The Ultimate admonishment in Taoism, as in many Traditions of Spiritual evolution, is to stay Attentive, hence the admonishment to “awaken” in some currents.
This is also what is sought in the dream work, an activity in which one seeks to awaken in his dream without actually waking.
In order to allow the practitioner to always be attentive, be vigilant, we have many aspects of our reality that we want to study : therefore, every perception is associated with a knowledge of our Study .
We speak of the “Five Arts of our Study”
- Mountain 山
- Destiny 命
- Divination卜
- Medicine医
- Observation相
These directing words, these characters, have a special meaning:
The mountain is the development of human qualities, our work for personal development, which involves the body, breath and mind.
We want to strengthen the body to survive the training, take root in the earth to accept the vagaries of our evolution and relax to manage our frustrations. These are the three traditional attributes of regulating physical health, stability and relaxation.
The breath work allows us to have a healthy relationship with our emotions and increase our overall vitality.
The exercises in the training of the mind allow us to approach true happiness, to really know and enjoy the immortality of the soul.
This is the action “Mountain”, this vital research, but which may enclose ourselves on our little person … And make us miss the rest of the universe.
The vigilance that we will develop with the understanding of “Destiny” is characterized by the recognition of oneself in others and the awareness of major structures of personalities.
Indeed, by learning the “Eight Pillars of Destiny “, BA ZI, we will identify personality types with specific behaviors to better interact with others.
If it is almost inevitable for a practitioner to know his Mandate of Heaven, it is also very useful to study this science to understand the people around you .
The search on personality types is a subject explored by many scientists and psychologists such as the Holland code, the Enneagram, the theory of psychological temperaments of Keirsey, the Kelly directory, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator…
This knowledge allows us to perceive the teachings of our Way in each recognized behavior : it is a very useful way to stay “awake” and streamline our daily lives.
Divination : under this somewhat esoteric term lies a living reality, the reality of probabilities. The richest teaching on this subject is the Yi Jing .
The “Book of Simplicity” teaches us the probability of changes based on the analysis of a situation. It is the most important teaching of our tradition.
This binary view of the world, with six levels of complexity, enables us to understand everything and to study everything, it is possible to translate everything in an alternating yin / yang structure. “A practitioner who knows the Yi Jing can not be surprised by changes in the world,” he surfs on daily events, in accordance with the laws of nature.
This study has three levels and six aspects: it describes the judgments of the hexagrams, the law of numbers and time and keeps secret the use of Taoist Magic.
It is also a way of understanding the weather, emotions, close combat or armed conflict…
There are no limits to what the Yi Jing can teach, it is a real source of wisdom and understanding of the world. With the study of this book, it is possible to perceive anything with it’s yin / yang components and always remain vigilant.
Chinese medicine and Taoist medicine allow us to understand the normal and pathological functions of our organization and to see the similarities with the movements of the universe. This study allows us to see each event in the body the Taoist theories in action, it is monitoring the teaching constantly.
One that understands the theories of these medicines is already advanced in the mastery of science and Taoist arts : indeed, they are the same associations and relationships that occurs in the other disciplines.
Traditional medicines concede a practical knowledge in the prevention of common diseases and lead to a successful healthy life : a good way to watch one’s evolution over the years and live well one’s senescence.
The observation has three distinct forms :
- perceptible forms ( feng shui san ET)
- temporal forms ( feng shui san yuan )
- physical forms ( morphopsychology , Mian Xiang面相)
The feng shui “san he” is a study of the visible forms of one’s environment, it is the science of the harmony of structures to capture energy as well as possible. It’s like raising one’s cell phone for better reception, we seek here to develop our environment to be the most receptive to the energy flux: it is the geomancy of ancient times .
The feng shui “san yuan” focuses on the rhythms and cycles as well as their perceptions. It is understing that the networks are more free at certain times and that it is best to avoid certain times of “rush “. It is the acceptance of natural cycles and the calculation of good dates.
The Mian Xiang, is a reading of faces to find specific psychological types, to read the emotional reactions in order to evaluate them based on the coherence of the discourse and discern certain pathologies on the body and face.
The overall Observation is a complete study on developing our world for a better life, an awakening to an awareness of forms and natural cycles, but also an education that allows to perceive others in the light of our practice, or to observe oneself to become aware of certain ignored behaviors.
That’s it for all of the arts of our school that enable us to stay awake, to make us see the world in a Practitioner’s aspect and that does not leave room for servile torpor.
” Be sober, be watchful : your adversary the devil , as a roaring lion, walketh about , seeking whom he may devour . “
Peter 5:8
