Elementary Cultivation
Xuefeng
March 26, 2004
Natural Non-action
Deal with the complex and ever-changing social affairs and personal life with the Taoist heart, Buddhist heart, and Christ heart. As long as you act naturally and without effort, there will be no obstacles, no stagnation. Whether it’s moving forward, stopping, retreating, or taking a detour, it all depends on the various factors of the environment at that time and place. Do not force or go against the flow. Always maintain harmony and good relations with society, the masses, friends and family, and nature. Because of non-action, you do not pursue anything, do not want to get anything, so there is no suffering, no trouble. You act accordingly, stop accordingly, create accordingly, and roam freely, showing a quality that is transcendent of the material world, yet does everything. If the masses need you to be the president, you will be the president. If society needs you to be a cleaner, you will be a cleaner. If you can become a billionaire, you will not refuse. If you are a farmer, you will willingly accept it. If your spouse wants to divorce, let them divorce. If your child can go to college, let them go. If they can’t go to college, let them do something else. Today there are delicacies, just eat. Tomorrow there is only pickles, steamed buns, and plain water, and there is no resentment, melancholy, and comparison with others. Today there is a luxury villa, just live in it. Tomorrow you only live in a simple thatched house, and you are also content. People praise you, adore you, and there is no joy in your heart. If people scold you and belittle you, you will not feel resentment. In this way, all threats and temptations, defiance and poverty will not be able to bother you. Over time, you will have a clear mind and wisdom will be born. Just like a star, no matter where it orbits, it always shines and heats as usual. And like a diamond, no matter where it is set, it always refracts a colorful halo.
Do Not Use Schemes The mind is like a clear day, clear and discernible, and wisdom is like a rolling river, never stagnant. All schemes are traps woven by the mind, and in the end, they trap oneself. The success of the scheme is beneficial to oneself in the short term on the surface, but in essence, it hurts oneself in the end. As long as the heart is bright and not stained with dust, there is no need to use schemes, all things can still go smoothly.
Do Not Make Promises For people, life is impermanent. There are unexpected winds and clouds in the sky, and there are sudden blessings and misfortunes in people. There are unforeseen circumstances in the plan, and there are unreachable places in the force. You never know what will happen tomorrow. Before becoming a celestial, you cannot control the environment, manage yourself, predict the future, and the promised wish may not be realized. If the promise cannot be realized, you can only find an excuse to replace it. Excuses are lies, and lies can only deceive for a while, and will eventually be exposed. In this way, your promise becomes a shackle and becomes a mental burden, which is harmful to others and yourself.
Do Not Rely on Power The burning power is like burning charcoal, which will eventually turn into ashes, and it is like wind and clouds, changing at any time. Power is the most unreliable and most dangerous backing. Once you rely on power, you will be involuntary, and you will lose the truth.
Do Not Accept Favors Favor is the biggest debt in life. Favor is like a big mountain, always pressing on the heart. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. If you don’t repay it, you are a villain. If you repay your favor with revenge, you are a beast. Once you receive someone’s favor, you will never be able to repay it in your life, your heart will not be calm, and you will not be able to have a free and easy life.
No Ambition Act and speak according to the Tao every day. Rise at dawn, think, see, listen, and act according to the Tao, and rest at dusk. Cultivate yourself and perceive the Tao. Apart from the desire to become a celestial through the Tao, there are no other desires. As for striving for the country, making the nation strong, glorifying the ancestors, and for future generations, etc., these are all worldly thoughts of ordinary people and should not be imitated.
Do Not Worry About Tomorrow Living only in the present moment, those who spend their lives preparing for their coffins and choosing their graves are severe pessimists. Living today worrying about tomorrow, they will have no joy or happiness in their lives, they are slaves to life. Tomorrow never ends, as long as people are alive, there is always another day, so there is no peace in life. Without peace, it’s hard to go far, and without peace, it’s hard to perceive the Tao.
