Resolving confusion, cultivating transcendence
Bai Yu-Chan (1194-1229?) was a key figure in Southern Song dynasty Daoism and internal alchemy. The following is written as a discussion with his teacher Chen Nan (d. 1213), the fourth patriarch of the Nanzong lineage.
The excerpt translated below is section four of the Zazhu Zhixuan Pian (miscellaneous essays guiding toward the mystery)[1] found in Bai’s Xiuzhen Shishu (Ten Books on Cultivating Trueness); other essays in this section include discussions of the valley spirit, ascent and descent of yin and yang, and a discussion on the chamber of the elixir.
This particular passage is notable for how clearly it states that context will determine the meanings of alchemical terms, and for its precise directions regarding getting to grips with the practice.
Resolving Confusions in Cultivating Transcendence
(Xiū Xiān Biàn Huò Lùn)《修仙辨惑論》
Bai Yuchan from Hainan island had studied with Chen Niwan since he was young. Before he knew it, nine years had passed. One day, amidst the mountain crags, under some pines, when the moon was full and the night was still, Bai Yuchan was thinking about death, the brevity of life, and impermanence.
He arose, and kowtowing to his teacher, said: Your student Bai Yuchan has not followed you for long, and having assessed himself, knows that his innate ability is meagre. But he dares to ask: can he hope to become an immortal in this lifetime?
Chen Niwan said: Everyone can, why not you?
Bai Yuchan said: Although it is pushing the bounds of propriety, I would like to ask a presumptive question: how many avenues exist for cultivating transcendence (xiūxiān修仙)? How many methods are there for refining the elixir (liàndān 鍊丹)? From my ignorant viewpoint, it is like being unable to differentiate jade from a rock. Please give me a word that can spark transformation.
Chen Niwan said: Come here, and I’ll tell you. There are three levels of cultivating transcendence, and there are three completions in the refining of the elixir.
The path of Celestial Transcendence (Tiān Xiān 天仙) is the ability to change and transform, to ascend in flight. It can be studied by superior persons of learning. Lead, (qiān 鉛) here, is the body; mercury (gǒng 汞) is the heart/mind; water is settled quietness (dìng 定); fire is wisdom (huì 慧) . In the space of a brief moment, it can congeal (níngjié 凝結); within ten months the foetus is complete. This is the highest quality method of refining the elixir, and in itself needs neither depiction by trigram lines (guàyaó 卦爻) nor measurement of ‘dosages’ (jīnliǎng 斤两)[2]. The method is simple and uncomplicated, and passed on from heart to heart; extremely easy to complete.
The path of Fluid Transcendence (Shuǐ Xiān 水仙) is the ability to move between the hidden and apparent (chūrú yǐnxiǎn 出入隱顯). It can be studied by those of middling learning. Here, qi is lead, spirit is mercury, wǔ (午, meaning variously ‘noon’, ‘the peak of yang’, ‘high summer’ and so on) is fire, zǐ (子, meaning variously ‘midnight’, ‘the deepest part of yin’, ‘winter’ and so on) is water. In the space of a hundred days it can be compounded (hūnhé 混合), and the image (xiàng 象) completed within three years. This is the middle level method of refining elixir, and while it does use depiction of trigram lines it does not need description of dosages. The method needs subtlety (yaò miaò 要妙) and thus is transmitted orally; it is definitely possible to complete.
The path of earthly transcendence (dì xiān 地仙) is the ability to remain living on the earth (liúxíng zhùshì 留形住世); anyone can study it. Here, semen (jīng 精) is lead, blood is mercury, the Kidneys are water, and the Heart is fire. It can be fused together (róngjié 融結) within a year, and the effect completed within nine years. This is the lower level method of refining elixir, needing both depiction of trigram lines and dosages, quite complicated and difficult, and is thus passed on in writing; but I am afraid it is hard to complete.
The superior elixir method uses vitality, spirit, hún, pò[3] and intent (jīng shén hún pò yì 精神魂魄意) as medicinal substances,[4] for the firing process it uses movement, halting, sitting and reclining, and in application it is all quiet stillness and being-simply-as-one-is.
The middle level elixir method uses Kidneys, Heart, Liver, Lungs and Spleen as the medicinal materials, for the firing process the year, month, day and hours, and the application is to embrace the Source and hold to the One (baò yuán shoǔ yī 抱元守一).
The lower level elixir method uses semen, blood, marrow, qi and fluids as the medicinal materials, for firing process it uses closing off, swallowing, striking and rubbing (bì yàn leí mó 閉嚥擂摩), and the application is to concentrate on ascent and descent (cúnxiǎng shēngjiàng 存想升降).
