Revealing My Years of Insight into the Renyuan Great Elixir: A Guide for Fellow Beginners

Internal Alchemy is built upon a complex and refined set of basic theories and procedures, forming a systematic practice for cultivating the life and spirit of the human body. To reach its deeper mysteries, one must first undertake the "exhaustive inquiry" of reading alchemical scriptures and seeking the Dao through study—a task that alone may take five or six years. Those who attempt the practice may spend over a decade without finding the door, experiencing no sense of the Dao in body or mind, and many waste their years in despair. Drawing from my own realization of the Human Primordial Great Elixir over the years, I now set out the basic steps and theory for beginning, offering a convenient path for fellow seekers to enter.

The human body possesses three layers—form, qi, and spirit. The foundational work of the Dao of Alchemy is the cultivation of these three layers, known as building the foundation. Methods of Daoist alchemy have circulated in China for several thousand years, reaching a state of perfection particularly after the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods. The alchemical scriptures record the profound insights of internal alchemists across generations regarding the operating patterns of essence, qi, and spirit in the human body; hence, to reveal the secrets of internal alchemy is to open the key to the science of human life. The foundational work of Daoist alchemy must begin at the level of cultivating the physical form. The essential keys for entering are "straighten the body, empty the heart, and unify the intent." To begin in this way—even if you never reach the level of the elixir work itself—will still bring the benefits of dispelling illness and extending years. This is because when the body is upright, harmful forces cannot intrude; when the heart is empty, the qi will naturally regulate; when the intent is unified, a sincere mind and true intention allow the spirit to be refined and condensed. Thus when body, mind, and intent are all cultivated, results are bound to follow. At this level of cultivating form, the essential methods are standing meditation and the two words "open and close." Any routine that includes standing meditation and opening-and-closing movements, insofar as it accords with the Dao of Alchemy, will inevitably strengthen the body and consolidate form.

Of course, the "opening and closing" of Daoist alchemy is one in which intention leads and qi follows; intention and movement should be light and gentle, without brute force, without striving for speed—different from Western athletic philosophy. The martial arts routines, fitness exercises, and self-invented "moving exercises" circulated by qigong masters in society today generally contain "opening and closing" movements, so it should be no surprise that they produce some health benefits. In my General Treatise on Daoist Studies · Immortal Studies Chapter, I introduced to readers the health-preservation standing meditation method of Yiquan (Great Completion Fist) transmitted by Mr. Wang Xiangzhai for use in building the foundation of Daoist alchemy—something I confirmed through extensive comparison. The "Jin Family Skill" widely taught by Teacher Zhifeizi contains only the two basic movements of open and close, and may also serve for building the foundation of Daoist alchemy. Both Yiquan standing meditation and Jin Family Skill are treasures of Chinese martial learning; sustained practice will awaken the body's latent potential and generate remarkable strength for combat. Applied outwardly as martial art, cultivated inwardly as alchemical Dao, this shows that even at its higher reaches, martial learning shares common ground with internal alchemy.

At the level of cultivating qi, the essence of internal alchemy is "regulating the breath." Everyone knows this practice—it simply requires the breath to be fine, long, and even, gradually reaching the state of fetal breathing. Readers should not imagine that "breath regulation" has been rehashed by qigong masters until it is stale, and laugh at me for treating such a simple practice as a treasure. In truth, the genuine alchemical secret lies precisely in the simple practices known to all; moreover, seemingly simple practices are not truly easy to perform well. The internal alchemist Ma Danyang guarded his teacher Wang Chongyang's tomb for ten years. His wife Sun Bu'er came from Shandong to Chang'an in the summer of 1175 to meet him. Ma Danyang offered her the ci-poem "Refining Cinnabar," urging her to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy together. The verse reads:

"I bid farewell to the lady of Fuchun— do not follow me in this. Now neither wife nor husband are we; each must complete the true face alone, escaping the three evil paths. In refining qi, do not let it be coarse— loose above, relaxed below, continuous, as if present yet as if absent. When the spirit child within adjusts and moves, one may ascend to the immortal capital."

