Follow Your Nature

Xuefeng

Nature is the Greatest Creator, the Ancestral Buddha Tathagata, and Allah, yet it is also Satan.

Nature is the original state, Tathagata, and the source, but it is also the offshoot.

Nature can be divided into innate nature and acquired nature. Innate nature is pure and clear, unstained, while acquired nature is vibrant with colors and rife with impurities.

Heavenly nature is the innate nature, while disposition and habits are acquired nature. Heavenly nature reflects the characteristics of the Creator, gods, and Buddhas; disposition reflects the inherent nature and instincts of beings who reincarnate; habits reflect the survival inertia formed by mental patterns.

Loving beauty is heavenly nature, seeking freedom and joy is heavenly nature, and pursuing eternal life is heavenly nature. Mice burrowing in the ground, birds nesting in trees, wolves eating meat, and sheep eating grass are manifestations of disposition. Similarly, some people enjoy music, while others prefer lying or stealing—these are dispositions, or inherent natures. Smoking, drinking, and staying out late are habits.

To follow your nature means to act according to the drives of your heart. It somewhat means going with your feelings. The universe is holographic, and all natures operate within the scope of the Tao and under its control. Following your nature is essentially walking in accordance with the Tao.

The stars shine brightly, myriad phenomena manifest in various forms, and the countless postures and changes in the universe showcase its vitality and embody the extension of the Tao. When all things act according to their nature, there can be orderly harmony, with rises and falls occurring in sequence. Birds should fly, animals should run, flowers should bloom at the right time, and plants should sprout and grow in spring. Humans should eat, drink, excrete, experience pleasure, grow old, and die; gods and Buddhas should save people, demons should harm them, and celestials should live carefree and joyful lives. Roosters should crow, hens should lay eggs, bees should make honey, peach trees should bear peaches, and apricot trees should bear apricots. Each should take its place and perform its duty—this is following one's nature.

If you are meant to bloom but insist on bearing fruit, meant to be an ox but insist on being a horse, meant to be a tiger but insist on being a deer, meant to drink water but insist on drinking wine, meant to guard the gate but insist on playing football, meant to wipe the table but insist on sweeping the floor, meant to be human but insist on becoming a Buddha, meant to be a Buddha but insist on being human, meant to endure poverty but insist on enjoying wealth, meant to be Hitler but insist on being a saint, meant to be a thinker but insist on being an official, and so on—that is acting against heavenly nature. This disrupts order and degrades oneself.

If you were a president, would you want everyone to be officials? If you had three acres of land, would you plant only corn? If you had 20 rooms, would you use them all as dining rooms? If you had a backyard garden, would you cultivate only red peonies? You wouldn’t, and neither would the Creator. So let’s think: what should we become, and what should we do? The Creator already has a plan and arrangements. How can we live and act according to the Creator’s will? How can we earn the Creator’s praise? The answer is to follow your nature.

To follow your nature means not forcing yourself against it. You know what your heavenly nature likes. If you enjoy playing in the mud, then play in the mud. If you like dancing, then dance well. If you prefer noodles, eat noodles. If you like cucumbers, eat more cucumbers. If you enjoy playing the piano, then learn it. If you like reading, read. If you like killing, become a butcher. If you like teaching people, become a sage. If you like money, do business. If you like power, strive to become an official. Don’t try to imitate others, don’t compare yourself to others, and don’t follow others’ guidance against your will. Whatever your heavenly nature loves, do it—that’s following your nature, which aligns with the Tao’s dominion and operation. This way, you won’t do anything wrong, and you won’t take the wrong path. Imagine: if your boss wants you to demolish a house, but you work hard to repair it; if your boss wants you to drive the fox out of the home, but you, in your compassion, raise the fox—you may think you’re doing good, but in reality, you’re doing foolish and harmful things.

Hitler may have gone to heaven because he followed his nature; Mao Zedong may have gone to the Celestial Islands Continent of the Elysium World because he followed his nature. Good people who do not follow their nature may have gone to hell, and those who don’t live properly and obsess over becoming Buddhas or celestial beings may also have gone to hell. When a beautiful person is by your side, you may want to express love and feel an inner urge, but if you strive to conceal your feelings and pretend to be a moralist unmoved by temptations, you’re likely not far from hell. This is because you are not genuine—you’re fake; you’re not beautiful—you’re ugly.

Parents who do not follow their children's nature and force them to learn this and that are despotic and dictatorial. Anyone who incites, coerces, or forces others is a bad person. Only those who comply with their own and others’ heavenly nature are kind-hearted and enlightened.

If you are presented with money, power, fame, beauty, and LIFE, and you are allowed to choose only one, just follow your nature. If you weigh the pros and cons, you’ve violated the principle of following your nature. If you yearn for Lifechanyuan and desperately wish to become a Chanyuan celestial but allow yourself to be swayed by others’ “good advice” and start weighing gains and losses, you are not following your nature.

Follow your nature—enjoy each day happily, and as for tomorrow, deal with tomorrow’s matters then. Tomorrow, I will still follow my nature. Following your nature, with your nature being clear and pure, you will have no regrets and eventually attain perfect authenticity.