The Grand Void Illusion · Internal Reference¶
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I. Core Treatise — The Ancient Mystery of the Grand Void Illusion¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Antimatter World Chapter · The Ancient Mystery of the Grand Void Illusion
All illusions are the Antimatter World. Everything that seems unreal is a real existence.
To enter the Antimatter World, one must go in reverse, think against the current, let imagination run wild, and understand that form and emptiness are not two.
The author of Dream of the Red Chamber, Cao Xueqin, lamented: "A page of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears. All call the author mad — who can taste the flavor within?" Countless readers have read the novel, yet who has ever "tasted the flavor within"?
Flowers that are not flowers, dreams that are not dreams — consciousness and structure reveal the original form. Through cycles of blossoming and awakening, one cultivates a grain of truth: the Grand Void Illusion is the realm of celestial beings.
I quote a few passages from Chapter 5 of Dream of the Red Chamber, "Baoyu Dreams of the Grand Void Illusion, the Celestial Fairy of Warning Sorrow Performs the Song of Red Mansions":
Baoyu had barely closed his eyes when he fell into a daze, following Qin's form drifting onwards into a distant place. He beheld carved railings of jade, green trees, and clear streams — truly a place untrodden by human feet, where not even a speck of dust drifted. Overjoyed in his dream, Baoyu thought: What a delightful place! If I could spend my whole life here, it would be far better than being managed every day by my parents and tutors. Lost in these wandering thoughts, he heard someone singing behind the mountain: "Spring dreams scatter with clouds; falling blossoms chase the flowing stream. A message to all the maidens: why go seeking idle sorrow?" Baoyu recognized a girl's voice. Before the song faded, there appeared from beyond a beautiful woman, swaying and willowy, altogether different from ordinary people. Seeing she was a celestial maiden, Baoyu hurried forward with a bow and said with a smile: "Divine Sister, I know not where you come from nor where you are going. I do not even know where this place is — please take me with you." The celestial maiden replied: "I dwell above the Heaven of Parting Grief, in the midst of the Sea of Weeping Sorrow, in the Tai Xu Huan Jing — the Grand Void Illusion of Jinghua the Celestial Maiden — on Fangchun Mountain in the Cave of Spreading Fragrance. I govern the affairs of romantic debts in the human world, and preside over the lovesick sorrows of men and women on earth. Because of late many amorous karmic entanglements have gathered here, I came to observe the opportunities and scatter lovesickness. That we have met today is not accidental. My realm is not far from here. There is nothing special there — only a cup of celestial tea I have picked myself, a few jars of wine I have brewed, several girls skilled in ethereal dance, and twelve newly composed songs of the Red Mansions. Would you care to visit?" Baoyu was overjoyed, forgetting entirely where Qin had gone, and followed the celestial maiden to a place where he suddenly saw a stone archway inscribed with four great characters: "Tai Xu Huan Jing" — the Grand Void Illusion. On either side hung a couplet: When the false is taken as true, the true also becomes false; where nothingness is treated as something, something also becomes nothing.
Cao Xueqin's "handful of bitter tears" — who can taste the flavor within? The answer is: When the false is taken as true, the true also becomes false; where nothingness is treated as something, something also becomes nothing.
In the past seventy-plus years, over 2,000 documented ghost ships have been found in the South Atlantic — vessels drifting unmanned, their crews vanished without trace. Where did the people go?
In the account "Uncovering the Secret of the Terror Ghost Ships of the South Atlantic," there appears this passage:
In the morning they woke to find the cabin door wide open and little Moll gone. They called until their voices went hoarse — no answer. They searched every corner — no trace. Everyone was stunned.
That day they caught no fish and ate nothing. That night, no one slept. Just before dawn, Sanro finally dozed off. When he woke, daylight had broken. Lisa had not yet stirred, but the elder son was gone. Sanro was alarmed... He had no time to think carefully, dared not think carefully, and rushed out the door. On deck, he looked around — empty. Food still had to be eaten, fish still had to be caught. After cooking fish, his wife had not woken, and he felt tired; he went to bed. When he woke, it was already dusk. His wife was awake. Looking at the plate on the table, Sanro noticed there were no fish bones. "Why didn't you eat?" "I ate a roe block you don't like. I couldn't eat anything else," said Lisa. Sanro recalled that everyone in the family except himself loved fish roe. He remembered that two days ago there was roe in the pot too — Lisa had said "Let Moll eat it," and Moll ate it smiling: "So delicious!" Yesterday at dinner, the only roe block in the pot had gone to Brazzi.
Suddenly he remembered something. He went to the captain's cabin, took out the Navigation Log, and turned to the last day's entry: "Today, Lia caught many of these fish. Most of the fish had roe in their bellies. The roe tastes even better. Everyone scrambled to eat it."
"By logical reasoning, the disappearances may be related to eating this roe," he thought. "Should I tell my wife? No — she has already eaten. That would only cause panic. What should I do?" After a moment's thought, he made up his mind.
That night, as usual, they went to bed early. Lisa, as usual, did not fall asleep until deep in the night. Sanro lay beside her, apparently also asleep. But he was not truly sleeping. Around 3 a.m., Lisa quietly got up, silently opened the door and went out. Sanro followed in secret.
By the brilliant starlight, Sanro saw Lisa's face expressionless, as if asleep, yet with an unusual gleam in her eyes. Her steps were slow and mechanical, like a wooden figure — yet she navigated around obstacles with startling precision. He still did not startle her, and kept following in secret. Lisa came to the stern boarding ladder, leaned over to look at the sea, and murmured: "So beautiful. I'm coming." She stepped onto the ship's rail and climbed toward the ladder. Sanro leapt forward and held her tightly. He had expected her to struggle fiercely. To his surprise, she did not move at all. Sanro dragged her back onto the deck and carried her to the cabin.
In the morning, his wife woke and was completely normal, as if nothing had happened. Sanro was deeply puzzled and told her everything that had occurred in the night. As the "story" unfolded, Lisa's expression gradually changed. When he finished, she cried out: "I remember now. After I fell asleep, I heard a most melodious voice gently saying to me: 'Look.' Ah — I saw a wondrous paradise unlike any in this world. Then I heard: 'Come with me, walk slowly, don't disturb anyone.' I quietly got out of bed and went through the door. On deck, I saw birds of marvelous beauty flying in the sky, sparkling treasures scattered on the ground — like a human heaven! The joyful people there saw me and called out to me together. The only passageway out of here was the boarding ladder. I went without hesitation, but someone caught me. The people there said: 'Come again tomorrow.'"
What did the captain's wife see? What she saw was the Antimatter World.
If the captain had not pulled his wife back, she would have entered the Antimatter World — and lived far better.
The past is an illusion. The future is an illusion. Every image that arises when a person closes their eyes is an illusion. But the influence and effect of all these illusions on a person is utterly real.
The horrifying images in a scary film, the terrifying scenes in a dream, the frightening scenarios in a novel, the terrifying visions in one's imagination — their impact and sensation on a person are almost identical. This means that illusion and reality do not differ greatly. Many who have loved someone in a dream find the experience no less vivid than in waking life — sometimes even more wondrous.
The facts tell us: the illusory is not truly illusory. The ancient mystery of the Grand Void Illusion is in truth none other than the real Antimatter World.
The question is: how does one enter the even more wondrous Antimatter World to experience a life full of color and wonder?
2007-4-20