Chapter 13: Only the Spirit Is Undying

¹ The Supreme Truth-Blossom Vehicle Method for reaching the highest heaven is a natural, unforced, non-purposive mindfulness for cultivating the great empty Dao. It is different from ordinary meditation in Chinese tradition.

¹ 法華上乘直修昊天虛無大道自然無為心法，與中國傳統的一般靜坐不同。

² Teaching Chinese Original Quiet Sitting is to make the great cosmic Dao of God known. It is a method of spreading God’s teachings to every corner of the Earth.

² 傳授正宗靜坐是為了傳佈　上帝宇宙大道，把　上帝的教化傳播到地球上每一個角落。

³ Ever since humans have been on this Earth, they have wrestled with questions of life’s origin and ultimate destination. What is the ultimate origin of human life? In sum, this is the question of “life and death.”

³ 因為地球上自有人類以來，大家所關心而得不到究竟的問題，是生命的來源、生命的歸屬、生命的究竟為何？歸結起來就是「生與死」的問題。

⁴ All living things must pass through birth and destruction. This is the principle of cosmic creation. Birth implies death, and death gives way to birth. This is reincarnation, the be-all and end-all. Birth and death are matters of great importance.

⁴ 凡是生物都是必生必滅，這是宇宙造化的原理。有生有死，死而復生，是一個輪迴，一個究竟，所以生死是一件大事。

⁵ Chinese Original Quiet Sitting is transmitted so that strivers may know the answer to life’s ultimate questions: “Where does life come from? Where does it go after death?”

⁵ 而傳授正宗靜坐就是要告訴同奮「生從那裡來？死到那裡去」的生命究竟。

⁶ Of course, in the process of life and death, there are many unanswered questions. If we went back to the original place after death, it would be a simple coming and going.

⁶ 當然在生與死的過程之中，有很多的問題存在。如果死後仍然回到原來的地方，如此來去，很簡單。

⁷ But many people are not able to go back after death, because during the process of human life they did not prepare the conditions for going back. They are not attuned with natural laws that would let them go back to their old home, so they cannot. Instead, they go somewhere they do not wish to go, or as most people say, they are reincarnated.

⁷ 但是很多人死後不得回去，因為在人生過程中，沒有把死後回去的條件做好，不能配合回老家的自然法則，因此不能回去。反而到了他不想去的地方，就是一般人所講的輪迴。

⁸ A class in Chinese Original Quiet Sitting conveys, through a hundred- day training process, that while alive we can perfect the means of adjusting to our original home, before we return there. Our return can thus be natural and unforced.

⁸ 正宗靜坐班，在一百天的訓練過程之中，是要告訴大家，在生前能夠修好適應回老家環境的條件，就自自然然能夠回去。

⁹ If we do not cultivate ourselves while still alive, we will be tossed about by circumstances after death and going back will be beyond our power.

⁹ 如果生前不修，將來死後就受環境自然條件的支配，無能為力。

¹⁰ So, it is important to absorb the lessons arranged for all of you during the short one-hundred days of a Quiet Sitting Class. Some of these lessons are taught as lectures in the classroom, and some are transmitted before the sacred altar (in a luminorium).

¹⁰ 所以在靜坐班短短的一百天之中，大家要能接受了解為各位安排的課程。這些課程，有些在講堂上授課，有的在教壇(光殿)上傳授。

¹¹ The fundamental method of quiet sitting is to let everything go and settle the mind down; to let bodily qi processes go through their own natural change and evolution; to let the innate workings of qi proceed naturally in the body, and internalize the knowledge you acquired in class for your thorough understanding and mastery.

¹¹ 靜坐基本的方法，是要把一切統統放下，心定下來，聽任生理上氣機自然變化、改造。就是先天生理上的氣機自然運轉，與後天講堂上的知識融會貫通。

¹² All in all, I hope that fellow- strivers will resolve to end the cycles of birth and death, while living up to the missions entrusted to you by God: to preach the Dao and save the world from holocausts. In the end, we will return together to God’s side.

