Chapter 199: Self-righteous
This day the boy bought three loaves of bread and took the Wang Fei to the park to feed the fish. At first, the Wang Fei felt it was unnecessary to spend this money and would have been content to just stroll around.
But as the boy was feeding the fish, the Wang Fei watched very happily. The boy handed the Wang Fei a piece of bread to feed as well. The Wang Fei fed the fish very happily and even felt that the bread bought was a bit insufficient.
Seeing this, the boy asked, “Are you happy?”
“Happy.”
“Do you know why you are happy?”
“Why?”
“Because you are giving alms, and this kind of giving alms will bring spiritual joy, which is a kind of merit. Your heart will instinctively feel joy, a happiness that does not mix with any needs, pure happiness. It’s not about obtaining something, just doing it. It seems insignificant but brings you immense benefit, hahaha.”
After the two fed the fish in the park for a while, as soon as they returned home, someone sent a message to the boy.
“Beep beep.”
“Are you there?”
“Beep beep beep.”
“Are you there?”
Upon seeing the message, the boy replied grumpily, “No.”
The person on the other end, not knowing to restrain themselves, continued to send messages: “I want to ask you something. I have a different view on the latter half of your article. Having a spiritual root at birth, and then developing spiritual intelligence. Having spiritual intelligence without a spiritual root is like a machine; having a spiritual root without spiritual intelligence is like a chick. If you want to break others’ cognition, you must make them abandon the acquired qi. Then we must also abandon our spiritual intelligence and later developed spiritual roots, leaving only the original spiritual root, which is eating and sex. If we do this, we cannot have lucid dreams, or even any dreams at all. Only when you wake up from a sleep with no awareness or memory of what happened during sleep can you be said to have broken others’ cognition, because your dreamless dream does not contain any tangible things, so nothing can trap you in the cage of cognition. Then you can understand that eating and sex are merely the continuation instincts of life. From here, all spiritual roots and spiritual intelligence must be built around it. Thus, the dreamless dream begins, and only then is the lucid dream completed, right?”
The boy was speechless after reading it…
He replied, “I have no intention of forcefully breaking anyone’s cognition. I clearly told you from the start that this is a fantasy novel. Whether others can break their own cognitive cage depends on their individual comprehension and fortune. Do not use your habitual cognition to evaluate anything. You see how I write in my book, but I don’t write just for the sake of writing. But you are different! You just think your viewpoint is somewhat different from mine and want to get confirmation from me. Different cognitions do not need to be forced to be accepted.
You can think whatever you want, it doesn’t matter, it’s your freedom. But have you ever thought, if your leg were disabled, could you recover and run and jump as before? Perhaps this is what you should be considering. If you don’t even understand such a simple principle, and you just think you understand, then think about it. These things you are thinking about now, are you thinking about them actively, or passively? Can you break free and distinguish them? It’s fine however you think, and if you don’t understand, then you don’t understand. No need to say more.”
“Isn’t that right? Does one have to agree with your viewpoint to be considered as understanding?”
“I didn’t ask you to agree! I didn’t force you to read it! Even if you were dumber than a pig, （sorry, I don’t mean to insult pigs, it’s just a metaphor. ）
Why do you keep reading? Who is making you persist in reading? If you don’t like it, you can just turn around and leave! What is pushing you to keep reading?”
“This, I haven’t thought about this…”
“Dazed, aren’t you? Since there’s a force pushing you to keep reading, then who is creating these viewpoints you have to refute?”
“This…”
“Nothing more to say? Dazed? Do you feel that what I’m saying is very correct? Why do you clearly feel that some parts I’m saying are different from what you think, yet you just can’t stop yourself from continuing to read?”
Heh, it’s your true self pushing you to keep reading. Your false self, or rather, your ego, is creating illusions for you to argue and refute. Then it will cause you to want to keep reading while also feeling that some parts are wrong, creating internal conflict. Don’t you even understand the resistance of the false self?
To put it simply, if you eat a bowl of noodles and they are truly disgusting, you won’t take a second bite after the first. But you can’t stop yourself from wanting to keep eating, eating continuously, and then saying the noodles are problematic.
What does this mean? You say one thing and mean another, it’s that simple. In your heart, you think it’s good, so you can’t stop yourself from continuing to read, but your past habits make you unclear and unable to understand what you are doing, so you keep reading and arguing all the way.
I didn’t say anything about a dreamless dream to you, nor did I tell you not to dream, and I certainly didn’t say that we must abandon our spiritual intelligence and later developed spiritual roots. These are all things you imagined and are talking to me about.
Who told you to abandon spiritual intelligence and spiritual roots? Have some shame! Are you looking for attention here? I have always said that the original self is God, but one must also cultivate wisdom and improve cognition. You are saying things that are completely unrelated to what I’m saying, and you still dare to argue with me?
I didn’t write those words you’re talking about. Those are things you imagined yourself… Er Bai, I’m bored even talking to you. It’s only because you have fate to read my book, otherwise I wouldn’t even say these words to you. But this fate ends here.
I’ll give you one sentence, remember it~! Look down, no one is forcing you to eat candy, but you insist on eating it, and after eating it, you endlessly complain that the candy is too sweet, so sweet it’s a bit sour, and it’s different from what you thought. Are you sick? Who told you to eat it? No one told you to eat it! You insisted on eating it. Damn, you don’t even understand this simplest of principles, and you dare to discuss the Dao with me?
“No, no, Big Brother, I didn’t mean that. I just didn’t understand and wanted to ask.”
“Get lost. Don’t call me Big Brother, you’re not worthy. You seem like a big idiot. How can you be so stupid and still talk about spiritual roots? Who made you read it? It was you, Eldest Brother! It wasn’t like Big Brother was calling you every day, begging you to read it. Why didn’t you react?”
To put it more simply, if you’re watching a TV series you don’t like, you can completely stop watching it. The fact that you can keep watching it means that in your heart, you think it’s good. It’s such a simple principle. You’ve read through the whole book, why haven’t you comprehended it? You’ve read it for nothing, haven’t you?
To put it crudely, if you don’t want to fart, can anyone force you to? You wanted to fart and you did. Afterwards, you complain that your butt feels uncomfortable, blaming it on the air around you?
“No, no, Big Brother, I was wrong, I didn’t mean that.”
“Get lost. Come back in ten years. Go where you belong. No one cares to pay attention to you, you self-righteous fellow.”
“Big Brother, I was wrong, please give me another chance. I know I was wrong.”
“Why should I give you a chance? Go where you belong. Do not disturb this poor Daoist’s rest. Don’t think that just because I cultivate Buddhism, I’ll indulge you. Laozi has his temper too. Stop bothering me, go back where you came from. If you truly seek the Dao, first go experience the mortal world for ten years. We’ll discuss it after ten years. Scram~!”
