Hi, everybody.
Thanks for tuning
in and tuning up.
This is Scott Jensen
with my ancient wisdom
modern health podcast.
Here, I share and explain
how to get and stay
healthy with Tai Chi,
Qi Gong, and Kung Fu.
Mixing views with
incredible people
and my own insights
experiences, we look
for timeless wisdom and
proven practices to be
healthy and happy today.
Today, I'd like
to talk about the
three treasures.
These are Jing,
Qi and Shen.
First I'll describe
what each one of them
is individually; we'll
talk about how they're
traditionally related
with a story; and
then look at Jing, Qi,
and Shen in martial
arts and healing.
The most literal
translation of Jing
is, actually, semen.
Usually we see
translated as essence.
Jing can refer to your
general constitution, the
strength of your body,
the genetic potential
that you inherited from
your parents, and it has
medical meanings as well.
The amount of Jing that
you have is directly
related to your physical
health and it shows in
your physical health.
Your Jing could also
be your mojo or your
sexual attractiveness;
and it can also mean
your reproductive
capability to bear
children, to be a parent.
Qi we often
translate as energy.
Qi, here, means the vital
energy associated with
our breath and our blood.
Qi in this context also
can refer to taking
actions in the world;
what you're doing in
the world as a person,
how you're affecting
the world, that can
also be your Qi.
Your Qi is directly
related to your Jing,
if you're Jing, meaning
your body, if your body
is not healthy, if you're
weak physically and ill,
you're not going to have
a good energy level.
Your Qi level
will be very low.
If you have a strong,
healthy body, your
energy level will
be much higher.
Shen is often translated
as spirit or mind when
we're saying mind in
this context, we mean
mind with a capital
M, including your
thoughts, your feelings,
your perceptions, your
memories, and your
personality as a whole.
When we're saying spirit
or Shen or mind, there,
we can also be referring
to your spiritual
nature, your capacity
for meditation, your
elevation of your being,
as a human being, to
a higher, wiser, more
compassionate human
being, is also a way
to say that you've
built your Shen, you've
increased your Shen.
The relationship between
Jing, Qi, and Shen is
that Jing creates Qi,
and then Qi creates Shen.
Or you could say that
your Qi comes from
your Jing and your Shen
comes from your Qi.
The old story that we
tell about Jing, Qi,
Shen, is that three drops
of Jing are required
to create one drop of
Qi, and three drops
of Qi are required to
create one drop of Shen.
Now, in reality,
there are no drops.
This is just an analogy,
but it gives you an
idea of how difficult it
is to acquire the She,
that you're going to
have to have nine Jing
and generate three Qi's
before you get one Shen.
So those Shens are
hard to come by.
Part of the idea here
is that if you're able
to find someone who
has a lot of Shen who's
a master of martial
arts or meditation or
spirituality of some
form, or they're just
a wise older person
with a lot of life
experience, somebody
who has cultivated
their Shen in one way or
another, those people,
if you can hang around
them, you might get a
drop of Shen from them.
It might rub off on
you a little bit.
And that's one of the
reasons that we'll
seek out the teachers
and the masters and
the wise elders is to
have that influence.
Another way to look
at Jing, Qi, and Shen,
is to think about in
more, like, societal
terms, cultural terms.
If you think about your
Jing as your genetic
potential and then your
Qi as your actions in the
world, then you're taking
your actions based on
what your potential is.
And as you reflect on
those actions and learn
from them, that's how
you build your Shen.
And if you take enough
actions and then you
contemplate enough on
them, then your shin will
grow and you'll become
a much wiser person.
When you're visiting a
traditional school of
Chinese martial arts,
perhaps teaching Tai
Qi or Xing Yi Quan or
Bagua Zhang or Northern
Shaolin, you could look
around and expect to
see a calligraphy on
the wall, which would
have three characters
written very large so
everyone could see them.
And they would be
Jing, Chi and Shen.
