Chapter 207: Light
“Big Brother, some people say there’s light on people, is that true?”
“Yes, everyone has light on them. Foreigners call it a magnetic field, we call it an aura. The light on kind people is white, the light on bad people is gray, and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are golden. If a person’s inner heart is pure enough, they can sense it, similar to sensing an aura.
For example, when I go out, very young children will stare at me and not make a sound or fuss. When I walk away, the children will keep looking at me.
When I went out to buy groceries and came back, I saw an Aunt using her leg to block a child’s stroller, holding the child to put them in the car. The child was fussy and didn’t want to get in the car. I went over to help steady the stroller and looked at the child. As soon as the child saw me, they got in. Then I said, ‘Don’t fuss, be obedient.’ The child immediately became well-behaved. It’s fun, right?”
“Damn, Big Brother, did the child see the light on you?”
“Hahaha, maybe. Many children are like that when they see me, but I’m not them. I don’t know what they see, but basically, when they see me, they become very obedient and quiet. It’s rare for a child to see me and not stare at me the whole time. Yaha ha ha ha!”
“Is that so much fun, Big Brother?”
“Yes, it’s fun, right? Cultivate, and there will be even more fun things.”
“Big Brother, can you see other people’s qi?”
“Auras?”
“Yes.”
“I can. Even without looking, I can sense some. A long, long time ago, my friend was tricked into a pyramid scheme and came out. I had experienced something similar before, and I could sense the qi on those people. I looked at my friend’s eyes, then stood beside him for a while, and I could sense it.
Because these kinds of people mostly have vacant, confused eyes, and there’s an indescribable feeling about them, a sense of being very weak. These are small skills, I could sense them even before cultivating.
After cultivating, when I look at a person, I can basically sense about seven or eight tenths of their state.
Like once, I was watching an acrobatics show in a park. They were selling medicinal liquor under the guise of performing acrobatics. Among the large crowd watching the fun, I sensed a qi like that of an animal. And the boss performing the acrobatics, I sensed a hint of deceit from him. I looked at him, and he looked at me for a long while. He probably sensed that I was different from others, and just stared at me blankly, as if frozen. People who work in the martial world usually have superhuman perception of auras; it’s very similar to the instinctual perception of some animals.
Science summarizes this behavior as an unconscious inner tendency, actions and mental activities that occur automatically without a thought process. Some are determined by heredity, and some are acquired. It’s an indescribable feeling.
For example, someone who has been practicing martial arts for a long time will instinctively strike you if you try to sneak attack them from behind.
For example, your Big Brother, if someone scares me from behind, I will instinctively turn around in an instant, raising one fist and reaching out with the other hand to grab.
The ghost catching in dreams I mentioned before was actually me sensing someone approaching me in my sleep and waking up without opening my eyes, waiting for the dark figure to get closer.
It’s just that this instinct happened in a dream, so I felt the dark figure approaching in the dream and grabbed it. It’s the same thing. Let alone catching ghosts, I used to have a cat. When I was sleeping, it would walk past me, and many times I would sense it and grab it, then throw it aside. Otherwise, it would piss on my blanket, ha ha ha ha!”
“Big Brother, have you ever learned anything in dreams?”
“Yes, I once dreamed of an old Taoist priest who had a little disciple. He taught me to practice a horse stance, which was a little different from the ordinary one.”
“Huh? That really happened?”
“Yes, it did. If you hadn’t asked, I would have forgotten.”
“How did you practice it, Big Brother?”
“I’m not teaching that, hehehe. That costs money, ha ha ha ha!”
“Ah? Why, Big Brother?”
“Because I don’t want to teach it, yaha ha ha ha! I only remember this one move, and this move is a bit special. Even if I taught it to you, you might not know what it’s for, so I won’t bother, hehehe.”
“Big Brother, I want to learn.”
“Then think about it, ha ha ha ha!”
“Big Brother, can you teach me?”
“Can your little brain stop thinking about useless things? First, stabilize your heart in the present moment, don’t be swayed by things.”
“How do I not get swayed by things, Big Brother?”
“We are in this world. The suffering in this world is boundless: birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, meeting with enemies, not getting what you want, and the intense burning of the five aggregates. No matter who it is, rich or poor, old or young, male or female, can they escape these eight sufferings? Not one can escape. You need to jump out. Jumping out means your heart jumps out. The Pure Land is in your heart, and freedom is also in your heart. It’s all a change of your heart.
“Then what should I do, Big Brother?”
“Our current troubles, all the troubles in life, you have to learn to transform them. Don’t think about the past; the past is gone, yet you keep thinking about it. This is our biggest problem. Didn’t the past pass? Where is it now? It can’t be pulled back!
And about the future, planning for ten thousand years, what are you planning? A person’s lifespan is only a few decades. ‘No one lives a hundred days in good health; one often harbors a thousand days of worry.’ What hasn’t come has not yet come, why bother with it? Deal with it when it arrives. What’s past is past, don’t think about it. The future hasn’t come yet, don’t worry about it. Then what about the present? If you don’t dwell in the present and aren’t trapped by what you are experiencing now. As the saying goes, the past mind cannot be attained, the future mind cannot be attained, and the present mind cannot be attained either.
What this means is, don’t use your thoughts for useless things. If you use them, use them actively; if not, just let them not run wild.”
“Big Brother, I understand, but I can’t do it…”
“Don’t be anxious, take your time and don’t rush. Don’t let temporary worries cause temporary annoyance, and don’t let temporary difficulties cause a moment of suffering. When you feel annoyed or worried, bring joy to yourself and transform the negativity.
Suffering has no inherent substance; it’s not a real thing. It can change and be eliminated. The problem is that you don’t recognize it and are swayed by it. How can a person not suffer? It’s equivalent to you being its slave, and it becoming the master. How can you not suffer? When we cultivate, after understanding the principles, we need to be aware of these things. Once you understand this, don’t be swayed by it; instead, sway it. Then why would you still suffer?
Suffering, difficulty, annoyance, all arise and disappear with a single thought. When troubles come, don’t dwell on the thoughts of trouble; transform them in time, and constantly generate joy, and then all problems will be resolved.”
“It feels very difficult, Big Brother?”
“It’s not difficult. Use a thought to transform a thought. For example, if you’re thinking about something that makes you feel bad, and you realize you’re thinking about feeling bad, then change it. Actively think about something good to transform it. If you still want to dwell on it, then rationally analyze it. Analyze whether this bad thing has any insights, growth, or help for you, for yourself. This is also a method of transformation.
The matter is still the same matter, but if you are not bothered by it, then you will naturally be free.”
