2.4. Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness

“Refining Spirit to return to Emptiness” is the highest ideal of the alchemical doctrines. This stage is also called Higher Barrier (shangguan ) and Barrier of the Nine Years (jiunian guan ). The term “nine years” does not refer to the time required to achieve the Great Elixir; it alludes, instead, to the story of Bodhidharma who sat facing a wall for nine years, taking this as a metaphor for the stage in which one enters the practice of Xing (Nature). In constant stability and constant silence, all things return to the Origin. Therefore another name of this stage is “refining Spirit to join with the Dao” (lianshen hedao ), where Dao means Emptiness and Non-Being (xuwu ).

Awakening to Reality says:

道自虛無生一氣，便從一氣產陰陽，陰陽再合成三體，三體重生萬物張。

The Dao from Emptiness and Non-Being generates the One Breath,

then from the One Breath gives birth to Yin and Yang;

Yin and Yang join again and form the three bodies,

the three bodies repeatedly generate, and the ten thousand things grow. ¹

This poem describes the process of generation from the Dao, which is a forward process of “going along” (or “continuing transformation,” shunhua ). The alchemical practice, instead, emphasizes the backward process of “inverting the course” (nixing ). It upholds that, in the first place, “the three bodies return to two bodies,” when Essence, Breath, and Spirit are refined into Spirit and Breath; this is the stage of “refining Essence to transmute it into Breath.” Then comes the stage in which “the two bodies return to one body” and there is only the Original Spirit; this is the stage of “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit.” Finally comes “refining the One to revert to Non-Being” (lianyi huanwu ), which is the stage of “refining Spirit to return to Emptiness.”

As shown by the explanation given in the poem quoted above, “reverting to Emptiness and Non-Being” is equivalent to “returning to the Dao.” Therefore the alchemical texts often use the symbol ○ to represent Emptiness—the state in which all things enter Emptiness and become entirely clear. One reverts to the fundament and returns to the root, enlightens one’s mind and sees one’s Nature. This is the highest goal of Awakening to Reality .

Zhang Boduan and Buddhism . According to the alchemical methods of Zhang Boduan, one should first cultivate one’s Ming (Life) and then one’s Xing (Nature), and should first devote oneself to the practices and then to the Way. In his preface to the Wuzhen pian shiyi (Supplement to Awakening to Reality ), Zhang Boduan says:

『悟真篇』者，先以神仙命脈誘其修鍊，次以諸佛妙用廣其神通，終以真如覺性遺其幻妄，而歸於究竟空寂之本源矣。

Awakening to Reality first attracts one to the practice of self-cultivation in accordance with the bloodline of the divine Immortals; then broadens one’s spiritual comprehension in accordance with the wondrous operation of all the Buddhas; and finally leads one away from illusions and delusions in accordance with one’s own true enlightened Nature. Thus one returns to the ultimate fundament of absolute emptiness and silence. ²

As shown by this passage, when Zhang Boduan describes the fourth and highest stage of the alchemical practice, he uses Buddhist principles to explicate the “return to Emptiness.” This differs from both the Cantong qi and the Ruyao jing . Opening a new path, Zhang Boduan employed Chan as a metaphor for the Dao. Although the respective ways of argumentation are different, his foundation was explaining the Taoist alchemical practice of Xing. In order to widen the vision of his disciples, therefore, he used metaphors of all kinds, and explained the profound meaning of “returning to Emptiness” by means of the Buddhist idea of the “true enlightened Nature.”

Between the late Tang and the Five Dynasties (ca. ninth-tenth centuries), the notion of the “unity of the Three Teachings” (sanjiao heyi ) favored the integration and harmonization of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. During the Northern Song period (960–1127), the trend toward convergence continued: each of the Three Teachings was explicated by means of the others, and each drew from the others. Zhang Boduan himself was a disciple of Taoism who came from Confucianism and was also engaged in Buddhism. In his preface to Awakening to Reality he says:

僕幼親善道，涉獵三教經書，以至刑法、書、算、醫、卜、戰陣、天文、地理、吉凶、死生之術，靡不留心詳究。

Since my youth, I have cherished the good Dao. I have inquired into the scriptures of the Three Teachings, and have also made careful and detailed studies of law, calligraphy, mathematics, medicine, divination, military science, astronomy, geography, prognostication, and the arts of life and death. ³