The secrets of alchemy are not lightly transmitted, yet Sun Bu'er was Ma Danyang's wife; separated for ten years and traveling a thousand li to seek her husband, such deep feeling would naturally bring honest words. The secret of breath regulation he taught must be genuine. From this we know that regulating the breath is indeed the key to the alchemist's cultivation of qi. Those who aspire to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy need only bring the breath down to the navel (the lower dantian) and devote effort to this breath regulation of "continuous, as if present yet as if absent." The ancestral orifice between the two eyes, the void orifice at the square-inch area outside the nostrils, the Shanzhong point between the breasts, the Huiyin point (Yinqiao) before the anus and behind the genitals, and the dantian at the navel—all are secret orifices for refining the elixir. The human eyes are the fire-seeds of yang fire; turning the light of the eyes inward to illuminate these orifices can kindle fire and refine the elixir, producing effects of heat, force, and light in turn. At birth, the human being is connected to the mother's body through the navel, and the lower dantian lies within the navel. This orifice is relatively safe, and beginners may kindle fire there. Here a law of mutual photochemical action between body and mind comes into play—the interaction of consciousness and flesh. By shining the gaze inward upon the dantian (navel), under the right conditions of fire, an exothermic reaction occurs. In time, a primordial, nebula-like rotating mass forms at the navel, heavy as "lead," called qi (炁)—this is true qi. The Yellow Court Scripture states: "Immortals and Daoists do not possess divine powers; they accumulate essence and gather qi to become true." Thus, "gathering the spirit into the qi orifice" and steadily "accumulating essence and gathering qi," the acquired transforms into the congenital, qigong becomes alchemical work, and one enters the true path of internal alchemy.

At the level of cultivating spirit, the alchemical key is "stopping thought." Patriarch Lü said: "The Great Way first teaches people to stop their thoughts; if thoughts do not cease, all is in vain"—showing that stopping thoughts is the starting practice of spirit cultivation. To stop thoughts, one must first "straighten the body." What Yuan Huanxian called "the spine standing upright on its own" and "the five organs in their proper place" is indeed a key alchemical secret—namely, adjusting the posture of the body first. The immortal Song Piyun's poem "Welcoming the Immortal Guest" states:

"By the willow shade, beneath the pine shadow, straighten the spine and sever all conditions. Bind the mind-monkey, capture the will-horse— bright moon and pure wind speak only of eternal life."

This shows that one must first "straighten the spine" in posture, tethering the mind-monkey and will-horse to still thought. To stop thoughts, one must keep the body upright and correct, relaxed, still, and natural—especially relaxing the throat and vocal cord muscles to suppress the neural impulses of linguistic signals, for human beings think through language. The alchemist, seeking to keep the mind still, must first keep the body still. Hence a single-character secret, 塑 ("sculpt"), is transmitted privately: make the body like clay or carved wood—like a film actor playing a corpse, also called the corpse skill. This embodies the alchemical saying "before learning to live, first learn to die," refining both spirit and qi naturally. To still thought, one employs the methods of emptiness, stillness, constancy, and sincerity. First the spirit enters a state of 恍惚杳冥 (haziness and dimness)—neither drowsy nor scattered—gradually entering a state of no-thought within thought. For entering concentration and stilling thought, guarding the void orifice at the square-inch area outside the nostrils is best. The point between mouth and nose is the Renzhong, externally connecting the qi of heaven and earth; it is the boundary between the physical body and the Dharma body. Here spirit and qi engage in mutual photochemical action, and under the right conditions of fire, "mercury" (汞) is produced—the congenital primordial spirit. This too is a law of spirit-qi photochemical action. In my General Treatise on Daoist Studies · Immortal Studies Chapter, I described internal alchemy as "the spiritual cultivation of condensing and refining ordinary consciousness, purifying the subconscious, and developing meta-consciousness," revealing the essential aim of the Dao of Alchemy. Obtaining lead and mercury, subduing mercury with lead—this is the critical step: movement arising from concentration, concentration returning from movement. Only through the method of "mind and breath mutually dependent" is this accomplished. When discriminating consciousness is set aside, the primordial spirit reveals itself; the alchemist calls this the mind dying and the spirit living.

