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Wow!!! Thanks to Singing Ocean (the Epitome of Wisdom). So many Daosit texts on MIND and EMPTINESS. Enjoy this one:
Peace out!!!
AARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Qingjing Jing
Purity and Tranquillity Scripture
The qingjing jing is a very short (391 characters) but popular Taoist text of unknown authorship, dating from the fist half of the Tang dynasty (618 – 906 CE). It is included in the Taoist Canon (daozang) under the full title of Tai-shang Lao-chun shou chang ching-ching miao ching, also abbreviated as Ching-ching miao-ching. Several commentaries were written on it, the earliest by Tu Kung-ting; others by Pai Yu-chan of the Sung dynasty (960 – 1279 CE) and Li Tao-tsun of the Yuan period (1271 – 1368 CE).
Because the present text has a postface written by Ko Hsuan, he is sometimes considered to be the author. But because of the inner criticism (analysis of the contents) it is quite certain that the small scripture could not have been written before the Six Dynasties (420 – 589 CE). The main argument is heavy reliance on Buddhist ideas.
The main theme is how to gain “purity” (qing) and “tranquillity” (ching). If a person’s mind is able to rid itself of all desires, the mind will become tranquil; if the mind can be settled, the spirit will spontaneously become clean. Then the six desires will not arise, and the three poisons will be destroyed. Through inner vision into one’s mind, one realises the no-mind; through outer vision of the body, one realises the no-body; by looking at these things from a distance, one realizes the no-thing condition. If one understands these three, one only sees “emptiness” as the nature of reality; then all delusions and defilements disappear and one reaches the state of everlasting purity and tranquillity.
This short text, as popular among Taoists as the Heart Sutra among Buddhists, is often used in recitation, and is still often reprinted for free distribution, together with a short commentary. It is important in Taoist spirituality.
Translation
The Great Tao has no form;
It brings forth and raises heaven and earth.
The Great Tao has no feelings;
It regulates the course of the sun and the moon.The Great Tao has no name;
It raises and nourishes the myriad beings.
I do not know its name
So I call it Tao.The Tao can be pure or turbid, moving or tranquil.
Heaven is pure, earth is turbid;
Heaven is moving, earth is tranquil.
The male is moving, the female is tranquil.Descending from the origin,
Flowing toward the end,
The myriad beings are being born.Purity the source of turbidity.
Movement the root of tranquillity.
Always be pure and tranquil;
Heaven and earth
Return to the primordial.The human spirit is fond of purity,
But the mind disturbs it.
The human mind is fond of tranquillity,
But desires meddle with it.Get rid of desires for good,
And the mind will be calm.
Cleanse your mind,
And the spirit will be pure.Naturally the six desires won’t arise,
The three poisons are destroyed.
Whoever cannot do this
Has not yet cleansed his mind,
His desires are not yet driven out.Those who have abandoned their desires:
Observe your mind by introspection
And see there is no mind.Then observe the body,
Look at yourself from without
And see there is no body.Then observe others by glancing out afar
And see there are no beings.Once you have realised these three,
You observe emptiness!Use emptiness to observe emptiness,
And see there is no emptiness.
When even emptiness is no more,
There is no more nonbeing either.Without even the existence of nonbeing
There is only serenity,
Profound and everlasting.When serenity dissolves in nothingness
How could there be desires?
When no desires arise
You have found true tranquillity.
In true tranquillity, go along with beings;
In true permanence, realize inner nature.
Forever going along, forever tranquil
This is permanent purity, lasting tranquillity.In purity and tranquillity,
Gradually enter the true Tao.
When the true Tao is entered,
It is realised.Though we speak of “realized,”
Actually there is nothing to attain.
Rather, we speak of realization
When someone begins to transform the myriad beings.Only who has properly understood this
Is worthy to transmit the sages’ Tao.The highest gentleman does not fight;
The lesser gentleman loves to fight.
Highest Virtue is free from Virtue;
Lesser Virtue clings to Virtue.All clinging and attachments
Have nothing to do with the Tao or the Virtue.People fail to realize the Tao
Because they have deviant minds.
Deviance in the mind
Means the spirit is alarmed.Spirit alarmed,
There is clinging to things.
Clinging to things,
There is searching and coveting.Searching and coveting,
There are passions and afflictions.
Passions, afflictions, deviance, and imaginings
Trouble and pester mind and body.Then one falls into turbidity and shame,
Ups and downs, life and death.
Forever immersed in the sea of misery,
One is in eternity lost to the true Tao.The Tao of true permanence
Will naturally come to those who understand.
