Daeluin

It follows the same principle. We have a dual sequence here. On one side we started with building yang, on the other side we start from yin convergence. So hexagrams 3 and 4, each representing the beginning stages of this building and withdrawing, become 5 and 6, which become 7 and 8, flowing through myriad transformations until we get to 23 and 24 transforming to 25 and 26 unfolding to 27 and 28, leading to the timeless hexagrams 29 and 30. Hexagram 23, Stripping Away, ䷖. This hexagram represents acquired yin dissolving yang; it follows on the previous hexagram biting through. In biting through, action requires understanding, so we first investigate principle. Investigating principle means investigating the principle of waning and waxing of yin and yang. Hexagram 23 ䷖ reversed is 24, Return, ䷗. This hexagram represents the return of yang within primordial yin; it follows on the previous hexagram adornment. Adornment is being clearminded and resting in the proper place, thereby to nurture clarity and operate the "fire" to gather primordial true yang. Gathering true yang is the path of returning yang in the midst of yin, reordering personal affairs, by which one can appropriate the creativity of nature and comprehend life and death, so that return is unfailingly developmental. Hexagram 25, Fidelity, ䷘. This hexagram represents vigorous advancement of yang; it follows on the previous hexagram stripping away. Stripping away means that when one submits to one's desires, yin strips away yang. The stripping away of yang is all because of not knowing how to advance yang, and having it stripped away by yin. If you know how to advance yang, and with total attention purely on reality, twenty-four hours a day, without interruption, consider essence [ming] and life [xing] the one matter of importance, then external things cannot thwart you, and you can gradually reach true fidelity, the state of integration with celestial principle; this is fidelity with the path of creation and development. Hexagram 25 ䷘ reversed is hexagram 26, Nurturance of the Great, ䷙. This hexagram represents incubation nurturing the spiritual embryo; it follows on the previous hexagram return. Return means restoration of the primordial energy. When the primordial energy comes back within, slight and vague to begin with, then becoming clearly evident, it restores the original self; the foundation of life is stabilized, the spiritual embryo is formed, and one enters from striving into nonstriving. Then one should carefully seal it and store it securely, forestalling danger, incubating and bathing, aiming for the great transformation, the unfathomable state of spiritual sublimation, making it indestructible and incorruptible. Hexagram 27, Nourishment, ䷚. This hexagram represents choosing good and holding fast to it, becoming empty to seek fulfillment. It follows on the previous hexagram fidelity. Fidelity involves strong action; without the work of care and nurturance, action and strength cannot be appropriate, and fidelity thus errs. This is why the path of nourishment is important; nourishment means nourishing what is right and getting rid of what is not right. So then in 28 we have Excess of the great, ䷛. This hexagram represents harmonious blending of the medicinal substances, in which fullness requires use of emptiness. It follows on the previous hexagram nurturance of the great. In nurturance of the great, one is strong yet can stop and be still; stilling strength, not letting yang energy get too excessive, is properly the means to nurture strength. It is interesting here that 27 ䷚ and 28 ䷛ are not backwards reversals of each other, but polar opposites of each other. Both of these are the same backwards as forwards, and signify a culmination of sorts in our sequence. Ahead lie the timeless hexagrams of 29, water, mastering pitfalls, ䷜ and 30, fire, clarity, ䷝. The sequence of 21, 23, 25 are lessons in fine balance and the necessity of ever present correctness, resulting in 27, the closed system of balanced action within stillness - balanced nourishment - which affects the gathering of the water. On the other side we have lessons in completion, the recovery of the ming leading to the operation of the xing - doing (striving) leading to non-doing (nonstriving). In non-doing the light of consciousness is turned around and preserves the ming as the xing develops. This is the operation of sealing found in 26 followed by the preservation of the fullness by emptiness in 28 ䷛. This fullness preserved by emptiness signifies preparation for the clarity of fire - just like a window pane is clear yet substantial. Now we come to the timeless, Hexagram 29, Mastering Pitfalls ䷜. This hexagram represents the presence of white within black, restoring yang within yin; it follows on the previous hexagram nourishment. Nourishment means seeking fulfillment by emptiness, seeking the true yang that has fallen in a pit. In human beings, after heaven and earth interact, the one point of original yang runs to the palace of earth ☷; earth is filled in and becomes water ☵, and heaven ☰ changes into fire ☲. At this point yin traps the yang; the celestial root is obscured and the mind gets involved with things. Though near to reality by nature, people become estranged from it by habit - descending lower and lower by daily repetition of habit, they fall into a state of ignorant obstinacy and do not know how to stop. And its polar opposite, Hexagram 30, Fire ䷝. This fire embraces the female within it; the hexagram symbolizes the presence of yin within yang, and follows on the preceding hexagram excess of the great. In excess of the great, there is too much yang strength, exercising creativity at will, misusing its light. Illumination is the energy of open awareness in the palace of fire (the heart); it is the spirit of humans, the master of mind. When the mind is open it is aware; the original spirit is in charge of affairs, and illumination is managed properly. One can thereby balance yang. When the mind is unruly, it wanders; the discriminatory consciousness handles affairs, and illumination is not properly directed. This is sufficient to damage yang. Therefore fire is beneficial to correctness and development. Naturally Liu I-ming describes much more on each hexagram. Hope this helps!

