Level 5 - Ichingdao

The practices open their full potential when shared to generate benefits for the entire world. If the fruit of the practices is not brought into the world, the mind of separation and selfishness are reinforced. One may end up worse than one began. Generating benefits in the world is not an option left for when one has surplus time or becomes a saint in heaven.

There are two options when practicing: one is being exclusively self-centered, obsessed with personal issues and unconscious of the pain and suffering all around. The second option is expanding the radius of influence from oneself to the family, from the family to all humanity and from there to all beings of the Creation. One is a narrow practice and the other has no limits. The ancestors of the practices, with abundant experience of the path and great heart, recommend the second choice.

The benefits generated in the world are the fruit of the practices; they come from the experiences and the delight of making the path of life wide and powerful. The purpose of life is double: personal development and assisting others to be happy. The happiness formula is, without distinction wishing others the highest, most sublime and exquisite the same we are wishing for ourselves. The practices in Level 5 are capable of inspiring others with the model of who we are.

One advice given by the Tao ancestors is: “the greater the abilities developed with the practices, the greater the responsibilities assumed.”

Personal development is not determined by how long one has practiced; personal development is determined by one’s capacity to generate benefit in the world. Development is a function of big mind and big heart.

The second cauldron of the altruistic heart is the bridge between the narrow selfish mind of the first cauldron and the infinite mind of the third cauldron. At the second cauldron nobody is excluded or left behind. The second cauldron is active compassion in the world at the 100% level. There is no compassion as a concept or idea, compassion is active and dynamic.

As one practices with Level 2, one begins to form groups with others, to assist people in need, heal places in conflict or in ecological crisis. The assistance is mutual, as one helps others, others help us open the heart of the second cauldron.

The groups Healing with Light 2, divide their practice time in three parts: a daily practice of mental purification and raising consciousness; a weekly practice assisting someone in crisis, and a monthly practice healing a place in the earth.

The practice in Healing with Light 2, takes care of the universal responsibility we all have with all beings and with the earth. As the great Hippocrates, the “father of western medicine” said, “human health depends on the health of the earth.”

Guiding the consciousness of those who have died to the Light of the upper astral dimension, is the highest altruistic gesture we can make. Training in what to do and not to do in the crowning experience in life, is an indispensable part of the path opening the heart.

The two most important factors at the moment of dying are: the state of mind at the moment and the dimension from which one is operating. A group of trained practitioners can assist a dying person or the consciousness of those who passed on some time ago.

The group practices in Healing with Light 3 are carried out once a month during the full moon when the processes of separation of consciousness are easier. The groups also agree to do the practice when someone known dies from illness, accident, suicide, or exhaustion of the Jing Essence.

Living powerfully is based on transforming impotence into capacity to assist no matter the situation.

As the number of aged and handicapped people increases in many parts of the world, families are confronted with the monumental challenge of having to take care of a relative for extended length of time.

Caring for someone puts to the test absolutely everything one has practiced seated in a chair. The more fragile the recipient is, the greater the lack of control the caregiver has over his own private life. Caring for someone requires a very strict personal practice program, otherwise the degree of emotional stress and lack of control over one’s personal time will lead to serious crisis.

There are numerous details to take into account when assisting someone, and even more if the person has a psychiatric condition, autism, or Alzheimer’s. If the caregiver lives alone and has no help from relatives, the challenge is even more complex. Having a group of practitioners assisting is one of the ways in which the challenge can be met with greater control and stability.

As the median age in our society increases, the care of the elderly or people in need increases. It is essential to know how to meet the challenge and effectively be of service.

The sign the right timing for sharing the practices appears, when people start asking for assistance with issues one has experience resolving. How to inspire others to practice, is one of the most common questions at some point in one’s journey.

Those seeking the practices and someone trying to inspire others to enter the path of self-development are two totally different situations. The person seeking the teachings has already activated the karmas to find them. The person being inspired to practice has perhaps not reached the right time or is not yet at a point of desperation. The intensity of personal enthusiasm plays a critical role in lighting the fire of motivation in others. Personal experience is what is being transmitted when one tries to inspire others with the teachings. Whether there is an immediate response or not, future seeds are planted when someone shares their enthusiasm with others.

A practitioner ready to share begins by leading others to do some of the practices of Level 1 such as the Inner Softening Smile or the warmup sequence. In such a setting one begins to develop one’s own style of communication and presentation of the teachings. What is being transmitted is not so much the exercises but the model of how to live a better life. One is ready to teach when one knows how to live a better life.

When a person joins the transformation lineage of Tao practices, they assume a number of responsibilities:

First is the responsibility of opening the full potential of the techniques it leans.
Second, the responsibility of adjusting what one practices to the present needs without distorting or fragmenting the integrity of the teachings.
Third, the responsibility of realizing the ultimate purpose of the teachings.
Fourth, the responsibility of enriching the lineage of the teachings.
Fifth, the responsibility of transmitting to at least two qualified people the essence how the practices were done.
Sixth, the responsibility of carrying in an aura of gratitude and affection the entire lineage of practitioners who developed, perfected, and transmitted the teachings.

The path charted by the Tree of Practices, assists us in living a powerful, meaningful life where all beings are held in an aura of gratitude and boundless affection.