Chapter 3: The Tao, The Strength Of Belief
The so-called “Dao is natural” is a pattern of passive instinct in operation, and worldly people often compare the Dao to the operational laws of all things.
And this pattern is not immutable; it changes with time, space, and the changes of various factors. For example, in ancient times, people generally believed that the sky was round and the earth was square, which was the Dao at that time. But with the development of science and technology, we gradually realized that the Earth is round, and the sky is infinitely large. This is the evolution of the Dao.
However, the changes of the Dao are not without order. It is like an invisible line that runs through the entire universe, guiding the direction of development of things. If we can adapt to the changes of the Dao, we can better adapt to the surrounding environment and even predict future trends.
Conversely, if one goes against the Dao, one may encounter setbacks and failures. Therefore, understanding and mastering the laws of change of the Dao is of extremely important significance for our lives.
What does it mean to conform to the laws of the Dao? The laws of the Dao are often both simple and difficult to grasp.
It has many forms of expression, for example, human thinking habits and behavioral habits are both forms of the Dao.
There are also some patterns that ordinary people find difficult to discover,
And there is a saying that “the movement of the Tao is through reversal.”
You can look at the streamers on various short video platforms now, and you will see this trait in them.
Some wear revealing clothes, shaking their hips and waists, some sell ugliness and pity, show off and act cool, and so on. These are things that ordinary people disdain to do, and fear being gossiped about or afraid of embarrassing themselves, but you can see all of this in these streamers. They do things that many people want to do but dare not do, attracting a large number of viewers.
Some people scorn them, while others praise them, but it cannot be denied that, regardless of good or bad evaluations, they have successfully captured traffic.
While gaining attention, they also received monetary rewards.
This is one of the methods of “the movement of the Tao is through reversal.”
However, these people gain this Dao in ignorance, and some repeatedly cause incidents due to insufficient virtue.
Most of it is due to speaking without restraint, which is the so-called “virtue not matching the position.”
I know many friends also want to be like them, to accumulate a certain amount of wealth in a short period of time in this chaotic world, so some people emulate them, and some are still observing.
It should be explained here that time, space, as well as the environment and state of mind at the time, will all determine the final result.
It can be said that having one or two of the opportune time, advantageous geographical position, and harmony among people is necessary to obtain wealth.
Doing self-media is catching the opportune time of the era, the advantageous geographical position of the platform, and the harmony of the fans.
The method of obtaining a certain Dao through “the movement of the Tao is through reversal” is often to act contrary to ordinary people.
And cultivators who genuinely cultivate the Dao are also in this, do you see that monks and Taoist priests who invoke deities are very different from ordinary people?
Cultivators of Buddhism abandon worldly cognition and view the world using Buddhist thought and cognition. Cultivators of the Dao view the world using Daoist thought and cognition. Invoking deities is said to be dual cultivation of Buddhism and Daoism, which means using the understanding from both Buddhism and Daoism, combined with some inherited cognition, to view the world.
But if you observe carefully, you should not find it difficult to discover that Buddhism and Daoism are actually consistent in some thoughts, and they also have commonalities with Confucianism.
I will not explain this further here; friends who are curious can research it themselves.
I have discovered that things in this world have different names within different cognitions, yet they speak of the same thing.
For example, the power of belief, psychological suggestion, invoking a deity, and so on. They are all essentially the same.
To put it simply, the more you believe in something, the more it will happen.
Let me tell a story here.
Before a death row inmate was executed abroad, an experimental scientist gave him two choices: to be hanged or to bleed to death. The inmate chose the latter. So the scientist blindfolded him, lightly scraped his wrist with the back of a knife （ he did not actually cut ）, and let warm water flow over his skin, giving him the illusion that he was bleeding. Throughout this process, he continuously gave psychological suggestions, telling the inmate that he would bleed to death within a specific time.
Indeed, after a period of time, the inmate died sadly without having suffered any substantive harm.
Why did he die without being injured? Some say he was scared to death, which is partly true, but not entirely.
This is because he believed that he would bleed to death within a specific time, which caused his internal energy to be scared away.
Or you could say his heart died, so the person died, goodbye.
I don’t know what you will understand from this story, but let me tell you what I have attained enlightenment on.
That is, as mentioned above, 【 the more you believe in something, the more likely it is to happen. 】
This has been mentioned in some books, and some people call this the Law of Universal Attraction.
Let’s explain it in another way. In ancient times, there was a very accomplished scholar named Zhang San. Zhang San’s academic performance was always among the best. Coincidentally, on the morning of his imperial examination, he encountered a funeral procession. A large group of people in mourning clothes, carrying a large black coffin, passed in front of him. Zhang San’s heart fluttered, and he thought, “It’s over. On such an important day, I’ve encountered this funeral. My exam is probably doomed.” His unease lingered, and during the exam, he couldn’t concentrate on the questions. If it were any other day, this exam would have been trivial for Zhang San, but today, for some reason, even after the exam ended, he couldn’t escape his pessimistic mood. Disheartened, as expected, he failed the exam.
There was another person named Li Si, who was a classmate of Zhang San. His usual grades were mediocre, and he didn’t have much hope for the imperial examination. Coincidentally, on the morning of his imperial examination, he also encountered the funeral procession and saw the crowd carrying that large black coffin. But unlike Zhang San, Li Si was overjoyed when he saw the coffin. He muttered to himself, “Coffin, coffin, promote to official and get rich. It seems I, Li Si, will surely pass the exam today. I’m going to be amazing.” Things turned out as Li Si expected. Because he firmly believed he would succeed, he was excited throughout the exam as if he had taken Viagra or had been injected with adrenaline. He even performed beyond his usual capabilities and finally passed.
The same event was witnessed by Zhang San and Li Si, leading to different thoughts and ultimately different results. This is also a case of the power of belief.
In life, if we are like Zhang San, troubled and agitated by events, both spiritually and physically, we will be affected by such negative emotions, leading to continuous suffering.
But if we are like Li Si, thinking positively about any situation, then I think, regardless of the outcome, during the process, or at the end, there will be joy and positive energy surrounding us.
This energy is what is called positive energy, good energy. Cultivators transform all energy into good energy for their own use.
