Listen to the Ethereal Sound, Awaken to the Intrinsic Zen Harmony

Xuefeng

Soaring over mountain barriers and traversing watery divides, sweeping past the vast expanse of the mortal world, one enters boundless silence—where the human realm ceases to exist, time and space vanish without a trace. The sun and moon are unseen, the clamor of the ages fades into nothingness, even one’s own shadow is untraceable. Only the awareness of LIFE flows in serene freedom.

Do not think, do not give rise to desires—follow the soul’s lead. Let no thoughts arise, fear no entrapments—unfold and retract with ease. In this space, the celestial fetus is about to be born, and the ethereal melody swirls in resonance.

Stay calm—celestial music is descending! What sound is this? It is not the wind combing through bamboo, nor the warbling of orioles. There are no visible strings of a zither, nor the thundering of drums. It resembles flowing water, yet it is not the sound of water; it seems like the murmuring of swallows, yet it is not their call. It intoxicates, enchants, and bewilders, surpassing even the whispers of a lover beside one’s ear. It makes bone marrow and cells dance in delight, filling the heart with infinite tenderness. Unheard in the human world, seldom known even in celestial realms—this is the ethereal harmony of LIFE.

Listening often to the ethereal tune purifies the soul, clears the mind, and calms the spirit. It removes worldly impurities, sheds the mortal shell, grants entry to the celestial realm, dissipates confusion, unveils mysteries, and conveys profound, inexpressible truths.

This ethereal music is not heard through the ears; it is both the resonance of the celestial realm and the flowing of consciousness of one’s own LIFE structure. The more perfect the structure, the more beautiful the sound. The ethereal melody can only be heard by oneself—friends nearby cannot grasp it, nor can the lover sharing one’s bed. One may hear the surface layer of the ethereal harmony amidst flowers under the moonlight, beside a murmuring brook, in the land of tenderness, or in the vastness of the mountains. One may hear its deeper layers in utter tranquility, when untouched by dust, with a mind free of distractions, lost in deep meditation. When the soul leaves the body, when self and form are no more, when divine light flashes, when there is neither beginning nor end—one may hear the ethereal music of heaven.

The ethereal sound is the intrinsic Zen melody—it can only be comprehended, never duplicated. It is the presence within absence, the absence within presence, the elusive yet authentic essence of LIFE itself. To hear the ethereal harmony marks one’s first steps on the path to immortality. Though still far from the celestial realm, the dawn of hope has already appeared.

This is one of the eight great mysteries of LIFE. An egg that is never incubated remains an egg forever. If it is not transformed in time, a fresh egg turns stale, and a fragrant egg becomes foul. The human world on Earth is the womb of LIFE. A chick hatches from its egg through warmth, and a human must cultivate and refine themselves to become a celestial being. The revelations of the Greatest Creator, the words of gods and Buddhas—these are the warmth that nurtures transformation. One must grasp them through personal insight. Listening constantly to the ethereal tune, awakening to the intrinsic Zen harmony—this is the process of incubation. A chick breaks out of its shell in 21 days; a human, nurtured in the loving grace of the Greatest Creator and gods, emerges from the mortal world in 81 days, reborn as a celestial.

Listen to the ethereal sound, awaken to the intrinsic Zen melody. When the moment of "hatching" arrives, you will have transformed into a "chick."

In the movie Tunnel Warfare, there is a famous line: "Our tunnels are right here in the house—go ahead and find them."

Now, in the same spirit, I say: "The mysteries of LIFE lie within the sound—go ahead and find them."