No Thoughts of Success or Failure, No Desire to Gain or Lose If a person cannot have a healthy, free life, and ultimately cannot become a celestial, then your success and gains in life are failures and losses. On the contrary, if you finally become a celestial, then the failures and losses in life are successes and gains. Therefore, the common sense of success, failure, gain, and loss are just the standards of ordinary people. You just follow the Tao, every word you say, every action you take, is like a river flowing downstream, clouds drifting with the wind, it is natural, it should be, do not have the idea of gaining, success. At this time, you have the Buddha nature and the Taoist heart. Ten Thousand laws return to the Tao, return to one, as long as you grasp one, you will have nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. What is one? One is the Holy Spirit, the Dharma, the Tao, the Great Law of Non-action, it is the original appearance of things, the nature; it is the source, without any adornment, without any embellishment, and without the influence of human thoughts, emotions, or will; one is fruits fall off when ripe, a canal formed when water comes; one is without distinction of good and evil, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, good and bad; one is like the sun in the sky, the moon sheds clear light, the cloud drops sweet dew, the sea gives birth to waves; one is without thoughts of success or failure, without desire to gain or lose. Once you grasp one, you will not judge all things and their phenomena with “I”, you will not be confused by the phenomena of things; you will know the source of things, you will know the Tathagata, you can know the past and future of things, you can get rid of the interference of the world, and reach the other shore directly; once you grasp one, you can become a celestial, become a Buddha, you can travel through time and space, and gain eternity.
Do Not Compare with Others Between people, just like their appearances, there is no absolute similarity. Not only are their innate nature, appearance, temperament, character, and wisdom different, but also their life paths are different. You can’t walk the path of others. He is him; you are you. He has been promoted, made money, became an expert, went abroad, drove a high-end car, his wife wears gold and silver, his children go to prestigious universities, that is his business. If you compare, you will be endlessly troubled. If you imitate, you will lose yourself. So, in everything, not only should you not compare yourself with others, but you should also always ask yourself, “Who am I”? Only in this way can you dispel the heavy fog and see the light of your true nature. Otherwise, you will live in vain for a lifetime and be drowned in the dust of the world.
Seek Lightness, Not Intensity
Eating light food does not hurt the spleen and stomach and can keep you healthy. So, do not drink strong tea, strong alcohol, strong coffee, do not overeat. Even if it is sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, it should also be light. Living lightly, your muscles and bones are happy. So, do not work for a long time, walk for a long time, squat for a long time, stand for a long time, lie down for a long time, stand for a long time, watch for a long time, listen for a long time, gaze for a long time, think for a long time. Do not seek luxury and comfort in life, only seek appropriateness. Friendship is understated, as the wise say, “The friendship of a gentleman is as light as water”. Friendships that are light last forever, while intense friendships can turn sour in an instant. Light friends supplement the heart, intense friends hurt the heart. Seeking lightness in everything will reduce desires, and less desires will reduce troubles. Less troubles will allow you to calm down, and then you can gain wisdom, and then you can perceive the Tao and become a celestial.
No Leisure or Busyness Like the sun and the moon running, not fast or slow, not busy or idle, get up and do things at sunrise, and rest at sunset. Follow nature, everything is natural, everywhere is natural. In this way, all limbs and bones, the internal organs, blood and meridians, will run in order with everything in the universe. You will be healthy and long-lived and not sick; you will be peaceful and spiritual. The receiving ability and transmitting ability of your physiological field will be strong, and it will be easier to connect with the energy of the negative universe, laying the physiological foundation for transcending time and space and becoming a
Do Not Care About What’s Left Behind The desire for one’s name to live forever, being condemned by posterity, or to become the role model of future generations, etc., are all worldly thoughts of ordinary people; they are the fetters and shackles of life. If you are obsessed with gaining fame, you won’t be able to live a carefree and easy life. Just follow your path, and let the common folks comment as they please on what’s left behind.
