,
beathn n sync and thus enlan the movement. When t stops, use the
beath to et t to move aan, but t s atcal. At ths tme, the lowe eld wl
move alon wth you as you use odna r espaton to lead to pefect beath
n. Pefect beathn ases n the sace beteen the movement of odnar y
espaton and the advancement of the n pocess: the beath blows to keep
the lowe eld movn. Snce t does so, n the arts of elx concocton we
 Explanation of the Methods / 243

e is the ruler, and a extea thins move along with the lower eld. Inhale
 when you el the lower eld contracng: this is your body. Make sure to be
come aware of the correct way to feel the lower eld.
Centered in sllness, your body is mooess, and there is nothng there (a
state of nonbein, only the lower eld, with breathi n alays outside it. The
lower eld is sphercal, and the breath happens on its outside. Inale as you no
ce the lower eld contracg, even just a sight iard moon, and use your
power to condense it. Exhale as you feel it expand n, then ain return your
sion deep inside it. The breath blows the lower eld into action. You may not
see it, but it is real. Even aer entering it, you cannot see it, yet your perfect qi
blows and you move it. s is very dcult to do. It is the pivotal momnt,
 when the ring process emers om slness.
Sitn sl, you may well start rockig back and rth, not onl dug the
liely  hour, but any day, every day. Once you understand ths ppely, r
the embryo and enterg spit into your stem qi become completely obous.
Wen you rst practice breathing, you feel lke you are huge (identing
 with your whole body), thinkng this is the true you. At the end of the practice,
you become quite small and centered inside (being oy as big as the lower elix
ir eld): this is your original true you. Use external breathg to keep the lower
eld movg, inhalng as soon as you feel it contract, then exhale as soon as you
notice it expandng. Never let it get away, but keep tght control over the rg
process.
Wen it is small, hold it ght; when it is big, slowly expand it, then drl in-
to the inside, use the breath to push the lower eld to expand. Then, as you
inhale, the lower eld becomes smaler. Usualy breathng is ordnary respira-
tion, but inside it turns to perfect breat n. Let the ener enter te center of
the lower eld, cus on the tiny point in its center, then release the maxmum
amount of enery: ts is the most important point in reaini n om eang
od (stin. Aer you drill into the lower eld, keep it nourshed, always
usig the best parts of the body.
Duri n a st, many cells that are unhealthy, weak, or of low enery will
e, leaving only strong ener to remain. We use good, potent stu to nurture
it connuously, and soon it starts to move. Once it moves, use this method.
Move to a certain extent, it soon starts to circuate, but there is no xed sched
ue since everybody is dierent.
Stabze it on the inside to rm the elxr: if you push but it does not
move, just let it be moioness and do not push again. It means that the head is
already . Aer that, on the inside there is one drop of perfect yang (now
caed one drop of Perfect qz). So what returns om here is not perct yang,
244 / Chapter 1 3 B

Let it settle, and soon you will feel something in the lower eld. Start to
rotate it, using your lower abdomen to lead the moement f the lower eld.
Moe it ard, backward, le, and rightthere is no rule as to which way to
go. Look inside to see whether there is anything moing or not. If there is
something moing, let it sink down, moing it into the lower eld. Continue to
shape and congeal this mass in the lower eld, so heat is produced and starts to
spread around. At this time you can either slowly conclude or continue. You
can look to see where it goes: it has its own path and ideas. However, no mater
 where it goes, each person has a xed pattern, so that it may run around but
 wil stick to the pattern. It wi travel to the internal organs, bones, meridians,
or essels.
 At this time, the guide wil call to awaken eeryone. In ct, it should be the
unding ancestors who come to rouse us: rst oer the ancestral masters' names,
then call those of the disciples Now the practice changes into "cus and gather
spirt, keeping it in the body. Make sure to awaken both knds of spirit, the p
moral as well as the conscious.
Gently allow the eyes to move down to look at your nose, as you breathe
through it. This nostrl breathing moes in three recons. For now, it goes
downward. As you inhale, feel that your head is big but the breath does not move
down. Inhale as deepl as possible and make sure to breathe so, een, and
stead. Breathe in and out unrmly seeral tmes. Think of a way to keep both
your eyes loong at the nose to rm a tangle. In addion, there is also a trian-
le aboeboth inerted but connected by a le.
 At some point, ou w start to feel unbalanced. When ths happens, start
breathng through the pores of the head: inhale and squeeze the qi into the head
pores om all ur sides and eight drecons. Inhale and let the pores of the head
contract inward; exhale and let them expand outward. If you st feel not qute
rght, head and body may be not totally straight; in this case, cus the qi thro
the ears. Inhale and gather the qi inward through the ears; exhale and let it expand
outward through them, obserng their lnk in the center of the brain.
Breathing through the pores of the head is part of attracting immortality, it
is caed steadyng the upper and lower haloon spheres, equalizing their pres
sure. Breathing through the nose should be steadied un the ears move well to
gether. Howeer, do not start by worng on the ears, but rst practce breathing
through the pores of the head. Repeat ths a few mes, then notice the pressure
on the ears. From here you can add in the ears, inhaling to cus on them whle
also turning your vsion iard.
 At this point there is no more need to look at our nose. You wil noce
the head is starting to issue a subtle radiance, and there may also be an imag e
 Explanation of the M ethods / 245

ih our breahing slowl move our inenion down along he midlne unil i
comes o dwel in he lower eld. Inhale and slowl cus he qi in he lower
abdomen. The movemen is minue and he lower abdomen barel moves.
Keep on srenghenng spiri and inenion, inhale and le he qi move down.
Once our breahing is smooh and sead, add some rce in our work
on he lower abdomen. As ou inhale, cus he qi here, gradual increasig
rce more and more wih ever inhalaion. Conrac he lower eld uni ou
sar o el somehng in he on gnal area, some sor of movemen. Sa
o inhale, li up he anus, conc he on genals, and cus he qi in he
lower abdomen. The purpose of doing all hs a he same me is o seal he
hree lower in orices, which alows he lower eld o become er. Think of
a wa o le he breah seal he lower hree in orices, and ou w no longr
need a owel.

The New Universe

 A s me he inner scure of our bod has undergone a chan. Le and
rh are sll he same, bu above and below have become ver clear. B naure,
human beings are in consan moon as is he inside of he bod. Bu while or-
nar people are no balanced, Daoiss srve o reach ha sae (of balance), and
r hs he nex sep is o pracce breahg hrou all he pores of he bod.
 As ou inhale, press he qi ino he pores of he bod om all ur sides and eigh
recons; as ou exhale, le i releases om he whole bod (we bod, pores,
ier organs, and ohers all gaher ard) As ou inhale, cus he qi in he
bod, he oansm, and he universe, bu do no le anone see i.
 Aer seang he hree lower n, sar o pracce pore breang (llowng
he mehods of he Ingao b).  As ou inhale, press he qi om all ur sides
and eigh drecons ino he pores of he enre bod; as ou exhale, le i goes
ou hrough all he pores ino a ur sides and eigh drecons. As ou inhale,
cus he qi in he bod; as ou exhale, release i o he whole bod. There is
one more sep: as ou inhale, cus he qi in he bod and gde i o he lower
eld; as ou exhale, release i om he lower eld hroug al he pores of he
bod. Ulmael ou manage o lsen o and low he breah smoohl, bu
bere ou ge here, ou need o maser anoher echnique: llowing and ls-
eng o he breah
Lsenng o and llowng he breah is more advanced han lowing and
senng o i. The rmer means ha ou breahe along wih he movemen of
he pores, whie he laer, no descrbed in he classics, involves he conscious
sp leadn he 4 in oher words usi n ordinary respiaon o lead o perc
246 / Chapter 1 3 B

reason your skin does not move is that your breathing is not so, even, and long
enough. Pore breathing requires that you breathe through the nose, making eac h
breath so, even, and long. At the same time, cus the qi in the body, the organ
 sm, and the universe, gently moving e pos inward. Don't go to extremes bt
practice as r as you can, always makng sure to keep the three centers ued.
Let the uverse come into your body, and let your body become one with the
unverse. Focusing the body means to cus spit and qi ito it. As you breathe
throug the mouth and nose, making each breath so, even, and long, the es
sence and qi wi ow into the body (to be received by the inner orns). Start
ith the conscious spirt, then cus the prmordal spirt, and lastly work on the
life rce, thereby keeping the three centers uned.
Focusing qi in the body and cusing it through the pores are not the same:
as you inhale, let the qi press in through al the body pores om all ur sides
and eight directions: this is cusing the pores. As you inhale, cus the qi in the
body: this is cusing the body. As you inhale, squeeze the qi inside through
every pore of your body; as you exhale, let it releases om the whole body. The
body does not move, but there is slow movement in the pores. As you inhale
and cus the body, the body moves and contracts downward; as you exhale,
the whole body releases and expands.
Daoists beleve that each open space is its own universe. As you inhale
and press the qi om al ur sides and eight drections through all the pores of
the body, you cus the cosmic ener of the vast, open universe into your
body. To keep it in there, make sure to seal the pores The body cuses it r-
ther (shrinkng it inward) and starts to move as a whole. As you exhale, it opens
and expands. If you do this right, the whole body wil get int the action and
become replete with cused q, includng the legs and the hip bones. As you
exhale and the pores of the body expand, the legs wil be ee om pain. Focus-
ing the body and the pores can be done simultaneously.
Focusing the lower abdomen and cusing the lower eld are derent. The
lower abdomen is below the navel. As you start to inhale and cus the qi in te
lower abdomen, the navel bens to move, cusing it rther. As you exhale, the
lower abdomen releases it. Duing the release, keep the lower abdomen mong
ard and let it expand widely. Inhale and cus the qi in the lower eld cus
es by movng inward. At this point, the lower abdomen is also moving, but not
very much. Wen cusing the lower abdomen om the ont, you can see an
obous movement. Wen the lower eld cuses it inside, it is more obous
om both sides.
The proper procedure is to use your breathg to steady the body and cus
the organsm. Orasm here refers to our personal enery space, a dmension of
 Explanation of  Methods / 247

larger enveloping dimension), while the lower eld is the body Daoits believe
that the han body is a material organism which receives essence and qi om
heaven and eath, wch it closely resembles. Just as heaven and earth contain the
sun and moon, people have two eyes. Just as heaven and earth have ur seasons,
people have ur limbs. The head is round and resembles heaven; the feet are
square and match earth.
To stabiize the body, you need to work with your physical rm, using ei-
ther internal or exteal methods, that is, one that works with the inteal body
, the other with the external. You work intey to stabilize your inner
rm by siently circulang the ve phases. First you breathe deep into the body,
then you stabiize it internay. The outer physical rm rers to the part of your
body that is exposed, including the ve sense organs, two hands, u limbs, as
 we as all the sk and pores. Master L said: "The physical rm cannot be in
excess, spirit cannot be decient. If the physical rm is in excess, it is rd; if
spirt is decient, it is weak.
In practice, do not deliberately manpuate your physical rm since if it
gets to be in excess, the spirit wil be in deciency. When exchanng qi with
nature, do not walk deliberately. When sitting in mion and spirit is decient,
le down Anytie spirit is decient, your physical rm w not look good. The
human spirit and  are highly mysterious. After spirit manifests in people's
phsical rm, they experence counless peutatons. Therere, through
rm and spirt you can see peoples emotions. Make every eort to keep them
together, then ask yourself whether the various emotions of joy and anger, gref
and happiness are utimately mental or physical in nature.
The relaonship between spirt and rm manists in the  oen de-
scbed in terms of being sucient or insucient. However, this quait of qi is
not what you thnk but appears in a halo around your body. Everyone is aware of
this, but ony w people can see its colors (aura). In ct, we oen cannot see the
exact complexion or color of a person sig in metaon, walng, or mog
about, but are qute clear about their the qi color or aur. What emerges here are
the seven emotions and six desires. When someone ts any, his qi color
chans, also exbing true and ke aspects, so watch to see whether it changes
It is best if people keep their colors constant; that kind of qi looks great.
'i manists the subtle changes of spit in excess or repleon This ap-
pes to Chinese heang, physiognomy, and Weste mecine Qi here does not
rer to the breath but to an energy that rses om the physical rm, which in
u reects the spirt, manifesng it layer by layer. Color sies the outermost
aer, apparent in people's complexion, appearance, and countenance. Movng
ther side, q also determnes the phsical rm. From there, it moves her
248 / Chapter 1 3 B

To stabize the body, rst cus e mind in sittng meditation. That is, you
stabize your physical organism by siting strong and stable. Sit in medtation and
start to steady your breathing. As you do so, check whether this steadying is good
or bad and start to look at your body. The body manfests in the physical rm,
 which in turn is apparent in the  If the qi is balanced, it becomes visible in the
color.
Body and spirit are closely related. The outward manstaion of your body
is your physical rm. You can see whether someone's posture whle sing is
god or bad om lookng at his or her physical rm, but this in trn is a mani-
festaon of their . Loong at that, you can see just how big or smal the qi is,
how narrow or wde its eld, how good or bad its aura. You can also do this r
yoursel. Sit in stness and obsee the color right around your body and that
beyond it. The human aura dvides into many layers, showig red, yellow, blue,
 white, black, and more. Withn the color, moreover, there is a avor, wch d-
recly aects all the other dmensions.
Everyone's inner body has ths avor, whch idenies your atitude towards
others, whether you ke it or not. Flavor has the reatest eect on the heatand-
mind, spirit, physical rm, , color, and more. So when you sit in medtaon,
make sure to recover you origal color and lavor so you can achieve your best
level of being human. In the medtation hall, when qi and avor are heavy, you
have a hard time sitting. The avor of the body changs as you sit, going alon
 with the . If the qi is clear, the avor is delicious; it the physical rm is won-
drous, the avor is sweet; if the body is upright, the lavor is pleasant.
As you sit in medtaton and steady your body, this body is the main mani-
station of spirit. If spirit is sucient, the body is upright; if it is decient, the
body checks out, so make sure spirit is not deciet. Actualy, spirit should be
more than just sucient, so the body stays maleable and wi not get s. Spir
it resides in the heartandmind (not the heart of the cardiovascular system) ad
is responsible r your overall attitude. If your attitude (spirt) is not good, the
guidng instructions will not get through. If we have to repeat the instructions,
the avor of the idng instructions is no longer good, and there is no way to
sit in meditaon. Balancing the avor thus aids the ncon of heartadmind,
spirit, physical rm, , and color
Once there is somethig wrong with the gudng instrucons, look to see if
there is somethng wrong in your heartandmind, spirit, physical rm,  or
color; nd out where it impacts the most. Let the qi se om the bladder to the
liver. Acually it has started to ascend by itself rather than being allowed to rise.
This is because we do not have the ve inds of vision (they are seeing thouh
esh, heave, wisdom, dharma, and Dao). Also, maybe the ve nds of visio
 Explanation of the M ethods / 249

lead to a certain edginess, which is also nothing but a chan in lavor. en the
aor changes, the color (aura) changes; and when that changes, qi changes, too.
These thngs are determined by your l rce. Life rce is key: it can stinguih
beeen genuie and ke.
Pore breathing brings the qi om outside into the body, and once inside it
circulates to the lower eld. As the lower eld sghty vibrates, let the breathing
low the movement of the pores: this is caed lsteng to and  e
b. This is the old and proven method to check the level of your accom-
pshment, so tr to maintain it r a long time. At this time, you no longer use
your ears to lsten but activate your inner sense organ. Inhale when you feel the
pores contract; exhale when you feel them expand. This is the best way to
transit om the methods of attracting immortalty to those in the I.t  
also the reason why it is not easy to study these methods. They are basic exer-
cises that yet lead to subtle and mysterious skils that aow you to draw p
mordal spirt nside and move the conscious spit in om outside.
By breathing in this manner, you rm a unverse withn. To move on
om the methods of attracting immortalty to the practice of the Three Im-
mortals, the most important metaon is elminating the six roots (of the sens-
es). Speakig om the way ordina r people watch things, when they close their
eyes, they cannot see anything on the outside, which is one way to elminate
one of the roots. However, you sti kow what is happeng outside, because
your ears can stil hear. When the eyes look but cannot see the outside world,
the ears immediately pick up their nction. You can use the ears to feel and
obsee. So, make sure to cus your ears back into your body. Once your
heag is reversed, the nose wil become the prima r sense organ. So, next you
must seal the nose, whch causes the mouth to be become acve. The six roots
of the senses work by identing color, sound, taste, touch, etc. They are the
source of a the problems that cause issues in lfe, so you must change them.
From here, pay attenon to the sense orces, "the clever orcesso sub-
te and so wondrous! If your work is not subtle and you cnnot nd the opening,
 we speak of withered pracce, because people become dr and withered. Buid
your undaon well, so you have the capacit and s to culvate inside and
siently circulate the ve phases.
 Aer you tu your vsion inward, there is one more place to iuminate, and
tat is the abdomen. To tu your vsion inward, you need to silently circuate he
e phases th the goal of ding the heavey heart in the abdomen. There is
more tan one heaveny heat. Accorng to the Zhwp  ian (Awakening to Re-
alt by Zhang Ziang om the Southern School, the heaveny heat rers to a
center  the abdomen. However, Wang Chongang in the Wuian ln gen speaks
25 0 / Chapter I 3 B

For nal cleansing, make sure the body is empty. Wen the body is emp ty,
the entire organism is ee and open. Now stop moving and just wait patienly .
There is no more body and you el that the entire body and organism are gone.
This state is called being empty yet not empty, completely without moio
Daoists speak of existence and nonexistence, but then, what exacy does exist?
You have no clue. If you say there is nonexistence, but you are sl there, this is
precisely the Daoist point. At this me, there is a possiby that somethg
new is produced or somethin starts to descend. here d yu o om her e,
aain you do ot kno, therere it is iprat to wait
 Chapter Fourteen A

