Chapter 4: Inner Refining of the Three Treasures: Jing, Qi, and Shen

¹ Chinese Original Quiet Sitting is chiefly the inner refining of jing, qi, and shen. Since the Ming Dynasty [1368-1644], this refining process has usually been divided into three stages:
1) Refine jing into qi
2) Refine qi into shen
3) Refine shen back to emptiness

¹ 中國正宗靜坐最主要是內煉精、氣、神。這修煉過程，自明朝以來，通常分為三個階段：
①煉精化氣
②煉氣化神
③煉神還虛

² Before we can have an understanding of how the process of inner cultivation is caused to happen, we must first describe these three stages.

² 現在簡單先由這三階段談起！試看如何可能造成這內煉的修煉過程？

³ First we should know the true meaning of 1. the worldly Dao and 2. the immortal Dao.

³ 首先要知道凡道、仙道的真正意義：

⁴ 1) The worldly Dao follows nature’s course. Ordinary people, who have not worked at cultivation, as they grow from youth to maturity, and their bodies become fully developed, inevitably arrive at a process, which the Yi Jing [the Book of Changes] refers to as “the Dao is comprised of yin and yang.” Among all the things in this world, yin by itself cannot give birth and yang by itself cannot grow.

⁴ ①凡道是順行。我們一般沒做修煉功夫的普通人，由少而壯，身體發育成熟後，必須經過《易經》上所謂「一陰一陽之謂道」，天地萬物孤陰不生、獨陽不長的過程。

⁵ The joining of the yin and yang essences causes sperms and ova to be expelled naturally from the body.

⁵ 陰陽兩性配合，使人體內在的精蟲與卵子，自然而然排泄下漏。

⁶ This is an act of “following nature’s course.” As a result, a new person is born, and that person will ultimately have to die. This is the Dao by which heaven and earth give life. It is the worldly Dao.

⁶ 這就是順行。順行結果生人，人是一定要死。這本是天地生化之道，也就是凡道。

⁷ 2) The immortal Dao is a process of reversal. This is the refining of jing into qi. The normal direction that jing moves is downward. Now we want to turn it around and bring it upwards, to go beyond the ordinary mortals.

⁷ ②仙道是逆行。就是煉精化氣。本來精是往下行，現在要把它反轉回來，超過一般凡夫之上。

⁸ So the act of following nature’s course lets a person be born. Reversing the usual direction is a move toward immortality.

⁸ 所以順行生人，逆行成仙。

⁹ Commom or ordinary people do not cultivate. They have a few decades of transitory life, but in the end, they are a pinch of yellow dust, moldering with trees and grass.

⁹ 普通一個凡夫俗子不修煉，幾十年的光陰，最後的結果必然黃土一坏與草木同朽。

¹⁰ Where are all the emperors, kings, and councilors of past ages? Setting history aside, since the beginning of the 20th century, all presidents, premiers and speakers of the house have met with the same fate!

¹⁰ 歷史上多少帝王卿相而今安在？不講歷史，民國至今，多少總統、國務總理、行政院長他們的命運亦復如此。

¹¹ The ordinary mortals, who cannot serve their fellow men or bring blessings to the public, be they scientists, religious leaders, or philosophers, all must come to rest in a graveyard with ghosts for their neighbors. When you think of it, humans are so very minuscule.

¹¹ 普通一般人，若不能為大眾服務、造福人群，不管科學家、宗教家、哲學家，最後終必埋葬在公墓與鬼為鄰。所以，人實在太渺小了。

¹² It is God’s desires to create life. Males and females become fertile, and yin mates with yang. Sperm joins with ovum, and birth leads to more birth.

¹² 雖然，天有好生之德，男女成長發育陰陽交配，精蟲與卵子結合生生不已。

¹³ Already the number of humans in this world has reached five billion [1991]. However, due to fixed laws of the worldly Dao, every one of them will have to die.