No Cleverness Great wisdom appears foolish, the highest wisdom is formless. Displaying cleverness is, in fact, foolish. Cleverness is but a minor skill, a trick of the common folk. The more cleverness you possess, the less wisdom you have. Cleverness can lead to one’s own downfall, thus, it’s better not to be clever.
Do Not Speak More Than Necessary To those with high wisdom, your words are nonsense. To those with low wisdom, your words are profound and difficult to understand. To those with equal wisdom, your words are unnecessary. Once the words are spoken, they can easily be twisted by those who love to nitpick and slander you. Therefore, it is best not to speak more than necessary, so that you can avoid disputes, get rid of troubles, increase wisdom, and make progress.
Do Not Fear Death From a natural point of view, physical death is a necessary thing. Since it is inevitable and unavoidable, whether death comes sooner or later, it is still death, so what is there to fear; from a secular point of view, death is a self-cleaning of garbage, when your living is not beneficial to relatives, others, society, Living only adds to the burden of relatives and becomes a burden to society. Insisting on living is like occupying a pit and not defecating, which is selfish and immoral behavior; from a philosophical point of view, death is life, life is death, without death there is no life, without life there is no death, if the body does not die, the soul cannot be liberated, death itself is a kind of transcendence, is another kind of life, is happiness, what is there to fear; From a material point of view, matter is indestructible and can only transform from one state to another. It dies in one state and is reborn in another, so what is there to fear about death; from a super-material point of view, when a person’s mind is focused, his spirit can come out of the body and enter a space above six dimensions, at this time his nature, that is, the Buddha nature has been revealed, has become a celestial, at this time he can know that the three-dimensional space of a fleeting moment is really not a good place to stay, the death of the body is desirable, what is there to fear about death; from a theological point of view, when a person’s consciousness has no trace of death, even if he is in a raging fire, he will not be burned to death, if he is under water, he will not drown, if he is in a hail of bullets, the bullet will not hurt him, if he is in a pack of wolves, tigers and leopards, they will not eat him, walking on the water surface is like walking on flat ground, flying in the clouds is like fish swimming in the water. At this time, you have become a god, what is there to fear about death.
Be As Wood and Stone Wood and stone, receiving the essence of the sun and moon and the spirit of heaven and earth, remain fearless of the sun and rain, wind and frost. They observe the chirping of insects and birds, the shouting of people and horses with a cold eye and remain unmoved. If one constantly remembers the great affairs of the world and cares about the suffering of ordinary people everywhere, then there will be no peace in one’s heart. Without peace, how can one perceive the Tao? From a higher-dimensional perspective, everything in the three-dimensional space is like colorful bubbles that disappear in an instant. What is the need to worry about, save, grasp, or fight for what vanish in a moment? Without a heart like wood and stone, becoming a celestial being is like a bubble, a shadow.
Be As Clouds Unrestrained, shapless, without honor or disgrace, without trouble or annoyance, drifting with the wind, not lingering in any beautiful scenery, when there is water, it falls down, nourishes all things, when it meets clouds of opposite charge, it draws a lightning bolt, sounds a thunder, decorates the sky. Otherwise, borrow the heat of the sun and disappear into the vast universe.
Be As Ice When things meet fire, they burn, when they meet heat, they rot, when they meet cold, they last, when they meet ice, they are constant. If you can reach the state of heart like ice, feelings like water, there will be no strong feelings of love, hate, and seperation. Don’t be afraid of ordinary people seeing you as a cold-blooded animal, an inert gas, a weird person.
Be As Water “The best is like water.”
I am formless, but can become any shape,
I am weak, but can create huge waves,
I have no desire, but can nourish all things,
I am pure, but can wash away all dirt,
I am humble, but all things have to rely on me.
No Opponents, No Enemies Do not fight with heaven, do not fight with earth, do not fight with people. Be a part of the harmonious nature. Treat insults, defamation, slander, and spreading rumors as plants treat lightning, storms, severe cold and heat, without being moved, without refuting, without arguing, without reasoning.; treat harm, traps, exploitation, and oppression like cliffs treat tsunamis, the earth treats earthquakes, mountains treat volcanic eruptions, and rivers treat reverse stone flows, just ignore, do not fight back, do not get angry, do not retaliate.
