Middle vehicle path (Taoism)

Much like the lower vehicle, the middle vehicle includes dozens of operations. It is the method for nurturing life and, practised diligently, can prolong life. Terms include the trigrams of heaven and earth as cauldron and furnace, the trigrams of water and fire as water and fire, sun and moon as medicinal ingredients. Vitality, spirit, higher soul, lower soul and will are the five forces. Tiger is body, dragon is mind, energy the true seed. Cold and hot seasons of the year are the firing process, showering with holy water bathing. Stabilization is inward states not going out nor external objects getting in. The three essentials are the head, solar plexus and pubis. The mysterious pass is the top centre of the brain. The elixir pill is the merging of vitality and spirit.

The middle of the three vehicles of the gradual method, superior to the nine grades of practices which are sidetracks and auxiliary methods.