¹³ 地球上的人類已達到五十億；但是由於凡道的定律，每個人結果必死。

¹⁴ Because of this, people who have deep roots in cultivating the Dao, and who have great wisdom, should study the Dao and cultivate.

¹⁴ 因此，具有大根基、大智慧的人要學道、要修煉。

¹⁵ The inner refining of “jing, qi and shen” begins with the first stage of “refining jing into qi.” It is keeping one’s acquired bodily jing from flowing outward, reversing it and making it move upward.

¹⁵ 內煉「精」、「氣」、「神」的第一階段是要「煉精化氣」。就是使後天的精不走漏，使它逆行回到上面。

¹⁶ Humans consume the five grains and a variety of foods and beverages, but in the end, these things change to yin jing. The yin jing of the body is not true jing.

¹⁶ 人吃五穀飲食的結果都變成陰精。這「精」是陰精，不是真精。

¹⁷ However, true fire ^[21] causes transformation [from qi] to Qi, and in the process, our yin jing is smelted and made pure.

¹⁷ 我們經過真火化而為炁，把陰精燒煉盡淨。

¹⁸ Our acquired jing, qi and shen are thus refined. Their movement is reversed, and finally, they return to their origin, becoming true jing, true qi and true shen.

¹⁸ 使後天的精、氣、神經過修煉而逆行，最後使它返本還原成為真精、真氣、真神。

¹⁹ These are the primal jing, qi and shen, which are innate to us. This is why I say that Daoist cultivation is quite compatible with science. It is a form of living chemistry.

¹⁹ 也就是先天帶來的原精、原氣、原神。所以，道家修煉極合科學，是生理上的化學。

²⁰ “Jing, qi and shen” cannot be seen in the body, and they are hard to define. Compared to the physical side of the universe, jing can be likened to the heat of the living body; qi can be likened to force and shen can be likened to light.

²⁰ 「精」、「氣」、「神」在人身是看不到的，也很難下明確的定義。就拿宇宙物理學來做比方：「精」就是人體生命的「熱」，「氣」就是「力」，「神」就是「光」。

²¹ Without “light,” “heat,” and “force,” the living body will be on the verge of death.

²¹ 人體生命，假如沒有「光」、「熱」、「力」的功能，就將瀕於死亡的邊緣。

²² The composition of bodily “jing” is neither light nor dark, partly yin and partly yang.

²² 「精」的成分為非白非青、半陰半陽之質。

²³ “Innate Qi” is wholly different from the acquired qi that we normally speak of. It is neither the qi that makes up the atmosphere, nor is it the qi that we breathe into mouth, nose or lungs.

²³ 「炁」同一般後天所言的氣完全不同。不是大空之氣，也不是口、鼻、肺部、胸腔呼吸之氣。

²⁴ According to Chapter 2 of this book, “Tempering of the Spirit,” “qi is an ultra-yang heat flow, which is produced after high-level etropic substance from the harmonon blends with bodies of static etropicity.”^[22]

²⁴ 依據本書第二講－「精神之鍛煉」內，所說「氣為和子中一種高等電質，與靜電軀體交流後所發生之至陽熱流」。

²⁵ This ultra-yang heat flow is Qi. The upper part of the Chinese character 炁is 旡 (pronounced wu), meaning non- being, and the four dots below symbolize fire. We can characterize such Qi as that which acquired qi returned to its innate existence.

²⁵ 這「至陽熱流」就是「炁」。上面是旡(無)字，下面四點是火。這「炁」可說是後天返先天之氣。

²⁶ There are locations in the body where the three treasures of “jing, qi, and shen” are matched with bodily functions.

²⁶ 談到「精」、「氣」、「神」三寶在身體的部位，拿生理來配合：

²⁷ “Jing” is in the abdomen, “qi” is in the chest, and “shen” is in the head.

²⁷ 「精」在腹部，「氣」在胸部，「神」在頭部。

²⁸ Heat and force are both functions of light. Therefore, we cannot live if we lack any one of these three treasures.