Cu ltivation in the Taiyi jinhua zongzhi

The Inbao tong zhineng n eng shu describes various Daoist methods on how to
cultivate inner nature and lifedesy as well as how to concoct the golden elix-
ir in some detail. The rst part of the text, by Masters Zhong and L, th
no ton, comes om the nbao  and cuses on extending lifedesiny.
The second part by  Dongbin, e e  , goes back to the Ty
nhua zoni and deals with renng inner nature. Both combine to rm this
 work. The combination of both is called the Inbao tong zhineng nng shu
Methods in the Taijinhua zoni include those of wisdom and potental as
 well as calming spirt at the Ancestral Orice.
The cultivation of ier nature begns with work on the inteal lines as
dened by Master . According to the records, he had 3,000 disciples but oy
properly understood the cultivation of the internal les aer 800 had already
ed. Daoists developed the system of the internal lnes  preparation r calm
in spirit at the Ancestral Orce and as the undation of the renement of
inner nature and lifedestiny.
Picg herbs, concocting an elixr, reng the yin and yang spiit, and
even the practice of the Three Immortals and women's alchemy are inseparable
om calming spit at the Ancestral Orce. By ts technque you know the
location of spirit's entr (Heavenly Eye point) and can become aware of inter-
nal and external ingredients. Later these methods ere transmited among
mountain hermits and their dsciples, which is why hardly anyone has heard of
them.
Master Wang Chongyang, one of the ve northern masters, unded the
Complete Perction school. It made reng inner nature and reaching en
lghtenment its prmary goal. First you must develop a clear mind to see your
true inner nature, then you rene essence, stem qi, and spirt. Cultvatng inner
nare is the begnning of enlightenment, in the same way that one starts with
practcing the internal nes and calming spirit at the Ancestral Orce. These
methods are preseed in the Tafnhua zon.
The Tafnhua zongzhi is also known as the kng of all elixr texts. The
cx of its teachings deals wth the entre process of Daoist alchemy. It de
scrbes the process of concocng eternal exirs as a metaphor r the practce
of mang intea er om our own bo resources). In pracce, it de
252 / Chapter 1 4A

scrbes the Daost process of nstallng the rnace, setting up the cauldron, and
gatherng the ngredents n order to concoct the elixr of mmortalty. The met-
aphor s lly reected wthn the mmortality practces on the human levl:
"use the body as the rnace, stem qi as the man ngredent, the heartand
mnd as re, and the kidneys as water  ths contans ts essental meanng.
The varous technques of the Tarijn hua zongi match the rtyve sec-
tons of the I .nbao b, closely linng wth each other and rmng ten steps
in total. They dvde nto ten steps, of whch we ntroduce the rst ur:

I Strongly open the Heavenly ye; wth a clear mnd see your true nner nature.
1. Intentonay crculate the sprt light
2. Strongly open the Heavenly Eye
3. Water and Fre nterchange
4. The three lumnares (sun, moon, stars) come together

II. Calm sprt at the Ancestral Orce, revert the lght, and uard the life rce.
1 Revert the light and guard the li rce
2 Rotatng the sun and moon eyes]
3. The sun and moon unite
4. L rce coagulates at the mysterous openng

III Focus sprt n the Cavty of Q, practce cvil and martial cleansng.
1 Drop the curtan and revert the light
2. Produce ngredents n the Kun Palace
3. Steady the breathng and undergo cleansng
4. Let the light coagulate into a small pearl

IV Turn your vson inward r nner reection, crculated and transrm the
ve phases
1. Let sprt gde the small pearl
2. Crculate and transrm the ve phases
3. Merge spirt and life rce nto oneness
4. Nurture the dragon pearl

I. Strongly Open the Heavenly Eye, With a Clear Mind See Your
True Inner Nature

I . I ntentionally Ci rculate the Spirit Light

 Explanation of the Cultivation
Cultivation M ethods
ethods / 29 1

their place, and the internal orans feel very comrtable. Bere meditation
(and aer eatin, the inner space may feel stued. In this case, sit stil r some
time. The qi wi slowly rise up and drop
d rop down, and the inner space will gradu-
ally get comrtable.
In ancient times, you had to sink down while practicing nostril breathng.
In this way, the uncomrtable places and organs slowly would disappear or
become empty. In addtion, while sitting sl and adjusting the breath through
the nose, some areas may feel painl. It is important to sit st until these pain
l spots dsappear. nce they are gone, see if the space is now empty. Any
breath that goes down, li up to the head immedately. Take the breath into the
hea and ajust the pressure in this space. Let the cranial pressure slowly re
duce or become balanced. Adjust the breathing of the pores of the head and
see if the skul can move.
 Adjust the pores until spirit no longer spreads outside. Then look at the
movement of the pores of the head. If they are pressing we in, you may recal
many hings om memory. Because the head is being contracted, a lot of ran
dom thins will come to your mind. Continue to squeeze the head pores un
your inner eye cannot see outside, and your inner ear cannot hear outside: you
no longer hear external sounds. Let your eyes look inside and slowly move the
 down to the lower abdomen an lower eld, then adjust the pressure there.
 Adjusting the abdominal space must be slow, it should g together
together with
cusing in the lower abdomen. You must control the intensity, combinng the
cusing of anus and the ont gental area with that of the lower abdomen.
There is no way to explain a these actions at once as we give guided instruc-
tions. Adjust the lower eld until you feel a space emerge. Once ajusted
properly, the upper and lower halfmoon spheres of the body wil connect. Q
ows ke the Taiji, like yin and yang: the upper half is clear we the lower half
is turbid. You wl feel at this point that your bottom is very hevy or hot. You
may also feel that the top, the head, els reeshed. At this time, ben to seal
yourself and practice pore breathing.
In Daoist internal alchemy there are three spaces: upper, mddle, and low
er. Breathing through the pores proides a reference point. The rerence point
you are learnng right now is the lower eld. Do not look at the reference point
of the upper or midde elds, but keep your intention in the lower eld. In the
next step, the practice moves om the lower to the middle eld. During this
me, adjust the upper and lower haloon spheres (beeen them is the qi o
yn and yan, let the qi of yin and yang enter the lower eld, at which point this
step reaches its conclusion. Wait quietly r any movement to occur in the low-
er eld: heat, beating, or something else. Control it, then conclude the pracce.
If you have ime left, push the stem of the lower eld into the bladder,
292
292 / Chapter 1 4B

may ow experiece certai phenomea, such as the opeig of the pathway of
the heavely circuit. Sometimes it goes dow ad rises up the back. This is the
heavely circuit of the Coceptio and Goverig Vessels, but it does not
augmet yag re or reduce yi impact Ihale, rotate your eyes ad let the
heavely ad body eeres combine; oe the body will begi to shake ad
vibrate The vibraion wi move up ad it is unlikely that you can bring it dow
You just have to wait util the movemet passes ad the pheomeon slowly
disappears. Do ot try to cotrol the qi whe it travels through the circuit but
keep it atural Aer it stops vibrating or movig, retur it to the loer eld
ad ourish it This is oe step; om here, coclude the pracice.
If you have more me, after the stem qi of the ve phases returns to the
lower eld, rm the Eight Trigams Ziwu had gesture ad calm spirit at the
 Ancestral Orice. The practice is all about body ad a d cosmic eergies. The pas-
sageway used to receive cosmic eer is called the Heavenly Eye: it is the
opeg om the body uiverse to the universe outside If the cosmc ener is
geater tha the body energy, people will be i a trace or el drowsy At this
me, pull the energy ito the lower eld ad nourish it. It may be dicult to
pu it back to the lower eld
 Aer retrievig it back, silently circulate the ve phases, this is another
step. Slowly icrease the rce used i the lower eld. In other words, when
you slowly cus i the lower abdome, cus just a little Inhale, combie it
 with slow breathig and gadually make it loger. Do ts r some tie, then
li the anus and cus in the ot geital area, om here move rcey to
the lower abdome. Durig this time, you ca use a towel to seal the three y
areas, which may el a bit ucomrtable. The practice will aturally seal them,
 which meas you ca dispese
dispese with the towel
Drawig the ier ature e is the rst step you practice i the Tafi
jhua zoni. It is called rcelly openig the Heavey Eye This point is the
same oe as the one when calmig spirit at the Ancestral Orice.
We using the exteal to guide the iteal, r example, when you are
circulatig the ve phases, if you el your gertips goig umb, it meas you
are movig too st. Slow dow the movemet of the hads and breathing at
the same time. The time you spend circulatig the qi i each orga cannot be
too log or too short. The bechmark is to el if the stem qi is well distributed.
The momet you el that the mother loves her son, you can control the heat
 with ease. Otheise
Otheise (if you do't), the igedients gathered will be either too
tough or too teder ad therere will not tur ito the elixir
Classical Daoist texts note that, i order to concoct the elixir, you need at
least seve types of igediets First, collect the stem qi of the ve phases (i.e.,
 Explanation of the Cultivation Methods / 293

the navel rms

 rms the
th e breath." Yin embraces
embraces yang, spirit
spirit enters
enters stem q, and so on on,,
al these expressions refer to the same thing The purpose of silently circulating
the ve phases aer buiding the undation is to gather the energy into the
lower eld. Gathering the stem qi there concludes the pracices of attracting
immortality.
Siently circuating the ve phases is also caled minor elixir circulation, it
is a ndamental pracice. The Tafiji zongi describes two brains that con-
afi jinn hua zongi
trol us. The Daoist system works with three layers of being, including to
brains, one in the head, the other in the abdomen. Another purpose of siently
circuaing the ve phases is to nd the heaveny heart (earth) in the abdomen,
since by controlng this heart you have gained control over the cycle of move-
ment through the inner organs. They move according to the laws of nature, a
notion that matches the idea of heaven and humanity unitig in oneness. The
ener when silently circlating
circlating the ve phases is generated in the lower eld.
The ener of the heavenly heart comes om the lower eld and s
the birhplace of al ener in the body. In Chinese medicine, it is caled the
emb ro, also own as the lower eld. So when you move the lower abdomen
ower eld), plow it with the strength of an ox. The goal is to gather the ener
in the lower eld. Aer you complete your sient circulaon of the ve phases,
let their stem i return (aregate) in the lower eld. Several elings prove that
you are successl:
1. The
Th e lower abdomen is hot
ho t or soly warm.
warm.
2. There is a subtle movement in the lower eld.
3 After the stem qi gathers in the lower eld, it may titch, especialy n
chidren and young people. If it titches, relax the body and keep the intention
away om the lower eld, lest the witching gets worse. When it reaches a cli-
max, you wi be unable to move, which feels terrible. You might even l. If
this happens, open your legs, and it wi be al right.
4. Aer the stem qi gathers in the lower eld, something wi start to
move there. This movement has several directions. he to main directions are
up and down, which brings you to the next stage of practice. At this level,
however, press it down (downward) or lift it up (upward) to the lower eld.
Plow it with the strength of an ox and hold the i in the lower eld. It must be
rmly in place there.
Only when the stem qi gathers in the lower eld and there is some
 wath, can it rise up.
u p. When you li your
y our head,
head , you
yo u are actually
act ually liing
liing the stem
. So, li your head, keeping your eyes closed and looking into the distance,
the rther the better. Lt your hands rm the Eight Tri gams Ziwu gesture.
Daoists believe that it can ward oo  el and outside disturbances
disturbances of youryour q. Be
294 / Chapt
Chapter
er 1 4B

r a shor period. Le he ower ed move as if here is a spac'e. Regardess of
 wheher here is any subs
s ubsance
ance inside,
inside , here is space and ha is enough.
Then rm your hands in Eigh Triams Ziwu. Concenrae your inenion
in he ower ed and urn your vision inward oward i. Acuay he eyes have
aready been ooking down, and he conscious spiri and he primordia spiri
are in he same space. Nex, geny move your eyes and i your head. Do no
ean back, jus raise i soly and ook sraigh ahead wih your eyes brigh bu
cosed. The goa here is o if he sem qi om he boom, hen send i ou
 wih he eyes cosed
co sed This
Th is process aso rms par of he Tjinhua
Tjinhua zongzhi

Spi ritual
ritual Seeing

Li he head, ook sraigh ahead wih your eyes cosed If you guide i sowy
and geny, you easiy  aseep. Bu he speed mus be sow. So,  he qi
om he boom o he ineno he poinbeween he eyebros. Li i
om he oer ed o he upper ed, hen reease i. There is a righ ange
here, so you rs  i, hen change direction and ook sraigh ahead. This is
drawing
drawing wo nes in he upper eixir ed. Aer ifing i, ook ahead
ahea d wih your
your
eyes cosed. You may no see anyhing in he beginning, bu stil keep your in-
ention in he disance. Look ino he disance wih your eyes cosed, he rher
he beer. If you canno see anyhing, imane i in he r disance.
There are severa ways o ook ahead: Firs,
Firs , ooking up is a mehod r en-
ering he ordinary word, compeey rbidden in Buddism, since i comes
 with a srong desire r ife and oo many houghs and caus ca uses
es he igh o
shake consanty. Nex, ooking down is a mehod r eaving om he ordinary
 word (aways
(aways praciced
praciced in Buddhism).
Buddhis m). Here, you do no hink abou anyhing
and remove al airs om your hear, causing he igh o be more sabe. In
Buddhism, his rms par of basic SamahaVipasyana. Look down, pul he
igh in and e i rise, hen ook down again. There is aso a version of practic
ing his in reverse direction. he chin is no cked. Third, ooking sraigh
ard is a mehod r being haf immora and haf ghos (aive and dead),
commonly used by Daoiss.
Daoiss beieve ha in cutivaion here are aays issues of eaving or en
ering he word, eaving or enering he Way (Buddhiss, oo, speak of eaving
anyhing,
or enering he word) If you ook sraigh ahead, you may no see anyhing,
ook 
bu if you ook down a ie, you can see a igh. Why can you see i hen ook
ing down, bu canno see i when oong sraigh ahead?
The anciens beieved ha ooking down sigas eaving he word (Bud
dhism) whie oong sraigh ahead sigas enering i (Daoism) Samaha
2966 / Chapter 1 4 B
29

hard to move. It much is easier to push and move something small. At this
time, push it rward with the help of breathing through the Heaveny Eye,
then slowly pull it back and cus.
Don't be concerned whether you see it or not. Sometmes there is lght 
ont of the eyes, sometimes it resembles the sun or moon, and sometmes it is
ny. At this time, pay attention to whether it is luminous or bright. In science,
luminosity is the capacity of something to glow while brightness refers to the
intensity of the lght received by the human body. Wen lookng at a lght bub
nearby, it may look very bright: there is light but actuay it is an emittng a rm
of lght. Brghtness wil shi if you change om lookng nearby to lookng nto
the distance. It stil emits lght, but the luminosity has not changed.
Look at the spot, it may be a bit dark and not as bright as bere, that is
because it is too r away. Pull it in imeately, movng it back. If it looks very
bright, emits lght, and seems dazzlng, your distance is too close. Push it away
until it is bright but not glarg. Sometimes you may see a cloud of white or
some sparng highlghts. Ths is because you are too close, so push it rther
away. Maybe if you push it way, it wil disappear. This indicates that the lght is
not gathered but scattered: nd a way to keep it together.
Slowly pul the spirit lght back om ar, moving it in ont of your eyes,
and calm the spirit at the Ancestral rice. At this tme, let the eyes turn to-
 ward the mide, actualy looklo ok into
i nto the midde In the beginnng of practce, you
y ou
may look r a whe but cannot see any lght. In that case, rotate the eyes,
clocise or counterclockwise. In either case, they rotate around the eye socket.
Begin by slowly rotang clockwise, then reverse. We rotatng, nd out 
 which drection the spirit lght is moving, then draw it to the Heaveny Eye E ye lne.
l ne.
The ancients caled the le eye the sun, and the right eye the moon. Dao
ist classics speak of rotang the sun and moon. Durng actual practce, it means
rotang the eyes. In ct, the movements of the eyes are not synchronzed and
it is very dcult to get them to move together. Maybe you can rotate one eye
 with ease and have dcult
dcultyy with the other;
other; maybe
maybe the eyes wil not rotate
rotate at al.
Just keep trying. Rotate them and get them to alig their movement: this is
caed the sun and moon unte. Concentrate the light there.
It might be diclt to nd the appropriate dstance when gathering the
spirit light. Start by pushing it rther out, then pul it back. Make sure you are
very s and quet to let the spirit light calm down. Wen drawing the reec-
tion and inner nature lines with the spirit light, you must be st so the spirt
lght can become quiet. Drw the inner nature lne, which runs om the Heav-
enly Eye to the Eye and on to the Heaven point. Contnue to pul it in and
push it out this is called rcelly opening the Heavenly Eye. Then draw the
 Me thods / 297
Explanation of the Cultivation Methods

nd a place to stop its movement So nd the best point to stop and look at
the spirit light.
Let the spirit lght gather into an extremely small point and let it be very
bright, the brighter the better Gather it into a very bright point If it is not
bright enough, push it ard, then pull it back and cus it. When pushing it
ard, soly enlarge your eye sockets a little. Do not enlarge them too much,
as this mght cause your eyes to open. Keep your eyes unmovi n, just enarg
their circumference. Wen retieving it, let the eye sockets become smaller.
here is a problem of duraion and degree here, which is not menoned i the
scrptres.
scrptres . Pull it back, then ather
ather it in the midde: this is the best way.
way.
Aer you see the spirit light, push it ard and slowly pu it back (whie
cusin. Wen pullng it back, nd the right demarcation limit. Why ca you
not pull the light back aer you see it? Wy can you not see it to begn with?
y does the light dsappear aer you pul it back it? A these issues are ex-
plained i chapter 10, he Lght of Essence and of Discriminang Aware
ness," of the afijinhua
afijinhua zon:

Wen you rst pracice, there is the light of inner natre; with churning
thoughts it becomes dscriminatig awareness. As soon as dscrimnaing
awareness appears, the lght vanshes and cannot be und. It is not that
there is no lght. It is just that the lght has turned into dscrimnaing
awareness. The Yellow Emperor said: Wen sound moves, it does not
produce sound
s ound but noise. This is the same idea.

