Chapter 31: He Calls This Unity
After cultivation, there’s no need to force yourself to save others, just like someone I met before.
Send me a private message, ask if I want to know the truth of this world.
I laughed and asked, “What truth?”
“The truth of this world! I’ve summarized sixteen sentences, do you want to know?”
“No, I just save people as it happens.”
“Is that so? You can’t solve the fundamental problem like this, always a mess. I know your insights are definitely good, but in this state, it’s always the same as inaction, right?
The so-called Buddhas are passed down everywhere, for the sake of a different kind of peace, right? Pay attention to me, let me show you my other account, how about that?”
Hearing these words, I was speechless. This is a typical case of living in one’s own cognition. Imagining what Buddha is like, imagining what I am like, and then trying to force what he thinks onto me, hahaha, so speechless.
But out of compassion, I still chatted with him, and thus the following dialogue ensued.
“What account? I don’t pass things down either.”
“I have used sixteen sentences to describe all the problems and solutions in the world.”
“Haha, that’s quite good.”
He continued, “If you pay attention to me, perhaps you will understand.”
I said, “I don’t have any problems, nor do I need anything resolved. Why do you keep asking me to pay attention to you?”
He suddenly said,
“Is that so? Can I send you a screenshot?”
I asked, “What screenshot? What are you talking about?”
“It’s those sixteen sentences I mentioned, let me send them to you, you’ll understand when you see them.”
……
Oh my god, isn’t it magical? No matter what, he wants me to see his sixteen sentences.
I’m really not curious, so I said, “Ah? No need, our cognitions are different, you just do your thing, no need to show me.”
I said no, and he acted as if he didn’t hear me, continuing, “If you look at it, you’ll understand. Simply put, all the gods, buddhas, demons, monsters, and the lives of ordinary people are all inseparable from survival. Am I right? I’ll send you the sixteen sentences.”
I laughed again.
“If you think it’s right, then it’s right. I’m not you, haha.”
Then he began,
“The first is nothing more than how to live.
The second is that how you live, you must give back.
The third is how you give back, you get rewards.
The fourth is how you get, you must let go.
The fifth is how to let go to get fairly.
The sixth is how to get without waiting to be balanced.
The seventh is how to be balanced to circulate.
The eighth is how to circulate to not end.
The ninth is not ending to be long-lasting.
The tenth is how to be unchanging.
The eleventh is how to be unchanging, only through unity.
The twelfth sentence is how to be united to be fair.
The thirteenth sentence is how to be fair, only through shared hearts.
The fourteenth sentence is how to have shared hearts, only through everyone working together.
The fifteenth sentence is how to have everyone working together, because of survival.
The sixteenth sentence sums up to four words: for survival.
I’m done, savor it.
The myriad aspects of life, if all are selfish, let alone cultivating the heart, even finding a pure land is an extravagant demand. Cultivating the heart ultimately comes down to how people survive.”
……
Oh my god, he’s even making me say it.
I said helplessly, “Haha, cultivating the heart is about recognizing oneself, knowing what your true self is like.”
Then he started again,
“All your benefits are given by others, your beauty is all built by others. Do you think cultivating well means you are the best? Then you are only cultivating selfishness. What’s the difference between cultivating and not cultivating? In the end, you are still you, and if you don’t cultivate, you are still you. I hope you cultivate the Great Dao, not yourself.”
Under this incoherent barrage of output directed at me, it’s imaginable that this person has fallen into self-delusion, taking what he personally concocted as truth, and insisting on telling me. Alas, as this poor Daoist is kind, I offered him a few pointers, hoping he will one day awaken.
“On the contrary, if you don’t cultivate yourself, how can you teach others to be good? You look at the masses from a personal perspective, and that is called selfishness.”
“This is not a personal perspective, I am speaking from everyone’s perspective.”
I am speechless…
“You take what you think and what you imagine as truth, and then demand that others think the same way as you. Isn’t that selfish? This is the greatest selfishness in the world. You are not everyone; you can only represent yourself.”
He stubbornly retorted, “You’ll understand when you continue to cultivate, you’ll realize.”
Hearing him say these things to me, I had an impulse to immediately break character and scold him. But I thought better of it, hahaha. Everyone’s cognition is different. He is unwilling to awaken, and I don’t need to force him to.
I really don’t want to continue the conversation, because it’s difficult to guide this kind of person. So I said,
“You might not understand what I’m saying. Our cognitions are different, so let’s end the conversation here, haha.”
“Do I not understand, or do you not understand? If you elevate your cognition a bit more, you’ll know. The money you earn is from others. If you don’t live well yourself, can you live well? Everyone is selfish, this is reality. To make money, you cannot be without others. Only through unity or going with the flow, otherwise you won’t even have the opportunity to make money.”
I patiently continued to preach the Dao, “Selfishness is an inherent attribute of human nature. I cultivate to recognize myself, to shed the ego, and then to view myself and all sentient beings, not to do things for money.”
“If you don’t make money, you won’t even have the chance to live. I’m afraid that people don’t have shared hearts and morals. Ponder this carefully.”
“It’s impossible for people to have shared hearts because individual cognitions are not the same. Personal thought and cognition can only represent the individual. Only through continuous learning and comprehension can one recognize oneself. The individual lives within their own cognition.”
“I understand. If I don’t understand this, would I be talking to you? If everyone remains themselves, what do you think the final result will be?”
I reminded him, “You know, what you’re saying is judging from your personal perspective. If you don’t believe me, scroll up.”
He incredulously retorted, “Am I not in your perspective?”
This angered me, oh hahaha, I asked him,
“Are you in my perspective? What am I thinking right now? What will I be thinking in a moment?”
He started to get into his element again,
“How will you make money? You can’t make it without going through others.”
Oh, hearing this, I said, “Can you please stop taking what you think as truth and believing it so wholeheartedly? This is just your wishful thinking.”
He refuted, “You are wrong. When your cognition is high enough, you will understand. Remember, all Buddhas, Daoists, immortals, demons, and monsters can survive for only one reason: they work together with shared hearts and minds to do one thing. Therefore, if people are not united, the outcome will not be good.”
I asked him intentionally,
“What do you say is Buddha? Do you even know what Buddha is?”
“I don’t know? Buddha is a person.”
I advised, “How about this: first go and read some books. First, figure out what Buddha is, what a god is, and so on, and then talk to me.”
“How do I not know? Buddha is a person!”
“Then who is Buddha?”
“Buddha was a person in ancient times.”
“And then?”
“Then that’s it.”
“Holy crap! Who told you that?”
“I heard it. Buddhas also need to make money and eat. All the gods and buddhas are like this, so we need unity.”
“You keep saying unity, unity. What do you mean by unity?”
He explained to me, “It means first uniting some people, then selling them things to get what they need, mutually beneficial. Aren’t those who do pyramid schemes also doing this?”
Er Bai, hearing this, I was furious. If he was just stuck in appearances and couldn’t extricate himself, it would be normal. But to think that this guy, using indirect methods, “unity, unity,” had the purpose of deceiving a group of people and then selling them things. Damn it, I’m truly drunk. I really don’t want to pay attention to him.
“Buddy, go mind your own business. We’re not on the same path, let’s stop talking.”
Most people, after being told a few times to stop talking, would have known when to quit.
He continued, “How are we not on the same path? It’s all the same! The result is the same, we all need to survive! To survive, we must be united.”
I…
Oh my god! He calls this unity?
