Chatting about the Zhouyi Cantong Qi (7): Boiling Heaven and Earth in the Crescent Moon Furnace, Decocting Sun-Soul and Moon-Marrow

Heaven and Earth take their positions, and the Change moves within them. Heaven and Earth are the images of Qian and Kun; taking positions means setting forth the paired positions of yin and yang. The Change means Kan and Li as the two uses of Qian and Kun. The two uses have no line positions; they circulate through the six voids, neither fixed in coming and going nor constant in up and down — dark, sunken, submerged, hiding, transforming within, enveloping the myriad things, cords and regulations of the Dao, governing the existent through the non-existent, the use of vessels is emptiness. Therefore in advancing and retreating, Kan and Li appear and disappear. Words are not casually constructed, theories do not arise in vain; citations are tested and verified, calibrated against the numinous and luminous; inferences construct characters, with fundamental principles as proof. Kan takes Wu as the moon's essence, Li takes Ji as the sun's light. Sun and moon form the Change, firm and soft matching. Earth prospers in the four seasons, netting beginning and end. Blue, red, black, white, each dwells in its quarter, all receiving the central palace — the work of Wu and Ji. The Change is image. Nothing illuminates so greatly as the sun and moon in hanging forth images. Exhausting the numinous to know transformation: yang departs and yin comes. Like spokes converging and a wheel turning, entering and exiting, rolling and unfurling. The Change has three hundred eighty-four lines. From the lines one extracts the fu — the fu are called the sixty-four hexagrams. From dark to the dawn of the new moon, Zhen comes to receive the fu. At this time, Heaven and Earth join their essence. Sun and moon grasp each other. The male yang sows the mysterious bestowal; the female yin transforms the yellow envelope. Chaos joins and hands over; the foundation is first established. Nursing the embryonic form, condensing spirit to constitute a body. The crowd treads it forth; none of the wriggling movers fails to depend on it. "Heaven and Earth take their positions" speaks of Qian and Kun; "take positions" means yin and yang paired with each other. "The Change moves within" — Change is sun and moon, hence sun and moon as the Change. Kan and Li are the "two uses" of Qian and Kun. Yet saying "the two uses have no line positions" raises two questions: first, why call them line positions; second, why say they have none. The Xici of the Changes says: "The line speaks of change. It models this. It models the movements of all under Heaven." So the so-called line position is specifically a place for measuring movement and change. For example, the first line in a hexagram is "the first position" — that position does not move; within line positions, yin-yang change is displayed. Illuminating with the lunar phases: the moon has six images, one image and one line, by which one can observe its change. Ancient commentaries also map the six hexagrams to Qian and Kun's six lines, one image to one line — quite brilliant, though not straightforward. As the saying goes: "The Change is image. Nothing illuminates so greatly as sun and moon in hanging forth images." To grasp the meaning, one must work with sun and moon.   Full moon is Qian, called fullness; when invisible it is Kun, called the dark new moon. Unlike the lunar calendars of other countries or religions, Chinese reckoning is exacting: only when sun and moon align does the first day begin — this is called the conjunction of sun and moon. Looking at the diagram: lit by light is yang, unlit is yin — this is its change. Matching one by one, one finds only Qian, Kun, Zhen, Dui, Gen, Kun — six hexagrams, no Kan or Li. This is the meaning of Kan and Li having no line positions: they do not appear in the normal lunar phases. If so, why say Kan and Li "circulate through the six voids"?   During a solar eclipse, the moon covers the sun; on earth one sees a total eclipse. Outside is radiance and yang, inside is yin — thus the Li hexagram, yang outside and yin within. --------- --- --- --------- Now look at a total lunar eclipse:   Yin outside, yang within — this is the Kan hexagram. ---- ---- ---------- ---- ---- These changes are: "Exhausting the numinous to know transformation: yang departs and yin comes. Like spokes converging and a wheel turning, entering and exiting, rolling and unfurling." But whether solar or lunar eclipse, neither is constantly visible — hence "neither fixed in coming and going nor constant in up and down." And in the Cantong Qi… But what about "transforming within, enveloping