Mysticism
Mysticism: Empowering the Spirit Within, by Taoist Master Hua-Ching Ni, Santa Monica, CA: College of Tao and Traditional Chinese Healing, 1992.
About this Book
The mother of spiritual knowledge or omniscience is mysticism, or the spiritual energy of the universe itself. Human spiritual energy equals mysticism and mysticism is something accessible to all those sincere seekers who have the correct training.
5,000 years ago the Yellow Emperor sought out achieved masters to receive their mystical instruction: 3,000 years prior, I Ching instruction was passed down orally. Thus for 8,000 years, mystical knowledge has been passed down from the Taoist sages to Master Ni, Hua-Ching.
Mysticism presents another kind of knowledge that does not use senses or machines: omniscience. People generally accumulate knowledge by way of study and experience through their limited sensory capabilities and technological devices. However, these fail to detect that which is too big, like the universe, or that which is too small, like spiritual beings. Through spiritual development, both the entirety of the universe and the spirits can be known.
Omniscience, before it becomes graspable is represented by a symbol or a picture. In this book, Hua-Ching Ni presents an introduction to mysticism as the ancient knew it and as it can be experienced today.
— From: Backcover
Quotes
— For millions of years, people of previous races or species had spiritual knowledge. Intellectual knowledge became organized only during the last few centuries, and scientific knowledge is commonly traced back 200 to 700 years. Now, both intellectual and scientific knowledge are widely established and trusted. However, modern intellectual and scientific approaches to knowledge overlook millions of years of spiritual achievement.
— Approximately 6,000 years ago, language was developed and was used to convey the teachings of the Way.
— The spiritual level is not the same as the religious level. Most people are confused about what is spiritual and what is religious. Religion is a custom started by a social leader at a time when society evolved to become strong, and a tool was needed to organize people and avoid conflict. Spiritual knowledge or spiritual education I consider to be the science of reality and truth. For the least, spiritual knowledge exercises pure spiritual capability to gather accurate facts at different levels of spiritual reality. Spiritual knowledge can be promoted as a religious establishment, but its best use is as a broad basis for the spiritual growth of all.
— Through the teaching of the Integral Way, and by learning and following the Integral Way, you can realize the joining of your life with the great universal spiritual energy. Without the Integral Way, all religious teachings become shallow, and scientific achievement becomes destructive to the energetic nature of the universe. The Integral Wy offers potential integration of universal spiritual reality with universal physical reality in one natural reality.
— If this spiritual attainment of long years of human life experience can become the popular knowledge, at least among the leaders of human society, the world will be more bright and pleasant and a less artificial climate will be created.
— You can live above the limited ideas of people. To do so, you need to break or deprogram the way your mind was programmed by people, yourself, or the culture you live in. This is one step toward attaining inner clarity.
— In the Tai Chi diagram, the sages find balance. People can become sages by lifting themselves above their imbalances. The sages designed the Tai Chi diagram to demonstrate balance as the goal.
— Self-delivery does not establish ideology: it helps you develop your own mental and spiritual power.
— The teaching of the Integral Way offers the earliest universal mystical explanation. However, the original spiritual teaching or learning was not just for explanation; it was a pursuit which reached the attainment of great spiritual development. Spiritual practice had two important stages. One was the discovery of natural spiritual secrets. Another was seeing through the psychological approach of the world’s religions, which are on the same level of political and social skill in gathering people under the banner of beliefs. They do not serve your spirit. My personal interest is the ancient, real teachings about energy, not later religious developments.
— Wherever the word ‘Tao’ is used in my books, it means the teaching of integral spiritual truth. Then it will not cause confusion with folk Taoism which is just a psychological type of religion. While the original teaching of spiritual reality is a culture, folk Taoism is a mixture of all types of teachings from Buddhism, Confucianism and spiritual practices of ordinary people. Because it is just an intellectual mixture, it is different from the study of the Integral Way as the truthful approach of spiritual pursuit, development and attainment.
— The central spiritual achievement of the ancient achieved ones relates to learning the reality of energy. Why was this their focus? The entire universe is an expression of energy. This energy is what exists behind all things that can be seen, and it manifests differently according to the object. Situations and events have energy behind them too; this energy changes or has phases. What phase of energy do spiritually developed people, the realizers of spiritual truth, admire most? They adore the beginning energy which gives birth to all lives. This actually means the energy that existed even before the universe was formed.