Well... don't give me any credit - this is why I like the Taoist I Ching - Liu I-ming describes in simple terms what is very subtle and hidden. All the green is from that text. The sequence shows how we can rebuild the primordial from two directions at once. Even as we build up the primordial from the inside, the outside will ever be wearing away at it, and thus two dynamics are ever in operation. This is the firing process - each hexagram applies to a specific time or phase within change - when one is able to identify these phases, the hexagrams describe how to return to balance. The four timeless hexagrams (䷀, ䷁, ䷜, ䷝) stand on their own, inherent and necessary at all times.

Same sequence. The Heaven and Earth absolutes of yang and yin at the beginning, which slowly integrate and end up in even distribution. The unfolding sequence describes a sequence of pairs - pairs operating in reverse of each other, each beginning from an opposing extreme - all yang or all yin. Beginning with Heaven ䷀ (1) and Earth ䷁ (2). Clear polarities. Then we have difficulty, ䷂, (3). This hexagram represents starting the advancement of yang ; it follows on the hexagram heaven. Heaven is the quality of strength; advancement of yang is advancement of that strength. It is precisely because of not being strong that one promotes strength. When reversed, difficulty, ䷂, become darkness, ䷃, (4). This hexagram represents starting the operation of yin convergence. The hexagram follows on the previous hexagram earth. Earth means going on the path of submission and receptivity; carrying out yin and convergence means returning recalcitrant yin to submission. Then we have (5), waiting, ䷄. This hexagram represents nurturing strength, awaiting the proper time; it follows on the previous hexagram difficulty. Difficulty is movement and action in danger, restoring the primordial while in the midst of the temporal. Therefore one travels the path of strength and firmness and takes the true yang fallen in water ☵ out. However, when the yang has been trapped in water for a long time, it is not possible to get out of danger immediately; one must lead it on gradually, waiting for the proper time to gather it. One cannot presume upon one's strength and set about the task impetuously - that would bring on danger. And when reversed, waiting, ䷄, becomes contention, ䷅, (6). This hexagram represents the downfall of truth and the contest for victory; it follows on the previous hexagram darkness. In darkness there is danger, yet one is able to stop. whereby to effect progress of the yin of the acquired temperament. People receive the energy of the temporally conditioned yin and yang and five elements, which forms their body; those who have received excessive yin energy are wily, while those who have received excessive yang energy are impetuous. Those whose yin and yang energies are mixed up are both wily and impetuous. And so on, following from the polar extremes of yang advancement and yin convergence until they meet in the middle at the end - the two sides of the great river.

I can relate, in my own way. Much of my early life was drained away by hyper awareness and sensitivity to external elements. At first I was so excited to share mutually with others, but they never reflected my enthusiasm, and I was "broken" long before learning to turn my light inward. But I never gave up. Many years and patterns passed and gradually I let my heart lead me to live in a new state where I immediately found my teacher... though it would be 4 more years before I could adjust to afford the humble school I now attend - but my heart knew deep inside what I needed, and my unwavering commitment to this goal has eventually led me through great healing. Often when we receive messages from outside that what we have isn't wanted, it is a lesson for us to focus inward instead. The people and situations around us will likely remain blind to our gifts until we truly learn to change inside and learn to really love ourselves for all that we are, needing no external validations what-so-ever. It is then that we may begin to become seen by the outside world, but of course recognition is not the path of the tao. The same applies to possessions and anything built-up in the external world. If it continues to be taken from us, we probably don't need it to be whole. True love comes from the embrace you give yourself from the outside in. Nothing is comparable.