the myriad things, cords and regulations of the Dao, governing the existent through the non-existent, the use of vessels is emptiness; therefore in advancing and retreating, Kan and Li appear and disappear"? The principle of solar eclipses was already recorded in the Han. Wang Chong's Lunheng says: "A solar eclipse is the moon covering it. The sun is above, the moon below, blocked by the moon's form. When sun and moon join and the moon is above, sun below, it cannot cover the sun. Sun above, moon below the sun, blocked at the sun — the moon's light covers the sun's light, so it is called an eclipse: blocked by the moon, just as dark clouds hide sun and moon from sight. When their ends join, it is an eclipse. When their joining is opposite like covering a bi-disk — that is a solar eclipse." Meaning: the sun is farther, the moon nearer, and the moon covers the sun — a solar eclipse. But Wang Chong's explanation of lunar eclipse is wrong: he thought the sun covered the moon. Later Zhang Heng truly understood lunar eclipse: "Opposite the sun, the light often does not join, blocked by Earth — this is called the dark void. In a star the star is dimmed; meeting the moon, the moon is eaten." This describes the cause of lunar eclipse: Earth's obstruction. Zhang Heng is famous in ancient Chinese science. In Yangjia 1 of Emperor Shun of Han he made the seismoscope — eight dragons for eight directions; when one moved, the direction showed an earthquake a thousand li away. Other achievements were many. What matters is that Zhang Heng used the Huntian (celestial sphere) theory: "Heaven and Earth like a chicken egg," suspended in the void. And the Huntian theory relates to the Pangu myth. According to the Sanwu Liji: "Heaven and Earth were a chaos like a chicken egg. Pangu was born within; for eighteen thousand years, Heaven and Earth opened. The clear yang became Heaven; the turbid yin became Earth. Pangu within changed nine times a day — numinous in Heaven, sagely in Earth. Heaven rose a zhang daily; Earth thickened a zhang; Pangu grew a zhang — so for eighteen thousand years." The Pangu legend is quite early, and like other Chinese culture, early scholars always tried to claim it came from India. Fortunately modern archaeology: one firmly dated example is 86 CE; some statues may go back to the Xin Mang period. Daoism also adopted the Huntian theory and the Pangu myth — but this raises a question: who was Pangu? Different schools had different answers. Some did not affirm this view but merely listed it as reference — e.g. the Tianhuang Zhidao Taiqing Yuce. The Song Zhengyi Daoist Chen Baoguang's Sandong Qunxian Lu says: "And the true text says: before the two modes divided, vast and murky, not yet formed, sun and moon not yet complete, like a chicken egg, chaotic dark yellow — there already was the Perfected Pangu, essence of Heaven and Earth, who called himself Primordial Heavenly King." Here the Perfected Pangu is listed as the Primordial Heavenly King. But the Song Yunji Qiqian says differently: "At that time the Perfected Pangu, for establishing merit, was summoned to Heaven. Pangu then bowed to the Primordial Empty Sovereign Dao Lord and requested the Lingbao Inner Scriptures, three hundred seventy-five scrolls. The High Above Empty Sovereign Supreme Dao Lord then bestowed the Three Sovereigns Inner Canons, thirty-six scrolls. The Perfected Pangu then modeled himself on these scriptures, running their functions, establishing Heaven and Earth, transforming and creating all things. Descending through Heaven and Earth, responding to the myriads of round pearls, sixteen thousand suns, moons and three luminaries rising from the celestial origin — thus there were five hundred fifty-five thousand five hundred fifty myriad and five thousand-fold Heavens and Earths. The ten directions all practiced the transformation of the Dao and Virtue; later Celestial Sovereign clan first rose." It says the Supreme Dao Lord bestowed scriptures on the Perfected Pangu, who then established Heaven and Earth. Also the Song Taiqing Jinque Yuhua Xianshu Baji Shenzhang Sanhuang Neimiwen states: "The Celestial Sovereign Lord says: Heaven and Earth cannot produce themselves. That which produces Heaven and Earth is the Taiji. The Taiji cannot move itself. That which moves the Taiji is the True Essence. The True Essence transforms naturally. Only spirit, only luminous — this is called the Empty Sovereign, high above the nine pure heavens, overseeing mysterious transformation. That which commands all numinous beings is the Primordial Sovereign Lord. The Primordial Sovereign Lord: first called the Perfected Pangu, second the Lord of the Nine Sovereigns, third