Chapter 201: Virtue Is Heaven-blessed
“Didi fu didi, Big Brother is the most awesome.”
“Are you there, Big Brother?”
“What’s up, Younger Sister?”
“Brother, I want to ask you, what should one pay attention to when making friends? Should one pay attention to a person’s character, or whether the person is good to me?”
“Hahaha, neither. Making friends is very simple, and you don’t need that many true friends. Just remember one thing: your things can be hers, but hers are not yours.”
“Ah? Then aren’t we foolish, Big Brother?”
“Hehe, ponder on it. This sentence is enough for everyone to ponder on for a lifetime.”
“Big Brother, can you explain why?”
“When you are good to others without expecting any reward, then even if anyone leaves you one day, you will not feel sad or upset because you have a clear conscience. An awesome person never demands anyone else to change, but rather changes themselves.
There’s a saying, ‘If your heart isn’t ruthless, you can’t stand firm,’ which doesn’t mean being ruthless to others, but being ruthless to yourself.”
“What do you mean, Big Brother? Didn’t you say we should cherish ourselves? Why should we be ruthless to ourselves?”
“The ruthlessness I’m talking about isn’t about harming yourself, but about the determination to change yourself. Many people would rather waste decades regretting and suffering, but never consider spending two or three years, or even one year, to change themselves.
In the world of adults, never try to change anyone, but you must learn to constantly adjust and change yourself. The three words ‘having no desires’ can prevent a person from all pain and unwillingness, and even avoid the evil in human nature.
If you are good to someone and hope they are good to you too, most of the time you will be met with pain. Because no one will empathize with you! Even if you give half your life today, the other person might not give half their life back to you, and may even think that you are being nice to them because it’s natural. So don’t try to regulate any emotional relationship with morality. Morality is only for judging a person’s character, but it cannot regulate a person’s actions. The people who can hurt you deeply are often the ones you trust the most. Strangers usually don’t harm you much, or rather, only people you trust can hurt you. But as Big Brother has told you, human nature is mutable.
For example, if someone calls me Big Brother to my face, seemingly respecting me, they might be thinking differently in their heart. They might think that both sides have a point. Even if what Big Brother says is correct and very helpful to them, they will still have a rebellious mindset.
This has nothing to do with right or wrong, only with the evil in human nature.”
“Ah? Big Brother, aren’t such people insincere?”
“Not necessarily. The evil in human nature is often difficult for people to discover in themselves. This is because ordinary people only look at problems with their eyes and think habitually, without placing themselves outside the situation to observe. If one were to observe from the outside, treating Big Brother’s help as if from a stranger, and without having paid much in return, only then would a discerning person feel gratitude. The unperceiving person will feel it only occasionally, merely wanting to borrow Big Brother’s help, or rather, exploit Big Brother to improve themselves.
“Holy cow, Big Brother, if you know all this, why do you still…”
“For no reason. Big Brother believes people can change. As long as there is a desire to do good, no matter how many detours they have taken, Big Brother will not give up on anyone. Or rather, Big Brother can withdraw at any time. Everyone’s fate with Big Brother has nothing to do with how they speak, but only with whether they truly respect Big Brother in their heart. Do you think Big Brother is foolish or intelligent?”
“I think Big Brother, you are not foolish, but rather very wise.”
“Then that’s it. Those who think Big Brother is foolish have fallen into their own perceived reality. Big Brother knows so many things, and eighty percent of it is not learned but understood. If Big Brother were foolish, then there would be no intelligent people. I’m not bragging about this at all. It’s not that Big Brother can’t see what kind of person someone is, even with just a sentence or two, whether it sounds good or bad. Big Brother understands fate analysis; how could he not see? It’s just that Big Brother pretends not to know, wanting to see if some people have the enlightenment and the fate to cultivate the Dao.
“Big Brother, what is the fate to cultivate the Dao?”
“The fate to cultivate the Dao, firstly, is in being human. To quote my teacher: having the Dao but not virtue makes one a demon of the Dao; even if given the Dao, they cannot hold onto it, and their outcome will not be good. But a person with virtue but not the Dao, even if they do not seek the Dao, the Dao will find them. This is called ‘virtue is heaven-blessed.’
“Big Brother, how can one have a clear conscience?”
“Only give, do not expect rewards. Even being good to your own children should be done with a clear conscience, expecting nothing. Do not even wish for how your children are doing, or whether they are healthy, do not desire even a little bit. Just do what you want to do and give.
Because often, when people are unenlightened, their desires create a cursed magnetic field. If a person is healthy, why do you wish them health? If a person is safe, why do you wish them safety? This state is not good at all and will cause pressure in your own heart.
Conversely, the meaning of these two sentences is that only when one is unhealthy can they hope for health, and only when one is not safe can they hope for safety. This is using a useless mindset.
“Children and grandchildren have their own blessings; do not be like a servant or ox to them.” If a person places their heart anywhere outside of themselves, they are prone to suffering. As the old saying goes, withdraw your heart and place it on yourself. Only when you are powerful can you protect. The useless things you think about when you are weak are all self-deception.
If you are so powerful that you can do nothing but face a terminal illness, then when you are present, your children will naturally be safe and sound. If you are so powerful that you can even reverse a terminal illness, then you have even less to worry about.
To put it more mystically, if you can become so powerful that you can send the spirit of a departed person wherever you wish, then you will have even less fear! Because everyone will leave, sooner or later. If you are worry-free in life and fearless in death, where does suffering come from? And where do those simple hopes that you think are simple come from?
Besides, are those kinds of hopes simple? They seem simple but are not at all. Which person can live a lifetime without incident? In reality, they are all individual beautiful expectations.”
“Big Brother, then it is only correct for people to continuously become stronger, right? Only by becoming strong oneself can one change difficult situations?”
“That’s right, but it depends on the situation. When you are not strong enough, you can slowly cultivate yourself to become strong. Find a strong person, and you don’t need to learn anything else, just learn that incomparably strong heart of theirs. Once you learn that, you will also become strong. Because the essence of the heart is the same. This trait, once learned, will allow you to overcome any difficulty, and you won’t be able to be weak, no matter what! Right?”
“That’s true, hahahaha, Big Brother, it seems like you are hinting at me.”
“Whatever you think it is, that’s what it is. If you think I’m hinting at you, then I’m hinting at you. If you think I’m just talking to you, then I’m just talking to you. After all, Big Brother doesn’t talk this much with everyone. Hahaha. It all depends on whether Big Brother wants to say it. If Big Brother doesn’t want to, it’s possible for me to turn around and disappear without a trace. Hehehe.”
