The Three Treasures: Essence, Energy and Spirit

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EssenceEssence refers to the most highly refined substances which constitute the human body, the basic stuff of corporeal life. Also translated as 'vitality', essences is a form of potential energy, like battery fluid, from which the body draws energy as required. In prenatal aspect, essence is the primal creative force of the cosmos, the universal urge to procreate and perpetuate. Each individual receives a fixed measure of this prenatal essence from the fusion of sperm and ovum provided by father and mother. After birth, as the body develops, this primal essence is stored in what the Chinese call the 'kidney glands' (adrenal cortex} as well as in male and female sexual secretions and reproductive organs. It is passed on to the next generation through sexual reproduction and is therefore regarded as immortal and self-perpetuating. Postnatal essence is refined and synthesized from nutrients extracted from food and water and is stored primarily in the liver, blood, and marrow. It takes form as very pure and potent fluids such as hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, cerebrospinal fluid, lymphatic fluid, blood plasma, and other biochemical essences. It manifests itself as gender and sexuality, provides strength, vitality, and immunity, and is most easliy depleted in men through excessive loss of semen, in women through menstruation, and in both genders through chronic stress, malnutrition, and illness. Postnatal essence resides in the sacrum and is closely associated with sexual and digestive functions.

 

EnergyEnergy is the vital force that activates every function and drives every process in the human body, voluntary as well as involuntary. It is like the electric current running through a computer: without it none of the functions works. In prenatal aspect, energy is the primal power that pervades the entire universe, where it manifests itself as heat, light, motion, and other universal energies. Postnatal energy manifests itself in humans as the various energies associated with the major organ systems, and as body heat, breath, pulse, and other forms of bioenergetics. Postnatal energy is polar and electromagnetic and is characterized by constant activity and transformation. Humans derive primal prenatal energy from two sources. One is from the transformation of the prenatal essence stored in the adrenal cortex and sexual glands. This is called yuan-chee ('primordial energy'), and every individual is born with a limited supply of it. Converting prenatal glandular essence into primal energy requires an advanced form of Taoist alchemy known as nei-gung ('internal work'). The other source of prenatal energy is called tien ('heaven'), which refers to the sky and the cosmos beyond. Cosmic energies from the sky enter the body through the top of the head, while light is assimilated through the skin and eyes.The source of postnatal energy is called dee ('earth'), which refers to food, water, herbs, and other material supplements, as well as air. Dietary elements are digested to extract vital nutrients, which the body then transforms into energy. Energy from the air is absorbed through the lungs and may be cultivated with a simple form of Taoist breathing exercise called chee-gung ('energy work'). When air energy from the lungs blends in the blood with earth energy from the digestive system, it forms what is known as 'True Human Energy', the fundamental force of temporal human life.Human energy resides in the chest and is closely associated with breathing and blood circulation, heart and lungs. Taoist medical texts state that 'energy leads blood', which means that blood flows wherever energy goes and that blood circulation may therefore be controlled by regulating breath. This is a fundamental prnciple of chee-gung practice.

 

SpiritSpirit refers to the mind and all its various facets and functions. Prenatal spirit is the primordial 'mind of Tao', the immortal soul, the original light of consciousness. It is the eternal spark of awareness which 'is not born and does not die'. It is immaterial, luminous, and resides in the heart.Postnatal spirit manifests itself as thought and sensory awareness, psyche and personality, ego and the notion of self. Although the original mind of Tao is open, undifferentiated, non-dualistic, and perfectly still, its temporal manifestation in the human mind is closed, discriminating, dualistic, and ever agitated. The postnatal human mind resides in the head and expresses itself through the cerebral functions of the brain.Every human being possesses the primordial mind of Tao within his or her heart, but very few are aware of it. Because of the self-deluding obscurations the human mind creates from sensory perceptions and conflicting emotional reactions, most people remain blind to the light of their own primordial spirit until the moment of death, when everyone gets a sudden glimpse of it. The higher stages of esoteric Taoist alchemy and meditation teach us how to control our senses, calm our emotions, and balance our energies, so that we may look tranquilly inwards beyond the human mind in order to restore awareness of the primordial mind of Tao. This awareness enhances life and also prepares us for death. Since primordial spirit is the only aspect of mind that 'is not born and does not die', those who know it do not fear death, and this knowledge gives them perfect freedom and equanimity in life.

 

TrinityThe Three Treasures are one aspect of the fundamental trinity which runs throughout Taoist philosophy and esoteric practices. Anatomically, the Three Treasures of essence, energy, and spirit 'reside' in the sacrum, thorax, and brain, where they manifest respectively as fluids, breath, and thought. Energetically, the Three Treasures are associated with three power points known as 'elixir fields' (dan-tien), which are the focal points of esoteric Taoist alchemy. Essence pools in the Lower Elixir Field, located behind and a bit below the navel, and its alchemical name is 'water'. Energy collects in the Middle Elixir Field in the chest and is associated with breath, pulse, and speech. Its alchemical identity is 'fire'. Postnatal spirit is housed in the Upper Elixir Field, lovated behind the point between the eyebrows, and is associated with the pituitary and pineal glands and the hypothalamus. In Taoist alchemy it is known as the 'embryo'.Metaphysically, the Three Treasures originate in the 'Three Powers' of heaven, earth, and humans. Heaven is the source of spirit, and earth is the source of essential elements which constitute the human body. Humans, who stands between heaven adn earth, are the source of the unique force known as True Human Energy which fuses the spirit of heaven with the essence of earth to form the human body and manifest the human mind.