Many people have described what they saw when they were on the brink of death.
Some said that before dying, they saw deceased relatives.
Some said they saw a road, then followed it onward.
Some said they reviewed their entire lives and saw every right and wrong they had experienced.
And so on.
But a near-death experience was not actual death. Just as everyone's dreams differed, what they saw differed as well.
Those vegetative patients who woke up after more than a decade also said it had felt like a dream.
Therefore, unless a person truly died, they could not truly know what death was like.
Don't think that talking about life and death was somehow bad just because one ought to live well.
Buddhism had a method called liberation from life and death. What did liberation from life and death mean?
It meant knowing what life was, and what death was.
If people did not discuss life and death, could they avoid dying? If they did discuss life and death, could they avoid dying?
You could not change the final outcome. It was already destined, so what the hell were you afraid of?
Only when you understood this could you change the state in which you lived and change the way you lived.
Afraid to live, afraid to die, afraid of this and afraid of that—scaring yourself sick all over, nearly unable to live anymore, and you were still fucking scared?
Fuck me! Were you a complete idiot? Huh? If you were afraid, would you not die? If you were afraid, would you succeed? If you were afraid, would you stop living?
The more fucking afraid you were, the more you had to do it! Once you got used to being afraid, you would no longer be afraid! No one was born brave.
When I was in my teens, back in the countryside, I had to piss outside the door at night, and I did not even dare go out.
Once, my family dog barked at something, and I actually saw a ghost.
At the time, I thought I had seen wrong, that my eyes were playing tricks on me. But no matter how I looked, that ghost was still there. I was so scared that I ran back inside. My mother and Fourth Auntie from next door went to look, but they saw nothing. Even Seventh Uncle next door had been working in the yard and had not seen anyone.
I was certain I had seen it. I saw a man smiling at me.
Let him show up in front of me now and try it. Fuck, if I didn't catch him and throw him into a hotpot, I'd be giving him face!
Damn it, he scared me because I was little back then. Now I could freely use Shifting Thoughts and instantly summon any emotion. I had even long set myself a program to fly into a rage the instant I was frightened. If I didn't beat your face into a field of peach blossoms, then I'm your father!
So what if you're a ghost? I'm a god! If you dare provoke me, I'll chase you all the way to the Eighteen Levels of Hell and fucking bite two ounces of flesh off you!
Without that much fighting spirit, I might as well not cultivate immortality!
My kindness was for ordinary people. My fucking kindness was not for demons, devils, and ghosts! As the saying went, if I don't fuck you up, who will? I was born to bully demons, devils, and ghosts!
I was born to eat ghosts for cultivation! Wouldn't being afraid of ghosts turn heaven upside down?
I might be stupid at writing, but as for cultivating immortality, fuck whoever had a problem with it!
All those old immortals and great gods standing behind them, so fucking impressive, so fucking mighty! I myself am fucking mighty! Don't ask why. If you ask, it's because I've been this way life after life!
I had been used to being fucking mighty since childhood. I couldn't change it. It was my nature!
Before I grew up, maybe I would still have been scared sometimes. But after thirty years, I had already awakened.
Fuck whoever! No one was fucking good enough! If I was in a good mood, I would keep a low profile. But if I was in a bad mood, I didn't care how many dishes were on your table—I'd flip the whole fucking table! You won't let me eat? Then nobody fucking eats!
Hahaha, you had to have that kind of temper to be suited for cultivation. Without that temper, cultivation was a waste.
If I was fucking tough for one step but afraid for ten, then what the fuck was I being tough for? If I was going to be tough, I'd be tough until death—until my Primordial Spirit was annihilated and we perished together.
Back then, people always said my temperament was no good, that I would suffer losses. This unyielding character of mine would easily get me hurt!
Bullshit! I was unyielding, but I had never acted like a lunatic, made a scene, or been unreasonable. If I was wrong, I admitted it. If I wasn't wrong, even Heavenly King Laozi couldn't do a damn thing!
Besides, I was a straightforward person. If I argued with someone, that was a private matter. If they did not understand something at work, I still helped them.
I drew the line crystal clear and never used public matters for private gain.
Whenever I showed that side of myself, I actually did very well. When I yielded here and let things slide there, people instead looked down on me.
What did that prove? It proved that people were cheap. Be fierce, and they feared you. Be weak, and they bullied you.
If you could keep your heart absolutely upright and did not take the initiative to do evil, then you were a good person.
Wanting to be a good person did not mean yielding in everything and enduring everything. It meant being even more vicious when you met evil people, and even kinder when you met good people. That was the fucking principle of being human.
Of course, that was merely the principle of being human. Hahaha.
What cultivators had to do was keep their hearts unmoved and manifest themselves according to the actual circumstances.
How did that saying go? Meet a Buddha, burn incense; meet a thief, draw your gun.
Without the means of the Vajra, don't talk about the heart of a Bodhisattva.
What was a Bodhisattva's heart? It meant I clearly had the ability to crush you to death, but I chose not to.
Otherwise what? You had no methods, no ability, and you convinced yourself that this was kindness?
That was fucking incompetence, okay? If you could not even distinguish kindness from incompetence, then if you weren't bullied, who would be?
Don't even talk about people—ghosts would pick someone like you to bully too. Not for any other reason, but because you were easy to bully.
Kindness meant having the ability to pierce the heavens, yet choosing not to pierce them.
It did not mean this person stepped on you, that person stepped on you, you did not dare resist, and you still thought you were kind.
Fine, if you were afraid of people, let's not say anything. But you were even afraid of things that weren't human? Were you fucking crazy, or was someone else crazy?
If you were such a coward, then get the hell out of here. You definitely couldn't keep reading this book, and you didn't deserve to!
If you finished reading the books I wrote and still acted like a fucking pathetic grandson, then wouldn't I have written them for nothing?
The purpose of my writing was to let you know that you possessed the ability to control your own thoughts at will.
Then you possessed an invincible Spirit Soul.
If you cultivated immortality but were still fucking afraid of ghosts, what immortality were you cultivating? If you cultivated immortality but were still fucking afraid of people, what immortality were you cultivating?
After breaking appearances, you could see the patterns of the human heart. What were you afraid of?
You could even straighten out your own thoughts until they behaved obediently. Change a thought whenever you pleased—where would fear even come from?
If you were afraid, it was definitely because you had thought of something frightening. What fucking other reason could there be?
You said ghosts frightened people, you said ghosts harmed people. Did people tell you that, or did ghosts tell you that?
Wasn't that all fucking told to you by people? You believed others but not yourself—weren't you fucking stupid?
What they told you was only what they believed. What the hell did it have to do with you?
What I told you was the truth! Truth was the fucking awesome principle that could make you stronger!
I could not tell you there were no gods in this world! I could only tell you that you could fucking become a god too!
You were a god!
You were the most fucking awesome god in your life! Only when you decided to be afraid could you be afraid; when you decided not to be afraid, you feared nothing!
And that wasn't a god? What else did you want a god to be? Wake the hell up!!!