Tag: shen

Shen Elixir

UK: Enriched “Shen” – Sometimes Termed “Elixir” in Daoist Texts! (8.9.2026)

I did manage to write a biographical article about Zhao Ming Wang and get it published in the West – but I have always been battling the anti-China ideology permeating from the US – even from amongst some ethnic Chinese people living abroad. Then there are the “fake” Daoist lineages in the West that are inherently linked to the capitalist system – where they think their “income” equals “authenticity”. Those “who know” in and around the Chinese community simply laugh at this pseudo-Daoism. It is the same with Chinese martial arts (gongfu) – where affluent (fake) teachers link their income to being a genuine lineage. So be it. I have lived in and around the Chinese community for decades – and such a cultural setting has become my (personal) and academic speciality. Practicing the Dao requires full breathing, loosening the belt, and sitting quietly. This has to done properly and all the lessons need to be learned.

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Daoist Transformation of Death

Shen is the realisation and permanent identification of consciousness with universal ’empty space’ to such a degree that when the physical brain ceases to function, the ‘practitioner’ becomes the state of ’empty space’ – which is the universe that includes all things. This is why advanced Daoist practitioners are able to enter this state whilst still in their bodies, so that the actual ‘act’ of dying becomes a formality whereby ‘breathing’ ceases altogether and qi energy permanently integrates with ‘jing’ and ‘shen’ – leaving the physical body behind forever.

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Cultivating Dao and Developing Mind is True Self-Cultivation

Genuine self-cultivation can only be achieved after the mind has been developed through discipline. The mind is developed in two ways – by cultivating the permanent states of virtue and selflessness. Cause and effect is entirely dependent upon our own physical actions which produce either blessings or misfortune – but only the realised state of wuwei (non-action) in the mind and body is considered real. Even spirits and ghosts have their method – but their cycle of endless transformation is difficult to discern.

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