Ref. Absolutes are great to theorize about, but for most of us it is helpful to be aware which mind is currently holding the reigns.

If the fire inside is waning, find something to re-ignite it. What are you doing here? What are you passionate about? How committed are you to finding and achieving your destiny, and to discovering and unwinding the karmic puzzles you've left for yourself? If your sincerity is deep enough, and if you maintain it by consistent focus and renewal, your fire will get stronger, and will come from deep within, not needing external supplement. Yes, things that release sincerity will put that fire out. These challenges ever come to test our commitment as the pressures within build, and it is when our internal fire cannot overcome the blockages that we end up distracting ourselves by extreme means which release the build-up of pressure externally - sexual release, drugs, overeating, over socializing/partying/working.... but it is important to understand the principle here. Sexual release that is mutually goal oriented can help to use the external for developing the internal. Overworking can serve to develop discipline, even while furthering projects that will serve your employer and hopefully affect some positive return upon your own path, feeding the external so that the external feeds the internal. What is important is to recognize how well things are serving you, and being consistently sincere and present. Sometimes our shadow is dominant, and battling is not appropriate - fighting creates duality within. So sometimes being present and sincere and true to ourselves even as we explore the manifestations of our shadow can be incredibly developmental. Just some reflections from my perspective - I hope you are able to find what you need to renew your light.

Is void of manifestation the same as void of anything? Or does our cultivation of awareness of this void bring awareness to the unmanifested? When we are able to settle deeply within the unmanifested, is there any use for thoughts? Or do we feel the natural patterns as they are, the ebbs and flows all around us, and simply allow harmonious being? Is there a necessity of manifesting thought? This is not mindlessness.

It's all about balance. Ultimately one should be fully relaxed, but as one is learning to dissolve blockages, perhaps strengthening weaknesses will help regain balance. But this is all subtle work. As we strengthen one area, perhaps we reach the point of balance; then continuing on will simply imbalance things in the other direction. Simultaneously, as one imbalance is corrected, other imbalances become subtly predominant. So while techniques are great, over-emphasis of their practice may cause their own imbalances. Finding a teacher can greatly help, otherwise if one is not careful it may be easy to swing back and forth on side-paths, while the center path remains elusive. But hey, the journey is important too, forever containing messages about where the true center lies - remember, all life is part of the journey, not just the practice sessions.

The very nature of spirituality is of a dynamic without separation between self and other, and thus without notions of privacy or ownership. However, life we as live it includes the spiritual and the earthly realms. Earth already operates under the rules of Heaven, simply with an added dimension of internal/external - self/other. Water flows freely following spiritual principle, merging with all it passes, and too follows earthly principle, adhering to the gravity of our planet. Yet many chose to bottle it up and sell it, and indeed even as it is ever present and available we have turned it into something to be earned rather than simply had freely. The justifications that may be applied to setting a price upon water may easily be extended to spirituality. The earth beneath our feet is owned by no one, and those who would insist otherwise are trapped by the dynamic of self and other. What is free is always free, and yet the merging of boundaries upon the boundless ever serves the principle of post-celestial operation - evolution. Spirituality is no exception - even as it remains ever boundless in extremity, we still shall see its increasing integration into the bounded as post-celestial evolution continues on and on. The reverse is also true - the more we integrate the boundless, the less absolute the boundaries.

First, as soaring crane explained, this sequence operates in pairs. This can be seen as day unfolding into night, creating a sequence that follows day to day and night to night, exploring the mirrored transformations of predominant yang dynamics and predominant yin dynamics, even as the changes from these opposite perspectives both approach completion. The Taoist I Ching always describes the sequential transformations from one hexagram to the next, providing great insight into the methodology behind these changes. While they don't appear to follow a simple pattern, I think the whole thing is a pattern. Take Hexagram 26, ䷙, which transforms to Hexagram 28, ䷛. This may not make mathematical sense, but it resonates with my experience profoundly. In 26 we have the pressure of mountain helping to nurture and preserve the energy of heaven. But this post-celestial sequence describes what happens naturally when all that nurtured energy wants to change and find integration with the outside world. As one stops utilizing the containing force of the mountain, all of that stored up energy will now want to pour forth, the bottom trigram of heaven turning to wind and stirring up that energy, and the top trigram turning to lake. When lake is calm, settling and transformation can take place - but here, the powerful heavenly wind below it wants to burst forth, and thus the lake becomes intensely happy and has ample fuel to apply in feeding this happiness in external gratifications. In my own cultivation work, I notice this is precisely what occurs after intense practice sessions, and much discipline is required to maintain frugality and simplicity. I'm far from fully understanding this sequence, but in my efforts I see it as a post-celestial unfolding - a description of evolution towards greater complexity of integration between yang and yin, beginning with what is pure. The Cantong Qi recommends using this sequence to follow the lunar month of ~30 days and nights using 60 hexagrams (excluding heaven, earth, fire, water).... I still haven't reached the root of this, but exploration of this day to day unfolding has been quite profound.

