A section of “pointing to the way of Elixir”

The below quote is taken from a popular quanzhen document called “Pointing to the Way of Elixir” which is a meditation document that explains many fine aspects of the energy anatomy of the body and how to meditate, The theory here is both simple and complex, but it is essentially concerned with the routs along which Qi energy rises and falls in the body. There are notes at the end in order to help explain some of the more complex points.

夫背后尾闾、夹脊、玉枕,谓之三关,属督脉,为阳;
the Wei lu, Ni Ji, and Yu Zhen gates run up the back and are called the Three Gates. They correspond to the “Du Meridian” and are considered as Yang.

前面上丹田、中丹田、下丹田,谓之三田,属任脉,为阴。
The three Elixir Fields in the front of the body are the upper elixir field, middle elixir field, and lower elixir field. They are part of the Ren Meridian and are considered Yin.

此阴阳升降之路,自背后督脉上来,即属子,
This is the road along which yin and yang rise and fall.
When the Du Meridian rises up the back, it is called “Zi”

自前面任脉下去,即属午,
when the Ren Meridian moves down the front, it is called “Wu.”

子午抽添,所谓周天火候是也。
Zi and Wu can be added and withdrawn from, and are the rout by which “Huo Hou” can be sent around the heavenly orbit.

Note:
Zi and Wu are two ancient Chinese concepts of time which infer the rise of the moon to its peak (Zi) and the rise of the sun to its peak (wu). Zi represents the water element and the kidneys, as well as the Du meridian, running from the base of the spine, past the kidneys, up the back, and neck, and to the head. Wu represents the fire element, the heart, and the line of energy running down the front of the body from the upper Dan Tian to the “Sea of energy” in the lower abdomen.
The reason why Zi can be considered as yang energy and Wu can be considered as yin energy is because of the centre lines of the fire and water element. The centre line of the three lines making up the water trigram is solid, indicating living yang energy and human essence. The broken line at the centre of the three lines of the fire trigram represents yin energy and to oxygen that moves in our blood, as well as our emotions. So even though fire is predominantly a yang energy, its inside is yin, and the time of “Wu” in the early afternoon indicates the time when the sun is about to pass its Zenith at the time of “solar noon” and is about to overextend itself and begin its descent, this means that yang is getting ready to turn into yin. The same is true of the moon and the time of Zi at midnight. This theory is substantially more complex, but for the time being, we can simply work on the assumption that the Du meridian is a yang energy conduit working on a yin part of the body and that the Ren Meridian is a yin energy conduit working on a predominantly yang part of the body.

Huo Hou: Huo Hou, or “Controlling the fire” is the act by which yin and yang are stabilized in the intention in order to subtly control the Qi as it moves in the body. this is mainly concerned with the way in which we set our intentions and how we can gradually stop the mind and not readjust it during meditation. The best situation is that the mind remains stopped most of the time and only has to be infrequently adjusted, but this level of practice can take a long time to achieve. Huo Hou is how we learn to keep the fire of the mind alive without allowing it to become too intense or go out. This is a very subtle concept in Daoism.

Part of the Xiang Er commentary of the dao de jing.

The Xiang Er commentaries are an important early commentary of the dao de jing which is often attributed to the Tianshi/heavenly teacher sect of religious daoism. It is a self cultivation text and is based on fixing ones on shortcomings in order to join with the dao.
This section discusses concepts which would later come to great importance in Daoist meditation practices.

和其光,同其尘。」情性不动,喜怒不发,五藏皆和同相生,与道同光尘也。
Harmonize the light,
Together with the dust:
The emotions and true nature do not move, affection and anger do not emerge, the five organs all harmonize and come to life. The Dao is together with the light and the dust.
「湛似常存。」如此湛然常在不亡。
Clear, it is long held:
Like this, remain clear ongoing, and do not forget.

「吾不知谁子,像帝之先。」吾事,道也。帝先者,亦道也,与无名万物始同一耳。未知谁家子能行此道,能行者便像道也,似帝先矣。
I don’t know whose child it is, it seems to be before the image of God:
The meaning of “I” is the dao. “Before God” also means the dao. All beings begin without a name
He who does not know his own origin can move with the dao. He who can do this can change to the image of the Dao. This is the meaning of “before God.”

Definition of Xing and Ming from Zhong He Ji.

This definition of the Daoist concept of xing and ming (nature and life) comes from the middle harmony anthology by Li Daochun. Li was a Yuan dynasty Daoist cultivator who formalized many ideas in the internal elixir meditation school and combined the earlier teachings of the southern and northern internal elixir schools of Zhang boduan and Wang chongyang.

夫性者,先天至神一靈之謂也。
Xing is the pre heaven utmost one spirit of the consciousness.
命者,先天至精一氣之謂也。
Ming is the pre heaven utmost one energy of the body’s essence.
精與性,命之根也。
When essence meets with xing, it is the root of life.
性之造化系乎心,命之造化系乎身。
Xing develops with the mind.
Ming develops with the body.

Comment: we can see here that xing and ming are absolutely connected to mind and body and that each of them exists in the latent, pre heaven state, which is the state under regular consciousness in which the body operates on its own, without our direct conscious interference.
Practicing xing and ming can only be done by returning the mind to absolute stillness and silence, and by setting the attention in such a way that it stays in one place and does not move. Xing and Ming are the big root of internal elixir meditation practice and should not be overlooked.