Taking Refuge

Once you've made some progress in your cultivation, remember not to tell anyone about it, or you'll be labeled mentally ill.

Your perception will become so different that those around you won't be able to understand.

Not only will you not help them, but you'll also get entangled in their troubles and suffer.

Continue to refine yourself and cultivate your inner being.

Once you have complete control over your thoughts, you'll discover you're vastly different from your former self. At this point, you'll be your true self.

You'll no longer be driven by thoughts that dictate your emotions, nor will you fall into anxious rumination.

Encounter ghosts, kill ghosts; encounter demons, slay demons.

Whether ghosts or deities, they exist unseen but are real. "Ghosts and deities" is a descriptor.

It describes the unseen, intangible forces in this world, similar to magnetic fields, Wi-Fi, or signals.

Every thought a human has generates waves that spread outwards.

Therefore, you must constantly train yourself in uprightness of heart and mind.

People often liken positive energy to gods and negative energy to ghosts.

So-called possession by spirits actually means that when your own energy is weak, other energy waves enter your body. Your thoughts become chaotic, and you lose control of your actions.

Spirit invocation is similar; it's about drawing the energy of the deity in your heart into yourself, thereby gaining extraordinary abilities.

This spirit invocation technique is akin to self-hypnosis. The more you imagine yourself as the deity in your heart, the more you can block out your original self.

Understand the principle behind this, but don't go practicing it recklessly.

If you truly wish to practice, then pay homage to a Bodhisattva, imprint their image in your heart, emulate their compassion, care for all beings, and you will gain great power.

Cultivation sounds simple, but it's not easy in practice, so you must persist with deliberate practice for a long time.

When you can control your thoughts, you can control your emotions.

When you encounter something frightening, you can directly change your thought. Replace it with "I am a god, I am here to do this, what do I have to fear?"

You will instantly overcome your fear.

Ghosts and demons will become your prey; they'll flee at the sight of you, fearing you'll devour and refine them for your practice.

Some people liken excessive distracting thoughts to karmic creditors, and it's quite similar. In essence, it's about the "ghosts" in your heart causing trouble.

These thoughts you can't control, which disturb you, make you agitated, depressed, and miserable, are your karmic creditors.

Simply destroy them! Without the audacity to declare "I am the greatest under heaven," what kind of immortal cultivation are you pursuing?

All demons and monsters are mere fodder before me, not worth a second thought.

With this kind of courage, you can cultivate the will of a Vajra.

When nothing can affect your inner peace, and your mind reaches a state of unwavering stillness, that is the Immovable Vajra Realm.

When you instinctively develop a selfless desire to benefit others, you will enter the next realm, the Bodhisattva Realm.

The Bodhisattva Realm is divided into Great Bodhisattvas and Lesser Bodhisattvas. Lesser Bodhisattvas help the beings around them without seeking reward, as those around them are part of all beings.

Great Bodhisattvas begin to work for the benefit of all beings under heaven, using their power to influence the hearts and minds of people everywhere.

When you break through these perceptions and instinctively do things that benefit all beings, without complaint or expectation of reward, and can maintain this state, that is what it looks like to become a Buddha.

Observe children more closely: their innocence, their joy, their lack of grudges or resentment, how they forget any troubles after a short while.

Train yourself to understand everything yet act like a child; you'll have achieved great mastery.

Brother Jesus said we should see everyone as family, as brothers, sisters, younger brothers, and younger sisters. This is also a method, a way to cultivate through the power of love.

When you can view everyone this way, you will give selflessly.

Saving all sentient beings, God loves the world, Dao benefits all things, serving the people wholeheartedly, and creating a community of shared future for mankind – these are all expressions of the same idea: boundless love and absolute selflessness.

While cultivating, you must also cherish your country, accept its shortcomings, and strive to make it better.

Cherish the kind people of other nations, ignore those who are not kind, and do not get entangled with them.

If they dare to invade Huaxia, with the clash of arms, let us don our armor and march forth. Though they may be far away, we will pursue them. This is Buddha's wrath descending upon demons.

Cultivation requires compassion, but also the wrathful gaze of a Vajra.

Friends who have read Journey to the West should understand that Spirit Mountain also has the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

When Monkey Brother wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace back then, Tathagata also came out and fought with him.

Therefore, when necessary, certain methods are still required.

Cultivation means holding scriptures to understand the Dao in one hand, and wielding a sword to slay demons in the other.

The "scriptures" refer to the insights and experiences gained along your journey, while the "sword" for slaying demons is your cultivated, powerful will.

Master Ji Gong once said, "To be a monk at home, or a monk away from home," referring to the heart becoming a monk, not the physical location.

What does it mean for the heart to become a monk? There are many different interpretations.

My personal understanding is that the human heart, the consciousness, shifts from one state to another.

That is, it changes from the original habitual mode of thinking to a mode of awareness.

From the perspective of innate human nature, transforming into one with self-awareness is the integration and use of acquired and innate aspects.

This is like two circles, where the innate and acquired each represent a circle. The overlap of these two circles is where the human heart should be, the place where the heart becomes a monk.

Practitioners often liken this place to taking refuge. In Buddhism, it's called taking refuge in the Buddha, taking refuge in the Dharma, and taking refuge in the Sangha.

In Daoism, it's called taking refuge in the Dao, taking refuge in the scriptures, and taking refuge in the master.

This is what it refers to.

First, taking refuge in the Buddha; second, taking refuge in the Dharma; third, taking refuge in the Sangha. It can also be said as: first, taking refuge in awareness, to be aware and not deluded; second, taking refuge in the right, to be right and not crooked; third, taking refuge in purity, to be pure and not stained.

All of this speaks of an awareness that neither increases nor decreases, is neither soiled nor pure, and neither arises nor ceases.

It also has another name: "Sarira."

Taking refuge in the Dao, taking refuge in the scriptures, and taking refuge in the master—among these, the Dao is the operational law of all things in existence. The scriptures are the journey of insights experienced by the heart. The master is the innate, self-aware self, which can also be called the Primordial Spirit.

To put it simply, taking refuge in the Three Jewels is that place in between the two circles I mentioned. Placing your heart in that place is called taking refuge in the Three Jewels.

OO, do you see these two circles?

The first circle represents the acquired human heart, which is our thinking and consciousness.

The second circle represents the innate heavenly heart, which is the subconscious.

You can also call them divine consciousness and Primordial Spirit.

Interlocking these two circles is like the Daoist Yin-Yang Qiankun Circle. The place in between these two circles is the destination of cultivation, the belonging of the heart.

Once the heart is cultivated to that place, it is taking refuge.

By achieving this, one truly enters the threshold of immortal cultivation, which can also be called the entry ticket to the great Dao of longevity and immortal cultivation.

Only by reaching this step can one begin so-called immortal cultivation.