Daoist Cultivation, Book 22: Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ: Hēng Collection: A Daoist Inner Alchemy Classic • Translation and Commentary

A landmark of Daoist inner alchemy, Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ—full title 《性命雙修萬神圭旨》—sets out a clear, authoritative standard (“Touchstone”) for the dual cultivation of Xìng and Mìng.Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ is arranged in four parts named after the four virtues of the Qián hexagram (元亨利貞):Yuán Collection (元集: Original / Prime) - Book 21Hēng Collection (亨集: Flourishing / Pervasive) - Book 22Lì Collection (利集: Beneficial / Advantageous) - Book 23Zhēn Collection (貞集: Correct / Constant / Persevering) - Book 24 This volume presents the Hēng Collection (亨集) of Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ—a late-Ming classic of Daoist inner alchemy (neidan) voiced through a Chan-forward sensibility. Where Book 21 (the Yuán Collection, 元集) laid the ground, Book 22 teaches how that ground pervades: how to circulate like a wheel around a still pivot, carry one seat through walking/standing/sitting/reclining, and use night practice to seal the day.What’s inside:Three Oral Instructions (口訣), each with diagrams and chapters:Nurture the Root; Safeguard the Treasure of Ming (命).Settle the Spirit at the Ancestral Aperture; Converge the Pre-celestial.Hibernation in the Qì-Cavity: The Myriad Wonders Return to the Root.Iconic diagrams explained in plain, precise English: Washing the Heart, Walking/Standing/Sitting/Reclining Contemplation, Method for “Refining the Form with Jade Liquid,” Dharma Wheel Turning by Itself, Dragon–Tiger Conjoining, Hibernation in the Qì-Cavity, and more.A concise “About the Text” and a new chapter on Authorship & Transmission to orient first-time readers.What sets this edition apartPractice-first commentary. Step-by-step posture, attention placement (“place and leave”), and inner work cues you can test today.Clear maps, zero theatrics.Chan influence, cleanly integrated. “Mind abides nowhere,” “no second push,” “Ordinary mind is the Buddha-mind” framed within Daoist body-maps and Confucian heart-method.Safety first. Red-flag diagnostics (heat, tightness, panting, jaw clamp) with quick resets (widen, soften, slow by a half-beat).Who it’s for:Meditators and neidan/qigong practitioners wanting non-mystified, testable instructions.Readers of Buddhism & Daoism curious about real Three-Teachings syncretism.Translators & scholars seeking a readable yet technically conscientious rendering of a key inner-alchemy text. Read more