Unfixed Zi Phase

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 "Unfixed "Zi" Phase"( 活子時 huozishi ) is a term of Inner Alchemy ( 內丹 neidan ). "Zi" was not only a time in ancient China, but also a symbol of the beginning of things. The ancients matched the twelve Terrestrial Branches ( 地支 dizhi ) with the twelve Trigrams of Waxing and Waning ( 消息卦 xiaoxi gua ) in the Book of Changes ( 周易 zhouyi ) and supplemented them with the twenty-four solar terms to describe the changes throughout the year. In the calendric system of the Zhou dynasty, the Winter Solstice in the eleventh lunar month and the Zi hour matched and were signified by the Fu (return) trigram, which stands for the initial rising of the one-Yang on one hand, and the orientation of due north on the other hand. According to the principle of Oneness of Heaven and Man ( 天人合一 tianren heyi ), Daoist Inner Alchemists also use the Zi hour to indicate the initial emergence of the one-Yang. But this time is unfixed. It varies with one’s feelings. The Four-hundred-word Book of the Golden Elixir ( 金丹四百字 jindan sibai zi ) says, "the time of Fire Phases ( 火候 huohou ) is unfixed, and why must the Winter Solstice be fixed at the Zi hour?" That is to say, in Inner Alchemy cultivation, the Fire Phases cannot be fixed to a certain time, and the "Winter Solstice" in the human body (the initial emergence of the one-Yang) does not have to correspond rigidly to the "Zi" of the twelve Terrestrial Branches. It shows what "unfixed" means. Then how can one feel the "Unfixed "Zi" Phase"? Daoism believes that when the mind rests still, the body mechanism is activated spontaneously, and a stream of inner breath descends to the acupoint of perineum. In this case, a male's penis will erect, and a female will also feel comfortable and relaxed. These are indications of the "Unfixed "Zi" Phase" in body. If a practitioner has such feelings, he should collect elixirs and place them back to the Elixir Field ( 丹田 dantian ), and by refining them, transform the Essential Matter ( 精 jing ) into the Vital Breath ( 氣 qi ) according to the instructions of Inner Alchemy cultivation.