54: Chapter 54 Unity of Knowledge and Action

The next morning, the four of them left the inn and headed east.

Chen Jiuchuan and his brother were eager to return home and walked with a very fast pace. Lu Mingyuan was in no rush, simply following their lead as they traversed through fields, villages, and across streams and mountain brooks.

After traveling for three days, they arrived at Guixi on the afternoon of the fourth day.

Looking from afar, a small hill stood upon the plain; it was not high, yet it was exceptionally elegant. At the foot of the hill lay a village where smoke curled from chimneys and the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard. Chen Jiuchuan pointed to the hill and said:

"Brother Lu, that is Xiangshan Mountain."

Lu Mingyuan stopped to gaze at it.

The mountain lived up to its name, resembling a giant elephant lying upon the earth, its head slightly raised and its trunk slightly curled as if staring into the distance. The mountain was a lush green, and amidst the swirling mist, one could faintly see several buildings with white walls and black tiles.

"The Xiangshan Academy is halfway up the mountain," Chen Jiuchuan said. "Back then, Master Xiangshan taught here, and students gathered from all directions; it was a time of great prosperity. After the Master passed away, the academy gradually fell into ruin. Now, only a few old rooms remain, guarded by an old man."

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

"Thank you three for leading the way. I shall proceed on my own."

Chen Jiuchuan cupped his hands: "Take care, Brother Lu. If fate permits, we shall meet again in the Jianghu."

The three bowed deeply in farewell and headed toward the village.

Lu Mingyuan walked toward Xiangshan Mountain alone.

The mountain path was not steep, yet it was very deep and secluded.

Ancient trees towered on both sides, their thick shade blocking the sun. Occasional birdsongs only served to make the forest seem even quieter. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the view suddenly opened up—a patch of flat ground, a few thatched huts, and a stone tablet standing before them with the four characters "Xiangshan Academy" inscribed upon it.

The calligraphy was simple and ancient, with moss filling the spots eroded by wind and frost.

Lu Mingyuan stood before the tablet for a moment, then stepped toward the thatched huts.

The door was ajar. He knocked gently.

"Come in."

The voice was old, yet full of vigor. Lu Mingyuan pushed the door and entered.

The interior was extremely simple: a couch, a small table, and a prayer mat. An old man sat on the couch, his beard and eyebrows snow-white, his face thin, yet his eyes were very spirited. He wore a faded green robe and held a book on his lap, looking toward the door.

Lu Mingyuan bowed deeply to the ground: "Lu Mingyuan of Zhongnan Mountain pays his respects to the old gentleman."

The old man did not rise, only raised his hand.

"Sit."

Lu Mingyuan sat on the prayer mat by the table.

The old man looked at him, his gaze as calm as water.

"Young man, you come from Zhongnan Mountain?"

"Yes."

"Which places have you visited?"

"The Three Mountains of Daoism, the Three Temples of Buddhism, Yuelu, White Deer, and now I have come to Xiangshan Mountain."

A glint flashed in the old man's eyes.

"You have visited so many places; for what purpose did you come?"

Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.

"To find an answer."

"What answer?"

"After the heart becomes the Xuan Shu, what should serve as the pivot?"

The old man was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"Young man, Master Xiangshan has answered this question of yours."

Lu Mingyuan's heart stirred.

"Please enlighten me, old gentleman."

The old man did not answer directly but asked back:

"At Yuelu and White Deer, have you heard of the 'Investigation of Things'?"

"I have."

"How do you understand it?"

Lu Mingyuan briefly recounted his experiences of investigating bamboo at Yuelu and reading the 'Proclamations' at White Deer Grotto.

After listening, the old man nodded slightly.

"Then do you know how Master Xiangshan views the Investigation of Things?"

Lu Mingyuan shook his head.

The old man said: "Master Xiangshan said: To investigate things is to investigate the things of this heart. All things are complete within me; as long as one Ming Xin, one sees all things."

He paused.

"Have you heard these words elsewhere?"

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

"At Ehu Lake, I discussed this with a few friends. They said, the Mind is Principle, and one need not seek it outside."

The old man looked at him.

"What do you think?"

Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment.

"This Disciple was thinking, if the Mind is Principle, why is there good and evil in the human heart? If the Mind is Principle, where does evil come from?"

A flash of approval appeared in the old man's eyes.

"Well asked."

He stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.

Outside was a hillside covered with wild flowers—red, white, and yellow—bright as a painting in the afternoon sun.

"Young man, look at those flowers."

Lu Mingyuan walked to the window and followed his gaze.

"The flowers are there," the old man said. "What do you see?"

"I see flowers."

"What color are the flowers?"

"There are red ones, white ones, and yellow ones."

The old man nodded.

"The flowers being red, white, and yellow is the principle of the flowers. But is this principle in your heart, or in the flowers?"

Lu Mingyuan was stunned.

The old man smiled.

"Master Xiangshan answered this question. He said: The Mind is Principle. It does not mean the mind created the principle; it means the mind and the principle are inherently one. The flowers having color is the principle; you seeing the color is the mind. Mind and principle are not two separate things."

