Commentary on the Three Talismans of the Wenshi Sutra (Part 2): The Pillar

The pillar: it builds heaven and earth.

Guanyinzi said: whether bowl or basin, bottle or jar, urn or vat — all can build heaven and earth. Tortoise shells for omens, counted yarrow stalks, broken tiles and patterned stones — all can foretell fortune and misfortune. Thus one knows that all things of heaven and earth embody principle; a single thing contains it, and every thing contains it — none borrowing from another. With my essence, join with his essence. The two essences contend, and the spirit responds.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: The bowl is an analogy — half the celestial sphere — therefore such things can all build heaven and earth. Whether using a tortoise shell, a broken tile, or a stone bearing patterns, all can foretell fortune and misfortune. But by what are they able to foretell? It is because the potential is inherently there, borrowing form to manifest; form is completed according to the thing, each different, and none borrowing from another. Only essence can contend, so one can join one's essence with his essence — being stirred, the spirit moves of itself.

One female, one male, and they are oviparous; one male, one female, and they are viviparous.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: This is the distinction between oviparous and viviparous. Oviparous: something external hatches it; viviparous: something internal nurtures it to completion. This also means that cultivation methods differ — some are cultivated from without, some are nourished from within; the paths differ, much as elixir alchemy likewise contains such debates.

Form is his essence; principle is his spirit; love is my essence; contemplation is my spirit. Love is water; contemplation is fire. Love clinging, with contemplation following it, is wood; contemplation abiding, with love gathering it, is metal.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Form is what can be observed externally; principle is what can be examined internally — these belong to the receiver. As for the one who bestows, examining them is my essence. Thus observing form and examining principle is actually the interweaving of essence and spirit. Love clinging: seeking its cause. Contemplating the cause: discerning its principle. Contemplation abiding: sensing its intention. Love gathering: obtaining its spirit. Thus one can be reached through principle, the other through sensing — these are the two paths by which metal and wood join.

First conceive of the qi of the primordial unit complete within a single thing; cling and love it to join with his form; darkly contemplate to join with his principle — then the image abides.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: This means the qi of the primordial unit — the primordial operates and completes, hence "primordial unit"; its root is in the thing, so it can be conceived. And by clinging and love to join with his form, and dark contemplation to join with his principle, essence and spirit sense each other, and the image immediately abides.

The image of one cycle revolves through the empty sky; rising from within it becomes heaven, descending from within it becomes earth. There is no rising that does not descend, and no descending that does not rise. Rising is fire; descending is water. That which would rise but cannot is wood; that which would descend but cannot is metal. Wood as a thing: drilled it yields fire; wrung it yields water. Metal as a thing: struck it yields fire; melted it yields water. Wood and metal are the intersection of water and fire.

Briefly.

Water is essence and is heaven; fire is spirit and is earth; wood is soul and is person; metal is po and is thing. That which cycles without ceasing is time; that which encloses and yet is present is place. Only earth begins and ends them. Some explain it, some demonstrate it. Thus again, with my essence, join with his essence — contending, then there is spiritual response; this is knowing heaven and exhausting spirit.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Essence, spirit, soul, po; heaven, earth, person, thing; water, fire, wood, metal — all these are as clear as can be. Time and place are both images; begun by earth, ended by earth. When my essence and his essence join, there must be response — the principle has already been described above; thus this is knowing heaven and exhausting spirit.

He said: the people of the world surely cannot be counted in the hundreds of millions; every person's dreams differ, and every night's dreams differ. There is heaven, there is earth; there are persons, there are things — all formed by thought, and they surely cannot be counted in dusts. How then know that today's heaven and earth are not of one who thinks?

San Fu Feng Yun Yong: Everyone has dreams; one dream is a heaven and earth, all formed by thought. By this inference, today's heaven and earth may likewise be formed by thought — like a brain in a vat.

He said: the heart answers the jujube, the liver answers the elm. I penetrate heaven and earth — about to rain, I dream of water; about to clear, I dream of fire. Heaven and earth penetrate me; I seem to contract with heaven and earth yet seem to leave them — pure, each returning to its own.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong: The image of the heart connects with the jujube; the image of the liver connects with the elm. And my dreams: when heaven is about to rain, water appears in the dream; when heaven is about to clear, fire appears in the dream.

He said: heaven and earth, though great, have color, have form, have number, have place. I have that which is without color, without form, without number, without place — and yet that which is heaven-and-heaven, earth-and-earth abides.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong: Color is substance — this reaches: "When I have no self, what have I to fear?"

He said: those who die in the womb, those who die in the egg — both persons and things; heaven and earth, though great, they fundamentally know no calculation. Heaven and earth are all my partitioned knowing. It is like the hand not touching the blade, and the blade not injuring the man.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Between heaven and earth — how great! Man cannot fully know it, hence it is partitioned knowing. Thus the heaven and earth that man knows is subject to man's restrictions — it is man's heaven and earth. If one forcibly tried to know it all, it would be neither heaven nor earth. Therefore acting according to the Dao of the heaven and earth of partitioned knowing: when its use is fitting it benefits, when its use is unfitting it harms. Hence the scripture also says: "My Dao is like a sword — with the edge to cut things it is sharp, with the hand to grip the edge it cuts."

