Huáinánzǐ  淮南子

和順以寂漠，質真而素樸，閒靜而不躁，推移而無故。在內而合乎道，出外而調於義，發動而成于文。行快而便於物，其言略而循理。其行侻而順情。其心愉而不偽。其事素而不飾。

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Harmoniously flowing with quiet river life [1], naturally authentic and living simply [2], leisurely, calm, and not impetuous, things moved along, and without needing a reason [3]. Residing within [4] and united with the Dao, radiating outward and transmitting from natural goodness [5], initiating actions and accomplishing [things] from the heart [6].

Moving effortlessly and detached from worldly things, their words were limited and in accord with basic principles. Their movements were light and followed the flow of their inclinations. Their hearts were joyful and not deceptive. Their affairs were simple and not extravagant.

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是以不擇時日，不占卦兆，不謀所始，不議所終，安則止，激則行。

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Consequently, they did not choose auspicious days, divine using hexagrams for omens, conspire for when things should begin or discuss when things should end [by interpreting an omen of] “quiet” as stop or [an omen of] “activity” as go [7].

 

通體於天地，同精於陰陽，一和於四時，明照於日月。與造化者相雌雄。是以天覆以德，地載以樂。

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Flowing through the body from heaven and earth, just as essence [forms] from yin and yang, [they were] one with the four seasons, brightly shining as the sun and moon, and together attaining transformation by unifying both the feminine and the masculine. Therefore because of heaven’s cover [above] they received virtue, [because of] earth’s support [below] they received pleasure [8].

 

四時不失其敘，風雨不降其虐，日月淑清而揚光，五星循軌而不失其行。。。

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The four seasons did not lose their order, wind and rain did not descend to cause destruction, the sun and moon were clear and bright and radiated their light, the five planets followed [their] course and did not lose their circulation patterns…

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Notes

1. 漠 mò, often translated as desert, is the image of a river with rows of plants growing under the sun alongside (Figure 1). The grouping of images depicts quiet agricultural life next to a river.
    

2. 素樸 sùpǔ is most often translated as “simple and unadorned." This is because the characters depict the everyday work of early people, specifically people working with plants (Figure 2).
    

3. Moving along without a reason here means to do things without a larger motive or agenda, in contrast to imperial or feudal life, where people would do things in service to a mentally constructed goal, rule or law imposed upon them, rather than following their own natural inclinations.
    

4. "Residing within" is a common phrase in Daoism meaning to focus one's awareness on the inside, rather than on external circumstances. It reflects the belief that the appearance of things in the external world are a reflection of what is happening within (a mirror), and thus the emphasis on the internal world.
    

5. 出 chū here refers to the natural energetic emission of qi that flows outward to affect the external world as a result of natural virtue. It is similarly used in the Neijing to talk about places where qi emits outward, such as the acupuncture points. Similarly, transmission (調 diào) refers to the phenomena of an energetic exchange of information from one person to another. See the etymological discussion of 調 diào in Figure 3.
    

6. The segment: 出外而調於義，發動而成于文 is important for understanding the day-to-day experience of "heart," which is used in contrast to "mind," although the terms later became synonymous in modern Chinese culture. In modern times, people typically rely the mind to know things and make decisions based on acquired factoids, but in ancient culture, the heart was the seat of direct knowing, and governed experiences of direct apprehension, inclination, and insight. Indigenous cultures, and many religions and traditions with roots in ancient cultures (e.g. Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism and others) similarly emphasize the heart as a sacred communication-connection plexus. Thus, to "know by heart" refers to an internal knowing that is immediate and functions as a simple yes/no compass.
   
   The importance of the ancient proto-Chinese relationship to the heart is seen in the older versions of 文 wén, which shows the area of the heart emphasized on the human body. When paired with the character's meaning of language or culture, it indicates that ancient people viewed the preeminence of the heart in understanding the concepts of connection, communication, and community (Figure 4). As an experiential phenomena, it is common for the area of the heart to vibrate or feel as though it is burning as a part of mystical experience or throughout the process of spiritual awakening.
    

7. Many of the passages and texts from this time period show a schism between people who believed that there was no division between humanity and divinity, and those who believed that the spiritual and mundane were separate, and therefore approachable as an "other," (e.g. as spirits or Gods through divination). In addition, with the entanglement of spirituality and politics, as modeled by the Shang dynasty, there was an increasing emphasis on trying to be seen as divinely favored, as a political ploy to acquire prestige and power. Thus, would-be rulers sought to control external circumstances through leveraging relationships with spirits and Gods through divination and extravagant rituals. Thus, for some, divination techniques were associated with separation from nature or the Dao. These people emphasized that there were some aspects of reality that were outside of the realm of willful control, and that these aspects were naturally tended to and taken care behind the scenes, requiring no personal intervention or propitiation. Relative to the concept of "residing within" and the "heart," there was an emphasis on internal gnosis, rather than looking outside of oneself for the answers through external signs or omens.
    

