23 ChaoLiDongTian 朝禮洞天 – Sacrifice Everything to the Heavenly Cave

XX: The Aeon

back to the cave

Master Wu writes:

The connection here is that human beings originated in a cave – a womb. In the Chinese shamanic tradition, a cave is a sacred place in the body where one’s primordial spirit (YuanShen 元神) dwells. The cave is also related to the tiger – remember I told you that the Queen Mother of the West lives in a cave, KunLunXu 崐崘虛, which is covered with tiger skin? DongTian literally means heavenly cave, and it is the symbol of a special sacred place. Heavenly cave represents the mystery of the Dao. This movement embodies the concept that the human being is not separate from the universe.

Nuit here as (literally) heavenly cave, Hadit, the primordial spirit. The child god Hoor-Pa-Kraat here makes the Sign of Silence, which feels somehow cognate to the Taiji mudra, hands nested in front of the heart.

The sweeping arms call to mind Hadit's wings, Heaven's arch. The Sun, a secret point in the heart where one can never look.

The idea of immortality or everlasting life has nothing to do with yearning to live forever. On a superficial level, of course no living being can escape death. Death is simply a part of the universal Five Elements natural cycle. However, death is always accompanied by the process of rebirth. In this way, there is no death. In the Immortal’s tradition, we have an expression – XinSi ShenHuo 心死神活, which translates into English as “allow your heart to die so that your spirit will live.” By embracing death and bringing it gracefully into our hearts during practicing this posture, we will understand the knowledge of immortality.

-- Master Wu

The Aeon is about immortality, transcendence of our incarnated identities, union, annihilation. Death. Rebirth.