He looked at Lu Mingyuan.

"Just like this window. When the window is open, you see the flowers; when the window is closed, the flowers are still there. But if you keep the window closed, what do the flowers have to do with you?"

Lu Mingyuan's heart stirred slightly.

"Does the Master mean that when the mind opens, the principle enters; and when the mind closes, the principle is hidden?"

The old man shook his head.

"It is not entering, nor is it hiding. It is manifesting and not manifesting."

He pointed to his own eyes.

"When the eyes are open, you see the flowers; when the eyes are closed, the flowers are still there. But to say the flowers are there while your eyes are closed is to know it, not to see it. Knowing and seeing are two different things."

Lu Mingyuan was lost in thought.

The old man returned to the couch and sat down.

"Young man, you just asked, if the Mind is Principle, where does evil come from?"

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

The old man said: "Master Xiangshan also answered this. He said: The Mind is Principle refers to the Original Substance of the mind. The Original Substance of the mind is nothing but good. Evil is the mind losing its Original Substance."

He paused.

"Just like this lamp. The Original Substance of the lamp is brightness. If it is obscured by oil stains and the light becomes dim, it is not that the Original Substance of the lamp has changed, but that the lamp is obscured. Remove the oil stains, and the light will naturally be bright."

Lu Mingyuan remembered the lecture he heard at White Deer Grotto.

Heavenly Principle and Human Desire are not two separate things. Human desire is the heavenly principle losing its moderation.

The mind and evil follow the same logic. The Original Substance of the mind is good; evil is the mind losing its Original Substance.

They are not two things, but two states of one thing.

"So Ming Xin is to remove the obscuration?" he asked.

The old man nodded.

"Ming Xin is to let the mind return to its Original Substance. Returning to the Original Substance, one sees that all things are complete within oneself."

He looked at Lu Mingyuan.

"You have traveled to so many places and visited so many high immortals; what do you think they were teaching you?"

Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time.

"Teaching this Disciple... Ming Xin."

"How to clarify it?"

"Each school has a different saying," Lu Mingyuan said. "Daoism speaks of tranquility, Buddhism speaks of letting go, and Confucianism speaks of investigating things."

The old man laughed.

"Then do you understand now?"

Lu Mingyuan was silent.

He thought of the talismans of Longhu Mountain, the sword of Wudang Mountain, the sword marks of Mount Qingcheng, the snow of Shaolin, the Buddha's name of the Pure Land, the brahma sounds of White Horse Temple, the bamboo of Yuelu, the inscriptions of White Deer Grotto, and the azaleas of Ehu Lake.

Every place was teaching him Ming Xin.

But what after Ming Xin?

After the mind is clarified, what then?

He looked up at the old man.

"This Disciple has one more question."

"Speak."

"After the mind is clarified, what then?"

The old man looked at him with a profound gaze.

"Master Xiangshan also answered this question of yours."

He stood up, took a book from the table, and handed it to Lu Mingyuan.

Lu Mingyuan took it and opened it.

It was a handwritten copy of Lu Jiuyuan's sayings. He turned to the page the old man pointed to, which read:

"The Universe is my mind, and my mind is the Universe. A scholar must be able to believe it fully; after believing it fully, one must be able to act it fully."

Act it fully.

He read those three words repeatedly.

Act it fully.

It wasn't over once one attained enlightenment; it wasn't the end once one understood. After enlightenment, one must still act; after understanding, one must still do.

He continued reading:

"A thousand falsehoods are not worth one truth. My lifelong learning has no other secret than this one truth."

A thousand falsehoods are not worth one truth.

He remembered when he was at Shaolin, Hui Ke said "the punch is just a strike." That was action.

He remembered when he was at Yuelu, investigating bamboo for four days. That was action.

He remembered at White Deer Grotto, the thought that arose in his heart while reading the 'Proclamations'—"If one does not act, what use is enlightenment?" That, too, was action.

It turned out that what Master Xiangshan said, what Hui Ke said, and what Master Zhu said all meant the same thing.

Just expressed differently.

He looked up at the old man.

"Master, this Disciple understands."

The old man nodded.

"What do you understand?"

"I understand why Master Xiangshan said 'act it fully,'" Lu Mingyuan said. "A clear mind is not the end; action is. If one does not act, a clarified mind is but a hollow clarity."

A flash of relief and joy appeared in the old man's eyes.

"Young man, that you can say this makes this journey worthwhile."

He stood up, walked to the door, and pushed it open.

Outside, the afternoon sun was warm, and the wild flowers on the hillside were in full bloom. A few butterflies danced among the flowers, landing now on a red flower, then on a white one.

"Look at those butterflies," the old man said.

Lu Mingyuan looked.

"It flies its whole life; has it ever thought about why it flies?"

"...Never."

"It just flies. It flies when it should fly, and lands when it should land. This is action."

He turned back and looked at Lu Mingyuan.

"Humans are the same. Eat when it's time to eat, sleep when it's time to sleep, and do what needs to be done when it's time to do it. After the mind is clarified, one simply acts in this way. There is nothing special about it."

