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

Zhang Lingyu nodded her little head repeatedly: "Master, I understand. Cultivation is about finding your innate root."

“Yes, finding it means you have the potential.” The old master then asked, “Lingyu, is there anything you want to ask your master?”

Chapter 16 Understanding the Bardo State

“No, Master, you explained it very clearly, I have no questions,” Zhang Lingyu said.

Actually, he had some questions he wanted to ask, but he wouldn't allow himself to ask them.

It's like many students who don't understand in class but are too afraid to raise their hands and ask questions.

Zhang Lingyu felt that he was the last disciple of the world's greatest celestial master, and he did not want to appear foolish and disappoint his master.

The old master remained silent for a moment. He was quite satisfied with this young disciple; otherwise, he wouldn't have accepted him as a disciple.

He was just too competitive and couldn't see his true self.

Of course, for a young child, understanding one's own mind and nature is ultimately too difficult.

He'll improve with time and guidance.

At this thought, the old Celestial Master remembered something interesting and smiled:

“Lingyu, when your master was young, I slapped Lu Jin until he cried during a competition at the Lu family compound.”

"I'll live off him for the rest of my life because of this."

"Lu Jin is definitely going all out to get revenge!"

"You'd better be careful, or you'll be eaten alive for the rest of your life if you get beaten up and cry."

"Hahaha……"

"Speak," the old master laughed loudly.

Zhang Lingyu replied earnestly, "Master, don't worry, I will definitely work hard in my cultivation and will not let you down or make you lose face."

The old master's laughter stopped abruptly.

…………

…………

Li Chang'an was in a meditative state, and he returned to the previous state, his consciousness rising, looking down upon himself.

The flow of Qi throughout the body, every detail inside and outside the body, even the rise and fall of the soul and various thoughts, are all clearly visible.

He could even distinguish which of those thoughts came from the outside world and which came from within.

Thinking about this, Li Chang'an gained some insight into his intermediate state.

The intermediate state (bardo) is somewhat similar to what the old Celestial Master called ancestral nature.

However, the two are not equivalent.

To be precise, the intermediate state (bardo) should be a manifestation of a glimmer of ancestral spiritual light.

The relationship between the two is somewhat similar to that between the sun and light shining through the clouds.

Innate nature is like the sun, but the innate nature of ordinary people is covered by thick clouds, unable to let in even a sliver of light.

After death, all thoughts dissipate, and amidst the rising winds and surging clouds, a sliver of ancestral light shines through, transforming into the intermediate state (bardo).

Because the clouds are constantly changing, when the clouds completely cover the sunlight, the intermediate state (bardo) begins to feel drowsy and confused.

When the sunlight shines out, the intermediate state (bardo) will become clear, and can come to the side of loved ones at any time, hear their thoughts and feelings, and even perceive their thoughts and feelings...

Li Chang'an's current state is similar to that of a person in the intermediate state between death and rebirth.

However, his intermediate state body cannot teleport to other places, nor can it perceive the thoughts of others. It is bound to himself, and all his abilities can only be applied to himself.

People like Feng Baobao can influence the outside world.

For example, Feng Baobao could see the dormant Qi in Gouwazi Xu Xiang's body at a glance and directly guide his Qi so that he could obtain Qi.

She could also see the chaotic thoughts swirling in Xu Xiang's mind, indicating that he was not at peace.

She could also see Zhang Chulan's injuries at a glance, including the extent of his internal wounds.

Even when Zhang Chulan was controlled by the Qi infant within his body and everyone was helpless, he saw through his true thoughts at a glance and took him down.

Li Chang'an's abilities are like a mini version of Feng Baobao's; they can only affect himself.

But this is also a rare occurrence.

The question I asked the old master before seemed simple, but upon closer reflection, it was like trying to put an elephant in a refrigerator in three steps—it could only be done in theory.

Because external feedback and shaping are constant. Even if one has attained enlightenment, how can one distinguish between self and external influences when one cannot fully see oneself?

There will definitely be some discrepancies, just like with the Left Gate Master. The Left Gate Master is certainly a being who has attained enlightenment, but there are still situations where he cannot distinguish the truth.

If even the Left Gatekeeper is like this, then it goes without saying that the others are even more so.

It can be said that the concept of "full-life authenticity" only exists in legend.

But with this intermediate state, this becomes possible.

The intermediate state is when one's ancestral nature is obscured by clouds. Although the true face of one's ancestral nature is still not visible, the light of one's ancestral nature shines upon the body.

This light allows Li Chang'an to distinguish between genuine thoughts and thoughts influenced by external factors when facing external influences.

In short, without this intermediate state (bardo), even if one has attained enlightenment, there will still be times of confusion and uncertainty on the path of spiritual practice.

Just like an infant, before being shaped by the outside world, he has a certain understanding of himself, but because his understanding is fragmented, he sometimes cannot distinguish whether the hand in front of him is his own or someone else's. Therefore, many infants bite themselves and cry.

Babies can tell if a hand is their own by biting it and crying.

But spiritual practice is different; spiritual practice can only involve observation. Whether one's observation is correct or incorrect depends entirely on one's own ability to observe.

Li Chang'an's intermediate state is equivalent to giving him the ability, similar to an infant, to recognize himself by biting and crying.

In other words, he can bite every part of his body that he can bite, and then, based on the painful feedback, he can distinguish whether it is his own body, thereby cultivating this self.

This is the greatest benefit that the intermediate state (bardo) brings him.

In addition, another benefit is that he can make corresponding adjustments by observing the condition of his own meridians and his own distracting thoughts, so as to make his Qi flow more smoothly and make himself more serene.