Why not fight with heaven? Because people are just a tiny particle in the sky and the universe, pitiful and tiny. Although people call themselves the spirit of all things, they do not know how high the sky is, how big the universe is, where they come from, where they are going, when they will get sick, when they will die. We can’t control ourselves, can’t manage ourselves, how can we fight with heaven!
Why not fight with the earth? Everything on the earth is interconnected, relies on each other, causes and effects each other, and benefits each other. They are mutually beneficial biological plant chain, a perfect system. Any artificial transformation will take care of this and lose the other, destroying the ecological balance inside nature. You use pesticides to kill insects, which means that birds are gone, mountains become terraces and floods will flood, grasslands become farmland and dust fills the sky, deserts become oases and it will bring more severe heat and cold, pollute rivers, lakes and seas and diseases will be rampant, pollute the air and it is difficult to see white clouds and blue sky. Fighting with the earth is equivalent to digging your own grave and turning heaven into hell.
Why not fight with people?
Wronging others is a disaster, forgiving people is a blessing, confronting with people with no Tao in their heart, the result is self-harm. Those who fight people will be fought by people in the end, those who play people will be played by people in the end, those who kill people will be killed by people in the end, those who harm people will be harmed by people in the end, those who scold people will be scolded by people in the end.
Gain is loss, loss is gain. An iron law in the universe is: there is cause and effect, there is fruit and cause, there is loss and gain, there is gain and loss. You don’t need to fight with people, just let others bully you, just like Jesus said, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him too.”
Ignorant people are confused people, worldly people are scheming people, mortals are smart people, sages are wise people. Most of those who fight people are worldly people, and the final outcome of worldly people is very sad. It is not necessary to argue with them about merits and demerits, gains and losses. In addition, those who fight people have restless hearts, and it is difficult for them to perceive the Tao without a calm heart. If you do not retaliate after being harmed, there will be no worries. Without worries, one can be calm; calmness brings peace, balance, and clarity. One can perceive the Tao, pursue the Tao, attain the Tao, attaining the Tao can become a celestial, can enjoy eternity, why fight with people?
The retribution of cause and effect is precise to the smallest detail. Do not fight with people, just follow the Tao, leave the rest to the Tao to manage. The Tao is very fair and will not wrong people.
Do Not Show Ability
Ability refers to talent, intelligence, capability, brilliance, energy, function. The more ability a person has, the higher their value. Ability is like a colorful gem, it must be hidden and not shown off. You should let the world see that you are no different from others. Even if you have the talent of strategizing and gaining a decisive victory a thousand miles away and an ability to rule the country, you should also look at the world with cold eyes. Once your abilities are revealed, you will become a slave to your own abilities, and you will be enslaved by relatives, others, and society. You will lose control over yourself, and you will have no leisure time to cultivate and improve yourself.
Of course, this is not to say that you should not use your ability or ignore your relatives and friends. If you want to help people, it is best to do it in a way that people can’t see or touch, mobilize the energy of the negative universe, make their work smooth, make their family harmonious and happy, make their life safe. Helping people, and not letting people know, is the way to cultivate one’s virtue.
It is particularly important to emphasize that during your cultivation, self-improvement, perceiving Tao, and attainment of the Tao, your body is undergoing changes, especially as your mind power becomes stronger and stronger, purer and purer, closer and closer to one, like a piece of ordinary iron, through continuous magnetization, the molecules inside are constantly arranged in one direction, gradually generating attraction and repulsion, at this time it is not a piece of ordinary iron, but a magnet. Similarly, during your cultivation, there will be some special functions that you can’t imagine happening on your body, such as walking on the water surface, riding the clouds and mist, passing through the wall, moving things with your mind, which are all child’s play, invisibility, earth escape, transformation is not difficult. You hold an iron rod in your hand, let it bend, it will bend, let it straight, it will straight, you see a person, let him go, he will go, let him stop, he will stop, let him do what, he will do what. You really understand what is called “do whatever you want.”
