A Discussion on the Dao
An old Daoist priest who had practiced magical arts for many years happened to be traveling and came to discuss with me. We exchanged techniques in magical arts and gained much from it. However, he also confessed that he had hit a bottleneck in his thinking. Knowing that I had a wide range of interests, he wanted to see if there was any opportunity for progress. So, he brought a box full of his sect's magical texts to exchange ideas. It was hard to refuse such enthusiasm, so I accepted. After a period of discussion, the following content on discussing the Dao emerged.
He: Recently, I've hit a bottleneck. The more I practice, the more elusive the goal seems, and the more doubts arise. I always feel there's something I can't break through, and I can't find any direction at all.
Me: Tell me, what doubts do you have?
He: I know that magical arts are realized through spirits, but although my connection with spirits is smooth, there are some things I want to accomplish, but the spirits do not approve, so I still can't do them.
Me: Can you do nothing without the spirits?
He: How can I do anything without the spirits?
Me: Did the Dao De Jing tell you to worship spirits? Did the Yin Fu Jing tell you to worship spirits?
He: Although these classics don't say so, in reality, we still accomplish things through worshipping and connecting with spirits. Only spirits can change human affairs.
Me: That is your bottleneck.
He: Please instruct me.
Me: The original Daoist scriptures do not contain a single word telling you to worship ghosts and spirits, indicating that worshipping ghosts and spirits is not the path of cultivation. The Yin Fu Jing states clearly: "People know the reason why they are divine, but do not know the reason why they are not divine."
He: What do you mean? No spirits?
Me: No.
He: Then what?
Me: Your bottleneck lies in firmly believing in the existence of spirits, so that your magical arts are effective. But if your magical arts can also be effective when you believe there are no spirits, that would be progress.
He: How is that possible?
Me: The skills of the Dao have always been about making the impossible possible, and this is no exception.
He: If I didn't know your abilities, I would suspect you are talking nonsense!
Me:所谓真幻无别 (There is no difference between truth and illusion). You are currently entering an illusion, so you need to break the illusion. Only by breaking the current illusion can you see the truth.
He: Do you mean all spirits are illusions?
Me: In the past, someone went to see the sea and told me what the sea was like. Because I had seen pictures of the sea and the sea on TV, I imagined the appearance of the sea in my mind and thought that was the sea. When reading others' articles and seeing the word "sea," I would think of the image of the sea in my mind. But one day, when I arrived at the seaside, I found that the sea was actually quite different, much richer than the sea in my mind. Spirits are the same. What you perceive is the spirit you perceive, but this does not mean that the spirit you know is the real spirit. The spirit you connect with is only the spirit you believe in.
He: So there are still spirits, how can we understand it from the perspective of no spirits?
Me: Where do all things come from?
He: Of course, from the Dao.
Me: What is the Dao?
He: I don't know.
Me: Since you don't even know, how can you say all things come from the Dao? If you don't know, you naturally can't comprehend the Dao. If you haven't comprehended the Dao, how can you talk about it?
He: You are right. I don't even know what the Dao is. So what is the Dao?
Me: Let's not talk about what the Dao is first, as it is too profound. Let's talk about reality first. What is the Primordial Qi?
He: All things gather and scatter due to Qi, but this is the acquired Qi. The acquired Qi comes from the primordial Qi. The acquired Qi takes form, while the primordial Qi is formless and imageless, invisible to the eye, inaudible to the ear, filling the space between heaven and earth. This one Qi is the Primordial Primordial Qi.
Me: Do all things come from the Primordial Qi?
He: Yes.
Me: Where does the part that does not constitute all things, the "non-existent" part, come from?
He: When it has not yet transformed into all things, its manifestation in this world is "non-existence."
Me: So, since the Primordial Qi becomes "non-existence" before taking form and "existence" after taking form, and spirits are also transformed from the Primordial Qi, why can't "no spirits" also be transformed from the Primordial Qi?
He: Hmm... yes, this needs to be thought about carefully.
Me: Whether there are spirits or not is not the issue. The issue is what happens if there are, and what happens if there are not. This is observing the boundaries with existence and the subtleties with non-existence. The reason your magical arts have hit a bottleneck is because you have only grasped the boundaries, not the subtleties.
