Shen is best translated as
Spirit. It is an elusive concept, perhaps because, in the medical tradition, it is the Substance unique to human life...Shen is the vitality behind
Jing and
Qi in the human body. While animate and inanimate movement are indicative of
Qi, and instinctual organic processes reflect Jing, human consciousness indicates the presence of
Shen.
Shen is associated with the force of human personality, the ability to think, discriminate, and choose appropriately, or, as is commonly said: "Shen is the awareness that shines out of our eyes when we are truly awake."
--from The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted J Kaptchuk, OMD