Once you start to develop certain abilities, you must constantly remind yourself that you have a long journey ahead before you can transform into a celestial being. If you let your worldly desires take over and show off your abilities to the world at this point, you will deeply regret it. Many people fail at this stage in the process of becoming a celestial being. As for the reason, it is a secret of heaven that I cannot reveal. Because once revealed, it would be like leading a wolf into a flock of sheep, causing disaster to both humans and the celestial world. The higher the ability, the greater the destructive power.
Here, I want to emphasize once again that we should not cure diseases for others. As your abilities grow stronger, you will find it effortless to cure diseases (be it fractures, cancer, leukemia, or AIDS), even easier than a breath, and you could even resurrect the recently deceased. So why can’t we cure diseases for others? Because all diseases, whether inherited, acquired, caused by accidents, or infectious, are self-inflicted. This is an order in what seems to be chaos, accident, coincidence, misfortune, and ill fate. You reap what you sow, and there is a reason behind every event in the world. The retribution of cause and effect is an iron law in the universe. There is a cause for every effect, and an effect for every cause. The bigger the cause, the bigger the effect; the smaller the cause, the smaller the effect. There is no effect without a cause, and no cause without an effect. Everything is inevitable, there is absolutely no accident. What we call an accident is the understanding we get when we can’t find the cause behind it, which is a mistaken and helpless understanding. Everything in the universe is orderly, and order is inevitability.
So where is the cause of the disease? Hereditary diseases (congenital diseases) are caused by our ancestors. The ancestors’ defiance of the Tao is the cause, and the suffering of the descendants is the effect. The previous generation planted trees, and the next generation enjoyed the shade. The previous generation committed sins, and the next generation suffered. How do diseases in real life come about? Overeating, irregular living, indulging in joy, exhausting labor, too much talk, worry, affection, desire, and greed can all lead to abnormal operation of certain organs and parts of the body, causing pain and disease. A small part of infectious diseases is caused by nature, and the vast majority are caused by society, and are also self-made by people. Air, flies, and mosquitoes themselves will not infect you with diseases. In general, 10% of diseases are caused by ancestors, 80% are self-made, 9% are collectively made by humans, and 1% are caused by order. Since the disease is self-made, people should suffer from the disease. Through the torment of disease, people can gain wisdom and know where they have gone too far and should stop; through the torment of disease, people can reduce the heart of striving for fame and profit and increase the intention of transcending the mundane; through the torment of disease, they can wake up the people around them and the world to prevent them from happening. If you use special functions to cure it, you will not achieve the above effects. In addition, suffering from disease is a form of repaying debts. If you have own heaven, own the earth, own people, own society, own nature, blaspheme the Greatest Creator and insult Buddha, you have to repay it. The more you suffer, the lighter your debt. The smoother and flatter your path to becoming a celestial.
I say this, not to ask you not to treat the disease when you have it. When you have a disease, you not only need to treat it, but also need to treat it in time. You need to ask a doctor to treat it. The doctor treating diseases is in line with the Tao, but the more important thing is that you need to prevent it yourself and learn to keep in good health.
Pay Attention to the Micro, Weak, and Small The micro world is larger, more complex, and stronger than the macro world. It’s hard to understand the Tao without noticing the subtle. The concept of “constant dripping wears away a stone” and “sawing through wood with a rope” are macroscopic, while the micro things and influences are invisible and intangible. A towering tree starts from a tiny sprout, a skyscraper starts from a pile of earth, profound morality comes from every word and deed, every smile and movement, disasters and blessings start from a thought in the heart. So don’t seek the big, just seek the small, don’t seek the obvious, just seek the subtle, don’t seek the strong, just seek the weak, don’t seek the hard, just seek the soft.