For most people, the light comes back but you cannot see it. This is also
because the light never stops mong. It looks like it is movng very slowly, but
in ct it travels st. Because it moves so st, pause r a moment, hen push
ard, and he lght wil appear. Do ot low the pot of he lght when it
slps away but hold on to your positon as the one in charge. You are the sover
eig ruer and you do not move. It ill come bac on its own after a whle. If
you go wih it, it is hard to tel who the leader is and who the llower. This is
explaied n chapter 8, Tactcs r Being Careee," of the Taijinhua zongzhi,
where there are clear cut instructions. It says, Lower he curtai of your eyes,
hen act as if presenng an impeial edct to summon your minsters. Who
would dare to not come?"
When rotating the sun and moon, you wi discover a place that is bright
I that case, subtly pll
pll it back to the Heave
H eavely
ly Eye
Eye point and ne. From there,
send it out into the distance, payng close attenion to the movement of your
eye sockets
socke ts (hey can move)
move) . N ext, pul the light
light back, but do not overdo
overdo it, and
send it to a good place. Push it ard again. If it is hard to move, that is be-
298
298 / Chapter 1 4B

er them all together. ce it is stable, do ot move it, do ot stop practici ,
ad do ot move our bod: just loo at it.
Rotatig the spirit light i ot of the ees is caled rotatig the hadle of
the Dipper. It is importat to rotate the light aroud the Big Dipper e, so if
ou see the spirit light, start to rotate it i ot of the ees. Use the ceter of
the Heavel Ee to iitiate the rotatio. ce it starts to spi, slowl push it
ard, movig it r awa ito the stace. Do ot let it stop. If it stops, the
spirit light is lost. The slowl rotate it bac, al the wa to the Heavel Ee
ad Heave poits, util it spis at the Postatal Mirror. The momet it touch-
es the Postatal Mirror, ou ca reverse directio ad push it out aai. Rotate
ad push it ard, through the Heavel Ee, the opeg, ad out of the
bod. Keep rotatig it ard r, r awa, the reverse it bac i. We ou
retur it, d a good place to settle it. Stop ad allow it to rotate. Let it rotate
at that place, movi it getl toward the ceter, the slowl stop the rotatio
Next, ihale through the Heavel Ee as ou push the spirit ht r-
 ward.
 ward. This is called beig both iside ad outside the bod. Push the spirit
spir it lght
out ad pu it bac, movig it bac ad rth, but do ot allow it to eter ito
the bod. It is ot iside the bod but i ot of the ees, at the edge of our
bod uiverse. Push ad pul the spirit light o the edge, the place it bere
our ees ad wait r somethig to chage. As it opes ad expads, ou will
see ma beautil scees as wel as various iusios, all of which is recorded in
the T yi;nhua ngzhi. Other cultures call this the establshmet of the madala
Regaress of what sceer ou see ad whether it is a illusio, the poit
is that ou see it. At this poit, respect ourself ad have codece. Each of
ou is his or her ow bod orgaism, clearl visible to ourself but mabe ot
to others, or vce versa. We describig what the orgaism sees as a iusio,
ou are rea dimiishig oursel. Just accept that ou see somethi, whatev-
er the sceer ma be.
If ou el tired, take a deep breath ad pul it back through the ope
ad ito the upper, middle, ad lower elds. Be sure to do this slowl. Iale
deepl ad immediatel breathe ito the lower abdome so ou ca hide it in
the lower eld. This is called the spirt ght eters the Ku Palace. Aer it gets
to the lower eld, siletl circulate the ve phases or move it up ad dow.
ile ou cus the spirt ligt, ihale, lower our ees ad obsee our
ose. The ees obsee the ose, the ose observes the heart, ad the eart
observes the Cavit of Qi. At the same time, sol cus i the t he lower abdome
ad sed it dow. The ees obsee the ose, the ose observes the heart, ad
the heart observes the Cavi of Qi. e heart here refers to the ceter, ad a
three poits le i a straight lie. There are three types of loog: with ees
 Eplanation of the Cultivation Methods / 299

men. When puing it in, again move it aong the broken ne. This is in prepara
tion r moving the three eds together
If the head moves or you ower your head, the Twevestoried Tower
(throat) wi cose, and the spirit ght wi go down along the ont (outside). It
must go down inside the wevestoried Tower. If you cannot do this propery,
you wl have troube moving the three eds together. If done propery, some
peope fee that the qi goes om the ower ed to the middle ed, someties
it wl rse up.
There are severa paths r the spirit ght to go down, as the eyes obsee
the nose and the nose obsees the heart. The thing to worry about is that it
traves aong the surce. It should move iside om the upper to the middle,
and then to the ower ed. There is a question regarng whether qi or spirt
shoud go rst. The intention" is beteen qi and spirit, therere the rght way
is to inae soy, et the qi move om the between the eyebrows into te up-
per ed. Aer it reaces there, et te eyes ook down and the itenton gude
the spirit. Here the intention is not the conscious spirit. The conscious spirt is
in trance; it is not rm. Lead the qi with your tention and wrap the spirt with
q. Aer it reaches the ower ed, aer the extea ingredient is rmly there,
you may fee as if somethng has sunk down. Somtimes it seems to go down
with a sound, whch is because it moves too heaviy. If ths happens, immedi
atey breate through the ower abdomen. Inhale, cus in the ower abdomen,
keepig your movements . Do not j ust et it drop or stay at the pevic oor
ereum, getaia, buttocks) . I t shoud only stay in the ower ed. So r, you
ave not yet bound the perct qi of the Great One, but only shed this step.
There is a method to check if you d it correcty.
If the ight enters, et it rst go to the ower ed (Caty of Q. At this
stage, do ot et it go anyhere ese. If it reaches the pevc oor, it wi sp
ay out the backdoor. Make sure it reaches the middle ed (the Yelow Cen-
ter or Yeow Court, but it sti has to go somewhere ese to reach the gt
pace r this practice. Pus it into te ower d, then et stem qi cover spirt
ad you wil get to a pace that, as the Tijhua ngi says, is ke a hen
atchng es, a dragon nurturing its pear." The movement is ike a hen hatch-
g es. Pay attenton and et it keep movng. Aer it moves , reease it and see
if there is anything i the ower ed.

Key Spaces in the Body

Not a cassica texts agree on the position of the Cavit ofQ; they a present
erent practices and various posions, dependng on the eve of cutivaon.
300 I Chapter 1 4B

of Desty. Ths s ot the Gate of Desty pot kow om acupuctue,
betwee the secod ad thd lumba vetebae, but the Cavty of Q
The kdeys (hee dcatg the ete tagle med by the dneys ad
bladde) ceate a tagula space. The Cavty of Q hee s  ot of the d
eys. Fst ocate a hole  the cete of the two kdneys, the push  ad
om hee, ad you w d the Cavt of Q o the same plane. The text also
says to move ad  seven ad back  thee to nd a opeg. Ts
opeg s caled cete of the womb  Chese medce; t s also what you
call the lowe eld. Howeve, t s dcult to tel ts exact locato. Ths Cavt
of Q coects to the Nwa space above ad to the Bubblg Spg pot
below. Ths s actvated  aothe step of the pactce. Te Pefected Zyag n
hs Jindan sibai z (Fou Hunded Wods o the Golde Elx; DZ 1081) says:

Ths openng s ot a odna opeg.

It combes the tgams Heae ad Eath.
Called the opeg of spt ad qi,
It cotas the essece of the tgams Ka and L.

The Cavty of Q s at the tesecto of yn and yang (above ad belo,
 whee the uppe and lowe elds coect. You ca expeece the elato
shp best ae stng (bee you conect). It cotans the essence of the t
gams Fe ad Wate" meas that thee s ths essece, epesetng Fe ad
Wate,  the ve phases and the Cavty of Qi   you body. The I.nbao b
says that you acvate them  the mao (57am) ad you (5-7pm) hous of te
heavenly ccuit. The body, the, s a place to stoe what has bee cultvated
om completg the mao adyou heavey ccuit.
The Daceng tao (Essetial Pots of the Geat Accomplshment) also
otes: Al the mastes of old taught the dscples to gathe spt ad let t e
te the Cavty of Qi. Ths s t. The Cavty of Q s the Gate of Desty, located
beneath the seveth lumba veteba, behd the avel and  ot of the d
eys. The atio of the dstace om the Cavty of Qi to the avel and kdeys s
thee to seve. It s located betwee the two kdeys. The le oe epesets
Wate, the ght one s Fe. Thee s a opeg betwee them. It conects t
the Nwa Palace above ad the Bubblng Spg below. Ths s the acesto of
geat Dao, the oot  geeatig you daly q, the place to poduce the lead of
the alchemcal pocess. Thee ae countless chages o ths path; t s a marel
ous ege, ssug may wodel thgs. That s why t says, Ths opeg s
ot a odnay openg. It combes the t gams Heave ad Eath. Caled
the opeg of spt ad q,  t cotas the essece of the tgams Fe ad
 Explanation of the Cultivation Methods / 30 I

Te Ancestral rice near te ea connects to te Niwan Palace and te
Heaveny Valey above and te eart in te mde. It can also move to te
inside of te body. Tere are nine palaces in te ead, al surroundng a center.
Te Cavity of i is yin and located below; te Ancestral Orice is yang and
above. Tey interrelate by yang rising om yin and yin descenng om yang,
tus creating two spaces in te body.
en yin qi descends into te Cavern of , it contas a drop of perct
yang qi en perct qi rises om water, it contains a little drop of yin rising.
en yang qi rises up to te top, a tiny drop of lquid ls down, just a ttle bit.
Yin contains yang qi; yang contains yin  In order to carry out ts operaon,
you need perfect i om inside. Oy by aving te capacity of perfect i in te
organs can you dve tem to meet and intermingle.
Altoug te nose and mout connect wit eac oter and people can
breate troug eiter, te breat must go troug te troat. Te troat is
caled te Twelvestoried Tower. Perct qi inside te orans does not pass
troug it. As long as te breat passes troug te troat and te troat
moves, we speak of ordinary respiration. If ordnary respiration cannot connect
to te root of te Ancestral Orice, yin qi witin yang wl not descend. If per-
fect qi inside te organs is not enoug to get te Cavity of Qi to move, yang qi
witn n cannot rise. Master L said tat in order to develop te breating of
te percted, practce inteal breating tree or ur imes. Do not replace it
wit breating troug te nose and mout but let eac breat return to its
root. Te metod of experiencing inteal breating is to seal te qi aer inal-
ing, ten exae and repeat.
Aer te external ingredent enters te lower eld, tere w be some
moveent. You must si om externa to iternal movement, wc is qte
vsible om te outside. Keep your body very sti and unmovng. Fid a way
to cange om external to inteal movement. Te more te side of your
body moves, te sooner you become a sage. Pu it to te lower eld and nour-
is it by breating very soy and makg sure te lwer eld is mong. See
at is appening inside. Is tere anything in te lower eld? I s it empty or l?
Wat is inside? Is it a type of , a iquid, or an object (ard, solid)? Fi gre it out.
Te perct drop is actuay made of te combination of cosmic and body
energy. It moves, and you can use it to transrm essence into q. From ere
you can control were it goes, were te qi goes, and were it stops. If it moves,
tere wi also be movement in te twelve meridians and extraordary vessels
Dispersig te re actualy means to see if te substance in te lower ed
can spread out. Te ancients caed it opening te rnace. hat remains and
cannot spread, te sediments at te bottom, is caled cinnabar sand or te exr.
306 / Chapter 1 4B

teaches how to tu your vision inward toward the nne palaces, but you a
not reached that leve yet. irst practce rotating the Dipper, lettng it spi
en it nishes rotating, you can start sting and may be able to advance yo
perception.
Start by clearly exploring the present and inore past and ture.  y ca
the spirit lght rotate? If you rce it to rotate articialy, it is hard to spin. It
should be spinnin, but it does not There are two directions of rotatio ,
clocise and counterclocise. Durin uided instructions I cannot sa
 whether you should rotate clockwise ard and come back counterclocwise,
or vice versa. I can only tel you to rotate it where it is, then push ard while
rotain. I cannot tell you the direction.
Some people o ard clockwise, some counterclockwise This is be
cause these are two kinds of peope, lke our hands. From these lttle thins you
can read the two kinds of people, their character, mental state, and way of do
ing thins. Accordng to your personal situation you can decide if you want to
move clocwise or counterclockwise. Push and pull the spirit ight while rotat
in it. At the beginnn of the practice, it may not be easy to move, it may be
easier if you are extremely clever.
After it starts to rotate, you need to push the spirit lht out, then pull it to
the lower eld. The main purpose of this is to receive cosmic enery. The an-
cients said that it is best to rotate with the same speed as the moon and the
stars. For that, you need to know the rotational speed of the celestia boes
We do ow the speed of the earh's rotaton is to go once around the sun per
day. ou can only see one side of the moon's rotation, so you know which side
is ont and which is back. Serious trainng is very iring. The starn point is
dierent r each rotation method as are the drection and the level of each
person.
If a scene appears, rst, do not try and distingush if it is real, but have
condence in yoursel. You need to understand, thouh, that the thins you see
are entirely our own. The six lines show, that what you see is not your present
li: it is your past l or possibly the l to come. ou will not see other peo
ple, and you cannot become a derent person.
There are two types of swastika, one rotating le ;, the other riht � In
the ornal Tibetan relon of Bon, the leturning swastka was the symbol of
eternal change, which is why Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels sin om left to
riht and write it ;. The Sansit swastika es the other way. It was a smbol
of good luck and auspicious sig in ancient Indian relion. During the Tan
dynasty, Empress Wu introduced it to China, pronounced the character wan,
and gave it the meaning "collecton of good rtune and virtue
 Explanation of the Cultivation Methods / 307

myriad things and interpreted it to mean the collection of good rtune and
 vrtue in the world. Hitler selected a 45 degree black damond version of the
same sig, with counterclocise rotaon and outward spin. It is important to
dierenate and clearly understand each one. The basic implication in tradi-
onal China is that there is no end to the myriad things.
Chapter 6 of the [nhua zoi, Sigs of Vericaon en Return
ing the Light," mentions the lght of the seven openngs. It says that you can
see sunse, sunset, earth, prisms, days, months, and rened light, even less your
ancestral moral character. The Eight Immortals did not live in the same era, but
they ultimately behaved ke a single mly. A saying associated with them has,
''Your ancestral moral character denes your mily." When breathing through
the Ancestral Orice, take a look and see if it is inside or outside and look r
your prenatal stem qi.
The elixir opening mentioned in the Ta[hua n g alternavely refers
the body (in the exr eld), the air, or the ground. It may also refer to an elixr
openg in the unseen world (that is, calming the spirit at the Ancestral Orice).
You must dstguish between them.
The spirit residence, Niwan Palace, and the upper exir eld are all the
same place, but their names change with dierent stages of cultivation, as do
their practice methods. Bere the upper exir eld is cultivated, it is caed
spit residence. Ordinary people have it; in everyone, it houses spit. In basic
cuvation, it is called the Nan Palace; and when practicing internal alchemy,
it becomes the upper exr eld. There is a channel or passage om this place,
 whch can appear in two drections. When working with the spiit light, rst
gather it into one point, then push it ard and out, then pull it back.
Once the spirit light rotates, look into the dstance through tis passage
 way ook straight ahead) and the Three Worlds w appear. If you look back
(behnd yoursel, the three time dmensions wl manst. Some, when rotating
ard, see many images or spaces; some, when rotate back, wll scenes om
cildhood, even thigs they do not remember. Tis passagewa is the channel
r all human cultivation. There are two open angles in the ont and back of
the channel; this is what Master L called the karmic connections of the three
me dmensions of human li. Daoists call this channel the Three Worlds (up-
per, middle, lower), the three time dmensions (past, present, and ture).
Chrstians call it the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The spirit light cannot be inluenced by the seven emoons and six de
sres; t is the  rce in the human body. People should have the seven emo
ons and six desires; they should el them in their body. No matter how high a
level a person has attained, as long as the physical body exists, there are the
308 / Chapter 1 4B

The seven emotions and six desires in the Tai jhua ni come i
three levels, relating to the three time dimensions. When spirit rises, there are
the seven emotions and six desires, matching the thirt-nine levels in the
Xen t and other texts. This does not aect the abilt of the spirit lght to
emerge, retract, be pushed, or used. The onl consideraon is when the spit
light appears and how ou want to use it.
The statements that the Great One contains perfect qi and that it contains
perction refer to the theories of prenatal and postnatal states that is the rela
tionship between substance and nction. The n en notes that the
Great ne contains perct , which ou activate when ou calm the spit at
the Ancestral rice as described in e Tainhua zongzh However, r no
ou practice the Great ne contains perfection. You are not et at the stage
where ou cultvate its perct q
The practice bere uniting the disks of the sun and moon is called cal
ing the spirit at the Ancestral Orice or the Great One embraces perct q.
The Wian linen sas,

This point of extreme yang q, that is, the prenatal qi of perct oneness, is
called the Great ne embraces perct q
Inner nature and -destn are the root and source of spirit and 
Qi is the water of heavenl oneness, while spirit is the qi embraced b the
Great ne."

Patriarch Qiu's Dadn izhi sas,

In the vast mists of primordial chaos, male and female llow each other
The vast mists sigi a ime when stem qi was not et dvded; owg
each other means that in and ang were intermingled and not separate
om one another. Matchng this state of non-separation, our spirit is co
alesced and gathered in darkess, chaoticall merged in oneness.
On the inside, ou are unaware of our bod; on the outside, ou are
unaware of the universe. You are completel at one with Dao, the mriad
worries a gone, merged with chaos lke sands in the sea. Ineble and
beond naming, if we had to call it something, we wold name it the state
of the Great ne embracing perct q, or again, the unied qi of prenatal
existence. It is the mother of the golden elixir.
When qi enters the navel, it becomes breath; when spirt enters the 
it becomes the emb ro; when the emb ro combines with the breath, we
speak of the Great One embracing the perct
 Explanation of the Cultivation Methods / 309

The aijhua zonzhi speks of mny kinds of circulting, dierent in

menng nd methods. There is  type clled the light of the body returns,
 which indctes  prctice of brething through the pores nd cusing on the
body s the qi circultes throug the body.

