Chan Buddhism and the Northern School of Complete Reality Taoism. In
terms of energetics, the "chamber of water" means the lower abdomen,
where energy is built up for circulation. In spiritual terms, the "chamber of
water" refers to the true sense of real knowledge hidden within temporal
conditioning. I have italicized wafer because it stands for one of the main
signs of the I Ching,
consisting of one solid (positive) line surrounded by two broken
(negative) lines: in Taoist alchemy, this represents the primal hidden
within the temporal.
10. The I Ching sign for fire, which represents consciousness, consists of
two positive lines surrounding a negative line. In this case, the negative line
represents temporal conditioning ruling consciousness. The sign for the
creative, which represents the enlightened mind, consists of three positive
lines. Fire is in substance the creative in the sense that consciousness is
itself enlightenment; but this is not realized because of the influence of
mundane conditioning.
11. "Negative energy stops" because the exercise of turning the light around
vitiates the power of conditioned thought habits.
12. The joining of the positive energy in water and the creative means the
reuniting of conscious knowledge and real knowledge. The "basic chamber"
is the center, which again may be interpreted psychophysiologically or
spiritually. Wilhelm renders "the positivity hi water" as "the polarized light-
