92. The Affairs of the Demon Realm
The Demon Realm is infinitely vast, encompassing various planes, including high-level and low-level demon realms. The demon realm that the Immortal of the World will be converting has no intersection with Mara's demon realm. Mara's demon realm is like a relatively wealthy place, equivalent to Guangdong Province in China. The demon realm I'm going to isn't as good or as wealthy, but it's not the poorest either; it's somewhere in the middle. The demon realm is mainly divided into the Fire Demon Realm and the Ice Demon Realm, the cold and the hot. The place I'm going to is called the Fire Demon Realm. There are also other smaller demon realms, such as the Desire Demon Realm. Different races also exist within the demon realm. Mara's demon realm is relatively wealthy, so converting Mara is still very difficult. It's like converting a big boss or a successful person—when someone is doing well, if you tell them they've made a mistake, they'll think you're crazy. The wealthier the demon realm, the harder it is to convert. You can only let them go astray, stumble, and fall to a certain extent before they understand. Mara is a place even the Buddha worried about. In resolving the problems of the Xiongnu and the Mongols, it's highly likely that the demon realm was involved, given that these were harsh, cold lands. Many methods from human history could be used to address the problems of such lands.
93. The Manifested Form of Ucchusma Vajra
We recently introduced a new Dharma form called the Vajrakilaya Dharma form. Each time one reaches a certain level of cultivation, a Dharma form will appear; currently, it is Vajrakilaya. Vajrakilaya is the manifestation of Shakyamuni's heart. When Shakyamuni was about to pass away, a deity had a problem, and many immortals went to capture him. However, when they reached his castle, they found various filth piled up outside. The immortals who recited incantations broke their own spells, causing serious problems; many vomited blood or died from brain damage. The Buddha's heart transformed into Vajrakilaya to convert the deity involved, and in the end, the person was captured and brought before the Buddha to repent. The most important aspect of Vajrakilaya is its fearlessness of filth, hence the name Vajrakilaya, also known as the Great Powerful God-King Buddha. When we cultivate, if a certain principle we practice is close to or the same as the principle of a certain deity or Buddha, we can invoke the power of that Buddha or deity. In human cultivation, the most important thing is to possess the power of Vajrakilaya—not only must you be unafraid of filth, but you must also be able to purify filth; this is called the power of Vajrakilaya.
94. Annihilation
First, I must clarify that when I talked about the end of the world, I was referring to other realms, not ours. You must believe in science. If rumors spread that I said our realm would end, it would cause a lot of anxiety, which is wrong. Remember, I didn't say our realm would end. Westerners talk about a final judgment. Some realms do indeed have a final judgment; when the world ends, if you have accumulated enough merit, you can ascend; if not, you're doomed. Many worlds, having a beginning, also have an end; many worlds are in a cycle of birth and death. Any realm within the cycle of reincarnation experiences the four stages of birth, aging, sickness, and death. This applies to humans and other dimensions alike. Suppose our world also has a day of destruction. The two most meaningful things we do in this world are Elon Musk and us. I can't say you can leave this world immediately, but we can strive to help everyone ascend from this world. If you want to go to another human realm from any realm, you must return to the previous realm and then go from there to another realm. You can't jump directly from one human realm to another. You must ascend, to the celestial realms, even the lowest dimensional realm like the Four Heavenly Kings' Heaven. Ascending one level allows you to choose other human realms. Secondly, the number of people a realm can guide is very limited; the vast majority cannot be guided. From another perspective, these people exist simply to prevent us from being alone, to make us feel like we live in a real world. The human realm is the supreme sacred ground for spiritual practice. I once asked the Buddha: Why not let sentient beings understand these things? You let all sentient beings live in this world without giving them instructions or correct guidance. Sentient beings simply don't know these rules exist; they are penalized for every mistake—how many people in this world will do things correctly? Since you haven't given them instructions, making mistakes shouldn't be considered their mistakes, so why punish them? The Buddha said: Only when sentient beings make mistakes do we have the opportunity to guide and