Chapter 196: Fate
“Holy crap~! Holy crap, Big Brother, I feel like you’ve taught me another lesson. So that’s how it is?”
“Hahaha, don’t make a fuss, let me drink some plain water and talk to you a bit longer, hahahaha.”
“Got it, Big Brother, hahaha.”
“Listen up, don’t interrupt.”
“Okay, Big Brother.”
“Cultivators, generally their personalities are quite strange. Don’t think Big Brother is so amiable now, but if he’s displeased for a moment, he might turn away and ignore you. You must remember this. Those standing on the mountain peak might actively help those who want to climb, but this is not certain or necessary; it’s merely out of compassion.
And those who are helped are called ‘guided by fate.’ I’ve told you what fate is, but not completely.
Fate has three meanings; the first meaning is opportunity. Without opportunity, there is no fate. If there’s no chance to even meet, what are we talking about regarding fate?
The second refers to interaction, or overlap. Having an opportunity but no interaction is like having no opportunity. If the interaction is different, the fate produced will be different. Forming good affinities leads to good, forming bad affinities leads to bad.
The third is relationship, which is the different outcomes presented by interactions. The sum of various relationships is called fate.
The meaning of the character ‘fate’ in Bronze Inscriptions is a bone rod with many hemp ropes below. Bronze inscriptions refer to the text cast or engraved on bronze wares from the Shang, Zhou, Warring States, and Qin and Han dynasties, also called bell-ding script, or bronze inscriptions, and auspicious bronze script.
Deconstructing the character ‘fate’ reveals the radical ‘silk’ and the character ‘mutual’. In the past, the character ‘fate’ always carried the meaning of entanglement.
Let’s break down the character ‘mutual’ further. The top part represents ‘mutual’, and the bottom part represents ‘family’. Together, it means we come from different places, and at a certain moment, we meet each other. At this point, we feel a sense of family; this is called the origin of fate. We are happy, we cry, we have suffered, and we have also been joyful. But as time passes, some emotions fade, the feeling of family gradually disappears, and we become strangers again, no longer having much contact or overlap. This state is called the dissolution of fate.
Regardless of whether it’s the origin or dissolution of fate, the only thing unchanged in the middle is this coiled silk （）. This coiled silk represents the entanglement and feelings between people.
When one day we suddenly look back and find a solitary figure in the dim light, and this solitary figure stirs up our feelings of sadness, this feeling reminds us of someone, and that is called fate~!
Therefore, the original meaning of fate is to cherish the present and walk with care.
In cultivation, fate also has the meaning of clinging. What is clinging?
For example, someone makes you angry, and you feel very uncomfortable. You think about it more and more, becoming angrier and angrier, your mind filled with how bad and disgusting they are.
Then who are you clinging to? On the surface, you are clinging to the person you argued with. But after they leave, you are still like this. Who are you clinging to then?
You are actually clinging to that resentment in your heart, or it can be called entanglement.
Why is it called ‘in the heart’? The ‘heart’ here doesn’t refer to our physical organ, but the place that feels blocked in your chest when your anger and resentment arise.
This ‘heart’ refers to all our seven emotions and six desires as human beings. We cling to our own joys and anger, greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt. In layman’s terms, it is our own emotions and desires.
In fact, all our unhappiness and all our pain and attachments are from clinging to our own hearts.
For example, if you have to sing on stage tomorrow and you are feeling uneasy and anxious, you are clinging to that anxiety in your heart. Or, if someone you deeply love leaves you, and you live in constant fear day after day, not eating or sleeping, feeling sad and dejected alone, you are clinging to that sadness in your heart.
You are trying to quit drinking, and then the craving hits you. You feel a strong urge, thinking how wonderful it would be to have a few bottles right now. At this moment, you are clinging to that unbearable craving in your heart.
So, why does Buddhism believe that all our suffering, attachments, and discomforts are due to whom? Is it due to the external environment and others? No, it is due to ourselves. We are the ones clinging and entangled with that stir in our hearts, so everything is our own karma.
And what method does Chan Buddhism cultivate? It’s the method of opening up, a method to help people escape all anxiety, all suffering, and all attachments. How do we escape?
In fact, it’s just three words: an unmoving heart! If your heart is unmoving, all the stirrings in your heart will naturally dissolve.
How can the heart be unmoving? It’s impossible for the heart to be truly unmoving under normal circumstances. Just like when you see beautiful things, you like them, and when you see a terrifying wild beast, you are afraid. This is a fixed reaction ingrained in human instinct, and ordinary people cannot avoid it.
It’s like a program. When a beauty is present, it activates; when the beauty leaves, it deactivates. When a wild beast appears, it activates; after the wild beast leaves, it deactivates.
However, due to human discernment and greed, we don’t want the feeling of admiration for the beautiful woman to leave, or we don’t want the feeling of fear from the wild beast to remain. When we want something to stay but cannot, or want something to leave but cannot, suffering arises.
All your suffering is caused by your greedy love for certain emotions and your rejection of others, yet being helpless.
How do we break out of this state? It’s not about truly making the heart unmoving. If your heart could be unmoving, you would be Big Brother, and even Big Brother hasn’t achieved complete stillness yet; he is also continuously cultivating.
The best way is to keep your mind calm and observe the arising and falling of fate with a smile, which is to say, what is meant to come will come, and what is meant to leave cannot be kept.
To put it more simply, any of your emotions can arise at any time, but you clearly know that it will eventually pass, so you do not engage in entanglement or clinging with it.
There’s no need to struggle, no need to reject, and even less need to blame heaven and others.
If you can achieve this, then you have attained the dharma. This dharma is non-discriminatory, without high or low, honor or disgrace, good or evil.
Although the human body is small, it mirrors heaven and earth. If there were only clear skies in the universe, then all things could not be created. It is through rain, snow, wind, and frost that the diversity and vitality of all things are shaped. Accept all the vital energy in your heart, reconcile with it, or reconcile with yourself, and reconcile with your emotions.
Seeing its birth, you know it will perish. Seeing its demise, you also know it will be born. Under this continuous cycle of arising and perishing, accept it and let it freely create. The small universe of your body can then become like heaven and earth, and all things can flourish, with the dragon’s fire filling the water’s emptiness, and water and fire in harmony, which is wonderfully ineffable.”
“Hmm? What do you mean, Big Brother? What you’re saying is a bit complicated. Can you simplify it for your younger brother? I don’t understand!”
The boy stroked his empty chin again and replied with a chuckle, “Simply put, if the heart is unmoving, then there is no pain, Yahahaahahahaha.”
