White Sun: How to Cultivate the Body
Drinking hurts the soul; being lustful damages vitality; greed harms the virtues; anger damages the liver; smoking hurts the spirit. These are the five poisons between Heaven and Earth. The world is polluted with these five unclean elements. Heaven has the spirit of the five fundamental elements and Earth has the characters of the five fundamental elements.
When one is upright, the five fundamental elements within oneself are transformed into the five virtues. If one is bad, the same five fundamental elements will be transformed into the five poisons. Thus, drink, lust, greed, indignation and smoking are the metamorphosis of the five fundamental elements. If one cannot eliminate these five poisons with determination, he will be confined by the five fundamental elements and thus will suffer the consequences when the time is up.
The reason why a normal person cannot be a Saint is because they always believe that all their words and actions are right and good. When a person always sees the faults of others and never sees his own, he will never discover his own ignorance, and when he always talks about the faults of others and never admits his own, he will only lose himself in the truth or reality of the world. Occasionally a Saint will make a mistake, but the reason a Saint can be called a Saint is because he is brave enough to admit his mistake and correct it.
Feel comfortable and do not rush in your actions, then your attitude will naturally be dignified. Don’t expect others to act in accordance with your ideals, and don’t seriously blame others. You must hide some of your good points from view; this can make you reach a higher level of cultivation. You should even help others to hide their shortcomings as this will make your mind broader. If you can only remember the good points of others, everyone will want to be your friend. But if you only remember the shortcomings of others, then your enemies will be many.
Cultivating the soul requires one to have remorse, perform meritorious deeds, and cultivate virtue to make up for those sins and karma one has accumulated in this life (or previous lives). A person should not complain, get frustrated when he fails, and should repent. By doing so, he will have the courage to fight forward again. When successful, a person must be humble, willing to compromise and give in at the right time. By such actions, he will get the good result that everyone will respect and follow him.
People often strive for fame and wealth and sometimes risk their lives for these things. The higher person never acts this way, and the lower person always acts this way. If one does not dispute with others about gains and advantages, then one’s annoyances and worries will dissipate. Thus, a person should dispel all material desires from his mind, and then his mind will naturally be calm. When your mind is still and clear, then your soul will be pure and naturally it will stop producing the six desires, that is, the desire of the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, body and consciousness, and will extinguish the three poisons that is greed, anger and bad thoughts.
Cultivation involves cultivating your body, mind, and soul. The best way to cultivate your body is to exercise caution in speech and conduct. The best way to cultivate your mind is to have few desires. The best way to cultivate your soul is to expel sin from yourself.
Author: T. A. Chew
Website: http://www.white-sun.com
