Enter...The Tao!

Many believe the Hua Hu Jing (fourth century BC) was written by Lao Tzu. Although its authorship is contested, the contents of this book are remarkable. Here is a quote:

Seventy

The cords of passion and desire weave a binding net around you. Worldly confrontation makes you stiff and inflexible. The trap of duality is tenacious. Bound, rigid, and trapped, you cannot experience liberation. Through dual cultivation it is possible to unravel the net, soften the rigidity, dismantle the trap. Dissolving your yin energy into the source of universal life, attracting the yang energy from that same source, you leave behind individuality and your life becomes pure nature. Free of ego, living naturally, working virtuously, you become filled with inexhaustible vitality and are liberated forever from the cycle of death and rebirth. Understand this if nothing else: spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao are not randomly bestowed gifts, but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution.



Seventy-One

The transformation toward eternal life is gradual. The heavy, gross energy of body, mind, and spirit must first be purified and uplifted. When the energy ascends to the subtle level, then self-mastery can be sought. A wise instructor teaches the powerful principles of self-integration only to those who have already achieved a high level of self-purification and self-mastery. In addition, all proper teaching follows the law of energy response: the most effective method is always that to which the student's natural energy most harmoniously responds. For one, celibacy and self-cultivation will be appropriate; for another, properly guided dual cultivation will derive the greatest benefit. A discerning teacher will determine the proper balance of practices for each individual. In any case, know that all teachers and techniques are only transitional: true realization comes from the direct merger of one's being with the divine energy of the Tao.

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Used By Permission
http://gnosticteachings.org/scriptures/taoist/4-hua-hu-jing.html

Darkness Is Your Candle!...

When I first thought about this mystic saying I squinted my critical eye and recoiled in some kind of pre-historic grunt of utter disgust.  "How?" I thought to myself. "Can anyone say such a thing!?"  What hurts you is bad! devastating... crushing... destructive... and all those things we think about with great disdain.  Nothing "good" can ever rise from the ashes of hurt and loss - can it?  The questions we raise drown out the beauty which is present in the words themselves...

"Darkness is your candle!"  The world is a dark place.  Full of pain and saddness.  Destructive powers are all around us.  We shiver in the thought of something bad happening to us or worse - happenning to someone we love.  And yet when we stop and let go and follow the quiet way - the way of silence, we enter the darkness in our mind.  That spot that says, "Stop what you are doing!  Stop and listen to your heart beating."  The world within a world begins to awaken and come alive.  The night turns... into day.  The scary world of what ifs fades away and we are brought face to face with the truth.  The assurance that we seek is there in the darkness.  If we take the time to let go and realize that the "darkness is our candle" we will emerge from the darkness with a new vision full of light.  That light which comes from knowing our fears and letting our fears go...

To trust the outcome - come what may - to make the best of any situation is to know the light of love... And it is then that we learn to forgive.  We learn to accept.  And we learn that in the silence of darkness we find ourselves again.

"Darkness is your candle..."  Let it shine! Let it shine!  Let it shine!