 The practice outlined above is often described as the generation of “a person outside one’s person” (or “a self outside oneself”, shen zhi wai shen), defined as the “true person” (zhenshen; compare  §6.3).  In this case, the main stages of the practice are portrayed as the conception, gestation, and birth of an embryo, which personifies the practitioner’s realized state (Despeux 2016). In another view, the Internal Elixir is seen as already possessed by every human being and as identical to one’s own innate realized state. Liu Yiming (1734–1821) expresses this view by saying: “All human beings have this Golden Elixir complete in themselves: it is entirely realized in everybody”. Other authors of Neidan texts state in their works that “the Golden Elixir is in front of your eyes”.