Wondrous Scripture for Daily Internal Practice

Now, as for your daily practice, Keep your eating and drinking regulated; Restrain your speaking and meditate alone. Do not allow even a single thought to arise. The ten thousand affairs are all forgotten.

Then preserve your spirit and stabilize your intent. The mouth and lips are mutually locked up; The teeth should be lightly touching. Your eyes do not see a single thing;
Your ears do not hear a single sound. Unified, the heart-mind is guarded within.

Continually harmonize your breathing. Subtle, still more subtle, make a light exhale. It is as if the breath exists, as if it does not exist. Nothing is allowed to separate or interrupt.

Then the fire of the heart naturally descends; The water of the kidneys naturally ascends. Inside your mouth, the sweet dew arises of itself. The numinous Perfected support your body
And you spontaneously know the path to long life.

During the twelve double-hours of the day, Constantly seek clarity and stillness. The numinous tower of the heart emptied of all things: This is called clarity. Not allowing even a single thought to arise: This is called stillness.

The body is the dwelling place of qi. The heart is the residence of spirit. When intent moves, spirit is agitated; When spirit is agitated, qi is dispersed.

When intent is stable, spirit remains settled; When spirit remains settled, qi gathers. The perfect qi of the Five Phases Then gathers together and forms a pinch of elixir.

Then naturally in the body a sound can be heard. Walking and standing, sitting and lying down, One constantly practices awareness. In the body, it is as if there is the movement of wind. In the belly, it is as if there is the sound of thunder.

Infusing and harmonizing qi fully, A rich liquid pours into the top of the head. When you drink from this pinch of elixir, Your ears begin to hear the tunes of the immortals. These are the sounds of the stringless melodies Sounding spontaneously without any strumming, Reverberating naturally without any drumming.

Spirit and qi then combine together Like a child being cherished in the womb. If you can observe the inner regions, Spirit naturally begins to communicate. This is the residence of emptiness and nonbeing, The place where you can reside with the sages.

If you refine the combination through nine revolutions, You will bind and complete the great cinnabar elixir. Spirit then spontaneously enters and leaves.
Your years will match those of heaven and earth; Your radiance will join with that of the sun and moon. Then you will cast off arising and passing away.

Each day that you cease to practice this, Surely there will be injury and disease. So, during all the twelve double-hours of the day, Constantly seek clarity and stillness.

Qi is the mother of spirit; Spirit is the child of qi. Like a hen incubating an egg, Preserve spirit and nourish qi. Then, you will never be separated from the Wondrous.

Mysterious and again more mysterious; In the human body, there are Seven Treasures. Use them to support the country and pacify the people. Then your essence, qi, and blood will be abundant.

Essence is quicksilver; Blood is yellow gold; Qi is beautiful jade; Marrow is quartz;
The brain is numinous sand; The kidneys are jade rings; And the heart is a glittering gem.

These are the Seven Treasures— Keep them firmly in your body, never letting them disperse. Refine them into the great medicine of life. Then with all of the ten thousand spirits, You will ascend to the immortal realms.

Reference:
Wondrous Scripture for Daily Internal Practice of the Great High Lord Lao (pdf) pathofzero.com translation and commentary by Louis Komjathy.


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