The Scripture of the Fo...

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The Scripture of the Founding Master

Chapter Three: Practice

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Song Pyŏkcho, overeager to have the watery energy ascend and the fiery energy descend, devoted himself exclusively to seated meditation, but ended up with headaches instead. The Founding Master said, “This is a result of not understanding well the road of practice. As a rule, a well-rounded method of practice involves practicing during both action and rest. During action, it mainly involves exercising heedfulness in making choices through observation of all sensory conditions, which will then lead to the simultaneous attainment of three great powers. When at rest, it mainly involves Cultivation and Inquiry, which will then lead to the simultaneous attainment of three great powers. Practitioners who are aware of this path and practice accordingly will experience few difficulties in their practice and will be calm and composed like the surface of the ocean without a trace of wind. The ascending of watery energy and the descending of fiery energy will naturally occur as the mind is settled. But if you don’t know this path, then you may easily condemn yourself to an entire life of hardship by suffering unnecessary illness. You must be extremely careful about this.”