elevate them. Only when sentient beings make mistakes can you have the opportunity to guide others and elevate yourself. Unfortunately, the rules of the Good Path realm require you to help others. How can you help others if they are not weak? How can you guide others if they don't make mistakes? Who can you guide in the Buddha realm? Everyone is smarter than you. If you go to the celestial realm, you won't see a single breath for a hundred years. Who will you be able to save? Only the human realm. If you go to the demon realm, you might be burned as soon as you arrive; if you go to hell, you might be eaten as soon as you descend. Time flows very quickly in the human realm. People experience so much, and the space is so complex, that they are prone to making mistakes and suffering, and thus need help. Only in the human realm do you have the opportunity to save others and improve yourself. The Buddha said: The lotus rises from the mud unsullied, but the lotus and the mud are one—the mud is the lotus's only nourishment. The mistakes of sentient beings are the only opportunity for us to improve. We must cherish every sentient being who makes a mistake, strive to help them and help them improve, not let them become just fertilizer, but also give them the opportunity to become blooming lotuses. Only when the heavenly way obscures part of their understanding will they make mistakes. Only when they make mistakes will you have the opportunity to improve and save. Therefore, we desperately try to bring as many people as possible along, not wanting everyone to become our nourishment, not wanting everyone to be mud—we hope that some mud can become lotuses. When there is no mud in this world, it can also be said that there are no lotus flowers. But in the space of goodness, you must do good deeds, which means that there must be people who can be converted and helped by you.
95. Three Stages of Guiding Sentient Beings in the Heavenly Way System
The entire Heavenly Dao system has entered the third stage of saving sentient beings. The first stage: the Ancient Stage. This was purely a chaotic war, a complete mess of everything, you could look anything. The Classic of Mountains and Seas depicts the Ancient Stage, very chaotic. It would bestow upon many animals or humans with world-destroying abilities their powers, but not their matching character—how could they not cause harm? Possessing world-destroying power, but lacking the ability to benefit, save, or protect sentient beings, they were purely beastly. The Ancient Era was just a chaotic war, so it ended. The second stage: the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages were called indirect management. Celestials, immortals, and gods—slightly more disciplined life forms—could be directly sent to the human world to save and benefit sentient beings. In ancient legends, if someone appears on the other side, it's very likely they are a celestial being. Powerful ghosts and cultivated spirits could indeed intermarry with humans, directly transforming into physical bodies to mate and have children. In ancient times, the practice of benefiting sentient beings encountered two problems: First, those with supernatural powers descended to earth, and their desires and thoughts immediately arose. Most people lacked supernatural powers, and those who suddenly acquired them often created organized entities to fulfill their desires, resulting in the amplification of those desires. Second, they didn't understand human laws—they were celestial beings or immortals, living in a world completely different from the human realm. Bringing their powers to the human world, they couldn't comprehend human actions and ultimately made mistakes. This second stage created sects or groups based on the human body, some good, some bad, but all easily succumbing to the explosion of greed. The third stage: the modern era. The modern era has entered a different mode of salvation. With the internet, a single correct statement can influence millions. In ancient times, even if Shakyamuni Buddha shouted, it was considered good if a thousand people heard him. Now, the power of dissemination is immense. The Heavenly Way combines the power of ordinary people with that of the Dharma realm to save sentient beings: those possessing the power of the Heavenly Way can only be one person or a few—the Heavenly Way can observe their nature, ensuring that the power given won't be used to harm others or for personal gain. Ordinary humans, after reincarnation, no matter how powerful they were in their previous life, must gradually grow up in the human world to integrate into it without making mistakes and to better understand human nature. Therefore, the entire process of saving sentient beings has entered the third stage—using the mindset of ordinary humans in conjunction with the Dharma realm to save ordinary humans, which is very down-to-earth.