One should not try to “choose a champion racehorse from a diagram” – the wonderful aspect within all this is not to be found like that. Someone who is overly literal and attached to images and words might become puffed up and vain, but even by old age will have attained nothing.
Bai Yuchan said: I have been reading alchemy books for many years, and it has always been like walking amongst brambles and thorns. Now, today, it is as thought the dust has settled, the mirror is clean, the clouds have opened and the moon shines clearly. Finally the myriad methods have been unified, and all the fantasies brought back to reality. But I still do not know exactly where I should place my hand to begin the work.
Chen Niwan said: That’s a great question. The crucial thing in refining the elixir is to use the body as the altar, the oven, the cauldron and stove (tán lú dǐng aó 壇鑪鼎鼇). Take the heart as the chamber of spirit (shénshì 神室); gather and harvest by sitting upright and practicing stillness (duānzuò xídìng 端坐習定); attend to the fire by managing attention (caōchi zhaògù 操持照顧); proceed or withdraw through activity and cessation (yǐ zuòzhǐ weí jìntuì 以作止為進退); and use deliberate breaking off of concentration as your defence (yǐ duànxùbùzhuān weí fángdī 以斷續不專為防隄).[6]
Take application as increase and decrease; use the smoke and steam of True Qi to bathe. Use attention to the breath (xī niàn)[7] to nourish the fire, and your battlefield activity should be the subjugation of your body and mind. You withstand the siege by congealing spirit and gathering qi, life and death are decided by remaining aloof from the world and cutting off worry.
That place where thoughts arise is the mysterious female, kneading all into one is connection (jiaōjié 交結). Returning to the root and restoring life is the completion of the elixir, transferring the spirit is changing cauldrons. Having a body outside the body is being reborn, returning to the fundamental and coming back to the source is True Emptiness. Breaking apart that Emptiness (dǎpò xūkōng 打破虛空) is the true completion (liaó dāng了當).
Thereafter, one is able to gather and become a form (jù ér chéngxíng 聚而成形), or to disperse and become qi (sàn ér chéng qì 散則成氣), coming and going without obstruction, free and easy, being-just-as-one-is.
Bai Yuchan says: If one is diligent and disciplined, one will eventually encounter a realised person; but if one has had the encounter but does not do the work, one ends up only as a lower ghost. But what experiential evidence is there for this method of refining the elixir?
Chen Niwan said: When one is just beginning to refine the elixir, the spirit is clear and the qi fresh, the body and mind harmonious and free. Old illnesses clear up, there are no disturbing dreams, one can go without eating for a hundred days, and drink wine without becoming drunk. At this stage, red blood turns to white blood, yin qi is refined into yang qi, the body burns like fire, and one walks as if flying. Water put into the mouth evaporates, you can cook meat just by blowing upon it. Looking upon scenery without caring, unmoved no matter what, you employ ghosts and spirits as your servants, with a call you bring on thunder and rain. Your ears perceive the nine heavens, your eyes can see for ten thousand miles. Your whole body is pure yang, with golden tendons and jade bones, your true form is revealed to be yang spirit, coming and going naturally; this and only this is the finish of the path of long-life-without-death.
Still, I am worried that worldlings will become fixated on the words about “medicinal substances” and “firing process,” taking them as physical and something to act on, and thus be unable to achieve insight. Don’t they know that prior to the differentiation of the original chaos, there was no ‘year,’ ‘month,’ ‘day’ or ‘hour;’ before the birth of your parents, you had no semen, blood, qi or fluids. The Dao is formless, so we use analogies of ‘dragon’ and ‘tiger.’ The Dao has no nomenclature, so we make comparisons of ‘mercury’ and ‘lead.’
The study of Celestial Transcendence needs both form and spirit to be subtle (miaò妙) that together with the Dao one may unite with the True. One must not become bound by yin and yang into the midst of the five elements, but instead leap beyond heaven and earth: only then can one be termed Attainer of the Dao (dédaò zhī shì 得道之士).
Some may doubt and ask whether this method and the Chan method are not almost the same, but they do not know that just conversing in question and answer sessions all day is only a dry “wisdom,” spending the year sitting silently in a daze is just inflexible “emptiness.”[8]
In fact, the study of Celestial Transcendence resembles a pearl in a crystal bowl, revolving magnificently , vivaciously; spinning naturally like a top, gleaming: what we call Celestial Transcendence is actually a Golden Transcendence, a marvel incapable of description. Who can know it? Who can bring it into practice? If a person knows the two classics Jīn Gāng Jīng (Diamond Sutra) and Yuán Jué Jīng (Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment), then the meaning and significance of the golden elixir will become clear—why should there be any need to distinguish between Daoism and Buddhism?
