Neidan Dictionary

 

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xin 心

heart; mind; center

① One of the five viscera of the human body in the system of the five agents (wuxing). Main associations: Fire; South; summer; red. See Table Five Agents.

The heart is red and is the daughter. 心赤為女。 (The Seal of the Unity of the Three, sec. 72)

② Yang. ↔ shen 腎 kidneys.

The heart is Yang, the kidneys are Yin. 〔陽:〕心。〔陰:〕腎。 (Weng Baoguang, "Model Images of the Golden Elixir", trans. in Taoist Internal Alchemy: An Anthology of Neidan Texts, p. 123)

③ The residence of Spirit (shen).

The heart stores the Spirit. 心藏神。 (Daode jing, sec. 6, comm. Heshang gong)

When the Spirit is in the heart, it does not leak through the mouth. 神在心而不從口漏。 (Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir, Preface)

The Heart is the dwelling of Spirit; if the Heart is luminous, the Spirit is clear; and if the Spirit is clear, one’s Nature (xing) is stable. 心為神舍,心明則神清,神清則性定。 (Liu Yiming, Cultivating the Tao, chap. 5)

④ The middle Cinnabar Field.

The brain is the upper Field, the heart is the middle Field, the Ocean of Breath is the lower Field. 腦為上田,心為中田,氣海為下田。 (Xiao Tingzhi, Questions and Answers on the Golden Elixir)