Adjusting the meridians is very simple; you just need to move your body accordingly. By adjusting your posture, you can make your Qi flow more smoothly.

This is feasible. Feng Baobao often does this. For example, when Zhang Chulan, Wang Ye, and Zhuge Qing joined forces to enter the inner realm, they encountered a problem. It was Feng Baobao who adjusted their postures from the outside and changed the flow of their Qi, thus saving them.

For example, with standing meditation, after you obtain Qi, you can still circulate Qi without standing meditation, but after assuming the standing meditation posture, the circulation of Qi is faster.

There is no specific posture for turning the river chariot; you can do it while walking, sitting, standing, or lying down.

But precisely because there was none, Li Chang'an was able to move faster after adopting a posture that suited him.

Then comes dealing with distracting thoughts. Once you've dealt with those thoughts, you become more tranquil, and the flow of Qi (vital energy) will speed up.

When Li Chang'an first saw those distracting thoughts, he forced himself not to think about them.

But this will create another distracting thought that you "don't want to think about," leading to an ever-increasing number of distracting thoughts.

But the basic knowledge I learned this month wasn't for nothing.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Li Chang'an directly began chanting "Amitabha Buddha" and "Amitabha."

In this way, although the thought of "Amitabha Buddha" and "Infinite Heavenly Venerable" arises.

But because his attention was drawn to this, he had no time to think about other things, so his thoughts were transformed, and he became more and more calm.

With the dual adjustment of his nature and destiny, although he cannot circulate his Qi at all times like Feng Baobao, his speed of Qi circulation is far beyond that of ordinary people. He can circulate Qi three to four times in a quarter of an hour.

In other words, his speed of circulating energy throughout the body is three to four times that of an ordinary person.

Because of his adjustments, his distracting thoughts decreased, and he was able to remain still for longer periods, thus extending his practice time.

The 100-day foundation building technique could be completed in him in just 10 or 20 days.

Chapter 17 Meditation Time

Because he hadn't deliberately counted, Li Chang'an didn't remember how many cycles he had completed.

He stopped immediately when he saw his vital energy decreasing and about to be depleted in the intermediate state.

The first step in cultivating one's nature and life is to refine essence into qi. This refined essence includes both innate essence and acquired essence.

But whether it's innate or acquired, it all needs energy to maintain and replenish itself.

Where does energy come from?

Have a meal!

When Li Chang'an finished his cultivation and opened his eyes, he saw Lu Jin staring straight at him.

"Grandpa, what are you doing?" Li Chang'an was startled.

Lu Jin raised her wrist, revealing a watch hidden in her sleeve, and handed it to Li Chang'an:

"Look!"

Li Chang'an glanced at his watch: "Rolex?"

Lu Jin: "..."

"What's so interesting about this thing? If you want it, I'll send you a few sometime, I mean, depending on the time."

"Is there a problem with the time?" Li Chang'an glanced at the hands of his watch again.

“This is a big problem. You entered a meditative state for nearly twenty hours at a time.”

Lu Jin appeared calm on the surface, but her heart was in turmoil.

Twenty hours. When most people first start practicing, they can't sit still for more than a few hours, but Li Chang'an has been in a meditative state for so long.

It's important to understand that circulating qi and observing qi are different. Observing qi is simply seeing, while circulating qi requires effort.

This is not a concept; the difference is like watching TV all night versus working all night.

"Is there a problem with twenty hours?" Li Chang'an asked.

"Is there some problem..." Lu Jin pondered Li Chang'an's words for a moment: "You mean... if you want, you can continue to meditate?"

“Yes!” Li Chang’an nodded.

"How long can you remain in meditation?" Lu Jin asked again.

Li Chang'an thought for a moment. He stopped this time because of physical reasons, but he was mentally okay.

The power of the mind is often stronger than the power of the body. Just like being online continuously, you can play games for seven days and seven nights without sleeping and without your mind collapsing.

But if you go seven days and seven nights without eating or drinking, your body will definitely break down.

It could be said that as long as he finished eating and replenished his energy, Li Chang'an could continue circulating his Qi, but thinking that he couldn't push his mind too hard, he said:

"Entering a meditative state for another two days and nights shouldn't be a problem, but I'm a little hungry now."

"Good lad! He can enter a meditative state for so long without any training?" Lu Jin gasped, looking at Li Chang'an as if he were a freak.

However, he did not praise Li Chang'an directly, because he was afraid that Li Chang'an would become arrogant as a result.

Imagine that as soon as you embark on your spiritual journey, you receive praise from all sides and know that you have exceptional talent. It would be difficult not to develop a sense of arrogance.

This mentality doesn't have a significant impact on other sects, but it's not good for the cultivation of the Sanyi Sect.

Therefore, Lu Jin sang a different tune:

“Little Chang’an, being able to maintain a meditative state for so long is a talent, but you must not be arrogant or complacent. You must know that there are always people more capable than you, and there is always something beyond your understanding. Being able to meditate and circulate Qi for a few days is nothing special. Not to mention, your great-grandfather was able to maintain a highly difficult state of Qi circulation for decades…”

When Lu Jin uttered the last few words, his words seemed somewhat unsteady, and his mood became somewhat low.

Ordinary people feel mentally and physically exhausted after working hard for a few hours.

However, his master, due to his injuries, had to maintain a state of reversed life for many years.

The difficulty of circulating Qi in a reverse-life state is countless times greater than the difficulty of circulating Qi in the circulatory system.

Lu Jin had also tried, but he could only maintain it for about twenty days at most.

Master has been practicing Qi cultivation for decades without stopping. Who can understand the feelings he has experienced?

The older he got, the more he understood the hardships his master had endured, and the more he admired him.

"Grandpa, I understand."