Thanks so much Steve, I am really looking forward to exploring this! And I've created a new thread to continue the tradition.

Any interest in having a "Men's Cultivation" sub-forum? A place to dump the majority of sexual topics of a masculine nature that keep popping up? Might help the general forums become a bit more gender neutral... and possibly more mature feeling (at a cursory glance at the topic titles in any case). Reference: http://thetaobums.com/topic/36402-the-living-hell-of-the-man-who-orgasms-100-times-a-day/ Might also help those new posters find threads to contribute to rather than starting new threads. Searching just doesn't seem trendy enough for some, but if it is right there in their face...

Wandering has always felt more natural to me than pouring my energy into temporal structures I am then bound to. In wandering, I present and surrender myself before change, and those who cross my path do so not because they have my address or expectations. There is greater synchronicity involved. Rumors only really value an idea of something. When we wander, it is more difficult for that idea to catch up to us and hold us down, and it is also easier to be constantly changing so fully that we are never quite approaching things the same way twice. If one does settle down, one would be wise to tread carefully when deciding to acknowledge that one had anything to do with healing, unless one wishes to accept the responsibility for being tied to that path. They say to do the weeding when the weeds are small after all. Oh how quickly a reputation for healing hemorrhoids may spread, and then all you can do is heal hemorrhoids! What happens when the hemorrhoids come back - oh, now we go visit the sage. Much more difficult to say no after external value has become established, and much more difficult to get people to accept responsibility for their own healing when they believe it is easier to seek out another. Tao is ever the path existing between the lines, invisible, and those who seek out X to heal Y are following the path of lines. Better the healer just disappear and the seeker learn to read between the lines. Wang Liping is standing way out there like a beacon of light, but his light points right back at the Taoist Cannon. He helps others learn to find the Tao, and shows others how powerful the Tao can be. But I don't see him contriving new doctrines or spreading any confusion that isn't the result of people's stagnant beliefs being shaken up a bit. I wonder how how he finds balance between personal life and idolization. Opening the Dragon Gate suggests he wandered to some sacred mountains to replenish the spent energy after the first massive seminar. Perhaps he continues to find balance in powerful ways. Best of luck to him.

Indeed. Let's hope this one gets hammered into the root without being bent along the way.

From what I recall from the book, from Shen Laoshi's blog, from posts regarding WL on this forum, etc, Wang Liping does not appear as someone with any interest in money. Rather, in the book he is described as continuing to live under very minimal circumstances, supporting his family and community, and traveling abroad for various seminars as necessary. He eats very simple foods and does not appear overly ambitious. In our forum there is a discussion of him calling out someone attempting to charge large sums of money for a retreat he never even agreed to attend. Wang Liping appears to have a destiny to publicize the Taoist arts, and thus has stepped into the public light, in order to expand common knowledge and experiences of true taoist work, in the midst of a world where it is so easy to stumble upon teachings that do not reach the root. Certainly this book and the abounding tales of his spiritual efficacy have put him on a pedestal. Does he maintain this pedestal, or simply allow it, without corrections, while maintaining true to his core practices and teachings, and while continuing to live a simple life? It is so easy for rumor to take on a life of its own and to threaten the freedom of the Sage, hence Zhuangzi's advice to stay hidden and work invisibly. If Wang Liping is able to stand in this position and do this work, then lucky us. I trust he knows the perils of pedestals.