Lu Mingyuan stood in a daze.

Eat when it's time to eat, sleep when it's time to sleep, and do what needs to be done when it's time to do it.

He had heard these words countless times. From Xuanweizi, from Zen Master Huijue, from Hui Ke, from Jingchen, and from Huiyuan.

But only at this moment did he truly understand—

It wasn't "doing this can Ming Xin."

It was that after the mind is clear, one naturally acts this way.

Action is the natural expression of the mind.

Just like the butterfly flying; it's not because it wants to fly, but because that is what it is.

He stayed at the academy for three days.

Every morning, he helped the old man sweep the courtyard; in the afternoon, he listened to the old man lecture on the sayings of Xiangshan; at dusk, he sat alone on the hillside watching the flowers bloom and fade.

On the evening of the third day, he sat on the hillside, watching the sunset slowly sink into the western mountains.

The clouds at the horizon were dyed golden-red, spreading out layer by layer like fish scales. The wild flowers on the hillside appeared even more brilliant in the sunset—the red ones redder, the white ones whiter, and the yellow ones yellower.

He suddenly remembered a sentence.

That day at Ehu Lake, Chen Jiuchuan quoted Master Xiangshan's answer to a Disciple: "Before you looked at these flowers, these flowers and your mind both returned to silence. When you come to look at these flowers, their colors at once become clear."

Now as he looked at these flowers, their colors "at once became clear."

But whose clarity was this "clear"?

Was it the flowers' clarity? Or the mind's clarity?

He thought for a long time.

Then he smiled.

The flowers' clarity is the mind's clarity. The mind's clarity is the flowers' clarity. They are not two.

Just like the butterfly flying. The butterfly flying is the Dao in action. The Dao in action is the butterfly flying. There are not two.

Knowledge and action are also inherently one.

To know but not to act is simply not yet knowing.

To act without knowing is simply blind action.

Only the unity of knowledge and action is true knowledge and true action.

A sudden warmth rose in his Dantian.

Looking inward, that Chaos Golden Core was spinning rapidly. With every rotation, a crack appeared on its surface. The cracks grew more numerous and dense, covering the entire core like a spiderweb.

The Golden Core was fracturing.

His heart jolted, but he did not panic.

He just watched quietly, feeling the changes within the core.

From deep within the cracks, a faint purple Qi emerged. The purple Qi was dense and misty, gradually growing thicker as it surged from the cracks, filling the entire Dantian.

The Nascent Soul was about to emerge.

He remembered the words of Perfected Master Changkong of Mount Qingcheng: "The Nascent Soul is the sign of the Major Achievement of one's Heart-Nature."

It turned out that the Major Achievement of the Confucian Mind-Cultivation Technique was the first appearance of the Nascent Soul.

It wasn't the Nascent Soul of the Daoist path that came from refining essence into Qi and Qi into spirit. It was the "new self" naturally born after the Heart-Nature became harmonious and knowledge and action became one.

He looked at the mass of purple Qi in his Dantian and the cracked Golden Core, his mind perfectly clear.

No rush.

When it is time to emerge, it will naturally emerge.

He just continued to sit, watching the sunset sink bit by bit, the afterglow fade, and the first star light up in the sky.

Behind him, the old man appeared at some point.

He stood on the hillside, gazing into the distance with Lu Mingyuan.

After a long time, the old man said:

"Young man, the time has come."

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

"This Disciple knows."

The old man said no more.

He just stood there like an old pine tree, having guarded this hillside for a lifetime, this academy for a lifetime, and Master Xiangshan's teachings for a lifetime.

And at this moment, what he guarded was a young man whose Nascent Soul was about to form.

---

Twilight fell, and the stars filled the sky.

Lu Mingyuan still sat on the hillside, motionless.

In his Dantian, the purple Qi grew thicker, gradually condensing into the shape of a tiny infant, curled up as if in a womb. The Golden Core was still spinning, shedding a layer of fragments with each turn. The fragments merged into the purple Qi, and the purple Qi grew more solid.

He waited quietly.

Not hurried, not agitated, not expectant, not afraid.

Just sitting.

Like that day in the Shizhuang Courtyard of Shaolin, like that night before the ruined tablet of White Horse Temple, like watching the flowers bloom and fade just now.

Just sitting.

The night breeze blew gently, carrying the scent of wild flowers. In the academy below the hillside, the old man's lamp was still lit, a spot of dim yellow light like a star in the night.

He suddenly remembered Xuanweizi's words:

"The mountains are high and the waters long on this journey; do not ask for the date of return."

Now he sat on the slope of Xiangshan Mountain, thousands of miles from Zhongnan Mountain. He knew not when he would return, nor where his return would be.

But he no longer asked.

Because the person asking was no longer the same person who asked three years ago.

That person who asked at every step had already died on the road.

The one sitting here now was a new person.

A person whose Nascent Soul was about to be born.

He gently closed his eyes.

In his Dantian, the cracked Golden Core finally shattered completely.

Purple Qi soared into the sky, and an infant opened its eyes.