The Golden Elixir

Reproduced from:

Fabrizio Pregadio, Awakening to Reality: A Taoist Classic of Internal Alchemy

Golden Elixir Press

Text

1 學仙須是學天仙，惟有金丹最的端。 3 二物會時情性合，五行全處龍虎蟠。 5 本因戊己為媒娉，遂使夫妻鎮合歡。 7 只候功成朝北闕，九霞光裏駕翔鸞。

Translation

Commentary on Lines 1-2

"You should know that the source of the stream, the place where the Medicine is born, is just at the southwest — that is its native village."

The southwest is direction of Kun ☷, the land where Fu ䷗ is reborn after the last day of the month, and where Yin culminates and generates Yang.⁽¹⁾ In the human being, it is the time of the initial movement after quiescence culminates. This movement is the time of the emergence of the Great Medicine.

Awakening to Reality

Written in the 11th century, this famous work describes Neidan (Internal Alchemy) in poetry

However, this movement is not the movement of emotions and desires arising from external stimuli; and it is not the movement of thoughts and ideas arising from the internal mind. It is the movement of innate knowledgeThe term "innate knowledge" derives from one of the main Confucian texts, the Mengzi (chapter 7): "What one is able to do without learning is called innate capacity; what one knows without pondering is called innate knowledge." of the celestial mind, the movement of the true knowledge of the mind of the Dao.

This innate knowledge of the celestial mind, this true knowledge of the mind of the Dao, can make one transcend the ordinary and enter sainthood,⁽²⁾ rise from death and return to life; therefore they are represented by the image of the Medicine. When quiescence culminates and the ten thousand conditions are at rest, the innate knowledge of the celestial mind and the true knowledge of the mind of the Dao have a particle of radiance that reveals their origin; therefore they are represented by the image of the birth of the Medicine. The innate knowledge of the celestial mind and the true knowledge of the mind of the Dao are the white within the black; their movement is generated from quiescence, just like the source of a stream; therefore they are represented by the image of the source of a stream where the Medicine is born.

Notes

(1) As shown by its graphical representation, the hexagram Fu ䷗ (lit., "Return") stands for the rebirth of the Yang principle after the obscuration of Yin, in turn represented by Kun ䷁.

(2) On this expression see the note to Poem 14, line 8.

See also a detailed explanation of this poem

© Golden Elixir Press