1 Naturalness is called the Way. The Way has no name or form; it is just the essence, just the primal spirit.
2 Essence and life are invisible, so they are associated with sky and light. Sky and light are invisible, so they are associated with the two eyes.
3 Since ancient times, those who realized spiritual immortality all communicated their teaching verbally, transmitting it from individual to individual.
4 Taishang appeared magically to Donghua, and the Way was handed on through a succession to Yan, then to the southern and northern schools of Complete Reality, which can be considered its full flourishing.
5 That movement flourished in the sense that there were a great many who followed it, yet it declined in the sense that its mental communication deteriorated. This has continued up to the present day, when it is extremely confused and extremely degenerate.
6 When an extreme is reached, there is a reversion. Therefore there was a certain master Siu who extended his kindness to liberate all, especially setting up the teaching of the special transmission outside of doctrine. For those who heard, it was a rare opportunity; those who accepted it formed a religious association in their time. Everyone should respectfully understand the heart of master Siu.
7 First establish a firm foothold in daily activities within society. Only then can you cultivate reality and understand essence.
8 In obedience to a directive, I am acting as a guide to liberation. Now I am bringing to light the source message of the golden flower of absolute unity. After that I will explain in detail.
9 The absolute unity refers to what cannot be surpassed. There are very many alchemical teachings, teachings, but all of them make temporary use of effort to arrive at effortlessness; they transcendence and direct penetration. The doctrine I transmit directly brings up working with essence and does not full into a secondary method. That is the best thing about it.
10 The golden flower is light. What color is light? It is symbolized by the golden flower, which [in Chinese characters] also conceals [the words] one light within.
This is the absolutely unified real energy of celestial immortals; this is what is meant by the saying, “The lead in the homeland of water is just one flavor.”
11 The whole work of turning the light around uses the method of reversal. The beauties of the highest heavens and the sublimest realms are all within the heart: this is where the perfectly open and aware spirit concentrates. Confucians call it the open center, Buddhists call it the open center of awareness, Taoists call it the ancestral earth, the yellow court, the mysterious pass, the primal opening.
12 The celestial mind is like a house; the light is the master of the house. Therefore once you turn the light around, the energies throughout the body rise. Just turn the light around; this is the unexcelled sublime truth.
13 The light is easily stirred and hard to stabilize. When you have turned it around for a long time, the light crystallizes. This is the natural spiritual body, and it steadies the spirit above the nine skies. This is what is referred to in the Mind Seat Scripture as “silently paying court” and “soaring upward.”
14 The golden flower is the same thing as the gold pill. The transmutations of spiritual illumination are all guided by mind.