No abstraction, no cultivation

Chapter 42: People Like the Ancestor
"How can the spiritual energy of heaven and earth become your magic power without passing through your skills? How can it be controlled as you wish like an arm?" Taoist Lan continued.

When cultivators cultivate Qi and build a foundation, isn't it that when they reach the spiritual realm, they can transform the spiritual energy into their own magic power through exercises?
How can it be controlled without being transformed by the techniques?
Since it has been transformed and controlled by the 'tiger', it is naturally different from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The "tiger" is the fusion of the 'god' and magic power of the cultivator's cognitive world, and is bound to conflict with the "dragon" of the external world.

In essence, the conflict between an individual monk and the world is an extension of the path he has chosen during the spiritual stage.

It is the conflict between "I" and "Tao".

Mortals cannot feel it, but cultivators are a powerful alien species in the world. As the realm and power of cultivators increase, the way of heaven treats cultivators and mortals differently.

"Conflict between heaven and man?" Xu Shun thought for a moment and said, "Conflict between the individual and the way of heaven?"

"My disciple has some understanding! A long time ago, the Dragon-Tiger Realm was also called the Heavenly Man Realm. But Heavenly Man is too abstract and difficult to understand, so later it became the Dragon-Tiger Realm." Taoist Lan nodded and said.

Yes, the word "God" has several meanings, so how should people understand "heaven" and "celestial being"?
Lan Dao Ren never gave riddles. He continued, "If 'I Tiger' was too weak, it would be easy to lose myself under the enlightenment of 'Dao Long'."

"That's not a 'tiger', it's a 'cat'. Who can pet it?"

"Ultimately, we monks must stick to ourselves, find the support point between 'I' and the world, and then reconcile the dragon and the tiger."

"Use the power of 'tiger' mixed with 'dragon' to move heaven and earth and reach an incredible realm."

"It's the Golden Core Stage!"

Skilled monks use the conflict between dragon and tiger to recognize, explore and understand the Way of Heaven.

Use this as a stepping stone to reach a new level.

The foolish monk was made nervous by the conflict between the dragon and the tiger. Sometimes he was afraid that the "tiger" was too strong, sometimes he was afraid that the "tiger" was too weak.

At the same time, he believes that the world he sees is the whole world, the world around him is the whole world, and the principles around him are the truth.

Suddenly one day, I arrived at another place and found that my previous understanding was wrong.

The world before was just a world in the well.

The truth before was just the truth in the well.

Therefore, he was infected by the "dragon" of the Tao and thought that his previous practice was wrong.

Looking ahead and behind, he has no opinion, no judgment, and is easily influenced by everything he does.

In the end, he died.

The Dragon-Tiger Realm is the first real threshold a cultivator encounters.

How to reconcile the dragon and the tiger?

Xu Shun didn't ask, and Lan Dao Ren didn't say anything.

One should not be too ambitious in cultivation. Knowing too much is not a good thing. At the moment, Xu Shun continued to practice Qi and prepare for building the foundation.

Xu Shun thought he understood what Taoist Lan said, but he would only truly understand it when he truly reaches this level.

Listening to others and doing it yourself are two different things.

So, Xu Shun returned to the previous topic and asked, "Master, does God have any other meaning?"

Just now, Taoist Lan only mentioned the "God" in the Daotongshen and the "God" in the Yuanshen, and did not mention the god carved from clay or wood.

"The other is a concept, which is what ordinary people call the god of 'spiritual consciousness'. It is not the same as the 'god' of the sea of ​​consciousness mentioned before." Lan Dao said.

Zi Su asked: "Master, didn't you just say that 'I Tiger' is a fusion of the 'God' in the sea of ​​consciousness and the mana of cultivation?"

Lan Daoren said: "The God of spiritual consciousness is not the 'God' in the sea of ​​consciousness. What you think of as consciousness, what you think of as 'I', is not the 'God' in the sea of ​​consciousness."

Shisu's face was full of question marks.

Xu Shunze understood that the "God" just now meant a worldview, a reasonable understanding of the world and oneself, while the "God" now was the "God" of spiritual consciousness.

Generally refers to human thinking.

Who would have thought that philosophical knowledge would be useful in cultivating immortals?

However, the Taoists and Buddhists in the past were engaged in philosophy, which was relatively abstract, with a lot of metaphors and was vague, so they were used by Taoism and Buddhism to engage in religion. Therefore, religions always talk about worldview first. If you agree with the worldview of a religion, you agree with the values ​​of the religion, and then 80% of you will believe in the religion.

"You will understand when you practice." Lan Daoren said, "You will naturally understand the difference when you practice."

This is why Lan Daoren is reluctant to say too much.

If you haven't encountered it, you can't explain it clearly.

It's like a mountain dweller telling a hiker who has no experience in hiking and surviving in the wild that camping in the wild is a very dangerous thing and you may even be washed away by water in the middle of the night.

The hiker would just laugh and curse in his heart, do you take me as a fool?
Won’t I run away when the water comes?

"There is another god, who is the 'god' of ghosts and gods, and can also be called the 'god' of incense." Taoist Lan said while looking at the statue of the City God.

"Master, is there such a god?" Xu Shun thought for a moment and said, "There is such a being that created the entire world and controls the entire world."

"He is omnipotent, omniscient, supreme, and exists in the past, present, and future."

“Everyone must worship him and believe in him.”

Now it was Lan Daoren's turn to be surprised. He asked, "Is this also called a 'god'?"

"Shouldn't this be called a 'god'?" Xu Shun said, "Such a god controls the way of heaven..."

“Haha~” Lan Daoren interrupted Xu Shun with a smile: “There is no such thing. Such an existence, even those bald donkeys wouldn’t dare to brag about it.”

"..."

Master, you are making fun of me again.

Xu Shun asked: "Why?"

"First of all, there is no record of such an existence in either Taoism or Buddhism." Lan Daoren said, "If such an existence exists, why didn't so many senior immortals notice it?"

"If it is not noticed by the senior monks, but is noticed by a mere mortal, and used to strengthen the sect, it would appear that this existence is very dishonest and despicable."

The so-called indecent and vulgar is that Xu Shun and Lan Daoren chatted about immortals descending to the human world and pretending to be cool.

A creator god shows off in front of mortals instead of monks or immortals.

It really...doesn't match the image of being omniscient and omnipotent.

"Also, the existence you mentioned is actually a lazy idea." Lan Daoist pondered for a moment and said, "It summarizes people's confusion, doubts, and puzzles about the world into a strange existence."

"That being holds the answer."

“As long as we find this existence and believe in it, all unknowns will have answers.”

"Yes or no?"

Finding one answer is easier than finding countless answers.

"Is it true that there is no existence that masters some kind of great principle or rule?" Xu Shun asked.

"Maybe there is, but we generally don't call that kind of thing a god, we call it a saint," said Lan Daoren.

"Holy?"

"Those who are born strong and have mastered some kind of power are saints." Lan Daoren added, "But they have all been killed by the immortal seniors."

"..."

Lan Daoist said calmly: "Our ancestor is such a person."

"..."

Is the ancestor so powerful?
Xu Shun's eyes widened.

　If you cannot even perceive the world correctly, how can you practice? It is just like a blind man riding a blind horse.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)