He: I have another question. Since I only grasp half, although there is still a gap compared to you, I must say without modesty, why do I feel my level is much higher than most other mages? Some other mages seem to have deeper insights, but many of their spells are not as effective as mine, nor do they produce immediate results like I do.
Me: This is because your practice of "existence" is much deeper than that of ordinary mages. It's like studying both Chinese and Math at the same time; you are very good at Math, so you score high. Others study both, but although they are comprehensive, they haven't studied either well enough to score high. Insight and practice are always different. Others lack practice, while you, although successful in Daoist arts, lack insight.
He: I understand. But without spirits, what will my magical arts use to manifest?
Me: The Nature of Dao.
He: The Nature of Dao? Everyone has the Nature of Dao. If you have the Nature of Dao, you can cast spells. Hmm, that makes sense.
Me: Regarding the Nature of Dao, you must also understand the Nature of Dao.
He: Please instruct me.
Me: I ask you, since all things have the Nature of Dao, is there a Nature of Dao outside of all things?
He: Inside or outside all things, everything comes from the Dao, so naturally, there is also the Nature of Dao.
Me: Is there anything without the Nature of Dao?
He: Everything is evolved from the Dao, so naturally, there is no such thing as having no Nature of Dao.
Me: We are already discussing the absence of the Nature of Dao. This concept has already emerged. It is a thing. How can you say this thing does not exist?
He: Although we discuss the absence of the Nature of Dao, it does not exist in reality.
Me: Are you and I reality? Since we are reality, are our thoughts products of reality? Since they are products of reality, is thinking also a form of existence? How can you say it does not exist?
He: Do you mean there exists something without the Nature of Dao? Isn't that a contradiction?
Me: To those who do not understand, everything is contradictory. To those who understand, all contradictions are unified.
He: How should this be understood?
Me: Existence and non-existence come from the same source but have different names. Existence does not equal non-existence, but they originate from the same source.
He: The absence of the Nature of Dao and the presence of the Nature of Dao come from the same source? From where?
Me: The Qingjing Jing says: "Although named as attaining the Dao, in reality, nothing is attained." The one without the Nature of Dao is the one who has attained the Dao.
He: If there is no Nature of Dao, how can one attain the Dao?
Me: Only with the Nature of Dao does one seek the Dao.
He fell silent, staring blankly at me. Obviously, he hadn't figured out why having the Nature of Dao leads to seeking the Dao, nor the logic behind attaining the Dao only when the Nature of Dao is gone, nor the source of this saying.
I slowly peeled a banana, took a few bites, and said to him slowly, word by word: "In learning, one increases day by day. In the Dao, one decreases day by day. Decrease and decrease again until non-action is achieved!"
He suddenly stood up and said excitedly: I understand!
I took a sip of tea and said to him: "The seven emotions and six desires will cover the Nature of Dao."
He calmed down, sat down, and asked: I have another doubt. Invoking thunder generals requires anger. This is also one of the seven emotions and six desires. Doesn't it conflict with the Nature of Dao?
I said: The difference lies in whether you master it, or whether you are mastered by it.
He was silent for a moment, nodded firmly at me, and said calmly: I understand!
Then he asked: There's another question. We keep seeking the Dao. When will we attain it? If we keep pursuing it forever, we will always be a little short.
I said: You haven't attained the Dao because you haven't truly achieved the state of eternal pursuit. When you achieve that, you will have attained the Dao.
He asked: Since we are always seeking, how can it suddenly become attaining? How does the transition between seeking and attaining happen?
I said: What is 1 divided by 3?
He said: 0.3333..., continuing infinitely.
I asked: If 0.3333... continues infinitely, what does it equal when multiplied by 3?
He said: 0.9999..., continuing infinitely. What is the connection?
I said: Doesn't 1 divided by 3 and then multiplied by 3 still equal 1?
He said: Hmm? What's going on? Let me think.
After a moment, he said in surprise: How can this be? 0.9999..., continuing infinitely, is actually equal to 1?
I said: Yes.
He said: Thank you so much. I'll go back and savor today's conversation. My Daoist arts will definitely advance greatly. I will definitely come back to thank you again.
I said: No need for politeness. It is all thanks to the protection of the Ancestors.