Is Chi the same as spirit?

[ech33]

chi and spirit are not the same. there are always a note "chi/spirit/and jing" as these 3 r related but not the same thing.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

Here are some verses from the Bible wich have the word spirit in it.

Genisis 1:2
The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spiritof God was moving over the face of the waters.

Genisis 2:7
Then the Lord God fromed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe or spirit of life, and man became a living bieng.

that's an interesting point, and we could start a whole 'nother thread on interpretations of the face of god and whether or not it's incompatable with buddhism or even hinduism.

but i think you'll agree that that usage of the word spirit is somewhat different from when we say 'spirit' as a synonym to 'soul'.

still, it does get one to thinkin'.

 

[Xue Sheng]

spirit is shen, there r qi is basically the life force while jing is the so-called internal power. btw, qi is also known as internal energy.

Here are some verses from the Bible wich have the word spirit in it.

Genisis 1:2
The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spiritof God was moving over the face of the waters.

Genisis 2:7
Then the Lord God fromed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe or spirit of life, and man became a living bieng.

I think you have a bit of a Western versus Eastern definition bit of confusion going on here in this post as to what Spirit and Qi are. From a Western point of view spirit can mean soul or the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul.

But you are asking about a Chinese term used in Chinese Medicine, Martial arts and Qigong.

In Chinese basic Qigong theory is;

Shen = spirit
Jieng = Essence
Qi = internal energy

Qi would not be considered spirit or Shen in Qigong, CMA or Traditional Chinese Medicine, although Shen does control Qi, it is not Qi.

Thinking in the Chinese terminology with the Chinese definition shen is what keeps you alive and it is what controls Qi, when your Shen is strong your Qi is strong. The root of the Shen is your mind, Yi (aka intention)

Qi come from converting Jieng from the food you eat and the air you breathe as well as the Jieng you inherited from your parents.

Jieng comes from the food you eat and the air you breathe as well as the Jieng you inherited from your parents.

So going by the Chinese definition used in CMA, TCM and Qigong, qi is not spirit.

 

[PeaceWarrior]

I think you have a bit of a Western versus Eastern definition bit of confusion going on here in this post as to what Spirit and Qi are. From a Western point of view spirit can mean soul or the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul.

But you are asking about a Chinese term used in Chinese Medicine, Martial arts and Qigong.

In Chinese basic Qigong theory is;

Shen = spirit
Jieng = Essence
Qi = internal energy

Qi would not be considered spirit or Shen in Qigong, CMA or Traditional Chinese Medicine, although Shen does control Qi, it is not Qi.

Thinking in the Chinese terminology with the Chinese definition shen is what keeps you alive and it is what controls Qi, when your Shen is strong your Qi is strong. The root of the Shen is your mind, Yi (aka intention)

Qi come from converting Jieng from the food you eat and the air you breathe as well as the Jieng you inherited from your parents.

Jieng comes from the food you eat and the air you breathe as well as the Jieng you inherited from your parents.

So going by the Chinese definition used in CMA, TCM and Qigong, qi is not spirit.

Very interesting. So the strength of your Qi is directly related to the amount of Jieng you inherit from your parents? So somebody who is born with a weaker essense must work harder to develop stronger Qi? This really fascinates me.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Very interesting. So the strength of your Qi is directly related to the amount of Jieng you inherit from your parents? So somebody who is born with a weaker essense must work harder to develop stronger Qi? This really fascinates me.

To go off post a bit to clarify:

From a TCM, CMA, Qigong POV; there are various types of Jieng but it is the original Jieng that you inherit form your parents that is the most important, it is the base, if you will, to grow on. This is what must be protected to maintain health and to live a long life. You cannot increase this, what qigong does is improve the quality of it. I understand this as it takes less of it to make more and stronger Qi.

Sorry, did not mean to go off post, but I wanted to clarify jieng.

 

[ech33]

to develop jing, u must develop qi.

the jing that u inherited from ur parents will be lot more than theirs, and basically it can be improved further.