Taoist Internal Alchemy (single cultivation practices) - Taoist Self Realms
In recent decades, the construction of models of the self based on cultural context has become a hot topic with the development of cultural psychology. Chinese traditional culture, which is based on the ideology systems of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, has great differences from Western civilization both historically and currently; thus, the Chinese self has an intense cultural specificity.
The Taoist model of the Self splits the process of self-cultivation into four realms: Suren (vulgarian), Xianren (shallow), Shengren (saint), and Zhenren (immortal). This model splits self-structure into the soft Yin part and the hard Yang part.
The Taoist Soft Self and Hard Self
As one of the earliest philosophical schools in China, Taoist thought originated in the spring and autumn periods. Inheriting the thought of the Qian trigram in the I Ching – “As the movement of Heaven is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman untiringly strive along” – Confucians are inclined to advocate strong, firm, and masculine personality characteristics. In contrast, Taoists inherited the thought of the Kun trigram in the I Ching: “Because the condition of the earth is to accept dedication, a gentleman with this character is brought into the outside world” – and they are inclined to advocate clement, tolerant, and feminine personality characteristics. Taoism has always disapproved of Confucians respecting Yang and degrading Yin. Therefore, according to the thought of the Taoist representatives Lao Tzu and Zhuang Tzu, the Yin and Yang parts of the Taiji Model of Taoist Self can be, respectively, denoted as the “soft” self, (柔我, rou wo) and the “hard” self (剛我, gang wo). The “soft self” represents the traits of the self that reflect softness, weakness, emptiness, simplicity, non-doing, and nature; the “hard self” represents the traits of the self that reflect hardness, fullness, complexity, action, and artificiality.
Four Realms of Taoist Self-Cultivation Process
Foundational and Yang-most is Suren the hardest Self which refers to secular people who do not cultivate themselves according to Taoist doctrine; these people are also known as layfolk, ordinary people or people who are oblivious to the Tao.
Xianren, another hard Self aspect refers to people who have the ability to recognize the Tao, but the level of understanding is shallow. These people can identify the law and principle of Tao but cannot achieve a non-doing state.
The softer Shengren Self refers to people who abide by the principle of Tao and thus may have the characteristics of softness, weakness, emptiness, simplicity, non-doing, and nature. They are working on an enlightened or awakened state.
Softest at the Apex of Evolvement, Zhenren refers to people who understand the origin of the universe and life thoroughly and who achieve the parts of the Self that reflects purity, simplicity, naiveté, and nature in the process of self-cultivation.
Zhuang Tzu, The great Taoist Sage stated: "Zhenren are willing to accept life and wait patiently for their ultimate reward. They strive not to misrepresent the Tao, not to supplement nature with human means. Such people think freely and behave calmly… Living in unrestricted freedom, they can only react naturally to their surroundings. Their tranquility comes from their kindness. In social relations, they maintain their inner character… For them, there is no conflict between humans and God."
Taoist self-cultivation (the cultivation of self-authenticity) is a process of going from the Elementary Nature, namely, the softest physical self, as infants possessed, and finally reaching the Supreme Nature, i.e., the softest psychological self, which is the state with the Tao. Although the start point and the end point are both nature and soft self, individuals who achieved the realm of zhenren have already experienced the transcendence of “seeing the mountain as the mountain, seeing the mountain not as the mountain, and seeing the mountain still as the mountain.”
The four realms of Taoist self-development represent the propositions of Lao-Zhuang Taoism in the pre-Qin period and Huang-Lao Taoism in the Han Dynasty. These represent the two main schools of Taoism, which reflect the Taoist understanding of the self-cultivation stages. If one violates the principles of the self-realm that he/she has achieved, he/she will fall back to the lower realms.
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