Xuefeng Preaching Tao (4)

Xuefeng

May 18, 2008

Tao is the consciousness of the Greatest Creator, the driving force behind the movement and transformation of all things in the universe. It is the lifeblood of the universe, it is nature, and the synthesis of all laws.

Tao possesses eight characteristics: holographic order, eternal reliability, instantaneous sensitivity and adaptability, transcendence over time and space with no interior or exterior, spirituality, justice, non-obstruction, and illusory yet actual existence.

The Fourth Characteristic of Tao: Transcendence Over Time And Space With No Interior Or Exterior

The entire universe is an integrated whole, much like the human body. Tao permeates the universe, akin to how blood fills the human body. Tao possesses the characteristics of a hologram, making no distinction between inner and outer. In other words, it's impossible to discern what is internal from what is external, let alone what is up or down, what is large or small, what is male or female... This state requires deep immersion to fully experience, similar to how a drop of ink disperses in clear water. After a while, when the ink completely merges into the water, it becomes difficult to distinguish between inner and outer.

Tao, akin to ink seamlessly blending into clear water, pervades all things, both material and nonmaterial, permeating all aspects of time and space. Therefore, Tao possesses the characteristic of transcendence of inner and outer. When a stone is thrown into calm water, ripples extend in all directions from the point where the stone lands, but this takes time. If there are obstacles, the ripples may stop there; for instance, waves from Dongting Lake are unlikely to reach the Pacific Ocean. However, Tao is different; a “stimulus” from any location can almost instantaneously propagate to every material, time, and space in the universe without any hindrance. Any movement in the human world is immediately known in the heavenly realms, and any change in the heavenly realms immediately affects the human world. Just as the human brain, with its central nervous system, can immediately sense a prick on the toe, the universe also has a central system. According to the "Nonmaterial World Chapter" we know that there are 20 parallel worlds in the universe. These 20 parallel worlds are not isolated from each other but are connected by the Zero Point, the realm of the Greatest Creator's residence. The Zero Point serves as the central nervous system of the universe. The 20 parallel worlds intersect at the Zero Point, and for the Zero Point, any subtle changes in these 20 parallel worlds are perceived, much like how the brain perceives any subtle changes in the body's limbs, hair, senses, organs, and viscera. Therefore, for Tao, it transcends time and space, without any constraints.

Tao’s transcendence is not only manifested in its ability to traverse space, but also time. For humans, we perceive the past, present, and future as distinct, but for Tao, these temporal states are unified and indistinguishable. The past is the present, the present is the future, and the future is the past; they are all part of a unified whole. The past influences the present, the present shapes the future, and in the same way, the present can also affect the past, and the future can influence the present. If a life form was once a fox, is now a human, and will be a celestial being in the future, then the fox, the human, and the celestial being are all manifestations of the same entity. We may perceive them differently, but Tao does not make such distinctions. In "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio," characters often enter the nonmaterial world and engage in romantic relationships, marriage, and childbirth with foxes, bees, and other creatures. The parties involved cannot distinguish between themselves; there are no clear differences between foxes, humans, and bees. Only by stepping outside of that space can one discern who is a bee, who is a fox, and who is a human. Of course, some may argue that "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is a collection of supernatural tales not to be believed, but that's their perspective, not mine. They've never entered these stories, so they deem them untrustworthy. However, once they enter and then leave, their perspective might change. For me, there is no clear distinction between mythology, fairy tales, supernatural stories, fiction, and reality, just as there is no clear distinction between the thirty-six Eight-diagram Arrays. If you've been living within just one Eight-diagram Arrays and never entered any of the other 35 Eight-diagram Arrays, of course, you will never know the existence of the 36 Eight-diagram Arrays.

Science fiction novels may seem like products of the authors’ imagination, but when we enter the space-time tunnel, we realize that they are not mere fantasies, but depictions of reality. It is said that in 1898, British writer Morgan Robertson wrote a novel titled “Futility,” which eerily predicted the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, fourteen years later. Can we then dismiss the novel as merely the author’s imagination? In 1865, at the age of 37, French science fiction writer Jules Verne published his science fiction masterpiece "From the Earth to the Moon," which described launching a manned projectile to the moon. The content, data, and details in the novel were almost identical to the data of the Apollo 11 moon landing spacecraft in 1969, a hundred years later. Can we say Verne was just imagining things? Some may criticize Xuefeng’s depictions of the Thousand-year World, the Ten-thousand-year World, and the Elysium Celestial Islands Continent as mere fantasy, but we cannot fault the critics for their lack of understanding of Tao’s transcendence of time and space, and the mysteries of thinking. However, believers are blessed.

Grasping the concept of Tao’s transcendence over time and space is truly extraordinary and incredibly marvelous. If one achieves enlightenment, they can freely roam the universe, instantly entering any life space to play. Moreover, one's thinking can expand limitlessly, and consciousness can transform from human to celestial being in the shortest possible time. The key here is not to differentiate between inner and outer, not to have a concept of time, but to realize that you are within Tao. Since Tao possesses the characteristic of transcending time and space, you also have the innate ability to transcend time and space. You can effortlessly travel from the human world directly to the Thousand-year World, or the Ten-thousand-year World, or the Celestial Islands Continent of the Elysium World.