內業 NeiYe (Internal Cultivation)
NeiYe focuses on Daoist cultivation (Xiu 修) of the heartmind (Xin 心), which involves the cultivation and refinement of the Three Treasures 精氣神: 精 Jing (Vital essence), 氣 Qi (Spirit), and 神 Shen (Mind).
內業 NeiYe or Internal Training is the oldest Chinese received text describing Daoist breath meditation techniques and Qi circulation.
先天一炁 XianTianYiQi, a form of primordial energy, and its relationship to acquiring 德 De (Virtue) was very influential for later Daoist philosophy. Similarly, important Daoist ideas such as the relationship between a person's 性 Xing (Inner nature) and their 命 Ming (Personal destiny) can be found in another lesser known text called the LuShi ChunQiu. In these texts, as well as in the DaoDeJing, a person who acquires 德 De (Virtue) and has a balanced and tranquil heartmind is called a XianRen 賢人 (Sage), ZhenRen 眞人 (True Man), ShengRen 聖人 (Holy Man), or XianRen 仙人 (Divine Man).
The “heart/mind” is the ruling agency within an individual’s bio-spiritual nexus --- in the entire personal complex of body/mind/heart/spirit. The NeiYe’s principal teaching is that a person should work constantly to ensure that his/her “heart/mind” is balanced and tranquil — without excessive cogitation or emotion. If one maintains a tranquil “heart/ mind,” one will become a receptor of life’s wholesome energies, and will be able to retain them and live a long life.
Traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese martial arts have adapted certain Daoist meditative techniques. Some examples are DaoYin (guide and pull) breathing exercises, NeiDan (internal alchemy) techniques, NeiGong (internal skill) practices, QiGong breathing exercises, ZhanZhuang (standing like a post) techniques. The opposite direction of adoption has also taken place, when the martial art of Taijiquan became one of the practices of modern Daoist practitioners, while historically it was not among traditional techniques.
GuanZi 管子 and NeiYe 內業
Four chapters of the 管子 GuanZi have descriptions of meditation practices:
XinShu 心術 "Mind Techniques" (2 chapters),
BaiXin 白心 "Purifying the Mind", and
NeiYe 內業 "Internal Training".
The NeiYe is possibly the oldest 'mystical' text in China, and can be described as a manual on the theory and practice of meditation that contains the earliest references to breath control and the earliest discussion of the physiological basis of self-cultivation in the Chinese tradition.
NeiYe Verse 8 associates DingXin 定心 "Stabilizing the mind" with acute hearing and clear vision, and generating Jing 精 "Vital essence". However, "Thought" is considered an impediment to attaining the well-ordered mind, particularly when it becomes excessive.
If you can be aligned and be tranquil,
Only then can you be stable.
With a stable mind at your core,
With the eyes and ears acute and clear,
And with the four limbs firm and fixed,
You can thereby make a lodging place for the vital essence.
The vital essence: it is the essence of the vital energy.
When the vital energy is guided, it [the vital essence] is generated,
But when it is generated, there is thought,
When there is thought, there is knowledge,
But when there is knowledge, then you must stop.
Whenever the forms of the mind have excessive knowledge,
You lose your vitality.
NeiYe Verse 18 contains the earliest Chinese reference to practicing Breath meditation. Breathing is said to "coil and uncoil" or "contract and expand"', "with coiling/contracting referring to exhalation and uncoiling/expanding to inhalation".
For all [to practice] this Way:
You must coil, you must contract,
You must uncoil, you must expand,
You must be firm, you must be regular [in this practice].
Hold fast to this excellent [practice]; do not let go of it.
Chase away the excessive; abandon the trivial.
And when you reach its ultimate limit
You will return to the Way and its inner power.
NeiYe Verse 24 summarizes "inner cultivation" meditation in terms of ShouYi 守一 "Maintaining the one" and YunQi 運氣 "Moving the Qi". The earliest ShouYi reference "appears to be a meditative technique in which the adept concentrates on nothing but the Way, or some representation of it.It is to be undertaken when you are sitting in a calm and unmoving position, and it enables you to set aside the disturbances of perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and desires that normally fill your conscious mind."
When you enlarge your mind and let go of it,
When you relax your vital breath and expand it,
When your body is calm and unmoving:
And you can maintain the One and discard the myriad disturbances.
You will see profit and not be enticed by it,
You will see harm and not be frightened by it.
Relaxed and unwound, yet acutely sensitive,
In solitude you delight in your own person.
This is called "revolving the vital breath":
Your thoughts and deeds seem heavenly.
Types Of Meditation
The Breath Meditation mentioned in NeiYe Verse 18 is not the normal breathing exercise. It is absorbing the XianTianYiQi, much like the Prana in Yoga practices, or Anapanasati in Buddhist practices.
ShouYi 守一 mentioned in NeiYe Verse 24, translated as "Maintaining the One", refers to developing a "One-Pointedness of Mind", much like Dharana in Yoga practices, or Ekaggata in Buddhist practices.
