511. No personality cult.
I strongly dislike personality cults—don't trust anyone. How to determine if an organization truly has a personality cult? If it does, there's a high probability of problems. Prohibit personality cults. Trust the rules—they will be effective for you in the long run, and effective for everyone around you in the long run.
512. Master Wujing Tongzi
From now on, it can no longer be called the Five Poisonous Beast—its official name is Master Wujingtongzi. It specifically absorbs greed, anger, ignorance, pride, doubt, and the five poisons and four mental states. After the adjustment in April, it will be allowed to be sold in homes or shops.
We cannot prevent customers from questioning—students cannot prevent customers from questioning, nor can they extinguish the idea that others have different thoughts. If we cannot answer a question, please have the customer contact us directly via email for a personal response. The advancement of thought requires the clash of ideas. This is essentially a storytelling session; why shouldn't we allow questioning? The rules of nature are not a form of personality cult.
513. Why do Taoist rituals for cleansing spirits include reciting the "Six-Syllable Mantra" and the "Auspicious Sutra"?
The cleansing ritual draws upon the power of Eastern Buddhism. After cleansing, recite the Six-Syllable Mantra—location method: the energy on your body is Eastern Buddhist energy; simultaneously recite the Six-Syllable Mantra, and Buddhist masters, Arhats, and Dharma protectors will find you and cast spells into the water. Taoism has also done this, but injecting energy into a water glass is still done by Buddhist masters—recite the Six-Syllable Mantra after a Taoist session. The Auspicious Sutra—after infusing energy, it's easy to connect to the evil realms; the Auspicious Sutra is needed to suppress evil thoughts.
514. Why do servants in the underworld drive their masters out?
A servant in the underworld drives its master out—they rebelled without a master-servant agreement. In Lam Ching-ying's movies, sending someone away on a ritual boat requires a master-servant agreement. After repaying numerous underworld debts, the house is robbed—the master-servant relationship wasn't established. A highly respected person personally delivering items will tell the neighbors, "I've got this house under my protection." In the underworld, might makes right—might makes right.
515. Why is the person destined by the divination not appearing yet?
First, you don't like or have a connection with the person you're meant to be with—girls tend to like scumbags. Second, there's a problem with your blessings—the frequency of masturbation, one-night stands, and negative speech doesn't match. In December 2019, everything was fine, but in January, the annual divination predicted a major calamity—it happened within a month, and your lack of blessings blocked it.
516. Changes in Fate Through Divination at Different Times
Your fate score is 60 points. Different experts say it's okay, some say it's average. This time it's 60, next time it'll be 59, failing. The divorce rate is over 50% now, and the remaining couples aren't very happy—if things continue like this, how high will your fate score be in the next life? Cherish the person in front of you. In the cycle of reincarnation, you are turning good karma into bad karma—ten good karmas over ten lifetimes will definitely not lead to any good karma.
517. Points to Note in Human Cultivation
First, cultivate wisdom—avoid pitfalls and walk the right path. Second, cultivate blessings—without blessings, you have nothing. Third, cultivate good karma with all beings—even enemies can love and help each other. Life after life, you will finally live comfortably in this world. The vast majority of people don't need fortune telling—they are not academically inclined, have unhappy marriages, and suffer a lifetime of hardship. Some people have good luck, but after their luck passes, they fall straight down—that's the rule.
518. How to cultivate the mirror law
Doing good deeds immediately resolves all karmic consequences from 30-40 lifetimes. It relies on abundant blessings and merits—benefiting over 80,000 sentient beings and guiding hundreds of thousands. With accumulated merit, one can improve one's destiny. Defying fate is extremely difficult; one must give opportunities. Of over 100 direct students, only 10 to 20 are truly good—all under the same master. Some have remained unchanged for eight years. One cannot choose based on affinity; cultivation is not selective.
519. How to understand "no thought is awakening"?
Awakening—understanding and awakening. No-thought does not equate to awakening—not thinking about anything does not mean understanding. After full awakening, one enters a state of no-thought—having understood everything, without thought, desire, or longing, but it is certainly a state of full awakening. No-thought does not equate to awakening—many people haven't seen the state of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they imagine it themselves.
520. How to understand "non-attachment is liberation"?
Everything that can hurt you is what you believe to be true, what you dwell on. The Buddha said it's all an illusion, a bubble—are you getting upset and restless because your boss doesn't pay overtime? Just let go of your attachments. Students can work if they want and not work if they don't want to; no one is manipulating them.
521. How to understand "all phenomena are without self"?
I went to the Buddhist realm to ask if I truly exist—they said "yes." During spiritual practice, as long as the concept of "self" exists, one cannot be liberated—one is bound by one's own shackles. Whether something exists or not is irrelevant; simply not thinking about it is enough. Staying away from beautiful women is acknowledging the existence of the "law of beautiful women"—fear is also a rule. Getting close to beautiful women and liking them is also forbidden. Ignore them—just like ordinary people chatting and going home. Do not let them affect your mind.
