Taoism/The Ninth Parable: Pearls of Wisdom are the Seeds that Can Sprout
The Ninth Parable:
Pearls of Wisdom are the Seeds
that Can Sprout
Lao Tse began explaining to the recovering young man the laws according to which everything in the Under-Heavenly World lives.
He told him:
“Tao is the First Cause of the existence of the Earth and of the creatures that inhabit all worlds, both material and immaterial ones. All this is created by Tao and develops according to Its Will…
“Yin and yang live in harmony. Their mutual attraction can be called love. This love is the greatest motive force in all that exists.
“Te permeate with Their Light and embrace with Their Love everything in the Creation. They maintain order and control all events, but They don’t intervene in all of them.
“The destiny of every person is created by him or her through the thoughts and actions of that person. The destiny of everyone is the result of the manifestation of his or her free will.
“The Great Te carry out destinies, creating educational situations for incarnate people.
“The first direct contact with the Immortal Te, the first immersions into Their Love and Bliss overwhelm the soul by the great miracle of touching the Divine!
“However, after this a seeker can move to the Perfection only through personal ceaseless efforts.
“It’s not possible to reach that place where the Great Te come from by common roads! The real Path is hidden from the eyes of fussy people and inaccessible for those with impure thoughts.
“Only the one who is full of love, steadfast during difficulties, and moderate in desires has a chance to traverse this Path fast!
“The Heavenly, Which is hidden from the ordinary eyes, is not a half of the world but much more!
“Tao manifests Its Will in everything that exists, but only those people who dedicate their lives to the cognition of this are capable of cognition of Tao.
“This process should be started with the comprehension of the difference between good and evil, as Tao understands them. Such comprehension will become the guidance in life and allow avoiding many mistakes and losses.
“The Path to Tao can’t be found through searching in the material world.
“And it is very important on what you will spend your life here!
“Have you ever thought about what will happen when your life in this body comes to the end?”
“Yes, when I was sick, I thought about this. When I almost died, it seemed to me that I had glanced at the worlds where the souls live without bodies, where our ancestors live… I realized then how important it is to find the meaning of life in order not to waste our years on the Earth on idle concerns or amusements.”
… When the young man fully recovered, Lao Tse taught him special techniques that allowed one to develop the energy of consciousness.
He said:
“A human body has seven chakras-cavities. They are like vessels in which vital energies are accumulated and then directed to the different parts of the body.
“These cavities and the channels through which energy flows should be clean and bright. In this case, a human body will be healthy.
“Learn to move yourself as soul to each one of these seven cavities and to look forward and backward from each one of them like out of a window.”
… When the young man mastered this, Lao Tse showed him the next exercises:
“The energies inside and outside of our bodies can be perceived like air-light. If you inhale and exhale this air-light through your arms, legs, trunk, and head — you can make everything inside your body pure and filled with the radiant light. Then both the soul and the body will obtain purity and strength.
“The inner purity changes a person and gives him or her health and longevity, among other things.”
… The young man was an able disciple and learned quickly how to control the movement of the consciousness. From that moment on, he could easily direct the flows of consciousness — like streams and rivers of light — and make them pass through his body.
After this, Lao Tse explained to him new methods:
“Have you ever observed the apparent motion of the Sun around the Earth? This is an illusion, but it can, by analogy, help you to learn to rotate your energy through the orbit around and then inside the body, filling it with light.
“Place your body properly and let the shining light rise behind your body and fall in front of it.
“Do this until the whole space around and within your body becomes filled with the light and starts emitting it.”
… Then Lao Tse taught his first disciple the most important, that is, to expand the spiritual heart, by transforming it into a huge Heavenly Palace in order to be able to invite Huang Di and other Te into it.
* * *
Many people from the surrounding villages got to know about the wise man and came to listen to the conversations of Lao Tse and to learn from him the miraculous methods of healing bodies and souls.
He often asked questions to his audience, and people began to think first by themselves before getting a ready answer from another. For example, he asked:
“Why do we consider some events as evil, others as good, and to some of them we remain indifferent?”
“Have you ever thought about what should motivate people to act in a good way?”
“Everyone has heard that a person doesn’t need only food for the body but also the nutrition for the soul. What kind of food feeds the soul?”
… Lao Tse always taught to understand the ethical laws of Tao first, and only then he offered the meditative techniques that helped to master these ethical laws:
“Changes begin from the inner. When one changes the state inside oneself, changes start happening in one’s life and around that person.
“The equilibrium and quietness of mind are achieved through submerging the consciousness into the spiritual heart.
“The usefulness of the inner calm is great! When it’s achieved, no anxiety from the material world can shake the inner calm of this seeker! No noise, discords, or talks can perturb the silence that was attained inside!
“Those who are capable of learning transform calm into power, adversities into lessons, and successes into the mastered steps of the Path.
“Joyful harmony and bright serenity are obtained by those who accumulate virtues instead of earthly gold.
“Happiness is a quality of the soul dwelling in its abode — the spiritual heart, where only love can be born!
“Grief can’t penetrate into this heart since that place is already occupied by love!
“If one has chosen the way of love and mastered it, then one will withstand any difficult situation, without loosing the Essence, since this Essence can be perceived only in the purity of the spiritual heart!
“Those who know about the true meaning of life won’t engage in what is meaningless and useless. On the contrary, they will do only what is useful, that is, only those things that bring good, as Tao and Te understand it!”
… Soon the small shack on the outskirts of the village turned into a place where people came from distant and nearby lands, looking for the answers to their questions, as well as for the healing of souls and bodies.
The old parents of the healed young man now took care of the guests who visited Lao Tse. Their lives became filled with joyful labor, and their old age was lit up with love and gratitude of many people, as well as of Tao and Te…
* * *
Nevertheless, the time arrived for the lessons of Lao Tse to come to an end, and he had to leave his transformed disciple.
The young man learned to perceive the Great Te and to listen to Their advice!
He began — as he could — to do what Lao Tse did helping people.
However, he was really sad, saying goodbye to his Master:
“I still know very little and can’t do many things! How then can I help others?”
Lao Tse answered:
“You’ve learned everything that you need now. In due time, you will get to know all that I know and, perhaps, even more. It is so, because now you know the way to learn all this. You can do this most successfully through helping others. All secret knowledge will be revealed to you by the Great Te when you are ready to understand Them correctly and use it properly!
“Don’t deviate from the Truth in your life! Follow the principle of good and justice! In this case, Tao will guard your peace, and your actions will be guided by the wise Te!”
“Huang Di used to tell me this:
‘We should learn to experience the coessentiality with everything, trying to see situations through the eyes of Tao and Te.
‘In this case, you will experience everyone whom you meet as clearly as yourself. You will see the thoughts of this person and understand his or her desires and abilities.
‘Moreover, you will know the attitude of Tao towards that person and see what good you can do for him or her.
‘It will be clear for you if you should help this concrete human being in his or her good intentions — or just allow him or her to do foolish acts and leave that person to his or her own destiny created by himself or herself.
‘This is how people’s destinies are formed. Destiny “follows behind” the thoughts and actions of each one.
‘There are no accidental significant encounters in life! Through these encounters, the Will of Tao comes to people.’”
… Then Lao Tse continued his journey on the donkey.
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