The Unity of Opposites Is the Image of The Universe, Not Its Essence

Xuefeng

From the perspective of appearance, the universe embodies its opposition everywhere: truth and falsehoods, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, positive and negative, light and dark, yin and yang, prosperity and adversity, dynamic and static, superior and inferior, noble and lowly, rich and poor, life and death, front and back, big and small, good and bad, etc.

But the "Mobius Strip" tells us that there is only unity in the universe but no opposition to it.

Who can tell which is the front side and which is the back side of the "Möbius Strip"? It has only one side, or in other words, there is a back side to the front side of the "Möbius Strip", and there is a front side to the back side of it. The front and the back side are perfectly intertwined and indistinguishable. Consider below the unity of opposites under conventional thinking.

Up and down: Common sense believes that the top of the mountain is up, and the foot of the mountain is down; the leaders are up and the masses are down; the sun is up and the earth is down; the head is up and the feet are down; the river has upstream and downstream. Unconventional thinking believes that there is no up and down in the universe, and that up and down is just a matter of concept. For example, the sun and the earth, from the perspective of the solar system, has no distinction of up and down, just the changing of positions; is there up and down on the earth? The South Pole and the North Pole, which pole is up and which pole is down? Look at the globe. Assuming that the surface of the earth is full of people, can you tell who is on top and who is on the bottom? Of course, we cannot. If we keep shrinking the earth to nothing, then all people on the earth will stand foot-to-foot, with their heads in the opposite direction. Now, who can tell whether the head is on top or the feet are on top? Of course, no one can. In the same way, is the top of the mountain up or the foot of the mountain up? Regardless of the direction, as long as we walk along a straight line, we will eventually return to the starting point. So, does the river have upstream and downstream? The masses can have no leaders, but the leaders must have masses. Then, are the masses at the top or are the leaders at the top?

To have or not: Is there anything in the universe? In spring, flowers of all kinds are in bloom in the garden, contending in beauty and fascination, and in winter, what is left in the garden? Where are the dinosaurs? Where are our ancestors? If the earth is hit by a laser beam from outer space, it will vanish instantly, and everything on the earth, including the earth itself, will disappear, what else do you have? Since elementary school, we have been struggling and striving, in pursuit of possessions, but what do we get after death? A good name forever? Prosperous descendants? Immortal accomplishments? If the earth shakes, will these things still exist?

From a transcendental point of view, the more you pursue possessions, the result will be that you will own nothing; the more you pursue no possessions, the result will be that you will own everything. Shakyamuni, Jesus, Laozi, etc. did not pursue possessions, but they own everything; thieves, liars, and corrupt officials are trying their best to pursue possessions, but they have nothing. If a peasant doesn’t stop appropriately and think about his situation, he will always be a peasant; if a worker does not stop and look around, he will always be a worker. If a person does not calm down and perceive, he will always be a human. There is everything in emptiness, and there is emptiness in everything. I once asked a friend to give up everything and practice Taoism with me, but he couldn't let go of everything he had. He also wanted to glorify his ancestors and leave a good name for posterity. Watching him fall into human society and plunge into the real void, I could do nothing. With obstructed thinking, one is powerless. "The sea of bitterness is boundless, so repent and be saved". Here repenting is unconventional thinking.

Success and failure: There are no successes or failures in life. There are only different life trajectories. Success and failure are just the concepts of the laity. In the eyes of the laity, success is rank promoted, fortune made, and ancestors glorified. While failure is losing one’s official position, losing money, being laid off, and being divorced. But from the perspective of the ultimate goal of LIFE, only the eight immortals in the "eight immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers" are the winners.

Looking back at thousands of years of recorded human history, who was the winner? The Egyptian Pharaoh? Alexander? Caesar? Constantine? Charlemagne? Napoleon? King Arthur? Gregorian? Henry? Genghis Khan? Peter the Great? Washington? Lincoln? Hitler? Stalin? Gandhi? Mao Zedong? Bush? The heads of each state? Aristotle? Bacon? Dante? Columbus? Confucius? Martin Luther? Rousseau? Montesquieu? Voltaire? Marx? Darwin? Shakespeare? Newton? Einstein? Planck? Watson? Rockefeller? Bill Gates?