Drawing the above together, we can see that although most qigong masters have not studied Daoist alchemy deeply, some of their methods do flow from the Buddhist and Daoist traditions, including the many routines they have invented themselves. Without exception, they hold the dantian in mind, emphasize regulating body, breath, and mind, and require relaxation, stillness, and naturalness. On the surface this matches the secrets of the Dao of Alchemy, inevitably producing varying degrees of health benefit. At the level of form cultivation, the routines passed on by qigong masters contain movements that stretch the blood vessels and rarely cause trouble. At the level of qi cultivation, however, since qigong masters do not understand the patterns of true qi in Daoist alchemy, once the practice deepens, qi rushes to the head, producing strange symptoms like feeling a tight band around the skull or a mountain pressing down on it—reports of this are common. As for spirit cultivation, this is a higher level of Daoist alchemy's nature-work, beyond the reach of qigong masters, and must be practiced under the personal guidance of a true alchemist. Some bogus qigong masters, having no experience of entering concentration to cultivate spirit themselves, glorify themselves for profit, leading students blindly by imitating Buddhist and Daoist methods and instructing them to sit in long periods of stillness. When this awakens deep spiritual energies without understanding the regulating secrets, it has resulted in numerous cases of mental abnormality leading to suicide or murder—a very dangerous situation.

The fundamental thought of internal alchemy takes the three great life elements of the human body—essence (精), qi (气), and spirit (神)—as the materials (medicines) for refining the elixir. These medicines can be divided by acquired and congenital levels, and by other distinctions, into yin and yang substances. Then, using certain sensitive spots in the body (such as the dantian) as physiological reaction vessels (the tripod and furnace), one begins by harmonizing breath and intention to refine and nourish yin and yang within the furnace. This arouses physiological and psychological effects of heat, force, and light. Through "the returning wind mixes and unites; in a hundred days the work becomes potent," a perceptible heat arises in the lower abdomen centered on the lower dantian—this is called "kindling the fire." This "natural true fire" is the exothermic physiological reaction produced when the medicines react within the furnace. As these products are refined through the middle and upper dantian, effects of force and light also appear, called the photochemical reaction; at the same time, new informational encoding programs are established in the body's physiology and psychology. Once fire has been kindled and the elixir refined, the temperature at the navel is highest, producing the verification of "the belly hot as boiling soup," called the "seed of true fire." If one has practiced for years with no sensation or verification, the alchemical work has not yet found its way. The alchemist must first regulate the breath, attend to breath moving and intent moving, mind and breath mutually dependent, patiently carrying out the work of accumulating essence and gathering qi in the lower dantian—only then will the correct sensation be found. Then one follows the sensation, each step moving toward emptiness, each step bearing its own verification. Thus by returning the light to illuminate the lower dantian, sustaining "bright red within the furnace," one passes from qigong into the congenital cultivation realm of alchemical work. Only when congenital essence, qi, and spirit are generated can the true medicine be transformed, and only then will the inner alchemical circulation arise—the automatic turning of the celestial river to carry the medicines.

Modern qigong masters, who understand alchemical procedure only halfway, hearing that alchemical work contains the Zi-Wu (midnight-noon) circulation program—the three vehicles carrying medicines with rising-acquired and descending-congenital circulation—guide students to use intention to lead heat or qi sensations through the Ren and Du channels and to circulate the celestial river. This is a serious malady in current qigong cultivation. When qigong masters circulate the celestial river empty at the level of cultivating qi before reaching the congenital realm, the alchemical scriptures call this "pushing an empty mill without wheat." Many who practice alchemical work for years without verification do so because, lacking the medicine, they use intention to empty-circulate the celestial river; the essence and qi cannot accumulate in the dantian and are lost. The Tao Te Ching contains a sentence: "When the mind drives the qi, this is called force (强)." Not only Wang Bi's commonly circulated annotated edition contains "when the mind drives the qi, this is called force"; the He Shang Gong, Fu Yi, Mawangdui silk manuscript, and Guodian bamboo slip editions all contain it as well, showing that this is Laozi's original meaning. The Tao Te Ching also contains: "Returning is the movement of the Dao; weakness is the function of the Dao." In the Zhouyi Cantongqi this is further clarified as: "Returning is the verification of the Dao; weakness is the handle of virtue (德)." This indicates that Daoist alchemical work employs weakness, not force—it is the practice of refining gentle qi. Using intention to lead acquired qi sensation through the Du and Ren channels for circulation is "the mind driving the qi, called force," which violates the principle of "weakness is the function of the Dao." The reverse of rising through the Du and descending through the Ren to carry the medicines is precisely "returning." "Returning is the movement of the Dao" means that only when the congenital true qi (written 炁) is produced through photochemical action will it of itself initiate the reversed circulation of the celestial river. The sentence in the Cantongqi, "Returning is the verification of the Dao; weakness is the handle of virtue," is even clearer: it means that "returning" (reverse circulation through Ren and Du) should be a verification of cultivation (accumulating essence and gathering qi), and one must not "let the mind drive the qi," forcibly using intention—that is using force. Alchemical work uses weakness, not force; "weakness" is the crucial handle of attaining the Dao (virtue).

