Hui-ming ching

The ‘Hui Ming Ching’ (The Book of Consciousness and Life) was written by Liu Huayang, a monk, in 1794. The text combines Buddhist and Daoist directions for meditation. It comprises of eight paragraphs of verses with explanations and drawings on how to attain Immortality or Buddhahood.

When it was first published in 1794, the Taoist community was both shocked and delighted. Departing from tradition, the  Hui-ming ching abandoned the symbolic language typically used in the ancient classics and discussed the Microcosmic and Macrocosmic Orbits, the role of breath in circulating energy, and the conservation of procreative energy in a straightforward and concrete way. The word 'Hui' in the Hui-ming ching means wisdom. It refers to the wisdom-mind that directly intuits the tao. Ming means life. It refers to the primordial energy of the Tao that gives life and form to the body. Together, Hui-ming means uniting wisdom-mind (or original nature) with the energy of life, an apt title for a classic on cultivating body and mind.