IRC-Galleria

"Almost unknown in the West, Daoism has a rich tradition of female Mystics and Sages, some of whom are said to have taught Lao Tzu himself. Indeed, given the centrality of the balance between Yin and Yang in Daoism, this could not be otherwise. Of these, the most famous is the legendary Sun Bu-Er (Daoist title: 'Clear and Calm Free Human'), who lived in the twelfth century. Included in her works is this fourteen verse cycle setting out a specifically female Daoist process of transformation, from pre-existence to immortality. Focussed on the womb, it is not available to men, making it almost probably the only exclusively feminine form of spiritual practise still extant in the world."

I

Before the body existed
Our energy was already there.
Like jade, more lustrous as its polished,
Like gold, brighter as it's refined.
Sweep clear the ocean of birth and death,
Stay firm by the door of total mastery.
A particle at the point of open awareness,
The gentle firing is warm.

II

The basis starts out uncontrived;
Unexpectedly it falls into the temporal.
As soon as a cry issues from the mouth,
The tongue is in control.
What's more, it's worn out by sense impacts,
And entangled by illness.
When the child is well nourished, it can benefit the mother;
Talk no more of not turning around.

III

Gather the breath into the point where the spirit is frozen,
And living energy comes from the east.
Don't get stuck on anything at all,
And one energy will come back to the terrace.
The darkness should go down the front,
The light induced up the back.
After a shower, a peal of thunder
Rumbles at the top of the mountain and the bottom of the sea.

IV

When stillness climaxes, it can produce movement;
Yin and yang mould each other.
Grab the jade tiger in the wind,
Catch the golden bird in the moon.
Keep you eyes on the incubation process,
Keep your mind on the course of following and reversing.
When the magpie bridges are crossed,
The alchemical energy returns to the surface.

V

Tie up the tiger and return it to the true lair;
Bridle the dragon and gradually increase the elixir.
Nature should be clear as water,
Mind should be as still as the mountain.
Tuning the breath, gather it into the gold crucible;
Stabilising the spirit, guard the jade pass.
If you can increase the grain of rice day by day,
You will be rejuvenated.

VI

If you want the elixir to form quickly,
First get rid of illusory states.
Attentively guard the spiritual medicine;
With every breath return to the beginning of the creative.
The energy returns, coursing through the three islands;
The spirit, forgetting, unites with the ultimate.
Coming this way and going this way,
No place is not truly so.

VII

At the point where the womb breath is continuous,
You should distinguish the beginnings of movement and stillness.
The yang light should be increasingly advanced,
The yin soul should be prevented from flying off.
The pearl in the pond contains images,
The moon at the summit of the mountain spews light.
Twenty-four hours a day, don't be lazy;
Irrigate the herb sprouts richly.

VIII

With the mystic device half realised,
The elixir pill forms like a dewdrop.
Though now you can stabilize life,
How can you refine the body?
Gazing at the nose, one takes in pure positive energy;
The spiritual lead is effective through the body.
Be careful in feeding;
When completely fulfilled, you then leap into flight.

IX

The relic from before birth
Enters one's heart one day.
Be as careful as if you were holding a full vessel,
Be as gentle as if you were caressing an infant.
The gate of the earth should be shut tight,
The portals of heaven should be first opened.
Wash the yellow sprouts clean,
And atop the mountain is thunder shaking the earth.

X

The great forge produces mountains and waters,
Containing therein the potential of creation.
In the morning, greet the energy of the sun;
At night, inhale the vitality of the moon.
In time the elixir can be culled;
With the years, the body naturally lightens.
Where the original spirit comes and goes,
Myriad apertures emit radiant light.

XI

Once you can feed on the living energy,
Your lungs will be in an extraordinary state of clear coolness.
Forget the spirit, and there are no appearances to cling to;
Merge with the ultimate, and existent emptiness is gone.
For breakfast, look for wild taro roots;
When hungry at night, pick wetland mushrooms.
If you mix in smoke and fire,
Your body will not walk in the jewel pond.

XII

All things finished,
You sit still in a little niche.
The light body rides on violet energy,
The tranquil nature washes in a pure pond.
Original energy is unified, yin and yang are one;
The spirit is the same as the universe.
When the work is done, you pay court to the Jade Palace;
A long whistle gusts a misty gale.

XIII

There is a body outside the body,
Which has nothing to do with anything produced by the magical arts.
Making this aware energy completely pervasive
Is the living, active, unified original spirit.
The bright moon congeals the gold liquid,
Blue lotus refines jade reality.
When you've cooked the marrow of the sun and moon,
The pearl is so bright you don't worry about poverty.

XIV

At the right time, just out of the valley,
You rise lightly into the spiritual firmament.
The jade girl rides a blue pheonix,
The gold boy offers a scarlet peach.
One strums a brocade lute amidst the flowers,
One jewel pipes under the moon.
One day immortal and mortal are separated,
And you coolly cross the ocean.