Our Original State of Being

If we reflect upon our lives, it is possible to discover that we were each formed by the multitude of emotions, ideas, and thoughts in our minds, and yet this all took place without us ever having been conscious of the basic essence of the mind itself. The mind’s “basic essence,” which is another way of saying hsing, refers to what the mind was before it became tethered to conditions or yoked to this or that object or phenomenon. To find the way back to this uncontrived, primeval state is—to use the terminology of Chan Buddhism—to find one’s “original face.” This is to lay eyes upon hsing, our original state of being.

Excerpted from:
Taoist Inner Alchemy: Master Huang Yuanji’s & Ge Guolong – Guide to the Way of Meditation