Ethereal Sound · The Authentic Chan Melody (Internal Reference)¶
This is the ethereal sound of life. The ethereal sound is the authentic Chan melody — it can only be grasped intuitively, never replicated. It is existence within non-existence, non-existence within existence — the ineffable truth of life itself.
— Xue Feng, Life Chanyuan Corpus, "Cultivation Chapter VIII: Listening to the Ethereal Sound, Awakening to the Authentic Chan Melody"
I. The Core Text: Listening to the Ethereal Sound, Awakening to the Authentic Chan Melody¶
Soaring beyond mountain barriers and river obstacles, skimming over the vastness of the human world, entering boundless silence — the human world ceases to exist, space and time vanish without trace, the sun and moon cannot be seen, the clamor of the age cannot be heard, one's own form cannot be found — only the consciousness of life flowing quietly and freely.
Do not think, do not generate desire, move with the spirit; do not raise thoughts, do not fear being drawn in, let it unfurl freely — the celestial embryo is about to emerge, the ethereal melody is revolving.
Do not be excited — celestial music is arriving. What is this sound? Not the wind combing through bamboo, not the orioles singing — no strings are seen, no drums shake the sky. Like flowing water, yet not the sound of water; like the murmur of swallows, yet not the swallow's voice — intoxicating, enchanting, dissolving the mind, surpassing the lover's whisper at the ear; the cells of the marrow are dancing, the innermost heart is infinitely intertwined — never heard in the human world, rarely heard even in the celestial realm. This is the ethereal sound of life.
To hear the ethereal sound regularly: the dust and grime of the world can be removed; the spirit becomes clear and the mind still; the common bones can be shed; the celestial realm can be entered; mists of confusion can be lifted; mysteries can be grasped — subtle, profound, wondrous, beyond language.
The ethereal sound cannot be heard with the ears. It is both the response of the celestial realm and the flow of one's own life-consciousness structure. The more perfect the structure, the more beautiful the sound. Only oneself can hear the ethereal sound — the friend nearby cannot detect it, the lover sharing one's bed cannot know it. By moonlight among flowers, by a murmuring stream, in a tender embrace, in the broad expanse of mountains — the shallow-layer ethereal sound can be heard. In deep quiet, unstained by any dust, with an undistracted mind, in meditation upon wondrous scenes — the deep-layer ethereal sound can be heard. When the soul leaves the body, with no self and no form, when the light of spirit flashes, without beginning or end — the heaven-layer ethereal sound can be heard.
The ethereal sound is the authentic Chan melody — it can only be grasped intuitively, never replicated. It is existence within non-existence, non-existence within existence — the ineffable truth of life itself. To hear the ethereal sound marks that one has stepped onto the celestial path. Though the celestial realm is still far, the dawn of hope has already appeared.
This is one of the eight great mysteries of LIFE. An egg that is not incubated remains forever an egg; if it is not incubated in time, a fresh egg becomes turbid, a fragrant egg becomes foul. The human world on earth is life's womb. A chicken egg hatches by means of temperature; a human being hatches into a celestial being by means of cultivation — the enlightenment of the Greatest Creator and the words of the divine and the buddhas are the temperature. One must awaken through one's own realization. Constantly listening to the ethereal sound and awakening to the authentic Chan melody is the hatching process. A chicken egg breaks open after twenty-one days and a chick emerges; a human being, incubated in the loving warmth of the Greatest Creator and the divine, breaks through the human world after eighty-one days and emerges as a celestial.
Listen to the ethereal sound, awaken to the authentic Chan melody — when the "shell breaks," you will have become the "chick."
(Life Chanyuan Corpus, Cultivation Chapter, "Cultivation Chapter VIII: Listening to the Ethereal Sound, Awakening to the Authentic Chan Melody," Xue Feng)
II. The Ling-Empty State: The Essential Prerequisite¶
The ling-empty state is a state of no-self, no-form, no attachment, no encumbrance, no vexation, no anxiety, no worry, no fear, no clinging — while feeling extraordinarily beautiful and extraordinarily free.
