The four different Great Chinese Phrases are, "1]The Human Nature is precarious and unstable 2]The True Nature is Obscure 3]Be refined and be One and 4]Be amenable and uphold the center." This is the explanation from Heaven:

1]The Human Nature is precarious and unstable: Mankind is one of the 'Three Powers' in the cosmos. Humans possess 'Li-xing' (True Character), thus mankind is the dominion on Earth. The heart is the center of the cosmos. It governs everything. The Human Nature is senses and emotions. It has been contaminated by fancies. It is what being called the nature of the 'Qi-xing' (Spiritual Character) and 'Zhi-xing' (Material Character) in 'Hou-tien' (Space where all lives live after Heaven and Earth were created). It can be good or evil.

If the heart is dominated by 'Shi-shen' (Spirit of Intellect), emotions and desires are generated constantly. It is half 'yang' and half 'yin', so it can be good or evil. It is not centered. If it biases toward 'yang', one cannot concentrate. If it biases toward 'yin', one becomes vague. Unable to concentrate or being vague are dangerous. Therefore, the Human Nature is precarious.

2]The True Nature is obscure: Tao is the origin of Heaven and Earth. It encompasses everything and is also the origin of all lives. The True Nature is wisdom, the true conscience, and the manifestation of the quiescent, pure, mysterious, and bright True Self. It is what's being called the original Truth in 'Xian-tien' (the Void or Heavenly World). It does not make any distinction between the good and the bad, for its wisdom is full and bright. The True Self is void and quiescent. It is not born nor does it vanish. It cannot be enhanced nor can it be reduced. It is tenuous, mysterious, and cannot be projected. Therefore, it is said the True Nature is obscure.

3]Be refined and be One: Be refined means to be enlightened. Be One means to be sincere. By being refined one can overcome vagueness, By being sincere one can concentrate. Being refined one can be enlightened. Being sincere one can reach Oneness. Once a person reaches this state, he is bright and quiet, his tranquillity and wisdom flow together and feed each other. This way, his emotions return into his True Self, his knowledge turns into wisdom, his precarious Human Nature becomes settled from danger, and his obscure True Nature becomes bright and clear. It is the same as that the enlightened is always sincere, and the sincere is always enlightened. In short, being refined and being One is the technique of eliminating fancies and returning to the Truth, and enlightening to the original bright True Self.

4]Be amenable and uphold the center: To be amenable means to obey with faith. To uphold means to return and follow the Truth. The center is the Void and the abstruse existence out of the Void. The Void is so enormous that nothing is outside, and so minute that nothing is inside. The existence is abstruse because the existence has no beginning or end. Center encompasses all Three Domains (Heaven of Desires, Heaven of Images and Heaven of Non-Images) and crosses all Ten Directions (North, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, above, and below). It is the noble path of all Three Domains and the Truth of the Universe. In short, be amenable and uphold the center means to obey the noble path of the center with faith and to return and follow the Truth.

These words are the essence passed on from Emperor Yao to Emperor Shun, King Wen, King Wu, Duke Zhou, and Confucius, the essence that one Saint passed on from one to another with the meeting of their hearts. It is what the five great religions have in common following. It is the Truth that will never change. In conclusion, what has been passed on by the mean of meeting of hearts cannot be analyzed or discussed. It is the true essence of Tao that has been carried among the Patriarchs which originally has no word.

"The Vajra Sutra" states, "Subhuti said to the Buddha, World Honored One, if a good man or a good woman resolves his heart on Anuttarasamyaksambodhi, how should he dwell? How should he subdue his heart when fancying thoughts come up? The Buddha said; should 'thus' dwell, should 'thus' subdue his heart. Anuttarasamyaksambodhi is the True Nature. Fancying thoughts are the Human Nature. 'Thus' is to be amenable and uphold the center."

My Heavenly Master JiGong said, "The National Father Dr. Sun Yat-Sun encouraged people to do the first great thing of the underheaven (world); to do great things and not to be a great officer! What is called 'doing great things?' What is great? Only Heaven is regarded as great and only Emperor Yao learnt from it."

The meaning of 'doing great thing' in Tao of Heaven is "The business concerning the heavy mission of saving human beings back to Heaven." He said that we must do it thoroughly, attentively, earnestly and honestly.

The Essence of Tao described above allows one to realize the True Self and recognize it so that one will know how to restore it to its original nature. In the temple of Tao of Heaven, the mission is to let one realizes his True Nature and the initiation of Tao is to awaken it so that he can realize the true meaning of life and the purpose.

Author: T.A Chew