The purpose of this
calligraphy and those
three characters is to
remind everyone present
that even though they're
throwing punches and
kicks and leaping around
and practicing combat
techniques and doing all
sorts of calisthenics to
strengthen themselves,
the ultimate purpose
of the entire activity
and the school itself
is for everyone present
to cultivate their
Jing, Qi, and Shen,
to become healthy, to
have enough energy that
they can help those
around them and become
wiser, better human
beings, able to live in
harmony with themselves,
their families and the
society around them.
And that is the
ultimate purpose
for which everyone
is gathered there.
And when they see
Jing, Qi, Shen, that's
immediately what
they're thinking,
"we're cultivating
these three treasures."
In martial arts, we
also talk about the
different weapons and
their relationship to
Jing, Qi, and Shen.
We say that the staff
either trains a person's
Jing or demonstrates it.
Training the staff is
very vigorous, they're
usually pretty heavy,
and they require
a lot of movement.
So when you can do a
staff form with a heavy
staff and leap about
and throw a lot of power
around, showing her
physical strength, that
demonstrates your Jing.
The sabre is said to
show a person's Qi or
to develop their Qi.
And in this case, we
really mean energy.
The Sabre is shorter.
That's a tongue
twister to say it.
So, the saber is shorter
than the spear and the
staff; and when it fights
those weapons, you have
to be very nimble and
leap in and leap out and
jump up and duck down
low, and get out of the
way of the more powerful,
longer weapons, until
you can get in close.
So practicing the Sabre,
you have to have a lots
and lots of nimble fast
energy, and that really
demonstrates your Qi.
The sword is said to
demonstrate your Shen and
to cultivate your Shen.
The Chinese straight
sword, a Jian, is
characterized as
a dragon, coiling
and twisting,
extending, retracting.
It has a very
fluid spiraling,
beautiful, and elegant
type of movement, which
is very different from
the power of the staff
and the fast energy
of the sabre and the;
straight sword, the
Jian, is the weapon that
cultivates your Shen
Another very good way
to look at Jing, Qi,
and Shen, in traditional
Chinese martial arts, is
to discuss internal and
external martial arts.
In this view, the
internal martial arts
are Tai Chi Chuan,
Xing Yi Quan, which is
foreman will boxing,
and Bagua Zhang, which
is Eight Diagrams Palm.
It's primarily those
three, sometimes water
boxing is included and
sometimes one or two
other styles might be
included as internal
martial arts, of
course, within Tai Chi
and Xing Yi and Bagua,
there are many branches.
Most of the other schools
would be considered to
be external schools.
And those are schools
that are focusing on
developing physique,
power, and speed.
Classic examples would
be Hung Gar, Choy Li
Fut, Northern Shaolin,
as well, but some martial
arts have qualities of
both the internal and
the external school;
Northern Shaolin being
one, Pao Chui Cannon Fist
Boxing, would be another
internal mix external
school, Arresting Hands
or Lan Shou Quan would
also be considered mixed
internal and external.
When I was training
in China in the 1990s
with many different
teachers, I often asked
them various different
questions that I was
curious about the
answers, and I asked them
all the same questions.
And one of the questions
that I would frequently
ask people is, "what's
the difference between
internal martial
arts external martial
arts ,in your view?"
And I particularly
like the answer that
Grandmaster Sue, who
is the head instructor
of the Shanghai Jing
Wu association, gave
me to this question.
What master Sue said was,
"if you look at internal
martial arts, they hide
their Jing, Qi, and Shen.
And when you look
at external martial
arts, they show them."
So what does this mean?
If you're looking at
an external martial
artist, say someone who
does Hung Gar or Choy
Li Fut or, perhaps,
even Northern Shaolin,
but one of the strong,
fast moving styles,
it's easy to see who's
better and who's worse.
If you look at them,
the people have big
muscles and throw
really fast punches and
move really quickly.
Obviously their Jing is
better than the people
that are weaker and
slower and can't move as
quickly or skillfully.
You look at how much
energy they have, their
rapidity and endurance,
that's their QI.
If they have lots of it,
it's really easy to see
because they're still
going and they're going
and going and going.
And then when you
look at their face,
they're frightening.
They're extremely fierce.
Their eyes show a lot
of spirit and power.
