Essentials of Inner Nature and Life Alchemy Guide

Essentials of Inner Nature and Life

Author unknown.

Tradition attributes it to a high disciple of Immortal Yin, though details of both Immortal Yin and his disciple are unrecorded.

The Origin of the Engraved Principles of Nature and Life states:

“In our village lived Wu Siming, who obtained the Principles of Nature and Life from the family of Grand Secretary Tang of Xin’an. It was composed by a high disciple of Immortal Yin and had been kept in secret for many years.”

Essentials of Inner Nature and Life

It was later shown to the Householder Ban’gan, and thus made public.

The text is signed “Written by Yu Yongning (Changji), Zhenchuzi of Xin’an, in the second summer month of the Yimao year of the Wanli reign.”

Its first printed edition therefore appeared in the forty-third year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1615).

It is an influential work on Internal Alchemy during the Ming and Qing dynasties, divided into four sections: Yuan, Heng, Li, and Zhen.

The Yuan section contains general essays, including more than twenty pieces such as Discourse on the Great Dao, Discourse on Life and Death, and Discourse on Nature and Life.

The Heng, Li, and Zhen sections provide step-by-step explanations of internal alchemy formulas and oral instructions.

Each section contains three parts, making nine sections in total:

First Formula: Nourishing the Root Origin, Protecting the Treasure of Life
Second Formula: Stabilizing the Spirit in the Ancestral Aperture, Gathering the Pre-Heaven
Third Formula: Secluding in the Qi Cavity, Returning All Wonders to the Root
Fourth Formula: Union of Heaven and Humanity, Gathering Medicine into the Vessel
Fifth Formula: Copulation of Qian and Kun, Removing Dross to Retain Gold
Sixth Formula: The Elixir Entering the Cauldron, Nurturing the Sacred Embryo
Seventh Formula: The Holy Infant Manifesting, Escaping the Sea of Suffering
Eighth Formula: Moving the Spirit to the Inner Abode, Reverently Emptying the Mind
Ninth Formula: The Body Being Void, Transcending the Three Realms

Its teachings often integrate Buddhist and Taoist perspectives, and the sequence of practices is clearly explained.

Each section is accompanied by finely drawn illustrations, with relatively accurate depictions of meridians and acupoints.

It is a rare and outstanding work of internal alchemy, combining text and images with precise elucidation.

Many editions survive.

It is included in the seventh collection of Essential Extracts from the Daozang and in the Nourishment and Cultivation category of Extra-Canonical Taoist Texts.