The Causal Tribulation of the Three Calamities and Five Hardships, Expounded by Maitreya Bodhisattva

"Your purpose in coming here is clear to your teacher."

Maitreya, in the guise of an old beggar, waved his hand, scratched his head, and then asked,

"Do you know what a tribulation is?"

Huangmei shook his head when he heard this.

Maitreya gestured for Huangmei to sit. Huangmei immediately sat down cross-legged, paying no heed to the filthy ground or the various foul and filthy things scattered across it.

Maitreya then sat up. Though he had straightened, he still leaned against the stone platform behind him. He smiled. "A tribulation is neither cause nor effect. It is the movement of chaos, the number ordained by Heaven and Earth."

"In the chaotic heavens and earth, among the teeming masses, fate may be fixed, yet variables still exist. When those variables descend, tribulation follows of its own accord."

"To put it simply, when you try to change what Heaven has decreed, tribulation will come."

"All cultivators, whether of the Xuanmen or the Buddhist Sect, whether they follow Heaven or defy it, face tribulations. Thus, Heaven is emotionless and utterly impartial."

"This Heaven isn't the one above your and my heads."

As he spoke, Maitreya pointed upward, then chuckled. "All cultivation comes with tribulations. In the Middle and Lower Six Realms, tribulations are nothing more than heavenly tribulations and human tribulations."

"But in the Upper Three Realms, besides heavenly and human tribulations, there is also the tribulation of Karmic Cause and Effect."

"Tell me, then, what tribulations do Void Refinement and Integration have?"

Huangmei answered, "Void Refinement has the Three Disasters: Wind, Thunder, and Fire. Integration has the Five Tribulations: the Five Elements."

Maitreya nodded. "Correct. The Three Disasters of Void Refinement and the Five Tribulations of Integration have been discussed to death and pored over countless times."

"But do you truly