View source for Refinement of Emptiness into Dao

{{Inner Alchemy}}
As a technical word, “Refinement of Emptiness into Dao” was a symbol of the highest phase in the refinement of [[Inner Alchemy]] ( 內丹修煉 Neidan Xiulian ), an indication of the reverse way of thinking in Daoism and a reminder of “Breaking Attachment” ( 破執 Pozhi ), a well-known concept in both Daoism and Buddhism.
In general, the reverse way of thing dominated the whole process of Refinement of Inner Alchemy, a process covering the “[[Refinement of Essential Matter into Vital Breath]]” ( 煉精化氣 Lianjing Huaqi ), the “[[Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit]]” ( 煉氣化神 Lianqi Huashen ), and the “[[Refinement of Spirit Back to Emptiness]]” ( 煉神還虛 Lianshen Huanxu ). According to Daoism, even in a phase of Emptiness, when a man was attached, he remained in control of “Interfering Action”; only by breaking the attachment in his mind and the emptiness itself, would his nature come to oneness with the Great Dao.
From the Inner Alchemy Tradition founded by [[Zhong Liquan]] and [[Lü Dongbing]] in the Tang dynasty up to the Inner Alchemists in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the “Refinement of Emptiness into Dao” was strongly stressed. [[Qiu Chuji]], the Perfect Man in [[the Complete Perfection Tradition]] ( 全真道 Quzhen Dao ), for instance, gave profound explanations in his book [[Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir]] ( 《大丹直指》Dadan Zhizhi ); [[Li Daochun]], another famous Daoist scholar, referred to this phase as “Breaking Voidness and Emptiness” ( 打破虛空 Dapo Xukong ), which, he argued, featured obliviousness to all attachments, a spiritual state which would lead to a transcendence over both objective entities and a man’s self-consciousness.

[[zh:煉虛合道]]