96. Cultivation System
The first problem to solve in spiritual practice is cognition—knowledge acquisition, knowledge falsification, and knowledge application. First, knowledge acquisition—I will solve this. Second, falsification. No human being can believe everything I tell them; you have to consider whether what I say is true. Some things are intangible and invisible, so we need to apply the battery principle—falsification. Even if you believe it, you still need to apply it. It's not that you know too little, but that you know a lot but haven't applied what's useful. This is called knowledge application. Third, practice. You need to practice this knowledge of the great principles of heaven and earth, including knowledge of human laws. You can't just listen to audio and video repeatedly; listening a thousand times is useless. It's better to genuinely help and benefit sentient beings. When you encounter a problem, you'll know how to solve it—this is called homework, doing practice problems. I hope everyone can embark on the path of benefiting and helping sentient beings. Just listening without doing homework is just a story. You've read many books over the years; it's not that you don't know the knowledge, it's that you haven't applied it at all. You must use it, do homework, practice. Only through continuous practice can you strengthen yourself. Fourth, enlightenment. One's opportunities are limited, but if you help tens of millions of people, you will gain different insights into life, a deeper understanding of the natural order, humanity, and many of the things we talk about. The insights gained from helping others make mistakes or solving their problems are completely different. Fifth, the dental theory. We often determine our future destiny based on our present selves, but you have no idea what you will experience in the future. You lack future awareness, so you don't know what you will experience or face—whether it's wealth, marriage, children, or old age. We always use our present understanding to make decisions for our future selves, but are those decisions correct? Don't go into the college entrance exam naked. Sixth, the environment for spiritual practice. For a person to practice normally, they need a good environment. Even if someone is willing to go with me to the demon realm to reform you, you might not still be a good person—if your desires and anger are magnified a thousand or ten thousand times, you might not be able to withstand it. Some students have serious illnesses and need this money, so they might not be able to uphold their moral principles. Some people whose interests are significantly affected or whose families face sudden major events might not be able to maintain their principles of spiritual practice. I will strive to create a good environment for everyone. Without a good environment and without help, this matter cannot be resolved, and you might take desperate measures. In the human realm, you cannot cultivate away the "doubt" of greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt—if you try to eliminate it completely, you will become foolish and severely harmed. The Buddhist realm does not require cultivating doubt. If you go to the Buddhist realm with all your doubts, and stay there for hundreds or thousands of years, you will find that no one is harming you, and you will naturally stop doubting. The essence of doubt is self-protection. If you can create a stable world, a world without harm, for all sentient beings, there will be no doubt. Why did the Buddha create the Buddhist realm? It was to provide sentient beings with a stable and peaceful environment. If we cannot guarantee that the vast majority of sentient beings—including my students and clients—have a peaceful and tranquil living environment in the human realm, it will be difficult to encourage them to continue their spiritual practice. "Good and evil arise from circumstances"—this is the human realm. Give them too much, and greed arises; give them too little, and they will resort to any means necessary. The establishment of the environment is extremely important. Seventh, the thinking of the Way of Heaven, the thinking of karmic conditions, and the thinking of higher dimensions. ① Establishing a Heavenly Way mindset is extremely difficult. It requires transforming from human thinking to a Heavenly Way mindset, and entering a Heavenly Way thinking mode. As the Diamond Sutra says, "With one thought of pure faith, the Tathagata knows and sees all"—truly entrusting one's destiny completely to the Heavenly Way. ② The mindset of predestined relationships. See everyone through the lens of predestined relationships, without focusing on specific events. Problems in predestined relationships will inevitably manifest in specific events, which are merely human appearances. Simply cultivate good causes, good results, and good predestined relationships, and the relationship between two people will improve. ③ Look beyond the event itself—use a higher dimension to see. There are no solutions in lower dimensions, but solutions in higher dimensions. Step outside the box to solve and view problems, believing that everything is the best arrangement.