Friday, June 4, 2010

Channel SHO (3) - The importance of De (virtues).

Channel SHO is the fifth method "Golden Crystal flying up from the side" in Ling Bao Bi Fa. In order to understand it completely, one need to study the classics and put the theory and practice together and to grasp its internal logical connections:

(1) I study the conclusion from each of the special SHO class and organize the experience of the students so that I can have a macroscopic understanding of the process.

(2) I collected the practice journals from everyone and summarized them into "the moment to open it" in order to understand the microscopic aspects.

(3) Extract the "Channel SHO of Elderlies (78 and 80 years old)", "Dandao and Taijiquan", "Female practice journals" in order to have a deeper understanding.

(4) With experience with SHO and under the guidance of Master Wang, I re-edited "Xing Da Dao".

(5) With these experience and Master Wang's encouragement, I began to annotate "The Daoist teachings of Zhong and Lu", "Ling Bao bi Fa" and "Tai Yi Jin Hua Zhong Zhi". With three revisions, it has finally been published.

Once I put Channel SHO into the context of Zhong and Lu Dandao in order to understand it and with my own recovery of strength and energy, opening up Channel SHO has become straightforward. Since I was only concentrated on the technical aspects of opening up the Channel SHO and ignored the important of the students' personalities and De (virtues), it had brought me a lot of trouble, it was a hard lesson taht I would not forget.

When one gets to higher level in one's cultivation, one can get a deeper appreciation of the importance of De (virtues) in cultivation. Cultivation doesn't just mean doing the practice, it also includes the cultivation of one's De. The two aspects complement each other and both must be worked on simultaneously. For examples:

During the Yin Xian Fa stage, one needs the "De of gong" i.e. confidence, perseverance, honesty and empty heart etc.

During Human Immortal Method stage, one needs the "De of Man" i.e. respect for teachers and parents, manner, knowledge and clear thinking.

During the Terrestrial Immortal Method stage, one needs the "De of Earth", i.e. kindness, softness, endurance, modesty and willingness to give.

During the Celestial Immortal Method stage, one needs the "De of Heaven", i.e. big hearted, depth, no desire and magnanimous.

If any aspect of the De cultivation has been deficient, it will be reflected in one's practice. The higher the gongfu also means the higher level requirement of De, the imbalance between the two can hinder the progress of one's cultivation. I have seen too many examples in my own teaching and these have happened in the students who had their SHO opened. This is all very real.

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