The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 179: Levels of the Great Dao of the Primordial Universe: The Five Innate Elements

Boom~!
The divine mind communicated with the "Huangting Zhongjing Yujing", and the Taoist scripture guarded by thousands of Taoist symbols was opened again.

"Think of the gods on my head, whose hair is like the stars... The sun and the moon are three inches apart, in the middle there are the seven planets of the Big Dipper, and above them is the Yuanyi Wuhua Lord, who is like a round plate on my head...

The spirit is two inches long and lives in the center. It makes me know the four directions without doubt. Its mouth is red and big like a fragrance... The spirit is nine inches long and wears yellow light. It rides a blue chariot and flies with a dragon. It connects to the Zhenxing Shaotang Room. It produces the five flavors and nourishes the four elements..."

The Taoist scriptures are profound, and every word is like a gem. They expound the ultimate principles of the universe and explain the true meaning of heaven and earth. The sound of Tao is magnificent, which enters the ears, stays in the heart, shocks the soul, and is thought-provoking.

Xuanming's upper, middle and lower dantians were shining, and a mysterious aura emerged. The middle dantian saw the greatest change, and the vast sea of innate qi was surging, resonating with the "Huangting Zhongjing Yujing". Xuanming was immersed in it and found himself turned into a ball of qi.

Nothingness is grey, pure and flawless, tangible but intangible, uncertain between reality and illusion, between existence and non-existence, with a special state. Stillness is the appearance and movement is the core. It is constantly moving and changing, evolving slowly.

When it reaches a certain stage, water dripping wears away a stone, and quantitative change leads to qualitative change. The gas begins to emit light, and purity gives birth to brightness. The gas has substance, just like water boiling when it meets fire, and gradually becomes turbid. Because of their different qualities, they separate from each other and are divided into light and heavy. From this separation, clear and turbid gas are born.

The two energies stir, forming yin and yang, which complement and restrain each other. They are clearly distinguished yet mutually inclusive. Harmony is fostered in the stir, and all things evolve.

The clear air rises to become the sky, giving birth to the sun, moon and stars; the turbid air sinks to become the earth, giving birth to mountains, rivers and streams.

The interaction between clear and turbid air gives birth to wind, frost, rain and snow. The collision of each other's air currents gives rise to the four seasons and the changes of day and night, as well as the unpredictable weather and the prosperous world.

The transformation of yin and yang starts with Qi.

The stars move, created by air.

The movement of mountains and rivers is caused by Qi.

The changing of the four seasons is caused by Qi.

Wind, frost, rain and snow are all caused by the air.

When the world is prosperous to its peak: the two poles are balanced, the three talents run parallel, the four symbols govern the world, the five elements circulate, the sun and the moon alternate in an orderly manner, the four seasons cycle distinctly, the plants wither and flourish at their times, all living things reproduce and thrive, the universe is thriving, movement reaches its limit, and the heaven and earth are prosperous and then decline.

Energy began to dry up, deserts submerged oases, grass and trees decreased year by year, rivers dried up, life gradually became extinct, the balance of heaven and earth was lost, the three talents collapsed, the four symbols tilted, the five elements were in chaos, day and night were reversed, the four seasons were unpredictable, and the climate was changeable.

Finally, the end of the world comes, the world is destroyed, and Xuanming turns into that ball of air again. After endless years, it gives birth to the world again. This cycle repeats over and over again. The ball of air becomes more and more mysterious, and the world becomes bigger and bigger.

---

After an unknown amount of time, all kinds of principles emerged in Xuanming's mind. He gained a better understanding of the Way of Hunyuan and had his own understanding and speculation on its stage division.

The levels of the Hunyuan Avenue can be understood by the five innate Tai, namely Taiyi, Taichu, Taishi, Taisu and Taiji. Hunyuan is the return from existence to non-existence, tracing back to the source. Existence is the starting point and non-existence is the end point.

【Basic Hunyuan is Tai Chi】

Tai Chi is the end of the five innate Tais. Based on the positive laws of the evolution of Tao and the evolution of heaven and earth, Tai Chi is the final stage from nothing to something. It is the starting point of existence and the end point of nothing.

At this stage, the universe has been initially born, which is what Taoism calls "one": Heaven obtains oneness to be clear, and the earth obtains oneness to be peaceful.

From the perspective of the inverse law of the evolution of Tao and heaven and earth, Tai Chi is the beginning of Hunyuan, the starting point of nothingness, and the end point of existence.

Compared to heaven and earth, it is nothing.

Compared to the universe, it does exist.

The Tai Chi state is special. It is the existence and non-existence between existence and non-existence, and it is a transition within transition.

The other four of the five innate primordial elements are the four stages of evolution from nothing to something before the universe was born, and are also the deep evolution from something to nothing. [Deep primordial primordial element is Taisu]

The thing that has form and substance but has not yet formed a body is called Tai Su.