the Divine King of the Eight Poles, fourth the Great Luo Immortal Chief. Heaven's form is like a great canopy; sun and moon not yet hanging bright, stars not yet shining light; mysterious, empty, vast, deeply dark; silent, obscure, chaotic, nameless. Above no binding, below no root; above no Eight Poles, below no Five Peaks; above no transformation, below no pivot — then the Primordial Sovereign Lord mixed and formed." Here the Primordial Sovereign Lord is the Perfected Pangu, and also Lord of the Nine Sovereigns, Divine King of the Eight Poles, Great Luo Immortal Chief. Earlier still, Tang Lu Xiujing's Daomen Kefan Daquan says: "The Zhengyi wind was proclaimed in the Eastern Han. From the Empty Sovereign's creation of things, the Great Dao came first; to Pangu's opening of Heaven, spirit transformation was master. East Luo flies its radiance, west arrayed spiritual mounds; south receives Danling, north stands Yuanque." From the above we can sort out this lineage: the Supreme Empty Sovereign Primordial Heavenly Honored One transmits to the Primordial Heavenly King, and the Primordial Heavenly King is Pangu. If one thinks this seems completely unrelated, that is wrong. The Song Sanhuang Neimiwen says: "The Celestial Sovereign Lord says: Heaven and Earth cannot produce themselves. That which produces Heaven and Earth is the Taiji…" This sentence has a great source! It comes from Tang Master Zongxuan's Xuangang Lun: "Heaven and Earth cannot exist of themselves; that which has Heaven and Earth is the Taiji. The Taiji cannot move itself; that which moves the Taiji is the True Essence. The True Essence is natural — only spirit, only luminous — truly called the Empty Sovereign, high above the nine pure heavens, overseeing mysterious transformation, commanding all numinous beings." True Essence moves the Taiji, and only then can there be Heaven and Earth. The Supreme Empty Sovereign Primordial Heavenly Honored One symbolizes the True Essence, solely overseeing mysterious transformation and commanding all numinous beings. The ancients left no wasted words: the four characters "commanding all numinous beings" are not casual. The key of Daoist methods lies here; the pivot of summoning generals and commanding spirits lies here. The Ziyang Perfected's Wu Zhen Pian San Zhu says: "To make the valley spirit eternally undying, one must rely on the xuanpin to establish the foundation. Once True Essence returns to the golden-yellow room, a single numinous light never departs." The key of inner alchemy's path to truth and Dao also lies here. Its commentary says: "Ziye says: gu means to nourish. Xuanpin is yin and yang. If one wishes to nourish spirit and live long, yin and yang must be complete; then the golden essence returns to my central palace, like a bright pearl eternally abiding." Since True Essence is so important, where to seek it? Ziyang Perfected's Wu Zhen Pian says: "In the trance seek for images; in the dark search for True Essence. Being and non-being enter each other from here — before seeing, how can one imagine it complete?" The Cantong Qi later also says: "The primal essence is subtle and hard to see; infer and measure it by the patterns' proofs. At rest observe its image, modeling its form. Establish a gnomon as standard; divine the signs and determine fortune and misfortune. Issue orders following the seasonal commands; do not miss the time of the moving line." The Jindan Sibai Zi says: "Heaven and Earth join the true liquid; sun and moon contain True Essence. Understanding the foundation of Kan and Li, the three realms return to one body." Sun and moon contain True Essence. Why contemplate the changes of sun and moon? To find traces of True Essence within — not merely gaze at them; sun and moon's motion has its natural principles. Hence: "transforming within, enveloping the myriad things, cords and regulations of the Dao, governing the existent through the non-existent, the use of vessels is emptiness; therefore in advancing and retreating, Kan and Li appear and disappear." True Essence "solely oversees mysterious transformation, commanding all numinous beings," moves the Taiji to establish Heaven and Earth. "Enveloping the myriad things, cords and regulations of the Dao, governing the existent through the non-existent, the use of vessels is emptiness" — then it is clear. What is advanced and retreated is the appearance and disappearance of Kan and Li. Where is the sun? Li is in Qian's position — naturally above the human head. Where is the moon? Kan is in Kun's position — naturally in the human abdomen. So sun above the head, moon in the abdomen. The cultivation method is to always keep the image of sun in the head