9th Posted December 30, 2015 Thunder is in the earth; return. Thus did the kings of yore shut the gates on the winter solstice; caravans did not travel, the ruler did not inspect the regions. Return means reversion and restoration. Above is earth, below is thunder; there is thunder in the earth. Thunder is something very active; when thunder stirs in the earth, the mechanism of enlivening operates, and myriad things are born. What the ancient kings saw in this was that as everything revives when the positive creative energy operates, so does the living potential return to humans when their positive energy becomes manifest. So they closed the gates on the winter solstice, not allowing caravans to go forth and trade, not allowing the ruler to go out and inspect the regions. This was all to get people to emulate the restoration of heaven and earth, nurturing this point of living potential, not letting it be damaged. What is the living potential? The potential is the natural innocent mind inherent in humans. This is the progenitor of life, the source of yin and yang. Once it falls into temporal conditioning, it becomes covered by temperament, and cannot be consistently manifest. When it occasionally does manifest, this is the time of the return of the celestial within the mundane. This time, however, is hard to gain and easy to lose; most people do not know it, and miss it even when it is right there. Because of this, the mundane gradually grows and the celestial gradually wanes. When the celestial is exhausted and mundanity is complete, there is only death. The shutting of the gates on the winter solstice is so that when the positive energy returns people will nurture it. Caravans not traveling means not allowing involvement with external artificialities to damage inner reality. The ruler not inspecting the regions means preventing keenness in criticizing others coupled with dullness in cultivating oneself. Once the gates are closed, one is careful and strict; inwardly thoughts do not arise, external things do not enter. Thus the positive energy cannot leak out. Thus it was that the ancient kings established their resolve for the sake of the world, and established order to enable the people to live. When superior people who practice the Tao refine themselves and master their minds, illumination arises in inner openness, and the living potential is activated; they should quickly gather it into the furnace of evolution, conscientiously forestall danger, carefully seal it and store it securely, fostering its growth from vagueness to clarity, until there is eventually a return of the celestial energy to pure completeness. This is the same idea as the ancient kings shutting the gates on the winter solstice. This time when the positive celestial energy first returns is the passageway of life and death; if you can avail yourself of it, you enter the road of life, but if you lose it you wind up on the road of death. "Shut the gates" here means closing the door of death; when the door of death is closed, the door of life opens. Heaven borrows human power, humans borrow celestial power; when heaven and humanity work together, the elixir of immortality crystallizes in a short time, without requiring years of effort. Unfortunately, most people do not seek the personal instruction of a genuine teacher, and miss the opportunity that is right before them. - Liu I-ming 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
9th Posted January 1, 2016 “Oh soul, you worry too much. You have seen your own strength. You have seen your own beauty. You have seen your golden wings. Of anything less, why do you worry? You are in truth the soul, of the soul, of the soul.” - Rumi 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
9th Posted January 12, 2016 Until we meet again... 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3bob Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) cool cosmos picture! our solar system is so very, very tiny and a single being on the surface of the earth is even smaller yet, but what moves and is deep inside that single being is equal in essence to the mover of the cosmos. Edited January 12, 2016 by 3bob 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) Where'd the cosmos picture come from? I grew up with a nice round picture of the constellations around earth with a 365 day calendar at its outer boundaries showing the relevant constellations to the seasons and when meteor storms would happen. I think it was this one: http://www.amazon.com/36-Map-Universe-Poster/dp/B00A91ZKLO/ref=pd_sim_229_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=61OD5iBjR2L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0SN3PNCV3Z28VZNV20HC Edited January 12, 2016 by thelerner 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
