Chapter 5: The Realm of Anthro- Celestial Union

¹ Finally, I would like to talk about the realm of anthro-celestial [heaven and man] union. This is the highest thought and the highest realm of Chinese Daoists and Confucians.

¹ 最後談到天人合一的境界，這也就是中國道家、儒家的最高思想、最高境界。

² Any educated Chinese with even just a little bit of self-cultivation places the goal of anthro-celestial union above everything else.

² 中國讀書人稍有修養者，無不以天人合一為唯一目標。

³ Laozi said, “Dao is great. Heaven is great. Earth is great. The emperor [human] is also great. These are the four great powers of the universe, and the emperor is one of them.”^[27]

³ 老子曰：「道大，天大，地大，人亦大，域中有四大，而人居其一焉。」

⁴ The Dao, heaven, earth, and humanity are called “the four great things.” This puts humanity on par with the Dao, heaven, and earth.

⁴ 道、天、地、人四者稱為域中四大。是特把人與道、天、地並列。

⁵ This is due to humanity is the backbone of the universe, the center of the universe.

⁵ 蓋因人為宇宙的骨幹、宇宙的中心。

⁶ Without humanity, the universe would only be an endless night. Everything would be empty. Humanity is the reason for the existence of the universe. Without humanity, where is the universe?

⁶ 無人則宇宙如萬古長夜，一切盡空。其所以有宇宙者，因為有人。人既不在，宇宙又在何處？

⁷ Laozi said, “Man follows earth. Earth follows heaven. Heaven follows the Dao. Dao follows what is natural.”^[28] So we know that a man stands proudly in the cosmos and his way is one of utmost dignity.

⁷ 老子曰：「人法地、地法天、天法道、道法自然。」由此可知人在宇宙之間是頂天立地，唯道獨尊。

⁸ Everyone has roots in the cultivation of the Dao, and everyone is united with the Dao. Everyone can cultivate the Dao and everyone can attain the Dao.

⁸ 人人都有道根，人人都與道合。人人都能修道，人人都可得道。

⁹ Cultivating the Dao is no more than cultivating the self. Outside of the self, there is no Dao. To cultivate the Dao, you must first make your heart upright, since the Dao is in the human heart.

⁹ 修道不外修身，身外無道；修道必先正心，道在人心。

¹⁰ All you need to do is to turn it around to seek it in yourself, and to cultivate through quiet sitting.

¹⁰ 只有反求諸己，靠自己靜坐修煉。

¹¹ Chinese Original Quiet Sitting is the only heritage of ancient China that was passed down from ancestors about 5,000 years ago. It aims at strengthening bodies, strengthening bloodlines, nurturing life, conferring longevity, and uniting heaven with humanity.

¹¹ 中國正宗靜坐是我國五千年前老祖宗留下來的強身、強種、養生、長生，天人合一唯一的遺產；

¹² For ancient Daoists, it was also the fundamental practice for tempering spirit and flesh in order to transcend the bonds of physicality to attain eternal life, through wondrous transformation of the body and spirit.

¹² 也是古代道家鍛煉精神、肉體，以求超越物質世界之束縛，而達形神俱妙長生不老之基本修煉方法。

¹³ The ancient Daoists of China perceived that heaven being a great universe, and a human body being a small universe.

¹³ 我國古代道家了解天為大天，人為小天。

¹⁴ Heaven is 365 degrees ^[29] in circumference, while the human body has 365 bones. Heaven has four seasons and eight yearly solar terms;^[30] mankind has four limbs and eight extraordinary channels.

¹⁴ 天有三百六十五度數，人有三百六十五骨節。天有四時八節，人有四體八脈。

¹⁵ Heaven has its periodic cycles; in humans, there is the circulation of qi- and-blood, which is also a celestial cycle, and various examples of nature’s Dao.

¹⁵ 天有週天，人有氣血循環即是週天一轉種種自然之道。

¹⁶ The human body utilizes the law of reciprocity to attune matter with nature. Through a process of tempering the spirit and the body one will ultimately break through the constraints of the physical world. The transformation of qi causes wondrous changes in the body and spirit, which brings forth eternal life. Thus one can enter the eternal spiritual realm of anthro-celestial union.

¹⁶ 人身能運用自然與物質相配化合之理，經過精神肉體鍛煉的過程，終必超脫物質世界的束縛，氣化而長生不死，進入天人合一的永恆精神境界。

¹⁷ This all-round practice combines spirit and flesh, proceeding from matter back to nature. The fruit of such Daoist learning, won by tens of thousands of people over five millennia of study and experience, is indeed quite scientific.

¹⁷ 道家學術上這種精神與肉體相配合，由物質而返自然的綜合修煉工夫，經過五千年來千千萬萬人在不斷研究體驗得來的成果，是非常科學的。

¹⁸ It fits in with the scientific principle that “matter” and “energy” are interrelated; each one can transform the other.

¹⁸ 是合乎現在科學上證明「質」、「能」可以互為轉化的道理。

¹⁹ This is part of the spiritual civilization that was handed down by our ancestors. Furthermore, it shows that for the past 5,000 years, the Chinese people have believed that a spiritual world exists beyond the material world clearly.

¹⁹ 這不但是中國老祖宗流傳下來的精神文明，而且更足以說明中國人五千年來，一直認為在物質世界之外，還有一個精神世界的存在。

²⁰ Thus, I say that the highest realm of Chinese thought has always been anthro-celestial union.

²⁰ 所以中國思想一直以天人合一為最高境界。

²¹ The Chinese people say: “When a phenomenon emerges in heaven, there is a physical form that remains on Earth.” That is to say, first there is the spiritual world, and then there is the material world.

²¹ 我們中國人說：「在天成象，在地留形」。就是先有精神世界後有物質世界。

²² The realm of anthro-celestial union is the spiritual world.

²² 天人合一的境界，就是精神世界。

²³ All of these ideas confirm that Chinese Original Quiet Sitting is related to the union between heaven and mankind.

²³ 凡此種種，都是加強證實中國正宗靜坐和天人合一的關係。

²⁴ From this we know that cultivation of quiet sitting, at the very least, can prevent illness and extend life, bringing good health and longevity.

²⁴ 由此而知靜坐進修，小而可以袪病延年，健康長壽，

²⁵ It can probe the mysteries of the universe and the ultimate in human life. It allows man to communicate with spirits and share revelations of heaven via channeling.

²⁵ 可以探討宇宙秘奧人生究竟，可以神人交通透露天人消息，

²⁶ It can prolong one’s stay on Earth to save this world and discharge our affinities with other human beings.

²⁶ 可以長久住世救世了緣。

²⁷ Taken to its fullest, it can transcend the world and enter the sacred. It can give us everlasting life and return us to oneness with nature.

²⁷ 大而可以超凡入聖。長生不死，回歸自然！