And if you think, "Oh my
God, I would never want
to fight this person,"
You know, their mind
is very intimidating,
then that shows in the
external martial artists,
a very powerful Shen.
Now for the internal
martial artists, when
you look at them,
usually their bodies
are more rounded and
when they're practicing
their movements,
their movements are
generally smoother,
softer, more circular,
and they're rarely
moving at full speed.
It's actually hard
to tell, looking
at some of these
performances, who is
the best and who isn't.
It's completely hidden.
Sometimes the people who
are absolutely the best,
you couldn't pick them
out of the entire group
and they've completely
concealed this formidable
power that they can
generate with their body,
and it's a hidden secret.
Then you look at
them, and they're
moving slowly.
They're not using
a lot of energy.
There's very little
to get excited about.
They might even be
able to use a very
small movements to
defend themselves.
So exerting far less
energy in the actual
application of their
power, even if it was
quite sudden, then the
external martial artist,
who's Qi is very obvious.
And as you look at
their face, their
forehead is smooth,
their face is relaxed,
their eyes might be
alively, they probably
won't be looking sleepy,
but they won't have
the fierce dominating
external projection
of energy and power
through their eyes that
you would see from the
external martial artists.
So we can think
about people either
concealing or hiding
their Jing Qi, and Shen,
or just manifesting it
in a very calm and more
inward way, as opposed
to people who are
showing and demonstrating
their Jing Qi, Shen
on an external way
that's highly visible.
If you're thinking along
the lines of perhaps
being a mystic or a
master of meditation,
then your idea would
be to generate as much
Shen as you could.
Perhaps you could
even become an
immortal, if you could
cultivate enough Shen.
In the ancient period,
Taoists priests searched
for immortality.
They searched high and
low, and they tried
many different things.
In the beginning of their
search for immortality,
they tried eating all
sorts of different plants
and herbs and minerals.
This is the beginning of
the herbal medicine in
the history of China, but
in the big picture, the
Taoist goal, one way or
the other, was to extend
that your life, then have
longer too to, perhaps,
develop their wisdom.
But hopefully
they all wanted to
become immortals.
In the old days, they
said that the Taoist
Immortals did succeed,
or at least the Taoists
did succeed in coming up
with a formula that could
make you an immortal.
However, you had
to drink it to know
whether it would work,
and it only worked
half the time and the
other half you dropped
dead, right there.
So it was a big roll
of the dice and people
didn't like to do it.
This is the story
they tell at least.
So, after all this
period with the herbs and
minerals, they realized
that actually they could
apply the knowledge
that they've gained
through this process,
inside themselves.
Hopefully by cultivating
their Jing, Qi, and
Shen, they could greatly
extend their life.
So the idea is that
if you can become very
healthy, you'll generate
a surplus of energy and
the surplus of energy
will also help you
to generate a surplus
of spiritual energy.
And while you're
generating this surplus
of energy, hopefully
you can store some of
it in your Tan Tien,
the center of your body.
The Tan Tien is actually
the heavenly pill.
Tien is the heaven
and Tan is the pill.
This is like the
immortal's pill, but
you're going to make it
yourself by concentrating
enough of your Qi in
the center of your body,
that you build up a
great reservoir and that
reservoir then fulfills
your health, powers
your health, powers
your martial arts, it
helps you to resist
illness and injury.
When I studied with
the late Xing Yi Quan
Grandmaster, Liang
Ke Quan, he gave me
a calligraphy with
Jing, Qi, and Shen
written in three large
bold characters, to
display in my school.
In addition, on the
side, he wrote a poem
about the great value of
cultivating your Qi in
the center of your body,
his poem related how you
could practice your Tai
Chi, your Xing Yi Quan,
your Bagua Zhang, all the
internal martial arts,
and build up the Qi in
the center of your body.
Then when you were an
old age, you'd still
be healthy and happy
and able to enjoy good
times with your friends
family and friends.
Thank you for joining
me and listening in.
That concludes
today's episode.
If you have a
question, send it to
ask@ancientwisdommodernhealth.com.
Thank you for
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We really appreciate it.
Until next time, be
well and stay happy.