He said: in dreams, in mirrors, in water — heaven and earth abides in all. To remove the heaven and earth of dream, one sleeps yet does not sleep; to remove the heaven and earth of mirror, the form is not reflected; to remove the heaven and earth of water, the vat is not dipped. Their having or not is here, not there. Therefore the sage does not remove heaven and earth, but removes knowing.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Is there heaven and earth in dreams? Is there heaven and earth in the mirror? Is there heaven and earth in water? All are present. Thus to not-dream of heaven and earth, one sleeps yet does not sleep; to remove the heaven and earth of mirror, the form is not reflected; and to avoid the heaven and earth of water, one does not dip from the vat. Their having or not is here, not there — it is in truth emptiness. The heaven and earth of emptiness, like reflections in a mirror — yet all are here and not there; the dharma realm is all reflections. The heaven and earth of partitioned knowing is likewise the heaven and earth within emptiness, known by man. Therefore the sage's Dao removes partitioned knowing — once partitioned knowing is removed, one immediately attains the true.

He said: heaven is not of itself heaven — there is one who makes it heaven. Earth is not of itself earth — there is one who makes it earth. It is like houses, boats, and carts: they await man to be completed, and do not complete themselves. Know that that depends; know that this does not depend. Above, do not see heaven; below, do not see earth; within, do not see self; without, do not see others.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Heaven is not heaven, earth is not earth — both because heaven and earth are known by man. Thus houses, boats, and carts are originally not houses, boats, and carts; through man they are used. This is knowing that that depends, and knowing that this does not depend. Therefore above do not see heaven, below do not see earth, within do not see self, without do not see others — this is the mind method, and also the sage's Dao of removing knowing.

He said: that which has time is qi; that which is not qi has never had day or night. That which has place is form; that which is not form has never had north or south. What is called "not qi"? The origin of qi is like waving a fan to get wind. Before waving, it is not wind-qi; after waving, it is called qi. What is called "not form"? The origin of form is like drilling wood to get fire. Before drilling, it is not fire-form; after drilling, it is called form.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Qi is completed through time; without qi there is no day and night. Form is completed through place; without form there is no direction. That called not-qi: as when wind does not move things, it is not wind; if wind moves qi, then it is qi. That called not-form: as when drilling wood to obtain fire — before drilling it is not fire-form; drilling produces fire, obtaining fire-form.

Thus images differ, and time and place are ranked. What images manifest answer their time; images unmanifest abide in emptiness. But how images manifest, and how mechanisms are activated — all can be by way of the Dao.

He said: the transformations of cold, heat, warmth, and coolness, as with tiles and stones: placed by the fire they are hot, placed in water they are cold; breathed on they are warm, drawn upon they are cool. It is only because external things come and go that those tiles and stones truly have no coming or going. Like reflections in water, they come and go — the so-called water truly has no coming or going.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: The emptiness-and-nothing dharma realm — if one simply does not conceive of things, then within it there are no things. But the emptiness-and-nothing dharma realm is like water that can mirror: when something comes there is a reflection, when it departs there is no reflection. Yet its having or lacking a reflection is merely its capacity to mirror — this belongs to the water, and has nothing to do with the reflection. Therefore the truth within emptiness lies not in its having or lacking, but in its having-having-and-lacking.

He said: clothes waved in the air get wind; breath breathed on things gets water; water poured into water sounds; stones struck together emit light. One who knows this saying can make wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. For wind, rain, thunder, and lightning all arise from qi, and qi arises from mind. It is like inwardly visualizing a great fire and after a while feeling heat, or inwardly visualizing great water and after a while feeling cold. One who knows this saying can accord with the virtues of heaven and earth.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: What senses heaven and earth — blowing and breathing can become wind and rain. Because wind, rain, thunder, and lightning truly arise from qi, and qi arises from mind: in truth, when the mind has intention, there is sensing; sensing penetrates heaven, and heaven and earth of themselves change. Thus one who desires clear skies obtains them by visualizing a great fire; one who desires cold obtains it by visualizing great water. Knowing this, the principles of Daoist methods are understood.

He said: the transformations of the five clouds can divine the year's abundance or shortfall; the dawn of the eight winds can divine the present fortune and misfortune. Thus one knows that fortune and misfortune, disaster and auspiciousness, are merely the cycling of a single qi. Blending self and other, sharing heaven and earth, yet petty knowing claims it as its own.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Observing cloud-qi to know abundance or shortfall; observing the eight winds to divine fortune and misfortune — on what are these established? On fortune and misfortune, disaster and auspiciousness all being the cycling of a single qi. Heaven, earth, person, and self are all of one whole; hence it is possible.

He said: heaven and earth sojourn; the myriad things sojourn; I sojourn; the Dao sojourns. If one departs from the sojourning, even the Dao cannot be established.

San Fu Feng Yun Yong commentary: Heaven, earth, and the myriad things are all my partitioned knowing; I am also one of heaven, earth, and the myriad things, and also the partitioned knowing of heaven, earth, and the myriad things. I and heaven, earth, and the myriad things are all the Dao's partitioned knowing; hence all sojourn, hence none departs from the sojourning. If one departs from it, the Dao cannot be established — therefore one must borrow the sojourning to establish it.