In ancient times, life was full of uncertainty and hardship. Hunger, epidemics, and wars frequently disrupt people's lives, resulting in a generally short life expectancy. Faced with such a cruel reality, people are eager to find a way beyond death, and the dream of immortality comes into being.
Taoism, an ancient belief system, teaches people to pursue harmonious coexistence with nature, and puts forward the ideal of cultivating to become immortals. Legend has it that in the Three Realms, in addition to the human world, there are also gods and ghosts. The life after becoming an immortal is to be in a distant and mysterious fairyland, far away from the troubles of the world.
Historically, there has been no shortage of emperors who pursued immortality, such as Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. They did not hesitate to spend huge manpower and material resources to try to find immortals, hoping to obtain the elixir and thus achieve eternal life. However, these efforts all proved to be in vain.
Despite this, the enthusiasm for the pursuit of immortality was not diminished by the emperor's defeat. People still dream of one day being able to escape from the mundane world and become free immortals. The imaginary life in the fairy world is full of poetry and reverie, which is in stark contrast to the strife and pain of the world.
In order to pursue the path of cultivating immortals, the ancients left behind a lot of theoretical and practical guidance on cultivation. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong's "Hug Puzi" is one of the best, and the book elaborates on the specific steps of becoming an immortal: starting from the purification of the heart, looking for the guidance of the Master, focusing on health preservation and mind cultivation, and finally accumulating virtue by taking elixirs and doing good deeds, in anticipation of the arrival of immortals.
However, the path of cultivation is full of hardships and trials, and not everyone can reach the end. As Ge Hong said, the initial inner purification alone is a threshold that many seekers find difficult to cross. The story of mind cultivation has been widely spread throughout the ages, not only as a technique for cultivation, but also as a profound reflection on the understanding of human nature, life and the universe.
In the eyes of the ancients, becoming an immortal was not only a means of escaping suffering, but also an exploration of the meaning of life and the order of the universe. Although this pursuit is full of mystery and unknown, it also reflects the eternal yearning of human beings for self-transcendence.
In those ancient times, there was a wealthy merchant who, after the peak of his wealth, had a thought: It would be great if he could live forever. Therefore, he recruited warlocks from all over the world, immersed himself in alchemy and cultivation every day, trying to explore the eternal secret.
Soon, a shabby-dressed Taoist stepped through the door, his temperament was different, unsociable and lonely, but he was regarded by the warlocks as a rare real person. This Taoist has extraordinary abilities, can drive out evil spirits, change freely, every time he casts a spell is shocking, and there are even magical charms that make people travel through the fairy world in their dreams.
When the crowd eagerly asked him to teach the spell, the Taoist asked the people to ask themselves what they were seeking. He smiled and revealed that what he showed was just a surface, and the true way to cultivate immortals was to cultivate one's self and accumulate good deeds, rather than relying on external talismans and spells.
These words made everyone ashamed, and they knelt down and begged for an apprenticeship. The Daoist turned his gaze to the merchant and the warlocks, questioning their true understanding of immortal cultivation. He pointed out that true spiritual practice consists in transcending worldly greed and maintaining inner peace and purity, which cannot be achieved by wealth or skill.
He also emphasized that the road to becoming an immortal not only requires inner firmness and purity, but also the cooperation of timing and fate, which cannot be forced. In the end, the Taoist taught everyone that only by doing good deeds and accumulating virtue can they go further and further on the road of cultivation, and finally they may be able to touch the edge of the immortal relationship.
This adventure deeply touched the merchants and warlocks, and they began to reflect on their understanding of the way of cultivating immortals, and re-examine their inner world, which is not only a story about cultivating immortals, but also an awakening of the soul.
The gods are the loneliest
In ancient times, people's understanding of life and death, mortal and immortal was full of mystery and respect. They believe that souls who have left this world can ascend to the heavenly realm, and all of this is closely related to an ancient concept called "coffin crack".
The term "coffin seam", originally referred to the tiny gap between the coffin boards and the plates. The ancients believed that the soul of man, after the body had returned to dust, would pass freely through these crevices. Such a design not only reflects the care for the soul of the deceased, but also implies a philosophical reflection on the cycle of life.
At the same time, the "coffin seam" also symbolizes the deceased's last attachment to the world. Although they are in the coffin, they seem to feel a thread of connection to the world through these gaps. However, such a connection is extremely weak and cannot truly break the barrier between death and life, leaving the deceased with only endless loneliness and loneliness.
And those who pursue immortality, although they are not in the coffin, the life they choose to live in the "fairy cave" is actually no different from the deceased in the coffin. They have abandoned the joys and sorrows of the world, thinking that they can transcend the troubles of the world, but they do not know that they have entered another form of loneliness.
This self-exiled lifestyle, while seemingly unfathomable, is in fact quite similar to the experience of the person in the coffin. They think that they can achieve immortality by abandoning human emotions and desires, but they never realize that the true meaning of life lies not in escaping the world, but in connecting and experiencing the world.
Therefore, the "coffin crack" is not only a simple physical structure, but also a profound cultural symbol, reminding people of the complex emotions and understanding of life, death, and immortality. This reflection on the nature of life has become an important part of the philosophical and cultural exploration of the ancients.
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