From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

The moment this thought arose, Mother Yuan's head began to throb with pain, and her body moved on its own, quickly moving away from the orphanage and onto the street. There, she knelt down in front of everyone, repeatedly banging her head against it and shouting, "I am guilty!"

He stopped moving only when the skin on his forehead broke and blood flowed continuously.

"Prohibition!"

Mother Yuan had heard of this method, but the mere thought of it could have such an effect, even forcibly controlling her body's movements...

It's practically sorcery!

"Big sister, is something bothering you?"

Some people mustered up their courage and stepped forward to ask.

Without a word, Madam Yuan got up and ran straight out of the street. Back at the orphanage, she dared not harbor any more ill intentions. She could only rely on the information within the glowing orb to search for the families of the children she had abducted…

···

"Is this how you teach people?"

Wugensheng disagreed with Jiang Liu's approach, saying, "No matter what, shouldn't the path be chosen by people themselves? Isn't this kind of behavior narrow-minded?"

In his view, Jiang Liu was forcing Yuan's mother down the path he wanted to see.

He's just like a bandit!

They're even worse than bandits! At least bandits wouldn't do this!

“I wouldn’t be so abstract about people, but I might be different with animals. It all depends on my preferences.”

Jiang Liu grinned. "I didn't kill her directly because I've recently cultivated a compassionate heart and can understand the hardships a mother goes through, so I gave her a choice."

"Furthermore, do you think your behavior of dividing people into four classes makes you seem magnanimous?"

"In terms of imagination alone, humans are incapable of imagining things they have never seen before. All inventions and creations in the world, whether science and technology or Qi cultivation, are essentially just imitations of the ways of heaven and earth. It's just that humans can make associations and connect two or more seemingly unrelated things together, nothing more."

"but!"

"Plain imagination is meaningless; it only provides experience, not knowledge, and there's no clear line drawn to quantify it with a standard..."

Do you think the Tao is the birds, beasts, fish, insects, flowers, and trees in the deep mountains and forests?

Even when they are mixed together, there is order within the chaos, with a 'chain' that unites them together—the ecosystem! Wolves eat sheep, sheep eat grass, and the grass eats the dead wolves and sheep that have been decomposed by microorganisms invisible to the naked eye.

Could it be that your understanding of "the Tao is in excrement and urine" is merely limited to these concrete aspects, without seeing that they are the Tao because they can be transformed into nutrients for fruits and vegetables? Can't you see that the essence of the Tao is a dynamic, cyclical system?

You can eat fruits, vegetables, and rice to fill your stomach, but can you eat poop and pee?

"You see all the members of the Quanxing sect as skilled and virtuous but confused individuals, and you try to guide them out of their own paths... Perhaps you have indeed helped one or two of them, but at most you have broadened their experience, but you cannot impart knowledge to them, nor can you further enhance their imagination—"

Thus, even if they choose the so-called 'Way', they are limited to their own thoughts and ideas.

And you can't draw a visible and tangible 'Tao' for them. Tao is formless and law is without appearance, but the laws of nature are objectively real.

I imagine you are familiar with the scriptures of the three religions, and you must also be familiar with the Buddhist doctrines of emptiness and form in their interpretation of Tao.

What is emptiness?

What is color?

How could you not understand?

Or are you saying you just enjoy stirring up trouble? Even if you find one or two caterpillars among the maggots in the shit and help them transform into butterflies, most people, even if they eventually find their path, will only end up as flies!

Jiang Liu's voice was like thunder, causing Wu Gensheng to unconsciously take three steps back, because he understood everything Jiang Liu said.

only!

just.

only···

Faced with such objective facts, I simply couldn't bring myself to say what was in my heart.

"Have you truly achieved the emptiness of the five aggregates?"

Seeing Wugensheng rendered speechless, Wu Man regained her senses and questioned, "Buddhism cultivates Nirvana, and since you have already attained emptiness, why are you still so aggressive?"

"Understanding emptiness doesn't mean I want to retreat to the mountains!"

He glanced at Wu Man and sneered, "What you seek is nothing more than your own ego. Even if you cultivate the emptiness of the five aggregates, you will not achieve the mind of a Bodhisattva. You will barely be able to save yourself."

Why do you think Ananda and Kasyapa in Journey to the West demanded bribes?

As for the scriptures and allusions, it's simply that the scriptures were compiled by the two of them.

But to insist on interpreting the allusions outside the book according to the plot of the book is to miss the point and put the cart before the horse.

The only reason is this:

Ideals and reality need to be reconciled and harmonized.

If we only consider the mind, humanity should have gone extinct long ago!

If it were truly given away for free, without any compensation, wouldn't everyone think they could get something for nothing, and that going to a temple to kowtow to a Buddha statue and offer incense would actually grant their wishes?

