Confucian Cultivator Under One Person

Fu Yuan's expression shifted slightly. He looked at the two men's palms facing each other with an inexplicable expression and said, "Can your blood corrode the Qi of an alien?"

Barron smiled and said, "No, to be more precise, it can corrode everything, especially organic matter!"

Fu Yuan nodded and said, "The Huainanzi says: Those who eat water are good at swimming and can withstand cold; those who eat soil are mindless but wise; those who eat wood are strong but timid; those who eat grass are good at running but stupid; those who eat leaves have silk and are moths; those who eat meat are brave and fierce; those who eat air are divine and long-lived; those who eat grain are wise and celestial; those who do not eat are immortal and divine.

Therefore, you are a breath-eater, able to consume all air, including the primordial energy that originated from heaven and earth!"

Barron's smile froze. He looked at the two men facing each other and said, "I don't understand what you're saying, but why don't you look strange?"

Fu Yuan smiled and said, "My aura contains a strong sense of righteousness. Haven't you heard that the general of an army can be taken away, but the will of a common man cannot be taken away?

You want to devour my energy, but you have to shake my will first. Do you think you can do it?"

As he spoke, Fu Yuan took a step back, drew his sword, sheathed it, wiped the blood from his hands, and said, "Smearing blood all over your hands on someone else's is too much!"

The blood was wiped off, and there was nothing unusual on the palm.

Barron's chest bleeds a little. He stumbles and clutches his wound, asking in surprise, "Is it over?"

Fu Yuan nodded and said, "Well, let's not fight anymore. You can't beat me anyway."

Barron: "..."

Speechless.

Fu Yuan looked at Xia Liuqing and said, "Old Xia, the old Heavenly Master is about to come out. Why don't you go first? You're already old, and it's unfair to lose your life in the Heavenly Master's Mansion."

Xia Liuqing looked at Fu Yuan, then at Baron, and recalled, "Alright, I'll go first and avoid the old Taoist priest's limelight."

After saying that, he turned and left without any reluctance.

The other person obviously wanted to have a private chat with the foreigner Barron, but he couldn't beat him, so why should he stay?

After the others left, Barron said, "I understand. You just want to test my ability."

In this short life, the wound that pierced his chest has healed.

Fu Yuan nodded and said, "Six Treasury Immortal Thief, I just want to see what's going on."

Barron was shocked: "You know my ability?"

Fu Yuan gestured for him to walk while he spoke, "The Yin Fu Jing says that there are five thieves in the sky, and whoever sees them will prosper. The so-called five thieves are the five elements. The power of the five elements secretly changes the state of all things like "stealing".

Your ability is to transfer the changes of all things in the world into your body in the form of Qi... After all, all things in the world are made of Qi."

Barron was a little confused and said, "So you call me 'the Breath Eater'... but didn't you say I'm the 'Six Treasury Immortal Thief'? The six thieves, I think, represent the six energy-absorbing organs in the body. The person who taught me this ability also explained it that way."

Fu Yuandao said: "The meaning is the same. In the human body, there is a saying of 'six zang organs and six fu organs'. The six zang organs are the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys, which correspond to the five elements. Together with the pericardium, they correspond exactly to the five elements transformation in a perfect world.

The six bowels are organs that transmit food and drink. They both divide the work and cooperate with each other to complete the process of receiving, digesting, absorbing, transmitting and excreting food and drink.

This system is equivalent to the changing process of the Qi between heaven and earth."

Barron seemed to understand but not quite, and his expression was a little confused.

Fu Yuan sighed and said, "Write it down first, and then read it slowly in the book later. I remember there was a method called "Divine Spirit", which is to restore the world's energy to its original form.

Your method is somewhat similar, but it's just like a thief, stealing the process of the transformation of vital energy directly into your own body intactly.

It’s like a factory. Others research the principles, design and arrange various processes, and finally process them into finished products. You simply steal their processes and copy them step by step... and naturally you can also get the finished product in the end.

Only by jumping out of the Five Elements can one steal the changes of the Five Elements. It is not an exaggeration to call him an "immortal" thief.

But these are not important. The most important sentence is, "Those who eat air are divine and live long!"