— The form of all things in the universe and the universe itself always change from nothingness to somethingness. Then from somethingness, the energy returns to nothingness. This is the predictable pattern of the transformation of energy. When you have observed that pattern as it manifests in nature and have understood it, your vision becomes deepened, awakened or widened.
— In ancient times, that energy was called Tao. Now we call it subtle spiritual truth. This energy existed before the birth of the universe. Thus the sphere of nothing is the energy which can give birth to life again and again. Whenever you return to the energy of the sphere of nothing, which is the original energy, you receive birth. Death happens when you move or live too far away from the subtle origin, the sphere of nothing.
— When energy is weak, it is called yin. When energy is strong, it is called yang. When the two energies of yin and yang are balanced, it is a most creative and productive time which gives good fruit. Any production that comes from balanced energy is a good product. Any creation that comes out of a balanced situation is most trustworthy and useful.
— People can also do internal practices to make their energy stronger. If a person’s energy is weak, the person will have too many unclear dreams. However, a person of strong energy will awaken easily with a clear mind.
— With strong energy, a person has distinct recognition of the energy which brings about constructive achievement in one’s work. Strong energy can be recognized as bringing about constructive achievement in work. Yet, a balance of yin and yang is the most productive.
— Traditionally, the white part of the Tai Chi diagram is named yang and the black part is named yin. Yin grows from yang, and yang receives growth from yin. The two arise together. There is a small circle in each side. The small circles are described by the maxim ‘in the midst of yang there is yin, and in the midst of yin there is yang.’ This means that no condition is absolute, and no single matter can be truly independent. This it Tai Chi.
— The process of externalizing internal reality seems important to the immature mind. This process separates the original spiritual energy into three parts — the creator, the creation and the event — in order to be accepted. However, all is still unified within one person. Even unified, this voice or image is a projection of the person’s spiritual energy.
— Spiritual development is a process of growth or maturation, not a single event in someone’s life.
— There is nothing outside of Tao. Tao is not outside of things. Tao lives within things, and things live within Tao. Tao is the substance and tao is also the function. Tao is the totality of function and substance.
— Buddhism is negative about worldly life. It seems to me that Buddhism does not achieve a world goal because it does not have a world goal; although they talk about delivery, they mostly work on an emotional level, but perhaps also spiritual level. Christianity in general supports worldly life, but some narrow practices of all religions bring too much confrontation; they create prejudice and cause people to fight. Catholicism has been an obstacle in the progress of society and scientific achievement. Islam expresses strong social discipline by making people obey conventional strength. Confucianism also did not bring a true, orderly world.
— Spirits enable you to know what is good and what is bad. The spiritual function enables you to know what is right and what is wrong, what is auspicious and what is misfortune. The original spiritual function knows what will go smoothly, and what is against the nature of events. The spiritual function enables you to know if you need to move or act fast before a crisis happens, danger occurs, or benefit is coming. The spiritual function enables you to know if you need to go forward or retreat. If it is a good direction, you should go toward it, if it is a bad direction, you should retreat from it. It is the most secret function of internal spirits.
— Spiritual beings are not something you shall become, but something you are originally.
— The part of you that makes decisions and enjoys or suffers the consequences is called your original life or original spirit. If you do not cultivate your spirits, and only go looking for external things, you cannot know whether those things are good or bad. Without developing your spirits, you cannot tell if something will bring good fortune or misfortune, or whether you need to go forward or backward. Thus, if you do not cultivate your original spirit, you live in uncertainty, and your life is a gamble because you do not develop yourself.
— The physical or sexual essence (tsing or jing) is the god of water. The vital energy or chi of your body is the god of fire. The spirit of mind or sen is the god of Heaven. They govern the three regions — lower, middle, and high region — of your life. Put together, they are the true trinity, the god of trinity. The true god of trinity is comprised of your true being. We are talking about your true essence, your true spirit.
— The one trained or taught in spiritual cultivation will find that the spiritual energy will immediately appear in the mind. The one with no training is like a person cut in pieces: the body, mind and the words that come out of his mouth lack unification or integrity.
