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Scripture for Daily Internal Practice

WONDROUS SCRIPTURE FOR DAILY INTERNAL PRACTICE OF THE GREAT HIGH LORD LAO

Now, as for your daily internal practice,

Keep your eating and drinking regulated;

Restrain your speaking and meditate alone.

Do not allow even a single thought to arise.

The ten thousand affairs are all forgotten.

Then preserve your spirit and stabilize your intent.

The mouth and lips are mutually locked up;

The teeth should be lightly touching.

Your eyes do not see a single thing;

Your ears do not hear a single sound.

Unified, the heart-mind is guarded within.

Continually harmonize your breathing.

Subtle, still more subtle, make a light exhale.

It is as if the breath exists, as if it does not exist.

Nothing is allowed to separate or interrupt.

Then the fire of the heart naturally descends;

The water of the kidneys naturally ascends.

Inside your mouth, the Sweet Dew arises of itself.

The numinous Perfected support your body

And you spontaneously know the path to long life.

During the twelve double-hours of the day,

Constantly seek clarity and stillness.

The Numinous Tower of the heart emptied of all things:

This is called clarity.

Not allowing even a single thought to arise:

This is called stillness.

The body is the dwelling place of qi.

The heart is the residence of spirit.

When intent moves, spirit is agitated;

When spirit is agitated, qi is dispersed.

When intent is stable, spirit remains fixed;

When spirit remains fixed, qi gathers.

The perfect qi of the Five Phases

Then gathers together and forms a pinch of elixir.

Then naturally in the body a sound can be heard.

Walking and standing, sitting and lying down,

One constantly practices awareness.

In the body, it is as if there is the movement of wind.

In the belly, it is as if there is the sound of thunder.

Infusing and harmonizing qi fully,

A rich liquid pours into the top of the head.

When you drink from this pinch of elixir,

Your ears begin to hear the tunes of the immortals.

These are the sounds of the stringless melodies

Sounding spontaneously without any strumming,

Reverberating naturally without any drumming.

Spirit and qi then combine together

Like a child being cherished in the womb.

If you can observe the inner regions,

Spirit naturally begins to communicate.

This is the residence of emptiness and nonbeing,

The place where you can reside with the sages.

If you refine the combination through nine revolutions,

You will bind and complete the great elixir.

Spirit then spontaneously enters and leaves.

Your years will match those of heaven and earth;

Your radiance will join with that of the sun and moon.

Then you will cast off arising and passing away.

Each day that you cease to practice this,

Surely there will be injury and disease.

So, during all the twelve double-hours of the day,

Constantly seek clarity and stillness.

Qi is the mother of spirit;

Spirit is the child of qi.

Like a hen incubating an egg,

Preserve spirit and nourish qi.

Then you will never be separated from the Wondrous.

Mysterious and again more mysterious–

In the Human body there are Seven Treasures.

Use them to support the country and pacify the people.

Then your essence, qi, and blood will be abundant.

Essence is quicksilver;

Blood is yellow gold;

Qi is beautiful jade;

Marrow is quartz;

The brain is numinous sand;

The kidneys are jade rings;

And the heart is a glittering gem.

These are the Seven Treasures–

Keep them firmly in your body, never letting them disperse.

Refine them into the great medicine of life.

Then with all the ten thousand spirits,

You will ascend to the immortal realms.

太上老君內日用妙經

Chinese Text (中文)

夫曰用者，飲食則定，禁口獨坐，莫起一念。萬事俱忘，存神定意，口唇相粘，牙齒相著，眼不視物，耳不聽聲，一心內守，調息綿綿。微微輕出，似有如無，莫教間斷，自然心火下降，腎水上昇，口內泔洋自生，靈真付體，自知長生之路。十二時辰，常要清靜。靈臺無物爲之清，一念不起爲之靜。身是氣之宅，心是神之舍。意行則神行，神行則氣散。意住則神住，神住則氣聚。五行真氣，結成刀圭，自然身中有聲，行處坐臥，常覺身體如風之行，腹內如雷之鳴，沖和氣透，醍醐灌頂，自飲刀埋耳。聽仙音無弦之曲，不撫而自聲，不鼓而自鳴，神氣相結，如男子懷孕，得觀內境，神自言語。是虛無之宅，與聖同居，煉就九轉，結成大丹，神自出入，與天地齊年，日月同明，脫離生滅矣。每日休教有損失，十二時辰常要清靜。氣是神之母，神是氣之子，如雞抱卵，切要存神養氣，能無離乎妙哉。玄之又玄，人身中有七寶事，爲富國安民，精氣血滿也。精是水銀，血是黃金，氣是美玉，髓是水晶，腦是靈砂，腎是璋璨，心是珊瑚，此是七寶，歸身不散，煉就大藥，萬神盡登仙矣。