This was supposed to be the first class today. Chu Keqing had intended to personally accompany Chen Yan and use her status as "Elder Zi" to support him, but Chen Yan declined.
Chen Yan deliberately sat for a full thirty seconds, watching as the older students below him whispered among themselves. He looked calmly at each student, and when the buzz gradually subsided, he smiled gently.
"Dear students, I know that each of you holds notable positions in society and has a certain status. As for me, I won’t hide it; I am just a young man with a background in philosophy. In terms of status, I am far inferior to all of you."
Chen Yan spoke softly. Born with a clean and handsome appearance and a tall figure, his gentle speech easily garnered a bit of affection from others. Gradually, the students stopped talking. They were not yet ready to dispel their doubts and dissatisfaction but were willing to listen to what this young instructor had to say.
"But everyone, if we all focus on status, wealth, and fame... if everything is about fame and fortune, then there’s no need for you to come to Luoyun Academy for Zen Meditation. What are you cultivating in Zen? How do you quiet your mind?
Why don’t we just pull out our bank accounts and compare assets, whether it’s A8 or A9A10... isn’t that the point?
Since you came to Luoyun Academy for Zen Meditation, you seek self-cultivation and wish to discard worldly pomp to practice your state of mind. Isn’t that so?"
As these words were spoken, the students present fell silent, with no one saying a word.
Chen Yan nodded, unhurriedly stood up, and then wrote four characters on the whiteboard behind him.
After writing, Chen Yan looked at the audience with a smiling face: "I wonder if any student knows the meaning of this phrase?"
After a moment of silence, an elder in his fifties or sixties spoke with a somewhat reserved tone, "This is the doctrine of Lie Yukou from the Taoist text Liezi. It means that when all distinctions are eliminated, there is no longer the importance of high and low status."
As he spoke, the elder looked at the young instructor with a meaningful glance.
Chen Yan looked at the elder, nodded, and smiled, "You are well-read, sir!"
"Don’t dare call it well-read; it’s just that I’ve read some books in my spare time," the old man smiled faintly.
Chen Yan nodded and said to the crowd, "虚者无贵! This phrase is indeed one of the doctrines of Lie Yukou from the Taoist text Liezi."
He pointed to the crowd with one hand and to himself with the other, "According to worldly terms, you hold weight, and I am light! You hold honor, and I am humble!
But if everyone is obsessed with worldly matters, there is no need to come here for Zen Meditation.
Everyone comes here to seek a bit of Taoist insight.
So, what we talk about will start with Liezi’s ’虚者无贵.’ The doctrine of Taoism broadly speaks of being and non-being, of substance and emptiness!
If, by the end of this Zen Meditation course, everyone can discard the worldly prejudices of high and low status, you will have gained some insight.
As for a young person like me being your instructor - why don’t you temporarily set aside your dissatisfaction and prejudice and treat me as a stepping stone to temper your Taoist heart?
Use me, a young instructor, as a whetstone to hone your Taoist heart."
Upon hearing this, many people had a change in their expressions.
The same elder asked, "Instructor Chen, since we are cultivating the Taoist heart, may I ask, what is ’Tao’?"
Chen Yan answered without hesitation, "Visible yet unseen, audible yet unheard, attainable yet unreachable - that is Tao!"
The elder was stunned for a moment and then sighed, "Since it is invisible, inaudible, and untouchable, how do we cultivate this Tao?"
"Through intuition," Chen Yan smiled. "As Liezi said, all things come from the cycle and return to the cycle—Taoism is not solely about immateriality; it also advocates understanding the formation and nurturing of heaven and earth, and from it, perceiving principles and rules."
He continued with a smile, "In fact, in this respect, Eastern and Western philosophies are aligned. In the West, perceiving the rules of heaven and earth is called physics. In our ancient texts, it is called understanding Tao."
Seeing the newfound seriousness and interest in many students’ eyes, he continued with a smile, "As Liezi stated, at the beginning of heaven and earth, there were four stages: Taiji, Taichu, Taishi, and Taisu— from nothing to something, from something to form, from form to material..."
As Chen Yan spoke unhurriedly and confidently, the students gradually listened intently, almost forgetting to question this overly young instructor...
Chen Yan’s eloquence was quite good, but more importantly, he had courage and confidence!
Had it been half a year ago, having just graduated, lecturing this group of social elites, even on his familiar field, would have inevitably been daunting.
But now, the situation was entirely different!
I am a Cultivator! A Guiyuan Realm cultivator, with spells at my disposal! The power to kill spirit monsters bare-handed!
I am here to teach you mortals... What is there to fear?!
It seems you are the wealthy, and I am a commoner.
In fact, I am a Cultivator, and you are merely ordinary mortals!
With this sense of superiority, Chen Yan became calm and unflustered, facing no stage fright.