Written By Jun Heo(許浚, 1539~1615), Translated by Namil Kim, Wung Seok Cha et al., Published by Ministry of Health & Welfare (Korea)
① It is said in the Seven Proscriptions Writings of the True Person of the Great One (太乙眞人七禁文): “First, speak less to nurture qi inside the body. Second, nurture essence-qi by abstaining from sexual desires. Third, eat light foods to raise blood-qi. Fourth, swallow saliva to nurture the qi of the five viscera.
Fifth, nurture liver qi by restraining anger. Sixth, nurture stomach qi by eating deliciously. Seventh, nurture heart qi by thinking less. A person lives by qi and qi grows strong by spirit. One will be able to earn true Tao when qi is nurtured and the spirit is replenished. The original qi is the foremost to preserve.”
② It is said in the Scripture of the Yellow Court (黃庭經): “One must clean the mountains to live long.” This means the hair must be combed thoroughly, hands on the face, teeth clicked, and saliva swallowed all the time, and qi trained carefully. These five ways are the methods of cleaning the mountains. Mountains refer to the head.
③ It is said in the Classic of Clarity and Purity (淸靜經) by Ge Xianwong: The mind becomes calm naturally when a person lets go of desires, and the spirit clears when the mind is cleared. Then the six desires and three poisons will not attack.
The heart of the person is cleared when emptied and calmed when one sits right; spirit and lifespan are preserved when one speaks less and hears less.
Too much talking damages qi, too much happiness scatters emotions, frequent anger hurts feelings, frequent sadness and thoughts hurt the spirit, and too much desire, which leads to fatigue of the body damages essence. These must not be done by those who are training themselves.”
④ Also, “A scholar who is training himself does not spit far nor walk fast. He does not hear nor see much. He eats before getting hungry but never overeats. He drinks before getting thirsty but never overdrinks.”
⑤ Ji Kang (嵇康) said, “There are five difficulties in training the spirit. First, is the difficulty of letting go of fame and wealth; second, is the difficulty of letting go of emotions; third, is the difficulty of letting go of art and sexual desires; fourth, is the difficulty of giving up greasy food; and fifth, is the deficiency of spirit and dispersion of essence. If these five are not present in a person, the feeling of trust will grow day by day, and the Tao and virtue will grow day by day; one person will be able to earn much luck even without asking for goodness and will be able to live a long life even without wishing to live a long life. This is the point of self-training.”
⑥ It is said in the Classified Compilation on Nurturing Life (類纂): “One must always close the eyes if one wants to have bright eyes; one must always eat well to have good hearing; one must flex and extend one’s arms to raise the strength of the arms; one must always walk to raise the strength of the legs.”
⑦ Sun the wise man said: “It is difficult to live long if one does not know the way of disciplining the mind even if one eats good food all the time. The way of disciplining the mind is to use small amounts of energy every time and not make any problems unbearable or too tiring. The reason for the freshness of flowing water and hinges of the door not eaten by worms is because they are always moving. The way of disciplining the mind is not walking, standing, sitting, lying down, seeing, or hearing for too long. Not using these ways shortens the lifespan of every person.”
⑧ He also said, “Harm in this sense means shortening the lifespan gradually without one’s notice.” ⑨ It is said in the Classic of the Cavern Spirit and Perfected (洞神眞經): “The way of lengthening the lifespan in nurturing life is doing no harm. In doing no harm, tonifying is the way of protecting lives. Worrying about possible risks at the time of comfort is an effort to prevent any danger before it erupts. Even in the person with weak qi and a skinny body from defects at an early age, it is possible to restore qi and blood and recover the spirit, and naturally live a long life when in old age one enlightens oneself and prevents future troubles and tonifies oneself.” (→ Continued in next issue)
