Chapter 33: Breaking The Cocoon, Transforming Into A Butterfly
To tell you the truth, true cultivation is very different from what the masses perceive as cultivation.
Many people talk about Nirvana rebirth after enduring suffering.
That after something, something, something, things will be better.
And then there’s all this torment and pain, like being skinned alive.
To be honest, none of that is anything; it’s merely a temporary circumstance, and it’s just that you can’t get over that hurdle in your heart. Over time, it slowly fades.
True cultivation, Nirvana rebirth, breaking free like a butterfly from its cocoon, is actually about completely shattering and subverting your thinking habits and cognition.
If you compare this thinking, this thought, this notion to the human soul.
Then cultivation is the complete shattering and reorganization of this soul.
What is rebirth?
It is to extinguish the original self and then create a new self.
Breaking illusions is not simply thinking differently from others, nor is it about how unconventional your cognition is, or comparing who is superior or inferior.
It is about you completely shattering your entire thinking pattern; those who haven’t experienced this torment can’t imagine it at all.
The simplest method for breaking illusions is to view all sentient beings as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as those who have come to save you and test you.
Simple words, right? How many people can truly achieve this?
Do you know how awkward and unacceptable it was for me to do this?
Clearly, others provoked me, yet in my heart, I couldn’t argue, I had to thank them, and I had to treat them as Bodhisattvas. My goodness, that’s not something an ordinary person can do.
A thing or two is fine, but it needs to be viewed this way for every single matter.
What about ants, mosquitoes, people, even a plant? If you view them all this way, can you imagine what that state would be like?
A chaotic and annoyed mind, this chaos and annoyance are tests from the Bodhisattvas, testing whether you can avoid being irritated and emotional.
It’s like gritting your teeth and swallowing it down hard, all while saying it’s really good.
This kind of pain is not about something being difficult to accept or feeling suffering, but about things that are impossible in the eyes of ordinary people.
I endured that process.
Genuinely treat everything as a trial, treat all sentient beings as Bodhisattvas, including parents and family, treat them all equally as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Of course, they are not always in the form of a Bodhisattva; when someone helps you, it is the manifestation of the Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves from suffering and difficulty; when someone gives you money or lends you money, it is the manifestation of the God of Wealth, and so on.
I don’t know many gods and buddhas, so my differentiation is simple; they are all Bodhisattvas.
Arguing with people is a test from the Bodhisattva to see if I can control my heart; they are helping me train so I am not influenced by external forms, to see if I can avoid emotions and instead see another side.
After persevering for a while and forming a habit,
your cognitive perception undergoes a drastic change; regarding this world, original people, the entire environment, everything you see and what happens, the answers in your heart are no longer the same as before.
Suddenly, it’s like falling into a strange world, and in this world, everyone seems like a puppet or a machine.
Everyone is operating according to a pattern, when to be happy, when to be sad, what to think about, all within this pattern.
The sense of loneliness in my heart is extremely strong; I really want to wake up the people around me, but I can’t. Instead, they think you’ve become a bit strange.
It is only then that you truly understand the profound meaning of the saying that you are the only one in the world, and you also know why some people compare life to a game, with most people being NPCs besides yourself.
Think about it, if you can see everyone’s thought patterns, and know what they should be thinking about and what they should be doing according to the pattern, what do you think that feels like?
In front of you, a person, a single sentence, even an expression, you can guess about 80% of what they want to convey.
Also, you can deliberately say things to guide them to say what you want them to say, or to lead them in a certain direction of thought.
It’s completely meaningless.
Seemingly magical, but all are minor techniques, the principle is super simple.
First, you analyze the person’s personality through details, then, based on this personality, you figure out how to communicate with them, to get them to say what you want to know, or to guide them to think about something.
You even know how to express yourself to make a person happy, and how to express yourself to make them suffer.
You can even use this method to control people’s emotions.
Sometimes, you don’t even need to look at their personality because ordinary people’s thought patterns are the same.
For example, if a close friend dies, they will definitely be sad; if they win the lottery, they will definitely be happy.
Sometimes, these don’t even need to actually happen; you just need to suggest that they think in that direction, and they will naturally develop emotions.
Simple principle, right?
They have many distracting thoughts, they can’t help but ramble, with all sorts of emotions intertwined, making them feel uncomfortable, and they can’t find any problems at the hospital.
Then you hint to them, tell them that they have a predestined connection, that it’s the immortals behind them who are testing them, that they need to perform spirit mediumship and establish a shrine, and that they need to provide a home for the old immortal to get better.
Then they can’t come up with any other reason, and when they recall their discomfort and inexplicable symptoms, they don’t disbelieve, but they don’t know what’s going on.
One person says no, but everyone says it. As they think about it, they believe it.
Then, with a flourish, you perform a set of illusions, chattering away earnestly and formally, making them deeply convinced.
Once they believe, their hearts become stable.
It’s all like this, exploiting the patterns of the human heart.
The human heart has a peculiar pattern: the more you believe in something, the more it becomes real.
Otherwise? We all live on the same planet; do you have the Heavenly Court here and they have Heaven over there?
Do you have the Underworld here and they have Hell over there?
You have these gods here, and they have those gods there.
If you go and believe in their side, then your cognition will have their side; if they come to your side and believe, their cognition will have your side.
This is due to cultural attributes, just like if you were thrown abroad and raised, you would become a foreigner, and you would never believe in the existence of the Underworld. You wouldn’t believe in the God of Wealth either.
Similarly, if a foreigner were raised here, their cognition would not include foreign angels or anything like that.
Humans are such beings that form different cognitions under different cultural attributes.
A frog in a well doesn’t know how vast the sky is, a sheep in a pen doesn’t know the existence of grasslands, and a slaughtered pig doesn’t know that the person who ultimately killed it was its adoptive father.
If I tell a frog that the sky is vast, it won’t believe me, but if I tell it that this well is the best place in the world, it will believe me wholeheartedly.
I tell the sheep that there are grasslands outside, and the sheep might call me foolish, but if I say that sheep should live in pens, it will strongly agree.
Similarly, people are like this; it is difficult for people to recognize things beyond their own cognition.
When they don’t understand, they will blindly believe in certain things.
A cultivator borrows your inherent blindness to help you overcome your difficulties.
Because blind belief is also a form of believing in oneself.
