Revelations from Daily Life

Xuefeng

December 1, 2020

Everything and all phenomena are the words of the Greatest Creator and changing phenomena are the Greatest Creator speaking them; this is Zen, the book without words. Reading the book without words is talking to the Greatest Creator, and you can listen to the Greatest Creator’s words in daily life without pursuing a lofty posture.

1. I placed a bag of flour inside my refrigerator but not in the freezer section. When I reopened it a year later, I found that it had formed into lumps, which made it inedible. Revelation: Flour should be placed in a dry and ventilated place because it will rot and deteriorate in a damp place. People should change their homes frequently and they should always ventilate their thoughts; otherwise, over time, they will become stubborn.

2. I kept some eggplants in my refrigerator, the temperature in which was kept between 0°C and 4°C. Within a few days, they had turned black, were frozen, and tasted stale. Later, I left other ones at room temperature, and within a few days, they too had rotted. Revelation: Some vegetables cannot be kept too cold or too hot; some people cannot be loved or hated.

3. If you do not take a bath or change your clothes for a month, lice will appear. Revelation: As long as the conditions are right, species will find them. Viruses appear in the same way, so if humans do not adopt new ideas and new ways of living often, viruses will arrive. The Coronavirus is telling people that they must think and live differently. Revelation: People who do not learn to perceive and accept new ideas and new lives often, will invite parasitic thoughts to grow in their minds.

4. When boiling mung beans, you will always encounter iron beans. Their shapes and colors are exactly the same as those of mung beans, but no matter how you cook them, they do not soften; in fact, the more you cook them, the harder they become. Revelation: within groups of people, there will always be some special ones such as saints and rogue thieves who are born thusly and will not change.

5. It is very cold here in the winter, so our window glasses are double-layered and there are empty, insulating layers between them; in this way, the cold is blocked out. Revelation: Worries are cold. With two layers of selflessness, we can keep our worries out.

6. I bought a water bamboo shoot two years ago and placed it in a glass vase and changed the water from time to time, but other than that, I never gave it any nutrient fertilizer. I would sometimes forget to change the water, and sometimes there was only a little bit of water left in the vase, but the bamboo has still been growing well. Revelation: In crowds, some people are like water bamboos; you do not need to establish special relationships with them, and you do not need to give them special care, but they will be happy as long as you smile at them or say hello to them occasionally. They need very little encouragement in order to maintain intimate relationships with you. They are the most content and sincere water bamboo-like people among us.

7. My neighbor moved out of his old house and wanted to store a bunch of his stuff in my place for a while and stay with me for a few days. I said sure, I would love to have him. I told him that he could live with me until he found his new home; that he could stay with me for the whole winter and that I wanted nothing in return. I even told him that he could treat my home as his own. Was I being extraordinarily generous? In fact, it was not that I was being generous, but because he had been helping me for the past several years. Every winter, this neighbor had driven his snow-plow to shovel snow for me and he never charged me anything, so my door was open to him. Revelation: If you want others to open their doors to you and if you want to be welcomed warmly, then you need to accumulate merits in advance. If you have merits, then the door will open to you, but if there are none, then the door will be closed. The same is true for heaven, if you have merits there, then you will be welcome, but if you do not, then you will not be.

8. Last year, I bought two red-leafed trees from a nursery in Vancouver and grew them in flower pots. They grew very well in the summer. One day, one of them blew over in the wind but I had not noticed it until a few hours later, so I picked it up and replanted the baby tree, but sadly it died soon after. A few days ago, I accidentally overturned some crab cactus pots on a table and poured out the soil, so I hurriedly replanted it. As a result, its growth was unaffected and it even came into full bloom a few days later. Revelation: People are like plants; sometimes, once you offend some, it is difficult to restore a good relationship with them, while if you offend others, it will not affect your good relationship with them at all.