The Yellow Court Scripture speaks of "accumulating essence and gathering qi to become true"—the same principle. Lu Xixing's True Exposition of the Three Treasures records that an immortal teacher descended through a planchette and spoke with Lu Xixing and others, saying that the method of cultivation could be entirely summarized in a single word—"returning" (反): "Tell foolish and ignorant people only to reverse everything in their daily affairs. Yin receiving what yang bestows, yang above and yin below—such pairings, reverse them all. For the nature school, reverse the six sense faculties and six sense objects. What others do, I do not; what human desire seeks, I do not desire—reversing in this way, one naturally accords with the Dao. This single character pervades from top to bottom; it can found a teaching." The world all uses force, while the Daoist alone uses weakness—this too is the meaning of "returning." One can see that "returning is the movement of the Dao; weakness is the function of the Dao" carries profound meaning. The subtleties of fire-timing in alchemical cultivation reside entirely in gentleness and naturalness. Of course, the Buddhist esoteric vase breath and the alchemical "Sixteen Pieces of Gold" also employ firm qi, but none of these impatiently reverse the Ren and Du. If one wishes to switch from qigong to alchemical study, to remedy the damage caused by the empty circulation of rising-acquired and descending-congenital, it is best to first practice the "method of replenishing the deficiency" (also called the "technique of adding oil")—that is, reversing it to first ascend then descend, running the river chariot in the forward direction. I have included Sanyang Daoist Zhang Songgu's "Correct Method of Replenishing the Deficiency" in my Great Dictionary of Chinese Daoism; the public account "The Way of Nature and Destiny" will later specially transmit the Correct Method of Replenishing the Deficiency.

Mr. Li Yujie once cultivated the Dao on Mount Hua for many years; after reaching Taiwan he founded the Tienti Teachings and enjoyed longevity past his hundredth year. In his Basic Teaching Materials for the Orthodox Stillness-Seating of the Tienti Teachings' Lotus Sutra Supreme Vehicle, he wrote: "Guiding qi is very dangerous. I have also repeatedly emphasized this in public lectures—I am not fundamentally opposed to it. Except in the great wilderness, deep in the mountains, where one is completely cut off from worldly affairs and can let go of body and mind entirely, guiding qi may also be permissible. However, today those of us living in cities who wish to cultivate the Dao and guide qi—nine out of ten will have problems. Sometimes physiological changes occur, sometimes psychological changes... using consciousness to guide has great drawbacks as well." This view agrees with my own humble opinion and must come from experience. Some phony qigong masters engage in tricks like "the method of quickly opening the Ren and Du," "acupuncture elixir-refining method," and there is also "delivering the golden elixir," "pressing the Dharma wheel," "substituting for opening the mysterious pass," "grabbing disease qi," and similar—these are all sins of deceiving people for money.

