Taoist Meditation (eBook)

FromAnthology on the Cultivation of Realization THINKING Thehuman mind should be mortified, while its potential should be vivified.Mortification means causing its desirous thoughts to die out, vivificationmeans enlivening its reason. Thinking is the living potential of the mind.Freedom from error is the overall principle, the nine thoughts are the specificprinciples—,thinking how to see clearly, thinking how to hear keenly, thinkinghow to make a warm impression, thinking how to be respectful in demeanor,thinking how to be truthful in speech, thinking how to be serious in work,thinking how to pose questions when in doubt, thinking what trouble may occurwhen angry, and thinking about justice when seeing profit to be made. Thinkingabout the Way is correct, thinking about things is error. The Way is inherentin us, when you think about the Way inherent within us, thinking itself is theWay. When thought reaches the realm of subtlety, the comprehending mind, clearand clean, is buoyant and joyful. Only this can be called self-realization, ifyour mental energy is exhausted in spite of the depth of your thinking, even ifyou have some perception itisnot self-realization. Thosewho attain realization without thinking are sages, those who attain realizationby thinking are the wise. Not cogitating or striving is called truthfulness,referring to the innate knowledge that infants have without study orreflection. Choosing the good simply means choosing this noncogitativenonstriving. Thehumanhearthas seven openings, most of them stopped by blood channels. If you want to openthem up, you cannot do so without learning and thinking. Thinking has the senseof penetrating, learning has the function of confirming. When thinking andlearning are both employed, what path cannot be attained? Whenyou have not yet penetrated a principle, it is like facing a wall. Thinking islike boring holes in the wall. For each hole you bore all the way through, youget that much light. Starting out small, you enlarge, until eventually thewhole wall itself is gone, and there is openness, free access, and no furtherobstruction. TheBookof Manners says,'Think in a dignified way.' That it is dignified means it is notforced, that it is done in this way means it is not labored. When it is notforced or labored, it can be called good thinking. 'Thethinking of a cultivated man does not go beyond his position.' This iscalled thinking. Whenever it is out of place, it is called thoughts. Thinkingis a door of entry into the Way, whereas thoughts are roots of obstruction ofthe Way. THOUGHTS Simplybecause of unawareness, thoughts suddenly arise, this is called ignorance.Because of the arising of ignorance, it seems mind becomes thoughts. Mindreally does not move, when you reach this point in observing mind, thosethoughts cease of themselves. Stoppingthoughts is not hard—,if you can turn back to before a single thought hasarisen, then the preceding thought will naturally not continue. Beforearousal, we are merged with the infinite. But if you want to understand thenonoccurrence of a single thought right now, you must examine where thoughtcomes from. Thepast is based on the present, the future is based on the past, if you have nomind in the present, the past is naturally over. Viewsof person and self are certainly thoughts, but so are views of attachment toreligion, and these must be eliminated too. If you consciously try to stoperrant thoughts, errant thoughts will instead seem to increase. Try observingwhat the thoughts are and those thoughts will...