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Internal and External Medicines

The internal medicine is used to recover original nature; the external medicine is used to recover original life energy. Those who want to learn how to return to their original nature and attain life must cultivate both the internal and external medicines. The internal medicine is half a pound of mercury, and the external medicine is eight ounces of lead. Before the internal medicine can be captured, the external medicine must be gathered. The external medicine is the vapor in the kidneys, and the internal medicine is the generative energy from the heart. The methods used to obtain these two medicines are post-celestial in nature.

Before original nature can be used to secure life energy, the internal medicine must be fertilized and the external medicine must be planted. In this context, the internal medicine is the mercury within the cinnabar, and the external medicine is the lead within the water. Both medicines must be cultivated after they have been gathered. In cultivating the two medicines, the external medicine is the vapor of the mother of the pill and the internal medicine is the sacred fetus. The methods referred to in this paragraph are pre-celestial in nature.

Before you can begin to work with the internal and external medicines, you must understand their meaning and function. Moreover, you must be familiar with the properties of the external and internal pills. The internal pill is the true mercury. It is the earth element of the celestial stem ji. Return it to the house of li and steam it, and it will be transformed into numinous cinnabar grains. The external pill is the true lead. It is the earth element of the celestial stem wu. Hidden in the house of kan, it will emerge eventually as the golden splendor. If you want to produce the internal pill, you must first use lead to control the mercury. This lead is not the lead used in the process of returning the pill to the dantien but the true fire of the partner. If you want to refine the external pill, you must use mercury to welcome the lead. This lead is not the lead responsible for creating the pill but the primordial pre-celestial vapor. Thus, the processes involved in creating the pill and returning it to the dantien are different. The creation of the pill is concerned with the activities of focusing and accumulating. Vapor from the partner is used to focus the vapor within. In this endeavor, erecting the post-celestial cauldron and the timely application of fire are essential to completing the pill. In contrast, the process of returning the pill to the dantien involves recovering something that was lost. In the return, the metal of dui is gathered to recover the gold of qian. In this process, the building of the pre-celestial cauldron and the copulation of yin and yang are critical.

Before the internal pill can be brought to fruition, the external pill must be created. The process of returning the pill to the dantien also requires the completion of the external pill. The internal pill is called the yin pill because it involves the emergence of mercury, and mercury is the yin within the yang. The external pill is called the yang pill because it involves the emergence of lead, and lead is the yang within the yin. The techniques of realizing the external pill require a partner to give freely, and success is dependent on joint action. The techniques of realizing the internal pill involve recovering original nature and life, and success depends on your efforts alone.

Both the production of the internal pill and the process of returning the golden elixir (the liquid form of the pill) to the dantien belong to the domain of cultivating the internal medicine, because the transformations of these substances occur internally, without external assistance. In contrast, the creation of the external pill and the golden pill belongs to the domain of cultivating the external medicine, because the transformation of these substances requires external assistance.

There is yet another meaning of the internal and external medicines. In the production of the great pill (dadan), the internal and external pills are combined. In this context, the external pill is the external medicine. Sometimes the external pill refers to the transitional state when the great pill is not completely realized. In this context, the copulation of the great kan and great li, the circulation of the waterwheel, transforming vapor into fluid and directing it into the Yellow Pavilion are all part of the alchemy of compounding the external medicine. The internal pill is the internal medicine. Sometimes the internal pill refers to the state just before the great pill materializes. In this context, building the pre-celestial foundation, transmuting the fluid within the Crimson Palace cavity, directing the fluid to return to the Sea of Vapor (qihai), and transforming fluid into vapor are all part of the alchemy of compounding the internal medicine. The practice of cultivating clarity and stillness is integral to the realization of both the internal and external medicines. I hope you now have a better idea of the meanings of the two medicines.