Inferior Virtue as the Small Universe meditation aka River Chariot: Golden Elixir and the Double Reversion of alchemy

So today I got to the library, therefore was able to access academic articles through their databases, of Pregadio. I was able to read two new articles for me, on Daoist alchemy (neidan).

Superior Virtue, Inferior Virtue: A Doctrinal Theme in the Works of the Daoist Master Liu Yiming (1734-1821).
Authors:	Pregadio, Fabrizio1
Source:	T'oung Pao. 2014, Vol. 100 Issue 4/5, p460-498. 39p.

 The first one confirmed once again what I have been pointing out on thedaobums - something that has been neglected thus far by most Westerners (I've never seen this emphasized).

 The Daoist master Liu Yiming (1734-1821) frequently mentions "superior virtue" and "inferior virtue" (shangde and xiade) in his works. In his view, these terms define two aspects, or degrees, of Neidan (Internal Alchemy), respectively focused on "nondoing" (wuwei) and "doing" (youwei), and concerned with the cultivation of Nature (xing) and Existence (ming). This article presents Liu Yiming's main writings on this subject and their background. Originally formulated in the Daode jing and first applied to alchemy in the Cantong qi, the distinction between the two types of "virtue" also reflects the history of the Neidan tradition and in particular the development of practices of self-cultivation that emphasize the "conjoined cultivation of Nature and Existence" (xingming shuangxiu). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

 So most people consider the "reversion" to mean simply going up the spine,  but the key point is that the Golden Elixir actually has "substance" (the cerebrospinal fluid) and is swallowed, after it overflows out of the sinus cavity - going back down the front - into the stomach, and absorbed back into the small intestines. But it is only pure while a male is still celibate, at age 16, without having lower emotional desires. It would be difficult to find such a person in today's corrupt world!!

So this second reversion is a means of using inferior virtue to "recover" back to the golden elixir state.




Once again - the double reversion of the elixir:



And to clarify that this is a process of celibacy through the River Chariot meditation aka "small universe" meditation:




And so there is definitely TWO processes of reversion - up the spine but then down the front as substance:




So the crucial emphasis by Liu Yiming is that Superior Virtue is when the PreCelestial or Pre-Heaven state is intact.





This was also my own emphasis in my most recent (and last) post on thedaobums!!




So this article has new information for me. Something I always wondered about is the original qigong master says that the energy starts from "yin" - this article finally explains this to me. The upper body is yang because the external focused mind is yang while the internal visualization is yin as spirit - as the Yuan Shen. So the Yuan Shen is yin. I had previously thought the spirit was yang while the qi of the liver is yin. But actually there is a deeper dynamic.

Yuan  Qi is then created from the Yuan Shen and the Yuan Jing - as an eternal process of time. This completely corroborates my claim in my training free pdf that Qi is created from Shen under Jing or fire under water.

And the final kicker - I confronted Pregadio about his emphasis of the "hub" being static and not moving - and in this article he explains that is because the Solar and Lunar essence energy lines up - as this static unmoving hub. So this is fascinating since David Ewing Duncan's book Calendar, that I've discussed before, is all about how to line up the solar and lunar calendar (and the failure to do so).