The Transcendent and the Way of Heaven

The Way of Heaven is sentient, all things are equal, and the fittest survives; the Way of Heaven is heartless, taking all things as ruminants to strengthen itself. Legend has it that reincarnation was created by the Heavenly Dao to devour the souls of all things in order to advance to a higher level; and the reincarnation of all beings to maintain balance was only incidental to it. For the Heavenly Dao, the higher the quality of the soul, the more useful it is to it. Therefore, after reincarnation, the quality of the soul is reduced to the lowest level, as if a baby is born. Just as we sow seeds in the spring and harvest in the fall; for the Heavenly Dao, a person's birth is sowing seeds, and a person's death is harvesting. However, there is a yin and a yang, a positive and a negative. Since there is reincarnation, there are those who have transcended reincarnation, and they are the transcendentalists. Transcendents are those who retain their memories after reincarnation. The level of the soul is one level higher than the level of purification that can be achieved by reincarnation in this side of the Heavenly Dao. Reincarnation can only slowly wear down the memories, and it's hard to wear down the memories if they're higher