Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit

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Inner Alchemy
Terms of Inner Alchemy
Mind , Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life
Essential Matter , Vital Breath and Spirit
Great Reversion Elixir
Small Reversion Elixir
Integrated Cultivation of Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life
Three Flowers Condensing onto the Head
Transporting through the Three Vehicles
Meeting of the Three Parts
Refining the Mind through the Nine Cauldrons
Intercourse of Dragon and Tiger
Refinement of Essential Matter into Vital Breath
Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit
Refinement of Spirit Back to Emptiness

Refinement of Emptiness into Dao
Reversing Kan with Li
Centering Merits When Yin And Yang Join
The Five Vital Breaths Oriented to the Origin
Rebirth from the Original Fetus and Bones
Basic Cultivation
Self-Refinement
Harmonizing the Breath
Obtaining the Elixir Drug
Collecting Elixir Drugs
Fire Phases
To Increase Fire
To Reduce Fire
To Nourish in Warmth
Bathing
Unfixed Zi Phase
River Chariot
Mysterious Pearls
Passages and Cavities
Cosmic Orbit
Feminine Alchemy
Cutting the Red Dragon
Refining the Form through the Supreme Yin
Body of Original Chastity

The “Initial Pass” ( 初關 Chuguan ), namely, the “Refinement of Essential Matter into Vital Breath” ( 煉精化氣 Lianjing Huaqi ) ought to be followed by the “Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit”, which belonged to the “Middle Pass” ( 中關 Zhongguan ) in the “Work of Three Phases” ( 三步功 Sanbu Gong ). Since it used to take as long as ten months to complete, it was also known as the “Ten Month Pass” ( 十月關 Shiyue Guan ). In contrast to the “Refinement of Essential Matter into Vital Breath”, which drove the Vital Breath in the human body to circulate around the “Microcosmic Orbit” ( 小周天 Xiaozhou Tian ), namely, the Ren and Du channels, the “Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit” highlighted the “Macrocosmic Orbit” ( 大周天 Dazhou Tian ), where the circulation of Vital Breath went beyond the Ren and Du channels, rather involving the Twelve Channels and Collaterals ( 十二經絡 Shier Jingluo ) in the body; the “Refinement of Essential Matter into Vital Breath” was known as “Transforming Three into Two” ( 收三歸二 Shousan Guiyi ), whereas the “Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit” was known as “Transforming Two into One” ( 由二歸一 Youer Guiyi ), which featured a marriage between “Vital Breath” and “Spirit”. In Daoism, the complete mixture of “Vital Breath” and “Spirit” was known as the “Sacred Embryo” ( 聖嬰 Shengying ) or the “Ultimate Medicine” ( 大藥 Dayao ), a term borrowed from “Outer Alchemy”. Obviously, it was a transitional phase from “Interfering Action” ( 有爲 Youwei ) to “NoneInterference” ( 無爲 Wuwei ). Technically, “Vital Breath” was circulating between the “Lower Elixir Field” ( 下丹田 Xia Dantian ), or “Fire”, in another term borrowed from Outer Alchemy, and the “Middle Elixir Field” ( 中丹田 Zhong Dantian ), namely, the “Yellow Court” ( 黃庭 Huangtin ), or “Cauldron” in books on Outer Alchemy. It took about ten months to achieve the complete mixture of “Vital Breath” and “Spirit”, a process known as “Nourishing the Infant” in Inner Alchemy.