²⁸ 熱與力都是光的功能，所以「精」、「氣」、「神」三寶是我們人生缺一不可的至寶。

²⁹ One major desire of human life is to join yin and yang by mingling male and female essences.

²⁹ 陰陽交配，男女媾精為人之大欲。

³⁰ If people can restrain sexual desire their bodies will not be harmed. But if people indulge beyond their physical limits of the body or what their age can take, they will surely debilitate their qi-and-blood.

³⁰ 性慾如不放縱，身體不會有大的損傷。若超過身體、年齡的負擔，必會氣血衰敗。

³¹ Therefore, once the body has been compromised cultivation requires a great expenditure of energy to recover the pure yang body of chaste youth. In the end, it takes a great deal of effort to affect a remedy.

³¹ 所以，破體以後再要修煉，一定要費很大力量修回童貞純陽之體，最後再來加工補救。

³² The act of following nature’s course allows a “human being” to be born. He will become an ordinary person, caught in the cycle of reincarnation.

³² 順行生「人」。這「人」要在輪迴裡做普通凡夫。

³³ Only cultivation that works “in reverse,” inwardly refining jing, qi and shen, can return one to the origin and transcend beyond the cycle of reincarnation.

³³ 只有逆修，內煉精、氣、神，可以返本還原超出輪迴。

³⁴ To cultivate “in reverse” means borrowing from that which is “false,” to cultivate that which is “true.” The “false” is our worldly bodies.

³⁴ 逆修要借「假」修「真」。「假」者，我的凡體也！

³⁵ Why should we embrace “jing, qi and shen,” the three treasures of our fleshly envelopes?

³⁵ 為什麼要把握軀殼內有的「精」、「氣」、「神」三寶？

³⁶ I have often said that when an imp or monster wants to cultivate immortality, their first step is to worship the sun and moon, so that it can first assume a human form.

³⁶ 我一再說：精靈古怪要修長生不死，第一步拜日月精華，先要變成人身。

³⁷ This is not superstition. It is a definite truth. It is rare to be given a human body.

³⁷ 這不是迷信而是千真萬確的。真是人身難得。

³⁸ Though it is the “self,” it is “false,” so it should not be accepted as true. Once accepting the “false self” as a true one, you will make more of yourself, always thinking of “me, me, me” and putting more emphasis on matter, than on spirit.

³⁸ 雖是假我，切莫以「假」做真。把「假我」當成真我，唯我獨尊，什麼都是「我」，只重物質不重精神。

³⁹ What we want to do is to borrow the “false” to cultivate the “true,” to make use of the three treasures in our fleshly envelope to refine our inner jing, qi and shen.

³⁹ 而要借「假」修「真」。利用軀殼內的三寶，內煉精、氣、神。

⁴⁰ When we have passed through these three stages of refining jing into qi, qi into shen, and shen back into emptiness, we will attain our true self.

⁴⁰ 經過煉精化氣、煉氣化神、煉神還虛三個階段，可以得到真我。

⁴¹ The identity of the typical person is a false self (the “phenomenal body”), which is composed of etropons.

⁴¹ 以一般人為例，其本人是個假我(色身)，是由電子體構成。

⁴² Once the bodily envelope is destroyed, according to the theory from the Doctrine of the Lord of Universe Church, the etropons will still go back to what they were. Yang etropons are attracted to each other, and yin etropons are attracted to each other.

⁴² 一旦軀殼毀滅，根據天帝教教義的理論，其電子體仍要還原：陽電子歸陽電子，陰電子歸陰電子。

⁴³ But if the person truly attains the Dao in the end, his true self (his refined self) will abide forever in the universe.

⁴³ 最後如能成道，他的真我－就是二我－永在大空間存在。

⁴⁴ If a person lacks cultivation and is not burdened by vile karma, he (she) can only be a freed spirit, drifting about within the stratosphere of the planet.

⁴⁴ 若沒有修煉、沒有造孽，只能做個自由神在同溫層以下空間飄飄盪盪。

⁴⁵ After inner refining of the “jing, qi and shen,” by borrowing the “false” to cultivate the “true,” one finally attains a true self that can roam at ease through outer space and the universe forever.