8. This section of passage details the experience of the two main energetic streams that naturally run through the body, and that in today's times are associated with being activated through a spiritual transformation or awakening. Energetic streams or phenomena were often depicted in pictographs with birds, as birds are symbols of for the yang-immaterial aspects of reality. The streams are depicted in the characters 雌 cí and 雄 xíong, translated as "masculine and feminine" above (see Figure 5 for the etymology). Of the two energetic streams, there is one stream that comes down through the "crown" at the top of the head (from the heavens-yang) and another that comes up through the feet (from the earth-yin). When they are both activated, they can combine to create "essence," which is a kind of consolidated qi that can do transformative work. The location of the intermingling of the streams can occur at different places in the body that become spaces for the interaction. These spaces include the lower pelvis within the pelvic bowl, the belly or womb, in the center of the chest, and in the head.
   
   In esoteric practices of internal alchemy (內工 nèigōng), these locations were intentionally cultivated by bringing the external qi of the environment into the body in order to consolidate power in these locations, and in this case, the interactional spaces in the body are referred to as cinnabar/elixir fields, or 丹田 dāntiāns. However, experientially the two processes are not the same. The association of 丹 with the color red refers to the blood of the womb (menstrual blood), as the womb was considered to have the ultimate transformative power of creation. In many indigenous cultures red ochre and was sacred, and was used for decorative purposes on peoples body's and their dwellings for the same reason. Thus, the womb, sex, pregnancy and birth became analogies (in most traditional cultures) for the experience of alchemical transformation or spiritual rebirth in a human. The experience of the commingling streams of heavenly and earthly qi is a yin-yang interaction are analagous to sex, the uniting of male and female, which combine to form something new, a consolidation of essence, jīng 精 (the new product resulting from the interaction of yin and yang), which is analogous to a pregnancy. The presence of jing engenders a transformative cycle, potentially resulting in a rebirth. As an esoteric symbol, this process of spiritual rebirth was depicted as a golden embryo in Chinese culture.
   
   Important to note here is that the wise people who had the natural mystical experiences that informed the analogies were able to see them as such, whereas people who had not had the experience, often took the symbolic language literally. One example of this is that some people did not understand the symbolism of cinnabar----the red-white/silver colored ore that is an analog for the intermingling of the masculine stream (heavenly-yang-silver qi) with the feminine stream (earthly-yin-red qi), and thus people would literally eat the toxic ore for alchemical purposes to produce spiritual results, despite the fact that it is very poisonous. In many cultures, the combination of red and white were symbols for the same process of connecting these two energetic streams (e.g. the ida and pingala as lunisolar Kundalini streams or the marriage of the red king and white queen of western alchemy). Other people misinterpreted the symbols by adopting intentional processes imagining the symbols through visualizations of the concepts. One example still seen today in the internal arts, is that of imagining a blue-green dragon interacting with a white tiger in the area of the lower elixir field (the blue-green dragon a symbol of yang due to its correlation to springtime and a white tiger as a symbol of yin due to its correlation to autumn), or similarly imagining energy streaming down through the crown or up through the feet. In both of these cases (there are countless others), the symbols were confused for the things they were pointing to. Thus, visualization practices such as these replaced the spontaneous experience of a natural mystical process.
   
   The tricky aspect of this distinction is that the process of visualization can produce significant imprints on the subconscious that can reify into one's experience of reality in lasting and significant ways, which can make a person believe that these techniques are effective. And, as energy has no boundaries, these energetic imprints can extend outwards and affect others, as energetic fields interact and receive information from one another. Unfortunately, the only way to discern the difference between the two types of experiences is to have both types and compare the experiential and qualitative differences between the two, or alternatively, to have someone who can provide insights into the same, which has historically been one of the main advantages of having a teacher or guide. But the caveat is that a teacher or guide should always be working to help show you the way, but you should not confuse them for the way (that they are required for your spiritual realization or mystical experience)... it's easy to fall into this trap with teachers, gurus and guides. Hence, the reason why the old sages and wise persons (真人 zhēnrén and 聖人 shèngrén) were so adamant about trying to teach people the importance of quieting the mind, being like "uncarved wood" (not acquiring too many preconceived notions), and of allowing, or non-doing, rather than using willful intention to manufacture energetic or spiritual experience.