I often tell people they can approach cultivation through Confucianism, which depends on the practice of vipassana, or watching the mind. This is similar to the Socratic idea of know thyself through awareness, too. Telling people to cultivate awareness is often better than telling them to cultivate meditation because in meditation they always get caught in body feelings an thoughts and never catch the real meaning of the Tao as taught by Vedanta or Buddhism.

Our awareness is always caught by the feelings of the body, and emotions. That means it’s caught by what isn’t really you, it’s caught by an illusion because an illusion is something that always changes that we think is solid and real, like a mirage.

Neither the sensations nor emotions are things you can hold on to. The body isn’t you either, and is always changing. When science investigates it, it finds smaller and smaller details such as DNA replication, cells dividing, etc. showing that it’s always changing and never staying still. This cause leads to that result — it’s all held together through massive interdependence. It’s an illusion to think it’s a fixed form, and an illusion to think it’s the real you. It’s just a function that comes along.

In one sense we can say you are spirit, or shen, or awareness, which is a function of the original nature. The original nature, which we call “void” or “empty” to denote it is not something phenomenal, is why in Taoist cultivation we say shen transforms or returns to emptiness, which is its substrate or essence or source. Christians call it God instead. Awareness is just a function of this essence, so we are ultimately this essence and cultivation is to find this essence, not be captured by what awareness notices.

Yet when awareness is captured, we think we are something we are not. If you know all is illusion and don’t hold on to it, then you can relax and not be so tight. You enjoy good feelings because you think they’re true but they are all illusions that don’t stay. The same for bad feelings — they’re illusions. Whatever comes to you in the world because of past karma, you just react to it and respond as you should, and a new illusion will arise that isn’t the original nature, just something captured/seen by awareness.

How do you change your fortune? Your karma comes because of past thoughts and behavior that result in what’s produced. If you watch your thoughts to keep your bad habits from coming out, you can change your fortune. It’s as simple as that. That’s vipassana. If you let go of attachments, in time your chi will change and awareness will return to the source, and recognizing the source you can become liberated.

This is the Confucian method of cultivation. You cultivate “awareness” to change your behavior for the better, which perfects you as a human being. It changes your fortune for the future. By letting awareness function without clinging, you also cultivate the Tao.

What could be simpler?

Related posts:

1. The Alaya Consciousness
2. How does one become enlightened?
3. What’s It Like, What Does It Mean to “See the Tao”?
4. Even Eastern Orthodox Christianity Espouses Emptiness
5. The 4 Turtles – excerpted from “Christian Cultivation”