Once you turn the lght round, the eneres of the enire body py their
respects, s when n emperor hs estblished the cpitl nd unded his
throne. (ch. 1)

Open your eyes nd look stright hed, pull the spirit lght bck beeen
the eyebrows, then genly close the eyes: this is one wy to return the light
Close your eyes nd clm the spit t the Ancestrl Orice. Let your eyes
move towrd the midde, look t he ght, then gently sh it rd nd
pu it bck: this is noher wy to retu the ght. It lso sys, "Tung
the lght round is not just turnng round the essence of the body, but
turnng round the very energy of creion. (ch. 3)

First, you ony see  dot coming bck om the stnce. When tht hp-
pens, pul the light bck into the Niwn, then move it down long the
broken lne unl it reches he Cvern of q the elir eld, the Northern
River, nd he Kun Plce: hs is yet noher wy to retu he lght. P
specil ention durg prcice. The Tahua ngzhi contis he sen-
tence, "Mtters tht come up requre you to respond; thgs tht come up
require you to recognze hem. ( ch. 7)

The thngs mentoned here re not those of the lower three relms, but of
he mdde nd upper ones. In the uderstndng of ordry people, if mtters
se, they kow wht they re: hey re concrete enies ht pss bere our
ees, mters we cn recognze. So, in the ijhua zo , Mster L sks,
"If mers rise, do you relly know wht they re? If things pss bere your
eyes, cn you relly recogize them?
In cul ct, you cn't. Mters rise, things pss bere your eyes, and
ou relly hve no clue or recogze them propely. Ordnry people rrely
kow wht went on yesterdy or how hey chnged between then nd tody. In
he old dys, here ws  prcice tht strted with  light (tody you cn use 
shght) dzzling right bere your eyes. Next, you close your eyes nd nice
how the lght sl dnces bere them. This demonstrtes the Doist under
stndng tht we crete things r nd by ourselves. An object (or light) rises,
but do you rel ow wht it is? Is it spirt light or the lght of consciousness?
3 1 0 / Chapter 1 4B

You may cus on it but cannot see it. Bring it very close and it looks e
a cloud, a sparkling disk thus it becomes a thing. When a thing shows up a
you are not miliar with it, you may ask: What is this? In ancient times, it as
caed the spirit light. But is it really spirit ght? When did it come? This is te
problem we want to solve. You cannot see anything during pracce since your
eyes are closed. In ancient time, this was called, matters arise, but we do not
respond." Actually we oriinaly had this light, but we do not kow whe n it
comes or how to use it, so it is impossible to catch. There are several possibii
ies
1. The qi o the circulating lght in the body does not obey the lord, lead
ing to a situation when the body uverse is not properly rmed. I you at
to turn the lght around, but you have no way to circulate the body's essence,
you must concentrate on breathng through the pores.
2. When there are guided instructions, make sure your breathing is very
so, lowing the movements o space. The space moves, inhale; the space
opens, exhale. Do not low me or move along with things.
3. Inhale, cus the qi in the lower feld; exhale, release. Do this severa
mes, and the movement o the lower feld lows your breathing. Once
breahing moves smoothly, it can ow the movement o the lower feld. Fo-
cus in the lower feld, inhale; release, exhale. Once you know how to do ths,
you have already ascended and become a person o heaven and earth. No long-
er a separate entity, you now rm one organism with the myriad things" and
wll no longer be entced to low others.
4. It wi defntely come, but we do not know when. At this time, we need
to wait.
All relgons need to start by frst cutivating the eyes. The purpose o
praccing the methods o the Tai jinhua zongzhi is to discover an alteave
space. There shoud be a space other than our body. Research has und that
just bere they pass away, people al have a common behaoral charactesc.
They wi suddenly sit up, strugle, and look around. Reious groups thnk
that this acion shows that they are entering an alternave space. Simialy,
when we see something durng practce, are these things part o our heartand
mind or acquired? Do they maybe come om r away? Be sure to put ques-
ions like hese while practicing according to the Tafijinhua zongzhi.

Calming the Spirit

Calming the spirit at the Ancestral Orifce involves ways to cultivate, refne, use,
and nurture it. I you don't practice these well, maybe you cannot see it. Acu al-
322 / Chapter 1 4B

The result o the two training methods are the same, regardess o whet
er it moves or not. That is, they lead to the opening o the meridians and co
duits, successlly moving the inner organs and benning the qi trasfrmatio
The movement is fr this purpose too. Some people, when they pracice re
birth, manage to spt the ve phases but do not succeed in creaing an emb ro
The qi o the ve phases must split open, but you cannot use it to create a
embro fr the benet o the next generaion. This is not possible. First you
open the qi o the ve phases, then dismantle and reassemble (install) it. Dao-
ists undertake this with the aim to destroy a transmitted enery. To produce
an embro, you must quit your regular job, but rebirth can be practiced at any
time
The currently shionable Big Bang theo r, widely supported by modern
science, is based on data om astronomical observaions and research. It is a
cosmoloical model that describes the initial conditions o the universe and its
subsequent evolution, but it has not been y veried Research has created a
dominant point o view or assumpion about the past. (According to obsea
tions made in 201 0, the inial state occurred about 1 3.3 bilion years to 1 39
millo years ago). It describes the initial moments o the universe and outlnes
how it evolved om a begnng state that was extremely dense with ve r high
temperatures. Through constant expansion, it has frmed the world we have
today.
At that tme all the material in the universe was concentrated into a single
point. It was o a high temperature, and a huge explosion occurred. Aer the
Big Bang, material began to swell outward to frm the unverse we see today.
Three seconds ater the Big Bang, the ratio o hydrogen to helium was about 3
to 1, while the original helium level in the universe was about 25 percent (not
dark matter) o its total mass Aer the Big Bang, hydrogn and nitrogen ac
counted r more than 99 percent, while a he other elements were less than
001 percent. In the current obseable universe, the mass o the stars accounts
fr 98 percent, made mostly o hydrogen and some helum.
New research shows that matter as we know it accounts fr less than 4
percent o the total mass o the unverse. The remaining 96 percent are com
posed o dark matter and dark energy: 73 percent dark energy plus 23 percent
dark matter. These two thus account fr 96 percent; togeher they determne
the destiny o the universe.
As you calm the spirit at the Ancestral Orice, the point o light you see
does not necessarily have to be white. Its color can change. A black point is
good, as black is one o the ve colors. Sometimes a lite black point has a
shiny rim, looking ike a solar ecpse This indicates the human and celesal
 Explanation of the Cultivation Methods / 323

poits meet, we speak of the itersecio o the exteral Water (Ka) ad Fire
(L). Here, huma ad cosmic eergy joi. But this is ot ideal, because tras-
itted eery is isuciet.
At this time, trasmitted eery coverges i the middle. There is a sayg
about how to peel the s. If the poit of light rotates, the cosmic eer is
gatherig. Sometimes you see physical ad cosmic eery beig trasrmed: if
this occurs, do ot move. But o matter what, pull it back to the lower eld. If
 ad yag coverge, you ca experece the feelig of them trasrmig
(the itersecio o f Ka ad L) as you deliver it to the lower eld.
If you have uterie broids, they may ow as you practice the rst o
steps of wome's alchemy, because estroge levels beg to rise. This is ot
true r everyoe. They may grow to a certai extet, maybe as much as half a
ich, whe you practice this method. Although they typicall ow, if they start
out very smal, they wi most likely shrik. Uteie broids are ot described i
aciet medical books, so there is o specic medcao. Aso, because it is
hard to tell whether they are i the lig of the uterus or o its outside, usig
medcaio accurately is hard ad oy surgery works reliably.
Midght pracce is whe Daoists udertake their pracices durn the vi
tal hours aroud midght. You must cultivate at the proper time. Aer sletly
circuatg the ve phases ve tmes, see if there is ay chage. If the qi wats
to split, immedately calm the spit at the Acestral Oce. We you sudy
with a Daoist, he teacher wi usualy rst trasmit a high level subject, the a
lesser, u he gets to the basics. From here, he or she w teach icreasgly
higher methods utl you reach the highest level. The it goes dow agai ad
up agai, movig back ad rth.
Every tme you sit i medtatio, the pracce is eret, as are the guded
istuctios. It is qute easy to use your "feelgs" as a de, but it is hard to
de wth the heartadmid. At this me, make sure ot to make ay ms
takes ad avoid all distracios. A third way is to gude wi the help of the lfe
rce, a power betwee the heartadmid ad he spirt. Actualy it is caled
the rm of heart/mid/spirit ad the rm of lferce/spirit, but these o
are ot the same.
Praccig i the morg is ot as good as pracicig i the aeroo. I
the morg, you absorb the qi of heave; i the aeoo, heave absorbs
your qi. Aays stve to get the qi heave to eter your body, just as you
wat to utize the stu of others. That is, you rob the qi of heave ad brig it
to your body. I the aeoo you ve qi to others, aays beg geerous.
The morig is called the period of risig yag: we take i yag q; the aer-
oo is whe yag slowly decreases, which meas we gve it out. The after-
oo is detrmetal to esseial which is why we feel pleasat ad ot pai-
324 / Chapter 1 4B

an the change of qi in them. Feel their psychological perceptions and inner
awareness (of two kins) Use your boy to sense other people an see if either
is wrong, you or they Where oes the pain in your leg start? Be sure to gure it
out an solve these problems Keep breathing an you n that inhalig bens
right at exhaling If you notice someone has pain in your bones, muscles, skin,
or inner organs, something insie may urge you to say something Howeer, do
not speak, but just obsee and see if it wi work itself out on its own.
In ancient times, if someone meditated r an hour, his or her leg woul
be in pain For about 4 5 minutes he coul practice properly, but after that he
 woud merely o repentance During this painl time, the teacher igores you
as long as you remain sitting with your legs crosse He lets you bear the pai
an sit If you can sit r three hours, r the rst two, the teacher wil not just
let you sit there. He wil want you to keep practicig, making you move, espe
cialy on the insie: this is called practicing properly The preliminary portion of
the guie instructions cuses on looking inside; the later stage is caled proper
practice. Aer your legs start to hurt, the teacher wil not wory about you. It
hurts if you move; it also hurts if you stay s Find a way to raise the qi and
move it aroun, cusing on the center of the pain. It is important that the sit-
g bones are in pain (since spirit passes through them). Once they hae pain,
it will moe inside, toward the midle. At this point you can o penetran
pracce, iing the pain a pathway to move.
Penetrating practice is a metho passe down by Master Wang Chon
yan; another is breathing in an cusing the boy Exhale the pain some-
 where else, but where?
So r, we hae covered ur steps: instang the race and setting up
the caulron uilding the undation), establishig minor elxir circaon (si
lently circulating the e phases), calming the spirit at the Ancestral rice
(one way to open the Heaenly Eye), plus augmenting yang re an reduci
yin impact (reerting essence to nourish the brain). Women also learne soe
steps of women's alchemy The last three steps can be practiced separate;
augmenting yang re and reducing yin impact can appear anywhere in the.
You do not know when it appears: not eeryone is the same The elxir scrip
tures state that the rst step may become the h, which in turn may change
into the seventh: there is no xed sequence This is because our boes he
dierent shapes and structres as wel as appearances When a roup pracces
together, since the pressure of the el is relatively large, we can calm the spit
at the Ancestral Orice a few more times: this wil not cause major problems.
3 32 / Chapter
Chapter I SA

Holin the breath is selnurturin, it allows the qi that circulate to

transrm the previous oran to nurture an support the qi in the current or,
convertin its qi properties Hol the breath r as lon as possible, but spe 
about the same amount of time in each of the ve orans. The verses of sie
recitaton can be one loner or with repetition
Separate your hans, raise the hea, an look straiht ahea, then projec
the scenes you see in the orans after circulain qi o obsee an examine
them This is traitionaly known as the metho of sendin ou shapes. See
how the shapes you project are ierent om the anatomical ones an wha
mih be missin.
Stackn the hans is one of way of oin his. I utilzes their srenth to
push an ude inernal q, a technique also known as usin the exernal to
uie the internal Wen circulatn qi, make oo use internaly of he skls of
the hans
Aer pracicin the algment of all ve phases, sometimes the orans sar
to be spontaneously active If hat happens, let he movement be enle, not oo
st or too v rous, lest it amaes he orans. en i begns sponaneously,
always imane shiin the external into the internal, so hat the inernal move
ment stars to involve the  rce. The reason r this is tha prolone ac-
ty can lea to the dischar of essence an qi n up the merans. Ovey en-
a merans wil hurt spirt" (ie., merans out of control are ovely enag
an ths l hu spir).
If you have coronary or anoher hear conon, you may no be able o
breahe wel urg the pracce. In tha case, breahe throug the mou, pan
on exalaon as you move your tongue an nrs. This wil prove rele
en the sacrum, Meetin Yin, or ont enitalia sar to pulse, imei
ately clasp your hans toether, push your shoulers ar, lower your hea,
an take a eep breath At the same tme, if possible, complee a heavenly cir
cuit. In the ol ays, his acion was calle n he ol crysal om behin
he elbows. The purose of lowerin the hea is o n the zwu lne in e
boy to ciiate the heaveny circu
When you feel nauseous urin the circuation of al ve phases, i is be
cause you are usin he wron hand technique. Workn with the hans mus
not be too s, especially squeezin he alblaer must be one very slowly
an the heart cannot be pinche.
If the
the circulatio
circulation
n of
o f the ve phases
phas es is not one we, there is no energy
energy in
the boy. Women may cry when praccin the heavely circu, because eir
ver qi is ecient; others may experience nose pain because the qi of heir
luns is overly l If you she tears as the iver opens its orices, utter your
 Alignment
Alignm ent of
of the Five
Five Phas
Phases
es / 33 3

If the seven orices are not sealed, the Heavenly Gate will not open. If
the Heavenly Gate does not open, there wil be no ght in the Heavenly ye.
As long as the points ae open, you cannot see anything. Once you brg the
eyes together, you can see thngs. If the ciculation of the ve phases is not
dne well, the eavenly Gate cannot open. y is it that the points will open
when the ciculation of the ve phases
phase s is not complete, but the eyes
eyes ae closed?
It is because the seven oices ae inteconnected. When pacticing the silent
ciculation of the ve phases, they get active along with it, all seven being
lnked to each oter. Once they are active joitly, as long as the ve phases ae
 and the cicut is closed, activate the Heavenly Gate again and the ener
will pass through.
Most · people cy duing practice because thei ont gental
gental aea is not
closed. The wider the area is open, the loude they cy. Use the palms to spread
and elease substances, to ciculate qi and trans
trans m it in te body. Tis i s adi
adi
ionally called eturnng to the orinal position whle circulating qi to tans-
m the unverse." Tun all the organs into a microcosm, and te body ito a
macrocosm.
There ae two acupuncture points in the keecaps, tratonay called
ige Eyes. Pll you hands o of the Tiger yes to elease wind. Make sure to
uderstand the relationship beeen them and and the
the ogans.
ogans . To teat
teat rheumasm,
rheumas m,
pull more on the Tiger Eyes. Idelly you also do it dung the last stage of sit-
ng medtation.

Alignment of All Five Phases: Part 2

Afte stabizing body and mind using the methods of attracting immortaty,
actvate the loe eld matchng your natual beathing, allowing the breathing
to move with the lower eld. At ths moment, a space is med in the lowe
ed. You intenton should be cused thee, both eyes tung inwad.
Beathe natuay and relax you ene body.
Inhale and gently cus the qi in the owe eld, sowy centering it in the
lowe abdomen. Exhale and let the lower eld elease it gently outwad, slowly
letg it go om the lowe abdomen. Inhale and sowly cus it in the owe
abdomen, lttle by lttle centering it thee to receive it slowly in the lower ed.
Exhale and let the lowe abdomen release it outwad, letng it go om the
lowe eld. Inhae and slowly add ce as you cus it in the lower abdomen
and the lowe eld. Exhae and et it slowly eease om the lowe abdomen
and te lowe eld, the longe the elease the bette.
Inale and intensi the intention. Exhale and place the intention in the
334 I Chapter I SA

ower ed. Inhae and cus it in the ower abdomen; exhae and et it reease
om the ower abdomen.
Ater practicing severa times, inhae and push the qi o the oer ed in
to the badder. Ater it reaches the badder, reax your enire body. Inhae and
cus it in the badder whe raising the ont genitaia; exhae and reease it
om the badder whie soing don the speed o breathing. Inhae and cus
it sowy in the badder; exhae and reease it sowy om the badder.
Now increase the intention, pacing it rmy in the badder as you u
your vision inward to the badder. Aer pracicing severa times, take a deep
breath and guide badder qi into the iver. Once it reaches the iver, reax your
body. Inhae and cus it in the iver; exhae and reease it om the iver. Inhae
and sowy cus it in the iver; exhae and soy reease it om the ver. In-
crease your intention, pacing it rmy in the ver as you tu your vision in-
 ward to the iver. Aer praccing severa
seve ra times,
tim es, take a deep breath
brea th and guide
the qi o the liver into the heart. nce it reaches the heat, reax your body.
Inhale and cus it in the heart; exhae and et it reease om he heat.
Inhae and sowy cus it in in the heart; exhae and sowy et it reease om
the heart. Increase the intention, pacing it rmy in the heart as you turn your
vsion iward to the heart. Aer practicing severa times, inhae and soy -
cus in the heart. Exhae and push the qi of the heart into the speen and stom-
ach. nce it reaches the speen and stomach, reax your body.
Inhae and cus it in the speen and stomach; exhae and et it reease
om the speen and stomach. Inhae and cus it sowy in the speen and
stomach; exhae and sowy et it reease om the speen and stomach. Increase
the intention, pacing it rmy in the speen and stomach as you turn your vi-
sion inward to the speen and stomach. Aer pracicing severa times, take a
deep breath, raise the qi of the speen and stomach into the ungs. Once it
reaches the ungs, reax your body. Inhae and cus it in the ungs; exhae and
et it reease om the ungs. Inhae and sowy cus it more deepy in the ungs;
exhae and sowy et it reease om the ngs as you tu your vision inward to
the ungs.
Aer practcing severa times, inhae and cus it in the ungs; exhae and
push the qi of the ungs into the kidneys. nce it reaches the kidneys, reax
your body and bring your intenton to the dneys. Inhae and cus it in the
kidneys; exhae and et it reease om the kidneys.
Inhale and sowy cus it more deepy in the kidneys; exhae and sowy
et it reease om the kideys as you turn your vision inard to the dneys
Aer practicing severa times, inhae and cus it in the kidneys; exhae and
push the qi o the kidneys into the badder. Once it reaches the badder, reax
 Alignment of the Five Phases / 335

you turn your vision inward toward the bladder. From here, move on to the
next cycle of the ve phases.
A er you have completed the last circulation by reaching the
the bladder, take
a deep breath, raise the bladder qi into the lower eld, and cus it in the lower
abdomen as you turn your vision inward; exhle and release it om the lower
abdomen. Inhale and cus it in the lower eld and lower abdomen; exhale and
let it release om the lower eld and lower abdomen. Inhale and cus it in the
lower abdomen slowly, cus it slowly i the lower eld, raise the perineum,
exhale and slowly let it release om the lower abdomen and the lower eld.
Inhale and slowly cus it in the lower abdomen and the lower eld; exhale and
let it release slowly om here. At this tme, hold the breath and use iternal q
to push into the lower eld to see if the lower eld moves. Slowly return to
natural breathing.

