Vernacular Explanation of 'The Secret of the Golden Flower' (Part 2): Returning Light to Regulate Breath, Errors in Returning Light, and Verification of Returning Light

Returning Light to Regulate Breath, Chapter 4 Master Lü said: "As long as you focus on practicing the 'Essence', you do not need to seek for results, and they will come naturally. Generally speaking, beginners in meditation (Baidu) sit have two main faults: drowsiness and distraction. The best way to cure these faults is to focus the mind on regulating the breath. The character 'breath' (息) is composed of the characters 'self' (自) and 'heart/mind' (心), so it is said that 'the self-mind is breath.' Indeed, when the mind moves, breath arises; breath is originally transformed by the mind. Thoughts in our mind arise very quickly; in an instant, a deluded (Baidu) thought is produced, corresponding to one breath. Thoughts are internal breath, while breath is external breath, just like sound waves and resonance. In a day, there are tens of thousands of breaths, and thus tens of thousands of deluded (Baidu) thoughts. If this continues, human spirit will be exhausted, eventually becoming like dead wood and cold ashes. So, why not simply stop producing thoughts? That won't work; it is impossible to have no thoughts, just as it is impossible to stop breathing. Instead, use this illness as medicine, keeping the mind and breath closely attached to each other. Use this method to unify them. Therefore, when returning light, you must also regulate breath. The method of regulating breath entirely uses the 'ear light.' Returning light uses the eyes, while regulating breath uses the ear light; eye light is external, equivalent to the sun and moon exchanging light. Ear light is internal, equivalent to the sun and moon exchanging essence. Essence is the condensed state of light, actually coming from the same source but with different names. Human hearing and seeing, in summary, are just one spiritual light. During meditation (Baidu) sitting, first lower the eyelids of both eyes and set a standard, then let go of all worries. But simply letting go may not be achievable. So, focus the mind on listening to the sound of breathing. The in-and-out of breath should not be audible to the ears. Listening is listening for silence; if there is sound, it indicates the breath is coarse and floating, not yet fine. You must patiently make the breath even lighter and quieter. In this way, the more you relax, the finer it becomes; the finer it becomes, the quieter it gets. After a long time, suddenly even the fine breath stops. At that moment, the true breath arrives before you, and the original face of the mind can be perceived. Because when the mind is fine, the breath also becomes fine; as long as the intention is focused, true energy can be mobilized. When breath is fine, the mind also becomes fine; as long as the breath is focused, the spirit can be mobilized. The ancients advocated nurturing qi before stabilizing the mind; this is because the mind and intention have no place to start. So, using breath regulation as the beginning of stabilizing the mind is what is called 'guarding pure qi.' You may not yet understand the meaning of regulating 'movement.' Movement, using a thread to pull as a metaphor, is another name for the character 'pull' (掣). Objects can be pulled by a thread to move; can the spirit and mind not be stabilized by pure stillness! This is a simple method summarized by the Great Sage observing the interactive relationship between mind and qi, to benefit future generations. Health preservation books say: 'The hen listens with her heart while incubating eggs,' which is a wonderful secret. Look at a hen incubating eggs; she uses warmth, but that warmth can only warm the shell, not penetrate into the egg; only by using the mind can the warmth be drawn in. When the hen incubates eggs, she listens attentively, focusing her heart and mind. The mind enters the egg, and the qi follows, so the egg receives warmth and develops into a chick. During the incubation period, the hen may occasionally go out, but she often assumes a posture of listening with her ears, and her spirit remains focused on the egg without interruption, thus the spirit becomes alive. The aliveness of the spirit is due to the prior 'death' (Baidu) of the mind. If a person can first 'die' (Baidu) the mind, the primordial spirit will become alive. But the 'death' (Baidu) of the mind mentioned here does not mean making the mind wither and die, but making the mind focused and undivided. Buddhists often say: 'Place the mind in one place, and nothing cannot be accomplished.' If the mind wanders, use qi to stabilize it; if the qi is coarse, use the mind to refine it. By doing so, will there still be cases of unsettled spirit? Generally, the two faults of drowsiness and distraction will naturally improve greatly if meditation (Baidu) practice is uninterrupted daily. If one does not meditate (Baidu) sit, although distraction exists, one may not even know it. Now that you know there is a fault of distraction, that