So then what are Xing and Ming?
Since I posted the discussion of First Refining Xing earlier this week, I think it might be a good idea before moving on to next week's post about Xing and Ming dual cultivation to talk about how we really come to know Xing and Ming in Neidan practice.
Xing and Ming are old ideas and don't only exist in Daoism, in fact Mencius was one of the first philosophers to discuss the topic and they have deep roots in all three of the Chinese Spiritual teachings of Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.
This means that it is important to simultaneously understand these concepts both in their broader context and in the specific way they are used in Neidan studies.
We already looked at the basics of Xing and Ming, but just a quick review:
Xing means nature, it is the essential nature of things from the Universe down to the individual.
Ming is life and the predestination that being born causes a person.
In other words Xing is the most basic aspect of the reality we navigate and Ming is the occurrence of life within that reality.
There is so much to say on these topics, but to stay practical let's think about what they mean in Neidan.
First I'd like to say that there is no better Neidan classic to understand Xing and Ming than the text Xing Ming Gui Zhi since it clearly defines both concepts at every level relevant to meditation.
In the last two articles we looked at how Xing and Ming have Post Heaven aspects which relate to our inherited physical and mental characteristics, as well as Pre Heaven aspects which relate to the most essential ancestral energy we obtained upon our creation as Zygote.
There is also the Xing and Ming of the universe that existed before our bodies and this Xing and Ming is considered to be the most essential one in the cultivation of Dao since they are taxonomically very close to Dao, being the first two creations in reality.
Of course as meditation practitioners we aspire to cultivate the Xing and Ming created by the Dao, but we have to start with something more tangible first so we begin with Spirit and Breath.
Spirit and Breath are quite far from the original Dao in the Heavenly taxonomy but they can provide us with an entry point to the Pre Heaven since it is by joining the Spiritual awareness with the breath that we can calm and quiet the mind enough to enter deep meditation and stillness.
Thus the Post Heaven Perceptual Spirit (also known as 识神 Shi Shen/the recognizing spirit) is calmed and does not generate the rising of the mind in thought.
The breath is also calmed so to not disturb the mind within the body so that all may return to peaceful calm.
This tranquil state gradually becomes deeper and generates the Pre Heaven Wu Wei state where no action intentional action takes place.
In this state it is possible to return to an unknown original nature which causes the latent Pre Heaven Jing and Shen to merge in the body, generating Qi.
This original state is associated with the Pre Heaven Xing and Ming since it is the most raw and original form of our Spirit which merges with the hidden material inside of the physical essence and generates new life energy.
This energy when it bubbles up to the surface moves and generates Spiritual awareness in the form of a flash of light called the Single Opening of the Mystery Gate.
This Mystery Gate moment is when Xing and Ming become briefly tangible during practice, but because it is such a short experience it is hard to recognize at first.
Only much later in practice can the Xing and Ming of our own bodies become mature enough that they merge with the Xing and Ming of nature.
This level of practice is the real cultivation of Xing and Ming since it infers that the person practicing is at one with nature and achieving 天人合发 Tian Ren He Fa/Heaven and Humanity are Sent Together.
This state is the actual realization of 自然 Zi Ran/Nature since the ability for our awareness to join with the natural awareness of the world infers that we are completely free of Post Heaven distractions.
This is also the time when the Pre Heaven begins to merge with the Post Heaven.
I think you can see now why I said in the last article that first cultivating Xing is not about cultivating the Xing of enlightenment, it is simply about cultivating the prerequisite concentration in non action that makes realization possible once one gets to a higher level.
Also of course Daoism does not talk about enlightenment in the same way Buddhism does and it would be ill conceived to think of the realization of Xing and Ming as such since they are simply steps along the way to harmonizing with the Dao.
The same can be said of First Cultivating Ming, we are actually first working with Pre and Post Heaven Qi and eventually this results in the realization of the Nature of our own Ming and later the Heavenly Ming, but this is quite far downstream from where we begin.
At the higher level of practice Xing and Ming must be practiced together, there is no other way, but it is possible to start from a relatively more Xing oriented approach or a relatively more Ming oriented approach.
Next week we discuss Xing and Ming Dual Cultivation which is the best kind of Neidan practice and has been popular in most schools for close to 1000 years now.
I hope you are enjoying these articles and that they are useful to you,
see you soon!
👏👏👏🙏🤗