and moon in the abdomen. According to the Yunji Qiqian: "The Green Ox Daoist's oral formula: at dusk when lying, visualize the sun on the forehead and the moon below the navel. Above it wards off a thousand ghosts and myriad evils; it brings jade boys and jade maidens to descend; a myriad calamities flee — most secret and efficacious. This is Feng Junda." Fangshu Zhuan · Ganshi Zhuan: "Gan Shi, Dongguo Yannian, Feng Junda — the three were all methods masters. All could practice Rongcheng's art of riding women, or drink urine, or hang themselves upside down; cherishing essence and qi, not over-looking or speaking loudly. Gan Shi, Yuan Fang, and Yannian were all recorded by Cao, who asked their methods and practiced them. Junda was called 'Green Ox Master.' These people were all over a hundred and up to two hundred years old." Tang Li Xian's annotation citing Han Wudi Neizhuan: "Feng Junda was from Longxi. First he took coptis for over fifty years; entered Juqu Mountain and took mercury for over a hundred years; returned home looking twenty. He always rode a green ox, hence 'Green Ox Daoist.' Hearing of someone ill or dying, acquaintance or not, he would give medicine in a bamboo tube, or needle — cured on the spot. He never told people his name. Hearing Lu Nvsheng obtained the Five Peaks Chart, he requested it for years without receiving it. Over two hundred years old, he entered Xuanqiu Mountain and departed." The Green Ox Daoist is Feng Junda; this is his secret formula. He supposedly lived over two hundred years. Of course this was not his entire method, but one can glimpse its character. Nothing more than seeking True Essence from sun and moon. Man is the human among the three powers, standing on Earth. In Heaven's Dao's rotation: when solar eclipse occurs, the moon covers the sun; lunar eclipse is more subtle — Earth covers the moon so the sun is "eaten." Applying this to cultivation: close the eyes and contain light — this images the sun; let light illuminate the lower field — the lower field images the moon. These two places are where sun and moon dwell. And the human body has the central Huangting imaging Earth: "Above is Huangting, below Guanyuan; before is youque, behind mingmen." This center, before mingmen, is between the two kidneys; below is Guanyuan, above Huangting. Sunlight sinks lower and lower, reflecting on the moon, and the moon shines brightly — this is "toad-light shines all day on the western river." The so-called toad-light is moonlight, not sunlight. Present cultivators only know spirit-light illuminating below — sun without moon — so in the end cultivate without success. So Perfected Chen Niwan says: "Night after night fire erupts on Kunlun Peak; peak fire cold, moonlight chill. Over the winding river golden crow flies; Chang'e has already joined the Dipper and Ox." Not empty words. This cultivation art does not come from thin air; it is modeled on Heaven and Earth's changes — as the saying goes: "Words are not casually constructed, theories do not arise in vain; citations are tested and verified, calibrated against the numinous and luminous; inferences construct characters, with fundamental principles as proof." Words are not casually spoken, theories not casually established; inferences are tested against objective facts and proven thereby. But after toad-light shines, how can True Essence be produced? "From dark to the dawn of the new moon, Zhen comes to receive the fu. At this time, Heaven and Earth join their essence." It happens naturally — but how can it happen naturally? At this time, Heaven and Earth join their essence. Sun and moon grasp each other. The male yang sows the mysterious bestowal; the female yin transforms the yellow envelope. Chaos joins and hands over; the foundation is first established. Nursing the embryonic form, condensing spirit to constitute a body. The crowd treads it forth; none of the wriggling movers fails to depend on it. When the time comes, Heaven and Earth join their essence — sun and moon must grasp each other, held motionless. Why so? The ancients made an analogy: like using a yang-sui (burning mirror) to obtain fire, or a fangzhu (crystal) to obtain water under the moon. Yang-sui obtaining fire is like today using a magnifying glass under the sun; at night using a metal vessel or clam shell to gather water under the moon. Separated so far yet still obtaining — hence considered proof of creating something from nothing. Actually the analogy is now wrong: magnifying glass fire is optical focusing; metal or clam gathers condensed moisture from cold and heat — not creation from nothing. But a wrong analogy does not mean the original is wrong — for the