Chapter 211: A Single Thought
“Gurgle gurgle, quack quack.”
The man was given several large gulps of water by Jie Wuchen, who then sent the fish and frog in.
“Gurgle, quack.”
The man was like a frog spirit, unable to speak, and every time he opened his mouth he just “quacked” endlessly.
Seeing no other option, he quickly clasped his hands together and begged for mercy, no longer daring to harbor even a shred of arrogance. How could he dare to complain?
Almost drowning was terrifying enough, and after finally spitting out the water, he was almost force-fed it back,
This time, he was truly honest, with not a single other thought remaining, only one thought: he wanted to live first.
And Jie Wuchen didn’t actually intend to drown the man, he just wanted to teach him a lesson. Seeing the man become honest,
Jie Wuchen slapped the man’s belly with his palm.
With a “wow,” the man vomited out the fish and frog again.
Jie Wuchen ignored him,
Instead, without disgust, he picked up the fish and frog, washed them carefully, and said to them:
“Well said, well said, you two have also done a meritorious deed. As the saying goes, saving one life is equivalent to building seven pagodas. This person is considered saved by all three of us, but I won’t take the great merit, I’ll give you two three and a half levels each, hahahahaha, Infinite Celestial Venerable.”
As if they understood, the fish blew bubbles in response, and the frog quacked twice.
Jie Wuchen put the fish and frog back into the well.
In his eyes, there is no distinction between dirty and clean in the world; the distinction between dirty and clean is merely in the human heart. One thought is dirty, one thought is clean.
It’s like some people won’t drink foot-washing water, but when they go to a certain place to play in the water, they know full well that countless feet and even buttocks have soaked in it, and there’s no shortage of urine, yet they still have a great time and don’t feel anything about drinking it.
But if you don’t let him drink that, and tell him to drink foot-washing water and urine directly, he’ll say you’re crazy, hahaha.
Humans are strange creatures; a bowl that has held feces, no matter how much you wash it, you won’t use it again. But intestines and buttocks that have held feces, no matter how smelly, can be cooked and eaten.
Ultimately, it’s people; they aren’t real things, changing with every thought. See, you don’t use the bowl that held feces, right? But then you use another bowl to eat the intestines that held feces. Are they all that noble, like Big Brother’s chicken feathers?
Elegance and vulgarity are one, dirtiness and cleanliness are one, good and evil are one, just cycling back and forth.
Originally, when the Old Monk Xu Yun was ill, he used a folk remedy, which was to eat alkali from a urine trough. Because of this, the Old Monk further attained enlightenment, deepening his understanding of the human species, or perhaps, more clearly understanding himself.
All things are one with humans; smell, microorganisms in the air, etc., sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma can all influence a person’s changes. Some medicines don’t need to be taken; perhaps just hearing, smelling, seeing, touching, or thinking is enough, while some medicines need to be consumed.
For example, with heart medicine, what do you need to eat? What you see, hear, and think cures it.
Don’t underestimate heart medicine; it can control the changes in your mood, thereby affecting your mental state, and changing the way the cells in your biological body operate.
Cultivators always say that cultivation is about cultivating a single thought.
What is a single thought? Hahaha, it’s your own thoughts, the rise and fall of every thought!
Protecting good thoughts means constantly generating good thoughts, letting good thoughts arise; discarding evil thoughts means eradicating evil, letting evil thoughts vanish.
Good thoughts are good thoughts, and evil thoughts can be said to be your distracting thoughts or the like, thoughts that have a negative impact on you.
What is cultivated is this single thought: when one good arises, ten thousand evils perish; when one evil arises, ten thousand goods are hidden.
Cultivation is about being able to control the flow of good and evil thoughts, to be controlled by one’s own heart, to do as one pleases.
This is the meaning of cultivating a single thought. If you want it to arise, it will arise; if you want it to perish, it will perish. Changing thoughts, transforming thoughts, severing thoughts, and controlling thoughts are all the same methods; they are about controlling the birth and death of your thoughts. You think you are reading books, but in reality, you are modifying your own thoughts, keeping the good and discarding the bad, you just don’t think about it much.
A monk begging for alms is helping you generate good thoughts; your offering is also letting go, letting go of the attachment to material possessions, and gaining happiness for your soul. Your happiness is your good fortune.
Jie Wuchen is using this method to shatter the man’s distracting thoughts, leaving only the instinctual desire to live to guide his vitality.
It’s like giving this person rebirth. Most people can’t really do this, because it varies from person to person.
After a long pause, the man, unsure of what he was thinking, sat there without speaking.
Jie Wuchen lit a cigarette and squatted in front of the man; “Feeling good, little brother? Is it comfortable to be alive?”
The man coughed twice and said weakly, “I understand, brother. When I let go of all my thoughts, I suddenly felt much lighter. It turns out that death is not liberation; what has always been liberated is my heart, trapped by emotions. Alas…”
“Alright, then stop sighing? You’re a big grown man, what can’t you get over? You’re supposed to stand tall and strong, why are you doing things that torture yourself? Are you crazy? When a person dies, their lamp goes out; you need to make that lamp brighter and brighter so you can see the path ahead! What’s the point of turning off the light?”
“No, no, Big Brother, I, I, I was drunk and didn’t react in time, I just, I just…”
“If you can’t hold your liquor, why the hell are you drinking so much? Damn it!”
The man, scolded by Jie Wuchen, sheepishly scratched his head; “Thank you, Big Brother.”
Jie Wuchen smiled; “Thank you for what? Go do what you need to do. I’m going to wander off, because you’ve been here for several days, damn it. Be more aware from now on. If I see you showing off again next time, I’ll feed you frogs again.”
“No, I won’t, hahaha.”
After the incident, Jie Wuchen continued on his journey.
On the way, he encountered many, many things. Some people, unable to think things through, wanted to leave, and when others left, they wanted to leave too.
This angered Jie Wuchen. He grabbed a middle-aged man who was about to jump into the river and gave him a series of hard slaps!
“What the hell! Are you all crazy? Can you really leave like that? Next time you come, you’ll just repeat it all over again. Why do you feel that some things and some places are so familiar? You’re just repeatedly reliving the pain! Are you an idiot? Damn it!”
The middle-aged man, scolded, looked dazed and asked puzzled; “Isn’t it said that those who leave, if they have deep resentment, will repeat the scenes before their suicide?”
Jie Wuchen said helplessly, “Yes, you will repeat it until your lifespan ends. And then what? The pain you can’t get over will keep you coming back until you overcome it. That’s a vicious cycle you can’t escape, you big fool! If you overcome it now, it’s over. If you can’t overcome it, you’ll fall into a big pit. You want to reincarnate? Do you have the ability to do that? Do you think you can just go if you say so?
You dare to be suicidal? That will make you suffer as if you’ve fallen into a demon’s den. Only by freeing your heart can you achieve liberation! It’s not about giving up your body to achieve liberation! You big idiot, damn it! If it were that easy, who would bother living? Doesn’t the old saying tell you? A bad death is not as good as a lingering life. It means you have to live well, only then can you break free from your shackles, otherwise? Your spirit will be carrying a pile of pain on your back! What liberation are you talking about? Liberation is about your mind, your spirit, being liberated! It doesn’t mean you have to give up your life and escape by dying! That’s a demon’s den! Your demonic thoughts torment you and make you want to do that. That’s just tricking you!”