¹² 總而言之，就是希望同奮能下決心，了斷生死，同時能擔當起　上帝交付你們的宏道、救劫使命，最後一起回到　上帝的身邊。

¹³ Quiet sitting requires that we give our physical body a chance to transform and evolve naturally. The goal of quiet sitting is not attained in a mere one hundred days, or a year, or even two years. If you would prefer not to participate, then so be it. But once you receive the “Touch of Dao,” it is time to make quiet sitting a part of your daily living.

¹³ 靜坐一定要聽其生理上自然的變化、改造，不是所謂一百天、一年、兩年就能達成靜坐的目的。因此不參加則已，一經點道，就要把靜坐視為生活的一環。

¹⁴ What I call the “Touch of Dao” is the key step to the Supreme Truth- Blossom Vehicle Method for reaching the highest heaven. It means to open the “Gate of Heaven”^[51] so that your spirit-consciousness can endure death unscathed and return to its origin.

¹⁴ 所謂點道，是法華上乘最重要的步驟，就是打開天門，靈識得能出生入死，返本還原。

¹⁵ In the process of cultivation, you make yourself receptive to the primordial Qi. You allow God’s perfect spirit-yang Qi to enter through your “Gate of Heaven” and merge with the subtle workings of yang qi you have perfected in your own body.

¹⁵ 在修煉過程中，以迎祖炁，可使　上帝靈陽真炁，進入天門，而與自身修得之陽氣調和運化。

¹⁶ As time passes and your practice deepens, your “refined self” or “conferred spirit”^[52] can come and go as it pleases.

¹⁶ 日久功深，你的「二我」或者「封靈」可以來去自如。

¹⁷ At the same time, and most importantly, there is the essential difference between Chinese Original Quiet Sitting and ordinary quiet sitting. The aim of most people who engage in quiet sitting is to personally benefit from it. They do it for health and longevity.

¹⁷ 同時，最重要的一點，正宗靜坐與一般靜坐最大的不同，大多數人參加靜坐的目的，都是為自己打算，為了健康長壽而來。

¹⁸ From our first Chinese Original Quiet Sitting Class up until now, we have told people that the essence of Chinese Original Quiet Sitting is “not to look for our own gain, and not to seek blessings for ourselves.”

¹⁸ 我們從正宗靜坐第一期開始到現在，就告訴大家，靜坐修持最重要的精神，就是「不為自己打算，不求個人福報」。

¹⁹ Whether we practice quiet sitting, pray, or chant the Orisons, the foremost thing is not to look for our own gain. We should forget about ourselves. This is different from ordinary religious practice and folk beliefs.

¹⁹ 無論是靜坐、祈禱、誦誥，首先都要不為自己打算，要忘我。這與一般宗教、民間信仰不同。

²⁰ We usually think of religious believers as people who are looking for spiritual solace. If they practice self-cultivation, it is in the hope of going to heaven someday, or returning to an ideal realm.

²⁰ 一般人觀念中的宗教徒，都是求精神寄託。談修身養性，將來希望可以上天，回到理想的境界。

²¹ This is not all bad. Some even take it up so they may have a good fortune in their lifetime. They pray for more blessings, wealth, and longevity. All of these are superstitions.

²¹ 這還算好，有的更是為了現世求福報，祈求多福、多祿、多壽，這些都是迷信。

²² You should realize that praying to deities or Buddhas cannot bring you fortune, wealth, or longevity. When teaching Chinese Original Quiet Sitting, we totally oppose this. The two types of practices are different in their fundamental intents.

²² 要知求神拜佛根本不可能求到這些福、祿、壽。正宗靜坐傳習根本反對，兩者基本觀念就不同。

²³ Our fellow strivers, who practice Chinese Original Quiet Sitting, know that the aim of seeking the Dao is to save the world and its people. It is not just for self-cultivation in order to be free from reincarnations.

²³ 我們修習正宗靜坐的同奮都是認識了解修道的目的，不是自修自了。

²⁴ All of our methods of cultivation, whether saying prayers, chanting the Orisons or quiet sitting, aim at saving the world and its people. They are for the world and mankind.