If these people are successful, then are the others losers? If the dispossessed, homeless beggars along the street are defined as losers, then are the rest winners?

Who is the winner? Who is the loser? Is there really a successful life? If there is no successful life, are all people failures?

“We annihilated 40,000 enemy troops; we succeeded!” Did you succeed because you killed 40,000 LIVES?

“I frustrated all the competitors, I succeeded!” Does it count as success by frustrating others?

“Dude, congratulations! We successfully robbed the Reserve Bank.”

“It's so comfortable! I succeeded in swindling him out of all his money.”

“You are so smart that you successfully transferred the company's property to your private account abroad.”

“We successfully blew up the World Trade Center.”

“We successfully released the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.”

“I successfully spread the SARS virus."

“I successfully cloned people, so that people don't know whose father he is or whose son he is.”

“We successfully discharged waste water into the river.” And so on.

Are these all successes?

The well-known Napoleon Hill wrote a book "the Law of Success". His book has been sold in more than 30 countries and more than 20 million copies in more than 20 languages. He himself is called "the creator of millionaires”.

Great! It's really great! But someone once said: "walk along an impeccable line of reasoning, everything is normal, but at the end you suddenly find yourself caught in a dilemma." I wonder if Mr. Hill has come to the end and found himself in a dilemma.

“The Law of Success” teaches people how to succeed, so does it mean that people who have not read "the Law of Success" are losers? At what level is one considered successful? How much wealth does one need to have to be counted as successful? How many bank robberies does it take to be considered a success? How many times can piracy be considered a success? How many rivers should one pollute to be considered a success? How much money should one embezzle to be considered as a success? How many children should one have to be considered as successful? How many multinational group companies does one need to establish to be considered as successful?

If one side of a piece of paper is success and the other side is failure, then if this piece of paper is turned into a "Mobius strip", how do we distinguish between success and failure?

Gains and losses: gaining is losing; losing is gaining. The more you gain, the more you lose; the less you gain, the less you lose. Without losing, you will gain nothing; without gaining, you will lose nothing.

From middle school textbooks, we know the "Theorem of Indestructibility of Matter". Strictly speaking, it is not called the "Theorem of Indestructibility of Matter". It should be called the "Theorem of Indestructibility of Energy." Matter has birth and death, while energy is eternal in the universe.

Energy is conserved, that is, the energy in the universe is a definite number. Energy will neither increase nor decrease. As the energy on the earth increases, the energy on the sun decreases, the temperature of water increases, and the amount of fuel is reduced. The more one experiences in life, the shorter one’s life becomes; the more wisdom one has gotten, the whiter one’s hair will be.

Energy is a definite number, so what else is a definite number in the universe?

Within the current range of the solar system, the time sequence is a fixed number. The twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar set by Chinese sages: Beginning of Spring, Rain, Awakening of Insects, Spring Equinox, Qingming, Grain Rain, Start of Summer, Lesser Fullness, Grain in Ear, Summer Solstice, minor Heat, major heat, start of Autumn, End of Heat, White Dew, Autumn Equinox, Cold dew, Frost's Descent, Start of Winter, light snow, heavy snow, winter Solstice are fixed numbers; the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) and heavenly stems and earthly branches (Jia Yi Bing Ding Wu Ji Geng Xin Ren Kui, and Zi Chou Yin MAO Chen Si Wu Wei Shen You Xu Hai) and the Twelve Animal signs (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig) corresponding to each year, month, day, and hour are all definite numbers. The method of choosing the day of good fortune and bad fortune in The Art of Becoming Invisible -- Daoist magic, which was calculated from the primordial eight trigrams by Wenwang of the Zhou Dynasty and was later used by Jiang Ziya, Zhang Liang, and Zhuge Liang is a definite number.

The earth’s moving trajectory and rotation speed are fixed numbers, the waxing and waning of the moon is a fixed number, the ocean’s ebb and flow is a fixed number, women’s menstrual cycles are a fixed number, and the lifespan of animals and plants is a fixed number (an elephant will not live 300 years, a poplar tree will not grow for three hundred years). The dry and rainy seasons in Zimbabwe are fixed numbers. The mineral resources and water volume on the earth are fixed numbers. The number of hairs a person can grow is a fixed number. The ratio of height to the maximum distance between the two middle fingers is a fixed number. The number of legs and the number of heads a human has is a fixed number.

