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Essential Knowledge of Dao Study

English translation of 道學須知. Translated via the distill pipeline.

1. Roots of the Tree, Source of the Waters: The Heart-Method of the Three Treasures

Congratulations to all of you -- today you have received the Heavenly Dao. This is entirely a mat...

2. The Meaning of Seeking Dao

What does it mean to seek Dao? To seek is to pursue — to pursue and understand what this Dao trul...

3. Why Must One Seek Dao?

Dao is the original nature of a person, the root-source of our nature and life-destiny. It reside...

4. What Benefits Does Seeking Dao Bring?

Dao means "the road." It is the straight road for returning to Heaven, to the Western Paradise of...

5. The Four Difficulties of Attaining Dao

(1) A Human Body Is Difficult to Obtain (1) A human body is difficult to obtain. Human beings are...

6. Do Cause and Effect, the Cycle of Rebirth, Heaven, and Hell Truly Exist?

The ways of the world are no longer as they were in antiquity. The human heart grows worse by the...

7. The Ten Great Vows

Running east and rushing west to spread Dao, speaking earnestly and tenderly, pouring out the dep...

8. The Effort of Cultivating Dao After Receiving It

In earlier times, cultivation required leaving home for the monastic life. But now, in the Final ...

9. Cultivating Dao Requires Cultivating Merit and Establishing Virtue

The ancients spoke of three immortalities: "establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establis...

10. Filial Piety and Modernity

Some people say that while filial piety may be promoted, in the modern age it should receive a ne...

11. Liao Fan's Four Teachings — A Guide to Establishing Virtue and Cultivating the Person

Recently I read a vernacular translation of Liao Fan's Four Teachings and was deeply moved. That ...

12. Where Does Human Life Go?

Where does human life go? One might answer that human life necessarily travels the road toward de...

13. After Reading "Where Does Human Life Go?"

The value of a book is not measured by the amount of money it costs, but rather by how much the k...

14. Recognizing Principle and Cultivating Truth — After Reading "The Psychical Research Special Collection"

The study of psychical research was founded in the mid-nineteenth century at the universities of ...