A Casual Talk on the Zhouyi Cantong Qi (23): Movement and Stillness Have Constant Law; Follow Their Ink-Mark
Movement and stillness have constant law; follow their ink-mark. The four seasons accord with what is fitting, matching the qi. Hard and soft are distinguished, and do not invade one another. The Five Phases hold their boundaries, and do not wildly expand or contract. The Yi moves and circles, bending, stretching, and repeating. Between dark and light, join the tally and act within.
Movement and stillness complement each other; taking this as the standard, and following the fittingness of the four seasons, one resonates with the changes of qi. Thus hard and soft can be clearly distinguished and will not be mixed together, and the Five Phases each hold their own boundary, without wildly expanding or contracting into confusion. Thereupon the Yi circulates within, bending, stretching, and repeating, and between the dark and light phases it joins the movement of the celestial tally.
In primordial chaos and vast obscurity, female and male follow each other. Nourishing moisture moistens and anoints; transformation flows and circulates. Heaven and earth, the spirits and luminaries, cannot be measured. Use them to settle the body; hide the form and store it away. Beginning at the northeast, the region of the Winnow and the Dipper, it turns and rotates to the right, spitting out the wheel and disgorging the sprout. The dark pool shows its image, and scatters forth its refined light.
Within primordial chaos and vast obscurity, female and male meet; with nourishing moisture to moisten and anoint, transformation flows and circulates. Because the spirits and luminaries of heaven and earth cannot be measured, one uses them to settle the body, and thereby can hide one's form within them.
As mentioned earlier, hui (dark) is the last day of each lunar month, and shu (new) is the first day of the lunar month. The sun, moon, and stars all turn to the right; whenever the moon reaches the dark and new phases, that is the time of their meeting. By the third day a crescent begins to appear, and afterward the moon grows ever fuller. Hence the skillful description here: "spitting out the wheel and disgorging the sprout; the dark pool shows its image, and scatters forth its refined light."
This is modeled on a myth similar to the heavenly dog devouring the sun: the moon is as if in the belly of some being, being spat out little by little, while the whole night sky is like a deep pool in which an image is reflected, and then the refined light scatters forth.
Heaven and earth can command the formed, but cannot command the formless; can command that which has qi, but not that which lacks qi; can command that which has mind, but not that which lacks mind—and the spirits and luminaries are precisely where one is hidden.
"The region of the Winnow and the Dipper" refers to the positions of the Winnow mansion (Ji) and the Dipper mansion (Dou)—that is, where Gen and Yin are located. The sun and moon meet in the southwest; the northeast is in fact a place the mutual illumination of sun and moon does not reach. It is the image of pure yin, the symmetric point opposite the extreme brightness of the sun and moon's meeting, and this position happens to be where the Northern Dipper is.
As the Ritual of the Northern Dipper Lamp for Extending Life According to One's Natal Destiny says: "Thus flowing light opens and unfolds, and transformative merit first stirs at Zhaoyao; the wondrous qi circles and returns, and the yearly sequence comes back again to Ji and Dou." The Ji and Dou emphasized here also include the position of the Northern Dipper.
If one is familiar with talisman methods, one will know of the Northern Dipper method for storing the hun and po souls. Its spell says: "One po enters Tanlang, at Zi. Two po are stored at Jumen. Three po are in Lucun, four po in the land of Wenqu. Five po within Lianzhen, six po at Wuqu. Seven po in the position of Pojun. The three hun enter storage together..."—this is the same principle as "use them to settle the body; hide the form and store it away."
This position is where the Great Yin's po are stored; fire is born at Zi and reaches long-life at Yin, and this is also where fire reaches long-life. Yin corresponds to the number three among the numbers, which is why on the third day yang qi first appears.
Above the Mao and Bi, Zhen emerges as the sign. Yang qi makes its beginning; at the first nine, the hidden dragon is latent. Yang is established by three; yin connects by eight.
The Direct Explanation of the Yellow Emperor's Plain Questions says: "Mao and Bi are the Geng degree, the plainness of metal qi." So Mao and Bi actually refer to the Geng position.
According to the ancients, if the Mao star is bright, it means lawsuits are settled fairly, the state has no flattering ministers, and all under heaven is at peace; if it is not bright, punishments are too excessive, flattering ministers gain their way, and all under heaven faces great calamity. The Bi star is considered a mansion related to rainfall, and whether there is favorable wind and rain depends greatly on it.
What is emphasized here is human consciousness: when it is clear and distinct, the first arising of one yang appears. At this time the newly born yang qi is like the first line of Kun changing into a yang line.
The ultimate aim is for the number of six yangs to be complete, forming the Qian hexagram; and this yang line is the first line of Qian, hence called "at the first nine, the hidden dragon."
"Yang is established by three; yin connects by eight"—here three and eight combine into wood. This points out the essential method: when the moon forms the Zhen hexagram in the Geng direction, how does one draw this metal qi into the wood?
The method is: when the first stirring of yang qi arises and "the dark pool shows its image, and scatters forth its refined light"—when there is a faint gleam of light—wait patiently until it appears like the light of a crescent moon. That is when the "third day" has arrived, and at this time a stirring will accompany it.
The line statement of the first nine is: "The潛 dragon; do not act."
At this time the lead tripod has just begun to warm, and the medicine qi is extremely tender, like the image of a dragon submerged. At this moment one can only warm and nurture the mysterious pearl; one must absolutely not apply fire, or the entire process will fail.
Thus on the third day there is stirring; on the eighth day, Dui moves. At the nine and two, the dragon appears; in peace there is brightness.
