p. 30, Foundations of Internal Alchemy, quoting Wang Haican (Yuan Dynasty).   p. 55, Foundations of Internal Alchemy, citing Xingming guizhi   So by comparing those two texts it is very clear that the Ji-Soil that rises is rising up the spine - to replenish the Li. The Mercury is the "green dragon" after it first descends down the front (via the small universe meditation) and then rises up the spine to form Heaven. The Wu-Soil then descends down the front. So Wang Mu, author of Foundations of Internal Alchemy is explaining again that to replenish Li from Mercury, the Ji-soil rises up the spine (not the front).   As someone reviews my blog research, this related post was reviewed.    So "true intention" p. 41, Foundations of Internal Alchemy.  From Xingming guizhi p. 25, Foundations   So again the Metal found within the Water goes down the front - the northern direction being down. And this stops the wood (the yin qi) within the Fire (the heart spirit) going out the eyes (the southern direction being up).   p. 40, Foundations   So I was asked recently how one is supposed to also circulate or rotate the eyes while ALSO doing quick fire breathing - all at the same time. This is really the Small Universe meditation practice. We rotate the eyes naturally as the eyes are closed and we visualize the energy along the 12 harmonic nodes of the body. And as we know from listening - to locate sound - we listen to the OM and MUA sound of the meditation of the Small Universe - our ears rely on phase quantum coherence as the 5th dimension.   I previously quoted a Tibetan Medical doctor - the "ears collect the energy during meditation" and then the energy shines forth out of the eyes while the eyes are open.   So just to "lay the foundation" - the beginning of alchemy - means to store up the Yuan Qi energy enough so it opens up the channels - through purification as harmonization of yin and yang qi.   With our eyes open then the Sun and Moon are separated as the yin and yang qi are not harmonized (the wood and metal of the left and right eyes).   So most people think that just the reverse breathing is the key but do not realize that also the spirit meditation is also the key to alchemy training.   We put the fire under the water to make the steam as the qi but this also requires the small universe meditation as turning the light around.   The Essence can only be restored as "pre-celestial essence" through purification and the standing active exercises as Quick Fire meditation is what best enables this purification of the energy. As Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality emphasizes ONLY the Quick Fire breathing has the power to purify the essence. And as that book emphasizes, when doing the small universe meditation then we also need to be doing strong reverse breathing.   The Foundations section on "Harmonization" is really about how the practice has to be integrated - with breathing, spirit and purification.   When the breathing is deep and synchronized then it naturally "stops" as the qi fills up the body. So regarding the question of how can we do all this at the same time - this is the secret of what I call the Double Reversal - it is like two spirals going in the opposite directions as harmonization of complementary opposites (or in Western terms as noncommutative phase).   The spirit as the True Intention is this double reversal as the Wuji.   Laying the Foundation is itself a tremendous task - it is to restore the Essence or life-force to the age of a 16 year old. Then the alchemical process speeds up. So it also requires a strong knowledge of the alchemical process as the process of laying the foundation. I call this "kicking off the rocket booster." Once the Yuan Qi is activated and fills up the body then you are blasted into outerspace and you no longer have your rocket booster. So you better know where you are going.   I achieved this stage but I did not have the proper knowledge, so I did not know where I was going. I "aimed sky high" but I "fell back into worldliness" as Master Nan, Huai-chin says is so common.   Because of the help of the qigong master I did have an opening of the third eye as psychic pineal gland energy - and this does connect me to the central channel of the Yuan Qi energy. But because of my lack of knowledge I overused my psychic (Metal) Po Soul energy - and essentially became a "ghost immortal." And so I have to "start over" in the training to rebuild my foundation. But to do so is more difficult as now I have to work from either impure yin qi - from food - instead of pure yang qi. Or I have to work from the Emptiness itself - in a pure environment (as energy feasting - directly without the rocket boosters). Both these situations are dangerous.   So instead what I have done is just taken it easy and done free psychic healing, relying on impure yin qi sources, and using essential oils for purification.   So chapter 2 of Foundations of Internal Alchemy is really the equivalent of chapter 6 of Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality.   Once we get a taste of Yuan Qi then this is also the beginning of integrating the yuan jing with the yuan shen - and once the harmonization begins, then we need to keep building up the yuan qi energy.   So this is then the true "gong" or 100 day practice - only after Nirvikalpa Samadhi is achieved (as it is called in Indian yoga).   So this is also called the "Living Zi Hour" (from 11 pm to 1 am) so here the essence is restored but it has to be purified and returned - just as the pineal gland melatonin peaks at this hour. The Yin is at the extreme, so the Yang manifests. The spirit as Fire has the yang qi transformed since it's been replenished by the Yin (with the yang hidden within it).   So the rotating of the eyes is then the secret to keep building up the Yuan Qi from the yang within yin and yin within yang harmonization. pp. 67-8, Foundations.   So this is what I mean by kicking off the rocket booster - the Internal Medicine is formed directly from the Emptiness, from the spirit light being turned around.   This is then the stage of So this is the immortal breathing, the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the Bigu fasting (energy feasting), the conversion of Jing into Qi via Shen.  p. 74, Foundations    So this quote perfectly captures the Double Reversal secret of alchemy - the Harmonization process: The River Chariot being the "small universe" meditation aka the Microcosmic Orbit or Small Heavenly Circuit.   So to access the Yuan Qi the "yang qi" is replenished up the skull where it is then "nourished" by the yin qi.   p. 80.   Zi is then from 11 pm to 1 am where the yang qi meets in the Yin cavity to being its ascent to the brain. But Zi is also the Winter Solstice - and  yet the alchemical "firing times" have to be flexible depending on the circumstances. p. 90, Foundations   So again the Double Reversal is explained clearly.  p. 91   Once the Yuan Qi is built up, the Essence and Breath have coalseced so the "three have turned to the Two" - and now the Two returns to the One as refining the Qi to transmute it into Spirit (shen).   So Flower in the Snow - means Golden Transformation - the Golden Flower. The word flower is a homophone with the word transformation - so both sound as "hua" and refer to alchemical refining.   So this is the Golden Liquor stage - the Golden Nectar as developing the Yang Shen body alchemically.   The yin qi of the Yang shen has to be converted to yang qi of the yin shen so that the Yang Shen then returns to the Yuan Qi as the Emptiness. p. 101   But since the Yang Shen is developed out of the yang qi transformation - there is an inversion of Zi and Wu (North as water and South as fire) that were the lower tan t'ien and head - now switched around again, not spatially but temporally. versus the tripod being the brain for the small heavenly circuit.   p. 105, Foundations   Then as the Spirit enters the Emptiness it is described as "Wondrous." This is what qigong master Chunyi Lin said to me - I could say that he was "wonderful."    p. 114, Foundations  p. 116, Foundations   https://elixirfield.blogspot.com/2018/07/more-on-true-lead-and-true-mercury-as.html    https://elixirfield.blogspot.com/2018/07/pregadios-awakening-to-reality.html     https://elixirfield.blogspot.com/2018/05/white-tiger-of-heart-take-filled-heart.html