Observations placeholder

The Original Spirit and the Conscious Spirit

1.  From the point of view of the universe, people are
like mayflies; but from the point of view of the Way,
even the universe is as an evanescent reflection. Only
the true essence of the original spirit transcends the
primal organization and is above it.

2.  Vitality and energy degenerate along with the uni-
verse, but the original spirit is still there; this is the
infinite. The production of the universe all derives
from this. If learners can just preserve the original
spirit, they live transcendentally outside of yin and
yang. They are not within the three realms.

3.  This is possible only by seeing essence. This is what is
called the original face.

4.  What is most wondrous is when the light has crystal-
lized in a spiritual body, gnadually becoming con-
sciously effective, and is on the ve€rge of moving into
action. This is the secret that has not been transmit-
ted in a thousand ages.

5.  The conscious mind is like a violent general of a
strong fiefdom controlling things from a distance,
until the sword is turned around.

6.  Now steadily keep to the chamber of the origin,
turning the light around to look back, and this is like
having a heroic leader on top with great ministers
helping. Once the inner government is orderly, the
strong and violent naturally become tame.

7.  The highest secrets of alchemy are the water of
vitality, the fire of spirit, and the earth of attention.

8.  The water of vitality is the energy of the primal real
unity. The fire of spirit is illumination. The earth of
attention is the chamber of the center, the celestial
mind.

9.  The fire of spirit is the function, the earth of atten-
tion is the substance, the water of vitality is the
foundation.

10.  People create the body by attention. The body is not
just the physical body, because there is a lower soul
therein. The lower soul functions in association with
consciousness, and consciousness develops based on
the lower soul. The lower soul is dim; it is the sub-
stance of consciousness. If consciousness is not inter-
rupted, transformation and transmutation of the
lower soul go on endlessly from lifetime to lifetime,
generation to generation.

11.  Then there is the higher soul, which is where the
spirit is concealed. The higher soul resides in the eyes
during the day and lodges in the liver at night. When
it resides in the eyes, it sees; when it lodges in the
liver, it dreams.

12.  Dreams are the roaming of the spirit. It traverses the
nine heavens and nine earths in an instant. If you are
dull and depressed on awakening, that is a sign of
clinging to the body, which means clinging to the
lower soul.

13.  So turning the light around is a means of refining the
higher soul, which is a means of preserving the spirit,
which is a means of controlling the lower soul, which
is a means of interrupting consciousness.

14.  The ancients' method of transcending the world,
refining away the dregs of darkness to restore pure
light, is just a matter of dissolving the lower soul and
making the higher soul whole.

15.  Turning the light around is the secret of dissolving
darkness and controlling the lower soul. There is no
exercise to restore the creative, only the secret of turn-
ing the light around. The light itself is the creative; to
turn it around is to restore it.

16.  Just persist in this method, and naturally the water of
vitality will be full, the fire of spirit will ignite, the
earth of attention will stabilize, and thus the embryo
of sagehood can be solidified.