GuanZhi 觀止 "insight and tranquility" meditation, corresponding to Vipassana & Samatha – the two types of Buddhist meditation: Vipassana "clear observation; analysis" and Samatha "calm abiding; stabilizing meditation".
Guan 觀 is a practice of analysis and discernment, interpreted according to Buddhist Vipassana that leads to "insight" or "wisdom".
It is much like the Dhyana in Yoga practices.
Zhi 止 is a concentrative exercise that achieves the "cessation" of all unwholesome thoughts and mental activities. Unwholesome thoughts and attention lead to loss of energy, and may cause night emission leading to depletion of Yang Qi.
Ding 定 literally means "stabilize" and early scholars such as XuanZang used it to translate the Sanskrit word Samadhi, meaning "union", in Chinese Buddhist texts. In this sense, Ding can be understood as "mastery of composure or equanimity".
In the ZuoWangLun 坐忘论, there is a section called TaiDing 泰定 "intense Samadhi".
Cun 存 means "to be present; to store" in the Daoist meditation technique, which both the ShangQing School and LingBao Schools popularized. It thus means that the meditator, by an act of conscious concentration and focused intention, causes certain energies to be present in certain parts of the body. For this reason, the word is most commonly rendered "to visualize" or, as a noun, "visualization." Since, however, the basic meaning of Cun is not just to see or be aware of but to be actually present, the translation "to actualize" or "actualization" may at times be correct if somewhat alien to the Western reader.
守一
守一是道教早期修煉方術之一。其主旨為守持人之精、氣、神，使之不內耗，不外 逸，長期充盈體內，與形體相抱而為一。以為修習此術，可以延年益壽，乃至長生久視。 守一術源於老莊。《道德經》第十章雲：“載營魄抱一，能無離乎？”許多注家皆 釋“營魄”為“魂魄”，“營魄抱一”即魂魄合一，形神合一。《莊子·刻意》雲： “純素之道，唯神是守，守而勿失，與神為一。”《莊子·在宥》謂廣成子云： “目無所見，耳無所聞，心無所知，汝神將守形，形乃長生。
我守其一，以處其和，故我修身千二百餘歲矣，吾形未嘗衰。” 道教因襲老莊思想創造守一術。早期許多道教經書皆強調修習它的重要意義。《太 平經》雲：“欲解承負之責，莫如守一。”①“人知守一，名為無極之道。……聖人教 其守一，言當守一身也。念而不休，精神自來，莫不相應，百病自除，此即長生久視之 符也。”②《老子想爾注》雲：“身為精車，精落故當載營之。神成氣來，載營人身， 欲全此功無離一。”③《西升經》雲：“天地物類，生皆從一，子能明之，為知虛實，…… 丹書萬卷，不如守一。”④《抱朴子內篇·地真》雲：“餘聞之師雲：人能知一， 萬事畢。知一者，無一之不知也。不知一者，無一之能知也。……故仙經曰：子欲長生， 守一當明。思一至飢，一與之糧；思一至渴，一與之漿。”⑤《三元真一經》雲：“子 能守一，一亦守子，子能見一，一亦見子。……不能恆守，故三一去，則正氣離，夫失 正氣者故氣邪，氣邪則死日近也。”⑥《五符經》雲：“存一至勤，一能通神，少飲約 食，一乃留息，臨危不疑，一為除災，天禍在前，思一得生。”⑦儘管各派皆重視守一 術，但由於各自對“一”之解釋不同，因而所守之內容或側重點即不盡相同。
