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Taoism is the only religion ( if you prefer to view it as one) that requests proof as strict as what the Western science asks . It is good because although we are entitled to live as human , there is no guarantee that in next life , we can still live as something intelligent , not becoming a worm feeding on feces ; this life is something so short and precious that we can't afford to follow illusory practice or belief based on groundless claim. Generally speaking , the Chinese Taoist alchemists talk a lot about physical proof, there are countless paragraph in Taoist writings that explicate them : Cure of diseases, reversion of the process of aging , making people more energetic...etc., here I just mention one saying famous : "精足不思欲 , 氣足不思食 , 神足不思睡" " Having accumulated enough jing (essence), you no longer think of sex; having accumulated enough qi, you no longer feel hungry; having accumulated enough Shen (spirit) , you no longer need to sleep " which of course is referring to some kind of proof in every stage of our practice. So many of them existed that it seems no need for me to repeat them here; readers of this forum can test them themselves easily; In a word, methods that can't help you cure a disease, say a hemorrhoid , or fix a loosen tooth or smoothen some wrinkles on your face easily , should be thrown away... However, besides physical ones, there are those spiritual ones that Taoism emphasizes yet never be requested by western science . The significance of it is while physical proofs are something easy to identify and measure , those spiritual ones are always difficult to evaluate. The mentioned saying : "Having accumulated enough shen , you no longer need to sleep " should be one of them that looks spiritual related .However, spiritual thing is delicate and complicated, should we always go to see a master , like those mentioned in Zen Koans , and ask for an approval ? My view is that if you get one near you , then it is fine; if there is no such person close by, there are other ways to judge . Although spiritual achievements of our practice can be sensed in many aspects of our life , a gradual growing , detaching Mind from the daily one is the main feature we should pay attention to ; just mention some of them here : - You no longer always think of sex ( because of having accumulated enough jing which upgraded your shen ); - You no longer get angry so easily.. ( a bigger Mind of course is no longer entangled by trivial) - Another "you " can look back and view a dreaming you... - Whatever human knowledge, no matter how difficult it looked before , can now be understood by you easily despite the fact that it was something beyond your reach : Just choose one to test it yourself : Mathematical calculation of multi-dimensional space, programming the Linux kernel, or picking up a human language you thought so goddamned difficult ..etc . - Your sensational abilities are no longer limited so strictly by spacial or time obstacles , the growing shen extends them to a much farther boundary. For example, you can hear murmurings clearly hundreds meters away... ( Warning: Boast of your supernatural ability or having your third-eye opened is a trap evil in character that you should never fall into.... ) - Rise of an uncontrollable drive and amazing eloquence in arguing with others ..( another evil trap , hazardous )