Laughing at the Worldly Spectacle of Actors

Buddhist cultivation is cultivating awareness, and Dao cultivation is cultivating principles.

Using the power of these two points to make one's spiritual energy abundant is immortal cultivation.

The term "immortal cultivation" originated from ancient health preservation thought. The period when people practiced Qi Gong was prevalent in the Wei and Jin dynasties, where it was a way for individuals to cultivate their own lives based on the awakening of self-awareness.

It refers to the awakening of the deepest layers of human subconsciousness regarding sensuality and emotion, a fundamental change to one's destiny, with eternal life and merging with the Dao as the ultimate pursuit and aspiration. Some seek to calm the spirit and nourish nature, while others cultivate truth and enlightenment, aiming to achieve the supreme, perfect realm of immortal beings who are neither born nor die.

Simply put, it's the entanglement between consciousness and subconsciousness, where each is within the other, influencing and reflecting each other. A person who can stand between the two and influence their changes at will is called an immortal.

Because if you can actively influence the subconscious, the subtle energies within the body that are imperceptible to the naked eye, such as cells, Blood Essence, and fungi, these minute life forms will change accordingly. If they develop in a positive direction, one will naturally attain longevity and live long in the world; conversely, illness will afflict them.

However, this is not absolute. Some individuals who suffer from severe congenital Qi leakage may also die prematurely.

They generally exhibit unique characteristics after birth, appearing exceptionally intelligent from a young age with extraordinary talent in certain areas.

Due to the excessive leakage of congenital Qi too early, they lack stamina and are often sickly.

Such individuals either do not live long, or they lose their spiritual aptitude as they grow older, or they only display extraordinary ability in one specific area while being pitifully weak in others.

This is the so-called fairness of the Heavenly Dao, which opens one door for you while closing another.

What is gained must be lost, and what is lost must be gained. What is inevitably lost is often ordinary and scarce.

Mr. Guo's godson is a typical example of excessive congenital Qi leakage. From a very young age, he displayed a unique talent for Peking Opera. If he had followed the normal developmental path, upon reaching adulthood and experiencing vocal change, he would have faced unprecedented blows and harm from external evaluations.

As the saying goes, the more brilliant you were at one time, the greater the backlash you will face after passing that stage.

It just so happened that he had an affinity with Mr. Guo. Mr. Guo, valuing talent, could not bear to see the youth face such malicious persecution from the outside world years later.

Therefore, he made arrangements beforehand and, with his own energy at the time, withstood the selfish gazes and endured much slander.

The Karma that should have fallen upon the child prodigy was all taken on by Mr. Guo himself.

This is a classic case of enduring heavenly disasters and man-made calamities for others.

It's like a youth who, after displaying extraordinary brilliance at a young age, will face a much more intense lightning tribulation than others when it's time to overcome it. If they cannot pass, their body and Dao will perish.

However, before the tribulation period, the mentor behind him directly triggered the lightning tribulation in advance, bearing all of it for the youth and protecting him as he grew up.

As for that Yang Wei fellow, I won't say much more. Just looking at his face, he's not the type of person who values loyalty and righteousness.

Of course, one can't blame Mr. Guo for misjudging him. Even donkeys sometimes doze off, let alone humans.

It's common to know someone's face but not their heart.

While Mr. Guo is not without his own flaws—no one is perfect, and no sage is without fault—this is not a reason for others to betray their master and ancestor.

What kind of person could forcibly change the saying "a day as a teacher is like a lifetime as a father" to "a day as a teacher is like a lifetime of payment"?

In thousands of years of Chinese history, there hasn't been such a wicked person, shaking their big green frog head and telling ghost stories to the camera.

Apologies, but as cultivators, we shouldn't comment too much on worldly matters, as we can see the factors of Karma and righteousness, and it's not appropriate to get too entangled.

I am merely using an example, incorporating some past worldly knowledge and experience. This cannot be called good or bad, because only by integrating with worldly laws, that is, worldly principles or worldly perceptions, can one better express what they want to convey.

Otherwise, if I were to use "Zhi Hu Zhe Ye" or "The Great Tathagata said," you would be even more bewildered.

Regarding Mr. Guo's former disciples, Xiao Wei or Xiao Jin, it's a matter of each to their own. If you are their friend, you will see their strengths; if you are their adversary, you will see their weaknesses.

As cultivators, do not view issues excessively from personal perspectives or personal viewpoints. Look at them from their fundamental essence, that is, face the principles of human nature directly and penetrate the depths of the human heart.

Adding too many personal opinions is harmful and beneficial to none. Remember this, remember this.

As the saying goes, "Wine and meat pass through the intestines, the Buddha remains in the heart. If the world learns from me, it will be like entering the demonic path." That's what it means.

Do not look at me as I am, nor learn from me as I am, because I know why I am this way, and I understand how not to be this way.

Do not view why all sentient beings are this way based on personal will.

The Dao and the Tathagata are inconceivable.

Here, I will also emulate Mr. Ding from the Heavenly Dao and use the wisdom from my nine years of compulsory education that has not slipped through the cracks, to recite a poem:

"Passerby"

Born a traveler in the void, Occasionally landing in the mortal world. Laughing at the many actors in the red dust, I am also one of them.

Shameful, shameful. Although I understand the profound principles of the Great Dao, I have also fallen into vulgarity, unable to resist showing off and sighing before all fellow Daoists.

Cough~!

In fact, many times, true cultivation methods are found in ordinary life. For example, you've heard since childhood, "Don't look with your eyes, look with your heart."

Although this saying is simple, what it truly means is that your eyes are just organs; they cannot distinguish right from wrong, good from bad. What helps you distinguish is your habitual cognition. Do not take the good and bad, right and wrong told to you by your habitual cognition as truth. Instead, stand outside of it and observe with your true heart and inherent nature. Only then can you truly and concretely see the original appearance of things.

This is why the Great Dao is simple.

Some say thinking too much is bad, while others say thinking a lot is good.

In reality, thinking too much about what is unimportant is bad.

But for thinking deeply about fundamental matters, that is definitely a very good thing.

Because you can clearly grasp the key points of matters and face them with composure.

Some say that impermanence is the norm in life, while others say that life is both impermanent and has its norms.

From my personal perspective, both are correct; it's a matter of perspective.

If you view impermanence as the norm, then it is the norm. If you view the norm as impermanent, then even the norm becomes impermanent.

To be truly free and at ease is the fundamental freedom of humanity.