(from Immortal Sisters)
10. The Buddhist meditation manual known as Small Stopping and Seeing
was mentioned earlier. This passage refers to a more complete manual by
the same author known as Great Stopping and Seeing.
11. "When people drink water, they know for themselves whether it is cool
or warm" is a common Chan Buddhist expression used to illustrate the fact
that there is no way to communicate or understand realization of spiritual
awakening except by one's own personal experience.
12. "A grain, and then another grain, from vagueness to clarity" is an often-
quoted line from Four Hundred Words on the Gold Elixir, a short work by
the founder of the Southern School of Completely Real Taoism, Zhang
Boduan (Chang Po-tuan). Liu 1-ming explains, "'Grain after grain' means
that when the basis is established, the path develops and the positive energy
gradually grows. It does not literally mean there is the form of grains" (The
Inner Teachings of Taoism).
13. In his classic Understanding Reality, Chang Po-tuan also writes, "Truly
it is said of a grain of the gold elixir that a snake that swallows it is
immediately transformed into a dragon and a chicken that eats it is then
changed into a phoenix, flying into the pure realm of true yang " Liu I-ming
explains, "When yin and yang combine into one, the celestial order is
clearly revealed; the innate knowledge and capacity which had been about
to fade away in people is round and bright, clean and bare. A bead of gold