Sun Bu'er, one of the Taoist Seven Masters of Quanzhen, lived c. 1119–1182 C.E. in the Shandong province of China. She was a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy woman, married with three children. Her family name was Sun and her first name was Fuchun (富春), Bu'er being her name in religion. Her husband Ma Yu was a student of Wang Chongyang. At the age of 51 she took up the study of the Dao and herself became a disciple of Wang Chongyang, serving as a Taoist priestess. She eventually left her home and traveled to the city of Luoyang where after twelve years of practice, at Fengxiangu cave, she attained the Dao and, it is said, became an immortal. Sun was a teacher with several disciples, founding the Purity and Tranquility School, and wrote many poems.
A springlike autumn's balmy breeze reaches afar. The sun shines on the house of a recluse South of the river; They encourage the December apricots To burst into bloom: A simplehearted person Faces the simplehearted flowers.
When you've cooked the marrow of the sun and moon, The pearl is so bright you don't worry about poverty.
The relic from before birth Enters one's heart one day. Be as careful as if you were holding a full vessel, Be as gentle as if you were caressing an infant. The gate of earth should be shut tight, The portals of heaven should be first opened. Wash the yellow sprouts clean, And atop the mountain is thunder shaking the earth.
The secret of the receptive Must be sought in stillness; Within stillness there remains The potential for action.
Cut brambles long enough, Sprout after sprout, And the lotus will bloom Of its own accord: Already waiting in the clearing, The single image of light. The day you see this, That day you will become it.