Looking Inside from the Outside

Xuefeng

"You can't see the true face of Mount Lushan, only because you're within the mountain itself."

When you're inside looking in, you can never fully see or understand the truth.

When Li Hongzhang, a prominent minister of the Qing Dynasty, went to the United States, he saw skyscrapers, cars flowing endlessly on the highways, men dressed in suits, and women looking modern and stylish. After returning to China, he hardly said a word. Why? Because the gap between China and the United States was too vast. China at the time had no tall buildings, no cars; men still wore long robes and pigtails, and women bound their feet. If you don't look at yourself from the outside, you'll never realize how backward, ignorant, stubborn, and closed-off China was at that time.

Thirty years ago, I went to Zimbabwe in Africa. I stayed in a villa where I was woken up in the morning by the chirping of birds. I was stunned—who knew people could live so comfortably? Spacious, cozy houses, green lawns and gardens in the front and back, crystal-clear swimming pools. I immediately decided never to return to China. Later, I lived for over a year in a more remote place called Qiaoqiaole, where the local Black people had simple homes, ate basic food, and led a relaxed life. But they sang, danced, and played all day, living freely and casually. Even though they dressed plainly, they were very clean, often changing and washing their clothes daily. Their homes were simple, but their floors were spotless and shiny—simple, yet they lived with such freedom and ease that it made me envious. Looking back at China, people were too exhausted, too miserable. The shine on the surface was almost always upheld by inner suffering.

When I came to North America and learned about the history of the Western world over the past few centuries, I looked back at China's history and realized that Lu Xun was right—China's history is a "history of cannibalism." People say China has 5,000 years of glorious history and brilliant culture, but in reality, China's history is an inhumane one. Everyone was a slave, even the emperor was a slave controlled by power. China's culture, aside from music and landscape painting, is mostly just garbage. However, when you delve deeper into Chinese history, you discover a wealth of talent. The intelligence and ingenuity of the Chinese people are no less than that of any other nation. If Chinese people were allowed to fully unleash their potential without being suppressed by those in power, the Chinese nation would undoubtedly become one of the leading nations in the world.

Therefore, as a Chinese person, you must be cautious. If you don't understand how people outside of China live, if you don't understand the development and current state of modern Western science, philosophy, and sociology, then you're living in a world where right and wrong are upside down, truth and falsehood are confused, and black and white are indistinguishable. Your worldview, values, and outlook on life will be chaotic and inhumane. So, when a Chinese person who doesn't understand the outside world thinks they're right, they're already wildly wrong.

I often watch people's viewpoints on WeChat's "Video Account," especially those of famous individuals. Whether it's about recognizing human nature's truth, guarding against its baseness, fighting back against adversity, or breaking through social classes—it's all just encouraging people not to be human, but to be wolves, demons, and monsters. Because of this, I have a very pessimistic view of China's future.

Does this mean that the developed countries like the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the U.K., Germany, France, and Japan are perfect and flawless? No! From the perspective of the thousand year world, they are also unbearably ugly.

From the perspective of a highly civilized Elysium world, the Earth is a hell filled with demons, monsters, ghosts, and evil spirits—like a prison holding criminals. Humanity is still far from reaching a truly civilized world.

Now, let’s zoom in with a microscope on the individual. The hardest thing in the world is to truly know oneself. Out of the billions of people on Earth, hardly anyone really knows themselves. We seem to see others clearly, but no one can truly see themselves. All those who stubbornly cling to their own views, all those who think they are right, all those with a strong sense of ego—these are the people who know nothing about themselves and are the hardest to save.

To truly understand the world, you need to look at Earth from outside of Earth, look at a country from outside that country, look at a culture from outside that culture, and look at the human world from the perspective of heaven. Only then can you see the truth of things and events.

To see oneself clearly, you must first determine your coordinates in the frame of reference you're in. If you can't find the reference system or your point within it, you'll always think you're awake and clear-headed, but in reality, you're a confused fool. In essence, you're no different from animals, plants, or insects.

September 30, 2024