522. How to understand "inner peace is Nirvana"?
Nirvana is Nirvana, and inner peace is inner peace. Inner peace is easy to achieve—absolute and complete peace requires no thought. Even in the Buddhist realm, some people have problems—the rules are too strict, and they run away. Reaching Nirvana, entering the Buddhist realm, escaping reincarnation, and being free from birth and death does not mean inner peace.
523. How to understand "All phenomena are empty, therefore enlightenment is attained"?
All phenomena are empty—"ten thousand" doesn't mean ten thousand, but basically all phenomena are empty. It's not enlightenment, but a state of perfection. "Ten thousand" represents the state of perfect enlightenment, where all phenomena are empty.
524. How to understand "Bodhi is not a tree, nor is the bright mirror a stand; originally there is nothing, so where can dust alight?"
This is correct in relation to the Buddhist realm. Traditional Buddhism imitates things from the Buddhist realm—abstaining from desires, doing good deeds, detaching from worldly affairs, and living as if not a human being. The Buddhist realm doesn't require eating, drinking, reproduction, gender, or a physical body. In the human realm, one eats only once a day; one needs to change the Bodhi tree daily to avoid dependency. This is Buddhist Dharma—whether it's suitable for ordinary people to practice is difficult to say. It might work in the Buddhist realm, but in the human realm, while not wrong, it's generally ineffective.
525. How to understand the "Bodhi Verse" of the Fifth and Sixth Patriarchs?
The Sixth Patriarch thought everything was good—in the human world, if you're a lump of mud and want to become a lotus, you need to cultivate yourself, to remove your stinking mud. Shenxiu's approach is closer to this in human application. The Sixth Patriarch may not have seen that the origin is evil. The first generation of sentient beings was predetermined by the Heavenly Dao—some are born as Buddhas, some as demons. The origin has problems even before the first lifetime of karma. The Sixth Patriarch may not have understood the supreme rules. Within reincarnation, there is impurity—cleanliness itself is a kind of pollution. Innate supernatural powers are predetermined. My advantage is deception, simplifying complexity; learning math and finance is less effective than killing me. You could cultivate for ten thousand lifetimes and still not reach my level—it's something I possess innately.
526. How to understand "All phenomena are empty, but cause and effect are not empty"?
Cause and effect are also laws. If all phenomena are empty, why is cause and effect not empty? Does cause and effect exist outside of reincarnation? Does cause and effect exist above the origin? In your first life in reincarnation, who did you have karmic connections with? Cause and effect only exists when sentient beings create karma through their actions. Cause and effect are established under the law of time—without the law of time, cause and effect do not exist. Cause and effect is one of the supreme laws, but not the highest law. If all phenomena are empty, how can cause and effect not be empty? There's a problem.
527. How to understand some commonly used Buddhist sayings
"The mind itself is Buddha"—this refers to Buddha-nature, not a state of enlightenment. "One thought of attachment brings endless suffering; one thought of letting go brings rebirth"—no problem. "Debts from past lives lead to meetings in this life"—not necessarily; it could also be fate. "Whatever you try to control, you control"—no problem. "Life seeks imperfection, not perfection"—using "seek" is wrong; go with the flow, don't cling. Imperfection is due to incompleteness. Don't seek perfection; go with the flow. "Don't exhaust your blessings"—enjoy the blessings you're given. "Don't be afraid of loss; what can harm you is the end"—no problem. "Find your original self"—difficult; it's impossible to find outside the cycle of reincarnation within it; only outsiders can see the whole picture. "Wine and meat pass through the intestines"—why not choose vegetarianism when you can? Is eating meat and wine for survival or enjoyment? It's problematic to mislead sentient beings about Buddhism; even a venerable monk like Ji Gong would be punished.
528. How can one forget everything completely?
Only by remembering everything to the extreme can you truly forget. You think you've forgotten, but you haven't. Ultimately, forgetting is simply not caring anymore. Only by remembering everything can you find peace. You can't solve your current, low-dimensional state without higher-level thinking.
529. Why compete for resources in the Dharma Realm?
The three days for assessing all sentient beings in the Heavenly Realm are the third day of the third month, the ninth day of the ninth month, and the twenty-third day of the twelfth month. After passing the assessment, Maitreya Buddha distributes treasures, and many people compete for them. A powerful being says not to compete—I say, why shouldn't I compete? I'm willing to go to war, but I need ample ammunition and magical artifacts. The Buddhist realm doesn't support idlers; even Bodhisattvas have to take turns working. The Heavenly Realm's workers are already risking their lives and doing dirty work in lower realms—how can they manage without protecting themselves? They take as much as they can. The state of working is different from the state of cultivation—wanting things is for the better benefit of sentient beings. Intention is very important—wanting to better benefit sentient beings is fine, but wanting to increase one's own level or acquire more magical artifacts is greed.
530. Why Compete for Resources in the Dharma Realm (Continued)
The competition for resources in the Dharma realm is for the benefit of all sentient beings, not for personal greed.