Alignment of All Five Phases: Part 3

Aer spirt enters the qi, hold your intention in the lower eld. Sit in meditaon
r a whie, then intensi the intention and use a strong intention to activate
the lower abdomen. Inhale and cus it in the lower abdomen; exhale and let it
release. Inhale and cus it in the lower abdomen, then push the qi of spit
ht in the lower eld into the bladder. Once it reaches there, exhle and relax,
keeping your intention in the bladder. Inhale and cus it in the bladder; exhale
and let it release. Aer doing this a few times, take a deep breath, raise the qi of
spirt lght up to the liver. Once it reaches there, exhale and relax. Inhale and
cus it in the ver; exhale and let it release om the liver. Aer circulating 
to transrm it, take a deep breath, guide the qi of spirit lght to the heat. Once
it gets there, exhale and relax.
Inhale and cus it in the heart; exhale and let it release om the heat.
Aer circulating qi to transrm it, again inhale and cus it in the heart; exhale
and push the qi of spirit lght into the stomach, mag it expand. Exhale and
relax. Inhale and cus it in the stomach and spleen; exhale and let it release
om there, activating the stomach and spleen. Aer that, take a deep breath
and raise the qi of spirit lght up to the lungs. Inhale and raise it to the lungs;
exhale and relax. Iale and cus it in the lungs and in both sides of the chest;
exhale and let it release om there. Aer circulating qi to transrm it, inhale
and cus it in the lungs; then exhale and push the qi of spirt light into the kid-
neys. Once it gets there, relax. Inhale and cus it in the kidneys; exhale and let
it release. After circulating qi to transrm them, iale and cus it in the kid-
neys; then exhale and push the qi of spirit light into the bladder, allowing it to
33 6 / Chapt
Chapter
er I SA

Aer circulatng
circulatng qi to transfrm it, take a deep breath and guide the qi 
spirit light back up to the liver. Once it reaches there, relax. Complete the entire
ccle a second time and practice the silent circulation o the ve phases all te
 wa
 wa back
back to the bladder. AerAer several times, inhale andand raise the qi o spirit
ght up to the lower eld, strongl fcusing it in the loer abdomen. Let the qi
o the ve phases enter the lower eld. el d. Exhal
E xhalee and release it om the loe
loerr
abdomen, which is now qute poerl. At this tme, inhale and fcus it in te
lower abdomen; exhale and let it release om there. This is the rst round 
renement, which establshes minor exir circulation.
Aer practcing several times, slowl let the breathing become so a
 weak, at the same time also relaxing the strength o the loer loer abdomen. Inha
Inhale
le
and slowl fcus it in the loer abdomen; exhale and slowly let it release it
om there. Once our breathng is sot and weak, add breathing through the
pores. Inhale and fcus it in the bod, slowl fcusing it in the loer abdome;
exhale and let it release om the bod, lettng it go om the lower abdomen.
Parts two and three o the sient circulation o the ve phases are ver
simlar, but the level practce is not the same. Pa close attention to the fllo-
ing:
1. In the process o the sient circulation o the ve phases, b all meas
appl strong intenton to gde the internal with the internal, rather than -
ing it with the external.
2. Aer arriving at each organ, inhale and fcus the qi in the organ, exhe
and let it release om the organ. This is ke doing organ exercises: ou re
make the oran move, expand or contract.
3. In the process o moving om one organ to the next, keep our breath
ing long and your movements slow. At the same tme, pa attenton to the ex
act manner o moving om one organ to the next: in some cases you inhale; i
others, ou exhale. Make sure not to reverse the process. Relax our bod as
soon as ou reach the next organ.
4. As ou breathe with each organ, that is, expand and contract it, inter
nall obsee whether the organ has been transfrmed and see hat shape a
color it is.
5. This version o the silent circlation o the ve phases is ndamentall 
derent om that discussed in the rst step. There, the qi came rst and spit
second: this reects the gathering o ingredients. Here, spirit comes rst ad
the qi second, so ou should pa attention to the word "lead, hich reers to
the concocton and renement o the elxir.
6. In this process, in and yang qi combine with the ve phases to mo
to the rnace. It is the rst round o elixir concocton, called minor exr cir
 Alignme nt of the Five
Five Phas
Phases
es / 3 37

The Five Phases in the Body

We se derent modes of thought and varios levels of examination to tdy

the circlation in living people, worng with dierent theories regarding the
operaonal laws of the organs: this is called working to envision the organs
The scope of research covers all orns, tisses, and ncons both within and
otside the body. The Daoists' nderstandng of the physiolocal nctions of
the organs is not lmited to the level of anatomy. For thosands of years, they
have worked with the theory of the nty of heaven and hmaty as well as
ndetaken prolonged periods of personal pracice. Observng lving people
and examining their own personal experiences, they have developed entire sets
of theories and principles. I this manner, they have vered and appled the
theory of yin and yang and the ve phases. Therere, even thogh the theor
behnd envisioning the orgns may look similar to modern anatomy and physi-
oloy, it is ltimately the prodct of a derent way of thnkng. It reects the
research of people using derent methods and modes of thoght, so that the
Daoist and the modern scientic modes can be said to supplement and com-
plement
plemen t each other while also nctioning in a parallel manner.

The Five Organs

The ve organs are the liver, heart, spleen,
sple en, lngs, and kidneys. Their main nc-
on is to store essence and i and if they do so without any leakag, we say that
they are ll bt not replete."

Hear
The hear is the master of hman desny and occpies the chief posiion
among the organs. Under normal condions, the ve organs and six scera
nder the gidance of the hear carry out ned and coordnated physiolocal
activties, so that people can be ll of energy and hae good health. If the hear
develops a lesion, it may case disrpons in the actives of the other organs,
possibly leading to mental dsorders and even lithreateing conditons.
The heart governs the blood and blood vessels, its otard manifestation
is on the body srce. Blood has the ncion of nrtring, bt it mst rely on
the acivties of the heart and the blood vessels to rn through the entire body
and nrtre it.
The asing and dece, empiness and lness of the heart, blood, and
blood vessels are reected i the changes of people's complexion. Tose with a
healthy heart look rosy and hve a lstros complexon. They so possess spir-
it. I contrast, [when the heart is weak the complexion is pale and ay. The
3 3 8 I Chapter I SA

turns blac. Blood is supposed to nurture te entire body, but if it coagulates
and does not ow well, it loses tis nuturing ability. Tus, ve r old people ot
only ave a complexion as blac as lacquer, but are sti lie witered wood. f
you see a complexion of tis nd, you now tat te blood is obstructed ad
tere is a loss
los s of its nurturing
nurturing eect.

Lver
Te liver's nature is to be outgoing and active. If its qi is too outgoing, it
 wi mae
mae people
people get angy
angy easily.
easi ly. On te oter
oter and,
and, if it is decient
decie nt and te
lve
lverr loses
los es its
its rmnes
rmnes s and vi vir, people wi be aaid and cowardly.
Te liver stores te blood and can adjust te blood ow according to te
body's activity. If it is ill and loses its power to store blood, people will le
awak
awakee and be restless.
restles s.
Te
T e liver verns te tendons, its outward manifestation is te nais. Te
nction of te tendons is to move, but teir nurturing derives om te liver.
Te lver disperses its essence to nuture te tendons, and wen te tendons
obtain its support, tey can move powerlly. Any deciency in te lver and
tendons is oen reected in te nails. Tose wo ave strong tendons also
ave strong and tic nails. Tose wo ave weak tendons usually ave tin
and so nails. A person wit liver disease often as brittle, d r, lacuster, or
dermed nais.

Spleen
Te stomac verns digestion, wile te spleen serves to absorb and in-
se uid to nurture te entre body. Tus, te spleen is te "root of postnatal
existence. Its nction is to elp te stomac to digest od and disperse body
uids.
Te spleen  verns te muscles, and its outward manifestaton is te lips.
If a person is well nurtured, e stores t and develops a ealty cubbiness. If
te spleen is i, it causes dig stive and absorption disorders as well as muscle
loss, so tat people gadually lose weigt. Tis w be reected on te lips and
a rater yellowis complexion.
Te spleen governs te ur mbs. Tey receive noursment om stom-
ac i,  wic allows tem to perrm outward actions. However, stomac i
cannot ow directly into te ur limbs, so tat tey must rely on te circula
tion of qi in te spleen. Only om ere can tey obtain teir nourisment of
stomac q. If te spleen is l, te body cannot discarge liquds, te ur mbs
 will not receive proper nourisment, te meridian pats are armed, and the
yang qi of te ur limbs wil increasingly weaen, causing diculty in move
 Al ignment of the Five
Five Phases
Phases / 3 39

 s abnormal,
abnormal, t
 t wll lead to varous
varous knds of
o f bleeng
bleeng dseases,
dseases, whch
whch should be
treated by methods of "drawng blood to the spleen or "nurturng the spleen
to absorb blood. Ths wll provde good mecal treament.

Lungs
The lungs are the root of q They govern the qi of the enre body. Qi s
the prme source of ener n human , whch ncludes essence and qi ob-
taned by drking water and eatg gran as well as the natural qi we receve by
breathng n.
Natural qi s also known as the qi of the ve colors. These ve enter
through he nose an are transrmed nto q, duly stored n the heart and lungs.
 As qi rses, t can make the ce brght and owng and the sound of the voce
resonant and clear. There are ve avors n the essence and qi of water and
gran, wch are stored n the stomach and ntestnes. Aer digeson and ab
sorpton, the essence of these ve avors are njected nto the ve rgans to
nurture ther q It harmoously presees the bochemcal ncons of the
body.
 As the uds generate
generate each other, sprt arses. Natural
Natural qi enters the body
hrough the lungs, and n the center of the chest combnes wth gran qi to
rm ancestral q  Ancestral  emerges om the throat through the process of
breathng, then moves hrough the heart merdan and spreads nto the entire
body. Ths s the reason why the lungs are the governor of the bodys qi
Just as the heart goves the blood, so the lugs govern the q. However,
only when qi n the lngs s comrtable and open can the heart ncon nor-
mally. There s, therere, a close mutual relaonshp between the qi of the
lungs and the blood of the heart.
The lungs govern sn and body hair. They work through nhalaon and
exhlaon, servng as the bodys prmary orn  charge of the exchange of qi
comng n and out of the body. In addion, he pores of the skn also have the
ncton of dspersng q. Skn and body har depend on the qi om the lungs
to get warm and most; wthout t, they wll be wthered and haard. ''The
lungs match the sn; ther manistaton s the body har. If the lungs are l,
ths s reected n the skn and body har; vce versa, f sn and body har are
aected by wayward q, ths cn cause alments  the lungs.
Kdneys
The kdneys store essence, whch s ther prmary uncton Essence here
rers to the essence of all ve orns and sx vscera as we as to the basc
reproductve potency n men and women.
340 / Chapter I A

ternal manistation of the kidneys, its nutrition oriinate i the blood, a
blood i turn is the essence of marrow. Therere, if kdney essence is deplet e,
the bones will dr up and the hair on the head wil be dull. f essence and  r
row are sucient, on the other hand, they will be healthy ad radant.
The kdneys overn water. Water enters the stomach and om the splee,
earth vaporizes into the luns. When the qi of the luns moes down, it goes t
the dneys as waste water (une). Water can be clear or turid, and within eac
of these qualities, it can be clear and turbid yet aain. Tically the clear rises p
 while the turbid descends. The clear, therere, rises up into the lungs and turs
into qi. The clear part within this moves om the lungs int the sn and body
hair, while its turbid part descends om the three burners t reach the kidneys.
The turbid within the turbid, moreover, is excreted om th bladder, whle te
clear within it is stored in the kidneys. All uid in the kidneys then transrms
into qi and ascends to the luns. From here it chanes into water and moves
aain to the deys. "The earth qi belons to the kidneys nd produces water
and uid (Suwen chapter on "Water Heatin Points).
The ve orans of the heart, liver, spleen, luns, and dneys are close
interdependent and mutualy restricted in their physiolocal nctions. The
heart belons to the phase re; it is the oran of yan withi yang. The kdneys
belon to the phase water; they are the organ of yin within yan. When te
heart and dneys interact smoothly, water and re are abundant, and you can
maintain the normal physioloical activities of the body. Similarly, the lungs
govern the qi whle the heart overns the blood. When qi nd blood work t
gether closely, the body's circulation moves smoothly wthout interruptio.
Then again, the kdneys are the root of prenatal existence they store the es
sence and qi of the ve orans. The spleen is the root of pstnatal existence; it
transrs the essence and qi of water and rain to nurture he ve organs. T
sum up, the continued activaon of human destiny depends on the close coop
eration of the prenatal and the postnatal.

T Six Visc

The main nction of the six viscera is to receive and digest water and ain, as
 well as to absorb and transfer body uids and discharge all waste and residue.
The six viscera take in substances but do not store them, they stay in a state of
"replete but not .

Gabladder
The gallbladder sees to store bile; it is the "residence of central es
sence. Its nature is to be stron and straight, but it ca be broken. If the
 Alignment of the Five Phases / 34 1

Stomach
The somach sees to take in, digest, and asorb water and grain. It is the
root of qi nd blood in the body, therere, it is aso called the Ocean of Qi and
Blood. If you have a stomach aiment and your gesve unction is abnormal,
t is hard r your body to nurture the ve orgas and six viscera, ur limbs
and hundrd bones. Therere, "without water ad grain people die, their me-
rdians not having stomach q, they also die.

Small ntstie
The mall intesne nctions to receive grin and water as processed in
te stomah, then it separates the clear om th turbid. Anythg clear tus
nto essene and body uids; anything turbid beomes waste. Clear substances
are absorbd and spread to the derent body prts, endn up by seeping into
te bladde. Turbid materials sink down to the lage intesne. If the small ntes-
ne is sic, the clear and the turbid do not sepaate but all move down, result-
ng in unvorable absorption and malnutrition.

Large ntstie
The arge intestine has the nction of trasrring waste and absorbing
moisture. t receives the aste processed by the small intestine and absorbs its
moist par, causing it to take sold shape (as cs), as which it is then released
a the ans. If the large intestine ails, there wil be mbling in the viscera and
pain i th abdomen as we as loose stools. Qite possibly, the large intestine
 wi be dr, causing constipation. If both the stoach and the large intestne are
dseased, ymptoms vary. en the stomach els cold and the abdomen is
stended, the intestine wi tremble, producin sounds and leaks. When the
stomach els cold and the intestine is hot, the bdomen  be dstended and
leaky. Whn the stomach feels hot and the intesne is cold, the lwer abdomen
 wi be distended.

Bladder
The bladder sees to eminate ure and store body uids, thus it is the
repositoy of body uids. If there is an abudanc, uids enter the bladder
and becoe urine. If there is lack, urination is arml. Conversely, if you uri-
nate too uch, this can cause a loss of uids. erere, urine and body uids
oen inence each other.

Three Buers
The three burners are the upper, middle, and lower buer he upper
342 / Chapter I SA

moistening and nourising te es by warming and supporting musces, joi ts,
and skin.
Te midde burner starts in te center of te stomac and receives te
 waste of grain q, trning its essence ad subte parts into bood in order to ve
ife to te body. It rments and eats ater and grain; it vaporizes te bod
ids; it receives te essence ad qi of water and grai, trnig tem ito ntri
tive ener.
Te ower brner starts at the ower openng of the stomach ad reaces
into te badder. It separates the cear om te trbid, drains waste, ad
trog its qi regates the ower nctions. As a reslt, te three brners sere
as passage ways conecng to trasportig ds and gover all dieret kinds
of q.
The key to maintaining te pysioogca nctio of the tree brners is
to cs on te Gate of Desny i the ower brner. The a receive primordi
a qi er and distribte it throgh the etire body, tereby sstaiig the nor-
ma pysiooca nctions of the organs.
thogh the nctions of te six viscera of albadder, stomach, sma
intestine, arge intestine, badder, ad te three brners are deret, the al
transrm water ad rai ad circate body ids. Cotrong the di gstio
and absorption of odsts, transporting and spreading te bod ids, ad
maang the disposa of bod waste reqires a precise dvsion of abor and
cose cooperatio among them.

Extraordinary Mansions
B
The brain is ocated in the sk, reacing up to the heaven canopy (at
the top of the head) and down to the Wind Mansion (Feg; GV1 6) point at
the back of te neck and near te beinning of the spina cord. The brain ot
ony connects directly to te medary ramen of the spine, bt aso has a
cose reationsip with te bone marrow Al marrow beongs to the bran,
 whic is wh it is aso caled te Ocean of Marrow The brain contros the
mbs and te body's exibity, the intelgence of the ears and eyes, as we as
al norma thinking activities If brain marrow is repete, the body is ght ad
ll of strength, capabe of doig hevy work. If brain tsse is decient, there
can be dizziness, tinnits, bndness, and overal ethar. The kides cose
reate to te brain, because they are te main reservoir of essence and generates
both bone and marrow, which match brain matter

Marow
350 / Chapter I SA

Five Fu Num- Eight Seven Five Nine Six

bers
10 Heaveny • 2 31 4" 5'and6' 7' d 8" < d 1
Stems
1 Earthly 3 1 ' 6" d ' 5th nd 1 1' 9 d 1 1• an 12
Branches 2 a 8'
Eght trigrams Thunder Fire Earth and Heavn and Water
and Wind Mountain Lake

The qi of the heart is called the vrmiion bird It travels along three aths
on the ont of the body ne ath llows the heart meridian, allowing it to
ow under the tongue, wher it tur into saiva From here it is swallowed
through the throat into the heart (reahing the heart organ) Inside the heart it
transrms through an oening: at ths oint it is called erct re Another
ath runs excess qi of the blood into te uer alate and lets it ow out on the
right side: this is known as sirit wate There are two substances that ow out
om the uer right alate, one origiating in the lungs, the other in the heart
Their avor is dierent but both o om the right side: it is imortant to
relish their taste
A yet dierent substance ows om the le side: this is called saliva If
the saliva in the mouth is articularly our, it belongs to the ver and has come
om there As long as the mouth is ur, the eyes wil shed tears: in this case,
steady the lver A these derent sells and avors indicate which oran you
need to wok on during ractice One the mouth els sour, the eyes wi start
to shed tears and the moment they do so, the iver is no longer actve Simiarly,
anything that ows out om under he tongue immeately aects the heart,
incatng that it is close to inactve nce the heart is iactive, the hands w
cram, and when that haens, they ill not oen even if you strike them So,
 when you notice uid arising under the tongue, make sure to immediately move
your ngers
In yet another route, the qi o the right side of the stomach ows u
into the ears This is called the circut f heaven If this moves u into the head,
it may lead to tnnitus, so make sur it goes into the kdneys. If kdney qi is
abundant, it may ow under the tonue and out the right side There are two
substances that ow out om the riht side, one orinatng in the lungs, the
other in the dneys

4.  of Fiv Pss nd Fiv Q

The ve hases in the body are the er, heart, sleen, lungs, and kdneys Mas-
ter Chonang said: Absorbing the ve phases means takng in the energ o
 Alignment of the Five Phases / 35 1

heart belongs to the south, its heavenly stems are b and d its phase is fre
The heart is the organ representing fre, and its q is called the vermiion bird.
The dneys belong to the north, teir heavenly stems are ren and gui, its phase
is  water. The kidneys are the orn representing water, and it q is caed the
D ak Warrior. The spleen belongs to the center, its heavenly stems are wu andj,
its phase is earth. The spleen is the organ representing earth, and its q is called
central yellow.
Essence produces q; q produces spirit; spirt and materal sous oscillate
on the right and le.

