How should I understand energy in spiritual practice?

To understand energy in spiritual practice, begin with what the term is trying to explain. There is no need to rush to memorize a long list of terms. Soul, primordial spirit, original spirit, and external spirit each refer to something particular. Clarifying these meanings is more helpful than continually arguing over which word to use.

Sheng Zhen Men often discusses spiritual practice in terms of yin, yang, and energy. The intention is to help people understand why rituals are performed in particular ways and how they connect with the energy of deities and Buddhas. Traditional rituals have their reasoning. Understanding their purpose also allows for different approaches. In my understanding of spiritual practice, understanding yin, yang, and energy allows different possibilities and the development of spiritual powers and abilities.

Sheng Zhen Men's appearance offers an example. The building looks like a villa, some furnishings have a Japanese style, and most deity statues are gilded natural wood rather than the usual painted figures. Ceremonies are also adjusted according to people's needs, attendance, and the deities' guidance. Although the forms vary, the direction remains understanding energy and communicating with the deities and Buddhas.

When considering where spiritual practice is leading, we also need to understand what we mean. Some speak of returning to a heavenly home; others speak of returning to the source of their spirituality. First come to know your true self so you know where you wish to return. In discussing intermediate goals, I have also used the more readily imaginable heavenly realm as an explanation, followed by learning toward higher states. With deeper cultivation and pure convictions, a person may also take a different path. People's circumstances and goals do not have to be identical.

To make energy easier to understand, I also draw on sound, color, and frequency. When I studied digital music, a teacher shared ideas about understanding the body and healing through frequency, which I found interesting. This was something I heard shared at that time. Returning to spiritual practice, we still need to understand what we mean by these expressions, then explore our intentions and actual experiences rather than stopping at terminology.

If you ask what energy actually refers to, you can begin with influences you experience in everyday life. I discuss sounds, colors, objects, and environments because they can evoke different feelings. A singing voice may feel pleasant and appealing; noisy sounds may make you irritable. Here, energy is a way of helping people observe how they and their surroundings affect each other from the perspective of spiritual practice. It does not assign a measurement to every feeling.

I often describe positive energy as comfort, happiness, warmth, and expansive love, and negative energy as discomfort, unhappiness, sorrow, and distress. Noticing these states helps us understand the present situation and know when to approach or step back. It does not mean treating someone who is sad as a bad person. If someone is angry and both people are unsettled, a direct confrontation may worsen the conflict. Keeping some distance then is more practical than merely arguing over whose energy is higher.

Yin and yang cannot simply be equated with negative and positive either. When discussing yin and yang, I have explicitly said that yang is not always good and yin always bad. Enthusiasm can be excessive, and reserve has its uses. The purpose of understanding these descriptions is to see the situation clearly and find what needs adjustment.