pjbooks Chapter 14 "Questions and Answers at Baiyang Temple"
Chapter 14 "Questions and Answers at Baiyang Temple"
"But...who says that Daoist theory has to be linked to Daoist sects?"
These words struck Jiang Songjing like a thunderbolt.
He stared blankly at Lin Yu, saying nothing, but his eyes clearly conveyed one meaning:
—Isn't Daoist theory just theory related to Daoism?
"..."
Lin Yu stood up from the stone bench, looked at him, and stood with her hands behind her back.
Your understanding is too biased.
Lin Yu raised her head slightly, but the gentle light in her eyes did not fall on Jiang Songjing; instead, it was leisurely spread across the world.
But even that intangible gaze still made Jiang Songjing feel an invisible pressure.
"What is the essence of Taoism?"
"To simply understand it as 'theory about Taoism' is too narrow, too simplistic, unreasonable, and does not conform to reality."
Jiang Songjing swallowed hard and carefully continued:
"So... Brother Lin, what do you think the Daoist theory should be?"
Lin Yu nodded and smiled slightly:
"In my view, the so-called Daoist theory, in a nutshell, is the theory of how intelligent life can make the most of resources to understand and transform the world."
These words were so unconventional that they left Jiang Songjing speechless, but she vaguely recalled some things she had learned in high school textbooks, with terms such as "productivity," "technological power," and "comprehensive national power" flashing through her mind.
Lin Yu immediately noticed the scattered thoughts in his mind, but offered no comment, simply continuing quietly:
"In ancient times, the ancestors said that Nuwa molded humans from clay, so 'humans are born from the earth' and 'humans are born from the earth' was the Taoist theory at that time; the Classic of Mountains and Seas says that the Zhulong's open eyes are day and its closed eyes are day, so 'the eyes of the Zhulong are the movement of the sun and moon' became the Taoist theory in the minds of the creators, or at least the compilers of the Classic of Mountains and Seas."
"The ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles firmly believed that the essence of the world was 'water, fire, earth, and air,' which he called the 'four elements.' Later, Aristotle introduced the four properties of 'cold, hot, dry, and wet' to explain change, and used 'ether' to connect everything. Therefore, the 'theory of the four elements and four changes of ether' became the ancient Western Taoist theory."
"In modern times, science has become a prominent field of study. Starting with Galileo's scientific methodology of 'precision, objectivity, quantification, and repeatability,' various theories have been proposed to summarize and understand the essence of the world: Newtonian mechanics, relativity, quantum mechanics, the periodic table of elements... These theories, as tools for interpreting the world, are also various theories of the Tao."
"There are even some theories that, while supported by mathematics, lack empirical testing, and others that, despite lacking any numerical basis, can function as self-consistent models—such as Feynman's 'single-electron universe,' David Bohm's 'holography,' and Penrose's 'Orch OR' theory of consistent objective reduction… These theories may be laughed at or written into science fiction—but in essence, aren't they just unique interpretations of the universe made by the proposers of these theories from their own perspectives?"
"In my view, these are all philosophical theories!"
"From the perspective of cultivators, the various scientific theories in this world are the path to enlightenment, while the explosion of biotechnology and the leap in genes are the evolution of physical supernatural powers."
"But from the scientists' perspective, they would naturally interpret spiritual energy as microscopic matter and supernatural powers as interactions between matter, and they would eagerly use various formulas, experiments, and simulations to explore the principles of cultivating immortality."
"...The so-called 'mutual interpretation of doctrines' is nothing more than 'self-centeredness,' nothing more than that!"
Lin Yu's various terms wove an invisible net that enveloped Jiang Songjing, leaving him pale with fright. He felt as if his mind was about to explode from the complex explanation.
Jiang Songjing stood frozen in place, at a loss, looking at the middle-aged man standing with his hands behind his back under the pine tree, his head slightly raised. She felt that the man's image was completely confused for a moment!
Looking at Lin Yu, Jiang Songjing couldn't help but recall the scenes of how she met him in the past few days.
During this period, the image of this middle-aged man in his mind kept changing.
When Lin Yu first entered Baiyang Temple, he thought the other party was just a madman who slandered the temple's traditions;
Lin Yu innovated and used ingenious reasoning to trace the orthodoxy of the Baiyang Temple, overturning Jiang Songjing's understanding. He then realized that the other party was a high-ranking Taoist cultivator.
When Lin Yu mentioned "Sheng Yu" and offered to pass on Jiang Songjing's cultivation method, his feelings shifted again. He wondered if Lin Yu might be a fraud, a madman, or a true hermit master...