is the beginning of eliminating distraction. Drowsiness without self-awareness compared to drowsiness with self-awareness differs by thousands of miles! Unnoticed drowsiness is true drowsiness; knowing you are drowsy means you are not completely drowsy, because there is clarity within it. Distraction is the spirit wandering; drowsiness is the spirit unclear. Distraction is easy to treat, drowsiness is hard to cure. Like being sick, there are pains and itches; prescribing the right medicine can cure them; but drowsiness is like numbness, which is not easy to treat. Distraction can be gathered; disorder can be organized; but drowsiness is sluggish and obscure, truly hard to handle. Distraction still has a realm, while drowsiness is entirely controlled by the corporeal soul. Unlike distraction where the spiritual soul is still present, in drowsiness, yin energy dominates. During meditation (Baidu) sitting, feeling sleepy is the fault of drowsiness arriving. The way to eliminate drowsiness is to regulate breath. Breath is mouth exhaling and nose inhaling. Although the in-and-out air is not the true breath, the in-and-out of the true breath is entrusted to this one exhale and inhale. During meditation (Baidu) sitting, first calm the mind and purify the qi. How to calm the mind? Focus it on the breath. The in-and-out of breath is only understood by the mind, not heard by the ears. If not heard, the breath is fine; if the breath is fine, the qi is clear. If heard, the breath is coarse; if the breath is coarse, the qi is turbid. Turbid qi naturally leads to drowsiness and sleepiness, which is a natural principle. However, focusing the mind on the breath requires skillful application; it is a use that is not used. Do not be too serious; just slightly illuminate and listen. How to illuminate? Use eye light to illuminate oneself. Both eyes look inward, not outward; eyes not looking outward is naturally inward looking. It is not that there is truly a method of inward looking. How to listen? Use ear light to listen to oneself. Both ears listen inward, not outward. Listening is listening for silence; looking is looking for form. Merely having eyes not look outward and ears not listen outward causes the spirit to want to rush inward due to blockage. Only by achieving inward looking and inward listening can the spirit neither go outward nor rush inward; being in the middle, it will not be drowsy. This is the method of the sun and moon exchanging essence and light. If truly drowsy and sleepy, do not force sitting; you should get up and walk around, and sit again after the spirit is clear. In the morning, having free time, sitting for the time it takes to burn one stick of incense is best. After noon, worldly affairs are distracting, and drowsiness easily occurs during meditation (Baidu) sitting, but there is no need to insist on sitting for a full stick of incense; just put down the burdens of various stained thoughts, sit in high-quality meditation (Baidu) for a short while, and over time, you will make progress and no longer produce the phenomenon of drowsiness and sleepiness. Errors in Returning Light, Chapter 5 Master Lü said: Your practice is gradually becoming pure and familiar. However, as the saying goes: 'There are many wrong paths before the dead wood on the cliff.' I will explain the details of this message to everyone. It is truly known only when experienced, but now I can explain it in detail to you. My Daoist practice differs from Zen Buddhism; there is a result at every step. Please allow me to first discuss the differences, and then talk about the results. Before practicing the 'Essence' method, prepare in advance. Do not overuse the mind; keep the spirit lively, let the qi be peaceful, and the mind comfortable, then meditate (Baidu) sit. When entering (Baidu) stillness, just as you seize the opportunity and the aperture, do not sit in a hard shell of doing nothing. While letting go of all sensations and thoughts, the spirit should remain as clear as usual; but do not let go of all thoughts with excessive enthusiasm, which is too much. In clarity without confusion, let go of all thoughts naturally; but do not let things take their own course, falling into the 'skandhas.' The so-called 'skandhas' refer to the activities of the five yin demons: form (image), feeling (sensation), perception (imagery), volition (will), and consciousness (awareness). Some practitioners, when entering samadhi, have more of the appearance of dead wood and cold ashes, and less of the appearance of spring on the earth. This means they have fallen into the yin realm. Their qi is cold, their breath is sinking, and there are many scenes of coldness and decay within. Cultivating like this, over time, they become like wood and stone. One must reverse this lifeless state, but cannot follow all conditions. If during meditation (Baidu) sitting, various thoughts come randomly and cannot be eliminated; letting them come and go feels comfortable and smooth; this situation is called 'the master (Baidu) serves the servant (Baidu).' Cultivating