There are not two paths under heaven, the heart of a sage is only one: it need not be said that everyone has the capacity, each and every one can attain enlightenment. This is what is meant by the proverb there is always a tree to tie your horse, every doorway can lead to the capital [ie there is always a way to achieve what you want] … it is just a matter of selecting the route by which you travel.
Bai Yuchan said: So many people in the world are studying transcendence, but it is often the case that many study but never encounter [a teacher], or they encounter but do not practice, or they practice but without discipline, and because of all this reach old age and complacently go to their death, residing in Hades: is this not a pity? I am going to take your words to me today and carve them into wood to pass on all over the world. But leaking Heaven’s intimate secrets like this is a serious matter, will I be reprimanded?
Chen Niwan said: I am sparking spiritual transcendence and transformation in the world; making this a crime would mean Heaven being less than Celestial. Anyway the classic says: my fate is in my own hands, not in Heaven’s—who would reprimand you?
Bai Yuchan said: our founding teacher Zhang Boduan tried to transmit the Dao three times to people who were unworthy, and three times met disaster. What was this about?[9]
Chen Ni wan said: Those were times that he lacked discernment, and clearly was not employing his heart to its fullest. Sigh. The teacher is in the heights of Heaven, the disciple in the ocean’s abyss; it goes without saying that it is difficult to really know people in the midst of one’s work in the world. The present widespread publication of this can make those studying transcendence search out texts, assay their meaning, and clarify the subtle principles. This is receiving the instruction of Heaven, why should one necessarily only receive transmission by tongue or pen?
If you can be silent and still, free from thought even in the midst of thought, your meditation pure and unadulterated, turning into a single whole, silent all day long, like a hen incubating her eggs, then your spirit will return and your energy will come back, and you will spontaneously see the opening of the mysterious pass.[10] There is nothing beyond its greatness, nothing more fine than its subtlety: it is but making the one primal qi into the mother of the golden elixir. Carried out with discipline, a day will come when you can ride with Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin!
The intention of this writing is to carefully gather the important parts of this question and answer session for the student who has no guiding compass, and thus it is called “Resolving Confusions in the Study of Transcendence.”
Endnotes
[1] The text of which can be found here: http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=591641
[2] Bai’s teacher explained the science of “dosages” as “the subtle application of adding and subtracting” (抽添運用之細微) in his Cuì Xū Piàn (翠虛篇 Emerald Emptiness Essay).
[3] Hún is the ethereal soul, yang, luminous and volatile, linked with the yang ascending energy of the Liver; pò is the earthly soul, yin, dull and heavy, linked with the yin descending energy of the Lungs.
[4] The reader would be expected to know that these five are arranged around the taiji symbol in the north, south, east, west and centre respectively, and that this arrangement illustrates their application and their qualities.
[5] Reading zaò竃 for aó 鼇.
[6] A form of mental discipline that trains one to focus or detach attention at will, very important to prevent “possession” by undesirable states of being.
[7] 息念could and does also mean “ceasing thought”, and the phrase can be broken down even further to provide yet more avenues of praxis.
[8] This is the sort of statement that a certain type of academic loves to grasp as evidence of inter-religious conflict. But here Chen Niwan is referring to a degenerate form of Chan (as his statements in the next few lines demonstrate) which has lapsed into the use of convoluted statements and ‘turning phrases’ which, far from their original intention of sparking insight through incongruous juxtaposition, were being used by ‘teachers’ to confuse students and maintain a spurious superiority.
[9] Zhang Bo-Duan learned from Liu Haichan who warned him about careless transmission. Zhang tried three times to pass on the Dao to people who were not suitable, and each time failed. He made a vow to no longer transmit the Dao carelessly.
As a result he carefully composed the book Wu Zhen Pian (Understanding Reality). In the postscript Zhang Boduan said
“In this book of mine, everything is made ready for you, the verses and songs have the firing process of the great elixir, and all the subtle directions. Those who have an affinity for this matter must have the bones of a transcendent, then when they read this book carefully and with wisdom it will inspire clarity. They can search the text to unravel the significant meaning of terms, there will be no need for personal oral transmission by my humble self. This book is in fact a bequest from Heaven, not my own presumption.”
[10] The translator nicked this sentence from Thomas Cleary where it was quoted in the “20th Century Taoist” section of his Vitality, Energy and Spirit, and in fact it was this that inspired the translation of the whole “Treatise” when no other English translation seemed available.
