Sunday, March 27, 2005

What do the Ancients teach?

After spending much time on the Ancients’ thoughts, my simple understanding is that the great masters (Laozi, Confucius, Buddha and others) all teach a way to cultivate and return to the Tao. The neo Taoists (including immortals), neo Confucians and neo Buddhists (including Bodhidharma) named this method as the cultivation of both essence and bodily life. To return to the Tao one therefore has to meditate (essence) and cultivate virtues (bodily life) forming the main part of one’s cultivation.
Lest you forget about the ancient Book of Changes (I Ching or Zhouyi), there are references to the trigrams and hexagrams in inner alchemy texts so it is advisable to study the Zhouyi too. If you do divination it can heighten your spiritual awareness. And if the Zhouyi truly speaks to you, wow!
Writing here may spark intensity to analyze and research the Ancients’ thoughts in a different perspective from what you and I have delved in so far. Learning shall not cease. Sometimes the truth is in front of you, inside you, or out there.

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