Thirty-Six Eight-diagrams of Time: The Array of Time

Xuefeng

Does time truly exist? What exactly is time? Why do things undergo the cycle of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness? Why do humans experience birth, aging, sickness, and death? Is everything an illusion, or does it truly exist?

First, let’s examine the prophecies and their fulfillment in the Bible.

“I will scatter you among the nations…” (Leviticus 26:33)

The Jews will be persecuted among the “nations.” (Leviticus 26:38-39)

“I will gather you from the nations and bring you back to your own land.” (Ezekiel 36:24)

These prophecies were made over two thousand years ago. When we look back at the history of the Jewish people, we find that they lost their homeland and were scattered among the “nations.” Later, whether it was in Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, France, England, or in Spain, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, and other “nations,” the Jews suffered brutal persecution. The persecution suffered by the Jews during World War II was even more severe. Before 1948, Jews gathered from various “nations” to the Palestinian territories and officially established the State of Israel in May 1948, fulfilling the above prophecies.

Next, let’s look at the prophecies made by the French physician Nostradamus in “The Centuries” over 400 years ago.

The Century III, Quatrain 92

The world near the last period, Saturn will come back again late: Empire transferred towards the Dusky nation, The eye plucked out by the Goshawk at Narbonne

The Century VI, Quatrain 10

In a short time, the temples with colors Of white and black of the two intermixed: Red and yellow ones will carry off theirs from them, Blood, land, plague, famine, fire extinguished by water.

This prophecy is being fulfilled. First, “Empire transferred towards the Dusky nation,” was fulfilled when the African American Barack Obama became president of the United States. " Of white and black of the two intermixed" was fulfilled when President Obama, a black man, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a white woman, “intermixed.” In this situation, other races cannot maintain their characteristics and positions. For example, the recent military exercises between South Korea, Japan, and the United States, Obama’s pledge to lead Asia at the ASEAN Summit, and since the beginning of this year, “blood, plague, famine, fire, and floods” have occurred everywhere.

Let’s look at the ancient Chinese prophecy, “The Inscription of the Jinling Pagoda.”

Jinling pagoda, Jinling pagoda, Liu Ji built it; Chiang Kai-shek demolished it. With the pagoda gone, the army and the people will slaughter each other.

The Jinling Pagoda, located on the outskirts of Nanjing, was constructed by Liu Bowen (also known as Liu Ji), a military strategist from the Ming Dynasty, approximately six hundred years ago. In 1918, when the Nationalist Army seized control of Nanjing, there were strange noises emanating from the pagoda. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek ordered its demolition. During the demolition process, the “Inscription of the Jinling Pagoda” was uncovered, thereby fulfilling the prophecy “Liu Ji built it, Chiang Kai-shek demolished it.” This prophecy, made six hundred years ago, foretold that Chiang Kai-shek would be the one to demolish the Jinling Pagoda.

There are also prophecies such as Liu Bowen’s “Song of Shaobing (Baked cake in griddle),” Shao Yong’s “Poem of Plum Blossom,” Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang’s “Pushing Back,” Zhuge Liang’s “Lesson before Horse,” Jiang Taigong’s " Song of Heaven and Earth for Thousands of Years," Master Bu Xu’s prophecy poem, " Poem of Zen Master Huang Tiller," Li Chunfeng’s “Hidden Head Poem,” and so on, most of which have been fulfilled.

Especially noteworthy is the “Prophecy Poem of Master Bu Xu,” which mentions “iron birds soaring in the sky, the southeast completely destroyed.” Bu Xu was a great general in the Sui Dynasty, over a thousand years ago. There were no airplanes in his era, yet he “saw” airplanes and called them “iron birds,” showing how accurate his prophecy was.

Hundreds of years ago, over a thousand years ago, over two thousand years ago, being able to accurately predict the future state, what do these facts illustrate?

They illustrate that time does not exist; time is just an illusion for humans. Or rather, time is just a recorder of material movement states, and time itself does not play any role in the development and change of things.

How to understand?

Everything has already been arranged. Even the names of people have been arranged. For example, (Chiang) Kai-shek. The “Inscription of the Jinling Pagoda” already knew six hundred years ago that someone named (Chiang) Kai-shek would demolish the Jinling Pagoda.

What does this mean?

It means that the entire universe, the entire development and change of humanity, has already been written as a script. The locations, characters, events, and plots are all written in the script. Everything is unfolding according to the script. Even every person’s experiences of birth, aging, sickness, and death, joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, all within the fixed number, all within the program, all within the pre-arranged plot.

If you still don’t understand, please find a long novel. Flip to page 81 and see what the plot is on that page. Suppose that page is your present. Then, if you randomly flip to any page before or after, you will find that everything about you has already been arranged in the novel, and everything is being performed according to the plot of the novel. The entire history of mankind is also like this.