However, today, under the green pine tree, listening to Lin Yu preach, and hearing him incorporate all sorts of myths, legends, Taoist texts... and even scientific theories from ancient times into his own Taoist system and make it all believable, Jiang Songjing really didn't know how to view or evaluate this person!
"Brother Lin, the cultivation you mentioned... you don't mean this, do you?"
Jiang Songjing murmured.
But the thought of the word "cultivation" gave rise to a few flashes of inspiration, which felt like both a constraint and a barrier, preventing him from fully accepting Lin Yu's theories.
Just like the day Lin Yu first entered Baiyang Temple, he raised questions again.
However, this time, Jiang Songjing's tone was not strong at all, as docile as when she asked a question to the teacher in class:
"But Brother Lin," Jiang Songjing said, his eyes brightening slightly, "the so-called 'Daoist theory' should be used to assist one's own cultivation in order to achieve the true Dharma and the harmony of body and mind. These scientific theories cannot be used to write talismans or practice internal alchemy; they are of no benefit to personal cultivation. No matter what, they cannot be connected with orthodox Daoist theory. How can they be combined with the concept of 'Daoist theory'?"
Jiang Songjing asked the question with reverence.
Lin Yu smiled and shook her head:
"You're looking too low; your perspective is too limited."
"You're only using your personal life and spiritual practice to understand Taoist doctrines, hence the misinterpretations. Why not try looking at 'Taoist doctrines' from a higher perspective, from the viewpoint of civilization?"
"……civilization?!"
Jiang Songjing blinked; Lin Yu's words had completely hit a nerve.
"Yes, civilization."
Lin Yu raised her head slightly, her gaze sweeping across the sky pointed to by the pine branches, as if falling into the universe behind the vast clouds.
There, at all times, satellites orbit above the Earth at the edge of the clouds, looking down upon the ground.
Lin Yu's voice echoed softly:
The cultivation of civilization is sometimes called "productivity" and sometimes "technological breakthrough," but the name doesn't matter. What matters is the substance.
"In ancient times, people practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. The average lifespan was no more than thirty. Then came iron plows and oxen, then the steam engine, followed by the internal combustion engine, computers, nuclear energy... all sorts of breakthroughs. Now, the average lifespan can exceed seventy, and the resources available to the world, combined with the power gathered, are more than ten thousand times stronger than they were a thousand years ago!"
"In my view, this is precisely a form of spiritual practice."
"Imagine there are two worlds."
"One world is the Earth as it is today."
"The other world is a cultivation world where one cultivates one's qi, refines supernatural powers, seeks the perfection of life and death, and ascends to immortality in broad daylight."
"Then the pinnacle of the cultivation world is undoubtedly to attain the Dao fruit, transform into a true immortal, and gain eternal life, with a lifespan comparable to heaven and earth."
"The pinnacle that Earth will reach through the scientific path is to explore the principles of spacetime, separate the essence of the soul, traverse light-years across the stars, ultimately achieve immortality for all, make the soul immortal, transcend dimensions, attain the immortality of civilization, and coexist with the universe."
"Therefore, the true meaning of the path of cultivation is to enable a person to become like civilization, to bear the will of heaven and earth and the weight of the primordial world, and to live forever without perishing."
"The true meaning of the path of science is to make civilization like one person, where no one is irreplaceable, with the goal of achieving a leap in the overall civilization and ultimately reaching eternity."
"Although the two paths are different, they ultimately lead to the same destination."
"Science is the Tao."
"Do you understand now?"
Lin Yu withdrew her gaze from the sky, lowered her head slightly, and looked at Jiang Songjing with a smile.
Jiang Songjing's expression changed for a long time, but finally she let out a deep breath and nodded heavily:
"Understood."
He laughed again:
"Brother Lin, your idea is truly ingenious and brilliant. It's a pity I don't have pen and ink on hand right now, otherwise I would write all of this down for future review."
Jiang Songjing sighed with a hint of apprehension.
Lin Yu hesitated for a moment, then slowly said:
"It's alright. Although these are just some fragmented thoughts now, you can write them down and read them yourself."
"……real?"
Jiang Songjing's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I'll write it down later!"
"Speaking of which, Brother Lin, if I were to compile all these thoughts into a collection and save it, wouldn't it be worth giving it a name? After all, it's the culmination of your hard work?"
"I dare not claim it as a labor of love; it's merely something I gathered from nothing..."
As Lin Yu spoke, a thought suddenly struck her.
"However, since we're talking about naming it, I've suddenly thought of one."
"What?"
"Let's call it... 'Questions and Answers from Baiyang Temple'."