Springs have an elastic limit, steel has a fatigue limit, various objects have a limit of motion, animals and plants have a growth limit, and all artificial products have a maximum service life. No matter how good the car is, after running for a certain number of kilometers, it is bound to be eliminated and scrapped.

Within a certain altitude, the temperature at which water boils is a fixed number, and the temperature at which it freezes is also a fixed number, the ignition point of various substances is a fixed number, the saturation of various compounds is a fixed number, the composition ratio of various colors is a fixed number, the travelling speed of sound is a fixed number, and the frequency of the sound that humans can hear and the wavelength of the light that human eyes can see are fixed numbers.

Everything within the range of rational numbers is a definite number. The amount of money, the length of life, the height of rank, the size of influence, etc. are all within the range of rational numbers, so they are all fixed numbers. Everything about humans is within the range of rational numbers, so everything about humans is definite. Everything that changes with time and space is within the range of rational numbers and is definite.

Is everything in the range of irrational numbers not definite? The most famous irrational number is Pi, Pi=3141592653589......, the other is the golden ratio Phi, Phi=1.61803398874989484821...... These are two of the infinite mysteries of the universe that ordinary people know, but where is their ending? Are they also limited by time and space?

As a Chinese Taoist saying goes, "Heaven's secrets should never be revealed." Secular people use this sentence to keep secrets. In fact, the essence of this sentence refers to the development trend and definite number of things within the scope of irrational numbers.

Long-term unconventional thinking can lead to one's spiritual transcendence. After transcending the regular ethics, one can realize many "heavenly secrets". Heavenly secrets can be leaked, the key is to whom should they be leaked? Jesus taught us: "Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the hogs." The "Yellow Emperor's Hidden Talisman Classic" says: "After realizing the heavenly secret, virtuous people will settle down and practice it, while the villains will get carried away and act rashly and even ruin their destinies. The Tao Te Ching said: "the Main path (Tao, Heavenly Secrets) is easy to walk on, yet people love the small by-paths." " He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know." Those who understand the secrets of Heaven know the art of non-action, but if they reveal these secrets to ordinary people, it will lead to the downfall of “unwise individuals who act recklessly and perish prematurely”. - Chuang Tzu. Shakyamuni once said to Subhuti: " The Tathagata expounds it to those initiated into the Mahayana and the Supreme Yana." “Those who take delight in the Hinayana (Theravada) and hold the view of an ego, a personality, a being and a life, cannot listen to, receive, hold (in mind), read and recite this sutra and explain it to others."

The heavenly secret is not forbidden to be divulged; the key is that it will lead to a bad result if it is divulged. If I say: "What can be imagined in the human brain is real." This will cause countless people to go astray. If you suddenly give a poor man a million ounces of gold, he will be restless both day and night. He has to guard against thieves and robbers; he has to deal with his neighbors and friends borrowing money from him, and the many demands of kinsfolks and relatives; he has to deal with the local bureaucrats’ apportionment as well as the advice and suggestions of "good-hearted people" and "gentlemen", which will end up hurting him. So, I have to say, what I said is all nonsense.

Although "the heavenly secrets cannot be leaked", I can reveal a little information from the irrational numbers Pi (pi) and Phi (golden ratio). One is the universe is infinite and LIFE is infinite. The second is, as a person, one’s LIFE is a finite cycle, but once the LIFE goes beyond the category of a rational number, it enters the range of an irrational number, his LIFE becomes infinite and non-repeating. It is like what is said in the Buddhist scripture: "beyond the Three Realms, and no longer subject to the Five Elements". It is also like speed. If the speed of an object is less than 7900 m/s, it can only live on the earth, but if it is greater than or equal to 7900 m/s but less than 11180 m/s, it can fly around the earth, but once its speed exceeds 11180 m/s, it can get rid of the gravitational restraint of the earth, and it enters the huge solar system. When its speed exceeds 16,670 m/s, it can freely enter the vast galaxy and experience the galaxy’s various appearances and exceeding fascination and charm. The third is, time only exists in the world of rational numbers, there is no time in the world of irrational numbers.

