22. The two poems I used when I initiated Zhang Zhennu long ago both
contain the great Way. "After midnight and before noon" are not times, but
water and fire. "Settling the breath" means a state of centeredness in which
you go back to the root with each breath. "Sitting" means that the mind is
unmoved. The "mid-spine where the ribs join" does not refer to vertebrae; it
is the great road directly through to the jade capital. As for the "double
pass" there is something ineffable in this. "Thunder in the earth rumbles,
setting in motion rain on the mountain" means the arising of true energy.
The "yellow sprouts emerging from the ground" refer to the growth of the
medicine.
These two little verses are exhaustive; in them the highway of practical
cultivation is clear. These are not confusing words.
Turning the light around is a matter of single-minded practice: just use the
true breathing for stable awareness in the central chamber. After a long time
at this you will naturally commune with the spirit and attain transmutation.
This is all based on quieting of mind and stabilization of energy. When
the mind is forgotten and the energy congeals, this is a sign of effectiveness.
The emptiness of energy, breath, and mind is the formation of the elixir. The
unification of mind and energy is incubation. Clarifying the mind and
seeing its essence is understanding the Way.
You should each practice diligently; it would be too bad if you wasted
time. If you do not practice for a day, then you are a ghost for a day; if you
