"Trade-offs"
In this chapter, Lao Tzu not only talks about the function of "holding the elephant", but also talks about a kind of realm and mentality, such as "indifferent and tasteless". Of course, there are many more explanations for this statement.
There are many expressions of this type in the Tao Te Ching, such as "great debate", the most able person who can debate, often stammers and stutters, "great wisdom is foolish", the most wise person always seems stupid, and "great ingenuity", the most ingenious person often likes to work stupidly. The Eastern Han Dynasty philosopher Wang Chong also said in "On Heng and Ziji" that "the soup must have a light taste", which means that the best soup tastes light, but has a long aftertaste, so the spicy tang that everyone likes is definitely not the best soup in his opinion - just kidding, but it is not unreasonable. Think about it, if you add a lot of spicy seeds, peppercorns, and pepper noodles to the soup, what will the soup taste like? It may be fragrant, but it's certainly not the kind of layered fragrance. Only the kind of soup with a very light flavor can you taste the original flavor of the ingredients, such as the sweetness of radish and cabbage. Therefore, a true gourmand does not necessarily seek excitement and heavy taste, he may prefer to taste the flavors of the ingredients in light, just as the enlightened person tastes the world in the ultimate tranquility.
In the same way, the noisy dance music on the street is not the best music, the best music is the sound of guqin music, faint, if there is nothing, it seems to be broken, the sound is not loud, you can enter the heart. Therefore, in the past, monks liked to play the guqin and use the sound of the guqin to enter the Tao. You can observe the sound of the guqin, it is very quiet, not noisy, plain and profound. It doesn't change much, it won't be very tortuous, unlike the Guzheng version of "Ambush on All Sides". It is generally "Mountains and Flowing Water", elegant and ancient, and very few will be like "Guangling San", suddenly popping out one or two killing sounds. In short, the highest state of guqin music is similar to the realm of Tao, "indifferent and tasteless", just like flowing water.
However, whether it tastes or sounds, in the final analysis, it is a metaphor for a state of mind. No matter what kind of mentality, it is not as good as the indifference when it is quiet to the extreme-light and tasteless, with neither fluctuating emotions nor uncontrollable desires. At this time, heaven and earth are silent with you, and you do not pursue stillness but naturally enter into silence, and do not pursue movement and generate wonderful uses. If you train according to the method described above, you will enter this state later. It's good for both children and adults to be in this state. Especially children. Because children are often too active to be still, through dynamic imagination training, they can slowly enter a state of stillness. When he enters the static, settles in the static, and slowly savors the tranquility, his mind will become more and more still, producing a concentration and wisdom that his peers do not have. There are many examples of this around me. Of course, some children have no distractions in the first place, and their hearts are so clean that they can easily calm down.
Lao Tzu said "return to the baby", referring to this state of being clean to the extreme, quiet to the extreme, and "trance" is also a metaphor for this state. But this state is not complete stillness, and when you enter this state, your body will also slowly change, which Taoists call true qi activation. This is "still and vivid". That is to say, whether you are focusing on the navel or the navel down an inch and a third, as long as you pay attention to a certain extent, your heart will be calm to the extreme, and the position you pay attention to will generate heat, and you will feel warm and happy. This kind of training is very similar to the clumsy fire of Tantra, which is to mobilize the inherent energy of life, which Taoists call true qi. Once this state appears, you try to settle into it, not in a hurry, quietly, slowly, and keep yourself in this state. Because, when the distracting thoughts die, the mind will be very quiet, and when it is quiet to a certain extent, it will resonate with the Great Dao, approach the Great Dao, and enter the realm of the Great Dao. In "Danyang Xiuzhen Quotations", it is said that "when the heart is dead, God lives", which is what it means. "God" is the primordial god, which is the most true wisdom of human beings. In other words, once the distracting thoughts disappear, the most authentic wisdom in life will come to life. Taoism also has the saying of "one yang activation" and "true qi activation", which also refers to this state.
