修道四十九関
The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao
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采战關
Barrier 48, The Barrier of the War of Picking
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The following is a sample chapter of Purple Cloud Press’ forthcoming third book, ’49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao’, planned for a release at the end of February 2020.
It consists of an original translation of the 50 Barriers by Liu Yi Ming, edited into 49 Barriers by Xing De (Li Shi Fu), and an extensive commentary by the latter, further explicating the deeper concepts and meaning of the 49 Barriers.
The whole book will be rounded off by more than 60 appendix entries giving insight into key Daoist, Buddhist and Chinese cultural terms which appear in this book.
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Original Text by Liu Yi Ming
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采陰補陽，外尋它求，望梅止渴，無益於性命，且大損於陰德也。道法與世間男女生人之道無大異，所異者，凡父凡母而生色身，靈父聖母而生法身，丹書所謂陰陽者，即靈父聖母也，乃吾身中之真陰真陽，非在它處。
Picking [1] Yin to supplement Yang is to search outside oneself and seek from others. [It is a case of trying to] stop one’s thirst by hoping for plums [2], and is of no benefit to one’s Inner Nature and Life-Destiny. Furthermore, it does great harm to the Yin-Virtues [3]. There is no great difference between the Law [4] of the Dao and the Dao among men and women who give birth to humans.
That which is different is that an ordinary father and an ordinary mother give birth to the physical body, whereas the divine [5] father and the sagely mother give birth to the Body of the Law. What the elixir books [6] call Yin and Yang are namely this divine father and sagely mother, which are the True Yin and True Yang within my body, and are not located outside of it.
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Excerpt of the Commentary by Xing De (full text 11 pages)
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The 48th barrier is that of the War of Picking others’ powers. The first word in this title, Cai [采],means to take another’s power. The second word, Zhan [战] or war, denotes methods mainly used in the West, such as male-female dual cultivation. These are the chief problems in this barrier, which is not easy to describe. It is very much related to the need for compassion, for it is like pressing someone for money or stealing their savings. It is the war between Yin and Yang or male and female. Do not take from the Qi field of other people, as this would be to follow the concepts of deviant paths. If you have unified the thoughts of Heaven, Earth and Humanity, you will not have to face this issue and the lack of compassion it entails, as you can readily absorb Yin and Yang from Heaven and Earth. Some practitioners can perceive their Qi being stolen by others. Remember that the Dao is to be cultivated with a higher compassion that works on behalf of everyone:
大道为行也，天下为公。
When the Great Dao is to be practiced,
All under Heaven is for the collective.
In the West, there are no true methods, such as those of the Upright Dao, and practitioners only implement the Minor Methods. You might at first consider such methods to be highly mysterious and beneficial. However, they do not concern the Great Dao, but only the Minor Dao, and so these techniques are facile and self-indulgent. They are not conducive to attaining immortality and growing wings.
大道不在,小道必猖：旁门左道。
When the Great Dao is not present,
the Minor Dao will be ferocious:
These are side doors
and the Unorthodox Dao.
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[1] Picking [cai 采] denotes to steal or to take from others here.
[2] This Chinese idiom is based on a story concerning Cao Cao [曹操]. See appendix under The Hope of Plums Quenches One’s Thirst [wang mei zhi ke 望梅止渴].
[3] The Yin-Virtues are hidden virtues, which derive from good deeds that are performed anonymously. Such deeds are believed to be the only way in which one can be truly selfless in practice, as one does not expect to be rewarded.
As is noted in《Liao Fan’s Four Lessons》 [了凡四训], a book written by Yuan Liao Fan [袁了凡] in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), in order to educate his son:
凡为善而人知之，则为阳善；为善而人不知，则为阴德。
阴德，天报之；阳善，享世名。
Any good deeds that are known to people are [considered] Yang-Merits. [Any] good deeds that are unknown to people are [considered] Yin-Virtues. Yin-Virtues are reciprocated by the Heavens, [while] Yang-Merits [allow] one to enjoy worldly fame.
The Yin-Virtues are said not only to affect the person who bears them, but also their family and offspring.
[4] Law [fa 法] is interchangeable with Dharma throughout this text.
[5] The divine [ling 靈] is sometimes translated as numinous, as for example in the Encyclopedia of Daoism.
[6] The elixir books [dan shu 丹书] are works on internal and external alchemy
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Post-Scriptum:
This article will appear in the Purple Cloud Press’ forthcoming publication of 《The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao》 by Xing De/Li Shi Fu, a manual for refining one’s Inner Nature based on Liu Yi Ming’s 50 Barriers. Li Shi Fu is abbot of Five Immortals Temple (www.fiveimmortals.com).
Post-Post-Scriptum; The 49 Barriers will be accompanied by Jen King’s ink paintings, whose originals and prints will also be on sale at jenniferkingstudio.com
