Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 491

1850.

Tract upon Nourishing the Spirit.

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subtile fluid pervades all, is spirit alone to be held as not pervading all? But the pervadings of this incorporeal and invisible spirit, can not be comprehended in the mind, unless that mind be kept perfectly still; and such matters are with difficulty perceived and believed, un- less a man's contemplations are deep, and his mind unprejudiced and intelligent. Spirit may be held to be the most mysterious of all things : without haste it is rapid, without moving, it arrives at its point: it can not be intercepted by intervening objects; it can penetrate both metals and minerals, and can not be described as far or near; it can mount up to the heights of heaven; it can dive into the depths of the earth. Men being impeded by matter and form, can not conceive how spirit can associate with spirit; amongst these latter, connections and separations are of a nature not to be fathomed by human thought; but when men do not foster their mental energies, their spirits will not even be able fully to blend with their own bodies, but will be sub- verted and overturned, which is what is called in common discourse losing one's senses. Sometimes also the spirit does not retain its seat, as in the case of one foolish, drunk, or dreaming; and how can one expect with this human spirit thus diminished, to hold intercourse with the spirits of heaven, and earth, and all things?

The spirit of Chau Kung could cause great storms of thunder and lightning in the skies: the spirit of Káu-tsung could hold intercourse with the Supreme, so as to obtain a minister from Fú- yen: the sincerity of these was all-penetrating, because their spirits were thus. We may carry out the same idea to Tsang-tsz,' who when his mother bit her finger, felt in his mind a sympathy, and when his father became sick, felt his heart affected; all which is to be ascribed to the penetrations of spirits, which are not in the slightest degree impeded by the distance to which bodies are removed from each other. Thus it is that the spirit of the sages can influence all men and things under heaven, and extend even to future generations; his heart being correct, and his energies abundant, his spirit can expand and influence a myriad ages, without being limited to a single time and place. Therefore when the work of nourishing the spirit is carried out to perfection, most assuredly all the spiritual in-

telligences in heaven and earth, whether in ancient or modern times, will be accumulated in the spirit of my person; and the spirit of my mind will be able to comprehend the success or failure of former or later affairs and things throughout the whole world; which state of mind is what is commonly called that of an immortal. How can there be anything more wonderful than this?

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