Breaking Illusions Again

After breaking illusions using that method back then, I saw my true form, and realized my past self was merely a pattern of cognition driven by habits of thought.

Beyond this pattern of cognition was the real me.

Because I used Buddhist teachings to break illusions, I had unwavering faith in them, and in everything spoken in the name of Buddha.

I believe that cultivating Buddhism, and seeing one's true nature, means becoming one who is no longer swayed by cognitive habits after breaking illusions.

My friend died, and I felt sad for only a minute before pulling myself out of the emotion of missing him.

Because I knew my emotions stemmed solely from what I thought about.

If I didn't think about him dying, and only focused on our happy memories together, I would still be thinking about him, still thinking about his goodness, but the emotions I gained would be different.

Slowly, I shed all emotions, leaving only joy.

Some say that Buddha is without discrimination, finding joy in everything, devoid of negative emotions.

Thus, I looked upon all beings, every flower, blade of grass, person, and thing, and felt joy.

I felt this was Sukhavati, a spiritual Sukhavati, because I was no longer bound by worldly cognitive habits.

Everything I saw was good; even the sensation of breathing felt wonderful.

I let go of everything – family, friends, flowers, trees, mosquitoes, rats, and ants – without distinction.

They were unified with me, known by a single name: life.

In this state of pure joy, I also felt compassion for the suffering of all beings, for they were just like my past self, trapped in the cycle of countless chaotic thoughts.

One moment they'd experience something so happy they'd feel like they were in heaven, the next something so painful they'd feel like they were in hell.

They couldn't break free from the cage of their thought patterns; whatever they encountered, they would instinctively think about, and whatever they thought about, they would experience a corresponding psychological state.

The only difference between them and me was that when I encountered something, it depended on which emotion I wanted to feel, not on the event or the person. It was solely because I could freely control my thoughts, arranging them according to my true heart in any situation, and switch perspectives at will to obtain the emotions I needed.

Although I desperately wanted to help others understand this principle, I also knew I couldn't force them; they had to realize this truth for themselves.

In my eyes, nothing was good or bad anymore. Good was good, bad was good, living was good, and one day passing away would also be good.

At this point, my girlfriend said something to me.

"Can you stop being like this? It feels like you've become a completely different person. Whatever I say to you, you just happily say it's good, with no emotion. It would be better if you just cursed me out."

After hearing this, I remained cheerful and didn't say anything, but I did ponder a question.

I asked myself, if I only experienced joy and no other emotions, was that fair to those around me? I had cultivated my mind to this point, but they hadn't. If I only cared about my own lack of worry and suffering, wasn't that a form of selfishness?

With that thought, I began to deliberately practice distinguishing right from wrong, deliberately generating emotions, deliberately getting angry, and so on. Because I had already shed emotions, I needed to intentionally do them first; once I got used to it, I would return to my previous state.

Just as I had thought, after some time, I emerged from the state of pure joy.

I merged the two versions of myself into one. Looking back, I realized that the Sukhavati spoken of by Buddha was also a form, and I had merely resided there for a time.

In other words, I used the cognition of Buddhist teachings to break free from the cognition of ordinary people, and now I had broken free from the cognition of Buddhist teachings as well.

What you can see now, those masters who have few emotions, are happy doing anything, don't make things difficult for themselves or others, and seek nothing, suffer nothing – they are the ones whose hearts dwell in Sukhavati.

This is because their hearts hold no suffering, only boundless joy and compassion for all beings.

Through these two instances of breaking illusions, I discovered that people are always dwelling in forms. Learning from people means dwelling in the form of people; learning from Buddha means dwelling in the form of Buddha; learning from sentient beings means dwelling in the form of sentient beings.

Buddha said, "Buddha originally has no form, no form of people, no form of self, no form of sentient beings."

Therefore, learning Buddhism cannot lead to becoming a Buddha; rather, one can only become a Buddha after letting go of the desire to even become a Buddha.

I continuously absorbed various knowledge to study and comprehend. I sought to understand what Buddha was, why one should become a Buddha, what the Dao was, and why one should cultivate the Dao.

How is divine consciousness used? What is the Primordial Spirit for?

After another period of study and contemplation, many of the principles I had previously gained enlightenment on converged.

Here, I will intersperse some plot points from the TV series Tiantian to explain.

At that time, Mr. Ding went to Mount Wutai to discuss the Dao and wrote a poem:

"To gain enlightenment, speak not of fate; to cultivate, seek not the true scripture. A sorrow, a joy, a withering, a bloom, which was predestined from a past life? The kasaya was never pure; the red dust does not stain the empty nature. The ancient temple's lingering bell for a thousand years, all is the talk of fools."

The master asked Mr. Ding, "What is the true scripture? And what is cultivated if one seeks not the true scripture in cultivation?"

Mr. Ding replied, "The so-called true scripture is the ultimate dharma gate that can lead to stillness, emptiness, and nirvana. It can be understood but not cultivated. Cultivation to become a Buddha is about seeking; understanding is about knowing and seeing one's true nature. Cultivation uses practice to govern nature; enlightenment uses nature to guide practice. The awakened one creates laws from the heart; the cultivator is constrained by laws. Those who have faith but no proof, though they may not fall into evil karma, still dwell in cause, dwell in effect, dwell in thought, dwell in the mind, and thus are subject to birth and death, unable to reach nirvana."

A simple translation would be:

To become a Buddha, one can only understand, not rely on cultivation. Cultivation refers to doing something for the purpose of becoming a Buddha, for achieving some outcome, for "me." This is seeking with an objective.

Understanding is knowing clearly within oneself, understanding the laws of the mind, and realizing that one's thoughts are not the true self.

Cultivation is the act of forcibly changing the patterns of thought through practices like adhering to precepts and indoctrination.

Enlightenment is issuing commands from the fundamental heart—that is, from one's nature, or the true self—to change the patterns of thought.

Cultivating through faith can still yield good results, meaning habits can be changed. However, because there is a seeking, a self-attachment still exists, and at its core, nothing has fundamentally changed.

This is like when I used Buddhist teachings to break illusions. Before I started cultivating, I discovered that my thoughts were uncontrollable, drifting to various things, which caused me great distress. Thus, I began to doubt whether my thoughts were my true self. It was to clarify this reason that I started cultivating, which was a purposeful act.

When I used Buddhist methods to verify my conjecture, it was equivalent to borrowing the form of Buddha, entering another form from the original one.

Although I broke free from the original form, I was still within a form, not truly awakened. I merely thought I was awake.

If I hadn't broken free again, I would have remained trapped in that form. Although there was no suffering, only joy, I had not truly attained liberation.