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Primordial Generative Energy, Vapor, and Spirit
The primordial vapor is the true lead, and the primordial generative energy is the true mercury. But what is the primordial spirit? The primordial spirit is the master of original nature, generative energy, and vital energy. The primordial spirit is omniscient and unfathomable and is not confined to a location in the body. The foundation of all existence, it is called the spirit of life. When spirit is present, generative energy will be plentiful. When generative energy is plentiful, vapor will return to its proper place. When vapor is kept in its proper place, the elixir will be formed. Such are the workings of pre-celestial existence.
The primordial generative energy is not the generative energy spent during sexual intercourse but the true generative fluid hidden in the center of li. The primordial vapor is not equivalent to the breath we inhale and exhale but the true vital energy (vapor) hidden in the center of kan. The primordial spirit is not the thinking and conceptualizing mind but the spirit that is connected to the Limitless (wuji). It is the numinous spark of truth that existed before the beginning of time.
Our bodies embody the Great Ultimate (taiji). Generative essence and vapor are the yin and yang that make up the Great Ultimate, and spirit is equivalent to the Limitless that is above and beyond the Great Ultimate. Together, these three are the generative, vital, and spirit energies in their primordial state. The poem “Jade Void” says: “The true generative energy is not the seminal fluid but the saliva from the mouth of the Jade Emperor.” The Jade Emperor is none other than the ruler of the mind, and the saliva in his mouth is the numinous fluid. The true vapor is not the breath we inhale and exhale but the nectar of the Great Simplicity, and the Great Simplicity is none other than the vapor of primordial pre-celestial existence. The true spirit is not the mind that thinks about emptiness but the primordial lord of all things known as the Great Beginning.
The Great Beginning has no limits. Because it is limitless, it pervades the sky and earth and all things. Honored above all, it transcends the mundane and is the force that creates and transforms the universe.