2025.09.22 - Only material abundance can support spiritual rituals

Title: 2025.09.22 – Only Material Abundance Can Sustain Spiritual Rituals

Huang Zhonggong | “Spicy Pepper Soup” Is the Boat Across the River

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/y29fEf2dEyXGOxmhRuoGeg

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/6sxNj4xrHiPq-lkat5tG1g

Whenever it rains, I’m reminded of the kind person who donated a dehumidifier to the reading room. After we stopped using the incense beads, the machine sat idle, yet that meticulous care has warmed my heart more and more each day. Kindness in the world is generally like this—unobtrusive, quietly sustaining a pocket of serenity. It is itself a kind of practice: no need for words, yet it genuinely repels the dampness of life. Haha, the bell rang—let’s go eat!

Lin Jie | You Can Tell If Someone Is Good at Studying Chinese Medicine at a Glance

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/eS9BfEHXI-vjnuXCwihAOQ

The most important thing in learning Chinese medicine is to become a certain state of being, to acquire a certain ability, not merely to master a body of knowledge. Even if you memorize ten thousand books, you still won’t become a Chinese medicine practitioner. You must learn how to live freely and joyfully, to know when to do what, and in what environment to do it, keeping a clear sense of your own positioning. In fact, all traditional Chinese culture aims to give people a calm mind in the face of major events. In standing‑posture practice, in meditation, you will discover many things.

A Video That Struck Me: The Same Principle Applies to Practicing Vajra Gong

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LnwJMVsqfwYnU3Eqi_t8MA

“Comfort is more important than standards; regaining yourself is what makes you healthy. When practicing, just grasp the key points taught by Daoist Master Dao Ye and Master Xu—don’t chase after the ‘extra’ details you find online. Those extra details are not only superfluous, they can even cause discomfort.”

Intention Meets Qi – The Primary Principle for Nurturing Body and Mind

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RWC2_z7a4MsUxHDfb5LXkg

If you move qi to eliminate all diseases, simply focus your mind where the ailment is: think of the head when the head hurts, think of the foot when the foot hurts, and let the harmonious qi attack. When the qi reaches the spot, the problem resolves itself. “Moving qi” means breathing. “Making a thought” means setting an intention—essentially directing attention. “Harmonious qi” (和气) uses “he” meaning “combine,” i.e., aligning intention with qi. “Qi arrives” is an acupuncture term similar to “qi acquisition,” indicating that the practitioner has guided the meridian qi to the diseased area. The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon, Ling Shu) says, “The point of needling is that when qi arrives, it is effective.” So the sentence means: if you want to use qi‑movement to cure illnesses, focus your attention on the afflicted area. Feel discomfort in the head? Direct your mind there. In the foot? Direct it there. By concentrating attention on the painful spot, you mobilize qi to attack the lesion; when qi flows through the diseased site, the illness clears.

“Xiao Ya – Xin Nan Shan” Commentary: Only Material Abundance Can Support Spiritual Rituals

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/fg_hN8_SPpPhHRM0LHiuZg

Today, our food comes from supermarket shelves, our goods arrive in delivery boxes. We have omitted the direct processes of creation and cultivation, thereby diluting the emotional and spiritual weight that material itself carries. We exchange money for the “props” a ritual needs, yet we may not obtain the “state of mind” the ritual requires. Therefore, true “spiritual sense of ritual” may not lie in spending on pricier material goods, but in whether we are willing to invest labor and time to personally participate in and create the material foundation that supports the ritual. Cooking a meal by hand for someone important can be far more ritualistic than ordering an expensive banquet of takeout. In doing so, we echo the logic of Xin Nan Shan: I create material through my labor, then infuse that material with my intention, elevating it into a feast for the spirit.

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Originally written by Ping Xia (平侠) and published in Chinese on 拾一集 (Weekly Reflections). Translated and adapted for DriftSeas with permission.