The Five Aspects of Shen EN

In a human, the spirits are in the heart of life. They found their being, enlighten their awareness and guide their behavior.
We'll start by exploring what we can learn about these spirits from the great classical texts. Through a carefully selected choice of these texts, we will explain the five concepts - Shen, Hun, Po, Yi (intent), Zhi (will) - that allow a rich and useful analysis of the working of the human heart-mind; and examine how it leads each human being toward the accomplishment of their nature and destiny.
Then we will see how these five sprits have been associated to each of the five basic movers of Qi (Five Phases or Elements) and, consequently, to the Five zang organs which are their representatives in a human being.
We will pay a special attention to the pair formed by Yi and zhi (Intent and Will) to understand how they may be called « spirit ».

Through the analysis of the Chinese characters and the study of medical and non medical texts from the Chinese tradition, we will identify the salient features of each of them, their relationships and their hierarchy. This will allow the practitioner to understand better the importance of the spirits in the good health as well as in pathology