修道四十九関
The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao
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累债關
Barrier 28,
The Barrier of Accumulation of Debts [excerpt]
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Main Text based on Liu Yi Ming’s 50 Barriers
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修道之人須簡樸素行，財富所積，乃十方血汗，非可輕易空受，須隨緣淡泊，一絲一線，當思來處不易，一飲一食，須知成就惟艱，如能修持到道成德備之時，不但消化十方債賬，無始劫以来之宿孽，皆一筆勾銷。
People who cultivate the Dao must be of simple, unadorned and plain conduct. What is accumulated as wealth and riches [comes from] the blood and sweat of the ten directions.None of this can be lightly, easily and vacantly received. One must comply with fate and be indifferent and tranquil.
With just one strand of silk or one thread, one should contemplate that they did not come easily from their source. With each drink or meal, one must be aware that they were difficult to achieve. If one is able to cultivate and uphold [this practice] until one attains the Dao, and is equipped with virtue, then not only will the accounts and debts of the Ten Directions be eliminated and transformed , but also the past karmic transgressions going back aeons without beginning will be written off in one stroke.
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Excerpt of the Commentary on Barrier 28 by Xing De
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This barrier deals with the desire to accumulate more and more wealth and riches. This is ‘accumulating dirt into a mountain’. Or rather, with human beings it is not a piling up of dirt, but of karmic afflictions. This barrier is about creating an abundance of wealth and keeping it all to oneself. You need to earn some kind of livelihood, to guarantee your survival in this world at the lowest, most basic level. But you should only act as a caretaker and store-room clerk for riches. Your consumption of goods in society should be at the lowest level, shunning luxurious and valuable items. You should:
检素抱朴。
Keep to the unadorned,
and embracing simplicity.
One should accumulate merit and repay your debts and not create any new debts, but eradicate the old. One ought to live a simple life, without seeking material gain, and you will achieve merit: ‘through asceticism and benevolent conduct, accumulate Gong and amass Virtue’. Your lifestyle and requirements must be simple. In the sitting room of the Five Immortals Temple there is a notice which reads:
一粥一餐当思来之不易。
[When served with] one [bowl of] gruel or one meal, one ought to remember
that it did not come easy.
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PS: The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao are as of now scheduled for mid-July release. You can find three more Barrier excerpts, the foreword and many appendix entries on purplecloudinstitute.com
The 49 Barriers will be embellished by 49 illustrations as well as the front and back cover of the book by Jen King, whose prints of the Barriers and her Nei Jing Tu can be ordered under: jenniferkingstudio.com.
PPS: The final book will contain many endnotes to further explicate the implicit meanings of text passages and terms.