It should be noted that when entering the static, you should also be alert, not drowsy, let alone asleep. Imagining colors is one way to stay alert. If you can imagine a particular color, your brain is awake, and it is impossible to be drowsy, let alone asleep. Because, during sleep, the part of the brain that dominates color also enters a dormant state, so dreams are generally black and white, without color. Our imagination training often has fires and a variety of colors, just to activate your brain, make your cerebral cortex active, and even stimulate some dormant potential.
If distracting thoughts arise again, it doesn't matter, continue to train dynamically, and when you reach a certain level, the distracting thoughts will gradually disappear again, and your mind will calm down again. You just prolong it slowly, don't bother it with anything, try not to come out of this state, and slowly prolong the time of settling. Over time, your ability to control your mind will become stronger and your mind will become more and more proficient. So, whether it's for Taoist training or Tantric training, don't think it's amazing or not magical. Because, whether it is magical or not, it doesn't matter, the important thing is that it can adjust your mind, and it can change your life state through centering.
Gradually, you will find that you have changed, your heart has become very indifferent, you have no desires, you have been living in that extreme stillness, although you are in contact with the world, but everything in the outside world cannot affect your heart, including the sounds you hear, the scenes you see, etc., this is "blind, hearing but not hearing". Moreover, although you can't touch the Great Dao, you have the wisdom of the Great Dao, and you will never run out of this wisdom. Shakyamuni said that everyone said that he had been preaching the Dharma for 49 years, but they didn't know that he hadn't even said a word. This is wisdom, there is no name of wisdom in the heart, there is no name of the Dharma, what sentient beings need to hear, he will say, and after speaking, he will let go, and there is no concern in his heart.
Of course, some girls don't necessarily like such people, she thinks it's too ruthless. She also likes the wise, but the wise must care about her, and only one person, not others. If a wise person cares about others, she will feel that the wise man is not a wise man, so how can he still be concerned; if the wise man has no concern at all, even if she does not care, she will also feel that the wise man is not good, too indifferent. Therefore, "love" directly hinders women's understanding and pursuit of wisdom. The biggest obstacle to women's cultivation is affection.
Regardless of the country's history, the number of female achievers is very low. Why? Because women are born to care about emotions, and the pursuit of emotions is a very obvious part of women's nature. Therefore, attachment is the most important threshold for a female practitioner, and only after passing this level can she become enlightened, otherwise she will not be able to attain enlightenment. This is also the reason why Sun Buji in the "Seven Sons of Quanzhen" must leave his hometown, stay away from his husband, and go to cultivate alone. There are too few women who can do Sun Buji's step, and even if some female cultivators have already cultivated well, they may not be able to pass the love level. Therefore, "love" makes women an awe-inspiring existence, and it also makes many women live very painfully.
In terms of "love", men are better than women, they are not so persistent, men care more about their careers, and there is a taste of heartlessness. Of course, you can also understand that the pattern of men is larger. When they pursue a larger pattern, such as their own beliefs and ideals, they let go of some things, including feelings. This is true in any realm, not just the realm of the ascetic. Therefore, there is no right or wrong in many things in life, only choice, and perfection in the absolute sense does not exist.
However, although love is the biggest obstacle to women's cultivation, the greatest thing about women is love, especially the motherhood in women's nature. Motherhood is an emotion that is very close to faith, and it is selfless devotion. Mothers often do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves in order to protect their children. So, if a woman can treat all beings as her own children, and she is unpretentious, she will unconditionally sacrifice herself for all beings, like Mother Teresa, with a great compassion. In other words, although there is an element of hindrance to spiritual practice in a woman's nature, as long as it is handled well, many problems can be solved. In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu mentions "female", "mother" and "baby" many times, which may have a special intention.
END
About author:Xue Mo, formerly known as Chen Kaihong, is a native of Liangzhou, Gansu Province. He is a national first-class writer, a well-known cultural scholar, vice chairman of the Gansu Writers Association, the dean of the Guangzhou Shamba Culture Research Institute, and a "humanistic tutor" of Fudan University and the Cancer Institute of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Excerpt from "Lao Tzu's Thoughts - Snow Boiled "Tao Te Ching" Second Series
雪漠（XUEMO）