As for the methods of cultivating spirit, I will say only this, out of caution: personal guidance at the furnace from a true teacher is essential—one must not practice blindly. Discriminating consciousness is most cunning; the mind can create objects. The heavens and hells, spirits and demons in religion are all created by the mind. Some parapsychological phenomena are merely the appearance of rare psychological effects triggering sensational controversy—nothing more than reflecting that humanity still lacks self-knowledge of its own mind to this day! The alchemical scriptures long ago recorded such strange phenomena of the mind; I now transcribe a passage for cultivators to consider carefully. In Er Lan Xin Hua (Heart Words of the Two Languid Ones), the immortal alchemist Min Xiaogen commented: "Such states—do not worry about not obtaining them; worry only about the spirit becoming attached. Why? Once a single thought stirs, such states will manifest ceaselessly, and moreover must become ever more marvelous. Once attached to appearances, one enters the demonic path; minor attachment creates demons, major attachment causes immediate death. Cultivators who have died from such attachment are numerous. Not only does the person himself not know, but his family members and Dao companions will think that so-and-so has indeed attained the Dao and departed—the error caused to others is not small. For this reason, the heavenly immortal school never regards such things as validations, and all consider them demonic disturbances. If one sits and such states appear, one must not deliberately repel them. Once there is deliberate repelling, they will transform into a state of combat, producing unmeasurable manifestations of disturbance and confrontation, and one will certainly become frenzied unto death. Or the mind is captured by demons and one dies. Or one enters the demon's shell, presumptuously claims victory, and from then on spiritual powers and Dharma arise without cultivation, growing great. The person is deluded, thinking this the bright validation of attaining the Dao—who knows that this is precisely demons luring into the shell: when life ends, they go forth, becoming precisely members of the asura retinue.

Or again, because one cannot prevail in combat, the entire spirit departs the shell, and the shell is occupied by demons—unknown to outsiders who think this person has attained the Dao. They test the spiritual powers and Dharma and find them no different from ancient immortals, while the demon within occupies the shell, testing its demonic path, and followers gather like clouds. Examining their discourse, they indulge in lust, anger, greed, and deceit, claiming these do not harm the true Dao; those who follow them all enter the demonic realm and become demonic retinue. Such as the leaders of past and present White Lotus heterodox teachings—because of cultivation gone astray, demons occupied their shells and produced such heterodox sects. This must be understood. Therefore, all cultivators of the Dao should regard seeing but not seeing, hearing but not hearing, as the great secret of subduing demons. The saying 'Let the wind and waves rise as they may, I do not unfurl my sail' indicates the essential instruction of not stirring thoughts."

In the cultivation of internal alchemy, those who guard the upper dantian, the ancestral orifice, the pineal gland, the pituitary gland, or who fix the gaze upon the brain to perform the marrow-washing practice (the brain is the sea of marrow)—though results appear very quickly—easily produce deviations. One must remember one's own true master, applying the alchemical secret of neither recognizing nor responding to the spirits and demons that appear when the mind is stirred—not being turned by discriminating consciousness. Not only are the various strange manifestations produced by discriminating consciousness regarded as demonic states by the alchemist; even the development of spiritual potentials of "emitting the yin spirit" to obtain spiritual powers is regarded as the path of ghost-immortals, which the alchemist does not adopt. Once the alchemist's nature-light manifests, developing meta-consciousness and reaching the ground of bright mind and seeing nature, demons and heterodoxies naturally disappear. The above-discussed methods of cultivating form, qi, and intention at the three levels are all plain and ordinary—the so-called "daily provisions of the people who do not know"—yet they are truly the alchemist's standing ground. Internal alchemy is the essence of China's traditional cultures of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and medicine; its practice is therefore founded on the scriptures of the Buddhist and Daoist traditions. Cultivators must be thoroughly familiar with alchemical scriptures and Buddhist and Daoist classics, and must not violate the laws of body and spirit revealed therein. The cruelest thing in human society is, for personal profit, using heterodox methods to lead others' thoughts astray. In cultivation, the blind leading the blind to control others' minds is even more a danger to society. The purpose of my revealing the secrets of internal alchemy in General Treatise on Daoist Studies · Immortal Studies Chapter is also to provide lovers of the Dao of Alchemy with knowledge that proceeds from the simple to the deep, so that students of the Dao may trace things to their source and identify those charlatans who, under the banner of the Dao of Alchemy, plot harm and endanger society.

Source: The Way of Nature and Destiny

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