Page 327 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

288 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

Apart from its single usage, the word cun occurs in three typical compounds
in Taoist texts. These are: cunxiang or "visualization and imagination," cunshen
or "visualization of spirit," and cunsi or "visualization and meditation."

Visualization and imagination. The first compound, cunxiang H;m or "visualiza-
tion and imagination," is defined in *Sima Chengzhen's *Tianyin zi:
Visualization (cun) means producing a vision of one's spirit(s); imagination
(xiang) is to create an image of one's body. How is this accomplished? By clos-
ing one's eyes one can see one's own eyes. By gathering in one's mind one can
realize one's own mind. Mind and eyes should never be separate from one's
body and should never harm one's spirit(s): this is done by visualization and
imagination. (eT I026, 3b)

The result of this activity is "tranquillity," through which one can "recover
life" and attain longevity and even immortality. The activity of cun here is
the active creation of an intentional inner vision of the spirit energy in one's
body, combined with that of xiang which allows one also to see one's bodily
presence and thus attain longevity both physically and spiritually.
The same term also occurs in a *neidan context in the *Xiuzhen shishu
(Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection, 24-4a-5a), in a section entitled
"Cunxiang yinqi" #;*J.{ p~ *C or "Visualizing and Imagining the Swallowing of
Breath." Instructions here advise adepts to visualize their *qi as it is swallowed
into the lower Cinnabar Field (*dantian), where it mingles with its authentic
counterpart (*yuanqi or Original Pneuma) and can then be gradually and with
full intention guided through the spinal column, into all the different parts
of the body (even to the tips of hairs and nails) and into the *niwan cavity or
upper Cinnabar Field in the brain. The activity of cun again implies the full
concentration of the mind on the energy within the body.

Visualization of spirit. The same basic reading applies to the compound cunshen
H ~$ or "visualization of spirit," which occurs in two titles in the Taoist Canon:
*Cunshen lianqi ming (Inscription on the Visualization of Spirit and Refinement
of Pneuma) by *Sun Simiao of the seventh century, and Cunshen guqi lun H
~$1lID *t: rrilll (Essay on the Visualization of Spirit and Stabilizing of Energy; CT
577), a neidan work of the Song or Yuan periods. In both instances the practice
links the concentrated attention (cun) paid to the spirit with the improvement
and increase of energy, again providing both physical and spiritual benefits
for the practitioner. Also, both texts use the basic system of Yin and Yang and
the *wuxing to explain the inner workings of the body-mind system and insist
that the effect of cun is one of tranquilizing and calming the mind. Like the
Tianyin zi, the texts on cunshen ultimately aim at longevity and immortality,
for which a calm and stable mind is a basic condition.