most that can be hoped for is to live forever among people without knowing death.
Lu asked:
How to become earthly immortal?
Zhongli said:
First you need to master the raising and lowering of the vapors of Heaven and Earth. Correlate your cultivation with the creation numbers of Heaven and Earth, follow the movements of the Sun and Moon, and learn all about the annual and monthly cycles of transformation in your body. Watch the hourly changes within you every day.
First, familiarize yourself with the dragon and tiger, then subject them to the fires of Kan and Li. Learn the difference between muddy and clear water, be able to distinguish morning steam from evening.
Second, collect the original and still undivided, follow the state of the two opposites, distinguish the three essences, separate the four directions, understand the five cycles, balance the six vapors, accumulate the seven treasures, harmonize the eight trigrams and cross the nine continents.
Third, reverse the circle of the five elements, direct the vapor of life to the foetus, forge the elixir with heat, and let it settle in the lower field. Thus, you will save your body and gain eternal life in the kingdom of the Earth.
Lu asked:
Who are the immortal spirits?
Zhongli said:
An earthly immortal ascends to this level, who continued to cultivate the original nature. He brought together all the parts of his body and replenished mercury with lead. Directs purified generative energy to the crown of the head and is able to transform jade nectar into an elixir. His bodily form is converted into steam; the five vapors return to the original vapor; and the three Yang essences are collected at the top of the head. When the immortals of the spirit complete the practice, their perishable body is transformed into a subtle body. All remnants of Yin are cleansed, and these immortals are filled with only pure Yang.
They throw off the mortal shell, and another body arises from the subtle body - this is how they ascend to the land of the immortals. In this realm of the blessed saints, they return to the three mountains, forever leaving the decay of the mortal world.
Lu asked:
Who then are the heavenly immortals?
Zhongli said:
When the earthly immortals are further purified through primordial nature cultivation, they are able to shed their shells and become spirit immortals.
When these latter, whose abode on the three islands, have accumulated enough merit of virtue by teaching people the Tao, and when such activities of theirs bear fruit, then the celestials will call them to return to the heavenly realms. Celestial immortals live in Heaven, acting as judges and officials of the government there. They serve at first in the kingdom of Water. They are then put in charge of the earth kingdom. Over time, you can rise to the high position of the ruler in the Kingdom of Heaven. If enough merit of virtue is collected in the lowest heaven, they rise to the next level, and so on, until all 36 heavens have been passed. After that, one should go through another 81 levels of Heavenly Yang, and then return to the three pure realms of the Primordial Void.
Lu asked:
I wish to become an immortal ghost, but I dare not even think of heavenly immortality.
Can you tell me how to achieve the immortality of man, Earth and Spirit?
Zhongli said:
The first is achieved by the Small way, the second by the Middle way, the third by the Great. Although, apparently, there are three ways - in fact, this is one way. Stepping on it, you will see - Tao is easy to comprehend. And having comprehended the Tao, you will find that there is only a step to immortality.
Lu asked:
Both in the past and today, many of those who practiced diligently never achieved anything. Why?
Zhongli said:
Because the methods with which they armed themselves were wrong, and also because they did not comprehend the Tao deeply enough. Some draw information from rumors and empty rumors; others strive to comprehend complex matters; still others invent their own methods; and there are those who voluntarily leave the true path. Is it any wonder that so many fall ill and even die prematurely as a result? They boast that they can exorcise demons, they confuse the ignorant with false statements. Instead of heeding the true teaching, they praise each other's wrong methods. Truly sorry for them! After all, even if they constantly practice, they will still not achieve anything.
2. Great Dao.
Lu asked:
What is the Great Dao?
Zhongli said:
The Great Tao has no form, no name. Doesn't need questions and doesn't give answers.
It is so large that it has no boundaries, so small that it does not contain anything. It is impossible to follow it even if you have heard of it, it is impossible to achieve it even if you practice diligently.
Lu said:
From the very beginning of time, people heard about Tao, tried to comprehend its laws, and others even achieved it, after which they left the ashes of the world and went to the islands of the blessed Peng Lai.
Then they ascended to Heaven, to the realm of heavenly Yang, and, over time, entered the Three Pure Realms.
Oh teacher, why did you say: It is impossible to follow even if you have heard of it, it is impossible to achieve even if you practice diligently? Is it because the Tao is hidden from us?
Zhongli said:
The Tao does not deliberately hide from us. People did not reach the Tao, because they did not believe in the teaching about it; those who believed did not practice it diligently. Some were only enough for a day, and the next morning they left classes. Others at first held to principles, then turned away from them.
And still others, who started with great enthusiasm, soon lost all fire. That's what I was saying: Tao is difficult to achieve even knowing about it and trying to practice diligently.
Lu asked:
Why is it difficult to learn about the Tao, why is it difficult to follow the teachings about it?
Zhongli said:
Many mistakenly believe that Tao leads to quick and easy paths. They teach each other, not even suspecting that they have been practicing incorrectly all their lives. Over time, erroneous methods begin to be revered as true, while the true teaching is forgotten.
Abstaining from meat, grains, absorbing mist and dew fumes, swallowing one's own saliva, living in seclusion, sitting Chan meditation, vows of silence, visualizing images of deities, accumulating Yin, controlling the breath, celibacy, stopping the flow of thoughts, avoiding bodily efforts, opening a cave on the crown of the head, pulling the scrotum to the perineum, studying the manuscripts, subduing the flesh, slowing down the breath, rubbing, reversing the breath, extracting the generative energy from the lover, works of mercy for the poor, cultivating Li, giving alms, living in the deserted mountains, taming the mind, sitting in front of a wall, chanting hymns from sacred books, imbibing the essences of the Sun and Moon, inhaling the vapors of Heaven and Earth are some of the methods by which people hope to create the cinnabar pill of immortality. Hoping for liberation from mortal existence, they rape their bodies with unnatural postures and end up harming themselves. Trying to conserve reproductive energy by stopping the flow of seminal fluid, they do not know that this will protect them only from common diseases. It is believed that if they can breathe like babies and stop the flow of thoughts, they are able to cultivate consciousness. They hold the breath inside the body, they build a citadel, reversing the movement of the Yellow River, and these are the techniques of the Lesser Way, which only allow to lengthen the lifespan. Sitting like a withered tree, making the mind look like cooled ashes, is only an auxiliary method, if we talk about the concentration of the spirit.
Many who take up the practice, both in the past and today, are completely ignorant of the correct methods of cultivation. How can their bodies be transformed if they persist in believing that the only way to get the drug is by swallowing their own saliva?
Is it possible to hope for the acquisition of the elixir, being sure that the pill is produced by the accumulation of breath? About what can we talk about true intercourse if we think that the dragon is the liver, and the tiger is the lungs? Will the vital force be replenished when the Kan trigram is equated with lead, and Li with mercury? Will yellow sprouts sprout if fire and water are applied according to only the change of the four seasons? Many naively believe that if they are stubborn in their intention, they will certainly receive the Great Medicine. Knowing not knowing about the annual and monthly cycles of change, they do the wrong things at the wrong time. They do not know how to use the five elements to build a foundation, and they have very vague ideas about the principle of operation of the three vital principles. They are like an inexperienced gardener who does not distinguish between fruits in an abundance of branches and leaves - they confuse others and harm even future generations of students.
The teaching is distorted - and people move away from the Tao. As a result, false methods are spreading everywhere. Becoming widely known, they acquire ardent admirers, and over time, they begin to be considered true. I think false teachers should be condemned. After all, their knowledge is based on popular rumors and empty rumors - and, for all that, such mentors and students have, who then have their own students. This dooms