The line statement of the nine and two is: "The dragon appears in the field; it furthers one to see the great man."
After nurturing for a certain degree of time, yang qi becomes fuller again, and one has a solid, real sensation. At this time it becomes the nine-and-two line, corresponding to the "eighth day."
After one yang is produced on the third day, one waits until the eighth day; by the eighth day, the moon's form constitutes the Dui hexagram, and it is now in the Ding direction, thus entering the nine-and-two line.
When three and five virtues are complete, the Qian body is formed. At the nine and three, be alert at dusk; the divine tally wanes and folds. Flourishing and decline gradually change; in the end it returns to its beginning.
Why is it said here that "three and five virtues are complete"? Because from the third day to the eighth day is exactly five days (five stages of fire-tempo), and three must obtain five for generation to occur between eight and three.
If one advances one more line, the nine-and-three line also becomes yang, and at this time a three-line Qian hexagram can be formed, with yang qi now fully sufficient.
The line statement of the nine and three is: "The superior man all day long active and vigilant; at dusk still alert as if in danger; no blame."
Because the three-line Qian hexagram has been formed, a small complete circuit has already been established. When qi is full, it declines; although this line makes the three-line Qian complete, the moon's form will again begin to wane from its brightness.
This is called "the divine tally wanes and folds"; and from flourishing it will gradually decline, ultimately returning to its former appearance.
And below, the moon's form will become the Xun hexagram, entering the nine and four, continuing the qi-number onward.
Xun continues its governance; solidify and secure, hold firm. At the nine and four, perhaps leaping—the way of advance and retreat is perilous.
Because at the nine and three yang qi was abundant, one must be extremely careful here at the nine and four. In the line statement of Qian, this is called "perhaps leaping in the gorge": the dragon may fly, or may be in the gorge. Flying is advance; the gorge is retreat. So at this step, one must advance and retreat according to the actual circumstances.
After the number of three yangs is complete, one must begin turning to three yins; when yang retreats, yin advances. As with winter solstice when one yang arises, until summer solstice when yang qi's number is full—but past summer solstice, qi has the difference of urgent and slow: if urgent, it surpasses the spirit; if slow, it connects the qi. Within this there is advance and retreat.
Only when advance and retreat are fitting can yang retreat further and form the Xun hexagram.
Gen governs advance and stop; do not exceed the time. On the twenty-third day, reverently guard the quarter-moon term. At the nine and five, the flying dragon—the heavenly position adds joy.
As yang qi retreats further it becomes the Gen hexagram; what is emphasized here is stopping. If one retreats too far, it becomes pure Kun hexagram, so the measure must be properly grasped. At this time it is like the lower quarter moon.
At six and five, Kun receives; tying and encompassing beginning and end. Containing and nurturing the many sons; generation after generation as their mother. At the top nine, the arrogant dragon—virtue battles in the wild.
"Six and five" means that after six periods of five days—thirty days in total—a full cycle of lunar phase change is completed; hence it is called "tying and encompassing beginning and end."
"Contain" is interchangeable with "store"; because Qian and Kun give birth to the six son hexagrams, four of the six son hexagrams represent the moon's phases while the other two indicate appearance and disappearance. In one monthly cycle, the transformations of all eight hexagrams from beginning to end are encompassed.
In ancient times, a generation (shi) was thirty years; as the Analerta says: "If there were a king, it would take a generation before benevolence prevailed."
Here "generation" is used as the basis of an analogy: one month of thirty days analogizes one generation of thirty years. This involves the secret principles of fire-tempo.
Because the secret of fire-tempo, besides controlling measure, also has the function of stealing heaven's timing. Usually one analogizes to a large span of time, then strictly controls by fire-tempo, and can thus seize the qi-number of many more years within that time range.
In refining internal alchemy, refining something formless and imageless to the point of existing vast and enduring in the void through catastrophic kalpas would take extremely long—far beyond a human life of mere decades. Hence the secret method of fire-tempo is used to steal heaven's timing, greatly accelerating the process.
In actual practice, forming the elixir is actually easy, but making the elixir endure is difficult. Ordinarily, as long as one has grasped the correct method, forming the elixir takes only a moment. But if the method is wrong, it cannot last—it is a phantom elixir. If the phantom elixir can be maintained longer, it may be called a true elixir; but even a true elixir will ultimately disperse. So one must refine the golden elixir, because only the golden nature can endure through vast kalpas.
Ordinarily, in transmitted Daoist methods, the phantom elixir is transformed into a divine general and then dispatched. The phantom elixir can be produced through the spirit of deliberation combined with breath generating sensation; as long as one grasps the method, it presents no difficulty. But if one seeks the great Dao, one must "regulate breath by regulating the true breath; refine spirit by refining the non-spirit spirit"—that is, one must first find the true breath, the inner respiration, and then with the non-spirit spirit, construct the true elixir.
Using nine, lightly and gracefully—this is the norm and measure of the Dao. When yang's number is exhausted, at exhaustion it rises again. Push feeling to join nature; turn and give to one another.
Here "using nine" does not mean simply using nine; rather, yang moves through Qian and its number uses nine; yin moves through Kun and its number uses six. Taking nine and six as norm and ink-mark: Qian's three lines total twenty-seven, and Kun's three lines total eighteen—together forty-five. And forty-five can be decomposed as the sum from one to nine, so the numbers of Qian and Kun can be decomposed into the nine palaces of the Luo Writing. Later there is mention of "the numbers of one and nine: when ending, they begin again"—which refers to exactly this.