Xue Xian Bi Cheng

The real essence of Jing

A few words of introduction:

For so many years I have been disturbed that many teachers claim that the essence we use in practice is sexual fluid such as semen, when this is simply not the case. The essence we are using is pre-celestial essence and is unrelated to sexual fluid. Even so, many thinkers in Daoism believe that we must avoid sexual activity in order to cultivate our essence and Qi. this is the school of thought in Neidan called Qing Xiu Pai and is the most popular school. Having said that, it has also not been unusual for secular people to learn sexual methods from Daoist priests, although this is generally taboo and you would not know unless someone were to tell you. This week I am making the entry from Xue Xian Bi Cheng visible to the public because I want to clarify what Jing is and why many Daoists such as Chen Yingning believed people should not have sex while practicing Immortality Study. In the future I deeply hope this is one area of the Western Daoist discourse which can be improved, because the whacky Qigong liars have been perverting this area already for 40 years. Let this article written by a real master of Internal Alchemy (and translated by humble little me) be a step toward repairing this broken part of Western Daoist knowledge. Next week Xue Xian Bi Cheng will go back to being subscribes only and we will be viewing Chen Yingning’s explanation of Yang Shen and Yin Shen, so you should probably subscribe if you haven’t yet, since this book and all other subscribers only content is top notch Neidan material that you can’t find anywhere else.

Enjoy the article:

Pictured: Chen Yingning, one of the greatest modern Neidan masters and founder of the Xian Xue School of Daoist culture.

問：男女之事如何？

Question: What about the affairs of men and women (sex)?

答：預備下手做功夫的時候，即完全斷絕。正式做功夫，更要絕對禁止。否則在五六年極短期內，如何能修成半仙之體。

Answer: when beginning to practice you must entirely stop with sex. The correct way of practice requires you to abstain. However, this is during a period of five or six years in order to cultivate the immortal body.

問：精滿自遺或生精太多，身中受了刺激而動欲念。這兩種困難，用什麼方法應付？

Question: When the essence is full, but it naturally leaks, or if too much essence is generated, the body center will be naturally stimulated by thoughts of desire, in these two conditions, how should you deal with it?

答：有各種不同的方法，因人而施，不能執定某法最好。若功夫有效，這兩種困難，也就能免除了。

Answer: there are various methods appropriate for each person, so it isn't possible to say which is the best. If your practice is successful, these two types of difficulty are not likely to bother you.

問：各種方法用盡，仍舊無效，將如之何？

Question: after each method is used completely, if it doesn't have any benefit, what should I do?

答：決無此事！世間雖偶有百法無效之遺精病，乃尋常不做功夫的人始有之。專門修煉家，若得此病，豈非笑話。

Answer: this is not possible! In the world although there are one hundred methods which cannot treat leakage of jing, these are entirely in relation to people who do not practice meditation. If you practice meditation and get this illness, it must be some sort of joke.

問：常聽他們做功夫的人說起，多有患遺精病者，不知是何理由？

Question: I've always heard that many people who practice this skill get sick with jing loss, is this not the case?

答：他們的功夫做法，都不高明，所以越做越遺精。停止不做，則遺精次數反而減少。此等功夫，尚不能卻病，安望成仙？

Answer: they are not clear about the methods of practice, thus they end up losing jing. If they stop and don't practice, next time they won't lose as much jing. This type of practice is not the type that helps people not become ill and become immortal.

問：自古相傳煉精化炁之法，用之能獲效否？

Question: from ancient times there have been various methods of refining jing and transforming Qi, do they not have benefit?

答：你先要明白精是何物，若認為交媾之精，或遺泄之精，那就錯了。須知化炁之精，即《靈源大道歌》中所謂“神水”，不是濃厚粘膩之濁精。神水可以化炁，濁精不能化炁。

Answer: you must first understand what Jing is, if you are thinking of sexual fluid, or the semen that leaks out, that is entirely wrong. You must understand that the Jing of transforming Qi is “Spiritual Water” (quote from Ling Yuan Da Dao Ge), it is not thick, sticky, greasy and dirty Jing. The Spirit Water can transform to Qi, whereas dirty Jing cannot.

問：假使欲念旺盛，不易制伏，將如何辦法？

Question: if the desire becomes too much and it is not easy to conceal, how can I decide what method to use?

答：欲念之起，有關於生理上的，有關於心理上的。如身中生精過多，刺激神經不能安定，這是生理作用。若是煉氣功夫做得好，後天濁精自然就不生了。又如看見有誘惑性的書籍圖畫，心理上先受感觸，而後影響到生理上，只要你永遠禁絕不看，就無妨了。況且在山林中專做清靜功夫，足跡不履城市，又與家庭隔離，環境上的誘惑也可以避免。欲念既無起因，決不至於旺盛到不易制伏之地步，此屬毋須過慮。飲食之中，含有興奮刺激性的，宜勿入口。

Answer: when desirous thoughts arise, they are a natural physiological function, or they can be an aspect of psychology. If the jing in the center of the body is in excess, it stimulates the nervous system and causes it to become hard to remain calm, this is physiological. If refining Qi is done properly, the post-heaven dirty Jing will naturally stop being generated. If you see a sexual image and have a reaction, this is psychological. After the psychological reaction there is a physiological reaction, this means you must absolutely abstain from looking at such images and always protect yourself against them. In the event that you are in the mountain forests practicing gongfu, and you do not return to the city, and you are far from your family home, and the weather is very proper, it is easy to go without such influences. Desire after not rising will not result in it becoming overwhelming for sure, so you just mustn't think about it. When taking food and drink, anything which you could consume to cause sexual excitement must be avoided at all costs.