Barron: “What do you mean?”

Fu Yuan said with a serious expression, "Eating Breath is a form of cultivation practiced in ancient times. However, ancient cultivation was not like today's dual cultivation of body and soul, refining a breath of innate Qi... In ancient times, the purpose was to cultivate the "God"!

Therefore, as a breatharian, you must understand the "Spirit"!

Barron: “I don’t quite understand.”

Fu Yuan sighed and said with a headache: “The human spirit will produce emotions such as greed, anger, ignorance, love, hate, and desire. Only by clarifying your spirit and guarding your spirit can you not be dominated by these emotions.

If you can't protect your soul, your ultimate fate will be to sink into these emotions and be unable to extricate yourself..."

While explaining, Fu Yuan was secretly cursing in his heart, how could a foreigner learn the Six Treasury Immortal Thief?

When talking to Westerners, you can talk about human nature and animal nature, but it is very difficult to have a conversation about "divinity". This is the fundamental difference between Eastern and Western ideas!

If you tell a Westerner that you caused chaos in the Garden of Eden and overthrew God, he or she will just think you are a psychopath.

But among the Six Treasury Immortal Thieves, who else can Fu Yuan choose except Baron?

Fu Yuan glanced at Barron with a look of regret, and said, "Do you feel that everything has become boring and uninteresting now? This is the result of not having a "clear mind" and not being able to "guard the mind."

You feel bored and dull because your five aggregates are so intense that they completely overwhelm your primordial spirit... Your primordial spirit is perfect and complete, and is self-satisfied!"

The legends about the ancient air-eaters and the Investiture of the Gods are enough to explain the problem clearly.

Only those who eat air and have a clear mind can live long!

Otherwise, you will have to choose to give up yourself and become a puppet like Ruan Feng.

Chapter 79: Interpreting Confucianism from the Perspective of Cultivation

There is a sentence in the Heart Sutra: When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he saw that the five aggregates were empty and was able to overcome all suffering.

The so-called five aggregates are: form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness.

When the five aggregates are empty, the primordial spirit and the bright spirit can be seen, which are self-sufficient and perfect. Then all sufferings in the world and in the heart will no longer exist.

As the five aggregates burn fiercely, there will naturally be more troubles and sufferings.

Some people love delicious food, but after trying all the delicious food, they start to feel bored. This is not because they have given up their preferences, but because they have become more greedy and crave more delicious things!

Therefore, desire is endless. Even if a desire is temporarily satisfied, there will always be a greater desire waiting. There will never be an end.

The "Immortal Thief of the Six Treasurys" was just like that. After tasting everything in the world, he succumbed to his desires, and his heart was never satisfied, so he turned his sights on humans and started eating them... and once he started, he couldn't stop!

When a person is completely dominated by desires, cannot control his nature at all, cannot keep his original heart, cannot keep God...what else can he do except indulge in desires?

It was difficult for Fu Yuan to explain to a foreigner what "God" was.

In Barron's opinion, God is God, or has other names, but it has absolutely nothing to do with himself.

But in Eastern spiritual practice, God is something that is inherent in oneself...

After thinking for a moment, Fu Yuan changed the topic and asked, "Do you understand Confucianism?"

Barron nodded and said, "I know. This is knowledge that has been passed down for thousands of years. I have also read some related books."

"That's good." Fu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The way of the university is to manifest the bright virtue. Do you know what that means?"

Barron thought for a moment and said, "The greatest learning lies in understanding one's own virtues?"

“Huh…” Fu Yuan exhaled, shook his head, and said: “Mingde is the Dharma nature, Mingde is the Tao body, Mingde is the mysterious female, Mingde is the millet bead, Mingde is the relic… Mingde is also the Mingshen!

The luminous virtue is inherent in everyone. Sages have no more of it than we do, and we have no less of it than sages. But the reason why sages are sages is that they manifest the luminous virtue and bring out the brilliance of their own nature.

The difference between a saint and an ordinary person is only the difference between not yet enlightened and already enlightened... The purpose of cultivation, whether it is the dual cultivation of nature and life in the Dao of Dan or the innate Qi in Qi training, is to seek "enlightenment", to "enlighten the spirit"..."

