Xing性 and Ming命, Essence and Life, in the DDJ

[JohnC]

Just wanted to contribute this:

Meanings of Ming in Daoist Internal Alchemy and Its Relation to Xing or Human Nature 

http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=192

[Geof Nanto]

One can connect the classical Daoist notions of ziran and pu to other terms related to one's core being. In some classical Daoist texts, the view that one's own being is the Dao becomes expressed through the use of the terms "innate nature" (xing) and "life-destiny" (ming), with the latter also translated as "fate." In a classical sense, these terms are often employed synonymously, as a kind of endowed capacity or ontological givenness. This stands in contrast to their more nuanced and technical use in the later tradition, especially in internal alchemy lineages, wherein xing is associated the heart-mind, spirit as well as divine capacities, while ming is associated with the kidneys, vital essence as well as foundational vitality and corporeality. For members of the classical inner cultivation lineages, xing and ming designate the ground of one's being, the Dao manifesting in/as/through one's own embodied existence. On some level, they are "fate" in the sense of one's innate and personal capacities, and what one must do in order to have meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. On another level, they must be actualized or expressed as embodied being in the world. They are both given and actualized.

 

From The Daoist Tradition, Louis Kompathy

[dawei]

One can connect 

 

The academic world is full of wonderful words like this

[Marblehead]

The academic world is full of wonderful words like this

It works in the 'real' world too.

 

But beware, the opposite is also true.

[Geof Nanto]

"When studying the Dao, you should not read scriptures and books extensively. This confuses consciousness and obstructs Daoist training. 

 

Yes, too many teachings can be a real challenge / obstacle. 

 

 

Here's an image of a hapless spiritual seeker adrift in the straits of 1000 lighthouses........

 

 

 

(Excessive browsing of this forum has a similar effect on me.)

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

Jumping back into the thread for a sec, I recently read a great passage about Xing and Ming in the book immortality study, by Chen Yingning.

Chen said that Ming is like the oil of a lamp and Xing is the brightness of the light being emitted from it.

A lamp without oil is useless, and a lamp which has not been lit is also useless.

This fits in well with the idea from Xing Ming Guizhi (the best book in Quanzhen discussing xing and ming) that Xing is the mind before it has met Shen and Ming is the body before it has met Qi.   xing ming gui zhi also says that the heavens are Xing and the earth is Ming.  This fits in with the idea of san yuan, where the heavens are the clarity of xing, the earth is the life of ming, and people are the combination of xing and ming, capable of using the xing mind to illuminate the ming spirit.

There are a huge amount of analogous ideas all over the place in Chinese philosophy, for instance, Zhu Xi's concept of Gui Shen (ghost and spirit) as applied to the change of yin and yang in the cleaning of the Qi of the body.

 

Most of these ideas are post Tang dynasty, and although they may not meet perfectly with ancient philosophical concepts, they can really help us understand the nature of meditation, which is quite important in the grand scheme of studying Daoism.