Humans have spent countless years to reach the current stage of both material and spiritual development. However, though our material science has reached an advanced level, our understanding of the spiritual world is still very shallow. The last century was one of material science, and hopefully this century will be the spiritual century, for if we cannot advance and evolve our spirituality to the next level, by the end of this century, we may have to face catastrophic self-destruction and possibly be the cause our own extinction.

We need to face many questions for us to advance our spirituality to the next level. Can we rid ourselves of human emotional bondage, especially that which stems from the dogma we create about glory, dignity, pride, greediness, and power? Can we as a society move to a higher spiritual level and share our fortunes with others who are not as fortunate?

Chinese Buddhist and Daoist understanding and experience concludes that there are four stages of spiritual evolution. The first step is “self-recognition” (Zìshì, 自識). In this step, the mask on your face starts to drop off, which allows you to see your spiritual being more clearly. Mistakes you have committed and untruths you have hidden in your subconscious mind will gradually appear in your conscious mind. In Chinese Qìgōng society, it is believed that the subconscious mind is associated with your spiritual connection with nature and is more truthful than the conscious mind. Once your mask drops off, you must face your real self. You must face your past and analyze it. In addition, in order to gain permanent emotional balance, you must search for ways to free yourself from the feeling of guilt hidden deep inside you. This process will make you humble, enable you to understand yourself better, and finally help you find the center of your being.

The next step is “self-awareness” (Zìjué, 自覺). In this step, if you pay attention, you will be aware of your deep inner spirit and your problems. You will also start to recognize the existence of other spiritual beings. You will slowly and gradually start paying attention to your thinking and behavior as well as that of others. From this awareness, you will be able to realize your existence and understand the role you should play in this society. Through this “self-awareness” meditation process, you will establish a calm and peaceful mind that allows you to harmonize with others and nature.

From awareness, you gradually enter the third stage of cultivation. This stage is “self-awakening” (Zìxǐng/Zìwù, 自醒/自悟). In the self-awareness stage, you pay attention, collect information, and learn to understand yourself and your environment. In this third stage of self-awakening, you gradually begin to awaken and see things more clearly. After awakening, many people come to see how ugly human spiritual beings are and decide to keep away from lay society and become hermits or monks. Others change their thinking about the meaning of life after awakening. Many others are able to build up their confidence and make their lives more meaningful.

Once awakened, we will recognize how we have been abused and manipulated into wars and spiritual control by political and spiritual leaders. You start to search for ways to set yourself free from bondage. This stage of “freedom from bondage” (Jiětuō, 解 脫) means searching for freedom both physically and spiritually so you are able to reach “spiritual independence.” When you have reached this stage, your spiritual being can be independent and does not have to rely on someone else. Having reached this condition, you will not be easily abused.

Buddhist and Daoist monks looked for a way to escape from re-entering the cycle of reincarnation. They were searching for a way to build an independent spirit that could survive without the physical body. This was the final goal of their spiritual eternality and freedom from spiritual bondage.

If we look at human history, we can see that the entire human race is in the third stage of self-awakening. We have awakened and realized how ugly and materially ambitious humans have historically been. However, it will still take a long period of time to reach the final stage of freedom from bondage. Spiritual development is the key to evolve to the next stage.

To advance ourselves to the next stage of spiritual development, we must face the dark side of ourselves that is hidden deeply in our genetic memory, in our subconscious mind. Next, we must comprehend and pursue awakening to the present. Only then will we be able to create a future “free from bondage” and reach a stage of harmony and peace in the human world.

Past—Do not become trapped

Historically, in order to survive, we separated ourselves into various groups or races. Leaders were chosen and a pecking order was established. This grouping helped us survive natural challenges, but we also used our group isolation to justify conquering, killing, and enslaving the other. The values of domination, power, glory, dignity, and pride were developed and indoctrinated into each generation. A dominating and manipulated society or matrix was established. After thousands of years of this bloody dark history, we have established a deep genetic memory in our conscious mind. These dogmas still circulate in our blood.

If we continue to allow ourselves to become trapped by these dark impulses, the human spirit will not evolve to the next level. If we wish to evolve, we cannot ignore or downplay the positive aspects of genetic memory such as compassion, love, fairness, forgiveness, mercy, sharing, and mutual assistance. This positive side of us will bring the world into a harmonious and peaceful state that will allow our spirit to grow.

Present—Stage of Awareness

Once we understand the past, then we must analyze it and bring ourselves to a stage of awareness. Unfortunately, as we have seen, we are heavily influenced today by marketing and the allure of making money. Many movies and computer games focus on the dark side of our nature and ignore the development of the bright side.

We must also recognize that today’s spiritual science is still in its infancy even though in the last century we have developed material science to an unprecedented level. Unfor- tunately, due to the dark side of our nature, we have also developed weapons so powerful they could wipe out the entire human race more than a hundred times over. There are well over thirteen thousand nuclear bombs in the world today, prepared and ready to launch in an instant. The next war will be completely destructive.

If you look at the development of the spiritual sciences, we see that it remains at the same level it was two centuries ago. Human spiritual evolution (Yīn side) and material development (Yáng side) have become imbalanced. If scientists continue to focus on just material science, they will not be able to break through to the spiritual side. Spiritual sci- ence cannot be seen but must be felt.

We are still mired in the spiritual bondage and dogmas that were created long ago. Will we be able to open our minds and are we ready to accept the new developments in spiritual science? In order to develop the spiritual sciences, we must develop our subconscious feeling. To reach a profound feeling, we have to encourage the next generation to meditate and develop deep inner cultivation.

If we really wish to understand or untie the mystery of our lives, we must know the material world (Yáng) and also the spiritual world (Yīn). Only then can we really compre- hend the meaning of our lives.

We have to cease the development of more advanced and destructive weapons. We are entering a most crucial and important era. The future we create depends on how we cultivate our mind today.

Accept the Challenge

After we face the past and present, hopefully through awakening, we will be able to finally set ourselves free from material and spiritual bondage. The question is, are we ready to accept the challenge? Can we conquer ourselves and cleanse our past of the darkness that is still stuck in our genetic memory?

We should not be afraid. Dare to face the truth! Dare to accept the challenge! Dare to dream and create a new hope! We must find an effective way to cleanse the negativity that still dominates our thinking. Human mentality and education must be aimed toward future universal knowledge, understanding, and communication. I believe that once our spirit has evolved to a higher intelligent, peaceful, and harmonious level, we will be able to establish a wide scale of communication with advanced spiritual beings in the universe.

Here are some questions for you to ponder:

1. In order to bring our spirit to a higher level, must the entire human race reopen their Third Eye so evil thoughts and deeds cannot be hidden and initiated?
2. If the entire human race evolves spiritually and reopens the Third Eye, will we have telepathy? If we do, then no evil thought can be hidden.
3. Can we reopen the Third Eye through modern technology or must it be reopened through spiritual self-cultivation?
4. Once our brain has been developed to a more functional and powerful level, can we use our mind to move physical objects?
5. When the mind is strong, can we levitate our body (through anti-gravitational force)?
6. Will we be able to live seven hundred to eight hundred years, as it is said, like aliens?

This information is based on my study of ancient documents and modern scientific research and many years of experience in Qìgōng, but even I am blind and do not wish to limit your practice or bind you to my way of thinking. As I always say, this is for you to ponder. The practice is yours.

There are still many interesting questions that need to be asked and answered. We are in a challenging world and challenging times. The future is in our hands.

The above excerpt is from Qigong Grand Circulation for Spiritual Enlightenment by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, Publication Date March 2022, YMAA Publication Center, ISBN: 978-1-59439-845-2