Those who understand the realization of the Tao
Will rest forever in the pure and tranquil.remember that “mind” is actually the character for “heart”!!!
for example:
The human shen is fond of purity,
But the heart disturbs it.
The human heart is fond of tranquillity,
But desires meddle with it.Get rid of desires for good,
And the heart will be calm.
Cleanse your heart,
And the shen will be pure.I will give a more in depth comment on “cultivation stillness” later, along with the correct chinese terms.
in the meantime, while I am reading the text, maybe you can answer why this text uses three different terms for stages of consciousness, called only emptiness by you.
Could you explain the difference in your practice between the terms used in this text: Wuji (without limit), Xu (void) and Kong (empty)?
thanks!
P.S. it also uses the term Taiji. how do you explain that in your practice?
Yo,
The text speaks for itself. NO need for your twisted and corrupted interpretation!!!!
It is up to the reader to know and the level of knowing is dependent on level of individual cultivation.
AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace out!!
It depends on whether you want to understand it from the original intent as it was written in ancient china to reflect their actual practices; or if you want to further your own purposes of “emptiness only”.
then why not admit that you don’t understand what it REALLY means?
Talkin’ the talk
but cain’t walk the walkTalkin’ loud
and saying NOTHINGwhy this text uses three different terms for stages of consciousness, called only emptiness by you.
…Once you have realised these three,
You observe emptiness!Use emptiness to observe emptiness,
And see there is no emptiness.
When even emptiness is no more,
There is no more nonbeing either…These are the descriptions of stages of cultivation one goes through. My post on Kuan Yin method describes this in details.
As for the chinese term of “heart” as opposed to “mind”, this doen’t change the meaning of text. All the old spiritual texts are written in special forms of Buddhist Chinese and Taosit Chinese — all specialized fields that take years of training each. If a person speaks and writes Chinese and looks at those texts, they would be unable to read them. There is a reason it is translated “mind” instead of “heart” to preserve the best translation possible.
“If a person speaks and writes Chinese and looks at those texts, they would be unable to read them.” -Max
I think you are wrong in this case, In fact, I can read the characters that accompany the texts. The difficulty lies in understanding the terms themselves, as harold roth (a scholar) explains in my post above when describing the term “Hsin” (heart or mind).
The term Mind in english is a loaded term which implies intellectual mental upper brain thought. This lies in contrast to the term “Heart” in chinese which westerners would take to mean the physical organ and do not associate with any form of consciousness. So in that sense, mind is closer to consciousness and is more appropriate in this context.
The association of “Hsin” with consciousness is complex and layered as we can see in the three different terms Kong (later heaven emptiness as in the space in an empty cup), Xu (early heaven void or formlessness but still conscious), and Wu (as in Wuji, beyond limit, often associated with pure shen, the yang body or 100% yuan qi/neutral force).
So I am curious to know where you got your quote:
“…Once you have realised these three,
You observe emptiness!Use emptiness to observe emptiness,
And see there is no emptiness.
When even emptiness is no more,
There is no more nonbeing either… ”and what “these three” are, and what the actual terms used in chinese are for “emptiness”, as well as what “realisation” means.
If you can’t answer this, then maybe your teacher hasn’t explained this to you or you have not experienced the difference to know.
Also, if this comes from a buddhist text it is perfectly valid in Buddhist practice, but how can you use this to say that it explains “all meditation”, and Daoist alchemical practices in particular if it comes out of the context of Buddhist practice methods?
Oh, I see, you got this text from Livia Kohn’s book “The Taoist Experience”.
You might also want to check out Eva Wong’s “Cultivating Stillness”, in that it contains diagrams and chinese text.
It seems that there is some understanding of the original terms lost in the translations, as english terms are somewhat loaded.
It is true, that there are the terms Kong, Xu and Wu used in these texts, and that they are translated in english as “Emptiness”, “Void” and “Nothingness”. This is all valid, but it does not support your meditation practices only, of using buddhist methods to observe the cessation of thoughts, and the stillness within the inner consciousness.
Daoist alchemy provides a way for a person to integrate that inner formless consciousness with their Jing Essence, and make that formless consciousness that is beyond limit a part of their physical substance permanently (while they practice and progress regularly) even though it may be a slow path.
I wonder how the use of constant observing of consciousness to observe itself, and denying the body intelligence as not being part of the “infinite emptiness” affects a persons ability to be accepting and all-inclusive? Does this not tend towards divisiveness while claiming to accept the “only emptiness” and denying other forms of consciousness as “false”?
