Laozi and the Internal Alchemy - Neidan
Excerpts from Fabrizio Pregadio's essay: "Laozi and Internal Alchemy" published in "Reading the Signs: Philology, History, Prognostication" Festschrift for Michael Lackner, IUDICIUM Verlag GmbH München 2018 無上元君謂老子曰:神丹入口,壽無窮矣。老子修之,是大道祖。後言金丹 之道為黃老術,不知聖人所傳乃金丹至道,脩仙作佛之大事,非術也,是道 也。 The Supreme Primordial Lady told Laozi: “When you ingest the elixir, your longevity will be limitless.” Laozi cultivated this and became the patriarch of the Great Way. Later, it has been said that the Way of the Golden Elixir is a technique of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. [Those who say this] do not know that the perfect Way of the Golden Elixir transmitted by the sages, the great undertaking for cultivating immortality and becoming a Buddha, is not a technique (shu), it is a Way (dao).7 老釋以性命學,開方便門,教人修種,以逃生死。釋氏以空寂為宗,若頓悟 圓通,則直超彼岸。如有習漏未盡,則尚徇于有生。老氏以煉養為真,若得 其要樞,則立躋聖位。如其未明本性,則猶滯于幻形。 Laozi and the Buddha used the learning of xing (inner nature) and ming (destiny, existence) to op...