Dear Melissa and Yuan Tze,
I’ve been reflecting on the last segment of the retreat on LOVE. It was inspirational and confirmed and cleared up some confusion, both at the same time.
Can you help me with clarification?
I think of unconditional love as the “Fullness of Fullness”. It has no subject and no object. It just is. It starts in the heart, but envelopes the whole body, and is the background of my experience in my day-to-day life. It really is quite lovely, and I am eternally grateful. It comes unbidden and resides unquestioned. When touched, it springs into deeper connection and can equally encompass the environment around me.
So, if this is, in fact, an example of unconditional love, I am wondering about a particular conditional love. I understand your definition of conditional love that you used on a retreat, as a mother’s love, relationship, family, etc. What I am wondering about is my love for God. Where does that fit in?
If it is devotional love for God in form, I would guess that it would be conditional…..but the God I speak of is, “All in All” so there is nothing outside of God. The God I speak of encompasses the Unconditional Love that buoys me through my day. So, is this both unconditional and conditional?
The God I know is inside and outside; everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. I know this as a direct experience.
But my devotion to God is the meeting place where Infinity becomes a point. It is the place where my humanism can touch God. This is where I lay myself in supplication to the Divinity within. I am humbled and in deep gratitude.
But, as I write this, I can see that during those times, I am “other than” rather than “as one with” God. Which would make it conditional. There is a subject (me) and object (God) and devotion is the linkage.
So, I am wondering if this is the one place where Unconditional Love and conditional love meet. It seems to be the knifes edge. On one side, the Absolute, on the other the relative.
As you can see, I am very unclear about this, and haven’t found my way yet to resolution….thus this letter.
With utmost respect and (conditional) love,
Fleming Conley
Return Email From Yuan Tze (written by Melissa, his wife, who speaks fluent English)
Dearest,
It is so lovely to hear from you as always. Here is Yuan Tze’s attempt to clarify your questions.
First of all, your experience of love is very much likely one of the manifestations or experiences of unconditional love. We are very happy for you that you are able to experience love this way.
Secondly, about God. We can only speak from the perspective of Ren Xue, and we respect any other ways of viewing or relating to ‘God’. In Ren Xue, there is no external God.
Everything is the creation and manifestation of Dao, the wisdom of the universe, the laws of the universe. The universe is a totality and every one of its creations is also a totality and they are all connected. We don’t use the word ‘God’ to describe this totality. Because each one of us is a manifestation of the wisdom of the universe and is directly connected with it, there is no need for a place for us to meet the totality. We just need to unify ourselves, our heart and Shen, with the universe, we are with it. No medium or intermediary is necessary. Ren Xue is to help us do this better and better.
Yuan Tze understands that many people, especially western people, use the concept of ‘God’ to access the essence of their lives and connect with the ‘higher’ existence. This is mainly to do with how God has been in their reference system of the consciousness from a young age in a culture ‘God’ is a strong component.
To reach our True Self, the reference system of the consciousness needs to be ’tidied up’ because this is the pool of information from which the consciousness draw information to form patterns, concepts etc. This is also why learning about the law of the universe and life is so important in Ren Xue. The teachings of RX is to help us build a reference system that reflects these laws.
Hopefully this helps clarify. With much love,
Melissa Kung, Ren Xue International
REN XUE is a path to living life in a calm, natural and relaxed state.
REN XUE was developed by renowned teacher and healer, Yuan Tze.
New Letter posted: Feeling the Qifield
November 7th, Ren Xue Retreat, Fall 2021
Dear Master Yuan Tze,
Another question, but I am sure by listening during this event and reading more deeply your book, it will be answered, no need to put it in the pile of questions to answer. I am sure I will hear the answer or read it in the book. These emails are really for me to ponder and put out to the Universe. The answers always come back…sometimes in different forms.
Ok, here is the question:
During the meditation, when you ask us to put our attention on the heart, As I settle in, there is no “me”. It is just space. Lovely, unlimited galactic space is where my body is supposed to be. I can feel my head, and know it is “me”, but there is no longer a body. It is amazing and humbling at the same time. The conundrum comes when I am asked to put my attention on my heart – as I can’t seem to locate it.
The first day you spoke that the connection of mind (or consciousness) and heart as one. Thus, in the mediation, I find myself just being aware of the depth of emptiness and looking for the “feeling level” of the heart in the spaciousness that seems to be me. Can you clarify this? Where do I find heart in this?
Lastly, another quick reflection: Recently, I have come to notice in my meditations that the Silence around me has a viscosity. Like a weighted blanket. A lovely, warm, deep and dynamic Silence. Previously, Silence has been, well, silent. I was aware of it as distinct, full of potential, but still. I now notice the viscosity and movement. Silence seems to be moving in waves. Slow, steady waves coming from nowhere and going nowhere. It’s absolutely blissful, and I am deeply moved by this Grace. I look forward to some clarity of this.
Thank you again.
In deep and humble gratitude….
PS. I hope you won’t mind if I keep sending questions. By writing them down, it helps me. And by sending them, I know they will return to me at the right time and I will be nourished by the responses.
Response from Yuan Tze via Melissa
Response from Yuan Tze (taken from full letter)
About where to find your heart when you are in a unified state (heart and consciousness being one): when you are in this state and you seem to have become the awareness itself and the body seems to become empty, there is no need to locate where the heart is. At this time you just continue to stay in this unified state and the heart qualities will manifest naturally.
The silence, viscosity and movement. The “silence” you felt was Qi. When we are in a good state and Shen’s ability starts to manifest, we can feel Qi better, including its movement. It can feel like what you described as a weighted blanket. Yuan Tze likes to use water as analogy. He often asks us to feel the Qifield with hands by slowly moving the hands horizontally. It feels like doing that in water, in a swimming pool. You feel the movement of the water and there is some resistance as you move the hands. When Qi is strong, it can feel like that.
Letters to the Universe 