Chinese Internal Alchemy, or Nei Dan, aims to cultivate both Xing and Ming. Xing can be roughly translated as “Essential Nature” and Ming as “Eternal Life.” By essential nature, the Chinese are referring to the spiritual aspects of your being. When you cultivate Xing, you take out emotional garbage and refine your very spirit. We might call it real wisdom in the west.
Eternal Life refers in large part to the major techniques you use in cultivation to accumulate and refine energy. This is the source of your personal power. Examples of Ming include life nourishing and longevity exercises (Yang Shen), internal Kung Fu (Nei Jia Quan), medical Qigong, Feng Shui, etc.
On the surface it appears that these two methods are separate, but in reality, nearly all schools agree that you must cultivate both together to reach the pinnacle of cultivation.
For example, in Mizong Buddhism, the masters say women should cultivate wisdom and men should cultivate power. However, they don’t mean for men to ignore wisdom and women to neglect power. Rather, it represents a starting point, not the ultimate objective.
The dangers of ignoring either Xing or Ming are very real. If you only focus on cultivating power at the expense of wisdom, you can end up a tyrant or bully. If you focus solely on wisdom and ignore power, you could end up in poor health and without the energy needed to make a positive change in your life and those around you. That is, you know what to do, but you cannot do it.
Like everything in Chinese culture, the principles of Yin and Yang underlie these concepts. Xing and Ming are mutually complementary. Practice both and ignore neither. Then you will have the wisdom to choose the right thing and the power to get it done.
May you have great success in your cultivation!
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