Evan lay flat on the ground, pressing his ear to the crevice in the stone covering the cell. He closed his eyes and focused all of his attention on the world he was listening to. He felt a spark light up inside him, and it seemed as if a hush fell over everything. “So this must be the Luminous Light of the Unborn Buddha Mind,” thought Evan as he arose from his makeshift bed. The awakening had come at last! A light descended through the crevice as if it were a shaft of moonlight. The walls and scant furnishings seemed to disappear into the luminescent floor, like water which hides fish swimming beneath its surface. In the pure light he saw a being clothed in white robes, one with nature, slowly revolving in the inner space. Awakening as if from a deep sleep, the Unborn Mind adept beckoned the Primordial to show him the way. The physique of the Primordial was characterized by an aquiline structure, with his gaze exhibiting a tensile quality akin to that of a poised eagle. But his eyes also appeared distant, as if he was looking through a fog into another place and time. Evan inquired of him,
“I am desirous of experiencing the Way of the Unborn. What techniques ought I to employ?”
The Primordial uttered, “Should you seek to pursue the Way, there is naught to be seized.”
Evan retorted, “In the absence of any guidance, how shall I ever be able to execute what is necessary?”
The Primordial replied, “If you believe that you require some form of deserving guidance, you shall eventually realize that none exist; there is nothing to seize, no entity to cling to, and no accomplishments to assert as your own. The essence of the matter lies within your inner Yin-Dragon, which will serve as your intermediary and maintain this connection.”
Subsequently, the Primordial vision dissipated from his sight.
Believing that he had somehow reached the apex of the Unborn Odyssey, Evan proceeded to ascend the few steps beyond the door with haste. However, his stumble caused by the sudden obscuration of the moon by a cloud impeded his progress, and he then proceeded more carefully in the darkness. Upon reaching the grating, Evan exercised caution and tested it carefully, discovering it to be unlocked. Nevertheless, he refrained from opening it, apprehensive of the great height he had reached within the spiritual vision. Then the moon emerged from behind the clouds.
The most alarming of all shocks is that which is characterized by the abysmally unexpected and grotesquely unbelievable. The terror he experienced from what he then witnessed surpassed anything he had previously encountered. The bizarre shapes that his sight implied were beyond comparison. The sight itself was both simple and stupefying, as he beheld nothing less than the solid ground, adorned with marble slabs and columns, stretching around him on a level through the grating. The ancient stone church, whose ruined spire gleamed spectrally in the moonlight, overshadowed this scene.
Evan pondered, “What a pitiful and ruined spectacle. It is difficult to fathom that a once noble enterprise could meet such a dismal fate, now reduced to a crumpled heap under the veil of shaded moonbeams.” However, Evan experienced a sudden surge of ecstasy upon realizing the truth. He concluded that the Primordial was correct in asserting that any attempt to seek external spiritual assistance was destined to fail. Such endeavors merely consist of vacuous structures that make hollow promises and propagate misguided teachings. Undoubtedly, the most effective method is to engage in the non-practice of the inner Yin breath, thereby ensuring maximum contentment and solace in the Unborn.