Classification of People
Xuefeng
On the surface, there doesn't appear to be much difference between one person and another. We all have the same organs, senses, and bodily functions; we all eat, drink, excrete, and engage in activities like walking, sitting, and lying down. However, once we engage with someone, ask them to perform a task, or have a conversation, we quickly realize that people are vastly different from one another.
Most individuals tend to believe that they are not much different from others, with distinctions primarily revolving around differences in wealth and social status. In reality, the variations among people are primarily rooted in their spirituality and wisdom. To help us understand what kind of individuals we are and to provide a sense of direction for personal growth and goals in life, I classify people into five categories: Ignorant People, Worldly People, Mortals, sages, and saints. By considering these categories, you can assess where you currently stand in your life journey.
Ignorant People
Basic Characteristics: They lead instinct-driven lives, often with disordered lifestyles and no clear life goals. Their values are in chaos, and they struggle to prioritize and distinguish between what's essential and what's not. They spend more time engaging in mindless actions than using their intellect. Instincts overpower emotions and rationality. They lack proper self-assessment and an understanding of life's meaning. Their lives are often marked by confusion, frustration, and erratic emotions. They are arrogant, blindly optimistic, and feeling superior when successful, pounding one's chest, feeling pessimistic and disappointed, and blaming the heavens and others when facing setbacks. They are quick to anger, easily irritable, often unreasonable, and susceptible to manipulation by others. They admire heroes, prefer excitement and dramatic events, and are willing to make great sacrifices for their friends. They have no secrets, are straightforward, and lack a sense of responsibility toward family, society, and others. They are selfless and without faith.
Worldly People
Basic characteristics: People who live by desire, with the central focus of life being money, fame, status, and beauty. They enjoy flaunting, boasting, and showcasing themselves. They like to praise others and be praised by others. Every word and action revolve tightly around their own interests. When their interests are threatened or harmed, they disown even their closest relatives—be it siblings, friends, companions, colleagues, or superiors and subordinates. They disregard national and ethnic interests, group and family interests, and principles of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trust, as well as laws, rules, and regulations. To achieve their goals, they resort to any means, and they repay kindness with enmity. They have a narrow perspective, seeking only personal gain; they heed rumors and readily exaggerate them; they spread gossip without distinguishing between truth and falsehood; they meddle in conflicts, regardless of the consequences. When it comes to acquiring knowledge, they are particularly obsessed with fringe theories, strange tales, conspiracy theories, and privacy breaches. They enjoy hopping from one thing to another, seeking attention. They excel at empty talk and making far-fetched references. Worldly people enjoy engaging in superficiality and also delight in nitpicking, interfering with, and critiquing other people's lives and lifestyles. They are not concerned with reason and fairness, show no mercy when they are right, excel at finding loopholes and seizing advantages, and lack compassion and empathy. They pay little attention to public hygiene, are selfish, and constantly feel that society and others owe them. In places with many disputes, you find worldly people; in families lacking harmony, you find worldly people.
Mortals
Basic characteristics: They are people who live based on emotions, and the central focus of their lives is family, relatives, friends, colleagues, classmates, groups, ancestors, countries, and nationalities. Their minimum life standards include having enough food and drink, having healthy and successful children, enjoying a harmonious and happy family, and living in a peaceful and tranquil society. Their intermediate standards include being able to bring glory to their ancestors, to become renowned, hope for their sons to excel, wish for their daughters to succeed, having wealth within their family and a bustling life outside, and having the capacity to seek revenge or settle scores.
Their highest standard: to contribute significantly to one's own ethnicity, religion, group, political party, or country to leave a legacy and be remembered for generations to come. Emotion and reason are the primary factors considered by mortals in handling all matters. They are the most tormented group among the population, as they possess thoughts, emotions, rationality, and ambitions, yet find themselves entangled in the mundane world. They must constantly interact with the ignorant and worldly people, battle against the biases of society, contend with their inner desires, and resist traditional ethical and moral norms. Their inner world is often filled with conflicts and regrets. They yearn for personal growth but also seek to conform to societal expectations. They require so much yet receive so little. They often lament the scarcity of time and the brevity of life, feeling as though they are adrift in the river of the world, unable to control their own destiny. As they age, they increasingly rely on fate. Mortals do have beliefs, but these beliefs are conforming, blind, helpless, and arbitrary, rather than based on an understanding of truth. Therefore, the faith of mortals is fragile and cannot withstand scrutiny. It changes with the times and the living environment. The reason why they are called mortals lies in their lack of steadfast faith. They cannot and will not derive strength and wisdom from their beliefs. Generations after generations, they can only exist and perish in the painful whirlwind of the mortal world. Mortals tend to regret the past, overlook the present, and yearn for the future. They will never be content, and the suffering of mortals will never end.
