Soul Garbage and Its Classification

Xuefeng

January 2, 2025

Soul garbage can be categorized into eight types: primitive, habitual, cultural, cognitive, regional, group-affiliation, self-centered, and belief-based.

The definitions and primary manifestations of each type are as follows:

1.Primitive Garbage This type refers to the soul garbage we are born with, such as jealousy, fighting, stealing, robbery, noise, showing off, fear, and domination. All psychological traits and behaviors exhibited by wild animals, domestic livestock, and even plants fall under this category.

2.Habitual Garbage Proverbs like “Books hold golden houses and charming faces,” “One must endure hardships to achieve greatness,” or “Men must marry, and women must wed.” Ideologies like “The Thirty-Six Stratagems,” “thick-skinned and ruthless success,” “success ideology,” “equalizing wealth,” or “humans die for wealth as birds die for food.” Behaviors like comparison, obsession with saving face, flattering and ingratiation, bribery, corruption, and the pursuit of bringing glory to one’s ancestors.

3.Cultural Garbage This type of soul garbage is instilled through centuries of subtle cultural influence within a specific ethnic group. Examples include:

Proverbs like “Books hold golden houses and charming faces,” “One must endure hardships to achieve greatness,” or “Men must marry, and women must wed.” Ideologies like “The Thirty-Six Stratagems,” “thick-skinned and ruthless success,” “equalizing wealth,” or “humans die for wealth as birds die for food.” Behaviors like comparison, obsession with saving face, flattery, bribery, corruption, and the pursuit of bringing glory to one’s ancestors.

4.Cognitive Garbage This type arises from limited perspectives and understandings that form seemingly correct but ultimately flawed beliefs. Examples include:

Thinking the sun revolves around the Earth. Believing “only interests are eternal, not emotions.” Viewing human death as final extinction. Assuming humans are the pinnacle of all life. Concluding life has no meaning or that “without a nation, there is no home.” Upholding the inviolability of private property or believing utopian ideals inevitably lead to suffering.

5.Regional Garbage This refers to narrow-minded soul garbage shaped by geographic location, such as:

Assuming there are always four seasons in a year. Believing a year only has two seasons—dry and rainy. Thinking “Anglo-Saxons are superior,” or labeling others as “Sick Men of Asia,” “outsiders,” or “foreigners.”

6.Group-Affiliation Garbage Soul garbage is derived from perceptions formed within groups based on faith, culture, economy, or wealth. Examples include terms and ideas like “Western imperialists,” “hegemonism,” “working class,” “white-collar class,” “aristocracy,” “racial discrimination,” “the underprivileged,” “the poor,” “city folk,” and “country folk.”

7.Self-Centered Garbage This type encompasses all thoughts and actions rooted in self-interest, such as:

“This is mine.” “This is my home.” “This is my country.” “This is my wife (or husband).” “This is my child.” Any thought, word, or deed centered around oneself constitutes soul garbage.

8.Belief-Based Garbage This arises from life views, values, morality, perspectives on LIFE, and worldviews established through personal beliefs. Examples include:

“Holy wars.” “All beings are created equal.” Labels like “heretics,” “cults,” or “cultists.” The assumption that “there is only one truth” or “everything was created by the Greatest Creator.”

Conclusion Throughout human history, conflicts, contradictions, worries, and suffering have all been caused by soul garbage. If soul garbage is not cleared, humanity cannot achieve peace and tranquility. No individual can truly enjoy a good life—not even emperors, billionaires, national heroes, or globally renowned figures. Without cleaning out soul garbage, troubles and pain will persist, and regrets and fears will remain unavoidable.