Western Alchemy would be in some ways similar to Chinese Internal Alchemy, and Tantra and Vajrayana or Esoteric Buddhism is also similar. There is a tendency towards elitist lineages and traditions regarding many of these things, particularly in Asian and East Asian schools, but much of the source material is freely available though not always translated, which may require information gathered from experts who know the language and have studied the matters. As for over-emphasis of familial lineages, these act as a fallacy or fallacious gimmick and do not necessarily validate the modern interpretations taken on as being the same or comparable to the ancient sources or interpretations.
There are papers written comparing Plato and the work of Platonists and Neo-Platonists with the Chinese and developments which appeared in some ways similar within China and nations influenced by India and China.
There is a heavy medical focus in most modern literature regarding these things which often moves away from more philosophical or spiritual interests. This is also due to a strong and somewhat ancient emphasis on longevity and health being the manifest result of spiritual felicity and religious health. If one is well, then all is well, and so the focus became much more on wellness than on spiritual cosmologies or metaphysics except in relation to how it might be made manifest in a strong and healthy person. Certain schools from India which were the predecessors to Buddhism also focused at times heavily on physical manifestations of powers which made their way to China.
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