Fu Yuan didn't care whether Barron understood or not, and just spoke out his thoughts.

Barron listened very carefully, or rather, he remembered very carefully. Although he didn't quite understand, his intuition told him that what the other party said was very important!

……

Different people can read the same article with different understandings, it all depends on their perspective!

Just like Confucianism, from the perspective of ordinary people, it is a concept of life, a principle of conduct, and an attitude towards doing things...

But can Confucianism really not be interpreted from the perspective of spiritual practice?

There is a saying in the Doctrine of the Mean: "Knowing what comes first and what comes later is the closest to the Way." Many people interpret this as meaning knowing the order and sequence of doing things.

However, the true great way has no order. Knowing order means there is no order. Confucius said that my way is consistent, and Taoists call it Wuji. It is the same principle.

The "Doctrine of the Mean" explains the profound and reveals the subtle, which can actually be said to be the unity of man and nature, and the dual cultivation of nature and life. Of course, in the end, the core is the word "sincerity".

Sincerity is one, one is sincerity, and having one mind and no second thoughts is sincerity.

Where there is sincerity there is trust, and where there is stillness there is life.

According to this explanation, compared to the various Taoist terms that are confusing, Confucianism is actually more straightforward. It’s just that people do not regard it as a form of spiritual practice, but only read it as a form of learning.

What does it mean to be absent-minded? It means to be free from attachment and to give rise to one's mind. This is also the Taoist practice of seeing but not seeing, and hearing but not hearing.

At the beginning of "The Analects of Confucius", "learning" is nature, "practicing it from time to time" is destiny, and "learning and practicing it from time to time" is the dual cultivation of nature and destiny!

As for leaving the world and entering the world, there is actually no need to make such a clear distinction. There is no difference between the two.

"Learning" is the principle, and "practicing" is the matter. The principle needs to be understood in the mind, and the matter needs to be practiced. The principle can be realized suddenly, and the matter requires gradual practice. "Learning and practicing it from time to time" means to experience various situations and temper the mind.

The way of a university is to manifest the bright virtue and to be close to the people. What does it mean to be close to the people? "Friends come from afar" means to be close to the people!

Confucian etiquette is to humble oneself and respect others. Everyone is a sage, and I am the only ordinary person!

If people don't know me, it's not because they lack insight, but because I lack virtue. If I fail in my actions, I must look within myself. I examine myself three times a day, and three is many. Extend your own understanding to others, and you will help others by saving yourself.

In short, ordinary people plan things for themselves, while sages plan things for others, which is why they say "I don't get angry when people don't know me."

When making friends, keep your word. Trust means accuracy and sincerity.

Zengzi said: "Do not deceive yourself. Do not deceive even a single thought. Do not deceive every thought." What does it mean to not deceive others?

No, I don’t deceive myself!

……

“Only when you know when to stop can you achieve stability. The “stop” here does not mean to stop, but to be in the present moment, in the present thought!”

Fu Yuan and Baron met many people along the way, but after seeing Fu Yuan, these people all chose to avoid him spontaneously. Even if there were some stubborn ones, Baron would step forward and solve the problem easily.

"Just like when I stabbed you with my sword, don't think about what would happen if you were stabbed. Would it hurt? Would you die? What regrets do you have? What have you missed enjoying? These distracting thoughts will only disturb your body and mind and will do you no good!

Your thoughts should stop at the moment when the sword comes, and then you will be able to "calm down".

Only with concentration can one achieve the following: “Concentration leads to tranquility, tranquility leads to peace, peace leads to consideration, and consideration leads to attainment.” Initially, this is a gradual process, but over time, there is no sequence, just like “knowing what comes first and what comes later,” ultimately there is no order…”

Fu Yuan stopped and went forward, he would be surrounded by the company.

Barron also saw the ambush ahead and knew that this road had come to an end. He turned back to look at Fu Yuan seriously and said, "I can understand some of what you said, but I don't quite understand most of it. But I will learn... But I don't understand why you are willing to teach me?"

Fu Yuan said frankly: "I want to do something and I need your help."