One night the Wayfarer of the Infinite taught Liping some practical principles of Taoist exercise transmitted in their lineage: “Our ancestral teacher Wang Chongyang said there are five classes of immortals. Ghost immortality is not worthwhile. It is not necessary to talk about human immortals. Earth immortals remain in the world forever; spiritual immortals go from being into nonbeing. Those who can disappear and appear unfathomably, have embodiment outside the body, and can double their bodies, are called spiritual immortals. Celestial immortals are ranked even higher than spiritual immortals.
“Students of the Way should not follow the mediocre and the lesser. They should study the principles of the supreme one vehicle, the supreme, ultimate, sublime Way, clearly understanding the yin and yang of heaven and earth, profoundly comprehending the creative evolution of the five elements. The principle of yin and yang is incomparably great; heaven and earth, sun and moon, and the five elements, all evolve from it. Once the Absolute has divided, clear energy rises, becoming images in heaven; opaque energy descends, becoming forms on earth. The essences of wood and fire produce major yang. The essences of metal and water produce major yin. Heaven and earth and the sun and moon develop from the influence of this bipolar energy.
“This bipolar energy is perpetually operating throughout heaven and earth, circulating everywhere endlessly, producing all species of creation. So a human life is born of a father’s sperm and a mother’s ovum, the yang energy of the sun and the yin energy of the earth, and a solar yang celestial soul and a lunar yin earthly soul, a fiery yang spirit and a watery yin vitality. So the creation of a human body is the same one energy as that of the universe.
“So heaven and earth are the great father and mother of human beings. Those who realize this transcend the universe and all its fluctuations, while those who miss this are trapped in an ocean of suffering in the midst of myriad forms. Those who are not constrained by the five elements or bound up by yin and yang are called celestial immortals of the highest rank.
“These statements express the supreme design. As people on earth see the courses of the sun and moon, they follow continuous cycles, each having its specific cycle. Speaking in terms of the sun, as the sun rises warmth increases and energy heats up; this is symbolized by fire. When the sun goes down, warmth decreases, and energy recedes; this is symbolized by water. When the sun’s course is farthest from the earth, warmth disperses and energy scatters; this is symbolized by wood. When the sun’s course is nearest the earth, warmth gathers and energy collects; this is symbolized by metal. When the sun’s course is parallel to the earth, warmth stops and energy rests; this is symbolized by earth. Thus from spring to summer to autumn to winter, and back again to spring, the five elements are inherent in the course of the sun, forming the cycle of the year.
“Speaking in terms of the moon, when the moon descends, warmth increases and energy heats up; this is symbolized by fire. When the moon ascends, warmth decreases and energy withdraws; this is symbolized by water. When the moon is on this side of the earth, warmth dissolves and energy dissipates; this is symbolized by wood. When the moon is on the other side of the earth, warmth gathers and energy collects; this is symbolized by metal. When the moon’s course is even, warmth ceases and energy rests; this is symbolized by earth. Thus the moon waxes and wanes, wanes and waxes; the five elements are inherent in the course of the moon, also forming a cycle, the cycle of the month.
“The method of training the Spiritual Jewel powers involves using the correspondences between the internal five elements within the human body and the external five elements in the sun and moon, and the external five elements in the earth, collectively cultivating the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity, returning from nine to eight, from eight to seven, from seven to six, from six to five, from five to four, from four to three, from three to two, from two to one, finally returning to the Absolute. When the Absolute becomes a single sphere, then the work of the Spiritual Jewel powers is done.”
Now that Wang Liping had practiced cultivation of the three realms for some months, the old wizards introduced him to the supreme one vehicle. Following their instructions, secret methods transmitted from the founders of their lineage, Liping experienced the changes of the five elements in extremely subtle conditions within his own body, taking primal energies from the sun and moon to augment the primal energy in his body, gradually comprehending the pattern of nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. At this point, however, the work he was doing was transitional, and still required refinement.
One evening, as the full moon was rising, Wang Liping chose a spot amidst a luxurious, fragrant growth of plants and trees and sat there to exercise. Having tuned his body, breath, and attention, and gone into a state of stillness and concentration, he mentally gazed at the golden moon slowly rising in the eastern sky. He saw the moon drift closer and closer to him, gradually becoming larger and larger and brighter and brighter, like an uncanny ball of energy, radiating myriad beams of ethereal light, engulfing his whole body. Liping felt that his own body had also completely transmuted into energy and no longer existed corporeally—nothing in the world was there anymore. There was only a feeling, that of a body like a mass of energy, rising to merge and disappear into that vast energy mass of the moonlight. Time and space no longer existed.
As the east began to pale, the clouds over the horizon became visible, turning from black to grey to white. Then a thin layer of pale golden glow appeared below. In a moment, the sky was deep blue. The stars vanished, the moon had set in the west, a new dawn had arrived. Scarlet light spewed from the east, announcing the rising of the sun.
As the shining golden orb of the sun rose over the earth, Wang Liping still sat unmoving. He had already sensed the sunrise. Opening his eyes, he looked directly at the sun for a moment, then closed his eyes and gathered in spiritual light, which he sent down into his body, so that a golden sun was now revolving within him. As Liping bathed in the sunlight, the miniature sun in his body was bright and lively as a newborn baby.
By now, Wang Liping was able to sit unmoving for days and nights on end. While sitting, he minutely examined the patterns and laws of movement and the shifting of the celestial bodies, finding out the corresponding changes in the subtle conditions within his own body, gradually coming to a realization. As he found, the workings and transformations of the human body correspond to the workings and transformations of heaven and earth. When there is external movement, there is always internal reaction; when there is reaction, there is sensing; with sensing there is knowledge. There is knowledge, that is, but no further reversion. This sort of accomplishment is already quite profound from an ordinary perspective, but Liping was still far from meeting the requirements of the old wizards teaching him. He had to know and yet also revert back, return from nine to one, going back to hold to oneness in quiet stillness, thus to reach the Great Way. This method of reversion is something that needs practice to accomplish.
While Liping was in the process of cultivating the three realms, his mentor also taught him some of the ordinary concepts of Taoist practice and hygiene.
Hygienists consider heaven and earth to be the greatest things, and humankind to be the most intelligent of beings. The human body is a microcosm, a miniature universe, having within it a sun and moon, yin and yang, and the operation of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—fostering each other and overcoming each other, taking advantage of each other and dominating each other, thus achieving balance.
The numbers associated with the five elements were already established three thousand years ago in the “Universal Model” chapter of the Classic Documents: “One refers to water, two refers to fire, three refers to wood, four refers to metal, five refers to earth.” It also illustrates the natures of the five elements: “Water refers to moisture and descent, fire refers to heat and ascent, wood refers to curvature and straightness, metal refers to adaptation and change, earth refers to sowing and reaping.” In The Yellow