This chapter preserves an ancient text called The Way of Harmonizing Yin and Yang. It comes from a book called The Path of Constructive Life by Hua-Ching Ni. The chapter claims to be a direct translation of teachings purportedly written by Chinese Emperor Chuan Hsu (grandson of the famous, mythical Yellow Emperor, who invented wells, field design and weapons, devised garments and established palaces and houses). Emperor Chuan Hsu is supposed to have lived about 3 thousand years ago, but it’s not clear when this particular material was written.The Way of Harmonizing Yin and Yang offers spiritual guidance for sexual union from “the ancient achieved ones”.

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When Chuan Hsu became emperor, he did not delight in wars for conquering. Instead, he devoted himself to the physical suffering of his people. He diligently studied and searched for effective healing arts and medicine. The health of humanity was his pursuit.

Emperor Chuan Hsu realized that when people became ill, medicinal herbs could cure them. Yet one sickness had no easy remedy: the unhappy hearts among unpaired women and men. Their single lives caused them much longing and anxiety. This was the common emotional turmoil among people. They suffered from the many pains that result from the unachieved union of the yin and yang energies.

Even the sagely King, Shen Nung, who had tested many kinds of plants and herbs, found no medicine for this disease. So Emperor Chuan Hsu expounded on the Way of Harmony, an invaluable instruction on sexual practice, both for his own generation and the generations to come. Do not speak of these things to people of inferior spiritual virtue though, as they would not respect them.

It seems that even though the I Ching teaches the principle of gradualness in getting married, and the principles of constancy and persistence in establishing a family, the following precepts on the union of yin and yang are still needed. And, they will remain suitable for generations to come. (emphasis supplied)

Text on the Way of Harmonizing Yin and Yang

The first important requirement is good communication, with mutual respect and understanding between partners.
When they come together, the spiritual concordance between them must cohere like water and milk.
The man must respect the woman as if she were the wise noble one.
The woman must care for the man as if he were the king.
Their hearts should be filled with respect, and their will should be pure in concentration.
Then, they are ready to enter the inner chamber to cultivate the high practice.

This practice should not be shared with people of low spiritual virtue.
They would only scorn it and laugh about it.
They would think the teaching has no high value. To perform this practice, you need to be of utmost sincerity.

The man does not take off his clothes, and neither does the woman.
Together, you hold each other face-to-face, and listen to the breath in its smooth, unceasing rhythms.
At this moment, you begin by letting go of the impulse to maximize the excitement and simply be with the joy of pure pleasure.
This can be achieved by placing the mind in between the states of desire and no desire.
Gradually, as you both unite your chi, you forget the existence of your individual selves and no longer feel your separate bodies.
With the interweaving of yin and yang, the two types of chi return to the oneness of the origin of life.

[Whole-hearted and fully aware]

In the search for everlasting life, you need to return to the oneness of life.
If you cannot achieve that, the chi of your life will remain separate and incomplete.
The Way of harmonious union takes you to the depth of True Life.
The true practice is the intercourse of the two chi—the vitality of two people becoming one.

If you project your mind separately, there will be no interweaving of the chi.
And if there is no interweaving of the chi, there will be no benefit from this practice.
If the two bodies are linked together, but there is no union on the other two levels of the mind and spirit, it would be like the horse and ox merely joining their sexual organs together.
Thus, you must be whole-hearted and fully aware.
There should not be any other thoughts.

To the man, the head is yang, and the lower abdomen is yin.
To the woman, the head is yin, and the lower abdomen is yang.
Yin intercourses with yang, and yang intercourses with yin.
The two sets of yin and yang intersect.

If you remain completely desireless, the energies will not intersect, and there will be no benefit for your life.
And if your desire is overly strong, it will burn up the newly growing tender energies inside more quickly, causing you to age faster and die sooner.
Engaging in that style of intercourse will lead both of you to drown in the shoreless sea of Desire.

Ordinary people cannot practice these requirements.

It is better to be quiet and keep the most precious treasure hidden.

In early times, for sexual management, this practice was taught only to women, not men.
Only the men chosen for mating could receive the training from the women.
If a woman did not train a man well, she could be disgraced by that man.
The man, out of impatience, would press the woman down with violence and cruelty.
And with no respect or tenderness the two would part, for once the desire was fulfilled, the woman was discarded.
Since then, there have been too many sad stories.
You should not talk of these things in practicing the Way of Harmonious Union.

The man and woman should extend their vows.
This is best done under the bright full moon, or in front of one’s spiritual altar.
The man should care for the woman.
The woman should care for the man.
Between them, they should harbor no hatred or conflict in any circumstance.

[The world will have less struggles]

If they have some sincere respect and virtuous appreciation for each other, they can then accept each other as partners.
The man can take off his clothes and the woman can do the same.
From now on, they are partners on the Way of Harmonious Union.

If there is no confusion in their behavior, no disaster will happen to them.
They will suffer no sickness and enjoy longevity.
By practicing the correct sexually harmonious way, the world will have less struggles.

The woman should value having only one man in her life.
The man should also value having only one woman in his life.
This will prevent the scattering of their energies.
One man to one woman is best for harmony.

An angelic family with angelic individuals forming the complete unions realizes the happiness of Heaven on Earth.
The man prepares to be an immortal.
The woman prepares to be an angel.

If the pattern of human desire can be improved and changed, there is hope for peace and harmony in the world.

The Way of Harmonizing Yin and Yang is from Ni, Hua Ching, and Maoshing Ni. 2005. The path of constructive life: embracing heaven’s heart. Los Angeles, CA: Seven Star Communications.