Alchemical Classics IV: The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement by Liu Hua Yang

Alchemical Classics IV:
大成捷要 [柳華陽]
The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement by Liu Hua Yang

Liu Hua Yang [柳华阳] together with Wu Shou Yang [伍守阳] make up the so-called Wu-Liu School with its main focus on Internal Alchemy [nei dan 內丹]. The former is also the author of the Scripture of Wisdom and Life [hui ming jing慧命經].
The following chapter originates from the alchemical classic ‘The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement’ [da cheng jie yao大成捷要]. It details vital and indispensable requirements for meditation and stillness cultivation practices. It is a pure translation, whereas the first fifteen chapters from the very same classic are interspersed with explanations by our teacher Li Shi Fu, which can be found on the Five Immortals Temple webpage for free (http://fiveimmortals.com/the-essentials-of-the…/… ). In Li Shi Fu’s own words this scripture is worth being translated…
…in order to transmit it to everyone with destiny in each and every country in the West, in order to explicate the upright principles of cultivation, in order to ignite a Heavenly light, as well as to make it unlikely for anyone to end up in misinterpretations and in losing one’s direction and way.

Chapter 18:
种采炼养调外药天机
The Heavenly Mechanism’s Sowing, Picking, Refining, Nourishing and Compounding the External Medicine [working draft]

入手调药补精，名曰勒阳关。有种采炼养，四字口诀。夫种者，凝神入气穴，使心力目光，返观内照，凝聚下田，静之又静，沉之又沉，直沉静到无有之乡深入寂灭场，入于混沌，忘人无我，谓之虚极静笃是也。只待混沌开基，元气发动，化为元精，冲动阳关，胀满难禁，令人姿情纵欲，此归坚持正觉，速行采炼之法。若有迟误，外药走脱，精败气耗，而静功难行，岂不悲哉。又云 : 主修真之士，必须先虚心实腹，方可祛病延年，长生住世，仙道岂有不成乎。
注：此乃重阳祖师研修体证。

When one commences to compound the medicine and replenish the essence it is called by the name of ‘Tying Tightly the Yang Barrier’. There are [the stages of] sowing, picking, refining and nourishing, a four-word oral transmission. For the sowing, [one must] concentrate the spirit to enter the qi cavity, causing the heart’s strength and the eyes’ brightness to revert-observe and internally illuminate and to be concentrated and absorbed into the lower elixir field. Stillness upon stillness, sinking upon sinking; the sinking and stillness reaches straight to one’s native village of non-existence, deeply entering the space of silent extinction. When one has entered into primordial chaos, and one is oblivious of people and without a self, it is called [being devoted to] the void supremely and [guarding] the stillness earnestly.
[One must] only wait for the primal chaos to open its foundation, the original Qi to be set into motion, and transformed into original essence and to have an impetus to rush into the yang pass. When it swells up completely, it is difficult to prohibit [its movement] as it makes people throw off the restrain on their sentiments and indulge in debauchery. At this [stage] one must return and firmly uphold the upright awakening, and swiftly practice the methods of picking and refinement.
If one is delayed or erroneous, the external medicine will have gone and been cast off. The essence will be lost and qi consumed. Furthermore, when the stillness gong is hard to employ, how could one not be sorrowful and grieved? It was also said:
Principally the adepts cultivating the truth must first empty the heart and fill the belly, only then can one remove illness and prolong one’s year. With a long-lasting life residing in this world, how could the immortal Dao not be accomplished?
Annotation:
This [material] has been investigated, cultivated, experienced and verified by Founding Ancestor [Wang] Chong Yang.
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Post-Scriptum: Eventually Purple Cloud Press intends make the whole work (100+) chapters available to the English-speaking world.