Singing Ocean,
I got that quote from the post above made by The Cessation. Also, thank you for bringing up and giving sources so that everyone can benefit from this discussion.Let me clarify your comment about me accepting only emptiness and denying the body or any other forms of intelligence…
Emptiness meditation (and all underlying varieties of mind stillness) is a method used by many to stop clinging to mental, physical and other forms of sensations. We don’t accept anything, we don’t deny anything. All the teachings of Lord Buddha, all the sutras, teach you the methods how to do it. But those are just mere methods. Nothing more. You attach to them and you are in a mental prison that takes years if not lifetimes to get out. I belive same should apply to any other form of cultivation including Taoist alchemy.
If you have any more questions or comments, please do ask.
Please forgive me that some of your questions are not answered, for some of them should not be asked.Metta.
Max,
I am free to ask whatever questions I think are appropriate to this discussion. Isn’t it rather discriminatory to say “some questions should not be asked”, or “someone who speaks or reads chinese can not understand these terms”. Basically you are saying “this is right thought/action”, and “this is wrong thought/action”.
Why not just answer the questions to the best of your ability?
For me, Daoist alchemy is a constantly changing process, the embodied experience of stepping into the unknown. It is not about clinging or not clinging to anything in my mind but about EXPERIENCING it.
If I were to hold a fixed preconception about the result or experience, my experience will change and will tell me “this is not about fixed results, but about the PROCESS OF CHANGE”. There might be physical, spiritual, virtue qualities or sensations or there might not, I do not expect or try to define what will happen. I merely ask to be the balance point for the energies and forces I am invoking, in order to complete whatever has to be completed in this process.
I meditate with the intention of stepping into the unknown.
I prefer not to think about reincarnation or the perpetuation of unresolved issues into successive lifetimes, but about completing these issues right now. I accept that people today are dealing with unresolved issues of previous or future human experience, but through the experience of merging with the consciousness of nature we enter different simultaneous planes of vibration: physical reality is linear, early heaven (formless) is cyclical and the primordial self is everpresent in all time and space.
One thing I have noticed is that through the years of cultivation there has been a definite experience of moving from a very raw fragmented consciousness to a condensed and refined neutral high vibration feeling that is part of my body.
Isn’t it rather discriminatory to say “some questions should not be asked”, or “someone who speaks or reads chinese can not understand these terms”. Basically you are saying “this is right thought/action”, and “this is wrong thought/action”.
Some questions shouldn’t be asked. Like “What is Tao?” or “What does an Immortal feel?” or “Do you have an empty mind?”
My comment about Chinese:
“As for the chinese term of “heart” as opposed to “mind”, this doen’t change the meaning of text. All the old spiritual texts are written in special forms of Buddhist Chinese and Taosit Chinese — all specialized fields that take years of training each. If a person speaks and writes Chinese and looks at those texts, they would be unable to read them. There is a reason it is translated “mind” instead of “heart” to preserve the best translation possible.”There are only a handfull of people that can read fluently anscient Buddhist Chinese and Taoist Chinese written hundreds if not thousands years ago. It takes at least 5 years of specialized studies to even scratch the basics of learning these forms of Chinese. These are the people who will translate anscient texts into modern Chinese, so people like Thomas Cleary will translate them into English.
If I say most Chinese people don’t read anscient Chinese, is it a right thought/action, wrong thought/action or neither?
From http://www.yogichen.org/chenian/bk75.html
“The Chinese term “Hsin” has many meanings. It refers to the “heart” when it is used in the physical sense. It refers to the “mind,” “will,” or “wish” when it is used in the psychological sense. It means “center” when it is used geometrically. It means “soul” or “consciousness” when it is used in the spiritual sense. It means “essence” or “truth” when it is used in the philosophical sense. As it may mean something rather opposite, its relevant meaning depends on context and should be carefully discriminated and comprehended. For the purpose of inducing ones thought into the whole truth, one should take the word as a whole with all its implications. But for other occasions, it should pertain to its appropriate meaning in each specific instance.”
Thank you for sharing your views on your practices and experiences. In my case, I try not to attach myself to goals, intentions or experiences. I say I try because it’s not exactly an easy thing to do.
friend,
Don’t waste your time!! I prefer to spend my time listening to a cow singing than listening to some one arrogantly parroting about vibratory field and spontaneous reaction and stepping into the unknown. I have lots of these phrases in Winn’s tapres,!!!!
AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace out!!!
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