Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul

Lu Jin took out a Nokia high-end mobile phone, which was the most popular at the time.

I opened the Penguin app, which had only recently launched its mobile version.

I clicked on a cartoon old man image and started typing.

Old man, there's something I need to ask you...

The line of text had just been typed out when Lu Jin deleted it.

When you need someone's help, you have to be polite, otherwise this old man will take advantage of you.

Li Chang'an stared blankly at Lu Jin, who was rapidly pressing the nine-key keypad. He never expected that someone of his age could be so adept at using these novel gadgets.

This phone, which is practically an antique compared to later generations, might not be as easy for him to operate as Lu Jin.

After Lu Jin typed out the situation,

The other end sent a message, first affirming Lu Jin's words, and then saying that he preferred speaking to typing.

"That big mouth..." Lu Jin thought to himself, then dialed a number.

Soon, a gentle, calm, and slow-paced voice came from inside:

"Little one, your idea is very bold, but it is indeed correct. You have already grasped the core secret of cultivating both body and mind, which is to use the body to govern the mind."

"To shape the false self in the outside world according to one's own self is, in spiritual practice, called using the false to cultivate the true or transforming consciousness into wisdom."

"This is a truth that only those who have walked a long way in the path of life and death can understand and put into practice."

"For someone so young to have grasped this point is truly remarkable; you are a force to be reckoned with."

"Old Celestial Master..." Upon hearing this voice, Li Chang'an immediately knew who was on the other end, but instead of greeting the Old Celestial Master, he respectfully said:

"Thank you for your guidance, senior. Although I just said that I would shape myself according to my true nature, I am really at a loss when it comes to actually doing it."

The old master said, "It's normal to be clueless, because although you have already realized your true nature, it's actually like what an infant sees—incomplete. Your experience of your true self is fragmented and discordant."

"You only know the person you see in the mirror, not the real you, but you can't understand what your complete, authentic self is really like."

"Without relying on external mirrors, one gradually uncovers their true self; this is why Taoism refers to spiritual practice as 'cultivating truth.'"

"Then may I ask, senior, how does one cultivate immortality?" Li Chang'an asked.

The old master smiled and said, "Don't seek externally. Seeking externally is the false self, while seeking internally is the true self. The key lies in the word 'seek'."

"Many practitioners regard the outside world as a raging flood or a ferocious beast, so they like to retreat from the world to cultivate themselves, but this actually falls into another kind of delusion."

"You fear that worldly desires will shape you, but isn't that a form of shaping yourself in itself?"

"Therefore, my advice to you is to stand on the shoulders of our ancestors to cultivate immortality."

"Our ancestors left us, their unfilial descendants, with many wonderful things, the most precious of which is their wisdom."

"You can use the thoughts they left behind to see yourself in the light."

"If you feel that something aligns with your true self, then absorb and keep it; if it doesn't, then discard it."

"Human nature is similar, but habits differ. Human nature is similar. Even if you can't distinguish between your true self and your false self, you can still guess correctly by following the natural instincts cultivated by our ancestors. Even if you're just blindly guessing, you'll still get a few things right."

"The more you are confused, the more genuine you become. The more genuine you are, the more you can see yourself, and slowly, you will gradually repair and reveal more of your true self."

Li Chang'an listened attentively. When other Taoist priests preached, they would talk about all sorts of mysterious theories, such as the primordial spirit, the conscious spirit, the three souls, the seven spirits, nature, and life. But when the Old Celestial Master preached, it was very simple and straightforward, and he could understand it as soon as he heard it.

Immediately, he thought of the Shangqing School of Maoshan. He remembered that the story said that Maoshan's illustrious reputation was mostly not earned by legitimate Maoshan Taoists, but by unorthodox Maoshan people.

The proper high-ranking Taoist priests of Maoshan are extremely low-key and self-disciplined, even rigid. They do not like to study all kinds of magic tricks, but prefer to study the classics and cultivate their character.

Are these high-ranking Taoist priests of Maoshan, just as the Old Celestial Master said, building their true selves on the shoulders of their ancestors?

The old master continued, "If you cultivate this true self completely and thoroughly, in Buddhist terms, that is cultivating your true nature; in Confucian terms, that is utmost sincerity; and in Taoist terms, I prefer to call it your ancestral nature."

Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an's mind raced, and he said, "Senior, I saw a line in Lu Zu's 'Song of Knocking on the Divination Lines,' which says, 'If you only cultivate your ancestral nature and not your elixir, your Yin spirit will find it difficult to attain sainthood even after countless eons.' Is this the ancestral nature you're referring to?"

The old master laughed and said, "Young people are so clever, that's right, it's that ancestral nature of them."

"Lu Zu's definition of ancestral nature is: ancestral nature is the innate spark of spiritual light, the face before birth."

"It is not a state of being; it is simply your truest self, a clear mirror without any pollution."

"In the words of a monk, it is neither born nor dies, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing."

"Wouldn't cultivation progress be incredibly fast under these conditions?" Li Chang'an asked.

The old master laughed loudly: "In this state, even without cultivation, one will make rapid progress every day."

"To travel a thousand miles a day without cultivation..." Li Chang'an's heart stirred. Traveling a thousand miles a day without cultivation—isn't that just like Feng Baobao?

Moreover, her childlike state of being without self, good or evil, beauty or ugliness, right or wrong, corresponds precisely to the characteristics of her ancestral nature "before birth."

So this is what it's like after cultivating one's ancestral nature...

However, Feng Baobao's ancestral nature was not something she cultivated; it was something she passively acquired, and she couldn't control it well.

Besides Feng Baobao, are there other people who have cultivated their ancestral nature?

Li Chang'an looked at his phone. If there was one, it should be the old Celestial Master, who was as shrewd and reserved as Feng Baobao.

With his cultivation goal suddenly grounded in reality, Li Chang'an's mind, which had been floating in the air, also settled down.

He bowed to his phone and said, "Thank you for your guidance, senior. I will always remember your kindness."

"Little one, given the relationship between your great-grandfather and me, I'm being polite by saying these things. Let me remind you, while understanding can be sudden, practice requires gradual cultivation. Everything needs to proceed step by step, otherwise it's easy to go astray."

"I will certainly remember this!"

The old master exclaimed, "Old Lu, you've been searching for decades, and you've finally found a promising talent! Most importantly, he's started on the right path. His future achievements will be something you can really brag about!"