Cleansing the heart of all desires and passions
This is the state of the heart that is free of any ideas or emotional changes.
It also means remaining in a state of stillness and emptiness.

Dantian
The place in the body where the Inner Medicine arises from and the Golden Elixir Pellet can be cultivated into being. Dantian is a sphere space with a diameter of about 3.8cm and is located in three places: Lower Dantian is below the middle point inside the belly between the navel and kidney; Middle Dantian is between the two breasts, around 9cm further inward; and Upper Dantian is 6 to 8cm inward from the Ming Tang acupuncture point on the head.

These are definitions in the sense of the corporeal body. In fact, during internal alchemy practice when emptiness prevails in the corporeal body and the Inner Medicine (tangible medicine and formless medicine) subsequently appears, the Intangible Lower Dantian, Intangible Upper Dantian, and Intangible Middle Dantian shall come forth naturally, in the name of the Lower Furnace, Upper Cauldron, and the Refining Palace respectively. The text of the Tao Te Ching refers to the elusive and Intangible Dantian. The Intangible Dantian are not located in the body nor can people find them outside of the body.

Deploy Mind – Will
To focus the mind on an area, generally the Lower Dantian in the beginning stage of Tao – pursuing practice.

Lower Furnace
It refers to the lower Dantian.

Refining Palace
It refers to the Middle Dantian

Upper Caldron
The Upper Dantian.

Golden Pill/Golden Elixir
The True Heart, which has been fully recovered without any attachment to anything.

True Heart - Congenital Nature
In the endless vicissitudes of change and transformation, there exists an eternal dominator that is never subject to any transformation and change. It is opposite to Constitutional Nature. We call it Congenital Nature or the True Heart.

False Heart - Constitutional Nature
Also called Acquired Nature. In the endless vicissitudes of changes and transformations, there exists an ever-changing dominator of the evolution of Qi. We call it Acquired Nature, Constitutional Nature or the False Heart.

Cultivating both True Nature and Life Force Together
True Nature means Congenital Shen, and Life Force means Qi. Originally, Congenital Shen and Primeval Qi are one, in a state of union, without any division. When people come into being, which means to be in an acquired stage, Congenital Shen settles in the heart sphere, giving rise to Congenital Nature. Then the Eighth Cognitive Shen will come to attach to Congenital Nature, surround it completely and the Cognitive Shen family will gradually develop to its full state. Primeval Qi takes place in the kidney sphere, giving rise to Jing, which refers to Life Force.

To sail against the current of life, pursuers of Tao need to bring Congenital Shen and Primeval Qi back into the former state of union.

Sailing Against the Life Current
When there is birth, there is death. So, all things in the corporeal world shall always follow the life current heading to death, after being given birth. Yet, Taoist theory advocates reversing the course to head to birth again. This is called sailing against the life current.

Transform Form into Jing.
This is the first phase of sailing against the life current for people in the pursuit of Tao.

Transform Jing into Qi.
This is the second phase of sailing against the life current.

Transform Qi into Shen.
This is the third phase of sailing against the life current.

Transform Shen into emptiness.
This is the fourth phase of sailing against the life current.

Congenital Jing
Opposite to Acquired Jing. It is the intangible existence of Jing, which originates from Primeval Qi. When people remain in the WuWei state for a long time, it comes into being of its own course because people sail against the life current. On the contrary, when people sail along the life current, Acquired Jing (tangible fertilizing fluid) emerges. So, it is one thing at different states.

Congenital Mind – Will
Also called Congenital Shen, or Congenital Nature. It is the most inner place of human’s psychical state. It is composed of a pure and clean mental state, free of any ideas, yet full of the minuteness of all universal things.

Congenital Qi
It is also called Primeval Qi, which came into being at the TaiChu phase during the evolving process when Tao polarizes to give birth to all universal things.

Yang Souls (Hun)
Hun is the leader of all Yang Shens in the body. It is responsible for all intangible senses. Generally, during daytime it lodges in the eyes and people can watch accordingly. At night, it settles in the liver and people have dreams. Hun is responsible for motivating and mobilizing all resources.

Yin Souls (Po)
Po is the leader of all Yin Shens in the body. Po is responsible for all tangible senses.
Jing condenses to form Po, which can receive and store tangible sense; thus people can remember things. Only when Po is attached to Cognitive Shens can Po function normally. Dreams become more prevalent when Po prevails over Hun. When Hun prevails over Po, people’s awaking time extends for longer.

Mysterious Pass
The mysterious pass is the seed, which buds to form Heaven and Earth. All things in the corporeal world rise from it. It is located both inside and outside the human body. However, people cannot find its location in the human body, and it is hopeless if people search for it outside the body. It serves as a bridge connecting the existence region and the nonexistence region.

Te/Golden Mean
Both names refer to the functioning presentation of the Tao in all universal things.

Tao is the noumenon and Te is the function of Tao. Tao does not belong to the existence region, or to the nonexistence region. So, it seems to be elusive and obscure. Benevolence, Righteousness and Principle are just the presentation modes of Te. Because Te serves as the function of Tao, it naturally inherits all characteristics of Tao. Tao gives birth to all the myriad things and the Tao that is contained in all things after they have gained existence is called Te or Superior Te.

Besides Superior Te, there is Inferior Te, which always prefers to surface itself. So, we can also call it Formalistic Te. In fact, because it is without contents, it is not Te.

Tao gives birth to all the myriad things and the Tao that is contained in things after they gain existence is called Te or Superior Te. So, Superior Te cannot be realized purposely. Inferior Te always prefers to surface itself purposely.

Like the sun shining over everything and the moon pouring its light indifferently, Te functions upon all things without any discrimination of the good, the bad, the superior, the inferior, the wise, or the ignorant. Such functioning results upon humans are called Benevolence or Superior Benevolence and it is the imparting pattern of Te. It is not realized artificially.

Te possesses its special way of functioning in the course of transformation and change. For example, it restrains the high, raises the lower, decreases the excessive and increases the insufficient, etc. It does so in order to let all things obtain what they deserve. This is called Righteousness or the functioning principle of Te and it is realized purposely.

Tao
Tao is the phenomenon of all universal things. It is soundless, formless, and intangible.

It is not bright, not dark, and hardly nameable.

Sometimes, we have to call it something elusive.

Tao is so vast that it has no limits to confine it, and it is so minute that there is no interior to fill it.

It is capable of exhausting infinitude and dates back to the time when there was no beginning and there was no time.

Tao is a special nonexistence because it is characteristic of infinite simplicity, infinite absoluteness, and infinite emptiness.

Tao is a special existence on account of it being inexhaustible and functioning without beginning and end.

From the traditional Taoist scripture titled "The Serenity and Tranquility Canon," there carries a message which reads as follows:

"Tao is formless, but it gives birth to Heaven and Earth; Tao is merciless and gentle, but charges and empowers the movements of the Sun and the Moon; Tao is nameless and without form, but always nourishes all of the myriad things in the Universe. We really do not know what name we should give it, being so grand; we are forced to call it Tao."

Please read the description of Tao in chapter 25 of the Tao Te Ching.

~ Above text quoted with permission of authors for Tao Bums – Revealing the Tao Te Ching -