About a month ago, there was a brief discussion on a chapter of the Nei Yeh (inner training) where the poster asked what the term, “numinous (mind)” meant. Although one has not heard of or read the text before I had said that the term meant "spirit (shen)". The original text containing 26 chapters is translated by Harold Roth in his book, Original Tao. Lately one has come across this website http://www.panlatrevo.com/texts/neiyeh/ which hosts Roth’s translation.
After going through the 26 chapters and reading comments by Russell Kirkland (Meditation and ‘Spiritual Hygiene” in late classical texts, 1976) one would say that both Roth and Kirkland are right in calling the Nei Yeh a text for “inner alchemy (neidan)” as it contains the usual ingredients namely essence (jing), energy (qi), spirit (shen), and virtues (te) required for an advanced meditation known as the ‘reversed flow’ or ‘Circulation of the Light’.
What probably have caused confusion among some students and readers is that the translation may have been oversimplified resulting in a small loss of the original meanings. For example, the term “numinous (mind)” is used for spirit (shen), “vital energy” for breath (qi), and what do the terms ‘vital essence” and “vital breath” actually mean? Only by comparing Kirkland’s comments on the Nei Yeh made some of the terms used by Roth clearer.
Hopefully Roth’s Original Tao contains explanations on the terms used in his translation to satisfy discerning student cultivators of the Tao. Thanks to him, the Western world has access to an important work on inner alchemy.
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