Later that night, when all was still, the graveyard was silent as death itself. There was no moonlight, and dark clouds blacked out the stars in the sky. There was no one in that desolate place but the three old wizards and their youthful apprentice, practicing inner exercises.
The three elders had already picked their spots and sat down. The Wayfarer of Pure Serenity told Wang Liping to choose a place for himself and sit there. He was to sit for four hours, concluding the session at one o’clock in the morning.
As Liping sat down to concentrate, he thought to himself that this exercise wouldn’t be hard, seeing as how his three teachers were right there. Little did he know that the three old wizards had already disappeared silently into the night: two had gone back to their abode, and one had stayed behind to watch over Liping from a distance.
The one who remained to supervise was the Wayfarer of Pure Serenity, who was a great practical joker. After Liping had entered into stillness, the Wayfarer began to produce all sorts of banshee cries and wolf howls to disturb the youth’s exercise. By now Liping had considerable accomplishment, however, and was completely unfazed by the bloodcurdling, spine-chilling shrieks and howls. He heard but didn’t listen, stolidly cultivating his inner work.
At the end of the midnight hour, Liping concluded his exercise. When he opened his eyes and looked, he saw that the three old masters were gone. Without another thought, he turned and set off on his way. Suddenly the youth saw a black shadow flitting back and forth in front of him, not very far away yet not too near, trying to block his way out of the graveyard.
Liping wondered whether he was really seeing a ghost. Even if it was a ghost, he thought, he wasn’t afraid. He just kept on walking, but now the black shadow flitted from side to side, trying to lead him around in circles. Steeling his nerves, circulating primal energy through his body, Wang Liping stretched his right hand out like a sword blade and thrust it with a tremendous shout directly into the black shadow.
Suddenly the black shadow disappeared, and Liping heard a laugh, crystal clear, right by his ear. Distinguishing the voice of his mentor the Wayfarer of Pure Serenity, Liping hurriedly said, “You’re still testing me!” The mentor then appeared, bragged a little about baffling the boy, then took him by the hand and led him back.
As it turned out, this exercise in the graveyard had numerous advantages. After practicing for a while, Liping felt yin and yang harmonize throughout his whole body; filled with pure energy, he also mastered the basis for the practice of stabilizing the spirit and guarding the house. Wang Liping learned that with courage, self-control, and calm assurance, it is possible to bring everything into silence, into absolute stillness. One is thoroughly solitary: both body and spirit are there, the self is their master, and the self enters into stillness, silence, tranquility, calm. “Once the mind is spontaneously quiet, the spirit is untroubled; when the spirit is untroubled, it is forever clear and calm.” Once the mind is quiet and the spirit is at peace, the only realization is emptiness; this emptiness is the Way. This is also an individual universe, an individual realm of experience.
After repeating these practices over and over again, Wang Liping developed further stability and self-possession. He went in and out of the graveyard like going in and out a door; the countless dead buried there didn’t bother him a bit. Spirit and soul untroubled, he had reached a considerable degree of attainment.
The three old wizards formed a powerful team, now devoting their total attention to the work of developing the next Transmitter. The Wayfarer of Pure Serenity was indeed very stern and harsh, but there was no question that he had a good heart. Now past seventy years of age, once again he was at his old work as a drill instructor. By day he would search all over for the best places to have Wang Liping do his exercises, making special spots into instruments to help the training. By night, he would oversee and supervise Liping doing his exercises. Having instructed and guided the youth, he also egged him on and helped him out, devoting a truly extraordinary effort to developing the new Transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism. He treated Liping as a son; indeed, their relationship was even closer than that of father and son.
And how are ordinary relationships between fathers and sons? Some people are loving and close. Some are loving but unable to provide guidance, leaving children to do it for themselves. There are those who provide everything, including guidance, but with questionable contents and methods. Although they have fine food and clothing, their hearts are not good. Cases of problematic behavior in children of good families are not rare. The work of education is important for the evolution of the human race.
In going through this systematic course of training, Wang Liping passed through one barrier after another. Adding studies of external exercises, he had by now cultivated a solid foundation in both inner and outer exercise. From the point of view of ordinary people, he was already extraordinary, but the old wizards knew that their youthful apprentice was as yet operating in the lower triple world, still quite far from the middle triple world.
4
Cultivating the Triple World
Han Zhongli was one of the Eight Immortals of popular Taoist legend. His disciple Lu Dongbin, another of the Eight Immortals, is among the greatest and most beloved Taoist wizards of all time. There is a book called Annals of Transmission of the Way from Zhong to Lu, which consists of dialogues between these two giants on the practice of inner spiritual alchemy. Collected, edited, and disseminated by the Taoist Master Huayang, this text includes the following discussion.
Lu asked, “What is the principle of the Great Way that is hard to know and hard to practice?”
Zhongli said, “Since minor auxiliary methods easily produce visible effects, and they have been popularized by worldly people who never wake up all their lives, this has become such a trend that it has come to the point of spoiling the Great Way.”
Lu asked, “I already know about minor auxiliary methods. Can I hear about the Great Way?”
Zhongli said, “The Way basically has no question; the question basically has no answer. But when true energy divides, total simplicity is already gone. The Way produces one, one produces two, two produce three. One stands for substance, two stands for function, three stands for creation and evolution.
“The substance and function are not beyond yin and yang; creation and evolution are caused by their interaction. The higher, middle, and lower are the three fundamentals; heaven, earth, and humanity collectively realize one Way. The Way produces the two energies, the two energies produce the three fundamentals, the three fundamentals produce the five elements, the five elements produce all beings.
“Of all beings, the most intelligent and most noble are human beings. Only human beings search out the principles of all things and fulfill their own nature; finding out principle and fulfilling nature, we arrive at destiny. Fulfilling our destiny, preserving our lives, we conform to the Way, to become as stable as heaven and earth, and to last forever in the same way.”
Lu said, “Heaven and earth last forever, but the human life span is only a hundred years, and indeed few even live to be seventy. How can the Way only exist in heaven and earth while being remote from humankind?”
Zhongli said, “The Way is not remote from people, but people distance themselves from the Way by trying to nurture life without knowing how. The reason they don’t know how is that they don’t know the right timing to make effort. The reason they don’t know the right timing is that they have not understood the mechanism of heaven and earth.”
The “mechanism of heaven and earth” refers to the laws by which the universe operates. Humanity is born between heaven and earth. A human being is a microcosm that is influenced and regulated by the macrocosm. Unless you know natural laws, proper timing, and appropriate method, there is no succeeding in learning the Way. Polish away the temperamental nature of acquired habit, and fundamental essential nature appears of itself. Casting aside the ordinary mind, keep the true mind. Where does the true mind resort? To Nature.