歸納之，主要有四：
（一）守神。
《太平經鈔壬部》雲：“人有一身，與精神常合併也。形者乃主死，精神者乃主生。常合即吉，去則兇。無精神則死，有精神則生。常合即為一，可以長存也。常患精神離散，不聚於身中，反令使隨人念而**也。故聖人教其守一，言當守一身也。”⑻《太平經聖君秘旨》雲：“守一之法，乃萬神本根，根深神靜，死之無門。”⑼《抱朴子內篇至理》雲：“夫有因無而生焉，形須神而立焉。有者，無之宮也。形者，神之宅也。故譬之於堤，堤壞則水不留矣。方之於燭，燭糜則火不居矣。身勞則神散，氣竭則命終。……氣疲欲勝，則精靈離身矣。”⑽同樣認為形體不能沒有精神，故云“形須神而立”。其結論是：“遏欲視之目，遣損明之色，杜思音之耳，遠亂聽之聲，滌除玄覽，守雌抱一，……以全天理爾。”⑾即遏制過多的欲求，保持精神的清靜，使形神合一而長生。《太上智慧消魔真經》雲：“一無形象，無慾無為，……貪慾滯心，致招衰老；得喜失嗔，致招疾病；迷著不改，致招死歿。……治救保全，唯先守一。……守一恬淡，夷心寂寞，損欲折嗔，返迷入正，廓然無為，與一為一，此乃上上之人先身積德所致也。”《道教義樞》卷七引《老君戒經》曰：“凡存一守神，要在正化，心正由靜，靜身定心，心定則識靜，識靜則道會也。”《道樞虛白問篇》曰：“抱一者，煉神也。……夫能抱一守中，則神氣不散，名真人矣。”以上諸書所論之“守一”即守精神，是對老子之“營魄抱一”和莊子之“唯神是守，……與神為一”思想的繼承，也是守一術最基本的內容。但是與此同時，道教又將此“精神”人格化，認為它們居於人體內和天地間，名身內身外諸神，以為存守和存思它們，人可長生不死，此名存神、思神。這就遠離老莊思想而純具宗教意義了。
（二）守氣。
一些道書又將“一”釋為“氣”（或稱精氣，或稱元氣），故守一即為守氣。《老子河上公章句》雲：“人能抱一，使不離於身，則長存。一者，道德所生太和之精氣也。一之為言，志一而無二也。”“專守精氣使不亂，則形體能應之而柔順。”“人能自勝，除去情慾，則天下無有能與爭者，故強。”“人能自節養，不失其所愛（受）天之精氣，則可以久。”“人能以氣為根，以精為蒂，……深藏其氣，固守其精，使無漏泄，”“深根固蒂者，乃長生久視之道。《老子想爾注》反對“指五臟以名一”（即將“一”釋為人體之某部位），稱“一”為“道”和“道誡”，但它對“道”的解釋實為“氣”或先天元氣。曰：“一者道也，今在人身何許？守之云何？一不在人身也，諸附身者悉世間常偽伎，非真道也。一在天地外，入在天地間，但往來人身中耳，都皮裏悉是，非獨一處。一散形為氣，……”故守一守道實為守氣。《抱朴子內篇地真》雲：“一人之身，一國之象也。……神猶君也，血猶臣也，氣猶民也。……夫愛其民所以安其國，養其氣所以全其身。民散則國亡，氣竭即身死，……故審威德所以保社稷，割嗜慾所以固血氣，然後真一存焉，三七（指三魂七魄──引者注）守焉，百害卻焉，年命延矣。”⒆唐道士尹諳《老子説五廚經注》雲：“人之受生皆資一氣之和以為泰和，然後形質具而五常用矣。……則守本者，當……內存一氣以和泰和，（泰積）和一而性命全矣。”又云：“得一者，言內存一氣以養精神，外全形生以為居泰，則一氣衝用與身中泰和和也。……老子曰：萬物得一以生。”
（三）守精氣神。
一些道書又認為精氣神為人體生命不可或缺的三個要素，是由一（或道）所生且合而為一者，故守一即守精氣神三者，又稱守三一。《太平經》雲：“三氣共一，為神根也。一為精，一為神，一為氣。此三者，共一位也，本天地人之氣。神者受之於天，精者受之於地，氣者受之於中和，相與共為一道。……故人慾壽者，乃當愛氣尊神重精也。”《太平經聖君秘旨》雲：“欲壽者當守氣而合神，精不去其形，念此三合以為一。”《道教義樞》卷五引《洞神經三寰訣》雲：“一者精氣神也。釋曰：精神氣三混而為一。亦曰夷希微。”
（四）守三丹田。
一些道書又稱三一為三丹田，故守一，守三一即為守三丹田。《太平經聖君秘旨》雲：“夫欲守一，乃與神通，安卧無為，反求腹中。”《雲笈七籤》卷三十三“守一”雲：“夫守一之道，眉中卻行一寸為明堂，二寸為洞房，三寸為上丹田，中丹田者心也，下丹田者臍下一寸二分是也。”《三元真一經》雲：“真人所以貴一為真者，上一為一身之天帝，中一為絳宮之丹皇，下一為黃庭之元王，並監統身中二十四氣，……若能守之彌固，則三一可見。”LH此外，還有守真一、守玄一之説。所謂守真一，《三元真一經》雲：“氣結為精，精感為神，神化為嬰兒，嬰兒上為真人，真人升為赤子，此真一也。”《道樞虛白問篇》則曰： “真一者，在北極太淵之中，其前有明堂，其一有絳宮，於是華蓋金樓，左杓右魁，龍虎分衞焉。”LJ所謂玄一，《抱朴子內篇地真》雲：“守玄一，並思其身，分為三人，三人己見，又轉益之，可至數十人，皆如己身，隱之顯之，皆自有口訣，此所謂分形之道。”據此，所謂守真一、玄一，或許是守一時所存守的某個真人、仙境之狀貌或顯現的某種幻覺。
守一屬道教方術之靜功，其側重點不在煉形而是煉神，目的是通過它排除心中雜念，保持心神清靜，使神經獲得良好的休息條件，達到提高人體免疫能力及強身健體。它所積累的經驗，為後世內丹術所吸收，成為內丹**的一個環節而繼續被充實、發展 。