Even the Buddha's direct disciples must undergo ten lifetimes of reincarnation, traversing mountains and rivers, enduring countless hardships, before finally reaching the sacred mountain on the other shore. Even before achieving enlightenment, the Buddha himself must give them a final lesson.

Having said that, Jiang Liu looked Wu Man over and suddenly burst out laughing, reciting a poem:

"From childhood, I was a lonely lotus, and I consciously practiced Zen without any desires. It was only because the practice in the mountains was so arduous that I indulged in the sweet taste of pigeon."

"And because of his indulgence, his tears dried up, and the monks who drank and ate meat went to the Western Garden. It happened to be the absurd year of Xinhai, and he did whatever he wanted without firmness of will."

"I originally wanted to cultivate the Dharma of Nirvana, and I became a monk three times and returned each time. First, I killed my ancestors and had no descendants, and then I saw my mother hanged and could not find peace."

"With a restless and agitated mind, how can one attain the five aggregates of meditation?"

In an instant, Wu Man's body trembled.

Others only know that he became a monk three times and returned to secular life three times, but they know nothing about his past: killing animals to eat pigeon meat, his lover's suicide and his heartbreak, and his betrayal during the Xinhai Revolution that ultimately led to nothing...

In addition, the fact that he killed his elders and watched his mother hang herself in agony were also secrets in his heart.

But now that Jiang Liu has revealed everything, how could one not be surprised?

"What people do is seen by Heaven... This admonition has been used by those in power since ancient times to admonish kind and honest people who would not and do not want to break the rules."

"But now, besides Heaven, Earth, and you, I also know."

Jiang Liu gazed at Wu Man, who looked on incredulously, and said leisurely, "Your experience is indeed tragic. I have not suffered as much as you have, so I will not advise you to do good."

But the trouble you caused after joining the Quanxing sect also killed many people, and now you have no ties to anyone, so—”

He looked at Zhang Zhiwei: "Brother Zhiwei, you handle this. Bloodshed is not appropriate in the academy."

"I really don't have a single day of rest. I just got back and I already have to work again."

After making a sarcastic remark, Zhang Zhiwei walked towards Wu Man with a grin and said coldly, "Please, Layman Mo Ming."

# Chapter 1053 Releasing Wugensheng a Second Time

Mo Ming glanced at Da Wen and Xiao Wu, who were watching from a short distance away, and asked Jiang Liu, "May I go and say goodbye to those two young friends?"

What are you thinking about?

Zhang Zhiwei sneered.

"can."

But Jiang Liu nodded.

"Are you serious?"

Zhang Zhiwei was surprised to see Wu Man walking towards the twins. He quickly followed, not daring to let her be alone with the two children.

Walking up to Da Wen and Xiao Wu, Wu Man squatted down and smiled, "Are you still willing to be my friend?"

"Are you an adult?"

Xiao Wu thought for a moment, then asked, puzzled, "Why pretend to be a child?"

"Adults live too tiring lives; children are much happier." Recalling her childhood of being beaten by her grandmother, scolded by her stepmother, and bossed around by her siblings, Wu Man has to admit that she was happier when she was a child, compared to her current life.

At least at that time, there was only one thing on my mind.

Just get through it.

But as we grow up, all sorts of troubles follow.

Spiritual practice requires adherence to precepts...

They found their true love, but couldn't be together because of societal expectations...

Finally, he devoted himself to serving his country, only to be betrayed, and everything came to nothing...

So he became completely despondent, only seeking to attain the emptiness of the five aggregates and be free from afflictions, but he also joined Quanxing and committed evil deeds.

"Uncle, you're really strange. Shouldn't it be that children have a harder life and adults are happier?" Da Wen was also puzzled. He looked at Wu Man with a pitiful expression, thinking that she might be a fool.

Upon hearing this, Wu Man was taken aback. Looking at these two children who shared the same background as him but had completely different mindsets, she glanced back at Jiang Liu and suddenly felt relieved: "Perhaps the world is too chaotic, so the Bodhisattva descended to earth to save all sentient beings..."

And it was precisely because of this sense of relief that a faint starlight appeared in Wu Man's cloudy eyes, which then filled her entire pupils.

Shen Ying cultivates inner strength and life force.

The emptiness of the five aggregates is what we seek in the mind.

Both require life and experience, but the former places more emphasis on life, while the latter focuses on the mind.

Although Wu Man lived a muddled life, jumping back and forth between becoming a monk and returning to secular life, his life experiences, which are hard for ordinary people to imagine, had already been reflected in his heart.

What do you mean by taking a detached view of the world's vicissitudes?

What does it mean to experience love, hate, and passion?

What resentment! The destruction of families and the annihilation of nations!

It's all an illusion!

His obsession with living stemmed solely from the resentment born of his birth, nothing more.

If one cannot face this point directly, even if he cultivates for another hundred years, he will never be able to realize the emptiness of the five aggregates!

Once you truly understand this, you will naturally be enlightened, and your state of mind will naturally improve without any further obstacles.