Yangshen 陽神: Difference between revisions
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== Definition(s) == | == Definition(s) == | ||
▣ The Original Spirit ([[ | ▣ The Original Spirit ([[Yuanshen 元神|''yuanshen'' 元神]]), or precelestial Spirit (''xiantian zhi shen'' 先天之神), either innately possessed or attained through Neidan. Its appearance in the last stage of the practice is said to mark its successful completion. Complementary and ultimately equivalent to the dharma-body ([[fashen 法身]]), as also shown by illustrations where the Yang Spirit is represented as a “spiritual body” that has the same outward appearance as the practitioner (for one example, see the picture on this page). <blockquote>⦿ [[Zhong Lü chuandao ji 鍾呂傳道集|ZLCDJ]] 9: When the Great Medicine is achieved, the Yang Spirit comes forth. “Outside the body there is another body” ([[Shen wai you shen 身外有身|''shen wai you shen'']]), like a cicada casting off its skin. 大藥成而陽神出。身外有身，似蟬脫蛻。 | ||
⦿ [[Haiqiong Bai zhenren yulu 海瓊白真人語錄|BZRYL]] 1: When the embryo is delivered and one “changes one’s bones,”(*) when “outside the body there is another body,” when one gathers to achieve a form and disperses to achieve Breath ([[Qi 氣|qi]]), this is the Yang Spirit. 脫胎換骨，身外有身，聚則成形，散則成氣，此陽神也。 | ⦿ [[Haiqiong Bai zhenren yulu 海瓊白真人語錄|BZRYL]] 1: When the embryo is delivered and one “changes one’s bones,”(*) when “outside the body there is another body,” when one gathers to achieve a form and disperses to achieve Breath ([[Qi 氣|qi]]), this is the Yang Spirit. 脫胎換骨，身外有身，聚則成形，散則成氣，此陽神也。 | ||
Revision as of 17:40, 9 October 2025
This page is excerpted from F. Pregadio, Dictionary of Taoist Internal Alchemy (Brill, 2025).
Translation
Yang Spirit.
Definition(s)
▣ The Original Spirit (yuanshen 元神), or precelestial Spirit (xiantian zhi shen 先天之神), either innately possessed or attained through Neidan. Its appearance in the last stage of the practice is said to mark its successful completion. Complementary and ultimately equivalent to the dharma-body (fashen 法身), as also shown by illustrations where the Yang Spirit is represented as a “spiritual body” that has the same outward appearance as the practitioner (for one example, see the picture on this page).
⦿ ZLCDJ 9: When the Great Medicine is achieved, the Yang Spirit comes forth. “Outside the body there is another body” (shen wai you shen), like a cicada casting off its skin. 大藥成而陽神出。身外有身，似蟬脫蛻。
⦿ BZRYL 1: When the embryo is delivered and one “changes one’s bones,”(*) when “outside the body there is another body,” when one gathers to achieve a form and disperses to achieve Breath (qi), this is the Yang Spirit. 脫胎換骨，身外有身，聚則成形，散則成氣，此陽神也。
(*) “Changing the bones” is a metaphor for “changing one’s destiny” and becoming an immortal.
⦿ JDDY 6: Thus we know that form (xing) transmutes itself into Breath (qi), and Breath transmutes itself into Spirit (shen). This Spirit is called the Infant (ying'er ①), and is also called the Yang Spirit. 則知形化為氣，氣化為神，是曰嬰兒，是曰陽神。
⦿ WZP XJY 13 Comm. Lu Xixing: First seek Non-Being within Being, then generate Being from Non-Being. In ten months the practice is complete, and Original Spirit comes forth from the opening [in the sinciput]. After the delivery of the embryo (tuotai), Spirit transmutes itself, and “outside the body there is another body.” As it comes from within Being (you) and is taken from within Non-Being (wu), as it is sought within movement (dong) and is transformed within quiescence (jing), it is called Yang Spirit. 始自有中尋無，復自無中生有。十月功圓，元神出竅。脫胎神化，身外有身。以其自有中來，無中取，動中求，靜裏變，謂之陽神。
⦿ XZBN: The Yang Spirit is the precelestial Original Spirit; it is what the Yinfu jing (Book of the Hidden Agreement) calls “the Spirit that is not spirit.”(**) . . . “The Spirit that is not spirit” inverts the course of creation and transformation (zaohua) and is coagulated from Emptiness. Life and death for it are no obstructions: it is “transcendent and alone.”(***) It is the true seed that generates the immortals and accomplishes the buddhas. 陽神乃先天之元神，『陰符經』謂「不神而神」者是也。. . . 「不神而神，」逆其造化，從虛空中結就，生死不礙，超然獨存，乃生仙成佛之真種。
(**) YFJ 14: “Man knows the Spirit that is spirit, but does not know why what is not spirit is Spirit” 人知其神之神，不知不神之所以神. According to Liu Yiming, the “Spirit that is not spirit” is the precelestial Spirit in its original state, as distinguished by the “Spirit that is spirit,” which is the ordinary mind.
(***) This expression is found in several Taoist and Buddhist texts.
Related Terms
☞ chushen 出神; fashen 法身; shen 神; shen wai you shen 身外有身; tuotai 脫胎; yuanshen 元神
Pages that mention this term
- Niwan 泥丸 (← links)
- Fashen 法身 (← links)
- Shen wai you shen 身外有身 (← links)
- Ying'er 嬰兒 ① (← links)
- Yangshen 陽神 (Image) (← links)
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