Today is Easter Sunday in the west. For those of you who don’t know what this means, Easter Sunday is perhaps the biggest holiday in the western calendar (after Christmas). It is perhaps considered more important than Christmas by the Christian churches (although not by secular retail standards….)
Easter Sunday is significant because it is the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ, the founder of the Christian Church. According to Christian tradition, Christ died for the sins of humanity and was then resurrected three days later. He stayed on the earth another 40 days and then ascended to Heaven in plain daylight.
Stories of death and resurrection are part and parcel of the lore of the ancient world. Three days between death and resurrection is common in the myth of the ancient cultures. Regardless of the religion you follow or your belief system, these stories all indicate one important point….
The gate of Heaven is death.
In Taoist and Buddhist thought, this is death of the self. Death of the body is inevitable, but the body is the not end-all-be-all of human existence. As in all great traditions, the Spirit is considered immortal. But to realize the immortal nature of the Spirit, the ego-self or intellectual mind must first die.
This death is a metaphorical death, but it is very real to the mind. The mind represents the intelligent spirit, called Shi Shen in Taoist thought. The death of the intelligent spirit opens the gate for the true Spirit to manifest. This is the beginning of the path of the immortals, the Tao.
Internal Alchemy (Nei Dan) is the practical method of studying the highest level of Tao, immortality. It requires internal and external practice. There are both physical techniques and spiritual disciplines. Faith alone is not enough to follow the path of Tao.
You actually have to practice Tao if you want to achieve Tao.
