Shen Spirit

The last of the Three Treasures is shen. Shen is also called spirit or consciousness. It is what gives our lives meaning and links us with our divine source. The shen is said to reside in the heart and to open through the eyes, as in, “The eyes are the mirrors of the soul.”

A doctor of Chinese medicine can tell the seriousness of a condition by looking into the patient’s eyes. Bright or clear eyes indicate that the shen or spirit is strong; then the chances of recovery are good. Clouded, glazed or unfocused eyes indicate a more doubtful prognosis.

The shen is also the seat of the mind. Cognitive thinking, short-term memory and the ability to reason are all qualities of the shen. Shen is also formed at conception, but is replenished continually thereafter.

Shen disharmonies appear as psychic or psychological problems. In Chinese medicine it is called a “restless or disturbed spirit.” Insomnia, memory loss, inability to concentrate, too much dreaming, and confused thinking are all also signs of a disturbed shen.

To the Chinese, the mind also resides in the heart. “Follow your heart, learning by heart, listening to your heart”—these all come from this belief. As these sayings are also used in the West, could it be that somewhere long ago we Westerners also knew something about this heart/mind connection?

Chi: Basic Life Force

The second Treasure is chi (qi). Chi can be thought of as basic life force. Other terms would be prana, orenda, or vital energy. It is what animates us, what gives us life. It warms us, keeps our organs in place and directs all our movements. There are different kinds of chi, including organ chi, and protective, or wei chi. The Chinese, even today, refer to the weather as a kind of chi.

One of the more familiar types of chi, at least for those of us who have experienced acupuncture, is meridian chi. This type of chi travels throughout our body in specific pathways or meridians, linking organs to each other. This is what acupuncturists tap into when they insert needles.

We get chi from the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. This is why it is so important to eat fresh, healthy food. Poor eating habits—eating too many processed foods with little chi in them will, in turn, produce poor chi in our bodies.

By understanding that all things in the universe are just different expressions of chi, one can see why the sages have always said, “All things are one, and the one is all things.”

The Three Treasures

A major practice of Taoist internal alchemy is the transformation of jing, chi and shen, often translated as essence, energy and spirit, also known as nadi, prana, and bindu in Sanskrit and tsa, lung, and thigle in Tibetan. It is in refining these three energetic areas of the body that the Taoists reached enlightenment or what they called Immortality.

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THREE TREASURES. In Taoist internal alchemy (nei dan) the Three Treasures are jing, said to reside in the kidneys and rule sexual and creative energy as well as the body constitution; chi or life energy, which has many functions in the body—circulation, digestion, breathing, holding the organs in their place, the immune system etc.; and shen or spiritual energy, which is said to reside in the heart and also regulates cognitive function as well as consciousness. The goal in internal alchemy is to transform the jing into chi, the chi into shen and then the shen back to wuji (primordial void) and then to Tao. This is done by a combination of meditation, visualization, breathwork and various chi gong practices, including sexual yoga.
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The first of the Three Treasures is jing. This is sometimes referred to as prenatal chi and is a combination of the chi of both of our parents at the moment of conception. Jing regulates our hormonal and reproductive systems, controls our growth throughout life, and regulates our central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and bone marrow. It also governs our constitution.

It is said that it takes seven mouthfuls of food to make one drop of blood. It then takes seven drops of blood to make one drop of jing. This is why it is called essence and considered extremely precious. This is one of the reasons that, in Taoist thought, sexual activity is not advised if both or even one of the parents is under the influence of alcohol, seriously unhealthy, or even emotionally overwrought. This will result in the baby being born with poor jing, and hence a poor constitution. Jing is said to reside in our kidneys and is also the repository of our creative and sexual energy. To the Chinese, sexual essence governs not only our sex drive and the reproductive system but our creative energy as well. Someone with strong jing will also have strong kidney energy, which translates to a solid energy body with lots of creative juices flowing.

Lucid Dreaming: Part 3

Out-of-body experiences are relatively common in shamanic and yogic cultures; in many cases practitioners receive instruction from teachers in dreams, which then translates into the reality of the waking world as well. From a Tibetan perspective, a single transmission of knowledge within a dream can represent a lifetime's achievement. In our own culture, Einstein's thought-experiments represent a direct experiential method of visualization, which has resulted in many aspects of modern science, such as the theory of relativity and quantum physics. It could be assumed that if the greatest scientists of the West used hypnosis, as well as shamanic and yogic methods of subtle body activation, greater discoveries than Einstein’s would be readily available. Similarly, tai chi, which is a direct means of enhancing the body's energy and health, and is practiced by millions of people globally, is said to be based on a dream of its founder, Zhang San Feng.

Fundamentally, the shaman uses an altered state of consciousness to travel outside of the body to affect the physical world. It is important to remember that the shaman does not act for his or her own benefit but for the tribe or the nation. Their journeying, as terrifying and even painful as it can be, is done for the healing of others.

Lucid Dreaming: Part 2

Although Nobel prize-winning scientists often describe their creative leap as a fundamental dream-like insight, the fear of mysticism, which pervades science, prevents the true integration of unconscious levels of reality with the physical world. Similarly, science is based upon theoretical or mathematical descriptions of reality, which can be used for technological gain, whereas real meditation or dream practice results in the direct experience of the truth body at the completion stage.

In many shamanic cultures, the waking state is considered to be an illusion and the inner dimensions are considered to be real. These states can be accessed through dreams, or visions using hallucinogenic plants.

Indeed, in many shamanic cultures, a shaman is chosen by the spirits. It is not taken on as a job title or a vocational skill or even a career. Often the future shaman is felled by a mysterious disease and lies in a deep coma-like state for some time, being refashioned and restructured internally. When he or she awakes they have the option to go into deeper training, both with an older shaman and in the dreamworld.

Unfortunately, the majority of modern scientific interpretations have described luminous or visionary phenomenon as symptoms of a malfunctioning brain, schizophrenia or temporal lobe epilepsy. From a shamanic viewpoint, the well-being of both the individual and the tribe is largely determined by skill in dreaming. The Tibetan emphasis on lucid dreaming as a means of understanding the nature of reality is a remarkable example of a shamanic culture that unites yogic and alchemical theories into an organized cultural framework.

In many of these cultures, skill in dreaming results from a greater activation of the original energy of the body, using a variety of techniques, which range from breathing exercises to sensory deprivation. Many of the Himalayan lineages, which result in Nirvana Without Remainder, emphasize using extended periods of darkness to unlock the original energy of the body. Taoism also has the tradition of extended periods of meditation deep within caves. It is believed that by immersing oneself in the extreme yin environment of the dark cave the practitioner is better able to communicate with the world of dreams and visions. The chief characteristic of the dark retreat is that the dreams of the individual become the only reality that the practitioner can observe consciously. Many of the greatest adepts have actually spent years in total darkness; although this is an extreme model, it demonstrates the importance of the integration of the world of dreaming with the conscious mind.