Living in Accordance with Our Nature

Xuefeng

April 19, 2018

Nature is the nature of our origin, which is the original characteristic that the Greatest Creator gives to each LIFE.

To follow one's nature is to live according to the nature of our origin. Why should we follow our nature? Because only by living according to our nature of origin can you live according to your true colors and live your life as yourself. Only by living as yourself can you live a life that will not have been in vain and that will conform to the creator's intention.

A person is a complex part of society. A person’s life is restricted by various social factors. If he cannot break through the shackles of these various factors and live according to his own nature, his life will be a tragedy.

Not many people really live out their lives as themselves, and everyone cannot get what they really yearn for, because our words and deeds are restricted, and our inner desires are suppressed by reality. In this sense, people are slaves of factors related to themselves, not the masters of their own lives.

What factors restrict one's nature?

Many. All factors that relate to oneself more or less restrict the blooming of one’s nature, such as parents, children, husband and wife, siblings, culture, wave, groups to which one belongs (such as companies, political parties, religious groups), and governments, country, etc.

Next, I will only talk about the constraints imposed on human nature by the three factors of husband and wife, culture, and country.

All married people understand that since you have a husband or wife, your free nature is restricted, and you can no longer do whatever you want with your free will. If you want to give some money to your parents, is that okay? If you want to date a classmate of the opposite sex, is it okay? If you want to sit by the beach alone on Sunday, is it okay? If you want to eat steamed buns every day, is it okay? If you want to, so on and so on, the marriage will not work. You have to take care of the other person's emotions, you have to consider the other person's requirements, and you have to consider the other person's habits and hobbies. You are no longer yourself; you can no longer find yourself, and you are a mixture of yourself and the other person.

Everyone has grown up in the culture of their own nationality. Culture has already subtly infiltrated our blood cells and our consciousness. We have already become slaves of our own culture before we know it. It has already invisibly controlled our horizon and thinking and restricted our words and deeds. The cultural devil has long been lurking in our values, outlook on life, and outlook on the universe. Its invisible power controls our thoughts, our hands, and feet, and we are totally unaware that our own nature has long been ruled by the culture that we are familiar with. For example, “find one’s origin, return to the birth family; fallen leaves return to the roots -- to revert to one's origin ", is a component of the Chinese culture. Under the control of the invisible power of this culture, people like to continue writing their family trees, and the strong desire to glorify their ancestors has always been growing in their bones. Even if they have lived in a foreign country for several generations, they can't forget that their bones are to be buried in their ancestor's grave after death. The descendants of the British Empire have the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other territories, while the descendants of China have been bound to their homeland for generations. Even though there are more than 50 million overseas Chinese scattered around the world today, everyone's heart is still concerned about their hometown, and not many people really treat and help to build the foreign land they are working and living in as their own home. Therefore, there has been a black president in the United States, but there will not be a Chinese president, because the Chinese always treat themselves as guests living in a foreign country, they are temporarily living under another’s roof, and they still want to return to their homeland. If they have earned some money, they cannot forget to buy real estate back in China. The invisible control power of culture affects the thinking of every Chinese and makes their thinking go around in circles and thus they cannot get out of "the Egypt of the spirit".

The state is another important factor that restricts human’s nature. With the existence of the state, we are endowed with the role of being citizens. As citizens, we have to bear the requirements and restrictions of the state on its citizens. If there are things that the state does not allow us to do, then we can't do them; if there are things that the state doesn’t allow us to say, then we can't say them. This is called "you are only allowed to behave properly, and you are not allowed to be unruly in words and deeds." In this way, your nature will not be displayed at all. If you live in a democratic and civilized country, you have a little more freedom and a little more choice. If you live in an autocratic and barbaric country, your nature is basically suppressed, not to mention your choices, so even reposting articles in the online WeChat site is banned and one might even be put to jail for this, let alone be permitted to have any ideas and innovations. Therefore, from the single factor of the country, people cannot live out their nature.

In addition to the above three factors restricting the display of human nature, it is also difficult for people who are working for their survival to follow their nature. All those who work for the country, all those who work for the bosses of private enterprises to earn wages, and all those who fight for the future of their children, are those who have to work for their survival. Almost none of them is free. A person without freedom, of course, is not able to follow his nature.

There are different levels of LIVES. We can't say that pigs and people are of the same level of LIFE, can we? In life, Celestial Beings and Buddhas are higher than human beings, because Celestial Beings and Buddhas do not have LIVES that are controlled by family, country, culture, political party, religion, and other factors, they follow their nature. The reason why we should follow our nature is to sublimate the quality of our LIFE and let ourselves live like Celestial Beings and Buddhas.

How do we follow our nature?

Following one’s nature means throwing away all the things that restrict one's nature. If you can't throw them away in reality, you should throw them away in your consciousness first, and then gradually throw them away bit by bit. This is the meaning of what Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching “The student of knowledge (aims at) learning day by day; the student of Tao (aims at) losing day by day. By continual losing, one reaches the state of doing nothing (laissez-faire). He who conquers the world often does so by doing nothing." Secondly, do what you like, do what you are good at, don’t lust for money, don’t lust for power, don’t lust for fame, don’t lust for family, don’t lust for the glory of your ancestors, don’t lust for your country, don’t lust for any organization or group, only be obsessed with what you like and what you are good at.

Difficult? Of course, it is difficult. If it was not difficult, there would be Celestial Beings and Buddhas everywhere. If it was not difficult, the earth would have already become a paradise.