Passing the Three Trials

Focus your mental energy on a single point to break through the surface.

This method is called single-minded focus, also known as a flow state, as if divinely assisted.

Traditional or modern ritualistic practices often work this way.

Empty your mind, focus on one thing, and whatever you do, learning anything will feel like cheating.

In painting, music, and all other fields, if you can achieve this, you will reach the master level in seven years.

Learning in a flow state while also seeing the patterns is the ultimate life cheat.

Here, let's discuss passing the three trials: emotion, wealth, and suffering.

The trial of emotion doesn't solely refer to romantic love, but rather to emotions in their normalized state.

It includes familial love, friendship, romantic love, and so on.

Understanding these emotions is merely recognizing the patterns and habits that cause them, and not getting entangled.

As the saying goes, cultivators are without emotion; this "without emotion" doesn't mean being truly emotionless, but rather having compassion for all beings while also understanding that these emotions stem from one's own cognitive patterns.

The trial of wealth represents not just money, but everything you possess, everything you consider yours. These things don't truly belong to you. Even this body is only for use in this lifetime; you can't take anything with you when you leave. Therefore, these are merely temporarily under your control, not truly yours in the real sense. You must see this clearly.

The trial of suffering refers not only to physical harm. It signifies the heart experiencing despair countless times, only to be reborn with hope. No matter what you go through, you still believe in yourself, refusing to be defeated by anything, until you break free and see clearly that today's suffering is only temporary and that you are not trapped by the present. Afterward, you won't even consider suffering as suffering. To achieve this transformation, every breath will feel comfortable and free.

These three trials are also used to break through cognitive limitations. As the saying goes, the Dao is not born until the heart dies. When you mentally let go of the people, things, and matters you can't let go of, you will have passed these three trials.

This doesn't mean you should abandon everything and go live in a mountain temple; that would throw the human world into chaos.

Instead, it means your inner self is no longer troubled by these things. It's fine to have them, and it's fine not to have them; they won't disrupt your inner peace with their messiness.

What I've said is simple, but in reality, when you encounter these situations yourself, it's hard to break free; those involved are blind to the situation.

You must always remember this and practice it slowly, little by little.

The reason I enjoy a drink now and then is that in the past, I turned to alcohol for companionship after repeated emotional wounds. Later, I gradually learned to abstain as I pleased.

Furthermore, drinking no longer affects my consciousness.

Quitting is actually easy; as long as you change your perception, your habits will slowly follow.

The difficulty lies in rigid thinking patterns, making it hard to accept perceptions outside of one's karmic habits.

It's like how the general public views gods and Buddhas. From childhood, we see mythological stories, TV shows, novels, and so on. Then, we hear legends about gods and ghosts from those around us.

Over time, people come to believe that gods, Buddhas, ghosts, and monsters are things within their own perception.

Know this: those are just stories, and furthermore, words and language are merely descriptors.

For example, a cup is a descriptor for the thing you hold in your hand to contain water. An ashtray is a descriptor for something that holds cigarette butts and ash.

If you use a water cup as an ashtray, the water cup becomes an ashtray. If you use a mineral water bottle as an ashtray, the mineral water bottle also becomes an ashtray.

Gods, Buddhas, ghosts, and monsters are the same. They are descriptors for certain energies in this world, and the symbols used to describe these energies are words.

"Sun," "solar," etc., are descriptors for the giant fireball in the sky. No matter what you call it, it remains itself.

We call it this here, but in other countries, they use different characters, different languages, and make different sounds to represent it.

We say "Hello," and the words "Hello" represent greetings and well wishes.

Foreigners say "Ni hao," and those words, or that pronunciation, also represent the same meaning.

"What are you doing?" is asking someone what they are doing. "Ni ga ha a?" is also asking what someone is doing.

They are all descriptors.

These descriptors, in different cultures and with different perceptions, may represent the same meaning, but because the forms of expression are different, they cannot be understood by everyone.

I remember watching a video on Douyin where a mother was with her young daughter, petting a dog by the roadside.

At first, the dog didn't move. The little girl petted the dog's head, and the mother did too. But when the dog reacted, it bit the mother.

The reason is similar: in different perceptions, the goodwill you express may not be accepted. When it's not accepted, and you persist, it can be perceived as an infringement or even as malice.

If the person squatting by the roadside wasn't a dog but a stranger, imagine: if they don't know you, and you go up and start touching them, wouldn't they hit you?

Therefore, whether you're a person or doing anything else, don't assume what you think is good is actually good, or what you think is bad is actually bad. You must be rational and view things from an objective standpoint.

Due to different perspectives, understanding will certainly vary.

Take finding a girlfriend, for example. Before you get her, you feel this girl is amazing and you must have her. Once you've successfully pursued her, you feel she's just so-so.

Looking back at other girls, they seem even better, and thus you become a scumbag.

The reason isn't that the girl has changed, but that your thinking and perception have changed, causing you to change.

If it's the same for girls: because a boy is nice to you, you get together with him. Later, you find another who is even nicer, or you see how great other people's boyfriends are and become envious. At this moment, your perception and thinking change, and you become dissatisfied with the present, believing you can get someone better. That's how a "scam girl" is born.

This is all because you take what you imagine as reality, but you don't realize that thoughts are constant and always changing.

The root of human suffering lies here. The so-called six realms of reincarnation, love, hate, sorrow, joy, anger—all stem from this.

This is called karma attraction.

Your thought patterns are driven by your past karma.

Do you understand now?

This karma refers to your ordinary way of thinking, the state of being passively controlled by it.

This is also why it's called the six realms of reincarnation.

You can think about it: what are the six realms of reincarnation?

The heavenly realm, the asura realm, the human realm, the hell realm, the hungry ghost realm, and the animal realm.

People in the heavenly realm have no worries and are unrestrained.

And the asura realm? They possess things ordinary people don't, but they still experience vexation and distress.

The human realm, I'll talk about later.

The hell realm is being trapped in suffering, unable to escape.

The hungry ghost realm is never being satisfied, always feeling hungry, always feeling like they don't have enough, no matter what they possess.

The animal realm has shallow cognition, is toiling, working like oxen and horses, busy their whole lives with no rest.

The human realm is constantly cycling through the other five realms, sometimes good, sometimes bad.

This is the so-called six realms of reincarnation.