Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 64 The Threefold Understanding of Ruler, Subject, and People; Burning the Body to Refine the

Fang Dongtian sat cross-legged on the futon next to Lü Qian. He looked at Lü Qian and said in a deep voice, "The Samadhi True Fire is the foundation for burning the body and refining the spirit. This fire is the true fire of one's own body. This fire is formless and without appearance, and it is both internal and external. It is transformed from one's own essence and energy."

"Internally, it involves burning the body to refine the spirit, refining the yin essence, eliminating disease, subduing demons, and even killing the three corpses and nine worms."

"When facing external forces, ghosts and spirits dare not approach, and water and fire cannot harm you."

Lu Qian listened attentively to Fang Dongtian's explanation of the profound mysteries, which were all mentioned in the Daoist scriptures of the past.

Although it has the name of fire, the true fire of Samadhi is actually a breath of "qi" that is condensed and bound within the human body.

The Compendium of Materia Medica Supplement classifies human flames into twelve types according to yin and yang.

Fire has yin and yang, which is the profound meaning of Taiji. Yang fire has no substance, but takes the substance of things, and then takes its form to burn them. Yin fire has substance, but does not need to take form of things, and therefore cannot burn everything.

There are two types of Yin Fire in the human body: one is the Life-Gate Fire, and the other is the Samadhi True Fire. The Life-Gate Fire is the Desire Fire of the human body, while the Samadhi True Fire is the essence and Qi of the human body refined and transformed.

【Samadhi True Fire】can be used internally or externally. The "Tai Chi Hunyuan Zhixuan Diagram for Cultivating Immortality" states: "When the inner elixir ignites, it eliminates the three corpses, kills the five ghosts, refines the seven souls, subdues the nine insects, and tames all demons. When the inner elixir ignites, it refines the physical form and is also called burning the body. When the inner elixir ignites, ghosts and gods dare not approach, and water and fire cannot harm you."

The internal application involved is precisely what Fang Dongtian referred to as the "burning the body and refining the spirit" practice, using the Samadhi True Fire to refine away the Yin essence within the body, thereby achieving pure Yang within oneself.

Fang Dongtian paused for a moment, then continued, "The heart is the sovereign fire, its name is Upper Darkness; the kidneys are the minister fire, its name is Middle Darkness; the bladder is the people's fire, its name is Lower Darkness."

"When this samadhi gathers, it becomes fire; when it disperses, it becomes vapor."

"I will teach you the method of circulating Qi. First, try to ignite your own Samadhi Fire."

"After igniting the Samadhi True Fire, you can try to circulate the Samadhi True Fire through the Great Circulation, thereby burning your body and refining your spirit."

As he spoke, Fang Dongtian placed his finger on Lü Qian's brow, just as he had done before. Instantly, the familiar feeling of clarity returned, and another scripture and Qi circulation diagram appeared in Lü Qian's mind.

"yes!"

Lü Qian nodded and closed his eyes to meditate again.

The Qi flows downward to the bladder, and it feels like a blazing flame rising in the lower abdomen.

My bladder feels like it's being burned by fire, and my kidneys feel like they're being boiled in soup.

The flames rising from the bladder burned the two kidneys, like boiling soup, simmering the yang essence stored within them.

Lu Qian looked inward at himself, and the boiled yang essence rose up naturally like a thin mist.

The Yang essence mist rises and reaches the heart, where it mixes with the Yang essence in the heart fluid and condenses into a ball of pure Yang true Qi.

With the help of the heart fire, the pure yang qi rose upwards once again.

Lu Qian controlled this pure Yang Qi to move towards his Niwan Palace.

As soon as the pure Yang Qi entered the Niwan Palace, it was as if dry wood had met a raging flame, and a fire ignited in the Niwan Palace.

It was an invisible and formless white flame; though it was called a flame, it was actually more like a flowing stream of air.

As pure Yang Qi was continuously injected, this flame burned fiercely in the Niwan Palace.

Lu Qian's primordial spirit was bathed in this wave of fire, but he did not feel the scorching heat of the raging flames. Instead, he felt a coolness, as if he were playing in cool water on a hot summer day.

As his primordial spirit was gradually tempered in the Samadhi Fire, Lü Qian felt a sense of relaxation and coolness that seemed to affect his mind, making him feel completely comfortable.

