Assembly, you already know the harm of obstructions. You must also know that the harm of the ties of attachment is even fiercer.
How can we see that the ties of attachment are fiercer? An obstructed mind arises only when it meets circumstances; when the circumstances pass, it is empty, and its harm comes and goes briefly. But these two words, “attachment” and “ties,” are the roots of karmic sin planted from before beginningless kalpas down to this present life. That is why the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas only urge living beings not to cling to forms, not to be bound, and not to crave. Confucius, Shakyamuni, and Laozi all wanted the world not to be entangled by the ties of attachment. The ties of attachment are the ancestor of all demons and the root of all harm. Sinking in delusion through kalpa after kalpa is all due to the ties of attachment; falling through many lifetimes is always caused by the ties of attachment; failing to attain the way of liberation is all due to the ties of attachment; failing to understand the principle of true emptiness is all due to the ties of attachment; falling into the pit of fire is all due to the ties of attachment; falling into hell is all due to the ties of attachment; birth, old age, sickness, and death are all due to the ties of attachment; the law of the realm and official punishment are all due to the ties of attachment; the disaster of flood and the peril of fire are all due to the ties of attachment; the slaughter of war is all due to the ties of attachment; the extinction of one’s lineage and the loss of heirs are all due to the ties of attachment; the suffering of one’s nine generations of ancestors is all due to the ties of attachment; an unclear mind and nature are all due to the ties of attachment; an unhealthy body is all due to the ties of attachment; the difficulty of accomplishing the Tao and its methods is all due to the ties of attachment; the rampaging of the six thieves is all due to the ties of attachment; the impurity of the six senses is all due to the ties of attachment; within heaven and earth, among the five relationships, all things and all living beings exist because of the ties of attachment. If one wishes to leave the world and transcend birth and death, yet does not sever the ties of attachment, there has never been anyone who could be liberated that way.
As for the ties of attachment in the world—between father and son, husband and wife, brothers, and friends—I will speak of them slowly later. Let me speak only of you, the assembly who have already left home: deluded by the ties of attachment, you are wholly unaware of it. How so? Whatever the thoughts of a person of the Tao especially delight in is called a tie of attachment. All things large and small, subtle and fine; all people, relatives near and far; all affairs, inner and outer, heterodox and orthodox, right and wrong; all the methods of sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas; all the principles of scriptures and written texts; all the wonders of heaven and earth, yin and yang, and creation; all strange, mysterious, and magical arts; all the teachings of Qingwei, Lingbao, and Quanzhen; even famous mountains and grotto abodes, heavenly palaces and sacred realms; even the seven treasures and eight delicacies, great wealth and many treasures; even one’s own head, eyes, brain, and marrow; even one’s own heart, liver, lungs, and organs; even the mountains, rivers, and great earth, plants and trees, birds, beasts, and insects—whatever the thoughts crave, wherever the intention dwells, whatever the mind thinks of, wherever the spirit goes, whatever the feelings are attached to, whatever the nature delights in, whatever the mouth desires, whatever the body enjoys, wherever dreams wander—all are ties of attachment. If even a breath of them remains, you will be dragged along and entangled, unable to attain the Tao of clarity and stillness and of liberation, and in the end you will be one who sinks in delusion, sorrow, and suffering.
Assembly, in delusion the ties of attachment arise; in awakening the ties of attachment cease.
Assembly, you must be awake at every moment and take it on right now. If there is even a hair’s worth of anything in your mind that you love, you must renounce and sever it at once, and not allow yourself to love it again. If you like to sleep, you should sit; if you like to sit, you should walk. When what you like is renounced, the mind and spirit naturally become lively; when what you love is cut away, the spiritual nature naturally becomes empty, without a single thread attached, and the ten thousand ties do not arise. For one who awakens, light arises in the mind; one is not turned by circumstances, not moved by things, and not disturbed by affairs. After long practice, wonders arise without cause, and the mysterious aperture opens. But if you do not remove them today and do not sever them tomorrow, if you renounce them but do not cut them off, you will remain entangled as before. Robe, bowl, and meditation cushion all become nets; straw sandals and bamboo staff all become ropes; famous mountains and sacred realms all become prisons; fellow disciples and companions in the Tao all become enemies. Even oral instructions and true mantras turn into arsenic and poison, and the mind of the Tao and one’s original nature change into the blessed retribution of an asura. How can you not fear this? How can you not renounce and sever them!
Once there was a Taoist who, after sitting for a long time, had a vision of his spirit. He saw light radiating from the crown of his head, light of five colors like rosy clouds or brocade, and within that light the mountains, rivers, great earth, and all things could be seen. The Taoist was delighted, thinking he had obtained the great unobstructed light of the Lord on High. Day and night he sat upright, thinking of the former light, but it never came again. The Taoist did not realize that illusory states are not real; he applied his intention to visualize it, forgetting all other thoughts and thinking only of the light. After this visualization had gone on a long time, he became like a fool or an idiot, his body like earth and wood, and everyone thought he had entered the ultimate Tao. The Taoist lived on for six years, his spirit congealed and his form changing, without himself being aware of it. One day his breathing became coarse and rapid. His companions kept watch over him, fearing only that he might come out of his stillness, so that they could ask him about the Tao. Only one person engaged in spiritual practice knew that he had fallen under a demonic spell. At midnight, the man spread his hands as if about to fly. The others made offerings of candles, lamps, incense, and flowers and bowed to him. The man then breathed his last, and a moth flew out of his mouth, threw itself at the lamp, and died. The practitioner picked it up and told the others: “This is the body of the Taoist who visualized the light. Loving the light, he came to share the same ties as the moth, until his form transformed and he passed into another kind of being. All matters of the ties of attachment are like this.” Assembly, whatever the mind loves is a tie. Ties arise from love, and love is born in pursuit of ties; ties and love entangle each other and never come to an end. Father turns into son, grandfather turns into grandson, man turns into woman; faces change and forms are exchanged, names are shifted and surnames altered. Confused ordinary people take all this for reality—pitiable, lamentable! Assembly, you must know this.