As we can see from this passage, Zhang Boduan was well-versed in the principles of the Three Teachings, and was extremely learned. However, he was ultimately a master of the Taoist Golden Elixir, and he did not convert to Buddhism. During the Qing dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723–35) issued an edict stating that Zhang Boduan had deeply understood the principles of Chan Buddhism. The emperor gave orders to incorporate Awakening to Reality into the Buddhist Canon and into the Yuxuan yulu (Imperial Compilation of Recorded Sayings). ⁴ He also granted Zhang Boduan the title of “Chan Immortal” (chanxian ). All this was due to the emperor’s own study of the Chan principles and to his adherence to those teachings. In fact, the principles of the Pure Cultivation branch (Qingxiu pai) of Taoist alchemy are in agreement with the Chan doctrine of “enlightening one’s mind and seeing one’s Nature” (mingxin jianxing ). Therefore Zhang Boduan certainly drew from the Chan doctrine. However, his essential intent was to elucidate the profound meaning of “refining one’s Nature” (lianxing ). He was not both a Taoist and Buddhist, and in the appellation “Chan Immortal,” the emphasis should fall on the word “immortal.” In his preface to the Yuxuan yulu , the Yongzheng Emperor maintains that the three religions (Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism) are one, but this only reflects his own views on religion and government.

Returning to Emptiness . When the Zhong-Lü alchemical tradition explains “refining Spirit to return to Emptiness,” it builds in the first place on the foundation of “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit.” One should move the Infant from the lower to the middle Cinnabar Field, where it is further refined and nourished. Then the Infant is moved from the middle to the upper Cinnabar Field; this is called “moving the embryo” (yitai ). Finally one obtains the Yang Spirit, which exits from the Gate of Heaven (tianmen ); this is called “delivery of the embryo” (chutai ), and is also called “nourishing warmly” (wenyang ). This is not mentioned in any of Zhang Boduan’s works. Awakening to Reality says:

藥逢氣類方成象，道在希夷合自然，一粒靈丹吞入腹，始知我命不由天。

Only when the Medicines meet in breath (qi ) and kind do they form an image:

the Dao is inaudible and invisible, and is joined to What is so by Itself.

Ingest the one grain of numinous Elixir, let it enter the belly,

and for the first time you will know that your destiny does not depend on Heaven. ⁵

This poem refers the Daode jing , which says: “Look at it, and you do not see it: it is called invisible. Listen to it, and you do not hear it: it is called inaudible.” ⁶ As one dwells in constant stability and constant silence, and is pervasive in responding to the external impulses, the four elements return to emptiness, and one escapes from the cycle of birth and death. ⁷ Zhang Boduan does not explain the “egress of the Yang Spirit” (chu yangshen ) and other imaginary states, but considers “returning to Emptiness” to be the same as purely entering non-doing, being entirely pervasive and unhindered, being existent for ever and ever like Heaven and Earth, and obtaining the Great Liberation (da jietuo ).

A poem in the “Outer Chapters” (“Waipian”) of Awakening to Reality says:

法法法元無法，空空空亦非空，靜喧語默本來同，夢裡何勞說夢。有用用中無用，無功功裡施功，還如果熟自然紅，莫問如何修種。

The dharma makes the dharma into the dharma—originally there is no dharma;

and when emptiness empties emptiness—then it not emptiness.

Quiescence and noise, speech and silence are fundamentally the same:

while in a dream, why trouble yourself with talking of the dream?

In operation, within the operation there is no operation;

in non-function, within the function arises the function.

It is like a fruit that ripens, and of its own its color turns to red:

never ask how to cultivate the seed. ⁸

This is the true meaning of “refining Spirit to return to Emptiness” in Awakening to Reality . Another poem in the “Outer Chapters” says:

如來妙體遍河沙，萬象森羅無礙遮，會得圓通真法眼，始知三界是吾家。

The wondrous body of the Tathagata is as manifold as the sands of the Ganges;

the ten thousand phenomena, interminable and unceasing, are unhindered and unconcealed.

If you understand the true Eye of the Dharma, which pervades every thing,

for the first time you will know that the three worlds are your home. ⁹

This view of the “return to Emptiness” is the same as the view of Chan Buddhism. Therefore the final state of realization is the same in both teachings. Weng Baoguang explains this point saying:

九載功圓，則無為之性自圓，無形之神自妙，神妙則變化無窮，隱顯莫測；性圓則慧照十方，靈通無破。故能分身百億，應顯無方，而其至真之體，處於至靜之域，寂然而未嘗有作者，此其神性形命俱與道合真矣。

When the nine-year practice is concluded, in its non-doing, one’s Nature is of its own perfect, and in its formlessness, one’s Spirit is of its own wondrous. When Spirit is wondrous, its transformations are inexhaustible, and its states of manifestation and non-manifestation are unfathomable. When Nature is perfect, its wisdom illuminates all directions, and in its being numinous and pervasive, it can suffer no damage. Therefore one can can divide one’s being into a myriad beings that manifest themselves in limitless ways, while one’s own body of utmost reality dwells in the realm of utmost quiescence, silent and ceaselessly abiding in non-doing. This is because one’s Nature, one’s Spirit, one’s form, and one’s existence are joined in their reality with the reality of the Dao. ¹⁰

This is the ideal of “returning to Emptiness” in Awakening to Reality . The “Outer Chapters” describe it with a metaphor:

我有一輪明鏡，從來只為蒙昏，今朝磨瑩照乾坤，萬象昭然難隱。

I have a round bright mirror,

it has always been muddied.