Do Your Best To cultivate to become a celestial, one must first cultivate to be a human. Human cultivation requires doing one’s best, doing one’s best is for being free from cares and worries, and being free from cares and worries leads to becoming a celestial.
The primary duty of doing one’s best is to respect one’s parents. It’s hard to become a person without filial piety. You grew up sucking your parents’ milk, and your parents poured all their heart and blood into your growth process. They were frightened for you and spent countless sleepless nights for you. The selflessness of human beings is most perfectly and vividly embodied in the way parents treat their children. Whether you want to cultivate to become a celestial to unite with Tao, to become a monk to cultivate to become a Buddha, to serve the country, or to make a career; whether you throw your head and shed blood for your children, or travel north and south for love and friendship; whether you stride in palaces and courtyards, or are stranded at the ends of the earth, you should first put your parents in your heart. Even if you have a thousand reasons and ten thousand excuses, it’s hard to avoid the blame and escape the sin of unfilial piety.
Doing your best is not about quantity or quality, but about exerting your utmost effort. When your parents are alive, you should do your utmost to fulfill your filial duties. After your parents pass away, there should be no guilt or regret in your heart, and you can be free of worries, having fulfilled your obligations towards your parents. Respecting your parents is for the sake of upholding the Tao, regardless of your parents’ attitude towards you, how much they love you, your economic situation, or the physical distance between you and your parents.
The next priority is to raise your children. Children are an extension of yourself, and about 20% of a child’s destiny is in the hands of their parents. Whether you planned well, hoped for, or were mindless and casual, once a child is born, you must take full responsibility until the child reaches the age of 18. If a son is not taught, it is the father’s fault; if a daughter is not taught, it is the mother’s laziness. You must give up your own leisure and entertainment time, the pursuit of fame and profit, and pour your heart and blood into the upbringing, training, and education of your children. Only in this way can you fulfill your obligations towards your children.
The third duty is to do your best towards your spouse, siblings, relatives and friends, neighbors and society, plants and insects, birds and beasts, and livestock, so as to have no regrets in your heart.
The fourth duty is to do your best for yourself. Before becoming a, you are after all a mortal with many desires. If you can recognize the harm of desire, it can be self-transformed. If you fail to recognize its harm and forcibly restrain it, it will backfire. For example, when your sexual desire is strong and you cannot calm down to practice cultivation, you might seek a prostitute to calm your body and mind. If you see others gambling and feel an itch in your heart, then go and gamble in a game and experience the feelings of self-blame, self-hate, and guilt when losing. If you find drinking interesting, then get drunk once until you vomit. If you find others playing mahjong interesting, then play it once all night until your face turns green, your muscles shake, and your whole body feels numb. If you feel that swearing is satisfying, then go ahead and swear once, regardless of the consequences, until people think you are vulgar and unbearable, and look at you with contempt. If you’ve heard that cockroach meat is delicious, then have a feast until you feel nauseous and want to vomit.
Desire is very tempting before it is realized. Only after satisfaction, will you find it tasteless, not valuable, not worth bothering about, wasting time, and wasting money. Only when you have done your best for yourself and feel that there is nothing to regret, can you be free from cares and worries, and finally reach the state of no self. Otherwise, with a “self” in your heart, you cannot enter high-level cultivation.
While doing your best, you should learn to gradually give up. Analyze what factors consume your heart (life), harm your health, waste your time, waste your money, bind your freedom, and affect your development. Discard what is worthless, meaningless affairs, people, things, etiquette, traditions, habits, environments, bit by bit, gradually reduce. Affairs, like some meetings, people, like those complaining about the sky and people, love to complain, friends that love to talk about right and wrong, things, like non-practical decorations, etiquette, like birthday gifts, traditions, like celebrating holidays, habits, like smoking, environments, like too much noise, too much right and wrong, places where you don’t like to live and work, etc., etc. Finally, you can reach the state of physical and mental freedom, unrestrained, despise the world, and yearn for the fairyland.
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