Breaking Free from Mental Fallacies (Part 3)

Xuefeng

March 4, 2022

Life is enriched through possession, while LIFE withers through possession.

When people travel by train, they buy a ticket, enter the station, board the train, travel for a distance, disembark, and exit the station—simple and effortless. Rarely does a passenger want to buy and possess the train they are traveling on, nor do they wish to stay on the train indefinitely.

Why don't passengers want to buy and possess the train? Because it is unnecessary, and ownership would become a burden. Likewise, people do not desire to possess commercial airplanes or large cruise ships because they are merely using them for one journey. Perhaps they will only use them once in a lifetime, so why invest time, energy, and money to own them?

However, the fallacy lies in the fact that despite knowing we are merely traveling through this earthly realm for a short period, where everything on Earth is not worth possessing and even if possessed, it will eventually have to be relinquished, why have humans tirelessly racked their brains over what to possess? Why are they even willing to pay the price of their own and others' LIVES to possess illusory dreams along their journeys?

Let's assume we have one million in cash. Is it better to use that one million to buy a house, or to temporarily rent someone else's house and use the remaining money for other purposes? For example, renting a house for one year with a rental payment of twenty thousand yuan. Renting for fifty years would amount to one million yuan. From the perspective of life, buying seems better, providing a sense of security and becoming capital to flaunt to others. However, from the perspective of LIFE's meaning, renting is, of course, better because by paying twenty thousand yuan annually, one would still have plenty of money left to invest in other fields. This investment may generate more wealth, not only enough to pay the annual rent of twenty thousand yuan but also leave a surplus. In other words, after fifty years, one would still have one million yuan in hand, while buying the house outright would leave one penniless.

Some may argue that buying a house preserves its value, while money in hand may depreciate due to inflation. However, this is also a fallacy. Houses depreciate every year and may even collapse, while money in hand has the possibility of both depreciating and appreciating. Therefore, we do not analyze or speculate on these contingent factors. What we are analyzing now is whether a possession is worthwhile.

The mistaken belief of striving to possess something is a human fallacy, also the root cause preventing humans from living a heavenly life. People feel secure when they possess something. It satisfies not only their practical needs but also their psychological desires. Consequently, the goal of their entire lives becomes to possess more—land, houses, cars, status, wealth, honor. Moreover, they desire to possess people, such as in a marital relationship, where each claims ownership of the other: "This is my man," "This is my woman," "This is my child," and so on.

If you were to ask someone, "What do you possess?" and they answer, "I have a villa and a luxury car. I own a company and a business. I have two hundred acres of land. I have thirty cows. I have an iPhone," people would look at them with envy, respect, and even admiration. However, if the answer is, "I have nothing," people would look at them with disdain, contempt, and even scorn.

When the mistaken view of life, LIFE, and values becomes a general principle for the masses, mistakes turn into correctness, fallacies turn into truth, and heaven turns into hell.

When a person dedicates their lifetime and energy to possessing more and more things, they lose the qualifications to appreciate the artistic charm of LIFE and obtain a ticket to heaven. Heaven is heaven precisely because every LIFE possesses nothing—it is a state of having nothing. Paradoxically, it is because every LIFE possesses nothing that it achieves the result of possessing everything.

When we possess something, we feel secure, and the more we possess, the more fulfilled our lives become. Our vanity attains maximum satisfaction. However, precisely because of our possessions, we are alienated from heaven, and this is the withering of LIFE.