⁴⁵ 經過內煉「精」、「氣」、「神」，借「假」修「真」，最後得到真我，永久在大空間、大宇宙逍遙自在。

⁴⁶ Hopefully, we can all hold onto this bodily envelope, the false self, long enough to cultivate a true self. That way you will not disappoint me in my concern for you.

⁴⁶ 但願各位都能把握假我的軀殼修成真我，也不辜負我一番苦心。

⁴⁷ Today I have affinity with all of you, so I do not spare you all these urgings. My wish is that someday we will return to the vastness of space, where we can still laugh and frolic together.

⁴⁷ 今與各位有緣，不惜苦口婆心。但願將來大家回到大空間，仍能嘻嘻哈哈在一起。

⁴⁸ While you have this body, if you can protect your physique of chaste youth and go through the one hundred days of quiet sitting cultivation, you will be able to lay a good foundation in the first stage of inner refining.

⁴⁸ 假若此身能保童貞之體，經過一百天靜坐的修煉，第一個內煉階段，先做好煉己、築基的工夫。

⁴⁹ A skyscraper is built from the ground up. As long as the foundation work is done properly, even though your body may be compromised later, you will succeed more quickly than others, when you take up further cultivation.

⁴⁹ 萬丈高樓平地起。只要築基工夫做好，將來破體之後，再要修煉，也要比別人成功得快。

⁵⁰ To lay a good foundation for your practice and let it advance steadily, you must build on solid ground and pay attention to the building steps.

⁵⁰ 要做好築基工夫，使工夫進步、穩得住，必須要注意奠基、築基的起步。

⁵¹ The first step to getting on solid ground is to purify the heart [mind] and reduce desires. Putting this together with the three conditions below, you can reap the rewards of cultivation:
1) Follow through the two Watchwords you have chosen from among the “Code of Life” ^[23] for your daily living. Use them as your standard to examine your behavior every morning and night.
2) Renounce drinking, sex, insatiable thirst for wealth, and qi [referring to anger specifically].
3) Seize opportunities to help others.

⁵¹ 應由清心寡慾做起。配合下列三條件，則可以收修煉之功效：
①認定人生守則中的兩個字要早晚反省。
②戒酒、色、財、氣。
③把握機會多幫助人。

⁵² In point of fact, spirits and immortals are not figments of superstition. Spirits and immortals were also once humans.

⁵² 就事實而言，神仙並非迷信。神仙也是凡人。

⁵³ Let us split the character 仙[meaning ‘immortal’] and look at its components: it is made up of 山[mountain] and 人 [human]. This refers to someone who does not make his livelihood in the commonplace world of men.

⁵³ 我們不妨來拆字：仙－山人，是不在世俗人間討生活的人。

⁵⁴ As we all know, life in today’s industrial society is quite hectic, which poses added difficulties for those who want to cultivate themselves.

⁵⁴ 尤其今天工業社會，生活如此緊張，要想修煉真不容易。

⁵⁵ In agrarian societies of the past, there were some who left the common ‘rat race’ of men so as to nurture life and cultivate themselves in the deep mountains. They were not some sort of supermen from outer space. There was no name for them, so they were called 仙 [mountain people]. Chinese characters have a lot of meanings built into them.

⁵⁵ 過去農業社會，到山林裡養生、修道，不與一般凡夫俗子在一起。這種人無以名之故謂為「仙」。並不是大空間下來的超人。中國文字真有意義。

⁵⁶ Buddhism entered China in the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, more than two thousand and five hundred years ago.

⁵⁶ 佛教在東漢明帝時傳入中國，如今已兩千五百多年。

⁵⁷ An ordinary person can become a Buddha [literally means ‘not like ordinary folks’] through cultivation.

⁵⁷ 佛－也是普通凡夫俗子修成。

⁵⁸ We are living in the red dust of the common world, yet we should “be in the dust, but not soiled by dust.”

