Playing with stones is beneficial to health. Playing with stones can cultivate a state of self-forgetfulness, far surpassing the mentality of "spending half a day in leisure" held by the literati. When playing with stones, if one holds a stone in hand but his mind wanders outside of it - thinking about "oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, firewood, rice, and tea" or "fame, wealth, beauty, money, official rank, blessings, and happiness" - even if it's a world-renowned stone, it would be hard to find any profound meaning in it! The essence of playing with stones lies in focusing one's heart on the stone, only then can one have profound insights.
Generally speaking, large stones, standing stones, or those placed in gardens or on tables, can only be appreciated but not handled. Too small stones, like Rain Flower stones, also cannot be played with; they can only be observed for their "pictures drawn at the bottom of white porcelain bowls, depicting the divine charm of all things." Therefore, the stones suitable for play should be of moderate size, about the size of a fist.
Most of my stone-playing happens when I am tired from reading or writing. At such moments, with no desires in my heart, it feels like "the moonlight immerses the river as white as silk, the clear sky shines brightly like autumn water." I casually pick up a White Wind Stone, play with it, and put it down again. Over time, I've developed a set of techniques, summarized in seven words: support, flick, hold, touch, lift, rotate, and rest.
Support: Place the stone in your hand, turn it up and down, weigh it, and feel that the stone does not flutter like willow catkins, possessing a manly steadiness.
Flick: Press your right thumb tightly against your index finger, flick it, and hit the stone with your finger. A dull sound verifies that the stone is solid inside; a crisp sound indicates an airy and ethereal quality.
Hold: Clasp the stone in your hand and feel its unevenness, sighing at the vicissitudes of time. Conversely, a too-smooth life offers little benefit to one's moral cultivation.
Touch: Close your eyes first, then use your fingers to feel the stone. What is a peak? What is a valley? What is a gorge? What is a cave? What is a slope? What is a path? Every detail becomes clear, familiar like meeting an old friend again.
Lift: Feel the solemnity of divinity, akin to a scientist conducting an investigation, extremely rigorous and allowing no carelessness. Hold the stone aloft, and behold the solitary peak standing tall, resembling a lingzhi mushroom; lift it again, and see "a hundred holes and a thousand windows," full of vitality...
Rotate: Like a fast camera lens, pinch the stone with your left hand and rotate it with your right. The speed, filled with youthful vigor and free from the elderly's lethargy, stimulates the brain frequently, making reactions more agile. You may see towering peaks, secluded valleys, mist-covered strange mountains, steep cliffs, stability like Mount Tai, or great eagles spreading their wings... myriad phenomena enter my heart!
Rest: It’s like summarizing. Place the stone flat on the table, lean back slightly until your vision aligns parallel with the bottom of the odd stone. Look out and the realm emerges instantly: there is the majestic momentum of "a mountain flying alone by the great river," and the swiftness of "a snow lion running faster than a white horse"... To find the most exquisite feature of this stone, one must bring an artistic aesthetic perspective and give the beautiful stone a good name.
After going through these seven-word techniques, I discover that my palms have become warm, sweat slightly seeping out, fatigue dissipating, allowing me to continue tilling my "own garden."