After two months of this practice, Wang Liping had developed the ability to notice even the slightest movement of the grasses in the breeze. Doing this exercise in the mountains at night, he could physically sense even a rat scurrying by several meters away.
Once Liping had passed this barrier, the three Taoist wizards reduced the size of the box a little, so that Liping could only just fit inside, with no leeway whatsoever for movement. To avoid getting spiked, he was going to have to keep his body absolutely still. Since he already had months of basic training in quiet sitting and quiet standing, however, this exercise was just a matter of enhancing the degree of perfection, so Liping was able to master this exercise completely after a while.
The teachers also used to set “booby traps” for their apprentice, to test his concentration and foster an intelligent capacity of swift reaction. Once Liping crept up stealthily to where the old masters were staying, hoping to see what they were doing. All of a sudden there was a thunderous shout that sent him tumbling backward several yards, raising several lumps on his head. The Wayfarer of Pure Serenity laughed out from inside the shack—“You rascal! Why were you sitting outside our door?” Now Liping realized the old Taoists had been aware of his doings all along. From now on, he knew he had better watch out and not get careless.
Another time, when Wang Liping went to the outhouse, as he squatted over the cesspit he heard someone cry out below. Apparently someone had fallen into the sewage. Just as Liping was going to call out he heard the sound of the three old masters laughing. “I’ve been tricked by the old Taoists again,” he realized, restraining his upset. “I’ll get even! Just wait and see!”
As it turned out, this was one of the schemes of the Wayfarer of Pure Emptiness. His intention was to tune Liping, see to it that he maintained a high level of alertness at all times in the course of daily life, not being careless about details and subtleties. After this lesson, Liping certainly increased his watchfulness.
One day Wang Liping happened to see a thumbtack on the wall and hatched a plot of his own. Taking the tack, he put it on the bed of the Wayfarer of Pure Emptiness. Then, occupying himself with other matters, as though nothing were afoot, he quietly waited for the old wizard to get stuck, in revenge for past pranks. Little did he imagine that he himself would be the one to get stuck, that evening when he sat on his bed to practice inner exercises. Sharp as the pain was, however, he didn’t want to let on.
The Wayfarer of Pure Emptiness saw Liping was in pain, but just vaguely remarked, “Young fellow, you’re still soft!”
Getting his meaning, Wang Liping laughed bitterly and said, “You’re too ferocious!” Nevertheless, these little tests between teachers and disciple added no little amusement to the life of spiritual cultivation.
The next barrier was to practice internal exercise inside a huge urn. When inverted the urn was just large enough for Wang Liping to squat inside with lowered head. There were two bricks inside for him to squat on. The urn was placed over a cesspit, leaving just a seam of opening at the edge of the urn. The weather was very hot at the time, so when the sun was overhead, the urn was really boiling inside; anyone inside it would be running with sweat. The stench of the cesspit, furthermore, and the flies and vermin, all made Liping feel like vomiting. His mentor used this method to get Liping to be able to practice concentration single-mindedly under any conditions. In such an out-of-the-way place, this cesspit may have been the best tool for the purpose. The three old wizards really knew how to make use of the terrain and the items of the locality, taking from them the materials to set up places to practice Taoist exercises. Just as Wang Liping was finding it impossible to enter stillness and practice his exercise because of the disturbing conditions in and around the urn, he suddenly heard a rapping on the urn. Then he heard the coarse, powerful voice of the Wayfarer of Pure Serenity scolding him, “Stop thinking of other things! Focus on your exercise!” After a time, the Wayfarer again came and deliberately spoiled the atmosphere by scraping on the urn with a piece of brick; he wanted to see if the screeching would upset Liping. Feeling this test might not be severe enough, furthermore, he scooped up some slop from the cesspit and dribbled it over the top of the urn, intensifying the stench and causing maggots to crawl up into the urn.
Wang Liping couldn’t stand it anymore and cried out for mercy. He would have been better off not seeking pity, though, because asking for mercy only got him into deeper trouble. Seeing that Liping couldn’t quiet down, the old mentor added oil to the fire, pouring filth through the crack in the urn, fouling the youth with ordure. Liping knew that the Wayfarer of Pure Emptiness was the most severe of the masters in the process of training, never once showing him any quarter. All the youth could do was endure silently.
Ever since the first day in the dark room when he had embarrassed himself by incontinence, Liping had been making sure to prepare himself before each exercise. This time, though, when he needed to relieve himself, it was too much for him to bear. He wanted to tip the urn over and get out of there. But his mentor, seeing movement inside the urn, grabbed a stick and poked inside, jabbing Liping and wounding him in several places.
Liping couldn’t get out, yet he couldn’t hold it in. He had no choice but to relieve himself right there inside the urn. Knowing what had happened, his mentor scolded him for fouling his exercise place, demanding that he clean it up. Liping knew that the rules of conduct do not allow disobedience; since he had already sacrificed himself to the Way, he couldn’t do other than follow his teacher’s commands. He had no choice but to wipe up the mess with his own clothing.
After a few days of this exercise, Wang Liping gradually adapted to these surroundings, and his mentor no longer came to disturb him during his exercises. A truly extraordinary youth, he got through this barrier too, using stillness to master disturbance, master odor, and master filth, collecting his mind and nurturing essence, refining the nature of his mind to even greater purity.
Subsequently, seeing that the nearby cemetery could be used for exercises, the three old wizards added another item to the process of collecting the mind and developing essential nature. This they called “pacifying the spirit and guarding the house.”
Since this practice is hard to do, the three elders first called Liping to them and spoke to him seriously. “You have been practicing the Way for some time now,” they said to the youth, “and you have made great progress. Now we want to add another exercise to strengthen your courage and stabilize your higher soul. Do you dare to undertake it?”
Wang Liping knew only that he had to learn whatever exercise he was given. Without knowing what he was getting into, without any further thought, he replied in the affirmative.
The Wayfarer of the Infinite laughed and said, “Very good! This technique is carried out alone in a graveyard at night. Do you have the nerve?”
“That’s not so hard!” the youth replied.
Feeling that the youth’s spiritual state was favorable, the Wayfarer explained, “The ancients said that the relationship of the vital spirit to the physical body is as that of a sovereign to a country. If the spirit is restless within, the physical body deteriorates externally, just as a country falls into chaos below when the rulership above it is benighted.
“So educated people know that the physical body depends upon the spirit; while the spirit needs the body to remain present. Therefore they cultivate essential nature to preserve the spirit, and pacify the mind to keep the body intact. When body and spirit are intimate with each other, outside and inside are both taken care of.
“Those who live well are clear and open, calm and serene, with minimal selfishness and few desires. They do not keep the burdens of external things on their minds, so their purity of spirit is outstanding. Open-minded and unruffled, peaceful and unworried, maintaining this state by unity, nurturing it with harmony, they take care of daily affairs reasonably, equanimously attaining universal accord.
“Now you have already experienced the effects of collecting the mind and nurturing its essential nature, but you have not realized stabilization of the higher soul and strengthening of the earthly soul. That is why we are giving you another exercise, to stabilize your spirit.”
Liping