The wisdom of ordinary people has developed from natural numbers to irrational numbers, which can be said has reached its limit. If it develops further, it will enter the field of complex numbers, which is the field of thinking of gods and Buddhas. For example, the imaginary number 1 is not of the wisdom that ordinary people can understand, because imaginary numbers have "illusory" properties, you cannot find a practical example in the material world. Although imaginary numbers are used in electrical engineering and quantum mechanics, they are just "a drop in the bucket" of imaginary numbers, which is still polar away from the correct and comprehensive understanding of imaginary numbers.

Let's put aside irrational numbers and complex numbers. Within the range of rational numbers, everything has a definite number. As far as people are concerned, the number of things everyone owns has been limited in their own LIFE structure, just like the amount of water on the earth. If there is more water in the ocean, there will be less water in lakes and rivers, or less water in glaciers, or less groundwater. It is impossible to increase everywhere, because the amount of water on the earth is a fixed number, a constant.

The things one can own in life are definite numbers, such as health, longevity, beauty, wealth, reputation, freedom, happiness, wisdom, safety, children, etc. If the number of a person's possessions is set as 1, then each factor (assumed to be 10) accounts for 0.1, these factors are all on a very sensitive polyhedral seesaw, when beauty is greater than 0.1, the amount of health will be less than 0.1, or the share of reputation will decrease; when the amount of wealth is greater than 0.1, the quantity of freedom or happiness will decrease; and when the knowledge increases, the life span may become shorter and shorter. In a word, if one factor increases, the other or several other factors will decrease, and the total amount remains unchanged at 1. The definite number of people cannot be limited to a few years, decades, or hundreds of years, otherwise, your understanding will go astray.

Some people may use examples from real society to deny this theorem, and ask, how do you explain a person who became a high-ranking official and made a fortune, has many wives and concubines, lives a long and healthy life, has a good reputation, and has many children and grandchildren?

This involves the transformation of time and space and LIFE structure.

God Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: " But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation." (Luke 6:24.)

Buddha Shakyamuni said: "“Furthermore, Subhuti, if a virtuous man or woman receives, holds (in mind), reads and recites this sutra and is despised by others, this person who is bound to suffer from evil destinies in retribution for his past sins, and whose karmic Sins are now eradicated by the others' contempt, will attain Supreme Enlightenment (Anuttarasamyak-sambodhi)." ("Diamond Sutra" chapter 16: karmic obstructions can be purified.)

Immortal Laozi said: " When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a (previous) expiration; when he is going to weaken another, he will first strengthen him; when he is going to overthrow another, he will first have raised him up; when he is going to despoil another, he will first have made gifts to him." ("Tao De Jing" Chapter 36)

To sum up the teachings of gods, Buddhas and immortals, it means that if you get more in this life, there will be less in your next life. If you suffer in this life, you will enjoy happiness and blessedness in the next life. If you are overspending from your bank account, you will have no money to use at critical times. If Tao wants to restrain you, it must first expand you; to weaken you, it must first strengthen you; to discard you, it must first make you prosper; to take away your blessings, it will first give you temporary enjoyment.

In short, no matter where you go, what you own will always be 1.

In my opinion, those who are rich and powerful are very poor, and their prospects are very worrying, while those who are suffering, although their lives are extremely difficult, their prospects are very splendid.

This is the paradox, which is hard to understand, because of the lack of examples in reality. If I say: "people enjoy blessings today because they accumulated virtues in their previous lives, and they are enjoying the blessings they gained by self-improvement in their previous lives." It is hard for people to believe it because few people know their own past life and future life, let alone other people's past lives and future lives. Without unconventional thinking, we cannot make the connection between the past life, the present life, and the next life just like we can't organically combine the front side with the back side.

The most valuable and meaningful life is one where you give more and enjoy less. People may be unfair to you, but heaven (the Greatest Creator) never will.

Above I only gave examples of oppositions of up and down, having and not having, success and failure, gain and loss. From which we can see that opposition is the appearance of the universe, while unity is the essence of the universe.