Interpreting the Three Treasures Without Falling Into Superstition

According to the classics, the Three Treasures—or San Bao (三宝) in Chinese—are three essential energies or substances that sustain human life and represent the foundational layers of our existence. They are:

• Jing (精) — Essence / Vital Base: The most fundamental, dense, and physical form of energy.
• Qi (气) — Energy / Life Force: The vital force that flows through the body.
• Shen (神) — Spirit / Consciousness: Our awareness, mind, and emotional balance.

Jing is the foundation for Qi, and Qi is the foundation for Shen. A weak Jing leads to deficient Qi, which in turn results in an unanchored or disturbed Shen. The ultimate goal in many internal alchemy (Neidan) practices is to refine and transmute these substances upward: to conserve Jing and transform it into Qi, and to purify Qi to nourish and refine Shen—leading to spiritual awakening and longevity.

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Energy, Orgasm, and Misunderstanding

In practical terms, Qi corresponds to the neural activity perceived as an orgasmic sensation, and Jing refers to the seminal fluid. The practice consists of maintaining the feeling while avoiding ejaculation (in men) and guiding that sensation upward along the spine — a process described in the classics as the reversal.

This ascending sensation feels like a current. The authors of these theories — unaware of the nervous system — observed that ejaculation ended the feeling. From this correlation, they concluded that the sensation was sublimated Jing, renamed Qi. Modern physiology clarifies the misunderstanding: what they perceived as a “flow of energy” is in fact the propagation of neural and autonomic signals along the spine. The emission of semen merely ends the feedback loop that sustains the feeling. Correlation was mistaken for causation.

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The True Function: Training Consciousness

Once the decoupling of orgasm from ejaculation is achieved, Jing is out of the game. The only remaining actors are the feeling and the awareness—Qi and Shen, or however one prefers to name them. The sensation acts as a powerful anchor for meditation, training awareness to focus and release thought. This concentrated awareness, in turn, amplifies the sensation — a virtuous cycle. This is the essence of dual cultivation. The ultimate goal is a refined Shen — a consciousness able to see through appearances and recognize its true nature. Daoists call this realization the Dao; Buddhists call it Samadhi.

As focused attention is the key, overthinking the theoretical concept of “Jing” becomes a distraction that halts progress.

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Literalism and Its Dangers

Yet even today, some take the ancient writings literally — with disastrous consequences. I’ve seen online forums where self-proclaimed teachers advise “reabsorbing” semen, inspecting urine for turbidity, or even inserting a cannula into the urethra to “train the bladder to absorb fluids,” citing legendary masters who allegedly ingested mercury. No further comment is needed on this level of absurdity.

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The Myth of Loss

A related misreading concerns the classic injunction to “avoid losses.” The real message was simple: avoid ejaculation to sustain the feeling. This is the meaning of the phrase, “If the plum has not yet blossomed, it is too early; if it has already blossomed, it is too late.” There is a narrow window of opportunity to “catch” the Qi — during the first stirrings of orgasm, before ejaculation. If ejaculation occurs, it is not a catastrophe; it is merely a missed opportunity. There will be many more, as Jing (semen) is continually replenished by the body.

Once the skill is stable, occasional losses are inconsequential. In my Tantric practice, such episodes simply made my body temporarily more yin — more receptive — in the next session, which was actually beneficial. Yet many practitioners treat ejaculation as a disaster, believing it erases weeks of effort. In my opinion, this anxiety is unfounded. The body naturally releases excess fluid during nocturnal emissions when full — a physiological fact, not a spiritual failure.

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The Gender Bias and Its Origins

The distortions reach their peak when addressing women. Since women do not ejaculate, ancient theorists asked: what, then, is their Jing? The answer they proposed was menstrual blood. From there arose the absurd conclusion that women, because of their “monthly losses,” were less capable — or even incapable — of spiritual attainment.

Beyond its misogyny, this reasoning may have been politically convenient. In ancient China, dual cultivation was often linked to martial training — a strategic resource before gunpowder. Women commonly married into other clans, sometimes potential rivals. Restricting their access to energetic techniques was a form of secrecy, not metaphysics.

Yet this bias persisted for centuries, despite the evident fact that women are often better suited to sustaining the orgasmic flow. Their physiology supports multiple orgasmic modes — the clitoral (explosive, similar to male ejaculation), the G-spot (absorptive), and the cervical (deeply enveloping).

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A Grounded Conclusion

From my experience, the principle is simple:

• The essence of the practice is to sustain the energetic current as long as possible and move it with the attention.
• This requires avoiding ejaculation while maintaining the feeling. If it happens, you will have plenty of opportunities, simply start again.
• Seminal losses are natural. Don’t worry, your body replenishes it continuously for many years, and losses don’t harm your abilities once you get them.
• Far from being a limitation, the female physiology offers a head start in inner alchemy. 

In the end, correctly interpreting the three treasures reveals they are not substances to be hoarded, but stages in the refinement of awareness itself—from sensation to perception, from energy to clarity.