²⁴ 包括祈禱、誦誥、靜坐等等修持方法，目的都是要救世救人，為整個世界上人類打算。

²⁵ To have conviction in these fundamental ideas is to have an indomitable spirit. It is to sacrifice ourselves and serve God. It is to fulfill our epochal mission of rescue during the End Time of the Third Epoch (culminating in the nuclear holocaust of the Third World War). Otherwise, we are wasting our time without the slightest benefit.

²⁵ 因此，要有正確基本觀念，就是要有大無畏的精神，犧牲自己，奉獻　上帝，完成挽救三期末劫(第三次世界大戰的核子毀滅浩劫)的時代使命。否則徒然浪費時間，一無所得。

²⁶ Let us hope everyone expand their mind and change the way they think, so that they can practice the four cardinal disciplines each day.

²⁶ 希望大家擴大心胸，轉變觀念，每日做好四門基本修持功課。

²⁷ Pray morning and evening to God for the sake of the people of the world, to avert and dispel nuclear wars. Pray also for Taiwan’s prosperity, so that China can someday be unified as per the Three Principles of the People.^[53] Next, practice quiet sitting as it was imparted to them.

²⁷ 早早晚晚祈禱　上帝，為整個世界人類化延核戰，一方面確保台灣安定繁榮，以三民主義早日統一中國。再依照傳授的方法靜坐。

²⁸ Personal health and long life are minimal outcomes, which will come naturally without being sought.

²⁸ 個人的健康長壽只是最起碼的要求，自然不求而自得。

²⁹ We all seek good health and long life. What does it take to gain health and long life? If we keep our live styles well-regulated, avoid being selfish or looking for our own gain and chant the Orisons each day to save the people of the world, we will become pure in heart, temperate in desires and healthy in body naturally.

²⁹ 我們要求健康長壽。如何才能算健康長壽？只要生活有規律，沒有私心，不為自己打算，天天唸誥救世救人，自然清心寡欲，身體健康。

³⁰ The desire for having longevity is to desire a very long life. But the wish for eternal life in this fleshly body can never be realized. Only the spirit is eternal.

³⁰ 求長壽是想長生。肉體要長生不死，根本是不可能，只有精神可以不死。

³¹ Thus, we need to borrow from the false to cultivate the true. We temper jing, qi, and shen to create new life. Only after having cultivated a refined self can we have everlasting life.

³¹ 這就是要借假修真，鍛煉精、氣、神，創造新生命修煉成真我，才能長生不死。

³² Quiet sitting tempers the three unique treasures of human beings: jing, qi, and shen. Ordinary animals do not have them.

³² 靜坐就是鍛煉只有人才有的精、氣、神三寶，普通動物沒有。

³³ Tempering jing, qi, and shen create a new life, which endures. This life assumes a place at God’s side and abides with the universe.

³³ 經過鍛煉精、氣、神三寶，創造的新生命，可以永生，在　上帝左右，與宇宙共始終。

³⁴ So many people in our human world hope for longevity, but they end up as a pinch of yellow dirt. None of their aims are realized. The few decades of human life are all too short.

³⁴ 現在人間多少人所希望的長壽，結果都是黃土一坯，他們的目的都沒有達到。人生幾十年是太渺小了。

³⁵ You cannot take the fame and wealth that you acquired in this life with you when you depart from this world. You can only take your sins, merits and the result of your self-cultivation (achievement of quiet sitting).

³⁵ 現世的功名富貴都帶不走，只有罪惡和功德和自己的道行(靜坐功夫)可以帶走。

³⁶ Since you, as fellow strivers, have made a wish to join in the practice of quiet sitting, this begins a time of striving toward yourself. You are not here because of what someone else wanted. Let us hope everyone will make an honest, unremitting effort. Only in this way can you undertake the weighty duty of saving yourself and others.

³⁶ 各位同奮們既然發願參加靜坐修持，這是你們為自己奮鬥的開始，不是為別人來的。希望大家切切實實堅持到底，才能負起自救救人的重責大任。