Obtaining the Elixir Drug

"Obtaining the Elixir Drug " ( 得藥 Deyao ) is a term of the science of the Golden Elixir ( 金丹 Jindan ). Considering its semantic meaning, "drug" originally refers to special materials taken from nature that are used for curing diseases. This kind of "medicine" is called the "outer drug". The "elixirs" refined from minerals, such as lead and mercury, by early Daoist practitioners are also "outer drugs". Corresponding to the "outer drug" is the "inner elixir", which refers to the substances that originally exist in the human body and can be used for self-treatment, nourishment and health improvement. The chapter "On Elixirs" in the Transmission of Dao by Zhongli Chuan and Lu Dongbin ( 鍾呂傳道集 Zhonglü Chuandaoji ) points out that the medicinal materials of Inner Alchemy ( 內丹 Neidan ) are found in the heart and kidneys, which everyone has but are invisible to the naked eye and perceptible only if one adjusts the spirit and nourishes the vital breath. Inner Alchemists refine the Essential Matter ( 精 Jing ) and the Vital Breath ( 氣 Qi ) in accordance with the phases of the circulation of the sun and the moon. In a certain stage, the true vital breath activates, and the practitioner has feelings like "a dragon keeping a pearl in its mouth" and the coupling of husband and wife. This is just the situation of "Obtaining the Elixir Drug". 得藥