South
-�� 
 11
/ ,'-J"tr "� We
Eas
�
nirt So ·W t0i
g8  , w
15
i

tera! 1


•= "
. ,
.

/
T
Live

 Nr

The ancients said:

The spirit soul matches the east and resides in the liver.
It belongs to wood and emerges through the eyes.

Spit matches the south and resides in the heart.

It belongs to fre and manists at the tongue.
3 52 / Chapter I SA

Essence matches the north and resdes n the kdneys.

It belongs to water and opens through the eyes,

Qi matches the center and resdes n the spleen.

It belongs to earth and appears n the fur lmbs.

Essence, q, sprt, as well as sprt and materal souls frm the fdaon
o the myrad bengs. The myrad bengs depend on them to take brh; they
fllow them to transfrm. As all bengs transfrm through these frces, he
grow, but  they lack them, they declne. People o the world should not be
unaware o them. Thus people have certan classcal sayngs:

No q: he's a dead man.

No sprit: he's a fol, a sucker, or a lunatc.
No essence: he's s al and sckly.
No materal soul: he's defrmed and werd.
No sprit soul: he's lovesck ad melancholy.

l ths means tha you have to work on he ve phases n close parallel,
avodng any lopsdedness or devation. Make sure to y reaze he wondrous
meanng o her processes o generang, overcomng, and counter-restrcng
 Chapter Fieen B

Exp lanation of the Al ignment of the Five Phases

There are three modes of describing the generating cyce of the ve organs,
those commony used in traditiona Chinese medicine, Daoist medicine, and
shamanism. It is hard to say which one has it right. However, they a beieve
that the kidneys are generated rst, athough that does not match the cassica
order of the gnerang and controing cyce of the ve pases. There is an an
cient saying: As regards the activity of the ve organs, when they start to
move to dsperse the body uids and rms of q ve circuations and six qi
ben to appear." The route taken by the qi manifestations matches the meridi-
ans, and each organ has a parcuar ud that circuates aong this route in the
same way as descbed in Chese medcine.
The kidneys and badder are coectivey caed the kidneys in Daoist med-
icine. They aso ca kidneys" the compex that incude badder and kdneys
pus the reproducve orans, then cassi them as negave and positive. The
kidneys are posive, the badder is negative. Te badder is negative because
surpus essence om the kidneys ows ere, whic they discharge as iquid
waste. This estabishes them in a reationship of ord and minister. Daoists aso
say tat the kidneys generate q. They beieve tat wen the organs are rmed
in the mother's bey, te kidneys rm rst, rming the prenata root. So, you
want to protect te two kidneys and the ower abdomen at a cost.
Peope's metabosm is a continuous process of circuation to transr-
mation. For exampe, the ungs govern the distribuon of bood, and since they
have neither entrance nor exit, the body uids and iquids they metabolze de-
pending on the bood circuation to go paces. Thus we speak of body uids
and iquds. In addion, te ungs aso transrm q using a route of evapora-
tion. For ths , they use the meridan system. Wen te ungs vibrate (being con-
nuousy active), some of the qi and energy generated moves aong the meridi-
ans, whe the body uids and iquids ow aong with the bood. Any unwanted
bood is dscharged and ony good parts remain.
Ener owing inside te body ows te meridians, which resembe
vers and akes. They ow a over the body (as a three types of medicine
agree). The body uds and qus move mainy in the organs, and eac organ
connects wt anoter. e eer trasrmed om qi and qi itsef ow
358 I Chapter I SB

Proper uidin insrcions are very imporan in he pracice. ven if on-
y one person isens o hem, he moves propery om he badder o he ver,
b ohers may have a hard ime. When he rop insrucions have reached a
cerain pace, b yo are no here ye, he eacher has o wai r yo o ge
here, and by ha ime he enery of ohers may have moved on om he ver
o he hear. If yo are no synchronized wih he eacher, yo become a abi
iy; if he inerna and he exerna do no mach bi roube wi arise The man
reason why he inerna and he exerna do no mach is ha yo exhae o an
oran b hen rge abo i and no onger know where i is. This cases he
circuaon hrogh he ve orans o sop, and when here is no movemen,
here is no sound. Having neiher movemen nor sound, spiri of he vaey
does no die." I is ke he sond of eaves n in a monain vaey: being
unabe o hear is or oss .
The eaves prodce sound, even if hey oa down very sowy, mos
prominen by wiows and popars. If here is ony sience, yo wi suer, so
when pracicin he sien circaon of he ve phases, here ms be some
sond. This sond is he indcaion ha es yo kow he energy is movng
om oe oran o anoher (machin he inerna ve phases). These inea
ve phases, hen, work ogeher in eneraion, conro, and conerresricion
When he movemens of he inerna ve phases are synchronized, and
he circaion om one oran o he nex works we, we speak of shing
essence o ransrm q. The Huangdi n conains a secion of his e,
which is very shor and menons he mehod, b does no expan wha exac
y i is or how o do i. This is becase drin he era of he Yeow Emperor
his mehod was aready widey kown amon he Chinese peope, who used i
as a heah exercise. Ths he Yeow Emperor did no inqre abo he speci
ics of he mehod bu raher asked Qibo:

I have reached a prey good eve of secuivaion and can ve in har
mony wih nare, bu in my jrisdicion peope are s sick, so wha can
I do abo ha?" Qibo od him o se he mehods of machn he r
seasons, acpncre, moxibsion, and herba remedies o cure diseases

This shows ha, whie he Chinese have had persona mehods of cuva
in he sef and nrring inner nare r housands of years, shing essence
o ransrm qi has become a Daois secre. When he Huangdi neing was com
pied, acpncre, moxibson, and herba remedes were no sandardzed
and hs are dscssed exensivey. A ha ime, physicians aso discoered ha
if peope did no ow he rhyhms of nare, hey would deveop probems,
 Explanation of the Alignment / 359

peple have linked to the sounds prodced in the organs. When practicing te
silnt circulation of the ve phases, the must be sounds: they sre as indica-
tos that mark the movemnt of interal qi om one inner organ to the next.
Oce the ve organs begin to move, yu can enhance that movement articial-
ly s you make a sound matcng the ciculation: these are the ve pitches.
Chapter 1 of the Daod Jing speas of sometg "wondrous. The uni-
vese has created us, how subte and wndrous is that? But there was no sound.
Ws there realy no sound? Wen a bay is bo it "cries. en Daoists speak
of "wondrous, they mean very subtl. The ve sounds are also very subtle.
Wrkng with the ve changing sound� in the organs, if you use you oces of
bghtness, you will not be able to hea anything. But if you listen om the bel
ly bra, you will start to hear them. I the ve organs circulate automaticaly,
naturally opening and closing, they ca also shi essence to transrm qi om
oe organ to another and thus generat the ve sounds, convert qi into the ve
ids of medcine, create the ve aors, and causes the inteal ve qi to
mve toward the pre.
The brain in the head takes care of very few things, constantly changng
alng with all the various transrmaions. It is in ct quite coarse. Daoists
thnk this brain is rather naughty, onl wanting to gab good stu, so we have
to tain it to control itself and not moe other people's things. The abdomal
bain reles on understandng that coes om the inside; it notices what other
pople have and decides what you shuld or should not want. You w experi-
ece this in the organs. If the organs can move by opening and closing, they
cn also shi essence om one to anher, and since they each belong to some
rce, the abdominal brain does not want everything, but is rather civilzed.
Desiring only its own thigs, it does nt want the rest and wi elnate it.
Substances elminated in people are caed toxins; many things not eli-
nted are other organ substances. In aoist terms, what the organs generate are
a good thigs. Modern medcine sas that toxins are produced because the
e organs do not know how to op and close; unable to move, they stick
tgether. They cannot transr what eople want om one organ to another
Pacticing the silent circulation of the ve phases allows this transr to happen.
I you can move things among the ors, shiing essence to transrm i, they
l generate the ve avorsthe dcine of the internal ve phases. This
edcine manifests in the orices of ightness, so that when the silent circula-
n of the ve phases reaches the uth, some people develop a bitter taste
tat soon tus sou and also burst ino tears, indicating that the ve phases are
  aligment and the body has reache harmony with heaven and earth.
If the ve organs nction autmacay, naturay openg and closing,
360 I Chapter I S B

 ward the prme. At ths pont you can am r havng them ssue vapors su
taneousy.
 At ths tme, the ve organs are aready compete  and do not need a
ythng ese. Snce they contan a heaven and earth, to get them to ssue vapors,
 t s mportant to share ths substance wth other peope, transmttng t o
one bran to another bran (sprt). Master L sad, "Ths s somethng hard to
obtan: a tiny sprtua ight nsde. Sages see wth the bey and not the eyes,
and peope n genera have three eyes: two ordinary eyes and the Heaveny Eye.
If sages saw ony wth ther eyes, how woud you kow what s nsde? Yet
some paces even sages cannot see. We have to rst earn om them, come to
see ourseves ceary, and reaize that certan thngs are not ours.
en usng the externa to gude the nterna to activate the ve phases,
use pung, pushng, rotatng, pressng, and crcuatng rces. As you do ths,
 n a cases determne whch rce to use and how much to appy. When you st
 n medtain, pracce the ove beeen mother and chid and perrm a
movements propery. When your hands get to the badder, you may hve a e-
 ng n the iver. At ths time, when the water rses, your hands shoud stroke the
ver area. If your heart beat ncreases or becomes uncomrtabe, mmeatey
rase ver qi an ower heart re: this s the best way.
When praccng the crcuaton of the ve phases, the stomach can be
squeezed casuay and other organs can be pnched and graspe, but the heart
must never be pnched or grasped, ony pued sighty. Some peope ook at
ther hands as they pracce. Ths s wrong: you shou aways ook nsde. Also
note that durng the practice, the ungs and trachea do not have the same coor.
Stroke wthout a parcuar aigment an et t be natura, but e that
your hands ssue some kind of substance, whch can penetrate the esh an go
drecty to the organs. Aso, make sure your ntenton penetrates them. The
range of your strokes shoud match ts sze of the organ, coverng ts outer with
a speca cus on any ang areas.
The orces of brghtness each ce specc orans, so that steadying
them can cure many organ diseases. Steadyng the orns many nvoves
graspng, squeezng, puing, pushng, pressng, and stroking them. Stackng the
hans s one way of dong ths, appying the rce of both hands. Ths aso en
gages the merdians, aowng yn and yang to combe and become one.
If any organ s not heathy, rst pracce aigning t by tse, then crcate
the ve phases. The agment of the stomach and tesnes shoud be done
repeatedly, rangng om the esophagus to the anus, eadng to a eing of b e
 Explanation of the Alignment / 365

the kidneys become yin decient; if it needs yang q, they become yang de-
cient.
When the heart is aiing, usuay the iver is dominant, therere use liver
q to move the heart If you see the speen q is reduced, circuate the iver to
enance the speen: a this you earn through experience Wen your heart
does not e we, you can raise kidney water, because the kidneys contro the
heart If the heart q is decient, raise ver q to suppement it Sce the iver is
the mother of te heart, use it to nurture the heart
Wen you are stroking the badder, keep your pams ce down, since the
badder is squeezed by the egs whie sitting in meditaon If you do not pay
attenon to this, you might mstakeny stroke the ower abdomen So keep the
pams cing down, stroke the badder unti it is very hot: it is best when it is
burnng hot
During the pracice, if there is q stagnation, ts may ave to do wit te
controing cyce For exampe, the liver q wants to contro te speen  but if
te speen q is dominant, the iver q caot contro it Ths means, ere is qi
stagnaon in the iver Find out whether the iver yang is hyperacive or maybe
the speen q is dominant and abundant Once you know the correct cause, you
can take corresponding measures to sove te probem
Bere pracicing, if the chest is ight and you cannot breathe, adjust your
nose and breating Wen the organs circate in the controg cyce, we speak
of water and re assisg eac other You can transr kidney water into the
heart at wil, or you can move it through eey However, you have to return it
to the dneys om the heart and it is not easy to descent the eart ud For
ths, you need hep om the phase earth Earth is the husband of water and
manages it So, circuate re and move it into te Yeow Court, causing earth
to return The Yeow Court represents te eart position, wc is very ep
en practcing te sient circuaon of te ve phases, you cannot circu
 ate thngs blindy, move them around witout a purpose, or stroke, turn, push,
and pu without cear direcion en praccing accorg to te generag
cyce, start at the ower ed After te enery as accumuated and is reeased
n the ower ed, push it directly into the badder, then circuate it om there
a te way to the dneys The Q notes tat this process aso invoes
te correct understanding of te ve vrtues: benevoence, righteousness, pro-
prety, wisdom, and honesty Te rst step to reaize is not to expand tem
ouard but acvate them toward yourse. Are you benevoent and rghteous
toard yoursef as you pracice the sent circuaion of the ve phases? In ct,
366 / Chapter I SB

"the teache es to the discipe, and then the discipe gies the teache.
"Righteousness eans that you do not ae enough consideation o the ight
i, so once the badde (othe) qi is tnsfmed, you have to gie it to the
e (chid), but i you aise it instead to te heat that is impope.
"Wisdo eans to hae owede o othes and youse, whethe the
ogans need soething So, f exampe, what does you ie need? o asce-
tain thei needs, connuousy pactice okng inwad and inne obseation,
ook inside to see what they need his i the st wisdom, a way o fving
youse. "Honesty eans the secue weness o which inne ogan has what
need, and i any has a specia need to take a tte moe cae o it. You do not
need to pactice st. I you moe st, yu may ush past it. his is just a sim-
pe etapho. I you pactice the sient icuation o the ve phases we, it
does not ht no atte how ong you do it.
Duing the pactice o the sient ciuation o the ve phases, make sue
they a coopeate soothy. Ancient stes noted that it is o utmost im-
potance f the e phases to be in tua hamony. I they ae not in ha
ony, you egs wi hut he eason wh they might not be in hamony has to
do with thei utua oe: i you do not et them deeop utua ove and ty to
pactice, they wi not be in haony. ne they each hamony, anothe pob-
e is that they do not inteact popey ad i they do not inteact, the geneat-
ing cyce wi not anist his has nothing to do with whethe the qi has e-
tuned to the owe ed. I you can deeop heat in the body, you can tans-
f it into oina ener.
Once the thee eds ae sucient nked and stat to move, the uppe
ed can diectly each to the owe ed, and the owe ed can dectly each
to the uppe ed Essence, qi and spiit contained in the thee eds duy e
tu to the esidence o spiit Ae you recite a chant, you wi nd something
in the esidence o spiit that exits thogh the Cown Gate his pocess is
caed "the yang spiit eeges o the usk. Ae it exits, you must bing it
back and fcus it in the owe ed. I it appeas again, once moe fcus it in
the owe ed. he thing that goes out w not ony be known to you, but aso
to outsides, so at this tie you need to teat to a secet oom and avoid peo
pe seeing you The exting enegy aises om pacticing the sient ciculation o
the e phases I in you pactice spiit nd lie fce ae not sucient, noth
ing can exit In othe wods, the silent ciuation o the e phases is key.
Pactice the sient ciculation o the e phases eey single day, theeby
to incease you orina enegy. he e ons ae ea, and i you do not
make good use o the, you cause a geat loss f yousel
 Chapter Sixteen

Augmenting Yang Fire and Rd cing i n I  act

ugmenting yang re and reducing yin impact are o renement methods to
be practiced at the same stage, called derently by various ancestral teachers.
    Tatjinhua zon gi describe them as yng the gold crystal
om behind the elbows. It involves several traing methods, of whch aug-
menting yang re and reducing yin impact are the most common. The practce
divides into several steps, ying the gold crystal om behind the elbows and
circulating essence to supplement the brain. Augmenting yang re and reducing
yin impact represent a process of energy conversion, among others, alowing
the creation of elxir circulation based on jade and golden ud. Its dominant
appcaton, the one Patriarch Zhengyang described as the best, wors th
three vehcles or carts. We may have no cart yet, but we have a road and bere
 we can llow the road to perfect cltivation, we need to practice augmentng
yang re and reducing yin impact.
The practice has been transmitted secretly in the Daoist traditon. To re-
ne an internal elixir and concoct an elxr in the body, you must practice it
carely. If you only guide qi through the heavenly circut, the ener in the
body wl not transrm. While there is an immedate change in q, eventualy it
 wi no longer be there, which means that you cannot concoct an elir, since it
depends on cosmic qi transrming into ud. First by transf rming it into id
and then into a sold state, can you create an eixir.
Augmenting yang re and reducing yin impact comes in to ways, serng
to derent inds of people in their preparation r alchemy. The rst is r
ordnary people. Once you have gathered the stem qi in the ower eld, inhale
and cus it inside the ower eld (being highly determined and with some
rce); as you exhale, push it om the lower ed into the openng of lfe and
death (in ont of the ifedeath point ocated on the pevic oor beteen the
anus and the ont getals)
Regardess of your gender, place it a bit ahead of the Ziwu lne. From here,
men, push it into the vas deferens and urethra areas. Inhae and use the con-
scious spirt our toughts and intenion) to guide perfect qi up aong the spie,
pung it om the sacrm to the Upper Narrows (behind heart) and the Jade
Pow (back of e hea. o your eyes upward, so e qi can reach Hundred
Meetng at e top o te ea. s you exhae, de t om the Crown Gate
390 I Ch
Chap
apte
terr 1 9

