The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement (part 6)
关窍秘诀
Secret Transmissions on the Orifices
of the Human Body
The orifices of the human body are important body parts for opening the barriers. They are pivotal and crucial.
The human body has three barriers at the back. Without fulfilling the requirements the barriers will remain shut. The Tail Alley or Caudal Funnel at the coccyx is very firm as if wrapped and bound by nine layers of iron. Once the Qi is full, it will open. The Spinal Strait, is not the acupuncture point known by the same name, but rather comprises an area. The last barrier is the Jade Pillow, which is located at the first cervical vertebrae, at the base of the skull connecting with the brain. It could be likened to a border pass at the customs. If one goes past the first control, leaving one’s home country but the border control denies entry to the other country, one will be unable to return to one’s motherland as well. Once desires come out, it is over and one has wasted a lot of time. One will be stuck between two borders!
“If one is being blocked at the next barrier,
one must maintain one’s condition and state,
otherwise one will fall back to the beginning.”
It is like an expired visa.
The marrow pathway is travelling upwards, however is not the meridian pathway. There is a hole in the vertebra, which is the path of internal alchemy. It is connected with the nerve stem, the nerves of the brain and the meridians. It does not exist singly, as the nerve system is like a tree. It is called the ‘Hidden Stream’, the unseen flow of water, also known by the name of the “Yellow River”. This Yang Qi ascends up this pathway and goes straight above to Spinal Strait behind the Middle Cinnabar Field, as well as opposite the apex of the internal kidneys. It is extremely hard for Qi to ascend to this point. This is called the Spinal Strait Barrier. Furthermore rising to the back of the brain, it is called the Jade Pillow Barrier.
These are the body’s three barriers.
If one arrives at the border, one is asked for one’s passport and whether one carries any dangerous goods in the luggage. In Wudang Mountain one will come across the Three Heavenly Gates on the way up to the Golden Peak. Only when one opens the first gate, can one continue one’s climb. One’s spine is one’s ladder. During everyday life one prepares for this journey. The Gate keeper is extremely ferocious and powerful. There are tough examinations.
“If one’s merits, virtue and one’s benevolent deeds are not sufficient,
it will not open its doors.
If one’s Essence, Qi and Spirit have not been retrieved yet,
one cannot leave.
Only if one meets all necessary conditions,
the portal will grant one to pass through it.”
If one wears clothes and carries a passport, if there is a picture in the passport, a valid visa and no unsafe luggage, one is allowed to proceed. If one carries dangerous goods, infectious and transmittable diseases, if one is a terrorist or murderer, one is denied to go through customs.
The human front has three fields:
The Mud Pill or Mud Pellet, the Earth Cauldron and the Flower Pond.
The true centre of one’s brain is the upper barrier, the true centre in relation to left, right, front and back.
The Mud Pill is the upper Cinnabar Field. It is a sphere of one 1.2 Chinese inches, the size more or less of a yellow ping pong ball. One point of emptiness; this is precisely why it stores the Spirit. This hole is in the heart of the eyebrow, i.e. the ‘Hall of Impressions’, the ‘Third Eye’, or the space between the eyebrows. Entering to the inside one Chinese inch is the ‘Palace of Brightness’, entering again one Chinese inch is the ‘Cavern Chamber Palace’, entering one more Chinese inch is the ‘Mud Pill Palace’. That is exactly the upper Cinnabar Field. Below the third Eye towards the center of the mouth are two orifices which are inside the mouth and at the upper palate. It is called the ‘Nose Beam Golden Bridge’. It is also called the ‘Upper Sparrow Bridge’. Below the tongue there are also two orifices, connecting below with the airway and the throat. The larynx is the location of exiting and entering of internal and external Qi. The pharynx is the entrance for food and beverages. That is the reason why it connects with the stomach. This airway has twelve nodes. It is called the ‘Multi-Storied Tower’ or ‘Twelve-Storied Pavilion’. Straight below it connects with the lung orifice, all the way down to the heart. Below the heart is one orifice. It is called the ‘Crimson Palace’. Therefore it is the place where dragon and tiger intermingle. Straight 3.8 Chinese inches below is the ‘Earth Cauldron Yellow Court Palace’. This is the Middle Cinnabar Field. ‘The Palace of Brightness’ on the left, the ‘Cavern Chamber’ on the right, this is the space of the diaphragm, the spleen, pancreas and stomach. It is also a ‘Hole of the Void’, a sphere of 1.2 Chinese inches, again the size of a table tennis ball. Therefore it is the place where Qi is stored, the cauldron for refining the elixir. Outside and opposite the navel gate it is approximately 3.6 Chinese inches in length.