Sages
Basic Characteristics: They are transcendent individuals who lead their lives with reason. They possess clear minds, knowing when to advance, when to retreat, what to seek, and what to forgo. Their life goals are to pursue health, wealth, and freedom. They have their own principles and adhere to societal codes of conduct. They can freely manage their time, maintain harmonious and happy families, live in harmony with society and nature, and are mostly liberated from the trappings of fame, status, and wealth. They control their own destinies, move with ease, have extensive knowledge, communicate with civility, display noble conduct, are understanding and reasonable, optimistic, and kind-hearted. They are the pillars of civilized society. Sages are gems among people, possessing significant intrinsic value. Regrettably, while they escape worldly affairs, they cannot escape the limitations of time and space. In the end, they cannot enter the higher realms of life. Sages are just one step away from truth. If they can self-enlighten or receive guidance from “higher beings,” they can do their best to complete their duty, achieving tranquility, purifying their hearts, and through cultivation, they can attain complete transcendence, become free from worldly concerns, worries, be free from cares, and transcend beyond the ordinary, and ultimately surpass time and space to enter the realm of immortality.
Saints (Celestials)
Basic Characteristics: Wise individuals who lead a spiritual life and have attained enlightenment. They have knowledge of the mysteries of the universe, the truth of life, the evolutionary laws of the 36-dimensional spaces, and the essence and meaning of LIFE. They have not only freed themselves from the temptations of wealth, fame, status, and beauty but also from the constraints of time and space. They live carefree lives, transcending worldly concerns.
Saints have mastered the mysteries of thinking, having understood the mechanics of energy transformation. They can essentially manifest their thoughts into reality, turning life into an enjoyable game, and 'death' has become a beautiful aspiration. Saints do not overly concern themselves with the sufferings of the mortal world. They never interact with worldly people and avoid interacting with mortals. They typically reside in secluded areas near picturesque mountains and rivers, disguising themselves as ordinary citizens, leading a tranquil life detached from worldly strife.
They enjoy solitude and value friendships with like-minded individuals. They are not fond of noise and are characterized by activities such as drinking tea, playing chess, reading, and practicing meditation. Sometimes, they may spend an entire day playing with ants or engage in singing competitions with birds. Whether the birds' songs are more melodious or their own "hoarse" singing sounds better, it doesn't matter to them; as long as it's fun, they enjoy it endlessly.
Attaining the realm of a saint undoubtedly leads to the Thousand-Year World.
Above is the classification of people, and by now, I'm sure most of you have an idea of which category you might fall into. If you find yourself as an ignorant person, you might not be able to pinpoint your position, and after reading this classification, you might feel very frustrated, even wishing to throw a few punches at me. If you identify as a worldly person, you may hold some jealousy in your heart because I've exposed your mindset and peeled back your facade. For those of you who see yourselves as mortals, reading this might evoke a sense of sadness. When you witness that some people in the world seem "higher" and happier than you, an unexplainable jealousy and envy may arise within you, especially when it comes to wealthy individuals. You might have thought that once you become rich, others would envy, respect, and follow you. However, you never imagined that in the eyes of sages, you're still an ordinary person, and in the eyes of saints, you're just an ignorant one.
On the other hand, if you identify as a sage, you'll likely be overjoyed, feeling as if you've found a long-admired bosom friend and suddenly realize that your "wealth" is boundless and that you can benefit infinitely from it. If you consider yourself a saint, you might laugh heartily and criticize me for being idle and wasting time.
Regardless of whether you feel anger, jealousy, happiness, or laughter, as long as you take a moment to calm your mind, you'll find a sense of gratitude deep within you. After all, you've come to understand your own state of existence and where you should strive to develop.
If you aspire to attain pure spirituality and progress towards the level of a saint, I have categorized human qualities into eighteen grades for your reference.
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