In ordinar people, the rhythm of the meridians and internal organs is not
standardized but diers om person to person and within the individual Nor
does it match the rhythm of heaven. For example, the mao hour (57 am.) is
 when the lver is active
active At this time, guide the qi through the ver meridian
But only very w people get the liver meridian to ow when the liver is activ e. e.
Most people either rush ahead or ll behind That is to say, around midnght,
in them the kidneys and their meridians have already completed their qi trans
rmaion and their qi starts to ow om them to other internal organs Ths is
they are rushing ahead Traditional Chinese medicine calls this syndrome a re-
lease of an excessive amount of yang People who have it tend to be impatient
and irritable, since the energy ow in their meridians and internal organs is
ahead of time and does not match the rhythm of heaven If the meridians lag
behind, moreover, the internal organs do so as well. People with this condition
tend to be inactive, pessimistic and ilng. Pracice can change this situation If
the qi rushes ahead, try to pull it back when you sit at midnight, stabilzing it
 with inner obseation.
obseation.
The method relies on the ct that the dneys are more acive during
midnght, but make sure to also look whether the liver or heart, the spleen or
stomach are acive As long as there is aciviy, you can tell whether it is ahead
or delayed If it is ahead, nd a way to make it stop, keep the breathing steady
and slow down, let it be late and pull it back If it is delayed, keep the breathing
ster so it can catch up quicy. The breathing here is not breathing through
the nose andand mouth, but internal (Hold the breath and see if you can use the
intal qi to activate the lower eld.) Let the internal qi push the internal or
gans to get active, then quickly guide it upward, leting it move slowly, then pull
it back If you cannot see the internal organs, it is hard; if you cannot tell the
spaces apart, it is very dicult.
In the human body, the kidneys generate qi around midnight. Raise this qi
up and within two hours transrm all of it This is caed the unity of heaven
and humanity Midnight practice comes with a complete set of methods that
Daoists rarely share with others and that work in accordance with the ring
process sigaled by the twelve systematic hexagrams that match the twelve
doublehours Among the hexagrams, midnght consists of one yang lne at the
bottom plus ve yin lnes at the top. At this time, do not activate q.  At the end
the  hai hour (911 pm), enery is born into the Fu hexagram, which consists of
all yin lines, clearly showing that the yang qi is gone
It takes ordinary people a long ime to make the transition and to avoid
missing the key moment when yang qi rst arises, it is best to prepare r mid-
nght pracice early, toward the end of the  hai hour. That is, start medtaing
 Midnight Practice / 391

et t rse up but not above the heart As you nhale agan and gude t down
beyond the navel, let t reach the lower eld and cus t n the lower abdomen.
 As you exhale, release t. n your next inhale, as the qi snks down beyond the
navel and reaches the lower eld, strongly cus t in the lower abdomen and
noce how t starts to be acte.
 At this time, hold the breath r a moment, then guide t again. During
the midnigh
midnightt hour,
hour, om 1 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.,
a.m ., t will move about spontan
spontaneously
eously
and there is no need to siently circulate it through the e phases. To conclude
crcate it back to the Heaeny Net, owing t up through the Conception and
Goeng Vessels. If you feel strong desire, vert the enery ow. If you can
not divert it, guide t all over agan.
Midnight practice centers on ndng one drop of perct yang. The rst
step s to nd this in the Meeting Yin point area: this is easy. Practce loong
inside and inner obseation, moving don bit by bit un you reach the bot-
tom, hen again look up at the top of the head as you iale and raise e i
upward. Stting at midnight is not the same as midght practice. If you just sit
at mdnight as usual, it does not make any derence, because it is just regular
practice. Mdght practce is a special  of sttng at mdnight, which cen-
ters on raising one drop of perct yang om the Meeting Yin point area into
the lower eld.
The Meeng Yin point is the area of greatest yin in the body. If you raise
it up, you access yang within yin. One drop of perct yang here means he tny
amount of perct yang extracted om the Meeting Yin point at the bottom of
the pelvic oor as it s moved up nto the lower eld. Various works on healng
exercises assert that the Meetg Yin area is the lowest point, bottom most part
and extreme yin spot of the body. There is one drop of perct yang, but you
hae to raise it up to the lower eld and nourish it. So, sitting at miight, mid-
night practice and working with lving midnight enery have dierent connota-
ions: their culvation and renement methods are not the same.
 Chapter Twenty

Essential
Essential Method
Methodss of Women's
ome n's Alchemy
A lchemy

"Es sentiall Methods of Women's Alchemy i s the title of a text, the dan xn.
"Essentia
It describes Daoist methods of internal cultivation r women as transmitted
by mysel,
mysel, the 1 8 th generation Dragon Gate mas ter Wang Lping. A secret sec ret Dao-
ist practice r women, this appears as an important impo rtant part in the Nng shu, rep
resenting the middle
middle and upper
u pper vehicle of women's
wome n's cultivat
cultivation
ion.. The rst
r st part of
the text comes om the I  its second par s back to e Tafijhua Tafijhua
zoi. Both combine to rm this work. Aer the publcation of the Inao
b, the cutivation of internal alchemy was rmally organized into lneages,
notably of Daoist monks. It has a long history, transmitted to the present day
in dierent
dierent doments.
In addti
addtion,
on, there
there are
ar e also books
b ooks record
recording
ing the works
works of Daoist
Daoi st nuns, i n
clung notably Cao Wenyi's Lnuan o ge (Song of the Great Dao of the
Nmnos Source), Sun Bu'er's Ya1un u (Goddess Lectures), o  n en
c'i (Poems on Women's Internal chem and n zheue (Secrets of
Women's
omen 's Alchemy),
Alchemy), about
a bout ten works
work s in all.
The complete cultivation methods r women are unique and hard to nd.
Modern texts lke the Xn u n n u e shize en Principles on the Right
Way of Women's Cultivation by the Queen Mother of the West) and the n
Jj shi
sh i n zong shuaxu ba ba (Patriarch Li Niwan's Precious Raft r Wome n's
Dual Cultiva
Cultivatio
tion)
n),, although
although based on the N orthern School of Daoism and con
taining a w methods, are incomplete. They do not oer clear explanations
and direct guidance of a teaher, so that people do not know where to start or
how toto practice.
Most commonly, in society today some methods are transmitted that
claim to be good r both men and women, without makng any dstinctions.
In ct, they only know men's practies and have no lue about what women
should do. If women pratice in this manner over a long period time, they may
very wel do harm to the body, whih has led to issues that have aroused con
cern among knowledgeale people. The essential methods r women ultivat
ing perfection, although transmitted r millennia has een lost almost entirely
today. Now, however, we can make it public r the whole world to see. This is
a great
great lessing
less ing r women's cultivacultivation
tion,, siniing
siniing a ma or event in Daoist ul
ture.
 Essential
Essential M ethods of
of Women's Alchemy / 39 3

 Although the Ndan xnf is a classic of culvating Dao, it also apples to

modern life. Theories and practical experiences of the ancients can be wel in-
tegrated into modern li. As they practice, people today can increasingly un-
derstand the relationship and mysteries between the human body and nature,
expand the ll development and use of the body's hidden potential and see
the harmony of human society and the progress of hman civiization.
I taught ths method to a group of ve people in Dalan, June 20 to July
1 0, 2003. The ve participants
participants feel that they beneted
beneted so much that they are
not wing to keep the technique to temselves. Rather, they impart te con-
tents of this teaching with anyone on the same path. (For a complete content
of the   please see se e the ocial
oci al publca
pub lcation
tion.).)
Their presentaon,
presentaon, then, consists
consists of ve combined
combine d essays,
essays, created troh
troh
the cooperaon of ve coauthors, wo each have been praccing r over ten
years, with deep comment to Daoist methods and cture. They include e
lowng male disciples:

Z 

The original work as contained in the I.ngbao bi presents methods o

 women's
 wome n's cultivation. Once a women
wome n has
h as completed the rst three
thre e steps
st eps of at-
tracng immortalty, the way of attainng wisdom and potential, and the rst
three steps of the practice of the Three Immortals, she can start to practice
 women's alchemy, the great method ofo f cutivating perction, a unque trainng
r women. The work involves ten methods and proceeds in urteen steps.

1. Obseing the heartandmind through the mother of metal

2. Repairing the channels
3. Decapitating the red dragon
4. Reversing the menstrual ow
5. (Sexual) cultivation accordng to the Plain Woman
6. Massang the breasts to recover youth
7A. Setting up the cauldron and developing the emb ro
7B. Creating the liquid and concocting the elxir
8. Silently practicing emb ro respiration
3 94 / Chpe 20

Obsrving t
t H art
art-a
-ann d-M i n d troug t
t Motr of Mtal
Mtal
Te and gesture r tis involves aving both hands raised up, keeping te
Labor Palace (Laogong, PC8) point in te center of te palm cing Mil Flo
(Ruxi, CV17) in te midde of te cest. Te arms and ands seem to be old
ing a bal; soulders, elbows, wrists, and ngers are relaxedte more relaxed
and te looser te better. Idealy relax tem witout exerting any rce, even
into te armpit.
During practice, intention sould be cused on te Milk Flow point, lo
cated beteen te nipples, wic is a critical energy center r women's cutiva
tion. Women belong to te principle of eart, rming part of yin. Tus, wle
men cultivate i,  women cultivate blood. Al male practice
pra ctice as its undation
undatio n in
te Ocean of Qi, i.e., te lower eld; all female practices centers on te Ocean
of Blood, i e., the Milk Flow point, also known as te upper cauldron, one of
tree caudrons important in women's cutivaion of perction. Te main en
er center r women's practice, it is always called Milk Flow in works on in
ternal
terna l alcemy,
alcemy, alternativel
alternativelyy named te upper cauldron
cauldron
To obsee te eartandmind troug te moter of metal, you must be
digent and care, making sure spirt and te lfe rce are united. If tey are
separate and te l rce ees, you meditate in vain, unable to feel any sensa
on within. Tis is tis ey to success and skll pracce, best undertaen
at nigt wen tere is no sound. Tis section presents te undation of te
essential cutivation of women's alcemy. I al starts ere, wether women
rene te rm and body, enance te uterus, control te pelvis, or opens te
Coeption Vessel.
To start, rst ly understand te pysiological structure of te uman
body Ten, wen sitting in meditaion, bein by tinng about te breasts, the
Milk Flow point, te lower eld, the navel, the large cauldron, te to valleys,
as wel as oter parts, ten sart te actual practice.

Step One
Just as in te practice of calming spirit at te Ancestral Opening, move
te intention into te lower eld and see wat oes on tere. Wen there is
movement in te lower eld, turn bot palms up, use te external to ude te
internal, exale and raise the qi om te lower eld into te Mik Flow point.
Next, turn te palms inward, pul tem toward te body and inale, maing te
hand esture of observing te eartandmind troug te mother of metal.
Again adjust our body and posture, making sure tat shoulders, arms, elbows ,
 wrists, and ngers are relaxed, w ie. Observng te heart-
relaxed, ten sit quietly r a wie.
andmind trough te moter of meal entails al intenton being on te M
 Essenti
Essential
al M ethods
thods of Women's Alchemy / 39 5

en these aeas are cold, hot, bloated, o agitated, exhale and gently
pess you hands inwad. nce they get close to the Milk Flow point, tun you
palms down, inhale and push the qi down om the Milk Flow aea into the
lwe eld. Next, turn the pals up, exhale and aise the qi om the lowe eld
into the Milk Flow area. Keep on doing this, mving om Milk Flow to the
lower eld and back. Repeat r 3, 6, 1, 24, o 36 times, depending on what
goes on withn.
en pushing the qi down om the Milk Flow point to the lower eld
and aising it up again, as you keep raising and pusing down, if you el vey
comtable, the big caudon of the uteus o the ont genital may become
noticeable. In that case, immeately turn the pals down, inhale and push the
qi down om the Mik Flow point into the lower eld. Next cus i the lower
abdomen, cus al ce in the lower eld, iale agn and move the i down
om the lowe eld into the big caudron. Contract the lowe abdomen once
moe and cus l ce on the big caudon (Note: Contact the lowe abdo-
men ice.) Next, turn the palms up, exale and aise the i om te big caul
dron into the lower eld whie releasing al ce and tension om it. Exhae
again, ising qi into the k Fl point. In othe wods, qi moves om the
lk Flow point into the lowe eld and om tee into the big caudron; then
it moves om the big caudron into the lower eld and om there back into
the Mk Flow eld Repeat 3, 6, 1, 4, or 36 mes, depending on what goes
on within.
Lasty, etu to the Mk Flow point, tn the palms iad and move
them away om the body. Inhale and m the hand gestue of obseing the
heatandmind though the mothe of metal. Agin adjust you postue, mak-
ing sue the shoudes, ams, elbows, wists, and nges ae elaxed. Sit quietly
r a wie.
Now, rm the hand gestue of obseg the heatandmind though the
mothe of meta and continue with enig the merians. To concentate your
eots, exhale and exe inwad pressue. Wen you get close to the Mik Flow
point, tu the palms down, inhae and push te qi down om the k Flow
point into the lowe eld. Let both hands m the hand gesture of heaven,
earth, and humaty, sit quetly in meditation and cleanse the body. Neve mind
 where the qi goes in the body, neve mind whethe the body is cold or hot, just
do not move. As you sit like this  a whie, you can ente into a state tat els
quite comrtable. If you feel sleepy dung the meditation, just go to bed.
There is no need to conclude the pactice maly, just going to sleep is ne.

Ste
St ep Two
396 / Chapter 20

as you senty crcuate the ve phases, rase the qi om the bg caudron nto
the ower ed, then push t om there nto the baddr and start crcuatng. As
you actvate to transrm the ve phases, the qi of the heart does not go nto
speen and stomach, but moves om the Mk Fow area nto the ungs. Ths
ths s the method of usng re pressure to crculate meta, steang derent
aspects of husband and w. Some aso ca t coectng the smal medcne and
seang the stove; yet others say t s extendng  and returnng to the source.
Ether way, t s the key to cutvaton and renement r women.
Ths step partcuary emphaszes to use the hee to press aganst the 
area or use a towe to sea the ower three n orces. Ether method sees to
sea the "two wngs of the ron gate.
If the ower ed does not have any sensatons, sowy and gently rase
both hands, turn the pams up, exhae and rase the qi om the ower ed nto
the Mk Fow area. Then, turn the pams toward the body, pu them away and
nhae. Next, rm the hand gesture of obseng the heartand-mnd through
the mother of meta and st n quet medtaton r a whe. Agan adjust your
posture, makng sure that shouders, arms, ebows, wrsts, and ngers are re
axed Exhae, genty press both hands n. Wen they are cose to the Mk Fow
pont, turn the pams down, nhae and move the qi om here nto the ower
ed as you sghtly cus n the ower abdomen. Turn the pams up, exhae and
rase the  om the ower ed nto the Mk Fow area. Move t back and rth:
om Mk Fow to ower ed, om ower ed to Mk Fow. Repeat 3, 6, 12,
24, or 36 tmes.
Lasty, move the qi om the ower ed nto the Mk Fow area and hod
the ntentn there r a short whe. Turn he pams down, exhae and push he
qi down om the k Fow area nto the ower ed whe sghly contracting
the ower abdomen. Next, nhae and move the qi nto the bg caudron. Once t
s there, pace your hands at the root of the thghs on the hp and exerts pres
sure on the two merdans there as you e the breath n the bg cauldron area
(exhae). Inhae and et ur ngers of each hand sowy move up, rasng the qi
om the bg caudron nto the ower ed. Exhae, keepng the thumbs of each
hand pontng down and push the qi down om the ower ed nto the bg
cauldron. Keep t movng: om he bg caudron nto the ower ed, the ow er er
ed nto the bg caudron. Repeat 3, 6, 12, 24, or 36 tmes.
 Aer ths, start to crculate the qi through the orgns assocated wth the
ve phases. Pace both hands on top of each other at the bg cauldron, nhae
and rase the qi om the bg caudron nto the ower ed. Exhae and push t
down om the ower ed nto the badder n a smooth moton Pu t nto the
badder and move t rward as you nhae, then press n and exhae. Inhae and
 Essential
Essential M ethods
thods of Women's Achemy / 39 7

move the q i om the heart to the Milk Flow point and om there into the
lungs. Your hands move swily, lookng like a pair of swallows about to y o,
passing over the lungs and breasts in a smooth motion.
Throughout, it is important that you keep your back straight, elbows
raised above the shoulders, raised up but not too high. Also, arms and elbows
should be as r back as possible, contracting the back, the scapuae together.
This is known as "two swallows yng, re pressure circuates metal, stealing
dierent aspects of husband and wife Next, exhale and push the qi down om
the lungs into the kidneys in a smooth motion. Pull it into the kidneys and
move it ard as you inhale, then press in and exhale From here, push the 
down om the dneys into the bladder in a smooth moon Pull it into the
bladder and move it ard as you inhale, hen press in and exhale From the
bladder, the qi moves again into liver, heat, lungs, kdneys and once more re-
turns to the bladder This is one cycle Repeat 3, 6, 12, 24, or 36 mes
 At this me, your hands shoud be on top of each oher coverg the
bladder Inhale and raise the qi om the bladder into the lower eld Exhae
and push it down om there into the big cauldron Both hands stop at the root
of the thighs on the hip and exerts pressure on the o meridans here Inhale
and have ur ngers of each hand slowly move up, as you raise the qi om the
big caudron into the lower eld. Exhale and let the thumbs of each hand slow-
ly move down, as you push the i dwn om the lower eld into the big caul-
dron Move it om the big cauldron into the lower eld and om the lower
eld into the big caudron. Repeat 3, 6, 12, 24, or 36 mes.
Hold both hands on top of each other at the big caudron and cus the
breath here (inhale). Turn the palms up, exhale and raise the qi om the big
cauldron into the Mik Flow area Turn the palms inward and push them r-
 ward inhalg, then rm the hand gesture of obseingobseing the heartandmnd
through the mother of metal. Again adjust your posture to make sure shoulders,
arms, elbows, wrists, and ngers are relaxed Sit quietly i metation r a
 whie
 At this point, everyone will have sensations. From here,
h ere, continue with the
momentum, rening meridans and using other methods To conclude, exhale,
inhale to press both hands ward and exhale again As you get close to the
k Flow area, turn the pams down and inhale into the lower eld. Form the
hand gesture of heaven, earth, and humanty. Sit quietly in medtation and
cleanse the body Continue the cleansing as long as you can, the longer the bet-
ter Tis concludes the pracce. Once you have mastered this method, your
 wisdom, memoy
memoy and
a nd inteigence wil improve
improve geatly.
geatly. You wl be able to dis-
cminate numerous things, your eyes bright and piercing This completes the
 Cha p ter Twenty-One

