Chapter 214: The Cage Of The Ego
“That’s true, Big Brother. Aren’t all awakened people wealthy?”
“Awakening has nothing to do with external factors; it’s an awakening of the soul. You see those wealthy people because they charge for their teachings. But even then, whether you awaken or not, they don’t care. You pay for the lessons, so of course, they make money!
And look at your Big Brother. He writes books and teaches you things for free, and even if you beg to become his disciple, he doesn’t accept. People like me are not on the same path as them.”
“Big Brother, why don’t you charge for your teachings too? That way, we could hear more from you.”
“If I charged, I’d spend the money. If I teach you and you can’t grasp it, you can’t cultivate it. If I keep repeating myself, aren’t I just tiring myself out? Please don’t mistake your Big Brother for a high monk or a great virtuous one~! I’m a rascally, neither good nor evil kind of person.
Besides, I don’t want to do that. If I did, I’d be hindering your cultivation progress. What’s my purpose, you ask? It’s for you to awaken yourself. If you give me millions and you don’t awaken, what good is that to me? If you don’t awaken, haven’t I just wasted my time? My time is very precious and cannot be measured in money. Every second of my awakened state is joyful. If I have to expend this mental energy to teach you, can that be measured in money?”
“That makes sense, Big Brother?”
“Of course! For example, I’m now accepting the first batch of disciples for the Wuji Sword Sect. Once these disciples learn something, they will gradually become elders. The tuition fee is three to five thousand to join and register. Whether they learn or not, I don’t care. Do you believe some people are still willing to learn? Some younger brothers and sisters in school will find ways to get this money to learn.
What’s the point of that? They haven’t experienced much yet and haven’t gained much comprehension. If they learn now, they might grasp a little but not understand fully. Then, when something else happens, they fall back, or after paying the tuition fee, they disappear. They only come to ask me when something happens, saying they don’t know how to do it themselves. Wouldn’t that make me a fortune teller? I want you to learn it yourself. It’s not like you give me money, and it’s all done. I can forgo the money; as long as you learn it, that’s enough.
Big Brother is healthy and full of vitality, so what can’t I do? I can do anything and be delighted, and I’m very motivated~! With my mind, I can adjust to a flow state doing anything. Damn it~!”
“But Big Brother, I still want to learn from you. I’ll pay the tuition fee, but I don’t mean anything else by it. I just want you to have time to teach me, is that okay, Big Brother?”
“Then you wait. When you can consistently say you want to learn from me, no matter what, then we’ll talk.”
“Huh? Big Brother, just teach me!”
“Don’t rush. Why are you always so anxious? Calm your heart. When it’s your time to learn from me, you will.”
“Okay, okay.”
“Mm, first, patiently read your books. Don’t think about other things. Follow along. Grind down your temperament until you’re calm and not impatient. When the time is right, and you still believe your Big Brother is amazing and want to follow your Big Brother, then tell me.”
“Alright, Big Brother. I am indeed a bit too impatient.”
“Yes, don’t rush. Be steady. I have a younger brother who, from the very beginning, wanted to pay to follow me. He didn’t even want to learn anything, just said he wanted to follow me and asked me to accept him. He even told me his family was very wealthy and that his belongings were mine. I still told him to temper his character first. This tempering of character is very important; it’s also about building a foundation. If you can consistently want to follow Big Brother in cultivation, Big Brother will see it. Otherwise, you give me money, want to learn today, and then don’t want to learn tomorrow. What’s the use of that?”
“I understand, Big Brother. I’ll temper my character first.”
“That’s right. Don’t rush. Our sect doesn’t have as many rules as others. We have fun and cultivate at the same time. As long as you’re obedient and don’t do evil, you’re qualified. If you rush in and don’t listen to me, and after learning something, you can’t stabilize yourself, then it’s useless. It’s like Sun Wukong learning the Seventy-Two Transformations and showing off; he could easily lose control.
“Hahaha, Big Brother, the more you say, the more I want to learn, hahahaha.”
“Oh dear, stop it. Don’t be so curious. Just steadily practice your temperament.”
“Okay, okay, Big Brother. I’ll learn after I’ve tempered my temperament.”
“Yes, hahahaha. Temperament is the main thing. Tempering your character is very important.”
“I understand, Big Brother. Big Brother, I won’t talk to you anymore. The more I talk, the more I want to learn…”
“Alright then, let’s stop for now. I have to go cook.”
“Okay, Big Brother. Boundless Blessings, Big Brother.”
“Boundless Blessings.”
After putting down his mobile phone, the boy felt helpless. It wasn’t that the boy didn’t want to accept money or teach. But what if he actually took the money and taught a group of great demons? Wouldn’t that cause chaos? Each of them would master some patterns and then act like they discovered a new continent. If their Dao Heart couldn’t stabilize, then so be it. They would immediately become arrogant. How could that be good?
It’s not that Big Brother doesn’t teach, sigh… The boy sighed, then switched back to a happy mood, carrying his little flower to change its water. “La la la la, my little flower is the most beautiful, my little flower is the prettiest…”
After changing the water for the flowers, the boy started cooking. Before his cultivation, the boy used to carry his mobile phone everywhere, checking it from time to time, or watching videos.
Now, he does what he does and is very happy and focused, living in the present. Whether he has his phone or not, he doesn’t feel like anything is missing.
He can place his heart on himself, not on other things or objects.
Cultivation is about cultivating this heart that is present in the moment, feeling the beauty of every moment.
Then, that person lives like an immortal, a person without troubles, a person whose mind doesn’t wander. When they do anything, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
This state, if one hasn’t cultivated to it, no one can truly experience it.
Ordinary people’s emotions, those things they can’t get over, hehe, always come to disturb them from time to time.
But the boy doesn’t have that; instead, he’s becoming simpler and simpler. This doesn’t mean he’s gotten dumber or become foolish.
It’s a state of living by understanding the patterns.
Some people say, “If you don’t interact with the outside world, won’t you become foolish?”
It’s not about not interacting, but rather interacting with what? They won’t be agitated by anything. Even if agitated, it’s to observe the patterns and not be misled.
Being misled means following what you see and hear, and so on, to generate thoughts and follow them.
Another thing is when nothing has happened, but thoughts are already running wild and not on yourself.
For example, someone listens to a song and gets immersed in memories or thinks about the singer’s story, creating a resonance effect.
Or they might read a book and find something they disagree with, or they think they know a lot and start to evaluate or believe certain things. These are all thoughts running away.
Who is like what, actually has nothing to do with you. It’s just that you take what you think to be true and then can’t break free.
The cage of the ego, due to mind patterns.
