還帳
Returning Debts
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The concept of Returning Debts is closely related to the notion of Cause & Effect. Every ordinary person will encounter the issue of debts, like those owed to a bank, during their cultivation of the Dao and their practice of Gong, sitting meditation and stillness cultivation. If you fully comprehend this issue, you will have a clear view of how to behave in your future actions. It is analogous to owing large sums of money, as a result of which you are hounded by many people. [1] One should strive to depend and rely on the powers of the Great Dao, compassion and love, in order to break free of such entanglements by paying back your debts. In the past, most people in China believed in karma. The karma created by you or your ancestors is what forms the debts that you cannot avoid repaying:
善有善报，恶有恶报。
Kind-heartedness has kind-hearted recompenses.
Ill-heartedness has ill-hearted recompenses.
The cause [yin 因] and its energetic field of the will follow you as an external field, according to Daoist theory, if you kill or injure a high-ranking animal. Human beings are the animals with the highest wisdom. External forces and fields are created by mammals, such as oxen and foxes, as well as cold-blooded reptiles, insects and also ancient trees. Most of these fields have been created by the killing of foxes and snakes as well as old trees. Too many trees are cut down in the forests, though no one dares next to temples[2]. That is why ancient trees are mostly found only by graves, around temples, and near old buildings.
Five Immortals Temple
During the Cultural Revolution, between 1966 and 1976, the Spirit statues of the Five Immortals were all smashed. Thus, the old statues no longer exist. As they were carved out of wood, they were burned by the river during those times. Only three people carried them down, since no one else dared to carry them. One of them passed away just two years later, while a second was afflicted with paralysis. Every night he screamed: the Five Immortals have returned! And blisters manifested on his skin like those from burns. Every day they had to be lanced and the water drained. The third person’s son died a few years later, and his wife also perished, though he remained alive for another ten years. You must therefore have faith, compassion, and forbearance, so you will generate no further causes or debts. The son died because his father had hurt many people in the past. However, this transference of debts between generations has its limits:
因果不过三代。
Cause and effect will not extend beyond three generations.
[1] Figuratively, people stands for energetic fields and forces.
[2] For the very same reason it is a rule in Daoism not to sit on tree stumps.
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Post-Scriptum:
The full article will appear in the appendix of Purple Cloud Press’ forthcoming publication of 《The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao》 by Xing De, a manual for refining one’s Inner Nature based on Liu Yi Ming’s 50 Barriers, for which the drawings by Jen King will grace the chapter headings.