Exactly. Do you believe we fundamentally change the root of it's shape, or do we change what is necessary and build on top of it thereafter? I just work from taoist cosmology. It's fairly simple and fundamental.... I posted a bit on this here. Heaven and Earth are the Spiritual and Physical realities, operating with their own rules, and on this planet there are many layers where we can see the blending of heaven and earth, resulting in different effects. Where these two dynamics rest upon each other there is friction, and QI is created. In humans, the spirit resting upon the physical would create the myriad types of bodily systems, from the more basic, Earthly oriented digestive, circulatory, to the higher vibration types of consciousness. In taoism the 7 po souls return to the earth, and the 3 hun souls return to heaven, by nature of their fundamental energetic makeup, etc. Because the necessary components have been separated, consciousness does not continue on, and the energy of the souls remains trapped in whatever patterns are applicable to it's unique design until the specific conditions arise through which it may reunite in a new merger of the Heavenly and Earthly components. And this cycle continues until one cultivate that consciousness to a pure enough unity so that the hun and po are unable to separate upon physical death.

or like asking someone to assassinate you in a particular manner and then asking them why they did it. funny how we so often deal with life's lessons by asking for what we really want from ourselves and not letting others give us what we really need, because we can't stomach accepting from others what we haven't learned to give to ourselves yet. but generally the ones who make it through these hurdles seem to be all right with taking from others and lying to themselves. by "make it through" I really mean "learn to permanently hide from themselves" Expectation is the hoary curse of humanity.

I think sexual conversations are great and this is a mature place for them. But there does seem to be a fantastic category of topics dominated by the physics of semen and how the hell we're supposed to work with it. Enough to make it seem worthy of its own venerated hall... might also help men learn to treat their sexuality a little more sacred as well. There's a lot to divine masculinity people miss out on. Flolfolil... I came across this... ... and I can't decide if I want to apologize for derailing a thread you were intentionally hoping would serve the purpose I supported in helping to derail. I'm sorry! And you're welcome!

As many come here to post about this stuff and are clearly looking for answers, I don't think it would need to be a private subforum. The ones who are serious enough to put something into practice are going to find their way here anyway. I'm mainly curious to see what the general forums would be like without a predominant theme of sexuality. And it is entirely possible more women would take interest in posting here if they didn't see the general chat dominated by sexual titles and get the wrong impression. Who really knows?

Oh, you make me laugh. Thanks!

An unborn child on the other hand, has had their spirit reincarnate into a fetus and the more the fetus grows the more that spirit becomes integrated physically and energetically into this new physical body. I'd wager not the same as being dead - plenty of growing life! In Chinese astrology, before the winter solstice there is a period of stillness, entering back into the deepest of the deep. This is a stage of death, where one lets go of everything else and meditates upon the events of the year. The period following the winter solstice is the forming of the seed - not the sprouting yet, the forming. This is the time where the embryo takes shape and the merest hint of an idea for what life will look like in the coming year is formed. This seed gradually matures, then the shell hardens around it and it is manifested into reality, and finally, at the dawn of spring on February 4th it germinates. So the spirit joins the body immediately after conception, but there are many stages, and sometimes things just don't work out. Some say after a certain period of days the spirit reaches a type of maturity (human design?), some say that birth is the final stepping stone - a major one certainly.... but there are also indications that the spirit continues to develop and come more fully into one's self over years and years, and that the same spirit may exist in more than one place at once. Perhaps one body isn't fully able to hold it, perhaps it is doing work elsewhere, maybe even in another physical incarnation. Spirit by definition is less concerned with the distinction between self and other. So what of the unborn spirit? Out of phase? Even Marblehead might agree that when a new life comes into being the mass and energy come from somewhere. The distinction here might be whether or not that energy is completely pure or has a unique pattern to it, and if such a pattern might function like DNA, carrying the memory of change over time.

Being unborn is getting to before there is the polarity of life and death. The whole life flashing before your eyes thing over the course of seven days as the red raven descends, or whatever Neidan texts say. After that you may be unborn, but you've still been alive and dead before many times and have inherited your past life shells. So at this point you spend nine years shattering the emptiness, dissolving any evidence that you ever lived or died, returning the many bodies to one. This would also appear to be the work distinguishing a celestial immortal from a heavenly immortal. Info on this seems pretty well hidden though... anyone know of some good reference material?

