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Cosmic Fusion
renewal, so that the universe is reborn in a continual process. We
ourselves give thanks to the alternation of the inhale and the exhale,
so our body is in a continuous process of dying and being
reborn, through which we renew ourselves. The new can only rise
if the old dissolves. So it is in Nature with the change of seasons.
And so it is with all that is alive in the universe. This is the core
wisdom of the I Ching.
Fig. 9.3 The core is the center of the universe, earth and the body.
In the Taoist practice this has a particular application in the counsel
to empty the mind and let it come down in the body so that a
major source of energy is preserved and can renew itself. At the
same time the belly can be filled with Chi, so that the energy streams
in the whole body are enhanced and the heart is freed from too
much pressure, as the belly helps do its work. Only when we learn
to renew ourselves by undoing what has become unnecessary
and what obstructs the process of transformation do we renew
ourselves and our body. By undoing ourselves from what is no
longer needed the new can grow. An ancient Taoist proverb suggests
that simplicity comes about by seeing every day what has
become dispensable. Then one can walk and move more lightly,
both in the mind and with the body.
Jesus often reminded people in His parables of the law of unity
and alternation in nature, and in themselves of old and new. In the
Tao Te Ching this truth is expressed in the use of rich metaphors,
for example, the house which acquires its function by being empty
and the wheel which receives its function by virtue of its emptiness.
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