⁵⁸ 我們人在俗世紅塵，要「在塵而不染塵」。

⁵⁹ This whole dusty world is a great fire pit, the so-called “burning house in the human realm.” Any person who falls into this furnace will have a hard time pulling himself out.

⁵⁹ 這整個紅塵是一大火坑，亦即所謂「人間火宅」。這一個大的熔化爐，任何人掉了下去，都難以自拔。

⁶⁰ There is a national crisis looming before us now [1991]. We, who live in Free China [the Republic of China], should give our best to our country and our society and resolve to survive or die with Taiwan.

⁶⁰ 如今國難當前，我們身居自由中國，要一片丹心為國家為社會，與台灣共存亡。

⁶¹ This makes it all the more necessary for our hearts to get beyond this world, and not be dragged down by fame and fortune. We should “have a mind that transcends the world, but follows the ways of the world.”

⁶¹ 心更要出世，不要名利心太重。也就是要「存出世之心，行入世之道」。

⁶² Refining jing into qi may take three, five or ten years of practice, yet the task may still not be finished.

⁶² 煉精化氣這功夫，做三年、五年、十年都做不完。

⁶³ When is there a proof that this first step of practice is accomplished?

⁶³ 究竟要到什麼時候可以證明第一步功夫夫是做完了？

⁶⁴ In my personal experience, you need to reach a trance-like stage where there is only internal breathing, without external breathing.

⁶⁴ 憑我個人的體驗：要做到渾渾噩噩的境界，外呼吸沒有了，只有內呼吸。

⁶⁵ You do not know where your body is and you reach the stage of self- forgetting. When that happens, the workings of qi will proceed naturally. The workings of qi proceed through each acupressure point, one by one, along the Conception Channel, ^[24] the Governing Channel ^[25] and the remaining of the Eight Extraordinary Channels.^[26]

⁶⁵ 不知身在那裡，達到忘我階段。到那時候，氣機自然在運轉。任脈、督脈、奇經八脈，一關一關都打通了。

⁶⁶ This is why I have been saying repeatedly: inducing qi deliberately or guiding it by visualization is forcing something to happen. To do so is only a perception in your mind, and not truly qi in action.

⁶⁶ 所以我一再講：運氣導引，用意識導引，這是勉強。只是你心理的感覺，不是真正的氣機在運轉。

⁶⁷ A New Realm, the Church Doctrine of the Lord of Universe Church, has stated: to “leave it to its own natural operations; to coincide with the workings of the heavenly body.” The main concept is to emulate the movements of the heavenly body.

⁶⁷ 天帝教教義《新境界》一書上便提過：「要任其自然的運行，以合天體」。主要就是要效法天體的運行。

⁶⁸ “Heaven is a great heavenly body. A person is a small heavenly body.”

⁶⁸ 「天為一大天，人為一小天」。

⁶⁹ The galaxies throughout space have great numbers of solar systems. Each solar system has many planets and satellites, but they are not destroyed by collisions.

⁶⁹ 整個大宇宙、大空間，銀河系裡有許多太陽系。每個太陽系裡有許多行星及許多衛星，彼此不互相衝撞、毀滅。

⁷⁰ This is due to nature’s own power. For example, within our own solar system, the Earth’s rotation and revolution are purely a function of nature.

⁷⁰ 這全是大自然本身的力量。拿本太陽系裡地球的自轉、公轉來講，這純是自然的運行。

⁷¹ Therefore, when practicing quiet sitting, the workings of qi should be allowed to proceed naturally. They should correspond to the natural movements of the heavenly body (of large and small planets).

⁷¹ 所以，靜坐一定要讓氣機自然運轉，符合天體(大小星球)的自然運行。

⁷² In this way you can ultimately reach a trance-like, self-forgetting stage. By that time, your practice of refining jing into qi will be fairly accomplished.

⁷² 最後才能達到渾渾噩噩、忘我的階段。到這時候煉精化氣的功夫也差不多了。