Hun, po and other obscurities

[GrandTrinity]

can anyone explain hun, po and other obscurities?

[peter falk]

can anyone explain hun, po and other obscurities?

8066[/snapback]

 

hun isyour liover shen, po is your lung shen. not surewhat you mean by "other obscurities." that has infinite possibilites in this field. the otehr shen?

[GrandTrinity]

Why do they have different names for the shen?

[mbanu]

There's a bit of trickiness because shen means 3 things. the heart shen (ie "you") a density of energy (as in jing, qi, shen) and a generalized term for any configuration that plays those roles (this is why hun and po, yi and zhi are called shen, although it isn't entirely the right word, kind of like how soul and spirit aren't exact synonyms in english).

 

The hun and po interact to produce the heart shen, which is what one can think of as being one's "self"; the "I" that one is talking about when one says "I think therefor I am". You are basically a "conversation" between the hun and po. When the conversation ends and the hun and po go their seperate ways, you die. The hun and po may start new conversations with other hun and po, or even conceivably with the same ones that created you, but they will be different conversations, different shen. This produces a sort of reincarnation theory, but without the optimistic twist that maybe you'll get to live forever in one form or another.

 

The hun and po act differently whether they are inside a body together producing a shen, or whether they are seperated and doing their own thing. When they aren't in a body, the hun prefer the heavens and the po prefer the earth. Po often linger around decomposing corpses, while hun are often attracted by incense. The hun are often viewed more favorably than the po. Exorcists are sent to drive po away from corpses, while hun are often welcomed such as during ancestor worshop rituals. Neither are exactly sentient, but they don't seem to be exactly inanimate either; it's not quite clear what they are. The po supposedly are attracted to the body via the buildup of sexual energy that occurs during sex, while the hun are supposedly gathered when the baby takes his first breath.

 

What effect having one po or hun instead of another has on a person's individuality isn't quite clear, although the number of hun and po that make up the "conversation" appear to determine the sentience of the created heart shen. This is why it is traditionally thought that humans have 3 hun instead of 2, and why most other animals have 2 hun instead of 3, and why most plants have only 1 hun.

[mike andre]

I'm fascinated by this conversation, and curious. If the shen is the product of the conversation between hun and po souls, what about the zhi (kidney water spirit) and yi (earth spleen spirit)?

[Yoda]

too many cooks in the kitchen!

[voice]

Someone (I think it was sean?) gave these two links some time ago in regards to information on Hun and Po. These are articles by David Twicken, a Healing Dao guy.

 

http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives20.../08twicken.html

http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives20.../09twicken.html

 

Chris

[peter falk]

too many cooks in the kitchen!

8118[/snapback]

 

that is why there is fusion, oh hun-colored one.