68. Natal Beast
A natal beast is a type of magic in the realm of destiny, belonging to the Buddhist realm. It involves bringing together animals or life forms with whom you have a karmic connection from ancient times. It doesn't require any carrier and can be infinite—you can bring together as many as you have. If you are an older soul, you might bring together mythical beasts you don't recognize, such as those strange-looking creatures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas from ancient times. If you are a newer soul, you might bring together evolved beings like fox spirits, weasel spirits, snake spirits, or flower spirits. Any great Bodhisattva or higher level possesses tens of thousands of natal beasts.
69. Backlash of the Law
There is a law of physics: forces are interactive. Whatever work we do outward, we will receive a reaction to that work. A person who often helps others is more likely to receive help from benefactors in reincarnation; a person who likes to take advantage is more likely to be taken advantage of by others in reincarnation—this is the backlash of the law.
70. The Sufferings of All Walks of Life
Suffering is when things don't go smoothly, you fail, and your wishes aren't fulfilled. When these things accumulate and the suffering intensifies, you'll feel suffering. The Buddhist realm and the heavenly realm don't have as much suffering—the suffering in the heavenly realm is somewhat great, but it might only be felt once every few thousand or tens of thousands of years. In the Buddhist realm, experiencing suffering might take hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. Human suffering is more abundant; a few decades can bring many disappointments. The ghost realm is even more painful—many ghosts are homeless, their clothes are tattered, and they rarely even have the chance to scavenge for clothes. The underworld is too painful, unbearable. If there were no suffering, we couldn't even settle our karmic debts. Why is suffering greater in lower realms? To give higher realms a chance. Suffering also increases our understanding of the correctness of the Heavenly Way. Why are you suffering? Because you've done wrong, your actions don't align with the Heavenly Way, and you don't receive its rewards. There are several important points regarding human error and suffering: First, it's the way of Heaven guiding you to make mistakes, receive some punishment, and endure some unpleasant experiences; second, it makes people increasingly miserable, so they can better discuss things; third, it increases their abilities—if Heaven wants a human being or life form to increase its capabilities, it makes them suffer. "When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it first tests their will, strains their muscles and bones, starves their body, empties their resources, and frustrates their endeavors, so as to strengthen their resolve and increase their abilities." Unless you're pushed to the brink, you're unlikely to force yourself to do unfamiliar or difficult things. Suffering or pain is the most necessary way for Heaven to remind us, but we shouldn't dwell on this suffering; we must quickly reflect on our actions.
71. The Buddha Realm Does Not Support the Idle
Does ascending to the Buddha realm count as escaping the cycle of reincarnation? Yes. But is it a permanent escape from reincarnation? No. Arhats, minor Bodhisattvas, and major Bodhisattvas, unless they have truly attained Buddhahood and received Buddhahood, even if they are half-Buddhas, still have to work in the cycle of reincarnation. Only those who have truly attained Buddhahood can choose not to enter the cycle of reincarnation. After reaching the Buddha realm, is there still an escape from the cycle of reincarnation? From an interface perspective, yes, you are out of the cycle of reincarnation, but you must still enter the cycle of reincarnation. You have to work, you have to make some contributions to sentient beings. The Buddha realm does not support idlers. After escaping the cycle of reincarnation, is there still a "me"? Yes, there is still a "you," you are you. For example, my lower self is my lower self, and my higher self is my higher self. Even if I go to the Buddha realm, I may not be able to see my higher self, because the Buddha realm is also divided into many levels, and I cannot reach his level. If he is willing to descend to a lower level to see me, that is his business. If he doesn't come to see me, there's nothing I can do, even sending messages is quite difficult. There must be a specific concept of "me," including Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
72. I realize that I am without self.
The Chinese word "wo" (I) most likely refers to the physical body or acquired self. "wu" (the self) represents the innate or spiritual self. When the Buddha speaks of "no-self" in certain contexts, he is referring to the physical self, not the true self. Connecting all selves is called "enlightenment." Enlightenment doesn't mean you gain new knowledge; it's merely knowledge passed from your higher-dimensional self to your lower-dimensional self that you previously acquired. Everything you understand now, your higher-dimensional self already knew. You've simply acquired past memories; it doesn't mean you've come up with anything new. Everything is given to you by your higher-dimensional self. For example, if an apple falls on Newton's head, it's the higher-dimensional Newton who passed that knowledge to the lower-dimensional Newton. If an apple falls on your head, you can only say, "Fuck, that hurts!" The true Buddhist concept of "no-self" is simply not thinking about oneself, but there is always a concept of "self" in the world. Existence and non-existence are binary opposites on the same plane. However, on different planes or levels, existence and non-existence can be a single, shared concept. For example, something that exists in a three-dimensional world might be considered non-existent in a four-dimensional world. The same object, living organism, or matter may or may not exist in different dimensions. Another example is a person who is dead, but continues to live in our minds—living and death cannot coexist in the same dimension, but they can exist simultaneously in different dimensions.
73. Why do some people gloat over others' misfortunes?
First type: Newly descended to earth and not very familiar with the human world. He is not truly evil, but completely unable to comprehend human suffering; he hasn't evolved yet. Second type: Born in a different realm. For example, born from the realm of hungry ghosts, bringing habits from other planes; he might even feel happy seeing others suffer. Third type: The inertia of reincarnation. It's not just a matter of cause and effect; he's always been like this in reincarnation, enjoying taking pleasure in others' suffering. Fourth type: "I must suppress you." A competitive relationship arises within him; he's happy when someone else suffers. For example, he might care if a particularly weak kitten is injured, but he rejoices when someone he's competing with suffers.
74. Do gods, immortals, and Buddhas all have administrative power?
Buddhism is about salvation and enlightenment, a form of education, and it doesn't have administrative authority. The divine realm has administrative power. Those who are gods are called civil servants. Among the gods, there are those who cultivate Buddhism, Taoism, immortality, and even the path of ghosts. Even the underworld is under the jurisdiction of the divine realm. Zhong Kui is also a civil servant. The cultivation systems we commonly use are Buddhism, Taoism, and immortality. Immortality hasn't been passed down in this small world, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist above. Some immortals are very powerful, but they aren't civil servants. The Primordial Celestial Venerable was incredibly powerful, but he wasn't necessarily a civil servant. Ability is ability, and administrative power is administrative power; they are different.
75. Mental stability and compassion
How to maintain a balance between mental stability and compassion? If you see enough, experience enough, know enough, and anticipate enough, and everything that happens is within your expectations, how can your mind not be at peace? Mental stability requires cognition, perspective, and experience—only by experiencing everything can you avoid being easily startled. It requires clarity about the entire world, the heavenly order, all planes of existence, all events, and all stages, all within your expectations. In life, if there is nothing unexpected, your mind will naturally be stable. Compassion requires viewing all beings from a perspective that transcends all sentient beings, seeing yourself as the mother and father of all beings as your child; only then can you truly have compassion. The most important aspect of compassion is accompanying growth. You must be able to understand, know, and clearly perceive which stage any sentient being is in at any given state. Without successfully accompanying others, without accepting any sentient being, without personally accompanying them, you cannot be compassionate. You cannot consistently accompany someone's growth under any circumstances; you cannot do it.