like this, over time, one falls into the form (Baidu) desire realm. Those with good luck remain human; those with bad luck are reborn as mammals, for example, becoming fox immortals. Fox immortals in famous mountains still enjoy blessings. They enjoy wind, moon, flowers, fruits, strange trees, and exotic grasses for three to five hundred years, and those with long lifespans can live for thousands of years. But in the end, they still enter the cycle of life and death, returning to the world of suffering. The above-mentioned several cases are all wrong paths. Knowing the wrong paths, then we can talk about the results. Verification of Returning Light, Chapter 6 Master Lü said: The verification of returning light is also abundant. This cannot be treated with small roots and small vessels, but requires a胸怀 to save all sentient beings; nor can it be treated with a light or arrogant mind, but must be practiced according to what I have explained. During entering (Baidu) stillness, feeling continuous and uninterrupted, with a happy mood and comfortable spirit, as if slightly drunk or after bathing; this is the symbol of whole-body yang warmth and the first emergence of the Golden Flower. Subsequently, feeling all sounds silent, a bright moon rising in the middle of the sky, and the earth becoming a world of light; this is the symbol of the mind-body opening and the Golden Flower fully blooming. Subsequently, feeling the whole body very full, with a fearless attitude towards wind and frost, and encountering things that others find uninteresting with even more spirit; like building a house with gold and a platform with white jade, decaying things in the world, when I blow true qi on them, they immediately recover vitality; red blood turns into milk. This seven-foot body of flesh and blood seems to be composed entirely of precious treasures. With such symbols, one reaches the stage of great condensation of the Golden Flower. The first stage of results is just like the 'setting sun,' 'great water,' 'walking trees,' and other initial 'dharma images' required in the Buddhist 'Sutra on the Visualization of the Infinite Life.' The setting sun symbolizes the foundation laid by the Wuji within chaos. The great water symbolizes 'the highest good is like water' from 'Laozi,' clean and flawless, which is the Taiji ruler evolved from Wuji, also known in the I Ching hexagram as 'the Emperor comes out of Zhen.' Zhen belongs to Wood in the Eight Trigrams, so 'walking trees' are used as a symbol. The 'seven rows of trees' mentioned in the sutra symbolize the seven orifices shining. The second stage of results is built upon the first stage. Visualizing the earth turning into an ice and snow world, transforming into a glass treasure land, with light gradually condensing; thus, in subsequent visualizations, a lotus throne appears, followed by various Buddhas. The metallic nature revealed, is that not the Buddha? 'Buddha' is a transliteration, originally meaning 'Great Awakening Golden Immortal.' What is described above is the major results in the entire practice of the method. Currently, the results that everyone can verify are roughly three: One is that after entering (Baidu) stillness, the spirit enters the valley, hearing people speaking outside as if separated by more than a mile, yet clear and distinct; the sound enters the eardrum, like an echo in a deep mountain valley, not unheard; yet not clearly heard. This phenomenon of the spirit entering the valley can be experienced by everyone at any time. One is that during entering (Baidu) stillness, the eye light spreads vigorously, a white expanse in front, as if in clouds; even opening the eyes to look at one's own body, one cannot see it. This phenomenon is called 'white arises in the empty room,' which is a sign of internal and external illumination and auspiciousness. One is that during entering (Baidu) stillness, the flesh is warm and soft, like cotton, like jade; sitting there feels as if one cannot stay, with a feeling of rising vigorously. This is because the spirit returns to the heaven of the head; over time, the body's levitation can be realized. These three are scenes verifiable now. However, there are many results that cannot be fully described, producing various wonderful scenes depending on each person's qualities. Just like the 'signs of good roots arising' listed in the 'Book of Cessation and Contemplation': 'Like a person drinking water, knowing cold and warmth oneself.' In short, one must believe in it oneself, then it is true. The Primordial One Qi can be found in these present results. Finding the Primordial One Qi, the elixir can be refined. This is a real grain of millet. As Zhang Boduan said in 'Four Hundred Characters of the Golden Elixir': 'One grain after another, from subtle to manifest.' Primordial has stages of primordial, that is the 'one grain' mentioned above; there is also the holistic primordial, from one grain to infinite grains. However, each grain has its power. The most important primary meaning is that one must have a great determination.