cultivation method did not arise from these analogies; the ancients tried to illustrate cultivation with real-world principles, limited by understanding and not finding better comparisons. So what is it actually? The so-called chaos joining and handing over — what is chaos? Before Heaven and Earth are born is chaos. Placed in modern terms with quantum mechanics, it is quite astonishing. There is the Schrödinger's cat joke in quantum mechanics: a cat in a quantum state in a closed box — before the box is opened, its life and death are uncertain; so it is in a superposition of alive and dead. Why? Because before opening the box, its state is unknown; only at the moment of opening does everything settle — the cat is alive or dead only then. This uses the Copenhagen school's inference that microscopic probability and superposition extend to macroscopic phenomena, so the cat is in a dead-and-alive superposition. But in reality, can macroscopic things have quantum probability and superposition? Recently Stanford University published in Nature: by creating a Bose-Einstein condensate cloud of 10,000 rubidium atoms (in a super-frozen chamber), all atoms in an initial state; then researchers used lasers to push the cloud into a 10-meter chamber, putting atoms into one or the other given state. When the cloud reached the top, the wave function was a half-and-half mixed state with a representative position at 54 cm. When it fell back, researchers confirmed atoms seemed to have descended from two different heights — proving the cloud maintained superposition. The key is the "Bose-Einstein condensate cloud" — what is it? According to the de Broglie relation in quantum mechanics, λdb = h/p. The slower a particle moves (lower temperature), the longer its matter wavelength. When temperature is low enough, atomic de Broglie wavelengths and interatomic distances are of the same order; matter waves reach an identical state through interaction, describable by one atom's wave function. When temperature approaches absolute zero, thermal motion ceases; atoms enter the ideal BEC state. For cultivation, such low temperatures are not needed, for the work is on non-material things. So, one need only make an analogy. What analogy? Entering stillness: "If people can always be clear and still, Heaven and Earth all return." In stillness everything is still; though your body still moves, thought can be stilled — yet this stillness cannot be absolute stillness, for at true absolute zero nothing moves and naturally no change occurs. Before movement is chaos; one movement and chaos first divides — Heaven and Earth arise. What modern explanation fits this? We mentioned quantum mechanics. In quantum mechanics the appearance of states: the function describing microscopic system states is the wave function. Because every microscopic particle has wave-particle duality, beforehand you do not know if it is wave or particle — only when the wave function collapses into a specific state. If we understand duality as yin and yang, the process of the wave function collapsing from superposition into state A and non-state A is establishing yin and yang. Once yin and yang stand, one begets two, two begets three; water and fire appear. Having seen Master Zhou's Taiji diagram (Xiantian diagram), this process can silently accord in the heart. From my own insight: in human affairs and non-material principles, such phenomena are also common. In divination, for instance, one often perceives: a matter was vague, but becomes clear through casting. This is not that the matter was so, but that during casting, thought moves and observes; the future changes of the thing are settled in an instant. So cultivating in meditation is absolutely not dry meditation or dead meditation — otherwise one only sits into death, which the immortal masters of all ages vigorously opposed. Stillness must still to an extreme; yet within that extreme, one must remain lucid. In this lucidity, the slightest vibration is endlessly expanded and accumulated, until all is in upheaval, everything presented in one state. As Master Zongxuan said: "Though Earth is still, the eastern flow never ceases." But what do sun and moon have to do with this? Here is the problem: what are you expanding? Not acquired consciousness, but the innate True Essence. True Essence is included in the motion of all things, not limited to sun and moon — but sun and moon are the easiest to grasp. Though True Essence hides in sun and moon without appearing, it has a special property called "True Essence moves of itself" — so it will eventually start moving automatically. Once it moves of itself, in the state of stillness it will be expanded. In