133: Chapter 56: Discussing Emptiness Beside the Ears of the Fortune Immortal_3 133: Chapter 56: Discussing Emptiness Beside the Ears of the Fortune Immortal_3 “Indeed a fallacy!”
“In the example you gave, there was no transformation between emptiness and space, void and substance, truth and falsehood; the tea was always there, it merely changed location.”
“To measure heavens and earth with the contents of a cup, do you not think that is far too absurd?”
Dugu Mei lightly frowned, while the surrounding loose cultivators each kept silent.
The old man downstairs nodded slowly, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Li Ping’an turned around, paced seven feet, and once again spoke rapidly:
“You say ‘Emptiness perception’, that by emptying the worldly desires one can encompass the Dao of heaven and earth, is even more preposterous!”
“Within the Sea Watch Sect, are there no Heavenly Immortals who have taken Dao companions?
No True Immortals who have formed bonds with a partner?
Are there no disciples who have forsaken everything to cultivate diligently, but in the end did not become immortals and died in obscurity?”
“If you say, the Way of Emptiness Perception assists in cultivating the mind and nature, with worldly desires being complex, forgetting such would allow you and me to have a clear Dao heart, and more easily come into contact with The Great Dao, then I would not argue with you.”
“But to say that only by emptying can one perceive the Dao to exist, that is fallacious.”
“The Way of Emptiness is merely one of the Three Thousand Ways.”
“All Three Thousand Ways can lead to immortality, this is the gift of the Jade Void Palace Hierarch to the Human Race; desires follow the true nature, to be unfeeling is also to have feeling, this is the warning of the Azure Wander Palace Hierarch to us Qi Cultivators!”
“Emptiness follows the heart; to act is to bind, hence, ‘As long as one follows the heart without overstepping bounds, one may enjoy unfettered freedom!'”
“Your interpretation of Emptiness Perception is truly inferior!”
“As long as one follows the heart without overstepping bounds?”
Dugu Mei’s complexion turned somewhat pale, and her breath became somewhat chaotic; in her Dao heart, there was continuous contemplation, as if struck by a Heart Demon.
At this point, Li Ping’an could have won, but there was something on his mind that he felt compelled to express.
Today there is no need to be with the mundane dust, better to speak one’s mind boldly!
——If worse comes to worst, he could just stay in the Wanyun Sect for a hundred and eighty years without stepping outside!
Li Ping’an said loudly:
“Then ‘Emptiness as the nature of all things’ is even more a biased statement!”
“Ordinary people are often troubled, cultivators are often at ease, this is simply because cultivators have freed themselves from the mundane world, gained long lifespans, can fast without grain, can fly to the heavens, this is their freedom and ease compared to ordinary people.”
“But the cultivators of the Human Race since ancient times, have they ever abandoned the nature within their hearts?
Have they ever discarded the emotions within their hearts?”
“You view all things with an empty heart; to you, all things appear from an empty heart!
If your Dao heart contains only emptiness, your physical form is nothing more than a walking corpse!
How can such qualify to protect the Dao for our Human Race’s living beings, let alone dare to falsely claim The Great Dao!”
When I see the green mountains, they are charming; I imagine the green mountains must view me in the same way!”
“And then there’s the fourth.”
Dugu Mei’s hand trembled, and without waiting for Li Ping’an to speak, she was ready to concede defeat.
She truly could not listen any longer.
Just that sentence ‘You view all things with an empty heart’, had already triggered a thunderous roar within her Dao heart.
And that sentence ‘When I see the green mountains, they are charming’, had even caused a slight crack to form in Dugu Mei’s Dao heart.
If she listened any further, she could truly be trapped in her bottleneck!
“Daoist friend, if your heart is empty, then isn’t winning the same as losing, and losing the same as winning?”
“If it were just a private debate on the Dao between us, I would drop the matter if you conceded, but you have already spread such fallacious Dao; if I don’t refute it clearly and thoroughly, wouldn’t I be hindering the cultivation of many Daoists?”
“Daoist friend, if you’re afraid of damaging your Dao heart, just cover your ears and refuse to listen.”
The watching loose cultivators started to look at Li Ping’an with more kindness and apprehension.
Li Ping’an sighed deeply, and his gaze became incredibly distant:
“Daoist friend, what you last spoke of— that state of emptiness where both arising and ceasing are nothingness—is but a journey towards your own personal desolation.”
“The so-called emptiness is by no means the transcendence you and I wish to pursue; it’s merely stripping away your desires, emptying all that you see and hear, and then creating a false realm for yourself.”
“If you ignore evil, does it cease to exist?
If you do not look at that mountain, does the mountain cease to be?
What should exist, exists; what should be, still is.”
“Can you achieve true emptiness?
You cannot, never, for unless you yourself cease to exist, vanish like smoke and clouds, if this were really so, what meaning would there be in the truths you have comprehended, in the Dao you have pondered?”
You cultivate the Dao to make yourself live better, not to die more completely!”
“What you call emptiness, its essence is nothing more than ‘starting from nothingness and ending with nothingness’; it sounds reasonable, but in reality, it is far from the true Way of Emptiness.”
“And my understanding of emptiness is entirely different from yours.”
“Emptiness is both the starting point and the endpoint for all things.
Emptiness exists because from the starting point to the endpoint, these things outline traces between the poles of yin and yang; this is what Emptiness perceives, and what Void hears.
We see the truth and know emptiness, we see death and know life.”
“Emptiness no falsehood, existence no truth, the Dao heart vexed, do not cross into the world of mortals.”
“Your emptiness destroys me without me.”
“My emptiness acts without action.”
Li Ping’an bowed slightly, stopping at the right moment, saying no more.
Then Dugu Mei closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and bowed her head in silence, her Dao heart filled with confusion:
“Daoist friend, a lofty view.”
She was indeed free and easy.
Li Ping’an looked at the other three and added, “It’s my turn to propose a question.
It’s also about this character ’emptiness’.
I have already finished explaining my viewpoint; your turn now.”
The other three looked at each other, pondered deeply, and each sighed and lowered their heads.
“Daoist friend, we concede defeat.”
“In the future when you see a disciple of the Wanyun Sect, I ask that you please first make a gesture of respect and then stand aside three measures; if there are principles unclear to you, you can also visit the Wanyun Sect to seek advice from an Immortal.”
Li Ping’an swept his sleeves, called out to Yu Yingshu and Gu Qingcheng, who were already stunned.
“Brother Gu, Brother Yu, let’s go back, the elders and seniors are still waiting for us to eat.”
Brother, wait for me!”
Outside the Sea Watch Tower, the crowd of cultivators remained silent.
[Note: After going public, there will be no lengthy debates about the Dao.
This chapter refers to the ‘Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra’ and ‘The Classic of Purity’; just a bit of fun to read, no need to delve too deeply.]