The Hunyuan that Xuanming first realized was Taisu, which is the final state of the original matter. It can also be understood as the last original before the birth of the universe.

He realized that the universe was created from qi and all things exist because of qi. At that time, qi had substance but no body, and could be seen but not touched.

[Small Success Hunyuan is Taishi]

This time when reading the "Huangting Jing", Xuanming's comprehension of Hunyuan Dao entered a new stage: Tai Shi.

Tai Shi is the union of Yin and Yang, which mix into one, and from the one comes form. Although it has form, it has no substance. In short, it has form but no substance. It cannot be seen or touched. As for the Hunyuan Qi, when Qi gathers, form is formed, and when Qi disperses, form disperses.

At this point, the Great Dao of Hunyuan can be considered to have achieved some success.

He was able to come this far and appreciate the beauty of this great Dao thanks to the Taiping Religion turmoil, his repeated fights with the great cultivators of spiritual cultivation, his purification of resentment and evil spirits, his repairing of earth veins and his combing of earth energy, his perception of the changes of the four seasons, his experience of the breathing of heaven and earth, the formation of the Dao realm from nothing to something, and his keeping a pure Dao heart amidst the chaos.

All of these turned into nourishment for Xuanming's growth, allowing him to gain a deeper understanding of the true meaning of the principles of heaven and earth and clarify the essence of the laws of the universe.

Xuanming speculated that Taichu, which is older than Taishi, is the stage of the great success of Hunyuan Dao. Taiyi should be the stage of perfection. Above that is the true nothingness, the ultimate of Hunyuan Dao! It is a kind of transcendence!
Of course, whether the guess is right or wrong can only be verified when the Xuanming Hunyuan Avenue reaches the corresponding stage. Even so, at least there is a direction, and we will not rush around like a headless fly.

If his guess is correct, he can avoid many detours in his practice; if his guess is wrong, he can correct it in time and fill in the gaps.

---

You don’t know the years of practice.

At Cangdao Peak and Daoyuan, I have been observing the Xuanming Sutra for three months. A bright and clear light shines on my body, and I look holy and otherworldly.

As his understanding of Hunyuan Dao entered a new stage, Xuanming began to undergo a transformation. The Dao rhyme that permeated him became more obscure and profound, and his aura became heavier while being light and agile. His Dao body was tempered by Huangting Qi and became more terrifying. The space within three feet around him was distorted and deformed.

In the Hunyuan Dao Realm, the Tree of Dao was watered and fertilized with the Dao, and it grew wildly, becoming more and more luxuriant day by day. Soon, it grew from a sapling into a towering tree, more than a thousand feet high, with twisted branches and trunks, standing tall like a canopy, just like a pillar in the sky, supporting the Dao Realm.

With the Dao Tree as the center, the Hunyuan Dao Realm expanded rapidly, extending in all directions, ten feet, a hundred feet, a thousand feet, and expanded to a total of three thousand three hundred and thirty-three feet.

The Tai Chi Heaven in the lower Dantian also received good fortune, expanding its territory and spreading endlessly. The sky became higher and the earth became thicker, and the Taoist mountains and rivers also rose along with the water. The Tai Chi Heaven was magnificent, expanding from three feet to three hundred feet before slowing down, and it did not end until it increased to another thirty-three feet.

The innate sea of qi in the middle dantian is boiling, the qi first has form, and then the substance leaves but the form remains. A stream of Huangting qi flies out from the "Huangting Zhongjing Yujing" and goes straight into the middle dantian, evolving into a seed, using the sea of qi as soil, taking root and sprouting.

As Xuanming's enlightenment was coming to an end, the Dharma body of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun and the Dharma body of Gouchen Emperor appeared behind him.

The Hunyuan Dao Realm opened on its own, covering the two dharma bodies. The Dao Tree moved without wind, connecting to the Taiji Heaven and absorbing two Huangting Qis. One end of the two Huangting Qis fell on the dharma body of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun and the dharma body of Gouchen Dadi, and the other end connected to the Dao Tree.

With Huangting Qi as the bond, the two Dharma bodies were absorbed by the Dao Tree. The divine bodies quickly shriveled up and broke into countless light spots, becoming fertilizer.

The next moment, the Dao Tree blossomed and bore fruit at a speed visible to the naked eye, and after three months and three days, the fruits were ripe and fell off.

Two fruits as big as bowls fell to the ground and cracked in the middle. The Dharma body of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun and the Dharma body of Gouchen Dadi reappeared.

Compared with before, their eyes were lively, as if they had flesh and blood, emitting surging vitality, stepping on the laws, and a divine fire burning three feet above their heads, which they swallowed with their mouths. In an instant, two terrifying auras spread.

(End of this chapter)