
The Eight Trigrams
The eight trigrams are symbols designed to explain the creation of the Golden Elixir, Gold Pill or Pill of Immortality (金丹). The Eight Trigram Furnace is the furnace in which the pills are fired.
The eight trigrams can be arranged in two ways: precelestal (前天) or postclestial (后天). The precelestial is the unconditioned, celestial state, distinguished by oneness and true consciousness, when the Original Spirit is present, and the postcelestial is the conditioned, human state, distinguished by multiplicty and discriminating concsiousness, when the Original Spirit is hidden behind human activity suchs as acquired conditioning, compulsive habits, the six senses causing trouble, wandering thoughts and the seven emotions.
The trigrams Heaven ☰, Earth ☷, Fire ☲, and Water ☵ have multiple meanings. Understanding them is not simply a matter of gathering knowledge about them, but also requires that one sees their operation in oneself.
the father and the mother of all hexagrams.
-- Wei Boyang, 2nd c. Taoist master, Cantong Qi —Triplex unity
Qian and Kun, either as trigrams or hexagrams, stand for Heaven and Earth, yin and yang. The trigram Heaven is made up of three yang lines and is pure yang, while the trigram Earth is made up of three yin lines and is pure yin. The trigram Qian is in command of bestowal; the trigram Kun is in command of receiving nourishment. Change refers to the change and transformation of yin and yang. As yin and yang act upon each other they create the six trigrams Fire ☲, Water ☵, Thunder ☳, Lake ☱, Mountain ☶ and Wind ☴. Heaven and Earth are seen as Father and Mother, or Husband and Wife, while the other six trigrams are seen as Sons and Daughters.
The trigrams Heaven ☰ and Earth ☷ also symbolize the true breath.
When the celestial (yang) is overcome by the mundane (yin), reality is obscured. This is like Heaven mixing with Earth; the yang in the middle of Heaven ☰ enters the palace of Earth ☷, so that the trigram of Earth is filled in and becomes Water ☵. When the mundane takes the position of the celestial, intellectual knowledge and emotions gradually develop. This is like Earth mixing with Heaven: the yin in the middle of Earth goes into the palace of Heaven, so the trigram of Heaven is emptied and becomes Fire ☲. Yin and yang are no longer pure and the true breath is lost. To return to pure yin and yang energy one needs to reverse this process in oneself. When one reverses the process, the trigrams Fire and Water are then seen as the medicine and Heaven and Earth as the crucible and furnace. They are the method or the tools to return to pure yang.
The crucible of Heaven represents single minded concentration of will to not allow the firing process to be interrupted, while the furnace of Earth represents the progress of the firing times.
Heaven and Earth set the stage,
Whilst Change travels in their midst.
Heaven and Earth take as images Qian and Kun.
Change is shown through Kan (Fire) and Li (Water):
Kan and Li are the functions of Qian and Kun.
Altogether streaming through the six empty spaces.
-- Wei Boyang, Cantong Qi
Fire can refer to the postcelestial fire of the human mind and to the precelestial fire of the mind of Tao. The fire of the human mind refers to the many desires and emotions that veil the Original Spirit. The pure consciousness of Heaven ☰ has been invaded by human emotions and conditioning, resulting in the trigram Fire ☲.
The restlessness of acquired energy in people is the yin fire; this is the false. The energy of harmony of essence and feeling in people is the yang fire; this is the real. -- Li Yiming,The taoist I Cing, hexagram #24, Return
The fire of the mind of Tao refers to the illumination of conscious awareness; the firing process that retrieves the presence of the Original Spirit and is seen as medicine.
In the same way water can be seen as the postcelestial water of human mind and the precelestial water of the mind of Tao.
True awareness is the product of Heaven, pure clear yang water, which is the elder water. Emotional desire is the product of earth, polluted yin water, which is the younger water.
-- Li Yiming, Commentary on Understanding Reality
Water of the human mind also refers to the emotional desires of the human mind. While fire of the human mind represents the strong energy of these emotions, water of the human mind refers to the endless stream of thoughts produces by these emotions. Elder water (the Water of Life) refers to the true awareness of the mind of Tao and is called true yang and is also seen as medicine and is represented by the trigram Water ☵.
Kan (Heaven) and Li (Earth) streaming through the six empty spaces refers to the medicine of yin and yang changing or moving through the hexagrams and trigrams. They take control, so to speak, over each of the other trigrams and create the changes — Thunder ☳, Lake ☱, Heaven ☰, Wind ☴, Mountain ☶, Earth ☷.
In the Cantong Qi, Wei Boyang matches the six trigrams with the waxing and waning of the moon. Here the moon symbolizes the Furnace of Earth.
-- Zhang Boduan, Understanding Reality
The trigram Thunder ☳ represents activity; the return of yang energy.
And the Yang Breath makes it start:
Initial nine, withdrawn dragon.
-- Wei Boyang, Cantong Qi
-- Li Yiming, Commentary on Understanding Reality
-- The Taoist I Ching, Mixed Hexagrams #51 Thunder and #53 Mountain
The moon borrows the light of the sun. The waxing of the moon represents the yang light of the mind of Tao, which is conscious awareness, growing until it is full. There are six steps or phases. The six trigrams are matched with the six lines of the hexagram Heaven.
The six firing phases are timed with one`s breath.
Dragons can spit fire with each breath and are symbols of the firing phases.
Sir Henry fashioned the Iron-Tree Dragons.
When a pure heart plays the magic bells,
The Dragons awake to fly in six directions.
The Dragon of the nether region will
flee from despair and bring hope.
The Dragon of Heaven will arrive
With the gift of true love,
And from the four corners of the earth,
Will come peace, health, wisdom and happiness.
-- The Dragon Tree Legend, Ron Baird
After one has refined the elixir and all mundane yin energy is burned away, one is pure and the work of doing is finished.
-- Journey to the West Ch. 19
The path of doing is called cultivating life (命). The path of non-doing is called cultivating essence (性).
The path of doing uses inferior virtue. The path of non-doing uses superior virtue.
-- Liu Yiming (Commentary on the cantong Qi)