The Practice of the Th ree Immortals

The   contains a prece by Zhong Quan. He says,

Dao cannot be explained or transmitted, named or recorded. Despite this,

ever sinc high antiquity there have been quite a w who ascended to
immortality and attained Dao. In my wi, I bowed down to wise ref
thers and in my heart embraced the Great Dao. Without meaning to do so,
I came to raise swords and got involved with the mitary: the times were
dangerous, and the world was in disorder.
Eventualy I had to ee r my lfe, obscuring my traces among riv
ers, lakes, cls, an valeys. Once I was r enough away, I began to un
derstand my inner nature and rested my heart, dedicating myself solely to
clarity and purity, the invisible and inaudible. I read through numerous
scriptures on elixirs, continuously asked advice om my iends in Dao
and pursued the minute details of how to stop words and nourish life, the
great, inexplcable Dao of perct immortalty.
en I lived in a rocky cave in the Zhongnan mountains, I received
thirty scros of Numinous Treasure scriptures in revelation]. Their rst
secon, entiled n 'o shu (Book of Golden Declarations), was presented
by the Heavenly Venerable o Primordial Beginning; their middle secion,
caled Yushu lu (Records Written in Jade), was narrated by the Primordial
Emperor [ord of the Dao]; their last section, named Zhenuanyi (Expla
nation of the Source of Perction), was transmitted by the Highest Lord
[ao]. Altogether, they consisted of several thousand words.
I put on my clothes bere dawn and ate aer dusk i.e., worked i
gently], al the whe pondering them widely and reecting on them in
great depth. Eventually I came to realze that there is yang within y and
yin within yang, which represents the basic order of the up and down
movement of heaven and earth; that energy generates water and water
generates energy, which represents the principle of the muual interaction
of heart and dneys. They are expressed in concrete things and images,
showing that Dao that is never r om humanity.
Mating and harmonizing them in the rhythm of the heavenly stems
like jia and gen , I came to experience the stanard of the olden elixir; re-
 The Practice of the Three Immortals / 399

ducing and enhancing them based on the pattern of the earthl branches
ke mao and you, I owed the natural ring process without il. Pene
trang the bottom with red lead and black mercur I iled to complete
the geat medcine, but when I guided te golden and jade uids to the
top, I nlly achieved elir circulation.
Moving [the q om nonbeing into being, I constantly maintained
the heart of a valant warrior; raising it om bottom to top, I gadualy en-
tered the real of te invsible and inaudble. Reducing lead and increas-
ing mercur, I managed to dssolve te o and eight yin; renewg my
bones and renng my physical rm, I made the three and nne yang
gow ta. I dscerned whether the water source was clear or turbid at te
time I practiced  immersion; I recognzed wheter the inner scenery
 was perct or eeting on the days I sat in oblvion.
I und the obscure instructions of the mysterious pivot ard to ex
press in physical rm and written wors, yet I was able to use te won
drous principles of Numinous Treasure to enter the rans of the sages
and transcend the ordnary. Presening te cobined etods of e
Three Vehicles, I ca this wor Ingbao bi, ''Te Conclusive Methods of
Numinous Treasure." These sagely words of te great Dao I dare not
keep to myself oy, but transmt to my dsciple L Dongbin. ay e not
keep secrets in completing Dao, but and it down to adepts of genera-
tions to come.
Respecty submitted by Zonl Quan, courtesy name Yunng,
Percted of Upright Yang.

The practice of the Three Immortals, then, represents the trainng method
of the I.!a  L Dongbin passed it on to Wang Chongang, who in turn
gave it to Qiu Chuji. Master Congyang renamed it as und in the .gb 
method and called it the practice of the Tree Immortals. The entire system is
part of the Dragon Gate eage, wich descends om the Five Northern Pa-
triarchs of Complete Percion.
Through this traing the uman body is united with the heaveny body
and the postnatal is combined with the prenatal. It ivides into three vehcles,
ten methods and rtyve secons. Each section shod be practiced in the
proper order: retreat to wallgazing r nne years, complete it in the tenth year,
owed by inteal cleansing r two years. The pracice of the Three Immor-
tals includes the levels of human, earthly, and eaveny immortals.
Human immortal practice uses the body as a rnace, qi as the key inge-
dient, the heartandmind as re and the keys as water. The process works
400 I Chapter 2 1

r treasure and y hih throuh the air to aze at the moon, reaty unitin yin
and yan.
Heaveny immorta practce uses spirit as rnace, inner nature as the key
inredient, wisdom as re and the body as water. It means maintainin the nne
paaces as indestructibe, Qian and Kun [heaven and earth] constany trans-
muin and humanity and heaven transrmin toether.
e J�  contains a concrete ouine of Daoist cuivaion practices.
Its sube and compex techniques have to be taught by a knowedeabe master
in ora transmission. More specicaly, the methods that rm the practice of
the Three Immortas consist of the owing.
The esser vehice consists of ur methods that brin peace and happi
ness as wel as an extension of . They are the immortaty practice on the
human eve.

I. Pairin n and an

1. Exchane yin and yanYinyan emb ro respiraion
2. Pair yin and yanPerfect embro respiration
3. Circuate yin and yanoin the trirams Kan and Li

II. Coaain and dsersin water and re

1. Harbor perfect qi in great Oneness
2. Lesser renement of the physica rm
3. Heaveny ad and heaveny grandmother

III. Man of dran and igr

1. Coect, repair, and circuate the exir
2. Nurture the immorta embro
3. Harmonize water and re
4. See the meeing of perfect husband and wi
5. Let qi interact, while the rm stays stabe

IV. Concocion and renement of the exir

1. The ring process
2. The smal heaveny circuit
3. The ring process of the heavenly circut
4. Concentrate spirit and nurture qi
5. Concentrate qi and nurture spirit
6. Rene yan and nurture spirit
404 I Glossar

tansitte o inheite n cosmic. These thee ae not e; they can con-
vert into ech othe.
Color § Se  Colo si es the outemost laye appaent in people's
copleon ppernce an countenance. The elationship between spiit and
 anists in the i, oen escibe in tes of being sucient or insu-
cient. Howeve this quaty of q is not what you think but appeas in a halo
aoun the boy. Everyone is aware of this, but only w people can see its colos
(aua).
Conscious Spirit J $ Shshn  Conscious spirit is unestood in a
straighta anner by al teaches an patriarchs. It plays only a minor ole 
oving about in the wolly sphere, atching tie n space going along with
oos an tepeaments. It anists n the seven emoions nd s esies. It
can ove both outsie an within the boy, can be at top o bottom an can
eteine the tack of sun n moon. It manists ost intensely t the sense
oos (eye ears nose n outh) known as the " gteways (spiit openings).
Cosmic Energy  _ Yuzo nng  Enegy of the three higher
eals of univese, ime an space. Human beings gain thei enery om the
univese ene in Daois as any place that occupies space.
oc Q * Q  The q of natue and heaven of the source an on
of all. Foless it oes not low egular pattens an has no ed path of
oveent. Eveyone (inclung copses an cemains) inhales an exhales ths
q of the unvese atching the espiration of natue.
Crescent Moon Stove     te l  Another name r the lower
el locate between navel an kneys.
Crown Gate  D1  the eit gate on the broken lne locate d-
ectly above a e N at e p of e h.
Destiny-Cultivation Line {� M Xng n  This is the connect-
ing lne between the Ocean of Q an the sacrum locate 1 .21 .5 nches below
the navel.
Destin-Protection Line j  Baomng xdn  Ths beins at the navel
an passes though the center of the boy to the Gate of Li.
Earthly Branches  57.m. 9P Mo 1 1a..  1p.m.  W, 57p.m. @
Yu, 1 1p.m.  1a.m. r Zi. The eath completes one otaion in one ay. The
huan boy atches the earth making it possible to cultivate yin and yan g,
 wate an re an open the he t as it passes  e  7 m.) 
you ho 57 p.).
Earth Cauldron ±* Tuf  Alnother name r the mile el.
Elixir  Da  Liteally cinnabar; the meicine that one pouces aer
 Glossar / 405

  E W  A theory of traditoal Cha that dscrbes

the terreatoshp betwee ve es of q: wood, re, earth, metal, ad wa-
ter. I the cotext of teral alchemy, t descrbes the terrelatoshp be-
twee the ve orgas: lver, heart, splee, lugs, ad kdeys.
 Qi f Qi -A gas dscharged om the body. It has lght ad heat, just
like the bod's eer ow wth ts partcles. People ca see t whe it s s
charged; t ca also be emtted tetioall to produce a electromagec
wave, which i tu rms a magetc eld eecve  healig.
  �5 Huac  Aoterh ame r the lower eld
    Additioal traslaos are to receive, collect, or cotract.
This is used i seteces such as cus the mid, heart, body, ad spirit gt.
The idea is to use a magnetic quaty of pullig i toward te dde, suc as i
compressio. For example, cusing te mind means to ater in all te mind
cosciousess om outside to side. Te rce tat romotes te moement
uses inteto ad very little cocetraion. Movng om outside to inside us
ig a magneic rce that exists iside te uma body is an experential expla-
atio.
   - That wich is beee Dao and matter. It is ot te body
but is a vessel r spirit and essence to reside it. It is not a rciple but takes
shape ad emerges om being. Form decas oer li. One can nouris rm
to ree essence. It is one of te transrmaion om i to rm to matter. 1
  L  I immortali racice, te body is te rnace; o te
level of immortay of eae and earth, sirit is te rnace. t is a space
were heat is geerated using wind om te outside. Tere are ma ways to
set u te rnace, r examle, b rst mang sure te ground is at and even,
ten erect an alcemical race wt eigt oenings.
  y  Men  lso known as te Gate of i at acu
uncture oint DU4.
 Bg 3  Jnido  Also nown as te U er Magie rdge,
tis is located underneat te sace beeen te eebrows and aboe te alate
in te mout. Inside te nostrils, tere are wo oengs tat are idden ad
secret. One is em, te oter is l. Te  or strong oen leads to e
road of internal i culaion, wie at te oter ener eas leas out.
 S  Unxdn   term tat refers to te uer and
lower caes (cranial ca and abdomen) and comes o racces in te
Xuzhn t related to lunar ases.
    an mean eiter te sical ora or te
ind.  te Shouwnj, a 2nd centu Han dicoa, e caracter loos e
406 / Glossar

Heavenly Gate : idnmn  At the topmost part of the broken lne,
the acupuncture point Sntn DU24, three inches above the Niwan. Ths area
is also known as the inner nature area or the area of lfe rce. Found and es-
tablished in the upper elxir eld, it opens upward to rm a gateway to heaven.
Heaveny Eye  § idnm  Located between the eyebrows, also
known as the thrd eye. The Heavenly Eye looks like a single entit, but in ct
it has three openings. rinally known as the Heavenly Heart, its name was
changed by the immortal L. It closely matches the heavenly bodies of sun,
moon, and stars. ld texts on secret elixir methods commonly represent it with
three dots.
Heaven Nature : idnxng  Tbe innate qualities or temperament a
person is born with.
Heavenly Net : idngdng - The heaveny bodies in the sky. The sun
and moon are the le and right eyes, while the stars refer to the Northern Dip
per, also known as the Heavenly Net and the Heavenly Stems.
Hundred Meeting B� Baiu -he acupuncture point DU20 at the top
of the head.
Inner Nature    One's true being, including the smal conscious
ness one lves in. It is the timeless qualt that does not change, the orignal
mind or heart.
Inner Nature Line  Xngn  This connects the Heaveny Eye at
the eyebrows with the Jade Pilow in the back of the head. Its openng leads
outside, but the eye is within and heaven rms its internal structure.
Intention    Also translated using words like thought and idea
When using the intention to initiate an operation, you are using the mind but
not with too much power, which would lead to grasping. It is a nction of the
mind only. Typicaly people's intention is not concentrated. They cannot un
their breathing, walking, and thinking into oneness. Their mind, spirit, intention,
and qi within the body universe cannot maintain integrated unty and are not
aliged in harmony. The interchange of cosmic and stem qi between their body
and the heavey unverse does not llow any rules. Spirit or qi have neither
shape nor intention. Thus, we say that their mind is scattered and their spirt r
o, the qi of their body universe keeps going out and tends to stay separate.
You can uitlly apply your mind, spirit, qi, and intention so your body and
 418 / Glossar
spleen,67-68,113-14,136,153,159-60,
165,195,199,202,210,214-15,282,
32831, 33440,343-51,356-57,361-
65,377,390,396,405
standing practice, 15254
sun and moon,24-26,32-33,49,54-55,
96-97,134-35,162,167-68,173,200,
230,247,252,27071,274,276,280,
296-97,302,308,315,317,404,406
Sun Bu'er,11,14-15,392
Sun Xuanqing,11
Sun.Jin 25
Taiji diagram,48,108,137,145,168,182,
185,238,291,325,354,363,372
Tail Gate, 29
Txa lngshun, 6
ayjnhua zongzh, 9,15,18,2324,28,32,
45,50,5357,62,96-97,176,188,204,
224-i225,230,238,239,252-325,356,
367-68,388,392,409
TanChuduan,11,1415
TanChuxuan,1
ang udan, 6
Tao Hongjig,10
aochuan afn, 80
Taohua yuan,80
teachers,16,4041,52,185,38286
three barriers,29,31,36,177,370
three centers, 47,6366,69,71,74,77,81,
82,10911,224,246
three eneres,39, 4247,87,99,239,403
three elds,33,62,73,177,192,277,299,
303,366,368,378,388
Three Immortals,18-25,11314,178,181-
83,193-95,199,22021,249,251,354,
393,398400,410
three spaces, 61-62,65,72,106,236-37,
240,254,256,291
ThreeWorlds,2,7, 17,54,57,87,307
time:20,26, 35,43,69,72,107,123,164
65,16970,175,194,197,302,32628,
. 355,370,372,388,391,407;mao hour,
20,35,69,162,164,168,195,300,
325,354,355,369,390,399,405; z
hour,69,93,94,121,164,243,354,
Twelvestoried Tower,34,36,117,178,
212-13,224,259,299,301,326,379,
410
upper eld,31,65,76,226,230,276,294,
299,305-06,323,366,408,411
Upper Narrows,29,30,33,36770,410
11
upper palate, 30, 34, 36, 12329, 137,143,
148-52,155-59,165, 170-71,177,184,
18890,202,209,224-25,253,260,
26869,285,348,350,364,368,374,
407
upper space,58, 7273,190,192,234,238,
273
vehicles,12,2729,103,120,13435,152,
162,175,18081,367,399
vessels:20,25-26,29,35-37,64,83,100,
14751,173,226,244,301,337,343
46,355,389,407;Conception,Gov
ernng:20,24, 36-37,121,150,15658,
160,167,19192,212,235,292,345,
36869,391,407,409;extraordinay,
35- 36,100,147,301,355; opening of,
148-52
vision:inward,53,7173,204,224-69,
276-94,306,314,333-35,374;reverse,
27,78,167,174,184,20518
Wan, 134,167
WangChongyang,1,11,1315,20,23,55,
67-68,77,89,91,101,185,238,250
51,324,325,350,368,399
WangChuyi,11,1415
WangJiaoming, 19
Wang Liping,391,393
Wang Shaoyang,13,15
Wang Taixin,80
WangWenqing,11
 water and re,2021,24,35,202,220,325,
340,365,400,405
Wei Huacun,10,374
 wisdom and potential,18-19,23,29,114,
136,152,175,178,182,20102,251,
32,393
 women:xs19,23,180-82,23940,251,
288,314,324,325,392,394;a lchey
 Glossar / 4 1 9

ng wei, 316 Zhenyuan_yi, 398

>t, 41, 57, 73, 78, 96, 1 84, 308, 312, Zhong-I  uando, 49, 226, 370
325, 356, 371, 406 ZhonL school, 91 0, 1 , 1 7 ,
au n e siz, 392 Zhonli Quan, 9, 1 3- 1 5, 1 8, 20, 39899,
Xouj, 2 410
Xu Xun, 1 0 Zholi nng q, 1 1 0, 369
uaan xan mn, 242 Zhuang, 243
Xue Daouan, 1 1 , 1 41 5 Zhue Lian, 7
kong tu, 62 Zhuen   n congbo, 1 2
uwu tu, 62, 203 Zu Shu, 10
yan: re, 108, 1 82, 205, 220, 240, 292,
324, 367-73; perect, 50, 94, 1 07, 21 8,
220, 225, 228, 232, 243, 301, 318, 373,
386-87, 391 ; spirit, 22, 25, 28, 33, 5 3,
87, 90, 175, 185, 216- 17, 228, 251, 320,
366, 393, 401
Yellow Court, 31, 65, 69, 240, 299, 365,
374, 3 81 , 408, 41 1
Yellow Emperor, 4, 47, 62, 65, 95 , 298,
359
Yn, 56, 47, 1 1 0, 1 82, 316, 371
yin: impact, 367 -73 ; orices, 36, 9 9, 1 03,
1 06 , 1 77 , 1 83, 1 8 9, 1 93 , 2 14, 245, 368,
378, 396; perct 218, 220; spirit, 90,
1 75, 1 85, 217, 228; withn yan, 83,
9394, 108, 163, 1 68-69, 18 1, 228, 301,
314, 340, 388, 398
yin and yan: balance of, 29, 1 1 8, 1 63;
cultivation of, 21 , 404; o w of, 28;
uidin, 1 33; harmony of, 1 62; inter
action of, 58, 232; intersecin, 206;
manist, 83; matching, 82, 203; mer
in, 282; pairin of, 21 , 401 ; qi o 1 07,
109, 235, 284, 291, 318, 372; steady
in, 1 62; unin, 22, 400
an Jn 311
iwe, 316
Yu, 137
aunfu, 392
u /1, 398
Zhan Boduan, 1 1 , 1 3-1 5,
Zhan Daoln, 7, 10
Zhan Hedao, 1 9
Zhan Lian, 7
Zhan Lu, 1 0
Zhan Sann, 1 2- 14, 8 690