Does it? The standard hiking pace you envision appears to be a tad quicker than the current status quo. I think it says that in the long history of taoism there has been a bit too much focus on this kinda stuff, and the tides of karma are letting us know this is one of the main things that comes to mind when people think about taoism. In TCM I've heard you never want to cut away what is too strong (in our case the flood of sexual inquiries), but rather you want to strengthen everything else. To oppose is to maintain anyway, so I doubt you'd get very far with policing what appears to be an endless train of new posters who have been outfitted with expectations of instant gratification in lieu of search technology. These days apparently it's the girls that draw them. Actually I think that idea of a "Men's Cultivation" subforum might be pretty great. Then we can compare and contrast with the women's and see at a glance which side is more cultivated. Edit: Started a thread to see if there's any support for this here: http://thetaobums.com/topic/36418-mens-cultivation-forum/

Yang energy can be viewed as the firmness of stored up potential energy. Something strong and unmoving. A steel beam holding the weight of a skyscraper. The wound up energy of a drawn bow-string. A room full of gold with locked doors. The creative potential of ten thousand writers, artists and engineers. Yang energy can also be viewed as strong force. The loosing of the arrow from that bow. The crushing might of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes. Anger unleashed. People who like talking all the time and have difficulty listening. Anything wielding strength to manipulate things and events rather than flowing where there is room and acting with tact. Yang in the context of the symbols of Heaven and Earth, is Heaven. Earth is the gravity, the substance, the empty cup, and Heaven is the life force of spirit drawn into and stored on Earth. Hexagram #2 is called Receptivity, because the substance it provides allows all things to manifest within that substance. This Receptivity at its most pure is like an absolutely empty vessel, able to be filled by anything. In some Qi Gong practices, practitioners stand in meditation with palms facing the earth, emptying and grounding, cultivating receptivity and stilling the mind. Then maintaining roots they turn the palms upwards to embrace Heaven, allowing their empty vessel to be filled with this pure, creative, spiritual potential energy. It is said understanding Hexagrams #1 and #2 can result in understanding the whole I Ching. One may read Hexagram #1, line #1 as an interpretation for any hexagram containing a Yang line as line #1. One may read Hexagram #2, line #1 as an interpretation for any hexagram containing a Yin line as line #1. And so on. Hexagram #1 represents the strongest possible potential energy. It resonates with phases in time like the Summer Solstice. High Noon, the hottest part of the day. The full moon. The full moon is an interesting one, as the moon cycle has a slow enough pace to build up quite a bit of power, but also short enough for us to repeatedly observe and identify the effects. When Yang culminates, Yin is born. When Yin Culminates, Yang is born. So here we have Hexagram #1, representing the culmination of Yang, the height of potential energy - and we're not talking about something static here, the I Ching is about CHANGE. So this energy is under great pressure to stay whole, and often is going to burst under that pressure, Yang culminating and allowing Yin to enter in from the bottom. Day after day the moon waxes, growing fuller an fuller, until it reaches the fullest moment (when in opposition to the sun), and at that point Yang culminates and Yin enters from the bottom. This resulting change can be studied in hexagram #44, but all I'll say here is that one Yin line entering in at the bottom has the potential to use up all of that stored up Yang energy in one fell swoop. So the situation Hexagram #1 represents is rather precarious - on one hand representing the purest, strongest and most complete energy possible, but when the pressure breaks able to be used up in a heart-beat. Kinda like spending that hard earned paycheck all at once rather than saving it. The I Ching, especially the Taoist I Ching, advises one to be firm (yang) on the inside, and flexible (yin) on the outside. In this way one avoids using force, and avoids spending what one has stored up in wasteful ways - only spending what is needed in little bits. In the consumerist paradigm we are conditioned to spend even before we have saved anything up, using the potential stored in the future (in case it isn't clear, I'm talking about credit cards and loans). So this idea of self-discipline is very important in order to save what we have and only spend what is necessary, so as to cultivate longevity. More can be studied in hexagrams #26 and #28.

I think the line is subtle here, but my sense is that this forum is for more scholarly discussions using textual reference or detailed examinations of historical texts - as distinguished from open-ended subjectivity based theorizing and non-goal oriented discussion. Where this thread ends up will likely be related to the direction the posters take it. This story is solidly Taoist, but was written by two students who interviewed Wang Liping, so is not an autobiography in the literal sense, and was subsequently translated, so there are multiple layers of interpretation here. On the other hand, I wonder just how deeply a sophisticated intention can influence things like this.