An old saying goes:
“36 heavenly palaces above,
36 earthly mansion below,
from the heaven to earth,
from the stars to earth is a distance of 84 000 Chinese miles.
From the heart to the kidneys are 8.4 Chinese inches apart.
The heart’s circumference is 3.6 Chinese inches,
the Kidney’s circumference is 3.6 Chinese inches.
The Middle Cinnabar Field is 1.2 Chinese inches.
In total it adds up to 8.4 Chinese inches. “
One unifies with numerals of heaven and earth, therefore the human body is also a miniature version of heaven and earth, a microcosm of the universe. The inside of the navel gate is known by the name of ‘Gate of Existence’. The cutting of the umbilical cord marks the beginning of one’s own life. In the body there are seven orifices, connecting below with the external kidneys, which are the genitals. The external kidneys therefore are the place where Essence Qi leaves the body. In the middle between the navel and the kidneys is a hole. It is named the ‘Supine Moon Furnace’. It is also referred to as the ‘Sea of Qi’. A little lower, namely 1.2 Chinese inches, is a space. It is called the ‘Flower Pond’. Therefore it is the lower Cinnabar Field where Essence is stored, and the location where medicine is picked, i.e. the place where Qi grows, Original Qi and Original Essence: The ‘Palace of Brightness’ is on the left and the ‘Cavern Chamber’ is on the right. It resembles a Rubik’s cubic, but it is round, not square. It is also the ‘Hole of Emptiness’, a sphere of 1.2 Chinese inches. This location has two orifices: One directly above, connecting with the internal kidneys, one directly below connecting with the Tail Alley or Caudal Funnel.
The center is called: ‘The Mysterious Gate’:
“Therefore it is the place,
where in the midst of nothingness life exists,
where out of nothingness existence comes forth, which thereafter multiplies.
Refine Essence until it is full and Qi until it is ample,
then Pre-natal Qi is generated naturally and comes back.
When it is full, the Mysterious Gate opens by itself. “
There is also a saying:
“In the human body there are the three orifices for refining the Golden Elixir.
One must not be ignorant of them.
The upper orifice is the palace of the trigram Li,
the place of the heart, outside yang and inside yin.
The center stores Original Spirit, representing innate nature,
red mercury, cinnabar, the dragon and the Spirit.
The lower orifice is the palace of the trigram Kan,
the place of the kidneys, outside yin and inside yang.
The center stores Original Qi representing life-destiny, black lead,
graphite, the tiger and stored Qi.
Practicing Cinnabar Field Qi is the dual cultivation
of innate character and life-destiny,
of the trigrams of Qian and Kun
the subduing of the dragon and the taming of the tiger,.”
The ‘Palace of Life’, the ‘Furnace of Kun’, i.e. the furnace of smelting, ‘the Gate of Existence’, the ‘Secret Door’, they are refer to the same place. People can rely on the True Intention of their thoughts and the Original Spirit and tie up the Mind Horse and lock up the Heart Monkey, right here and right now. Retrieve and bring back the ‘Palace of Life’ and one can transcend life, grasp death and open the ‘Gate of Life’. In the center of these upper two orifices below the heart and above the kidneys, there is also one orifice nurturing the embryo. It is the place for nourishing Original Qi. This is the reason for the existence of the ‘Cavern of the Void’, a place without materiality, the ‘Cave of the Emptiness’. Therefore the human body’s upright centre, which is its precise centre, is below the heart and above the navel. It is where the ‘Yellow Court’ is located, i.e. Spleen and Stomach, and it is called the Middle Cinnabar Field.
These therefore are all the human body’s orifices and barrier openings.
