With

all this talking,

what has been said?

The subtle truth can be

pointed at with words, but

it can't be contained

by them.

Take time to

listen to what is said

without words, to obey the law

too subtle to be written, to worship the

unnameable and to embrace

the unformed.

Love your life. Trust the Tao.

Make love with the invisible

subtle origin of the universe,

and you will give yourself

everything you need.

You won't

have to hide away

forever in spiritual retreats.

You can be a gentle, contemplative

hermit right here in the middle of

everything, utterly unaffected,

thoroughly sustained and

rewarded by your

integral practices.

Encouraging others,

giving freely to all, awakening

and purifying the world with each

movement and action, you'll

ascend to the divine

realm in broad

daylight.

Humanity grows

more and more intelligent,

yet there is clearly more trouble

and less happiness daily.

How can this be so?

It is because intelligence is

not the same thing

as wisdom.

When a society

misuses partial intelligence

and ignores holistic wisdom,

its people forget the benefits

of a plain and natural life.

Seduced by

their desires, emotions,

and egos, they become slaves to

bodily demands, to luxuries, to power

and unbalanced religion and

psychological excuses.

Then the reign of

calamity and

confusion

begins.

Nonetheless,

superior people can

awaken during times of

turmoil to lead others

out of the mire.

But how can

the one liberate the many?

By first liberating his own being.

He does this not by elevating

himself, but by lowering himself.

He lowers himself to that which is

simple, modest, true; integrating it

into himself, he becomes a master

of simplicity, modesty, truth.

Completely

emancipated from his

former false life, he discovers

his original pure nature, which is the

pure nature of the

universe.

Freely

and spontaneously

releasing his divine energy,

he constantly transcends complicated

situations and draws everything

around him back into an

integral oneness.

Would you like to liberate yourself

from the lower realms of life?

Would you like to save the world from

the degradation and destruction

it seems destined for?

Then step away from shallow mass

movements and quietly go to work

on your own self-awareness.

If you want to

awaken all of humanity,

then awaken all of yourself.

If you want to eliminate the suffering

in the world, then eliminate all that is

dark and negative in yourself. Truly,

the greatest gift you have to

give is that of your own

self-transformation.

So find a teacher

who is an integral being,

a beacon who extends his light

and virtue with equal ease to

those who appreciate him

and those who

don't.

Shape yourself in his mold,

bathe in his nourishing radiance, and

reflect it out to the rest of the world.

The transformation

toward eternal life is gradual.

The heavy, gross energy of body,

mind, and spirit must first be purified

and uplifted. When the energy

ascends to the subtle level,

then self-mastery can

be sought.

A wise instructor

teaches the powerful principles

of self-integration only to those who

have already achieved a high level of

self-purification and

self-mastery.

In addition,

all proper teaching

follows the law of energy response:

the most effective method is always

that to which the student's natural

energy most harmoniously

responds.

For one,

celibacy and self-cultivation

will be appropriate; for another,

properly guided dual cultivation

will derive the greatest benefit.

A discerning teacher will

determine the proper

balance of practices

for each.

The cords of passion and desire

weave a binding net around you.

Worldly confrontation makes you

stiff and inflexible.

The trap of duality is tenacious.

Bound, rigid, and trapped,

you cannot experience liberation.

Through

dual cultivation

it is possible to

unravel the net,

soften the rigidity,

dismantle the trap.

Dissolving your yin energy

into the source of universal life,

attracting the yang energy from

that same source, you leave behind

individuality and your life

becomes pure nature.

Free of ego,

living naturally,

working virtuously,

you become filled with

inexhaustible vitality and

are liberated forever from

the cycle of death and rebirth.

A person's

approach to sexuality

is a sign of his level of evolution.

Unevolved persons practice

ordinary sexual intercourse.

Placing all emphasis upon the

sexual organs, they neglect the

body's other organs and systems.

Whatever physical energy is

accumulated is summarily

discharged, and the

subtle energies are

similarly dissipated

and disordered.

It is a great backward leap.

For those who

aspire to the higher realms of

living, there is angelic dual cultivation.

Because every portion of the body,

mind, and spirit yearns for the

integration of yin and yang,

angelic intercourse is led

by the spirit rather than

the sexual organs.

Where ordinary

intercourse is effortful,

angelic cultivation is calm,

relaxed, quiet, and natural.

Where ordinary intercourse unites

sex organs with sex organs,

angelic cultivation unites

spirit with spirit, mind

with mind, and every

cell of one body with

every cell of the

other body.

Culminating

not in dissolution but

in integration, it is an opportunity for

a man and woman to mutually

transform and uplift each

other into the realm of

bliss and wholeness.

The sacred ways

of angelic intercourse are

taught only by one who has himself

achieved total energy integration,

and taught only to students who

follow the Integral Way with

profound devotion, seeking

to purify and pacify the

entire world along with

their own

being.

To achieve

the highest levels of life,

one must continually combine

new levels of yin

and yang.

In nature,

the male energy can

be found in such sources as

the sun and the mountains, and the

female in such sources as the earth,

the moon, and the lakes. Those who

study these things, which are only

hinted at here, will benefit

immeasurably.

Because higher and higher unions

of yin and yang are necessary for

the conception of higher life, some

students may be instructed in the art

of dual cultivation, in which yin and

yang are directly integrated in the

tai chi of sexual intercourse.

If the student

is not genuinely virtuous

and the instruction not that of a true

master, dual cultivation can have

a destructive effect.

If genuine

virtue and true mastery

come together, however, the practice

can bring about a profound balancing

of the student's gross and

subtle energies.