Marking One
Isolation


Monkey's raw, erratic energy and desire prevents him from seeing the whole of his existence.

He feels isolated and desperate for control. Disenchanted and confused, he begins to look for a way out of his isolation.

A new vantage point appears and he finds himself in the company of a sage.

Marking Two
Duality


Opposition, comparison and labeling form the drama of their meeting.

Monkey views Sage as impractical and idealistic. Sage views Monkey as egotistical and unprincipled.

It is not a profound or creative situation, but as they relax their judgments they are able to find some breathing room with each other.

Marking Three
Tolerance


The ground becomes more evident, representing the growing depth and solidity of their relationship.

They develop tolerance and a much more integrated
approach to daily life.

They are also developing trust
as well, accomodating each other without fear of jeapordizing their own sovereignties. As they co-operate with each other they return to the most central aspect of their true natures.

Marking Four
Integration


Monkey and sage have grown in confidence and now step into a rich and varied environment.

They realize that this stage of the journey is about inclusiveness and begin to glimpse the fact that even the goal itself is following the way of their own natures.

Marking Five
Discrimination


Monkey and Sage reach higher ground.

Along the way they notice that the path at their feet splits into many directions where subtle, powerful forces invite them to indulge in
distracting and dangerous possibilities.

They must discriminate among the paths and choose one that both suits their natures and that is free of any false views that might prevent them from fulfilling the path

Marking Seven
Oneness with Space


Monkey, Sage and the mountain become totally one.

Their separate natures now merge and they become a Cultivator, the open context of arising and dissolving potential.

A Cultivator now embarks on a vast new journey where he/she swims effortlessly among the currents of Nature.

Marking Eight 
Demonstration of Great Order


A Cultivator now has a direct, experiential vision of the skeletal structure of all natural processes.

A Cultivator sees Nature as the multi-faceted play of the naked presence of fundamental types of elemental energy and fully develops the insight that there is no separate self in Nature.

Marking Nine
Being and Acting as the Creative Center of the Universe


Definite forms return to dress the skeleton of Nature.

A Cultivator begins to experience the sense of being and acting as the creative center of Nature Itself.

Singling out and following the patterns appropriate to his/her nature, a Cultivator encounters the world directly and incites it to come forward as Chaos to meet him/her.

Marking Eleven
Living Concretely at the Heart of Nature


As an immortal, the hsien lives concretely at the heart of Nature and exposes the familiar world's more subtle principles without cause oragenda.

The hsien's universalized actions of continuity accept that he/she is really Nature's manifesting principle, pregnant with unconstrained potential.

Marking Twelve
Nondual Existence


Free, and not compelled to follow dualistic phases, the hsien acts with the pure quality of unrestrained movement.

He/she calls all forces into play, without noticing or intending them.

A hsien is not forced by any law to play in the world, yet nothing prevents him/ her from doing so, even taking a path that moves by itself to dualistic phenomena, as a play of continuity with the Source.