How to allow body, mind, and spirit to enter the ling-empty state? Do not hesitate, do not waver, do not doubt, do not worry, do not cling — follow me without fear. Walk along the tour guide's route map. Relinquish yourself entirely; do not look out for yourself. Selflessness achieves one's true self; no-self achieves the self. When self is fully surrendered, the ling-empty state is entered.
The celestial path is ling-empty and full of splendor — all its mysteries are in my hands.
(Life Chanyuan Corpus, Cultivation Chapter, "The Celestial Path Is Ling-Empty and Full of Splendor," Xue Feng, 2013/8/10)
III. Eight Methods for Entering the Ling-Empty State¶
If body, mind, and spirit do not reach the ling-empty state, vibrational frequency cannot be raised; if vibrational frequency is too low, one cannot achieve oneness with heaven and earth, feathered transformation into a celestial, or entry into higher life spaces.
1. Possess nothing. Once one clings to emotional attachment, jealousy, resentment, anger, and rage are unavoidable. Once one clings to money, power, status, fame, and property, anxiety, worry, and fear cannot be avoided. Possess nothing — body, mind, and spirit then become ling-empty.
2. Take things as they come; move with the Tao. Trust that the Greatest Creator will care for you, that the Tao will arrange all things reasonably. Whatever circumstances one presently faces, maintain equanimity and take things as they come.
3. Move with affinity; do not cling. What has been done — never regret it. What has passed — never yearn for it. Whatever comes, transform it; whatever goes, forget it. Do not cling to goals or pursuits.
4. Maintain harmony with the whole. When everyone lies down, lie down — do not stand; when everyone rises, rise — do not lie there; when everyone plays, play — do not stand aside watching coldly.
5. Less calculating, more playing. When nothing demands attention, play — compose a poem, listen to music and dance, practice an instrument, stroll by the riverside, grow and appreciate flowers.
6. Labor and creation purify the mind. Every day, labor, create, give, contribute. Never idle away a day in pure consumption. Living with a clear conscience, the spirit naturally becomes clear and free.
7. No desire, no seeking — leave inverted illusions behind. No desire is strength; no seeking is tranquility. Everything ripens and falls in its own time. Do not try to pluck unripened fruit.
8. Do not contend with others for energy. All conflict, contradiction, and struggle are contests for energy. Contending with others makes one turbid. Instead, let oneself "commune uniquely with the spirit of heaven and earth" — absorb the essence of sun and moon, the numinous energy of heaven and earth.
The ling-empty state is an extraordinarily beautiful state — the state of non-action in which nothing is left undone: upward one can "reach for the moon among the nine heavens," retreating one can vanish without trace. One can be anything and yet be nothing. It is a full-spectrum state.
(Life Chanyuan Corpus, Wisdom Chapter, "A Few Small Techniques for Entering the Ling-Empty State," Xue Feng, 2013/8/11)
IV. Loving through the Ethereal Sound¶
To love me, one must elevate one's love — lifting the material-world love into the nonmaterial world, making love through the ethereal sound.
This means: to love me, one must be prepared to elevate one's love to the Ten-Thousand-Year World — there one will taste the more intense flavor of love. And then elevate it to the Celestial Islands Continent — there one will fully enjoy the fragrance of love and its eternal pleasures.
(Xue Feng's Other Writings, 2011, "How to Love the Guide," 2011-07-24)
Source Index¶
| Source | Article | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Life Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation | "Cultivation Chapter VIII: Listening to the Ethereal Sound, Awakening to the Authentic Chan Melody" | — |
| Life Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation | "The Celestial Path Is Ling-Empty and Full of Splendor" | 2013/8/10 |
| Life Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom | "A Few Small Techniques for Entering the Ling-Empty State" | 2013/8/11 |
| Xue Feng's Other Writings · 2011 | "How to Love the Guide" | 2011-07-24 |