Torture Can’t Awaken People

Xuefeng

There’s a pervasive notion online that claims people can’t be awakened by reason; they need society’s harsh blows to wake up. It’s said that 1% awaken through the guidance of enlightened individuals, while 99% require the thousand cuts of reality to snap out of their delusion.

I want to argue that relying on harsh blows or brutal cuts not only fails to awaken people but also leads them to decadence, decline, or barbarity.

My grandfather was beaten and tortured. My grandfather’s grandfather endured the same. Why then, would such treatment awaken people today?

Parents argued, marriages were unhappy; grandparents argued, marriages were unhappy; great-grandparents had troubled marriages as well. Has this led people today to awaken about marriage? If not for urbanization, the internet’s development, and rising living costs forcing change, people would still follow the old path of marriage. Who has truly awakened?

Many people live in anxiety and suffering every day. Even at 50, 60, 70, or 80 years old, they remain trapped in their pain. Has their suffering awakened them? No!

When a daughter-in-law becomes a mother-in-law, does she spare the younger generation? Often, she perpetuates the same mistreatment she endured. How many daughters-in-law or mothers-in-law have genuinely awakened?

What is the result of society’s beatings and tortures? Tens of thousands commit suicide daily. Is that awakening?

Generation after generation has been beaten and tortured, their spines broken long ago. Even if they do awaken, without their backbone, what can they achieve? How can they contribute meaningfully to society?

Even in rare cases where someone awakens through suffering and rebels, when such individuals gain power, they often turn around and oppress others, inflicting the same torture they endured. Few ever become compassionate Buddhas or Bodhisattvas.

The idea that awakening comes from guidance or suffering is rare. This lesson has been taught by thousands of years of human history.

So, where is the path to awakening?

The answer lies in the new production and living model of the Second Home created by the Lifechanyuan. In other words, the system shapes humanity. The program determines how things operate. Without stepping into a new system, how can awakening occur? Could people a century ago have “awakened” to invent a smartphone? Without adopting a paradise-like lifestyle, how could a paradise ever emerge?

Stop relying on beatings and torture to awaken people; that path leads nowhere. Let people live every day with happiness, freedom, and joy. That is the best way to foster true awakening.

December 24, 2024