ordinary life, if never in stillness, even if True Essence occasionally appears, that slight movement goes unnoticed; but in stillness, no movement is fine — once it moves, it is like thunder. So the starting practice is simple: settle and quiet the mind; after spirit and qi are balanced, sit still. After sitting, close the eyes and rest. If body and mind are restless, recite the Settling Soul and Spirit spell or the Calming Mind spell; or click the teeth a few times — eighteen each left and right, thirty-six total is best. These are all methods of calming mind and quieting spirit; other methods naturally work too. Then lower the curtain — silent and soundless, breath continuous as if existing; return spirit inward: ears do not hear outside, eyes do not look out, nose does not smell out, mouth does not taste out — only attending to mind-quiet and spirit-calm. After inner peace and harmony, stillness congeals into emptiness; then naturally before the eyes numinous light is full, and shines down straight through the nine depths, brightly illuminating the lower dantian. The lower dantian is a void; receiving light in extreme subtlety, gradually receiving its brightness; then light like the sun's image must slowly sink, sinking into the sea-bottom. If no light appears before the eyes and closed eyes see black — spirit is insufficient and qi lacking. One must know the white and guard the black, chasing yin to obtain yang; naturally light will gradually fill. The young attain it easily; adults — a work of many days. How does this differ from Buddhist cultivation? In the Buddhist Cundi method, following the Kumarajiva/Tantra tradition: "Immediately place the syllable OM on the head, its color white like the moon, emitting immeasurable light, extinguishing all obstacles — equal to buddhas and bodhisattvas anointing this person's crown." So the difference: its light is visualized, not naturally appearing. Buddhist cultivation truly able to produce light equal to Daoist xingguang is Chan samadhi in early Buddhism: at a certain degree, one similarly sees this light arise. Later ages also modified the Cundi method, introducing Chan samadhi's nature-light as Cundi's immeasurable method — more refined. But ultimately Cundi is mainly visualization, without the path of returning to the innate; though soul and spirit gradually condense, eventually one collapses in a day, attaining only clarity and brightness. There was one who vigorously promoted Cundi practice who ultimately died of pneumonia — body not even healthy, how can one call it the Great Dao? Yet even so, his status in Buddhism was already very high. By our Chinese Daoist evaluation: this only reaches the threshold, not the inner hall. Another typical difference: Buddhist cultivation, when obtaining that moment, calls it a kshana — that kshana is considered awakening — then returns to samadhi, not grasping this primordial chaos-opening, first-yang-returning opportunity. This method arises because early Buddhism emphasizes cutting off and leaving the three realms, always standing outside — not realizing this has already reached the heavenly root and moon cavern; one need only harvest by the fire timing to refine the elixir. Ancient Greece can also witness: Plato held that after Heaven and Earth were made, some material remained — the One. From the One flowed out nous (mind/idea/spirit), and from nous, soul. So the soul's return to the One must be through nous. The One appears as great white light, nous likewise; the soul must be bathed in white light through baptism to return to the One. Christian return to divinity and the Trinity derive from this. Plotinus' Enneads V.3.17 says: "We know only that when the soul is suddenly illuminated, we possess this vision. This light comes from the One; this light is the One; when, like another, he comes with light summoned by someone, we can believe him present; the light is the evidence of his coming." Seeing light, believing he has come — this is ancient Greek theory. Patriarch Sanfeng says: "Laughing, I see the divine land has subtle mystery, whispered closely at the ear. Chiseling open chaos to find gold and mercury; splitting primordial darkness to catch water-lead. A millet-grain pearl contains the Northern Sea; toad-light's myriad rays shine on the Western River." This is what the Yinfu Jing means by "stealing the mechanism." In Sanfeng's words, "a millet-grain pearl contains the Northern Sea" is extremely important — do not ignore it. Without the millet-grain pearl in Kan, merely leading spirit-light down to shine — even if it shines through mountains and rivers — is useless. Ziyang Perfected's Wu Zhen Pian says: "Swallowing saliva