Master Ni: Yes. All people carry their old ghosts around, and some people never give them up. They will hold onto them from their childhood until old age. People who do this can never refresh their spirit.
Does a person ascend to become a or descend to &come a ghost according to how he has lived
Master Ni: Unless a person practices natural, genuine culti- vation, he usually becomes a ghost. Good religions, at best, are for people who are trying to control themselves. Ordinary religions, however, hinder undeveloped humanity. Faith an imaginary god touches the blind spot of people’s minds. There is no salvation in their self-deception. Real salvation can only be accomplished by oneself. No one can do it for
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you. There is no mass production in the real spiritual world. Spiritual development is not an industrial process.
is the between deities and spirits?
Master Ni: Spirits are extensions of positive universal nature who can transform into positive beings. Without their presence human beings would not be safe from invisible enemies for a single second. Although the spiritual development of spirits is never less than that of humans, it may vary on different levels.
In some ways, gods and deities are high and remote. Natural, pure spirits are the medium between high divine spirits and human beings. They serve as messengers and guardians on most occasions. Since these spirits are the followers of high divinities, they are the helpers of spiritually developed human beings.
In describing a good friendship, one thinks of such words as friendly, kind, intimate, close, faithful, affectionate, nice, sweet, etc., but the real meaning of such words can only be known by experiencing friendship with spirits. They are fa- therly, motherly, sisterly, brotherly, husbandly, wifely, like a good teacher, a kind nurse, or a dutiful son or daughter. Moreover, they are considerate, understanding, tolerant, help- ful and virtuous. No other words can accurately describe the spiritual relationship between the spirits and humans. If a distinction were to be made, one might say they are the kind- est, sweetest and most faithful of friends. They may need a little training and discipline from their developed human friends, however.
The significant aspect of spirits is that without their assis- tance as spiritual guardians and “pilots,” no one on the spiri- tual path could achieve anything real. It is an honorable and precious occasion to have these guardians and pilots whom the high god sends. The sweetness of spiritual achievement is lost to those who lack a true spiritual connection; empty imagination and sour philosophies are their only results.
The Yellow Emperor, in his struggles with the vicious Huy, received the help of spirits in obtaining the righteous power of the universe. With the instruction of these spirits, the compass was invented and victory was assured.
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Long after the Yellow Emperor, the Great overcame the deluge, and this too was because of the subtle merit of natural spirits.
Both of these ancient sages thereafter put their energy into spiritual methods and further connecting with the spirit- ual world. Many profound spiritual practices were handed down at that time. The great accumulation of spiritual treasures from the ancient divine hermits was made by de- vout emperors such as these. This is the real strength of the natural spiritual tradition.
Some methods can only be passed to a qualified student, which may occur only once in a thousand years. Other methods can be passed down to only three people in seven hundred years. Such high spiritual treasures are not well
As for self-cultivation, these methods are also reserved for the appropriate person.
It is a serious matter when the corruption of human nature becomes deeper and deeper. Most people cannot be trusted with these invaluable secrets, nor do they have the capability to give orders to helping spirits.
Q: you explain your statement that “real do not
want to confuse you, spirits may do so7
Master Ni: One cannot expect a high spirit to come if one is mentally or emotionally confused or if one has a confused way of life. In this case one can only attract impure ghosts and animal spirits. If one does not summon such confused ghosts, then one’s growth is directed in a more pure way.
It is not that the animal spirits like to confuse a human person. It is one’s own life and vibration that attracts this lack of well-organized spiritual self-government and practice. The animal spirits can then join the person and become a part of the spiritual organism of one’s life. The entire individual needs high spiritual guidance to conduct life effectively.
Q: How did the ancient sages know so much about the
Does their knowledge meet requirements,
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Master Ni: As I understand it, the development of the mind has two main directions which exemplify yin and yang. There is the analytical, generalizing mind on which modem science is based, and there is the high intuitive, or integral, mind which enables the truth to be presented in the right way. The integral mind, which differs the modem intellectual mind. is the basis for the knowledge of the ancient sages. It sees the whole picture at a deep level, thus the discovery of the entire truth of the universe was possible.
It undeniably took capable minds to connect with this good source of knowledge. kom the six breakthroughs men- tioned earlier, one can understand that an ordinary mind can be and developed to a level that can respond to the subtle truth of the universe. This ancient capability which can abstract a very complicated, detailed phenomenon and use a single word or picture or diagram to express it is not usually available to the ordinary human mind of today and is thus not easily understood, but we must recognize that the human mind is capable of such a high achievement.
Many words and books are needed to explain the natural sciences of the modem world, and only after specializing can one understand even part of the truth. Through the Integral Way, one needs only to look at one simple picture to achieve real learning. From this illustration one can understand that the function of these mental capabilities are different.
I am not saying that one way of knowledge is greater than the other. I think that each has different functions and that the values of each should be equally recognized. Intellectual knowledge can, of course, help explain integral knowledge of the natural truth. Words, language and descriptive methods can all serve and carry the message of truth: however, they are not the itself. The integral mind participates directly with the truth; the intellect is its messenger. Only one who knows the truth can accurately explain it. Such knowledge comes from the inside out, as opposed to intellectual knowledge which comes the outside in.
This is the divergence between ancient and modem knowledge. If you agree that knowledge is the harvest and mind is the tool, then you must also agree that the
limited by its tools. Without the guidance of the integral mind, how one fuse all other known elements of the mind?
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Q: Western students the Way achieve