Today I rub it and polish it, so that it may reflect Qian and Kun:

the ten thousand phenomena are clear, and can hardly hide themselves. ¹¹

In this state there is no concealment and no hindrance. The ten thousand images are entirely luminous; they join as one with Heaven and Earth, and form a single body with the entire cosmos.

Body and Spirit . However, Zhang Boduan belongs to the Taoist alchemical tradition, and his approach to the question of form and spirit differs from Buddhism. The goal of Buddhist self-cultivation is crossing to the “other shore,” “undergoing reincarnation,” and obtaining “ultimate bliss through rebirth.” The corporeal frame is seen as a temporary lodge. Taoism, instead, maintains that form and spirit should be in agreement with one another, so that one may extend the length of one’s life. The Yang Spirit (yangshen ) can leave the body, but after one thousand or ten thousand transformations it can re-enter the corporeal frame. The highest ideal is ascending to Heaven in one’s tangible body, or even “raising in flight with one’s entire family.” And although Taoism mentions the “winged transformation” (yuhua ) and the “liberation from the corpse” (shijie ), the corporeal frame that is discarded is not the actual physical body, and those are illusory transformations. ¹²

Zhang Boduan does not provide many details on this point, but his poems often refer to the agreement of body and spirit. One of them says, for example:

只候功成朝北闕，九霞光裏駕翔鸞。

Just wait until your work is achieved

to have audience at the Northern Portal,

and in the radiance of a ninefold mist

you will ride a soaring phoenix. ¹³

Another poem says:

已知壽永齊天地，煩惱無由更上心。

Once you know that your longevity

equals that of Heaven and Earth,

troubles and vexations have no way

to rise to your heart. ¹⁴

Another poem says:

群陰消盡丹成熟，跳出凡籠壽萬年。

When all of Yin is entirely dispelled,

the Elixir ripens:

you leap out of the cage of the mundane,

and live ten thousand years. ¹⁵

And again:

萬物芸芸各返根，返根復命即常存。

The ten thousand things, in all their multiplicity, return to the root;

as they return to the root and revert to life, they are constantly preserved. ¹⁶

All the poems quoted above show that Zhang Boduan agrees with the Taoist views on attaining long life.

On the other hand, Zhang Boduan dissents from the Buddhist views on reincarnation. In another poem, he says:

饒君了悟真如性，未免 拋身卻入身，何似更兼修大藥，頓超無漏作真人。

Even if you awaken to your own true enlightened Nature,

you have not yet escaped reincarnation.

How about also cultivating the Great Medicine,

so that you may immediately transcend to the uncontaminated state and become a True Man? ¹⁷

This poem alludes to the Buddhist separation and duality of form and spirit. In the Taoist Golden Elixir, instead, Reality is achieved by means of “refining the form” (lianxing ). Therefore Zhang Boduan says in another poem:

釋氏教人修極樂，只緣極樂是金方，大都色相惟茲實，餘者非真漫度量。

Buddhism teaches people to cultivate ultimate bliss:

just following ultimate bliss is the direction of Metal.

Within all forms and phenomena, only this is real—

anything else is unreal and vain to assay. ¹⁸

“Direction of Metal” (jinfang ) has a double meaning: in the first meaning, it represents the West, and in the second one, it represents the Golden Elixir.

After the Golden Elixir has been achieved, it cannot be damaged or extinguished, and it is preserved for as long as Heaven and Earth. This is the “real form” or phenomenon alluded to by Zhang Boduan in the poem quoted above. Therefore Liu Yiming, in his commentary on Awakening to Reality , induces his disciples to engage themselves in Buddhism; when he discusses the true enlightened Nature, however, his explanation differs from Buddhism.

Although the “Outer Chapters” (“Waipian”) of Awakening to Reality illustrate the notion of True Nature by means of Buddhist principles, they ultimately consist of a conclusion concerned with the highest ideals of Taoism. It is precisely for this reason, in fact, that the portion of Zhang Boduan’s work containing poems on Chan principles is entitled “Outer Chapters.” The Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty made Buddhism the national religion, intending to use Buddhism to restrain the Mongols and the Tibetans, and Taoism to control the Han ethnic groups. This is why he bestowed the title of “Chan Immortal” onto Zhang Boduan, and included his work into the Buddhist Canon. His political skills did not go much beyond using religion to attain his own goals.

In conclusion, “refining Spirit to return to Emptiness” lies in entering the pure practice of Xing (Nature). Although this practice may involve fantasies of a religious nature, for Awakening to Reality it only consists in progressing from delusion to awakening, and from awakening to Reality.