{"id":4443,"date":"2024-03-04T21:59:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T21:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/?p=4443"},"modified":"2024-03-04T21:59:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T21:59:33","slug":"merging-of-difference-unity-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/?p=4443","title":{"rendered":"Merging of Difference & Unity – Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Path of Teaching<\/h1>\n

Interval. Part One.<\/h3>\n
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FLY<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Merging. Difference & Unity.<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\u77f3\u982d\u5e0c\u9077 Shitou Xiqian (700\u2013790)<\/p>\n

\u53c3\u540c\u5951 Cantongqi<\/p>\n

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Come along with this power of Merging. Merging of what you ask? Merging Difference & Unity in a world that is constantly dividing and changing.<\/p>\n

In this series of Teaching intervals we will look at and study a few lines at a time on what this power of merging difference & unity means.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s jump in.<\/p>\n

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The Merging of Difference & Unity<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is the title of this ancient text from China, written by Shitou Xiqian, an eighth century Chan master.<\/p>\n

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  1. Do you want to see and know the merging of difference & unity in your everyday life?<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n
  2. What does it mean for your spiritual practice?<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Both questions require a response within your self. Let me reitierate.<\/p>\n

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    • Do you want to know the many and the one?\n
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      • What do you want?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • How does knowing the many and the one affect your spiritual reality?\n
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        • What do you know right there wherever you are?\n

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          CAUTION:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Look out for the aspect of yourself that thinks it is better than or less than anyone else. See if you can let go of comparisons. Beware of measuring yourself with some worldly yardstick. If you find yourself there, see if you can put the yardstick away.<\/p>\n

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          I will begin with lines from the ancient text.<\/p>\n

          The mind of the great sage of India is intimately communicated between East and West.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          The mind in this case is an awakend mind of an ancient sage. We are told the awakened mind is\u00a0intimately<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0communicated from East to West. There are no culture borders measuring difference or overvaluing unity. It is a merging of\u00a0difference & unity.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

          As another example, from the New Testament.<\/p>\n

          \u201cLet this mind be in you that was in Christ.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          There again, we are asked to intimately join our mind with a spiritual source.<\/p>\n

          Both teachings take us to ONE or Unity. This does not refer to the material impermanent\u00a0phenomenal<\/strong>\u00a0world, but the\u00a0noumenon<\/strong>, the subtle existence of true reality.<\/p>\n

          \u201cMerging of Difference & Unity.\u201d \u201cI and the Father are ONE!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          Are you able to merge difference & unity in this tumultous time of change in such a way that you experience yourself as ONE with the mind of the great sages? This is a rock-bottom foundational teaching.<\/p>\n

          It refers to the question, \u201cWho am I? or stronger yet, \u201cWhat am I?\u201d<\/p>\n

          The simple answer is \u201cNot Separate.\u201d Yet. we feel separate and live according to that separateness.<\/p>\n

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          The spiritual route is a route of\u00a0merging difference<\/strong>\u00a0&\u00a0unity<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em>Let\u2019s go two steps further in this piece.<\/p>\n

          Let\u2019s start with our faculties – our inherent mental powers and include the spiritual response to being keen or dull.<\/p>\n

          People\u2019s faculties may be keen or dull\u2026in the path there are \u201cno\u201d Southern\u201d or \u201cNorthern\u201d ancestors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          Maybe you think you do not measure up? Think again, please.<\/p>\n

          Measuring and comparing ceases in the path of awakening. Whether you are keen or dull there is no yardstick. No measures. No comparisons.<\/p>\n

          All is ONE.<\/p>\n

          \u2026in the path there are \u201cno\u201d southern or \u201cnorthern\u201d ancestors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

          To put these first few lines together as this – it does not matter spiritually whether you are brilliant or dull since IT is you, you are not IT.<\/p>\n

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          • Right now\u2026you may not know IT to be you.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            The mind of the great sage of India is intimately communicated from east to west.<\/p>\n

            People\u2019s faculties may be keen or dull but in the path there are no \u201csouthern\u201d or \u201cnorthern\u201d ancestors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

            I humbly say to those who study the mystery of existence, don\u2019t waste time. Shitou Xiqian<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n
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            www.asinglethread.net – www.zatma.org<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

            Thanks for reading Practice Reminders! Subscribe for free to receive new posts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The Path of Teaching Interval. Part One. FLY MAR 2, 2024 Merging. Difference & Unity. \u77f3\u982d\u5e0c\u9077 Shitou Xiqian (700\u2013790) \u53c3\u540c\u5951 Cantongqi Come along with this power of Merging. Merging of what you ask? Merging Difference & Unity in a world that is constantly dividing and changing. In this series of Teaching intervals we will look… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4444,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4443\/revisions\/4444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}