If it were not pre-arranged, then no prophecy would be accurate, and no great prophet would be able to predict what would happen the next day, let alone predict the situation decades, hundreds, or thousands of years later.

Time does not exist. Anyone can go back to their past or run to their future, just like flipping through a long novel at will. If you want to flip to a certain page, you can flip to that page. Those who can do this have opened the Buddha’s eye and are Buddhas. Those who cannot do this have not yet opened the Buddha’s eye and have not yet become Buddhas. In fact, whether one is a Buddha or not has already been arranged. It’s just that one is lost in the array of time and cannot experience the state of Buddha.

I have already analyzed that in the universe, except for one accident, the rest are all inevitable.

That is to say, the current situation of each of us has already been arranged in the script, and how it will be in the future must also be performed according to the plot of the script, and we cannot help ourselves. To put it further, every person we meet, every event we encounter, the joys and sorrows, separations and reunions of our lives, how our eating, clothing, housing, and transportation, birth, aging, sickness, and death occur, how they change, and how they end, are all arranged in the program. In fact, we are powerless and can only face it.

Therefore, a contradiction arises. Since everything is predetermined, scripted, and programmed, and individual powerlessness, then what’s the point of cultivation, accumulating merits to repay karmic debts and accumulate treasures in the kingdom of heaven, or building one’s own spiritual garden before 2013, etc.? Xuefeng’s guidance is also unnecessary, and the Chanyuan value is contradictory.

It is contradictory indeed, but also not contradictory at all. Because I have already said, everything is a game, only LIFE is real. We should take things as they are, associate with others by following natural come-and-go relations, act in accordance with one’s intrinsic nature, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Dharma sets no rules; it is ever changing; form has no set shape; non-form is form; and there are mysteries within mysteries, and there are exceptions to the rules. More importantly, we must act according to the script.

Once one achieves enlightenment and becomes a Buddha, or ascends to become a Celestial Being, time ceases to exist. Prior to reaching such a state, every individual is caught within the time array. We often find ourselves reminiscing about the past and anticipating the future. We frequently experience joy or distress about our current circumstances, and we feel either calm or anxious, content or fearful. We often worry and feel anxious about the wrinkles forming on our foreheads and the gradual sagging of our skin as we age.

The concepts of past, present, and future; yesterday, today, and tomorrow; past life, present life, and next life; youth, adulthood, and old age - all these are part of the time array. We are all trapped within this time array, unable to extricate ourselves or transcend it. We often lament the swift passage of time, the loss of our youth, and find ourselves racing against the clock, working around the clock. We frequently regret the past and feel melancholic about the future. All these are the results of being caught in the time array.

Time is illusory, a misconception of the mind. Like capturing our youth and vitality on a DVD, if we keep it safe, no matter how many thousands of years later we play it back, we will still be in our prime. Our current situation is similar to playing a DVD, but we are unable to do so ourselves.

Why can’t we look back on our past and future? Because we are confined within the time array! We are actors, not playwrights or directors!

Only by escaping the time array can we be free from its constraints and enter the eternal kingdom of freedom to fully enjoy the pleasures of LIFE.

How to escape the time array?

Anyone who wants to escape from the program, to escape from the plot, is impossible. Otherwise, people would enter the time tunnel to kill their own mothers and escape the script directly to the Pure Land or the Celestial Islands Continent. However, you can step out of yourself and transcend yourself to observe yourself. Make a DVD for yourself, then play it on the TV or computer and watch yourself. How does it feel?

Pre-set yourself in the Thousand-year World, the Ten-thousand-year World, the Elysium Celestial Islands Continent, and then watch yourself in the world as if watching a movie. This is the wonderful method of escaping the time array.

Once you escape the time array and observe yourself, at that moment, all aspects of life resemble acting in a play. Whether you’re playing the role of a great person or a commoner; whether you’re portraying a wealthy individual or a beggar; whether you’re acting as a tour guide or a Chanyuan celestial; whether you’re playing the role of an aggressor or a victim; whether you’re portraying a young person or an old person - it’s all the same. It’s all just a game, just acting. There’s nothing to be distressed, worried, resentful, anxious, fearful, or afraid of. Even if the character in the script dies, it doesn’t matter, because we still exist!

Want to stay forever young? You can! Want to grow old forever? You can! Want to be in love and enter the bridal chamber every day? You can! The key is to distinguish between yourself in the plot and your true self.

The self in the plot is the one who is currently watching the Time Array of the Thirty-Six Eight-diagram Arrays. The true self is the one described in the Heart Sutra, the one in the Celestial Islands Continent, the Buddha! The Nature! The Celestial Being!

Can’t break free? Don’t worry, breaking free from the time array is a matter of thinking. Please continue along the tour guide route map, and one day you will see the light and understand everything.

Yay!