The Scripture of Sitting in Forgetfulness

Introduction to The Scripture of Sitting in Forgetfulness

The Way of Sitting in Forgetfulness on Mount Zhongnan has endured for a thousand years, its core teaching passed down through the ages: “Use the false to break through to the true, then forget the false and return to the true.” In the seventh year of the Zhenyuan era, the naive young Shen Qingxuan enters the mountain sect and begins a seven-stage path of cultivation: establishing the heart through reverence and faith, severing ties and breaking attachments, quieting the mind and restraining the nature, perceiving the true and seeing one’s essence, simplifying affairs and mastering complexity, attaining inner stillness and refining the heart, and achieving the Dao and becoming divine.

The first volume lays a firm foundation of reverence and faith as he travels across the nine provinces, protecting the people and breaking their attachments. The volumes that follow delve into understanding the mind and seeing one’s nature. Amid illusory realms, he seeks the source of the Dao; amid clashes between good and evil, he holds fast to his true heart. From breaking the salt tyrants of Xuzhou and resisting the Jin forces at Xiangyang to confronting passion, resentment, and rage, and facing life-and-death choices, Shen Qingxuan takes on the mission of protecting the people in plain robes and straw sandals. With his primordial astral energy, he dispels the world’s illusions. Guided by the belief “Honor the Dao and guard the heart; trust yourself and break through to the truth,” he resists the inner demons within himself and the evil delusions that plague the world.

This is not merely a tale of cultivating immortality and advancing through the ranks. It is a legend about using “deception” as a way to break attachments and “protecting the people” as the foundation of cultivation. From a disciple on Mount Zhongnan to the leader of the Daoist tradition, from an ordinary boy to one who attains the divine rank of “God of Deception,” Shen Qingxuan spends his life proving that the true Dao is not above the clouds, but in the mortal world; the true gods are not in the temples, but in the hearts of the people.

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