Secret Transmission of Inner Cultivation 秘传正阳真人灵宝毕法

The author is unknown, and it was presumably composed during the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period. Consisting of three scrolls, it is included in the Tai Qing Section within the Daoist Canon (The Daozang).

Falsely attributed to transmission by Zhong Liquan and Lü Dongbin, this text expounds the methods of Internal Alchemy. It is divided into three parts: the Small Vehicle, the Middle Vehicle, and the Great Vehicle. The Small Vehicle (Method of Peace and Longevity) comprises four gates, elaborating on matching Yin and Yang, gathering and dispersing water and fire, uniting the dragon and tiger, and smelting the elixir. The Middle Vehicle (Method of Immortality) consists of three gates, discussing the flight of golden essence behind the elbows, the Jade Fluid Returning Elixir, and the Golden Fluid Returning Elixir. The Great Vehicle (Method of Transcending the Elixir to Become a Sage) includes three gates, expounding on paying homage to the origin, inner observation, and transcendence. In total, the three parts consist of ten gates.

Secret Transmission of Inner Cultivation

It details internal cultivation steps such as regulating breathing to accumulate Qi (Vital Energy), generating fluids to return to the primal state, gathering and dispersing water and fire, extracting and replenishing to form the Returning Elixir, restraining the Yang Pass, circulating the sun and moon through the celestial circuit, swallowing saliva, refining the body with golden fluid, sitting in meditation to forget distractions, concentrating the mind to enter samadhi, and wandering the celestial realms with the spirit. The core tenet is to refine and unite spirit, Qi, and essence to form the elixir and ascend to immortality.