84%
Confidence
Belief overview
Self-cultivation and internal alchemy
Many Taoist currents propose practices of inner transformation of body and mind.
4
Supportive
0
Contrary
0
Neutral
What it is: Self-cultivation includes meditation, visualization, breathing, ethical discipline, and internal alchemy, often called neidan.
How the tradition understands it: The practitioner seeks to refine body, energy, and spirit, overcoming dispersion, passions, and disharmony. In some traditions, this is tied to longevity and spiritual immortality.
Textual basis and context: Schools such as Quanzhen and various lineages of internal alchemy gave great centrality to these practices.
Debates and variations: Methods and goals vary greatly between schools, and part of the language is symbolic and esoteric.
Documentary evidence
Supportive
Cantong qi
A classical text associated with inner and outer alchemy.
Reference: Cantong qi.
Content: The text integrates cosmological and alchemical language around transformation and refinement.
Use in debate: It is highly relevant for Taoist alchemical traditions.
Quanzhen on inner cultivation
The Quanzhen school systematizes asceticism, meditation, and inner alchemy.
Reference: Texts and teachings of Wang Chongyang and the Quanzhen tradition.
Content: The school emphasizes discipline, monastic life, meditation, and inner refinement.
Use in debate: It is very important for self-cultivation and neidan.
Tao Te Ching 33
Knowing oneself as the greater strength.
Reference: Tao Te Ching, chapter 33.
Content: The text values self-knowledge, self-mastery, and deep perseverance.
Use in debate: It reinforces the theme of self-cultivation and inner strength.
Wuzhen pian
An important poem of inner alchemy.
Reference: Wuzhen pian, by Zhang Boduan.
Content: The text uses symbolic language to describe inner refinement, energy, and spiritual realization.
Use in debate: It is a central source for neidan in later tradition.