and taking in qi are human actions; only with a thing can the myriad things be born. If the cauldron lacks the true seed, it is like a furnace fire boiling an empty pan." This true seed is very important. What is it? This is the Daoist mystery — also what distinguishes it from other religions' cultivation. First look at Ming-Qing alchemical records. Ming Zunsheng Bajian's "Inner Alchemy Essentials" says: "In the dark-yin month, the myriad things return to root and recover life at this point; likened to the yin-fu in my body reaching its limit, silent and unmoving, returning to root and stillness. At this time seal the mouth and lower the curtain; with spirit-light shine down on the Kan palace. While night qi is not yet past, condense spirit and gather qi; sit upright a while. Soon spirit and qi return to root — naturally something from nothing, accumulating into a point of golden essence. In one body, primal qi also rises and falls: born in the kidneys at the zi hour — this is Heaven and Earth's first yang stirring, responding and connecting, the Fu hexagram. Thereafter gradually it rises to the muddy-pill; at the noon hour descends from muddy-pill to the heart; at xu and hai returns to the abdomen. This is Heaven and Earth's six yin reaching their limit — hundred insects close their gates, plants and trees return to root, silent and unmoving — the Kun hexagram. Stillness to the extreme moves again, cycling without end; its utmost subtlety lies in the Kun-Fu intersection, between movement and stillness, the end of hai and beginning of zi. The Yinfu Jing says: 'The way of the natural is still; therefore Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things are born.' Nourishing life should follow this time; the work of Kun and Fu lies precisely in the tenth month." Qing Master Huang Yuanji's Daomen Yuyao says: "The method is only to shine spirit-light downward; then the innate point of qian-metal, after Qian-Kun copulation, sinks to the water-bottom and lies hidden. When divine fire presses it, water steams and gold boils — naturally appearing in the ancestral aperture." Qing Master Zhu Yuanyu's Wu Zhen Pian Chan You says: "Only when the two strings join the body is it called true lead — utterly different from acquired ordinary lead and mercury. At the dark-to-new moon intersection, sun and moon join like a wall at the yellow path; the lunar water-soul draws in the solar golden essence — the image of a golden toad. By the third day a golden hook appears in the west — this is the golden toad spitting light, and the great medicine of the golden elixir is produced. Hence the saying: 'If you ask where true lead is? Toad-light shines all day on the Western River.'" From Ming-Qing records the theory seems reasonable, yet most fail to succeed — where is the problem? This innate point of gold cannot appear by mere spirit-light shining down; relying only on spirit and qi embracing is also hard (after long embracing it might come). If mere sitting still could naturally yield golden essence, then all meditators of the world would obtain it — yet no school cultivates as Daoism does. This must be noted carefully. The West is limited by man not transcending God: even pagans at most think they can become gods, never daring to imagine transcending God. Even the alchemical lineage is all Hermes teaching how to make the philosopher's stone — hoping after making it to become god; that is the ultimate goal. Indian religions, from the start, have an unsurpassable Brahma: however Brahmins cultivate, the goal is at most return to Brahma — impossible to transcend. Leaving the human world is enough; that is nirvana. Even Buddhism cuts off and leaves the three realms; most methods inherit Brahmanism. Though gathering the six systems of Yoga with shramanism as core, it remains within that frame — liberation is still the ultimate. After all, cultivation methods born of a country colonized for millennia will be limited by horizons — understandable. Ziyang Perfected says: "Do not waste effort on the alchemical furnace; to refine the medicine you must rely on the crescent-moon furnace." Perfected Bai Yuchan's Ziqing Zhixuan Ji also says: "You must believe the innate is nothing at all; yin and yang mold this form. The vacuum-equal cinnabar cauldron, empty-through numinous crescent-moon furnace. Nine apertures let wind through; the altar warms. Two hours without fire and the medicine dries. From this single nameless flame, refine the great hero of the human world." The ancients observed the image, likening it to the crescent-moon furnace: its shape has two horns, drooping and pointed. When stirred, the two horns tip up; then a central aperture, a