Once the Samadhi True Fire was burning brightly enough, Lü Qian mobilized the Samadhi True Fire in his Niwan Palace to circulate the Great Circulation of Qi within himself.

In an instant, the Samadhi True Fire spread throughout his body. In Fang Dongtian's eyes, Lü Qian was now surrounded by raging flames, as if he were sitting in a ball of fire.

But the fire only burned Lü Qian; it did not ignite his clothes or the futon he was sitting on.

Seeing this, Fang Dongtian nodded. He understood that Lü Qian had already ignited the Samadhi True Fire and was using it to burn away the Yin essence within his body.

He closed his eyes, sat cross-legged on the futon opposite him, and waited patiently for the other person to wake up.

At this moment, Lü Qian introspected on himself, observing his body with his own state of non-action, just like a holy king inspecting his territory.

As the Samadhi Fire burned through the internal organs and meridians, screams that were imperceptible to others rang out one after another.

The screams were extremely shrill, as if the other person was suffering torture.

Lu Qian understood that the Yin substances in his body, such as the Three Corpses, Five Ghosts, and Nine Insects, were gradually weakening and dissipating as the Samadhi True Fire burned them away.

But after Lu Qian completed a full cycle of the Great Heavenly Circuit with the Samadhi True Fire, he immediately felt that all the internal organs and meridians in his body were clear and unobstructed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted and all kinds of obstacles had been removed.

"Thank you for transmitting the Dharma, Master Fang!"

He opened his eyes and bowed to Fang Dongtian opposite him, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Upon hearing this, Fang Dongtian opened his eyes, smiled at Lü Qian, and asked, "Have you finally mastered it completely?"

Lu Qian stood up, looked at Fang Dongtian with a serious expression, and said his conjecture, "【Burning the Body to Refine the Spirit】is truly wondrous, the only way to unite the body with the spirit."

"First, combine your essence with the Yang energy of Heaven and Earth to [refine your Yang soul], so that your primordial spirit becomes clear and bright, and your own spirit continuously grows stronger."

"When a god grows to a certain level, and uses the Samadhi True Fire to temper themselves, I think that's the final step: refining the Yin Soul, isn't it?"

He looked at Fang Dongtian curiously. Fang Dongtian listened to the other's words and nodded in satisfaction. "Your talent and comprehension are truly remarkable! Yes, the last thing I will pass on to you is not only the Samadhi True Fire, but also the method of [Refining Yin Souls]."

He paused, then explained, "What you said before was correct. The innate spirit and the acquired consciousness in a human body are just like the yin and yang differentiation in the universe."

"Humans have three souls and seven spirits. The three souls are the Heavenly Soul, called Tai Guang or Yuan Shen, which is fond of tranquility and inaction; the Human Soul, called Shuang Ling or Shi Shen, which governs human intelligence and agility; and the Earthly Soul, called You Jing, which makes people lustful and sleepy."

"The seven souls are divided into Corpse Dog, Hidden Arrow, Sparrow Yin, Devouring Thief, Non-Poison, Purifying Filth, and Stinky Lung, which correspond to the various organs in the human body."

"Our Quanzhen Longmen lineage starts with the three souls to counteract the seven spirits. The pure and tranquil Heavenly Soul, also known as the Primordial Spirit, governs the seven spirits of the human body."

"【Refining the Yin Soul】is about refining the Yin essence, allowing the seven souls to be completely under the control of the Heavenly Soul, rather than simply rejecting the Yin aspect. After all, the existence of all things is based on the Taiji Yin-Yang duality and the two energies of Yin and Yang."

"Even in the final stages of training, the seven souls of the human body are completely incorporated into the Heavenly Soul, becoming part of the Primordial Spirit."

Lü Qian listened attentively to Fang Dongtian's explanation and nodded upon hearing this. "This disciple understands. It is mentioned in the Sun and Moon Chapter of the Zhong Lü Chuan Dao Ji."

"Those who cultivate themselves emulate the laws of heaven and earth, and thus can achieve immortality."

"Cultivating the primordial spirit is like the relationship between the sun and the moon. The moon's radiance comes from the sun. If you want the moon to have a clear and bright radiance, you have to nourish it with the sun's scorching heat and yang energy. In other words, you have to use the yang soul to refine the yin soul."

"Thus, the Yang soul is pure and the Yin spirit is profound, just like the sun and the moon, which illuminate the heavens and the earth."