煉liàn精jīng化huà氣qì,，煉liàn氣qì化huà神shén,，煉liàn神shén還huán虛xū

What does 煉精化氣，煉氣化神，煉神還虛 (liàn jīng huà qì, liàn qì huà shén, liàn shén huán xū) mean?

煉精化氣，煉氣化神，煉神還虛 (liàn jīng huà qì, liàn qì huà shén, liàn shén huán xū) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "Refine essence into qi, refine qi into spirit, refine spirit and return to emptiness." In use it means: The three stages of Daoist inner alchemy describe a progressive refinement of one's vital energies, from the physical through the subtle to the transcendent, culminating in a return to primordial emptiness. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Goat.

Literally: "Refine essence into qi, refine qi into spirit, refine spirit and return to emptiness."

The reading

The Daoist alchemist does not work with cinnabar and lead in a laboratory but with the raw energies of the body itself. Essence, the densest form of life-force, is heated by breath and attention into something finer. That finer substance is heated again into spirit. And spirit, at its peak, dissolves back into the emptiness from which everything originally arose. Each stage demands more patience and less effort than the last. The final step is not an achievement but a release, like a held breath finally let go.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusLooks ahead
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie羊 Year of the Goat

Source Daoist neidan (inner alchemy) tradition, Zhongli Quan and Lu Dongbin lineage, Tang-Song era

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.