Chapter 4: My Thoughts Are Not Truly Me
Because the cognition of the masses, or the difference in cultural attributes, leads to different understandings of the same thing.
There is interconnectivity, but no complete sameness.
After a Daoist cultivator achieves a certain level, the Master will assign spirit soldiers for the disciple to command.
After a Spirit Medium achieves a certain level, various immortal families will also be arranged to accompany them.
In fact, these are essentially the same thing; the difference arises from two different cognitions.
Our traditional Daoism actually has no gods. The deities worshipped are people who were famous in a certain era and were later deified and worshipped by descendants.
Spirit Mediumship combines some similar behaviors and also adds Buddhist statues, animals, spirits, and the clear wind.
Buddhism is inherently atheistic. The word “Buddha” translated means awareness and enlightenment, describing an awakened person.
Temples are established for two reasons: firstly, to better promote Buddhist Dharma, and secondly, to use the desires of ordinary people to guide sentient beings toward positive development.
When a person loses faith in themselves but believes in Buddha, they go to a temple, buy incense, and pray for Buddha’s blessings. Because they believe in Buddha, they regain self-confidence.
This type of situation is the same in Daoist temples or Spirit Medium halls.
When a person is at a loss, their mind is unsettled. They need to use this method to stabilize their mind.
Once the mind is stable, all matters will undergo a transformation.
In reality, human beings are inherently powerful and possess strong healing abilities. Often, when people seek medical treatment and take medicine, it’s not the medicine that heals them, but rather the medicine conditions the body’s state, accelerating the body’s recovery.
For a long time, whenever I had a severe cold, no matter if I took medicine or got injections, I wouldn’t get better. So, I’d just say “screw it,” have a beer, and feel great, doing whatever I pleased. Then, I’d find myself recovered in a couple of days.
Later, I pondered why drinking alcohol helped me recover when I was sick. After much thought, I understood the reason: every time I drank alcohol, I urinated more frequently, and my body would feel warm. In a sense, this accelerated my metabolism, allowing my body to expel some viruses more quickly. （ A friendly reminder here: individual states vary, and this method is not for everyone. Do not try this; I am only recounting an experience, not advocating for drinking. Some people may worsen their condition by drinking when ill, so it is absolutely not to be emulated. ）
To me now, whether I see a high monk, a high Daoist, or an old spirit medium, in my perception, they are all ordinary people. Their cognitive patterns are simply different from those of ordinary people.
For example, someone might have a headache or fever that various hospitals cannot cure. In desperation, they seek help from individuals involved in cultivation and metaphysics. These individuals help by performing exorcisms or rituals. In essence, the principle is to alter the person’s energy state through language, suggestions, and ritualistic actions to aid the patient’s recovery. Such people are akin to traditional psychologists.
For example, if you are deeply in love with someone and fall into despair, a hospital diagnosis might say you have depression.
You find a magician who tells you that person is suppressing you. This direct approach can help you overcome your predicament more quickly.
Cultivators often compare negative energy to unseen forces like ghosts or demons.
Sometimes, they even use props to help people. Look at those selling magic tools online, like “mountain ghost flower money” or “Fifth Master.”
When these streamers broadcast, they start gritting their teeth, farting, burping, and popping corn. From an ordinary person’s perspective, these individuals are clearly mentally ill. From a believer’s perspective, they are magical.
However, you cannot deny that what you buy is not created by them but obtained from manufacturers or wholesalers. By burning incense, spitting water, tapping the table, and stomping their feet in front of idols, they imbue these magic tools with different meanings.
Then they sell them to you at various price points, from tens to hundreds or even thousands.
They instill the cognition that you are not buying but “inviting,” making you firmly believe that what you have purchased possesses magical energy after spending money.
Do you understand now? Buying magic tools is the same principle as burning incense and worshiping gods and Buddhas.
I cannot say that their actions are wrong. From a certain perspective, they are indeed helping people. However, from a normal perspective, these “seven great immortals and eight great gods” are doing the same thing as a sales streamer, merely cloaking themselves in a different guise. It’s a matter of “benevolence sees benevolence, wisdom sees wisdom.” If you believe it’s real, then it is; if you believe it’s not, then it isn’t. This is the reason for different cognitions.
Worldly people often use a common saying to explain this: “If you believe, it exists; if you don’t, it doesn’t.”
That is to say, the more you believe in something, the more it exists. In reality, disbelief is also another form of belief.
Why is disbelief also another form of belief? Consider this: believing something is fake versus believing it is real, aren’t these the same in their intensity of belief?
Can you understand this explanation?
Why cultivate? Many people have different goals. Some wish to become immortals or Buddhas, some seek liberation, and others wish to go to Heaven or Bliss after leaving this world.
In positive terms, this is called a wish, aspiration, or longing. In reverse, it is desire, obsession, etc. It’s the same thing: having a craving in one’s heart.
In simple terms, it’s “I want this,” “I need that,” and “Based on this goal, this is what I’m doing now.”
In fact, everyone in this world is cultivating, they just don’t know it. Every arising thought is a form of cultivation and reincarnation. Each thought is a cause, and each thought is also an effect.
This is caused by habits or ingrained tendencies.
To break free from the constraints of these patterns, special training is required, such as cultivating Buddhism to attain enlightenment.
I myself, after breaking illusions using Buddhist methods, began to walk the path of seeking the Great Dao.
Before cultivating, I was similar to many of you, doing repetitive work, with all sorts of messy thoughts popping into my head from time to time. Sometimes I would smile foolishly thinking about happy things, and sometimes I would be unable to sleep thinking about troubling matters.
This made me very irritated. I clearly didn’t want to think about many things, but I couldn’t help it. These thoughts arose automatically.
This was very difficult for me to understand. I began to doubt if my thoughts were truly me. That is, this mind of mine, which I always considered to be the soul, seemed not to be the real me. If it were truly me, why couldn’t I control it?
If it were truly me, shouldn’t I be able to think whenever I wanted, and not think whenever I didn’t want to?
Perhaps my way of thinking is very uncommon, but that’s truly how I thought.
If my thoughts were me, then they should be completely under my control and directed by me, rather than passively arising and disturbing me with so many thoughts.