slight hole opens, and a point of golden light flashes — this is the point of golden essence. In Daoist ritual practice, when this golden light appears, attach it to the corresponding direction, then summon generals according to the inner secret — the summoning will succeed, and methods take effect on the spot, visible in an instant. Even so, a gentle reminder, take it or leave it: using this golden essence to transform and apply methods consumes the body's priceless treasure — do not treat it as a game. To apply methods freely, refine the body of a true person after the yang spirit is greatly complete; even after refining the golden elixir, one must still be wise and not use it — otherwise the Great Dao is ruined. Hence legend has it that Lady Chen Jinggu, seeking rain to subdue evil, ultimately failed and died; Master Huang's ordinary rain-prayers failed, so he transformed his lifespan into blood as rain — though the transmission may not be true, the story holds principle. So we jokingly call this the use of "ultimate move" — ordinary Daoist practice does not use it. For cultivators familiar with Tang-Song alchemy, Ming-Qing initial descriptions of alchemy are often not very honest — a point of criticism. Wu Zhen Pian Chan You only describes principles; how the third-day one-hook image actually looks is not explained clearly. Daomen Yuyao thinks one need only shine spirit-light down, and after Qian-Kun copulation golden essence appears — but "spirit-light shining down" these four words have much room for play. If light comes from above, it is clearly a Gen hexagram image — how could golden essence be obtained? What is the crescent-moon furnace? Actually in the body's void it forms a Zhen hexagram image — like an upward-curving crescent, hence the name. The so-called spirit-light shining down does not shine from above down, but from below up — only then is it the image of a crescent moon. Qing Master Liu Yiming's Xiangyan Poyi says: "The crescent is the moon reclining like a moth's eyebrow. When the dark moon is at its extreme, brightness is again born below — likened to a person in utmost stillness where the heavenly root suddenly appears, called the Dao-heart, with the image of a crescent. The furnace is the vessel for moving fire: because the Dao-heart's yang light can smelt the body's yin qi, it is again likened to a furnace. In fact the Dao-heart is the heart of Heaven and Earth — in substance the heart of Heaven and Earth; in function the Dao-heart. One thing, two names. Fools do not know: some take the upturned bone under the dantian as the crescent furnace, or mistake the curved upturn of the character xin, the flesh heart, as the crescent furnace; some battle-sex adepts take the woman's birth canal as the crescent furnace — all wrong. The crescent-moon furnace is the brilliance of the Dao-heart; where this light shines, all evils are extinguished — able to make sages, able to make immortals. Ziyang said: 'Do not waste effort on the furnace; to refine you must seek the crescent-moon furnace.' Also: 'In the crescent-moon furnace jade pistils are born; in the cinnabar cauldron mercury is level. Only because fire is balanced after, yellow sprouts are planted and gradually grow.' From this the meaning of the crescent moon is known." This is Liu Yiming's characteristically obscure style: the opening is actually correct; the middle cannot be called wrong; but put together, ordinary people are confused — what was meant as direct pointer to practice. So Chen Perfected's "Night after night fire erupts on Kunlun Peak; peak fire cold, moonlight chill. Over the winding river golden crow flies; Chang'e has already joined the Dipper and Ox" can now be understood. "Nursing the embryonic form, condensing spirit to constitute a body. The crowd treads it forth; none of the wriggling movers fails to depend on it." This subtle application in summoning generals and performing methods also hits every time. Holding fu and grasping fire, condensing it into elixir-body makes the spirit elixir — hence the saying: "Internally refined into the elixir, externally applied as method." Its mysteries are no ordinary ones. But golden essence, though wondrous, cannot condense alone — like a spark, born in a flash, lost in an instant. Without heaven-soul's counter-control it still cannot be obtained. Then what? The road is long and far — I will search high and low.

Daoist Yinfu culture is dedicated to spreading orthodox Daoist knowledge. We welcome exchange with Dao students everywhere, and especially corrections from Daoist seniors. The celestial forces are vast; our Way flourishes day by day.

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